Audio Video Intelligence founders James Shapiro and Allan Waldorf have been recognized for their outstanding smart home and commercial business services and provide property owners with better control over sound, video, lighting, and security. “Welcome to your electronic lifestyle” is the greeting customers see on a large, inviting sign when they enter the showroom. This is a fitting introduction to the business, which offers customers a world of electronic solutions to fit their home and business needs, from smart automation to audio and visual, security and surveillance, networking, intelligent lighting, and more.

James and Allan have been friends since sixth grade. Read the conversation with James about how the business got started and how he and Allan have grown it over the years.

The post Storytelling for a Marketing Firm appeared first on Beetle Press.

I help the leaders of Thornes Marketplace in Northampton, Massachusetts, by writing press releases that focus in on shop owners and also announce new events or milestones. After the release is sent to the media, I repurpose the material as a blog that gets posted on the Thornes website. The blog below was written this summer, after Thornes announced its reopening.

Sharon Cohen, the owner of Footbeats for Women on the main level of Thornes Marketplace, entered her fourth year in business on July 1. It’s a difficult time, but like all merchants in our eclectic shopping center, Sharon is working hard to reach customers and ensure their safety.

Thornes reopened for business on June 8 after putting many new protocols and equipment in place, including air filters that heighten air quality, foggers that sanitize the building nightly, and door monitors at each of the two open entrances to ensure that people entering Thornes wear masks and sanitize their hands. Thornes also installed hands-free door openers on bathroom doors.

Without college students and tourists from out of town, business is slower than is typical for this time of year, but customers are returning steadily. Shops owners such as Sharon, who have also instituted countless safety measures, are happy to see them.

“We’ve revamped the way the store is laid out to promote social distancing,” Sharon says. “Shoppers are saying, ‘I just wanted to shop with somebody locally.’ We’re hearing a lot of that. I think that’s awesome.”

After Thornes—and most retail and other industries statewide—were shut down this spring due to COVID-19, Sharon launched a website at footbeatsforwomen.com, so customers could still purchase her shoes. She made deliveries to peoples’ homes.

Every Friday afternoon, she also began using Facebook live to talk about shoes in stock and offer commentary on trends and new styles. “I pick them off the displays on the wall and talk about them. Customers would text and ask questions about cost or size,” she says, noting she will likely continue that practice. “We tried new, inventive ways to meet the customers.”

Sharon also says when customers try on a pair of shoes in the store, if they are leather and cannot be sanitized, they are put in quarantine for 24 hours, as per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) guidelines.

Thornes itself has the safety of shoppers, store owners, and staff at the forefront as it expands and flexes systems and operations.

“Thornes has done a lot to prepare for our opening, and we continue to stay educated and follow safety protocols,” Thornes Co-President Richard Madowitz says. “We are receiving consistent positive feedback from shoppers on the cleanliness of the building and their comfort. We are providing a safe environment.”

He adds, “We have installed iWave ionizing air filters in all AC air handlers in the building to ensure high air quality, and we’ve purchased foggers that allow us to do extensive sanitizing overnight, while we are closed.”

Masks are available at the two open entrances, which are on Main Street and at the skywalk to and from the parking garage. “Masks are not required for those with medical conditions that prevent them from wearing one,” Rich adds.

All shared tables and chairs on the building’s second and third floors, such as Share Coffee’s seating, have been removed, and directional arrows on the floors separate traffic and promote social distancing, as do stanchions throughout.

“Signage is everywhere,” Rich stresses. “Each store is managing its state-mandated capacity count, and Thornes itself is managing the state-mandated capacity counts for its common spaces without shops.”

Every morning before work, all Thornes staff follow CDCP protocols, running through a COVID-19 readiness checklist before reporting for work.

All shops in Thornes are open daily.

Thornes Marketplace has been the cornerstone of downtown Northampton and at the center of the Main Street shopping district for more than a century. Built in 1873, it holds 55,000 square feet of space for merchants and includes features like pressed tin ceilings and hardwood floors.

The post Helping a Client Promote a Reopening and New Safety Protocols appeared first on Beetle Press.

