Brewed Fresh Daily

Press kits: Beyond the basics You have an attractive folder, a comprehensive and up-to-date company backgrounder, a business card, and a press release specific to an upcoming event or circumstance. What else can you do to augment that press kit? - Photos or slides: Are you announcing a product, a new location , a major personnel change, or other event that would be enhanced with pictures? If you want to include color pictures, use slides, because they provide top quality and processing flexibility. - Brochures and reprints: Use these when sending the kits to members of the press who may be unfamiliar with your company. - Competitive table: A general market overview should already be in your company backgrounder. A competitive analysis highlights your strengths when compared to your competitors. - Press guide, or Q&A: This document anticipates the key question a reporter might ask about your company or its announcement and then answers them. - References: When announcing a product or service, include references to some of your most satisfied customers, one or more industry analysts who will comment favorably on your company, and perhaps even the names and key contacts of your major competitors.

"While Pittsburgh�s steel industry died a swift death and forced their community and leadership to re-focus on technology, Cleveland�s old LTV mills are being revived (like a �phoenix�) by WL Ross�s Wilbur Ross, and could become part of the nation�s largest steel company if a potential purchase of Bethlehem Steel goes through, no doubt delaying Cleveland�s resurrection and reinvention of itself for another decade. Read the sad news here."

I'm all about buying nothing. Especially on the day after.

"My opinion is that we have a lot of work to do on the administration side. Not necessarily cutting down, but streamlining, merging, focusing. But that isn't our biggest job. As long as we lack a picture of how it all fits together to support a shared, coherent, energizing vision for our community, the creative energy that infuses growing regions will not emerge here. The mechanisms are there to steer the ship (and to bail it!), but those systems aren't much use unless we know where we want to sail." "What are we about here? What are we trying to create? Questions that even the most prosperous communities should continue to ask, and that communities like ours - ones at real inflection points in their histories - must answer."

One of the other question that Tony asked in his 'diatribe' was, "Where is the public debate on what we can create here in NEO?". I understand his frustration! I see it periodically at some of the events that I attend. One of the Jeffs from Giraffe said at the last one, "I getting sick of seeing the same 20 or so of these people at these events". l would challenge him and anyone else who attends these things to drag your friend next time! We've got to get other people involved. They're not going to get involved unless we invite them. For Cleveland's sake, we need to get everyone, tech people or not, to understand what's at stake and what we're trying to achieve.

And don't blame me for this monday morning rant, blame Tony, he started it! Good for you Tony!

"sunbeam certainly needs to re-invent this popular horror from the 70s. it is one of the primary reasons, i believe, that people began to abandon coffee as a home beverage. why? it brews the coffee at the wrong temperature, that's why, creating a nasty-tasting liquid that then sits on a hot plate and condenses into tar. yuck! i'd switch to tea too rather than drink the twig-and-rotting-bean stuff sold as supermarket brand x boiled down into what most people sadly think coffee is. no amount of hiring extreme athletes and mtv v-jays to liven up this brand will save it. dear readers, the best coffee is in fact made at home. you can make better coffee at home than you can buy almost anywhere with even a US$15 coffee grinder, a US$9 thermos, and a US$4 fine mesh strainer! get yourself some truly fresh beans carefully roasted from your local coffeehouse, and you're set. but i frankly recommend, at a minimum, a burr grinder, and either a french press (aka cafetiere), a chemex, or a vac pot. coffee fit for royalty on your kitchen counter. . ."

"Try a search for "http://" in Google. The results? A list of all Websites indexed by Google ranked by their importance."

If you have ten hours to spend creating an ad, spend nine of them on the headline. For ads, brochures, signs, direct mail, and a multitude of other marketing weapons, your headline--which dictates your positioning in the mind of your prospect--is the most important thing you say.

Dealing With Workplace Criticism Psychologists tell us that criticism occurs as a result of one of two motivations. Either the criticizing party is accurate in identifying a problem or the criticizing party is really concerned about their own abilities or behavior. When you are criticized, make sure to determine which is the case. If the criticism is accurate, see what you can learn from it. You may even want to thank the individual for pointing out the issue. If the criticism is off-base, learn to be gracious. These criticisms come from individuals who are already hurting or uneasy. Determine in advance not to add to this burden.

