New Yeh Resolutions

This year our holiday greeting focused on New Year’s Resolutions (Or New Yeh Resolutions as we have begun calling them around the office, of course devolving into thick New Yohk accents…) Of course, mindful self-improvement isn't everyone's favorite part of the New Year, but even thinking about what you'd like to change can set you on the path towards a better day-to-day.

One of my favorite instances of a new years resolution was that of a close friend of mine who resolved to read a book a week a few years ago. A voracious reader (and at the time, an English major) she not only pulled it off, but upped the ante the next year, reading a book a week in addition to all the books she read for her regular course load. Even if she hadn’t achieved it, just by trying she still would’ve read far more than in a standard year.

So we thought we’d put the question out to the entire design community. What are you planning on improving and changing in the coming year? We’d love to hear from you! Write/Sketch/Photograph/Model (heck render a 3-D representation if you’re feeling especially ambitious) your 2012 plans. We know you all are visual people, so use whatever medium fits the task best and then tweet it @yehID #NewYehRes From the incidental to the revolutionary we want to hear what you’re going to do to make 2012 the end-all and be-all (figuratively, of course)

To get the flow started a few members of our team have done their own resolution documentation. Our Masterpieces? Not necessarily, but we will be keeping them in the office as a tangible record of our 2012 ambitions.

Now its your turn! Print out our template below and visualize your own New Years Resolution. Put it up in a great place as a constant reminder of what you want to achieve. And don't for get to tweet us! @yehID #NewYehRes

Wishing You Happy Holidays!

We wish you the very best this holiday season. In the spirit of giving back, and on behalf of our clients, friends, and family we have made a donation to Project H. To learn more about them and why we chose them visit www.yehideology.com. Share your New Year's Resolutions with us on Yeh Blog today or tweet us at @YehID with the hashtag #NewYehRes. Yeh Blog Career and business evolution happen within the design world, changing constantly like a conversation. Join our blog today. Job Listings We connect candidates and business culture. View our current list of industry opportunities across the design spectrum.

Project H + Yeh IDeology, Holiday Giving

Yeh IDeology is excited to announce that we will be giving our holiday donation to Project H, a fantastic nonprofit organization that combines design thinking and design build to create improvements in communities by engaging the community itself. By designing WITH rather than FOR, Project H both realizes their designs and teaches valuable skills and to everyone who participates. Emily Pilloton, the founder, worked on design projects with the community of Bertie County, NC so closely that she and Matt Miller (Project H’s design-builder) ultimately moved there and now call it home!

One of the reasons we chose Project H is their commitment to starting locally in the United States and scaling their work globally. In a country often known for it’s opulence it’s easy to overlook the fact that there are places where poverty rates are high, schools under-perform drastically, and internet is a rarity. As Emily’s TED Talk notes, only 6.8% of all philanthropic giving in the US goes to rural communities, whereas 20% of the country lives in them.

We hope that the work Project H is doing will encourage everyone to be more aware of what needs exist in local communities. There’s a perception that contributions have more of an impact in developing countries but donating locally allows one to see what is being done. Seeing this positive effect makes involvement an engaging and ongoing process, rather than a one-time or annual event. One of our favorite Project H projects is the Learning Landscape which engages the kids in school, can be built anywhere for next to nothing, and easily translates to communities across the globe! Another amazing effort are the chicken coops Designed with Studio H, the design + build curriculum that they run within the Bertie County School system

Project H also does an inspiring job of using design to both bond the community and create a finished product. Every teacher who contributes ideas and every student who helps gains a further stake in their community. Not only that, but they also learn concrete skills that can inspire their paths for years to come! It’s great to work with an organization that sees people not as recipients of a design solution, but as partners in the crafting and execution of ideas. As Emily rightly notes in her "when you zoom out … you lose the ability to view people as humans" At Yeh IDeology we really believe that understanding designers and companies on a personal level helps make connections that improve design. An empathetic, “zoomed-in” approach is a powerful tool and we are thrilled Project H is channeling this for education, community and design!

