Beyond the Inverted Pyramid

The Emperor Has No Clothes and Other Astute Observations

If you want to be thought of as more than person who does the company web site, then read this.

What do CEOs and organizational leaders really want from their public relations person?

James Lukaszewski, PRSA, recently shared the following with local Kansas City practitioners. If you really want to be viewed as a public relations strategist, embrace the following:

• Don’t waste time with chitchat. Make your case in three minutes. Always briefly recap the situation, its implications or the threats or opportunities it presents to the organization.
• Recap what you hope to accomplish.
• Offer at least three possible courses of action.
• Recommend the action you would take.
• Justify your suggestion.

It’s a good list and I’d like to add a few more, some of which Mr. Lukaszewski would agree with, I’m sure.

• Tell the boss when he is in the wrong. Don’t be afraid to say "The Emperor Has No Clothes" and ignore a problem because others do. You’ll earn the respect of your leadership.
• Know the environment. Lukaszewski calls this being able to tell the future. If you are an astute trendwatcher you can predict how a particular situation will turn out for your client.
• Don’t be afraid to speak up. When I was in the capacity to advise an internal client about a decision on whether to outsource work or keep it inhouse at about the same cost, I jumped on the opportunity to advise it be kept inhouse for the purposes of boosting employee morale. Other managers sat silent, intimidated by volatility of the leader and the situation. He took the advice.
• Don’t be enamored with yourself. This isn’t about you. A good public relations person offers suggestions implemented in the name of leadership. You are there to contribute to the success of the leadership and the organization’s goals not to make a name for yourself.

By following these tenets, you’ll find your reputation will builds itself and you’ll be the person people listen to when all the noise is over.

Just Watching the Clothes Dry

Did you ever have a day so lazy that you could sit on a sun-dappled porch and watch the clothes dry? I have.

Some of my fondest recollections of the summers of my youth are of spending time with my grandmother on her back porch. Sometimes we’d share a bowl of ice cream. Sometimes we’d just watch the clothes dry on the nearby clothesline. We’d talk about what she was making for dinner and what my mother was cooking for dinner and which neighbors were at home and who was not.

During those summer days I am in and out of my grandparents’ house at least several times. I go in the back door by the way of the back porch announcing my presence with the bang of the wooden screen door. The porch, shaded with green and orange canvas awnings, was built by my granddad and every spring he repaints it a shiny forest green whether it needs it or not. In front of the porch is a cement patio, where I spend hours jumping rope. The end of the porch is fenced by a wall of morning glories as blue as the sky on those summer days. Pap planted them and now come back every year. Volunteers they are called, volunteering to thrive and climb to the sun on strings he puts up every year for the purpose.

While Grandma works every morning, she routinely retreats to the back porch in the afternoons and I am a regular visitor. When the garden is on, we often sit on the porch and snap green beans and shell pole beans or even pit cherries. But, every Thursday is laundry day and on that day, without fail, I am periodically dispatched to run up to the clothesline to check to see if a particular item is dry. If it is dry, I unpin the weathered wooden clothespins and take the item to Grandma who folds it and puts it her laundry basket for ironing the next day. The process is repeated numerous times until all the laundry is in the basket or I am called for supper which ever comes first.

Whenever I feel the need to go someplace warm and peaceful, I just close my eyes and I’m back on the porch. I feel the warmth of the rough cement under my bare feet and the warmth of my grandmother’s presence, as consistently ready to be called forth today as it was on those summer days long ago.

What's in a Name?

Lucinda. 

The name comes from the word Lucia, or Lucius, which means bringing light.  It shares the same root as Lucille or Lucy, a name made popular by Carl Schultz and the Lucy of his Peanuts strip, and for me, a family name. I had an aunt named Lucille.  Mother says, however, I wasn't named for her.  Instead, my mother says when she was considering a name for me, she saw "Lucinda" in the credits of a movie she was watching on TV. 

Google it these days and you get all kinds of entries for Lucinda Williams, the singer.  But Lucinda Bassett, a local psychologist actually comes up first.  (She must have paid more than Lucinda Williams for that spot. Free enterprise is a wonderful thing.)

