Three words for February: Clean, Balance, Organize
Clean. Balance. Organize. I recently read a blog by Chris Brogan (keynote speaker, author, and business and marketing advisor) in which he explains why instead of making New Year’s Resolutions, he uses a practice called “My 3 Words.”…
Mobbing in the Workplace Quick Reference Guide
What is mobbing in the workplace? More and more people are becoming familiar with the harmful effects of bullying. Bullying is a problem that exists in many environments, including workplaces, and inflicts harm on the target through the…
Is It Possible to Cure Stage Fright?
Musicians, actors, magicians, politicians, and trainers all have one thing in common: performing in public. Stage fright is a workplace hazard for these people! While there are many causes of stage fright, one of the most common is…
To ditch or not to ditch, that is the question
“Many years ago, I resolved to never bother with New Year’s Resolutions, and I have stuck with it ever since.” — Dave Beard Like Dave Beard, it seems as though most Velsoftians didn’t make New Year’s Resolutions either,…
What is Mobbing?
What and Why? Bullying is a problem that exists in many environments, including workplaces, and inflicts harm on the target through the use of harassment, threats, intimidation, humiliation, or sabotage. It is damaging and often occurs over a…
Making Training Dollars Count
In today’s economy, finding ways to make every dollar count is more important than ever. What investment will give you the longest-lasting impact? The answer, of course, is training. The old saying, “Give a man a fish and…
Clean Off Your Desk Day: The Aftermath
Clean Off Your Desk Day encourages people to have a clutter-free, clean, and organized workspace. Experts say a functional workspace will increase productivity, as a clean and organized desk allows workers to focus and process information more easily.…
The Top 10 Softskills Needed for Future Success
Businesses that don’t invest in training and teaching their employees new skills over the next few years are going to get left behind, according to a report released by the World Economic Forum. “New technology adoption drives business…
Organization of a code base in CSS and HTML
Strategy and Structure The organization of a code base can greatly affect speed of development as well as the speed at which a page is rendered. Performance As a website’s code base and traffic grows, a new skill…
Mobbing in the Workplace
For about six years beginning in 1997, four female firefighters in Richmond, British Columbia were subjected to harassment from their male colleagues. The women reported incidents including obscenities written inside their helmets and lockers, threatening notes, the display…
A little bit of trivia
Here at Velsoft, we enjoy trivia. Account representative Cindy poses a daily question to staff on HipChat, and content creation manager Kevin regularly quizzes the sales staff with statistical trivia. What is trivia? Dictionary definitions include: matters or…
Story Marketing Lessons from Star Wars
I love movies and TV series, especially science fiction. I own copies of all the Star Wars movies, along with all the Star Trek movies and episodes from all the different series. I also have Firefly, Babylon 5,…
Velsoft’s advent calendar
As most Velsoftians are aware, at the head office we’ve been conducting a reverse advent calendar activity. Many of us will remember having advent calendars as youngsters, each day in December opening the little door in the calendar…
Getting Started with OneNote Online
OneNote Online is the cloud-based version of Microsoft’s note taking program. Using OneNote Online, you can gather many types of content into one location, and share your notes as needed. Best of all, OneNote Online’s interface is intuitive…
GDPR: The First Six Months
December 2018 marks almost seven months since the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) was enacted, resulting in a shake-up of privacy practices in Europe and around the world. Since then, what has been the effect of…
What I want for Velsoft Christmas
Happy Velsoft Christmas! As is our annual tradition, I thought this week I’d find out what each Velsoftian wants most for Christmas. My list includes a column of items they each asked for, as well as things they…
Promoting a Marketing Webinar QRG
Webinars are an affordable and effective tool for connecting with your staff, customers and your online community. As someone who already has the skills to create webinars — from the structure and content to how to use webinar…
The gift of giving
As a result of the efforts of Velsoft’s Chief Happiness Officer Michael and his friends, 31 children will have a better Christmas this year. Michael and his friend Jay Perrier have organized Rappin’ Gifts annually for five years, and…
What is a Webinar? Why Use Webinars?
Webinars are now a common and effective tool being used by thousands and thousands of companies and people, across all industries. They are being used for everything from training to customer service, and education to marketing. Webinars are…
Stop missing out on webinar marketing benefits
Have you ever thought about using a webinar as part of your marketing strategy? If you haven’t, here’s why it’s a good idea. Webinars can help drive sales, through new prospects, lead conversion, and the development of a…
Getting to Know the designers at Velsoft
This Weekly Update takes a look at the people responsible for making our products and communication look so good —our design department. Dylan Langille Dylan is Velsoft’s multimedia developer, which means that he does graphic design – creating…
For me, successfully managing change starts with supper
Like most of us, my family is busy. It includes two parents working full-time, running a household and volunteering in various capacities, and two teenage students involved in a myriad of extra-curricular activities from music lessons to team…
Productivity resources – just a click away!
As our world gets faster, productivity becomes more important. Most of us are being asked to do more in less time, and with fewer resources. But that presents another challenge: who has the time to learn how to…
Viola Desmond’s fight for justice and civil rights
Earlier this week, Canada began circulating a new $10 bill. But what does this have to do with Velsoft? Other than the fact that Velsoftians like to earn and spend money, the new bank note features a portrait…
Leadership Insights: Good Boss versus Bad Boss
Bad bosses. Almost everyone has had at least one in their working career. You do not want to be the bad boss in your work environment, the one who causes good employees to cringe when you enter the…
The Benefits of Staff Training
A friend of mine bought a brand new bass amp recently and returned it not that long ago for replacement. There’s an interesting story behind that. The third time he used it, the amp started emitting enough smoke,…
Do you practice tolerance?
Tolerance, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is the willingness to accept behavior and beliefs that are different from your own, although you might not agree with or approve of them. Today is the International Day for Tolerance, introduced…
Rappin’ Gifts for Christmas Daddies
When Michael Harding started out to raise funds for children in need, he didn’t know his family had once benefitted from the same spirit of giving. The Chief Happiness Officer at Velsoft Training Materials is one of the…
From Boss to Leader Quick Reference Guide
Bad bosses. Almost everyone has had at least one in their working career. You do not want to be the bad boss in your work environment, the one who causes good employees to cringe when you enter the…
Remembering the sacrifices
Over my years as a student I’ve learned a lot about the world wars and the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who fought for our country. Each year we learn what it means to wear a poppy and…