Afterwards, I wandered down to the NEOSA Digital Mixer. There was a ton of people there! I ended up in the back of the room, and Chris Thompson had me sit down in a chair (Thanks alot, Chris). I ended up interviewing 12 people, mostly college students looking for internships. After having a few beer and smoking cigarettes, then shouting at all those people (it was so loud with all the people), my throat is totally roached today. I feel bad for the people that I interviewed. I had a Cajun pizza at Fazio's Cafe in Willoughby for lunch. It was total smothered in onions and garlic. Ooops!

"No matter how much people bite at our ankles with all kinds of insensitivities or annoyances, it matters how skillful we are when we're interacting with them." "Browsing through new titles at Joseph-Beth yesterday, I was reminded of the Buddhist distinctions of seeing people as skillful or unskillful, in contrast to good or bad. It's not a bad practice whether we're practicing compassion with others ... or ourselves."

"Driving home from doing a conference keynote this afternoon, I spotted a Welcome to Ashland road sign: World Headquarters of Nice People." "And why not. If you're trying to promote your region and think people are an attractor, why not market that. Earlier this week, I had lunch with a woman from Nashville doing business in Cleveland amazed at how the (delightful) reality didn't at all fit her (low) expectation. Every region needs to do a better job marketing its unique value -- from both sides of attracting new talent and increasing the perceived value of the region by inhabitants. Why shouldn't we acknowledge appreciation for the good we have and are?"

'But (ah, yes� but) the stated topic � �Freedom of Speech in the Shadow of the War on Terror� � was rather misleading. To the extent that there was an overriding theme (and it�s only a moderate extent � there were lengthy tangents about, for example, his legal wrangles with his old bandmates) it could best be summarized as: �George W. Bush is a venal little bastard, a political Rainman whose idiot savantism applies not to mathematics, but the commission of evil.� Well, perhaps that�s not entirely wrong, but over the course of almost two hours, it does wear a little thin. Jello moved from topic to topic � military tribunals to the nefarious rejection of the Kyoto Treaty � with the same desultory logic that event follows event in a dream. And he resorted throughout to the sort of name-warping (e.g. �Ashcrack� and �Dumbsfeld�) made popular by Mad Magazine, and (I had thought) amusing to roughly the same age group that subscribes to that classic periodical. Indisputable facts, discredited rumors, stylized or spun versions of genuine events, and raw speculation blended into each other with similar ease, and without any hedging or change in tone to indicate that some of these �suppressed truths� were any more questionable than others.'

"Women 80-or more-years-old who were lifetime coffee-drinkers performed better on cognitive tests than women who were not. There was no relation found between coffee intake and cognitive function among men."

"E-mail marketing company Silverpop Systems announced the preliminary results of a study that found the most popular e-mail programs did a poor job handling HTML e-mails, possibly presenting a roadblock to a fast-growing segment of the e-mail marketing industry." "The Atlanta-based company's study, which viewed 700 HTML marketing messages in nine of the most popular e-mail programs, found that 42 percent of the messages were rendered improperly, with 13 percent being unreadable or containing 'extremely disruptive errors'."

Mugged: Poverty in Your Coffee Cup

'The recent Oxfam International report on the world coffee market and the effect of abysmal prices paid to farmers is the first study to make an accurate survey of the situation and suggest a course of action. To read their press release, go to their website . But you really need to download the full report (a PDF file) to adequately understand the situation. Also, take time to read Kraft and Nestle's responses to the indictments against the ''big 4'' coffee companies...they make some good points.'

"What I can't live without, though, is coffee. Recently I've toned down my caffeine intake, for moderation's sake, but I still need to start off every day with a good, well-brewed cup of Good Morning America. Here's ten tips from a coffee nerd that you might find helpful in your quest for the perfect brew."

" I realized that unless you've had a cup of 'African Thunder' from that little shop on Main Street in Farmington, New Mexico, you couldn't possibly understand. Have A Great Day, unless you've Made other plans!"

"The Desert Storm success was as much a product of superior logistics as of tough front-line combat troops. In fact, I told midshipmen that if I were in their shoes, I'd consider a career in the Navy's Supply Corps. It sounds mundane. It's not. Battles are won when the soldiers' food and the planes' spare parts and ammunition are where they're supposed to be -- on time."

