Republished: The 5th of July

A Fourth of July fireworks display at the Washington Monument. Location: WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (DC) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

July 5, 2013

Yesterday was the 4th of July.  The 4th of July is a special day in the United States for many reasons.  It is the birthday of our country and a celebration of our nationalism. It is a holiday of summer, sitting as it does smack dab in the middle between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the traditional bookends of summer.  It is a holiday of contradictions, with military parades and fireworks as well as beer and carnivals.  For example, this year in celebration of the 4th, I had a deep fried peanut butter & jelly sandwich and went to a wonderful symphony orchestra concert...at the same venue!  For the record, the symphony orchestra was better!

The best thing about this holiday though, is that everyone is patriotic, at least for the day.  For at least one day of the year, we all stand shoulder to shoulder and boldly proclaim our love for our country.  It makes me wish, sometimes, that we could bottle a bit of that national pride for the other 364 days of the year.

Anytime an organization hosts an event or a celebration, one of their goals is usually that participants still look fondly on it the next day.  In many ways, the success of the celebration is based on how it is remembered the next day.

With that in mind, I wish you a very happy 5th of July!

Graduations

Celebrations often leave a lot to be desired.

I was thinking of this as I attended my son's recent college graduation recently.  The ceremony was great.  I mostly enjoyed the speeches and presentations.  I was thrilled to watch him cross the stage in this celebration of the completion of the last vestiges of his childhood.

Graduations serve their purpose as a celebration of accomplishment and as a marker of time.  It is important for all involved (students, instructors, parents) to have a capstone celebration for something that is as intense and involved as many years of college, or high school, or graduate school, or military academy, or trade school, or...

Yet, I couldn't help but think that even the most tightly run, most carefully choreographed celebration that involves a whole group, or class, of people, is bound to have some time in which large portions of the audience aren't interested.

One of my son's friends said he thought it would be better if the college had an all night party, everyone watched the sunrise together and the president of the college handed out diplomas at breakfast.  He is probably right if the ceremony was only for the graduates.  Most parents would be happy if the college played Pomp and Circumstance, read only their child's name, and then invited the parents up on stage to take photos.  Most professors would probably prefer to leave things on the departmental level.

My point is that while big accomplishments deserve to have a big deal made of them, organizations should pay attention to the purpose of the celebration and the perspective of the participants and the targeted stakeholders.

While its not necessary to compete with the sunrise when hosting a celebration, understand that for some in your audience, that is an alternative.

My Blog is 100: Celebrating Milestones

In this blog, I have frequently written about the importance of celebration and recognizing milestones.   It seems appropriate then that I practice what I preach.  This is my 100th published post to my blog "Everything is Marketing."  Yeah me!

It seems remarkable (and a bit humbling) that it took me this long to hit this milestone.  My first post was in August 2009. I have had many fits and starts, a barren gap of a year and a half and other gaps of a month or more. I have stepped away from writing this blog many times and I have always failed to contribute to it in anything resembling a regular schedule. But I keep coming back to it and I keep getting indicators that a few brave souls are actually reading what I write. That is the humbling part.

This blog has been surprisingly rewarding in many ways.  Creating a space where I can think and write about marketing in a non-job specific way helps to give me some perspective and balance.  Having a venue to write and think creatively is very precious to me.  Having an audience is even more precious.  I treasure those of you who comment about what I write, either online or to me in person. 

I fully intend to keep at this.  After all, I have been picking up steam a bit...two thirds of my posts were written this year.  My goal...and I am actually foolishly stating it on here...is to hit 200 posts in 2013. 

So welcome to the party!  Have a slice of cake (guaranteed to have no calories!) and sit back and have fun.  I plan to!



Recognition vs. Ceremonies

In this tough economy, many companies are driven to eliminate any extraneous expenses.  Gone are the company cars, a good chunk of the expense account, the Christmas bonuses, Free Lunch Fridays, the "extraneous" raises, and so forth.  For the record, I have never worked anywhere that actually had a Free Lunch Friday.

