This is an email I received from a friend that I found very interesting.  Sometimes we could all use a little reminder about how the real world works.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair – get used to it!

Rule 2: The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

If you can read this -Thank a teacher!
If you can read this in English - thank a soldier!!!

Going Lean- A Cultural Shift That Adds Value to Your PR Efforts

By Mike Green- The Strategist- Winter 2010

Spending time and money wisely are important concepts to live by.  In Greece’s article, he expresses the importance of using cost-effective methods in PR.

Some of the ideas included:

Conduct monthly meetings to implement improvements in process, use of time, products, and services.

Investigate techniques that will enhance measurability and quality.

Reward the best ideas and celebrate success.

Set up a war room (online or offline) so that employees can see deadlines, upcoming events, and work status- visuals.

Keep all relevant files in a central portal, such as client and account information – this will save a lot of time for employees.

By becoming more efficient, we can save ourselves time and money – and that is a must!

If you are familiar with Apple, you are probably aware of their newest product, the iPad. Personally, I am a very big fan of Apple products.  As an iPhone addict, MacBook Pro dummy, and iPad lover from afar (I bought my mother the new iPad) – I am hooked.

I recently read an article about the iPad in Entrepreneur Magazine May 2010.

Here’s what a couple of critics had to say about the new Apple technology:

Edwina Owens Elliott, via Facebook –“Perhaps using it as a portfolio, to show potential clients images of your work.  Smaller and easier to manipulate than a laptop.”

Focalpointaz, via Twitter– “I own a media business and think the iPad is a sexy way for me to show clients content.  It needs Flash, though.”

My thoughts: Interested. Definitely interested! However, I’m waiting to see what my mom thinks first.