21st Century Advertising and Customer Service

I’ve returned from the land of no internet. While I was away I began thinking about something that has irritated me and others for a few years. This is what my mental exercise sounded like.

A couple of decades have passed since I was involved in any form of advertising, having written the occasional audio/video commercial back in the early nineties. Everywhere one looks, whether on blog sites, company sites, or while trying to gather one’s email, pop-up ads jar the mind, exasperate the user and generally become a nuisance. Television is no better, in its own way. They do, occasionally, serve a purpose to inform readers of something they available for use in their lives.

When I look at how advertising has shifted with the availability of and interaction with the Internet, I’m surprised at how assumption drives much of today’s advertising and how customers are expected to conform to current business practices.

For example: With adequate anti-virus software, almost anything can be purchased, paid for, shipped, explored, etc. on the Internet. Online banking, checking, bill-paying and other normal business dealings are a daily convenient practice. It saves trees, you know. At least that’s the reason given.

With that ecological view in mind, there are good reasons to allow oneself to fall into the online business trap, so conveniently awaiting a keystroke to consummate a transaction.

I’m not arguing against saving trees. Over my lifetime I’ve found few that I couldn’t call friend.

My concern is that the business community has come to assume that everyone has a computer–if not several–with Internet service at home, and that they no longer have to provide live people to do business. Or, if you’re lucky enough to talk to a real person on the phone, you discover that something you need to order from a business is 70% cheaper if you order the same item over the Internet.

That’s what happened to me a month ago. I tried to order one box of checks; nothing fancy—simple plain blue, standard font, duplicate, top-tear checks. That’s not a strange thing to want.

I didn’t need more than one box of checks. The bank wanted to charge me $22 for one and then I’d pay nearly $10 in shipping charges. The check service I normally use has phone ordering available and online purchase. Online I’d pay $7.50 for ordering only one box, plus shipping, whereas over the phone one box would cost me $20, and I’d still have to pay shipping.

My question is whether the customer—me—is personally paying the salaryfor the phone customer service rep. and that’s why it’s cheaper to buy more than one box. To bring down a phone order to the lower price per box, I’d have to order two or more boxes.

It sounds petty, but this is the kind of situation that pops up frequently. Television advertisers automatically expect a viewer to hop on a computer and the net to go to their website to find the explanatory information alluded to in the TV ad. No address is given, nor a phone number many times.

This sense of expectation and assumption is what bugs me about the situation.

The older generation has come up through the ranks and have expectations of their own; they expect fair treatment and honest businesses, respectful attention from service providers, and the ability to talk to live people when a problem with those services arises.

I don’t know any older adults who are fond of those automated response systems that take the place of humans when dealing with customers.

Oddly enough, back when live service people were the norm, the customer paid less for the privilege of doing business with that service or for those goods than they do with automated systems today. The price of our progress looks to land on the runway of automation, to reduce business costs. I wonder if that same progress also soon eliminate the need for customers to interact with any of those live persons who are providing the services or goods.

So, tell me, reader, where do you stand on this piece of the new business model? Are you patient and unresisting, regarding the automated phone response systems that keep running you around through cyber tunnels looking for the light at the end? Or, are you ready to throw the phone across the room when you’re accosted by that recorded voice that won’t respond to anything but a pressed-button tone or a “Yes” or “No”?

Think about it and chime in. Until next time,

A bientot,

Claudsy

 

Absence Alert

Due to technical difficulties–read this as computer and internet aren’t speaking right now–my ability to put anything here will have to wait for a few more days until the problem is fixed.

I want to thank all of those patient people out there who aren’t screaming for more content now, as well. I have content but can’t do anything with it for a while. Keep that patience flowing and spread it around if you can.

God willing, I’ll be back on track long before the end of the coming week. Take care, all, and God bless. See you soon.

A bientot,

Claudsy

Tech Use and Shorthand

Anyone who takes the time to think about it has realized how much of our communications have devolved into graphics and monosyllabic use in the past couple of decades. Technology use, rather than the technology itself, appears to be the culprit in this case. Keep in mind the EMOTICON.

Whether emoticons came first or the graphics people latched onto them immediately. Twitter, texting, and other networking uses demand similar communications skills.

Writers get hit with communication shorthand as much as anyone else. To truncate speech or not, that is the question. There’s no clear answer.

We’re accustomed to using shorthand for written note-taking and dictation. Some will ask “What is shorthand?”

Shorthand was a human skill, a hand-written encoded form used as late as the early ‘80’s, when the Dictaphone took over operations. All well-paid professional secretaries were required to have the skill. It’s fantastic for taking notes in university classes, too.

It fell out of favor, considered labor intensive and inefficient around 1980 and was replaced by dictating machines. In this century we have Dragon and other voice recognition specialty software that will take your dictation and produce your text.

Of course, Dragon can only do what its user tells it to do. It’s fast and that’s deemed important in today’s world. It takes dictation and writes it to a file. All punctuation, word choice, syntax, etc. must come from the user, which is as it should be. Yet, none of these conveniences can help the user until the user has “taught” her dragon how to recognize her speech patterns and the like.

In the “old” days the one dictating expected the secretary to come fully loaded (no pun intended) and already programmed with all the skills necessary for the job. Dragon doesn’t expect a paycheck at the end of the week, which gives it another advantage.

What does any of this history have to do with today’s use of the shortcuts in written communications? Actually, it relates well how our use of language evolves and changes within its mediums of expression.

Verbally, people can have entire conversations without using more than one hundred or less real words. Comedians do skits about this truth all the time. Ask Jeff Foxworthy.

We use verbal shorthand and probably always have used it. Hmm, um, ah, oh, huh, etc. are all part of the lexicon of communication’s shortcuts. Body language falls into a sister category of communications. Recognize the pattern here?

If you follow Foxworthy, you’ll know many of  the Phrase-Turned-Word combinations which complete a conversation which uses only one real sentence and the rest filled with PTW combos.

PTW’s, such as “yantu”, “j’eatyet”, and of course, “y’all” all get used on a regular basis, and not just as Redneck words used in the South. Common use words like “gonna” or “whatya” can be heard anywhere on any day. These “words” are comfortable and easily transfer from one region to the next. That reason alone might be why the word “ain’t” could never be successfully stomped out of use and finally added to the dictionary.

Humans redefine and create new language each day. We do it for convenience’s sake, for jargon needs, and just to bug other people. “Bug” See what I mean. The old ‘50’s-‘60’s word still gets used and understood so many years after its creative definition shift.

We use emoticons to express emotions without having to verbally define them, a visual cue to our body language when line of sight is impossible. Graphic display of emotions serves the same purpose; expression without words.

Writers must use words to create mood, express characters’ emotions, etc. Today’s technological shorthand both encourages expression and redefines its use. The quality that disturbs some writers like me, however, is whether it use will soon disrupt an individual’s ability to express herself in words instead of graphics.

I’d like to know how others feel about the rampant use of verbal shorthand across today’s world. It brings us together, allows one to say much in a small space, and affords quick communications, but does it add to our lives anything other than speed? What is its intrinsic value? Will it be decipherable a century from now?

You tell me. Until next time,

A bientot,

Claudsy

Can You Wassail?

There are times when subjects for an article, essay, or blog post collide with one’s mind and derail it from whatever intended destination anticipated. This morning is the perfect example.

I’d intended to compare the use of vocabulary in literary work and that of mass-media offerings. That’s when it happened.

I was doing a morning run down my FB main street when I came upon a post by a writer friend telling us that she’s going wassailing tonight. I slowed down enough to make a reply, without pausing more than a nanosecond to consider each of her words for individual sounds or meaning, and began to pull away from the curb.

An imperative stop sign flashed before my interior eyeballs without regard for the shock I might experience. My mind had flashed on the Christmas carol about “going wassailing,” the tune began playing at full volume along with a group of merry singers, and I focused on the fact that I’d always wondered what that phrase meant and had never taken the time to pursue the subject.

TaDa! My fate was sealed. I suddenly had to find out what “wassailing” was and get the song out of my head for the rest of the day. God help me if it’s on the radio today. I’ll be lost for at least 24 hrs.

Google came to the rescue again. I found the site  http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/wassailing.shtml  and learned that “wassail” referred to a specific drink that was mixed and served in a bowl, usually of silver or pewter, and drunk at Winter Solstice. A recipe was offered for those who wanted to begin their own celebration.

This centuries-old tradition of roaming around a neighborhood, punch cup in hand, sampling from everyone’s bowl of cheer, seemed a very good way of spending an evening with friends and those on the block. I began wondering how many such meandering block parties would send up peals of laughter and cheer tonight around the country and if specific regions of the country would be more likely to entertain themselves in this way on this night.

I told Sis about my discovery and that we should think about starting our own tradition of wassailing next year. After all, it’s a bit late to begin today, the wallet a bit too flat, and how many neighbors could we invite at this late date? That promising recipe will have to wait until next year to spark a happy new enjoyment for us.

For those who are going wassailing tonight, have a cup of cheer for me, toast to new traditions, old friends, hopeful outcomes, and blessings for all.

A bientot and a Happy Holiday season to all, regardless of celebrations,

Claudsy

Listing Year’s Winners

Well, my friends, we’ve come to another holiday season. There are those looking back to count accomplishments. Others are making goals for the coming year. Lists are popping up everywhere.

Since that’s the case, I’ve decided to make a list of my own, or more. Why should I stand back and let everyone else have all the fun?

List 1: 2011 Accomplishments

1. Visited with family and friends across the country during the winter and saw things totally new to me.
2. Arrived back in Montana with all fingers and toes from the research trip from Hell. Sanity somewhat dented but still workable.
3. Procured livable apartment and had money to pay for it and the food to keep us going throughout the rest of the year.
4. Managed to have many submissions accepted for magazines and newsletters
5. Reinvested in my craft through university coursework
6. Got through another rewrite on The Moon Sees All and began what is hopefully the last rewrite before being submitted.
7. Came to a point where I can see the blessings that grew from this past year’s trials on the road.

List 2: 2011 Blessings–The Short List

1. Repeat List 1 for emphasis
2. Can still say that I’m healthier than many I could name
3. Learned more than I ever thought possible about too many things to mention
4. Watched the struggles and accomplishments of friends and family, knowing that they came through whole, if dented, and I can still enjoy them
5. I have a home, food on the table, clothes to wear, work to do that makes my heart sing most days, friends everywhere, family that I love, and I’m moderately warm for a snowy day.
6. My country hasn’t imploded yet, even if it is shaky in some quarters
7. I’ve lived long enough to appreciate the simple things of life

List 3: 2012 Goals

1. Repeat List 1, numbers 1 and 4 through 7
2. Get everything that’s already on my computer—stories, essays, poetry, children’s books, etc.—submitted somewhere
3. Finish travel book and get submitted
4. Finish women’s mystery novel and get it submitted
5. Finish YA fantasy novel and get it submitted
6. Finish “Failures to Blessings: Finding the Silver Lining” and, you guessed it, get it submitted
7. Survive to write another day

Assuming I accomplish the items on this last list, I will be satisfied with life for another year. I say that because I plan 2013 to be busier than ever in the writing department, and I’m going to need all the energy I can get to deal with it.

There you have my obligatory lists for this year. I hope you have a satisfying time doing your own lists, whatever they contain. Let me know if you’re ready to either celebrate or need commiseration. I can accommodate either situation and will do so happily.

A bientot,

Claudsy

Measuring Time—the Real Purpose of a Clock

Writers measure time a bit differently than most people. At least that’s what I’ve found.

For instance, ask writers how long they worked that day and you might hear something like this—

“Let’s see. Well, I got those last three poems for my book done first thing this morning even before going to my inbox or Facebook. Then I finished doing the rewrite on a short story for one of the online literary mags. That was just before I grabbed some toast for breakfast. Once I got my stomach to quit growling, I worked on both blogs and the website for a couple of hours or so.

“Lunch was a quick cup of soup and a sandwich. I think that’s what I had. I don’t pay a lot of attention to food when my mind is working on an outline for a new storyline. Sometime in the afternoon I had to field a couple of calls from editors and then got back to the real work; social networking.

“I got a handle on the promotional announcements about the new book and a couple of speaking engagements so that I can send those out tomorrow. I also sent a couple of queries out and three submissions.”

Notice that there’s no mention of a real estimate of when the writer began work for the day or whether the work day was actually finished. Many times such considerations aren’t relevant to the profession. Deadlines, expectations, appointments make the grade for mental significance, but time spend working is just that—time spent. It doesn’t need to be counted or regulated.

This isn’t a nine to five career choice. It isn’t something that a writer quits thinking about at the end of the day. Something as simple as a new commercial on TV can trigger a flurry of creative activity. The writer’s mind is seldom quiet.

Perhaps that’s why clocks have importance to writers. It’s not to see how much time we’ve spent on a project that day. Instead, a clock tells us how little time we have left that day to work on what was planned for the docket.

And how do you measure time in a day’s schedule?

Until later, a bientot,

Claudsy

Where Did Our Heritage Go?

We’ve come into the season of holidays; Thanksgiving gives way to Christmas and moves inexorably to New Years. For centuries this season has stood for blessings, fellowship, and unity; if not in actuality, at least on the surface.

This time around something has gone off the tracks. Everyone is edgier, ruder, more desperate. One could attribute this holiday syndrome as an ever-increasing out-pouring of the stress felt by countless millions of people who don’t know what the next year will bring economically, politically, or within the family.

The question is: Why has our population become seemingly unequipped to keep themselves under control?

Our forefathers for centuries lived with the knowledge that nothing in this world is certain. Life and their own common sense taught them to plan for those lean times, rely only on necessities, especially when luxuries cost so much more than most could pay. They lived with few clothes for each member of the family.

A father with more than two pairs of pants, one work shirt and one for Sunday, and who could give the same for each of his family, was a wealthy man by the standards of the time.

A mother who didn’t lose at least two children to stillbirth, illness or injury before they were five years old was truly blessed. Children who still had both birth parents to attend their weddings, complete with cake and a bride’s veil, could remember that for the rest of their lives.

If one owned a small cabin or house, with enough land to provide a kitchen garden that would produce enough food to put away for winter stores, wealth was clear. Size of the home didn’t matter. Everyone would have a place to sleep, warm and secure when cold and snow took over the outer territory. The living room/family room/kitchen, etc. occupied one space, all of which might have measured 15×20 feet. A loft was always necessary for sleeping nooks for the children.

When the world industrialized and cities became the working world for many, credit became common for those who always paid their bills on time. The 1929 Depression and subsequent lean years didn’t teach everyone the price of greed. People afterwards merely moved to different avenues for making money.

By the early 21^st Century we’ve become barbarians in subtle ways. Take the incidents these past couple of days across the country. People, so absorbed in their passion to buy the latest and greatest for the cheapest price available, have been willing to kill or maim others to get to a desired item first.

Headlines in the news: Woman pepper sprays others, injuring 20 people, to get to a xbox on sale. Shoppers, anxious to get into a store for first pickings, dismantle a door and trample to death a young woman standing ready to open the door at the appointed time. A man is shot in a store’s parking lot during a sale.

Question: Have we become barbarous murderers in the name of possessions? Or, has greed so possessed our people through constant consumerism propaganda that we’re desensitized to our own actions?

Incidents like the above are on the increase, and not just at this season. When will be grow out of this selfish adolescence and back into the adulthood of our ancestors and their hard-won heritage of living with what you need and feeling blessed that you have that much security?

These are truly things to think about during this time; especially during this season.

A bientot,

Claudsy

Pleasure Reading That Teaches

Recently I’ve been re-reading a favorite series of mine: “The Cat Who…” series by Lilian Jackson Braun. The best-selling author is a favorite with many readers and for many of the same reasons.

Braun wrote characters that leaped from the page, wrestled the reader to the floor, and came away with a life-long commitment to light mystery, love for the backwoods country, and a passion for quirky people and quirkier places. That’s no small feat in our world of fickle reading habits.

There’s nothing complicated about Braun’s work in this series, not really. It only gets complicated when the reader is also a writer who tries to analyze her style and capacity for subplot design and execution. The problem that arises in this instance is that the writer quickly becomes so involved in the story and characters that pausing to analyze anything becomes compromised.

One of the specific tools that Braun uses is a love of language that many authors seem hesitant to use. She’ll have one or more characters speaking in a local dialect that holds little in common with the normal English language at the same time that she has another character or two using vocabulary that English majors with a Master’s degree have to look up for definitions.

For those who’ve not read this woman’s series be sure to keep a good dictionary handy while reading. You’ll never be sure what kind of word will pop up on some obscure page about half-way through the book. At the same time, keep a small notebook to hand with a good ball point so that you can write down the literary recommendations from the author.

There are always several classics referenced and quoted during a book. My list has become a tangled illustration of my reading future.

Braun weaves fanciful tales, with memorable characters, and packages it all in a setting that clamors for new residents or summer visitors from Down Below. If you take on this reading challenge, you’ll undoubtedly wish for a map and weeks of leisure so that you, too, can travel to Moose County for the lake air and the invigorating country atmosphere.

If you’re a writer, you’ll find stand-alone volumes of the series that engage and puzzle. These aren’t written as masterpieces or even great literary prose. They are, however, fun and whimsical, which transport the reader to a more fun environment where problems get solved, people live—while not in harmony—with respect for the county’s history and that of the founding families.

If you’re not a writer, enjoy the stories for the antics of the Siamese cats who solve the mysteries before they’re discovered, who know the murderers before anyone else can point the finger, and who eat better than most people on an unlimited budget.

When you’ve read one or more of these volumes, you will come away with new knowledge from a well-researched manuscript. Braun doesn’t throw out anything, no bit of knowledge that can be used to create an interesting character with a twist, a flaw, a fascinating tidbit to share. You’ll learn about foods from all over the country, hobbies that you wouldn’t consider before, Scottish history and how to wear a kilt, and other useful info.

All of this and a story, too, comes in a compact book that never leaves you wanting for detail. Take one out for a spin and see if you don’t go back for more. Follow the main character, Jim Qwilleran, as he moves from one mysterious adventure to the next with “The Cat Who…”

Until next time, a bientot,

Claudsy

Gathering Knowledge One Sentence at a Time

Before I came down with pneumonia a few weeks ago, I decided to broaden my knowledge base again. I have a habit, as most writers do, of taking a course at a time to sharpen skills and create a better base for writing.

This time I’m working on one of the courses from The Great Courses group. It’s called “Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer’s Craft,” lectures by Professor Brooks Landon of The University of Iowa. As most writers know, The U of I is one of the top schools for learning the writing craft. I figured what did I have to lose but some time each day for a DVD lecture and a couple of exercises.

The one thing I expected isn’t what I’ve found in this course. I expected to hear about grammar and all those SPAG (Spelling and Grammar) errors that plague writers no end. Instead, I found lectures on how to decipher the meanings of sentences, the language that’s used to express the writer’s intent.

That’s something I’ve never seen in any writing course or English class I’ve ever taken. For the first time I’m being taught how to use semantics and syntax to get my message across. I’m learning about propositions of sentences rather than prepositions. I’m learning how to write more effectively by knowing what, exactly, my words are portraying.

This is the best little 24-lecture course I’ve ever seen and I wish I’d found it a long time ago. Let me give you a wee taste of what I mean. A proposition is defined in this course as a statement in which the subject is affirmed or denied by the predicate.

Professor Landon says, “Propositions carry emotional or effective impact that has nothing to do with the grammatical expression or surface structure that advances that proposition in a sentence. It is only when we consider the emotional effect of the way we order and combine the propositions that underlie the sentences we speak or write that we can consider ourselves in control of our writing.”

Sounds scary, doesn’t it? In a very real way it is scary. When the student (me) began doing one of the first exercises, I was dumbfounded to see the many permutations of meaning carried within one short sentence, and for longer/more complex sentences, the meaning seemed to grow exponentially. At the end of the fourth lecture I’d come to know how intuitive understanding is based on such actual cues as “in” rather than “on”, or “understand” rather than “comprehend” and so on down the line.

