At 24
Years
And
Counting...
6OL .O Your Business Connection
3EPT/CT Triple-Whammy For Ad-Biz
9th Show
Faced Lack
Of Entries
?
9th Show
The first blow in a triple-whammy
for the local ad-biz came in the form
of an abrupt announcement that the
9th edition of the Seattle Show had
been postponed indefinitely—and
perhaps permanently.
Executive director Wendy Quesinberry said, “The economy has caused
Eight editions of the Seattle Show
catalogs are arrayed alongside
the 9th edition—now in limbo
CraftNet And
PPI Prepping
For Big Events
It’s time once again to honor Northwest graphic arts companies for outstanding work, beginning with the
PrintROCKS! awards presentation at
the PPI Regional Management Conference on Sept. 18, followed by the
CraftNet Gallery Awards on Nov. 6.
The PrintROCKS! awards are only
one element of the three-day PPI Regional Conference that runs Sept. 1719 at The Resort at The Mountain in
Welches, OR, at the base Mt. Hood.
Other activities of the three-day
event, titled Forward Thinking 2010,
include an impressive lineup of speakers, a Casino Party, and excellent networking opportunities, according to
executive director Jules Van Sant.
Chairman William J. Gibson and
%VENTS s @3AMPLE /F 'OODNESS s HL2/TMA Deaths+...
The other blows in the triple-whammy
for the local ad-biz was news that HL2
had closed its doors, which caught even
some seasoned insiders by surprise, and
the death this Spring of TM Advertising
(nee Sedgwick Rd.) that even many of
its former competitors weren’t aware of.
As recently as the 2010 Puget Sound
Business Journal Book of Lists, HL2
was ranked as the eighth largest local
agency, with a staff of 55 and $14.7 million in billings in 2008.
A former employee said the staff of about
40 HL2 employees was called together the
morning of Aug. 9 and told that about 30 of
them could go to competitor Ascentium
and that the rest were “done.”
Reports link the sudden shutdown after
16 years to a combination of lost business
and the inability to obtain a bank loan in
this tight financial market.
Ascentium now has about 220 employees in its Bellevue headquarters and
(, s ...And Print-World Churn
The churn in the local print world
continues with a merger, the closing
of a third-generation family shop and
a major name change.
In the merger, Allegra Marketing
Print Mail in Seattle has merged with
Allegra Print & Imaging (the former
Land Printing) in Bothell. The company will operate from the Seattle
facility with “the goal of offering our
clients a single resource for strategic
marketing services, as well as traditional print services,” according to
0RINT s firms left standing to enter fewer pieces
and there simply were not enough entries this year to pay for all the estimated
costs of the event [that was scheduled
for Oct. 21 at the Showbox Sodo].”
3HOW s Competition
Is Heating Up
In Sports-Talk
ESPN 710 has been holding its own
against KJR 950 in the Arbitron ratings
war, even surpassing its elder sportstalk rival in April when the Mariners
broadcasts began, thus showing that
the Seattle metro area apparently can
support two sports-only stations.
On the programming front, ESPN
710 added three hours of live/local
radio with the return to the air of Dave
Grosby. The Groz won’t be teaming
with afternoon-drive host Kevin Calabro,
as planned last April, but has his own
"ROADCAST s ‘Consolidated Entrepreneur’
,AWSON s 0AGE Inside On Century-Old Story
&ISHER s 0AGE SEATTLE, WA
Permit No. 1578
PAID
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
Evidence
Of The Ennui...
I was a momentarily shocked, but not really surprised, when I learned that the 9th
Seattle Show had been postponed, for the reasons explained on Pages 1 and 5.
This is just more evidence of the economic ennui that has beset the entire marketing
-related realm—as well as most others. Webster defines “ennui” as “weariness and dissatisfaction resulting from inactivity or lack of interest.” Unfortunately, the inactivity is on
the part of formerly flush clients who lack the interest—and income—to do business in the
manner to which they—and we—had long been accustomed.
Other awards shows like the AdClub’s ADDYs, CraftNet’s Gallery of Superb Printing
and PPI’s PrintROCKS! all have experienced the same sharp drop off in willingness [and/
or ability] to submit entries to the levels that were commonplace just a couple years ago.
