Posts by Arden
Is your behavior hurting businesses?
My husband and I visited family in Philadelphia and one of the places we explored was Reading Terminal. It’s a pretty famous tourist attraction with a variety of food and mercantile vendors. When we were looking at some of the goods we noticed many of the vendors had signs that said “No photos.” We thought…
Read MoreHow to wow your customers
“Good morning Arden. What would you like for breakfast today?” asked Daryl, the line cook. A simple question, but what made it exceptional was Daryl remembered my name from the day before when he made a point of looking at my name badge. I hadn’t put my badge on yet that morning, but he knew…
Read More14 annoying habits that are driving your coworkers crazy
When I worked for Washington Mutual many years ago, there were a few weeks where I was working on several big, deadline-driven projects and I was pretty stressed. The days ticked by while I toiled away on the assignments. One day a coworker who sat next to me asked if I was okay. Turns out…
Read MoreThe ups and downs of umbrella etiquette
This is a guest post by Eric Mamroth, husband to Arden Clise and regular umbrella user. Perhaps there is no better indicator of a changing Seattle than the proliferation of … umbrellas. Big ones, small ones, cheap ones or expensively fashionable, they are seemingly everywhere now. Clearly our Seattle City Council has left yet another…
Read MoreWell meaning or just mean?
When I teach dining etiquette I often tell a story that my neighbor shared with me. When she was a teenager she went to her boyfriend’s house for dinner. She picked up her bread roll, cut it in half with her knife and buttered the whole piece. Her boyfriend loudly announced that she was eating…
Read MoreSix tips for hosting memorable parties
Well, I guess it’s official; the holidays are just around the corner. I received my first December holiday party invitation the day before Halloween. I don’t blame the sender; the holidays are getting busier and busier and if you have any hope of having people attend your soiree you need to send the invitation out…
Read MoreHandling social media connection requests with grace and purpose
Ever feel confused about how to handle the many online connection requests you receive? LinkedIn, Facebook, Townsquared…the list goes on. You might wonder who you should connect with and if it’s okay to decline a request. People have different approaches to accepting requests but I thought I’d share my approach and why it works for…
Read MoreYour tipping dilemmas solved
When faced with the tip line on the receipt from the coffee shop do you hesitate and wonder if you should leave a tip for the barista who made your pumpkin spice latte? If so, you’re not alone. I’ve had a few people ask me recently about tipping protocol because it seems tipping has gotten…
Read MoreDo you practice these eight social niceties?
We’ve all heard the saying “You don’t know what you don’t know.” I’m reminded of this quote often when people share with me their etiquette annoyances or faux pas stories. So often a person’s misstep is simply due to not knowing that their behavior is inappropriate. Or they aren’t aware of the proper way to…
Read MoreThe message determines the medium: Dos and don’ts for event invitations
There are so many ways we can communicate with people – email, text, social media, instant message, phone calls and mailed notes. It can be confusing knowing what medium to use for event invitations. Just recently a friend received a birthday party invitation via a group text message. She thought it was a little odd…
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