The point is that as companies eliminate these expensive "perks," they would be wise to replace them with other low cost recognitions.  Even in tight times, especially in tight times, employees crave the emotional boost that recognition provides them.  In times of budget cuts and belt tightening, employees get nervous.  Recognitions can alleviate or at least mitigate their anxiety.  Recognition also helps to communicate and reinforce company values.  The company values what it recognizes and rewards.

The thing about employee recognitions or celebrations is that it is MUCH more important that they be sincere and timely than that they have a price tag of any significance.  A recent study suggests that the three things that workers want is interesting work, appreciation for the work that they do, and feeling as if they are being adequately communicated with.

If staff members have to wait until the annual Staff Celebration Breakfast to get the bronze plaque for the good job they did, they will value it much less than a sincere thank you from a supervisor that they get at a staff meeting immediately after a successful project.

So cut out the Annual Staff Recognition Awards Banquet if you must, but make sure that you redouble your efforts to give staff true recognition and genuine thanks when they go above and beyond.

Reflections

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."  Edith Wharton

Professional communicators are given a great gift.  We get to, on a regular basis, be the mirror that reflects the light of accomplishment.

It seems appropriate that, from time to time, we use that mirror to help reflect the light of those who are doing unselfish and good things anonymously.  When you can, celebrate the everyday heroes, the unsung champions, the everyday philanthropists who aren't seeking the spotlight as they do their good deeds.

They are the ones who deserve it.

Happy Earth Day

On this 42nd Earth Day, I wanted to suggest a few things we communicators and marketers should consider:

• I think that it is a good thing to consider the environmental impacts of the media decisions that we make. I think it is valid to consider those impacts, along with the effectiveness of reaching your desired audience, when mapping out your media choices.  It is also valid to publicize the fact that part of your decision was made altruistically, with an eye to your organization's impact on the world you operate in.
• A lot of our media options require electronic equipment (smart phones, tablets, laptop computers, etc.) to create and to experience.  As you upgrade your equipment, please remember to be responsible with how you dispose of your old equipment.  Electronics and electronic media recycling is becoming more prevalent, although admittedly not convenient in most parts of the world.  Please take the time and effort to 
• find a reuse for your phones or computers when possible, 
• find a responsible recycling venue that will keep all components out of landfills, and find a reuse for as many of the components as possible.  
• Don't be afraid to initiate efforts.  Communicators have traditionally been heavy users of paper and other resources.  We can have an even larger impact on the environment if we can figure out ways to prevent from using the resources in the first place (electronic meeting minutes, web conferencing instead of traveling to a meeting, etc.) 
• Celebrate the environmental and conservation efforts that are going on within your office and organization.  If we all start talking about it more, "being green" and Earth Day will become less a matter of special focus than a way of life.

Graduations

I have had the opportunity recently to attend a couple of high school graduations, including my daughter's.  The ceremonies are almost always similar with short (hopefully!) speeches reminiscent of the glorious four years just past or philosophical about the years coming up.  High School, at graduation ceremonies, is portrayed as a great incubator of young men and women; a soft-focus frolic through four years with crazy but lovable teachers and mischievous but lovable classmates.  Triumphs are remembered.  Defeats and failures are not.  Everyone leaves graduation feeling good about their their past and hopeful about their future.

I am convinced that graduation ceremonies are one of the reasons so many people generally remember their high school experience as positive.

Some business have seemingly picked up on the transformative power of a closing celebration.  There are car dealers who will take your picture and have the whole sales team applaud when you pick up your brand new car.  Realtors give you a housewarming present at the closing.  A few high end barbers offer a short neck and shoulder massage after your hair cut.  You get the idea.  They are all going for that same positive capstone experience as high school graduation.

I wonder what it would do for our customer relations if we had a "graduation" after every customer interaction.