CAMA Conference Shifts Emphasis
New Opportunities In Continuing Ed
Corporate Angels Aid Women and Girls
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Kathleen McGinn Spring were prepared for the
June 11, 2003 issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
A Jar of Bubbles On Every Desk
It is impossible to be stressed while licking an ice
cream cone. Is it the concentration required to keep the sticky stuff
from dripping onto shirt and shoes? Is it the associations with
carefree
childhood summers? Whatever the reason, this wisdom, care of Joel
Weintraub, principal in Lafayette Hill-based Humor for the Health
of It (www.healthhumor.com), sounds right on target.
Weintraub speaks on “Stress Management: Laughter Really Is the
Best Medicine” on Thursday, June 12, at 6 p.m. at a meeting of
the Mercer chapter of NJAWBO at the Merrill Lynch Conference Center.
Cost: $35. Call 609-924-7975.
Weintraub, a graduate of Temple (Class of 1981), makes a living by
giving humorous talks and by consulting to companies on lightening
the atmosphere in their offices. He has studied both health education
and sociology, which he defines as “the study of what you already
know in words you don’t understand,” and after college he worked
as both a stand-up comedian and the director of a wellness center.
His business, in existence for 15 years, combines the two.
Clients tend to call him either because their offices are so stressed
that a crisis appears to be imminent and they are desperate for
something
— anything — that might help, or because they understand the
value of humor in reducing stress and want to find ways to introduce
it. Among his suggestions:
Catch an attitude. “Nothing makes sense in theworld,”Weintraub declares. Trying too hard to tease out meaning just makesyou “go crazy.” People tend to spend their lives looking foranswers. “It’s like a break-up,” he says. “You wantclosure.You want to know why, or you want to get back together.” Mostpeople do not get satisfaction either way. “You never get ananswer,”he says.It’s much the same in the workplace. Why doesn’t the boss like me?Why did my client switch to another vendor when everything seemedto be going so well? Better to leave these questions alone.”The only normal people,” says Weintraub, “are thosepeopleyou don’t know well enough.”Blow bubbles. “I don’t like gimmicks,” saysWeintraub.Not as a rule. But he makes a couple of exceptions. A soft ice creammachine, for example, can, all by itself, turn an office’s atmospherictables. So can bubbles. Issue each employee a bottle, suggestsWeintraub.Imagine a new employee’s reaction to finding a bright blue or neongreen bottle of bubbles on his desk along with the pencils and 10-linephone. Such gestures state that a little 9-to-5 fun is encouraged.Besides, says Weintraub, the act of blowing bubbles requires deepintakes and outflows of breath. Such breathing reduces stress.Toss out the birthday cakes. Instead of an office fundfor birthday cakes, Weintraub suggests a “fun fund.” Acommitteecould be appointed to use the money to plan a purely fun event oncea month.Bring on the smiles. Each office has a personality; eachdepartment within a corporation has a personality. “Sometimesyou work for a company, and everybody’s mean and stressed,” saysWeintraub. “That’s the overall theme in the company.”Changing the theme can be as easy as spreading smiles. The boss shouldstart the chain-reaction. “Smile at yourself in the mirror whenyou get up in the morning,” suggests Weintraub. Then, uponarrivingfor work, engage the first person you see in conversation, and makesure to smile at him. Do the same for person number two. Thesmile-phobiccan work up slowly, gradually increasing the number of smiles theyhand out.The atmosphere should soon go from sour to sunny, because, Weintraubexplains, no one can resist a smile. Our brains are conditioned toreact to facial expressions. Each smile is an unconscious link toevery happy face we have ever seen, while each scowl is a reminderof every unpleasant encounter. Brain chemistry is affected byexpressions,both by those we assume and by those we see.Enjoy those joke E-mails. If the office has no policyagainst the receipt of non-business E-mails, take a laugh break withthe latest set of Internet jokes. Most people have friends who sendthem around, and many induce side-splitting laughter. Indulge. It’sgood for your heart as well as for your stress level.Creativity is another benefit of humor. Relaxed by laughter,and working in an environment where stress is kept to a minimum,everyoneshould be able to come up with good ideas. Another benefit is thatemployees will want to stick around to keep contributing those ideas.”For years,” says Weintraub, “we thought that peoplestayedat a job because of money.” It turns out that this is not true.”People stay because they like the job,” he says. “Theystay because they look forward to seeing their friends.”And having an ice cream machine in the break room doesn’t hurt.Top Of PageE-Mail Advice for UYo, IMHO the guy U work for is a jerk. MHOTY for puttingup with him this long. he makes the idiot I works for look smarterthen Einstein. LOL.The good thing is that neither one of them hasa clue about the money we’re skimming from the Browning account.ROTFL.Ozana Castellano would disapprove of the above paragraph,typicalof millions of E-mails whizzing around and between businesses, forany number of