"Good leadership consists of motivating people to their highest levels by offering them opportunities, not obligations. That is how things naturally happen. Life is an opportunity and not an obligation." - John Heider, The Tao Of Leadership

As an aside, Screamin' Jay was born in Cleveland but is better know for the number of children he fathered. When Jay passed away in 2000, a website was erected to find his heirs. The domain name has subsequently been squatted upon.

1. Hershey's Kisses: with or without almonds? With. 2. Wizard of Oz: Scarecrow or Tin Man? Tin Man. A heart is more important than a brain. 3. Meat eater or vegetarian? I go through phases. My wife is a Vegetarian, so a lot of our meals are. 4. Buy books or borrow them? Depends on the budget. 5. At the bank: ATM or human teller? ATM. 6. Oil or gas (or other) heat? Gas. 7. Pen or pencil? Pen. 8. Drive or use public transit? "Drive", he said. 9. Who IS James Bond: Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan (or any of the others in between)? Sean. 10. Your ideal breakfast: full (bacon/sausage, eggs, pancakes, etc) or continental (bagels, muffins, fruit, cereal)? Full. But usually it's a continental.

"Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it."

- Andrew Jackson

Now I've had raggly boxers before. And when they get that way, I throw them out! But the irony is, the shorts from City Boxers are hold up really well. They're some of the best boxers I've ever bought. I'm not sure why you would make disparaging comments about your quality product just to promote additional sales.

"Software giant Microsoft Corp. has given PreEmptive Solutions Inc., an eight-employee company in Euclid, a reason to feel optimistic in the coming years."

"A stripped-down version of PreEmptive's software, Dotfuscator, which improves the security of software code, will be included in the next version of Microsoft's Visual Studio .Net, a program used to write software for the Internet."

On IFC was Wonderland. Too bad the Internet Movie Data Base has nothing to say about it. Wonderland is a documentary about the inhabitants of the Levittown, NY. I wish I could adequately describe this movie. Maybe that's why no one has filled out the plot synopsis or commented on it. I first came across Levittown in Squandering Aimlessly. After WWII, William Levitt built the first modern development. From the looks of things, the people who first purchased into this 'dream' still live there. It also seems that most of their children have moved away. Anyway, if you get a chance, see it. It's an interesting commentary on what's "modern" and what some think of as "utopic".

So the news is important because it the first commerical application. "Magiq Technologies Inc. has employed quantum information processing techniques in its development of an uncrackable encryption system for communication lines, slated for delivery early next year. The fiber-optic link updates its encryption key encoded as quantum bits every second, and cannot be eavesdropped on without detection. "

Pippa on Coffee Snobs: So in the interest of continuing public service announcements, there is something I need to help some of you with. Starbucks� does not serve good coffee. Period. It is probably the worst coffee I have ever had. There is a REASON that you have to order a g*ddamned $8.00 venti latte with flavoring, and that's because their coffee sucks! I was entertained this morning by reading a blog (I'll spare the linkage lest I be accused of mocking again) that decried the use of styrofoam to serve hot beverages to go. I think that styrofoam would actually IMPROVE the taste of Starcrack coffee. I swear that their executives are laughing every day at their profits, knowing that countless lemmings are drinking swill just because it carries the Starcrack name. It's branding at its finest. Who knows? Maybe once upon a time in Seattle they DID serve good coffee, but by the time they made their way East, it was nothing but used motor oil. And I'm sure there are scads of people saying "Oh, you don't know good coffee." Well, hell's bells. I worked as a barista in a nice independent caf� which served coffee from an independent local roaster. Now that's good coffee. Try a local roaster and tell me if you still think that crack Starbucks is good coffee. A public service announcement from pippa reminding you to support your local coffee roaster and independent coffee shops.

If at first your mailing doesn't succeed... 1) Then mail testimonials. 2) Mail a reprint of an article from a major publication. 3) Mail a survey. 4) Mail a totally new brochure. 5) mail a final notice.

I used to think that voting didn't matter. You know, when you're younger, you think you know everything. Then I started paying attention to things happening in the government. At the same time, I heard everyone complaining about how bad the government is. Then I heard someone ask another, "Did you vote?". When the response was "no". The questioner responded, "Then you have no right to complain".

