Thought you'd like to see this...

If you’ve known me for any length of time, you’ve probably received a newspaper or magazine clipping from me. I might star or underline the important passages, or even slap a sticky note on it…just to ensure that you get my point.

So it’s with great interest that I’ve been reading about the concept of content curation for the internet. Search engines and news aggregators can round up vast quantities of web tumbleweed, but there’s no value assigned to any one piece. I am quickly overwhelmed by drivel when I’m just trying to locate something authoritative, informative, or just plain entertaining to read. I need a friend with a yellow highlighter to point me to the good stuff!

Curators take on the role of trusted advisor on the internet. They find, group, and organize the most relevant web information on a certain topic. And the best curators also explain the trends or insights that link the pieces together.

Say that scuba diving is your latest hobby. When you find a clever blog on diving that directs you to a handful of fantastic articles and photos every week, you’ll quickly become a devoted visitor and feel like you’ve found a new best friend. No more floundering around on Google anymore.

I believe that Newforma Project Center (NPC) becomes a type of "curator" for our customers as they grow into the product. NPC’s immediate value is in searching and rounding up your project files. It's a relief to put your hands on important email within seconds.

Then, our customers expand into document control and contract management, and that’s where NPC’s power to interconnect issues really shines. For instance, my field engineer may dump 30 photos onto the network from his camera. Locating them with the File Search is good...but I really want to know which photo is important and why.

With NPC, I can see the date/time/location stamps on the photo files, and I can assign keywords to sort them by subject matter. One of those photos might be linked to an RFI about a field condition, which could lead me to a revised drawing, and finally to all of the email conversations that surrounded the team’s new direction. NPC pulls to the surface the most critical pieces of project information, and then gives me all of the related data that creates context and meaning. Thanks, my electronic friend!

New Newforma hires bring huge talent and interesting hobbies

Wake up and smell the coffee takes on new meaning with the addition of Stephanie Murrell to the Newforma roster. She enjoys roasting her own coffee beans and offered up her secrets during the interview process.

Stephanie joins our team as implementation and training consultant. She has 10+ years' experience in sales, training and implementation, business development, and account and project management. In addition to being tech savvy with a background in space planning and design, she is also well connected in the Kansas City business and AEC communities.

And we can't wait for the next company potluck because it turns out that Greg Moore, who joins Newforma as a technical consultant based in Portland, Oregon, is a bit of a foodie and amateur chef specializing in Northwest cuisine.

Besides being king of his kitchen, Greg's also an AEC technology specialist with 19 years' experience in IT, 11 of which have been AEC-specific. Greg is also very familiar with Newforma Project Center, having served as IT director at SRG Partnership, Inc., a Newforma customer!

We're also pleased to welcome Mary Pinard to Newforma as our new implementation manager. Mary has 10 years' experience in post sales implementation in the telecommunications industry. She has worked closely with sales to implement global networks and products, setting expectations of project timelines and requirements.

When Mary's not at Newforma you'll find her working in her garden, cooking (not baking!) and enjoying family time. She's also the grandmother of three cats, three mice, two goats, two hamsters, one sheep (due to have a baby in April), one rabbit, one gerbil, a gecko...and a partridge in a pear tree! We're kidding about the partridge!

Mary is convinced her daughter is the next Dr. Doolittle and luckily for Mary, her daughter is the one busy cleaning cages and feeding this menagerie of animals. Mary does, however, have a VIP parking spot at the vet's!

A huge welcome to Stephanie, Greg and Mary!

Newforma is a great place to work and we're hiring so visit www.newforma.com for the latest job postings.

Newforma welcomes Joe Esposito to our board of directors

Newforma is excited to welcome Joseph Esposito to our board of directors.

Joe brings a wealth of experience to the board, with more than 30 years of finance and operations experience, specializing in growing and developing businesses.

He is currently chief financial officer at VoxVue Corporation, a healthcare technology consulting firm. In addition, he is an advisor and investor at MyRozi Corporation, an internet platform and Facebook application for personalized healthcare planning, and a business development advisor with Ascentage Group.

Prior to his current positions Joe’s resume includes an impressive line-up of accomplishments with SolidWorks and Polaroid.

And, Joe is no stranger to being on a board of directors. He currently serves on the board of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education and is a member of its policy committee. He is also chairman of the advisory council to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education concerning school district accountability and assistance.