reasons. A business communications specialist at MercerCounty Community College’s Center for Training and Development, shespends most of her time doing on-site corporate training, and moreand more she is hearing pleas for help with E-mail etiquette, form,and content.”E-mail is out of control!” says Castellano, whose husband,Michael, brings home particularly egregious examples from his NewYork office. “It’s killing our language,” she says. Whilemanagers may mourn the harm E-mail is doing to the mother tongue,their more immediate concern is the harm it is doing to theircompany’simage, and even in some cases to its business.On Thursday, June 19, at 9 a.m. Castellano gives a five-hour classon “Sharpening Your E-Mail Writing” at MCCC. The cost forthe class, which is open to the public, is $95. Call 609-586-9446.E-mail, Castellano points out, grew up free of English-class rulesfor correspondence. While workers have been drilled on how to setup, write, proof, and send a business letter, there has been noequivalentinstruction on E-mail. At the same time, E-mail has become acommunicationsfavorite. Fast and easy, it is now used for nearly every type ofbusinesscorrespondence.Castellano, a graduate of Hofstra University who holds an MBA fromSt. John’s University, grew up with letters rather than with E-mails,as is the case for many people now in the workforce. An immigrant,she also grew up speaking Croation. Having long ago mastered Englishso well that no trace of an accent remains, she is now equally fluentin E-mail. Here is her advice for steering clear of the E-mail styleof the above message:Don’t use acronyms. The only acceptable acronym is FYI,states Castellano. Everyone knows “FYI” means “for yourinformation,” but many people will be thrown by the likes of”IMHO,”which is E-mail speak for “in my humble opinion.” Likewise,not everyone will know that “MHOTY” is shorthand for “myhat’s off to you.” Even the fairly common “LOL,” whichmeans “laughing out loud,” and its less-common cousin,”ROTFL”— “rolling on the floor laughing” — are bound to causesome head scratching.The pop shorthand is beloved by everyone intoxicated with the newcommunication. But, Castellano points out, it can cause embarrassmentif the receiver is unable to decipher the message and thinks he mustbe out of the loop. If he has to send a reply asking forclarification,the point often is lost, and there is discomfort on both sides.”I don’t even like ASAP,” says Castellano. In this case, herobjection is not so much that some people may not know that theacronymstands for “as soon as possible,” but rather that it is toovague. “To me, ASAP may mean today,” she says, “but toyou it might mean Christmas.”Always add a salutation. All business — even thelarcenybusiness addressed in the above E-mail — is personal. Keep E-mailpersonal by always taking the time to start an E-mail with therecipient’sname and to end it with your own.Drop the “dear.” Castellano says the way to beginan E-mail is with “Hi” or simply with the recipient’s name.”Dear” is for letters, she declares, and not for electronicmessages. As for “Hi,” an opener that feels a little toinformaland/or juvenile to businesspeople of a certain age, she says it isfine in most circumstances. When in doubt, just open with therecipient’sname, which may be preceded by a title — Mr., Ms., Honorable,or the like — in more formal relationships.Break up text blocks. Four or five lines generally isenough for one E-mail paragraph. Longer unbroken stretches of textare hard to read on a screen. Break up long paragraphs into severalshort paragraphs, says Castellano. Better yet, use lists, numberingeach item.Don’t pack too much in. Unlike a letter, which may bekept on the desk for easy reference, E-mails are read fast beforebeing deleted or filed. Including several agenda items often meansthat one or two will be ignored in a reply. If you want to ask yourboss for a raise, the go-ahead on a new project, a new desk, and themonth of August off, it is a good idea to send him four separateE-mails.Watch grammar and spelling. The state of E-mail contentoften is a disgrace, says Castellano. Recently, a large area employercalled her in to instruct employees on basic grammar and spellingissues. Common errors, she says, range from mixing up “then”and “than” to starting sentences with a lower case letterto ignoring subject/verb agreement. With everyone on staff E-mailingall over the place like crazy, these lapses are on broad display,undermining not only the individual’s credibility, but also that ofhis organization.Proof on paper. Castellano admits that in a go-go world,this is a tough one, but she says it is essential that E-mails beprinted and proofed. “You’ll miss mistakes on the screen,”she says. Doing so is not a huge problem if the E-mail is going toa close friend, but it can be if it is going to an important client.Don’t write what you wouldn’t shout. Once the”send”button is pressed, the E-mail takes on a life of its own. It may beread only by its recipient, but there is always the possibility thatit will be forwarded to others — maybe hundreds of thousands ofothers — with the simple tap on a keyboard. It is a good bet thatthe sender of the above E-mail didn’t consider that his boss wouldsee it. Given the eternal shelf life of E-mails, however, such apossibilityis not out of the question.”So many people have gotten in trouble because ofE-mails,”says Castellano. While