This post was written by DR. WHAW? Contributor Melissa Cafiero.
I’m getting tired of finding different ways to say it was a crazy busy day – such is life in crisis communications. I’m tweaking my post format a bit to include a quote from each article to serve as the summary. Tell me what you think!
For your reading pleasure…what I Didn’t Read While Hard at Work!
DR. WHAW? – July 20, 2010
1. When Did You Last Camp with Hundreds of Followers? By Danielle Cyr
When I first heard Coleman’s latest television spot, which touts the camping supply manufacturer as the inventor of the ‘original social networking site’, I thought, ‘Wow. That’s smart.’ Then I listened to it again. And, I thought, ‘Wow. That’s not entirely right.’ …the idea that social network started by assembling small groups of people is preposterous. While Coleman’s campaign is clearly intended to put the brand in the company of a favorable concept, social networking, does it ultimately make a mockery of social media, implying it is a quaint activity relevant to small groups?
2. Too High, Too Low: Where’s the Professional Line? By Lauren Fernandez
As women, do we struggle more with dress in the workplace, in the sense of being taken seriously by others? While talking about this with Tamsen McMahon, she brought up the great question of branding/company feel, and then the conversation shifted to generations. Is it a generation thing?
3. The Creativity Crisis By Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future. Yet it’s not just about sustaining our nation’s economic growth. Researchers say creativity should be taken out of the art room and put into homeroom. The argument that we can’t teach creativity because kids already have too much to learn is a false trade-off. Creativity isn’t about freedom from concrete facts. Rather, fact-finding and deep research are vital stages in the creative process.
4. 60 Embarrassing Ways to Butcher the English Language: Isn’t Spelling Important Anymore? By Jackie Tithof Steere
In our hurried, communication-addicted society, it’s become far more important to get things done quickly rather than done right. I know schools teach spelling. I’ve seen high marks on my kids’ spelling tests, but, honestly, sometimes you’d never know they’d learned a thing. At this rate, it won’t be long before we’re looking at a nation where these types of mistakes are the norm, not the exception. I think we owe it to ourselves and the future (and image) of our country, to reach out and grab a dictionary, or at the very least, conduct a search on dictionary.com.
5. Twitter time-savers: Tweet success in just 20 minutes a day By Mark W. Schaefer
Can you keep up with everything going on? No way. Not even if you spent 10 hours a day! Being effective in 20 minutes a day means knowing how to use these time-saving tips and then having the discipline to prioritize.
