EveryJoe » Holidays & Events

Mother’s Day Goodness

Bridget Wright — Sun, 11 May 2008 13:22:10 +0000

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day today! My children and husband were very wonderful to me and gave me the day off. Sort of. I only had to wash dishes is all. And clean the bathroom. And give baths. And wash a load of clothes. Only one load though. Outside of that, I didn’t do anything at all. What a wonderful Mother’s Day it was.

What is so special to me about having a particular day of celebration like this is watching how the kids get so excited about sharing. When they presented me with their cute little cards, they each wanted to be first to describe it to me and tell me what each character on the card was doing. Then when they gave me my gift (which I LOVED), they were more excited than me, squealing in anticipation of the look on my face. Treasureable moments.

Even with all the rah-rah surrounding Mother’s Day, I’m glad it only comes once a year. What with all that rest I got, and fights I refereed and the number of “no’s” and “wait-a-minutes”, once a year is all I can handle.

Got to get back to cleaning the bathrooms now. Have a great rest of your Mother’s Day!

Post from: EveryJoe

Mother’s Day Goodness

April 24 Is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day!

Kristen King — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:05:52 +0000

Please take a moment to leave a comment on the Biz Chicks Rule entry in the Business Channel’s “Take Your Sons and Daughters To Work Day” contest. All you have to do is leave a comment on the entrant post (<<< follow the link!), and the post with the most comments WINS!

The Daughters and Sons to Work programs happens the fourth Thursday in April every year, and it’s been going strong for more than 15 years. (You can learn more about the observance by visiting the Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation.)

My mom was a full-time, stay-at-home parent and my dad worked construction, so my brothers and I never went to work with them on this day growing up, but we learned a lot about running a business from the work they did at home. Now that I’m an adult, I’m self-employed and I work from home — and I don’t have kids! But my dogs hang out in my office all day. Does that count? :)

What are you doing for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day? Do you work outside the house or at home? Do you have kids? I’m turning off comments for this post because I really want you to post your thoughts where they will help our entrant win the contest. So, please click here to leave a comment. What are you waiting for?

(photo)

Tags: women and business, women in business, women, woman, business, take your sons and daughters to work day, take our sons and daughters to work day, take your daughters and sons to work day, take our daughters and sons to work day, foundation, contest, kids, teaching your kids about work, setting an example for your kids, self-employed, work from home, biz chicks rule, kristen king

Post from: EveryJoe

April 24 Is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day!

Are April Fool’s Day Pranks Appropriate in a Professional Environment?

Kristen King — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:36:00 +0000

I won’t leave you in suspense on this one: My response is an adamant "No." As far as I’m concerned, pranks in the office are just as inappropriate as wearing a costume in the office on Halloween. You’re at work. Behave like an adult.

Now, I’m not suggesting that work shouldn’t be fun, or that it can’t be funny. Opening all of the drawers and cabinets in the community kitchen and hanging up a sign that says "I see dead people"? Okay, still not really appropriate for the office, but yes, that’s funny, and something that doesn’t cause a ruckus, like faking an emergency, or hurt anyone. But pulling someone aside and telling them you hear they were getting fired? That is not funny. Neither is alluding to downsizing, shutting down operations, or anything else that will terrify people. Nor is getting people’s hopes up only to dash them. And it’s never funny to humiliate your colleagues by embarrassing them or hurting their feelings in front of others.

Here’s what some folks around the blogosphere said on or about April Fool’s Day:

April Fool’s Day: Dealing with humor in the workplace @ PimpYourWork.com
Need more time? Google has the answer! @ StartupSpark.com
IRS Considers Tax Exempt Status for Bloggers @TaxGirl.com
A mess of subprime fools @ LeadershipTurn.com
April 2nd – The Day After @LinkedIntelligence.com
Are These Two Bloggers Fooling Us? @BizChicksRule.com (thanks, Bridget!)
TweetBait, April Fools and Jokes on a Blog @ Problogger.net
US Congress to Pass Anti-Freelancer Law @ ContractWorker.com
Also, Dogs and Cats Will Live Together in Peaceful Harmony @ The 501(c) Files

Appropriate or not? I’m totally on board with some, not so much so with others. But I want to know what YOU think, about these links or April Fool’s Day in general. Leave a comment.

(photo via SXC.hu)

Tags: women in businss, women and business, business advice for women, april fools day, pranks, office humor, appropriate in the office, crossing the line, what’s too much at work, biz chicks rule, kristen king

Post from: EveryJoe

Are April Fool’s Day Pranks Appropriate in a Professional Environment?

Civil Right’s Is A Privilege, Not A Given

Bridget Wright — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:55:47 +0000

Sometimes people who misinterpret the idea of freedom think that just because they “are” makes them eligible to get something without sacrifice. Not so. Freedom comes with a price…and it’s not cheap. Today we all should be able to celebrate freedom and the benefits of it. Not because we’re deserving but because someone sacrificed their freedom for us TO be free. Definitely a privilege. Post from: EveryJoe Civil Right’s Is A Privilege, Not A Given

Post from: EveryJoe

Civil Right’s Is A Privilege, Not A Given

Merry Christmas !!

