What kind of content should you put in association newsletters?
Do you work with email distributors? Among my volunteer jobs these days is communication for two groups for independents, IABC’s Professional Independent Communicators and the Communicators Connection (formerly Halton-Peel Communications Association). So I find myself...
Thinking about hanging out your shingle? Start here
With years running my own business under my belt, I may be doing a few things right. So when friends or acquaintances say they are thinking about starting their own businesses, I’m happy to chat about my own experiences. Assuming you have searched your soul and are...
New year, new words we’d like to banish
Selfie received the most nominations to the 39th annual list of banished words and phrases, or more accurately, the list of word and phrases WE WISH were banished for “Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.” This according to the...
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,...