Eternally Grateful
This Thanksgiving I am so thankful for a family that is both fun and funny… and so eternally grateful that only one photo just would not do…!! Can you say continuous shutter, anyone…??
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Join Mortal Muses for the first “We Are Thankful” blog hop with the muses. We will be linking up to our personal blogs, where we will share our thoughts on the day.
Toilets on the Lawn
I’ve been stuck in the 60s for months now.
It all began with the release of Deborah Wiles’ Countdown, the 1st book in her highly anticipated Sixties Trilogy. My strongest recollections of the 60s begin as a 10 year-old around 1964 so I was enchanted to follow Franny’s story as a 11 year-old in 1962. The documentary novel brought back so many memories and immediately I had to have more
I then buzzed through Ellen Wittlinger’s This Means War! continuing my passion for juvenile and young adult fiction. But soon I was in need of some more grown-up material. I knew it was time to try out the hit series Mad Men on AMC.
In anticipation of the new fall television season, I reviewed a synopsis of Season One and watched highlighted episodes from Seasons Two and Three. I felt ready as I began following the series when Season Four premiered. I soon realized I was not ready, in my heart, for the rush of fear and pain that the conflicts of the sixties returned to my emotional being. But I continued my rapidly developing addiction, at a loss to describe my discomforts that watching Man Men revived.
And then my daughter suggested The Help, Kathryn Stockett’s first novel. Set in 1960’s Jackson, Mississippi, the book carried me through the remembrances of injustice and discrimination of the time. Did hurtful feelings return? Yes. Was I fearful? Yes. However could I find parts of this humorous? I did and you will too. And was it embarrassing? Horrifyingly so.
So embarrassed I was that someone might notice the cover but not already know the story should question me as racist, I kept the cover hidden as I read for 10 hours on the train.
Stockett was embarrassed too as she explains in a Today Show interview. “”I’m so embarrassed to admit this … it took me 20 years to really realize the irony of the situation that we would tell anybody, ‘Oh, she’s just like a part of our family,’ and that we loved the domestics that worked for our family so dearly, and yet they had to use the bathroom on the outside of the house.”
In The Help, bathrooms are a highly sensitive subject as are courage and independence. The power of a determined woman is also paramount to the story as three such women become unexpected companions in search of answers to the problems of their time. And it all revolved around the use of the bathroom.
But it was not just their time. Struggles for fairness and equality still exist today in our personal and business lives for people in many communities. Let’s just hope we don’t, as Skeeter did, have to resort to toilets on the lawn to be allowed to live and let live and love everybody too.
I didn’t want The Help to end as badly as I wished the segregation would. And as Mad Men has certainly brought back to light many of the discrepancies and disparities of the 1960s one thing stands true. As has been shared by other Bathroom Blogfest bloggers in the Mad Men Theme Song – With a Twist on YouTube,
“The greatest thing
You’ll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return”
BATHROOM BLOGFEST 2010 DRAWS 33 BLOGGERS & 40 BLOGS TO FOCUS ON EXPERIENCES ‘STUCK IN THE 60s’
Perspectives Reflect Universality of Bathrooms with Mad Men Twist
Kinnelon, NJ – The 2010 Bathroom Blogfest, now in its fifth year, brings together 33 bloggers from the U.S., Canada, the UK and India to address the 2010 Mad Men inspired theme “Stuck in the 60s?” A blogfest brings together writers who direct their blog posts around a single subject while making the subject relevant to their readers during a specific timeframe. Between October 25 and 29, these experts in marketing, customer experience and service, public relations, library sciences, museums, home & interior design, life, retail, flooring and healthcare IT/RTLS will call attention to improving the overall bathroom experience for end users via their 40 blogs during Bathroom Blogfest 2010.
“This year’s theme “Stuck in the 60s?” is inspired by Mad Men, the show that has captured the imaginations of many for its portrayal of life in the 60s when social and cultural taboos meant that many critical aspects of life – like bathrooms – were ignored, glossed over and treated dreadfully,” said Christine B. Whittemore, who manages the Bathroom Blogfest. “The result is that end users suffered. By calling attention to modern day instances that are “Stuck in the 60s?”, we can reinforce the value associated with being more responsive to the end user experience be those users customers, clients, patients, patrons or consumers,” said the chief simplifier of Simple Marketing Now, Kinnelon, N.J.
