We spend hours in front of our monitors reading and answering email, producing spreadsheets. But when producing colour related files and layouts, we depend on the accuracy of our monitor to render accurately.

This is a major problem if our monitors are not calibrated. We will over-correct and cause colour reversals when presenting our files for printing, muddy colours, or washed out colours. The results could be very bad. If you are a graphics professional, you need faithful colour.

1. Get your area ready. Turn off  overhead lighting to kill reflections and glare, close window shades and get your eyes used to evaluating monitor colour. Warm up your colour monitor for 30 minutes to stabilize.

2. Get your computer ready. Set your resolution at the highest available. (Unless text is unreadable, too small). Set your monitor mode in 24 bit, high colour, millions of colours. (Macs go to Preferences> Displays> choose Millions. Windows, right click on your desktop for Graphic Properties.)

4. Choose a good reference target. This blog has one under Colour Correction:Color Target 501rev1. ( It is RGB.) If you want to print one to a calibrated colour printer, use the CMYK version:  Colour printer calibration PDI Target 50. (This colour looks flat, by comparison.)

5. Adjust brightness on your monitor panel so you can see the maximum range of gray scales possible. Adjust contrast to fine tune. Take the extra time to make these adjustments.

6. Make tiny adjustments to Red, Green, Blue on your monitor panel until the Reference looks right. Study the “memory colours” of red apples, green grass, human fleshtones, so they look natural. Make only small adjustments, one colour at a time until you become familiar with your eye-hand coordination. Then, review the range of colours on the Reference. You may need to compromise to get the best overall results.

6. Check calibration before you have any important colour project to do, otherwise, plan on at least monthly. Monitors can drift, be affected by voltage fluctuations, burn down, or your visual perception may change with your health.

If you are not sure about the overwhelming details that can further be delved into, consult a friend or colleague. There are several good software: colorimeter combinations for professional use.

Here’s the Shortest Tutorial Ever on SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

1) Find keywords. Pick a list of words relevant to your business.  Think about which words are most likely to get people to do what you want them to do (convert into leads) and focus on those words.  Then pick one word (or phrase) to use on one page of your site.
2) Put keywords in Page Title. The Page Title is one of the most important things that Google and other search engines evaluate to determine what is on a web page.  Put your keyword or phrase in the title, keep it short.

3) Put keywords in Page URL. Google and other search engines also use the text of the URL of the page to determine the content of the web page.  You should use your keyword or phrase in the URL of the web page – either the folder/directory structure or the HTML file / page name itself.

4) Put keywords in Meta Data. While the page metadata (Page Description and Keywords) are not nearly as important as they used to be, they still count.  Take advantage of them by putting your keyword or phrase there.  The description should be readable by a person and make sense and the keyword metadata should focus on your keyword or phrase – do not make it long, less is more.
5) Put keywords in your H1 text. The H1 text is usually the title of an article or some larger bold text at the top of your page.  Google and the smaller search engines can see this and they put extra importance on the words in the H1 text.  Make sure your keyword or phrase is there.

6) Use keywords in the page content. Putting the keyword in your page content also signals to search engines that the page is actually about the keyword and should show up in search results.  I have heard from “experts” that you should use your keyword anywhere from 4-6 times to 10-12 times.  My advice is to just write naturally.

7) Monitor your rank. Give the search engines some time to do their thing (couple days) and then keep checking your rank to see what happened and track your progress.

http://video214.com/play/d8Zgzut9i1qZEnnTKJ1Ftg/s/dark

11. Vodka.com sold for $ 3 million

10. Retailer Toys ‘R Us purchased Toys.com in 2009 for $ 5.1 million.

9. Casino.com was sold in 2003 for a grand total of $ 5.5 million.

8. Israel.com The Telegraph explains the buyer’s motivations (who purchased the site for $5.88 million in 2004): ‘Billed as “your first and best source for information about Israel”. It was bought in 1994 by Joel Noel Friedman, a 46-year-old Jewish American. Rather than seek profit, he originally bought the site in fear that it would be misused by somebody else.

7. Beer.com was sold for $ 7 million in 2004.

6. Ice.com purchased ‘Diamond.com‘ (tied with Business.com) for a reported $ 7.5 million in 2006.

5. Business.com The domain name is tied with ‘Diamond.com’ for multi-million dollar pricetag. Business.com was purchased for $7.5 million in 1999. The Telegraph writes, ‘Business search engine and web directory founded in 1999 by Jake Winebaum, a previous chairman of the Walt Disney Internet Group, and Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink. In July 2007 business.com, the company, was sold to Yellow Pages publisher RH Donnelly for $345 million.’

