To celebrate, I borrowed a few lines from Carole King’s “Welcome to My Living Room”:

• “It’s not a womb, it’s not a tomb” – Like Carole’s on-stage living room, ours is open to the hallway and has no door. It’s terrific for team meetings, casual client sessions … and catching up on professional reading. Unlike Carole’s, we have a great double window that lets the light pour in.

• “We’ll be playing at a reasonable volume” – That’s right. No music will be blasting. It’s a calm, comfortable space.

• “There’s so many I’d like to do” – Carole has so many songs to sing. We have so many communications ideas to generate and execute. We’re excited that our new living room gives us additional space where we can brainstorm and plan great work for our clients.

We hope you’ll stop by for a visit! You never know, maybe Carole will be here too.

Borshoff now occupies the fourth, fifth and half the sixth floor of the Majestic Building at 47 S. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition to the living room, the sixth floor includes nine offices.

INDIANAPOLIS – Just as the warmth of summer descends on Indianapolis and the Midwest, through the power of IMAX ^®3D, moviegoers will be transported to one of the most remote and spectacularly beautiful places in the world. Come experience an emotional story of love, family and hope, when the documentary adventure To The Arctic 3D arrives at the IMAX Theater in the Indiana State Museum on Friday, April 20.

The film, narrated by three-time Oscar^® winner Meryl Streep, takes audiences on a never-before-experienced journey into the lives of a mother polar bear and her twin seven-month-old cubs as they navigate the changing Arctic wilderness they call home.  Captivating and intimate footage brings moviegoers up close and personal with this family’s struggle to survive in a frigid environment of melting ice, immense glaciers, spectacular waterfalls, and majestic snow-bound peaks.

“This is the type of film for which our theater was specifically built,” says Craig Mince, theater manager of the Downtown Indy IMAX. “Watching polar bears dive into the frigid arctic waters on our six-story screen and feel the rumble from a herd of caribou through 12,000 watts of digital surround sound stimulates the senses for sure.”

An extraordinary journey to the top of the world as few people have ever seen it, To The Arctic 3D tells a compelling tale of survival, with global implications.  Recognizing those implications, the Downtown IMAX Theater is partnering with the adjacent Indianapolis Zoo, which is home to a polar bear, in encouraging patrons to visit the Zoo’s www.mycarbonpledge.com. Moviegoers can help protect animals affected by climate change by taking the pledge to turn thermostats up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter.

“Through 2011, approximately 9,000 individuals have pledged to reduce their CO2 emissions by a total of 15.5 million pounds. That’s the equivalent of removing 1,300 cars from the roadways,” noted Norah Fletchall, the Indianapolis Zoo’s vice president of conservation. “The program continues to be recognized nationally and internationally by individuals involved in climate change education as a model for positive action by individuals collectively having a huge impact. We applaud and thank the Downtown Indy IMAX for joining us in raising the awareness about www.mycarbonpledge.com. ”

Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX^® Filmed Entertainment present a MacGillivray Freeman Film, To The Arctic 3D, a One World One Ocean presentation, directed by two-time Academy Award^®-nominated filmmaker Greg MacGillivray (The Living Sea, Dolphins).  Filmed in 15/70mm IMAX^® 3D, To The Arctic 3D is written and edited by Stephen Judson (Everest), and produced by Shaun MacGillivray (Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk). The musical score is by Steve Wood, with songs by Paul McCartney.

To The Arctic 3D has been rated G and has a run time of 40 minutes. For show times and ticket information, visit www.imaxindy.com. Tickets are now on sale. To view the trailer for this film, go to http://www.imax.com/tothearctic.

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About IMAX

IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience® and The IMAX Experience® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imaxindy ), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imaxindy ) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxindy).

