Chris Gould’s blog representing truss design consultancy Gould Design Inc. overcame incredible competition last year to be selected as the 2013 Best Construction Blog. The competition is even more intense this year — I’m still wading through entries, and yesterday, received (gulp) another 10 submissions. Regardless, the ?Gould Design Blog’s formula that helped it to achieve success last year still applies today, so it may rank highly again.
You can see my review of the blog last year here, as well as a video interview with Chris.
More recently, I appreciated this posting from?Naida?Gould:
Are your words?
Thoughtful
Helpful
Inspiring
Necessary
Kind
At times, we tend to speak what is on our minds, when he should be using our words to help others. As a famous story in the?Talmud?relates, speaking bad, mean, or negative words can be associated with a feathers in a pillow. The story goes like this:
A man spoke gossip to many people about the wisest man in his village.
Sometime later, the man who gossiped wanted the wise man to forgive him. So he asked the wise man: ?What can I do to show you that I am sorry for what I said about you??
The wise man told him: ?There is one thing you can do. Take a pillow full of feathers. Cut it open, and let the wind take the feathers.?
The man did not know the reason for that, but he did what the wise man asked him to do. Later, he returned to the wise man and asked him: ?Do you forgive me now??
The wise man said: ?First, go and find all the feathers.?
The man said: ?But that is very difficult. The wind blew the feathers everywhere. I cannot find them anymore.?
Then, the wise man replied: ?Just as the feathers went to many places; your gossip went to many people. And just as you cannot find the feathers, you cannot make people forget what you said.?
Worthy thoughts, indeed. ?One key to the Gould Design Inc.’s blog success is that Chris Gould has been able to co-ordinate supporting contributions from several colleagues. These are certainly not the spammy “guest posts” that Google has decided to ban to oblivion, but are fresh thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. They add to the blog’s perspectives.
Nominations for the?2014 Best Construction Blog competition close on January 31. (Phew — I’m going to be working well into February to review all the late nominations.) Voting commences February 1 and continues through March 31.
