SourceSolution's Community SpeakUp Blog Feed. http://speakup.sourcesolution.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss SourceSolution RSS Generator 2.0 speakup@sourcesolution.com webmaster@sourcesolution.com http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Join_SourceSolution%E2%80%99s_Kiva.org_Team%21 We just started a team on Kiva.org because it is a great way to help support entrepreneurs in the developing world. We were really inspired by Kiva’s goal of changing lives through loans to people who just need a little help to realize their dreams. To that end we have started a Kiva team and we are encouraging everyone we know to join, loan, and to change lives! If you would like to join SourceSolution’s team please feel free to sign-up! "Click Here." www.kiva.org/team/sourcesolution About Kiva: Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe. "Read all about Kiva.org here." www.kiva.org/about Do you loan to Kiva already? If so tell us about it, we would love to hear from you! Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:43:11 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Re%3A_%28What_is_Cloud_Computing%3F%29_-_What_Can_Clouds_Do%3F Well for SourceSolution, the answer to this question is easy. They can do a lot. SourceSolution uses a type of Cloud technology called Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). SourceSolution’s Clinical platform is built on SaaS technology and allows users to use software without the challenges associated with installation, data storage and equipment configuration. With SourceSolution, there is no software to install. Instead, you can login and use all system features anywhere you have internet access. Additionally, as improvements are made to the system, there is no need to purchase and install new versions of the software or download updates because they are pushed out automatically. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:23:28 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Re%3A_%28What_is_Cloud_Computing%3F%29_-_How_are_you_using_the_Cloud%3F There is a lot of discussion about a new technology called Cloud Computing. While it is built on a variety of existing technologies this term is really a reference to how these technologies are being used. At SourceSolution we are using a Cloud Computing to run our Vendor and Project Management system to allow for dynamic scalability. Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to define the term here on our community site and to start a discussion about it. Specifically we would like to know if you or your company is using this technology to support your outsourcing efforts. Please feel free to blog about Cloud Computing here. Please create a user name for yourself first by clicking the link below. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:19:24 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/What_is_Cloud_Computing%3F_ Well, the answer to this question is both complex and extremely simple. In simplistic terms Cloud Computing can be thought of a system which can dynamically add computing capacity and capabilities as the demand increases. Conversely, as the demand decreases the resource requirements can be decreased as well. Traditionally, if a company needed more storage capacity or computing power they would have to upgrade their servers or purchase new servers. This process is not quick and can be extremely expensive. With Cloud Computing, however you can access capabilities and storage from a large pool (Cloud of servers) and add the same capacity for pennies on the dollar in real-time. The features that are unique to Cloud Computing as previously mentioned the dynamic allocation of resources, but also it allows the end user to access data anywhere in the world, requires no IT or hardware support, and virtually no maintenance. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:17:30 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/50_Handy_Excuses_-_by_Val_Crane 50 Handy Excuses... Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. Like the old nursery rhyme, business success today requires speed, agility and the will to reinvent oneself over and over. Change is the operative word. Yet it's so much easier to "do what we've always done," isn't it? Do you see your company... or yourself... in any of the following? Read the rest of the story by Val Crane on The Capstone Group blog and the excuse list by clicking the link below... Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:57:04 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Tradeshow_cost_calculator Are you ever curious about how much it costs to exhibit at a life science tradeshow? Well I know here at SourceSolution we were curious so we created an interesting tradeshow cost calculator. The calculator is based on two of the major expense areas of a conference. Obviously, the first large expense is the cost associated with exhibiting and includes things such as booth space, shipping, electricity, etc. Additionally, the other major cost area that many people don’t always think about is the cost of having personnel work at the booth. So for the second part of the calculator we looked at a per person cost using average travel, hotel, and food numbers. What we found of course is that tradeshows can be expensive and we didn't even calculate hourly rates for each employee! Try the calculator, by clicking the link below, and let us know what you think. Fri, 29 May 2009 23:59:39 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/LUNAFEST_Benefiting_Girls_on_the_Run_San_Diego Please join SourceSolution at LUNAFEST benefiting Girls on the Run San Diego. Join us for an evening of film, drinks, snacks and a silent auction on Thursday, April 30 at Jolt\'n Joe\'s! LUNAFEST films celebrate the talents and stories of women. Previous LUNAFEST films have won industry awards and audience accolades, and the films selected for 2008-09 LUNAFEST share this brilliance. From quirky animation to touching documentaries, the 10 selected short films are incredibly diverse in both style and subject matter, united by a common thread of exceptional storytelling by, for and about women. Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:38:01 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Monitoring_your_website Marketing in an economic downturn is extremely important as Premila mentioned in her posting; however I think just as important is careful monitoring of your efforts. As I have learned in discussions I have had with people over the years, many companies often cannot tell how potential clients are finding them and therefore what is effective and what is not. But you can be assured that potential clients will be looking for you online at some point and monitoring your online presence is essential. Driving traffic to your website is extremely important, and often companies try to increase traffic by using email blasts, pay-per-click (PPC), and banner advertisements. However, while driving traffic to your site is helpful, it will not necessarily translate into increased conversions. The reason that traffic does not always translate to success is because websites are often difficult to navigate. A call-to-action, such as a web form, should be no more than 3 clicks away; otherwise the user may leave your site in frustration. Many sites are now using webtracking software to monitor hits and visits. I have personally used Google Analytics and Webtrends to monitor website traffic. These packages are extremely powerful and offer a wide range of information. However, what you really want to pay attention to is your exit points, bounce rates, and navigation paths. Bounce rates are extremely important. For example, if you have a landing page for a PPC campaign that has a bounce rate of over 50%, this could mean that your PPC needs adjustment or visitors are simply not finding what they want on that page. Another example... if you have high exit rates on your homepage, this could mean people are confused about what you are offering. Not too long ago I noticed on one of the sites I was managing that we had a high exit rate on our "contact us" page. This seemed strange because I could tell that people were, in fact, spending time looking around the site. What I discovered was this. If I simplified the "contact us" page by removing some of the required fields, the exit rate decreased and, in turn, we got more requests. A great feature of Google Analytics is the Site Overlay function, which allows you see how visitors are traversing through your site. You can see where they are going most often, where they get stuck and what is working. Monitoring a site is not a once-a- month activity, though; you want to have someone looking at it on a daily basis. Test your pages, try different titles, different copy, and see what drives the most conversions. Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:26:11 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Re%3A_%28Welcome_Florida_Biologix_and_The_University_of_Iowa_to_the_SourceSolution_Nonprofit_Partner_Program%21%29_-_Press_Release I wanted to let everyone know that we have just issued a press release about our acceptance into Salesforce.com’s foundation program. If you would like to read the full press release, click the link below. Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:45:01 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Welcome_Florida_Biologix_and_The_University_of_Iowa_to_the_SourceSolution_Nonprofit_Partner_Program%21 Through our partnership with the Salesforce.com Foundation, SourceSolution is committed to donating 1% of our product and 1% of our time to qualified nonprofit organizations. The first recipients of our product donation program are Florida Biologix and The University of Iowa. Florida Biologix® is a non-profit biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing service provider that fills the biotechnology industry's unmet need for cGMP biopharmaceutical production and testing. We provide process development, clinical trial material production, and many support services to the biotechnology industry and biomedical research institutions. The University of Iowa Pharmaceuticals (UIP) is an FDA-registered pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. UIP provides contract services including formulation development, manufacturing (clinical and small scale commercial), and analytical. UIP is licensed to handle controlled substances (Schedules I – V) and capable of handling potent compounds. Offering SourceSolution free to these organizations allows them to focus their resources and efforts on achieving their missions. Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Should_you_maintain%2C_increase_or_decrease_marketing_spending_during_an_economic_downturn%3F Much has been written about whether you should adjust marketing spending during a recession. In speaking with many of you during the last couple of months, spending has been cut since the beginning of the year forcing you to achieve aggressive targets with fewer resources. Is this the best approach? Many experts actually believe that you should maintain, and if you're able, increase marketing spending during a recession. The belief is based on the assumption that your competitors are spending less, making deals on advertising, sponsorhips, etc. easier to find. By leveraging these relatively inexpensive opportuinities, you are able to gain market share and actually decrease your ROI for this type of spending. Are you increasing, maintaining or decreasing your marketing spending? Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sourcesolution.com/speakup/Welcome_to_Speak_Up%21 Welcome to SourceSolution's Speak Up! site. SourceSolution's revolutionary platform for identifying and screening CMOs and CROs has been live for a couple of months. Many of you have either logged in and created supplier profiles or have performed searches for CMOs and CROs. The response to the site and the positive feedback has been tremendous. Thank you! This is just the beginning of our effort to make outsourcing simpler for both buyers and suppliers. Speak Up! was built to allow us to listen to our most valued advisors, our clients. We want to hear your thoughts as we continue to expand and improve the functionality of our site. This is an open forum designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas about our site and anything else related to biotech and pharma product development. User feedback and suggestions will be posted here, and all ideas (large and small) will be up for vote. Thank you again to all of our clients who have helped us build the platform. We hope that you will all login and Speak Up! Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT