Personalized service is such a rarity in the marketplace. In a sea of automated recordings, generic emails, and anonymous service representatives - true customer service is not only a luxury; it is often a shock to the system. Case and point. I recently stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston. I had a minor (and I emphasize the minor) mixup with my online reservation. The staff was wonderfully accommodating and took care of everything when I arrived. Quick, immediate, apologetic, and done. Great customer service right? Imagine my surprise when, I came back to the room later that evening to this beautiful site.   My first I thought - this must be a mistake. Somewhere in another room, a guest is going to receive a wonderful treat. I called the front desk wanting to make sure the"intended guest" still had time to enjoy their gifts.  As I was dialing, I glanced at the card and saw my name.  In shock, I hung up the phone. The front desk rang me back (of course) again apologizing for any inconvenience this minor incident caused me, wanting to make sure I knew how valued my patience and consideration was. What…they valued my patience and consideration???  I had long forgotten the "incidence".  I thought I was being "punked" by my husband or friend. Nope…they meant it.  Imagine that; someone going out of their way to make sure I left happy and satisfied with their service. WOW- almost unheard of these days! Glad they put this in writing, or I would think it was a dream: Although, I appreciated and loved these special gifts; she "had me at Angela."  I was a return customer at, "I’m Sorry."  So few brands take the time and energy for those basics. That is all people are looking for- to be noticed and acknowledged; to matter- right? Luxury is no longer defined by the quality of your product or zeros on your price tag. It is defined by your ability to meet and exceed the needs of customers. How do you provide "luxurious" service to those you lead and serve?   Related articles Customer Service: Before and After (themarlincompany.com) Why Just Service Customers When You Can Engage Them? (community.constantcontact.com) Do You Have Welcomers Working for You? (smallbiztrends.com) Mar 26, Good Customer Service: Define Customer Service and Understand Impact on Business (more-for-small-business.com) Leap Year Lesson #103: Companies Need Customer Service Like Granny Provides (jeffrossblog.com) The Evolution of Customer Service (socialmediachat.wordpress.com) Educate All Your Employees to be Brand Ambassadors (themarlincompany.com) Shirt-off-my-back customer service (theorganizedexecutiveblog.com)

MOOCs for creative writing require innovative instructional strategies, and textbooks that combine prompts, examples, and flowcharts. Certain presses (such as Texture Press) are making innovative textbooks available, in both as a free e-book (Writing for Human Relations), and at low-cost printed format (Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets). Welcome to an interview with Lynn Levin, Drexel

Thanks to Tim Stokman for reminding us all how fun education and documentaries can be! Remember those good old times when the teacher used to roll the television set into the classroom, to play documentaries about biology and geology and physics? Well, "good old times" seems a little bit too nostalgic here, especially for a kid from the 80’s, because I’m pretty sure they still play them every now and then, using more modern media like DVD’s. When the teacher pressed the play button and the video started rolling, the whole class literally went mute. Before we could realize what happened, we were all sucked into a world where David Attenborough was our teacher, and the tropical rainforest our classroom. We visited laboratories, museums and even went inside plants to see how chlorophyl worked, and we still had time for supper that day! Most kids, including me of course, were hungry for more by the time the credits started rolling. What makes documentaries great? What makes documentaries so engaging and captivating? What made all us kids sit down and watch in awe for more than one full hour? If you have a child, you know this is something impossible to do, right? No child can sit silent for even one minute, let alone an hour. To understand this better, let’s look at what a documentary really is. A documentary is a montage of sights and sounds from different sources, ranging from radio and television to rare footage from extreme and unreachable places, all with the aim of documenting reality. The key concept here is "reality": A documentary feels so real and concrete, unlike a chalkboard, which only portrays the abstract. Add to this special effects, and you truly have a unique experience here. It appeals to all five senses: Sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. The latter three are generated by our own brain, our imagination, our sixth sense if you will. Documentaries spark interest and enthusiasm, precisely because our brains are completely engaged with the material being presented. Learning becomes easy and fun, because our attention is fixed while our senses are constantly being stimulated. We form (emotional) memories of what we like, so the stage for future career choices and future creativity for you children could be set here. Education with documentaries Documentaries are a great supplementary tool for educators and teachers alike. As a documentary buff, I’ve been using them for myself and my kids for years with amazing results. However, they are not there to replace you. Like I said: They are just tools, and like any other tool, they should be used with caution and skill. Documentaries have a couple of crucial shortcomings, and I will discuss them here. First, the problem of objectivity. A good documentary filmmaker will always document reality as objectively as possible, but some can be very subjective as well, especially when they have some kind of political agenda in mind. There is no such thing as peer review in the world of documentaries, so anybody can produce anything. Always watch a documentary yourself before you show it to your kids. I know from experience that many can be misleading. Another problem is that watching documentaries is a very unsocial activity. Keep in mind that documentaries will never offer real valuable human contact and warmth. Always limit the amount of documentary time to your kids and students. Once or twice a week should be enough. Fill in the rest of their time with more social activities. A third problem I see with documentaries has to do with passivity. It’s no different from watching tv, because it offers no interactivity at all. It’s all very linear and absolutely no engagement is required, which kind of dulls the little brains a little bit. We don’t want our children just sitting there and watching all the time, right? We want to keep their minds sharp, and this can only be done with more interactivity. Fortunately, this problem is tackled by interactive web documentaries which I will cover in another post. Tim Stokman is the founder of DocumentaryZ.com, a website where you can watch free documentaries online. In his spare time, he raises three kids and watches documentaries.  

