My belief is that "we have been given a lot so we should be giving back a lot". Who of us hasn't been given a lot?
I can look back to an old freind of my dad who loaned me my first IBM XT pc and got me started in programming. Or another friend who helped me get the networking business of a large healthcare company in our area. And then there is dad who gave me a solid work ethic and all my basic business managment skills.
What are some ways that we at Landis Computer are "giving back"?
All of us in IT benefit tremendeously from experts who give a lot of their time to answering our questions on newsgroups. I decided to give back in the form of
"sponsoring a newsgroup" where we could provide expertise. If you visit the official
Microsoft Small Business Financials newsgroup, you find hundreds of posts from our team here. (I might add that this is an excellent SBF resource) We also have "sponsored" the
3CX IP-PBX forum and contributed over 2000 posts! Just a small way of "giving back".
Another program that is new for us is
FREE IT projects for not-for-profit organizations that benefit our community (in Lancaster County) and fits our values. This could be a Windows Server install, Exchange install or other IT project. If you have a project coming up drop me an
email and see if we have an opening to donate our professional service to benefit our community.
There is not a month that goes by that I don't get a call from another Microsoft partner looking for a resource, tips or ideas. I am glad to pass on anything that we at Landis Computer have found that works. Whether a business managment idea, a product that just works or a business process that saves time, I love passing it on. I have recently started a blog about
helpful business management tips that we have found work in the IT industry and really many small to medium sized businesses at
http://dynamicssmallbusiness.blogspot.com/. Also, if you want to send a question my way, just
email me.
My opinion is that it always pays to help. Not nearly always in dollars, but isn't helping someone achieve their goals worth more than dollars? I think so, and thats why I believe in giving back.
Matt Landis
