By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Late last year the U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act (H.R.3596) was introduced as the US Congress’ latest foray against our industry. Although it carries a benign, even possibly positive, title, it is neither. The bill’s Introduction (with typo) states its purpose as: “To require a publicly available a […]
Charles Dickens was born February 7, 1812. This month marks his 200th birthday. One of his most popular books—and my favorite—is A Christmas Carol. It has been loved by generations and made into many a movie. I recently heard a radio segment about Dickens. NPR reported that in 1843 he wrote A Christmas Carol in […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD It happened again. It shouldn’t surprise me but it does. In fact, it has been said so often that most people believe it to be true and accept it as fact. What am I talking about? Once again, a politician has stood up and passionately, emphatically, and convincingly asserted that we, […]
My last two posts shared my efforts at writing movie reviews and book reviews. This begs the question of how to write an appropriate review. Unfortunately, there is no universally agreed-upon set of rules. What one person advocates, another dismisses. What one reviewer says to never do, the next one does. Since the “experts” don’t […]
Last week I shared my foray into writing movie reviews. It wasn’t long before I began penning book reviews as well. However, unlike my short-lived tenure writing movie reviews, book reviewing is a practice that has continued. So far I’ve written 53 (it takes longer to read a book, so the numbers accumulate slower.) The […]
I’m a bit of a movie buff, enjoying most genres and all eras. Some might say that I watch too many movies (I’ve rated 2,336 of them on Netflix)—or perhaps that I watch too many movies that most would skip. For a time a long time, I resisted combining my love for movies with my […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. It’s been said that the only constant is change. Why, then, is change so hard? Call centers, especially those in the healthcare industry, go through frequent changes, perhaps more so now than ever before. These changes might include merging operations, moving locations, implementing revised procedures, adjusting to new regulations, or […]
My first writer’s critique group was a rewarding experience. There were ten in attendance, which included several first-timers. As a newbie, I was able to share my journey and participate in the discussion, but I could only be an observer in the critiquing process. Wisely, they want to make sure that newcomers are serious about […]
A few years ago literary agent Amanda Luedeke quantified what constitutes a “solid author platform.” Frankly, her numbers are overwhelming: This is daunting. Even more disconcerting is knowing that the number of blogs, websites, Twitter accounts, and Facebook pages is growing much faster than the number of people who visit, follow, and view them. This […]
In my writing journey, I recently submitted my completed dissertation for review and comment. This had been a concerted effort for several months and once achieved, I took a needed writing respite. This didn’t mean completely ceasing all writing activity, as I continued blogging and whatnot, but I intentionally took a break from big projects. […]