On Monday, Sept 14, I'll be speaking with Steve Wilson on his show Quality Conversations, hosted by blogtalkradio. Steve has interviewed many quality professionals in the past, including Tom Kubiak, Forrest Breyfogle, Mark Graban and our very own iSixSigma editor-in-chief, Jessica Harper. I am happy to join the ranks of Steve's guest list.

We're going to be talking Six Sigma and the Economy... discussing the findings of a recent iSixSigma Magazine research report published in July this year. We'll be talking about serious subjects such as budget cuts, workloads, and job losses as well as more positive aspects the down economy is bringing out in companies practicing Six Sigma.

The conversation is live and open to callers, so if you want to call in and heckle me...go ahead, make my day.

Gianna Clark notes that several hundred companies began their Six Sigma journeys about seven years ago.

Is Six Sigma the quality equivalent of a stock market bubble? Are we cheerleaders of an irrational exuberance where performance economics do not match the hype we create? Is Six Sigma on the verge of becoming the next TQM - run over by advances in technology and easier approaches to improving performance?

The latest podcast is ready to download. This podcast includes highlights from the "Compliance and Six Sigma" survey, published in the July/August issue of iSixSigma Magazine.

This survey looked into how Six Sigma is helping companies "play by the rules" of regulatory compliance requirements including Sarbanes-Oxley, OSHA, EPA, and the SEC. Listen for the highlights, get a copy of the magazine for the full results. Also, for a quick overiew of the results read the press release.

The latest podcast is ready to download. This podcast includes highlights from the Six Sigma and Information Technology survey, published in the May/June issue of iSixSigma Magazine.

This survey takes a look at the relationship between Six Sigma and IT and answers questions such as: How often is Six Sigma used to improve IT processes? How often are technology based solutions to Six Sigma projects implemented? Is there a difference in the integration level of Six Sigma and IT between companies that have been deploying Six Sigma for a while and those still only a few years in? Listen for the highlights, get a copy of the magazine for the full results. For a quick review of the results included in the podcast you can also read the press release.

The latest podcast is ready to download. This podcast includes highlights from the Third Annual Global Six Sigma Salary Survey, published in the March/April issue of iSixSigma Magazine.

Nearly 2,500 Black Belts, Master Black Belts, Champions and Deployment Leaders worldwide took part in the survey. The data is broken down by Six Sigma role, geographic location, educational level, years of experience and industry. Listen on to benchmark your pay against your Six Sigma peers worldwide and find out if your salary stacks up or falls behind. Feel free to forward to your boss.

Our latest podcast is ready to download. This podcast features an interview with Gianna Clark, Managing Director of Six Sigma at Dominion, and our very own iSixSigma Blogger.

Gianna has been blogging with iSixSigma since September, 2005. She has developed a continuous theme to her blog...the "nayisms". In this podcast I talk with Gianna about her nayisms and her experience blogging.

We’re at it again. Our latest podcast is ready to download. This podcast features an interview with Steve Walter, Global Talent Director for Ingersoll Rand, and might I dare say the Seinfeld of Six Sigma. He emceed the Six Sigma Excellence Awards in Miami last month and brought some serious laughter to the Six Sigma crowd.

I really enjoyed his Six Sigma jokes so I asked him if he wouldn’t mind a short interview for our podcast. Join us as we chat about making Six Sigma fun and whether or not to bring Six Sigma "home" with you.

We just released the second iSixSigma Magazine podcast. This episode reveals a few of our findings from the "Knowing the Customer" research in the January/February issue. Visit http://www.isixsigma-magazine.com/podcast/ to download or subscribe to the iTunes feed for automatic updates.

iSixSigma invites you to listen to the first iSixSigma Magazine Podcast, downloadable at http://www.isixsigma-magazine.com/podcast/. The iSixSigma Magazine podcasts feature notable results from the research study in each issue as well as interviews with Six Sigma practitioners and commentary on Six Sigma.

For those new to podcasting, a podcast is an audio file published to the internet and usually accessed by an RSS feed. For those new to RSS, an RSS feed is similar to an email, only you receive it through an RSS reader and you only receive notification when a new podcast is ready for download.

If you’ve got an iPod, the easiest way to subscribe is through iTunes. Download the first podcast "Starting-up Six Sigma" and listen to it at your desk, in the car or during your next flight. Thanks for lending us your ear!