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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Follow the rules before you define them

Black & White Self-portrait wit glasses by Wix Photographer Juliette Jourdain

"This above ALL: to thine own self be true."

~ William Shakespeare

(Hamlet)

LOL, I have to chuckle. I admit that I try a number of different online outlets or portals to connect and network. As I continue to explore, I extrapolate a lot of mistakes being made by a similar group of people.

It would appear as though the majority of marketers think that their prospective clients are dumb or tuned out. They think they are making the rules, when , in fact, they are breaking the rules. I thought of a few to get started to those who reach out to prospect for others to hire you as a social media expert.

Rule No. 1 Know your audience and what they are looking for

Rule No. 2 Lead by example

Rule No. 3 Ensure your follower to follow ratio is weighted by who is following you, not the other way around.

Rule No. 4 Try to get a few online influencers in your corner.

Rule No. 5 Be your own unique voice, don't try to say what you THINK others want to hear.

Rule No. 6 Be creative, be thought provoking, be visual

Rule No. 7 Don't try to build your acclaim by 3 degrees of separation

Rule No. 8 Do NOT plagiarize others' ideas and claim them as your own.

Rule No. 9 Give credit where credit is due

Rule No. 10 Say thank you, show gratitude, share appreciation

These rules can be expanded. I likely will. The main idea is to get started with the idea and then let things flow and the ideas evolve.

Rule No. 11 Test your ideas, check for traction, respond to interaction or reaction

Start at Rule No. 1 again. Like a snowball, go through the process again, see what you can attract and build upon as you go through the steps each time.

Rule No. 12 Comment to an idea originator if something they said, you tried, and share what worked, what didn't work.

Rule No. 13 You will only build a crowd once you fade into the crowd or are enveloped within one.

Tulip: my favorite flower

As today putters to an end, I bid adieu to 55 and resolve to coasting towards 60 now that I've crossed from the mid-point to the other side. Thanks to one of my greatest Social Media friends, Mott, shared Conan O'Brien's birthday post on Facebook and I happened to see this morning. How cool is that eh? I like the idea of having "something in common with Conan O'Brien" .... and a whole list of greatest in the following company whom we keep on celebrating an April 18th birthday .... Bon Fete mes ami :o)

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self-portrait of sad clown by Wix photographer Juliette Jourdain

April 18 Famous Birthdays (SOURCE: BIRTHDAY NINJAs)

The zodiac sign of a person born on April 18 is Aries ♈.

The following famous people celebrate their birthday on April 18th. The list is arranged in chronological order and includes celebrities like actors, actresses, models, singers, rappers and producers. Click the after the name to explore the birth date info and know the meaning of their life path number.

The epic list contains 285 persons. Showing 1 - 20.

1480

Lucrezia Borgia, Italian daughter of Pope Alexander VI (d. 1519). Life path number 8
1503

Henry II of Navarre, (d. 1555). Life path number 22
1590

Ahmed I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1617). Life path number 1
1605

Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1674). Life path number 7
1648

Jeanne Guyon, French mystic and author (d. 1717). Life path number 5
1666

Jean-Féry Rebel, French violinist and composer (d. 1747). Life path number 5
1740

Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician (d. 1810). Life path number 7
1759

Jacques Widerkehr, French cellist and composer (d. 1823). Life path number 8
1771

Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg (d. 1820). Life path number 2
1772

David Ricardo, English economist and politician (d. 1823). Life path number 3
1794

William Debenham, English founder of Debenhams (d. 1863). Life path number 7
1797

Adolphe Thiers, French historian and politician, 2nd President of France (d. 1877). Life path number 1
1813

James McCune Smith, American physician and author (d. 1865). Life path number 8
1819

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Cuban lawyer and activist (d. 1874). Life path number 5
1819

Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1895). Life path number 5
1838

Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French chemist and academic (d. 1912). Life path number 6
1857

Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (d. 1938). Life path number 7
1857

Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and author (d. 1935). Life path number 7
1858

Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian educator and activist, Bharat Ratna Awardee (d. 1962). Life path number 8
1863

Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian politician and diplomat, Joint Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (d. 1942). Life path number 22

1863

Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (d. 1920). Life path number 22

1864

Richard Harding Davis, American journalist and author (d. 1916). Life path number 5

1874

Abd-ru-shin, German author (d. 1941). Life path number 6

1874

Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian author and poet (d. 1938). Life path number 6

1877

Vicente Sotto, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 1950). Life path number 9

1879

Korneli Kekelidze, Georgian philologist and scholar (d. 1962). Life path number 2

1880

Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (d. 1968). Life path number 3

1882

Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian ruler (d. 1964). Life path number 5

1882

Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (d. 1977). Life path number 5

1884

Jaan Anvelt, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1937). Life path number 7

1888

Duffy Lewis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1979). Life path number 2

1889

Jessie Street, Australian activist (d. 1970). Life path number 3

1893

Violette Morris, French shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1944). Life path number 7

1896

Na Hye-sok, South Korean journalist, poet, and painter (d. 1948). Life path number 1

