hopefully i am not yet reaching the age where my heroes start to die off one by one — an era one prays will preceed the one in which one’s peers do likewise by some considerable length of time. when my mother died earlier this year, i was somehow unsurprised to find myself reaching for camus — the loss of a parent could hardly be said to be anything but existential-y after all. in the absence of christopher hitchens however, i can, thankfully, turn to christopher hitchens.

oddly enough, i may very well have been reading the only one of his books that i actually own at the moment he passed. i’ve enjoyed his writing in periodicals and online for years, but only recently saw fit to pay cold hard cash for ink on paper, having picked up the most recent compendium, “arguably,” just last week. i read the better part of “god is not great” just standing in the aisle, transfixed in the barnes and noble like the proverbial choir that loves being preached to, and his hellbent slate posts were regular lunchtime reading. last night however, i was ushered off to sleep by the dulcet tones of hitch excoriating gore vidal for his repeated sins of intellectual lassitude, comparing the critical writings of john updike to The Importance of Being Earnest — for the better part not unfavorably, and considering theism and uh… pretty much anything it touches. plenty has and will be said elsewhere, but it goes without saying that dude would brook no bulls#it and he did so with inimitable panache — cross hunter s. thompson with lord byron. the guy’s freakishly sharp mind, combined with apparently (and reportedly) effortless verbal dexterity, eloquence and passionately held convictions gave voice to impossibly complicated ideas in expressions that could be alternately brutally incisive, sinewy, supple and make his points in a fashion not unlike that of the scotch of which he was unrepentently fond: smooth, complex, possessing of a not-inconsiderable kick and likely to leave one feeling somewhat woozy afterwards.

obviously hitch was in no direct way connected to design or marketing, but whether writing for magazines, the web, books, speeches or debates, he was a communicator of ideas often (usually?) at odds with mainstream conceptions. he remained steadfast and unbending in his insistence upon integrity of intention, unfettered truth at all costs and, even in the face of his own very shuffling off of this mortal coil, determined to shout when necessary, “the emperor has no clothes” as loudly as his voice would carry.

I had the unique experience of attending IAAPA Attractions Expo in Orlando last week. (For those not familiar with IAAPA, it’s basically the association of folks involved in the attractions business – think everything from amusement parks to water parks to arcades to laser tag facilities to party rental companies, and more).

Standing on the show floor among acres and acres of exhibits brought me back to my childhood, and the dream conversations I’d have with my friends and brothers. Playing in the backyard or the basement and all those kid ideas would pop into our heads: Wouldn’t it be cool if you could have a trampoline basketball court? Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a 360° reverse loop track for bikes, like on a rollercoaster? Wouldn’t it be cool if someone invented a water balloon fort?

Well, turns out people way smarter than us were having the same conversations. Because all of those things, and more, were on display at the Attractions Expo. Makes me realize that there’s a lot of ingenuity out there. Because this wasn’t just a showcase of great ideas, it was a showcase of great ideas that had been figured out and engineered to be profitable attractions.

It’s kind of like that kid who used to obsessively burn ants with a magnifying glass then grew up to be a pest exterminator, only these IAAPA people went to top-notch engineering schools and now are dedicated to the fun business.

There were acres and acres of new games and rides and activities and inflatables and if you’ve had fun doing it, odds are, it was there. Plus, a ton of things you’d never think of – but when you do come across them (like the laser maze – coming soon to an attraction near you) you’re sure to have one of those, “Oh wow, cool! Now why didn’t I think of that?” moments.

American (worldwide for that matter) ingenuity is alive and well, that’s for sure. And not to get too political, but it gives me hope for all the troubles we’ve been tackling as a country. Three days at IAAPA Attractions Expo makes me realize the brains are out there. I know if we could just set the politicking and partisanship aside, we can solve anything.

Wouldn’t it be cool if?

Timely, clear & relevant information is what your members want and being able to provide it to them shows your value as an association. But with websites, e-mail, social networks and all of the other channels the web now has, what’s the best way to reach who with what info? Unfortunately, there is no one right answer because everyone uses the web their own way. But there are some tips you can follow to be as effective as possible. Why just 9? See tip #1.

1. Be aware of information overload. Be sure what you are providing is helpful and necessary, and don’t overwhelm your members.
2. Make your website a timely information resource, not just brochure-ware. Build an RSS, blog roll, or Twitter feed into your homepage, so the relevant industry news of the day is always right there.
3. Regular e-newsletters, with short, relevant topics that link to more in-depth information let you deliver information to those not actively seeking it. Plus, it’s a great way to keep your e-mail list/CRM scrubbed.
4. Make sure your website is designed for mobile screens. Big graphics, wide horizontal navigations and the like don’t allow convenient communication with mobile users. Be sure to have a mobile friendly or mobile site.
5. If you’re going to have a Twitter account, tweet regularly. Twitter users want to know what’s happening, daily. Product trends, governmental regulations, and trade show happenings are just a few of the things you can tweet about.
6. If you have a blog, be sure to post at least three to five times a week to keep your audience engaged. The posts can—and should—be more informal and personal than your main website. Entries should encourage discussion through comments.
7. Re-tweet and use hash (#) tags.
8. If you have a Facebook page, the more people who’ve friended you, the better. Host a contest that exchanges trade show sponsorship points for friend acceptances. Whichever company drives the most friends gets a free sponsorship. Post regularly with all sorts of information.
9. Keep Facebook and Twitter separate. Do not repost the same info to both as they each serve different audiences. Facebook is to people who have opted in by “liking” you. Twitter is mostly public and can be searched or followed by anyone with hash (#) tags.

