(a ‘ben thinking’ spin-off)
 
Zoom in. You can see your personal brand on display.
I talked about Zoom last week a bit. But here are some personal observations if you’re interested:
 
=Having your own Zoom account/private room is great. Once you realize how to work it. Otherwise, you have a bunch of people using old passwords and links. And maybe one of your best friends accidentally showing up to a work meeting.
 
=There’s no wrong way to Zoom … if you do it in a way that is consistent with your brand.
 
=Unless you’re not wearing pants. That’s definitely a wrong way to Zoom.
 
=Back to your brand. Does your email have a signature? Yea. Then your Zoom ID should at least have your name or ID on par with your brand. For me, since it’s akhia communications and my LinkedIn carries over that lowercase usage, my Zoom ID is ‘ben.’
 
=Do you have a photo when your camera is off? I break corporate brand a little and use my headshot from the day I was hired—back in 2000. I haven’t changed a bit.
 
=Use the privacy settings—‘allow’ someone to enter the room; don’t start it until you, the host, arrive; use a password.
 
This is through eight weeks … and I think I finally have this down.
 
Speaking of video meetings.
Check out this webinar from Quartz: The art of working from home. It’s Thursday, May 7, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. Seems like a good one.
 
Psychologist’s tips for going back to work.
Here in Ohio, companies could reopen on Monday, May 4. On that day I snagged this read from  Cleveland.com citing a psychologist’s tips on returning to work. Worth a quick read if you or your teams are experiencing anxiety heading back to the office.
 
May is Mental Health Awareness month.
So it seems like a bad time to see this stat:
 
“Nearly 40% of people say their company hasn’t asked them how they’re doing since the pandemic began.”
 
Yikes.
 
The good news? It’s never too late to start reaching out to turn that around. This article from HBR has some great insight on how CEO’s can support their employees’ mental health.
 
Redefining luxury. (I say redefining everything.)
David Armano, one of my favorite Twitter follows had this to say today about how luxury brands’ customers will see ‘luxury’ redefined.
 
Luxury brands take note: Except for the super wealthy, your former consumers are going to re-define luxury as:
-Safety
-Comfort
-Utility
-Reassuring
-Modest
-Usefulness
-Low maintenance
-Reliable
-Trusted
 
The new status symbols won’t look like the old ones.
 
Thanks for reading!