My view this morning!

It’s really unusual to have snow this early in the year on the ridge opposite the front of my farmhouse.  Sometimes, the larger peak Mount Leinster does have a dusting in mid November but normally we only have it on the whole range in the thick of winter (if at all) so I was delighted to wake up to this pretty picture first thing this morning!

Hilary joined me just before half past ten to felt for the first time, our project was a simple felt vessel.  We had a chat about the basics of felting over a warming freshly ground coffee (part of a Going Green swap package from Chaimama via Ravelry) and then got stuck in selecting and weighing fibre.  The Icelandic wool batts (available from my Etsy store) are excellent for sculptural felt and it is important to have roughly the same amount of fibre on each side of your resist hence the weighing!  Hilary decided to make a round vessel with the main colours being my favourite apple green in combination with a gorgeous turquoise.  We sub-divided the wool into four equal piles giving us two layers to lay out for each side prior to any surface embellishment.  Once the two layers were laid and wet out lightly Hilary then added some turquoise mulberry silk and some swirls of wool in another complimentary turquoise/greeny shade.  As I have mentioned before using more soap than usually advised coupled with a lot less water seems to work really well with the Icelandic wool. 

Hilary sealing the edges

Once Hilary’s vessel passed the pinch test I cut out a very small hole to release the resist.  As you seal and work the cut edges the opening will always widen so a good tip is never to make the initial cut too big!  When sealing the edges use a lot of soap on your hands, this helps you to make a nice clean edge.   Now the vessel was worked by hand both on the bamboo blind (we had started with bubble wrap and progressed to the blind as the fibres started felting together) and in very hot  soapy water in the sink.  Hilary also threw the felt onto the table to help shock and full it, then kept stretching it to form the final shape and help the wool form the memory.  Finally all the soap was rinsed totally out of the felt, the vessel was reshaped, the texture and form admired and all that was needed were a few images to mark a great mornings felting!

Hilary with her stunning first piece of felt!

For some reason the image uploader is playing up this evening so check out my Flickr images for a larger shot of the finished vessel, the texture is beautiful!

Join us for this free workshop taught by Elena Salij forom Art Center. Please register at cityaiga@gmail.com space is limited.

Date: Friday, December 4th
Time: 1-4 pm
Location: T-310, San Diego City College

Take a look at Art Center’s Advertising Department at:

http://www.artcenter.edu/theagency/agencyFa07.swf

Free Workshop – Digestive Disorders

“Alternative Approaches to Preventing and Handling Common Digestive Disorders”

Do you suffer from: Acid Reflux, Hiatal Hernia, Gas or Bloating, Irritable Bowel, Diarrhea, Stomach Cramps, Crohn’s Disease, Constipation?

Do You Wonder What’s Wrong? Find Out…

Presented By: Foundation for Wellness Professionals

Guest Speaker – Dr Jeff Durski, D.C.

Tuesday December 1st @ 7:30 pm Princeton Club Community Room

SEATING IS LIMITED, SIGN UP TODAY! Call 414-525-1030 to Reserve a Seat

14999 W Beloit Rd New Berlin, WI 53151-7438

www.princetonclub.net

http://www.durskichiropractic.com/

(Conveniently Located near I43 and Moorland Rd)

www.kurukshetra.org.in

10:15.a.m.: Networks class had already eaten 5 minutes into the break time. All of us (second year engineers-to-be) were getting restless. A familiar baritone calls out 72 that signals the end of the class. Hell! no. Seniors? Again! Four seniors march in. There is one that I know and she is not the type to ruin my break. Sigh! As we wait for them to let the cat out of the basket, they wait for us to settle.

“Kurukshetra” says an anonymous (then) senior. It triggered a vague memory. Without getting into the actual details of the talk, what they wanted was – IDEAS for new events are welcome. Thus, started my tryst with K! Thinking back, I have had a really good time and many cherished memories of K! There have been major anxious times, surprised times, ayyo times, gleeful times, despo times, frusty times, crush-ed times, happy times. But overall I’ve always had a good time.

Kurukshetra has been one great learning experience for me. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that K! has helped me find more about myself while indulging in some hilarious fun. Jotting all of them down here would make an incredibly long post. So here goes a succinct description.

