Meeting of the Mine

Hey Gang,

I have realized that my last several blog posts have been less corporate trainer and more Cathy Gainer.  I want to fix that in this week's post.  If I ever do get a job with a corporation (Hopefully one that is a bit lenient with the background checks.) I imagine that I would have to attend and god-willing someday conduct meetings.  I am assuming that there is an art to hosting meetings, so the following are tips to make your company powwows great...probably.

Make Meeting A Surprise

We all have busy schedules and hectic lives, so who wouldn't want a pop-meeting? (It's like a pop-quiz but with a boardroom.)  Having unexpected and surprise meetings will help keep the workforce on its toes.  If the company's workflow is productive, predictable and profitable...shake things up and demand an impromptu huddle.

Listen To The Loud People

There are always going to be "those" people in a meeting...the "no-it-alls", the
"buttinskys" and the "jokesters."  They are the ones that interrupt and get the conversations off topic.  Be sure to embrace them!  Yes, the title of your conference may be "Ways to Be More Efficient" but if someone can bring up why Shannon always cooks fish in the break room microwave, then by all means...listen.  These people need the attention.

Throw That Agenda Out

Why have an organized list of issues and timelines, if you can just scat it out?  If you have assembled your coworkers in one space, then you should randomly jump from topic to topic.  If questions arise during  the meeting, address them head on rather than discussing anything at a later date. (Also, be aware of the people you have in the room.  If Shannon can be confronted about microwaving fish in front of her peers, than all the better.)

Have More Meeting Stemming From The Last Meeting

If you can run and effective and efficient meeting,  just think what you can do with another meeting...and another meeting and so on.  It's like a Russian nesting doll, you can't just conduct one get-together without making it multiply.  Remember, what you can accomplish in one gathering, you can also accomplish in four!

Hope this helps.  Stay awake, kids!

Cathy Gainer Corporate Trainer

We Got a Sponsor!

Hey Gang,

Our video this week is all about our new sponsor!!!

Prattle With a Purpose

Hey Gang,

Social media has become a part of our culture over the last decade.  It's fun to see people from my old  high school talk about their careers and post photos of their family while I am nestled in my Gremlin each night. Although, there is a lot of  time wasted on these apps, social media does have its negative side too.  Much like a family holiday table, some social media outlets can be a screaming match about politics, religion and sport team mascots. (Why are most team mascots only limited to mammals?  There are some fierce insects out there that can represent any school or civic association...don't get me started, that's  how I ruined the last Gainer Family Arbor Day celebration.)

NEW MEDIA PLATFORMS AND STDS!

I got to thinking, what if I could invent a social media platform that was only used for light and happy conversations?  I would call if the, Small Talker Database. Instead of people in your group being labeled as "friends" or "followers", they would just be fellow "STD Partners".  Once you sign up and log-in, you can either accept an STD or reach out to someone and ask them to accept your STD.  I think it would spread like wildfire!

SUGGESTED TOPICS ONLY

Small Talker Database wouldn't be open to just any type of conversation, the topics would be limited to only things that are non-controversial.  To keep everyone on point, moderators would be assigned, just like on Reddit.  The moderators would take their responsibilities seriously and be militant about their duties, just like on Reddit.  All topics would be limited to: weather, food, pets, babies, baby pets, gas prices and recent celebrity deaths.

SAY WHAT YOU MEME

Memes are those hilarious pictures with captions underneath them.  Some are of Kermit The Frog or Willy Wonka or other people who got famous for just being memes.  Sometimes memes are funny, some are poignant and some contain dangerously ignorant false information. I want to limit the memes for the STD partners as well.  Below would be some acceptable memes for my new network!

WEATHER

WORKPLACE HUMOR

The office can be a tricky place to mix with social media, but not if you're an STD partner!  The following are some good fun Safe-For-Work Memes!

If anyone out there is interested being an STD Partner with me and knows how to set up and operate a social platform, give me holler!

Stay Awake Kids,

Cathy Gainer Corporate Trainer

The Teaser Podcast!

Hey Gang,

I learned this fun thing called a "teaser"!  Watch this pod-cast lure you in with its tricky suggestiveness!

I've Got Sunshine In My Pocket and On My Blog!

Hey Gang,

I want to take this opportunity to thank the nifty folks at traveloptician.com who nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award.

Like all things in life, this honor comes with fun stipulations. The following are the
Sunshine Blogger Award Rules:

The Sunshine Blogger award is given by bloggers to bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in the blogging community.

The rules are:

1. Thank blogger(s) who nominated you for a blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate up to 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog

There are a following questions from traveloptician.com and I would love to answer them now! 

