Occasional musings from a Left-coast Canadian ExPat in Oxford.
I’m sitting at home on a random Tuesday at 3pm. Which isn’t really remarkable, until you think about the fact that not very long ago, I would have been sitting in an office (or on a train, or in a seminar, etc.) on most Tuesdays at this time. But here I sit, nonetheless, after having … Continue reading Who can tell?
I just got around to reading Anil’s recent post on 15 lessons from 15 years of blogging. Poignant, since I’ve been thinking about what to do with this site. I’ve been blogging for over 10(!) years, with a few defunct blogger and livejournal accounts before that. The blogosphere has changed a lot since then, but my … Continue reading The personal blog is an important, under-respected art form.
It’s November. Which means NaBloPoMo. Let’s see what happens when I force myself to blog every day for a month, shall we? ———————————————————————————– I saw a post the other day about a bad airline experience, and how it tied into a bad email experience. The point the author was making: don’t send promotional emails to someone … Continue reading How much does brand affinity matter?
It’s November. Which means NaBloPoMo. Let’s see what happens when I force myself to blog every day for a month, shall we? ———————————————————————————– Now that I’ve been back at work full time for about six months (time flies!), we’re really feeling the pressure at home when it comes to managing the rest of life. Weekends end … Continue reading Care & Feeding
In all the ways people can be a competent business grownup (h/t Darren), I think the most abused are communication channels. It’s like we haven’t gotten over the fact that there are Magic! Machines! that we communicate through, and we let our amazement at technology take up the parts of our brain we would otherwise … Continue reading How to be a Business Grownup: Rules for Autoresponders
I am really quite excited to see the resurgence of feminism in the mass consciousness. I’ve actually been meaning to write more about my nebulous thoughts and experiences around it, but this other thing has been eating at me a bit, so I thought I’d throw it out there and see if I can drum … Continue reading Uneven Footing
Thing I am struggling with at work: Focus. After spending the vast majority of the past 2 years chasing after a tiny human with the attention span of a goldfish, I am now noticing that my ability to focus for more than about 40 minutes at a time in a work setting (or any setting, … Continue reading Buckling Down
My first job out of university, I ended up managing a team who brought everything to work. Their joys, their sorrows, their dreams, their drama – so, so much drama (we employed a few underemployed actors; make of that what you will). They loved the fact that they felt like their colleagues were counselors and … Continue reading How much to bring to the office
Apparently this guy REALLY doesn’t want to get some of our work emails. And yet can’t find the unsubscribe button: Subject: SPAM EMAILS REMOVE ME FROM YOUR FUCKING SPAM EMAILS! STOP SENDING ME THIS SHIT! [redacted], LUTCF [redacted] and Associates www.[redacted].com 317-[XXX-XXXX] 317-[XXX-XXXX] fax Faith, Hope and Charity. Yah, read that last line of his … Continue reading Faith, Hope and Charity
At this year’s Northern Voice conference, one of the more visible sponsors was TravelMasters, who were obviously using the conference as a launching pad into the world of DIY marketing. Marching in with gusto, and with cookies. Now, I will be the first to admit that (being in marketing) my tolerance for campaigns that miss … Continue reading Oh, Snap!
The company I work for is in the HR/Recruiting industry, so I find myself floating around a number of online HR forums. I found this absolute gem this afternoon (via The Business Insider) – if you have any interest in HR or workplace cultures, give it a look: Culture View more presentations from Reed Hastings. … Continue reading Nobody Has Shown up Naked to Work Lately…
I rarely blog about work, but this was too good not to share. I work for a company that sells HR/Recruiting software. This is what came back as a response to one of our outreach campaigns: We are not as technical at [huge US company] with our recruiting process as you would think. since we … Continue reading Case of the Mondays
I always know when I’ve been negligent in my blogging when my mom calls to ask if everything’s ok, because I haven’t posted in a while. Sorry Mom. But! to make up for the fact that some of you are refreshing this page day after day, or staring woefully at your RSS readers, wondering when … Continue reading Who needs Wit when there is Crank
Note that it’s very important to remember that the universe doesn’t always do it in that particular order! As you already know, on Monday I was laid off. And on Friday, five short, busy days later I had a great offer of employment on my desk. How did it all happen? With a happy dose … Continue reading The Universe Giveth, and the Universe Taketh Away
Last week was a tough one around chez watercooler. Generally I’d been a mostly curious observer of the financial crisis. Oh sure, our investment accounts are taking a hit right now, but our fund manager has been great (recommended pulling out of AIG about 6 months before the crisis began) and I’m confident our accounts … Continue reading Dose of Reality
