Pig Personality Test

I've been going to a series of training for the Leadership Development Program at OSU. Sounds pretty fancy, but basically it is How to Be a Supervisor at OSU. I've learned all kinds of great stuff, mainly about how to not get sued by my employees.

I went to a session last semester on communication skills. Our presenter started out with a strange little personality test. I'd never taken this particular one before. So, I'm going to invite you to take it along with me, and I'll use my test as the example.

Start by taking out a blank piece of paper. Now, draw a pig. Yeah, weird, I know, but that is all the instructions you get. No peeking ahead! You go draw; I'll wait here.











Ready? Ok.

Here's my piggy.

1. Where is the pig in proportion to the page? Mine's in the top left corner.
   Toward the top of the paper, you are positive and optimistic. That's me!
   Toward the middle, you are a realist.
   Toward the bottom, you are pessimistic, and have a tendency to behave negatively.
2. Which direction does your pig face? Mine is facing straight ahead.
   Facing left, you believe in tradition, are friendly, and remember dates (birthdays, etc.)
   Facing right, you are innovative and active, but don't have a strong sense of family, nor do you remember dates.
   Facing front (looking at you), you are direct, enjoy playing devil's advocate and neither fear nor avoid discussions. Yeah, that sounds about right.
3. How detailed is your drawing? I guess mine is fairly detailed. He has a little house and a sun.
   With many details, you are analytical, cautious, and distrustful. Yea, probably so, although this one doesn't sound so nice.
   With few details, you are emotional and naive, you care little for details and are a risk-taker.
4. How many legs does your pig have? I tried really hard to draw my pig with just 3 legs, you know, perspective and all, but in the end it bothered me and I quickly added in the fourth leg. Because, pigs have four legs!
   With less than 4 legs showing, you are insecure or are living through a period of major change.
   With 4 legs showing, you are secure, stubborn, and stick to your ideals. Um, yeah, me again.
5. How big are the ears? Ugh, another relative question. I think my pig's ear are just the right size. Not big, not small, just average.
   The size of the ears indicates how good a listener you are. The bigger the better. I guess that means I'm average.
6. How long is the pig's tail (if there even is one)? Seriously? it's long enough! Our presenter said if it has 3 or more curls, then it's a long tail. Ok, fine, my pig has a long tail.
   The length of the tail indicates the quality of your sex life. Again more is better. Um, no comment.
   

Colorless and Mushy? Sounds Delish.

I'm now two months into my adventure in adult orthodontia. A lot of the things that bothered me at first have subsided. I don't lisp anymore and my mouth doesn't feel like it's full of razor blades.

One thing, really the only thing, that is still really annoying about the InvisAlign is how incredibly difficult it is to snack. You're not suppose to take the trays out any "more than necessary," and you're suppose to keep them in 22 hours a day. Add in the time it takes to brush both your teeth and the trays every time you take them out and you find yourself labeling a lot of food "not worth the effort of eating."

For me this is totally bizarre. I love food. And, I am not myself when I get hungry. Seriously, you won't like me when I'm hungry.

Luckily, I can drink "cool, colorless" things. So, I've decided if it doesn't require chewing, that's the same things as drinking. I went on a quest for colorless, mushy (hopefully, yummy) snacks to help get through the next 10 months. I'm really more of a crunchy snack kind of gal, that's why it took 2 months for this idea to occur to me.

So far, I've stocked my snack cabinet with applesauce, vanilla pudding and jello. Any more ideas? Help me out! I need things that require absolutely no chewing.

Healthy Campus Initative Just Got Awesomer

On and off for the last decade plus I have worked at OSU, I have shelled out for a membership at either the Colvin Center (our massive student gym) or the Wellness Center (our small employee gym). I hate choosing between the two. Both are great in different ways.

The Colvin has greater quantity and more kinds of equipment, but much bigger crowds. The Wellness is small, but very clean and rarely crowded. The Colvin has better hours, but lately the Wellness has won out because exercising with the 50+ crowd makes me feel better than exercising with all 18-year-olds.

Now, thanks to OSU's healthy campus initiative I don't have choose and even better I don't have to shell out! The Colvin and Wellness are consolidating and employees get free membership. That's two kinds of awesome.

I appreciate that OSU publicly states a mission to be the healthiest campus in the nation. More than that, I appreciate all the things they do to make that happen: being tobacco-free (well, mostly), healthy(-er) food options, free health screenings, supplemented health insurance, group exercise events. But this, free gym access, has been a long time coming.

Thanks, OSU! My tush and my wallet thank you too.

