Trade Show Etiquette

Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 3:35 PM
Subject: trade show etiquette

Could you settle a dispute between a client and I? He wants to send a letter saying “Thank you for visiting our booth. It was nice to meet you.” to attendees at a show on 10/16. I say it’s too late for thank you so we should send a different message. We look inefficient since we couldn’t get a form letter out in 6 weeks!!! What do you think?

Great web site, I enjoy reading your blog.


Pamela Bir
Your Computer Lady
Email: Pamela@YourComputerLady.com
“Your Bridge to Productivity”

Dear Pamela-

Thanks very much for your interest and your question. I love your signature image!

I agree that it’s too late to send a simple “Thank you.” If that was the intention it should have been sent immediately. But you could send a “We enjoyed meeting you at our booth and thought you might be interested to know that ______________” (fill in the blank with something timely, connected with a news story or press release, and relevant to your industry and likely to be of interest to your group.)

Your client probably spent a lot of time and money collecting contacts at the trade show and I agree that it would be unfortunate to let it go much longer without sending something to these contacts.

-Paula Williams
www.Ravenwerks.com
Committed to Your Success

Keeping One's Word - Out of Style?

Am I the only one to encounter this more commonly in the last few years?

I've had many conversations with people from upper management to software engineers to facilities. I ask for something fairly simple and we negotiate and agree- whether it's to approve a purchase, complete a network diagram or fix a light switch. They enthusastically agree to do what I ask by a specific time. The specified time comes and goes and the task remains undone and I hear nothing from them.

Granted, everyone is busy, but they knew that at the time they agreed to the task. And granted, things come up. But what's wrong with picking up the phone and letting me know that they'll be delayed or some conflict came up?

Weren't these people raised by parents who taught them to keep their word? Doesn't everyone still say that it's best to underpromise and overdeliver? Did I miss a memo?

Shouldn't Meetings be Held During Worktime?

Hello paula,

im on my way to CA, so thank you for your guide.

Efficient companies often schedule meetings before 9:00 a.m. and after 5:00 so as not to interfere with "work time."

but meetings are work, so shouldnt they be held within work time ?

best regards
Christian

My thought is - yes, meetings should definitely be held during work time. . they certainly are work, and we all have "lives" outside of work. But on the other hand, when was the last time anyone actually had a 9:00 to 5:00 workweek? :-)

Let us know what YOU think!

What NOT to Wear to Work - Too Much (or the Wrong) Perfume

I was discussing fragrances with some friends recently, and someone mentioned being "trapped" in an office cubicle next to someone wearing noxious perfume. This lit off a spate of complaints from everyone about their least favorite scent, and in almost every case it involved a scenario where they were in an enclosed space (usually at work) with someone wearing it.

When you work in an office with other people, you're essentially cooped up for about 8 hours with a limited air supply. Under these circumstances, you want to smell like nothing at all, or like something very subtle and universally pleasant. Even things that may smell nice at the first whiff or two can get really annoying by the 4th, 6th or 8th hour.

Perfumes that you love to wear socially, drifting in and out of parties, on a date, shopping with friends, running errands with family, or even to the theater can be too much for the office. (In a theater you're only next to someone for an hour or two at a time, and the ventilation is usually better!)

Some people have reactions to fragrances that you wouldn't expect. Strong, distinctive odors like patchouli or carnation can be offensive in the wrong circumstances, but there are some subtler fragrance ingredients that give people problems. A few days ago, was wearing a subtle, high-quality floral scent that I don't normally wear, and my husband got a splitting headache. He usually loves the perfumes I wear (with rare exceptions) and I was really surprised that this one caused a reaction. It was days before I could get him to smell anything without having a headache. I can imagine him stuck in a cubicle next to someone wearing this scent. Egad.

So, here's my list of tips for cubicle dwellers. Your fellows will thank you!

• Practice impeccable personal hygiene if you work in an office.
  
• Use unscented or subtly scented shampoo, hair products and other toiletries.
  
• Go to www.westofparisboutique.com, and enter the word "office" in the search window on the upper left for fragrances that are subtle and nearly universally pleasant and therefore recommended for office use.
  
• Even with these, be very careful to use a light touch.
  
• DO NOT REAPPLY at your desk! (Especially with sprays.) Even if there's no one around at the moment and you think no one will notice, your office mates will notice a cloud of scent when they return.
  
• This is one circumstance when EDTs (the lightest form of scent) are much preferable to EDPs or perfumes.

More What Not To Wear - Sleeveless Shirts!

Yes, it's summer, and we know that it's hot outside. . . but not in most air-conditioned offices!

There are a few manufacturers who put out some otherwise very nice business outfits for women without sleeves, but women (and men) look much more professional with some sort of sleeves.

Sleeveless tops are great under jackets, as evening attire for a formal occasion, outdoor events like company picnics, etc. But it's hard to take a business person (man or women) seriously that isn't wearing sleeves.

What NOT to Wear to Work!

Okay, it's summer, and time to loosen up a little. But John and I have been talking about this quite a bit lately and we thought we'd channel our inner Stacey London and Clinton Kelley (from the TLC show What Not to Wear) and put together a list.

I'm all for Casual Friday (John's not so sure- he's a little more formal than I am) but one should show SOME respect for the work we do and the people we work with. And there's years of good evidence that dressing wrong can actually cause damage to a person's career. Sherry Maysonave gives several examples in her book Casual Power of people who unknowingly sabotage their careers because of their clothes.

Yes, it's shallow. But it's true. We don't take the time to really get to know people these days, and come to conclusions quickly. We even treat people that we know well differently when they're dressed differently.

So, we'll be writing articles in the coming days about what NOT to wear.

First thing on our list:

• Crocs! They're cute on little girls under the age of 4, and probably very practical to wear in a muddy garden or perhaps to the pool for those who can't stand flip flops (some people don't like having something between their toes, we understand!) but people have actually been wearing these to the OFFICE! Seriously!
  

I saw a woman in a downtown office in a beautiful office dress - a deep purple crocheted sweater and skirt set with hose and, alas, matching purple crocs. What was strange about this is that, unless she really loves purple, she had apparently deliberately purchased crocs to complement this outfit. I would understand if someone had broken a heel, or it was after hours and she'd had enough of heels for the day and was wearing her backup pair of shoes (for which crocs might be an understandable, if unfortunate, choice for a backup) but choosing to wear crocs with this outfit was a truly puzzling decision.

Not only are they hideous, which should be self-evident (but may not be, given their popularity) it's also possible that they are dangerous. A hospital in Sweden wants to ban them for medical personnel, and claims that several incidents of equipment failures may be linked to static electricity from the nasty rubber shoes.

We'd love to hear what you think - can anyone explain the popularity of these things?

Ravenwerks Information Center Blog Premier

We've written lots of articles over the years on lots of topics, but have recently been convinced that blogs are
1) just as credible as articles
2) easier for our readers to interact with
3) easier for us to keep current and fresh and
4) generally a nice addition to the products & services we offer.

So, we give you the premier of the Ravenwerks Information Center Blog. We hope you enjoy it and participate, do let us know your opinions (even, or especially, when you disagree with us!) and we look forward to making this a richer community that is, as always,

Committed to Your Success
www.ravenwerks.com