1897

Ardito Desio, Italian geologist and cartographer (d. 2001). Life path number 2

1897

Per-Erik Hedlund, Swedish skier (d. 1975). Life path number 2

1898

Patrick Hennessy, Irish soldier and businessman (d. 1981). Life path number 3

1901

Al Lewis, American songwriter (d. 1967). Life path number 6

1901

László Németh, Hungarian dentist, author, and playwright (d. 1975). Life path number 6

1902

Waldemar Hammenhög, Swedish author (d. 1972). Life path number 7

1902

Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981). Life path number 7

1904

Pigmeat Markham, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1981). Life path number 9

1905

Sydney Halter, Canadian lawyer and businessman (d. 1990). Life path number 1

1905

George H. Hitchings, American physician and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998). Life path number 1

1907

Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American composer and conductor (d. 1995). Life path number 3

1911

Ilario Bandini, Italian businessman and race car driver (d. 1992). Life path number 7

1911

Maurice Goldhaber, Ukrainian-American physicist and academic (d. 2011). Life path number 7

1914

Claire Martin, Canadian author (d. 2014). Life path number 1

1915

Joy Davidman, American poet and author (d. 1960). Life path number 2

1916

Carl Burgos, American illustrator (d. 1984). Life path number 3

1916

Doug Peden, Canadian basketball player (d. 2005). Life path number 3

1917

Ty LaForest, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1947). Life path number 22

1917

Frederica of Hanover (d. 1981). Life path number 22

1918

Gabriel Axel, Danish-French actor, director, and producer (d. 2014). Life path number 5

1918

André Bazin, French critic and theorist (d. 1958). Life path number 5

1918

Shinobu Hashimoto, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter. Life path number 5

1918

Clifton Hillegass, American publisher, founded ''CliffsNotes'' (d. 2001). Life path number 5

1918

Tony Mottola, American guitarist and composer (d. 2004). Life path number 5

1919

Vondell Darr, American actress (d. 2012). Life path number 6

1919

Virginia O'Brien, American actress and singer (d. 2001). Life path number 6

The epic list contains 285 persons. Showing 61 - 80.

1920

John F. Wiley, American football player and coach (d. 2013). Life path number 7
1921

Jean Richard, French actor and singer (d. 2001). Life path number 8
1922

Barbara Hale, American actress. Life path number 9
1922

Lord Kitchner, Trinidadian singer (d. 2000). Life path number 9
1923

Alfred Bieler, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 2013). Life path number 1
1923

Beryl Platt, Baroness Platt of Writtle, English engineer and politician (d. 2015). Life path number 1
1924

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005). Life path number 2
1924

Henry Hyde, American commander, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007). Life path number 2
1924

Roy Mason, English miner and politician, Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2015). Life path number 2
1925

Bob Hastings, American actor (d. 2014). Life path number 3
1925

Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer and author (d. 2005). Life path number 3
1926

Doug Insole, English cricketer. Life path number 22
1926

Günter Meisner, German actor (d. 1994). Life path number 22
1927

Samuel P. Huntington, American political scientist, author, and academic (d. 2008). Life path number 5
1927

Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Polish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2013). Life path number 5
1927

Charles Pasqua, French businessman and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 2015). Life path number 5
1928

Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (d. 2015). Life path number 6
1928

Otto Piene, German sculptor and academic (d. 2014). Life path number 6
1929

Peter Hordern, English soldier and politician. Life path number 7
1930

Clive Revill, New Zealand-English actor and singer. Life path number 8

The epic list contains 285 persons. Showing 81 - 100.

1931

Bill Miles, American director and producer (d. 2013). Life path number 9
1934

James Drury, American actor. Life path number 3
1934

George Shirley, American tenor and educator. Life path number 3
1935

Jerry Dexter, American voice actor (d. 2013). Life path number 22
1935

Costas Ferris, Egyptian-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Life path number 22
1936

Roger Graef, American-English criminologist, director, and producer. Life path number 5
1936

Vladimir Hütt, Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1997). Life path number 5
1936

Tommy Ivo, American actor and race car driver. Life path number 5
1937

Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building (d. 2009). Life path number 6
1937

Tatyana Shchelkanova, Russian long jumper and heptathlete (d. 2011). Life path number 6
1937

Teddy Taylor, Scottish journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. Life path number 6
1939

Thomas J. Moyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 2010). Life path number 8
1940

Joseph L. Goldstein, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate. Life path number 9
1940

Jaak Lipso, Estonian basketball player and coach. Life path number 9
1940

Mike Vickers, English guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter (Manfred Mann and The Manfreds). Life path number 9
1941

Michael D. Higgins, Irish sociologist and politician, 9th President of Ireland. Life path number 1
1942

Michael Beloff, English lawyer and academic. Life path number 2
1942

Steve Blass, American baseball player and sportscaster. Life path number 2
1942

Robert Christgau, American journalist and critic. Life path number 2
1942

Jochen Rindt, German-Austrian race car driver (d. 1970). Life path number 2

The epic list contains 285 persons. Showing 101 - 120.

