Japan Tobacco's Clever and Strange Smoking Manners Signs

By leelefever on February 24, 2008 - 7:38pm.

• Categories:
• communication
• humor
• japan
• travel
• visualthinking
• Comments: 7

Japan is surely one of the politest places you're likely to visit.  If you ask someone for directions, there is a good chance they will walk you there themselves. Behaving honorably is an important part of the culture and there is never a lack of signs, often cleverly illustrated, reminding the public of what is expected.

One of the most interesting and clever examples I found is produced by Japan Tobacco. In smoking areas, on trains and near ashtrays, there are often signs related to smoking and behavior in crowds. Notice the minimalist illustrations and the strange-but-effective messaging from these examples.

The Weblog Elevator Pitch- One Year Later

By leelefever on April 27, 2005 - 3:27pm.

• Categories:
• blogs
• business
• communication
• explanation
• plainenglish
• simplicity
• Comments: 6

It was one year ago that I won my first contest as a writer. The challenge was to create the "perfect corporate weblog elevator pitch". It was put on by the folks at Weblogs Inc. via the Social Software Weblog and Judith Meskill.

I Heart Dreamhost

By leelefever on April 5, 2005 - 1:10pm.

• Categories:
• business
• communication
• Comments: 4

I've been a customer of Dreamhost (who hosts some of my web sites) for a couple of years now and they have always impressed me with their reliability and service- but that's only part of my admiration.

Perhaps the biggest part is their attitude -- they are fun. They make a real effort to create an experience around their services. The experience (even when bad things happen) is personal, authentic and usable.

Their email newsletter always makes me laugh. They have added wikis to their set of tools and here's how I learned about the wiki in the newsletter:

How to Loosen Up Your Communication Style

By leelefever on July 9, 2003 - 8:21am.

• Categories:
• best practices
• communication
• Comments: 0

HBS Working Knowledge: Loosen Up Your Communication Style

I thought this was an interesting article about communication styles in leadership positions. I've certainly seen the "data only" style and it served only to glaze eyeballs. Good points on symbolic and emotional communication.

Via: Online Facilitation