Couldn't Say It Better Myself

After this week's announcement of the death of Bin Laden, I have steadily become more and more disappointed with the reactions of the American media and citizens. Although, I try to keep my blog fairly apolitical (my husband would say that's impossible because everything is political), I had decided I wanted to blog about my own reaction here.

I wasn't quite sure where to start. As I was organizing my thoughts on this topic, I came across this article. It says it perfectly. It's everything I wanted to say here.

The Psychology of Revenge: Why We Should Stop Celebrating Osama Bin Laden’s Death by Pamela Gerloff, Ed.D.

My Mixed Reaction to UK PR Stunt

If the blog decides to hate this embed, you can view it via YouTube

I love a good PR stunt, a fact I occasionally document here on the blog. It's difficult to plan a good one, one that goes far enough to get attention and not be lame, but not so far that you damage your reputation by being unprofessional. To make matters more complicated, everyone draws that line in a different place.

That brings me to the mixed reaction I have over the PR stunt above. I read about this in PR Daily. Basically, PR pro, Charlotte Horsfall, posted a video to the company's YouTube channel begging a reporter to feature her client MyVoucherCodes Mobile App. The media didn't seem impressed, tweeting things such as "Clearly only one way I can respond to @charlotteyeti's plea. Video camera is out..." and "@KieranAlger Whatever you do don't feature @CharlotteYeti's client."

My initial reaction: Posting a video plea seems really unprofessional, and if you aren't getting coverage, the better tactic seems to be to ask yourself why. Then I watched the video, and maybe I was wrong about it. She is obviously poking fun at herself, it's not a serious grovel. And I'm left wondering if the fuss over her actions will actually land her client considerable coverage (I certainly opted to give them plenty of linky-love in my description).

Some are applauding the stunt, the first comment on the YouTube video suggests this is award-worthy. Still, was it worth it? When this little stunt blows over, she is going to be left trying to pitch to same the reporters who were slamming her actions on twitter. I think the real test of success lies in whether she burnt any bridges with the media she depends on to get her job done.

What do you think, thumbs up, thumbs down? Charlotte, if you're reading, I'd love to hear your personal take on it.

APR Tuesday Tip: Out puts, takes, growth and comes

If today's title left you head scratching, then you're not alone. I came across the evaluation concept of outputs, outtakes, outgrowth and outcomes while I was studying for my APR. I brought it up in a study session; no one knew what I was talking about. But, because I was a total OCD PR geek when I was prepping for the test, I added it to the study cards.

And you know what? It was on the test. It was on there in that sneaky if-you-don't-know-this-then-you-don't-even-know-they-are-asking-it kind of way a lot of things are on the test.

Front: Outputs

Back: Part of the evaluation concept of out-puts, takes, growths and comes

Short-term results of a piece. Focus is on how well org. presents itself and amount of exposure. Ex: placements or impressions.

Front: Outtakes

Back: Part of the evaluation concept of out-puts, takes, growths and comes

Measure of effectiveness focusing on audiences receiving, paying attention, understanding and then retaining and recalling.

Front: Outgrowths

Back: Part of the evaluation concept of out-puts, takes, growths and comes

Culminate effect of all pieces on positioning of org. in the minds of stakeholders.

Front: Outcomes

Back: Part of the evaluation concept of out-puts, takes, growths and comes

Long-term measure of effectiveness by focusing on changing opinions, attitudes and/or behavior as a result of a campaign.

Brace Yourself

After years of prodding from my dentist, months and financially planning and weeks of waiting for delivery, I finally started Invisalign braces this week. I'm so glad to be official started. The process will take a year (paying it off will take much longer), and the sooner I get started the sooner I'll be done.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, instead of traditional wire braces, you shift your teeth by using a series of clear retainer-like trays. You wear the trays 20-22 hours a day and take them out only to eat and brush. This, it turns out, is an even bigger hassle than I anticipated. I expect it'll get much easier though.

Observations so far:

• Ouch. Today I almost spit out a piece of broccoli because it hurt too much to eat it. If I had been alone I probably would have. It didn't occur to me until the day before that this would probably hurt. It does, but after seeing so many friends have braces, I don't think it hurts as much as that seemed to.
  
• Some people still need anchors, usually just couple. I got 11! I keep seeing them referred to as "buttons." Not exactly, buttons are cute. This is more like my teeth now have teeth. The upside of these is that it makes having the trays out pretty uncomfortable, so I want to put them back in as soon as I'm done eating.
  
  
  
• I'm definitely going to lose a few pounds. See first 2 points.
• I notice them, a lot. I can see them in the mirror, and I feel like I have a horrible lisp. No one else seems to notice much. Maybe they are just being nice.
  
  
• From a few feet away, they really are basically invisible, which is exactly what I was going for.