I don't enjoy learning from videos, so it took a lot of fortitude for me to sit through this, but I got a bunch of fresh and friendly suggestions. It's not about second guessing your audience. It's about expressing genuine interest in the job that was described. And trying to be helpful. via www.youtube.com Continue reading

People greatly overestimate how awkward it will be to hold a “deep” conversation with someone they don’t know well, and routinely underestimate how much other people care about us and what’s on our minds via qz.com How to have better conversations with people you barely know — Quartz at Work Lila MacLellan December 26, 2021 T'S NOT THEM, IT'S YOU The secret to having more meaningful conversations Twenty prompts for better conversations During the study, which appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, participants were given conversation prompts ranked according to how intimate they were perceived to be.... Continue reading

As a newsletter publisher, I was heartened by Chris Short's story of a conscientious journey to responsible mass emailing. It shows me that I've been relying too hard on what any one email service provider does. I'm going to become better educated, and I aspire to be as conscientious as he is. I also appreciated the way he mentions his newsletter when networking with people. ChrisShort.net: Things no one tells you when you start a newsletter, 2020-Mar-24 Mail delivery on the modern internet is one of the single hardest tasks out there. First, every administrator and engineer from the network... Continue reading

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Quoting Om Malick: Video is the ultimate projection of self, and the camera is the way to get it done. More than the screens, storage, or speeds, the camera emotionally personalizes our devices. A camera is our tool to project our reality and our image to the world, but more importantly, to ourselves. via om.co Continue reading

"...despite all the public focus on Californication, there are intriguing signs that many of the newest arrivals share key characteristics with lifelong Texans. Many are coming for abundant jobs, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and a more reasonable cost of living (which may be hard to believe for Texan buyers and renters fretting over the housing market but is a fact)." Tom Foster in Texas Monthly, Dec. 2021 https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/newest-texans-who-are-they/ Continue reading

Activate a strong minority instead... Digital Tonto: Change Consultants Recommend You Do These 3 Things. Don’t. 2021-Nov-21 by Greg Satell There is an inherent flaw in human nature that has endowed us with a burning desire to convince skeptics. So it shouldn’t be surprising that change consultants focus on persuasion. Nothing validates a high fee like some clever wordsmithing designed to persuade those hostile to the ideas of those paying the bill. Yet anybody who has ever been married or had children knows how difficult it can be to convince even a single person of something they don’t want to... Continue reading

British company Perkbox Insights surveyed 1,928 people in late 2019 and found... Perkbox Resources: The most annoying phrases you can use in an email, ranked, 2020-Jan-6 by Hazel Ramsell The Top 5 best greetings for a work email: Hi – 49% Good morning / afternoon – 48% Hello – 21% Dear – 20% Happy [insert day]! eg Happy Friday! – 7% Now for the worst It seems like no greeting is a big no-no, with 53% saying that not greeting the recipient is the worst way to start an email. This is followed by the impersonal ‘To whom it may... Continue reading

Buffalo Bayou, River of Life: The Show Goes On Sale of Buffalo Bayou Art and Photography Continues through Nov. 28 Important Benefit for Save Buffalo Bayou and Friends of Don Greene! Flatland Gallery, Café Brasil, 1709 Westheimer, Houston Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m. And By Appointment. Contact Us. via www.savebuffalobayou.org Continue reading

I've seen a job listing saying that I'm hiring... it's a scam! Please do not click the links. ProPublica: Scammers Are Using Fake Job Ads to Steal People’s Identities, 2021-Oct-26 by Cezary Podkul The U.S. Secret Service, which investigates financial crimes, also confirmed that it has seen a “marked increase” in sham job ads seeking to steal people’s personal data, often with the aim of filing bogus unemployment insurance claims. Continue reading

This one of the most insightful articles about building a career that I've EVER read. Major points: (Quoted verbatim) It's not what you did, it's what happened when you did it. Let people know: Who worked on the project What you built Why you built it When it was built Where it was marketed / showcased How you had impact You have to be known in the community, or you have no credibility. Don't be attached to your ideas... serve the project. And this... Medium: Reflections on my 10th year as a designer, 2021-Jun by Luis Ouriach ...it’s alarming how... Continue reading

I did not realize this! Houston Chronicle Opinion: Stand with Houston artists seeking pandemic aid, 2021-Apr-30 by Liyen Chong,Shayna Schlosberg and Jaison Oliver It’s unfortunate that despite our world-renowned reputation for performing and visual arts and diverse cultural offerings, Houston is not anywhere near the top of the list when it comes to public funding for the arts for major metropolitan cities nationwide. We are still severely underfunded, and Houston continues to trail its peer cities in this area. As of 2017 the City of Houston spent $6.70 per resident on arts and culture compared to Dallas’ $16.70 and Austin’s... Continue reading

I recently stumbled across the Reflected Best Self exercise. I particularly like the fact it recommends asking for feedback via email. I hope I can try it after Tony and I move to the next stage of our life. Harvard Business Review: How to Play to Your Strengths, 2005-January by Laura Morgan Roberts, Gretchen Spreitzer, Jane E. Dutton, Robert E. Quinn, Emily D. Heaphy, and Brianna Barker Used correctly, the RBS exercise can help you tap into unrecognized and unexplored areas of potential. Armed with a constructive, systematic process for gathering and analyzing data about your best self, you can... Continue reading

