You Don’t Have to be Boring
I attend a lot of conferences, meetings, and events. I see many presentations. Most are just okay. Some are awful. Once in a blue moon I see spectacular ones. Here’s a few don’ts from a seasoned observer. DON’T ..ever apologize for anything. We don’t care that you are sorry the projector is not working, or…
Dreaming of Scotland
When I was a young girl, I dreamt of walking the moors on an English coast somewhere, following my Heathcliff. My coat would be a cape that went to the ground and fastened only with a big brass button. My hair would be flowing free in the wind, the view bringing tears to my eyes.…
Q and A with Debworks
Q and A with Deb Brown Why did you leave corporate America in the first place? I had a job as an insurance underwriting assistant. While I was very good at it, I detested working in a cubicle 29 floors above the ground. It’s important that I have interaction with people – and I wasn’t…
Monster Barbies Rule
I was at a Hailey’s birthday party today. She’s four. She got a lot of presents. Three of them were Monster Barbies. The boys at the party played with the Monster Barbies. One of the adult boys asked Steven, the 6 year old, why he was playing with Barbies. Steven answered “You don’t know why…
All Over the Place
A book: I’m currently reading The Florist’s Daughter by Patricia Hampfl. Her paragraphs are better than poetry. Here’s one: The Midwest. The flyover, where even the towns have fled to the margins, groceries warehoused in Wal-Marts hugging the freeways, the red barns of family farms sagging, dismantled and sold as “distressed” wood for McMansion kitchens,…
Facebook PhotoStrip Can Be Fun!
I love #blogchat! Every Sunday night at 8 p.m. Central on twitter a group of bloggers get together and talk about a particular subject. (I use www.tweetchat.com to follow the hashtag #blogchat) Last night we talked about Facebook versus Blog for businesses. I think it was a draw. Today I went into my twitter mention…
Change is Good
It’s no big secret – change is good. Now a lot of people don’t like change. I think they’re just looking at it the wrong way. Change has many definitions. Here’s just a few: to pass gradually into (spring into summer) to pass from one phase into another anything that is or can be substituted…
We’re having a concert in Hampton
We’re having a concert in Hampton March 12. Not just any concert though. It’s the Simon Estes Young Performing Artist Concert and Residency. That’s a mouthful. Here’s what it means. 2 college graduates with degrees in some form of fine arts will come to Hampton on Friday. They’ll perform and hang out with the kids…
Des Moines 140 Character Conference Needs Speakers
May 9 there’s going to be a 140 Character Conference at the Stoner Theatre in the Civic Center, downtown Des Moines. We need speakers. Simply go to http://desmoines.140conf.com and find the Speaker Link on the left – fill out the form. What are we looking for in a speaker? The key to being selected to…
Depression is a Disease
In our family we jokingly refer to “the crazy gene.” See, my dad suffers from depression. He’s had the kind of depression that got treated with shock treatments in the 60’s. I remembered those Jack Nicholson One Flew Over the Cukoos Nest days in my dad’s life. I was a scared teenager – and swore…