Is Twitter Changing Your Life?

I'm in stage 3, I guess. What stage are you in?

Here's a nicely done slide show from Minxuan Lee about how Twitter has change her life, not mine.

How Twitter Changed My Life

View more presentations from Minxuan Lee. (tags: micro twitter)

Brain Fitness: Building Memory Muscle

Image via WikipediaOne of the exercises focuses on remembering sounds in order. I gave up on phone numbers a long time ago. My excuse -- too many things to remember, I have to leave room for other, more important things. But, truth be told, it's really inconvenient not to remember numbers, and other things, in order.

So, anyway, I'm doing relatively poorly on this exercise. A few steps forward, a step backwards. Today I started out at four sounds, had to drop back to three, back up to four. Four little sounds that challenge my short term memory to its limits!

But, I find I'm not discouraged. I'm challenged to improve. Pleased to know that research shows I can improve. I don't have to write myself off as old.

And, yesterday, I remembered my cell phone number for the first time! I wasn't even trying. I guess I am building my memory muscle.

Supporting Fatherhood in the Hudson Valley

On Friday I met with a group of folks about starting a Fatherhood Alliance in the Hudson Valley. I'll keep you up-to-date about our discussions as we proceed. We welcome your thoughts and participation.

Some of the goals we discussed include:

• Changing the language and expanding the meaning of the words used in the fatherhood movement, eg. child support means more than money; 'deadbeat' dads are usually 'deadbroke' dads who need job training and opportunities.
• Strengthening the understanding and skills HV nonprofits need to engage and support fathers in their efforts to be responsible for their children.
• Identifying and collaborating to fill the gaps in services that help fathers become more responsible.
  

Here's some information about some of the people involved and links to more about them.

• Donna Linder and her staff members Ed , Ray, and Sherrie (apologies - I don't have everyone's last name) at ChildFind of America. Through their phone-based ParentHelp program, funded through the HHS Fatherhood money, they deal with the issues of separated parenting every day. I wrote the ParentHelp grant for them and know, firsthand the quality of the work they do.
  
• Kenneth Braswell has been focused on fatherhood issues for a long time. You may know him from Fathers, Inc. which he started in 2003. He's the Director of the NY State Fatherhood Initiative for the NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance where he works within the Center for Child Well-Being to involve non-custodial parents in the economic and social well-being of their children.
• Alicia Marie Crowe, Attorney/Author of Real Dads Stand Up! What Every Single Father Should Know About Child Support Rights and Custody. It's a guide to help Dads stay connected to their children despite the failed relationship with the other parent.

More to come. I don't have everyone's information yet. But that's a start.

Why we need to pass pay equity legislation; why Supreme Court appointments are so important

Here's a great short video on Lilly Ledbetter and the Supreme Court.

Am I making progress?

Image by The Rocketeer via FlickrDoe, Poe, Cut, Cup, Pup!

I never knew these sounds could be so difficult!

I just finished Brain Fitness lesson six. These exercises are simple in structure but challenging in practice. And, it's clear that what's challenging for me isn't going to be the same as what's challenging for you.

I'm amazed by the relearning process. It happens pretty quickly. I was having a terrible time discriminating between two sounds. I went to the practice button and listened to the sounds over and over for about a minute and suddenly I could hear the difference so distinctly that, for a minute, I thought they must have changed it!

Brain plasticity in action. As they say, it's not your hearing that's the problem. It's processing the sounds. And, you can relearn that. Wow!

Brain Fitness Is Installed and Ready to Go

Image by alles-schlumpf via FlickrWell, my guess was right. Posit Science was closed Friday and didn't change their message. Nasty me, I couldn't resist chiding David about their lack of customer focus when he followed up on my Friday message this noontime.

Anyway, David was very gracious and sorted out the problem quickly and confidently. It was one of those Windows software protection options several layers deep. Glenn had changed it from the default. Once it was changed back we were in business.

So, tomorrow is day one. I've decided to make it the first thing in my day -- before the phone starts ringing and I feel the pressure to respond.

I'll keep you posted.

Brain Fitness or Crossword Puzzles?

Image via WikipediaNot too long ago an assisted living client included Brain Fitness in a grant I was writing for them. I'd never heard of Brain Fitness so I did a bit of research and was impressed -- the research supports the brain's plasticity and the testimonials are impressive.

The benefits have been rolling around in the back of my mind since then. It costs a hefty sum for the two-person versions of both the visual and auditory products -- almost $900 before the Holiday discount and the rebates upon completion -- but I decided I'd invest, a Christmas present for Glenn and me.

Several of our friends are interested in how it goes so I decided to write about our experience here.

Here's our first installment.

Installation Nightmare
The package arrived New Year's Eve but we weren't ready to get started until Friday. We ordered both the Brain Fitness and Insight products for two figuring we'd work on different products and compare notes.

