March - April 2007 - Issue 56

• Intro
  
• Article - How Creative Thinkers Tinker by Tom McCarthy
  
• The Office Corner
  
• Grammar Question of the Month - Sentence Purposes
  
• Tech Tips by Terence Kierans - Outlook
  
• Writing Corner
  
• Word of the Month - Deign
  
• Recommendations
  
• Judy's Corner
  
• Judy's Photo Gallery
  

* Have you ever struggled to find creative ideas that will benefit your business, organization, or community? Some people are born with such a gift, but most of us have to learn as we go. We save magazines, newspapers, and catalogs with great ads and copy, set up swipe (example) files, and constantly seek out ways to think outside the box.

Last year, I met Tom McCarthy, Postmaster of Holualoa, Hawaii (online). He's a writer who is also National Editor, National League of Postmasters. McCarthy enjoys coming up with ideas that will benefit his customers and his readers. (He's also an amazing photographer, and I'm featuring some of his work in the online edition of this issue.)

I'm pleased to introduce him to you, and I look forward to meeting him on my next visit to Holualoa. Following are excerpts from one of his articles written to inspire and encourage other postmasters. Perhaps his ideas will spur you toward more creativity.

Did you know that developing your ability to think creatively is simply utilizing the priceless gifts you've been given: a fertile mind, a colorful imagination, and an endless array of newspapers and magazines!

Creative thinkers tinker with ideas from publications. They can easily turn a bookstore, library, or waiting room in a doctor's office into a think tank and farm new ideas from print documents. Connecting ideas from different sources can help you to develop the thinking skills needed to generate creative solutions. Want to give it a try?

Scan your favorite newspaper or magazine and pick out several articles or ads that catch your eye. Now read each one and think of some way you can connect it with the problem you're currently trying to solve. Find a paragraph, sentence, or even just a word that sparks an idea. Force yourself to make some type of connection. At first, it may not make much sense, but as you start applying the concept to different problems, you'll get the hang of it and see the potential.

When Delivery Confirmation was rolled out as a new service a few years ago, I had an idea while reading the sports section of a local newspaper. I came across a photo of the winner of a local marathon as he crossed the finish line. His arms were raised high in a display of victory, and the smile on his face stretched from ear to ear, but something else caught my eye: the race number bib he wore on the front of his shirt was green-bright green, Delivery Confirmation green.

That triggered an idea. In the same way that the race number bib on a runner's shirt identifies and records each contestant as they cross the finish line, the bright green Delivery Confirmation label on a parcel identifies and confirms delivery when it crosses its finish line to the customer!

I submitted a promotional idea to our district to co-sponsor a 5K fun-run-walk with an established local race promoter in Honolulu. Participants would be given a Delivery Confirmation label to affix to the front of their shirt to serve as their race numbers.

As each participant crossed the finish line, the DELCON label would be scanned and uploaded to the USPS.COM web site where participants could check their results and become familiar with our website and DELCON process.

Although it was a unique idea that showed potential, it never materialized. And that's one thing you have to accept. Some of your best ideas may not bear fruit, but the real value is in using your mind to think in creative ways and forge ahead with more new ideas.

McCarthy is also National Editor, the Postmasters Advocate, a monthly national magazine of the National League of Postmasters, and Editor for Aloha, the state newsletter of the Hawaii LEAGUE branch.

1. Need to telephone someone in a foreign country? This site lets you choose the country of origin, the country you're calling, and when you click the "submit" button, it gives you the exact protocol. Plus, it gives you the time in your country and theirs.
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2. HOW TO DO A MAIL MERGE IN MICROSOFT WORD:
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3. COPYRIGHT BLOG:
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4. DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS: Five Things Trade Show Attendees Don't Want You To Know by Susan Friedmann, author of Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies. If you do advertising and marketing, read this article!
http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/tradeshow-attendees.htm

5. FREE FONTS
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6. DOMAIN NAME VALUE, HISTORY, & STATS: FASCINATING SITE.
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Diana Hacker, author of "A Writer's Reference," states that there are four kinds of sentences, each with a different purpose. She says that we use declarative sentences to make statements, imperative sentences to issue requests or commands, interrogative sentences to ask questions, and exclamatory sentences to make exclamations. Here are some sentences I put together that reflect her comments.

DECLARATIVE   It's better to be safe than sorry.
IMPERATIVE   Obey the speed limit.
INTERROGATIVE   How do you feel about chocolate?
EXCLAMATORY   It's snowing in Phoenix!

Most of us who use Microsoft Office are familiar with flagging e-mail messages for follow-up. When you flag a message, you have the option to add a reminder. What you might not know is that you can also flag your contacts for follow-up.

Say you want to make a note to call a person at a specific time to ask about the status of a project. You could create an appointment in the "Calendar" folder or a task, or a note in the Notes folder. However, you are going to need the phone number, so why not flag the contact instead?

To flag a contact, open the "Contacts" folder, right-click the contact and choose "Follow Up". Outlook opens the same "Flag For Follow Up" dialog box. However you cannot set the flag colour. Select the type of action of which you need to be reminded from the drop down menu:

*	Follow up;
*	Call;
*	Arrange Meeting;
*	Send E-Mail, or
*	Send Letter.

You can set a due date and time for the action, which will cause Outlook to display a reminder at the appropriate day and time.

Flagging contacts offers the same reminder capabilities as an appointment, but users have the added advantage of being able to easily open the contact form when the reminder appears.

This simple feature can make the "Contacts" folder more useful to you and simplify a common task.

Terence Kierans
Cyberspace Virtual Services
tkierans@virtualservices.com.au
http://www.virtualservices.com.au/
We keep your project on the boil, while you sleep

1. WRITERS ONLINE WORKSHOPS: fiction, non-fiction, grammar, poetry, composition, life stories, the business of writing
http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/

2. WRITINGFIX: Where getting your daily writing "fix" is more important than fixing your writing. Learn how to write every day.
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3. FREELANCE WRITING ORGANIZATION-INTERNATIONAL: free writing resources and writing links in a database filled with international writing web sites.
http://www.fwointl.com

4. IN-TEXT CITATIONS: The Basics, using MLA
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/02/

Main Entry:deign
Pronunciation:*d*n
Function:verb
Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French deigner, from Latin dignare, dignari, from dignus worthy — more at DECENT
Date:14th century

intransitive verb : to condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one's superiority that is involved : STOOP *would not even deign to talk to him*
transitive verb : to condescend to give or offer

*By permission. From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary at www.m-w.com by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

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2. REMEMBERING THE LADIES: A Salute to the Women of Early Radio
http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/biographies/remembering.html

3. NOTRE DAME MAGAZINE:
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4. GOOGLE'S HOLIDAY LOGO ARCHIVE:
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1. Audient is a remarkable organization dedicated to helping ease the burden of hearing-aid costs. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Audient is a nonprofit, nationwide program affiliated with the Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight & Hearing. It offers quality hearing aids and care at a significantly lower cost. Read more about Audient at: http://www.ossweb.com/2007/03/need_hearing_aids_but_cant_aff.html#more

2. I recently bought a printer. My brother is so gifted at filling out rebate forms that I let him do mine. He called me and asked for a secondary proof of purchase. Said it was red. I fished the box out of the closet, checked every surface, and came up with nothing. Later, he emailed me and said it was on the inside of one of the flaps. Yep. I guess it doesn't always pay to think outside the box.

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