So I went out and voted. That was the year the unthinkable happened. I'm sure you know what I mean. The Florida Debacle. What a fiasco! If there weren't so few people voting, I doubt that it would have been relevant.

Bottom line, don't view voting as an inconvenience. View it as anything but that. It can be described as many thing, patriotic duty, civil right, even self-expression. Please do it. There are people around the world who can't. There a plenty of people through history who fought to protect it. There are kids who continue to enlist to do the same thing. I think we would all appreciate your effort. Thanks!

"It is often difficult to directly tie marketing costs to their related benefits. In order to do this successfully, you must measure and count all of the data that relates to your marketing and sales processes." "Where do your customers come from? Did they see your ads? How did they learn about your company/sales offer/products? Did they receive your mailer? All of these are facts that you must know to see the results from your marketing efforts." "Look at the numbers you track and compare them from period to period. As you make these comparisons, look at the marketing campaigns that you had in place. You should be able to see a pattern - but only if you measure the results. "

"When Lou Gerstner became chairman and CEO of IBM in 1993, he forced significant cost reductions in the company's Nobel Prize-winning research division. Budgets were slashed to 37 percent of 1990 levels; payrolls were cut by 28 percent. The entire infrastructure of the research department was dismantled, leaving the staff to worry about their long-term prospects. Before long, however, Gerstner's 'resource ruthlessness' translated into new efficiencies that quickened the pace of research and increased the commercial value of the subsequent products." According to Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton, authors of It's Not the Big that Eat the Small�It's the Fast that Eat the Slow, resource ruthlessness enables businesses to achieve and maintain speed. This concept mirrors the "creative destruction" model of Joseph Schrumpeter, an Austrian economist who pointed out that market forces and new technologies unleashed a cycle of innovation that destroyed old methods of operation and led to new patterns of growth..."

posted by George Nemeth  # 11/04/2002 08:10:00 AM

• offering products and services that your competitors don't excel in
• targeting markets too small for big competitors
• discovering the new markets that change creates

"Over the past few weeks I've heard the same exact comment from every single B2Bmarketer I've spoken to about what makes the difference in sales in these tough times: 'Get back to every incoming email or call really, really quickly.' Not within 24 hours. Not within sometime this business day. Within a handful of minutes. Half an hour max. The point being to catch that customer or prospect while they are still on their computer, while they are still at their desk, before they get distracted ... and most importantly, before your direct competitor (who prospects probably emailed 20 seconds after they emailed you) gets back to them first. Very often the first company to respond gets the sale.

nemeth is home nemeth is not just in to his chosen medium nemeth is also a licensed attorney in florida as well as colorado and has been admitted to practice before the supreme court of the united states of america nemeth is een pionier in virtual reality

"Regardless, I checked my firewall logs this morning just for kicks and found something interesting. I see the odd request to port 53, the DNS port, every now and again, but this was different. Within the space of 11 seconds, There were no fewer than 274 requests from 29 different IP addresses throughout the Internet."

"This just screams zombies looking for a target. The originating port numbers varied greatly, reaching upwards of 60,000, which indicates that an individual process is repeatedly sending out many requests in order for the port numbers to reach such levels, as they are dynamically allocated as each new request is sent out."

Randy Nieland goes on to emphasize the need for a firewall, preferrably hardware based. But I don't need to remind you of that, do I?

voluble � \VAHL-yuh-bul\ � (adjective) 1 : easily rolling or turning : rotating *2 : characterized by ready or rapid speech : glib, fluent

"For a certain period in the 1990s, dorm-room dot-coms were all the rage. The most prominent examples, Yahoo and Google, both started by Stanford University students in dormitories and campus trailers, rocketed to stardom and riches, fueling the dreams of many others.

When the technology boom went bust, those dreams seemed to die, too. But rather than disregard the ambitions of its entrepreneurial students, the University of Maryland is encouraging them with the kind of amenities that earlier students could only dream about."

blatherskite (BLATH-uhr-skyt) noun 1. A person who babbles about inane matters. 2. Nonsense; foolish talk. [From Old Norse blathra (to chatter) + Scots dialect skate (a contemptible person).]