The popular Newsmakers section was once filled to overflowing with new hires and
news of just-completed projects. Today, the pickings are slim and I have to scramble
to fill the space. This is yet another example of the evisceration taking place in every
business we represent: Ad and PR agencies, design firms, direct marketing shops, largeand small-format sign companies, film, video (including duplication) and audio-related
studios, printing plants and the print and broadcast media. I could tell business-horror
stories that have been related to me by principals in every one of these areas.
“Level [income] is the new up,” as they say, and skeleton crews—compared with just
two or three years ago—are the new norm. And there will be no “rebounds” so typical
of prior recessions because the work that brought those rebounds has gone away forever
and struggling business owners have found that they can get along just fine with far
fewer folks, even if it means they have to work a lot harder.
I’m bracing myself for more sad stories as I undertake my annual ritual of placing 400 to
500 phone calls (yes, I still prefer to do it the old-fashioned way) to solicit participation in
what will be the 20th Anniversary edition of the annual MARKETING ATLAS. Based
on last year’s drop in listings, I’ve already pared the layout back from the longstanding 48 pages to 40 pages.
Losing the Seattle Show [hopefully temporarily] is small potatoes in comparison
with the plight of, say, the auto dealers. Once-proud auto row in Bellevue, with its
vacant buildings and grass growing through long stretches of pavement previously
occupied by large inventories of expensive vehicles, is stark testimony to the fact
that the economic ennui is widely shared.
The surviving dealers, like the survivors in our industry, can only persevere...
—LC
Art Of The Issue: Hornall Anderson
has completed yet another high-profile
project—a dynamic, interactive experience for visitors to the Empire State
Building in the Big Apple. The exhibit
is aimed at educating the public about
the building’s unprecedented energyefficient retrofit in the battle for sustainability.
HA was chosen for the one-of-a-kind
exhibit to communicate this monumental achievement to the millions of annual visitors to the Empire State Building’s Observatories. The exhibit engages
visitors throughout the Observatories’
queuing experience, introducing them
to the ground breaking retrofit, which
decreased the building’s consumption of
watts and BTUs by a staggering 40%.
HA chief experience officer Jamie
Monberg said, “The exhibit represents
a truly seamless integration of analog
and digital storytelling.” A key consideration was creating a high-impact
story flexible enough to accommodate
high- and low-traffic days and to speak
clearly to a large and diverse audience,
Monberg said.
Feedback!
We want feedback on our editorial
content by any available means. The
postal and e-mail addresses are at
right. Comments posted on the Websites also will be acknowledged. Messages with full names will be given
preference.
MARKETING
,ARRY #OFFMAN s -ELISSA #OFFMAN
0UBLISHER
!SSOC 0UBLISHER
MARKETING is a 1986 copyright© publication of
MANE/MARKETING Inc., with offices at 13901
NE 175th St., Ste. M, Woodinville, WA, 98072.
Phone 425-487-9111/FAX 425-487-3158/e-mail
larrycoffman@frontier.com. Opinions of contributing
writers are not necessarily those of the publication.
MORE SUSTAINABLE
THAN COUSIN RITA
Going green has
never been so easy.
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Introducing Somerset Satin
and Gloss FSC certified papers
with 10 % PCW.
Available All Day—Every day.
600 S Spokane St. | Seattle, WA 98134-2225
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Printer of THE MARKETING ATLAS
Effective Solutions in Print
%JHJUBMt4IFFUGFEt)FBUTFU8FCt/POIFBU8FC
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S
McNiff
Maxham
Josh Brantley is the new senior
creative director at United Future,
the interactive division of WongDoody. He previously has worked
at Ascentium, Zaaz and the late
HL2... Cole & Weber United has
named John Maxham executive
creative director. His previous post
was SVP/group creative director
at DDB Chicago where he oversaw creative on AT&T and H&R
Block... Hodgson/Meyers has
added Erin McNiff as project
manager and Rachel Omiliak
as an online marketing specialist. Erin has worked at Cole &
Weber United and aQuantitative and Rachel has four years
Omiliak
Kovalchik
Arbeene
of experience with Google and various marketing analytics programs...
Phinney Bishchoff Design House has
hired Darren Kovalchik from startup
SEO in Seattle as an interactive developer and Rebecca Arbeene as a strategist/account manager. She comes from
a Seattle design, advertising and directresponse agency... Shiva Neiman has
joined the GA Creative design team in
Bellevue. She designs for both print and
Web and was educated in both Iran and
the U.S. GA also hired Amy Polansky
as its emerging media coordinator. She
has worked for Seattle-based social network and media platform RIPL and as a
board operator, music director and promotions coordinator for several local
Neiman
Polansky
radio stations... Mike Durand, formerly with T-Mobile, has joined Publicis
Consultants PR as senior vice president
and account director, based in Seattle...