1943

Zeki Alasya, Turkish actor and director (d. 2015). Life path number 3
1944

Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, English academic and politician. Life path number 22
1944

Robert Hanssen, American FBI agent and spy. Life path number 22
1944

Philip Jackson, Scottish sculptor and photographer. Life path number 22
1945

Bernard Arcand, Canadian anthropologist and author (d. 2009). Life path number 5
1945

Richard Bausch, American author and academic. Life path number 5
1945

Robert Bausch, American author and academic. Life path number 5
1945

Margaret Hassan, Irish-Iraqi aid worker (d. 2004). Life path number 5
1946

Jean-François Balmer, Swiss actor. Life path number 6
1946

Irene Fernandez, Malaysian activist (d. 2014). Life path number 6
1946

Hayley Mills, English actress and singer. Life path number 6
1946

Skip Spence, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, drummer and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape) (d. 1999). Life path number 6
1947

Kathy Acker, American author and poet (d. 1997). Life path number 7
1947

Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (d. 2013). Life path number 7
1947

Dorothy Lyman, American actress, director, and producer. Life path number 7
1947

Herbert Mullin, American serial killer. Life path number 7
1947

Cindy Pickett, American actress. Life path number 7
1947

Greg Quill, Australian-Canadian singer-songwriter and journalist (d. 2013). Life path number 7
1947

Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter. Life path number 7
1947

James Woods, American actor and producer. Life path number 7

The epic list contains 285 persons. Showing 121 - 140.

1948

Régis Wargnier, French director, producer, and screenwriter. Life path number 8
1949

Geoff Bodine, American race car driver. Life path number 9
1950

Paul Callery, Australian footballer. Life path number 1
1950

Tina Chow, American model and jewelry designer (d. 1992). Life path number 1
1950

Kenny Ortega, American director, producer, and choreographer. Life path number 1
1950

Grigory Sokolov, Russian pianist and composer. Life path number 1
1951

Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer and coach. Life path number 2
1951

Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Life path number 2
1953

Rick Moranis, Canadian-American actor, singer, and screenwriter. Life path number 22
1954

Robert Greenberg, American pianist and composer. Life path number 5
1956

Eric Roberts, American actor. Life path number 7
1956

Melody Thomas Scott, American actress. Life path number 7
1957

Ian Campbell, Australian jumper. Life path number 8
1957

Anna Kathryn Holbrook, American actress and educator. Life path number 8
1958

Malcolm Marshall, Barbadian cricketer and coach (d. 1999). Life path number 9
1958

Karen Mayo-Chandler, English actress and model (d. 2006). Life path number 9
1958

Thomas Simaku, Albanian-English composer. Life path number 9
1958

Tarmo Teder, Estonian poet and critic. Life path number 9
1959

Susan Faludi, American journalist and author. Life path number 1
1959

Frank Mulholland, Scottish lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for Scotland. Life path number 1

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Are you REALLY linking in?

With deep regret+utter transparency
I am self-tasked to exposing executives who have an army in front of them, answering their emails, linked in messages, and anything else they find favorable.

Face of the corporation
As an executive, you are the face to which others, mostly all, associate your name as a brand within the corporation. Yet so many executives are dilusional to think that it won't catch up with them. I say a LOT sooner than later!

The tides are turning
in the world of employment and recruitment. Those measly applicants that you invited to apply, beat them up persevering through the MAZE (not amaze) of the CAREER section of most websites.

After you playing pinball?
Who has convinced the person on the other end that you dodged pinball bounces without falling into the deep dark black hole.

You are paying for nothing
these days because you can't demonstrate value to joining your organization. A confident prospective professional within range of your company has gracefully navigated your site well enough to get past the red stars * you keep forgetting or actually are deciding whether that is the sort of information you want to impart until there are some serious indication that a job offer is in the immediate mix.

What are u doing to sell ur company?
Should be the thing you ask all of your executives and board members at your next meeting. In fact, it should be prioritized and then teams formed to leave for a week to come back with intelligence and insights to support their argument that everyone and every person is selling their companies 24x7/365 of the year.

Do not allow executives to hide
behind their own personal brand, to be esteemed, somewhat feared, but powerful none the same. Common denominator being internal fame and little public refrain. I know how the system works because I've emailed an executive for the past three years. I would say that actually is two executives that are at the highest chain of command within unsaid organization.

Response is reflective
to the arrogant, egotistical side step. I must importantly convey that yes every email is personally read, even if not by the person to which it was directed. So many executives find this an excellent coping mechanism.

Bernie Sanders kind
Here in our midst, in Calgary, in Canada is a Bernie Sanders of our own. What's that you ask? Well, swap politician with businessman, to get the real drift of the message written here.

Only one of the executives whom I write a brief (and sometimes long) message to has ever responded, written back, and had a message-conversation of only a few. This gentleman answers every single email personally, with humor, anecdotal.

