Will Kelly

Kelly's Laws of Non-Disclosure Agreements

I've recently had cause to rethink of the whole concept of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) as of late and I am finding the whole concept has been prostituted by tech companies (prompted by their attorneys) because they are way too insecure of their intellectual property (or lack thereof).

Plantronics Calisto

My new job as a director of product management means I spend a lot of time on the phone and learned early on in my tenure the value of having a headset. I am not a big fan of speakerphones unless I am sitting in a conference room of people.

2009 Professional Resolutions

I am walking into 2009 after a pretty major career change including reentering full-time employment after a long time on my own as a consultant, contractor, and freelancer.

OneNote 2007 Rejoins my Professional Workflow

I've always been a fan of Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 and moving into my new role as a director of product management meant I had to collect new ideas and organize projects to a scale I never had to as a writer. OneNote 2007 is now a central collection point for my ideas and questions as they relate to new product management processes, initiatives, and product offerings.

Moleskine NoteBooks and Product Management

My years as a technical writer, analyst, project manager, contractor, consultant,and freelance writer have made me an inveterate note taker. Yellow legal pads were always my friend and then steno pads became the norm for me.

Product Management and Mindmaps

Freelance writing was a day to day lesson in how to capture and conceptualize new ideas for articles and new projects and MindJet MindManager became an integral tool as I worked to define new article ideas to pitch to my editors.

The release of MindJet MindManager 8 prompted me to upgrade my license on Windows and  take stock of how I am using MindManager on my Macs. While I was a hard sell at first to move to mindmapping, it took me some time to realize its benefits over my previous brainstorming technique of yellow legal pads.

About the New Job

I left freelancing with mixed emotions. Part of me was relieved to be going to full time employment in light of the current economic downturn. Another part of me was apprehensive about the loss of freedom, the added responsibilities, and other stresses that come with taking a director level position in a small company.