What we can learn from a DECA competition

I was recently a judge for a DECA mock competition. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. The competition is one where the participants are given 10 minutes to read a business problem and come up with a solution following 5 key…

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Halloween Dos and Don’ts

This is a guest post by Rachel Burke, student and Clise Etiquette intern. On the one night of the year when we encourage our children to talk to strangers and accept candy from them, parents need to be on top of all the do’s and don’ts for this spooky day. Most importantly, remember to use…

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Shower Me With Money

There is an advice column I read in the Seattle Times called “Ask Amy”. This past Sunday’s advice seeker stated he and his wife received a wedding shower invitation where not only was a cash gift requested but a dollar amount was specified. “Perturbed in Seattle” felt it was very bad etiquette, while his wife…

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Directness vs. Diplomacy

As you may know, I write a business etiquette column for the Puget Sound Business Journal. Each week when the Journal arrives I eagerly open it up to the “Growing your Business” section to see if my latest column has run. Seeing my name in print is still exciting.

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How to Avoid Being Defriended

The new movie, Social Network, about the founding of Facebook, opened October 1st to rave reviews and box office success. Facebook went from being a social networking site for college students to the site that is searched more than Google with more than 500 million users.  When both grandparents and grandkids are on Facebook you…

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PR Blunder or Just Desserts?

This is a guest post by Lisa Samuelson, founder of Samuelson Communications. Recently Steve Jobs was incredibly rude to a journalism student who was working on an assignment about iPads as a teaching tool. When the PR department at Apple didn’t respond to her many calls and emails, she found Steve Jobs’ email and reached…

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Are Seattleites Lacking in Hospitality?

I was talking to someone from the Midwest who stated that we Seattleites are not very hospitable when guests stop by our homes. This person claimed that in the Midwest, if someone came by the house the host would drop everything and offer the guest something nice to drink, like fresh squeezed lemonade, and a…

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7 Etiquette Best Practices for Your Next Networking Event

This is a guest post by Matt Heinz, founder and principal of Heinz Marketing, LLC. You’ve seen what not to do.  You’ve likely experienced it more than once.  The guy who talks only about himself.  The contact who’s constantly scanning the room for someone else.  The sales rep who paid good money to be there,…

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How Not to Go Mad as a Host or Guest

I have been consumed by Mad Men madness. I think what’s so compelling about the show is witnessing a way of life that is so foreign from our lives today. A way of life that included a three martini lunch followed by a scotch on the rocks afternoon meeting; cigarettes being smoked everywhere including the…

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Are You Chasing Away Your Customers?

I was talking to a colleague yesterday about an encounter she had with a young salesperson. My colleague, let’s call her Carol, and I were co-presenters at a networking event and met the salesperson there. After the event, the salesperson, I’ll call her Sue, called Carol.

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