the E-mail at the beginning of this articlewas sent to give a pal a chuckle, it is a good bet that its senderwould not be LOL, let alone ROTFL, if his boss read it.Top Of PageCoping MovesIf he weren’t a believer in networking groups before,he is now. Robert Zyontz, founder of Princeton MarketTech, haslearned to use networking to get through tough times.”We are networking like crazy,” says Zyontz, “and thisopens up doors that would have never been opened before.” Hejoineda weekly leads group, BNI, which meets on Wednesdays at 7 a.m. atthe Bog at the Cranbury Golf Club, paying $240 for one year plus $75for the application. He thought he would give it a year.Result: “It is working. We are generating business from outsidethe chapter — really solid word-of-mouth referrals. It is nota kaffee klatsch. But it takes a year for momentum to build, and everyweek at 7 a.m. is a major commitment.”He also expanded the client basis for sales and marketing collateralmaterials and website design. “We specialize in financial services— marketing, banking, insurance, and investments.” Clientsinclude Prudential Financial, Merrill Lynch, Fleet Insurance Services,and Citizen’s Bank, but it also has Diamond Tours and Grounds forSculpture. “For companies with marketing challenges, we can comein and help them.” Renee Hobbs, vice president, is doing pro bonowork for the June 27th observation of the Battle of Monmouth.Yet another coping move is to change physical spaces, from the highrent district at Vaughn Drive to the Dataram center on Route 571.”After 11 years in one place, it’s always good to changescenery,”says Zyontz.”As long as you have comfortable affordable office space you canpass savings to your clients and to your employees through incentives.Or invest money in equipment to increase your business,” headvises.”If you are in my shoes in an expensive space, swallow your prideand give up on the image thing. We are very comfortable in ourskin.”Top Of PageCAMA Conference Shifts EmphasisComputer technology still has the power to dazzle. AWall Street Journal columnist, for example, recently wrote aboutiMusic,Apple’s new online music store, with breathless enthusiasm. Tinydigitalcameras have the power to induce techno-lust too, and what officeworker wouldn’t love to find a super-sized, flat-screen monitor onhis desk.But for the most part, computer technology has become one more tool,and is as well integrated into the lives of creative professionalsas is the telephone. For this reason, the New Jersey CommunicationsAdvertising and Marketing Association (NJ CAMA) has decided to changethe name of one of its most important annual events. Called TechnologyDay in recent years, the gathering is now simply the NJ CAMA AnnualConference.The conference takes place on Thursday, June 26, at 8:30 a.m. atSarnoff.Cost: $95. Visit www.njcama.org for all the details.Aaron Bedy, CAMA’s vice president of technology, writes tomembersthat in the past few years “technology was affecting all of ourlives, changing the way we worked, and forcing us to re-think theway our businesses were organized and conducted.” He adds that”technology is still a key component of the way we work, yet mostof you have accepted it and integrated it into your specialties —public relations, advertising, marketing, photography, printing, andmany others.”Technology will factor into many of the presentations at theconference,but, says Bedy, the program focuses on many facets of what NJ CAMAmembers do, and not just on one aspect of their work.Colonel Jeffrey Douglass of the United States Marine Corps givesthe keynote, “Taking Your Message into the World’s Hot Spots.”Seminars cover the future of branding, the role of the art director,the potential of personalization in marketing, and the future ofpersonalcomputing. Speaker include Nick Wreden, author ofFusionBranding;Jeffery Winsor, strategic alliance manager at Hewlett Packard;Greg Merkle of Factiva; and Seymour Chwast, director ofthe Pushpin Group.Top Of PageNew Opportunities In Continuing EdThe Center for Management Development at Rutgerswill offer its Mini-MBA: Business Essentials program this summer inan accelerated, six-week format. Two instructional modules providinga practical foundation in current business concepts and practiceswill be presented each day.Classes will be held on Rutgers’ Livingston campus in Piscataway from9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Friday, July 11, through Friday, August 15.The shortened certificate program is designed for a range ofprofessionals,including human resources, information technology, and otherspecialistsin “business partner” roles who need to better understandthe business mission, strategy, and financial management of theircompanies. It is also recommended for professionals interested inpreviewing an MBA.The fee for the course is $2,495. For more information, call ClaudiaMeer at 732-445-5590.On Monday, July 7, New Jersey’s 19 community colleges, inpartnershipwith New Jersey City University, will offer New Pathways to Teachingin New Jersey, a new alternate-route teacher education program.Students can choose to take the program as either a certificationrequirement to become a teacher in New Jersey, or can apply theprogramas 15 credits toward a master’s in teaching degree from New JerseyCity University.In a prepared statement, Peter Contini, executive board member ofthe New Jersey Council of County