Lugging around an etiquette reference book isn’t practical but adding Dale Webb’s Etiquette Avenue to your iPhone or iTouch (sorry Crackberry addicts a compatible App is in the works) brings business tips and manners to your fingertips.
This application, designed by Blue Whale Solutions is useful and easy to navigate. Although it may be a contradiction in terms as it is absolutely impolite to use a PDA at the board or dining room table.
Etiquette App Facilitates Face to Face Events
Etiquette Avenue is a unique App, the first of its kind to be launched. It covers 14 categories including electronic etiquette and tips on in-person networking. The “Tip of the Day” is a short and fast tutorial with photographs that simplify perplexing table settings. Which fork to use for what course and which wine glass matches which varietal are some of the solutions provided.
Jacqueline Whitmore, an authority on etiquette and protocol located in the understated, wealthy and etiquette-rich area of Palm Beach, Florida shared some vital and not surprising information from a recent poll conducted by the University of Michigan, “a majority of cell phone users acknowledged that they get irritated at other people for using cell phones in a public place.”
Give the Gift of Etiquette
Heed this warning, before you get up from your desk or open your car door, take the time read the valuable information on Etiquette Avenue – don’t read it during the meeting or meal. Read it twice if not three times before you get to your destination. And, instead of sending friends and colleagues another e-chain letter or virtual gift on Facebook, give them a gift of refinement that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives. Wasting others’ time is also a serious breech of etiquette.
“No matter how fast technology moves, personal interaction and first impressions can make the difference in whether a person gets the job or the client. And now that matters more than ever,” says Webb, President/CEO of The Protocol Centre in Miami.
Humorous illustrations by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jim Morin add levity to an otherwise dull, but highly necessary subjects on Etiquette Avenue. A favorite is a fork bowing to a fork saying, “after you.” Blue Whale Solutions designed and programmed the illustrations as ‘flash cards’ that flip to reveal advice.
The Protocol Centre Launches APP
Created from the most frequently asked questions at Webb’s Protocol Centre, Etiquette Avenue’s topics include how to deliver a handshake (no limp fish please), how to make introductions (name, title and company of the most senior person first), how to navigate a table setting (easiest way is to work from the outside in) and when it is appropriate to use your PDA (hardly ever).
“We all notice the little things, especially in the workplace, when we’re evaluating whether someone is a ‘must-have’ member of the team,” said Webb. “Etiquette Avenue’s information is a version of our Best Protocol Practices curriculum updated and adapted to an App. We used the most requested ‘help-me topics’ from our clients. These are the skills one needs to be competitive,” continues Webb.
Etiquette Avenue may be downloaded at the ITunes App Store for $2.99, a price that has an outstanding ROI. Blackberry and Treo addicts should cross their fingers that Webb is working on an App for these PDA’s as soon as possible. It’s not called a “crack-Berry” for nothing and users have pushed the bounds of politeness way out into cyberspace.
“Etiquette is about respect AND common sense,” said Webb. I beg to differ. If etiquette were really about common sense then there wouldn’t be a need for such a timely Application.
After paging through the App, this reviewer finds it well worth downloading and reading in its entirety before your next meeting. It may just make the needed difference – a way to break through the clutter of rubes and barbarians - in this highly competitive atmosphere.
About the Author
Dale Webb is one of the founding partners of The Protocol Centre™, which she opened in 2004 with Pauline Winick. Dale has held senior positions with leading organizations in Miami, including FIU, Miami International Film Festival and the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. She is a past president of the Junior League of Miami and the founding president of the Dade Education Fund. Dale serves on the Orange Bowl Committee, the Board of Spectrum programs, and is President of the Chapman Foundation. Dale graduated from Queens College in North Carolina with a BA in Sociology, and she completed Executive Education Seminars in Marketing at the Harvard Graduate School of Business. Dale trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and received certification in all aspects of Business Etiquette and Protocol training from the Protocol School of Washington.
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