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  • Winter Report on Business Launch with Missing Column on Technology

    Winter Report on Business Launch with Missing Column on Technology

    The quarterly issue of Report On Business is out. The theme of this issue is Attract and Engage. Not limited to workforce, the focus is on community, economy, and civic engagement. The issue features content from TechND, Funatix Events, and Proof Distillery.

    As usual, we announce with the missing column of our VP of Strategic Engagement, Amanda Remynse's column.
     
    MISSING COLUMN: My Children Don’t Know How To Use The Phone
     
    For those of you over the age of 30… you know what dial tone is. For those of you over the age of 40… you know what dial-up internet sounds like. Over 45… you may remember the sound of a cassette taping being “eaten” in the deck. For those of you over 50… you may know what a juke box coin drop sounds like. Over 60… you have heard (and can probably see) the TV color bars and tone before the TV officially started each day.
     
    I’m not saying each generation hasn’t heard these sounds but just like smells, certain sounds can put you specifically in a location and place. The evolution of the phone and communications is one that seems to determine a time stamp. My children are borderline illiterate when it comes to the phone. I can’t blame them. Their age is a factor (8, 7, and 6 years old). They are functional conversationalists – my husband and I see that they have vocabularies and engage in the back and forth of the volley of discussions including listening, contributing, and asking to engage. Yet… you hand them a phone with an attached voice and they seem lost or lose rational.
     
    Recently my husband went out of town on a road trip. We called to talk to him. They couldn’t quite grasp to have a solo conversation that they had to put the phone to the side of their face. They kept staring at it… waiting for the noise to erupt from the speaker until I said, “put it up to your ear.” However, the struggle continued. Their face would hit the mute button, they would pull it away, they wouldn’t put the earpiece in the right place. I don’t know who was more frustrated – me watching them and attempting to guide them through prehistoric technology or my husband on the receiving end.
     
    I once asked them to pretend to talk on the phone with their hand. I do the thumb/pinkie combo which has the slight resemblance to a banana or a Hawaiian surfer action. Theirs is more of a palm salute to their cheek. I blew their mind when I took them to my parents and showed them a rotary phone (complete with Mr. Yuck sticker). It took 3 tries before my daughter could make a call successfully. And let’s visit about how the call ended. She set the receiver down on the table after a quick review for the red end button. We had to teach her to put it back into the cradle.
     
    See these kids will not have to remember phone numbers… I still, to this day, know my home phone number, my grandparent’s, my dad’s best friend – who was a solid in case of emergency or assist, and the Stockmen’s Assoc. My children will not know exactly how far the cord can reach to better have a teenage private conversation in a closet or stairwell. They won’t be exasperated with call waiting and have to give the phone up ending a “very important” discussion. Technology will evolve and party lines aren’t as exclusive as they used to be.
     
    That’s where we are at with the workplace as well. Typewriters… gone. Memos… gone. Rolodex … gone. Two spaces after a period… a dead giveaway to someone born in the last century. Is your business prepping to keep up? To understand the technology in place and also being willing to shift with what’s coming? I know full well someday that my children will have to educate me but right now, it’s my job to showcase current trends to them and I hope they listen when I explain why the car phone or bagphone was cutting edge. We will have talks about AI responsibility and they will never know a world without google. The workplace will continue to evolve and the next generation will guide us. I’m excited for what this will do to the pace of business. Also, I am curious when the signal for rolling down a car window will change.
     
    This past issue has an inclusion from TechND including the honorees of the 2024 Tech Awards – all three of whom are GNDC members.
     
    WINTER ISSUE OF REPORT ON BUSINESS: ATTRACT & ENGAGE