Things I am missing from Paws & Paddles

 Paws & Paddles is booked solid for the summer!  That's a great thing. But I am starting to really miss spending time there. We will squeeze in a few days in August with the family there. Looking so forward to that. Then in September we will spend 10 days. My sister who recently lost her 57 year old husband is coming with us for the week. We are already thinking about all things Tybee and Savannah to show her. We are all ready for some Tybee Tyme.


Love our front guest room. We continue to get great reviews from all of our guests. We try to anticipate every need a guest may have from providing all the extras in the kitchen to post cards and postage stamps. High speed blender, great knives and cooking supplies. Outdoor grill, and plenty of comfy spots to enjoy Tybee Tyme!
  Love

Cottage Crazy: New York - New York!

Cottage Crazy: New York - New York!: The 911 Memorials were very moving. The one at Battery Park was particularly moving. Two stainless steel walls formed a long open hallway. A...

New York - New York!

The 911 Memorials were very moving. The one at Battery Park was particularly moving. Two stainless steel walls formed a long open hallway. As you walk through you view the names of those who died that day. As you walk further you see the new Freedom Tower lined up at the end across the water. 

I liked the arc of light and the orb...sunlight effect or something more?

The 911 site was quite large and the two footprints of the building were recreated as fountain walls flowing down to a large dark square in the bottom. 400 trees have been planted. The fountains drown out the sound of the city. Sobering to see all the names on the walls...including the people on the planes and the 400 first responders that lost their lives.

New York is such a big City it seems to be constantly under construction.

We also toured Saint Patricks...beautiful...and under construction for renovations!

Another favorite area was Little Italy.  Really seemed like we were in Italy. Great Italian food, shops, and  lovely people. 

Next Empire State Building

An awesome trip. Yes I want to go back on my own. Thinking I would like to go and pick a small area to stay in and just concentrate on seeing everything in that small bite of New York. Liked the look of the W for a place to stay and a great location. I would take the train up. I loved the train station. 

We'll be back... 

 

New York Trip

Never been to the big City really looking forward to simply seeing the tourist sites!

We were only in the city Saturday, Sunday, and half of Monday. But we make the most of our time. Up early breakfast at 6:30 and touring by 7:30. Loved the ferry ride by the Statue of Liberty. I love just being on the water and topping that experience off with amazing views of the Freedom Tower an it's new spire, the Statue of Liberty, and the entire New York skyline was amazing. Windy and a bit cool but blue sky and bright sun made it all good. Plus I wore a tank top, t-shirt, cotton turtleneck sweater, fleece vest, and a fleece coat! Plus gloves. Not a fashion plate for sure but I was warm unlike the folks who showed up in shorts and flip flops. Met a darling young couple from Rome, Italy! A place on my bucket list to go see. A few pictures taken from the ferry follow. 

Things I learned in Dallas, Texas at the ASTD Conference

Smart Phones are not the enemy in the workplace!  Consider utilizing them in your training classes. They all are looking at them anyway. It is part of their life. It is who they are today. Embrace it. Examples: Have Class participants do a simple video telling what they need to get out of the training class they have been scheduled to attend.  The best videos receive extra points towards the class!  Informative and fun as well. Include the best at the start of training to lighten the load. Utilize Google  Hangouts? Going  to have  to google that.  LOL  Have them  search for  things  on their phones!

It's ok to utilize texting in the work place...often the best way and least obvious way to interrupt someone who is needed. Could be a great way to give quick answers to simple questions that do not share customer info of course.  Where can I find the latest update on EE bonds? A quick text back...under managers on the employee intranet. Section such and such. Won and done. 

New thoughts of course for "old school " managers.

Use music to spice up and help you make training memorable.  Create your Opening Act, introduce energy and create engagement with Rock Songs, The Meat of the training similar to the Slow Songs, Sing a Longs, take requests. What do learners need Now? and Finally the Encore...Memorable Take a Ways.  Interesting Ideas which are best for larger groups but can likely be modified to smaller groups as well. The big message AGAIN utilize the smartphone and make it part of the training. Very thought provoking.

Other nuggets of information. Sir Ken Robinson who btw sounds a lot like the Gecko...really...had a great presentation. It highlighted the need to figure out what your passion is and do more of THAT! Oddly exactly the same thing came up today in the class about using music in your training. The fellow teaching indicated his supervisor asked him what his passion was and be first answered from a what I like about my job perspective. He said no not just at work. What do you love doing. Our instructor is a part time musician and so he answered I love music and performing. His boss said then do more of that at work. That blew him away. But he later started doing just that in his training and it made his training better and him better. A interesting thought. What do you Love to do?  Could you incorporate that in some way in your present or future job? Would that make you a better and happier employee. Interesting.

Lots of classes on social media and how it can be leveraged in so many different ways to solve problems faster...more brains on the job on working together at almost the same instant.  Very interesting as well.  Should we get over being afraid of social media and making fun of FB, etc in the business world and start figuring out how it could benefit business and the human side of the equation as well.  The common theme here is the world isn't changing. It already has changed and continues to do so at a rate that we will not be able to keep up with unless we radically change how we train and learn in the future.  Very new thoughts for many people who are resistent to change.