I will share a few, without revealing the names or company to which they are aligned with. I will also share whether there is a response and how it was handled.

Congrats on FINALLY being offered a position worthy of you, Mr_. You kinda got a bum rap at ur previous GIG. Now, you may be victorious! Thank you for keeping me on your connected list. I hope u notice how I will reshare on LINKED IN any news with ur name on it ::... which i normally reserve for the CEO of Salesforce.com fame. He and I connected almost immediately when we hitched a ride to LINKED IN back in 2010. I enjoy the opportunity to read the going on of some various wellknown business leaders in Canada and abroad. I am just launching a website called: www.graFX.online < still under construction until my vision is aligned in an execution-able fashion. This unnamed company will get the first right of refusal on advertising allotment, after that we will see. I won't allow competing brands on my page at the same time. The brands have to meet my criteria::... innovative, open to change, leading edge in technology, especially MOBILITY with a dynamic, positive, healthy culture [ marketing literature aside ] and women have half a better chance in moving up the corporate ladder than other places.

A cultural fit
Examine the culture before you go work anywhere. Where I currently work had almost all of the checks in my boxes to agree to go work, some would consider under-employed, I like to think of as a new beginning.

That has gone on far too long
for any sane person. Yet here is the magic. I demonstrate tenacity and sticking to my commitments. I won't dwell on the past where my loyalty was skathed and bruised confidence hang out.

A hang out for disbelievers?
Or a place for optimistic comradely and support to stay connected. Cheering each other on when you see someone heading to the finish line: fame, wealth comes second to the thrill of finding something that people will love.

A legacy we must not forget
fading Steve Jobs back into the backdrop of historical proportions. Where his greatest arch-rival still maintains.

Objet d'art (plural objets d'art) means literally "art object", or work of art, in French, but in practice the term has long been reserved in English to describe works of art that are not paintings, large or medium-sized sculptures, prints or drawings. It therefore covers a wide range of works, usually small and three-dimensional, of high quality and finish in areas of the decorative arts, such as metalwork items, with or without enamel, small carvings, statuettes and plaquettes in any material, including engraved gems, hardstone carvings, ivory carvings including Japanese netsuke and similar items, non-utilitarian porcelain and glass, and a vast range of objects that would also be classed as antiques (or indeed antiquities), such as small clocks, watches, gold boxes, and sometimes textiles, especially tapestries. Books with fine bookbindings might be included.

An objet de vertu by excellence, Fabergé's "Memory of Azov Egg" (1891), contains a ship model wrought of gold.

A Swiss singing bird box with a bucolic lake scene on the lid, c. 1825, another example of an objet de vertu.

The term is somewhat flexible, and is often used as a broad term for "everything else" after major categories have been dealt with.

Objets d'art
Creating aesthetically beautiful objects, words, art, songs, melody, photography with innovation and zest. Those are the best leaders because they want perfection. They've been knocked around a few times, but they bounce back stronger.

How many can you think of
who has had that? You know I mean Steve Jobs, I've mentioned Barrack Obama before. Who is really leading the spirit of the social media? Facebook or Twitter may think they've gotten "IT" while instaGRAM or snapCHAT or PINterest display it can channel and expand the audience.

Besides the where-with-all
who is really leading the charge? Google and newly formed Alpabet? Again, I challenge you to think beyond that. Those are companies all aforementioned.

I'm talking about personal BRAND
that has not been sold to the highest bidder ...... yet.

I message to executives in the spring of 2017:
pay attention to your culture, examine it objectively, challenge who is selling your brand. Setting advertising agencies and pre-set social media placement aside.

Who IS selling your brand?
Get rid of the CEOs and boards who collect a paycheque and run the accounting side of your business or investments. They are the short run wagons to hitch a ride on. The enduring, innovative, revolutionary companies in history had a leader and company overlapping by brand.

Hire the writers and the imagineers
who can see the future clearly, not clogged with BS and YES-men (and ever-growing, but still far behind, number of women)?

Fire the ad agencies
who are merely graphic design studios. Nothing like the "Mad Men" era so well depicted in one of my favorite docu-drama series of all time for me.

Ogilvy on advertising
is a worthy read. It should be a mainstay in any creative agency or entrepreneur. His extraordinary vision is like a bible to how to behave online and get sophisticated, academic, creative followers is a mighty key.

Story telling
was clearly the backbone to Ogilvy's approach. How isn't that phenomenal when you think of the brands that are winning because of how they act online? Whether by video or posted words. Tells the story.

The exchange with others
is a one-sided currency ... except where in one instance a time I was online [ Wednesday ] with full force and paying attention, I witnessed a customer with a REALLY big following on Twitter tweet his dissatisfaction with his customer experience for their technology.

Ability to respond
Is your company equipped to respond?
You have to be honest here. Start from the very top and then cascade down the line.

Whoever professes ignorance
are likely your board of directors, of the Baby Boomer age [ born from 1959 to 1945 times ] where spark is of the very limited kind. Who has last had an idea that sat where your company is run?