Avidex, a Bellevue-based audio/visual
firm, has hired Darrell Couts as VP/
sales. He is a former principal of Tango
Environments, also in Bellevue... Steve
Karr is the new interactive director at
Copacino+Fujikado and Shawn Her-
ron has joined the agency as associate
creative director. Both held similar posts
at WongDoody and DDB, respectively.
.EWSMAKERS s Durand
Karr
Couts
Watch for the
MARKETINGNW.com
3UPER 3ITE IN Herron
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Brantley
Raynor Shines! To
find out what just what
local music and audiostudio veteran Dave
Raynor is doing in Branson,
MO, see the story and
photo atop Page 10.
That’s Dave in the center
rear with, from left, singer Andy Williams, golf
legend Doug Sanders,
McKenna Medley, Mrs.
Sanders and Bill Medley,
half of the famous Righteous Brothers duo. A
hint: It’s about breaking
into the big time!...
MORE NEWSMAKERS
0ROJECTS 0LACES
Continued from Page 3
Hodgson/Meyers created this
novel direct-mail
piece for client
CGS Systems Inc.,
which helps clients like Comcast,
DISH and Time
Warner with billing and customercontact solutions.
To introduce a
new product to a narrow target of only 100
decisions-makers in the cable and satellite
TV industry, the challenge became to create marketing materials that wouldn’t immediately go into the round file.
The target exec faces the never-ending
problem of customer churn, people who
leave one provider after another, said
H/M principal Gary Meyers. “So we
recommended sending life-size professional boxing gloves, along with product information, to literally give the execs the tools to effectively fight churn.
The boxes, produced by Mastercraft
of Seattle, the copy and the Everlast
boxing gloves all were customized for
each individual recipient. “In short,”
Meyers said, “This was a big package.
A big Idea. And a real knockout!”...
Trusted for 72 years as Seattle’s top quality printer. Now G7 Certified! G7 color management process for proof-to-print consistency Quality sheet fed offset printing— 5 color plus aqueous coating 2400 West Commodore Way, Seattle, WA 98199 www.academypress.com Phone: 206.285.2511 Electric Pen Design created a suite
of marketing materials for Lighthouse
Document Technologies, a leading
provider of electronic discovery services both regionally and nationally.
According to principal John Pletsch,
“We applied a powerful dynamic new
identity to their Website, created new
brand touch points in the form of a brochure (sample below) and CD jacket
and designed an eye-catching wrap for
their delivery vehicles.” Pletsch added
that LDT is a leader in environmental
sustainability in a field that consumes
vast quanties of paper... GA Creative
in Bellevue was named the agency of
record for Franciscan Health Systems
for the fifth consecutive year. The account involves promoting the client’s
hospitals and clinics throughout South
Puget Sound. GA principal Marlice
Gulacsik said, “All our work builds
on the story that Franciscan provides
.EWSMAKERS s -!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Someone ask you to deliver a
webvidsimulremotecast?
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LET’S TALK ABOUT IT OVER AN E-VENTI STREAMING CASTUCCINO.
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Two-Ounce Sample Of Goodness...
By Larry Asher
I’ve always had this view of life
that every 50-gallon barrel of crap
comes with a free two-ounce sample
of goodness. You
wreck your car, but
now you get to buy a
new one. Your girlfriend dumps you
but you wanted to
spend the Summer
skiing in Chile anyway, and she hates
the cold. In short, it’s never all bad.
And it’s certainly not all bad (in
fact, it’s barely bad) that the Seattle Show was cancelled, postponed
or—choose-your-favorite-word—
this year. The decision was made for
the straightforward reason that the
number of entries was down. Since
the major part of the Show’s budget
comes from entry fees, you can do the
math yourself.
Would it be possible to dispense
with doing a first-class show book, or
skip flying in top judges from great
agencies and design firms, or scaling
the awards event back to hot dogs and
peanuts? Wouldn’t that save a lot of
money? Of course, it would. But the
board—that is, the volunteers who
shoulder the significant load of producing this show —rightly feels that
an event celebrating excellence in creativity also ought to have some excellence in judging, presentation—and
partying.
It’s unfortunate that the Show won’t
be held on schedule this year. That’s
at least a 10-gallon barrel of crap. But
there is most assuredly that two-ounce
free sample of goodness that comes
along for the ride. And that would be?
