

The Omni Show
The Omni Group
Connect with the amazing community surrounding the Omni Group’s award-winning products.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 25, 2020 • 23min
Writer William Gallagher On How OmniFocus Streamlines His Workflow
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
William Gallagher is the deputy chair of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. From his Youtube channel, 58keys to writing Doctor Who radio dramas and feature articles for AppleInsider - William shares his experiences appropriating OMNI's software to get it all done.
Having authored over 19 non-fiction books, William's passion for writing a well-turned phrase utilizing the best software is self-evident. This conversation ranges from information organization to utilizing OMNI's apps in unorthodox ways.
You can find William on the web at williamgallagher.com.
Some other people, places, and things mentioned:
Dr. Who Radio Dramas
The Beiderbecke Affair (BFI TV Classics)
Apple Insider
The BBC
OmniPlan
OmniFocus
OmniGraffle
OmniOutliner

Aug 11, 2020 • 26min
Omni Roadmap, July 2020
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
Our world is constantly changing, and each year we have to be prepared to adjust our plans based on what we encounter along the way. On July 8 we published an update to our 2020 Omni Roadmap, and in this episode of the Omni Show we talk with Ken Case about some of this year's twists and turns and how we've adapted.
We've shipped Omni Automation in all our apps. A great resource for learning more about Omni Automation is omni-automation.com.
Here are links to some of the referenced news from Apple, announced during WWDC:
Apple announces Mac transition to Apple silicon
Apple introduces macOS Big Sur with a beautiful new design
You can find Ken on Twitter @kcase and on our Slack group. You can also find @omnigroup on Twitter.

Apr 1, 2020 • 32min
How Thorsten Grantner Uses OmniFocus in His Business
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
Thorsten Grantner is a founder of OmniCert, a German company which is a certification body for sustainability management systems. He joins the show to talk about how he and his employees use OmniFocus to keep up with their many processes and clients.
That business may sound dry, but don’t be fooled by how it sounds: it’s a critical part of helping turn our world safer and greener. And, as vitally important detail-oriented work, it’s exactly the kind of thing OmniFocus excels at helping with.
You can find Thorsten on the web at omnicert.de.
Some other people, places, and things mentioned:
Getting Things Done®
Agile
Inuit
Danube
Baden-Württemberg
Tesla
GTD® Summit
Jira
OmniOutliner
OmniGraffle
Atlassian Confluence
MindNode

Mar 18, 2020 • 53min
How Dr. Lyle Skains Uses OmniOutliner
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
Dr. Lyle Skains is a researcher and practitioner in the field of digital and interactive fiction. She writes and creates interactive stories and then writes up her research. How did it go? How is creativity and process affected? How do audiences react? And — she uses OmniOutliner to organize this research.
We met Lyle via Twitter, when she posted some screenshots of her use of OmniOutliner: here’s a Twitter thread with some of them. She keeps notes, projects, and bibliographies in OmniOutliner.
Annette Fuller, Support Human at the Omni Group and fiction writer, joins this episode as co-host. This episode runs a bit longer than most because both Annette and your host were absolutely enthralled by Lyle and the subject matter.
You can find Lyle @lskains on Twitter and on the web at lyleskains.com.
Some other people, places, and things mentioned:
University of Bangor in Wales
Manchester Metropolitan University
Digital fiction
The Stanley Parable
Zork
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Game
Tom Wolfe
Noelle Stevenson
Nimona
Lumberjanes
Homestuck
William S. Burroughs
Language Is a Virus from Outer Space song
Nine Inch Nails
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
Pemberley
You
Game of Thrones
Twine
New Mexico

Mar 4, 2020 • 37min
How Scotty Jackson Uses OmniFocus
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
Scotty Jackson — Manager, Information Services at Large Telecommunications Company and co-host of the Nested Folders productivity podcast with Rose Orchard — joins the show to talk about how he uses OmniFocus.
We talk about Scotty’s shortcuts, his custom Next perspective, how he integrates OmniFocus with other apps, and hamburgers.
Our special co-host this week is Aaron Cherof, Support Human, who wrote the theme music for The Omni Show, and who we welcome back to the airwaves.
You can find Scotty on Twitter @heyscottyj and on the web at heyscottyj.com.
Some other people, places, and things mentioned:
Scotty’s project structure for 2020
Daily Agenda Journal Shortcut
OmniFocus actions to email for meeting prep
John Wick dog meme
Hipster PDA
Ryan Dotson
Tim Hortons
Eric Bowers
Forecast tag
Rose Orchard
Taylor Swift
Matthew Lee
Marquess of Queensberry Rules

