Acronym of the Month

Greetings, %%Facility name%%. Welcome to eNews issue #20. Apart from our usual regular features, this issue sees a number of staff & guest writers treating you to articles about the State of the Nation in the UK, Self Storage facility sales in Australia, as well as a look at what Nardia looks like with a shaved head, following her fundraising efforts for the Leukaemia Foundation!

As usual, if you have any comments, ideas or suggestions, just get in touch with me via andy@storman.com. Until next time, happy surfing! :-)

Regards,
Andy & the StorMan Software Team

The 21st Annual Self Storage Association of Australasia (SSAA) Convention and Tradeshow will this year be held in Wellington, New Zealand. StorMan will be attending, as per usual, so keep an eye out for us at booths 1 & 2 (first on the right as you come through the main doors).

The SSAA will this year present the biggest line up of industry speakers ever gathered at one of their convention's, along with renowned business speakers from around the globe.

Come and learn about the future of self storage and how you can position your business to take advantage of these opportunities. Registrations will open on the SSAA's website in April, but keep a look out for cheap airfares now.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Please be advised that StorMan will be closed for the Easter public holidays (Good Friday - 2nd April and Easter Monday - 5th April). We hope you have a safe, happy Easter break.

Agency Opportunity (by guest blogger, Malcolm Collins)

Despite the current post-GFC environment going concern, Self Storage facilities are still selling (albeit in small numbers), scattered around the country. Several provincial city facilities have recently sold at yields indicative of the lack of good quality assets in particular areas. The attraction of properly-run, estate agent operated (small) facilities that essentially provide constant cash flows in otherwise uncertain times to local investors, remains a good investment option to some.

All estate agents are not alike however. It is imperative that agents running your business are (preferably) members of the SSAA or at least fully conversant with the laws relating to Self Storage, that they keep and maintain computer-based records (hopefully StorMan) and provide legible, easily understood financial reporting to you as owner.

Good records ensure your investment and your estate agent perform to their best. Knowledge, as always, is power, and this particularly relates to your estate agent’s operational skills and marketing awareness in its particular catchment area...

Continue reading Malcolm's post online...

"TYPEWRITER" is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

Have you ever wondered how fast your internet connection is? Granted you may be paying for a high-speed ADSL service, but what if it's falling well short of the mark? Perhaps it's better off changing suppliers, or moving to a better plan?

Find out how fast your connection averages, by running a Speed Test using your computer.

Quick Properties
From time to time, you may need to find out how big a file is, or where a desktop shortcut points to. Regardless of the requirement, you'll probably already know that if you right-click any file in Windows, you can select 'Properties' and get the information you're after.

But there's an even quicker way to view the properties! Simply hold down the ALT key on your keyboard and double-click the file or folder in question. Voilà!

Your last good ping-pong ball fell down into a narrow metal pipe embedded in concrete. You can see the ball sitting at the bottom as the pipe isn't very deep, so how can you get it out undamaged, if all the tools you have are your tennis paddle, your shoe-laces, and your plastic water bottle (which does not fit into the pipe)?

Stuck? The answer is in the next issue!

Answer to last month's brainteaser: The girl wasn't driving at the time; she was walking.

This month's flashback is an article that Steve wrote back in 2008. Having just joined us, he reflected back on some of his most memorable moments in the Australian Defence force, including playing a xylophone that was made of bamboo tubes!

Hi there - I'm Darran, one of StorMan's Technical Support Agents. Each issue, I'll trawl through the deep depths of the internet to find you a funky piece of software, hardware or other interesting technological trinkets.

Skype Mouse Phone

This month's gadget begs the question... what were the designer's thinking?! I think it was something along the lines of: "What if we bundled mouse with a phone!" ...great, a 'Phouse'. Or 'Telemone'. Or something. But they went one step further and added a screen! Okay... that's just... wow!

So what exactly is this device? Well, it's a normal computer mouse with a flip-up lid - which reveals a screen, microphone, speaker and keypad for making calls using Skype (and a number of other services). I guess there must be a market for it somewhere...

Nb. All 'Latest Gadget' information & imagery is sourced from online entities & supplier websites. StorMan generally doesn't endorse, own or test any of these products; we merely link to them as you might find them interesting for your own use...

This month's "Monthly funny" is an interpretation of the term 'Facebook'...

Have you got a joke or funny pic to send us?
Please let us know!

GPS stands for Global Positioning System and is a system of U.S based navigation satellites that provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to worldwide users on a continuous basis in all weather, day and night, anywhere on or near the Earth which has an unobstructed view of four (or more) GPS satellites

GPS has become a mainstay of transportation systems worldwide, providing navigation for aviation, ground, and maritime operations. Disaster relief and emergency services depend upon GPS for location and timing capabilities in their life-saving missions. The accurate timing that GPS provides facilitates everyday activities such as banking, mobile phone operations, and even the control of power grids. Farmers, surveyors, geologists and countless others perform their work more efficiently, safely, economically, and accurately using the free and open GPS signals.

Nb. Our 'Acronym of the Month' data is often sourced from Wikipedia & various other online sources.

The Little Things (by Timm)

Thank you to everyone who is trying to follow the rollercoaster that is “Timm working at StorMan”. Today is my last day... again. Some have suggested that I only keep leaving because, in his generosity, Ben shout’s a pub lunch for all staff whenever someone leaves StorMan. Ignore all those years of me saying "Ben wouldn't shout if a shark bit him" - that was just jealousy.

Mind you - last time I left, due to the urgency of my departure, instead of getting a "going away party", Ben threw a “gone away party” which meant all the other staff got their pub lunch and I had to hear about the rump steaks and beers from a car travelling south with a stale sausage roll and weak coffee as a substitute.

However, that was my choice (not bitter much) and was covered in an earlier blog. This time, however, I am not technically leaving StorMan - just re-locating to the USA to get my teeth stuck into a new market and to get away from the continually bad horse tips that still flow through on a weekly basis (you still know who you are).

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the advice on what beers to drink, what suburbs to avoid and what not to yell out the windows of a moving car on the freeway. So, with any luck, I will be back later in the year to discuss my spy mission on the US industry and will be more than happy to divulge any secrets or tricks and tips I learn to anyone who will listen.

Just be aware that I am a double agent and am keen to see if the US industry can learn some things humbly from this Aussie company.

I am in the process of crossing the “T”s and dotting the “I”s (and some of the lower case “j”s), packing bags, signing forms and in the midst of all this - after 10 years in the industry & talking to storage operators new and old every day and spending all day thinking about streamlining storage centre’s what is the last thing Timm forgot to do?

That’s right. I am leaving the country for the better part of 5 years, and I forgot to organize my storage! So I rang around as a customer who actually knew exactly what I needed, how I would move it, when I was moving it and how much I would approximately be paying...

Continue reading Timm's post online...