Adventure

Hatching ideas

Late nights at CEG

heated healthy arguments

bliss that comes with knowledge

INBOX

try your strength & trust

Damn! I wasted my first year

writing like never before

Pushin’ it harder and faster

explore – People – Connect – waiting –  WOW

did that even exist before?

busy as busy can get

blanked out

(Place : Vivek Audi, Event : Cerebra. Oh! boy, you’vegotta be there to see it for yourself)

experience of a life time

The environment that K! creates is irresistible. It literally sucked me in like a black hole. I could easily add a lot more platitudes (like “bigger and better”, “we are doing it because we can”… get the drift?) but K’09 – my initiation year – was such a personal experience that these clichés would render it redundant. As someone who was pretty skeptic (and late) in understanding the gung-ho about K! it took some time to realize what drove the movers and shakers at CTF. As a matter of fact, when this realization dawned, I knew that that was what was and still is driving me too.

S.Swathi Meenakshi

Event Coordinator, Prove or Disprove, K ‘09

Guest Lectures and Workshops Team, K ‘10

A photography career offers you the opportunity to create unique work in a rewarding profession. As a photographer, you will require an artistic sense as well as technical expertise.  As a successful photographer you need to possess many qualities: creativity, good communication skills, and an ability to translate original ideas into fantastic images that really have an impact.  Photography as a career offers a variety of opportunities in different fields: Professional Photographers, Photographers and Graphic Artists, Photographic Specialists, Photographic Process Workers, Photographic processors, Photographic Restorers, Photographic Technicians, Photographic Stylists, Photojournalists.

Becoming a successful photographer takes hard work, determination, perseverance and talent. Learning the craft of photography has proven to be a continual practice due to technology development and changes. In the competitive and aggressive photography job market, every bit of hard-won knowledge and technique can help you.

Lou Manna, exceptional photographer and professor and author of Digital Food Photography can take you that very important step ahead. After working for The New York Times  as a photographer for fifteen years, he established his own  Fifth Avenue Studio and currently teaches Photography to local and international students giving Photo Tips Via Skype and workshops. His work has appeared in ad campaigns, major magazines, and more than forty cookbooks.

For more information please visit www.loumanna.com and  www.DigitalFoodPhotography.com 

Photograph credits: Lou Manna

Many writers don’t write full time. They fit their writing in and around their full-time jobs or around caring for their families. If they write for a living, or, like me, write and edit for a living, they may have little time to work on personal writing projects during the day. Plus, as we’ve seen if writers seriously take on the task of promoting themselves to build their platforms, this also can take up an enormous part of their day or the time that could be spent writing.

It’s no wonder, then that many writers, myself included, moan about the fact that they have no time to write. They also may complain that they have no time to market themselves with their writing. I’m here today (Yes, just me again…I’m the expert blogger.) to tell you that a way exists to get a lot of writing done and to use it in a variety of useful ways that doesn’t take up a lot of time. The most efficient time-management tool I have discovered over the years involves “repurposing” your work.

This means reusing your writing, as well as your telesminars, talks, blogs, news releases, etc., for other purposes. The best way for me to explain this is to offer you examples from my own experiences.

Let’s say I write a brief article for my Examiner.com column, a job I took on primarily for promotional reasons. It gives me great exposure online but pays very little. (If you would like to know more about how to become an Examiner, please read about Examiner.com here or apply here – but be sure to use my name when you apply—I get a $50 referral fee, and every little bit helps. Thanks.) I can then expand upon what I write in that column and use it in my blog at www.purespiritcreations.com/wordpress. I also then link the two, increasing readership in both places.

Here’s an even better example of how I repurpose material with very little effort: Each month I produce a podcast script for my show on Conversations with Mrs. Claus (www.thefamilyyak.com). This takes me most of a day. I then take a piece of the script, usually something that includes tips, and modify it slightly to create an article I can submit to the ezine distribution service I use, www.submityourarticle.com. I use this same article in my Pure Spirit Creations newsletter. Then, I take the same article and rewrite it as news release by placing some of the information in quotes. In other words, I make it sound as if someone interviewed me. I then submit this news release to ExpertClick.com’s newswire service, so it can be read by journalists.  (If you are interested in increasing your status as an expert and becoming a member of Expertclick.com or The Yearbook of Experts, please use this link to receive $100 off our membership.) I may even use the same information as the basis for a blog post at www.purespiritcreations.com/wordpress. So, this one piece of work, which wasn’t even actually writing work—although it did take the form of a script, turned into three or four other pieces of writing. All my podcasts scripts may also become fodder one day for a book.