Other famous Lucindas?  Here in my adopted hometown, Lucinda Mahaffie and her husband Jim operated the Mahaffie Stage coach stop from 1865 to 1869.  It's an older name popular at the turn of the century, yet when I was in elementary school I was one of two Lucinda's in my class. Lucinda Figard went by "Cindy," so, the teacher said she'd call me Lucinda to keep us straight and that usage stuck. 

Want to learn more about baby names.  Here's where I found out about mine. 

Cats are Wonderful Friends

In Celebration of April--National Poetry Month

Sandy and Mama

Gentle eyes that see so much,
paws that have the quiet touch,
Purrs to signal "all is well"
and show more love than words could tell.
Graceful movements touched with pride,
a calming presence by our side
A friendship that takes time to grow
Small wonder why we love them so.

Author Unknown

What is the Inverted Pyramid Anyway?

I titled my blog Beyond the Inverted Pyramid because I started writing in this style and along the way have had cause to write in many varied styles depending on the purpose of the piece. Hence, my writing life has Beyond the Inverted Pyramid.

Think about a slice of pizza, a triangle, broad at the top and coming to a point at the end. The inverted pyramid is a simple formula used to write a traditional news story. The first paragraph should answer the questions, who, what, when, where, why and how. Thus, it contains all that the reader needs to know about the story in one big bite.

The second paragaph offers some additional information and subsequent paragraphs contain less important details so that the editor can cut the story any where from the bottom up without destroying the integrity of the story. This practice, while it works for the tradition news story is just one formulatic way to approach one particular style of writing. The intent of the blog is to explore not one, by the many aspects of writing as an avocation, a passtime and a creative outlet.

Read about the Inverted Pyramid.

Service that Doesn't Go Out of Style

Whether you want to buy penny candy, an apple peeler or a Pendleton suit, you can find it at the Thomas Bros Country Store in Biglerville, Pennsylvania. Not only is the variety of goods remarkable, it can't be beat for providing exceptional service.

In the early '80s finding petite business attire was a difficult undertaking. I usually ended up buying regular sizes and having sleeves and hems shortened. I had quite a project when it was time to buy an all-weather coat. I couldn't get away with the girls size 14 anymore and when the size 4P from Penney's catalog store was so big I could swim in it, it was time to check out the Thomas Bros Store, in Biglerville. Biglerville is a small town in Adams County in the heart of apple country, home of Motts' and Mussellman's applesauce and neighbor to the famous Gettysburg Battlefield.

With a population of 1,000 hearty souls, the town has one red light where the general store sits on the corner. It has been there since 1909, a hardware, dry goods and general store that hasn't changed much in all of that time. The store is known for having an extensive line of prom dresses and wedding gowns in addition to their penny candy and hardware. It advertises that Mamie Eisenhower shopped there when she lived at the nearby Eisenhower Farm in Gettysburg.

When we walked into the store it was jam-packed with all sorts of goods from kitchenware to bib overalls. You could have spent a week there and never find what you were looking for. After wandering around a bit, we were approached by an elderly woman who looked as if she may have been at the store when it originally opened. I told her I was looking for an all-weather coat. She asked us to wait and then she disappeared to come back a short time later with a size 6P weather coat that was made to order. It fit like a glove. So much for J.C. Penney's.

I have since bought and practically wore out a London Fog and bought a nice Anne Klein coat, but I still have that Thomas Bros all-weather coat in the closet. I wear it a couple of time a year. It's indestructible. It beads water like a duck and it's machine washable.

Well, we weren't done there. Having triumphed with the all-weather coat, when she asked if there was anything else she could do for us, I told asked her if she had any suits. So, she takes off again and after a while re-emerges with a beautiful size 6P navy Pendleton suit. I told her that I didn't wear that size. She just kind of haughtily told me "Just put it on." I'd been taught not to disrespect my elders. I slipped obediently behind a curtain on a rope hanging across a corner of a room and put it on. It was a perfect fit—the most finely tailored garment I had ever worn.

