Archive for June, 2010

ANNAPOLIS – Zephyr Technology’s Physiological Status Monitoring (PSM) solution has passed a test by the Prince George’s County Fire/Emergency Medical Services Department.  The county used the PSM Responder at its training academy help medics and commanders know in advance if first responders are getting into trouble through physiological sensors.

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COLUMBIA – triCerat Inc. has released triShell Kiosk Edition (TKE), a software component that replaces the Windows Explorer Shell with a locked down shell that provides the user with a single application, website, or RDP/ICA session.  The user views the application upon login as their entire desktop experience with access to only what the administrator allows.

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ANNAPOLIS – iJET Intelligent Risk Systems has been selected for the 2010 Red Herring 100 North America award, a list of the year’s leading private companies in North America based on technology innovation, management strength and industry growth.

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BWI AIRPORT – The Transportation Security Administration has named interim security director Philip Burdette to the role of Federal Security Director (FSD) for BWI Airport.

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COLUMBIA – The Board of Trustees of Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., has elected J. Ronald “Ron” Terwilliger to succeed Norman Rice as board chairman.  Since 2007 Terwilliger has been a member of the Board of the affordable housing and community development group.

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BROOKLYN PARK – Leadership Anne Arundel graduated a new crop of 60 graduates from its three programs that train people to become community leaders.  It also bestowed awards for The LAA Community Champion (Julio Martinez of Workforce Development Corporation), The LAA Volunteer of the Year Award (David Vogel of ABSI/Compass Information Systems), and The LAA Distinguished Graduate Award (Larry Ulvila, Jr., of Insurance Solutions.)

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Today I have the definitive and eternal answer: read the post below from Mark Amtower.  Mark has developed an expertise in using this social networking tool as part of his work helping companies market to the federal government.  This is the first in an occasional series about how to maximize your presence on the ABN group, and, well, the rest of LinkedIn, too.

Amtower: Your LinkedIn Profile is what gets attention on LinkedIn or any social network. The more informational and readable it is, the more likely you will attract those you are looking to connect with. Make your profile a pleasant reading experience. Do not plug in your resume – you want people to spend some time reading this. Write your profile to attract those you wish to meet, and make it interesting.

With your LinkedIn profile, you have the opportunity to stand out from the crowd, to present yourself as a subject matter expert in your field.

The elements of a good profile include:

1. Fill out the profile completely, doing it a little at a time
2. Use short paragraphs in the Summary
3. Use the SEO-friendly keywords throughout your profile, especially in the Specialties section
4. Use a good photo, a headshot is best, smiling
5. Look at the applications and see which you are ready to use. If you are a reader, use the “Reading List by Amazon” tool. There are several to choose from. Select those you can leverage to highlight your area of expertise
6. Customize your LI url to include your name
7. At the top of your profile there are 3 spots for “My Website”- you can and should customize these to reflect the company name, the name of the web site, blog or whatever
8. There is a “twitter”-like box where you can say what you are up to. Use this at least once each week
9. To flesh out your profile, get granular. If you are a member of a professional association, list it. If you have articles published, or speaking engagements, list them. These make you look more like a subject matter expert and will also make your profile show up in more searches.

This is truly a large amount to do, so don’t even try to do it all at once. It is actually better if you do it a little at a time. Each time you update or alter your profile, the changes show up on your connections profiles, where they are alerted as to what their “network” is doing.

LINTHICUM – The monthly breakfast of the BWI Business Partnership was as much a celebration of where it has been as it was where it is headed.  When it started in 1985, the group’s mission focused on getting employees to and from work around the area.  It has since expanded to advocate for education, workforce development as well as enhanced connectivity through rail, transit and highway systems.  The Partnership’s guest speaker, President James Pitts of Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, affirmed the importance of transportation in stating that his company is the largest private-sector employer in Anne Arundel and the largest industrial company in the state (11,000 staff in Maryland).  Pitts, also chairman of the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, called attention to the need for cultivating young people to solve transportation and other challenges.  “We need creative thinkers who challenge orthodoxy and are open to new ideas.”

Driving home the celebratory atmosphere, the Partnership named the following awardees: Carl Balser, Howard County’s Transportation Chief, as recipient of the Vision award; and the National Security Agency as Employer of the Year, which was accepted by Deputy Director John (Chris) Inglis.  Of course, I can neither confirm nor deny that anyone from NSA was actually there, and the award was bestowed with the cryptic phrase “Johnny gets an ice cream cone.”

L to R: NSA’s Deputy Director Chris Inglis, Chairman of BWI-BP Tom Osborne, NSA’s Kay Hill and BWI-BP’s Linda Greene

LINTHICUM – At the group’s annual meeting, President Rosemary Budd said the executive committee re-evaluated its need for a full-time leader and decided in favor of the existing contractual arrangement with interim manager The O’Ferrall Group.  Tim O’Ferrall will serve as general manager, and Donna De Marco takes the role of chief of staff.

The meeting featured remarks from Fort George G. Meade Installation Commander Col. Daniel Thomas who noted that the BRAC activity is only part of the coming changes; growth is planned for NSA and the Cyber Command.  The latter will include operations from each of the service branches as well as the Intelligence and Security Command.

Bottom line is lots of personnel, technology and construction.  The structures for DISA are 84% complete (and were scheduled to only be 75% complete by now); DMA’s buildings are 47% complete vs a scheduled 25%.

Hoping to keep the pump primed with good candidates for security-cleared positions, the Alliance plans on expanding Project SCOPE, which helps students understand how behavioral decisions can impact future employment.  It also intends to pursue a scholarship program and sponsorship of youth sports programs.  Contact the Alliance for a copy of the well-done annual report with greater detail on the programs.

FORT MEADE – The Defense Information Systems Agency has posted a new FAQ area online to guide employees planning to relocate here.

See site.