Mauri and Sherry » Mauri

publicRelations

Mauri — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:41:22 +0000

Long ago a friend/mentor gave us a list of twelve public relations principles. They came up in a recent conversation, and I’ve been trying to remember…here’s what I’ve got – only eight and not necessarily in order:

- have a “you” attitude
- always let the other person save face
- don’t nit-pick about details
- tailor your speech to fit the situation
- use questions rather than dogmatic statements
- allow others the “inside look”
- give a reading of your responses
- allow others to “give their gift”

So do you have any to add…to finish out the list? One that comes to mind (not from the original list) is from long ago friend peterGibbons – never, never…never criticize.

I’ll keep working on it, or maybe try to find an archived copy of the original…and read with interest any of yours.

…rubes

Mauri — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:05:12 +0000

Rubes! The moment we stepped out into the New York City air we were spotted for…rubes!
(Maybe it was my burnt orange luggage.) A well-dressed man with some kind of accent approached us…as though he was a taxi driver. The fact he wasn’t driving a taxi should’ve been a clue. Non-rubes probably would’ve avoided the brief conversation altogether about a $45 flat rate to Queens (where our hotel is)…it took us novices just a minute longer to head for the yellow cars and gladly pay the $15 metered fare to a taxi driver (driving a real taxi).

…we have a winner

Mauri — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:28:38 +0000

…it is us. The last two Democratic primaries are tomorrow, and the NBA finals start this week. There were other interesting stories, but as I tuned out NPR early this morning my imagination jumped ahead to a Celtic/Laker game seven. Overtime. Final score 102-95. Kevin lifts the trophy and celebrates with his ecstatic team-mates while Kobe holds an impromptu news conference in front of a crowd of weeping, angry fans. “We won,” he says confidently. “We had the ball more than they did, and we had more assists. And the refs should’ve counted the three-pointer I shot after time ran out in the first half—even though the other team was leaving the floor. It was a beauty, and not counting it just wasn’t fair. Besides, we won lots of other important games in the playoffs, and given our experience, doggone it – we deserve the championship.” Fade to reality…and more important things…yep.

…tunes posted

Mauri — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:01:17 +0000

Marvel already mentioned my return from the coast. It was good to be there and participate in good times with good people, but it’s great to be home. I’ve posted some tunes on the music page that were part of this January’s songDemo…two “children’s” tunes and a little bit of Quaker history.

giving thanks

Mauri — Mon, 21 May 2007 00:47:25 +0000

The Young Friends Singers just finished their spring session…and said thanks. I’m thankful too.

fax before marriage

Mauri — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 04:26:51 +0000

We were sitting around talking with some friends today and somehow started to tell about a couple of phases of our (not so recent) courtship. There was the alliteration phase—Sherry being the quintessential queen of quip. And the limerick phase…”a couple of kids from Debuque, chewed green cherries and started to…,” you know – deep, meaningful stuff. Most of that six-month courtship, we noted…happening through the miracle of faxes. One friend said, “You mean, you had fax before marriage?” Another wondered out loud if I ever just stood near the machine, hoping to get lucky, while someone else added something about using a surge protector. Good friends. Fax before marriage. I hope you had some fun today.

more quatet tunes

Mauri — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:17:29 +0000

After some delay…the rest of the (former) NFC Quatet tunes are posted on the music page – so you can give a listen. There’s just something about men singing together. (‘sorry for that chauvinistic sounding outburst…but not so very)

a late afternoon ride

Mauri — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 05:36:36 +0000

There they were, two young deer in the fenced clearing across from the mill entrance on Wynooski. They seemed to be playing and didn’t really mind my approach and rolling to a stop. But pretty soon they started to move off…not toward the closest woods, but down the clearing away from me. Adolescent deer look just a little awkward when they walk, all leggy with heads bobbing pidgeon-like, but then they started to canter (or something) and then broke into that leaping thing…jumping easily off all four legs at once with tiny hoofs angled back, and down the slope through the opening at the far end of the clearing…

I sat for a minute or so more…then pedalled off. Maybe they were watching me through a break in the trees…and wondering as well.

sidewalk singing

Mauri — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 03:25:12 +0000

So we’re sitting on the stoop having supper. OK, it’s the old front porch at 514 and mostly hidden by surrounding shrubs, but maybe it’s small enough to be called a stoop. Eating out there on the old wicker two-seater is kind of a stealthy way to interact with the neighborhood, and it was a wonderful evening. Several people had walked by—nobody we knew…but we called out to some anyway.

And then there was someone singing…heading south on our side of School Street. It was a light tenor voice—singing easily, and about the time we realized he was singing in Spanish there was a young woman’s voice with an answering phrase. And as they walked by tossing phrases back and forth there were several other voices, not singing, but talking and laughing in the most naturally….um, natural way. I’ll bet we could eat several suppers out there and not hear anything quite so delightful.

stuff for the roses

Mauri — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 05:20:00 +0000

I bought stuff for the roses last week—plant food and spray for black spots. It was nearly 18 years ago DadWilliams created the beautiful rose garden that regularly keeps Margaret-Rose (Macy) and Paul (Carlson) in our minds/hearts. And until just a few weeks ago he was faithful to tend it. In fact, there weren’t may square inches of the lot here at 514 that didn’t get his careful attention. It was just one of the ways he expressed his care and love for all of us. So I bought some stuff for the roses, and will ask advice and do my best. And as I care for them you can be sure I’ll not only be remembering Margaret-Rose and Paul.