4. Close behind ’sex.com’, ‘Porn.com‘ is one of the most valuable domain names on the web. The address last sold for around $ 9.5 million in 2007.

3. Fund.com was reportedly sold fo $ 9.99 million in 2008.

2. Sex.com has recently hit the auction block with a starting price of $1 million. It was first purchased by Match.com founder Gary Kremen in 1994, and was last sold in 2006 for $14 million.

1. Insure.com was reportedly sold to QuinStreet for $ 16 million in 2009.

ICC White Papers from www.color.org – Excellent. Must read for colour professionals: photographers, digital studios, separators and printers.

Fundamentals

ICC profiles in a colour reproduction system
This paper introduces some of the issues in colour reproduction and discusses how ICC profiles may be used in achieving successful reproductions. Further detail on many of the topics covered will be found in other papers on the ICC web site.

Recommendations for colour measurement
In order to prepare a useful device profile based on the ICC Specification, it is essential to measure color accurately and consistently. This White Paper summarizes the issues users should consider when making color measurements for the purpose of constructing ICC profiles, and describes recommended practices.

Glossary
This glossary of terms contains definitions of terminology commonly used in colour imaging (including digital photography and printing), colour reproduction and management, and colour and density measurement.

Reasons to use ICC version 4 in PDF/X
The ICC produced version 4 of the profile format specification primarily to address a number of problems that users were experiencing when using version 2 ICC profiles. This document explains some of the reasons to move to version 4, and discusses the need for a change to the PDF/X specification to allow (and recommend) the use of ICC version 4 profiles.

Digital photography color management basics
Photographers know that the world we live in and view is difficult to record on film, or even using a digital camera. The actual scene we attempt to photograph may go beyond the recording capability of our cameras, and beyond the ability of output devices to reproduce. This paper describes the steps that an image undergoes from raw camera capture to rendered output and data encoding, and explains some important terms such as terms scene-referred and output-referred colorimetry.

Using ICC profiles with digital camera images
There are two kinds of ICC profiles that can apply to image files created by digital cameras: color space profiles and input profiles. Pictures usually don’t match the scene from a color measurement, or even necessarily an appearance standpoint. Scene-to-picture color processing is called “color rendering”. In this paper some of the details of this process are described, and the options for profiling digital cameras are discussed.

ICC Profiles, Color Appearance Modeling, and the Microsoft WindowsTM Color System
Microsoft has announced that the new Microsoft WindowsTM Color System (WCS) will use the CIECAM02 color appearance model, and run-time color rendering, in which the color transforms to be applied to source [input] files are determined after the output devices are known. WCS will for the first time bring Version 4 ICC support to a Microsoft OS.

RGB Color Managed Workflow Example
Today’s abundance of RGB source art such as digital illustrations, photos, and digital art is routinely ‘repurposed’ (redirected for different outputs). RGB color encodings are well suited to these requirements, as they tend to be closer to the original source of the image. The general principle of the ‘late binding’ workflow described in this White Paper is to keep as close as possible to the source encoding until as late as possible in the workflow, using ICC profiles to implement the necessary conversions.

Intermediate

Color management overview
Color management is the communication of the associated data required for unambiguous interpretation of color content data, and application of color data conversions as required to produce the intended reproductions. This White Paper provides a conceptual overview of colour management and its evolution, and a summary of color rendering options.

Black point compensation
This document describes the Black Point Compensation method used in select products from Adobe Systems.

Differences between v2 and v4 display profiles
In version 2 of the ICC specification, adaptation of the user to the display white point was not specified, and different profiles for the same display can produce different results. Version 4 of the ICC specification requires that v4 display profiles assume the viewer is fully adapted to the display white point. This White Paper explains the requirement for display tristimulus values to be chromatically adapted to the PCS white point and the use of the chromatic adaptation matrix to undo the chromatic adaptation and obtain the actual display tristimulus values.

Common color management workflows & rendering intent usage
ICC color management supports a wide variety of workflows that can be used for many purposes. Different ICC profiles and different rendering intents can achieve a variety of color reproduction goals. This paper documents some common workflows, and provide advice about rendering intent usage.

Summary of CIE Publication 163 on fluorescence in imaging media
This report contains results from a study of the measurement of total spectral radiance factor of digital halftone printing over a range of substrates exhibiting various levels of fluorescence. It concludes that colour measurements of materials containing fluorescent dyes and pigments will not have the level of reproducibility and accuracy which may be claimed for them.

