A resource For You
December 15 is national Wear Your Pearls Day in the U.S. Far from a frivolous salute to a gem that is the unofficial symbol of the protocol profession, the day has a deeper meaning whose symbolism correlates nicely with what…
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I have a great resource for you. It’s the protocol officer’s association, an amazing organization for special events planners, chiefs of staff, people who work in government relations, international affairs, for hospitals, corporations, the military, who manage official residences, and…
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The January 6 House Select Committee hearings have yielded shocking revelations, but one of the biggest disappointments for me is learning that many of our highest-ranking officials and their staffers have extremely limited vocabularies. I’m talking about the ubiquitous use…
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Tuesday is George Washington’s birthday and while most things many Americans assume to be true about him are not (no, his false teeth were not made from wood and he didn’t chop down the cherry tree), there is one…
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According to the BBC, 13.6 million people in the UK paused their lives to watch Saturday’s televised funeral service for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They were joined by another 7.5 million people globally who watched online. The interest shows…
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Being cooped up in my World Headquarters (aka my home office) has made me thoroughly sick of videoconferencing, texts, and e-mails. Can we just talk? A simple phone call would solve most communication needs and have the added benefit…
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Last week Americans got a lesson in the important role parliamentarians play in ensuring that organizations do things according to their established rules. Elizabeth MacDonough, parliamentarian of the U.S. Senate, ruled that a proposal to raise the minimum wage could…
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Revoking an honorary degree is a very serious and highly unusual occurrence but that is exactly what Middlebury College, an elite private school in Vermont, did in January. Rudy Giuliani, the college’s commencement speaker and honorary degree recipient in 2005…
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Eagle-eyed ceremony planners no doubt noticed a traditional symbol was missing from the platform at President Biden’s inauguration. The Mace of the Republic which symbolizes the authority of the House of Representatives was not present. On a typical inauguration day,…
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January had already begun and I hadn’t decided on a New Year’s resolution. After last week’s violence in Washington, D.C., I now know what it is: To conscientiously practice civility. I believe the uncivil, nasty, screaming, name-calling, suspicion-building, “cancelling” devolution…
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