Corrections or additions?
These letters were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on March 31, 1999.
To the Editor: Lose One . . .
When I open a new professional directory, where I frequently
have information about my company, I recall times when I opened report
cards in earlier years. The same anxiety returns. Report cards typically
were very good and until now headings and listings have been accurate.
When I opened your new U.S. I Directory, published a few weeks ago,
I was startled to find that after something like 10 years, I was no
longer listed.
True, I had moved after 10 years from the Carnegie Center, but l am
positive that I faxed back my form — and early at that. But mistakes
happen, and following my follow-up phone call I discovered that U.S.
1 had put me in a “dead file.”
I’m writing to let you know that Aurora Marketing is alive and well,
and will miss being in your directory. I recall many opportunities
that were brokered through your newspaper and directory. My company
specializes in call center research and training in healthcare, financial
services, and industrial manufacturing. One request a few years back
was from the executive director of the development office for the
Welsh government; he had found my company in your directory and wanted
a small, Princeton based firm, familiar with business development
in healthcare and in telephone marketing. That was us! We had a renewed
contract with this group for the next four years.
A few months ago I needed a graphics designer for a survey project
for physicians that Aurora Marketing was conducting with a start-up
medical software company in Virginia. I opened the U.S. 1 Directory
and found Vince Golden of Golden Associates, just up the road. Vince
and I have been working together ever since.
As we head toward the millennium I’ll hope to have many more business
leads and partners found through your terrific publications. Next
time, please be sure that Aurora is included. Thanks.
Doreen V. Blanc Ph.D.
Here is the missing data:Aurora Marketing Inc., 66 Witherspoon Street(Suite 600), Princeton 08542. Phone 609-520-8863 or 908-904-1125;fax, 908-359-1108. E-mail: Aurora212@cwix.com.Top Of Page. . . Win OneMany thanks for the article on the Ridge Group and theAssociation of Internet Professionals (March 3). I’ve heard from friends.I’ve received business inquiries. And when I called up someone tonetwork on behalf of AIP (thanks to the article you directed me toon your site), he already knew who I was. You can’t ask for more.Josephine K. OttmanThe Ridge GroupTop Of PageEaster Egg MadnessThe time is almost upon us when many of our childrenwill be into the field, running and dashing and scrambling for brightlycolored and well hidden Easter eggs. A lucky few may manage to grabsome of the treasures while the majority of children in an Easteregg hunt will go home with empty baskets.Easter egg hunts, like many other endeavors in American life, aregrounded on the idea that competition is good and also fun. It’s hardfor me to think of anything that is fun that requires my winning tobe of someone else’s loss. That is the heart of competition. It isa zero sum game. In order for a child to be successful in an egg hunt,they have to get more eggs than another child. It is similar to costumeparties, as I can think of no other way to spoil a costume party forfive-year-olds than to give one child a present for best costume.Contrary to what we have been taught, psychological research showsthat competition is not natural and that cooperation motivates usto do our best, not competition. In fact, schools and work sites oftenproduce inferior products because they value competition rather thanexcellence.Instead of turning an egg hunt into a battlefield where there arewinners and losers, how about a system where everybody wins. Competitioncreates artificial scarcity. It gives the idea that somehow thereis not enough of something. In reality there are plenty of eggs, enougheggs for all the children in America.If you want to see your children enjoying Easter egg hunts, try whatI have done at my home; I assign each child a specific color or combinationof colors that corresponds to the eggs that he or she will look for.You can do it by individual child or by family groupings. Tell thechild how many of those eggs are hidden in the field, such as six,seven, eight, or nine. I write it on a note with a matching colorthat I put in their baskets. Each child then goes out to the fieldand searches for his or her eggs. They all appear to have fun, andall the children win because they all get eggs. Another interestingthing that happens is they all start helping each other find eachother’s eggs, cooperation occurs naturally.Our schools and institutions need a restructuring, as any win/losearrangement is undesirable. When children will walk away with emptybaskets and feel like they’re the losers, egg hunts become similarto the battlefield, where in order for someone to win, someone hasto lose. So much more is possible in our schools and work settingsif instead of competition we value and foster cooperation.Ronald J. Coughlin Ed.D.3576 Quakerbridge RoadPrevious StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
