In September, 2009, St. Clair College, marketing professor, Nicole Rourke, and president of Tactical Marketing Solutions, Kevin Booker, collaborated to create an assignment which would be presented to the third year marketing students at St. Clair College.  The major assignment was to develop a Strategic Marketing Plan for the technology solutions provider, Nerds On Site.

Charlie Regan, CEO (Capability Expansion Orchestrator) of Nerds On Site, met with students and gave an inspirational presentation about Nerds On Site and what they have to offer.  It was then determined which student groups would tackle which markets in order to help Nerds On Site expand, both their services as well as recruiting new EntrepreNerds, internationally.

At the end of the semester, students presented their final marketing plans to Booker and Regan.  As a reward for their hard work and effort, Nerds On Site very generously donated $1000 to the Marketing Club which would help send the students to Toronto for a variety of marketing seminars at the end of the school year.

In December, the St. Clair College Marketing department implemented a new internship program for the 2010 graduating class.  Rourke discussed with Booker the potential of having interns work at Tactical Marketing Solutions.  The idea went over very well and in early February, Tactical Marketing Solutions chose the students they wanted for the internship based on impressions from the marketing presentation.  Of the class, six students were chosen to intern for the month of April.  Presently, two students have extended the internship till the end of July and are still with Tactical Marketing Solutions.

“Tactical Marketing Solutions and Nerds On Site were fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work closely with St Clair College, located in Windsor, ON, first by providing a project for their Marketing Class and second by hand selecting six interns to work with us during the month of April. While we wish we could have kept all six students (and one day we may), we were able to add two of them to our team right away - Veronica Bulmer and Matt Vilamarim. And if you haven't heard from them yet, you will soon!

We remain very confident in our decision; however that has been reinforced by the college, the faculty and their classmates. Matt was awarded the Bob Jershy award for academic strength and athletic involvement. Veronica was awarded the Faculty Academic Award, the Student Leadership Award and the Board of Governors Medal - a clean SWEEP!

Congratulations Veronica and Matt - happy to have you on our team!” Kevin Booker, President, Tactical Marketing Solutions.

“It’s always great when education and industry can partner together on a project.  Students benefit from hands on experience and feedback from a real client.  Having a diploma is no longer enough in this day and age.  Graduating students have to demonstrate that they have real world marketing experience.  Partnering with Kevin Booker was refreshing because of his commitment to student development and success.”   Nicole Rourke, Professor, St. Clair College

Veronica and Matt both work closely with Nerds On Site, helping to promote and grow the EntrepreNerd family.  The result of this internship has been incredibly valuable to the students as they are now able to enhance their real world marketing skills to round out their educational experiences.  A special thank you goes out to all who were involved in creating this opportunity for the students; Tactical Marketing Solutions, St. Clair College and Nerds On Site.

Veronica Bulmer in Windsor Ontario, CA

June 28, 2010

Major companies do not house IT services internally anymore and anyone who does is living in the past. Hewlett Packard prepares to cut 9,000 IT employees, as outsourcing IT is becoming the way companies solve their tech problems.

London, Ontario.

As fast as technology is changing, so are the capabilities of companies to maintain in-house technology departments.  Outsourcing these services has become increasingly less expensive, less complicated and more efficient.  Global powerhouse companies, such as Hewlett-Packard Co., are moving forward with this trend as they have recently announced that they will be gradually cutting 9,000 in-house IT positions globally.

International IT Solutions provider Nerd On Site views their way of doing business as the NEW way!

Change is inevitable and necessary as companies continually try to keep costs low and efficiency high.  Nerds On Site views this as a positive opportunity.  They have not only been servicing businesses all over the globe by making it easy and affordable to outsource IT since 1995, but have also created entrepreneurial opportunities for talented IT professionals.  Nerds On Site is quickly growing as the concept of ‘cloud computing’ increases in popularity.  Companies no longer need to be concerned with housing and maintaining large servers and the stress and worry of network ‘down time’ is drastically cut.

Nerds On Site is proud to announce they can offer a new start for those employees who will be out of a job by recruiting them to become EntrepreNerds.  Nerds On Site prides themselves on encouraging Nerds to be their own boss while providing a global network of support.

Eliminate the threat of layoff by becoming your own boss.  Become an EntrepreNerd!

For more on this story, click here.   

To become an EntrepreNerd, click here.

Veronica Bulmer in Windsor Ontario, CA

June 28, 2010

There is a major security vulnerability in Adobe Flash / Reader that is being actively exploited. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. Sorry to have to say - there is another one which was announced on Friday. You can find out more here.

Here is another announcement that will seem familiar - this Tuesday's patch cycle from Microsoft will be a BIG one - 34 vulnerabilities fixed - at least three of which are critical. Make sure everyone gets updated.

Here is some more news that's not new. Smartphones are about to become the next frontier for malware. There's an app for that!

