The best of the Red Jacket Diaries in 2013
As another year winds to an end, here are the top 10 posts readers found the most interesting on the Red Jacket Diaries over the past 12 months: Some great examples of expressive writing I’ve run across this year, including terms like “tunefulness and...
Take a break for some Christmas fun
Here it is, almost Christmas, and you’re trying to get work done? Take a minute for a laugh or two: Five days of Christmas sweaters, with Jimmy Fallon. In the original video I linked to (sorry, no longer available), he gives away one with a roaring fire scene he...
Please weigh in on the IABC conference
After sharing some thoughts on (okay, venting about) the 2014 IABC World Conference, I’m pleased to say something seems to be happening. Claire Watson, ABC, APR and external relations team lead at IABC, responded to my post. She wondered what kind of content we...
Bravo to a prize that discourages bad writing
Author Helen Fielding didn’t get the prize because her Mad About the Boy wasn’t deemed “cringeworthy” enough. The Fifty Shades books didn’t qualify either, because the prize doesn’t go to porn or erotic literature. The prize in...
Dear IABC: About that conference…
Dear IABC, You’ve had a tough year, but some of the decisions you are making baffle me. Take this latest offer of earlybird pricing ($330 off! Only $1,100!) for next year’s World Conference. Why did you make the offer good until the end of November only,...
Put your CFO hat on! 10 tips for small business banking
Independent communicators are used to wearing a lot of different hats, but the one that’s most uncomfortable is usually the one called “Chief Financial Officer.” Frankly, we’d rather be doing what we do best! However, members of the Halton-Peel Communications...
Make better decisions by throwing away what you think you know
You can’t necessarily trust your brain. As magician/speaker Dan Trommater told IABC/Toronto’s Professional Independent Communicators at a meeting on Nov. 6, your brain sometimes fills in the blanks when you make assumptions. It also shuts off when you come...
Don’t let fear stop you from growing
“All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.” – Astronaut Sally Ride “When you make friends with fear, it can’t rule you.” – Writer Anne Lamott, in Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith With Halloween on the doorstep, it seemed time to...