Feb 19, 2020 • 42min
How Alex Lindsay Uses OmniGraffle in His Business
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
Alex Lindsay’s company Pixel Corps does livestreaming for companies, organizations, and governments — and they use OmniGraffle to design and document their (necessarily) complex setups and to communicate with clients. Alex tells us how.
If you listen to podcasts, you probably know Alex Lindsay from MacBreak Weekly. You may not have known that Alex worked for Industrial Light and Magic back in the day — and, yes, he worked on a Star Wars movie. :)
This episode is kind of a party. Brent is joined by two co-hosts: Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group, and Mark Boszko, the intrepid producer of this very podcast.
You can find Alex on Twitter @alexlindsay.
Some other people, places, and things mentioned:
OmniGraffle
Eric Bowers
Alex’s wiring diagram
Dungeons and Dragons
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Skywalker Ranch
John Knoll
Animatics
Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI)
Comic Sans
Papyrus
National Geographic
AutoCAD
Blackmagic Switcher
The Orphanage
Leo Laporte
TWiT
Xserve

Feb 5, 2020 • 35min
Roadmap 2020 Special with Ken Case
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
On January 29 we published the Omni Roadmap 2020, where we look back at 2019 and look forward to all the good things planned for this year. Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group — and author of the roadmap — joins the show to go into further detail.
We got a lot done in 2019! We introduced OmniFocus for the Web, improved performance in OmniGraffle, added support for Omni Automation to OmniPlan, and adopted the big new features that Apple announced at least year’s WWDC: Dark Mode, context menus, multiple windows on iPad, and more.
Our plans for 2020 are ambitious, too: we’ll have Omni Automation support in all our apps, including OmniFocus. We’ll add a new, simpler sign-in licensing option. We’ll publish OmniPlan 4, with great new features such as interval tracking, so you can track your costs over time.
We’re also going to continue to review our user interfaces to make navigation easier. The roadmap says “We want easy navigation, so everything in the app feels like it’s right at your fingertips — whether your fingertips are using the mouse, touch screen, or a hardware keyboard.” So, yes, that includes better keyboard support on iPads. :)
And, like every year, we expect that Apple will announce new features at WWDC, and we will have surprise work to do. Which we don’t mind — it’s part of the fun of making apps! (We love those new features as much as you do.)
You can find Ken on Twitter @kcase and on our Slack group. You can also find @omnigroup on Twitter and on Micro.blog.
Previous roadmap blog posts:
2019 2018 2017 2016 2015

Jan 22, 2020 • 30min
How Jason Atwood Uses OmniFocus in His Business
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
Jason Atwood is COO and one of the founders of Arkus, Inc., a Salesforce consulting partner. He’s a long-time OmniFocus user — and everybody at his company uses OmniFocus. Jason’s view is that standardizing on a premium productivity platform is as important as standardizing on an email system.
Jason says, “This is the best-of-breed productivity tool. Because I want people at Arkus to be able to satisfy our clients, to be on top of it, to be extremely good at what they do, I want to give them the best tool.”
The Arkus Boot Camp for new employees includes OmniFocus training — but it doesn’t stop there: education continues, with new tips, ideas, and even podcast episodes about using OmniFocus.
This is a key part of the system that leads to his clients asking, “How is it you guys are so good?”
You can find Jason on Twitter @jasonmatwood and at arkusinc.com.
Some other people, places, and things mentioned:
OmniFocus
Salesforce
Kinkless GTD
John Gruber
Palm Pilot
GTD
Merlin Mann
Slack
Arkus podcast: CloudFocus Weekly
Kenya

Jan 8, 2020 • 27min
How Eric Bowers, Mortgage Loan Officer and Novelist, Uses OmniFocus
Full transcript and show notes at theomnishow.omnigroup.com
Eric Bowers — mortgage loan officer by day, novelist by night — talks about using OmniFocus to help people buy homes and to keep up with writing his novel. As a recent Florida transplant, he also uses OmniFocus to keep up with pool maintenance — a perfect case for recurring tasks.
OmniFocus is Eric’s centralized brain. He uses it everywhere, and he’s customized it a bit — he has his own Next perspective, for instance. But he’s also mindful of his favorite advice: keep it as simple as possible so that you can get your work done.
Eventually we start talking about music, because of course we do. Eric plays bass and sings, and he loves grunge. :)
You can find Eric on his website: bowersvoice.com.
Some other people, places, and things mentioned:
Florida
WWDC
Learn OmniFocus
Tim Stringer
OmniGraffle
OmniOutliner
MindNode
OmniPlan
Philadelphia
Saloon Dogs
Tampa, Florida
Discovery Park
Rose Orchard
Josh Hughes
Alice in Chains
The Police
Cream
Screaming Trees
Nearly Lost You
Dirt
Would?
Singles
University District

10 snips
Dec 11, 2019 • 54min
How John Gruber, Raconteur, Uses OmniOutliner
Join John Gruber, a professional blogger behind Daring Fireball, as he dives into his long-time love for OmniOutliner. He shares how he uses it for meticulous project planning, including recent server changes. John also reminisces about early web technologies, comparing them to today's fast-paced digital landscape. With a blend of humor, he discusses 90s consumer experiences and the importance of organization in both personal and professional realms. Expect engaging storytelling sprinkled with nostalgia and practical insights!