About the IMAX Theater

IMAX^® Theater in the Indiana State Museum offers entertaining and educational 2D and 3D films on a screen six stories tall and 84 feet wide, the largest movie screen in the state. Part of the White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis, IMAX Theater delivers the ultimate cinema experience to moviegoers with 12,000 watts of digital surround sound. Using state-of-the-art technology, the IMAX Theater experience gives viewers a unique, larger-than-life way to go to the movies.  Another great attraction in White River State Park.

About the Indianapolis Zoo

Located in White River State Park downtown, the Indianapolis Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the American Association of Museums as a zoo, aquarium and botanical garden. The mission of the Indianapolis Zoo is to empower people and communities, both locally and globally, to advance animal conservation. Another great attraction in White River State Park.

About My Carbon Pledge

My Carbon Pledge is a campaign driven by the Indianapolis Zoo designed to bring issues related to climate change to the forefront of the community, and most importantly, asking the community to take some specific actions. The campaign raises awareness through a new call to action every year. To date, those actions consist of changing out incandescent light bulbs to CFL blubs, unplugging unused appliances to decrease wasted “phantom” power usage, and asking citizens to raise their thermostats up two degrees in summer and down two degrees in winter through its “Up2Down2” campaign.

Thank you for your interest in learning more about business letter etiquette. There are a few simple things you can do to ensure your business letters are appropriate and well received:

1. Remember to say “please” and “thank you.” Your mother was right about the importance of minding your manners.
2. Set the tone with a positive introductory “greeting.” This is the place to introduce the purpose of your letter. Thanking the recipient for his or her question/comment or acknowledging a recent interaction you had are both easy options. Some examples include: “Thank you for sharing your concern with us regarding…” and “It was so nice to speak with you today about…”
3. Speaking of tone, keep yours professional. A business letter doesn’t need to be “stuffy,” but it’s also not the place to practice vocabulary you learned from, say, the teen next door.
4. Keep it brief, and get to the point. As a rule, I always try to keep business letters to a few short paragraphs—and definitely less than a page.
5. If you want something, remember to politely ask for it.
6. Proofread—or better yet, ask someone else to proofread for you.
7. Always wrap up with a “thank you.”

I hope these seven points are useful to you in the future as you professionally correspond. Please know that these tips should be applied to hard copy letters as well as email.

Again, thank you for your interest in business letter writing. Please don’t hesitate to contact me in the future if you have further questions on this topic.

Sincerely,

Miss Manners

INDIANAPOLIS— DEFENDER Direct, Inc., a leading dealer for top brands in the residential security products and satellite business including ADT and DISH Network, today announced new appointments and changes to its management team.

David P. Lindsey, CEO and founder, has stepped down as CEO to further pursue his philanthropic passions as DEFENDER’s chief missions officer. Lindsey will retain his majority ownership of the company as well as his seat on the company’s board of advisors. Under Lindsey’s leadership, DEFENDER has been named the #1 ADT Dealer, a Top 5 Dish Network Dealer, one of Indy’s Top 25 Fastest Growing Private Companies, to Inc. 500’s List of Fastest Growing Companies and has become one of the Top 5 National Dealers for ADT, GE and Dish Network.

Company president Marcia Barnes has been named chief executive officer. Since 1999, Barnes has improved the efficiency and functionality of DEFENDER’s daily business operations. In her role as president, she provided guidance for the senior management team and played a role in innovative new marketing strategies for the company. She has directed DEFENDER’s leadership, marketing and sales divisions, and will continue to do so in her new expanded role.

DEFENDER has also bolstered its operations division by adding a chief operating officer and a vice president of field service. Jim Boyce, chief operating officer, will oversee DEFENDER’s sales, field operations, customer care and IT departments. Previously, Boyce served as the chief sales officer at Convergys Corporation, a global leader in relationship management, where he was responsible for worldwide sales and account management for the customer management and relationship technology management lines of business. Boyce earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College where he served as president of the Carroll School of Management.