Whoever professes participation
can fan-dangle and confuse you with so much techno garbage and marketing slogan-ish barbs. They are no more online than your top dog CEO. Some have presence to be sure. Mostly on things not deemed indicative of your brand [ for example, pornography, mean words, falsehoods, sarcasm ]

Operated by robots
who send out your endorsed words ::... usually a campaign, that really is advertising. This is where the gifted online rise above. They can smell a scam or a spam, cloaked in sophisticated disguise.

Whereas the responses
are automatic. As though they've been keyed in by a computer after a roundtable of committee members compose or decide which will be exposed online. [NOTE: if you ever want a NONdecision, get a group together and call them a committee or an association].

Ego can collide
with the noise online. People with much greater value, wisdom and words emerge and rise to the top. Not the brands with their tricks and paid dollars to drive revenue or traffic to websites to justify their existence.

Merely hanging on with a bandaid
will be those who will be faced if they don't wake up and pay attention to the ability to CONVERSE online with your customers, your supporters, your buyers, your vendors, your fans while being made aware of your detractors, competition or negative vibe generators.

Make sure everyone is telling a story
even if it isn't your story. In fact, that would be better. Share stories of employees who reached out to connect online with an idea to help others that generated a response and churned the wheels of progress and communication farther.

Hang up the old standards
and start creating a culture that adapts to the ever-changing world. Ensure your technology is robust enough to withstand cyber attacks.

Hire wikileaks as your defender
of all that is true and exemplary. Less would be exposed, embarrassed and sink off into the moonlight as the werewolves of change howl.

I'd love to sell wikileaks.com services
Can you just imagine? A brand name that anyone who is everyone can ignore any longer. One of the easiest criteria to determine who to sell for. If you have made it past the excruciatingly painful online "SUBMIT" on the CAREER portal, you have proven that you are worthy to work there wouldn't you think? Fear not, that application sits behind technology. It picks out key words in the resume that it has hyperboiled into identifiable words that in all its theory can expose.

Missing key ingredients like instinct
judgement and overall presentation. How can you hire someone so poised and seemingly perfect who has constantly garlic breath and something green stuck in his or her teeth?

A computer taught to think still lacks instinct and human judgement that can unfortunately be pre-determined by bias or self-centered view, yet can also see smiles, sense warmth, sincerity clearly shine. Yet today's forward thinking companies are falling behind in the times.

Becoming more robot
and run by a gaggle of gearheads or geeks [ of the destructive kind like hackers, exhibitionists to namely only two ]. The silliness that it needs to be cautioned against may seem almost alarmist by some.

Where complacency rests
on the shoulders of nuts, bolts, power, fingers, minds is sadly what is happening. They've climb the heap of others, even stepping on a few to get there. These are the people who are behind your company's words? The popular or populist ones.

Maybe they are more expensive
in the thousands an idea and more when delivered on time, if on time. To ignore the ability to resound your message and create a positive vibe is an opportunity so many companies are missing.

Remember, I said it starts at the top?
Proof is not hidden, nor under a disguise. That to which Trump earns my respect for his wisdom of speaking online. For himself, by himself. Rather than the pocket of a few others, the rest allowing a technology or stranger to convey what is on your mind?

How is that possible?
I can tell you how. They're ignorant of the influence they have online, denying the potential to have every single employee, customer communicate and interact online. Where are the skilled manifestos of intellectual power your boast you have? Hidden and trampled on by your sickness going misdiagnosed. Inspected or neglected? Either cause harm.

Your employees' valuable time
is important and you should concede or acknowledge that. Their ideas more rich and fruitful than anyone trying to tell you what you want to hear. They are impassioned by the believers and loyalists lost in your midst. A true voice for your company.

If you can, seek and find
the RT on Twitter from 48 hours ago where I exclaimed over an exchange between a customer and his support service solving a problem, together, in real time, online. No waiting line or number queue. Immediate, solution nailed and resolution intact. Not to mention the proof of your culture not as clearly defined as shown, demonstrated and acted on.

Not by hey-sayers nor digital players
who are usually of the very young mind. No experience or wisdom to fall upon, just speed in clickness and keen savviness they climbed over the backs of the many who built things, helped build the company. Besides the gold pin for 5 years or platinum for 10, retirement parties have become instinct. Those were the best networking environments of my career. If you were well enough liked or respected, you would be invited to a retirement party, a fond adieu by many as they blend into the twilight of years, traveling, not working, painting, writing.

If you read enough news

you can almost start to believe it.

When you choose the news you want

it is much easier to follow it.

~ Jeannette Marshall

Today

Congrats on the new job! What will u be doing now M? Is this something one can do online? I currently work in Loyalty & Retention at a call center at one of Canada's largest _____corporation. If I can leave by Tuesday at the same $25/hr with home office I'd be deliriously happy! It would allow me to continue my passion online.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

An empty nester ~ winning Lottery ~ Easter weekend kind

If either of us saw a picture of us right now, we may have decided against one of the best decisions of our life.

