Lawyers, Journalists and other users of the English language beware...

...too many words are useless...even professors are susceptible..this from an educator friend of mine:

I wonder if I might crave your momentary indulgence in order to discharge a by-no-means disagreeable obligation which has, over the years, become more or less established practice within our circles as we approach the terminal period of the calendar year, but not financial, of course. In fact, not to put too fine a point on it, I submit to you, with all appropriate deference, for your consideration at a convenient juncture, a sincere and sanguine expectation -- indeed confidence, or even, one might go so far as to say, hope -- that the terminal two weeks of this calendar year may be, at the end of the day, when all relevant factors have been taken into consideration, susceptible to being deemed to be such as to merit a final verdict of having been by no means unsatisfactory in its overall outcome and, in the final analysis, to give grounds for being judged, on mature reflection, to have been conducive to generating a degree of gratification which will be seen in retrospect to have been significantly higher than the general average.

In other words, have a Happy New Year.

The Christmas Limp

During my grade school years, no matter where my military father was stationed, we would  often return to the family farm in Indiana for Christmas.  My uncle and his family would show up and we would have a week or so of fun and reminiscence.  On Christmas eve, there was always a  unique happening that made us kids giddy with joy.  After dinner, we would all be in the living room of the old farm house talking about how hard it was going to be to get to sleep, when we would hear the sound of sleigh bells…real sleigh bells.  They would get closer and closer and then suddenly there were feet on the roof and the sound would literally make the room vibrate.  One year in particular, we thought we could actually hear the sleigh take off from the roof with a woosh and a bump. Nothing was more exciting than those few moments in our young lives.  Then it was off to bed with anticipation of the Christmas morning  festivities. Pa, as we called our grandfather, seemed to especially enjoy seeing our faces after the sleigh bell incident, though we never remember seeing him in the room while it was happening.  That particular year, we did notice that Pa was walking with a limp for the next few days.  It had been snowing and on Christmas morning, we could definitely see the footprints on the roof but they turned into a slide trail that went right over the steep side and into the bushes next to the house.  Strange way for Santa to leave, we thought. Oh well, all seemed fine and Pa’s limp got better too.  He said he “slipped on the porch steps going to the barn.”  Grandpa’s are great, aren’t they.  They will do anything to make us happy.  Have a safe and happy holiday season.

One thing leads to another...

When World Expo 2010 in Shanghai held its closing performances, parades and forums on October 31, it was the final chapter of a very exciting year filled with global events for us. We were fortunate to participate in the Vancouver Winter Olympics, the South African World Cup and the Shanghai World Expo, beginning in February and ending about a month ago. 98.2 million people attended these three events and all three set records for media coverage worldwide. Hardly a person on the planet missed seeing or hearing about one or more of these events and our business of communication is at the heart of that experience.


The host committees sought our communications and sponsorship strategies and crisis communications counsel and that made for some interesting encounters and creative problem-solving which I have written about in earlier messages. Noteworthy to me is that each of the hosts had very specific objectives to realize from their investments, which totaled in the billions. Vancouver sought tourism. South Africa wanted the world’s appreciation. Shanghai wanted business partners. In my mind, all three achieved their goals.

The series of events that brought us to these world-class happenings began three years ago with a sponsorship summit in Shanghai. It was clear to me then that China does not want to do business alone. They want to collaborate. They want to grow with the help of others. This year they became the world’s largest economy. That’s no accident. The Expo attracted 246 countries and organizations and that is quite a buffet of opportunity.

Contacts we have made over three decades working abroad have led us to many corners of the globe. The Shanghai Summit brought us to the attention of the Beijing Olympics and many of the organizers there were involved in the prep for the World Expo. Olympic contacts we made also opened the door to the Vancouver event. Working in these circles makes for long plane rides on short schedules but decisions are made quickly and you move on to the next subject or issue. There is not much time for contemplation.

73 million people attended the World Expo. Shanghai’s population is 20 million and the drive market around the city is almost twice that number. Like all three of the global events we worked on this year, there are many foreign visitors but most of the attendance comes from the surrounding area. Two things impressed me about this World Expo. First, I’m sorry to say that the US pavilion was a bit embarrassing. I’ve heard stories about the bureaucratic starts and stops and lack of funding, but the experience boiled down to watching a bunch of promotional videos from brand name companies. How disappointing. There were indeed some amazingly interactive experiences to be had at the event. It’s just too bad that none of them were associated with our country.

Secondly, China’s young people are making a great impression on the world. In all the events I’ve been involved with over there, “interns” abound. They are both interesting and interested. They have learned English in school and are making themselves very valuable to business. China’s young are becoming the best ambassadors for that country. Universities are overflowing with talent and the West is benefitting from it.

As we come to the end of our “Big Event” year, it’s important to note that, despite the travails of the world economy, life goes on. Both in business and our personal lives, we continue to move ahead, making advances where we can. Predictions and forecasts aside, this is still a time of great change and opportunity. Communication Technology is an ever-increasing part of our lives and it applies to all aspects, from business to culture, sport and education. We’re on an exciting ride right now. We need to hang on and keep going. I’m looking forward to what’s coming up. We’re already working on projects next year and beyond. I can hardly wait.