The Bathroom Blogfest began in 2006 as the brainchild of Stephanie Weaver, Experienceology author and consultant, and Susan Abbott, a business consultant and consumer researcher in Toronto. “They wanted to generate awareness for bloggers passionate about the customer experience at a time when blogging was more experimental. The Bathroom Blogfest created a forum for focusing on spaces that are not a subject of conversation, even though they should be,” added Whittemore. “As an event it builds relationships and conversations about the user experience demonstrating how universal the relevance and appeal is regardless of the industry.” Participation in the 2010 Bathroom Blogfest has increased 65% compared to 2009.
Bathroom Blogfest 2010 Participants:
Susan Abbott – @susanabbott
Customer Experience Crossroads
Paul Anater – @Paul_Anater
Kitchen and Residential Design
Shannon Bilby – @shannonbilby
My Big Bob’s Blog
From The Floors Up
Big Bob’s Outlet
Dolphin Carpet Blog
Carpets N More Blog
Toby Bloomberg – @TobyDiva
Diva Marketing
Laurence Borel – @ blogtillyoudrop
Blog Till You Drop
Bill Buyok – @AventeTile
Avente Tile Talk Blog
Jeanne Byington – @ jmbyington
The Importance of Earnest Service
Becky Carroll – @ bcarroll7
Customers Rock!
Marianna Chapman – @ResultsRev
Results Revolution
Katie Clark – @practicalkatie
Practical Katie
Valerie Fritz – @Awarepoint
The Awarepoint Blog
Nora DePalma – @noradepalma
American Standard’s Professor Toilet
O’Reilly/DePalma: The Blog
Leigh Durst – @LivePath
LivePath Experience Architect Weblog
Iris Garrott – @circulating
Checking In and Checking Out
Tish Grier – @TishGrier
The Constant Observer
Renee LeCroy – @ReneeLeCroy
Your Fifth Wall
Joseph Michelli
Dr. Joseph Michelli’s Blog
Veronika Miller – @Modenus
Modenus Blog
Arpi Nalbandian – @TileEditor
TILE Magazine Editor Blog
Maria Palma – @mariapalma
People 2 People Service
Reshma Bachwani Paritosh
The Qualitative Research Blog
David Polinchock – @Polinchock
Polinchock’s Ponderings
David Reich – @davidreich
My 2 Cents
Victoria Redshaw & Shelley Pond – @scarletopus
Scarlet Opus Trends Blog
Sandy Renshaw – @purplewren
Purple Wren
Around Des Moines
Bethany Richmond
The Carpet and Rug Institute Blog
Bruce Sanders
RIMtailing
Steve Tokar
Please Be Seated
Carolyn Townes – @SpiritWoman26
Becoming a Woman of Purpose
Stephanie Weaver – @experienceology
Experienceology
Christine B. Whittemore – @cbwhittemore
Flooring The Consumer
Simple Marketing Blog
The Carpetology Blog
Ted & Christine B. Whittemore
Smoke Rise & Kinnelon Blog
Linda Wright
LindaLoo Build Business With Better Bathrooms
For more information about the blogfest, visit www.BathroomBlogfest.com
Follow Bathroom Blogfest on Twitter @BathroomBlogfes, look for the tag “#BathroomEXP” on flickr, del.icio.us, Technorati, Twitter and Google or ‘Like’ on Facebook.
Or, contact Whittemore at cbwhittemore@SimpleMarketingNow.com
when nature creates
it is up to me to pause, experience, consider the possibilities she offers and then share…
all I had to do was get up, get out, and ignore the cold to find the joy!
a skillet of cornbread
2009 was a year spent watching and waiting. 2010 will be filled with creativity and hope and progress.
I’ll tell you more in the coming weeks but for now, please know, the stories tonight were humorous instead of grieving. Whew, I feel better already!
A Hospital’s Hand-y Hygiene Hint
We have had a lot of fun this past week celebrating Bathroom Blogfest. Bloggers from around the globe have written about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience and shared many different points of view. I can imagine also that our customers appreciate when we offer an easy solution to their need to go… when all they need to go do is wash their hands!
Just when are the common sense times to clean our hands? Examples according to the Soap and Detergent Association: after using the bathroom, after coughing or sneezing into our hands, before food preparation and when we eat, after changing diapers, after petting your dog or cat, and after taking out the trash.
So your customers may not be taking out the trash but I wonder if they might see you, the proprietor, do that or maybe even pet the cat? And just sometimes, it is not completely convenient for our customers to have to go, all the way to the restroom, to take care of a little hand cleanup. Now of course, you can imagine that.
