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American Foundation for the Blind Evaluates Blogging
According to a recent review by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), becoming a blogger can be a frustrating task for people with vision loss. “What we found through our evaluation is that the world of blogging is out of reach for many blind and low vision computer users,” said Jay Leventhal, editor of AccessWorld®, AFB’s online technology magazine. “With 40,000 new blogs cropping up each day and…
Consistency is far greater than rare moments of greatness
I had the opportunity to give a speech at the Hyatt Regency’s Annual Employee meeting this week. The program centered on Hyatt’s service essentials, one of which is using the guests’ names. During the meeting GM Barry Kaplan spoke for a few minutes. He forewarned the employees about the possibility of inspectors coming through the property to evaluate their adherence to Hyatt service essentials. Then, when he came to…
In the history of conversation, nobody has ever been “fine”
During a recent keynote at a conference for the International Association of Workforce Professionals, I spent several minutes telling the audience about one of the most horribly overused words in the English language: fine. “After looking up the word ‘fine’ in 23 different dictionaries, I noticed that it was never listed!” I joked with the audience. “Upon further research, it was brought to my attention that ‘fine’ was actually…
University Study Shows Cell Phones and Emails Can Be More Damaging Than Smoking Marijuana
Worthwhile’s blog posted a link to a great article from 999 Today. Here are a few excerpts: “In a series of tests carried out by Dr. Glenn Wilson of Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, an average worker’s functioning IQ falls ten points when distracted by ringing telephones and incoming emails. And this drop in IQ is more than double the four point drop seen following studies on the…
Spice It Up! Rib Festival Teaches Us About Product Value
The Rib America Festival is a fun filled family event featuring award winning BBQ and live entertainment from national, regional and local talent. Each rib cooker features their very own special cooking strategy and recipes that make for a truly unique food festival experience. My Dad and I attend every year. And it’s our tradition to sample a few ribs from each of the cookers and ultimately choose our…
Now THIS is what front porches are really for…
Joe McCarthy at Interrelativity sent me a fantastic link to a website called Front Porch Classics. The company was founded by three dads in Seattle, Washington, looking for ways to spend quality time with family and friends. “Too often we found ourselves watching TV, DVDs, playing cheap plastic games or sitting around a computer game console. This inspired us to create a new line of games. Games that can…
Internetworking: Developing Mutually Valuable Relationships Online
Several hundred years ago Ben Franklin contemplated a revolutionary business concept: to gather people together on a regular basis to share ideas and help each other boost business. Little did he know that his idea would evolve into a field of study embraced by legions of businesspeople centuries later: networking. Certainly over those next hundred years, networking evolved in myriad ways. But with the advent of and dependence on…
Customers don’t care if you’re having a bad day
In a recent article in Sauce magazine, various locals were asked, “If the food was excellent at a restaurant, but the service terrible, would you go back?” The following two answers caught my attention: “I usually give it a shot one more time. Service is important, but sometimes servers have a bad day.” “I would have questions about going back, unless I really like the place. I understand that…
Hey look, it’s That Guy!
You might expect someone approaching his 81st birthday to be taking it easy, watching TV in a nice air-conditioned room. “Not Me,” says Paul Pagano, who will reach that age on August 3. “The Good Lord keeps me healthy, and as long as I can, I will continue making people smile.” Pagano, who lives in St. Louis, is better known to the public as Father Time. He has been…
If you wear a nametag all the time, this shouldn’t happen
After attending a Cardinals game last week some friends and I walked over to the traditional Redbirds post game celebration at a pub called Patty O’Brien’s. Not surprisingly I had my nametag ripped off two times in a three hour period. I must say, that still amazes me every time it happens. But it’s interesting to me that in 1,654 days; ONLY WOMEN have ripped my nametag off. And…