Recent Articles
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10 do’s and don’ts for church communicators’ sanity
Mark MacDonald Religious CommunitySummer's winding down and the fall is taking over discussions. In this short lull before the chaos of programs starting back up, it's a good time to decide you'll do certain things and put others on a don't list. The church communicator juggles a ton of responsibilities, and our personalities are different from others we work with. That means we can go crazy if we aren’t careful! Here are do's and don'ts to remain sane in our crazy communication world.
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America’s 10 deadliest national parks
Dave G. Houser Recreation & LeisureLast September, Tomer Frankfurter, an 18-year-old student from Israel, was hiking in Yosemite National Park when he decided to go for a "selfie" standing atop a cliff next to 594-foot Nevada Fall. Sadly, the teen lost his balance and plunged hundreds of feet to his death on the rocks below. Scarcely a month later, a California couple suffered the same fate — falling 800 feet from a ledge at Yosemite’s Taft Point. These widely publicized deaths remind us that while the nation’s superb park system is meant to offer healthy, outdoorsy adventures, there's a darker side to what can happen at these parks that often goes unnoticed.
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What to upgrade, eliminate and replace for a better RV
Cindy Belt Recreation & LeisureRV manufacturers want to make a profit, but the way they skimp on costs is a pain to consumers. The average new RV is $100,000 to $150,000, yet we still have to upgrade an RV after we purchase it. Here’s my list of items that can be eliminated and replaced or should be upgraded in new RVs.
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Seeking silence: Ultimately, it’s an inside job
Lisa Cole Mental HealthcareNoise — it's everywhere! Noisemakers abound: fans, compressors, leaf blowers. Even libraries, once a respite enshrouded in a tomblike hush, have now become community headquarters. Am I the only one left seeking silence in what seems like a deafening world? From the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety: "Sound is what we hear. Noise is unwanted sound. The difference between sound and noise depends upon the listener and the circumstances."
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How to build a good rapport with online influencers
Joseph Brady MarketingThe most powerful marketing tactic that has worked wonders for small and large businesses alike is word of mouth. Online influencers have gained instant popularity as they can spread the word about a brand to a large number of people immediately. This is why it’s predicted that, by 2020, influencer marketing will become a $10 billion industry. Finding and collaborating with influencers for your business is a big task by itself but establishing a relationship with them is as important. Follow these practices to build a good rapport with online influencers.
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Financial transparency becomes an obstacle for private prison reform
Michelle R. Matisons Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityThe private prison industry is motivated by supposed relative efficiency largely due to facilities operating without as much public oversight as their government-owned counterparts. When the prison population swelled to over 2 million under drug prohibition policies that persist today, overcrowded facilities received negative press for violating international human rights standards. A new report from The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) verifies that while private prison facilities contain a range of violations, these institutions are significantly hindered by recent banking divestments to the tune of almost $1.93 billion.
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Is there still a line between our personal and work lives?
Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementImagine if company handbooks included policies governing what personal information employees could and could not share. While there are topics that are generally discouraged, like politics and religion, we usually do not provide hard and fast rules around conversation topics and often allow the culture and the employees to create the standard. This can further blur the line between personal and work lives, which can have interesting implications for leaders.
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ADA CareerCenter upgrades online tools for job-seeking dentists
Tammy Hinojos Oral & Dental HealthcareAre you a recently graduated dental professional looking for the perfect place to start your career? Or an experienced dentist looking to make a move to another practice? Your job search may have just gotten a whole lot easier. Dental professionals looking for the right job could always turn to the American Dental Association’s CareerCenter, the ADA’s official online job board. But on July 17, the ADA CareerCenter debuted its upgraded website, which now offers even more tools to improve the user experience and personalization of job searches.
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5 tips to improve past performance ratings
Lisa Pafe Civil & GovernmentContractors often struggle to define a discriminating value proposition. While a value proposition is certainly comprised of your service or product solution, it also incorporates your past performance. A proposal demonstrates to the government a company’s prospective ability to perform the work. How does the government gain confidence in your prospective ability to deliver your solution at high quality and low risk? By examining your past performance both on relevant contracts as well as trends across time.
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Infographic: Why employee satisfaction drives company performance
Raunak Pandey Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementStatistics show that employees’ happiness is greatly dependent upon their levels of engagement and contentment in the workplace. Friendly interaction and teamwork are signs of a positive workplace with minimal absenteeism, which ultimately results in a thriving organization. On the other hand, a negative workplace shows signs of little or no communication between people, lack of passion, and high levels of absenteeism. To improve workplace morale, a company should go the extra mile towards increasing employees’ satisfaction.