The installation directions seemed straight forward. We're both computer savvy, and Glenn hovers on the border of geekiness, so we expected no problems.

Closed all running programs. Addressed the firewall. Installed. Nothing. Neither program installed correctly. Uninstall. Reboot. Reinstall. Nothing.

Two different machines, two different programs. Nothing.

Checked the website. Little troubleshooting help, none that addressed our problems.

Called the support line - open Monday thru Friday.
The message -- "Support is helping other customers. Leave a message or hold on."
After holding for 15 minutes, I was switched automatically to the message system.
Then, no one called me back.

Here's my guess: It was yesterday, the Friday after New Years, and no one was there -- but they didn't change their message. A company run by academics who haven't made the switch to a customer focus. They run the company for their own convenience. Take the long weekend off. After all, school is closed. Don't even bother to change the phone message or put a notice on the website. Grrrrrr.

So, we've had a rocky start. No way to resolve the issues until Monday.

• What if we were 80 year-olds, counting on a family member who works 9-5 to install for us? (We work from home at our computers; we'll be here Monday.)

How To Fold A T-Shirt In 2 Seconds

Videojug is a great site to bookmark. Hundreds of How-to videos in categories from Haircare to Technology. Many are professionally done, but anyone can contribute their work.

My introduction to the site was this amazing video and it's follow-on instructions. Take a look.

How To Fold A T-Shirt In 2 Seconds: "How To Fold A T-Shirt In 2 Seconds"

"Instant Meeting" Idea

We spend far too many hours in meetings. And we love consensus. But sometimes the discussion goes on far longer than it needs to. I love this idea from Education World:

Consensus is a format that requires getting everyone on board with the agreement. It doesn't mean that everyone in the group loves the idea; it only means that everyone agrees to live with the decision and help implement it.... "Levels of consensus" is an approach that provides a quick way to check consensus.


State the question to be decided and review the levels of consensus (above). Then ask all group members to hold up fingers indicating where they are on the consensus scale.

• 1 finger -- "I can say an unqualified yes to the decision. I am satisfied that the decision is an expression of the wisdom of the group."
• 2 fingers -- "I find the decision perfectly acceptable."
• 3 fingers -- "I can live with the decision even though I'm not especially enthusiastic about it."
• 4 fingers -- "I do not fully agree with the decision and need to register my view about why. However, I will not block the decision because I trust the wisdom of the group."
• 5 fingers -- "I do not agree with the decision and feel the need to stand in the way of this decision being accepted."
• 6 fingers -- "I feel that we have no clear sense of unity in the group. We need to do more work before consensus can be reached."

If a quick scan of the room shows all ones and twos, the group can see that consensus has been reached. If there are several people indicating threes and fours -- or if there is even one five or six -- invite those with threes, fours, and fives to talk about why they chose that number.

Accepting feedback

The Frustrated Writer’s Prayer « Write Sense

The Frustrated Writer’s Prayer
July 14th, 2007



God, grant me the humility to face criticism,
the courage not to lash off when someone suggests a revision,
the serenity to accept when my writing is hopeless,
and the wisdom to know when to stop inflicting my writing on others.



Yes, accepting criticism is, indeed, hard. I have to swallow hard, especially when the critic is right.

Powered by ScribeFire.

An Earth Day Story

I spent the weekend working on a grant application, so I hardly noticed Earth Day come and go. But this morning I watched this story on Rocketboom and want to share it with you.

What a perfect way to tell a story. So well done.

Update: The links connected to the current day's story rather than the Earth Day piece. Sorry, I'll try to sort it out later today. Tues, 4/24/07

Okay, lets try this link -- http://www.rocketboom.com/stories/rb_07_apr_20

All This to Sell a TV Set

Sony BRAVIA - The Advert

Have you seen this Sony ad? Quite amazing what a company will spend its money on. Be sure to watch the "Behind the Scenes" clip.

Our latest TV ad - featuring massive paint explosions - took 10 days and 250 people to film. Huge quantities of paint were needed to accomplish this, which had to be delivered in 1 tonne trucks and mixed on-site by 20 people.

The effect was stunning, but afterwards a major clean-up operation was required to clear away all that paint!

The cleaning took 5 days and 60 people. Thankfully, the use of a special water-based paint made it easy to scrape-up once the water had evaporated.

Keeping everyone safe was also an important factor. A special kind of non-toxic paint was used that is safe enough to drink (it contains the same thickeners that are sometimes used in soups). It was also completely harmless to the skin.

Web 2.0 - in Four Enlightening Minutes

Wonder what Web 2.0 is all about? Watch this 4 minute video put together by Michael Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. (Actually 4 minutes, 31 seconds.)