The gut-punch of the economic
turndown these past two years (and let
me give a shout-out here to a bunch of
selfish, moronic, greedy Wall Street
services, charging the wrong amount
of money or barking up the wrong
new-business trees, we found out
about it big time.
And there‘s your mini-vial of goodness friends. Don’t spill it.
What we all have now—and that surely includes those of us devoted to sustaining the Seattle Show—is the wakeup call to reexamine what we’re doing.
Does Seattle need multiple awards
shows, or any at all for that matter?
Do creative competitions have to
culminate in a slick book or a rowdy
party (I’ll go ahead and answer that
last question: yes!)?
Do the standard award categories
...or—a 50-gallon
barrel of crap?
and banking executives), has been no
fun at all for agency and design-firm
owners, their clients and the employees who either got to walk the plank
or stay on board, but with double the
workload.
Yet, we’ve all learned something
valuable about our true strengths.
And, if we were providing the wrong
even begin to recognize how drastically the marketing communications
business has changed in the past couple of years?
Ironically, the same market conditions that have slowed the Seattle
Show down have given an extraordinary boost to one of my other endeavors, the School of Visual Concepts.
As people look to get back into
the job market, they turn to SVC to
bolster their resumes and pick up
skills they’ve been meaning to master. Meanwhile the emergence of
social media and mobile communications channels means there’s now
a whole bunch of things to learn
that none of us knew much about
three years ago.
SVC has just experienced three record-setting quarters in a row, and this
Summer, we’ve already had more than
600 enrollments with a month left to
go, as I write this. In other words, bad
times aren’t always bad.
And that’s the lesson, I think, for the
Seattle Show. We’ve been given the
gift of the bucket—more like a barrel actually—of cold water that makes
you stop and evaluate how you’re going about your business. In truth, a
barrel may be an overstatement—it
was more like a two-ounce splash.
s
Besides being a founding member
of the Seattle Show, Larry Asher is
president of the School of Visual Concepts and principal of his creative
agency, Worker Bees. That’s the official agency hat he’s wearing in the
photo. You can contact him at Larry@
workerbees.com.
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Life Lessons
...
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Pleasures/Perils Of Small Shops
By Ted Leonhardt
I started my small business because
I had quit my job, or been fired, depending on who’s telling the story. I
loved design and
had one client with
enough work to
get me started. So,
I was off and running—and running
is the right word,
because I was terrified that I ’d fail.
Pure terror is great fuel for a start-up.
Within a year, I was able to move out of
desperation mode. In three years, I was living the life, as they say, and the life of the
small-design-firm founder can be very rewarding. You‘re the boss, and you’re doing
work that you love.
Your staff and clients look to you for inspiration and guidance. Being a designer
gives you personal satisfaction and a certain special status in the working world—
the hip workspace, the cool stuff to surround yourself with, the visual skills, the
computer savvy–you know what I mean.
Yes, there are deadlines to meet, client
problems to juggle and employee issues, but
you’re in charge of everything. In your world
it’s all about the quality of the work, not
moving up the corporate ladder. You have
your own ladder, and you‘re at the top.
But, small founder-led companies (10 or
fewer) also have some inherent problems
and limitations. Here are several that I see
frequently in my work as a consultant.
Let’s begin at the end.
I’m tired of this now.
“Ted, can you help me sell my business?” The owner wants to retire in a few
years. She’s done fine work and made
good money. Naturally, she feels that her
company has value, and it does, but not to
an outside buyer. A small company, even
one that has done great work and provided
up the market; and finally—importantly—a
proven management team that will take over
when the owner leaves with all that money.
What to do: Build your business to meet
the needs of a future buyer, even if you
never plan to sell. It’s an excellent way to
guide your path to financial independence.
Making money is a good thing. Take it
very seriously.
Where did the work go?
When there’s plenty of work, life is
good. There are advantages to being small.
Small design firms are nimble. They often
can beat their bigger competitors and win
assignments by moving faster when the
opportunity fits.
You have your own ladder,
and you’re at the top.
satisfaction and good compensation to an
owner and a handful of employees, generally has no value to an outside buyer.
Here are some things that do: $5 to $10
million in fee sales with a 20% margin and
a track record of growth; a tight relationship with a major client that fits the buyer,
or a strategic fit in which the design firm
provides a service that will move the buyer
On the other hand, small firms tend to
move from project-to-project without a real
plan. When the owner is deeply involved in
project work, he may be caught off guard
when things happen and work goes away.
