At some point in life, you come to a fork in the road: Do I want to go along with the crowd or do I not give a rip. My fork has been reached, and I’ve chosen the latter path. I’m sick and tired of sloppy writing. There. I’ve said it. I’m beyond sick and tired of sloppy people, people who embrace to “done is better than perfect” mantra.
But what I really hate is an organization that refuses to acknowledge that a) good writing is essential to professionalism, and b) its members don’t know how to write. The lost opportunity to raise our standards, to educate our members, is inexcusable.
So boo to the National Speakers Association for the nasty sentence below. Boo to Business Network International, for not insisting its networking manuals at least spell “success” correctly and for not tossing out copies of the Misner book that spells “have” as “havre” in its Foreword. (You know the book, the one that’s given out to every new member.) And boo to Toastmasters International for not recognizing that once you leave the safe confines of the mother ship, the editorial standards of district-division-club plummet to an eighth-grade level (if that).
Yes, it’s true we should have all learned our basic punctuation and grammar in grade school. Yes, it’s true. But we didn’t, and it’s past time to acknowledge it, and it’s way past time to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
#Influence18 will demystify technology and invite attendees to have hands-on experiences that highlight best practices and new techniques. Content, community and connection will be weaved into every day.
Weave. The verb weave has two meanings. The first meaning, an intransitive verb, pertains to thread, fabric, pattern; the past tense of this meaning is wove and woven. The second meaning, a transitive verb, is to dodge, to zigzag, to twist and turn—generally to avoid a barrier or obstructions; the past tense is weaved.
You wanted woven: Content, community and connection will be woven into every day.
And, as an editorial aside, I would have said “each day.”