It’s easy sometimes to get comfortable in a relationship, let go of the effort and behaviors that we had on the first date. While, this might seem like a strange topic to equate with work environments, the two have much more in common than you’d think. When you’re on a first date, you are constantly making sure you put your best foot forward (at least we hope so) in the hopes that a second date might come of it.  The same goes in the workplace. In order to get a second meeting, close a deal, make a sale, whatever the case may be, we need to put our best foot forward on the first meeting.

Think of how much more successful our meetings could be if we put in the effort to impress and care for the other party as we do on a first date. No, you aren’t hoping for a goodnight kiss at the end of your meeting, but you are probably hoping for some forward motion for your business or career, so why not put forth the same amount of care into your communication, appearance, and manners? Below are some widely accepted dating rules that can be incorporated into your workday:

• Be punctual: This isn’t just a date lesson or a work lesson, it’s a life lesson. Being late to plans communicates the message that you think your time is more important than the other party’s time, even if you don’t think that at all. You don’t want to do that to a date, and you really don’t want to do that to your boss. Leave 10 minutes earlier for your meeting to ensure you’re there on time, you’ll be glad you did.
• Be kind to the server: Mom always said “Someone who is nice to you but not nice to the waiter is not a nice person,” and for good reason. Being nice to everyone you’re in contact with is good practice, so be nice to the the receptionist, the intern and the waiter, because these people, whether you realize it or not, may be a valuable connection in your future.
• Don’t complain: Your date does not want to hear you complain about your day; they want to have a positive conversation and enjoy your company. However, a boss REALLY doesn’t want to hear you complain. You will get ahead for having positive morale and good energy, you will not for going on and on about how horrible your day was.
• LISTEN: Often, when you’re trying to impress someone, you can let your excitement get the better of you and dominate the conversation. We all just want to be heard, which goes for whomever you’re with as well. Follow this rule, if you’re talking more than 50% of the time, you’re talking too much.
• Communicate: Nerves can have the opposite effect as well, and all that nervousness can make us lose our voice and sit quietly waiting for the other to speak. This is awkward, and will not get you a second date or a second meeting. Have an important opinion or idea? Share it. You’re meeting with one another to get to know each other better or move towards a goal, and you need to communicate your views to do so.
• Dress the part: In a relationship, you usually save the sweatpants for a couple of months in, once the other person likes you for you. For the first date, some effort is expected, and even more so for a meeting. Your partner will more than likely put effort into how they present themselves, so don’t show up looking disheveled. Make sure you look presentable enough for your calendar demands. When in doubt, dress up a little, it can’t hurt.
• Don’t order the most expensive thing on the menu: If you’re not picking up the check, then you shouldn’t order the lobster. Don’t take advantage of the fact that the bill isn’t your responsibility, it does not make a good impression.

While there are many differences between dating and the workplace, there do exist some similarities. To put it simply, both are focused around putting your best foot forward, using your manners, and being courteous to whomever you are with. Keep these in mind as you suit up for your next meeting or business lunch. The extra effort will be appreciated, and who knows, you may just get a second date, ahem, we mean meeting.

Adopted from this article from PR Daily

On April 3, Frontier Communications West Region announced that it is sponsoring two outstanding athletes as they train to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games. Ariana Kukors, five-time national swim champion from the Puget Sound Area in Washington, and Mariel Zagunis, the most decorated fencer in U.S. history from Beaverton, Ore., have signed on to be a part of the Frontier All-Star Team as FAST ambassadors.

These athletes had a chance to meet with Frontier customers and community members at two separate events on Wednesday, April 18. Kukors participated in five media interviews in Washington and spent time at the Everett YMCA to meet and greet the public, interact with young swimmers, and talk about why she and Frontier are dedicated to all that we do. Zagunis participated in five media interviews in Oregon and interacted with members of the community, this time in her hometown community, where she met with fans to sign autographs, promote Frontier, and give fencing demonstrations.

Kukors, the world record-holder in the 200-meter long course individual medley, applauds Frontier’s creation of the FAST program. “It takes 100 percent dedication to be the best. And I’m proud to represent Frontier, since we share the same values,” she said. “My training started early on in life with swim lessons at my local YMCA, and I’m grateful to have this opportunity to support local communities in my home state of Washington.”

Zagunis, the most decorated fencer in U.S. history, is also excited about the program. “Speed and high-performance are essential to this sport, and I’m proud to have Frontier Communications as a partner in my quest to be the world’s best in 2012,” she said. “This is also a great opportunity to support local communities like my hometown of Beaverton and to heighten awareness of organizations like the Providence Child Center for medically fragile children. The work they do is the epitome of dedication, and I’m thrilled to be a part of Frontier’s great program.” 

Get ready to cheer “USA!” and root for ALL of our champions - here and abroad!

Five-time national swim champion Ariana Kukors and two-time gold medal fencer Mariel Zagunis will put performance and dedication on display this summer as part of the Frontier All-Star Team (FAST)

 Frontier Communications announced yesterday that we will officially sponsor two of the Pacific Northwest’s most accomplished athletes as they train to compete this summer on the world’s biggest stage in London, England. Five-time national swim champion Ariana Kukors from the Puget Sound area in Washington and two-time Olympic champion and number-one ranked fencer Mariel Zagunis from Beaverton, Ore., will be part of our Frontier All-Star Team (FAST). As FAST ambassadors, they will appear in elements of Frontier’s integrated marketing campaign, including TV, radio, outdoor and print advertising, digital and social media, public relations, and local engagement in Frontier-served communities. Through the Great Frontier Donate charitable program, the FAST partnership will support local organizations such as the Providence Child Center in Oregon and the YMCA of Snohomish County in Washington.

