Google Apps Monthly Updates Early Release [July] - Part 2

This is Part 2 of our Google Apps monthly update for July. Many of these features were released at the Google I/O conference during the last week of June. If you still haven’t read Part 1 of the update, click here.

Notable new features:

• Google Drive for Work
• New Quickoffice integrations
• Dedicated home pages for Google Docs, Sheets, & Slides

Click here to learn more about these features and many others!

Google Apps Monthly Updates Early Release [July] - Part 1

Thx for the photo @carlosluna 

Here you’ll find the official Google Apps updates from the month of June, as well as some updates that came out at the very end of May. We’ve decided to release this a bit early due to the amount of updates that surfaced after the Google I/O conference. To check out Part 2 of this month’s update, click here.

Notable new features:

• Enabling Google + premium features for everyone
• New spam management system
• New visual reporting for Admins
• Cloud-based migration of email to Google Apps

Read about these features and others in more detail.

Developing an IT strategy: Build IT Session 2

Hans Erickson, CIO and Senior VP from the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, came and spoke at Build IT Together this year about what it takes to develop an IT strategy. If you’re in the IT field, check out a summarization of his presentation here.

Reflecting on my Newmind internship

Many times, the term ‘internship’ strikes up certain images: a college student or recent grad mastering the art of filing, hanging out all day by the copying machine, making coffee runs and washing windows. I can tell you that my Marketing internship at Newmind was nothing close to that. In fact, seeing paper in the office at all was a rare occurrence.

To hear more of what Meghan has to say regarding her experience with us, click here.

Meet Newmind: Nicolas Yarosz

This is our second post in our “Meet Newmind” blog series. To read our first one about Newminder Steve Chang, click here. 


Polish. His last name. I figured you might wonder, because I did. You know who also held that same last name? Teddy Yarosz, Nick’s Great Uncle who won the World Middleweight Boxing Championship in 1934. Pretty cool little fact, huh?

But alright, this blog is about Nick. As for him, well, he’s not exactly a sports fan.

“My life is my hobby,” he said. 

So what has his life looked like so far? Find out here.

Tablets with Google Play for Edu: An overview for teachers

Thanks for the photo @lunarandplanetaryinstitute

Wait, Pluto’s not a planet?!

Ok, while this is probably not news to most, I’m sure it still comes as a surprise to young students referencing dusty ‘ole books from the library. It makes you wonder, what other outdated information are they consuming from old resources?

Now, I’ve got nothing against books. However, if I was a teacher, I would want my students to have access to the most accurate and up to date information that’s out there! I would not only want them to know that Pluto is no longer a planet, but that within the past few weeks, scientists have even discovered a “new cosmic neighbor.”

How can we improve learning and increase access to resources IN the classroom?

We’d like to introduce you to Tablets with Google Play for Education. 

Innovation in Business: Build IT Session 1

Newmind’s Founder, Daniel Jefferies, spoke on how to manage innovation in the workplace at our Build IT event. Are you an innovator? Is it hard to get support for an idea from your peers? Why is there so much resistance and how can you work around that?

All of these ideas and more from his presentation will be touched on here.

Big Data & Businesses: Build IT Session 2

Matthew Mace, Founder and CEO of BlueGranite, Inc., was another speaker at our Build IT Together event this June. BlueGranite improves businesses by utilizing data to make effective decisions.

 To read a summary of his presentation, click here.

Visualizing the workplace with 7Geese

Make things better

In the previous blog 4 essentials to engage your team, I mentioned how one of Newmind’s Core Values is to ‘make things better.’ I wanted to find a way to increase the prevalence of vision, connectedness, progress and recognition within Newmind. How can they be visualized and cemented for everyone to see? We adopted 7Geese as the solution. Only having used it for two months now, we can already see great benefits in how it impacts the workplace.

To read more, click here.

Samsung Chromebook 2 (11.6"): A review

A couple weeks ago, Newmind received our first Samsung Chromebook 2. This faux leather encased Chromebook is the newest addition to Samsung’s family of Chromebooks, marketed as a successor of the popular Samsung 303. Besides some initial difficulty with connecting to our office Wi-Fi, we have been putting the Chromebook 2 through its paces to judge whether it is a worthy successor to the 303, and whether it’s worth its $319.99 price tag.

Click here to see what we found out.

4 essentials to engage your team

One of Newmind’s Core Values is: Make things better. As the CEO, I’m also continually thinking about how to make things better not only for the company, but for the employees within it. Those in leadership positions have to ask the question: How can we improve the work experience of our employees? After reading some material by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, and from what I’ve gathered through other experience, it clicked with me that there are four things which are important to have in the workplace to engage employees.

Click here to find out what those four things are.

Google Apps Monthly Updates [June] - Identity verification & hangouts in Outlook

Notable new features:

• Identity verification to keep your account safe
• Improved options for setting default & custom retention periods in Google Vault
• Access Hangout video calls from Microsoft Outlook®

Click here to see all of the new features and read about them in more detail.