In my inbox this morning was a little Miscommunication
History! On October 30th, 1938, Orson Welles caused nationwide
panic with his realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of
Earth. The broadcast was called "War of the Worlds"
The
program began at 8pm when many Americans were listening to another
radio station with the very popular ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his
dummy "Charlie McCarthy". His segment was over at 8:15pm at which
time people switched stations to hear "War of the Worlds" but only
AFTER the announcement was made that it was a dramatization.
Missing that vital bit of information coupled with the excellent
acting, many Americans believed it was a real news broadcast!
When
word finally reached Orson Welles, he went on the air, as himself, and
reminded folks that it was only fiction. From the reports of widespread
panic that ensued, I suspect that many people were no longer listening
when that announcement was made. In New Jersey, terrified
citizens crowded the highways trying to flee the city. People
begged police for gas masks. One woman ran into a church in
Indianapolis and declared: "New York has been destroyed! It's the end
of the world! Go home and prepare to die!".
What a little miscommunication over the public air waves can do!
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In
other MailBag Monday news, I have been asked where I find all the
communication jokes and Friday Funnies pictures that I post. I
wish I could say that I was creative enough to make them up, but I
don't. Most of them have been running around anonymously on the
internet for years! I keep a file on my computer labeled:
Communication Funnies where I collect them. Very often friends,
family and our customers will forward them to me! Thanks
folks! Occasionally these take the form of silly real life events
that have happened to someone they know! And frequently they are
customer service faux pas that I experience myself -usually with large
companies of the service persuasion!
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Others of you have written to us recently asking about our newest release. Everyone is anxious for
Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith
to come out and we are too. I assure you it will be soon and I
cannot wait to show it to you! The best laid plans... We
will not release a study until all our "T"s are crossed and our "Eyes"
are crossed as well! ROFL I will, indeed, post when it is
ready though so don't worry!
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Several
have written in the past month or so about our Affiliate program.
It appears that after having our site moved to a different server,
there is an error code that appears when folks are trying to sign
up for our affiliate program. It says that those trying to sign
up don't have "permission". (which is apparently the
technological term for "Mother May I". ROFL) We apologize
for any inconvenience and we are having our web host look into
this. The issue with the database only affects the affiliate
program. The rest of the site is not affected.
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Keep
those cards and letters coming! We love to hear from you about
how we are doing, what you would like to see in the future and how much
your children are learning and having fun with our studies and free
activities!
Until next time...
