When I asked my staff what they were thankful for, this is what they said:

“Thank you so much to my HJMT family. I have amazing co-workers that know just how to put a huge smile on my face.” Lisa Gordon, VP

“I am thankful for my family and friends who have been amazing and supportive of me all year!” Lori Alexy, VP

“I’m grateful for my family and friends that love me and who I love so much, my wonderful boyfriend, an awesome job and my health!” Ellen Heydt, Project Manager

“For being able to get the fullest out of life including being a mom, a wife, a pr executive, a leader, and a friend,” Kristie Galvani, Senior VP

“I’m thankful to be continuously surrounded by wonderful people in my life,” Jillian Beroza, Art Director

“I’m grateful for the readers of my blog and my social community friends,” Hilary JM Topper, President

And you?  What are you thankful for?

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to think that you just received an academy award for all the hard work you do every day. If I received an academy award, this is what I would say:

I just want to thank our clients who we served this year.  You have been wonderful, stimulating and have given us a sense of pride in what we do every day!

I want to thank our amazing HJMT staff.  Your dedication and devotion to our clients is truly appreciated.  And you know what? You always make me look good!

I also want to thank the reporters, producers, writers and bloggers who we work with every day for your trust, respect, support and friendship.

I want to thank our business friends for giving us referrals and acknowledging that we are good at what we do.

On a personal note, I want to thank my friends, my trainer, the editors at Blogcritics.org, and my entire social networking community.

I want to thank my husband, children and entire family for their support accepting that my life is crazy but don’t care because they love me.

Lastly, I want to thank the academy for giving me this award!

I get the feeling that the music would have started in the middle of my speech but since this is a blog I get to say (or at least write) what I would say!

Related articles

• I’m Thankful For… by Kristie Galvani (hilarytopper.com)

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I decided to share a list (I’ll try and keep it small) of the things I am most thankful for:

1. My Family & Friends – Including my 10-month old son who has brought so much joy into our lives.
2. My Job – I love working at HJMT. It is exciting and stimulating every day.
3. My Boss – Hilary is a great boss and a great mentor. It has been amazing to work for her for 10 years (that’s right 10 years in July – doesn’t time fly)
4. My Co-Workers – For being great at what they do and getting our client’s outstanding results.
5. My Clients – For being respectful and appreciative.
6. Social Media – For giving us a new way to get the word out for our clients.
7. New Business Prospects -  Who actually get back to me and give me an answer – either way.
8. New Business Prospects – Who get back to me and say yes – the ones who hire us and become clients.

I could go on and on. 2010 has been a great year for me and I am hopeful that 2011 will be an even better one.

I want to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey and remember what you are thankful for.

Related articles

• Getting Fired or Dumped? By Kristie Galvani (hilarytopper.com)
• Working Together In One Space? By Kristie Galvani (hilarytopper.com)
• Too Much Hopium? by Kristie Galvani (hilarytopper.com)
• All About Sales? By Kristie Galvani (hilarytopper.com)

Do you tweet regularly during conferences and seminars?

Oftentimes, the organizers want you to tweet and give you a hashtag (#) so that all the comments filter into one place.  But who gets benefit out of this?  The conference organizers, the tweeters or the presenters?

I asked my social networking community what their thoughts were.  Here’s the response I got:

“Tweeting during a conference is a good way to share with non-attendees and to those at the conference to hook up.” Arthur Germain, title

“As long as you are not distracting, conference tweeting brings added value to the event!” Jody Fisher, title

“I like tweeting at conferences it helps jell things. But sometimes can be distracting!”Ishara Kotagama, www.bizzy.com.

Other people in my social community have told me in confidence that they find it way too distracting.  They find it difficult to concentrate seeing others tweeting while trying to listen to the speaker. Or, trying to listen to the speaker while tweeting.

I’ve done it many times.  I find it a bit distracting too.  I do think it takes away from the speaker because the speaker doesn’t have your undivided attention.  But, on the other hand, it enables you to meet and network with people in the room.

What do you think?  Do you Tweet during conferences and seminars?  Why?

Did you ever send out an email and not get a response back?  Where does the email go? Does it go into the receiver’s junk mail box? Or, did the receiver receive the email and delete it?

I often wonder about that because I send out a lot of emails.  And, most of the time, I don’t get a response.  This is really annoying to me because I either have to send a follow up email or call the person until they respond.

The other day, one of my staff members received an email file from a local car dealer. The dealer wanted an ad in a charity journal that we were putting together.  The ad came in looking very similar to the original Volkswagen ad of the 1960′s.  It had a car and very little text.

The staff member sent the file to our graphics department where they placed the original file in the journal for print.   A couple of days ago, my staff member received a nasty email from the dealer.  He wanted his money back on the charity ad and said some hurtful things in the email.

I found out that the file he sent over was the wrong type of file and the verbiage didn’t show up on the ad.  When the staff members reviewed the original ad they saw no words, just a photo of the car and a logo from the dealer. They double checked and assumed that the ad was correct and placed it into the journal with more than a hundred other ads.

I called the dealer.  I was ready to offer him his $250 back.  I wouldn’t let the charity pay for the ad, it just wasn’t right. I left a message for him.  Interestingly, I had purchased a car from that same dealer five years earlier.

The dealer never called me back.  I wonder if by sending the nasty email he thought that would do the trick.  He obviously didn’t want to address the issue personally.

I find that happens with a lot of people.  They don’t want to tell you something negative in person, they feel more comfortable leaving nasty messages or nasty emails and when you call them back, they don’t pick up the phone.

Please share your experiences with me…