Cracking the Networking CodeReview of: A Progress Agent's Guide to Cracking the Networking Code:
4 Steps to Priceless Business Relationships
By: Dean Lindsay
World Gumbo Publishing, 2005, 145 pages

Review by: Jason Hayes, M.E.Des., Communications Director, American Coal Council

I've got a headache ... I'm too tired ... bad hair day ... no one will want to talk to me ... I made a fool of myself last time ... the floor's crooked ... Jupiter isn't in Venus' house ... Ever had anything like that run through your head as you walked into a conference and thought of networking?

Ever thought that you had the whole networking thing wired and that you owned the room as you handed out business cards left and right?

Ever recognized that you needed to network, but weren't sure if there was more to it than than “1) smile, 2) firm hand shake, 3) name tag on the right lapel?”

Ever wondered if networking had something more to it than being that pushy, obnoxious guy who drones on and on and on about his life, dreams, and business prospects?

Well, guess what. You aren't alone.

But never fear; in “Cracking the Networking Code,” Dean Lindsay has given you the low down on networking. It isn't as easy as flipping a switch or brushing your teeth; you will have to work at it a bit. But, it is easier than writing a thesis or giving a presentation to a large group – and many of you have already done one or both of those. So, what are you waiting for?

You too can learn to Crack the Networking Code.

First things first, Dean's style of writing is quick, fluid, and to the point. No showy grandstanding, or unintelligible words (unless they're defined right there, in the book) that make it a tough slog to get through. Dean offers up straightforward information and loads of personal anecdotes to help you become more effective at networking.

Given its length and Dean's writing style, you can easily read through the book in one or two short sittings. But don't let it's size or brevity hold you back. Dean has packed a lot of useful information, helpful how to's, and simple instructions into his pages, so the book will serve most people as a useful reference long after they've finished reading it.

Dean's work is also refreshing in that he's not pretending like he's unearthed some never-before-seen treasure. He admits that a lot of his advice is common sense. But he also asks, how many of us take common sense to the next level of making it “common practice?”

In “Cracking the Networking Code” Dean provides a simple, but effective, framework for an essentail business activity. There's no getting around it, almost everybody has to develop business relationships as part of their employment. One of the most effective means of doing that is developing a large network of colleagues on whom you can rely for information, advice, helpful hints, (and let's admit it) personal advancement. Dean makes it clear, however, that effective networking can't happen if you're only in it for yourself. He demonstrates that there has to be give before there's any expectation of take in the relationship. Dean explains that networking is an essential part of getting to know people, connecting with them, helping them to progress in their lives, and having them want the same for you.

As one might expect from a motivational speaker, Dean has a firm grasp of acronyms and alliteration and he uses them to good effect in this book. The title of the book is just one example.

The “CODE” in networking code stands for,

C: Creating Personal Curb Appeal – feeling and acting like a success as well as demonstrating a serious desire to help others.

O: Open Face-to-Face Relationships – knowing your networking options and then putting them into practice.

D: Deliver Solid First Impressions – all about making a first impression a good impression.

E: Earn Trust – following up and keeping in touch. You earn someone's trust by showing them you're interested in helping them progress.

Dean elaborates on each of those throughout the book and also explains other key concepts like his trademarked "6 Ps of Progress" and why progress is more important than change. But, I'm not going to go through all of his lists and ideas now; I don't want to steal Dean's thunder in this review. You'll need to dig into “Cracking the Networking CODE” yourself to see what other hints and guides Dean offers.

Cracking the Networking Code is one of those books that everyone who wants to be effective in business networking will want to read and have on their shelf.

Innis - Energy Keepers Energy KillersReview of: Energy Keepers Energy Killers: The New Civil Rights Battle
By: Roy Innis, Chairman, Congress of Racial Equality
Merril Press, 2008, 103 pages

Review by: Jason Hayes, M.E.Des., Communications Director, American Coal Council

Abundant/secure, affordable, and clean energy has suddenly become a whole lot more than just an energy issue.

In his latest book, Energy Keepers Energy Killers: The New Civil Rights Battle, Congress of Racial Equality Chairman, Roy Innis demonstrates convincingly how energy supply issues are moving into the area of civil and human rights.

In this book, Innis has focused more than six decades of experience in the civil rights arena, his indomitable spirit, and an unfailing commitment to the cause of working class and minority rights on the issue of energy production. After demonstrating that much of the energy we use in the U.S.A. comes from reserves on public (federal and state) lands , Innis argues that the owners of those resources – the citizens of the country – have every legal and moral right to see their energy resources developed. He argues that the supply of secure and affordable energy is the basis upon which our entire economy flourishes. Therefore, if we are to maintain a thriving economy, it is essential that these valuable national resources be developed.

Plug-in HybridsReview of: Plug-in Hybrids: The cars that will recharge America
By: Sherry Boschert
New Society Publishers, 2006, 230 pages

Review by: Jason Hayes, M.E.Des., Communications Director, American Coal Council

With gas prices hovering somewhere between $3.50 and $4.50 a gallon over the past several months, strained budgets are making for strange bedfellows.

