Inter-Office Odyssey

Team Spirit Day at MHA

On Friday, Oct. 9, MHA held a Team Spirit Day. For a $5 donation to the American Cancer Society, staff could wear their favorite team jersey and jeans!

All money earned will be donated to Breast Cancer Awareness. Terri and Morgan are participating in a race for this very worthy cause on October 31st.

See the full-size pictures here.

Soliloquy of an Association Executive

This was sent out on the MSAE listserve. I thought all of us could enjoy! ;)

Soliloquy of an Association Executive
By Mark A. Miller, CMP

I am an Association Executive.

I have an advanced degree in Public Relations, Human Relations, Business Management, Political Science, Marketing, Graphic Arts, Hotel Management and Marriage and Family Counseling.

I can instantly recognize the voices of all of my members over the phone, and can recite from memory the exact date of their dues renewal and whether they've signed up their spouse or a significant other for the Annual Banquet.

On demand, I can relate the exact voting histories of every Legislator on every voting issue that was, might have been, would have been, could have been or should have been of interest to my members.

The media calls me a Special Interest, but that doesn't make me feel special.

I can make a meeting room both warmer and colder at the same time.

I can predict the exact number of people that will attend a banquet, three days before I even set foot inside the meeting facility.

I will go out of my way to negotiate a $49.00 rental for a $42,000 Lincoln Town Car for a 24-hour period --- but will readily accept a $65.00 rental for a $400 VCR for 20 minutes of use.

I take personal blame for poor mail delivery, high gas prices, long check-in lines, poor airline service, wrong zip codes, over-regulation of government, under-regulation of government and ethnic conflicts around the globe.

I have enough Frequent Flyer points to fly around the world, but don't have enough time or money to get off the plane.

I am expected to smile, empathize, sympathize, console, be political, be apolitical (and know when to do which), sing, dance, program the computer and fix the copier.

I am an Association Executive; I can do all these things and many more, while still finding time to take every phone call from my members.

# # #

Note: Mark Miller can be contacted at markamiller@nettally.com or 850/201-2622. (He is still an association executive, by the way.)

Barbies in a Box

Robin Powell's daughters, Jess Powell and Heather Abbott, were "Barbies in a Box" in a recent Halloween contest. And they won, of course!

Thanks to Robin for starting us out. This week, we will be posting pictures of staff, kids, grandkids, pets, nieces and nephews all decked out for Halloween.

Borders/Waldenbooks offering Health/Fitness Professionals Discount Jan. 20-23

Coupon attached below.

Link to online coupon: www.bordersstores.com/healthcare.

Download healthcare_fax_sheet_0106_.doc

Top 10 Office Resolutions for 2006

New Year's is the time for resolutions of various types, and the office - where we spend so much time - is a place much neglected in the tradition of New Year’s Resolutions. But not this year. IBT-USA, Inc asked their clients and associates around the United States “What’s on your TOP 10 list of things you would like to improve, learn, or change in your office for 2006?”

The following are IBT-USA’s TOP 10 OFFICE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS for 2006:

1. Don’t let email run my life
2. Eat lunch at lunch time – and not in my office
3. Fall in love with my “Delete Key” & learn the power of “Right Clicking”
4. Take time each day to think and plan my work
5. No scroll bar in my email “In-Box” at the end of the day
6. Respect my time and the time of others
7. Set & keep appointments on my calendar to read and do my own work
8. Spend more time with my family
9. Get organized so I stop wasting time looking for things I can’t find
10. Get fit - both physically and mentally - it relieves stress

So what do you think we need to add to MHA's Office Resolutions for 2006? Add suggestions in the comments!

An Office Tool for the McGyver Set

10-in-1 multi-functional office tool: scissors, stapler, punch, carton-opener, flathead & phillips screwdriver, nail file, tape measure, pencil sharpener, LED light. 

1st annual Halloween Contest

All of the pictures from our 1st annual Halloween contest are here. Congratulations to the following winners...

Overall Winner: HPI Group as the Wizard of Oz cast

Cutest: Sandy Caves as Opie

Scariest: Dee as the Tree from the Wizard of Oz

Closest to Character: The only tie... Charles and Mary as The Farmer and His Wife and Steve as The Tin Man

Most Creative: The Three Little Pigs

Congratulations to all of the winners - and there's always next year for the rest of us! ;)

Is Your Bottle a Bootle?

If your water bottle isn’t a Bootle™ then your desk is probably wet and your ice is melted. It’s the perfect water bottle for work. The lid is split for easy on/off and it’s double insultated to keep your iced-whatever cool - and your desk dry.

[ via Big Jim ]

Camera Fun

I left the golf tournament to work on NewsWeekly - and left the camera with others for a change. And look what happens. Y'all just go crazy. ;)

Moods Mousepad

To match our ever-popular MHA mood magnets, an oversized mood mousepad. Never worry about expressing your emotions at work again, whether you feel great, good, so-so or brain-dead. ;) $10.95 here.

[ via book of joe ]