Last week I attended the Massachusetts Conference for Women and was very lucky to hear a speech given by John Jacobs, the co-founder of Life Is Good.  He related the story of his family and how he and his brother started the business.  Interspersed within his talk were plenty of jokes, some great family photos, and some flying Frisbees for the audience.  You could tell from the beginning that his speech...

Okay, so this isn't really business-related, but International Peace Day is coming up on this Sunday, the 21st, and this short video seemed very a propos. Back in 2010, our little guy, Sam, was in pre-school. Apparently, a few of his classmates were not getting along so well, and he decided to try his hand at a bit of conflict resolution. He explains here a solution he thought might work.

The other day my son brought home an activity sheet from a restaurant that had a game where you had to look at six turtles and identify which one is different from the others. This exercise reminded me of a wonderful presentation I attended by Amy Herman, whose work is to help people hone their perception skills using works of art. As a kid I loved looking at optical illusions and prided myself on being...

January 29, 2014 I recently attended two presentations on the differences among various generations and the implications of having multi-generational teams in the workplace.  The first event sponsored by Welsh Consulting featured Kari Heistad, Founder and CEO of Culture Coach International.  The second speaker, invited by The Friday Forum was Frances Kunreuther, Director of the Building Movement...

Oct 4, 2013 After something of a hiatus due to a busy summer schedule, I’m back. Something that’s been on my mind of late is a question that always seems to be relevant: what belongs in a video and what doesn’t?  In our mind, shorter is almost always going to be better; when in doubt, cut rather than add. Even if most people understand this intuitively, the tendency is for clients to ask us to insert...

June 14, 2013. This guest post is from Matt Ferrucci, who is a student at Boston College. He's spending the summer at Reflection Films, learning a little about video production and marketing.  Psychiatric treatment is not only useful, but sometimes essential to restoring mental health and tranquility.  Technology and science have revolutionized the treatments and medication available to patients,...

May 28, 2013 This guest post is from Matt Ferrucci, who is a student at Boston College. He's spending the summer at Reflection Films, learning a little about video production and marketing. Death is an inevitable part of life, but for children who have lost siblings or parents, it’s especially tragic. This is where The Children’s Room comes in. Located in Arlington, Massachusetts, this non-profit...

May 21, 2013. This guest post is from Matt Ferrucci, who is a student at Boston College. He's spending the summer at Reflection Films, learning a little about video production and marketing.  May is NF Awareness Month, so it is entirely appropriate not only to spend some time thinking about it, but to talk about it as well. If you don’t know what NF is, you’re not alone. Despite being one of the most...

March 6, 2013 Many video productions need to be "on location."  In other words, the producers for a marketing video about a university probably ought to spend some of their time on campus.  But let's say you're the VP of Marketing, you plan to have several people interviewed for the video, and you want them in front of a neutral background.  For footage like this, filming in a studio might be a good...

A few years back, I read David Allen's Getting Things Done and found it very helpful. I implemented his systems and then "fell off the wagon" a bit. So I got myself a copy of the book and am re-reading it. I'd recommend it highly. Without going heavy into detail (that's what the book's for, afterall!), here are a few nuggets from the Part 1 of his book, The Art of Getting Things Done: 1. We should...