Bye Bye Birdie :o)

NBC Universal is shooing away the peacock from its new corporate logo as Comcast takes over a majority stake of the company. 



 "NBC Universal," which previously had the 55-year-old peacock logo separating the two words, will now read "NBCUniversal" to reflect a "we-are-this-close" family vibe, a voiceover presentation told 25,000 NBC Universal employees in L.A. 



The actual TV network NBC is keeping the iconic plumage in its branding.

I am glad that the TV network will keep this icon.  Sometimes I think the branding concept is taken to far.  I say if it works, it is know, then don't mess with it.

Sunday Silliness - Adversity

Tired Just Watching (360ball)

I know I used to love to play racquetball, but that looks slow compared to this new game from Germany.

Shanghai Conservation

In another effort to encourage people to use reusable chopsticks the China Environmental Protection Foundation has sculpted a chopstick tree and handed out reusable chopsticks.

About 100 acres of tree are cut down a day to create single use wooden chopsticks.

"Think here of a forest larger than Tiananmen Square - or 100 American football fields - being sacrificed every day. That works out to roughly 16 million to 25 million felled trees a year. 

To do this, the CEPF gathered 30,000 pairs of used disposable chopsticks from restaurants in Shanghai, washed them and built a tree sculpture, five meters tall high. The tree was chopped down and it was then displayed on a busy downtown street in Shanghai. Volunteers handed out reusable chopsticks to people passing by. 

According to the CEPF only 20 years worth of trees are left to continue to make the disposable wooden chopsticks.

Source

The Meeting Zone

Nothing challenges my sanity faster than a long, unproductive meeting. 

A productive meeting can be tremendously valuable, a big time-saver, and even exhilarating.  Here are some strategies to try to make a productive meeting happen:

Start on time, and end on time.

Spend a little time in chit-chat. People need to build friendships, they need a chance to show their personalities, they need to establish rapport. 

Everyone needs to contribute, find a way to draw people out. 

Have an agenda and stick to it. 

Never go to a meeting if you don’t know why you’re supposed to be there! 

Regular meetings should be kept as short as possible and very structured. 

For longer meetings, schedule breaks when people can check their email and phones.  Establish ground rules for actual meeting time - pagers on stun, no checking email, phones silent.

Take action items for meeting follow-up.  These need to be summarized with owners and due dates prior to adjournment.

Using these tips can prevent you from having a Haunted Meeting :o) 

[One of my favorite Bob and Tom skits, and a recurring entry in my little world]

Archer or Magnet?

How do you go from being an “archer” in which you aim and shoot for relevant contacts to being a “magnet” in which relevant contacts come to you?  These tips can be used from a company perspective, in a volunteer or professional society, or in surrounding yourself with the right friends.

First, it is important to understand that the even though the goal is to attract quality contributors, it might take quantity efforts to reach this goal. You need to aim for more people than you initially thought you had to.  Since you can only expect a 5-10% acceptance rate, you need to factor that into your initial outreach.

Be willing to listen and take a new approach.  We are often stuck in our own mindset and thus we already think we know whom we need to get in touch with. This is potentially dangerous as it can limit the reach of open invitations and hinder engagement with potential team members that we never thought would be able to contribute to the endeavor.

Diversity is a key reason for engaging in open outreach.

From experience, it is easier if you already have a framework and some solid areas that are "shovel ready".  It is so much easier to create a positive buzz on initiatives if they are solid and ready. 


Source

Are You Cultural?

Principles for a Strong Culture

1.         Everyone is personally responsible.
2.         Leaders demonstrate commitment.
3.         Trust permeates the organization.
4.         Decision-making reflects goals.
5.         Individuals demonstrate a questioning attitude.
6.         Organizational learning is embraced.
7.         Culture undergoes constant examination.

Media Noise - A lot of Huff, Enough!

the following, a quote from Joe Kline, in a recent issue of Time, says pretty much what I feel about the sorry state of the media in our country.  In some ways, I long for the days of only the major networks.


"The effect of all this [media] noise is to make it seem as if something drastic is happening, even when nothing really is. It becomes near impossible for us to accurately gauge the state of the nation — and it becomes utterly impossible to deal with abstract long-term threats like climate change, a flaccid educational system and the economic cancer caused by financial speculation. This is the precise opposite of what the media should be doing. It is a far greater threat to the Republic than the Sarah Palin circus or the anarchy of Julian Assange. It gets worse with each passing year, and I see absolutely no cure for it."


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2039920,00.html#ixzz1BAG6HCAc

Da Bears!

Sunday Silliness - Acquisition :o)