NDAs are actually pretty cool!

Anyone who's been around IT long enough, understands what I mean when I say NDA...at least those from the West/East Coast seem to know off the top of their heads. For those that might be scratching their heads or still fairly new to the game an NDA is a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

I've been involved with plenty of them in my career, but only my current employer has ever given me authorization to sign one myself.  So I did. Today as matter of fact.  But, as I have no paper trail (just an email one), I figured I'd post that I was told "You may sign it." for my own CYA.

And yes, if you should ask me about something that's involved with an NDA, I will simply say "I don't know" or "I haven't heard anything about that" (okay, so I'd probably really say "squat" instead of "anything").  Because I believe in NDAs, I'm happy to sign them. I've even been the one who's asked someone else to sign an NDA before (this was long-long-long-ago and the company's defunct so I figure I can say that now).

Luckily for me, nothing I've "chatted" with execs about lately have anything to do with NDAs.  But I'll still keep the Oreo story between Alan Nugent and myself to a select few; even though I smile every time I think of it.  Although, I'm more than happy to tell people how I first met John Dragoon and badgered him into sending me a Novell USB stick.  BTW, John (in case you ever read this), I have kept the note you wrote (by hand) and am trying to find a suitable frame for it.  It's one of my most favorite "prizes".

John Dragoon made me smile today

So it was over an email dialogue, but still he made me smile.  He usually does, even when he's *picking* on me.  He does have a great sense of humor though, it goes well with his gig at Novell.

And he shows his business acumen in a recent Forbes article, that Norm O'Neal of Integrity Networks in Indiana and Open Horizons MidWest kindly linked up on FaceBook earlier today.  I suggest you read it, and I posted it on my LinkedIn profile as well.

What Is Creativity's Value--In Marketing, In Business? - Forbes.com

The other thing that you may/may not have noticed recently is the lack of buzz about the potential sale of Novell - or it's parts.  It's been a nice break for me, not having to answer so many questions.  And I've been invited to apply to be part of an advisory group for the Collaboration team at Novell.  Both of which is good news to my ears, as all I've been hearing around the office lately is SharePoint.

Now perhaps we can get those odd issues we've had with GroupWise of late resolved.  Like when clicking on a message to reply - it changes itself to a Posted Appointment, or the visual one that pops up on Windows 7 for some, but not all users, under the GW 8.01 HP3 and 8.0.2 client where appointments don't scroll but rather repeat. (I can post a jpg if anyone needs to see what I'm trying to describe).  Other than those few odd quirks it's been pretty quiet on the Novell front of late.