"We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other." TED "Ideas Worth Spreading" Pretty Awesome right? This is why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE TED talks and believe them to be one of the best sources on the web for learning, leadership, and personal development. Where else do you have access to the worlds most inspiring, informative, ingenious and innovative people talking about how they are going to do to change the world? Surfing the TED site is a like walking into a giant candy store, where everything looks and tastes delicious! You want to sample everything but know it will be too much all at once. Bite by bite you work your way through the possibilities until you discover the best of the best; the flavors you want to savor and take with you, celebrating the most amazing with all. So, without farther ado, I share with you my most cherished discoveries. Each and every one of these 12 Most Innovative, Inspiring, and Unmissable Ted Talks promises to tickle your taste buds and leave you with a sweet sense of excitement and possibility. Enjoy every morsel!  JR - Use Art To Turn the World Inside Out a semi-anonymous French street artist, uses his camera to show the world its true face, by pasting photos of the human face across massive canvases. At TED2011, he makes his audacious TED Prize wish: to use art to turn the world inside out. After enjoying the talk; make sure you check out the insideoutproject.net. Ben Zander - On Music and Passion  this talk will not only leave you with a new appreciation for classical music; it will renew in you with a beautiful sense of hope and optimism as watch Mr. Zander awakens the possibility in his students with the act of creating ‘shining eyes.’ One of my absolute favorites! Randy Paush - Really Achieiving Your Childhood Dream Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, delivers a one-of-a-kind last lecture that made the world stop and pay attention to what matters most in lives. He taped this moving talk just months before he passed away from pancreatic cancer. Unmissable indeed! Jill Bolte Taylor's - Stroke of Insight  In this moving talk, brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor provides a first-person account of her own stroke and the experience of losing control of her bodily functions as well the functions of the left side of her brain. Instead of it being a painful or frightening experience, she said the stroke put her in a intense state of bliss and nirvana. Sharing this experience became her motivation for recovery and our motivation to count our blessings. Sir Ken Robinson - Bring on the Learning Revolution  Sir Robinson explores what many believe to be true; formal education strangles rather than nurtures our students creative genius and potential.  This is his second TED talk about creativity in education; a follow up from his first TED appearance which has now been seen by over 4 million viewers. It is a must see for anyone who is passionate about changing our education system.  Tim Brown - On Creativity and Play  as one of founders of the award-winning design firm Ideo, Tim speaks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play. Tim argues that a playful environment which relaxes natural inhibitions is more conducive to creative and useful ideas than the very "serious" environment you find in most companies. He makes the case (and I agree); we must give one another permission to play more often! Brene Brown - The Power of Vulnerability  a key component of true intimacy is making yourself vulnerable to another person and letting them really see who you are. In this talk, you’ll learn how the ability to empathize, love, and share your personal vulnerabilities can not only bring you closer to another human but your humanity itself. Elizabeth Gilbert  author of Eat, Pray, Love, examines the way society looks at artists and the way artists look at themselves in this TED talk. She feels that the creative people should view their work as channeling God's creative gift to them rather than as their own personal creative genius. And she hopes such a shift might prevent some of the madness and self-destruction that occurs in so many of our modern artists. Loved this talk and presentation! Tony Robbins  Personal development author and speaker Anthony Robbins explains in his TED talk that when people fail to achieve something, the defining factor is a lack of resourcefulness. He adds that if people are resourceful enough-if they’re creative and determined enough-they’ll find a way to achieve what they’re after. A must watch! Steven Johnson one of my favorite writers delivered this fantastic talk at TED Global, based on his book Where Good Ideas Come From: A Natural History of Innovation, exploring the cross-pollination essential to ideation and creative thinking. The talk was later animated by the RSA for an even more delicious treat. Chimamanda Adichie - The Danger of a Single Story  Novelist Chimamanda Adichie talks about the danger of only knowing a single story about a particular culture and relates it to events that have happened throughout her life.  Adichie tells the story of going to Mexico while the media was reporting on the immigration crisis and she embarrassed by her cultural bias and at the diversity of Mexican culture she saw. She encourages us all to seek out a variety of stories about cultures and not just adhere to the one definitive story that is often told by the powerful of one's own culture. Wise lessons for all to in this powerful talk. Dan Gilbert - Happiness Expert psychology professor at Harvard, and author of Stumbling on Happiness. demonstrates with wonderful stories, anecdotes, and research just how poor humans are at predicating and understanding happiness. This talk will surely make you think the next time you say to someone: Don't worry, be happy! Enjoy, Enjoy! And don't forget to check out the TEDx videos. TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." The platform is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.I recently had the privilege of speaking at a TEDx and have loved the local and global impact of the conversations it sparked. Share your favorite TED experience below: Which talks do you savor? Which talks resonated? Which talks MUST be shared?        

