A couple of weeks ago, I offered Mindjet Blog readers 10 copies of Wojciech Korsak’s new eBook, A Visual Guide to MindManager 8. I wish I could give everyone a copy, there were 25 great responses. I picked the 10 winners using a random number generator on the web. Amazing what tools you can find these days!

Here’s a peak at what our winners had to say:

• Comment #5 by Gene Blishen
  Just wrote a blog entry on MindManager and how it has become indespesible when startinga project and planning. Always amazes me on the myriad of functions it has.
   
• Comment #6 by Brett
  I gave the MM8 trial a spin, but I haven’t made the leap to MM8 yet because I didn’t really find anything in the trial that made me “have to have it.” Maybe I just didn’t spend enough time with it; having this book to refer to might help me make the leap.
   
• Comment #7 by Waveydavey001
  MindManager for me makes the impossible seem possible and puts some structure around my unstructured mind. This helped me produce a training guide that my boss said could not be produced.

   
  A visual guide would be very useful for mindmanager which is something that enables me to present visually to others.
   

• Comment #9 by Luis Alberto Reyes
  Visual problem solving is the way to go. No other program gives me that solution in such an easy and structured way. Thanks
   
• Comment #13 by Rolf Siebelink
  I work at Microsoft in the Netherlands, as a marketing project manager. Of course there, the standard is to excusively use Microsoft software (MS Project, OneNote, Sharepoint and other Office 2007 products) for everything.
   

  However, MindManager has made such an impact that we have obtained licenses for our whole marketing department! Thanks to the perfect integration of MindManager with other Microsoft products

• Comment #14 by Robert Mackay
  I have replaced Powerpoint with MindManager, ever since the co-workers have been impressed and followed me, I haven’t use it in its full capacity, but it always amaze me how more can be done in visual way. Seeing the difference between version 7 to 8, I believe this will grow even more than average user like me can think of.
   
• Comment #18 by Hassan Jawad
  Users are really exited when they start using the Business Mapping technique in their job.
   

  We are happy to be a partners in Mindjet Revolution.
   

• Comment #20 by Craig Kennedy
  I’ve been a Mindmanager user since MM 2002. I’d always found it extremely helpful as a brainstorming and organizing tool. I upgraded with each new release and was pleased with how much more sophisticated Mindmanager was getting with each new version. It was not until Mindmanager 8 that I really came to appreciate the true power that Mindmanager could bring to my overall productivity. Being able to do all my research, planning and organizing without having to open other applications gave a real boost to my effectiveness. I love the internal browser window and integrated google search. I’m eager to see where Mindjet goes next!
   
• Comment #21 by Lou K
  Mindjet is simply THE key productivity tool!!
   
• Comment #24 by Brad
  I’m not a huge Trekkie, but the image that comes to my mind when I think of MindManager is Capt. Kirk sitting in his chair on the Enterprise. It is command central and he’s got a view of everything that’s going on and access to everything he needs to fulfill his mission.
   

  With a demanding job, a family & house, grad school, and even (though not enough…) some hobbies, I’ve been overwhelmed at times trying to keep on top of everything. The best solution BY FAR that I’ve found is setting up my own “captain’s chair” in the form of a dashboard in MindManager. Though I have much to learn still about MM’s capabilities, I can now easily keep an overview of my various responsibilities & interests at work, home, and school — and switch focus easily from one to the other without letting things fall through the cracks. If you’ve not yet tried a dashboard type map, get going! You owe it to yourself and others.

Check out all of the other comments here!

So, congratulations Gene, Brett, WaveyDavey, Luis, Rolf, Robert, Hassan, Craig, Lou, and Brad. I’ll be passing on your email address to Wojciech and he’ll be contacting you separately with instructions to download your visual guide to MindManager.

About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter. 

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Last Sunday, Father’s Day, I delivered the most important speech in my life. It was my dad’s eulogy. It had been on my mind for the last couple of weeks as I knew his time was very limited. I haven’t had many experiences with funerals. I reflected; I had a lot of questions. What would I say? How can I memorialize the man that raised me, in the best possible way? What makes a good eulogy? What makes a bad one?

Given the 38 years we shared, I had a lot to share. And, if any of you have been in this situation before, you’ll know that it is a very emotional time. Even if you’ve prepared for the day, there are still feelings that emerge that can sweep up on you like, as a friend said, a tsunami. It was very important for me to deliver a eulogy that celebrated my dad’s life, not indulged in my own emotions.