We bought it at full price as well as another suit, the all-weather coat and two Jessica McClintock blouses. When we made our way to the register with my haul, the register clerk asked the elderly woman rather incredulously if that was all for one customer. I think our bill was over $600. And the elderly lady says, "Yes, of course" as if someone came into the dry goods store and bought $600 worth of clothing everyday.

As I progressed in my career and as the sale of petite womenswear became more common, I have been in a lot of upscale stores but I've never had the customer service I got at the Thomas Bros Store. No one has since sized me up at a glance and put together a wardrobe out of nowhere. My hat's off to the Thomas Bros Store where customer service is never out of date.

Of Mushrooms and Mayapples

I didn’t know that I grew up in a family of mycophagists, but apparently I did. Mycophagists are people who like to eat mushrooms, so count me in.

It’s that time of year when the folks in central Pennsylvania take to the woods in search of the elusive mushroom—morels…a tasty morsel that grows for a short time in the spring. Mushroom hunting was one of those family things that we would do when we were all stir crazy with waiting for the coming of spring.

Mushroom hunters jealously guard the location of their favorite spots. A good place to look for them is anywhere you can find a bed of mayapples. The mushrooms seem to like to grow in the shade of those showy perennials. And the mayapples like oak trees. So find yourself some oak trees with a bed of mayapples beneath them and you're in prime mushroom country. If you’re fortunate to find a batch, you bring them home and soak them in some salt water to remove any insects or debris. Once cleaned, they are cooked sauted in butter. My mother usually dipped them in egg, rolled them in flour and put a little salt and pepper on them. Here are a few recipes.

And, here's to remembering mushroom hunting, with the soft springy carpet of moss and fallen leaves beneath our feet, the smell of the outdoors and nothing but the wind in the trees to disturb the silence of the woods. Actually finding a mushroom was icing on the cake. 

Hockey Talk

I suppose that all sports have their unique vocabulary, but it seems to me that the game of hockey has some of the most colorful terminology and slangs. You can't be a true fan until you get down some of these terms. Here are some of my favorites:

Assist—A player is awarded an assist for setting up one of his buddies to make a goal. When a player passes the puck off to one of his buddies who immediately makes a goal, he is awarded an assist and recognized for it along with the goal scorer. It is almost as good as making a goal.

Barn—The arena.

Between the Pipes —When the puck goes "between the pipes" there's been a goal. The "pipes" refer to the metal frame that holds up the net.

Biscuit—The puck.

Bulge the Twine—This is one of my favorites. When there is a bulge in the twine that means a goal has been scored. As the puck hits the net to make a goal it causes the twine (the netting) to bulge.

Boarding—When one play runs another player headlong into the wall, it is boarding and is can often be called a penalty.

Butterfly—When the goaltender extends his entire body across the front of the net with arms and legs spreadout so that he makes a human X with his appendages, he is doing the buttefly and doing his best to prevent a goal.

Crease—The line in front of the goal.

Cross Bar—The part of the frame that holds up the top of the net. When the announcer says that the puck has gone "off the cross bar", it means there's been a near miss---that the puck has bounced off the top of the frame and narrowly missed going into the net.

Dive—When someone is faking an injury or exaggerates a hit in order to get some extra time to rest before getting back into the game.

Dropping the Gloves—A prelude to a fight. When the players take off their gloves, they are getting ready to go at it.

Enforcer—A muscle man. A player who has a reputation for getting even with opponents who have deliberately caused injury to a teammate.

Face Off—When the two opposing teams face each other to await the dropping of the puck before the start of the game.

Five-Hole—When a goalie is doing a near split on the ice with his legs spread out to stop the puck, sometimes there is a small opening created between the ice and his crotch. That's the five hole and is often just the opening a scorer needs to make a goal.

Goon—Same as an enforcer.

Hat Trick—When one player makes three goals in one game, it's called a hat trick and is marked by fans throwing their hats out on to the ice.

Icing—The game can be stopped when icing is called. Icing occurs when a player shoots a puck across two red lines, the second one being the opposing team's goal line. A stoppage in play can be prevented if the puck is touched by the goaltender or a player on the team that iced the puck.

Lighting the Lamp—Scoring a goal.

Lumber—A hockey stick.