 Kukors, the world record-holder in the 200-meter long course individual medley, applauds Frontier’s creation of the FAST program. “It takes 100 percent dedication to be the best. And I’m proud to represent Frontier, since we share the same values,” she said. “My training started early on in life with swim lessons at my local YMCA, and I’m grateful to have this opportunity to support local communities in my home state of Washington.”

 Zagunis, the most decorated fencer in U.S. history, is also excited about the program. “Speed and high-performance are essential to this sport, and I’m proud to have Frontier Communications as a partner in my quest to be the world’s best in 2012,” she said. “This is also a great opportunity to support local communities like my hometown of Beaverton and to heighten awareness of organizations like the Providence Child Center for medically fragile children. The work they do is the epitome of dedication, and I’m thrilled to be a part of Frontier’s great program.”

“Frontier is proud to champion these two Pacific Northwest standouts as they prepare to represent our country before the world. With our 100 percent U.S.-based workforce, we serve many communities in their home states,” said West Region President Denise Baumbach. “Just as these athletes are dedicated to being the best, Frontier is dedicated to providing its customers the best entertainment experience with superior broadband, TV and digital communications services.”

 Baumbach further noted, “Athletes like Mariel and Ariana depend on sponsorships to help pay for training and living expenses, and Frontier is glad to be a part of this effort. We will be rooting for every member of the American team this summer, but we’ll certainly be focused on these two outstanding young women.”

Business lunches have become a very common way for clients, customers, and competitors to meet and discuss new business opportunities. Often times this is a great, casual way to accomplish business in a causal environment, but it can lead to disaster quickly if proper manners and considerations are not made. An important point to remember when setting up or agreeing to a business lunch is that the purpose of your lunch is to MEET not to EAT. Below are the most important, and most commonly broken, rules for conducting a successful business lunch:

• Dress Appropriately: If you are organizing the meeting, it is courteous to offer your guest a subtle tip about appropriate attire (ex: “The restaurant is pretty casual, I’m coming from home so feel free to wear something comfortable”). If you’re the guest and didn’t receive a hint, feel free to ask. It will show that you’re self-assured enough to take charge and handle details (ex: “I usually wear khakis and a golf shirt to work, would that be appropriate?”)
• Arrive 5 minutes early: You should plan ahead for any traffic/parking issues you may have so that you will arrive five minutes early to your lunch appointment. Just like with a job interview, timeliness is an essential way to communicate your interest and enthusiasm about your meeting and arriving late communicates that you do not value the other party’s time.
• Put your phone away: Point blank, being on your phone during a meeting is rude. While you may think that having your phone out makes you look important, it actually gives the impression that you’re inept and unable to manage your life or business for the short time of your lunch meeting.
• Order something easy and practical to eat: If something spills on your clothes, or you’re wrestling with your food while you try to eat it, it will be very hard for others to be able to listen to you or take you seriously. If you’re the guest of the lunch, do not order the most expensive thing on the menu, even if your host does. Ordering lobster while everyone else opts for a sandwich reflects negatively on your personality and attitude.
• Remember your table manners: Keep your elbows off the table, take the time to cut your food, don’t chew with your mouth open or talk with your mouth full. These may seem like common sense but they are manner rules that are broken all the time.

If these suggestions sound to you like what you’d hear when you ask for advice on a date, then you’re going in the right direction. You should be as focused on your manners while you’re meeting with a colleague for lunch as when you are meeting with a potential romantic interest. When you’re on a business lunch, one of your key goals is to impress who you’re with and give a good impression of yourself and what you represent. These points may seem trivial and unoriginal, but breaking these simple rules can undo any credibility you may have and ruin your business meeting. Keep these tips in mind and your work, not your bad manners, will be what everyone remembers.

Between work accounts, social media accounts, and general bill pay/life accounts, you’ve probably got a lot of passwords to keep track of. We’ve all been told many times that you should absolutely not have the same password for everything because if a person gets access to one account, they’ll be able to crack them all. However, the need to have such varied passwords is actually making us less creative, and thus making it easier to break into various accounts that are highly important to us.

Trustwave, an IT security company, set out to prove this point by analyzing passwords and their weaknesses and attempting to hack the password of 2.5 million of its customer as a test. Of those 2.5 million, Trustwave was successfully able to crack 200,000 of those accounts in only 10 hours using a very inexpensive software cracking system. The ease with which Trustwave was able to break into accounts is a little unnerving, and should remind us that while it may be annoying to do, making secure passwords is important.

While breaking into these accounts, Trustwave came across some very helpful info to keep in mind when you create your web passwords.

• Setting your password as “Password,” “Password2, Password 3, Password4 etc”, “P@ssw0rd” or anything similar is the biggest mistake you can make. This was the most commonly used password for the Trustwave accounts, and the most easily hacked.
• Picking just plain English words like “January” or “Kentucy” or “Jennifer” is almost as bad; almost all passwords hacked that weren’t a variation of “Password” were generic English words with no variation in them.
• Length matters: Simply put, the longer your password is, the more possibilities it gives, and the harder it is to figure out. Trustwave found that it was easier to crack the password “R$*k” than it is to crack “ThisIsMyPasswordNoReallyItIs,” showing that length, more than fancy characters, will help keep your account secure.
• Pick something obscure to the world, but not to you. Did you study classic literature in school or a foreign language? Then make your password the name of your favorite obscure literature character or a foreign word. You’ll remember it easily, but others will have a harder time cracking it.

These tips may seem simple, but they may mean the difference between having secure accounts and making information that might be confidential and highly important vulnerable to the outside world.

Compiled from this TechFlash News article.