Colleges, writes that “thisprogramwill provide interested individuals with the right qualificationsthe opportunity to change careers and become public school teachersin New Jersey.”Classes will meet twice a week for three hours and will include guidedobservations in local schools.Program candidates must hold a bachelor’s degree with a major in anarts and sciences field for elementary education or hold a major inthe appropriate field for subject area license. They must have acumulativeGPA of 2.75 or higher for the last degree earned and have achieveda passing score on the appropriate Praxis II exam.The cost of the program is $2,000 for those taking it forcertificationand $4,500 for those taking it for graduate credit. For moreinformation,call 201-200-3168 or visit www.njccc.org/teachered.htm.Beginning in the fall, the College of New Jersey willoffer two new degree programs, a master of arts in applied Spanishand a bachelor of arts in biomedical engineering. The second degreeoffers two curricula options, electrical engineering or mechanicalengineering.Biomedical engineering combines engineering know-how with medicalneeds. Students apply knowledge and skill to define and solve problemsin biology and medicine, such as designing and constructing cardiacpacemakers and investigating the biomechanics of injury and woundhealing.The program is aimed, in part, to benefit students interested inresearchassociate positions or technical management positions within thepharmaceuticalindustry.Berkeley College of New Jersey has received approval fromthe Middle States Association of Higher Education to offer a Bachelorof Science in Business Administration in an online format beginningin the fall.The online program is offered in four-quarter, 11 or 12-week sessions.All students enrolling are required to take an introductory coursethat will prepare them to work online and help both the student andthe college assess whether online learning is the best option.For more information, call Susan Mandra at 973-278-5400, ext. 1213.Top Of PageNew at RVCCd>Raritan Valley Community College has become thefirst community college in the country to offer a doctorate degreeon campus through its University Center as a result of a newpartnershipwith Seton Hall University.Under the agreement, beginning in January, 2004, Seton Hall’s Collegeof Education and Human Services and SetonWorldWide, the school’sonlinecampus, will partner with RVCC by offering courses at RVCC’s campusin North Branch leading to an executive doctorate in higher education,leadership, and policy — with specialties in either highereducationadministration or college teaching. The program, which is to includeweekend classes, will be delivered in an accelerated format usingblended instruction to accommodate the needs of working professionals.Approximately 20 percent of the coursework will be Internet-based.The program will take two years to complete and will feature cohortlearning, block scheduling, support, and mentoring. Students receivea Seton Hall degree upon completion of the program.For more information, contact Teresa Keeler, director of theUniversityCenter, at 908-526-1200 or at tkeeler@raritanval.edu.Raritan Valley also has signed an agreement with FirstEnergy to offera new associate of applied science degree with a focus in electricutility technology starting in the fall. Graduates will be trainedto be electrical workers for FirstEnergy subsidiaries Jersey CentralPower & Light and Met-Ed.Students enrolled in the program will complete 64 credits over atwo-yearperiod on the RVCC campus in North Branch and at a FirstEnergyfacilityin Phillipsburg. A maximum of 25 students a year will be acceptedinto the PSI program. For more information, call 440-604-9803.Top Of PageCorporate Angels Aid Women and GirlsPrinceton Area Community Foundation Fund for Women andGirls is granting $25,000 to four organizations, which representsat 25 percent increase over last year. The fund supports programsthat work with girls to build character and self-esteem, hone specialtalent, train for leadership, respect their bodies, stay in school,and be proud of who they are and what they can do. The fund alsopromotesprojects that help women be positive role models, advocates forthemselves,good mothers, transition from welfare to work, and adopt healthybehaviors(609-688-0300, www.pacf.org).The HiTOPS grant will support the expansion of theParentingYoung Teens workshops to help mothers of young teen girls understandthe emotional and physical changes their daughters are undergoing,to educate moms about teen sexuality; and for the Sexual AssaultSurvivorSupport Group.The Medical Center at Princeton has a Respect Yourselfprogram, an eating disorders prevention education program targetedto girls only, and taught in middle and high school health classes.The Planned Parenthood of the Mercer Area monies willgo to the new Teens in the Know program of individual case managementfor girls ages 12 to 18 who are at high risk of teen pregnancy,sexuallytransmitted disease, or poor lifestyle choices.Monies to the YWCA Trenton will support the Latinas Unidasprogram Entre Madres e Hijas (Between Mothers and Daughters), abiculturalbilingual summer project to help Latina mothers and daughters (age8 to 16).Nearly 200 area women have made gifts totaling nearly $150,000,and Bristol-Myers Squibb contributed $100,000.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