2011 Cooper Hewitt Design Week

It was great to be a part of Cooper Hewitt's Design week events this October! From the Teen Design Fair to the National Design Awards after party, we got to see the full range of kids just starting out to designers and firms who have already created a lifetime of work! The Teen Design Fair, organized by Monica Harriss, gave us a great opportunity to talk to young aspiring designers interested in all different fields. Tim Gunn was the keynote and a hit with the kids. He did such a great job explaining the challenges and the satisfaction of working in a field like design.

On the opposite end of the career spectrum was the Winners Panel and the gala after party! Truly awe-inspiring to see the impact that talented individuals can have using Design as their medium. The off-the-wall tape theme (tape rolls as place cards, tape graffiti as decoration, tape sculptures as..well, sculptures) was inspired and so fun to interact with. You can see a bit of it in the photo background. A great time all in all!

Recruiting: Creating a Strong Candidate Experience

I am loving these Focus.com questions! The latest one is regarding how to create a positive candidate experience:

“How much attention do you put into the candidate experience when recruiting? What steps do/did you take in creating a candidate experience when going through your recruitment process?"

Answer: Always be mindful of the experience a candidate receives when they meet you and your company. Any interacting you have with a candidate whether you're interested in the candidate or not is an opportunity to develop industry reputation within your industry.

Talk about the values and the mission of the company and talk about the standards that your company live by. Have other employees meet with the candidate as well. This way the candidate receives a variety of perspectives about the company and your team learns how to represent your company.

People talk and share their job seeking experiences. When people walk out of your interview you want candidates to tell everyone how they loved their experience interviewing with your company and how they were impressed with your company and wish they could work for your company one day.

_______________________________ To learn more about Focus.com, visit their site here. To see the original blog post, click here.

How to Help Your Employees Move On, Gracefully

Today, I was referred to a fascinating question on Focus.com, a great business resource, by Caty Kobe, the Community Manager at Focus. The question, as posed by Alicia Jones, is as follows:

"How would you handle an employee who is eager for growth, but there are no opportunities in the Co.? You have expanded their role as much as possible, given them special projects, etc., but they want more. What do you do when they have simply outgrown the company?"

My answer:

Today, more and more employees are increasingly conscious of their growth and development needs, and they are more likely to move once there are no longer any growth opportunities to explore at their current place of employment.

Realistically, employers have to realize that talent will come and go, but you hope that the ones that fit your company stay longer. Partnerships come in all durations and not all are made to last. Some are meant to be lessons to learn from; others are meant to help the company evolve.

Do your best to be mindful of your employees’ growth objectives within your company, while reminding them that they are responsible for the tasks that your company requires of them. Once you have mutually realized that it's time for them to move on, acknowledge that they need to start to look elsewhere, and do what you can to support them as they explore their next options. Meanwhile, ask the employee to help you find their replacement before they move on, and have them train the replacement or other staff so that there is as little legacy lost as possible.

Talent talks. Employees who leave in a mutually respectful way and others that witness it will tell others of this experience. Your openness to their leaving, which is a natural course of events, will be one of the best ways to build a strong reputation for your company.

Most of our ex-employees still reach out to us to keep in touch. They have become stewards of our company within our industry, and they refer talent and business to us still. This is the best brand recognition you can develop.

________________________________

To learn more about Focus, you can visit their website here. To see the original post, click here.

Design Organizations

IDSADesign Management Institute AIGA

Schools

Art Center College of DesignParsons School of Design University of Cincinnati

DesignBoost’s “Design Beyond Design” Event at Cooper Hewitt: Part Two

Our second day at Designboost was comprised of lectures by leaders pushing the boundaries of the design world. Of all of the lectures I was able to attend, I enjoyed the playful energy Philip Tiongson’s company Potion has been bringing to the interaction design & technology space.

My absolute favorite was Aaron Dignan’s lecture entitled “The Future of Work is Play.” He talks about the formula for creativity and play and how business has to understand the fine line and balance between boredom to creativity to anxiety. It’s exciting to hear because this is one of the main aspects that Yeh IDeology analyses when we match talent with our client’s opportunities. We look for that fine balance of variety and challenge so that the right candidate will be as ideally enthralled by the opportunity and the company energized by a committed new member with initiatives that are aligned to their creative team’s mission.

See Aaron's lecture below:

See part one of our coverage of the Designboost event here!