Bridget Wright — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:08:29 +0000

I want to take this time to wish you and your family peace and happiness at this wonderful time of year. Take today and spend lots of quality, quiet time with your family and the ones you love. There aren’t many days of the year where we can slow down and take it easy and relax. Make today one of them.

As I stated on a post that I made at the Thanksgiving holiday, this is an email a client of mine left me during that time and I think it befitting for me to leave it with you again.

I wish each of you the very best and happiness above all. Have a very merry and peaceful Christmas!

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

Merry Christmas !!

Still At A Loss For Christmas Gift Ideas? Here’s Some For You

Bridget Wright — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:43:46 +0000

Still don’t know what to get for those last minute Christmas gifts? Here are some great ideas that Rico over at contractworker.com has. I found these to be really clever and quite appropriate for some situations. Give them a try. All of them if you need to. I’m sure they’ll work for you. Whew, that was close. Thanks Rico!

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

Still At A Loss For Christmas Gift Ideas? Here’s Some For You

Only A Few Christmas Holiday Shopping Hours Left!!

Bridget Wright — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:29:24 +0000

Today is it folks. It’s crunch time. Basically, if all your Christmas shopping is not done, well, you know. Things just don’t look real good. If you can find any deals, anywhere, I say go for it. There are only a few hours left. Kristen made this post a few weeks back about some Liz Claiborne sweaters that looked pretty good. Doubtful if you can get your hands on these in time for tomorrow, but it’s worth looking into if you can find a Liz store near you.

It’s pretty much a given that all online shopping is is nixed for delivery by tomorrow, but there are still deals to be found for those after-Christmas sales. Don’t worry too much. I’m sure there’s something to be found. I’m planning on going shopping again Wednesday for those after-Christmas huge sales. That’s also when I plan to stock up on business dress clothes and office supplies for the upcoming year.

Never, ever, ever pass up a good deal. Good luck!

Post from: EveryJoe

Only A Few Christmas Holiday Shopping Hours Left!!

Treat Your Clients to a Holiday Progressive Lunch or Dinner

Bridget Wright — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:30:05 +0000

This is a great holiday idea for your clients if you work in a corporate setting with different clients or there are multiple sales and marketing people in branch offices. Treat them to a progressive dinner! What’s that you say? Well, it’s an idea that’s a lot of fun and clients would get a kick out of. Generally done among friends and neighbors, it’s where the courses of a meal are served at various homes and the homeowner is the host. Our resident expert, Julie Bonner made a post about it over at She Knows Parties and explains it best:

“What is a progressive dinner? It’s a chance for more than one person to play host and provide food for the party. For this party there is some traveling involved, which makes is so much fun. The party travels from house-to-house. One house provides the appetizers, one house provides the dinner and one house provides the dessert. Everyone travels to the first house and shares appetizers together. When you are finished with the appetizers, everyone loads up in their cars and heads over to the next house for the main course. After the main course is finished, it’s time to travel to the last house for dessert.”

Now, let me tell you how I think it would work in an office setting. First, decide which satellite office will serve what courses. If you don’t have that many satellite offices, consider just serving appetizers and drinks at one place and then heavier hors d’oeuvres and deserts at another. This would work best if served during business hours. But, if you decide to have the progressive dinner during the evening hours, you can determine a menu that will be palatable for your clients taste and the nature of your business.

If your building is large enough and has multiple offices inside, this progressive dinner idea would work excellently with that. Just set up each office or cubicle space with the layers of the meal and let the person who occupies that office be the host. You can also use this time as a marketing tool to pitch to your clients new ideas or show them new sales talent in your office. You can be creative in SO many ways with this idea of a progressive dinner. Your clients will be happy that you did.

Share with me if you think this would be a great idea for clients and some tips on what you would do to make it work.

Post from: EveryJoe

Treat Your Clients to a Holiday Progressive Lunch or Dinner

Are You Ready For The Christmas Giving Season?

Bridget Wright — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:25:49 +0000

I wrote a post on my blog at LeaderNotes about how my son is inspiring to me to give during this holiday season. Although the turkey is still cooling off, Christmas scents and sounds are heavily in the air, delighting our senses and exciting our thoughts all at the same time. It almost seems surreal at times when you think about how incredibly fast the holidays come. I love the feeling that Christmas time brings…and especially all of the bauables and bags that it brings with it!

I want to ignite your gift-giving spirit as this holiday season begins. Think about others that are less fortunate than yourself. Think about the spare change in your pocket. Think about the difference both of those things can make in someone’s life. Maybe even yours.

Are you ready?

Post from: EveryJoe

Are You Ready For The Christmas Giving Season?

Office Holiday Party Coming Up? Don’t Blow It!

Kristen King — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:00:31 +0000

I had planned to post on this topic, but then I saw that Elana from Funny Business covered it beautifully and hilariously…

Not sure if anyone has done a statistical study on this particular issue, but in business folklore there
is the common belief that many a career has been torpedoed at the annual holiday office party.

If not torpedoed, certainly embarrassed.

…There are two genres of holiday office etiquette. There’s the real advice from business etiquette experts and there are the cautionary tales from those who have been there and done that.