Kat Skinner

Buying a Sewing Machine in Kuwait

I have recently taken up an interest in sewing, and after making several hand sewn garments I opted to upgrade to a sewing machine. After speaking to several people we decided to hit Souk Al Mubarakiya in search of that perfect machine. The goal was to find something “cheap and nasty”, as we weren’t sure if this interest was going to be a long time thing or not.

Can I tell you my dismay when we returned home after a very long fruitless search? Every single store that we went into (and we went into heaps) had a number of sewing machines, with the cheapest starting at approximately 60KD ($210)!… Read the rest

I’m Coming Back!

You may have noticed my prolonged and sudden disappearance over the last few months. Due to a dramatic life-style change (such as getting married and moving overseas), along with a hectic time running around (… well, not all the time…), I was unable to update my sites. Things have finally settled down a bit and I am here to let you know that I am getting back into blogging, with a range of new topics to interest and entertain you.… Read the rest

Using Social Media In Enterprises

Using social media is new trend that is slowly being adopted by many enterprises and corporations. As technology has enhanced, and improved, more and more people are becoming inter-connected online; and as a result interacting far more often via social media tools. By tapping into such tools, it is possible for businesses to receive quite a number of benefits. This post will consider just what those benefits are, and how a corporation such as the International Geological Congress can implement them.

Of course these approaches works best if the organisation has a dedicated social media team (or employee).

Enhanced Relationships and Customer Service

Customers have become accustomed to using internet-based tools to quickly find information.… Read the rest

Corporate Wiki’s

Wikipedia. Wikia. These are just a few of the websites that people think of the word “wiki”. Often considered unreliable places for sourcing information – and we all know how students are told not to use wikipedia as a source – yet wiki’s can actually house vast amounts of knowledge that can be beneficial to individuals and businesses by harnessing collective intelligence. IBM is famous for its use of wiki’s and other social media within the corporate environment, allowing employees to interact in a scale previously not seen before.

This post is part of the International Geological Congress series.… Read the rest

International Geological Congress

Potentially over the next few weeks I will be discussing the International Geological Congress. The International Union of Geological Science encourages the study of geological problems, especially those of world-wide significance, and supports and facilitates international and interdisciplinary cooperation in the earth sciences. The union currently consists of geologists from 120 countries and 46 Affiliated Organisations.

In August 2012 this congress will be held in my home town – Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – and is expected to promote significant amount of tourism, not to mention the benefits of so many scientists coming together for the benefit of mankind (and non-mankind). The whole event is essentially about networking and sharing information.… Read the rest

The ROI of “2.0″ Projects

Prior to implementing any new technology – or undertaking a project – a company will want to know the potential return on investment (ROI) to ensure the benefits will outweigh the cost. After all, very few organisations will operate under a deficit. But just how do enterprises determine the ROI of implementing web 2.0 technologies? This post will analyse ways that ROI can be calculated for productivity and efficiency, knowledge, reputation, staff engagement, and so forth.

Productivity and Efficiency

A benefit of implementing and utilising particular web 2.0 technologies is that working teams can become far more effective and innovate.

By regularly accessing social networking sites and social groups (for example Facebook and Facebook groups) it is possible to increase employee productivity by decreasing time spent on menial tasks such as email management.… Read the rest

Legal Risks for Businesses Integrating Social Media

Although not an entirely new concept, social media has started to become significantly noticed within all industries – no matter the organisational size. As more and more companies are turning to the internet to advertise their products and services they beginning to use more than just Google Adwords to advertise: Facebook and Twitter have the power to reach millions of people, targeted by the power of retweeting (at no cost to the business) and groups (such as followers and hashtags on Twitter).

In most cases a business will hire an employee to be the social media manager, someone who will write posts, respond to comments, and so forth.… Read the rest

Benefits and Risks of Enterprise 2.0

In previous posts we have discussed how to create a successful blog and how businesses (even you!) can use crowd-sourcing to source cheap or free labour and maximise the potential of any product you provide. What we have not yet considered is what risks pose a business functioning online; can the benefits outweigh the detriments?

Operating for 116 years, IBM is one of the world’s most successfully companies – practically everyone has heard of them. Lesser known is the company’s integration of social media (such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook). However the company’s move towards encouraging employee’s to share via the internet – a move effectively networking employees from across the globe into more centralized places (online) – has achieved some amazing results.… Read the rest

Crowd Sourcing in Enterprises

Businesses often use the internet as a means of advertisement and marketing. More and more businesses are turning to the internet – and the people now accessible over the internet – to source solutions; improve products, services and advertising; and increase profit. These businesses are utilising what is known as crowd sourcing. This post will analyse what crowd sourcing is, how it is used, and how you can use it yourself.

What is crowd sourcing?

According to the New Oxford American Dictionary (2011), crowd sourcing is “the practice whereby an organization enlists a variety of freelancers, paid or unpaid, to work on a specific task or problem“.… Read the rest

How to Create a Successful Blog

As many of my readers may know, I am still a university student. A fledging in a world of long-time practicing professionals. Yet that does not mean that I lack experience, nor do I lack the ability to part with my knowledge. In today’s post I will be reflecting upon what makes a “successful” blog, and how any other “fledglings” can start their own.

What makes a successful blog?

Blogs can be considered successful in a variety of ways – depending on the aims of the creator (note that a creator isn’t always the author of content found on such a blog).… Read the rest