I knew that my conversation with my 82/year young mother would keep paying forward in my consciousnesses thoughts. Interesting how she gave me a zinger that caught my attention big time! She said that I seemed more caught up in the present, letting go of the past, and no longer fretting with what the future has in mind.

The Hunkster Hubster picked up some groceries, where we share the chores of putting together dinner. A ritual of sorts for the empty nesting kind. Except this is the Easter long weekend where we get to spend the whole weekend together. That is not a big deal in our world. Even though we both work full time, our hours are lopsided and inconsistent. To have a four day weekend off at the same time is of the winning-Lottery kind.

For my husband to recognize it as a special occasion makes our goofy get-ups almost forgivable. Certainly, for sure if no kids were to drop by. Since that is highly unlikely these days, it is about making sun when the sun shines.

Like the bed pan I found at Goodwill yesterday for $12 at half-price because it was 50% Blue Tag day there. I've been the luckiest on Blue Tag Day. Maybe there is a system to group things together as they are being priced? Now wouldn't that be amazing eh?

I've been reading a lot about Bitcoin from ages ago. Wanting to extrapolate what the "experts" said back then: optimistic or pessimistic or skeptical? One may think that it would be an accurate portrayal of how things unfold online. However, let's be realistic and recognize that anything that is held online is vulnerable.

Then again Carney (another secret crush, that is no longer a secret) says that it may actually work: that Blockchain may work across financial and global boundaries. That WOULD be revolutionary.

Yet even if Carney were to drive up in a Limousine towing a Guelia for me (you know that red commercial? I'd insert here for a fee.

At some point as a blogger or writer you have to decide that what you write is worthwhile. Putting the words out there with hopes that someone would really like what you're saying and *POOF* you're a Brand Ambassador!! Perfecto. Bellisimo Mon Ami!!

I've supported @SocialFave as it was a launchling and now picking up steam. Its CEO, Philippe Trebault @MisterFavor and I became connected back when I started in 2010. March 2010 as a matter of fact. Linked In was my very first approach to social media. This group of early adopters I met there are the most important kind. Somehow, even as I am compelled to go to work to earn my keep, there are those that pop out in front of me when I'm online. I'd have to say the few that immediately come to mind:

* Sandy Hubbard @sandyhubbard
* Joseph Ruiz @josephyruiz
* Dave Reynolds @therealdavereynolds

Those are the long-timers that were experimenting and discovering a really neat feature nestled among the nest of social media, which was just starting to take flight: the #hashtag conversation.

We've now graduated to being able to carry on public conversations with remarkable people of every different, race, color and kind. Joined by intellect, creative minds, gifted wordsmiths, artists, photographers. Yet as the millions clamber on board, how many are really making money or doing it to pass the time?

I think the most superb thing about starting out 7 years ago, some names were really getting widespread recognition (think Sean Knight + JessicaN + a few more that are at the top in the media's mind ... like the CEO Benoit who became a mutual follower back then.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Make new friends, love the old

one is silver and the other GOLD
as I grow each older, the more appreciative I've become of so many wonderful experiences to be blessed with, never for a moment taking any of it for granted.

working one's self to the core
doesn't do anyone favors (p.s. in Canadianese the American favors is favored by spell check, but we Canadians taught articulation in the late 60s and the early 70s were blessed with the very big gift of expression. ..... :: anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyys [an 80s term for those yuppies still out there, and the Millennial wannabes ::.... how things have evolved eh?

In the folds of being born of the 60s
like wallflowers to the Baby Boomers, we observed, we absorbed the best parts, we have held our composure, and now we are parents of the gift to our generation: the gift of the Millennial Bloom.

We're pretty lucky
even though if you paid attention to statistics and stereotypical behavior, those born in the 60s were pre-packaged to lean towards failure. If you think stereo-typing is dangerous, especially to mental health, think of the resilience and tenacity of anyone you know, been lucky enough to have met, or heaven help you if you're an offspring.

A beacon of light
to the Millennials is their embrace of the 80s culture. Is it because there is a soul connection of what those of us in our 20s in the 80s aligned with what our own Millennials are facing.

Where optimism can be restored
when you think of what great things, events, game-changers occurred in the 80s, introduced back then, every day now.

Boxers who come out of the corner
jumping into the obstacle ahead, head of, crouched in readiness to take the offensive with hardly a sniffle and long before a drop of sweat. That would define those who lived their 20s in the 80s.

I graduated from college in the 80s
and it was a great platform to launch a career. Not limited by the restrictive curriculum, more persevering to land beyond the world of conformity, censorship, polite manners, poise and abloom with everything is impossible, we may as well make the impossible possible.

I notice some really talented folks out there. Some that mere names crossed paths with me. What a crazy, crazy CRAZY time, when I think back to it. With gurgling reflection caught and captured from my conversation with my mother this afternoon.

Being the parent of a Millennial
is a worrisome, full board, attentive preoccupation. You revel is the brilliance shining from your child born, first in 1989, with the others to follow in the 90s.