So, I pulled out a pen and paper and started mapping out my thoughts. What made my dad the man that he was? What was most important to him? How can I honor the relationships that he nurtured, the ones that he held most dear? 

In the midst of my mourning, I felt incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work at Mindjet, learn mind mapping, and be able to use this skill for something that transcends business. I mapped my dad’s relationship with my mom, my sister and her family, and myself. I mapped about the other important people in his life, his larger family, friends, and community. And, I mapped about the things about my dad that made all of us smile and laugh.

Last week, though the clouds of my emotions, I turned to this powerful technique to create clarity. And, I was able to share with my family and all of his friends, the highlights of his life. On father’s day, I celebrated my dad in a more meaningful way than I had ever done before.

Today, I’m sharing my story with you to remind everyone that we could be mapping more than our meetings, our project plans, and our strategies. Mapping is transformational. It creates clarity and alignment, not just in business, but in life. And for this, I’m forever grateful.

Thanks to everyone who had reached out to share their condolences. All of your support helped a lot!

About the Author: Michael Deutch is Mindjet’s Chief Evangelist, content contributor for the Mindjet Blog and the Mindjet Connections newsletter. Get more from Michael on Twitter. 

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The communications and social media team at Mindjet — which includes myself, Michael Deutch, and communications team members Teresia Gichache and Gaelen O’Connell — has been hard at work over the past several weeks on a new design for the Mindjet newsletter, Mindjet Connections, that we hope presents compelling content for you with high-impact visuals in a more compact, yet organized format.

Instead of merely providing links to hosted content, we’ve redesigned the newsletter with the intent of providing some context for each of the articles while clearly delineating between Mindjet-created feature articles and "Tips & Tricks," and other linked reference sources like news & reviews and top links from the Mindjet Blog. Phase 1 of this redesign is the actual HTML e-mail distributed to our list of hundreds of thousands of subscribers.  Phase 2, which will be following in the coming months, will be a redesign of the portal page on Mindjet.com where the Mindjet Connections content is located.

This month’s Mindjet Connections features a great profile of Stu Schmidt, vice president of sales at Unisfair, who said that MindManager "is the only application that I’ve said is never optional. Wherever I go I have to have MindManager."  The profile describes in detail the business value Stu, a former WebEx executive, gets from deploying MindManager throughout his organization, including the fact that MindManager has cut the length of his company’s sales cycle by 66 percent.  You’ll see in this edition a focus on some of the business applications of Mindjet, and we plan to continue to provide content like this in the next and future editions of Mindjet Connections.

What do you think of the new layout?  We’d love to hear your feedback!  If you’re not currently a subscriber, please subscribe by clicking here!

And below you can find a summary of this month’s content…

Top Story: MindManager Enables Sales VP to Get on the Same Page with Customers & Close Deals Faster

Map of the Month: MindManager: The Ultimate Sales Discovery Tool

Feature Story: Mindjet Success: Eric Standring Wins Over Audiences, Builds Consensus at Wells Fargo

New Product: MindManager Image Library Add-In: Are Your Maps in Need of a Visual Facelift?

Product Update: Hear What Customers Think About MindManager Web’s Spring Update

Events: MindManager and Solutions Webcasts on June 25 and July 7, 8, 9, 21, and 29

Mindjet in the News: Forbes.com, CIO, LinuxWorld, Productive! Magazine, and more…

Customer Care Corner: MindManager 6 Products Retiring This Month. Upgrade Now for Continued Support

To check out the whole newsletter portal page, visit the Mindjet Connections site.

About the Author: Phil Novack is Manager, Global Communications of Mindjet.

Have you been looking for new images to add increased appeal to your maps?  Well, we’ve heard your suggestions and are happy to let you know that starting today you can find those new images in the MindManager Image Library Add-In.

So what’s new?  Check it out, here:

Say goodbye to lackluster maps.
Add sizzle and visual interest with Mindjet’s new Image Library Add-In featuring a collection of over 300 bold, rich images – guaranteed to bring your MindManager map to life.

Make your maps memorable and engaging.
Create that wow factor by embedding powerful images that add visual depth and aesthetic appeal to your task lists, project plans, brainstorming concepts, meeting agendas and much more.

Insert these images within topics and notes to effectively communicate your ideas, highlight key information, and improve overall engagement and recall.

