If your organization has been around more than a couple decades, it’s pretty much a guarantee that you will have signs, plaques & displays in a variety of styles. Design changes with the times, and most times, organizations just move on. They’ll update logos, colours, fonts, etc. – but never go back to change what was done 20 or 50 years ago. That’s not always a bad thing – you want to ensure that heritage and change are both reflected. But drastic shifts in style can be discordant...

Often, organizations are so focused on recognizing giving and philanthropy, that they are slow in recognizing internal teams and individuals. These employees, volunteers, staff & leaders have helped advance the cause, and have given of themselves – time, energy and effort. Yes, employee of the month awards are common – and that’s part of the problem. They are routine, and the recognition is fleeting. Annual awards begin to shift in the right direction, especially when an individual...

Suppose my grandfather gave a major gift to the school he attended almost one hundred years ago. What might inspire me to continue on this family history of giving? The first question to ponder pertains to the style of his philanthropy; what inspired the original gift? That kind of information is often lost to a family over the years. Sometimes it is lost to the organization that benefitted as well. But what I do not know about, I will never act upon. The onus is on the school to get this...

I will admit that I started writing this blog because we were working on responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) and I had strong feelings about it.  Now that the experience is behind us and we were awarded the project my harsh feelings have subsided somewhat.  However, I stand by the words written below because the cost is still high considering the risk involved.    Every year we receive several RFPs from existing and potential new clients.  The cost of responding to those RFPs is...

  There is an art when it comes to assembling materials and performing skilled installations.  It isn’t as easy as it appears.  Just because you are good with a hammer or a tape measure does not mean to say you are an experienced installer.  Just look at me for example.  I have worked here for 18 years, have assembled hundreds, if not thousands of plaques, assisted on complex installations and I still do not qualify myself to be an experienced installer.  I recently used Gorilla tape...

I can attest to the fact that it takes a village to raise children. I will admit before I had children I thought “pfft I got this, I don’t need help to take care of MY children”. Well I can tell you 5.5 years (and 2 sons under the age of 6 later) I was wrong. Way wrong. Yes it can absolutely be done, but it is that much harder!  There were no classes offered in school to prepare me for this! That parenting class where we had to dress, care for and carry around a bag of flour did...