Tag: Edward Caissie

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WPCandy Interview

I was the subject of an interesting interview by Ryan Imel of WPCandy.com tonight that mostly focused on the WordPress Theme Review team and its work.

I say interesting as it was done via Skype with video. I use Skype often for many things such as instant messaging and VoIP calls but I had never actually put to use a web-cam. Setting my newness jitters aside as I had agreed to the interview a few days earlier and while I stumbled about with a few settings, Ryan patiently waited. A few minutes later he “pinged” me and we began …

We chatted for about 30 minutes. I talked a bit about myself but mostly I wanted to focus on what the WordPress Theme Review team is doing and this was made easy by the questions Ryan posed as this was his goal as well. I’ll not go into any more details as this interview was Ryan’s idea and I believe his upcoming post with the footage will be very interesting. Look for it soon on WPCandy.com

I am often very self-critical so I believe I could have been better prepared and spoken more eloquently. Ultimately I wanted to make sure everyone of the team members were given credit for all the hard work they have done and continue to do …

… for the Team!

If I have missed anyone, my sincerest apologies … just drop me a note and I will update this post.

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Communication

Communication is a key to finding what can be unlocked by an idea. Learning how to make the key is almost as important as knowing what lock it fits. Once you have opened a mind to the potential of an idea you are much more able to present it in an understandable fashion.

Consider your audience before you begin. They are the mold you use to make your key. It is much easier open the door to understanding when you hold the key to unlock it in your hand. Once they are open to accepting an idea, you can easily lead them down a path of knowledge and understanding as you are now able to present the information in a manner they are willing to understand.

Communication is not the conveying of an idea; it is the action of creating an atmosphere of interest in the idea.

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Stand Up

Sometimes you simply have to stand up and get noticed; take the lead by setting a positive example; and, always strive for improvement.

Recognition goes a long way in gaining support for a goal or idea. Gather together positively influenced support for your plan and others will see there are benefits to its completion.

Deliver on your schedule and meet the known, and sometimes unexpected, results with proof positive the methods you use are the most correct going forward.

Once you have proven your worth and shown you are capable, continue to make gains by improving on what got you to there in the first place. Resting on your laurels does not make for better, it just leaves everything the same as it was before.

Stand up, take the lead, and improve.

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Give

Reach out before the hand of need is extended to look back and see the outstretched hands of support.

There is no need to wait for someone to ask for help before offering it. Sometimes its just a simple gesture or small kindness but that is often all it takes to give a person the encouragement to continue. If you give of yourself freely, you may be rewarded in kind. If you find yourself in need, look to those you have helped before and see them in turn reaching out to give you aid.

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Site Renovation

I have found myself with a small window of downtime between projects and have decided to take this opportunity to do a little site renovation … and maybe do some work on my other sites, too.

First off, I have reversed the columns on this site. It’s more a Hillary-Everest idea than anything else; I wanted to see what it would look like … I may switch back. Given that I am using my own personal child theme “Cais” of my Shades theme I am only following the advice I give to all people wanting to change around the theme they are using. I have written about this at BuyNowShop.com, follow this link to read the article from July 2009.

As a child theme, I have also changed the column widths and moved the sidebar search function into the widget area of the theme … although that may not be easily discerned as I am also using a collection of widgets in the sidebar to provide a working example of the BNS Chess.com Badge widget I created.

I will likely tweak and tune this child theme more … feel free to leave your comments on the new look.

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Everything Has a Price

Everything has a price. Perhaps it can be equated in terms of currency but in most cases the real trade-off or cost is measured in time.

Who can help me now?
What day will it be ready?
Where is it?
When can I have it?
Why is this so difficult?

You may pay for premium services and get help immediately in some cases. If you want to receive something sooner you can go get it yourself. You may need to travel to a place you do not want to go to, but you will achieve your goals sooner if you do. Almost everything gets easier with knowledge and practice … and time.

Of course you can simply throw money at a problem and maybe it will go away, but it will still take time, even if only a moment, to replace those funds.

Everything has a price, it’s just a matter of time.

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Speak Plainly

Antagonisms and sarcastic remarks are often the instigators of misunderstandings and misconstrued ideas. The acknowledgment of these quips can lead to their further misinterpretation and possible validation whereas ignoring them may refute the points trying to be made, neither of which may ultimately add benefit to the argument.

Speak plainly and to the issue at hand; simple language is a more effective communication device than meandering diatribes or implied meanings.

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Meet You in the Middle

We can agree to disagree … No! That’s simply avoidance, nothing more. It’s not a resolution by any means. It’s simply an acknowledgment of one’s inability, or lack of desire, to find a compromise for the issue at hand.

Be it a debate, an argument, or a heated exchange; one of the easiest methods of reaching a peaceful conclusion is the willingness to find a middle ground. In some cases the middle may be heavily skewed to one side but every party involved will gain a certain satisfaction if they have received even a modicum of a concession to their point.

Finding your middle ground and being able to share it will always gain you ground in the end.

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Greatness

To consider yourself great is to recognize your lack of potential; but to be considered great by your peers is to achieve a modest successfulness to strive beyond. Greatness is not something you can bestow upon yourself, it is the accolades given by your admirers and a mere benchmark to consider as a starting point.