1. Are you a full – time blogger? I prefer to call myself a fun-time blogger.  Do I work 40 hours a week on it? No.  Do I get a salary from it? No. Do I have health insurance that includes death and disability coverage?  No. Do my parents mention this blog when they are out to dinner with friends and my name comes up? No. Do I have fun with blogging? You bet I do!
2. How you get into blogging? I have always been a fan of the great Tony Robbins.  I tried becoming a motivational speaker.  I rented out several arenas to put on my seminars.  No tickets were sold, so I figured the next best thing to would be to start a blog. 
3. Your favorite coulor? If you have seen any of my podcasts, you would see that I wear a signature canary yellow blazer.  I do love yellow, but on occasion I also enjoy saffron, mustard and gold.
4. What is your biggest dream? It is usually the one where I forget that I have a test and when I show up to class I am not wearing a shirt.  After a while people start chasing me, then I fall off of a building and then I wake up.  Night terrors, am I right?
5. How you pick up what you’re going to write next about?  I usually think about what is going on in the world both economically and politically, wonder how it affects me and society in general.  Or sometimes I just write about what I ate for breakfast
6. If you could appear in any magazine for your blog, which one would it be? I like the magazines by the check-out stand.  I would like to be featured feuding with the Kardashians and having my recent weight loss be widely speculated about.
7. What inspired you to start your blog?  I heard it was free and you couldn't get fired from it.
8. What is a success for you? I don't measure success in money, or job security or even happiness.  I measure it using the metric system, it is so much easier to deal in 10s, 100s and 1000s.
9. What would you do if you didn’t blog? I would probably go back to writing in my online journal. 
10. What do you do when you need to clear your mind?  I find a comfortable space, close my eyes and picture my bank account...vast and empty.
11. Who has the biggest influence on you? One word...Anthony Robbins

My Nominees: 

Adrian Long from https://angjellockheart.blogspot.com

Paul De Lancey from https://pauldelancey.com

Donna Cavanaugh from https://humoroutcasts.com/

Sarah Dew from https://asimpleandcontentedlife.com

Grace Swain from http://www.beuniful.com

Heidi Clements from https://welcometoheidi.wordpress.com

Lydia Samson from https://allmychaosbylydia.wordpress.com

Mama from http://www.mamawritesreviews.com

Cristy from http://happyfamilyblog.com/

The Twins from https://linktr.ee/twinspirationalparties

Ariana Huffington from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/


My 11 Questions are:

1. Do you think I'm pretty?

2. What is your proudest blog moment?

3. If you could be any forest creature, which one would it be and why?

4. What are some ways that you market your blog?

5. Oprah or Gail?

6. Do you feel like the blog industry is over-saturated, if so, what can be done to streamline the way blogs are posted?

7. If you could bare-knuckle punch one person, without fear of repercussion, who would it be?

8. What is the best way to get sponsors for your blog?

9. Chewbaka or Warf?

10. Do you feel that living in a time of blogging and You-Tubing helps ambitious people jump the industry and produce quality entertainment and knowledge?

11.  Has the world had enough of pumpkin spiced foods or will there be a resurgence? 

Congrats to all the nominees this far! To my nominees, don’t forget to include a logo on your own. You can find one or make your own like I did. Here are some logos to choose from.

I hope you enjoyed this short nomination post! Stay Awake Kids!

Cathy Gainer Corporate Trainer

The First Partnership Podcast!

Hey Gang,
After our big truce, we made a collaborative podcast! 

All in Favor, Say Pink Aye

Hey Gang,

2018 has been a lot of fun so far!  It has brought us an exciting Super Bowl, the upcoming Olympics and a horrible flu season.  I heard that a local elementary school is having a pink-eye epidemic.  It makes me sad to think of a school building full of children with big puffy eyes.  How are they supposed to read the chalk board or clap the erasers?  Maybe the school should find a group of pirates who would be willing to donate their old eye patches to the kids? I also thought it would be a cool and hep idea to call it P!nk Eye, in honor of the pop-star.  I suggested all of these ideas to the principal, she told me that since I have no children to leave the campus and never come back.  Education is so important.

It made me curious about what this medical phenomena is so I went to the information source that everyone goes to in the 21st century...a set of  World Book encyclopedias.  Apparently is an optic virus that makes an eye itchy, sore and light red. (Why it wasn't name Light-Red Eye, I will never know.)  Its medical name is conjunctivitis, which makes me think of a conjunction and a vitamin.  It is as if  the words "and", "but" or "so" took a calcium chew.  Words are nifty!

Be careful out there, kids.  Try not to rub your eyes for the next 3 months.  You don't want to get the influenza, the conjunctivitis or Dorito dust all over your face. (That often happens to me during my brunching hour.)

Stay Awake and Stay Healthy,

Cathy Gainer Corporate Trainer

The Truce Podcasat

Hey Gang,

This podcast may have some audio issues, but also has heart...I have finally come to a truce with Sandusky Sally and we will be BPP (Best Podcasting Partners)!