Both of my businesses were thriving when COVID-19 first showed itself in this country. I had a long list of ongoing projects through Beetle Press and had two manuscripts in the works for clients through Janice Beetle Books.

Then, clients cancelled events. Promoting them and other services became a moot point in the face of reacting to the spread of the pandemic. My Beetle Press clients were scrambling to learn how to interact with clients remotely; my Janice Beetle Books clients were watching their investments shrink. Within a week, my work load came to a complete and utter halt.

My inbox was empty, no matter how many times I checked it. My to-do list had only a few, non-essential items on it.

I spent a day freaking out, and then I got my shit back together. I decided I would relax for a change. Do things I enjoy doing, tick through projects for my own businesses, and get to those manuscripts I’ve had on hold.

I made a new to-do list, with only fun things at the top. These are some of the things I’ve gotten to so far:

My grandchildren. My daughter Sally had a baby 12 weeks premature on March 29. Phoibe Mae still weighs just shy of two pounds, and she is in the NICU of Baystate Health in Springfield for about five more weeks. My daughter was in the hospital for about a week before, and then right after, Phoibe was born; my son-in-law was at work (and grateful to have a job), and my grandson was home alone. Time spent on those days was keeping up with the evolving news, worrying, waiting, wringing my hands, checking in with Eli, trying to keep him company over the phone. Then, Phoibe was born, and, although frail and wee, she was healthy and strong. As a way to distract Eli, and to help Phoibe get to know me, I began reading picture books into the voice memo app on my phone. I text the stories to both of my daughters and Eli, and Sally reads the stories to Phoibe—one per day. Eli is 11, but I think he is listening as well—even though he will not admit it. So far I’ve read “Silly Sally,” a favorite of Sally’s; a Little Critter book about a boy with a little sister, a favorite of Eli’s; some Dr. Seuss; and very amusing, perverse stories by Florence Parry Heide in “Fables You Shouldn’t Pay Any Attention To” and “Tales for the Perfect Child.” Reading aloud to grandchildren is fun.

Phone calls. I never talk on the phone. I didn’t have time for social calls. For at least a decade, the phone has been a tool for communicating information quickly. For the past few weeks, it’s instead become a lifeline. I’ve called my mother daily about 4:30 in the afternoon. She’s in an assisted living facility and has been alone in her room for two weeks. She loves getting the call and chatting. She’s good for about 10 minutes, then she’s had enough! I’ve also spent time on the phone and FaceTiming with my brothers and their wives, once at cocktail time; with my daughters; and with Jacques’ mother, his brother, and Jacques’ children. Talking is fun.

Strolls down memory lane. In cleaning my file drawers in my office, I’ve stumbled on some fun things. Photos of a former home in Florence, Massachusetts; photos of my children when they were young; letters I’ve written to my children and others; and a printed excerpt from my book Divine Renovations that features Eli. Reminiscing is fun.

Workouts. Because the gyms are closed, Jacques and I have been working out together. Long, intense workouts that range from rowing on our rowing machine to walking and running on the treadmill. We lift weights, do boot-camp-style routines, and we are on Day 14 of the 30-day yoga challenge with Adrien. (Wanna try Adrien’s first of 30?) My daughter Molly’s friend Kaylie also has her own yoga program on YouTube. Extended workouts are fun.

Books. I’ve so far read “Small Great Things” by Jodi Picoult, a book on race relations that I found fascinating, and “Educated” by Tara Westover. This latter book is a breathtaking read you cannot put down. If you haven’t read it, please do. Other books on the list: “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah, and Laurie Halse Anderson’s “The Seeds of America Trilogy: Chains; Forge; Ashes,” and books by Fredrik Backman! Reading is fun.

Working on my businesses. I’ve written blogs, put out the March edition of my newsletter, managed a few incoming projects. Next up is tackling several on-hold manuscripts, including one on online dating. It’s fun to work on your business.

Phoibe. I have a new favorite pastime that involves Phoibe. It’s quite amazing.

What are you doing to distract yourself?

The post Time, Unlimited appeared first on Beetle Press.

