By AMBROSE CLANCY // It was raining horizontally, with sleet, driven by a December gale. We could hear the sea pounding the concrete strand one street away as we ducked down an alley with the sharp smell of turf fires on the wind. No one was around, except the two village dogs crouched in a doorway, just their noses sticking out to the wind. Soaked, shivering, we made it into the safe harbor of the…
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By DAVID CHAUVIN // Of all the misconceptions about Millennials – a group that will comprise 50 percent of the workforce by 2020 – the one that annoys me most is that the generation possesses a gnat-like attention span. This stereotype is nonsense, to put it bluntly. As much as I loathe the misconception, however, I see why people believe it. Millennials are, after all, the generation of Twitter, Vine (RIP) and bite-sized viral Facebook…
By HARRY AURORA // One of the most extreme ways to discipline a student is the out-of-school suspension – but this punishment only bandages a problem, without actually fixing it. With little to no academic guidance at home, suspended students often suffer long-term negative consequences. Suspensions should only be used as a last resort – and if it’s absolutely necessary, schools should take steps to ensure that students are learning from their mistakes, and learning…
By DAVID CHAUVIN // In theory, being authentic should be easy. How hard can it be to be yourself – the one person you know better than anyone? Unfortunately, marketing history is full of stories of otherwise-sound brands misunderstanding themselves or the customer relationships – time and time and time again. In search of advertising buzz, a brand refresh or the ever-elusive viral marketing campaign, marketers will often lose sight of what draws people to…
By AMBROSE CLANCY // You never forget your first time. No, not that. But rather that everyone who has ever had summer pudding has a distinct memory of their first taste, digging into a dense concoction of bread or cake with glistening blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and their juices, served with softly whipped cream. It’s sensational any time of the year, made with seasonal berries or ones found in your local supermarket in the dead of…
By EUGENE BARNOSKY // An entrepreneur’s mission statement – core values, branding, image – is important, particularly regarding employees’ personal appearances. And a manual that communicates to employees what is expected of them from the outset is often critical to efforts to assemble an efficient and effective staff, and to provide them with the tools they need to help create good will with clients and customers – and maintain it. Although it may not be…
By ROSALIE DRAGO // At a recent Long Island Regional Development Council meeting, co-chairman and Long Island Association President Kevin Law earned rousing applause when he said, “Childcare is not a mother’s problem or a parent’s problem – it is an economic-development problem and our region’s problem.” As a workforce-development professional, a parent and a Long Islander, this was good to hear. It’s tempting to see childcare as a value-add, especially now. Current job market…