Joe attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as a U.S. Army Captain in Vietnam. He also has strong ties to Boston, having received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Boston University, and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

We’re all relieved to hear that Joe, his wife and grown children are all huge New England sports fans, especially the Red Sox and Celtics. This is much to the dismay of Joe’s extended New York family but he says it makes for lively holiday and family gatherings.

Welcome aboard, Joe!

Season's Greetings from Newforma

As 2011 draws to a close, we’d like to pause a moment to thank all of our customers, partners and friends for the part they played in making the year memorable. One of our great satisfactions is in the relationships we form with people in the course of business.

As is our custom, in lieu of mailing greeting cards, we're donating to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that gives hope, strength and joy to children with life-threatening medical conditions.

To understand why we've chosen this organization, you might enjoy reading the stories of some Make-A-Wish children and youths at www.wish.org/stories/recent/.

Our wish for everyone is a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!

— The Newforma Team

Newforma Customer Receives Top Honor

Newforma congratulates Steve McDowell, FAIA for being named AIA Kansas City Architect of the Year. Steve has led Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell (BNIM) Architects with a spirit of generosity that is embodied in the firm's work and commitment to designing beautiful, healthy and sustainable buildings and communities for our clients.

McDowell, who is the “M” is BNIM, is the Director of Design, and viewed as an innovator and explorer, using his workplace as a laboratory for exploring ideas related to site, environment and technical investigation. He believes in a lively exchange of thoughts to stimulate exploration and sustain innovation.

He maintains that good design is about people,

their health, productivity and lifting the human spirit

through design.

His work is setting new standards in high performance design, including two Living Building projects: The Omega Center for Sustainable Living in Rhinebeck, NY; and the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA.

Under his leadership, BNIM was named number 3 on Design Intelligence’s list of the Top 5 U.S. Firms that are role models for green and sustainable design.

Huge congrats to Steve McDowell from Newforma!

Newforma to Exhibit at IPD eConference

Visit Newforma's booth at the IPD eConference, all from the comfort of your office, home or local Starbucks! The Integrated Project Delivery e-conference takes place Tuesday, December 13, 2011 from 11 to 3:30 ET.

Registration is free and although you won't be able to load up on stress balls, water bottles and other cool show giveaways, come visit the Newforma booth to learn more about how our project information management solutions work with IPD.

Chat live with Susan McDowell, our Director of Construction Solutions.

Plan to attend our webcast from 2:00-2:30 pm ET on 'PIMs role in IPD' presented by Jim Forester, Newforma founder and senior technical advisor.

We hope to 'see' you on December 13th. And just think, you won't have sore feet from walking miles on a show floor...it's all virtual!

Heck, you can wear your slippers if you want! Register now for the IPD e-conf and the Newforma webcast.

Newforma User Conference - Nugget 2012 in ‘City of Cowboys & Culture’

Dust off your cowboy boots and don your ten gallon hat, we’re headed to Fort Worth Texas USA for Newforma’s 2nd Annual User Conference and we can’t wait! Registration is now open for Nugget 2012 taking place September 17-19, 2012 in Fort Worth Texas, a city known for its western heritage and unrivaled entertainment and hospitality.

This is your opportunity to spend 2 ½ days gaining tips, training, and valuable networking with other Newforma users and Newforma team members.

Take advantage of Early Bird Registration ($995) by March 31, 2012 and you’ll save $300! Another great way to participate and save is to become a speaker. Contact us for a speaker application at nugget2012@newforma.com

We guarantee you will come away from Nugget 2012 more knowledgeable and efficient with Newforma software.

But don’t take our word for it, last year’s event earned rave reviews and accolades from Newforma customers from across the globe. Here’s what a few attendees had to say…

“Very impressive. Very timely. Very much in keeping with the spirit of Newforma and well presented.”

“It was good to see other people using Newforma similar to how we at ESD use it for submittals and RFIs.”

“I am very pleased with this conference and the Newforma staff. A very positive experience and I hope to attend future conferences.”

“Great ‘one on one feel’ to presentations and discussions. We appreciate you listening to our comments & suggestions.”

Here at Newforma our customers are our number one priority. We want nothing more than for you to be successful with our software. So, you can be sure we’ll make Nugget 2012 an incredibly enriching and worthwhile experience. You have our word.

For more information and to register visit http://www.nugget2012.com/