For the past few years, I’ve been writing blogs for Florence Bank that shine a light on commercial bank customers—typically entrepreneurs who started their businesses and built them over time. The blogs post in a series called From the Ground Up. This particular post features the owners of Familiars Coffee & Tea in Northampton. 

Danny McColgan knew tea. His business and life partner, Isaac Weiner, had experience as a barista. Together, they had the passion, knowledge, experience, and good taste to run their own coffee house. But there were still many roadblocks to starting out on their own—fear and funding chief among them. 

Then, several years ago, Isaac’s father showed them a clip from the Wall Street Journal, a feature story highlighting peoples’ various regrets, by decade. Danny says, “The regret for people in their 20s was not taking enough risk when you had the time to bounce back.”

Danny, 28, and Isaac, 30, realized then they had the time to fail, change gears, and recover, if need be. So, they threw themselves into the hard work that eventually enabled them to become the owners of Familiars Coffee & Tea at 6 Strong Avenue in Northampton; Florence Bank is proud to have them as business customers.

Creating a dream

When Danny and Isaac put their energy into their dream, Danny had served as a manager at a loose-leaf tea retailer in Boston, and he held a bachelor’s in art history from the Mass College of Art and Design in the same city. Isaac had a solid resume in coffeehouse operations and management as well as a bachelor’s in religion and philosophy from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Isaac was relatively new to the Pioneer Valley; Danny grew up in Springfield. They had discovered what the area had to offer in terms of coffeehouses—and Isaac had worked in several—and they thought they could compete. “We knew it was time to take that terrifying jump,” Isaac says. 

The two developed an ironclad business plan, which they took to friends and family members to build financial support. Two years ago, with their own funds and those from others, they connected with Gary Perman, who owns the diner that houses Familiars. 

Preserving history

The lunch car was manufactured at a plant in Worcester in the 1930s. Over the years, it has housed Miss Northampton Diner, the Red Lion Diner, and, most recently, Kathy’s Diner.

Perman bought Kathy’s Diner from Kathy Tefft in 2013 and originally intended to raze it and build a parking lot. When he discovered the rich history, he decided to play to that strength. He signed a lease with Danny and Isaac, and, over two years, they brought new life to the property that Perman had already gutted.

Familiars opened in February, offering a wide range of quality coffees and teas as well as breakfast and lunch. The restaurant has a new floor plan as well as high-quality vintage highlights from antique wooden walls to steel and stone elements.

Building a brand 

With an abundance of coffee shops and cafes in the Northampton area, Danny and Isaac knew they needed a niche. What they came up with is a broad range of high-quality coffees and specialty teas, good food that is served “insanely fast”—for people who stop in on a break from work—,and excellent customer service. 

“We feel like having a marriage of all three of those aspects would make us stand out,” Danny says.

Customers tend to be people who work in downtown Northampton and run over to the coffee shop on a break, people who come in to sit and work or network, and people who simply enjoy eating in coffee shops. 

In working to meet the “good food” criteria, Danny and Isaac offer fresh foods and a variety of vegetarian and vegan options; avocados and tempeh bacon are featured in many menu items.

Produce comes from Boston markets, Hudson Valley, and the Pioneer Valley, when in season and available. Vegan cream cheese is purchased at Cornucopia in Northampton. 

Fears

Isaac says the biggest fear he and Danny have is letting down those who supported them. That will likely not be an issue, though. “We’re ahead of schedule,” Isaac says. “We hit our first-year income projections in the first six months. I do think it’s going very well.” 

The staff fluctuates between 10 to 15 people, depending on the season, which ebbs and flows as the region’s college students come and go. Danny says weather also affects the traffic in the diner. “Rain is worse than snow,” Danny says, noting people don’t want to run out for food on a rainy day. 

Both Danny and Isaac are grateful to Florence Bank, which holds the business’ bank account. “We thought it would be better for our brand to work with Florence Bank,” he says. “Florence Bank is not pushy. It has a relaxed way of guiding us as new businesspeople. We receive great customer service.”

Staff also come into the coffee shop to eat, and Isaac says it’s easy for one of them to run up to the corner to make a deposit. Also, when large purchases are necessary, it’s easy to put in a call to a Florence Bank staff person to increase the spending limit temporarily. 