Wesch practices the sage advice 'show, don't tell.' You'll find the video well worth the small bit of time it takes to watch it.

Kudos, Professor! Well done.

Raising Money for Innovation

Robert Wood Johnson has a new competition for innovative domestic violence prevention programs ($5,000 awards to top three winners). The competition drives home just how important private fundraising is. Funders want to be sure their money is used wisely. Grants these days support 'evidence-based,' 'research-based,' or 'model' programs.

So, who pays for the innovative programs? If an organization doesn't have private donors, it's pretty hard to find money to innovate.

RWJF - Newsroom - Features - No Private Matter! Online Competition to Showcase Innovative Domestic Violence Prevention Programs: "No Private Matter! Online Competition to Showcase Innovative Domestic Violence Prevention Programs

The competition, co-sponsored by RWJF and Changemakers, is designed to encourage innovators to share promising new ideas and make connections"

New Look for New Blogger

All my blogs got moved to the new blogger -- finally. I've been anticipating the move for some time, mostly because I missed the ability to label posts.

Making the change gave me just the push I needed to spruce things up a bit. I hope you like it.

Checking Out the Competition: Non-Profits on the Web

Here's one way to jump-start your thinking about how your non-profit can make use of web 2.0 strategies. Take a look at these organizations.

THE 59 SMARTEST ORGS ONLINE on Squidoo:

"These charities were chosen for their excellence in online storytelling and collaboration with their donors. We didn't play favorites to one cause over another, nor did we look at their fundraising goals or number of members. Instead, these organizations are winners because of their web 2.0 smarts and a willingness to engage their constituents far beyond asking them to dig into their pockets.

These are organizations that give their volunteers and members a voice and get out of the way. They're pros at mobilizing awareness online. They're experimenters. Innovators. On a mission. They're fearless."

Collage by MMMonica

Improving on "Self-Negotiation" in 2007

Food for thought as we enter a new year...



EuropeanPWN - Do women negotiate differently from men?

Am I getting enough ?

How many women feel comfortable asking that question ? Help is on the way. The change in question illustrates the change in focus from whether women and men negotiate differently to how women can improve their position and start thinking strategically. Negotiating for what you want, raising your goals and expectations and creating opportunity do not mean you have to stop being a « Nice Girl » ! However, the time has come to move on from thinking that hard work alone will get you rewards . It is time to devote some energy to creating value for yourself. As a result of all the research there are many books on the subject of women and negotiation on the market now with training and coaching sessions to suit all tastes. In the words of Deborah Kolb, Professor of Management and Gender in Organizations at MIT and author of the « Shadow Negotiation » and « Everyday Negotiation », it is time to claim your ‘place at the table’.

Faith-Based Initiatives Walk a Narrow Line

Yesterday, one of my clients commented on how sensitive the Feds were about do's and don'ts for the faith-based programs. She just returned from a meeting in DC for new grantees in the Fatherhood Initiative. Then, this morning I saw this new report from The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy.

If you're a faith-based organization, this report is MUST reading.

The State of the Law 2006: Prison Programs, Chaplaincies and Capacity Grants Top Year’s Faith-Based Controversies

The State of the Law 2006: Legal Developments Affecting Government Partnerships with Faith-Based Organizations

The Bush Administration´s Faith-Based and Community Initiative continued this year to face legal challenges that test its potential reach. Among the most significant cases in 2006 were those concerning prison programs, government chaplaincies, and grants to help faith-based organizations increase their ability to win government contracts, according to the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy´s annual "State of the Law" report. [More]

Marketing Tobacco to Teens Still an Issue

Seems like we've been fighting this battle for a long, long time. The proof of the damage marketing tobacco causes keeps rolling in.

RWJF News Release: Exposure to Tobacco Marketing More Than Doubles the Odds of Children Smoking

Exposure to Tobacco Marketing More Than Doubles the Odds of Children Smoking Dec 4, 2006 - Washington, D.C. Children's psychological involvement in marketing enhances its impact Exposure to tobacco advertising and pro-tobacco depictions in films, television, and videos more than doubles the odds that children under 18 will become tobacco users, according to a new study to be published in the December 2006 issue of the peer-reviewed Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Learn How a Great Presenter Refines Substance, Structure, and Style

If you make presentations to sell, whether it's an idea, a product, your agency's mission, or a new program's value to the community, you'll find this a helpful overview for your prep work.

Many consider Ray Butkus one of the best marketing presenters around. I found it worth saving in my resource file. Maybe you will, too.

Developing and Delivering High-impact Sales Presentations
By Ray Butkus

In the sales arena, success depends upon the superior presentation of the facts. In a highly competitive market with an abundance of choice, winning isn’t simply about building the better mousetrap but about how well the marketplace understands and remembers the distinctiveness of your mousetrap versus all others....

Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense