Focus Groups/Research

Consequences Drive Human Behavior

    Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

    I used to finish every sentence with “you know?”  It was a habit that drove my mom nuts.  She talked to me about it – a lot.  But when she started saying “No, I don’t know,” every time I said it, she started driving me up the wall.  The consequences
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    Holiday Sales

      Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

      Mom always began the sell early. A casual word dropped around Thanksgiving, secret smiles directed my way in early December. Perhaps a few bars of “White Christmas” hummed under her breath. Next, holiday songs would ring through the air and the full-scale sale began. “Wouldn’t it be fun to go
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      Do You Get It?

        Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

        “That’s so you!” I love when people say this to me, good or bad. It means that they really know me, for better or worse. Everyone wants to be recognized for who they really are. People, businesses and organizations that “get” us truly understand our uniqueness. Communication, in this arena,
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        2022 Brings Communication Reckoning

          Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

          I up and quit one day. I gathered my juice, my animal crackers, and set up camp in the closet. Being a child, I figured that my parents would be so sorry that I was gone that they wouldn’t make me do my “job” anymore.  But they didn’t notice I
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          About Public Relations

            Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

            I was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion regarding ethics and social media. I was asked to represent the field of public relations. While preparing I wondered, how many people really know what public relations is? Oddly enough, the public relations industry does a terrible job of public
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            Are You Saying What You Mean?

              Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

              I know you believe you understand what you thought you heard me say, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. Got it? This type of communication is common. It’s particularly prevalent with internal communication efforts.  While most organizations focus on external communication,
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              Throwing Eggs is Bad Form

                Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

                As I made a mad dash over the bushes, between the buildings and over a curb I kept thinking – what went wrong? Earlier in the evening my friends and I gathered, eggs in hand, near a road in our town with a fair amount of traffic. Our plan was
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                Understand Perceptions to Understand Reality

                  Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

                  Until recently I thought I was rather tall. Well, maybe not tall, but certainly not short. I don’t have anything against short people. It’s just that I didn’t realize that I am a short person. I’ve fought against it my whole life, mostly by wearing “tall” clothes and shoes with
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                  Think! Then Verify and Implement

                    Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

                    Think! That sign was ever-present back in the day. There was even a sign in the Journalism lab. Think! That’s all it said. No clue as to what to think about or for how long. Just Think! So I did. I thought about a lot of things, about my future
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                    Is Anybody Listening?

                      Originally published in the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Daily Times-Call.

                      One of my favorite musicals is 1776. I love the characters, the costumes, the carrying on, the songs and especially the lyrics. Questions from one song stick in my mind – “Is anybody listening? Is anybody there? Does anybody see what I see?” Those questions are as compelling today as
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