Posted by Heather on Feb 4, 2010 in
blogging Dan Barber
- Don’t wing it, know what you want to say.
- Message points are carefully prepared, concise and memorable
- Aligned with your brand and objectives.
- Define your agenda & focus
- Tell your story, memorably
- Your message serves as a life raft
- Keeps your message consistent.
- Your messages are your brand.
- Concise, simple and specific.
- Memorable, genuine and personal.
- Strategic – what do you want the audience to do with the message.
- Be ready for well-prepared reporters
- No such thing as off-the-record
- Don’t speculate and never lie.
- Is there anything else:
I just want to emphasize my points 1,2, 3 – referred to as a bookending an interview
- Don’t answer questions on behalf of someone else.
- Flagging phrase
verbal cue such as:
What’s really important
The real news is
Jessica Smith
- Relationships matter
- Media is not the enemy
- Interviews can be unpredictable
- Make sure your cause / agenda / focus is apparent / easy to find.
Truly excellent session; I could have used this a couple of years ago. Many thanks to both Jessica and Dan.
Posted by Heather on Jan 9, 2010 in
boys,
children,
gender,
girls I’ve read a lot of advice to parents and most of it has been utter crap, with the boys.
With Ellie the little magic tricks all seem to work. Want her to lower her voice, I simply have to whisper. If I say she needs to be gentle because something hurts, she gets very concerned and wants to give me a kiss.
The boys? It’s always been a matter of enforcing boundaries to keep them from running pell mell over everything, destroying themselves, the house, and people’s opinions in the process.
I was recently recognized in the grocery store as the lady from church with three kids. She was very kind, but I had to wonder how hard she had to work to not say the crazy lady from church with three kids.
Yes, I am procrastinating.
Posted by Heather on Jan 6, 2010 in
neurosis,
running in circles Somehow, there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I should be doing, but somehow I still find time to procrastinate. It’s a habit I have to break.
The first deadline is hanging over my head, so of course Tim is having to pick up shifts. I’m hiring a sitter one day a week to help ensure I have at least some uninterrupted time, but I don’t know if that’s going to be enough and I don’t know what else to do.
I’m still excited beyond my wildest dreams, but the actuality of the obligation is now looming. I feel like the ridiculous girl in any number of movies, the one that just stands there and stares -or worse screams- instead of doing anything.
I don’t regret any of this, but I’m fairly certain that the cracks in my demeanor are starting show. For that, I apologize.
Posted by Heather on Dec 22, 2009 in
dreams,
family life My stepdaughter went to her first formal, she had no idea her dad would be in town to see her before she left. Oh yeah, he knows it all starts now.
Posted by Heather on Nov 21, 2009 in
Also find me:,
geekery,
gratitude,
neurosis,
website A month ago I was contacted by an editor at a traditional publisher. She wanted to know if I would be interested in having a conversation about turning Home-Ec 101 into a book.
Immediately I turned to Google and Facebook, looking to see if it was a legit company.
Yes.
I returned the email and a few days later we had a conversation that outlined the whole process. The biggest hurdle is the pitch. She sent me a sample proposal and from that I began piecing together one for Home-Ec 101. After stressing about it and pestering people into giving their opinions, I finally turned it in -before the deadline, thank you very much.
Since then, it’s been a waiting game. Well, until yesterday that is. Around 1pm I got an email from the editor saying they really liked the idea and that it seems marketable. In fact, they wanted to hear it pitched in a larger size. (The original specs were for a paperback, slightly taller than your average novel, but not as thick (about 240 pgs ). Apparently they want to see it priced out in a larger book, I don’t know if that has anything to do with the number of words, adding content, or if it’s to allow for more whitespace. I’ll negotiate my contract when the final size & cost of production are figured out.
Regardless, I’m beyond excited, if nothing else, this is flattering and validating. I plug away at HE101 hoping I’m not wasting my time. Insecure much? Always.
Publishing projects take a while, so it will be some time before I make the big announcement on Home-Ec 101. It’s not a secret, but I’m going to try to not make a big deal out of it until closer to the release.
I’m still on cloud nine.
Posted by Heather on Nov 18, 2009 in
geekery As per usual there was some great discussion, but there were moments that tickled me to no end.
Someone described being a fan of a brand on Facebook as it being “A friend with benefits.”
Viagra, it’s bigger than the brand.
The highlight of the evening was Andra Watkins impromptu illustration of inappropriate IRL networking behavior. “Hi! Me. Me. Me, me, me, me me me. ME!” I wish we had been able to get video.
Next time.
Posted by Heather on Nov 11, 2009 in
Uncategorized 
Posted by Heather on Oct 28, 2009 in
children 
Tags: Wordless Wednesday
Posted by Heather on Oct 19, 2009 in
family life,
photography,
running in circles Just a few quick kid pics, before I forget.
Last week I took the kids and my pal Bran up to Chimney Rock. Great day and as all family trips go, it’s not complete until someone gets hurt.
Posted by Heather on Oct 4, 2009 in
Also find me:,
local interest,
neurosis Well, it’s silly, but there is an open casting call for a cooking show. It’s today from 2 -4 and I’m going to go for it.
What the heck, right?
If I ask my readers at Home Ec 101 to be fearless in the kitchen, then I must follow my own advice, even if it means I’ll look like a stammering goofball in front of people.
Here goes!