A perfect example of how to help everyone have clean hands is often set by hospital staff. In particular, how about these rapping nurses in Boston hospitals where creative hand-washing campaigns have recently launched?
Make your customer’s experience simple and safe. Of course you need a glorious bathroom facility. But your patrons will thank you profoundly when the hand sanitizer is readily available and easily found.
Thank you Kaboom, for your inaugural sponsorship and a very special thanks to C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer and Simple Marketing Blog for your outstanding leadership of a most successful event!
You’ve Got a Mystery on Your Hands
H1N1 may be a Novel Virus but separate the Fiction from the Non-Fiction and get the facts. Hand washing prevents the spread of germs. Encourage your customers and staff with these helpful hand washing posters available from Yale University Emergency Management.
Improve your customer experience by following the 2009 Bathroom Blogfest posts on their Facebook Fan Page and via Twitter @BathroomBlogfes to “Flush The Recession & Plunge Into Forgotten Spaces”.
Flush The Recession & Plunge Into Forgotten Spaces
From Behind Closed Doors, Writers Direct Their Expertise to the Topic as
BATHROOM BLOGFEST 2009 Welcomes Its First Sponsor
Kinnelon, NJ – The 2009 Bathroom Blogfest, now in its fourth year, brings together 20 bloggers from the U.S., Canada, the UK and India posting on some aspect of the theme: “Flush the Recession and Plunge Into Forgotten Spaces.” A blogfest gathers writers who direct their posts around a single subject while making the subject relevant to their readers. Between October 26 and 28, these experts in marketing, customer experience and service, public relations, library sciences, life, retail—toilets and bathrooms—will call attention to improving the overall bathroom experience.
“Kaboom, the Blogfest’s first sponsor, will play a part in some of the blogs,” said Christine Whittemore, who manages the Blogfest. “The brand is adventuresome and innovative, volunteering to take its chances with this social networking experience,” said the chief simplifier of Simple Marketing Now, Kinnelon, N.J. “Kaboom has sent its cleaning products to nine writers whom we expect to report on their findings. Some may also add Kaboom giveaways/contests to their coverage.”
Along with a sponsor, Whittemore added to this year’s initiative a Facebook Fan Page and way to keep up via Twitter @BathroomBlogfes. In addition, to monitor the conversation, photos and posts, look for the tag #ladiesrooms09 on flickr, del.icio.us, Technorati, Twitter and Google.
The Bathroom Blogfest began in 2006 as the brainchild of Stephanie Weaver, Experienceology author and consultant, and Susan Abbott, a business consultant and consumer researcher in Toronto. “They wanted to generate awareness for bloggers passionate about the customer experience at a time when blogging was more experimental. The Bathroom Blogfest created a forum for focusing on spaces that are not a subject of conversation, which they should be,” added Whittemore.
Whittemore believes that today’s bloggers do it because it’s fun and they feel strongly about sharing their ideas for better bathroom experiences. She observes that retailers ignore the bathroom as a possible selling space and that most ignore it altogether. One of the bloggers added that it’s a way for her to potentially create more impact than she might with a single post while it introduces her readers to both a new subject and community of bloggers.
For more information about the blogfest visit http://www.BathroomBlogfest.com or contact Whittemore at cbwhittemore AT SimpleMarketingNow DOT com. For information about Kaboom, visit http://KaboomKaboom.com.
Participating bloggers for the Bathroom Blogfest ’09 include:
• Susan Abbott at Customer Experience Crossroads
• Reshma Anand at Qualitative Research Blog
• Shannon Bilby at From the Floors Up
• Shannon Bilby and Brad Millner at My Big Bob’s Blog
• Laurence Borel at Blog Till You Drop
• Jeanne Byington at The Importance of Earnest Service
• Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!
• Leslie Clagett at KB Culture
• Katie Clark at Practical Katie
• Iris Shreve Garrott at Checking In and Checking Out
• Julie at Julie’s Cleaning Secrets Blog
• Marianna Hayes at Results Revolution
• Maria Palma at People To People Service
• Professor Toilet at Professor Toilet’s Blog
• David Reich at My 2 Cents
• Bethany Richmond at The Carpet and Rug Institute Blog
• Carolyn Townes at Becoming a Woman of Purpose
• Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology
• C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer and Simple Marketing Blog
• Linda Wright at Lindaloo.com: Build Better Business with Better Bathrooms