I’ve come to the conclusion that through all of my education, training, and experience, I’ve only now advanced to a place where I can appreciate this course and the grit and beauty of building great sentences. If I study hard and apply myself to this course with as much continued enthusiasm as I have now, the benefits afforded me by its teaching will forever dictate how I write and why. And the real beauty of it is that I can use this knowledge for any type of writing, including poetry.

I recommend this learning tool to all who appreciate a well-written sentence. For essayists, novelists, children’s writers, poets, anyone who works with words, this will work for you. For educators it’s a must.

My challenge for you: Locate and define each of the propositions in the following sentence.

”I’ve come to the conclusion that through all of my education, training, and experience, I’ve only now advanced to a place where I can appreciate this course and the grit and beauty of building great sentences.”

Until we meet again in the classroom,

A bientot,

Claudsy

NOTE: For any who would like to investigate the offerings of The Great Courses, you can go to their site at: www.thegreatcourses.com/

 

Surviving the Status Shuffle

Whether a person has reached a new phase of an existing career or pursuing a new one, there is always a settling-in phase involved.

The person must go through at least three distinct steps during this phase.

• Astonishment at having arrived at the new status
• Panic at the thought of establishing new self-expectations, abilities, and reputation
• Developing new coping mechanisms and strategic schemes for advancement within that status

The survival process can be either pleasant or not, depending upon the approach used. That approach depends largely on whether the person sought the change in career status or arrived there at someone else’s behest. The least objectionable attitude to assume, nonetheless, is one of acceptance. Stress reduction during the process is paramount. Acceptance breeds calm responses.

New Status Astonishment

If your new status was actively sought on your part, now would be a good time to show everyone that belief in yourself and your capabilities. Obviously someone believed in you or you wouldn’t be in this new position. If you didn’t seek the status, you can always bow out gracefully, without losing face. It’s entirely up to you. You answer the person or organization with a simple No Thank You, and leave it at that.

Let’s assume you’re a writer. You’ve just landed a plum assignment from a pitch you made to a glossy magazine. NOTE: You pitched it, you believed in it. Now deal with it.

The editor loved the idea and is contracting you to run with it. NOTE: You’re at this stage because you’ve learned how to market yourself, your ideas, and your talent. Accept that someone else believes in you and your potential to generate quality product to fulfill that contract.

Panic at New Responsibilities and Expectations

It doesn’t always follow that because you sought this change in status, you understood the responsibilities and expectations that go with it.

Greater belief by others in your abilities settles the mantle of responsibility for quality, punctuality, and consistency squarely on your shoulders. You might not have considered that side of the equation when seeking your elevation. There is no need to panic.

If you’ve strived in the past to provide quality and accuracy in your work, you’ve covered the first and last of those responsibilities. If you’ve set deadlines for yourself and kept them on a consistent basis, you’ve already covered that expectation as well. Panic comes with unfamiliar territory, unfamiliar needs being placed on a person’s career plate. If you took the time before to cultivate your skills to give those factors mentioned above, you’re going to be fine.

If you haven’t yet cultivated those factors, now would be a good time to start. Take it slow. No one is forcing you to be perfect with each second of the day. Take the time to get comfortable with these new expectations. Find a mentor to help you ease into this new position.

Developing Coping Mechanisms and Strategies 

Everyone learns to cope with new circumstances or perish. The best strategy may be to set yourself a work schedule according to your needs. If you work best on a loosely regulated schedule, fine, do that. If you need more structure for better self-monitoring, do that instead. You are the only one who knows what conditions work best for you. Put those in place and stick with them.

When those outside your work throw negative or jeering comments your way, smile. Turn to them and say something like, “Thank you so much. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you get to live your dream, too.” Use the enthusiastic and positive intonation of sincerity and genuine interest. It does make a difference.

Why would you say something like that? Many people deride those who are living a dream and making it work. These people haven’t the courage to live their own dream or they believe their life circumstances don’t allow them to live their dream. Don’t allow their envy to displace your personal positive attitude.

Lastly, at the end of each day, count your blessings. You’ve been given a dream to live or not. You’ve been shown a path to walk or not. Only you can choose to take your blessings for a stroll down the road of possibilities. In the end it’s the effort you put forth and little else that determines every change in your personal status. Declare it and own it. You created it.

Until later, a bientot,

Claudsy