Advice for young entrepreneurs

Young people starting off in business should know that it is every bit as hard as people say it is. Danny and Isaac spend 90 percent of their time at the diner, rarely experiencing time off together and working at least 12 or 13 hours at a time. 

They also say people should lean on friends and family for support ranging from funding to services. Their grassroots-friend-and-family efforts have provided them with free advice, ideas, and marketing and design services.

Currently, Danny and Isaac are involved in a rebranding that draws more on the building’s history, and they will soon launch a new website. “We’re excited with the direction we’re taking and excited we’re even able to pursue that,” Danny says.

The post Promoting a Client’s Client! appeared first on Beetle Press.

The Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction is a charitable organization in New Hampshire that I support by writing blogs and press releases. The auction raises money every December and distributes grants to children and families in need. This blog on volunteer Debbie Frawley Drake was used on the auction website and in its summer newsletter. I also sent the story out to the media in the Lakes Region, and it was picked up by several newspapers.

When children come to buy a bike or a toy for which they have saved their own money.

When men and women come with an item to donate that might be valued at under a few dollars, and they say, “This is all I have. Can you use it?”

When the many volunteers at the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction laugh out loud together.

Those are the moments that keep Debbie Frawley Drake coming back for the entire week of our Auction, year after year. “It’s what I love to see,” Debbie says. “It shows how connected we all are.”

Debbie is one of roughly 50 volunteers who take a week off from their jobs—or their busy lives—to help us make the Children’s Auction run smoothly. She is a longtime Children’s Auction Champion, and we appreciate her dedication and support.

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Debbie would listen to the Auction on the radio each year to hear what was happening and place a few bids. Busy with her family business and the mother of two young children, she had little free time. Volunteering was out of the question.

“I didn’t have the extra time to offer at the Auction, but I certainly tuned in on the radio and would bid on items for Christmas presents,” she recalls. “But after the Children’s Auction moved from its small office space on Main Street and eventually to the Lake Opechee Inn and Spa, auctioneer Doris Makley asked me to help for a few hours in the evenings.”

Debbie notified winning bidders with a friendly phone call. Later, she manned the item pick-up and payment desk. She also learned to run the phone bank and eventually became a greeter.

“Some of the people who come by to drop things off, I might only see once or twice a year,” Debbie notes. “Sometimes I’d meet a child who worked all year to save their pennies to buy a bicycle, and I’d introduce them to Ed Darling—who looks like Santa Claus—and he’d take that child on the air. Those stories are so important to share with the community.”

After Debbie’s children went to college, and she sold her business in 2009, it was easier to commit a full week of her time to volunteer. Now she works the front of the house with the action happening somewhere behind her, out of view.

She plans staffing for the greeting area where items are accepted, directs volunteers and visitors to the right people, answers lots of questions, and helps with crowd control when auction headquarters swells with children and families waiting to perform an opening number or to get an autograph signed by a New England sports legend.

“It’s all about giving,” Debbie says. “The Children’s Auction puts you in the giving spirit at Christmastime, and you get to work with such wonderful people to make it happen. It’s amazing what a small community can do when people pull together. It’s all about love.”

Debbie is active with the Laconia Historical & Museum Society, the Laconia Multicultural Festival, and the Holy Trinity Endowment Trust. She was involved with the Belknap Economic Development Council for many years. She also volunteers with nonprofits that benefit from the Auction, such as Hands Across the Table.  

“The money goes in so many directions,” says Debbie, reflecting on the overwhelming success of the event now.

Debbie enjoys that the Auction has become somewhat of a spectator sport, drawing a crowd of 20 or 30 each day—people who watch or place bids. “People like to be a part of it,” she says. “It’s fun for them to sit and watch all the cameras and action on set.”

Debbie likes that students from the Huot Technical Center get to try their hand behind the video equipment. “So many people are learning and having good experiences that week as a result of the Auction. There’s a lot of excitement,” she says. “It shows how joyful it can be, helping people.”

The post Blog, PR Call Attention to Client’s Fundraising Efforts appeared first on Beetle Press.

My two older brothers run a very popular restaurant in Gilford, New Hampshire, called Patrick’s Pub & Eatery. They have owned it for nearly a quarter century, and each year, I’ve watched them build relationships and exceed expectations in terms of new events and programs, and creative menu items.

Allan Beetle is the marketing guru behind Patrick’s. Last year, he outdid himself by turning one half of the restaurant into a tiki bar in the middle of winter, filling it with sand, live palm trees, and beach games.

Retired as a chef at Patrick’s, Jeff Beetle now serves as a prep cook who works alongside a very busy and dedicated team of professionals in the kitchen. His culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University and years of industry experience have guided him in creating Patrick’s Seafood Chowder and its Black Angus beef burgers, frequent award winners.

As the restaurant has built its excellent reputation over the years, I’ve also watched my brothers grow as compassionate community partners. They give in countless ways to organizations and individuals in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.

They sponsor occasional nightly events that benefit people in need, and they work year-round on fundraisers that support the Lakes Region Children’s Auction, a nonprofit that provides grants to local nonprofits that help meet children’s basic needs and provide services and initiatives that improve their lives. In the past nine years, Patrick’s has raised over $1.6 million for the Children’s Auction through an annual 24-hour bar-stool challenge called Pub Mania, which Allan oversees.

In 2006, Jeff and Allan were named Entrepreneurs of the Year in the Lakes Region.

The pride I have had for my brothers since I was old enough to walk is, at this point, fairly overwhelming. They are exceptional role models, in our family and in the community.

What a privilege it has been this fall to begin to have a small role in their family business.

Working mostly with my brother Allan, I have helped Patrick’s launch a blog, called the PubLog, in which we are writing about community partners, employees, and events such as Pub Mania and a fundraiser that supports it, called the Pub Mania Shuffle.

I have very much enjoyed meeting my brothers’ customers and colleagues and telling their stories, which we are repurposing and sending out to the local media in the Lakes Region. So far, we have seen release pick-ups in publications such as the Concord Monitor, Laconia Daily Sun and The Weirs Times, and one man we featured in a blog and press release was interviewed live on the radio by personality Pat Kelly.

Most recently, I wrote a blog about Jeff and the team he works with in the kitchen.

Every summer, Patrick’s serves about 900 people a day, and a team of roughly 45 culinary professionals works to give them a consistent quality experience. “We’re a great team,” says Jeff. “Our staff members are so competent and professional. They’re dedicated to the ongoing development of their culinary skills, and they basically run the show out back now. We are proud and grateful for their loyalty and capabilities.”

Jeff says the guiding principle for the kitchen staff is maintaining a consistent quality of food. “You want the meal your customer had last week to be the same as the one they’ll get this week or will have next week,” he says. “People have expectations once they have a dish once. They want it to be as good as the last time.”

The tried-and-true method for maintaining consistency is the notebook in the kitchen that holds each of Patrick’s recipes. Cooks can remove each laminated page from the binder, study it, spill ingredients on it, and put it back in the book.

Experimentation, creativity, and good listening also play a role in shaping the menu.

Jeff says the staff has developed favorites over the years, from what they’ve had while dining out themselves and what they’ve seen prepared on television. “We also get a lot of feedback through comment cards and pay very close attention to that and make adjustments accordingly,” he says.

My personal favorites are the Seafood Chowder, Lobster Crab Cakes, and Sirloin Tips, but everything Patrick’s serves up is delicious.

If you are ever in the Lakes Region, I encourage you to stop in, have something to eat, and introduce yourself to two of the nicest guys I know.

The post All in the Family appeared first on Beetle Press.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Asheville, Amanda, 25, uses her writing skills as a way to both share and process her experience, to help get it out of her system. She said she “hasn’t wanted to write about anything else since it happened” and despite her second-guessing herself with each new entry, Amanda continues to post because “not only do I want to do this, I need to do this.”

