Courtesy

Why a Thank You Note?

By Arden / July 12, 2010 /

I’m a member of Women Business Owners  and serve on the Ambassador Committee, which is essentially the committee that greets and orients new members. We had a committee meeting last week and the topic of thank you notes came up. One member mentioned she had sent her nephews on both sides of the family high…

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To Complain or Not to Complain

By Arden / June 21, 2010 /

This depressing, unending cold, wet weather is making even the most gracious, positive people complain. I’ll be honest, it’s easy for me to complain, but I had a little flash of insight about complaining the other day while riding our tandem with my husband in the cold rain.

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Does Business Etiquette Matter?

By Arden / June 7, 2010 /

I sometimes get out my Amy Vanderbilt’s Everyday Etiquette book to see how much etiquette has changed since the book was written in the 1950s. There is a section on when a man should remove his hat and one on where a secretary should put her steno dictation pad when meeting with her boss. While…

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I Can Hear You Loud and Clear

By Arden / May 26, 2010 /

I recently asked my Facebook likes how they feel about people talking on cell phones in public places like the grocery store or coffee shop. Several people responded that they hated it and yet some of those same people stated that they do it themselves. I had to admit that if I get a phone call…

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Email Etiquette in our 24/7 World

By Arden / May 17, 2010 /

My friend, Peggy Dolane, writer and social media expert , suggested I write a blog post about our 24/7-reachable-anytime-world. She wondered what the etiquette is about sending and responding to emails after hours. Good question Peggy.

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Dance With Who Brung You

By Arden / April 19, 2010 /

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you may have read in a post or two that I don’t like to cook. Thankfully my husband Eric doesn’t mind too much being the house chef. However, we agreed Sunday dinner is my one night to cook. To make cooking my Sunday meal more fun, I…

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The Show Will Go On!

By Arden / April 3, 2010 /

I’m just thrilled Family Fourth at Lake Union will take place this year thanks to the donations of many Seattle businesses. The outpouring of support from small to big companies is heartwarming. 

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Dogs on the Loose

By Arden / March 17, 2010 /

I was recently walking around Greenlake with a friend on a sunny, therefore packed, day. Twice I encountered dogs that were running loose, their owners unconcerned. In the first situation we were rounding a corner and I saw a dog running towards the water across the concrete path in a very congested area. A rollerbladder…

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The Academy Awards: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

By Arden / March 8, 2010 /

As I do every year, I watched the Academy Awards with a few friends. We meet at one friend’s house, enjoy a potluck dinner and gab about the dresses, the emcee(s), the Academy winners and losers. This year had its usual fill of beautiful and not so beautiful moments. We can learn many etiquette lessons by…

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Are you Polly Poise or Freak-Out Fred?

By Arden / March 4, 2010 /

I recently taught a social skills etiquette class to some high school students from Puget Sound Community School. One of the topics I covered was poise. I asked my students what poise meant to them. They replied “good posture”, “being confident” and “grace”. While those are part of poise there is more to it.

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