Sunday, September 15, 2013

Technology is Ruining the English Language

Technology is Ruining
the English Language

#TalkingGoodEnglish
 
Project Coordinator/Event Management/Social Media Marketing
Brand Acceleration, Inc.

Colleen WaltonHave you ever experienced secondhand embarrassment? It's that feeling you get when you witness someone doing something embarrassing and you sit there cringing, waiting for it to stop.  That's how I feel when I come across grammatical errors on a company’s web site or hear a presenter use a word that isn't really a word (e.g.  irregardless).  The way we speak and write greatly impacts the way we are perceived.  Whether or not it’s true, the inability to effectively communicate often makes a person appear… well… unintelligent.  In the Brand Acceleration office, we have near-daily discussions about the gross mistreatment of the English language.   The most bothersome atrocities are the errors we encounter in professional writing.  Just the other day I had a little gripe session about LinkedIn’s suggested subject line, “Can you recommend me?”  This all got me thinking: has our love affair with technology ruined our ability to speak proper English?

In high school, I experienced the rise of Facebook, and Twitter broke through into the mainstream early in my college career.  Thanks to social media, we are able to communicate more easily than ever before.   Unfortunately, many people spend more time Instagramming a picture of their lunch (#turkeyburger #yum) or tweeting about a boring meeting with no regard for how the 140-character mindset affects the way we think.  Every once in a while, I catch myself saying something like “BTW,” and that’s when I know I need to reconsider my life choices.  Social media allows us to be a little lax in our grammar and spelling.  Using proper punctuation might put you at 143 characters, so you delete a few commas here and there.  No big deal, right?  For now, but how long is it until you forget what proper punctuation looks like?  Suddenly, you find yourself leaving commas out of company emails and RFPs.  It’s a slippery slope, my friend.  A very slippery slope…

The problem expands far beyond social media and the dreaded character limit.  Some television programing has made a habit of glorifying the uncouth.  I love an occasional mindless television show as much as the next person, but I experience some severe secondhand embarrassment when a show has to have subtitles for a person who is speaking English.  On the whole, Americans are lazy speakers.  We mumble, run our words together, and don’t enunciate very well.  “Would have” becomes “woudda” and “to” becomes “tuh.”  Anyone who’s travelled knows how easy it is to pick up an accent, so it would stand to reason that we can just as easily pick up the speech patterns of people we watch on television.  If you don’t think you have a problem with enunciation, I challenge you to spend one day really listening to yourself speak.  I think you’ll be amazed to find you don’t speak as clearly as you think you do.

While I could probably go on for days about how to improve the way we communicate, I decided to give you three general suggestions I think will get you on your way to becoming a better writer and speaker:

1. Don’t be complacent.  It really gets my goat when I hear people say “I’m a terrible speller” or “I’m bad at grammar.”  I know I’ve been pretty hard on technology, but I’m aware it can be a great resource.  Google (or Bing, I’m not biased) “common grammatical mistakes” and have a gander at what comes up.  If there are almost three million web pages on that topic alone, imagine what else is out there!  Don’t know what a word means?  Look it up.  Not sure if that should be a comma or a semicolon?  Look it up.  Even though I consider myself a fairly decent writer, my search history is still sprinkled with such queries as "Is 'everyone' singular or plural?" and "continuous vs. continual."  With the myriad resources available to you, there is no excuse for being “bad at grammar.”

2.  Read.  From a very young age, my parents instilled in me a love a reading.  As I grew, I saw how my bibliophilic tendencies made me a better communicator.  Reading expanded my vocabulary and showed me how to express myself with words.  To this day, I am an avid reader and this pushes me to be a better writer.  I can hear you saying, “I don’t have time to read!”  You’re reading this, aren’t you?  I’m not saying you have to commit to epic novels, but take a few minutes every day to read something for fun.  Put down the proposals and the budgets, and pick up a magazine or read an article online.  Pay attention to sentence structure, vocabulary, and writing style.  The more you read, the more you’ll learn about effective communication and be able to improve your own writing.

3.  Be an example.  If you set the bar high for yourself, the people around you will likely follow suit.  My friends don’t send me texts that say “Where u at?” because they know a text like that will force me to seriously reevaluate our relationship.  Take a quick second to think about how many people you emailed yesterday.  How many people did those people email?  Without getting too deep into the “butterfly effect,” you can see how a small change in your behavior can cause a ripple effect throughout your professional network.  If we all make a conscious effort to speak and write properly, and make it clear we expect the same level of commitment from those around us, we might begin to make a dent in this issue. 

In today’s environment of status updates, quick emails, and some pretty inane television, it takes work to maintain a grasp of proper English.  Take some time to really assess how you communicate and the impression it gives those around you.  Do your writing and speech accurately portray your level of knowledge and intelligence, or are you selling yourself short because you’re (quick frankly) lazy?
 
If you would like to share your personal stories or pet peeves, please feel free to do so below.

Colleen Walton
Project Coordinator/Event Management/Social Media Marketing

A newcomer to the Brand Acceleration team, Colleen brings a deep understanding of Social Media Marketing and works with clients to establish a solid position on such platforms as Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and others. She also works with clients on event marketing strategies and project coordination.

 

 

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Good Economic News 9-14-2013

Good Economic News

Here are just a few of the recent jobs announcements that have crossed my desk in recent weeks.


