Pistol’s Firing!
- Posted by: Joe Williams
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My new quarter horse, registered name is Billy’s Smokin Pistol, but we just call him Pistol. And he is certainly that.
Finally! After all these years I’m back in the saddle with my own horse. As a kid we had a string of horses and we use them as part of the Dialogue in the Desert Workshop, but I’ve put off getting one for myself far too long. So when the notices came telling me I will soon be eligible for Medicare, that did it.
Pistol is a golden palomino cow horse. Stands 14.2 hands and has won a fair amount of money in competitive team penning and ranch sorting. He’s dead broke and responsive to the touch. He can side pass and loves to open gates–he’ll practically do it by himself. I put him in the box last night and chased steers out of the chute to see how he’d respond, and he went from 0 to 30 in high gear from the get-go. Next step: roping!
I had all six grandkids on him for Father’s Day. Young Henry said it was the best Father’s Day ever.
He’s a head turner!
Good Fellows
- Posted by: Joe Williams
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The San Francisco skyline as seen from the home of Rae and Norm Leaper, who hosted the Circle of Fellows reception. Their warm hospitality equaled the beauty of the view from their balconey.
As most of you probably know by now, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) named me and Pixie Malherbe Emslie as this year’s IABC Fellows. Pixie and I were recognized at the opening general session at the World Conference in San Francisco on June 7. Fellow selection criteria includes contribution to the organizational communication field and profession; career achievement; authorship, speaking and lecturing; contributions to IABC; and other professional recognition such as community activities and other business-related activities. The IABC Fellow Award is the highest honor the association bestows on an individual.
Pixie is from South Africa and was the guiding hand behind starting the first IABC chapter in that country. She is a sheer delight, bright and outgoing, and filled with energy.
Pixie and I never me before this, but you can never tell that by this photo. She is that kind of a person.
I had two minutes allocated for my “acceptance” talk. Although I went off the prepared script somewhat, I thought you might like to see the prepared script that I spoke from, which is included here:
Thank you for this wonderful honor.
This moment reminds me of when two of my six grandkids were in the back seat of our car. We had just gotten them a new game for their DS player and Charlie said, “This is the best day of my life.” His brother, Felix, said, “No, Charlie, this is the second best day—remember when our other grandma bought us 5 DS games?”
So this is one of those best days…
I do not take this honor lightly. I accept it on behalf of all of us in this profession who are trying to bring who we are to what we do…and what we do to who we are…
It seems to me that underneath everything we do, and underneath all the sessions we’ll go to in this conference, that what each of us in this room are really seeking is credibility, affirmation, authenticity and community. Simply put, we want to make a difference and for our work to matter. Like Marilyn Monroe said, “I don’t want to make money. I just want to be wonderful.”
Over the years, IABC has given me credibility, affirmation, and community and to this organization and those who have gone before me I owe much. Past Fellows like Walter Beach, Mike Emanuel, Downs Matthews, Lou Williams, Lynda Stewart, Dick Wilmot, Norm and Rae Leaper, Roger D’Aprix, Connie Eckard and so many more have paid it forward for me and for all of us in this room.
And there are others I owe:
• Dr. Harry Heath—Dean of the School of Journalism & Broadcasting at my school, Oklahoma State University, with whom I had a “Tuesday with Morrie” relationship…
• Bill Evans, Ross Lagattuta and Bob Esposito for giving me opportunity…
• My son and business partner, John, for his wise counsel.
• The 2,000 alums of our Dialogue in the Desert Workshop, and our many clients, for their trust…
• And finally, Barbara’s name should be on this…for 42 years she has given me her indominable spirit. Every thing I have done in business and in life that has been good and lasting has had her mark, her ideas, her impact, her touch on it.
Simply put, without her, I would not be here…I would not be whole…
I’d like to close with a phrase that I start every Dialogue Workshop with for it sums up everything I feel about communication…
‘If I stay here long enough I will learn the art of silence…when I have given up words I will become what I have to say.’