DesignBoost’s “Design Beyond Design” Event at Cooper Hewitt: Part One

I had a delightful time at the first Designboost held in the US hosted by the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum last week. It was an honor to be surrounded by such design luminaries. image (via)

On the first day, I participated in a discussion where the first statement was: “When design has turned global, production is still local.” We debated about the different aspects and ramifications of design and globalization. How do you balance the standardization that comes with globalization and how do you bring local globally? Together with Avani Agarwal, Fredrik Andersson, Carla Diana, Davin Stowell, Barry Richards, Chris Streng, and Karen John in my group we shared our own varying experiences with globalization of design. We came out with so many varying concepts that were diverse in their objectives and solutions.

I hypothesized if you devised a design service template that could overlay any industry culture then the local cultural resources whether it be people, ideas or materials could grow and fill in that lattice. Then structurally each design service template would resemble the others and yet each locale’s end result would be unique from the local origins of it’s ingredients. Somewhat like how Mc Donald’s sells pasta in Italy and sushi in Japan each caters to it’s own local preferences and yet there’s continuity to the brand.

The second event I attended was entitled “Where does politics end and design begin?” In this seminar, together with Ivar Draganja, Avani Agarwal, Carla Diana, Andrea Ruggiero, Julie Taraska, and Brad Dixon, we discussed the various ways in which design and politics impact each other, and if they even should work together. “Can the two form a strong unit, and make a real difference and should they?

I ultimately believe that design could really help our government, especially now when we are seeking to reevaluate the ways in which our government work. Design in the form of design research, design strategy, and service design could play a huge part in helping to explore where to go from here. Think of the research that could be done on the healthcare and education system. This one was a fascinating topic and I was chosen to be video taped for this one. Stay tuned for the clip once it’s posted. I hope I sound articulate.

For each seminar, Designboost chose one representative to speak about the topic at hand. I was lucky enough to be chosen for one of them, and the video should make it onto the Internet sometime soon—I will share it with you then.

image (via)

That night we all had fun at a speed networking event. Exhausting yet fun and fueled with wine & Swedish whiskey I met so many people passionate with their own unique design initiatives. There was so much networking going on you could barely hear yourself over the cacophony and energy of sharing initiatives & support.

See part two of our coverage of the Designboost event here!

Martha Graham: Google's Person of the Day (May 11th)

My good friend Meredith Goodwin Bajaj, a Design Manager at Nulux, sent me a quote by today's featured person on Google, Martha Graham, an inspirational dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance as an art form has been compared to the work of Picasso in the world of painting.

In an anecdote from Agnes de Mille about a conversation she had with Graham:

"The greatest thing she ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly:

'There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.'"

Wow.

Thanks to Meredith and Martha Graham for inspiring me today!! :)

Resource Directors Association: Annual "Career & Money" Meeting with Yeh IDeology

Last week Monday I spoke to the Resource Directors Association for their annual Career & Money meeting. I met Eileen Rasgdale, the president of RDA at last year's Cooper-Hewitt Teen Fair that Yeh IDeology has been asked to participate in for the last several years. Eileen asked me to come speak to RDA regarding the changes impacting the architecture industry and give advice on how to adjust and navigate these changes. The RDA is a not-for-profit professional network of resource persons working in the Architecture and Design community and their mission is to share knowledge of new products, specification issues and news and changes within the industry. They have chapters in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and Seattle.

As everyone went around the room sharing their backgrounds and their top concerns in this intimate group setting it quickly became apparent that this group of creative professionals were dedicated and passionate about their field. We talked about how the shift in this new economy had affected their industry as well. For some members' companies had either down sized or taken on more account but overall the main impact was that the work load and responsibilities were doubled. We talked about ways for members to prepare for these changes and how to position themselves to take advantage of these new shifts and yet set reasonable expectations for those around them as their responsibilities change. Having been actively involved in organizations like IDSA and being on their board of directors, we also explored various solutions and ways RDA the organization could support the members individually.

It's indeed challenging time these days and regardless of the industry, the ways that companies have been structured and have always done business has changed. Yet at the same time these drastic times of change in history are often the ripest moments to implement change for the better and improvement. Status quo has been upended and everyone is more receptive to change.