What’s Included?
Expand your existing MindManager image library by adding over 300 brand new images. Images are sorted and grouped under 5 key categories.

Save Valuable Time.
Gain quick and easy access to an expanded repository of images that’s right at your fingertips. New images are stored within the MindManager Library tab, reducing the need to conduct unnecessary image searches outside your MindManager application.

Communicate More with Less.
Spend less time crafting lengthy, wordy explanations to communicate your point. Insert impactful library images instead to effectively and succinctly convey your thoughts and ideas.

Seamless Integration with MindManager.
Download the add-in and within minutes, access an assortment of new Library images.

Overall, embedding images within your MindManager maps will help with:

• Improved communication, recognition, engagement and recall
• Enhanced learning and concentration
• Information retrieval
• Creative thinking, memory retention, contextual relevance

Requirements.
The MindManager Image Library Add-In is compatible with MindManager 7 and 8 for Windows.

See the press release here.

About the Author: Phil Novack is Manager, Global Communications of Mindjet.

Well, it’s not too often that we make promotional announcements on the Mindjet Blog, but we figured this is one that people would be eager to hear.

Through June 30, 2009, you can save 10 percent off a single copy of MindManager 8!  The offer is good by entering the promo code MM810 at check-out when purchasing MindManager 8 for Windows in all Mindjet online stores (except the Japan and EMEA Affiliate Program store).

For further details about the Mindjet MindManager 8 for Windows Limited Time Promotional Code, please click here.

About the author: Phil Novack is Manager, Global Communications of Mindjet.

Hello!  I’m Scott Raskin, CEO of Mindjet, and it’s been a while since I’ve written on our blog but I’m happy to be back.   

As part of my job as CEO, one of my favorite things to do is to meet with our customers.  I’m from the Detroit, Michigan area originally, and recently was back home to visit my 90-year old father (who believe it or not is still working!) and some of our customers in the region.  As you may know, Detroit is home to America’s auto industry, one of the hardest hit segments in our current economic crisis.
 
Let me tell you, the jobs these auto executives have is not easy.  Bailouts and government takeovers aside, the job of doing more with less is literally front and center on the minds of most people who work in the auto industry.  One high-level executive told me and I quote, “I have 40 percent less people, and no less work to do.”  I don’t know about you, but a 40 percent staff cut for me would be quite paralyzing.  It’s amazing what those who are still working in the industry are able to do in these tough times to keep their companies running while they go through the difficult process of restructuring.
 
One of the leaders in the auto industry, Ford CEO Alan Mullaly, formerly executive vice president of The Boeing Company, and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, recently was featured in a Fortune magazine story about what he’s doing to find solutions to fix Ford Motor Company.  It’s a great story about the consistent 12-hour workdays this “outsider” executive puts in to turn around one of America’s most storied companies.
 
And do you want to know how Mullaly outlined his strategy for a Ford turnaround?  He mapped it out!  Take a look at his map below (and click there or here to view a larger version).  It’s handwritten, obviously, and not in the exact format of what you might consider a traditional “MindManager” map.  But Alan sees the benefits of mapping out a problem, and arriving at a solution.  Hopefully we will have an opportunity to meet Mr. Mullaly sometime soon and open up his eyes to MindManager.  We’re here, willing to help!
 
About the Author: Scott Raskin joined Mindjet as CEO in 2006.  Follow Scott on Twitter @MindjetCEO.

Not sure if Mindjet has ever surveyed our blog readers before so I thought it was time for you to weigh in and let us know what you think. How can I make the blog more useful for you?

The Mindjet Blog Reader Survey is short and deliberately open-ended. Answer what you want and skip over any questions.

Here are the basic areas that I ask about:

• Topics: What would you like to see?
• Types of Posts: What types of posts work best for you?
• Posting Frequency
• Blog design
• Blog features
• What do you like best?
• What do you like least?
• Any other comments or ideas to help me improve your experience

Here are ‘the rules’ – any and all ideas, suggestions and feedback are welcome. While I can’t promise to respond to every comment, I will commit to reading everything that you have to say.

I ask that you be honest and constructive with your feedback. I’ve spent a lot of time building up the blog over the last few months and want to continue making this destination a valuable resource to the growing Mindjet community.

So, it’s now up to you!

Please add your thoughts and ideas into this survey or in the comments below.