Mullet—A haircut popular among hockey players where the hair is short on the top and sides and long in the back to keep the neck warm.

Netminder—Another name for the goaltender or goalie.

Original Six—The six teams that make up the National Hockey League between 1942 and 1967. In 1967 six new teams were added to the League.

Pond—The ice.

Power Play—When one team commits a penalty, the opposing team gets an advantage when the offending members sits the game out for a minute leaving the offending team short one player.

Ripple the Mesh—Making a goal. Same as "bulging the twine.

Scrum—A fight between players on the ice.

Short-handed—When one team has one less player than it should because of the players is sitting in the Sin Bin (see below.)

Sin Bin—The penalty box. Through the Paint—A goal is made when a puck crosses the line in front of the net,through the paint and on into the net.

Twig—A hockey stick. See lumber.

Wash Out—When an icing is called off.

Zamboni—the machine that goes out on the ice and smoothes the ice during period breaks. Frank Zamboni, who designed and patented the machine in 1953, was inducted into the Ice Skating Hall of Fame in 1965.

Zebra—Referee. The guy on the ice in the black and white striped shirt.

What Do You Do in Your Sleep?

What in your life, have you done so frequently that you could do it in your sleep? NPR ran a story recently about just that. It was a series they are doing on recorded family histories and a man told the story of how his father, as he lay dying, was making repetitive movements, that were mystifying his doctor. The son knew exactly what he was doing. His father worked in a steel mill and he was going through the motions of opening and closing the blast furnace doors, adjusting gauges, etc., like he had done all of his life.

It reminds me of something my grandmother did when she was sick in the hospital. Near the end of her life, she spent a lot of time in the hospital in the town where I worked. I would take my lunch hours in the afternoon so I could see her during the afternoon visiting hours. One day when I went to see her she was fast asleep in bed folding clothes. Her eyes were closed and she was holding up imaginary shirts and towels and neatly folding them and putting them in a stack. My grandmother had ten children and I'm sure she spent a great deal of her life folding clothes. It was a wonder she wasn't stirring a pot or peeling potatoes.

In a similar situation my dad will be running a machine tacking soles on shoes. My mother will be feeding cloth through a sewing machine. As for me, there's no doubt what I'll be doing. I'll be doing what I'm doing this very minute sitting typing at a keyboard. What would your body do with out your mind directing it?

Breaking Through the Block

A lot of people talk about writer's block and I just can't identify. The world is full of things that I have plenty to say about. Whether the world is listening to me or not, why that is another matter! So, here are some tips that you may find helpful.

1.) Start in the middle. I find it useful to start a story by writing up the material that I know I want to include. For example, if I'm writing a news release about a new product, I write about the benefits of the product and example of how it might be used. Once I have that on paper, I seem to get momentum and the lead and the end come easily.

2.) Write about what you know. Case in point. This posting. I love to write. I'm writing about writing. How weird is that? But, how easy it is for me. I've written so much, it is like breathing. What is easier to write about than writing?

3.) Find story ideas from the news. Whether it's NPR or your favorite blog, being a regular consumer of current events just provides a plethora of ideas. One of my favorite blog entries was born of an item I heard on NPR one day about a terminally ill man make repetitive motions in his sleep. My item I wrote is about my grandma folding clothes in her sleep.

4.) Write about where you came from. Celebrate your history. Mark Twain's tale about growing up on the banks of the Mississippi was largely autobiographical. I grew up near the Raystown Branch of the Juniata river. In a rural community, the river provided a year-round source of recreation. If only those banks could talk. We all have a Mark Twain story in us waiting to get out.

5.) Write about what you love. I love my furry cat family. I've got a million stories. What do you love? What to you have to say about it?

6.) Keep a journal. It doesn't have to be a fancy leather bound deal. Use a tablet or a note book or a calendar. Just have a place where you can jot those things that just come on you when you least expect it like when you're in the shower or awake at 3 a.m.

7.) Steal. Well, I had a friend who put it this way. Don't be afraid to use the dead wood in your neighbor's yard. One of my friends was telling me about a current commercial about commitment that she really like. Yes, I agree. I now have it on my list for a future posting.