I talked about how the new normal in this new era is "adaptability" and those that will make it in this new era will be the ones that look ahead to predict the next industry shifts, adjust to them and be ready to embrace them. Collectively this was a strong dedicated community and it was refreshing to see that many great ideas were already there percolating waiting to be acted on. I look forward to seeing how the members of RDA collaborate and navigate this new era.

Here I am with a few of the members as we lingered after our lecture admiring the gorgeous furniture at Suite NY, who generously hosted the event.

Thanks to Eileen Rasgdale and the RDA for having me come speak.

Building Your Brand & Community Around Your Future

Our workshop "Branding You and Connecting to Your Target Market" was a huge success as heard from IDSA and all the unsolicited comments we received from IDSA.NED conference-goers. As our talk was one of the first workshops to start off the conference on Friday morning, it set the tone for the rest of the conference for many of our attendees. Throughout the conference, whenever one of our attendees met another workshop attendee, they would compared notes and connected each other to new people, teaching new people in the long run this new networking game. I have to admit I absolutely love to speak and lecture. There's something to finding the commonality of a group's needs and speaking to that need and cause and inspiring change. Being able to teach an entire group to change from one frame of mind to another state is thrilling, and when done successfully it's amazing what energy and inspiration can be generated from that moment.

Held earlier this month at the IDSA Northeast District Conference at the Rhode Island School of Design, I taught about general issues of branding yourself in various scenarios and customizing this for your own initiatives. The aspect I believe in most is about creating and developing a network and community around your end goal, through supporting your community.

We also used Yeh IDeology's fun magnets, designed by Mel Lim at Mel Lim Consulting Studio, as networking tools which put a twist on the motive of networking. The exercise, a partial ruse to play Memory or Go Fish, participants sought out and met people that owned icon magnets they had to match on their own Raffle Tickets.

Mindset-wise, I believe in helping the community you want to be part of. Truly the term "paying it forward". To make a lasting impression, knowing the needs of those you meet and helping them as much as you also convey your own goals and aspirations.

Our workshop successfully energized the participants and changing attendee perceptions of their own brand and purpose.

As a result I almost couldn't stop the crowd from networking. And at the end of the workshop, the networking proceeded for several minutes after the lecture and through out the conference. During the second 10 minute exercise we discovered a 3 person connection resulting in immediate collaboration for business between the 3 individuals. Knowing what we had helped generate in just a few minutes of a workshop, just imagine what we helped generate through out the conference!

People told me that they developed an overwhelming sense of altruism to the point they forgot about their own insecurities about venturing out to meet others and instead felt like stewards for their new friends. They were focused on how to help their new friends while sharing what they were looking for as well.

I'd love to recreate that kind of energy at another event. If anyone knows of the ideal venue, I'm all ears. :-)

IDSA.NED Conference: A Community of Leaders

This year's IDSA Northeast District Conference at the Rhode Island School of Design and as always I was blow away by the speakers, content and the energy of the conference. Throughout the conference, more than anything was this feeling of excitement to influence and change the world by everyone in their own way. In all the years I've gone to conferences and industry trade shows I often found the most inspiring and forward leading individuals populate this space the most. Of course there's a variety of reasons that people attend conferences. Those that are promoting their brand or company, those that are looking for new business or career opportunities. But many are there to either share best business practices and connect. I often find those that attend industry events tend to be more current, and leading the industry trends, the ones that are most connected and connecting others. It's especially interesting during times of economic challenge when you notice the few that push ahead while most stay in safety mode.

One impressive talk John Maeda moderated was a collection of the leading young creatives pushing the boundaries of innovation and business. Several of the other speakers, like Scott Wilson of MINIMAL, Mike Branson of PearlFisher, Richard Watson of Essential Design stuck around to stay around and talk to the local professionals, students and other speakers.

The students and young professionals I meet year after year are also the ones that I notice tend to find their career opportunities through the connections they make at these events. I also know companies that track the attendance list to seek out talent and to see who's out and about in the industry. It's so impressive to meet people like Sam Aquillano who was a merit award winner many years back quickly swept up by Bose Corporation and now the Co-Founder & Director of Design Museum Boston as well. And Sami Nerenberg I met a few years ago at the IDSA.NED conference as a budding graduate and this time she was a speaker sharing her new initiative Design for America that's sweeping the universities across the US. This is where you meet the new leaders of an industry.