Blog posts also can be turned into articles or essays. Mine tend to be somewhat “essay like” in nature much of the time. It’s easy enough for me to add a few tips to them and submit them to an ezine distribution service, put them into my newsletter or actually submit the piece to a magazine. If yours tend to be more businesslike and include tips, think about how to modify them into personal essays or full-length articles by adding examples from your own life experiences. If you write a series on the same topic, you may find that you have the makings of an e-book or special report.

I added an opt-in to my website called the “Living Fully Challenge.” I offered people a free one-year-long course, basically, in how to live their lives more fully. All they had to do was sign up–giving me the ability to place their email address on my mailing list; in return, they received an assignment every month for a full year. (Not that many people signed up, but enough did to keep it going for about a year and a half.) At the end 12 months, I discovered I had written a book. I simply wrote an introduction, and, wallah…manuscript completed. It’s being reviewed by a publisher as I write this post.

If you conducts teleseminars  or classes in conjunction with your writing, these can be transcribed and edited into e-books or other written products you can sell. Your talks and workshops can be made into videos or CD or MP3 series, which you also can sell.

Look at all your writing work for ways in which it can be repurposed, and you’ll find that you can get a lot of writing accomplished in little time. You’ll also market and promote yourself in less time than you thought it necessary to get the job done. When you examine your writing output at the end of the day, you’ll be amazed at how much writing you’ve accomplished—both what you wanted to write and what you needed to write to handle the “business of writing.”

About the Author

Nina Amir is a seasoned journalist, nonfiction editor, author, consultant, and writing coach with more than 30 years of experience in the publishing field. She has edited or written for 45+ local, national and international magazines, newspapers, e-zines, and newsletters on a full-time or freelance basis. Her essays have been published in five anthologies and can be found in numerous e-zines and Internet article directories. An award-winning journalist, she also has a proven track record as a book editor; one of her client’s books was self-published and then purchased and re-released verbatim by Simon & Schuster (Fireside) and another won the 1998 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award (Inspirational category), received a contract from William Morrow but remained self-published and went on to sell over 115,000 copies. Another of her client’s books recently was purchased by O-Books, a fast-growing British publisher.

Nina also is an inspirational speaker, spiritual and conscious creation coach, teacher, and the regular holiday and spirituality expert on Conversations with Mrs. Claus, a weekly podcast heard in more than 90 countries and downloaded by 110,000 listeners per month (www.thefamilyyak.com). Through her writing and speaking, Amir offers human potential, personal growth and practical spiritual tools from a Jewish perspective, although her work spans religious lines and is pertinent to people of all faiths and spiritual traditions.

Additionally, Amir has written and self-published several booklets and workbooks, including:

• Using the Internet to Build Your Platform One Article at a Time, 8 Tips for Getting Publicity, Exposure and Expert Status by Providing Free Copy Online
• The Priestess Practice: 4 Steps to Creating Sacred Space and Inviting the Divine to Dwell Within It
• The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation: How to Mystically Manifesting Your Physical and Spiritual Desires
• From Empty Practice to Meaning-Full and Spirit-Full Prayers and Rituals…in Seven Simple Steps
• Navigating the Narrow Bridge: 7 Steps for Moving Forward Courageously Even When Life Seems Most Precarious

Currently Amir is writing four books; she also compiled a Jewish celebrity cookbook for which she is seeking a publisher.

To learn how to use the Internet to build your platform one article at a time, why every author needs a platform or how to enhance your expert status by posting articles online, go to:
http://www.copywrightcommunications.com/Teleseminars.html orhttp://www.copywrightcommunications.com/Products.html

Nina Amir
CopyWright Communications
cpywrtcom@aol.com

www.copywrightcommunications.com
www.purespiritcreations.com

http://www.facebook.com/people/Nina-Amir/1180528530
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nina-amir/6/460/134
http://twitter.com/ninaamir

www.mysoncandance.wordpress.com
www.purespiritcreations.com/wordpress
http://www.examiner.com/x-7363-San-Jose-Jewish-Examiner

Help writers find the wonderful information and resources at Write Nonfiction in November all year:
Vote  WNFIN One of Writer’s Digest’s Annual 101 Best Internet Sites for Writers

Please visit www.copywrightcommunications.com and sign up for the free newsletter to receive a gift at the end of the Write Nonfiction in November challenge!

Don’t forget to sign into the WNFiN social networking and chat room and tell us what you are writing about or start a discussion.
http://writenonfictioninnovember.ning.com/

New scrap book, contents are from magazines, most of them within the last five years.