Amanda, of Northampton, uses her blog as an “emotional security place,” but also hopes to reach out to others through her posts. She hopes others connect with her or are moved to offer comments on their own experiences and opinions. She wants to share a plethora of perspectives and points of view. Amanda wants to “discourage some fears and irrational thought behaviors” as well as allow more understanding amongst the parties involved, including child and adult perspectives.

Amanda admits that being open is difficult because of how public the blogging world is. Fears of judgement follow each new post, but on the other hand, Amanda says she wants to open up and let people know what she and others have gone through.

Amanda has written close to a dozen posts since she began, publishing a new one every Sunday. With her entries, she tells the story about giving up her daughter, whom she calls Lila to protect the child’s identity, and the painful aftermath that ensued when the adoption transitioned without warning from semi-open to closed.

Now the only contact that Amanda has with her 3-year-old daughter is through a spurt of random and infrequent emails containing pictures. Other than a three-minute Skype conversation, Amanda has had little actual contact with her daughter.

Amanda is a former Beetle Press intern who continues to offer research and writing services on occasion. We support her work as a blogger because we know it will help her to be successful in raising awareness.

Amanda feels that often people know only one side of an adoption story; with her blog, she hopes to show all sides and provide a safe space for birth mothers to connect.

Typically, Amanda chooses to focus on a certain thought or feeling she has been experiencing. She tries her best to describe it, to write about what she is going through, and then allows it to go through an editing stage before publication. She works hard to ensure the posts aren’t cluttered and heavy.

She hopes that as the blog develops and grows a wider readership, it will evolve into something more professional, and less journal-entry-like. She also hopes that one day, the focus will shift from her story to the stories of other birth mothers.

The post The Catch-22 of Blog Writing appeared first on Beetle Press.

I am often that person sitting in the background, absorbing all that I am hearing but not contributing anything of my own. I am a nerd of sorts that enjoys solitude. Things like reading and writing (general English-y things), running, the occasional RPG video game or two, exploring nature, hanging out with my dog and sunbathing on the beach—those are my passions.

My internship with Beetle Press forced me into situations where I had no choice but to communicate with people, a variety of people, through email, phone or in-person, in a number of different situations and tasks. In my last semester at Westfield State University, I was given the opportunity to grow and develop as a person, open myself up more to the public world and to not be afraid of what is out there.

People don’t seem so unapproachable to me anymore.

I was slightly intimated when I first had to interview someone. Well, two someones. Two teenagers taking on an incredible role in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Hampshire County.

Although they were around my height (honestly, probably a little taller), and they had only just begun their high school careers (whereas I was ending my college one), I was nervous while interviewing them. Afterwards, I didn’t understand why I was so anxious beforehand. It was a stupid feeling, but a feeling nonetheless.

Then I began interviewing more people. Adults. Local authors, professors, business owners, past interns.

Each time, the minutes before I dialed the phone number, my nerves increased, my heart fluttered fast and I tried to control my breath. Then I would get on the phone, and it would all be okay, normal even. After I hung up, I would get that same confusion of why I was so nervous, even when it came to talking to people who were my colleagues only a year ago. But each time, the nerves decreased, and I took on each assignment as a personal challenge.

One of my goals when starting this internship was to increase and develop my communications skills since I knew they could be much stronger. And that I did, even inspiring a growth of my own confidence as a nice complement.

But that wasn’t the only thing I got out of my internship with Beetle Press. I was able to demonstrate my organization skills by being in charge of the editorial calendar regarding the blog posts for www.janicebeetle.com, maintaining and updating it each time Janice was inspired with a new idea for a post. Often, I helped Janice publish the blog posts to their respective websites, gaining a comfortable understanding of WordPress and its functions.

I was also privileged to be allowed to read Janice’s romantic fiction manuscript, Unleashing the Sun, still a work in progress. Although the process was longer than I realized (check out my blog about it), it was an experience that created an insight into the long and gruesome process in writing a full-length manuscript and the incredible dedication involved.

Interning at Beetle Press was an invaluable experience. I learned more than I thought I would. I remember being nervous on my first day, unsure of what I was doing or where it would go. Now I know I made the right decision when I decided to stretch out of my comfort zone and apply for an internship. And I have Janice to thank for everything that I learned, the skills I’ve developed and the new insights I have about myself and my writing.