For Yeh IDeology I have to attend various industry events, conferences and organizations. I have to admit many are dry and boring yet necessary. Few have the collaborative atmosphere of sharing best business practices I find at industry events like IDSA and DMI. Here I feel like the community is collaboratively trying to advance and improve. Collectively we can do so exponentially faster and better.

Join YehID at the IDSA Northeast District Conference, April 8-9

Another great example of how networking works! Alice Ro successfully collected 5 different magnets and went back to her office and shared with Marco Perry the founder of Pensa and the IDSA Northeast District Vice President organizing the IDSA Northeast District Conference in Providence, RI how much fun our successful networking event with our fun magnets was. I'm excited to tell you that in addition to my holding a workshop at the District Conference in Providence RI in April, IDSA.NED has asked us to develop a networking event there as well, and this time on a much grander scale through out the course of the 2 day conference.

I hope you'll be able to come and join us up in Providence and expand your network and community of friends up there April 8 & 9!

It's been a couple of weeks since our party and it's surprising how the reverberations from our party are still reaching out to us. We're still getting responses from people about how much fun the event was and how everyone met so many great new friends and connections.

I have to say, now that we've gotten a taste of what it was like to create this inspiring moment we're curious what to do next. It's a shame not to recreate it again right? Do me a favor and share with us hear how the event went for you as well. Who did you meet. Did anything come of that night?

And a question Yeh IDeology would love you to answer. Still warming up to this blogging thing. What advice would you like to know, about career, building business, networking, etc...? We'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts.

Thanks folks!

A Night to Connect: The IDSA.NYC/ Yeh IDeology 5 Year Celebration

Whew, what a great night Yeh IDeology's 5 Year Celebration turned out to be. In all the years meeting the best of the best in every industry category we've heard some of the best business practices and advice on running businesses, building and investing in design and strategizing career paths. Wanting to do more than just celebrating, we brought together some great friends and colleagues to share their insights with everyone and inspire us as we enter the new year.

Our Speakers Yasemin Bernardete of Springs Global reminds us you have to identify and respect what makes each brand unique and hold true to that element. Brand strategy and brand management is becoming more critical than ever.

Brad Lacey of Converse reminds us in this new day and age to never rest on your laurels and always have a healthy does of paranoia, always learning something new to stay current. Brand strategy is key here as well and Brad shares how critical it is to work with other divisions and collaborate.

Joe Moya of MindsInSync talks about having been on both corporate side and consultancy side that knowing your core values is key as you represent yourselves to your clients and customers. Even firms need to stay true to their value proposition and know how to best represent their brand image.

Cliff Kuang, the Founder of Co Design, tells us that with the uprising of technology and new crowd sourcing organizations now is the time to invest in that amazing idea that you had. Cliff cites how too many creatives are panicking and diluting their identity by accepting and taking on everything not standing firm to what they excel at.

The panel discussion inspired us to venturing into 2011 with a new outlook, as we all reflected about representing ourselves and our true value propositions, we turned to the networking portion of the night. We were 150+ of the most talented individuals in the creative industries gathered in one room and here was a perfect opportunity to connect, learn about each others goals and initiatives and help each other in our mutual endeavors.

As a fun exercise to spur the merriment, we gave out YehID magnets and an award was given to the first guest that successfully swapped magnets to meet 3 people, the individuals that the winner met also won prizes as well, rewarding the connections made. Meryem Tangoren was the first one to come up to us having successfully swapped and collected 4 of her 5 magnets and in the process she reconnected with old friends and met new ones. Meryem reconnected with old classmate Janet Villano of SkipHop, and met Dina Romanko as well.

We then put a shout out to all of our friends and thanked everyone for coming out that night to celebrate and we broke into our delicious beautiful cake by Heather Barranco-Machado who has just opened DreamCakes. Think of Ace of Cakes and incredibly delicious in the tri-state area. Another great connection through her husband Jason Machado whom I've know in the industry for years.

Right after the prize giving and cake cutting we couldn't stop the crowd going back to their feverish networking and merriment. It was amazing. So many friends and clients from past and present, as well as new came to congratulate us bringing along their friends they insisted that we just had to meet as well.

