Writing Boots

On communication, professional and otherwise.

The Writing Boots poll question of the week

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Which of the three following attitudes best sums up your attitude toward the downturn, recession, depression, oh my:

A. The laid-off temp who says she can make a planned happy hour for a company's downsizees: "I could bike on over i suppose. i'm sure i will still be unemployed and have all the free time in the world. in fact, by feb 17th i might be less than 2 weeks from moving back in with my parents …"

B. Two Baby Boomers who were talking the other day, one saying to the other, "Welcome to the world of our fathers, who didn't do what they wanted in life, they did whatever provided a living."

C. My wife, who believes if the media (and the husband) would only stop talking 24/7 about the economic calamity, the calamity might not be such a calamity.

D. No, all these people are nuts. Here's how you ought to think about it ….

Is it really a ‘town hall meeting’?

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Researching an article for ContentWise, the fabulous-online-newsletter-I-write-for-that's-available-free-right-here, I came across a remark that struck me as true.

Commenting on an article about employee town hall meetings on Melcrum's web site, a Patrick Gibbons wrote:

Though the tips are all useful, I would discourage using the term "town
hall" for most employee meetings. The definition has evolved over the
years (into electronic forums, bulletin boards, and others), but the
term "town hall" signifies a forum or place where stakeholders gather
to discuss emerging issues, voice concerns and offer opinions.
Attendees at town halls are supposed to get a vote, which is rarely is
the case in corporate settings.

One of the big challenges we face in internal communications is
managing employee expectations, so it is important to use the most
accurate terms possible. Using terms like town hall, when we really
mean (semi-annual or quarterly) employee meeting, is less than helpful
and may actually create new problems. Other frequently misused
employee-engagement terms include partnering, consulting,
collaborating, and involving.

That's exactly right. We're b.s.ing employees and one another by calling these corporate events "town hall meetings" when they're really nothing of the sort. But especially inside the communication industry, we do need a more descriptive term than "employee meeting" to imply a give and take.

Or do we simply need to reconcile ourselves to the notion that we're probably not going to get really great exchanges between most CEOs and most employee audiences, who are usually too frightened of one another to say much of anything at all, let alone in such a big forum?

As Rachel Maddow likes to self-indulgently say, "Talk me down!"

Dept. of Shit You Can’t Make Up

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I'm looking at a press release touting a new novel whose main character is "wealthy, drop-dead gorgeous, and stalked by the paparazzi, but beneath the polished veneer he is a man fighting for emotional survival."

Oy.

I skip to the blurbs. This one catches my eye:

“…..thoroughly enjoyed it on several different levels…. the plot was as sophisticated and intriguing as anything I’ve ever read ….” —Darrell House, author of Miller the Green Caterpillar.