The post Growing Out of Her Comfort Zone appeared first on Beetle Press.

It just keeps jetting off in varying directions, thinking, planning, imagining, organizing. I add to my to-do lists even in my sleep, and that’s okay with me. I like an active agenda.

But that is why, as I fly off on a month-long journey to the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, I can’t stop thinking about what I will do besides just have fun. That is why, on the first official day of my trip, I am working on the plane instead of reading a book or daydreaming.

I never actually intended for this trip to be a vacation.

The departure and arrival dates were set in stone and came with an affordable price tag, so I delighted in the fact that I would spend a month on a tropical island in winter, but I also knew I had to find a way to make my work happen while I was gone.

I very carefully have arranged my schedule so that, until Jan. 23, I am not accepting new projects and will instead focus on two book assignments. One is a novel I am writing for a client in Western Massachusetts, to memorialize a story that haunts him; the other is an editing project for a Canadian man (formerly of Northampton, Massachusetts) who has written a memoir about losing his older brother in his early teen years.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have these deep and moving projects to sink my fingertips in. In the first few hours of the flight from Chicago, Illinois, to Honolulu—the second of three legs of my trek—I read the first half of the memoir and can’t wait to turn my attention back to it.

But I have in mind to accomplish more on the trip as well. I want to do some planning and thinking and working on my business.

So, I also plan to blog about my journey and what I learn about Majuro and its people, (starting with a piece on training for adventures.) I want to blog about tips and ideas I have on marketing, networking and professional development.

I want to think ahead to how I will keep four interns busy this coming spring and outline projects for them. And I want to fully plan a five- or six-week workshop for business and organization leaders who want to do more than touch on the how-tos of sending out a press release. I’m hoping this workshop will be ready for spring, so stay tuned.

Of course, Majuro is a place where electric power and wifi are not always available, so it may be that there are days when I can’t spend my mornings on vocational pursuits, as I imagine.

If that should happen, I have a notebook and pen along as well.

I’ll jot down some trusty notes, and you’ll hear all about it later.

I’ll pass the time running or snorkeling instead.

Not a bad plan, I’d say.

The post A Little Work, a Little Play appeared first on Beetle Press.

Well, okay. Not really. She is teaching first grade, and there is hardly a parallel there, but Molly is blogging about her work and her experiences, and in that, she is her mother’s daughter.

Molly graduated from Plymouth State University in the foothills of New Hampshire’s White Mountains in May. Throughout college, she wanted to study abroad, but her degree was in early childhood studies and required several practicums that kept her from traveling. She made it her goal after graduation to find an opportunity abroad, and through idealist.org, Molly found a first grade teaching position at the Majuro Cooperative School on an island called Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, literally a world away.

After answering the question of “Where the heck are the Marshall Islands?” Molly proceeded to apply for the job in late June. She secured an interview via Skype, was offered the position, took a thoughtful 24 hours to process her thoughts, and then she accepted. Only a few short weeks later, she boarded a plane, and I’ve only seen her since on Skype and in photos!

But I have read much about what Molly is doing, and what her work and the culture in her new world is like. I am proud of her for articulating everything from her research into jobs after graduation, to her homesickness and culture shock, and, in her latest blog, her pride as a teacher who is watching first graders learn.

Without being told by anyone—because Molly didn’t have any PR or marketing courses—she knew that a blog would be an important tool in raising awareness, and she has been using the tool faithfully. She is teaching young people about the abstract, such as what it means to take risks, and she is passing on practical information—about Majuro, its children, the landscape and the threat that climate change poses to the fragile island.

Blogging is a way to reach so many people at one time. It’s a vehicle that works well for businesses, nonprofits—and daughters and first grade teachers.

To follow Molly’s blog, visit https://mollyinmajuro.wordpress.com/, click on the “Follow” button on the lower right-hand side of her blogspot and enter your email address. You’ll get an email each time she adds a new post.

And you’ll learn a lot.

https://mollyinmajuro.wordpress.com/

The post My Daughter is a Blogger appeared first on Beetle Press.