I've planned parties and events all of my life. It's an incredible feeling when you've successfully created just the right moment, energy and vibe, and when you scan the room everyone is having a blast. That was this night.

It's the bonds that you make that help you make things happen. And this night would not have been an absolute success without the great partnership and friendship of Stephan Clambaneva and his dedicated IDSA.NYC team (Courtney Hewitt, Jerry Mejia, Anthony Puleo, Daghan Perker) and their introduction to the Knoll team and the gorgeous expansive showroom.

Let me say too that planning a party at the last minute on the fly, not everything goes right and my deepest apologies to all of our friends that were not able to make the guest list as we had a limit we had to keep to. I suppose we'll have to plan to get a bigger place next year. ;-)

And take a look at the articles about our celebration, brought to you by the good folks at Core77 and IDSA!

Core77: Yeh IDeology 5-Year Celebration

IDSA: Yeh IDeology Celebration Followup

Podcast: An interview with Angela Yeh by Peter Clayton

Attending Bill Taylor's book signing party last month lead to my meeting Peter Clayton ofTotal Picture Radio and Jobs In Pods. I do believe in serendipity, that things happen for a reason and that you do have to be at the right place at the right time. We got to talking and we found that our circles overlapped as we’re both are about promoting careers and leadership. The best unexpected thing that came out of this was Peter Clayton’s invitation to interview me for his podcast for Total Picture Radio.

Peter interviews everyone and anyone relevant to careers and leadership, from the CEO of The Ladders Marc Cenedella to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. I was delighted when Peter asked me to speak to him to share our perspective of what it's like for companies to invest in design talent. In this podcast with Peter we get to touch on a bit of what companies have to consider when they look to invest in design talent and where they can invest in design talent in their business model.

Yeh IDeology is fortunate that we have the opportunity to work with so many leading corporations and top design firms that have a high knowledge and respect for what design can do for business and already have a strong understanding how to invest in design. It's a pleasure and an honor working with clients that have a high education of design talent investment and thus our projects there are compelling and exciting.

But we love working with the businesses and brands that are just at the nascent stage of learning about the many various specialties of design and the many ways design can impact and improve business (product development, strategy, marketing/branding, operations to name a few...). When we're able to help teach a company new to design, how to aptly build-in design strategy by either building an in-house design team, introducing key partnerships with design firms and/or design consultants, it's an incredible feeling when later on we see this company produce successful results through either launching great new products, new services, improved operations and/or a new brand positioning.

Podcast with the founder of Yeh IDeology, Angela Yeh

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

Yeh IDeology 5 Year Celebration!

Hi Folks! So 2011 has started out with a big bang for us in many ways. First, traditional clients and leaders in various industry sectors have been looking to invest in design and have been reaching out to us to help them build their teams. Secondly, I'll be teaching at Parsons another semester as well as guest lecturing at Pratt and Georgia Tech, along with hosting a "Branding You" Workshop at at the IDSA's Northeast District Conference in April. Great networking connections have also led to collaborations on a Motivation Survey that we're excited to be sharing with you both the research and the results, a podcast interview with Total Picture Radio, and an upcoming video podcast, just to name a few.

Needless to say we're on a roller coaster of progress and it's exciting to start the year in this spirit. On top of all that, Yeh IDeology is turning 5 years old this month. We're so busy we almost didn't realize but on the insistence of friends and colleagues we've decided to have a little party to celebrate the occasion. We're asking you to join us in celebration of Yeh IDeology's five years of collaboration with the design community. After all, without you we would not be here today. And we're grateful that we're able make a difference, doing our part in helping the design industry continually evolve and grow.

So Save the Date! In collaboration with IDSA|NYC, Yeh IDeology will be celebrating our 5th year Anniversary on February 24th at the Knoll Showroom in New York City. It will be a content rich, content sharing, connection building event, with knosh, drinks, and a panel discussion on the State of Design in the New Economy, with:

Brad Lacey - Creative Director of Converse Yasemin Bernadette- Design Director at Springs Global Cliff Kuang - Sr Editor CODesign of FastCompany Joe Moya - VP Product Development at Minds In Sync

Hope to see you there!