Thank you.
So, again, thank you to all Dialogue alums for giving me your trust over the years and for making this workshop so amazing. Without you, there simply would not be a Dialogue Workshop. I would be wandering around the desert by myself, flip chart and map in hand, trying to have a little dialogue with the coyotes. Lost and drooling…
Before they recognized Pixie and me, they brought all Fellows who were in attendance up on stage. What a nice touch and an impressive sight–all that experience and history. Without the Fellows, IABC would be where it is today. They have each given so much behind the scenes that the average IABC member will never know about. I never thought I would be in such distinguished company. I am humbled and honored and I know that Pixie feels the same.
The three Williams Fellows: Lou, Tudor and myself. Is there anyone else named Williams in IABC who is not a Fellow?
Norm and Rae Leaper, Pixie and myself after the Fellows dinner at LeZinc. Norm and Rae are both Fellows (a husband and wife first!) and are the nicest, most gracious people you’d ever meet. They have contributed greatly to this organizational communication profession we’re all in.
Sheri Rosen introduced me that evening to the general assembly. I’ve known Sheri before the days of electronic communication (!). Thank you, Sheri, for your warm and gracious comments. Now, how can i get you to come to the desert?????
Thank you Connie Eckard for our friendship over these many, many years and for nominating me as a Fellow. Connie and I go back to when he lived in Tulsa and we were both active in the Tulsa chapter and putting on district programs. Where has the time gone? Where has my hair gone???
And so we live a life and do the best we can and hope that our work somehow matters, that it makes a difference, that we make a difference and that what we do is somehow recognized, somehow known in some small way. In the end are we like a rock that has skipped five, eight or twelve times over the surface of a pond, and then with a little splash, sinks to the bottom? What difference do we make?
I struggle with that now that I am getting letters telling me that I will soon be eligible for Medicare and had better get supplemental insurance before it is too late. So, it seems to me that all of us are Fellows, for all of us contribute, each in our own way. We are each part what we do and as such, we are each part of the other.
We get up every morning, planting seeds and producing work that we hope matters. But there is danger in getting so caught up in the work that we lose sight of the environment we are trying to create through the work. And it seems that it is the small things that make the difference in the work: The trust we exhibit, the recognition we give, the respect we extend, the openness we create.
And when we incorporate these qualities into our work we incorporate them into our very being. The result is that what seems simple and ordinary, like a rock skimming over water, is anything but simple and ordinary.
They are extraordinary.
And speaking of extraordinary…
Dialogue Alum Tom Grier: Making His Dream Come True
- Posted by: Joe Williams
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Dialogue alum Tom Grier is a professor of mass communication at Winona State University in Minnesota. He conceived a project many moons ago that is now becoming a reality. I wanted to share it with other alums for it shows the power of following your passion. Here is an email I just received from him…be sure to click on his blog site for more of the story.
The 2007 Dialogue Master Class. Tom is on the back row, to the far, far right in the ball cap. Tom attributes many of the ideas he obtained for his project came as a result of Invent-O-Matics from this group of Dialogue alums. But he conceived the idea, stayed with it over the years and is now making it happen…Congratulations, Tom!
Hello fellow Dialogue in the Desert Master-Class-100 colleagues,
On Sunday evening, I arrived in Tsaile, Arizona, at the main campus of Diné College, the Tribal College of the Navajo Nation, with 12 Winona State University students and a faculty colleague. We’re partnering with eight Diné College students and a faculty member to create five Navajo Oral Histories in a documentary journalism program.
You ALL can celebrate this important and meaningful project, because you all had a hand in its creation. Without your Invent-O-Matic ideas and encouragement, it probably would not be happening. I especially thank Joe Williams and Dee St. Cyr, who corresponded with me several times in the early planning stages and who helped refine my thinking (our thinking!) and helped smooth some rough spots in relationship-building.
