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!