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October 17, 2008

Take a break from gloom and doom

These are the times that try men’s (and women’s) souls, so the last thing we need is another person making pessimistic predictions about the economic situation.

That’s why Bob Dilenschneider’s keynote address at this week’s IABC Heritage conference was such a disappointment. Mr. Dilenschneider has been a leader in the communication profession for a lot of years, and he’s written eight books and delivered hundreds of speeches, so he’s old enough to know better: A keynote speech is supposed to set the tone for a conference, give participants a lift, create energy.

But Bob must have been wearing his dark-gray curmudgeon socks: His message was, essentially, that we’re all going down, but maybe communicators can do a few things to soften the fall.

Bummer.

Luckily, I had the good luck to also attend the HR Southwest Conference, where I heard a keynote speaker, Bertice Berry, who was the yang to Bob’s yin. While Bob was all darkness, Bertice tried to show participants the light. She sang. She laughed—and made us laugh. She told us that things might get difficult, but that we have the strength to persevere.

Two days after Bertice’s speech, I’m still feeling good about life. And in her honor, I bring you two things designed to make you smile.

The first is a television commercial from the British baking company Hovis . It’s original, it’s beautiful, and it’s uplifting. Worth watching.

And the second is the new advertising campaign from Dentyne gum, "Make face time.” The idea is that connecting face-to-face is better than electronic communication. (Example: Two people kiss and the caption is, “The original instant message.”)

Hope you enjoy.

Posted by Alison Davis at October 17, 2008 04:50 PM

Comments

Posted by: Beth Gleba at October 20, 2008 03:29 PM