#584 Ion

Our campus is closed today so that employees may take shelter from the Arctic blast of air that it is delivering to the Midwest.  It's a first in anyone's memory that we closed due to temperature instead of snowfall (that just happened a few weeks ago.)

It's not just a cold spell; this is Winter Storm Ion -- so named by The Weather Channel as part of their new strategy to name "strong winter storms".  The naming began last year as a way to "efficiently and systematically convey storm information" -- specifically in the social media realm.  The use of #Ion allows for a quick way to share information.  As if we needed a name to say #-50windchill!  But last year's Winter Storm Nemo received a billion-plus Twitter impressions, so people seem to like to share about these things.

Most of the names for the 2013-14 winter season are from Greek mythology or ancient Rome -- which makes sense since the list was developed with the help of a Latin class at Bozeman High School in Bozeman, MT.  What a fun assignment -- I'll bet the kid that came up with Ion is enjoying the day off even more!

Two takeaways for you to think about as you try to stay warm today:

> How can you modify your practices to meet the demands of social media or other communication channels?

> In what ways can you partner with unlikely suspects and allow others to help you in ways that also benefit them?

Hopefully the names of Janus, Kronos, Leon, Maximus, Nika, Orion, Pax, Quintus, Rex, Seneca, Titan, Ulysses, Vulcan, Wiley, Xenia, Yona and Zephyr will go unused!

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source:  Weather.com  Winter Storm Names 2013-14:  What They Are and What They Mean, published October 2, 2013