The left page above is instruction sheet which came with one of my Westalee rulers ………. purchased in Beechworth on our way home from Canberra early this year!

The quilt on the right is the computer drawing of a quilt design I did in 1995 to be made by members of the Golden Harvest Quilters in a Friendship Quilt group in 1995-1996. The quilt was finished in January 1997, except for the binding, which was done in the last minute before the 1998 Calendar of Quilts Exhibition.

(I just checked all that information, and lots more, on the back of the quilt which resides in our lounge room.)

Drawing of a doll which was used on the requirements list for the Basement Babies workshop. This is a good indication of why I am a quilter rather than a painter ….. my drawing and sketching skills are pretty limited! Dated 1996.

I would love a veranda like that!

And the other side is a requirements list for another workshop …. this time Jigsaw Baby. I had a computer, but no drawing program of any sort.

Don’t know why I chose these pages to when I got the camera out …… they are probably the least pretty in the book, but they also probably have more memories than most of the other pages.

Essence Ladies Gigi Torres, April Rodriguez, and Cheryl Koo visited the East Coast–New York, New Jersey, Masachusetts, and Rhode Island for the MVMNT Tour.

Big thanks to Dalphe, Luam, Rhythmology, MIT, and Brown University for having the ladies.  We had great talks and great times sharing with you.  We love you all for dancing through life.  Keep the MVMNT alive.

Check out some of the pictures!

New York

New Jersey

Boston

Providence, RI

Topic: Entrepreneurial opportunities in green buildings

Date: 16th January 2010

A green building is one which uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building. The immediate and most tangible benefit of a green building is in the reduction in operating energy and water costs right from day one, during the entire life cycle of the building. The energy savings could range from 25 – 40 % depending on the extent of green specifications. Other tangible savings would be reduction in first costs and enhanced asset value. Intangible benefits of Green Buildings include increasing productivity of occupants’ health, safety benefits and a green corporate image. To enable the construction industry to be environmentally sensitive, CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre has established the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). The council encourages builders, developers and owners to build green to enhance the economic and environmental performance of buildings. The Green Building Movement spearheaded by CII Godrej GBC since 2001 has come a long way. With a meagre green building footprint of 20,000 sq.ft in 2003, today it has increased to over 312 million sq.ft. The market for green building materials and products is estimated to reach Rs.15000 Cr by 2010.

Founded over 114 years ago, CII is India’s premier business association, with a direct membership of over 7800 organisations from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 90,000 companies from around 385 national and regional sectoral associations. CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre is the Centre of Excellence of the Confederation of Indian Industry for Energy Efficiency, Green Buildings, Renewable Energy, Water, Environment and Recycling and Climate Change activities in India .

New generations of kids have opportunities that even people of our age didn’t come up with so easily. I’ m talking about the development of IaaC’ s initiative to bring kids in touch with digital fabrication. It started with a one-day workshop last year and ended up in regular weekly classes for teenagers with great results (see older post, and last year’s class here). This year, the initiative is growing, since FabLabkids is an independent branch of Fab Lab Barcelona, with its very own program and approach to fabrication. It gives in my opinion a great opportunity to youngsters of 9-16 years old to get in touch with high end technology, to have fun, and-why not- discover great scientific potential that might have gone to waist without the proper stimulation. Keep up the nice work guys!

A friend of mine bought his girlfriend a birthday present over two months ago. The present was to be a completed paint by numbers picture. Unfortunately, she has yet to receive the completed painting. Last I checked, the painting was about 25% done and the man swears his girlfriend will get the completed gift by Christmas. We’ll three months late is better than never. In all seriousness, aren’t there times in our lives when even the most straight forward projects get placed by the wayside in favor of the day-to-day tasks vying for our attention?

Along the lines of waiting for “things” – I myself have recently experienced a few delayed starts. For example, I recently bought a new computer bag which had to be immediately returned due to a malfunctioning handle. Cutting to the end of the story, I ended up saving an addition sum of money on an already discounted bag because the bag was reduced an additional 10% between the first and second purchase dates. Similarly, I finally decided to buy an external hard drive to back-up computer files, etc. but when a friend braved the “black Friday” crowds to purchase one for me, he was told they were out. Upon his return home (around 5:30am black Friday) he went on line and found one for less money and with a better warranty.

