Christmas Time in Orlando

“HOLIDAY CHEER YOU’LL FIND ONLY HERE”

            A Thanksgiving tradition in my house is to wake up in time to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. Since I was taking dance classes as a child, my mother thought it was important for me to watch the World Famous Radio City Hall Rockettes. Though I have never been to New York City during Thanksgiving, I have childhood memories getting up to help my mother cook and to watch the parade.

            If you share the same type of memories as I do, Universal Studios Orlando and Macy’s will be re-creating the same parade as you see on TV here in the Orlando area. Macy’s and Universal Studios have teamed up for the last 10 years to bring the floats from the streets of NYC to Orlando. There will be marching bands, clowns, Rockettes, and even Santa Claus! Universal Studios Orlando Mannheim Steamroller will be performing select nights during the month of December to bring holiday cheer throughout the park. There will be other attractions like the Holiday Village where you can find unique gifts, fun crafts, and special holiday treats. Also, this year to celebrate the 10^th Anniversary Macy’s Holiday Parade at Universal Studios, Macy’s and Universal created a special float that was featured in the Thanksgiving Day Parade this past weekend. This float is in transit from NYC to Orlando to be showcased here at Universal Studios Orlando.

            Not only is Macy’s parade festivities visiting Orlando, but the Grinch is coming to town. "Grinchmas" is at Universal’s Islands of Adventure to celebrate the holiday cheer. Seuss Landing will be transformed into a winter wonderland full of Who’s starting this weekend. If you want to get up close and personal with the Grinch, join him for breakfast at the Holiday Character Breakfast on select dates. Grinch

            Last year was my first experience at Universal Holiday festivities. We went to see our friends march in the parade as Rockettes. I enjoyed every minute of it. The Holiday Cheer at Universal will start December 3^rd through January 1^st.

Negotiation Tips

Once interested in going to school for psychology and now moving my interest to attending law school, I sat down with a mediator to discuss her business experience. Dealing with an assortment of clients and situations, she discussed her problem solving tactics:

      As a big Yankee fan, she used baseball to explain how she always dealt with clients over the years. She stated simply “you have to play the game” it can be your game or their game, either way you have to play. If it is their game, she said, you should learn it and learn it quickly so you can use it to your advantage. Listen. To be able to adapt to the situation or negotiation at hand, you have to listen to what the other person is saying. You also have to read between the lines. She said this is the best way to learn their game. If you’re playing your game, stay confident. If you are sitting down to negotiate, it’s probably because you are already doing something right. As long as you stay confident and listen to what the other person has to say, play ball. I found her baseball analogies ironic.

     Most importantly, she said, keep things simple. People tend to get caught up in the details and then lose focus on the actual problem at hand. This can be due to people not separating the people from the problem. People will have the tendency to take things personally, especially when dealing with their work. If you lead with what is most important, not only to you but also the other person, you will avoid negative emotions.

     Suggesting focusing on mutual benefit is the best way to play the game.  Yes we are back on the baseball analogies. If I’m happy and you’re happy, then everyone is happy and the negotiation went well. Sometimes it is important to help convince the other person the conclusion of the negotiation was a mutual benefit.  As I was listening to her explain about her opinion on mutual benefit, I found it difficult to imagine trying to convince someone of mutual benefit. Though I greatly appreciated her trying to use baseball to explain her experiences with negotiations, I remembered is there not only one winner at the end of a game?