In keeping with this theme, here is something that is (not) news - Internal fraud is a problem that continues to grow. Small businesses are especially vulnerable because they often do not have anti-fraud controls in place. Look for an upcoming article on preventing fraud in small businesses.

Well, that's the recycled old news / new news. Why do we keep treading in the same circles? Because the bad guys are still bad and we just don't pay enough attention to protecting ourselves. The next time you are face-to-face with an SME client, spend a little time talking about security.

Dennis H in West Virginia, US

June 7, 2010

Public wifi networks – you find them at airports, coffee shops, and even at fast food restaurants. Public networks don’t have to be wireless. Hotel networks are often wired, but they are public, and the same precautions apply. You never know who else is on the network capturing your traffic. Are public networks safe? What can you do to protect yourself?

First, know the risks. There are three ways others can steal your data or compromise your privacy when you are on a public network.

• The first one is old-school and low-tech (or even no-tech).  Someone who wants to steal your passwords or just see what you are up to can simply look over your shoulder (it is called shoulder-surfing).  There is a more advance version, though.  It involves a small video camera strategically positioned to record what others are doing - sometimes from a distance of several meters.  Watching the display and playing back video of the keystrokes while entering passwords can be an effective attack.  In a crowded place, and with the right equipment, this is easier than you might think.
• The second one is simply capturing the traffic that you are broadcasting through the air (that’s why it’s called wireless, you know) and analyzing it later for passwords, etc.  Many public networks are open (all the traffic is in “plaintext” and can be read) or use shared passwords (if you all have the same password, it is more or less the same as an open network).  Assume any password given to you by someone else is not secure, since you have no way of knowing who else may know it.
• The third one is a little more difficult, but not much.  Anyone can pretend to be a free wifi access point.  It just takes a little configuration on a laptop to set up a network that others can connect to.  The attacker calls it “Free Public Wifi” and then connects any victims who fall for the trick to a real public network.  The victim surfs happily, but the attacker is recording everything.

Ouch! That sounds dangerous.  What can you do to avoid being the victim?  Here are five tips:

1. Avoid doing sensitive work when on a public network.  Do you really need to check you stocks or your bank account from the hotel or the coffee shop?   Only do this when it is really necessary.
2. Look around. Be aware of your surroundings.  Lean over the keyboard when typing passwords.  Sit with your back toward the wall.  Don’t make it easy for others to see what you are doing.
3. Know what you are connected to.  Make sure you know the name (also referred to as the SSID) of the network you want to use.  Beware if you see a duplicate or similar name.  Avoid unknown networks.  In addition, your laptop should be configured to connect to “access points” only (also known as infrastructure mode).  Do not allow your computer to connect directly to other computers (also known as ad-hoc mode.

• On a Macintosh, go to System Preferences > Network > Advanced and made sure “Create computer-to-computer networks is not checked.

• On Windows, double-click the wireless adapter icon > click the “Wireless Networks” tab > click the “Advanced” button, and make sure that “Access point (infrastructure mode) networks only” is selected.

4. Learn about https.  In the address bar of the browser, the address starts with either http:// or https://.  The “s” stands for secure.  In this mode, all the traffic to and from your computer is encrypted and cannot be read by anyone else – even if they record it and analyze it later.  Any sensitive information should ONLY be sent over an https connection.  A word of caution, though – if you are tricked into making a https connection to an attacker, they will be able to read what you send.  You must be SURE you know who is at the other end of the https connection.  If you receive an error about a “certificate” when on a public network, DO NOT ignore it.  You may be about to become a victim.  Checking email?  Remember that even though you may sign in to your account using https, the mail is usually sent over http, in cleartext.  The exception is Gmail, which defaults to https for everything.  It is the most secure email service for use in public locations.  If the last two tips sound a bit complicated – well, they are.  The good news is that you can skip them both if you want and just go to tip number five.

5. Use a VPN or a secure connection service.  If you really want to be safe, use a VPN or a secure connection.  With a VPN, your computer does not connect directly to the internet.  Instead, it makes a completely secure (encrypted) connection to some other computer, which then connects to the internet from a non-public network.  Examples are LogMeIn, and GoToMyPC.  There are many others.  There are free versions and paid versions with more advanced features.  You install these on a home or office computer, but you may have to do some configuration of your home or office router to make it all work.  There are also secure services that work the same way, except that their servers establish the actual connections to the internet.  They are usually easier to configure.  Examples areHotSpot VPN, Witopia, andHotspot Shield.  Again, some are free, and some are paid subscription services.

You see, computing from a public location can be safe.  The first and second tips are just good, common-sense ways to avoid unnecessary risks.  The second and third tips are a bit “nerdy”, but good safety practices.  Tip number five is the easiest, and nearly bullet-proof, as long as you also follow tip number two.  You don’t have to spend money, but spending a little may get you some added speed, convenience, and features.

Use your head (to block the view of the keyboard when typing passwords, that is), pay attention, and be safe.

Dennis H in West Virginia, US

June 2, 2010