Profile Compliance Testing – SampleICC Implementation Notes
Providing a test specification is not straightforward since the tests are not defined in the profile specification and can be context specific. Rather than provide a complete profile testing specification, this White Paper describes issues of profile conformance testing that were identified in the SampleICC project.

Precision and Bias of Spectrocolorimeters
This white paper is taken from a series of two papers in the literature that describe how to assess inter-instrument agreement of spectrocolorimeters. It also gives as an example, the results of a recent inter-comparison study of four bidirectional, handheld spectrocolorimeters.

Using the v4 sRGB ICC profile
The sRGB v4 ICC preference profile is a v4 replacement for commonly used sRGB v2 profiles. It gives better results in workflows that implement the ICC v4 specification. This paper describes the benefits of the new profile, and gives guidance on its use.

Advanced

Perceptual rendering fundamentals
ICC Version 4 differentiates clearly between perceptual rendering and colorimetric rendering so that the applications appropriate for each of these rendering intents are clarified. Improved workflows can be achieved by exploiting these clarified rendering intent definitions.

Perceptual rendering intent use case issues
The perceptual rendering intent is used when a pleasing pictorial color output is desired, while the colorimetric rendering intents maintain in-gamut colors across media. This paper discusses ways of using the features of the Version 4 specification to achieve a range of different colour reproduction objectives.

Implementation Notes for the IccProfLib CMM in SampleICC
The SampleICC project is an open source object oriented C++ development effort. This document complements the IccProfLib class documentation by describing how the objects interact when applying profiles. (Revised September 2005)

Editor: Frank Romano

Subtitle: A Graphic Arts Production Handbook

The 20th edition of Pocket Pal, the authoritative introduction to printing and the graphic arts, is an ideal educational tool for printers, publishers, students, artists, graphic designers, advertisers, paper merchants, paper industry personnel and others associated with visual arts and print production.

The new edition features a complete update of all sections of the book, with particular focus on major trends in digital printing and PDF workflows. “For over 73 years, the International Paper Pocket Pal has been the introduction to graphic communications for both creative and printing professionals. The new 20th edition continues to cover the past and the present in every aspect of print production for all who work in the visual arts,” said Frank Romano, the book’s editor.

This concise 260-page edition also has an expanded glossary of printing and graphic arts terms as well as measurements in metric equivalents for use in countries where English is the primary language. The 20th edition of Pocket Pal also includes the following:
* History and Evolution of Printing
* Introduction to the Printing Processes
* Pre-press – typography, copy and art preparation, imaging for graphic arts, image assembly and imposition, digital prepress, and plate-making
* Printing – processes, digital presses, printing inks, and statistical process control Post-press – binding and finishing
* Paper – from pulping through manufacture, characteristics, grades and more
* Graphic Art Terms
* International Paper Printing Papers

Creating Flawless Files that are Print-Ready

September 9, 2010
2:00 PM EST
$49 for Printing Industries of America Members
$99 for Non-Members

Printers: Purchase this webinar for your customers, strengthen your relationships, AND get problem-free files!

Webinar Overview
A recent Printing Industries of America survey showed that 70% of printers state that more than half of all files submitted for print require repair before they can be output successfully. Solid digital file creation is the key element to reproducing jobs in a time- and cost-efficient manner for print production. Go “under the hood” with Adobe CS5 and other desktop publishing applications and become a pro at preparing digital files for print production!

You Will Learn
- How to identify and repair the most common digital file problems
- No nonsense tips for working with images in the RGB color space
- Using transparency in a document: Rules to follow and live versus flattened
- Fonts: When you shouldn’t use them
- Critical issues to consider when designing for digital printing
- How to create PDF files that are press-ready
- Diagnostic and repair tools you must use in Adobe CS4 and CS5
- How to create files that are production-ready

Who Should Attend
- Designers
- Prepress professionals
- CSRs
- Anyone who works with files destined for print

Webinar Presenter
Joe Marin
Senior Analyst, Digital Technologies, Printing Industries of America

Webinar Notice: http://www.printing.org/node/6166

• 1 History
  • 1.1 Woodblock printing
  • 1.2 In East Asia
  • 1.3 In Middle East
  • 1.4 In Europe
  • 1.5 Movable type printing
  • 1.6 Rotary printing press
• 2 Modern printing technology
  • 2.1 Offset press
  • 2.2 Gravure
• 3 Impact of the invention of printing
  • 3.1 Religious impact
  • 3.2 Social impact
  • 3.3 Environmental impact
• 4 Comparison of printing methods
• 5 Digital printing
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 Further reading
• 9 External links

A

Accordion Fold: A term used for two or more parallel folds on a printed piece, that allow it to open like an accordion.

