Indie communicator? Here are 20 things I’ve learned in 20 years
It’s been a busy year, and somehow I just realized that the milestone of 20 years as an independent business communicator and freelance writer passed months ago. To echo a post my friend and fellow indie Donna Papacosta ran about her 26 years in business, here are 20...
Punctuation challenge results are in
No doubt you breathlessly awaited the results of the contest that marked the 2011 National Punctuation Day (Sept. 24) — the day for drawing attention to America’s lapsed grammar skills. Well, wait no longer! NPD founder Jeff Rubin announced the select few...
Curating content: It’s not just about dinosaur bones!
The internet brings us more information than we’ve ever had, but that’s not the real issue. As Donna Papacosta told the IABC/Toronto Westend group on Nov. 15 — quoting author and speaker Clay Shirky — “It’s not information overload,...Friday word nerd fun
Hey, it’s Friday. Time for some silly fun with words! Play Hangman with Oxford English Dictionary. No surprise, expect tricky words. Play Oxford Fortune Cookie on Twitter by tweeting “I want to play OxfordFortuneCookie with @OUPAcademic” and a number...
Measuring social analytics takes more than intuition
If you aren’t measuring social analytics, you’re just operating on intuition. That’s what Adele McAlear told the group attending a gathering of IABC/Toronto’s Professional Independent Communicators. Adele is Director of Operations for Measurement & Analytics...
Let’s be discreet about using discrete
Don’t you find that it’s rare to see the word “discrete” used correctly? For some reason, that’s one of the most frequent homonyms (also called homophones) I keep running into lately — referring to one word mistaken for another...
#NoMoreBullies
Several different sources have pointed me to comedian Rick Mercer’s powerful rant this week about bullying, which was inspired by the recent suicide of 15-year-old Jamie Hubley. As a mother, I can only begin to imagine the heartbreak Jamie’s family is...
Something urgent to discuss? Pick up the phone!
When was the last time you actually called someone rather than send an email or a text message? I was out with a friend recently and we got to talking about how people seldom pick up the phone and call each other any more. Even when it would be easier and faster to...