We're lucky so they are lucky
as well. Like skipping stones across a glass-like lake or quietly lapping ocean shore. We may have been born in inopportune times, faced some pretty insur-mountable odds. What we share is that grasp of not expecting anything for free, without commitment, not always sacrifice [ often by choice ] understanding the basic rightful work ethic:

* work hard
* work honestly
* work with integrity
* be known for your word without all the numerous
* be committed to quality

* whatever you do, do it with pride

* love who you do it with, who you're surrounded by

* do your best always, it always pays off in spades

A dog eat dog world
began with the Baby Boomers with entitlement mastered by GenX. Where those born of the 60s, grew in the 80s, parents of the Millennials >> skipped >> over the hay days and landed in the middle of the first recession since the 1929 stock market crash [ if you do not know anything about this historical event, pause this article and go find out about it .... as my commitment to you as a blogger, you read ] we had to survive. Really not much opportunity to learn as funds dried up and kids had to go leave post-secondary because their was some sort of crisis in their lives, with their family, that took more important measure instead.

Learn from your elders
as much as you can. No time will be wasted. I can guarantee that! Talking to my mother, with so many wise words shared. I even said to her: "I hope I remember all of this for when I write later". The gift of her wisdom was shone brightly upon me, like a face of a flower blooming forward towards the sun.

I was a sponge in the 80s
that was my greatest gift. I only had a college diploma, not even a university degree. It was enough to teach me discipline and that anything worthwhile doesn't come free, without commitment and stick-to-it-ness that is just emerging within the Millennial generation.

Millennials have faced fear
reflected in their parents eyes. A strong, tough upper lip, and a straight spine. We weren't even considering weakness, with goals clearly defined in our line of vision.

Dedication, optimism ~
contagiously positive attitudes were bestowed upon our offspring. Whether they grasped those sprinkles of enlightenment and hung on to the best qualities we shared.

Nobody is perfect
and neither is anyone who defines themselves as a Yuppie. [ Or admits in select company and trusted members ] Who wear it as an emblem of pride, saying "who cares?" if they still have enough hair left to grow a mullet, why not?

As the Millennials groan
and tsk tsk with embarrassment to their very influential peers. What their peers think of them is more important than their parents, their boyfriend, or their employer slash / boss could ever dream. A peer sets the benchmark and the height of the peddle stool they are awarded, acclaimed, worshiped or refrained.

Be still thine parental heart
it is just a mutation of your chromosomes, evolved and collided with nature and environment to form an independent being, an individual. I know it is very hard. Like a moth does to a butterfly without the loss of the moth, is the butterfly allowed to form.

Be glad, be proud and be boastful
toward anyone who'll listen. Those are the ones you want to be around. They can relate, or your words resonate with them.

Unlike my mom's words
this afternoon. They were so wise, so enlightening ... almost as though I was leaving a cocoon. While I'd been living these 55 years, I was enclosed in a small outlook, not looking far beyond to where flowers bloom and the sun's flower is warm with a gentle wind, with an iced tea at my elbow. I'm careful I don't give it a nudge to topple it over as I tap, tap, tap with the rhythm of my 1979 typing class on an electric typewriter. Graduating exceeding 120 clicks minutes ::.... now WHAT was it called back in those days when we took our speed tests on a manual typewriter? Hmmmm I think it was ... nope not characters per second, or any variation of the Times New Roman font that was the only letters to be had, to write a letter, draw up an agreement or a contract.

Some of us grew up with carbon copy
yet how many know what that material is? What it is like to try to avoid staining your fingers on the sticky substance on its back with a wrapping-paper thin or thinner-than-onion paper thin [ I'm sure Google can show you what either of those things are .... if not, Wikipedia for sure ].

This is a story for those
who remember the glory of being a yuppie. Bringing in the 80s as we all turned 20. That is a pretty unique identifiable experience, a uniqueness we can own. A significant contribution to our society came from our decade. [ you may have to dig back to my other INBETWEENERs blog (before we evolved to be called "YUPPYDOM" ) mere weeks ago I wrote about those who graduated from the 1960s and became icons of our time. Across borders, beliefs, colors, race or country, the class of the 1960s born are unique with much to boast about.

Keep steady on the present.
Slam the door or gently close the past. Forget about the future because it isn't anything you can touch right now. So you may as well be aware of the present and make every moment count!

where everything is impossible,

we may as well make the

impossible possible

~Jeannette Marshall

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Leadership politics or vision?

Environment politics vision

Two opposing forces
Perhaps it is politicians out of touch with what the people want? I am starting to think that the difference between good or mediocre politicians and great leaders is their intuitive touch with their public and constituents.

Trump and Obama
Are two complete opposites with some common ground that nobody could disagree with:

love of family
love of country
integrity of words
charisma
showmanship
leadership
commitment to commitments

Yet two areas they are on opposing views as the north is to the south, east to the west, on their vision for North America.

