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Showing posts from 2015

Help Create a More Equal Workplace with your Holiday Shopping

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It’s still a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving, but I went to the mall this past weekend and was hit with shiny red, green and silver decorations in stores. Yes, the holidays are here. Even before I ventured into stores, my emails were a tip-off. The pre-Black Friday deals have begun to hit my inbox. Holiday shopping can be hectic. In my experience I’ve found people either love it or hate it. I can see why many feel the latter. While Christmas and Hanukkah are primary reasons many people shop during the holidays, commercialism of the season has been an underlying effect for some time now. Consumers are focused on price, getting the best deal and want their perks like free-shipping. When you’re trying to purchase a limited-edition item and the deal is “while supplies last” it’s no wonder the universal message of caring and helping others may fall of the radar. However, it doesn’t have to. Holiday giving can also be a time when your gift to a family member, friend, co-worker,

My Three Ps from 2015 #CMWorld: People, Passion and Purpose

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Content marketers and their brands know that, "Content is king," but that doesn't make the job of marketing content easy. Now more than ever there's a fight to get your attention. Twenty years ago marketers had 60 seconds to hook you, about five years ago that was reduced to 20 seconds and for now it looks like the folks at Vine have it right with about 6 seconds. There's way more content. We're getting hit with approximately 5,000 ads a day, this is up from around 3,000 about five years ago. We can thank the Internet, social media and mobile devices for the plus 2k messages were now bombarded with daily. Yes, I said daily. So what's a content marketer and customer to do? The answer is not to stick your head in the ground like an ostrich. Although, that may seem like a viable option as we approach an election season here in the United States. In search of the answer to this question and many others regarding content marketing I attended the 2015 Content

Is Connecticut really that unfriendly?

I'm a proud nutmeger. Born and breed in the state of Connecticut. Like many other states across this nation, you'll find the good, bad, and the ugly. Despite my fondness for my home state. I also like to travel. One of the things that I've been hearing over the years and hearing more often than not is that people from Connecticut and the tri-state in general are we're not very friendly people. On quite a few occasions I will get a backhanded compliment like, "Are you really from the northeast, you're pretty friendly." I smile and accept it, but it got me thinking. Are we really that unfriendly? Since I was a kid I was used to hearing this about New Yorkers and it's a generalization that some even embrace. However, I've met plenty of New Yorkers that have demonstrated friendliness and kindness to me. I didn't realize other folks around the country felt this sentiment toward Connecticut . The state was recently profiled as having two of the

Compete with yourself

Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you.” ~ Unknown We live in a competitive society. We work in a competitive industry. Most of us at some time in our lives probably played a competitive sport. Competition is a part of our lives and studies suggest that we learn to be competitive at an early age. When I was younger I used to perform on a gymnastic team. At gymnastic meets I would go to my assigned rotation after I warmed up and stretched. While waiting my turn it I often common checked out the other team to see what their skills were. This would either make me happy or doubt myself; it all depended on the skill level of the other gymnasts. When I first joined the team I was 10 and my skills were pretty basic. At my first gymnastic meet I was both nervous and excited. There were a few girls around my age, but performing tricks at a higher level than me. Doubt began to set in as I watched them. Aisha, one of my se

Are you actively listening? Part 2: Online communications

We had a very lively discussion in the blog post, “ Are you actively listening ?” I appreciated the comments and insights you shared. After I read through your comments I thought it would be helpful to also look at how we can be better at active listening in our online communications.  Whether communicating with a person face-to-face or online, it’s important to remember that effective communication is two-way communication. This can be hard when we’re using technology because we  see a person’s emotion or response. Kaitlin Duck Sherwood’s, A Beginners Guide to Effective Email summarizes the problems we experience with online communication: “Email also does not convey emotions nearly as well as face-to-face or even telephone conversations. It lacks vocal inflection, gestures, and a shared environment. Your correspondent may have difficulty telling if you are serious or kidding, happy or sad, frustrated or euphoric. Sarcasm is particularly dangerous to use in email.” Alth

Are you actively listening?

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During your one-on-one meetings do you have the undivided attention of the person sitting across from you? Did you give them your full attention?  Active listening seems easy, yet most of us aren’t as good as we think.  Hear What People Are Saying Listening to others is important, but according to Mind Tools , a website that provides tools and resources to help individual become better leaders, reports that, “we remember between 25 percent and 50 percent of what we hear.” Given that we communicate with people every day, we’re missing a lot of important information. Becoming an active listener helps to improve productivity and our ability to lead and influence others. Research suggests that individuals that are active listeners are more effective at communicating and managing conflict. Becoming an Active Listener If you want to be a better basketball player you practice. If you want to give your best speech, you practice. If you want to be a better listener,