Mark Nazarenus, vice president of field services, will provide overall leadership to DEFENDER’s more than 120 field offices as well as the operations team. Prior to joining DEFENDER in 2012, Nazarenus had a 22-year career at Best Lock Corporation where he last served as executive vice president over sales, marketing and operations. He attended the University of Washington and later advanced his education at Harvard Business School with a focus on Leadership Development.

“DEFENDER Direct has experienced tremendous growth since inception and is on track to continue down that path,” said Marcia Barnes, president and CEO of DEFENDER. “By adding experienced members to our executive team, we are setting ourselves us to continue as a leader in the residential security and satellite business. We are also now in the position to further grow our business lines and expand our services into other industries such as heating and air conditioning.”

David A. Lindsey has also been named chairman of the board. Lindsey joined First Indiana Bank in 1983 and served in senior management positions throughout his 24 year tenure there. He retired from First Indiana Bank in 2007 as president of the Consumer Finance Bank Division.

For more information on DEFENDER Direct, please visit www.defenderdirect.com.

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About DEFENDER Direct, Inc.

Since its inception in 1998, DEFENDER Direct has emerged as a leading dealer for a prestigious portfolio of home security and digital communication brands including ADT and DISH Network. As a result of its unprecedented growth the company has expanded its residential services offering to include True Energy Smart Air, an HVAC company offering Carrier products. And it continues to operate the DEFENDER Outsourced Sales Center Division which offers business clients its inbound sales expertise to improve consumer lead acquisition. DEFENDER employs more than 1,800 individuals in 50 states with over 120 branch offices nationwide.

Logo design follows this same principle. While logo ideas vary on how swiftly they come, the execution is rarely developed quickly, and I submit that it shouldn’t. It takes time — and more of it than you think — to do logo design in a way that works well and stands the test of time.

Consider how many times you have begun a tweet and struggled to fit what you want to say into your 140 character limit. Logo design is like trying to get what you want to say into one — ONE! — character.

This insight isn’t limited to logo design either. I think it crosses over into nearly all communication disciplines. (I’m talking to you PowerPoint presentations!) If you’re still not convinced, I’m bringing out the big guns. Mark Twain said, “If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today. If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.”

I had time to reflect on Dr. King’s crusade for civil rights and the way he delivered his message. As a communicator, I’m always interested in both the substance and the style, because sometimes the substance gets lost if the style distracts.

I think Dr. King had it right. His style was one of peace, dignity and unwavering faith that good would conquer evil. Dr. King didn’t try to out-shout those who disagreed with him. He pointed out injustices, but he also believed that two wrongs would never make a right. He rose above.

In our age of commentators talking over each other and politicians personally attacking each other, it’s refreshing to go back and read the speeches of a man who changed history by having a vision and eloquently sharing it. Go back and read Dr. King’s speeches and you’ll see what I mean.

One of my favorite King quotes is, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

Consider your words and your tone in everything you communicate. There’s an old country saying where I grew up: “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” Our words can be vinegar if we’re not careful, and vinegar rarely changes the world in a positive way.

To increase awareness about opportunities for all Hoosiers – regardless of physical or developmental ability – Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, in conjunction with the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities, has teamed up with Borshoff to develop a statewide campaign.

“Celebrating Community” is a call for all members of our communities to come together and engage in conversations to explore opportunities to advance quality of life for each of its members.

People with disabilities, schools, businesses, municipalities, and faith-based and community organizations throughout Indiana have committed thousands of hours to conduct a variety of activities that promote Disability Awareness Month.

The bottom line is we all share a desire for many of the same things in life, and those things include being accepted for who we are, having a sense of belonging, and being included as a viable part of a community that provides full and equal access to education, housing, employment, recreational activities, and any other opportunities to help improve our quality of life.

There’s still time to learn more and to participate in statewide Disability Awareness Month activities by visiting www.indianadisabilityawareness.org.

The Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities provides information and resources year round. For more information, visit www.in.gov/gpcpd.

Yolanda leads Borshoff’s diversity team.