091123 Evernote

Topics: HRExaminer, John Sumser, Reviews, by John Sumser

Evernote

About 90 days ago, Mike Mayeux (at Novotus) suggested that I give Evernote a try. Imagine a filing cabinet into which you can fling tagged materials and then retrieve them when necessary. That’s Evernote.

The information that I deal with comes in two basic varieties: material I’ve created and stuff I get from other people and places. I’ve typically kept one pile on my computers and the other, I’ve left online or in a ‘shoe box’.

I don’t have a problem storing and organizing original documents. My machines are crammed full of a lifetime of work that is easily organized and understood. Email, web files, documents, reports, white papers, photos and books are all systematically filed on my hard drive.

(I used to have problems keeping all of the machines synchronized …desktop, laptop. I now use SugarSynch to keep all of the machines on the same page. Now, a file saved on one is a file saved on all.)

Evernote shines as a tool for managing the rest of the information. I’m beginning to think it’s going to be useful in a lot of unexpected ways. The free service allows you to create notebooks and tags. Notebooks for projects or large categories. Tags for things that transcend the categories. It gives you the ability to create an information matrix and to store the actual info in the matrix.

The company appears to have legs. They just completed a $10Million investment round last week. In this environment!

Here’s what they say about themselves:

  • Chances are, if you can see it or think of it, Evernote can help you remember it. Type a text note. Clip a web page. Snap a photo. Grab a screen shot. Evernote will keep it all safe.
  • Everything you capture is automatically processed, indexed, and made searchable. If you like, you can add tags or organize notes into different notebooks.
  • Search for notes by keywords, titles, and tags. Evernote makes printed and handwritten text inside your images searchable.

What I’m finding is that the uses of Evernote are limited mostly by my imagination. I’m using it to collect and process business cards (through a service called shoeboxed). It’s great for capturing a whiteboard full of information (using a smart phone camera).

Evernote is a data collection tool that will set you free. By integrating fixed machines, potables and smart phones while storing the data in the cloud, Evernote is causing me to rething what I need to have where. All of a sudden, a lot of things are easy to have around.

Take a look at Evernote. It’s free right up to the point that you really see the benefit.

(Here’s a rare piece from Mayeux about the importance of keeping the intimate parts of recruiting intact)



 
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