Whereas Obama's dedication to the environment may be his greatest legacy. He also had commitment to the safety of people. Recognizing through his real life experience, that anyone, regardless of genetics, history, paternity, color, race or beliefs, can grow and learn. Stretch and reach his goals of leading what was once the most powerful nation in the world, to grab the baton of legends like Roosevelt, Kennedy, Lincoln or Washington were born. Men of courage facing almost insurmountable odds, are reveled by history to which today's children and generations before or after to be learned from.

The commonality among the weakest links are not any less embarrassing for its citizens when it hits them hard, in their pride, love of country, and tenacity to carry on, despite everything. Those are things that resonate with me when I think of the United States of America.

I wrote about them imploding back a few years ago. I didn't really comment editorial on goings on in the world, but I have a few times. Prophecy or deep understanding with perception on how to bundle the facts into predictions or road being traveled.

My husband and I had this very hearty debate not twenty minutes ago. These really cool discussions burst out of the folds of our daily living where one of us makes a comment on the state of the world based on current events. In those brief five minutes, we nourished each out and boosted our viewpoints because we could defend our point of view in the safety of our appreciation and respect for each other.

Both Trump and Obama

clearly demonstrate love and devotion to their families, their wives, their children, their friends. Certainly how they differ on how conjoined the two are between family and office. What is a more obvious distinction is how it is made up.

Obama's love of wife and daughters

is crystal clear. His vision and direction were defined by leaving the world a better place for his daughters and the world. He went after safety with his heart on his sleeve. You cannot doubt his deep reflection on the devastation guns have self-inflicted among their midst. Such a contrary to the view that the world perceives them to have:

That they are the world referee, where countries like Canada and England mere peacekeepers when violence erupts. Upholding the rights of humanity and defending basic human rights by giving out riches in the form of monetary relief, protection, feeding the poor and saving the health of others before themselves.

"Your positiveness is like a beacon toward others, inspiring optimism and faith."

~ Jeannette Marshall

That is another distinct difference between Trump and Obama. Their approaches are so different. Obama's legendary empathy was trying to remove nuclear threat in areas that are war torn, corrupt or falling apart. Obama zeroed in on the most foreseeable threats, and I'm guessing here .....

The greatest singular figure posing a threat to the United States, North America and the UN was Bin laden. As Bin Laden faded into the background, martyrdom growing as his survival held on. Leading the fearful example that you can get away with murder and be acclaimed and praised for it. The need to snuff it out clear.
Corruption in the financial nucleus of American financiers was rampant. Made worse by his powerless capability to inflict any change. Handcuffed by the political system

Critical attention

on the environment versus it being a hoax seems apparent differences between Trump and Obama. Completely opposing views. The American citizens clearly confused between who is right, who is wrong, or is anybody right?

Health of the country views

communicated at odds. Where one says that if you believe, you can accomplish and the other says the country is at the brink of disruption.

Health is a necessity

they both agree. The journey or road map differing completely. Causing instability and fear to the ill and the elderly and the poor. Faith in its country ever brightly filled with optimism that the democracy alone can alleviate their concerns.

Self-destructive causes

appear differently in each others' eyes. One sees the right to everyone to belong while the other sees it as being a privilege and not a right to live among the community it seeks to destruct.

Our home and native land

even has uncertainty clouding our core. The questions one must ask is whether we are on a road of redemption and worthiness?

Is the direction of our politics

in our eyes the vision we want for our future and children? If it isn't, are we facing the right direction and making the changes needed to survive and flourish?

What comes first? Safety?Security?Air?

Is the debate we hear resonating among everyone: the politicians, the media, our own voices. What is our greatest risk immediately is what panic makes us ponder. Our pocket books, our safety, or ability to breath for generations, not merely years to come?

There lies the difference

Who can make the strongest case in what should be the main focus today will be the winner. If the lowly citizen is left to deal with the consequences, will it spell optimism, inspiration, activation and execution.

Promise made, promise delivered

Execution is being able to deliver on promises shaped by plans and steps taken. When the promises are glowing brightly like a beacon as a lighthouse is for lost ships.

About me

This blog is a spin off by Jeannette Marshall, social media enthusiast @optioneerJM :and a fabulous fashionista fighting her fifties. Here I is my outlook on whatever rocks my world, and the side of being creative, whimsical at times, serious other times, attracted to fashion & beauty that bespeak my age, blended with imagery and fun. Meanderings allows me to poke fun at myself and share my less serious side. I share my favorite movies, fashion tips, time with family, comment on what is going on in the world. I know the stats are showing a climbing readership and I thank you for taking the time to stop in. Don't be shy to comment, share it or even message me privately. I joke sometimes leaving a blank box on my blog so that the dream sponsor will fall outta the sky with a healthy cheque to fill the empty box with their logo as endorsement. I won't endorse or comment on anything that I haven't personally tried, appreciate, or read. I owe that to you and hope it means you will subscribe or pop in again. Feel free to follow me on Twitter or if your curious to learn more "About Me"