Do your best to make headline magic
One of my clients used to challenge those of us (employees and freelancers) who wrote for the employee newsletter to come up with ever more interesting and clever headlines. During a weekly conference call discussing the newsletter, the editor often mentioned...People first, not disabilities
There was some back and forth in the Toronto Star recently about outdated language in reference to people with disabilities. Former Ontario MPP Gary Malkowski, a long-time advocate for those who are deaf, took offence at a Star headline that used the phrase,...Staffing models for comms can include freelancers
An issue of IABC’s CW Magazine included an article by Peter Eschbach in which he discusses how to structure a communications department. He says: “When considering possible staffing models for structuring your corporate communication function, your choices...Eat, drink and be merry – and start your blog, already
Happy New Year! So here we are in the aftermath of the famous “holiday season.” It feels like the last two weeks have been spent doing nothing but eat, drink and be merry, which is great fun but not too conducive to jumping quickly back into a productive...
Interesting choices among the top words of 2007
The gamer term of joy, “w00t,” tops the 30 words and phrases of 2007 listed by BuzzCanuck. Can I get a “w00t”? I was surprised by a few entries, though, that seem to have been around for an awfully long time. What are they doing being on a hot...Women ready for our close-up (advertisers, pay attention)
Joanne Thomas Yaccato of the Thomas Yaccato Group is an expert at her job, which she jokes is “whacking marketing managers upside the head about the importance of women.” As she told the group of women at a “power breakfast” I attended, we control 80 per cent of...
Use an apostrophe or not? Be consistent
Spot quiz: Is the American holiday in February: a) President’s Day b) Presidents’ Day c) Presidents Day? Surprise! The answer seems to be (d), all of the above. While editing a client’s calendar, which included reference to both Canadian and American...More creative words
You know technology has truly infiltrated our lives when tech terms apply to people. A client recently asked what my bandwidth was. It used to mean how much data could be sent through a network or modem, but now it’s evolved to mean “how much extra time do...