Over at Customer Commons, Doc Searls summarizes it beautifully... Customer Commons blog: The Dawn of i-Commerce, 2021-May-24 by Doc Searls Advertising is all guesswork, which involves massive waste. But what if customers could safely and securely advertise to the market they want? This is called intentcasting, and to some degree it already exists. (Here is a list of intentcasting providers on the ProjectVRM Development Work list.) Shopping. Why can’t you have your own shopping cart—that you can take from store to store? Because we haven’t invented one yet. But we can. And when we do, all sellers are likely to... Continue reading

Spring flowers Houston Centennial Gardens Continue reading

Taken May 2, 2021 in the Japanese Garden in Hermann Park, Houston. Continue reading

The iPhone SE fits in almost every pocket I own. If I could get a smaller iPhone, I would. I have small hands, and I love being able to run around without a handbag—my phone in one pocket and my keys in the other. I use a Speck phone case that holds my driver's license, a credit card, and a transit pass. I'm SO distressed that Apple may never again make a phone this small. I feel rebellious. I would like an Apple Watch, but it appears that it won't connect to a phone this old. I completely agree with... Continue reading

Instead of reacting to customer behavior, we can use publicly announced trends as a leverage point. LinkedIn has found that unemployment and improving options for online education are converging to drive a new wave of students. The managers of graduate and continuing education programs have the opportunity to reactivate the people who previously inquired. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Blog: A New Wave of Students is Looking to Higher Education Now, 2020-Aug-27 by Michael Levine After the Great Recession of 2008, the number of students enrolled in Higher Education increased by 16 percent.... between 2007 and 2010... Many older adults enrolled in... Continue reading

I just realized that I've been making the dumb mistake of looking at someone's image when they're talking on Zoom. I should be looking at the camera often. Fast Company: How to do a better job of listening when you’re remote, 20-Aug-12 by Judith Humphrey Listen with Your Body Use your physical presence to listen. This goes far beyond using your ears to absorb what people are saying. Our entire body needs to convey attentiveness. For starters, turn to the person who’s talking on the screen and physically align yourself with them while they’re speaking. This makes a huge difference.... Continue reading

Lately, my social interactions have been restricted to immediate family and a few people who are nearly strangers, such as the people who hand me my take-out food. I really miss my friends, and I'm starting to realize I need to cultivate more interaction with the few people I do see. This article explains how interactions that fall short of 'making new friends' are still valuable. BBC Worklife: Why your ‘weak-tie’ friendships may mean more than you think, 2020-Jul-2 by Ian Leslie Gillian Sandstrom, now a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Essex, [decided] to investigate the extent... Continue reading

I debated whether to leave the word "inclusive" dangling in the headline of this post. Inclusive of what? Everybody that's different, although really that's an impractical approach. We're all different but some of us have suffered more discrimination. I remember in business school being told that people with red hair are "not a protected minority." A past history of discriminatory abuse has identified people to whom we owe reparations. However, a legal approach of tit-for-tat doesn't change people's behavior. Valecia "Dr. V" Dunbar has some interesting suggestions on how to reset the corporate acceptance of diversity. Inc.: Defund Corporate Diversity... Continue reading

According to Adam Ferrier, founder of Thinkerbell, our communications strategies should not be driven by the customers' wants and needs. They just want to be left alone until a need crops up in a specific category. Then they want efficient communication: Where? How little can I pay? To establish a brand image in people's minds, we have to assert the brand value before potential customers are ready to purchase. The needs and perspectives of the brand have to be front and center. As brands, what do we have to contribute? How can we best connect with people we can help? Continue reading

I have always thought about empathy as a trait people have in varying degrees, but now I see that it really is a skill you can build by being curious, then connecting with people who are different from yourself. Adweek: Advertising Has a Crisis of Apathy and Otherness, 2020-Jun-8 by Yusuf Chuku The answer to the problem of otherness is not sameness; it’s connectedness. Immersive, deliberate and compassionate connectedness. A connectedness between people that’s embodied in a willingness to embrace empathy. A connectedness to our cultural history, and by that I mean a relearning of American history. And a desire... Continue reading

I know all about selecting the correct target market for a product or service, but I've never seen a methodology for deploying for an audience that I can AFFORD. I wonder how much money I've wasted? I better not think about it too much. Bar & Line: How to Identify Your Audience, 2020-Mar-19 by Duncan Geere You have limited resources to reach people, and you need to deploy them carefully to maximize your impact. By identifying the goals of your project, you can immediately narrow down your audience further. Think about who's most likely to be do the things that... Continue reading

I'm not sure I agree with all of this, but it really calls 'one-to-one' marketing into question. In a good way. I'm a member of many loyalty programs, but I've never earned a reward for a referral. Rather than introduce my friends to a brand, I want to connect with the other people who appreciate the brand. We all have diverse tastes, and I like meeting new people based on one specific shared interest, not because we share a bunch of interests. LinkedIn: Why taste communities are the future of marketing, 2020-Jan-21 by Ana Andjelic Thanks to the Internet and... Continue reading