Gas, electricity, energy security, our automobiles, and the environment; in both our world and this book, they're all linked. In Plug-in Hybrids Boschert follows a few of the people who are working to address energy shortages and rising fuel prices through the early adoption of electric vehicles (EV), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV).

The book opens with Chelsea Sexton weeping over the untimely “death” of her friend. It was through her connection with this friend that Sexton had found employment, met her husband, and now had a young son. More than that, we learn as we read that Sexton's contact with this friend had set the tone for much of her life interest. Now Sexton, an “automotive insider,” was responsible for giving the eulogy at her friend's funeral service. But this was no ordinary funeral service, and Sexton's friend wasn't flesh and blood. Her friend was her car and the movement that it represented.

Sexton had worked as part of the General Motors (GM) engineering and marketing teams that created the EV1 – GM's first foray into the electric vehicle world and their initial answer to the issue of improving automotive efficiency and decreasing emissions. It was a full, battery only, EV and managed to gain the respect of many across the nation. In the end, however, GM canceled (or at least delayed) their EV car program and demanded that the cars be returned. Thus the funeral service as Sexton and others said goodbye to their work and their friend.

Through this personal look into the lives of the people in the hybrid and EV movement, Boschert has created an effective medium to promote interest in EVs and PHEVs. Throughout the book, she takes a look at the lives and work of others in the hybrid community, including:

Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1,500 Years

Review of: Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1,500 years (updated & expanded edition)
By: S. Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery
Rowman & Littlefield, 2008

Review by: Jason Hayes, M.E.Des., Communications Director, American Coal Council

A few years back, I was asked to give a few presentations on the science of climate change. So I discussed the claims that a broad scientific consensus existed on the causes of global climate change. Proponents of that theory argued that science had determined human use of fossil fuels was releasing CO2 into the atmosphere and thereby causing unprecedented and potentially dangerous warming. This theory is often called anthropogenic global warming (AGW).

I suggested that the average person could be excused for thinking that AGW was the cause for our changing climate. Governments, media, and NGOs all swore that was the case and since that time their rhetoric has become even more pervasive. They also informed us that so-called skeptics who question their theory were isolated loners, resident on the outermost fringes of the discussion. They have also created and presented expensive and prestigious awards for their frightening epics on AGW that depict the dangerous outcomes of using of fossil fuels. Some have even charged skeptics as being morally akin to holocaust deniers, actually borrowing and reworking the term into “climate denier.” It is their influence that has brought on a call for the immediate enacting of carbon-control legislation that is making its way through governments around the world.

Given those circumstances, no one could still seriously consider questioning the science. What would be the point? Even if the science wasn't settled when I gave my presentations a few years ago, it has to be now so raising the question again would be a waste of time, right?

The authors of a newly released book would tell you that thought is wrong.

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming

By: Bjorn Lomborg
Knopf, 253 pages USD $21 ~ CDN $27

Bjorn Lomborg, the Skeptical Environmentalist, has returned, and with his new book, he is once again raising hackles on all sides of the political and environmental spectrum.

In his first book, Lomborg attempted to “measure the real state of the world.” However, policy suggestions from a self admitted “old left-wing Greenpeace member,” who was upbeat about humanity's prospects and unafraid of their impact on the environment proved to be a conundrum to many.

Conservatives were often rankled by his liberal political leanings and environmentalist connections, as well as his calls for government management of the environment and public funding for research and development. He was, at the same time, profoundly unpopular with the left-of-center environmental movement as he refused to buy into the pessimistic, Malthusian narrative that the natural world and human populations were teetering on the brink of collapse. (In fact, in his first, massively footnoted tome, he actually demonstrated that the world was in good shape and that many human activities were actually helping to make things better.)

In his latest book, Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming, Lomborg maintains the same confounding belief in the need for government-driven research and environmental management, coupled with a stubbornly optimistic outlook on humanity's future. In Cool It, he argues that while climate change will have negative impacts on humans and the environment, restrained and measured policy approaches will mitigate those impacts and end up producing far more beneficial outcomes than rushed attempts to “stop” climate change at all costs.

Future Energy: How the New Oil Industry Will Change People, Politics, and Portfolios
Author: Bill Paul
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2007)
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0-470-0642-0

Reviewed By: Jason Hayes, Communications Director, American Coal Council

Energy supplies are tightening and prices are skyrocketing. Civil unrest, conflict, and acts of terror – often related to the free flow of energy – are spreading around the world. Environmental concerns and our ability to produce and use energy efficiently only serve to compound the challenges. As greening markets and environmental regulation make energy development, generation, and transmission more expensive and more difficult, pressures increase. Sitting atop of it all are the fears of climate change; rising sea levels, famine, drought, pestilence, and the list goes on.

If you have turned on the news or opened a newspaper in the past several years, that opening paragraph should outline much of what you will have read or heard. If one concentrated solely on the media headlines and sound bites, they might be tempted to throw up their hands, move to the hinterlands, and become a hermit.

However, there are a few remaining optimists out there. Despite the challenges our society faces in providing affordable, abundant, and clean energy sources to meet our meteoric growth in demand, there is still hope. Bill Paul's Future Energy provides one starting point in the search for new, abundant, and affordable energy sources (or information about those sources).