As we near the end of 2009 it’s true, some of us have not obtained all that we would have liked this year. For some (like my friend’s girlfriend) it’s a gift. For others it’s a need such as a new job to replace the one lost due to the economic downturn. Yet for others, it’s something in between a gift and a need; such as a new computer bag. So what’s to be made of all this? What can we deduce when we did all we could to paint inside the lines but despite our efforts, did not get the result we wanted? Conversely, what if we took a chance to paint outside the lines, taking a risk and trying something new, but still failed to obtain the goal?

Well, as best as I can see, good things do truly come to those that wait. Economies have life cycles to them, change has its seasons, and the race is not always won by the swift. So what’s this mean for us all? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that our good things are coming, we’ll pay less for them, and they will be what we should have when we should have them. To that end, I’m happy to announce that I’m going to extend my discounted life coaching offer through the end of 2009. While I can not predict when the economy will be in full swing again or when your new computer bag will arrive, I can safely say that by taking the time now to ensure you maximize your skills and talents, you’ll be well positioned to fill it with life’s blessings.

To learn more about this topic contact Dr Marilyn at www.DrMarilyn-EAW.com

Shopping, cooking, wrapping, working. Repeat. Repeat. And repeat again. Throw in making holiday parties on top of holiday deadlines, out-of-town visitors and/or holiday travel, and you, my friend, may need some drum therapy.

Yes, we all know the grand holidays are the days of joy, mirth and more than a little good eating. But with all that merriment comes a fair share of stress, and there’s no better way to relieve that teeth-grinding feeling than beating a big, round taiko drum.

I know because I’ve done it. The Morikami tapped into the curiosity in the festival crowds and gave their visitors a chance to bang that drum. It’s not as easy or as coordinated as it looks — especially for the untalented and uninformed.

My family and I took the opportunity to attend a taiko drum workshop in the Morikami’s theatre. First, you get an education on the purpose of the drums, the lore they hold and the power they encompass. The one-hour verbal lesson by a leading member of the performing ensemble, Fushu Daiko, is supposed to prepare you for the physical part of the lesson.  It does not.

That’s because nothing readies you to hold two wooden sticks in your hands, get into a deep warrior pose and pound away for a second hour. You sweat, you ache, you get a little dizzy, and you look and sound just awful. (Getting good takes years. Being bad takes no time at all!) But you do receive a deep, abiding respect for the art and skill of mastering taiko drumming; and you’re so tired, you don’t have time to be stressed.

Three workshops are coming up on December 6 at 10:15 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 3 p.m. If you’re thinking someone in your life would appreciate a workshop, gift them the pleasure. Upcoming workshops, also held three in a day, are January 31, Feburary 28 and March 28. They are $50 per person. Call 561-495-0233, ext. 210 for reservations. Space is limited.

The Morikami recommends wearing comfortable clothes and shoes and no jewelry. I recommend eating your Wheaties, drinking some water and planning to nap afterwards. Really.

Does he looked stressed to you? Try taiko yourself on Dec. 6 at The Morikami.

Well, Simon and I are at it again. We have an upcoming, two-part workshop at the Alliance For Arts and Culture on Dec 1.

Part 1: 9 am-12 pm
Social Media Marketing Theory

The marketing game has changed. The internet’s offer of instant global communication has given us a new tool kit to reach our customers. To succeed in this new arena you first have to understand its language.

There’s no point in learning how to pull the levers until you know why   you’re standing at the controls. In this morning session, the facilitators will discuss the paradigm shift in marketing from its traditional forms to the social internet. They will talk about what it means to join a social network, the etiquette required and how to choose the platforms that are right for you.

The facilitators have been using social media platforms such as Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube with measurable success for several years now, and will pass on the lessons they’ve learned. And they’ll examine the art of communicating and building relationships within this compelling new world.

Part 2: 1-4 pm
Theory into Practice

In this afternoon follow-up of the morning’s Introductory Workshop, you will move from theory to practice,as the facilitators share clear, concrete methods and tips for building your social media marketing plan using the most effective sites in the landscape of platforms: Blogs, Facebook, E-mail newsletters, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

This is where we will answer all those nagging questions about the weird and wonderful world of Social Marketing. The techniques may have changed but the abiding principle of Marketing is the same as it’s always been, and always will be: building relationships based on trust. And that is the heart of Social Media.

Both workshops take place at
The Alliance for Arts and Culture
100- 938 Howe Street

Each workshop costs $50 for members, $75 for non-members.

Click here to register.