Acrobat: Adobe software that creates and reads files in the PDF Format.

Additive Primaries: In Color reproduction, Red, Green and Blue (RGB). When added together in equal parts, these three primaries produce white light on a computer monitor or television screen.

Aqueous Coating: A printing coating sealant that increases optical gain on the printed sheet. In offset printing, a special press unit prints the overall coating followed by an extended delivery dryer. Compare with varnish.

B

Basis Weight: The weight in pounds of 500 sheets of paper cut to a given standard parent size for that grade. For example, 500 sheets of 25 x 38″ 80# book weighs 80 lbs. Different paper grades are calculated from different parent sizes, for example copier paper weights are based on 11 x 17″ sheets.

Bleed: An extra amount of printed image which extends beyond the trim edge.

Bond Paper: A grade of writing or printing paper; typically used for letterheads, business forms, etc.

Book Paper: A general term for coated and uncoated paper in a weight suitable for books.

C

Caliper: The thickness of paper expressed in thousandths of an inch.

CMYK: The subtractive primary ink colors Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black (Key) used in Process Color printing.

Cookie: A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer. By setting a cookie on a user’s computer, we are able to link that user to their uploaded files for the purpose of producing print jobs.

Coated Paper: Paper having a surface coating which produces a smooth finish.

Cover Paper: A term applied to heavier-weight papers, often used to add substance to a printed piece, and for covers of catalogs, brochures, booklets, etc.

D

DPI (Dots per Inch): A measure of the resolution of a screen image or printed page. Dots are also known as pixels. 300 dpi means that there are 300 dots per square inch. Also known as PPI (pixels per Inch). Photographic images and other half-tones in printed material print at a certain line screen, often 150 lines per inch. The digital file should have roughly twice as many dpi as the line screen, in this case 300 dpi.

E

EPS Encapsulated PostScript® File: A portable, device-independent file format which allows Postscript data to be stored, edited, cropped, resized, and viewed on screen. An excellent format for transferring files between compatible applications. Most publishing applications support EPS. EPS files can include both vector and raster information.

G

Gripper Edge: The leading edge of the paper as it passes through the printing press.

Gripper margin: The unprintable edge of paper on which the grippers clamp as the sheet passes through the press.

Grippers: Metal fingers that clamp on paper and control its flow through the press.

H

Halftone: When reproducing a continuous tone image using a printing press, the image is broken down into small dots to emulate the continuous-tone look. See line screen.

J

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): File format which uses a “Lossy” compression method to create the final file. This means that the final image is not the pixel-by-pixel equivalent of the original, but is compressed, so file size is smaller.

L

Line Screen: The number of halftone dots per inch in a printed image. Often 150 lpi, although this varies depending on the printing method.

O

Overprint: The process of printing one ink on top of another. Black type, for example, often overprints images below it.

P

PDF (Portable Document Format): Introduced in 1991 by Adobe Systems, Inc. PDF is a file format designed for universal document communication across a wide variety of computer platforms, operating systems and networks, and printable on any modern printer.

PMS (Pantone Matching System): Pantone is best known as the company that produces color references for selecting, specifying, matching and controlling both Spot colors and CMYK colors.

PostScript®: A page description language developed by Adobe Systems to generate complex pages using a series of written commands, allowing for text and graphics to be rendered with mathematical precision and device independence. Properly created PostScript files should render the same when output to different PostScript-compatible devices.

Preflight: The process whereby files are checked for correct components before being submitted to print. Components include fonts, graphic files, color format, positioning within crop marks, etc.

“Preflight is the process of checking digital files for potential errors prior to output (Exporting to PDF or Printing). This process should be done on native or source file types, such as Adobe InDesign, Illustrator or QuarkXPress, everytime before saving or sending the job onto another party. Postflight is checking the resulting PDF, which is also a real must in the print-media workflow.” (comment by David, Markzware, define preflight).

Process Colors: The subtractive primary colors (Yellow, Magenta and Cyan), plus black (K), used in four-color process printing. Nearly all full color printed matter (brochures, magazines, etc.) are printed using process color.

R

Raster Information: The representation of images as a collection of pixels (dots).

Resolution: see DPI.

RGB: The additive primary colors Red, Blue and Green, used in phosphors of display devices and scanners.

Rich Black: A Black color in printing that includes Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow to create a richer, more consistent color coverage. A common formula for rich black is 40C, 30M and 30Y. Rich black is recommended for large areas of solid black.

RIP (Raster Image Processor): A device that renders PostScript code into the actual pattern of dots that will print on a given output device or printer.