Ang

Bill Taylor's "Practically Radical" Book Signing Launch Party

Back on January 5th, 2011, I attended Bill Taylor's book signing Launch Party honoring the release of his new book "Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself." It was hosted by Fast Company and TBWA. Attending this event was a perfect example of networking. Over all it was a great intimate event with some of New York's most interesting thought leaders and game changers and I ended up making some random connections and amazing events spun off of them.

My dear friend Meredith Goodwin, Lighting Design Manager at Nulux invited me to this event and we ended up met some new and old friends. Here she is meeting Jean-Luc Mege and Brandon Williams, Senior Vice President at TD Bank, who she introduces me to.

Jean-Luc Mege is a very well established photographer here from France making a new name for himself in NYC, no doubt it won't take long.

Who would think that I would get to meet I get to meet the heads of my bank TD Bank at a book signing? Brandon Williams and Joseph Paradise, VP, Retail Market Manager of TD Bank not pictured here quickly put me in touch with my local branch manager Sheldon Berg, who within weeks came to my office to meet me. Little known facts- TD Bank is open on Fridays from 7:30am till Midnight. And they are the only banks with police officers stationed there. I do love how convenient they are, and for an entrepreneur business owner those extended hours really help me manage my time.

This is the serendipity of networking. Randomly introducing myself to new interesting game changers at the party I met Peter Clayton founder of Total Picture Radio and Jobs In Pods. Within a few seconds we realized our circles overlapped as we're both about promoting careers and leadership. The best unexpected thing that came out of this was Peter Clayton's invitation to interview me for his podcast interview for Total Picture Radio which we recorded a month later (you'll get to read and hear about in my subsequent blog).

I was lucky to have my copy of the book signed by Bill Taylor and in honor of the event, I had a blast standing up on the "Practically Radical" Soapbox together with Meredith declaring my "Practically Radical" New Year's Resolution. I declared my resolve to transform Yeh IDeology, shake up the industry, and challenge myself in 2011.

Over all we had a great time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Here's Kofi Aidoo on my team with our industry friend JooYoung Oh, and our friend Ayse Birsel was there as well.

Networking can deliver some great serendipitous results but it won't happen unless you get out there. I always find too that it's a lot more fun if you go with friends and collaborate helping each other meet people.

A Network of Friends

This December, while teaching my Careers Strategy students about networking as an adjunct professor at Parsons New School, I asked them, “What Makes Work Fun?” In my lecture, I told them that most people view networking as a business task and a necessary evil. But in reality, if you approach and treat people properly, your business world can become your world of friends as well. It’s a simple matter of taking the time to recognize the people with whom you work as unique and important individuals. It’s human nature to choose people you know and trust, and in fact research shows that people do this when hiring, choosing vendors, partners, services etc…. So in business, networking is essential. But beyond that when you make it a point to get to know those with whom you interact, you can transform your business world as well and work becomes fun when those with whom you work become your friends.

As I reflect on 2010, I realize how over time I have found great friends in the clients and candidates we know, regardless of whether we're working together or not. On the client side, I have such an appreciation for all the people with whom I engage in companies, from the HR and hiring managers, to the secretaries, bookkeepers, and assistants. As a business owner, I value the vendors and people with whom we work to keep our business running: our web and branding consultant, our tech guru, our bookkeeper and accountant, to name a few.

Finances are not my forte, but finding an accountant and bookkeeper I trust unequivocally AND enjoy working with has made handling these tasks practically enjoyable. When you find great people appropriately skilled for your business needs, whose values and work styles resonate with your own, work becomes almost effortless and enjoyable.

People want to matter, but the world at large feels so impersonal. People don't expect to be recognized or acknowledged as individuals. I make it a point to notice people as much as I can when I interact with them, no matter how brief or incidental our time together may seem. I greet my bus driver, dry cleaner attendant, deli cashier, mail carrier, and bank teller by name if possible, and inquire about their day, and I don't forget the people who support the people with whom I work, including my doctor's secretary and my client's assistant. I love the startled looks and smiles I get when people realize I really see them. It's a great feeling to make someone’s day by acknowledging them unexpectedly, and it can make my day.

When you respect and acknowledge people, they become more than just acquaintances. They truly become your network of friends, which improves your quality of life and makes the world and your experience in it more enjoyable