Today's Question: Does Perception = Reality?

Unfortunately, for most people perception does equal reality. I was reminded of this after attending my first week of sessions with my personal trainer--for purposes of this very public forum, I will call him Rick. During my fitness assessment two weeks ago, you could see the frustration in Rick's eyes as I told him that I couldn't do one situp; at least that is what I saw. I went through the rest of the assessment grumpy and defeated and Rick seemed to casually write everything down with a look that said, "I will never see this chic again."

Much to Rick's surprise, I did return. The first two sessions I followed him around the gym and literally looked at him waiting to show me how to use every piece of equipment--once again, I saw a look in his face that could only be described as hopelessness. By the fourth session, I decided that we needed to have a turning point--I was at least committed enough to this to rub my sore muscles with Icy Hot, drink protein shakes and even come to the gym on my own time--so I confronted Rick and said, "I know you hate your job and the fact that you have to work with people like me, but I want to make this work and if you just had a better attitude, this will be better for both of us." Pretty bold considering that Rick is a mixed martial arts fighter.

Rick looked at me and said, "Well, this isn't what I want to do forever, but I like helping people and I know I'm the best trainer here. Some of my clients want someone with more energy, but they won't achieve the goals they want to--if you want to work out with Tony Little, then go find someone else." The thing was, I didn't want Tony Little, I truly believed that Rick was the best trainer, so I looked at him and said, "Yeah, well, start acting like it. My perception was that you didn't think I was ever coming back. Show some passion and people will perceive that you're the best."

My initial perception was that I was going to be looking for another trainer in a month, but in reality Rick and I will be working together for the next year. So, Rick's going to help me get into shape and I'm going to challenge his perceived emotions. I can tell this is the beginning of a great relationship.

Today's Question: Is Social Media Making Me Fat?

According to the fitness assessment I had done with my personal trainer (yep, I asked for this "gift" for Christmas), it has to be. Instead of burning calories picking up the phone or walking to a friend's house for a visit, I simply get online, post an update, comment on a photo and send a video link. I log on my laptop instead of logging miles on a pedometer and I'd rather be trekking through my Tweets then trekking through a park.

So, I've made a New Year's resolution and added "personal trainer sessions" to my outlook calendar for three times a week for the next 4 months! Perhaps this will only give me more energy to poke, tweet and message--but it had to be done!

I have to conclude that my obsession with social media is impacting my waistline. I'll keep you updated on my progress...thank goodness for mobile devices.

Happy New Year!

Today's Question: What Do You Think About the Dictionary's New Words?

Last week the New Oxford American dictionary announced that "unfriend" was the word of the year for 2009. I find it fascinating that our vocabulary is being dictated by our digital world.

In fact, I was interviewed in an article for The Columbus Dispatch.

So, what do you think about our word of the year? I guess I better add it to my online spell check!

Today's Question: Do We Really Need All This "News"?

Do you know what you were doing between 2-5pm EST on Thursday, October 15? Chances are you at least heard about Balloon boy--maybe that's because the online and news world lit up with the coverage...on CNN alone we got 2 hours of coverage of the UFO-like flying creation and interviews with "Balloon Experts" within an hour of the BalloonTrack 2009!

My problem is that as we, the (people) consumer, put demands on a 24/7 media watchdog, are we forcing them to make questionable decisions on what is or isn't news--do you know right now, you can find an article on how Dolly Parton and Jessica Simpson are tweeting about their bra size--you might think this is on www.people.com but actually it's on the new www.cnn.com!

I studied about investigative reporting that uncovered scandals and in-depth reports. Since it's all about supply and demand--why are we demanding more of this questionable news material? I'm afraid this is a shift that is here to stay...but maybe if we stopped demanding, we'd get a better supply!

Today's Question: What's So Great About Product Placement?

Although at times it can be a little annoying--notice how every teacher in the new show Glee has a Mac, or how every judge on American Idol drinks Coca-Cola from glasses that prominently displays the logo, or how about the Kenmore kitchen on Top Chef...well, in a nutshell product placement is a communications professional's dream. And what's more, we really appreciate those earned placements versus the paid ones.

Last week, my client Channellock reaped the benefit of one such unexpected placement on The Jay Leno Show.



What we did after the segment aired was nearly at important as Cookie's good tool sense. We made sure that every Channellock friend, fan and follower knew about the segment. Within 36 hours we posted it, emailed it, forwarded it and repurposed it to get maximum exposure. Because it's one thing to secure the placement and its another thing to make sure that people have seen it!

I hope you enjoyed my attempt to share it with you!

Today's Question: Did I Run Out of Questions?

No, I have not run out of questions--it just seems as the days have gotten shorter, my time has gotten tighter. I've been busy with community service events, hanging out with my Little, standing up in weddings, teaching others about social media, oh yeah, and making O-H-I-O pictures on someone's lawn. (That's me on the left.)



Stay tuned for more questions about news coverage, product placement, leadership, time management, office politics, social media and communications! Don't worry, I will Keep Asking Questions!

Today's Question: Why Should You Stop and Smell the Roses?

In the era of information overload, crazy work schedules and busy social calendars, it's easy to miss out on the little things in life--this hit close to home when I actually "emailed" my husband with my weekly schedule. The subject line stated: Monday night's the only night I have free--now granted, a few of my weeknight adventures would include my hubby in tow, but that's just because he's the type of guy that I can "drag" to my commitments. I realized that in my uber-busy schedule and my attempt to do everything, I was forgetting about making time for those I care about..so we decided to take advantage of Monday night and have a nice dinner together. We had a lot of things to discuss that we have shelved over the past few months.

Dinner became a trip to Costco to pick up some items for one of my committee meetings and slices of pizza in the "food court". The funny thing is--we had a wonderful time. We talked, we laughed, we people watched and in the end, it didn't really matter that we weren't spending the time together over candlelight, but instead, we just needed to find the time to communicate one-on-one.

So, as I look at my busy schedule, maybe I'll pick up the phone and see how my husband's day is going instead of sending an email.