The classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer never fails to set me firmly in the Christmas spirit. But for some reason, just now, this clip strikes me as a fabulous lesson on how NOT to manage GenY employees. Indeed, it should be shown at every middle management training session from here on out.

Dude, you are sooooo lucky Hermey didn’t show up with next day with his HR rep, scream “hostile work environment” and sue your pointy ears off.

And am I the only person who has spent the last 29 years of my life thinking Hermey’s name was “Herbie”?  Are we sure it’s not?

So, right about now my Granny and Grandpa are floating somewhere out in the middle of the ocean on a fabulous cruise to very warm places. For the next two weeks, their days will be filled with bingo, blackjack, variety shows, vodka tonics and the occasional run-in with a dude in a speedo.

Thanks to Google, I have a clear picture of how the journey began …

I’m sure it was during embarkation that a fellow passenger sees my Granny with her perfectly accessorized outfit, matching luggage and Evian water bottle. Then, he lays eyes on The Precious of iPhone accessories – the patented Margie Childers iPhone neck pouch/old purse she MacGyvered into an iPhone holder necklace thing.

The passenger, no doubt spellbound by the sight, begs of her, “Where in the world did you get that glorious neck pouch? I must have one!” To which my Granny most likely replies, “Oh, this old thing? I couldn’t begin to tell you. Maybe you should google it.”

And so he did, which of course, led him to me. Welcome, dude:

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As a handful of friends and co-workers are aware,  I embarked on a photo safari on January 1, 2008 with the intention of posting one photo a day for year until December 31. After a couple of months, it was always a struggle between fun and obligation. As of now, I’ve got 10 days left. Oddly, I’m really, really sad.

I set up Picalicious as a home for my daily photos thinking it would just be me, but then hubs joined in … then Jed, Becca and Cynthia. In the end, hubs and I are the last men standing, with the occasional guest post from Keith, Goad or Joe. On Jan 1, I will have I missed four out of 365 days. Not too shabby. Read More…

I’ve subscribed to the Bad Pitch Blog and the like for years. I even had a (nervous) laugh when the flack spammer wiki came out. I read these online offerings because they teach sound lessons on what not to do, BUT this is just public humiliation for humiliation’s sake.  It’s getting old and pissing me off.

Here’s the thing, blog ranters: WE DON’T CARE about how many bad pitches you get a day or how much you hate pr people who suck at their jobs. We really don’t. Why? Because every profession has bad apples. Including journalism. And blogging. But I can think of about 107 things I’d rather/need to be doing than wasting my time ranting about poor journalists/bloggers when there are plenty of great ones out there I need to be getting to know. I guess you ranters just don’t have that much to do?

More importantly, I don’t think that I’m such a flippin big deal that people who aren’t good at their jobs no longer have the right to talk to me. Even if the conversation is irrelevant to my gig.  It’s called a delete button. Push it.

Yes, it’s fun(ny) for journalists/bloggers to hold up a PR flack’s mistake under the fluorescent lamp of the Internet and giggle. Especially at the flacks who lack a lick of common sense, bless ‘em. But if you’re commentary isn’t doling out something constructive for your readers — other than the fact that you hate pr people — please don’t bother. Arrogance is not your color.

Really, Google?

(sigh)

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Just finished reading the new Malcolm Gladwell book, Outliers: The Story of Success. And OMG. You need to read it. Like now.

With its steady cadence of take a closer look beyond the individual to the social norm and culture, it is no surprise Gladwell’s book was a real page-turner for me.

I was fully hooked on page 10. The intro. Not even Chapter One!

“They had to understand the culture he or she was a part of, and who their friends and families were, and what town their families came from,” writes Gladwell. “They had to appreciate the idea that the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.”

I’m fortunate to work closely with The Urban Child Institute in Memphis. I do a great deal of early childhood brain development writing for them, so I’m sensitive to research based articles that tout the undeniably important role family, community, culture and environment play in your development as a child and potential as an adult.

Weekly, we beat the drum of nature WITH nurture. That none of us are just born knowing how to learn, behave or react to the world, or how to be a good parent for that matter. These are things we are taught through and by our community. And these lessons are handed down from generation to generation.

This “it takes a village” message is mostly applauded by pediatricians and non-profit leaders, which is why it is refreshing to read a “business success book” with the same mantra.

Now, I understand that these change-the-way-you-think-about-life-and-business books aren’t for everyone, so if you are only going to give it a good skim at least read Chapter Seven. You’ll never look at an airplane the same way and you’ll learn a great communications lesson.

I would give you my copy but Dave’s gotta get it back to the library tomorrow. Sorry. If you have read it – what was your take-away? Was it the same as mine? Did you like the book? Was it a pager-turner for you, too?

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I’m confident enough to tell you there are quite a few things I’m good at: talking, writing, media relations, white wine consumption, Twittering, karaoke and cleaning toilets – to name a few.

I’m also realistic enough to know interior decorating is not on the Margie Newman skill roster, which is why we called Lori over at Delicious Designs.  If you’re sitting down and have not just taken a giant swig o’ milk, click here to view the fantastic transformation of our  teeny tiny urban loft-of-happiness that Lori and my mom pulled off in just 72 hours.

Go on — I’ll give you sec.

OMG I KNOW RIGHT!

Lori’s blog calls it a “highrise surprise.”  Team Newman calls it “Oh. My. Good. Lord. We are now fancy pantsed grown ups with a freakin cool condo so come drink wine with us”

If you,  like me, cannot tell wall paper from sponge painting; or zebra skin from Agenintenian cow. There’s help for you. Her name is Lori.

NOW you see why I’m all freaked out goober-acting in the above photo. So glad that was captured on film and put on the internet.