I have a renewed appreciation for the phone lately. Not my DROID which seems to want to be everything but a phone, but I digress…

Last week I placed an order for two gift baskets through Wolferman’s. A few days later, I received a message from them. A simple voicemail from a real live sales rep thanking me for the business and letting me know both my gifts had shipped. Last week, I got a call from a real live person from IAEE, not a pre-recorded teleblast, reminding me to register for the Mid-Year Meeting. I appreciated the personal touch in this age of automation. And since I rarely get calls or voicemails anymore, they had a strong impact.  One of my favorite clients will email me with a prompt, “Do you have time to chat about a few things this morning?”  I’ll call and we can knock out our top to-do’s sometimes in a matter of minutes. It’s efficient and I get to catch up with the person, not just the workload. For one of our other clients, we are currently experimenting with a new marketing tactic: personal follow-up calls to those who opened a call-to-register email but have yet to register for the event.  We know they are interested since they took the time to open the email. We believe that a phone prompt might be the enticement they need to commit to the event. It also provides an opportunity to deliver a sincere thanks or even a special offer.

Just as print is making a comeback, maybe phone calls from real live people are, too. I’m not the only one who hopes so.

Ron Santo, legendary Chicago Cubs third baseman, dies at 70.

When I was in second grade, we lived in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield and I was a huge Cubs fan. My dad would pitch whiffle balls to me in the front yard, and I would go one-by-one through their batting order, imitating each player’s stance and swing. Ron Santo was my favorite — and he had lots of competition: Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ernie Banks (whose autograph I got at Wrigley in ‘68 or so). He was our home run hitter after all, and besides, I played third base in little league. A year later after we had moved to Lake Bluff, Illinois, I made a drawing of my hero and sent it in to WGN, the Chicago television station (not yet a “super station”) that broadcasted the Cubs’ games and had an after school show during which they showed kids’ artwork between installments of Diver Dan and Sea Hunt. I was pretty damn proud when they showed my drawing of Ron Santo — a truly pre-renaissance conception of perspective, but exquisite detail in the uniform — on the TV, and I’m not entirely sure that the experience didn’t have an impact on the direction that drawing and art would take in my life in years to come.

This weekend at my daughter’s soccer game, I sat down next to a commercial builder and a lawyer who were in the middle of a somber conversation about business. For the most part, things were looking up—new clients, new projects, an uptick in billable activities. However, we all agreed that basic civility has taken a big hit. I’ve been wondering ever since—why is it so hard to be nice anymore?

I believe stress and fear have a lot to do with it. A segment on this week’s Today Show supports this idea and also suggests that our growing disengagement from face-to-face communication is part of the problem. Everyone has learned to do more with less in this recession. The problem is that less staff, less budget and less resources also mean less profit, less time and less fun. The people who are lucky enough to have their jobs have to work twice as hard and the bottom line—and holding on to business—has become the driving factor in how we behave. We are distracted and harried. For most of us, though, the majority of our waking hours are spent at work and those work relationships can either make or break our days.

I am hopeful that a new trend will start. A sincere compliment, some genuine gratitude and a smile really do go a long way. We should all try to practice random acts of kindness toward one another. Surprise your colleague with their favorite Starbucks drink; offer some unsolicited positive feedback and stop there; pick up the phone and have a conversation instead of exchanging cryptic two-word emails; say thank you at the end of a long day. It is really not that hard to do.

If you know me well, then you probably know that both my parents passed away in 2009. For years leading up to their rather sudden passing, my brothers and I tried without success to get them to embrace the age of technology and get a computer. They wouldn’t. We wanted them to send and receive email. They wouldn’t. But here’s something I learned as I recently sorted through their things: my old-fashioned, tech-resistent parents still wrote letters. And because they wrote letters, they received letters back. I read things about my parents after their deaths that I would never have known if they had communicated, like the rest of us, through email. Don’t get me wrong; I love email as much as the next girl. But there is something fleeting about it that was all the more apparent as I read letters from friends and family to my parents. Fixation’s holiday gift this year is a set of custom-designed greeting cards we’re calling “Not The Usual Holidays Holiday Cards.” They’re greetings for holidays that were never elevated to celebrated card-giving occasions. Our hope is to prompt one-to-one communication at times this year when no one particularly expects it. Like Groundhog Day or Arbor Day for example. Write a note, throw on a stamp and surprise someone. We promise that no one will hit “delete.”

Happy New Year!