Have you Googled your own name recently to see what comes up? If you did you might be surprised or even unpleasantly surprised. Today it’s easy to gain insight about who people really are due to the internet and social media.
Your online reputation is becoming increasingly important as more and more corporations and universities are doing social media background checks. A survey done by Microsoft found that 70% of Human Resource professionals have eliminated a potential employee based on what they found online. The reasons were unsuitable photos and videos, badmouthing people and past employers, inappropriate comments and drinking and drug abuse.
Students need to be aware of how their actions online can hamper their chances of getting into university. If a student is irresponsible online they run the risk that the university they apply to will place some of their metrics on that profile. Roughly 24% of admissions officers say that they do look at prospective students’ social media profiles. While 24% may not seem like a very high percentage considering that in 2008 only 10% of admissions officers used social media, it is easy to see that the number is rising.
The bottom line, keep your personal life private. What you rant or rave about today may come back to impact you in ways you never imagined.
2012-02-22
You've come down with the flu or a cold. What should you do - stay home or go to work? the answer should be simple, but it's not always. Do you choose absenteeism or presenteeism - attending work while sick?
The logical answer is to be considerate and take a few days off to avoid infecting others at work. A Queen's University study found that it cost employers twice as much in productivity losses for employees who come to work while sick compared to those who stay home. Due to technology many people can work from home. If you can, do so.
Unfortunately, it's not always that simple. Sick days are not offered by all companies, and some employees can't afford to stay home and lose the income. Others feel pressured to come to work due to job insecurity or no one to cover for them at work. For some people it's not an easy call to make.
Here's some tips on what to do if you absolutely have to go to work when ill.
Isolate yourself.
Wash your hands frequently.
Use alcohol based hand wipes.
Avoid shaking hands.
Cough or sneeze into a tissue.
Use a clean tissue to touch door handles and elevator buttons.
2012-02-09
Over the years I have met and developed lasting friendships with many in this profession.
Recently I had the pleasure to meet and lunch with Jacqueline Whitmore of the Protocol School of Palm Beach. Jacqueline is a leading authority in our profession and has published two books; Poised For Success and Business Class.
We met at Café Boulud in the Brazilian Court, which is one of my favorite restaurants in Palm Beach. Café Boulud is the creation of internationally acclaimed chef Daniel Boulud. Since it was a beautiful Palm Beach day we decided to dine outside on the terrace.
We both ordered the Artic Char which was sumptuous. At a restaurant of this calibre you would expect be presented with a fish knife and fish fork, but we were also given with a French sauce spoon which is rarely seen in North American restaurants. The French sauce spoon is a spoon that is usually the size and shape of a dessert spoon, but with a thinner edge with a notch on one side. It is used to eat the sauce accompanying a dish. If you have ever eaten at any of Daniel Boulud's restaurants you will know why you would not want to leave any sauce on the plate. We ended our luncheon with warm madeleines.
It was a most enjoyable afternoon spending time with Jacqueline, sharing our stories and a few laughs. I look forward to the next time.
2012-01-10
One of my favorite places to celebrate New Years Eve is Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club. The evening starts with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres outside on the loggia. Watching the guests arrive is like having a front row seat at New York's Fashion Week. After everyone has overindulged in caviar, fois gras and other delectables the party moves to the grand ballroom for dinner and dancing. This year the band was Party on the Moon, who played at President Obama's inaugural dinner. Palm Beachers love to dance and the floor was packed in between the four course meal that ended with Baked Alaska.
Best wishes for 2012,
Pat
2012-01-03
Sean combs is a class act. So much so that he recognized the importance of personal branding for his employees at Bad Boy. He hired international etiquette and protocol consultant Dawn Bryan, to teach his Bad Boy staff the finer points of formal dining etiquette, rules of conduct and international business etiquette.
2011-06-02
Dining at Buckingham Palace can be challenging even for those who think they have impeccable dinner manners. If you were one of the 300 special guests invited to the wedding dinner here is some advice that I would offer to you.
Wait to be seated at the table. Stand behind your chair and allow the Queen to be seated first.
