Hi everyone,

I hope you’re all having a great summer. Last month, I was excited to share the news that Great on the Job had launched its blog. This month, I’m even more exited (thrilled, quite frankly) to report that Great on the Job is making it to prime time—I’ve got myself a book deal! That’s right, for everyone who has participated in a Great on the Job training program and asked, “Where can I get more?” I’ve now got the answer for you. St Martin’s Press will be publishing Great on the Job’s greatest hits (no, that’s not the title, obviously) in the spring of 2011. It’s a long way off, I know, but I promise you all it will be worth the wait.To my agent, Todd Shuster of Zachary Shuster Harmsworth, a million and one thank yous!

To that end, I often get asked for my book (it’s a comin’) or for recommendations of other people’s books to help people be Great on the Job. I’ve been working on compiling a resource list and last night I participated in a great webinar by Ann Demarais of First Impressions Consulting. Ann did an amazing job of breaking down the psychology behind the makings of a first impression and gave her audience practical, insightful and hands-on tools for improving their own first impressions. I learned all about the primacy effect (which would have changed my life at Goldman Sachs had I known about it then) and I got actionable information about positive behaviors and negative miscommunications—and how to maximize and minimize the two, respectively.Go ahead and check Ann out.

And lastly, before I get to this issue’s main attraction—the Top Five Ways to Stay in Touch, I want to share my favorite piece of feedback from a Cornell business school student last week.  David B. sent me an email which said,

“I just wanted to say how great I thought your presentation was on Friday … you were teaching really powerful (but easy to learn) concepts… if nothing else about business school, I’ll be glad to have attended your presentation!” Thanks so much David, it’s always great to hear.

So as the summer season is in full swing, and people start to disappear for long weekends in advance of the August shutdown, I’ve been thinking a lot about staying in touch with friends and colleagues when there doesn’t seem to be an obvious reason or opening to do so. Schools out, guilty pleasure TV is on hold (gossip girl where are you?), there isn’t a Wall Street deal to be had (oh actually, Amazon did just buy Zappos). What’s a well-connected but out of touch person to do? The truth is, you don’t have to fall out of touch with folks just because business is slow or you alone aren’t out in the Hamptons. Read on to find out how and as always, I’d love to hear from you.