A New Look at Basecamp

I have recently started using Basecamp again to organize projects. My first exposure to Basecamp was as a guest on Jennifer Navarrete‘s account for organizing PodCamp San Antonio. I was able to navigate it well enough; but I could never wrap my mind around what the features were meant to do. While I could follow along with the To-Do lists and milestones, I could not grasp how it all fit together. After Podcamp San Antonio, I stopped using Basecamp. I had no large projects that required team collaboration, so I cast it aside.

Earlier this year, I started looking at CRM solutions. I found that Highrise does an excellent job for my purposes. I have been able to keep track of conversations and interactions with others. Still, I found it missing project collaboration features. I tried Backpack for a little while. After using it a couple weeks, I found it wasn’t made for large team projects.

One thing that I like about these 37 Signals products is allow you to use your OpenID account to tie Basecamp, Highrise, and Backpack together. There is no sharing across platforms; but you do have links across the top of the page that let you quickly switch from one account to the other without having to log in again. So, I tied my Basecamp account in, not because I was using it, just because I could. Not long after that, I started looking at some of the case studies and the tour.

Aha! Moment

It wasn’t until I started looking at what all the features in Basecamp were meant to do and how other people use it that things clicked for me. It occurred to me that this is exactly what I was looking for to help with a big project that I am trying to put behind me. I tried to shoehorn project management into Highrise, but it just wasn’t working out.

Why Basecamp Works For Large Projects

Basecamp’s strength comes from the ability to add outside companies and users to your projects. There is no limit to how many user accounts or companies you add. You are simply limited in the number of projects you can have open at once. This was my limiting factor using Highrise. My current project involves around 100 people across 20 organizations or so. To add so many contacts to Highrise, I’d have to subscribe to the Max plan at $149/month. Not going to happen on my budget. I tried sending out emails to everybody to keep them informed. This works pretty well for broadcasting information, but it’s not the same as collaboration. For one person to deal with the mass of contacts and minutiae of 100 people AND actually do work, it can be a bit much.

I only wish I had discovered Basecamp’s strengths earlier. I would have subscribed immediately and created accounts for all the companies and the people involved in the project. This way, they could keep up with the latest on the project and even contribute wherever possible. Hindsight being 20/20, I could have saved myself a lot of miscommunication and phone minutes had I looked at Basecamp earlier. Now that I have, I intend to use it for the remainder of this project, which though almost over, is still formidable in the amount of information management it demands.

Microsoft Office OneNote Versus Evernote

In this post, I will compare Microsoft’s OneNote with Evernote. Under normal circumstances, I would be too poor to compare Microsoft Office OneNote to Evernote. Given the low startup cost of Evernote, FREE, I would have started with it and kept using it. I have been able to get a copy of Microsoft Office OneNote through my job. So, due to a strange coincidence, I have the opportunity to try both services at the same time, for the first time.

Microsoft Office OneNote

What I love about OneNote is that you can click your mouse anywhere on the page and start typing. Just as you would write notes on a paper, OneNote allows you to group your thoughts anywhere on “the page”. You can also add photos of voice files to your notes. The upside is that OneNote can search your photos and audio for written or spoken words. I think that the Windows Tablet version also allows you to search handwritten notes on the “page”. Overall, OneNote is a very powerful way to keep tabs on all your notes on certain topics.

Perhaps the most powerful part of OneNote is how it ties into Microsoft Office. Being a Microsoft product has its advantages when it comes to compatibility with Word, Excel, and Outlook. Furthermore, OneNote lends itself to sharing through Microsoft SharePoint. Not only are you able to keep notes in a more natural style, you also have the ability to use those notes to collaborate. There are even more features for sharing your work that involve live interaction. When it comes to the enterprise setting, OneNote is one great addition to the Microsoft Office Suite.

Evernote

Evernote, has some of the same functions as Microsoft OneNote. For example, you can search handwritten notes and audio notes. This is definitely handy for both. Of course, you can also simply type notes and upload them to Evernote. The main distinction between the two is that Evernote resides on the web while OneNote resides on your computer. For this reason, there is a bit of a tradeoff. For example, you cannot write anywhere on the page. You can only write notes like you would in a regular text file. In short, Evernote is not as rich as OneNote is when it comes to features and integration with other products.

