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Stacey Kahn wrote:
>How do y'all keep track of who you've talked to
>and where, when, and so forth? PIM? On-line notes?
>Hard-copy notes? Daytimer? How do you organize your
>information (by contact name, date, company, other?),
>what information do you keep, yadda yadda yadda... ?
I have several methods, depending on where I am and what else I'm doing at
the time.
(1) Daytimer (used on the road)
Name, date/time, and brief summary of conversation.
Incidental expenses
Auto mileage (sp?)
(2) TouchBase contact mgt s/w (used in the office)
I keep this organized by company or division within a company. Hard copy
of the Notes field goes into the project notebook at the end of the job.
(3) TimeTracker (electronic time log s/w; file transfered back-and-forth
between laptop and desktop computer)
Tracks multiple projects by client, project, date, and type of activity.
Can be sorted everywhichway and has multiple reporting options. I can even
export stuff to my invoices.
(4) Project notebook (used both on the road and in the office)
Scribbled notes on everything. Everything. Conversation log, questions to
ask next time I see the client, potential problems, even notes -from-
clients. This is a chronological record of absolutely EVERYTHING I do on a
project. If the project is a long one, I may accumulate several of these
notebooks. Nothing gets recorded on little bits of loose paper. I -lose-
little bits of paper.
(5) Project files (electronic)
Copies of all drafts and docs, including the followup memos I write after
absolutely -every- meeting and most phone calls (can you tell I've been
burned by the 'But -I- remember it differently' bug?).
Electronic files are archived on floppies (for small projects) or SyQuest
carts (for larger jobs) and kept forever. I keep hard copy of everything
(all drafts, notes, invoices, expense receipts and randon scribbles) for at
least a year after the end of the project. Then I weed out early drafts
and anything else that isn't needed for legal/IRS reasons.
And, in case you're wondering, 'anal-retentive' ALWAYS has a hyphen ;-) .
@Kat_____ Kat Nagel
MasterWork Consulting Services Rochester, NY
LIFE1 (techwriting/docdesign) katnagel -at- eznet -dot- net
LIFE2 (vocal chamber music) PlaynSong -at- aol -dot- com