: : : : : : : : : : :

Photo by Owen Behan

Due to the massive success of our workshops this year, we have decided to offer gift vouchers for all our workshops and private tutorials.

This is the ideal gift for those who love fashion and photography!

Below is a list of what we will have on offer for 2010.

Workshops:

Full Photo Shoot €250

Photoshop Retouching €200

Fashion Styling €90

Tutorials:

Photoshop Tutorial €450

Photoshoot €600

Portfolio Tutorial €200

One to One Make Up Tutorial (tbc)

One to One Styling Tutorial (€300)

Please contact the studio manager at aoife@d-lightstudios.com for more details or to buy a voucher.

Essence and Groove Community come together again for the 3rd time!  Peep the pics and vids!

Amy Lee

Candace Brown

Clarizcel Perez and April Rodriguez

Gigi Torres

Cross cultural issues in PhD supervision

A Vitae NW Hub workshop

14 January 2010, 10:00-15:00

The University of Manchester

Overview:

A full day workshop for supervisors and research managers covering general cross-cultural communication issues and practical solutions to potential problems in supervising postgraduate students from another culture.

Background:

International students by reason of their numbers and growing economic and educational importance are crucial to:

• The higher education sector
• The competitive edge of UK universities
• Profitability and cost-effectiveness

Supervisors are being faced with guiding international researchers through their research degrees and occasionally a clash of cultures can lead to higher drop out figures and lower completion rates. Dr Mona Chung and Professor Richard Ingleby have firsthand experience of dealing with these cross cultural issues across western and eastern cultures, and have a range of tools and examples for dealing with these issues in a student/supervisor relationship.

To book:

To view further details and to book your place on this free course, visit:

http://www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/916-169101/NW-Hub-cross-cultural-issues-in-PhD-supervision-workshop.html. If you have any queries about this course, please direct them to Tracey McLoughlin, Vitae NW Hub Secretary (0161 275 1462 nwhub@vitae.ac.uk).

Der Modular Fotoworkshop läuft vom 22.1 bis 12.3. 2010 Jetzt anmelden. Los!

After over a year, the leadership blog (internal corporate blog) aimed at employees is gaining momentum at my organization. I wanted to share insights on how we began, progress we made and personal learning. In case you are planning to champion a blog in your organization (training, business, engagement, CSR among others), I hope these insights give you information you can use.

The blog (hosted on the company intranet) was initially created as a channel for the CEO to post messages and interact with employees. The company went through organizational changes and to suit the inclusive style of the new leader the blog was expanded to allow a pool of writers to contribute. The leadership team took turns to pen their thoughts on how they perceived the company through their own eyes.

Arch

The ‘leader’ blog was an attempt to capitalize on ‘personality’ within organization, open a new channel of communication and provide an opportunity to “be real” and allow interactions. We expected to measure the impact of this exercise through direct comments from readers, fruitful conversations, ‘good will’ and increased engagement.

The posts range from the leaders’ business interactions to the team’s charter, from a personal account of the Mumbai 26/11 attacks to the company’s employee volunteering initiatives. The leadership was provided access to manage the blog in a DIY (do it yourself) model with  e-mail communication templates  to use after the posts went live.

The blog gets promoted in a roll-up newsletter, in Town Hall sessions and team meetings. The blog was measured by the readership, the feedback posted and the quality of the conversations. When I created a business case for blogging internally, I leveraged this interesting blogging success formula from Inside the Cubicle: “Personal voice + Accessibility + Relevant and timely information = Employee Engagement.”

In my role as the internal communications consultant I sow ideas on blog topics and relevant themes. Also my responsibility is to review the blog draft for consistency, language, redundancy, accuracy, company verbiage and opportunity to recognize employees. That apart, I look for avenues to build a conversation, address people concerns, manage the tone of voice, add context to the current environment, link to other company updates and help improve the human connection. I believe that the personal ‘touch’ occurs only when it is penned by the leader and not ‘ghost’ written.

Overcoming resistance to blogging: Often leaders shy away from blogging because they think it may ‘give away’ their true self. It was a struggle initially to get leaders to understand the benefits of blogging not just to be seen as friendly and approachable but also to be known as personalities or mentors people could look up to. Often I hear the comment that employees know me already, why do I need to blog?

Verbiage and small things that matter: In a post the leader drafted a message on a recent ‘offsite’ where the team ‘had fun’. I had to step back and understand the context. Finally we edited it to make it read more appropriate ‘also had fun’. Though I would have preferred to use the phrase ‘team huddle’ instead of ‘offsite’, we let it be since we wanted to be direct and honest in our communication. During a recession, having an offsite when all funds are scrutinized can be perceived differently by your employees.

