Category Archives: Plain View
Veteran’s Day—a Memorial Grove Dedication
Tonight, I will stand on the football field of Brea Olinda High School. Before the homecoming game kicks off, there will be a tribute and a dedication of a living memorial: a grove of pepper trees on the school grounds. You see, the Orange District California Federation of Women’s Clubs are dedicating these pepper trees [...]
Life Work – Try Ironing pillow cases
At 5am this morning, I listen to a colleague’s recording while I spray water on pillowcases. The hot steam presses out wrinkles. The cases crisp up and soften. I grab for the top sheet and iron three-quarters of it. Who cares where it tucks into the bottom of the bed. I then start on the [...]
Where we live shapes our lives.
Just returned from fishing in the Kenai Peninsula, a three-hour drive across mountains and beside the Cook Inlet. Little villages are few and far between. Moose warnings pop up along the highway and eagles soar overhead. A trip to the Saturday Farmer’s Market in Soldatna gives me a moment to realize, in even greater detail, [...]
National Association of Female Executives Names The 2011 Top Companies For Women
For years, women have struggled to fit into the male corporate mold. But at the 2011 NAFE top companies, women are learning to do it their way and excelling by using their own natural talents. Read the entire article at NAFE.
Economic Reasons To Meet
We all know instinctively that face-to-face (F2F) is more powerful than virtual. Here are some compelling stats that fully back this up–and can help us all ‘sell’ the need for in-person meetings to stakeholders. From http://www.mpiweb.org/Portal/Research/MeetingsDeliver : • For every $1 spent on business travel, the return is $12.50. Oxford Econ study—highly credible data • [...]
Turn Economy Around: Have a Meeting!
The Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy study reveals that the U.S. meetings industry directly supports 1.7 million jobs, $263 billion in spending, a $106 billion contribution to GDP, $60 billion in labor revenue, $14.3 billion in federal tax revenue and $11.3 billion in state and local tax revenue. With the country looking [...]
An Example Of Praising Failure
A while back I wrote an article “In Praise Of Failure” and recently I found the perfect example of one company celebrating failure in a unique way. Ben&Jerry’s, located in Waterbury, Vermont, has created a graveyard behind their factory of ice cream flavors that just didn’t make the cut or had run their course. Each [...]
Lift Your Voices to the High
Come watch this: an event at the Macy’s/Wannamakers in Philadelphia (“under the golden eagle”) which many will recognize immediately. Apparently they scattered hundreds of choristers amidst the shoppers and to the accompaniment of the famous Wannamaker organ they sing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah! Whether you are “into Christmas or not”, what I love [...]
Leading from the Heart Helps the Race
Drizzling, cold rain kept my drive along Pacific Coast Highway a soggy mess. “Poor cyclists”, I thought as I passed what looked like a race. Ugh – What a DREARY day for a race! The longer I drove, the more I realized something was DIFFERENT about these cyclists. Sure, some had the lean, hard Lance [...]
Seth Godin Slams Leadership Bonehead Moves
Bonehead moves! That’s my term for all the crazy things companies do to drive customers and profits away. Bonehead moves are all the bizarre bureaucratic boo-boos that makes you think we live in a world of nut cases. Now that I have my 4G phone and great picture taking ability, I am going to start capturing what [...]