Archive for August, 2010

At the suggestion of my best friend, Carol, we watched a wonderful documentary this weekend called “Paper Clips.” We got it through Netflix. It’s the story of how a history project on the Holocaust transformed a rural Tennessee middle school and its surrounding community.  The students and teachers at Whitwell Middle School remind us of what can happen when hate speech is tolerated and how evil spreads when times are challenging and we demonize people because they look different, have different religious beliefs, or come from other cultural traditions.  The closer we get to the fall elections it appears that hate speech rules. I suggest we take a breath, remember we have much more in common than our differences, and look behind the curtains to see OZ-like people who are fanning the flames of division and funding the sources of hate speech. And if you’re looking for something uplifting to watch try “Paper Clips!”

My friend and colleague, Sunny Kobe Cook, sent me an interesting and timely article from the Harvard Business Review blog.  It was a post by Michael Schrage, a research fellow at MIT, titled “How Your Smartphone Will Transform Your Elevator Pitch.” He recounted some recent conversations he had with entrepreneurs who used their Smartphones to augment their pitch about their businesses. Worth reading if you want to know what’s next in networking.  Guess I need to get better acquainted with my new Droid!

The furor over the proposed building of Muslim cultural center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero has reached a fever pitch, now that the President had weighed in, at least it has in the media.   Freedom and democracy is messy and more importantly, our freedom does not mean bupkis if we don’t stand by our principles when it is hard.  There are many millions of people who will be against whatever this President says or does.  I’m familiar with that feeling because I have felt it when someone I didn’t vote for got elected to run this country.  However this principle is bigger than politics.  And if we allow the haters to win on this one, we have truly handed our enemies a gift wrapped victory and more propaganda to use against us.  And if this organization is somehow tainted by extremism, which I seriously doubt, what about the idea of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer?

Pam Gray and Rochelle Alhadeff, the wonderful hosts of Chat With Women, have invited me to join their team.  I’ll be hosting my first radio show on Monday, August 16, at 8 a.m. on KKNW 1150 AM.  The show also streams live at the Chat With Women website.  Joining me on this inaugural show will be Mikelann Valterra, founder of the Women’s Earning Institute.  She’ll be talking about how we get ourselves into the “money fog” and how we can get out.

Arden Clise, of Clise Etiquette, will also be there to share her expertise about social media etiquette.  She’s got a great list of do’s and don’ts if you want to be successful on social media.

And finally, I want to introduce you to Yes! Magazine, a great alternative to all the negativity out there in the world.  We’ll talk to Fran Korten, the publisher.

It’ll will be a fun first hour!!  If you can make the show live, it will be posted on the Chat With Women site after the show.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.