Rosette: The pattern created when CMYK colors are printed at different angles. This method produces the best results when printing full color images.

S

Scoring: An indentation made along the fold line prior to folding. Scoring minimizes paper and ink cracking.

Spot Colors: Spot Colors, also called solid colors or Pantone colors, are premixed inks that are not attainable by combining CMYK inks.

Stock: Paper or other material to be printed.

Stochastic: Stochastic, also called FM screening (frequency modulated screening)  contrasts with AM screening (produces rosettes at fixed angles). Stochastic screening produces fixed spot sizes usually measured in microns , 20 microns or as small as 10 microns), around the thickness of a human hair. Very high detail and wide dynamic range is possible with current direct-to-plate technology.

SWOP (Specifications for Web Offset Publications): SWOP, Inc. was established in 1974 to set standards for the printing industry so that quality and color issues could be made consistent throughout the print industry. SWOP states their mission to be “to continually raise the level of quality of publication printing by setting forth specifications and tolerances.”

T

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format): A file format for graphics that is particularly suited for representing scanned images and other large bitmaps. TIFF is platform-neutral, which aids in cross-platform compatibility.

Trapping: In printing, refers to printing over previously printed wet or dry ink. In prepress, refers to choking or spreading colors where they meet to prevent white gaps that could occur between colors in the printing process.

U

Uncoated Paper: Paper that has no coating applied. Most copier, business printing and letterhead papers are uncoated.

V

Varnish: A thin coating applied to printed matter for protection and to enhance and sharpen appearance.

Vector Information: Vector graphics describes the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, and curves to represent images in computer graphics.

Z

Z-fold: A type of paper fold with the front and back flaps folded in the opposite direction to form a “Z.”

Green Printing Tips

Tip #1 – How about a digital job?

Tip #2 – How using eco-friendly printing practices while printing a brochure or a book will save me money?

Tip #3 – How you make sure everyone knows you’re using green printing practices and it doesn’t stay between you and your printer?

Tip #4 – What does FSC Certified mean? Is it enough?

Tip #5 – How can I avoid being green washed in being a green buyer of printing?

Tip #6 – Is Spot Color printing environmentally friendly?

Tip #7 – What is the best alternative if you can’t afford to buy Seed paper?

Tip #8 – Does it cost a lot more to print my book on recycled paper?

Tip #9 – What to look when selecting a green print vendor?

Tip #10 – Are you buying environmentally sound business cards?

Tip #11 – What are your green options when it comes to promotional items?

Tip #12 – How to prepare files for your next Green Digital run?

Tip #13 – Are you looking for back to school environmental ideas?

Tip #14 – Can directories be green?

Tip #15 – Are PDF files the best fit for every document?

Tip #16 – Can green printing be done on a rush basis?

Tip #17 – How do you save money on your next print job?

Tip #18 – What is rock paper and why is it considered a Green paper?

Tip #19 – How can graphic designers make a difference and green up your printing job?

Tip #20 – How to create a green packging job?

Tip #21 – What new developments have surfaced in Green papers?

Tip #22 – What does I-Tone mean?

Tip #23 – Are there inexpensive Green papers for brochures?

Tip #24 – Can we be Greener in our use of Inter Office Envelopes, Presentation Folders, and Outgoing Envelopes?

Tip #25 – Can you Green your Print Advertising?

Tip #26 – What can we do to reduce the carbon footprint of direct mailing campaigns?

Tip #27 – Can you save money on paper on your next greeting cards order?

Tip #28 – Green printing resolutions for the New Year

Tip #29 – Why environmental views are not always in the core of business?

Tip #30 – How do you become Carbon Neutral in your next print job?

Tip #31 – How to produce the greenest hang tags?

Tip #32 – Is Tree Free Hemp Paper still available?

Tip #33 -Do I have a Green Marketing Give Away for Trade Shows?

Tip #34 -What should we look for in buying copier paper?

Tip #35 – Is Direct mail dead?

Tip #36 – Is Free Tree Bamboo Good for Printing Books?

Tip #37 – What are the best paper calculators available online?

Tip #38 – Can Hip-Hop “GO GREEN”?

Tip #39 – Do I have any new green printing ideas for you?

Tip #40 – How to green up your banners?

Tip #41 – Special tip for Earth Day!

Tip #42 – How to green your wedding with eco-friendly invitations?

Tip #43 – Are there any eco-friendly labels?

Having  a hard time finding something online ? Does it seem like you type in your search term but don’t get anywhere near what you’re looking for?

Well, here’s a couple of tricks that seem (almost) universal between search engines.