Why I think Caitlyn Jenner was a poor choice for the 2015 Arthur Ashe award

The transformation from Bruce to Caitlyn Jenner has been a very public story in the media and online. If you haven't seen the Vogue cover check it out here . In a previous blog post I talked about how the issue of transgender was becoming more prominent in mainstream news and the potential drawbacks of media coverage.   In a previous blog post I talked about how transgender news stories were becoming more prominent in mainstream media and the potential drawbacks of this media coverage.  Well Caitlyn Jenner's Vogue cover upped the ante. More conversations are happening and more people are talking. Recently, I've been following the backlash to ESPN for nominating Caitlyn Jenner for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award . Do I think what Caitlyn Jenner did is courageous? Yes. Do I think it's significant for pop and American culture? Yes. Are people who would have never uttered the word "transgender" now forced to talk about it? Yes, but does Caitlyn Jenner deserve

Consuming/Culture: My post conference takeaways

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A week ago today I was catching one of Oxford's many buses to Oxford Brookes University  to attend the Consuming/Culture: Women and girls in pixels and print  conference. When I wasn't at the conference or in my room I spent a good chunk of time taking the bus. Many of the buses that circle Oxford come every 20 minutes and include free Wi-Fi. I loved that. Buses in the UK have come along way compared to what we have in the United States. While I saw plenty of cars on the road in England, people really embrace public transit and happily use it every day. A noticeable difference from here in the states. So how was the conference? It was a wonderful experience. Although the trip was "short and sweet," I found it very worthwhile. The two days filled with stories, discussions, and speeches that looked at a wealth of women's  issues through an academic and research lens. I was pleased to see I was among a good number of Americans in attendance. I took my fair

Ready, Set, Go: Consuming Culture: Women in Print and Pixels Conference

Greetings from Oxford, England. Yes I'm back in the UK and a lot sooner than I thought. I have a conference to thank for that, but I'll get to that shortly. I love the uptick I feel when I travel. This morning my cousin Kamille and auntie Joan picked me up at Heathrow and I had a nice lunch with them. The last time I saw them was at Kam's wedding last August. Today's visit was short but sweet. That's my theme for this trip. This trip also has a few firsts for me. I love new firsts because it means I'm experiencing new things and keeping it fresh. It's my first time in Oxford and to get here I flew Virgin Atlantic for the first time. I now truly get why people have such lovely things to say about the airline. The food actually tastes like food. You're offered a menu with three options to select from. They have excellent customer service and a sleek and modern design that makes you feel like your in a hipster lounge. They had me at hello. I'm i

Billy's one-year anniversary: Three things dog ownership has taught me

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Karim and Billy  When I was a kid everything felt like it took forever. Not anymore. Most days, I feel like time flies. This past week Karim and I celebrated our one-year anniversary of adopting Billy. Although it's been a year it doesn't feel like it. I remember the day we met Billy and he visited for a play date with us. An hour into the visit I knew we were going to keep him. As he made his way through the house sniffing it from corner to corner and wagging his tail, my gut said, "He's the dog for us and we're the owner's for him." Happy to report I was right. When I come home for work feeling sluggish and tired, he cheers me up. He always greets Karim and I with excitement, high energy and his big brown eyes warm up whatever room he is in.  This first-year with Billy has been a year of adjustment and learning. He continues to surprise us. Here are three things that I've learned and just wanted to share: You can teach an old dog new

Why I still use a travel agent

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How time flies. It was just a few weeks ago that Karim and I were enjoying our travels to Amsterdam and Germany. It was a lovely trip. A much needed vacation or as the Europeans say, "holiday." Our travels blessed me with the opportunity to reconnect with Erica, a friend from high school and attend our friends, Coco and Jens' wedding.  The trip is filled with memories I will cherish. One of the reasons I really enjoyed my latest trip is due to my travel agent. Shout out to  Travel by Simon ? Yes,they still exist. Your probably saying that's so 1980s. Well, the 80s did have their highlights. It brought us Purple Rain, the royal wedding of Princess Diane and Prince Charles and the fall of the Berlin Wall. While having a travel agent may seem like a throwback to the past, you can't beat the customer service he or she will provide, that is when you have a great one like I do. He was there to help me out before, during, and after I booked the reip. I recognize

Transgender news: What mainstream coverage is missing

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Was Bruce Jenner’s interview with Diane Sawyer a game changer for the transgender community? I’ve been asking myself that question since I’ve seen the headlines. I can’t definitely say yes or no. Although I didn’t watch the much anticipated interview I’ve been following the media coverage leading up to it as well as the post-coverage. What's a positive take away? People are talking about transgender issues. Since 2013, Google has seen a spike in the interest over headlines that include the term transgender. While some may not like this new attention, it also doesn’t seem to be an issue going away easily either. The narrative is slowly changing, but a negative takeaway is that mainstream media coverage still has too many conversations filled with ridicule and disgust towards transgendered individuals. There remains a lack of empathy and education about transgender individuals. As a society we need to stop ignoring the “pink elephant” in the room and pretending t