I have a blog on which you can follow the project:
http://MassCommuniMania.blogspot.com
I started the blog a couple months ago to talk about issues related to mass communication, the media, and higher education in journalism, media, and related topics.
Last week, I turned the blog over totally to this project.
We’ll be here for three weeks, enjoying the beautiful landscape, getting to know the kind and helpful people, learning from the Navajo elders we interview, and visiting some historic places.
Please take a few moments to read and view what we’re doing and let me know what you think.
Again — Thank You All! You are in my mind so often during this adventure.
– Tom Grier
When it “IS” It Pours!
- Posted by: Joe Williams
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As a result of the Dialogue story by Wendy Cherwinski (see “Looking for Learning in all the Right Places” below), several alums have sent in their stories as well. I thought you might be interested in how others are using the tools and in how the desert is still part of their lives. The value of sharing lives on.–Joe
Deb Gondek, Rich Products, experiencing the power of ‘join-up’ during the nonverbal communication clinic during the Dialogue Master Class, 2007.
“I’ve been “is-ing” quite a bit lately using the strategic planning tools from Dialogue and from our business planning process here at Rich’s. Not just at work, but outside as well. For the past year or so, I’ve been a member of the Niagara County Environmental Committee (home of Love Canal, so as you can imagine we have our work cut out for us!). It’s a very passionate group of environmentalists with a lot of knowledge about our natural resource inventory, renewable energy, waste management, land use, Lake Ontario fishery activities, native vegetation, etc. However, we haven’t been able to harness all that expertise, and have accomplished very little in our advisory role to the county legislature and have only made incremental progress in our public education & outreach efforts. Oh, and did I mention that absolutely no one wants to collaborate with us on environmental issues because some of our more vocal members in the past have given the group a reputation of putting up roadblocks without providing alternate solutions!
“At the end of last year I was reflecting on all this and came to the conclusion that I either needed to resign from the council and spend my time on others things that are making a difference … or lead them in a strategic planning session. So I figured, what the heck? Why not see if the group would be up for a little long-range planning. The newer members were all for it; some of the “lifers” on the council looked at me like I had 2 heads & it was clear they’d never experienced the benefits of strategic planning sessions. But in the end most everyone agreed that dedicating our meetings in Feb and March to planning sessions would be a good start. We’re in the home stretch now and I can’t tell you what a transformation it has been. The entire process has generated meaningful dialogue among the group and helped us prioritize our areas of focus. It started with a review and refresh of our by-laws (which, honestly, I didn’t even know existed before this). We’ve even engaged members of the team who were on the fence as I was … and developed a liaison with the County Legislature so we now have ongoing 2-way dialogue with them. And we haven’t even completed our planning document yet!
“Yesterday, I kicked off the strategic planning process for the Buffalo Ronald McDonald House. Our green team at St Christopher’s Church wants to go through the process as well. Wow! When it “is” it pours!
“Just wanted to say thanks. The gift of Dialogue just keeps on giving!”
–Deb Gondek
LEED AP
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
Accredited Professional
Director of Sustainability
Rich Products Corporation
dgondek@rich.com
Not Everything Is As It Seems
- Posted by: Joe Williams
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Hug a cactus?
Right. We all know that a Saguaro has long, sharp spines. Get too close and pow, you pay the price.
So how is Debbie Chow, April 2009 Dialoguer from Vancouver, avoiding this in the photo above?
First, this particular Saguaro is an old fella (probably 250-300 years old, actually) and the spines on the bottom of his skin have fallen off, which make him quite huggable. On first glance, he looks simply unhuggable. Unapproachable. Untouchable.
But on closer inspection, it is quite the opposite.
(After all, how many people can say they’ve hugged a Saguaro?)
But once we change our focus we change what we see.
We need to look at the world with different eyes.
If we want to truly see what is before us all along, we need to narrow the focus.
And when we do, everything that looks on first glance frightening and prickly, might not always be that way.
As Thoreau said, “The question isn’t what you are looking at, it’s what do you see?”
What are you looking at today?
What do you need to see?