Your readers are discerning: One leader had begun his post mentioning ‘I am a facilitator of our induction program’ while he was in fact ‘one of the facilitators’. To readers, the leader would have come across as pompous though he did not mean it that way.

Demonstrate that blogging is easy: Most leaders want to know how the blogs notes evolve. I usually share work in progress drafts and inputs which I provide to enhance the notes. This aids other leaders to begin thinking in a certain direction on how to pen their own posts. I reference external blogs that are well written to stimulate their thinking as well.

Promote the blog often: I highlight the importance of the blog and employee engagement during workshops and team meetings. I try to find visible spots for the blog in the company newsletter and on the intranet. It is a widely recognized channel for interaction today in the organization.

Taking feedback seriously: As soon as we discovered a theme emerging from the comments posted, a discussion between the leadership and the internal communication team led to a concrete action plan. The feedback providers were intimated and the progress shared proactively.

In the long run, we are hoping to reduce e-mail communication and have the blog as a preferred mode of communication.

Have other ideas from your experience on leveraging an internal corporate blog? Interested to hear from you.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PS: I am proud to announce that Intraskope completed 150 posts since I began blogging in 2006. The blog statistics report 297 comments and over 27500 page views. I would like to thank all my readers for your feedback and encouragement.

Hallo Leute!

Im Dezember veranstalte ich bei mir zu Hause wegen Zeitmangels keine Workshops.

Sollte jedoch jemand Lust haben, bei sich zu Hause eine Stempelparty oder einen Workshop auszurichten, dann meldet Euch einfach bei mir. Vielleicht finden wir noch einen Termin.

Oder habt Ihr Fragen zu diesen Themen, da es für Euch “Neuland” ist.

Nur Mut und meldete Euch, sonst verpasst Ihr wirklich was!!!

Ansonsten starte ich im Januar mit vielen neuen Ideen und Anregungen voll durch. Eins kann ich Euch im Voraus schon versprechen.

ES GIBT GANZ TOLLE ANGEBOTE VON STAMPIN`UP!

Liebe Grüße

Petra

Hi everyone!

First of all, a sincere welcome to all newcomers to the SA E-learning Newsletter.  You most likely ticked the box on your E-Dayz’09 registration, and that’s great!  Welcome!! If you aren’t new, you will have already noticed that there are changes to this Newsletter.  Firstly, it has a new author…me! [big grin] My name is Marlene Manto and I’m the E-learning Coordinator for South Australia, with the Framework.  I’m inclined to waffle but I’ll do my best to keep to the point while I’m writing this Newsletter [winks].

Secondly, the Newsletter will now be produced in WordPress so you can make comments, ask questions, see archived copies and have access to lots of other links and information. (If your firewall prevents you from accessing any of the resources, just let me know and I’ll find an alternative for you.)

So…let’s get on with it……

FREE MONEY!

Now that got your attention, didn’t it! [chuckles to herself] I’m not making any promises here but I’ve heard that there might be some funding for e-learning projects again next year.  If you were at E-Dayz’09 you may have seen this years projects at the Showcase Cocktail Party.  The 2010 Guidelines aren’t out yet (probably January) however feel free to ring the SA Framework’s Innovations Coordinator (Doug Purcell) for a chat about the possibilities.  You can find him on 0438 824 583 or at douglas.purcell@sa.gov.au Go on…what do you have to lose! 

WHEN IS GOOD FOR YOU?

Is that a question you’ve heard before from some poor person trying to organise a meeting time to suit a number of people?  [sigh]  It’s a pain, isn’t it.  But this might solve

everything!  Came across a neat little tool that does it all for you…it is FREE…no downloads…no logins.  It’s called When Is Good and I’ve even created a ‘How To’ resource for you to follow.  If you’re a manager, flick this on to your admin staff…they will love you for it!

THREE NEW TOOLBOXES

If you deliver training in any of these areas, you might want to check out the ‘hot off the press’ Toolboxes for TAA E-learning E-lectives, Small Business Management (Cert IV level) and the revamped Cybertots for the Cert III Children’s Services.  Oh, and don’t forget that all the learning objects from these and other Toolboxes, are all available FREE from the Toolbox Repository.

SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH RESEARCH

Do you have a problem/issue in your workplace that research might help to solve?  Just need some time (and money!) to do that research? [grin] I’ve just found out that NCVER are offering 10 x $4,000 scholarships for novice researchers working in the VET sector.  Applications close 17 February 2010 and you’ll find more information at the NCVER website.

FREE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

People often ask me where to learn about ‘e-learning stuff’.  Well, the SA Framework Unit runs FREE workshops which are advertised via this mailing list…more next year.  Plus there are the VET SA workshops which will be happening again in 2010.  But if you find it difficult to get away, perhaps an online conference/workshop such as e-Events would work for you?  And the best thing about these, is that they are usually recorded, so you can ‘attend’ them anytime.  Here are some instructions to help you try it right now.  Oh, and don’t forget that some of the E-Dayz’09 speakers were recorded too!

SPEAKING OF LEARNING NEW THINGS…

Amazing how sometimes one can just fall over useful stuff!  I was on a completely unrelated search through Delicious yesterday (sometimes a much better place to search than Google), when I came across ‘15 Free Guides That Really Teach You USEFUL Stuff’ Of particular interest to me was the ‘The Underground Guide to the iPhone’, ‘Twitter: Best Practices & Tips’ and the ‘Laptop Buying Guide for 2009′.  But there’s heaps more…and all quite diverse.

CLOUD COMPUTING…HUH???

Have you come across the terminology ‘Cloud Computing’?  It is a subject that has an explanation problem – people have a hard time understanding it because it’s difficult to explain quickly but here is a short video which I’m hoping will help to explain the concept.  TAFE SA and Flinders Uni are switching to cloud computing for 2010.  And if you’d like to get your head around what all this might have to do with education, then ‘Cloud Computing and Education’ might help.

E-LEARNING TOOLS…WHAT SHOULD I BE USING?

It’s confusing, isn’t it.  When it comes to e-learning, there seem to be zillions of tools, applications and gadgets.  Where do you find them? And how on earth do you know what everyone else is using?   Each year, the top 100 tools for learning are compiled from learning professionals all over the world.  Here is the 2009 Top 100 List…but if you just get familiar with the top 10 then you’ll be ahead of most people.  [grin]  This newsletter will be working through the list over the next few months, telling you more about each tool and providing help to get you started.

ARE YOU A TWIT?

Everyone seems to be all a-twitter about Twitter these days.  I started to write something about this little tool (seeing as it’s top of the list above) however I found this little guide – Twitter First Steps – by Deanne Bullen and it pretty much says it all!  I used to be very sceptical when I first came across Twitter, but now I’m a convert. Hmmm… [puts her hand to her ear]… I can hear you saying “Go on, convert me!”  [laugh] Well let’s start with Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter and after that, you might want to check out this video:   How to Use Twitter in the Classroom And don’t forget to connect to me!  I’m marlenemanto on Twitter.

SOCIAL MEDIA…INSIDE ORGANISATIONAL WALLS

Does your organisation have a social media policy?  Should it?  What if somebody posts something offensive about a colleague on YouTube..or encourages students into Facebook without understanding the privacy settings?  Yeeks!  And of course this applies to ALL organisations. Perhaps you might want to first check out ‘Should Your Company Have a Social Media Policy…and then once you’ve decided that you definitely need one, have a look at ‘10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy‘.  If you’d like to look at some examples from other organisations, try this online database.

USING SKYPE IN THE CLASSROOM

Have you heard of Skype?  That great little tool that enables you to chat to your relatives overseas without the huuuuge phone bills?  Well, why don’t you try using it in the classroom?  “Good grief!” I can hear you say..”How and why would I use it in a classroom?”  [chuckles to herself]  OK, let’s begin with this blog posting 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom which will give you some ideas, but if you find the whole thing a bit scary (or you don’t have a clue where to begin), then check out this article from a teacher who says “I had the hardest time learning to use skype! I had several other fellow educators look down at me for “being so dumb” that I didn’t know how!”  So go on…if she could do it, you can too! 

FUN WITH PHOTOS!

And finally, just something for fun!  Dumpr is a website that allows you to upload a photo…and turn it into..well..lots of weird and wonderful things!  I liked the gadget  that put my photo into a Christmas ornament – that would be fun to make cards for the festive season.  And then I turned it into a pencil sketch…and then a jigsaw puzzle.  OK, maybe it doesn’t have huge educational potential but maybe it could just jazz up that Moodle course.  Or maybe it will just keep the kids entertained over the holidays.  [grin]