Tulsa Think Tank

This article was particularly interesting because it hits me right where it hurts….my manager is a micromanager….

http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/220252/3919276

Please, think of the employees.  Friends don’t let friends micromanage.

Neal Davidson, CEO of Red Gate Software, has written an excellent post about why you can’t just trim the fat in a software development organization.  It can be found at http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2008/12/bos-digest-why-you-cant-just-trim-the-fat.html

I would also like to specifically point your attention to my follow up to his blog post, which is comment #2 following his posting.

At a company here in Tulsa, the following happened.  

An employee takes lunch at different times because life is full of uncertanties…they just want the option to meet up with people at lunch, and it varies anywhere from 11 to 1.  This employee was trying to be a good little employee, but people kept scheduling meetings in the middle of lunch, not like from 11:30 to 12:00, but from 12 to 1.  

So, since Outlook rules the office, the employee scheduled out of office time from 11:30 until 1:45 to keep people from scheduling meetings.  It worked well for quite a while, and the manager never seemed to notice or mind.  Until the manager wanted to schedule a meeting during that time.  Here is the short but sweet email chain, proving that scheduling meetings is more important than the employees work/life balance.

Employee,

In attempting to book a meeting today I noticed that your schedule shows you as out of office every day from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM. Can you please let me know what this is for? Also, what is your work schedule to make the hour up each day? Thanks.

Senior Manager
 

As a continuing part of the Global Entrepreneurial Week, Sean Griffin presented “Visualizing the Steps to Startup Up Your Start-Up.”  This was my first opportunity to see Sean in Action in what he does better than anyone else.  Sean’s passion for coaching start-ups and helping them grow was immediately apparent, and this channeled into a spirited and lively presentation.

Sean Griffin is one of, if not the key person driving the community of start ups in Tulsa.  His involvement in the Tulsa Collaboratorium, the Tulsey’s and other initiatives puts him first and foremost as a true leader in the Tulsa business community.  Sean is the real deal, starting several companies with his teams in the past and leading others today.

Given the great presenter, interesting topic, and the always popular free food, where is everyone?  There was a good group of about thirty of us in attendance, but that still left more than half of the available seats unfilled.  Personally, I only learned of the event the same day, and I like to think I know that is going on in Tulsa.  I just missed any references to it, and maybe a lot of other people did as well.  I was disappointed about the lack of attendance because the topic and presenter were fantastic.  Like a good movie that you tell all of your friends about, but in this case, they won’t have the opportunity to catch it Friday night.

I loved this luncheon, and kudos goes to the organizers for the event.  If you ever have the chance to see Sean Griffin in action with markers in hand, don’t miss it.  The public relations could have been better, as I feel the market for this type of luncheon is much larger than what was represented.

Today, a press conference was held to announce the formation of the Tulsa Collaboratorium.  The Tulsa Collab is a supportive environment for entrepreneurs in Tulsa.  Starting in 2009 companies will have the opportunity to submit business plans to be considered for acceptance.  There does not seem to be an emphasis specifically on technology, but given the rich environment of technology in Tulsa, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a majority of them being so.

To say this is exciting for Tulsa would be an understatement.  For years, Tulsa has lagged behind Oklahoma City in start up support and a growth oriented entrepreneurial environment.  This will hopefully re-invigorate start ups in Tulsa.  Already there has been an emphasis on entrepreneurship with the Tulsa Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards, the Tulseys and other efforts by the City of Tulsa and private donors.  This type of incubator environment has been needed for a while and they have proven successes in other cities.

For me personally it lifts my spirits and gives me hope.  I have been working on a start up, and this might be the opportunity  that moves it from part time to full time.  Just in the past few weeks, the number of doors being opened has been astounding.  With the introduction of the Microsoft BizSpark program I have an avenue to obtain the software and support I need to create the software application that is the basis for my start up.  Depending on how things work out, I may be a part of the inaugural group of entrepreneurs to join the Tulsa Collaboratorium start up accelerator.

Fantastic news for Tulsa has been limited lately, but this might just give Tulsa the shot in the arm that it needs.

What I would like to see answered is what are the tangible benefits (it all comes down to the money, but specifically funding, Health Insurance) and what are the costs?  The website indicates that the Collab is available at a discounted rate, but no numbers are available.  With office space being relatively inexpensive in Tulsa to begin with, there is not a lot of room to discount.  What type of infrastructure support, marketing support, sales coaching, etc is offered?  The overarching question is how will this help my entrepreneural endeavour, and in what ways?

The Tulsa Think Tank is a blog dedicated to discussing technology and technology related businesses in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area.  Tulsa has been a breeding ground of technology for many years and continues to do so.  There is a lack of discussion about the technology industry in Tulsa, and that is a shame.

I believe in Tulsa, and that is why it hurts when companies leave, like Vidoop and Solarc.  Tulsa has had its share of hard times as well, with the departure of the technology heavy Oil and Gas companies like Parker Drilling and with the collapse of large technology based employers like WorldCom, Williams Communications, Commercial Financial Services and most recently, SemGroup.

These are certainly exciting times though, and I am happy to see more and more encouragement from organizations like the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation who are sponsoring great initiatives like Tulsa’s Entrepreneurial week and the Tulsa Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards.  Potential for greatness exists in many Tulsa start ups like Lifeguard America, Avansic, eLynx Technologies, WorldTelemetry, and Anyware Mobile Solutions.

So going forward, please feel free to interact, discuss and criticize the articles and the technology companies in Tulsa.  Together we can make Tulsa a great place to grow technology related businesses and grow the community to attract other great opportunities.