The beginning of a new year is a time of strategic planning for many companies. Goals and projects are identified, budgets are established, teams are created and action plans are launched. Every project manager knows that their projects can only
A Year of Healthy Snacks
In previous blog posts I’ve written about the fact that we no longer serve birthday cakes at our monthly office birthday celebrations. With the plethora of sweet treats already coming into the workplace, we decided that at least 12 times a
Where the World Isn’t Good, Make It So!
For this inspirational quote, I turn to Gary Hughes, who pastors my small church in southwest Ohio. Every Sunday, Pastor Gary concludes his sermon with a charge for his congregation. It is this: This call to action always helps to
The Best Four-Letter Word?
For most of us, this month is chock-full of events and activities. We have a calendar full of concerts, office carry-ins, cookie exchanges, and ugly-sweater parties in addition to regular work and school schedules. Our heads are swirling with recipes, shopping,
6 Tips for Planning a Great Conference
The Midwest Writers’ Workshop is a conference that has been around for over 4 decades. They had a sellout crowd in 2014, and for good reason. The team that organizes this event has an incredible eye for detail, from the registration process to
Event Planning With Attitude
Behind every successful event is someone who takes the time to establish goals, assemble a team, create an action plan, set a priority and deadline for each task in the plan, and then execute that plan with precision. This allows
A Baby Shower in Neverland
Emily is having a baby boy! She shared her plans for the baby nursery, which had a Neverland/Peter Pan theme, so we decided to carry that theme through to the baby shower we threw for her at work a few
Meeting Minutes – An Essential Part of an Effective Meeting
I served for years as the clerk for an elected body of local government officials. Their meeting agendas were advertised in advance, they were open to the public, and were held twice each month for the purpose of conducting business
New Basket Raffle Ideas
These raffle baskets were part of an incredibly successful silent auction I recently attended at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church called 100,000 Welcomes (more about this in future posts). By popular demand, enjoy these new basket raffle ideas: Knitter’s Delight Basket
An Affair to Remember
In 1959, Betty Crocker published a book called Betty Crocker’s Guide to Easy Entertaining – How to Have Guests — and Enjoy Them. In the introduction, she discussed the need for such a book; after all, in the late 1950’s