We are reminded of this fact every year when we send and receive hundreds of holiday cards. Last year, however, we didn’t send out even one card. This change was not due to new hermit tendencies. And it certainly was not intended to be a repudiation of our friends. Rather, it was a reflection of our technological paralysis.

For years we kept our contacts in a prehistoric database housed in series of PCs. However, we’ve since seen the light and moved on to a Mac. Further the vendor of the contacts manager we’ve used since the mid-90s no longer supports the software, and there isn’t even a prehistoric Mac version available for purchase.

So now we have to move our contacts, but don’t know the destination. The cloud seems like an obvious choice. However, using which application? And, how do we ensure that the privacy of our friends is fully protected? Which application and service provider is least likely to mimic Facebook by unilaterally changing the privacy settings? Which provider is least likely to sell the data or use it for other unauthorized commercial purposes? And, whether or not you believe Google is evil, should I give Google complete access to all my contacts?

This post is a request for advice. What should my family do?

[Photo Credit: Bertop]

The stone — as big as a chicken egg and weighing just over 100 grams (3.53 ounces) — was estimated as among the world’s top 20 high-quality rough diamonds. It was discovered in September at South Africa’s Cullinan mine.

What would someone pay for the potential embodied by your team?  If not a record-setting price, why not?  Thanks to the economic downturn, there is some terrific talent on the market looking for new opportunities. Perhaps it’s time to reassess and augment the strength of your bench.

And let’s not forget that the key to a rough diamond is a masterful diamond cutter.  Your ability to prioritize and shape the efforts of your team will go a long way to realizing their brilliance.  Do you have the skill to reveal the myriad glittering facets hidden in the rough diamonds of your team?  If not, what are you doing about that?  It may be past time for you to polish your skills.

[Photo Credit:  Times Live]

During the course of the last 18 months, many firms and their managers have made seemingly prudent decisions regarding spending.  I suspect that a large number of them have opted to stay at home and save pennies rather than to venture out in search of something new.  While this may be a safe choice, is it the right choice?  What opportunities are they foreclosing?  What Berlin Wall will they miss?

[Photo Credit:  Romtomtom]

Just before we left, she showed us a beautiful woolen scarf she was crocheting, as well as the stack of scarves she had recently completed. When we asked her about the scarves, she told us that they were destined for a nearby homeless shelter to keep its inhabitants warm during the approaching winter months. We were impressed.  Given her age, no one would blame her for kicking back and taking it easy. However, she was very clear about her motivation — she makes these scarves because she wants to be, in her words, useful.

100 years old and still looking for ways to contribute.  What a great example for the rest of us.

[Photo Credit:  Jessica N. Diamond]

The deadline for submitting the registration materials is one month after one’s birthday.  Since my birthday falls in the middle of August, I have until the middle of September to complete the task.  However, on September 12, 2001, as we were beginning to understand the scope of the wreckage of 9/11, I learned that the post office box and postal station to which I normally would have sent my registration materials were casualties of the 9/11 catastrophe.  Suddenly, even if I wanted to comply with the rules, I couldn’t.

Last night,  as I looked at the address printed on the registration envelope, I found myself grateful for the existence of a post office box.  And, I was reminded that even something as simple as that post office box can represent the blessing of a relatively peaceful life.  After 9/11, I’m glad for the reminder.

[Photo Credit:  mhawkins]

In celebration of Easter, here’s a present that will delight.  Best of all, it is low-calorie and will not enrage your dentist.  Enjoy!

How to Read a Poem: Beginner’s Manual
by Pamela Spiro Wagner

First, forget everything you have learned,
that poetry is difficult,
that it cannot be appreciated by the likes of you,
with your high school equivalency diploma,
your steel-tipped boots,
or your white-collar misunderstandings.

Do not assume meanings hidden from you:
the best poems mean what they say and say it.

To read poetry requires only courage
enough to leap from the edge
and trust.

Treat a poem like dirt,
humus rich and heavy from the garden.
Later it will become the fat tomatoes
and golden squash piled high upon your kitchen table.

Poetry demands surrender,
language saying what is true,
doing holy things to the ordinary.

Read just one poem a day.
Someday a book of poems may open in your hands
like a daffodil offering its cup
to the sun.

When you can name five poets
without including Bob Dylan,
when you exceed your quota
and don’t even notice,
close this manual.

- from We Mad Climb Shaky Ladders, published by Cavankerry Press.

Courtesy of the American Academy of Poets

[Photo Credit:  Nedieth]

It will, undoubtedly, take us a few days to process what we saw and what we learned.  We have the quick notes we tweeted from the various sessions to remind us, but we don’t yet know if they will prove to be  invaluable or completely ephemeral.  In addition, some hardier souls (like David Hobbie and Kelly Talcott) have already published their blogs on various sessions.  I’m in awe of their ability to synthesize information so quickly and grateful that we have the benefit of their views.

For me there is something about the learning process that requires a period of quiet reflection in order to consolidate the disparate bits of information I’ve picked up.  And when I’ve been drinking from an information firehose as I was at LegalTech, it takes even longer.  Starting tomorrow, I’m going to indulge in a little quiet reflection and when I emerge, I hope I’ll have something sensible to say about what I learned at LegalTech.

Before I hibernate, I would like to thank the good folks on the LegalTech Advisory Board and at Incisive Media for organizing a conference rich in possibilities and opportunities.  I was glad to have a chance to participate both as a speaker and a blogger.   Best of all, LegalTech provided a wonderful lab for demonstrating how we interact with and learn from each other.  The multi-layered interchanges that bounced between the conference rooms, the Twittersphere, the Blogosphere and the hallways  made for a very rich learning environment. Thank you to everyone in New York and online who made this possible.

[Photo Credit:  cobalt123, Creative Commons license]

[Photo Credits: RPhotos2008 (Marian Anderson); Civil Rights (MLK); Presidential Inaugural Committee]

The Pleasure of Your Company is requested at the relaunch of the Above and Beyond KM blog on a new domain that has been a long time in gestation:  aboveandbeyondkm.com.

As you’ll undoubtedly notice quickly enough, I’ve moved but haven’t yet finished unpacking.  So please bear with me as I hang the curtains and shift the furniture around.

Since this move is happening in plain sight, please let me know what you think.  Over the course of the last year, I’ve come to value your input enormously. In the meantime, I hope we’ll be able to continue the conversation we began last year — but now in more gracious (and spacious) surroundings.

I do hope you’ll join me.

(Photo credit:  Steve & Jemma Copley, Creative Commons license)

There is no one more surprised than I — except my husband. You know what they say: “Behind every successful woman, there is an astonished man.”

These are the words of Gen. Ann Dunwoody, while speaking at a ceremony held recently in Washington, D.C. to recognize the fact that she is the first woman to achieve the rank of four-star general in the US military. Of course, she’s playing with the old adage: “Behind every great man there is a great woman.”

Reading her words made me wonder — what lies behind every successful KM effort? I’d suggest vision, a collaborative firm culture and entrepreneurial knowledge managers. You also need great teamwork with IT. I’m not sure you need a lot of money or a large staff. But, then again, I’ve always been of the opinion that working within financial or staffing constraints often leads to game-changing innovation.

What would you add to this list?