Fraenkische Industrial Pipes has announced plans to expand in Anderson County, South Carolina, creating 50 jobs.
In Plano, Texas, insurance and banking company USAA will expand and create 680 jobs.
Kenall Manufacturing, a maker of lighting products, will open a new headquarters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, creating 350 jobs.
In Owingsville, Kentucky, food maker Custom Food Products will expand and hire 200 people.
Element Electronics, a maker of consumer electronics, will establish a new facility in Fairfield County, South Carolina, creating 500 jobs.
Acme United Corporation, a maker of cutting, measuring, and safety products, will expand in Rocky Mounty, North Carolina, adding 90 employees.
In Chicago, Illinois, Mike’s Hard Lemonade Company will open its new U.S. headquarters and hire 80 people.
Pizza franchise Toppers Pizza is adding sixteen stores and up to 480 employees.
Banking and financial services company UBS will establish a new operation in Nashville, Tennessee, creating 1,000 jobs.
GuideSoft, Inc., a professional services company, will expand its operation in Indianapolis, Indiana, adding 400 employees.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, appliance maker Whirlpool Corporation will expand and add 150 jobs.
Health services provider Specialty Health, Inc. will open its new headquarters in Carmel, Indiana, hiring 675 people.
U.S. Engineering, a mechanical contractor, will expand in Kansas City, Missouri, creating 85 jobs.

In Bartow, Georgia, carpet maker Shaw Industries Group, Inc. will open a new facility and create 500 jobs.
DUER High Performance Composites, a maker of composite components, has established a new facility in Beaufort County, South Carolina, creating 47 jobs.
In Geismar, Louisiana, BASF Geismar will expand its polyurethane blending plant and hire 22 people.
Aviation IT provider TravelSky Technology Limited will open a new R&D center in Duluth, Georgia, creating 50 jobs.
Workspace provider Regus plans to open multiple centers by the end of 2014, creating 1,500 employees.
Gruppo Campari will open a new Wild Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, creating 62 jobs.
Associated Hardwoods, a lumber products company, will locate a new operation in Cherokee County, South Carolina, creating 28 jobs.
Retailer Gap, Inc. will expand in Sumner, Tennessee, adding 90 employees.
Cool Planet Energy Systems will build three new biomass-to-gasoline refineries in Louisiana, creating 72 jobs.
In Fort Smith, Arkansas, firearms parts maker Thermold Magazines will open a new headquarters, creating 65 jobs.

John Matouk & Company, a maker of linens, will expand in Fall River, Massachusetts, adding 45 employees.

In Brunswick County, North Carolina, motion control maker Lee Controls will open a new operation and hire 77 people.
In Charleston, South Carolina, Daimler Vans will expand and hire 60 employees.
Express Motor Vehicle Administration Corporation, a provider of services to auto dealers, will expand its operation in Indianapolis, Indiana, creating 20 jobs.
In Knoxville, Tennessee, airbag parts maker ARC Automotive will expand and hire 115 people.
In Beaufort County, North Carolina, store fixture maker idX Impressions will expand and add 159 jobs.
Food distributor Dot Foods will establish a new distribution center in Dyersburg, Tennessee and hire 157 people.
Stryker, a medical technology company, presently has over 300 job openings.
Domtar Corporation, a maker of pulp and paper products, will expand in Greenville, South Carolina, creating 35 jobs.
St. James lighting will expand in Columbia, Mississippi, creating 20 jobs.
In Orange County, North Carolina, confectionary maker Morinaga will open a new facility and hire 90 people.
Dow Chemical Company will expand in Brazoria County, Texas, creating 96 jobs.
In Detroit, Michigan, VernDale Products, Inc., a maker of powdered milk, will expand and add 13 employees.
In Elizabethtown, Kentucky, steel products maler Structures USA will establish a new headquarters and hire 50 people.
The Crown Group, a supplier of coating services, will open a new facility in Greenville County, South Carolina, creating 42 jobs.
Tubular goods maker PTC Seamless Tube Corporation will open a new facility and hire 283 people.
Bank holding company Capitol One will expand and add 175 employees in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In Robeson County, North Carolina, Stable Trading Company, a maker of rugs and woven products, will open a new facility and create 45 jobs.

Auto parts maker Calsonic Kansei North America will expand in Lewisburg, Shelbyville, and Smyrna, Tennessee, creating 1,200 jobs.

2AM Group, a supplier of logistics and manufacturing services, will open a new operation in Richland County, South Carolina, creating 100 jobs.

In Bland County, Virginia, W&B Fabricators, makers of mining equipment, will open a new operation and hire 50 people.

NOHMs Technologies, Inc., a maker of lithium-ion batteries, will open a new facility in Lexington, Kentucky, creating 162 jobs.

In Chicago, Illinois, GoHealth LLC, a health insurance exchange, will expand and hire 450 people.
In Lenoir County, North Carolina, building products maker Associated Materials, Inc. will expand and add 252 employees.
Employment Options, Inc. (MyEmploymentOptions.com) presently has 1,000 job openings listed.
Auto parts supplier Dr. Schneider Automotive Systems will open a new facility in Russell Springs, Kentucky, creating 155 jobs.
In Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Lesleh Precision, Inc., a machining company, will expand and add 29 employees.
Total Jobs Announcements: 12,356

Jim Walton
CEO
Brand Acceleration, Inc.
Branding // Marketing Communications // Public Relations
Indianapolis, Indiana: 317.536.6255
Fax: 317.222.1425
Charlotte, North Carolina: 704.230.0394
Atlanta, Georgia: 404.474.7980
Cell: 317.523.7380



Brand Acceleration is a full-service marketing communications, brand management and public relations firm with a focus on economic development.