Let’s say your’re look for sports cars and all you’re getting is information on baseball and football (sports). What can you do? Try some of the following:

1. sports + cars

Most search engines will interpret this as meaning you only want results that have both the word “sports” and “cars” in them. Some search engines lets you use the word “and” to do this as well (i.e. sports and cars).

Read more

http://www.worldstart.com/tips/internet-tips/search-engine.htm

Printing tips — Acrobat and Adobe Reader — Windows and Mac OS

What’s covered

• Print comments
• Print as image
• Print multiple pages per sheet
• Scale page (page scaling)
• Print PDF file with mixed page sizes
• Print discontinuous pages
• Print duplex (double-sided) and staple 
• Print color as black

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/332/332720.html

Designing effective admail is an art and a science. Canada Post guidelines can be a bit overwhelming, but here is a pdf file that can help make sense of the specs from the design viewpoint. Enjoy.

CanadaPostPSaa-e

Money Monkeys

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.

He further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms.

The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 ! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. ‘Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.’

The villagers rounded up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys. Then they never saw the man nor his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!

Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works.

Sexual Harassment and Discrimination

For Employer & Employee

The Supreme Court on June 26,1998, made employers more liable for incidents of sexual harassment. Ruling on two sexual harassment cases, Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, and Burlington Industries Inc. v. Ellerth, the Supreme Court basically stated that the employer is responsible for the actions of the supervisor, even when the employer is unaware of the supervisor’s behavior. An employer can no longer claim that they did not know about the sexual harassment because the employee did not inform them, nor can they claim that they were unaware of the supervisor’s behavior.

“Employers must be  proactive in order to  avoid a sexual  harassment lawsuit.”

Steps Employers Can Take to Avoid Sexual Harassment Lawsuits

1.) If your company does not have a sexual harassment/discrimination policy, get one fast! The policy should communicate that the company is taking a “zero tolerance” approach toward sexual harassment. Have an attorney review it, and make sure it gets out to all your employees either through the employee handbook or in memo form. Have the employees sign it to acknowledged that they received and read the policy. The policy should be verbally communicated to all new employees, and can even be posted in the workplace. If you have employees whose primary language is not English, have your sexual harassment policy translated or communicate to them in their primary language.

2.) Provide different routes that employees can take to file complaints; i.e., calling a hotline, contacting the human resource department, or by contacting their supervisor. Also the employee should have the option of talking with a male or female company representative.

3.) Conduct sexual harassment training, even if it is only composed of reading material or watching a video, something is better then no training at all.

4.) Conduct yearly meetings with your supervisors to review the sexual harassment policy, and to make sure that they understand that an employee does not need to suffer negative consequences in order to make a claim of sexual harassment. Inform the supervisors that even mild to moderate sexual jokes or statements can create an atmosphere of hostility that will make some employees uncomfortable, and could lead to the creation of an environment where sexual discrimination could develop. The supervisor should also be directed to always inform upper management of any sexual harassment complaints he or she receives from employees. Supervisors should never promise confidentiality with an employee when the information relates to sexual harassment.

5.) Conduct a yearly sexual harassment survey among your employees. The survey can be done anonymously and should be distributed with a copy of the company’s sexual harassment policy. The survey can simply ask the employees (male and female) if they have experienced any form of sexual harassment during the past year. Why do a survey?  The results of the survey will tell a court that your company is actively engaged in preventing and correcting sexual harassment. Remember, that the Supreme Court has just determined that an employer can be held liable for incidents of sexual harassment that they are unaware of occurring. So, one method of defense will be to demonstrate to the court or a jury that your company conducts yearly meetings with supervisors and also conducts a yearly sexual harassment survey to attempt to uncover sexual harassment violations before they cause problems for your employees.

6.) Conduct investigations promptly and thoroughly. After the dispute is resolved, a follow up should be done with the employee to ensure that no one has suffered retaliation. Make sure your sexual harassment policy spells out clearly that retaliation against an employee filing a sexual harassment complaint is illegal and will not be tolerated.

7.) Treat same-sex harassment, and men reporting harassment, the same as you would for a woman reporting her male supervisor being sexually inappropriate.

8.) Always document the results of any sexual harassment complaint or investigation. Not only document the results, but document any corrective action that you asked the employee or supervisor to take. Follow up on any corrective action so you can document if the employee fails to take advantage of your companies polices/procedures or any corrective action that your company takes to prevent the sexual harassment from occurring again in the future.

9.) Inform all employees that it is their obligation to report sexual harassment that they either experience or witness.

