Bizarre, quirky, thought-provoking. Some stories that might make you shake your head in wonderment or disbelief.
Here’s why God never received tenure at any university, thanks to Bob Guthrie, who was the PR guy at Creighton University when he mounted this on the Internet. He had only one major publication. It was in Hebrew It had no references. It wasn’t published in a refereed journal. Some even doubt he wrote it [...]
Read more →You’ve probably heard this old geese chestnut of unknown origin, but it does make the point about teamwork and collaboration, and besides, we got this from our father-in-law so it had to make the cut. This fall when you see geese heading south for the winter, flying along in a “V” formation, you might be [...]
Read more →When we were in the housing market some years back we got a direct mail piece from a local agent. Most direct mail goes immediately in the trash, but this one was too good. Hi friend, Yes I want to call you freind (sic), and I hope you will consider me one. Everyone needs a [...]
Read more →In a survey conducted by the New York-based public relations firm Porter-Novelli, 65 percent of respondents said when an organization declines to comment in a crisis it is implying guilt. Only 19 percent of those surveyed felt companies are totally truthful in crisis situations and 75 percent said companies refuse to take responsibility for crises. [...]
Read more →The results of a survey of 2,500 corporate executives conducted by Charles Thompson to determine where they get their best ideas. While sitting on the toilet. While showering or shaving. While commuting to work. While falling asleep or waking up. During a boring meeting. During leisure reading. While exercising. On waking up in the middle [...]
Read more →These lists resulting from statistics compiled by the California Department of Education came out at the end of the 1980s. The top discipline problems facing public schools in the 1940s and 1980s: 1940s Talking Chewing gum Making noise Running in the halls Getting out of turn in line Wearing improper clothing Not putting paper in [...]
Read more →Communication saturation is a part of daily life in 21st century America. So many communications channels, so much information, so little time. Author Richard Saul Wurman laid the problem out clearly in the 1990s with his book, “Information Anxiety.” Wurman’s book was loaded with interesting facts and information that put the problem in context. For [...]
Read more →Renowned American essayist Norman Cousins, who died in 1990 at the age of 75, wrote “The Communication Collapse” for Time magazine shortly before his death. Some excerpts from that thoughtful and provocative piece. “Much of the trouble we get into (as individuals or organizations or as government) is connected to sloppy communication. Our words too [...]
Read more →We’ve held on to this thoughtful and thought-provoking appeal sent to us two decades ago by a friend. Think freely. Practice patience. Smile often. Savor special moments. Live God’s message. Make new friends. Rediscover old ones. Tell those you love that you do. Feel deeply. Forget trouble. Forgive an enemy. Hope. Grow. Be crazy. Count [...]
Read more →We’ve always admired the work of Bill Conlin, one of the greatest baseball writers ever. So some years back, when Conlin covered a Philadelphia Eagles football game for the Philadelphia Daily News we were not surprised that he uncovered “the rarely heard quintuple cliché.” It came from defensive back Ray Ellis after the Eagles lost [...]
Read more →