Don’t start eating until the queen starts. When the queen stops eating, everyone stops eating.
The royal family eats Continental style, not American style as most people do in North America.They hold their fork in their left hand and knife in the right. Food is conveyed to the mouth with the fork in the left hand tines down. They don’t transfer the fork to the right hand as we do in North America. In Britain when they are finished they place the fork and knife parallel to each other in the 6:00 position on the plate with the tines up.
If you are served a fish course don’t look for a fish knife or fork. They do not use special fish knives or forks when eating fish, unlike what we may see at a formal dinner in North America.
Each guest will have an individual menu card in French (no translations) outlining the menu and wine. For the royal wedding dinner you may see a pudding on the menu named after the bride, which seems to be a tradition.
Don’t look for the salt shaker, as it probably doesn’t exist. Instead you will probably see a salt cellar which is a tiny bowl with a spoon. Season your food only after you have first tasted it.
The table will be very elaborate and you will not have to pass anything. The footmen will serve the different courses. Everything you need will be laid out at your place setting. Each dinner guest will have their own butter dish, salt cellar, mustard pot, and pepper caster.
Use the lavatory before sitting down for dinner. It is considered poor form to leave the table during dinner.
You will notice that there will be fewer eating utensils laid on the table than what we may experience at a formal dinner in North America. The royal table is laid with the utensils for the first two courses, and the other utensils are brought in with the subsequent courses.
For stemware there will be a water goblet, white wine glass, red wine glass, port glass and two champagne glasses – one to be used for toasts and the other for the pudding course. Hold the stemware by the stem. When toasting raise your glass but don’t clink and definitely don’t clink glasses to get the newlyweds to kiss.
Don’t be confused by the pudding course and dessert course. The pudding course is what North Americans call dessert. The dessert course follows the pudding course and is what we would call the fruit course.
When the dessert course is about to be served you will be presented with a dessert plate which will have a finger bowl placed on a serviette and a fruit knife and fork. Take the knife and fork and place them on the sides of the plate and then lift the finger bowl and serviette to the left of the plate. After the dessert course is served and eaten you will use the finger bowl.
2011-04-28
All things come full circle and in fashion we see styles that were popular years earlier eventually making a return. But these days it’s not just the styles that are returning, but the famous models of the past are popping up on runways and advertising campaigns around the world. The market for boomer models is booming. Quite an evolution for an industry that not long ago considered a 25 year old as “too old.”
The desire to return to these models from the past has nothing to do with nostalgia, and everything to do with money. There’s power in numbers, and the large baby boomer population has huge spending power. Once an ignored demographic by advertisers the boomer client now has clout. Companies worldwide have had to rethink how to reach their so called “mature” customer.
Fashion designers and retailers are finally waking up and realizing that a 40 plus year old woman has a difficult time relating to a 14 year old modelling an outfit. Let’s face it, do you want to wear your daughters or granddaughters dress? Can you identify with a young girl being the face of a major skincare line promoting youthful skin. I doubt she has any influence on you purchasing the product.
I grew up idolizing Twiggy in Seventeen and Lauren Hutton on the pages of Vogue. When in London last year, there were billboards everywhere with a 64 year old Twiggy, modelling for Marks & Spencer and Oil of Olay. Lauren Hutton also in her 60’s, recently walked the catwalk for Tom Ford and has campaigned for Chico’s and J.Crew. Andie MacDowell represents L’Oreal skincare and Kim Basinger is the face of Prada and Miu Miu. Christie Brinkley, now 51 is the face for Covergirl skincare. A skincare line that in the past catered almost exclusively to teens.
Perhaps the most elegant of them all is the gray haired Carmen Dell’Orefice who in her 70’s is the world’s oldest working model. Looking at a recent ad she did for Rolex you can see why photographer Francesco Scavullo said, "I think she got sexier as she got older." The caption for the ad reads “Class is forever.”
It’s quite obvious to see that many of the pictures have been touched up and many of the faces have been pulled up. Regardless, they represent us over 40 women, who are beautiful, elegant, stylish and sexy at any age.
2011-02-21
