Image by Photo Gallery via Flickr
This is the 30th anniversary of the post-it notes (pin), so what better time than now to declare a National Post-it Notes day!
I will refer to the product as pin, rather than the generic “sticky notes.” Just like I don’t ask for a facial tissue, I ask for a kleenex.
How did we survive in the pre-pin days? And, to think that the creation of this ingenious product was based on a glue that didn’t stick enough, paper markers falling out of hymnals, and scrap yellow paper in a 3M lab.
To hono(u)r the 30th anniversary, 3M has developed a website 
that includes contests, games, and trivia. For example, do you know on what New York City-based sitcom did the main character’s boyfriend dump her via a post-it note. Or, where did 3M build the world’s largest pink ribbon out of 75,000 neon pink super-sticky pins? And there are humo(u)rous youtube videos where I learned a new word: poptimistic.
3M ran a design contest where folks submitted works of art created with post-it notes and the public voted for their
(oops, forgot their facebook page!)
grand central station in nyc
Another post-it-note challenge revolved around their new super-sticky notes. The videos are entertaining.
Pins can be part of a movement to change things:
Pins were the focal point of National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. Folks were asked to write encouraging and support messages on pins and post them everywhere.
I did mine urban guerilla style: on train station information signs, street garbage receptacles, windows of buildings under going renovation, and on the backs of the seats ahead of me on public transportation. And, the pining can continue: we can still each one, reach one.
You can get imaginative with your pins: origami or airplanes.
A bing search turned up sites to download pins for your
computer if your programs don’t already do that. I have a “cute” version that includes images
like my little spider monkey or frog
As I write this (and yes, I made up National Post-It-Note day up!), there are over 20 pins in various places around my very small house – some spots look like I’ve used pins to try out new wallpaper patterns. I use different colour/color* ones, some with messages (like happy, hope, laugh, joy) embedded in them as frames or watermarks.
So, where would we be without out pins. I know I’ve used a lot of tape and paperclips (that now come in funky colors/colours and shapes – I have collection of those too).
Do you use pins? And, for what purpose(s)? I’m contemplating writing 3M to tell them how helpful the notes are to folks with memory issues, the groggy-foggies and fibro! Who knows, a partnership with an organization might just develop! Have to write that idea down on a sticky note!*
Apologies to Canadian and American readers When I try to bracket the u in “our/or” words, the new version of Windows Live Writer turns it into a broken heart. While now I know the code for 
, I now have to pick one spelling or the other! Which side will win out?
