The importance of confidence

I was working with a particularly difficult horse today and the more frustrated I got, the less she responded to what I was asking her to do. I had to let her be for a few minutes while I got myself calmed down. Finally, I got back in the ring with her and projected a calm, confident aura to her and she responded positively to me and did what I asked her to.

This whole experience has reminded me of the importance of confidence. Confidence is one of those things that you take don't really notice when you have it and desperately want it when you don't. This is particularly true when dealing with horses. Horses can sense and respond to the energy that you're projecting and it's particularly helpful when you're projecting confidence.

It makes me wonder how much more effective I'll be in working with horses when I've done more leadership training. Maybe boosting my confidence in myself is what I need to be more confident around horses. I'll let you know.

Maxwell House brews up some good feelings with a bitter aftertaste

I was watching TV last night when one of the Maxwell House commercials came on and I actually paid attention for once. It's a bit old (2008) and is referencing their "Brew Some Good" campaign (orchestrated by OgilvyOne Toronto) where Maxwell House donated $226,000 to nominated charities instead of spending it on a commercial.

The reason that I paid attention was because Maxwell House donated to C.A.R.D. (a.k.a. the Community Association for Riding for the Disabled), which just so happens to be a pet cause of mine. The ad had me completely convinced that I should support Maxwell House at least by buying their instant coffee when I'm going camping. (I'm very particular about buying whole beans instead of ground coffee, so switching over completely isn't feasible.) However, after a little research, I found out that the donations and their Brew Some Good Week were a one-time deal in celebration of their reformulated 100% Arabica bean coffee.

If Maxwell House really wants to celebrate by rewarding "Canada's top do-gooders", the donations should be on-going or at least offer yearly competitions, and Brew Some Good Week would also be a yearly thing organized by Maxwell House. If the company can afford to throw that kind of money at charities once by reducing costs on their commercials, logically speaking they can do it again. And again.

Nice PR stunt Maxwell House, but I'm not buying.

Rupert Isaacson and The Horse Boy

Last week, I was fortunate to be at a screening of The Horse Boy in London followed by an appearance by Rupert Isaacson for a Q&A session. Isaacson runs a centre in Texas for autistic children and their siblings to socialise and interact with each other in a fun, low-stress setting.

I won't wax on how amazing the entire story of taking his autistic son to Mongolia to visit various shamans was, because of course it's amazing and if you're really interested, the book and film are available from Isaacson's website. What I will talk about is something that Isaacson said during the Q&A session after the movie.

Isaacson posed the question, why shouldn't we teach children where they want to be taught instead of using traditional methods where they have to be in a classroom? Why can't the outdoors be the new classroom? At his New Trails Center, children are free to choose where they want to learn, and as a consequence, the lessons are easier and tend to stick better. The key message that I took home was that autism is just another way of seeing the world, not something that should be seen as devastating and a disappointment. If you can learn to accomodate for a child's particular quirks, you can learn a lot.

Check out the short version of the story in Isaacson's own words:

Updates and apologies

You've probably noticed that this blog has been, well dead. So as stated in the title, I've got both updates and apologies.

My life has been quite chaotic up to the point of disrupting my work life. I've been working as a communications consultant while juggling other responsibilities, so unfortunately this blog was left on the backburner to burn.

But no more! I will be doing my absolute best to post on a minimum of a bi-weekly basis about PR in the news.

Seal meat is on the menu at Parliament

Let's hear it for Stephen Harper! He's finally made an obvious statement of support for the seal hunt: seal meat is now on the menu at the Parliamentary restaurant.

I'm pleased that the government is supporting this important part of Canadian history. This is a a step in the right direction for support of the seal hunt. I have to wonder, however, if this is a PR move based on the controversy that PETA has brought about.

Harper hasn't typically had a good relationship with First Nations peoples and also hasn't really had their support. It could be argued that this sudden acceptance of the seal hunt is a bid for votes, or maybe he really wants to support this way of life. I'm hoping for the latter.

Identity theft with a twist

It sounds like something out of a nightmare: "Girl finds dead mother hawking cure-all on Facebook." Helen Breimer died 9 months ago of cancer and her Facebook account was hacked to promote a "miracle cure-all" colon cleanser. The account has since been shut down but this is just one example of many of how commonplace identity theft is becoming.

The main point that I got out of this article was that this was just one case of many. Nothing particularly different or important happened in this case but it makes for a good story.

On the contrary dear readers, something important did happen. Shelby Breimer found her deceased mother's profile active and touting the importance of this "miracle" drug. The company, Teloxys Technologies Ltd, has yet to apologize and did not remove the content on its own and Facebook hasn't returned any of Shelby's calls.

The biggest question, for me anyway, would be how to seek justice. A person's privacy has been violated here and no one seems to be willing to do anything about it. How well does this reflect on Facebook and why do none of the news stories seem to have picked up on this?

Sustainable cooking - an oxymoron?

The Brighter Planet has just launched a contest à la Julie-Julia Project to "Master the Art of Sustainable Cooking." I'm both intrigued and skeptical.

It's a great contest idea both for raising awareness of carbon footprint reduction/conservation and for challenging people to think more about what they eat. I'm pleased to see that they've launched the contest right at the beginning of the fall season when food is still plentiful from farmer's markets and relatively easy to get locally. The types of foods that are readily available are also low-effort foods (you don't have to do too much to prepare them).

What I'm really wondering is if people would be willing to stick with the challenge during the winter months when local food isn't as easy to get and when people are craving higher fat foods that require more preparation and more ingredients.

All right, I'll bite. For the month of October, I'm going to try to follow all of the tips listed in the contest, paying particular attention to getting foods from local sources.

Wish me luck.