by Sue Horner | Nov 29, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Communicators have a path to choose, says Dan Tisch, APR, CPRS Fellow and president and CEO of Argyle Public Relationships. Are we going to be tacticians or strategists? At a professional development session hosted by IABC/Toronto and its Professional Independent...
by Sue Horner | Nov 22, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
A post about looking for a gender-neutral option for man-hours is one of the most-read on this blog, according to the analytics. (Long story short, person-hours is an acceptable substitute; also try work-hours or staff-hours.) Increasingly, people are looking for...
by Sue Horner | Nov 15, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
We’re barely past Halloween and U.S. Thanksgiving is on the doorstep. My husband just cheerfully informed me that we have less than six weeks until Christmas and someone has already wished me a Merry Christmas. Of course I haven’t started my shopping yet, but I have...
by Sue Horner | Nov 8, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Hot on the heels of this month’s midterm elections in the United States (no, I’m not going there) is voting of a different sort. I’m talking about choosing the Word of the Year. The big names like the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster wait until late...
by Sue Horner | Nov 1, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
At my local bank this week, signs alerted me that they’re “making changes” to some of their plans and fees. You’d be right to assume that some of those changes are increases. Overdraft protection goes up by $1 per month, and a monthly fee is no longer waived with a...
by Sue Horner | Oct 24, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The Guardian’s Alex Hern forced himself to read all the terms and conditions he encountered in one week. In that time, he collected 146,000 words of legalese in 33 documents. It was, he said, “enough to fill three quarters of Moby Dick, just to explain what I can and...
by Sue Horner | Oct 18, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
You know you should be on social media, but you’d rather do anything BUT social media. Good news. Sue Walker says listening, engaging with others and being human is more important than cranking out a daily status update. At a recent lunch & learn session, the...
by Sue Horner | Oct 11, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Let’s be clear. Those “Terms and Conditions” we have to “accept” or “agree to” before using new software, phones and other technology are anything but clear. I blame lawyers, who stuff sentences with words to cover every possible situation. The sentences are wordy and...
by Sue Horner | Oct 4, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Keeping up with the pace of change is a juggling act for internal communicators. “Restructures, leadership changes, redundancies, new technology, mergers and acquisitions, office moves – you’re expected to do it all,” as consultant Rachel Miller of All Things IC...
by Sue Horner | Sep 27, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
When I first went out on my own, I cold-called my way through a battered copy of The Canadian Writer’s Market. Although the effort eventually resulted in some freelance writing work, the experience was painful, as I recently recounted. The tactic is unlikely to...