Mind-mapping software has been used very successfully in courses where creativity and idea generation are critical, and where one might wish to discover (or uncover) connections and patterns. Mind-mapping can be conducted independently or collaboratively; the collaborations can be synchronous or asynchronous. Mind-mapping software is often very helpful and can be used in conjunction with

This course began with a conversation in the back of a cab with my good friend, fellow blogger and consultant, Richard Byrne.  (Check out his award winning blog, Free Technology For Teachers) We were leaving the event we had both been presenting at, and were reflecting on our experiences over the past decade of making the transition from classroom teacher to independent consultants. As we compared tales from the road, it seemed as if every story finished with a statement like these:   I wish I would have known about.. I wish someone had told me… I would have, should have, could have… If I had only known then….   When we started this journey, there was no manual of what "not to do", and more importantly "what one must do" to ensure the greatest level of happiness and success. Hence our course was born, and with the help and support of the amazing Chris Dawson, we are bringing all of our tips and tricks to you. In this four week course, So You Wanna Be a Leader? we'll walk you through: How to create your personal brand Expand your influence Market your talents and skills Create a solid foundation Handle logistics of your new small business Throughout the course we'll share the lessons we've learned the hard way so that you can avoid making the same mistakes. And section of the course has clear action items to get you started on the road to building, expanding, and marketing your personal brand. You can see the course outline here.   A Bit of My Story When I left the classroom over a decade ago, I was not imagining that I would run my own business, make a living as a "consultant", and most certainly did not consider myself a leader in my field and industry. The emergence of new technologies and platforms, you can not only operate a consulting business from home, set your agenda, and make an impact in your field or industry; you can be a leader. And if you are thinking of taking the plunge and going into business for yourself as an independent consultant, but you’re uncertain about your chances; this course was written just for you. We are excited about the conversations to come, see you on Thursday night! (Space is filling up fast, so hurry on over and secure your spot now!!) REGISTER TODAY  

Technological breakthroughs which have enabled companies to recover oil and gas that was previously unrecoverable have transformed the U.S. energy industry, and have helped lower dependence on imported oil. Some economists have predicted energy independence by 2020 (Citigroup, 2013, Energy 2020: North America, the New Middle East?). We can already see a change: in 2005, the U.S. imported

The appropriate use of educational technology can be challenging, particularly in a time of rapid change and disruptive technologies. It can be difficult to find the best fit and to select the correct technology for a college, university, school, or organization. Further, while many feel they're in a constant game of "catch up," others are excited about the road ahead, and are looking at ways

If you your job often has you bogged down doing the kind of small tasks that a well-designed web application could do, then I have found the perfect tool for you! The tool today is Iftt, which stands for "if this, then that." Iftt allows you to pick a simple trigger, such as getting tagged in a Facebook post, and automates a simple outcome, be it a text message so you can take action, or direct action like a Facebook status or a Twitter post. Iftt’s system is efficient and simple. Triggers, the "this" of the statement, can be chosen from a comprehensive list of channels. These triggers act as the starter that creates the action, or the "that" of the Iftt statement. Ifttt calls this a recipe - a recipe to quickly get your simple, everday webtasks done without even thinking about it! Ifttt has already become a hugely popular tool, with 1 million tasks created already! The Iftt team is fast and capable, now active on Twitter and Facebook. Try Ifttt to consolidate your small tasks and focus on your business! I tried out Ifttt myself, and found out just how easy it is. Here are some shots of my process! After I made my own account, ifttt made it easy to get started! Getting started with my trigger So many channels to choose from! Here are just a few! Activating the channel Choosing my action! Time to choose my action! I chose to make it put an event in my Google Calendar! I created my first task! And when I sent the email... It put an event in my calendar! Related articles Three Steps For Putting ifttt To Work For You(kaneconsulting.biz) Connecting Your Social Media with ifttt.com(epiphanysolutions.co.uk) Iffft Gets your Social Media Sites Talking (thetechpost.co.uk) 12 ways to use Ifttt for Social Media Management Magic (emoderation.com)