Despite the lack of richness, Evernote excels (no pun intended) in its universal access. Currently, you can access Evernote from a PC, a Mac, Windows Mobile devices, and even the iPhone. What you give up in feature richness you gain in accessibilty. Whereas OneNote requires you to own the software to view the files, Evernote can be viewed from most standard web browsers. Given this universal accessibility, Evernote is not shareable without giving out your password. I think this can be explained with the intended user. OneNote, with its ties to the Microsoft Office Suite, obviously aims for use in the enterprise, but works well for the individual. Evernote seems to be geared towards the individual rather than a group.

Where Evernote Wins

I have to say that I really, really like OneNote’s features. If I were to spend a lot of my work time on a computer at the office, I would definitely be a OneNote man. Evernote, however, wins my heart because I am out of the office so much. Both OneNote and Evernote have mobile clients. I must add that both mobile clients are rather lame. They are both better suited to making entries rather than accessing existing notes. In other words, they are good for taking notes, not retrieving. Where Evernote comes out ahead in that the mobile client is extended with a mobile website where you can search your notes. If you enter your notes through the mobile site, you can even title and tag the notes. For somebody who is out of the office a great deal, it is great to have this ability to search, even if it is through a WAP site.

If you are a mobile professional who is constantly working out of a laptop, then you may very well be able to work with OneNote for your day to day information gathering. My current work environment involves heavy tools, ladders, and exposure to outdoor weather, hardly ideal for laptops. Therefore, my best option for keeping up with information is through my smartphone. In addition, in the time it takes for a laptop to boot up and run a note-taking application, I could be long done on a smartphone. Even handwritten notes on paper are easier to photograph and upload by phone than doing the same with a laptop.

Given my current circumstances, Evernote wins, followed by paper notes. In an enterprise environment, it would be OneNote, Evernote, and then paper.

I Want Sandy, Seriously

My recent fetish with Jott has got me experimenting with some of the links to the service. One of the links is I Want Sandy. If you have used Stikkit from Values of n, then you have an idea of how I Want Sandy works. The system is able to interpret your messages and turn them into useful notes. Stikkit functions as a virtual post-it note. I Want Sandy functions like a virtual assistant. The mechanisms are the same, but the focus is different. For my purposes, Stikkit is not so useful. This prejudice makes me not want to like Sandy, but she is turning out to be the right thing.

Unfortunately, Jott is not the best interface for Sandy. I can’t think fast enough to phrase my entries in the appropriate way for Jott to transcribe to Sandy. Frequently, Jott misinterprets what I said, and butchers the message. So, Sandy often sends me back messages telling me that she doesn’t know what I want. I’ve pretty much given up on Jotting to Sandy unless I give my command serious thought in advance, which defeats the usefulness of Jott. At that point, I could just write things down. I still love Jott, just not with Sandy.

The upside is that Sandy works well with my other hero, Twitter. Typing a message to Sandy through Twitter works well for me. I can add contacts, notes, reminders, and all manner of info. Sandy then sends me a confirmation by Twitter and email. The best thing about Sandy is that she will send me reminders for things. I can also run searches on the information Sandy has through Twitter. I know this will sound geekishly pretentious, but Twitter is my command line interface for Sandy. Once you learn the syntax, you can manage your personal information through Twitter, i.e. text message. Who ever saw that coming? Maybe someday somebody will invent a linux shell that runs on sms. For now, I’m happy communicating with Sandy through my twitter account. The same ability to use Twitter by sms, gtalk, or web interface is what makes accessing a third-party app so awesome. I Want Sandy has done the best implementation thus far.

UPDATE

It was recently announced that I Want Sandy will be shut down on December 7. Sandy’s developer is moving on to a position at Twitter. I am sad to see Sandy go. On the other hand, some of Sandy’s features are said to be rolled into Twitter. There is no mention as to which of these features will survive.

Some days are a workout

Some days are a workout

Originally uploaded by shainelee.

When I talk to some non-staffers, I think they get the impression that working at the Capitol is a cushy job with free time galore. And it is, on Fridays. The rest of the time, it’s a constant quest. You are always looking for information or somebody who has information. On the flip side, sometimes people are looking for you because you have information.

What do you do once you get the information? You start sharing it with others who know what to do with it.

Another portion of our time goes into running errands. We’re picking up something, or dropping off something. Today, for example, I spent the morning running around looking for an available copier to make hearing packets. Afterwards, I had to run around distributing the packets to members’ offices. If there is one thing I’ll get out of this experience, it’s endurance to be walking up and down stairs. I just picked up some dry cleaning and am headed back to the office to find out what the latest actions will be.