In his new book, “The Core Values Compass: Moving From Cynicism to a Core Values Culture,” author Dennis Haley makes the case that to be healthy and effective in the long term, organizations must be guided by a set of core values. Haley suggests five steps for arriving at your organization’s core values:

• Ask yourself, key staff and volunteer leaders, “What do you want this organization to look like?”
• Narrow down this list of expectations.
• Translate the values identified into organizational behaviors.
• Figure out where a course change is in order.
• Settle in for the long haul.

Whether you run a sports organization, a professional society, a trade association or a destination marketing organization, these five steps can help steer your organization back in line with its core values and help ensure your long-term success. For more information on “The Core Values Compass,” please click here.

Tim Schneider
Schneider Publishing Company

In mid-April, I attended a gathering of convention bureau chief executives organized by Destination Marketing Association International. I am pleased to report that an attitude of optimism regarding the near-term prospects for the travel industry pervaded my conversations with these CEOs. But as several events that have occurred in the past month show—from the political firestorm in Arizona to the Gulf Coast oil spill—the health of the travel industry cannot be assured until there is a greater appreciation of its importance on the part of everyone who benefits when the travel sector is strong.

To that end, I am pleased to announce an upcoming special editorial section titled, “Why Travel Matters: Going Places Fuels the World’s Economic Engine.” Produced in conjunction with DMAI and included in the July issues of both Association News and SportsTravel, this special section will examine the critical role meetings, conventions, trade shows and live events will play in the economic recovery. To be a part of this special publication, please click here or call us toll-free at (877) 577-3700.

Tim Schneider
Schneider Publishing Company

1. Read more. Read lots of books, magazines, Read more; anything and everything.

2. Understand you need to know something about grammar, but writing is not a separate formal language with a whole set of different rules.

3. Most important: Writing is telling a story on paper. Try writing like you would talk to someone to tell a story. Try dictating into a tape recorder or get voice recognition software for your computer. Or, think to yourself: “What would I say if I were speaking?”

4. You can always add the grammar when you edit your first draft.

5. You have to be an editor. It’s tough, but you have to go back over what you have written and polish it.

6. Before you start, organize your thoughts. Make notes or have an agenda for what you want to write.

7. Remember what you write has to have a beginning (an opening), a middle (the content) and an ending. The same is essentially true for each sentence.

8. Write often; write a lot. The more you write, the better you will get. Write notes, letters, reports.

What do you think?