Hosts Ron Burke (Executive Director, Faculty Development, The University of Calgary) and "case driver" Colleen Donahue (official title: Director of Development, Strategic Initiatives). You know you're in a little bit of heaven when the conversation around the coffee and muffins bar is about adjectives and adverbs and how to use them with lethal effect.
L-r: (1) The sharpest bit of personalization I think I've ever seen. Every sleeve slipped onto this case for support from the University of Calgary's Dino Athletics has the specific prospect's name spelled out in "athlete" type (here, the Wilson family). The personalized case is handed over - what a nice surprise! - at the first face-to-face meeting. (2) The "exclamation point" pin from U. Calgary's (teamed up with a hospital system and a coalition) Reach! campaign for cardiovascular progress. Joins my "language on small things" collection, housed in an ash tray with a piece of uranium embedded. (3) We talked a lot about how opaque, confusing, impotent, and just plain worthless "academic-speak" and its buddy, jargon halitosis, are in development, where you sell stories and impact for a living. The department posted on this hanging sign just shouldn't even exist. (4) Dino stadium, outside the workshop window. (5) Deep-fried dill pickles at Big T's BBQ just up the street from my hotel. Dinner there three nights running. Traditional Ale from Calgary's Big Rock Brewery is a remarkable drink: balanced, full, satisfying, an instant friend. (6) On-the-road sign. Join the protest: Photos steal souls! (7) To the airport. (8) Workshop swag. Ask a good question. Say something worth others hearing. Get a limited edition "You is glue" Sharpie, to conduct your next "YOU" test.
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