Nearly 5 months passed. Really?

Evening all.

I haven't visited blogspot in a long while, a couple of months I was thinking. Then I saw my last real post (not counting when I was drunk and posting about Jenson Button winning last years WDC) was 5 months ago. Time does fly when your having fun. Ha.

Christmas was busy, and so was it's build up. The working life is different to what I imagined, it really is. Aspects of I enjoy very much, but sometimes I have those off days that I guess we all do. I can't help but feel it's relentless at times. Ah well.

I had two weeks at Christmas. I went to see family. I was more exhausted than spending a week at work afterwards due to travels and sleeping on the floor/sofas.

Following Christmas was a month of client work in January, which was probably the most challenging month in my role at MML so far. I was working on data analysis, process modelling, project management, report writing, benefits management, engagement, etc. On top of that I have been cold calling to promote a key area of business development and building a product to enhance our process modelling capabilities.

As for personally. I have been on a date or two and I've been to see friends in London, South West, etc to catch up.

I have a day off on Monday, the first one in '10. Hopefully this blog will be much more up to date soon. Watch this space for comments on Microsoft office applications and SQL Server integration..

Have a good evening.

Formula 1 WDC

JENSON BUTTON 2009.

Get In!

Working with MS Dynamics 4.0

Good evening.

The last two days have been rather frustrating. At work I am overseeing the deployment of CRM, the solution is run on a server at the head office of MML and I am doing research to manage the upload and maintenance of contacts, running marketing campaigns, etc.

Yesterday and today have revealed no end of issues. I have had trouble creating emails from a quick campaign (they just aren't generated but the campaign is), uploading data that remains on submitted and is 'waiting' in system jobs and data updates in excel where I cannot find the 'hidden' column.

Eventually, and typically, when I worked with my boss to resolve the mail issue the mail merge for a campaign suddenly began to send emails. This allowed me to run and finish todays campaigns by 7ish this evening.

Though CRM does come with some great and powerful features, I have had nothing but frustration this past couple of days. We were successful in getting in Outlook CRM integration running last week and I can only assume this must be some sort of weird 'payback'- ha.


May the week go on, I have a way to go with getting Dynamics CRM 4.0 to be smooth for our company processes yet.

Steve

A new journey

I don't usually find myself working a Saturday, not since the days of being a university finalist anyway. So I guess today comes as an exception but in a funny way it's a delight to me that I'm enjoying my work enough that I have the motivation to progress over a weekend.

The first 6-7 weeks at MML have brought some interesting times and I already have a range of tasks to complete. I've moved away from any development work but I don't consider that bad, more of a refreshing change because the work is still varied and sufficiently challenging.

The last month or so has been quite uninteresting socially, I've just been plodding along - other than a trip to Windsor which was great. I went to an Indian restaurant with great food followed by the theatre production 'fatal encounter'. It was my first theatre experience and spurs me to want to see another one!

The first few weeks in Reading were difficult. I found it tough moving away from everything I knew, working in an environment where were all dependant on electronic communication with few meetings. However, I'm starting to feel more like part of the team now as other consultants come to depend on my work as well as going out more.

Next week is my birthday, looking forward to the festivities.

Have a good weekend.

A professional.

I have confidence I am now back onto a path that fits into where my interests lie. I finally have the feeling that I'm where I want to be professionally, which I didn’t have in July with Cirrus. I think that’s very important. As ridiculous as it sounds I take a good feeling from walking through London smartly dressed in a suit. It’s like I’ve jumped and reached the goal I’ve been aspiring to throughout my entire education- giving me the full right to mix with other professionals that have worked just as hard. It must have been something I subconsciously aspired to a while back.

It’s been a tough start actually. The reading has been heavy, though I’m not falling over backwards as university was just as tough – especially the research required for the health informatics modules in the final year. The other factor has been working from home, which I really like in some cases but it’s easy to sometimes feel isolated and/or distracted. Though I couldn’t have survived without working independently in the past I have always had the option to physically change my work location. I am starting to use starbucks once a week and I’m thinking of getting into a pattern of using different rooms of the house to work in- just to help me get acclimatised.

Anyway. Back to Lean, Six Sigma, and CRM for now. I have a lot of different aspects of work to get going with and I’m sure I’ll be blogging more about great days and frustrating days as I start to use these tools more. I’d love to become specialist enough to have the confidence to apply such tools independently with professionals in the future.

Have a good evening, I hope you enjoyed the summer. By the looks of today we’ve had the last of it.

Until next time..

Catch up.

Good evening. I hope you enjoyed the bank holiday weekend. I didn't have any specific plans for this one, just relaxing and catching up on some things I needed to do for work.

Quite a lot has happened since my last blog- it’s been a busy month has August. The end of last month saw me take a big risk by leaving my old job and the following week saw me in interview for my current role. The interview was quite lengthy but it gave Medical Mosaic (MML) a good insight into what I was about and I was pleased with how I put myself across, especially as it gave me the chance to elaborate on some of the hard work and targets met during the early stages of my life. I chose not to sit back and just do my degree but to put a lot of effort in ensuring I gained some valuable experience outside, which I’m more than pleased with.

Before starting with MML I spent some time in the Caribbean as it was my Dads wedding. I was there a week on the lovely island of Antigua. The weather was beautiful, it was a place where I was able to finally indulge in some real relaxation, with my only worry being where I was going to get my next beverage from! Here are some pictures, though more can be found at : click here

No longer graduand, but graduate!!!!

Good evening.

Today was brilliant, I had such a good time. It was an early one- even being in a B&B in Leeds because the ceremony started at 9.45am.

By far the best moment was walking up those steps though. My

Mum got a great pic at the right moment..

The ceremony finished about 11 ish when we had a group photo and reception with drinks. TO be honest it was great to use this time just catching up with everyone and saying goodbyes because I had to head back home this evening.

I want to say a huge congratulations to everyone I've ever worked with at university. Its been a life experience that is unforgettable, something which is only made possible by some of the great people who I've been around for the past 3 years. I hope I get to see you soon and I know we can all live prosperous lives from now and into the future. I think we bloody deserve it.

Cheers! I'll leave it with a couple more photos...