Blog
Check out my posts (196 and counting) about communications, information, motivation, writing, branding, creativity, media, marketing, persuasion, messages, learning, etc.
Embrace the Certainty of Uncertainty
Today is Groundhog Day. In Ontario, Wiarton Willie predicted an early spring. However, Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam, as well as Punxsutawney Phil in the U.S., saw their shadows and predicted six more weeks of winter. A CBC headline said “polarization” has now spread...
You Can’t Always Shovel Out of a Social Media Pit
Think before you post. Good advice, but it doesn’t always happen. While clearing the snow after this week’s storm, I found my mind drifting to two recent irritating stories. One involved Jon Reyes, a member of the Manitoba legislature and Minister of Economic...
Don’t Try This Miracle Cure
Would you drink your own urine? The other day I spotted a story about an American anti-vax agitator named Christopher Key, who recently posted a video for his followers on this COVID “cure”: “The antidote that we have seen now, and we have tons and tons of research,...
A Terrible Way to Learn the Greek Alphabet
I love language, but let me join the chorus of those who’ve said this isn’t a fun way to learn the Greek alphabet. Yet another variant of the coronavirus is upon us, this one called Omicron in keeping with the World Health Organization’s naming system. It was May of...
It’s Time to End Missing White Woman Syndrome
When she was a young girl in Arcola, Saskatchewan, Danita Faith BigEagle loved movies, music and watching her two sisters dance. She was the youngest of six children, born on March 6, 1984, and her siblings always looked out for her. The family was part of the Ocean...
Hitting the Vaccine Jackpot
Does this sound like a marketing challenge? Convince a huge share of consumers to buy an item with no tangible value whatsoever. And do it habitually. In return, they receive no product, service or experience. The item literally isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on....
Why Place Names Have No Place in Diseases
A few months ago, Roger Helmer, a former British member of the European Parliament, went on Twitter to complain about the use of the term “U.K. variant”. Stop referring the new coronavirus variant as originating in the U.K., Helmer tweeted. “It was first identified in...
Don’t Forget Your PIN Number at the ATM Machine
Some acronyms are so familiar that we can forget what they stand for. That can be a problem, if you dislike redundancy in communication. Consider two recent news items, each involving hard-to-get cash. One described a California man who received a stimulus payment on...
Grab Some Popcorn and Start Coping
We can’t go to the movies now, but we’re watching (and re-watching) them more than ever. While global box office revenues fell by more than $30 billion in 2020, industry figures show that subscriptions to video streaming services hit 1.1 billion, up 26%. During the...
The Radical Roots of a Hallmark Holiday
Communicating with family isn’t always easy. That’s one reason why there’s a thriving greeting cards industry. In the gooey sentiments business, this is the motherlode. According to the Greeting Card Association, Mother’s Day is the third-largest holiday for the...