The Supreme Court also stated that the court will no longer heavily rely on the two different forms of sexual harassment, “quid pro quo” and “hostile environment.”  The Court called these two forms of sexual harassment of “limited utility” in assessing employer liability.  As a result, an employee that refuses the unwelcome sexual harassment of a supervisor, and who suffers no adverse job consequences, can still bring a sexual harassment lawsuit against her employer if the employee can show they were discriminated by the sexual content. The employee will not necessarily be required to show a loss of advancement, retaliation, loss of income, or stress as they once did under “quid pro quo” and hostile-environment. They will need to show that the nature of the sexual content they experienced caused them to experience discrimination.

Give It To Me Straight

This means that even though the employer has a policy against sexual harassment and even when sexual harassment training is provided to their supervisors; they still can be held vicariously liable in cases where a supervisor uses sexual content to discriminate against an employee. The courts are now looking at what a “reasonable person” would determine to be sexual content that could cause discrimination versus the old standards of quid pro quo and hostile-environment. The Supreme Court did not throw out these standards, but will not rely on them as courts have in the past.

The Employer Liability Test

The Supreme Court created a two part test to be used by employers in defending themselves against a sexual harassment lawsuit.

1.) The employer needs to show that they took reasonable care to prevent and correct any sexual harassment behavior within their workplace.

2.) The employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.

Lower courts have even been apply vicarious liability and the two part test to determine employer responsibility in cases involving other forms of protected discrimination under Title VII. Deffenbaugh-Williams v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Fierro v. Saks Fifth Avenue.

Employers Must Change
If you are an employer, it is time to change how you deal with sexual harassment in your company. Currently at least 40% of all women report being sexually harassed at some point in their career, and men currently account for 11.6 % of all sexual harassment cases filed with the EEOC.  So, the chances of your company needing to respond to a sexual harassment concern is great. Be prepared and you will likely deal with it successfully for all parties involved.

“Employers must be  proactive in order to  avoid a sexual  harassment lawsuit.”

Steps Employers Can Take to Avoid Sexual Harassment Lawsuits

1.) If your company does not have a sexual harassment/discrimination policy, get one fast! The policy should communicate that the company is taking a “zero tolerance” approach toward sexual harassment. Have an attorney review it, and make sure it gets out to all your employees either through the employee handbook or in memo form. Have the employees sign it to acknowledged that they received and read the policy. The policy should be verbally communicated to all new employees, and can even be posted in the workplace. If you have employees whose primary language is not English, have your sexual harassment policy translated or communicate to them in their primary language.

2.) Provide different routes that employees can take to file complaints; i.e., calling a hotline, contacting the human resource department, or by contacting their supervisor. Also the employee should have the option of talking with a male or female company representative.

3.) Conduct sexual harassment training, even if it is only composed of reading material or watching a video, something is better then no training at all.

4.) Conduct yearly meetings with your supervisors to review the sexual harassment policy, and to make sure that they understand that an employee does not need to suffer negative consequences in order to make a claim of sexual harassment. Inform the supervisors that even mild to moderate sexual jokes or statements can create an atmosphere of hostility that will make some employees uncomfortable, and could lead to the creation of an environment where sexual discrimination could develop. The supervisor should also be directed to always inform upper management of any sexual harassment complaints he or she receives from employees. Supervisors should never promise confidentiality with an employee when the information relates to sexual harassment.

5.) Conduct a yearly sexual harassment survey among your employees. The survey can be done anonymously and should be distributed with a copy of the company’s sexual harassment policy. The survey can simply ask the employees (male and female) if they have experienced any form of sexual harassment during the past year. Why do a survey?  The results of the survey will tell a court that your company is actively engaged in preventing and correcting sexual harassment. Remember, that the Supreme Court has just determined that an employer can be held liable for incidents of sexual harassment that they are unaware of occurring. So, one method of defense will be to demonstrate to the court or a jury that your company conducts yearly meetings with supervisors and also conducts a yearly sexual harassment survey to attempt to uncover sexual harassment violations before they cause problems for your employees.

6.) Conduct investigations promptly and thoroughly. After the dispute is resolved, a follow up should be done with the employee to ensure that no one has suffered retaliation. Make sure your sexual harassment policy spells out clearly that retaliation against an employee filing a sexual harassment complaint is illegal and will not be tolerated.

7.) Treat same-sex harassment, and men reporting harassment, the same as you would for a woman reporting her male supervisor being sexually inappropriate.

8.) Always document the results of any sexual harassment complaint or investigation. Not only document the results, but document any corrective action that you asked the employee or supervisor to take. Follow up on any corrective action so you can document if the employee fails to take advantage of your companies polices/procedures or any corrective action that your company takes to prevent the sexual harassment from occurring again in the future.

9.) Inform all employees that it is their obligation to report sexual harassment that they either experience or witness.

Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided in general terms and is not meant to apply to your particular situation or be legally current at the time you read it. The information on this site is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional legal advice or psychological counseling. The author specifically disclaims any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use or application of any information contained on this web site. The appropriate professional should be consulted regarding your specific condition. We do not take responsibility for the information posted on other sites to which it links.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” ~ Warren Buffet.

Every business must manage their reputation because in the end, what else is there? Yes, a business with a great reputation can fail, but it is far more difficult for a business with a poor reputation to succeed. Marketing gurus talk about the importance of branding and although I don’t disagree, isn’t your reputation really your brand or image and vice versa? Therefore, protecting your reputation, your brand, your image (whatever you wish to call it) must be at the top of the list as a business owner.

There are several things that impact the reputation of a small business. In general, everything in your business that touches your customer has the potential to either build or tarnish your reputation. Your policies and procedures around customer complaints will often play a large role in determining your reputation. The message you send when you invoice a customer or make a collections call affects your reputation, brand and image. How your phone is answered and how many buttons the caller has to push before reaching a live person can affect your reputation. Every thing that touches the customer can have either a positive or negative impact.

In the past, companies managed their reputation by placing carefully crafted messages in various media. The invention and mass adoption of Internet access and interactive web applications including social media has effectively put the consumer in charge of the message. Consumers trust the word of other consumers far more than what the company might have to say. And, with the millions of people using social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, news can travel very fast – in minutes thousands of people can know of a good or bad experience with your business.

As soon as customers express their opinions about products, services, brands and companies (good or bad) on the web, it is there for the world to see and it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get them removed. If you doubt that, pick any company or brand name (maybe your own) and search Google for “CompanyName complaints”, CompanyName sucks”, or the like and you may be amazed at what you find.

So, how do you listen? Here are some free listening tools:

Twitter
There are millions of people chatting on Twitter every day and any one of these conversations could be about you, your company or your website. You can listen by using a free service called TweetBeep that monitors Twitter and sends you an email alert for the keywords, phrases and domains (your personal name, your company name, your brand, your blog/website name and/or domain) you have selected. The alert will tell you what was tweeted and who tweeted it. Of course, you will need sign up for a free Twitter account if you wish to insert yourself into these online conversations.

You will also want to sign up for BackTweet Alerts. Because Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters most twitterers will use link shortening services like http://bit.ly, http://tinyurl.com, etc. in place of the actual web address of a specific web page or blog article that is much longer. The really cool thing about BackTweet is that it translates the shortened address into your actual link and alerts you by email when someone tweets about it.

Websites, Blogs & Public Forums
Google claims to have indexed over 1 trillion domains and over 150 million blogs with over 1 million new posts every 24 hours. Then, there are public forums, social bookmarking and reviewing sites where users can comment. 

To “listen” in these places, you will need to sign up for a free account at Google Alerts and/or Giga Alert. I personally prefer Google Alerts. BackType Alerts is a free service that primarily searches comments on blogs and forums looking for keywords, phrases and domains. Don’t forget to sign up for that as well.

SocialMention is a free service that works a lot like Google Alerts. So why would you want to use both? Just in case one of them misses something, possibly the other will pick it up for you.

Have you ever wondered what people are saying about your company and brands on the message boards? All public message boards are open for search, but BoardTracker Alerts seems to pick up the ones that everyone else misses. Be sure you don’t forget this one or you will miss out on the discussion about your brand features, organization’s last fundraiser, and more.

All of the listening services above are free. However, you should not overlook Filtrbox even though they charge a small monthly fee for their service. Filtrbox can replace all of the free listening services and give you much more than just alerts. Not only does it listen/monitor and alert you, it gives you the tools to analysis and engage. At the least, might want to take advantage of the free trial.

By listening, you will learn a lot about which of your policies and procedures are creating goodwill and building your reputation and which ones are having a negative impact and diminishing your reputation. Of course, it is critical to empower your employees so they can resolve problems quickly while untold others in social networking communities may be watching. As I pointed out in my previous article, an unsatisfied customer made satisfied is ten times more loyal than a happy customer and often will become a vocal brand ambassador.

To accomplish this, you will need to encourage your employees to invest some of their time in these social networking sites. Is that too big of a leap for you at this point? It is entirely up to you. After all, it is your business and you need to determine what will work for you. However, those business owners who are hanging onto practices of the last decade seem to be struggling more than necessary.