Communication Recap

In the month of September, we focused on improving and organizing our communications.

I started off the month sharing my own communication strategy and some of the common reasons I hear as to why people don’t want to participate in social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

For yet another anti-Facebook perspective, I encourage you to read the article below from Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post. In addition to being a screamingly funny humorist, Mr. Weingarten is an incredible writer and is a master of vocabulary and phrasing.

“Critics contend I am unfair to Facebook merely because I have described it as an ocean of banalities shared among persons with lives so empty they echo. I defend my thesis but admit my evidence has been unscientific — entirely anecdotal — based on my occasional dips into this tepid, lifeless lagoon of dishwater-dull discourse. . . . But that has changed. I find that it is now possible to mathematically quantify the tedium, thanks to a new Web site. . . . I have done so and am here to make my report.”

–Gene Weingarten, “I hate Facebook sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. . .” The Washington Post, September 26, 2010.

We discussed how to use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to get up-to-the-minute emergency preparedness information from agencies like FEMA and state emergency management agencies. If you have not signed up for your local updates, I strongly encourage you to do so. So far, the information I have received about hurricane and flood updates has been enormously helpful here in Virginia.

We looked at the new 2011 IKEA Catalog and discussed the creativity in IKEA’s communication strategy.

I reviewed The Twitter Book by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein and put the tips to good use. My Twitter following increased slightly once I started following Sarah Milstein and I have now connected with more incredible small business owners.

One thing I did not discuss from The Twitter Book (and other sources) is that it is recommended that you roughly post 3 times as many retweets and references to other people’s content for every one you post about yourself. Since so far I have only been posting my own content, starting next week, I aim to retweet interesting posts by my Twitter connections each week. I am not sure if I will get to the 3:1 ratio immediately but this will be a good start.

One humorous Tweet on my account this month came from an anonymous source under the age of 5. “I” tweeted:

Unfortunately, since this tweet propagated through my various accounts, a LinkedIn contact wrote back to alert me of this cryptic missive wanting to know if my Blackberry was in my pocket.

I checked my Twitter account to find not only had “I” tweeted, “I” had also managed to create a list with a similarly cryptic name and added myself to that list. It took me over 10 minutes of Twitter help research to figure out how to delete that listing. Our children are definitely born wired for this new communication style but I can’t believe that it already starts so young!

I gave tips for organizing personal and business email accounts and we looked at the latest features in Gmail and Microsoft Exchange.

I posted fall gardening tips and discussed the challenges of communicating with gardeners (and other professions) who may have limited access to computers and the Internet for a variety of reasons.

Lou quipped:

“I kept waiting for the part to learn how to ‘communicate’ with the gardener. We just wanted the bushes trimmed, but left with their natural look—but whatever it was we thought we ‘communicated’ with the gardener, they all ended up looking like just-groomed french poodles!”

We looked to Dale Carnegie, master of making friends, and adapted his classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People, for the age of Facebook.

Many thanks to Dale Carnegie Training of South Florida and The Dale Carnegie Way for posting links to this article on their blogs.

My dad also sent me a good comment saying that under the smile category I should add:

“He would smile for the camera.”

True enough. Dale Carnegie would probably post a smiling picture of himself on Facebook rather than an oddly artistic pose, a mysterious/unidentifiable shot or an angry/sad/scared shot. It is the easiest way to show everyone your smile!

Ruly Ruth shared her communication style and gave advice on 5 challenging Facebook social situations.

We discussed using a vision board as a motivational tool to inspire better communications (or other goals).

Constance Theodore commented on Facebook:

“My life has been directed by “lists” which is a literary vision board. A check on the item number when completed signals an attack on the next number.”

This was a great comment because it highlighted thinking differences. Some people respond better to words and others to pictures. A vision board is a little different from a list in that a list is a set of defined instructions. The vision board is not really an instruction to do anything. It’s more like a subliminal message that you need to realize over time. You still will need your to do list but the vision board might give you the inspiration to actually do the items on your list.

We discussed how to recover from a communication mistake, taking lessons from my 401(k) plan and comedian Mo Rocca.

Samuel Pushpak provided a great Ruly Mix, “Hello Love,” inspired by a romantic portrait from photographer Michael Costa. I e-mailed Michael to make sure he knew about the song and he e-mailed back:

“Hi Anne, wow that is really special. Thanks so much for emailing me about that, I had no idea. If you speak to Samuel, let him know that I was honored.”

Michael does wonderful wedding and engagement photography in addition to other types of photography. If you scroll through the photographs on his website, you get a real sense of the romantic energy Samuel integrated into his song.

Guest blogger Kristin Jolley shared her own communication strategy as well as tips for more effective communication.

We also discussed Stever Robbins’ latest communication, his new book Get-It-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More

In the News

As I was walking around town this week looking for examples of local Fredericksburg communication style, I came across a great example in our local library.  Our library has both Facebook and Twitter accounts but is most famous now for its viral video “I Will Survive,” demonstrating their commitment to providing excellent library services even in the face of budget shortfalls.  You can watch the video below.  I can personally attest to the dedication of our local librarians.  The book displays, programs and general energy of the library are top notch and it is a wonderful resource for the whole community.

Thinking back to my articles on Washington Style in August, I came across this great video in The Wall Street Journal discussing the politics of wearing jeans in Washington. It perfectly captures how fashion is thought about in Washington. It’s a much more cerebral than artistic exercise. It’s not only about how something looks on you but about how other people view that fashion and what precedent the fashion creates for society in general in a particular setting. I wonder if any other city politicizes their clothing as much as Washingtonians do.

Thank you for joining me for another Ruly month! Back on Monday to introduce a new theme. Have a great weekend!