Naked! Naked, I say!

The other day I left home without my cell phone. You know how I felt. Naked! Like all those bad dreams about showing up for a job interview without a bra. Or giving a speech with your fly unzipped. OMG!

I spent the day reaching for it. Red light: I'll make a call. Not. Take a break: I'll play Scrabble. Not. Send a text: Nope. Get my email. NOT!

By the end of the day I couldn't wait to get home to my iphone and the world it connects me to. Can we even remember fishing around for a quarter for the pay phone?

So, I wasn't at all surprised to read today that "Four Out of Five Never Leave Home Without It." A survey just released from Synovate looked at global mobile phone usage. And, the word is: we are woefully attached. Some 82% of Americans say they never leave home without their cell phone and half of them claim they "cannot live without it." They even sleep with it nearby.

Here's a factoid: Of all the human beans on the planet, more own a cell phone than do not.

Aside from the "ubiquitous calling and SMS functions," do you want to know what we use our phones for most often? Alarm clock. Camera. Games.

We also lie 31% of the time about where we are or why we're running late when we text. We break up with significant others, get dumped by significant others, flirt with potential new significant others (and other's 'others') mobily, on the run, in 140 characters or less.

I chastised myself for being so shallow and fretting about my phone being somewhere I was not. Now I know. The survey says: The cell phone is our remote control for life. And our skin? Well, we won't leave home without that, either.

Thankyouverymuch should be no problem

I have learned a lot about business etiquette at chamber events. I've learned a lot from emcee Beth Stephens at the Rogers Chamber of Commerce, who does an excellent job of publicly acknowledging and thanking the businesses who support and sponsor their events. I don't know that I've ever walked away from a Rogers Chamber event and NOT known what companies put up the bucks to help make the event happen.

I appreciate that. For one, I like to know what companies are actively participating in the business economy in Northwest Arkansas. I like to put faces to names. I like to know what type of events they find alliance with, and at what level they want to connect with their community. Those are the businesses I want to do business with. And, when I'm one of the sponsors, I sure appreciate knowing that my company's involvement is being acknowledged and appreciated. For all the same reasons.

Today's PRSA conference at the John Q aimed at branding your company message and connecting to consumers. There was much twitter about Twitter and the on-going chatter of social networking. It may be that 'please and thank you' take up too many characters to express. But in all the talk of branding –personal and corporate alike – the bell that sounded loud and clear today in my head was this absence of appreciation.

I heard it from media panelist, Rick Bagley of Channel 5 TV, who shared a story about a PR event that left his reporters feeling used and abused. I heard it from keynote speaker and ESPN star Jim Dykes, who talked about how important those courtesies are when working with the media. I can count on ten digits the times I've had a subject of a story write to say "thanks for making me feel special and double thanks for making me not sound stupid."

If branding is on your mind these days, just remember that these simple courtesies should lead the way. A sincere 'thank you' and 'you're welcome' should be among our most common sentiments at work and at play. An organization that shows appreciation to its employees, customers and supporters is an organization that gets appreciated in return.

Remember Bartles & James? And thank you for your support.