Workloads always fluctuate. Clients leave.
Situations change. Competition increases.
Two different reactions may result, neither one a sustainable business strategy. In
the first, the owner can’t bear to lay anyone
off, so belts are tightened and the owner
may use her own money to support the
business. In the second, the owner fires the
staff when work is scarce and rehires when
things are looking up, thus never building a
solid support staff.
What to do?
Take preventative action. Look up from
your screen and reorder your priorities:
1. Get the work. Your No. 1 job must be
sales. Talk to past clients and suppliers. Recent competitive situations and the firm’s
successful projects provide valuable clues
as to where the opportunities are.
2. Protect the work. Managing the client relationship is critical to success. Keep
your finger on the pulse of every project,
don’t leave client management to chance
or to an inexperienced employee.
3. Delegate the work. Do only that part of
the project that’s the signature of your firm.
Follow the leader
Most small firms are built around
the designer/founder, who started the
company because he loves the work,
and does the work—that was the whole
point. These founders often mistake
project management for leadership.
The goals they set are all about the work
they’re doing for clients. The mentoring
,EONHARDT s -!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Graphic Design
Camera-Shopping Lessons Fritsch On Advertising
By Bill Fritsch
Knowing that I’d be spending most
of last year in Hawaii, I decided to invest in some top-notch camera gear. I
needed a new hobby to take my mind
off of being away
from my family and
friends and to capture memories of one
of the most beautiful
places on earth.
This turned out to
be quite an investment. Good camera
gear isn’t cheap, and before purchasing
I wanted to be sure that I was making
an educated decision. So I fired up my
trusty laptop and spent a week reading
everything I could before I chose the
brand of camera that best met my needs.
I first visited Websites, then looked
for reviews from professional photographers (who would know better what
to choose?), and ultimately shopped for
deals for the top two brands.
It occurred to me, of course, that this
process is repeated a billion times a week
across almost every product category
imaginable. Consumers can do all sorts
of research online and a brand is the sum
total of a corporate Website and the half
million people who express their happiness or dissatisfaction publicly.
Today there is no more important
element of managing your marketing
or building your brand that having
a quality Website. But this is just the
beginning of the marketing ecosystem
needed to succeed in today’s marketplace. Managing what happens online
is critically important to every company’s success. Shopping for a camera
was instructive.
I had two brands in mind before I did a
single bit of research, Nikon and Canon.
My perception was shaped over a lifetime of exposure to advertising. Canon’s
advertising focused on nature photography in places like National Geographic.
Stunning photography is featured. The
kind I’d like to shoot. Nikon’s recent
job of providing in-depth information
about every camera and lens, including
videos and easy-to-scan product tours.
Very respectable. The perception was
that Canon made fine cameras.
Next I visited Nikon’s Website (www.
nikonusa.com) on Bing. Shaazzzammm. I
knew within two minutes that Nikon
was the camera for me. Nikon is in
the business of helping people shoot
great photographs. The Website features stunning photography, rather than
cameras.
Visitors can get in-depth information about their favorite photographs
on the page. What camera was used?
What were the conditions? What lens,
Managing what happens
online is critically important...
advertising has been more consumer focused, featuring its lower-end gear.
Canon research was first (www.usa.
canon.com) on Google. Not surprisingly, the Canon Website features more
than cameras. Canon does a lot of
things and makes a lot of products. The
Webpage featured some cameras but it
took another click to get to the heart
of Canon cameras. Canon does a fine
what settings? Nikon understood that I
wasn’t buying a camera. I was investing in beautiful memories. They understood ME. And from that point on,
Canon had an uphill fight.
Lesson: Nikon is the premium brand
because it invests in branding. Pretty
simple. And its Website is one of the
best on the Internet. Canon, Olympus, Sony and other high-end DSLR
camera companies have sites that are
divorced from their brands. They give
people information. But they don’t create preference over competitors. How
many marketing companies are guilty
of the same thing?
Websites are Step One for any consumer looking to comparison shop.
Five or 10 minutes is all that it takes
to make product choices. I personally
don‘t understand why Canon’s site is
so poor. Doesn’t anyone there look at
the sites of their competitors?
Next stop in the process was to hear
what Canon and Nikon users were saying about the cameras and lenses. User
groups are great places to go, not only
to learn about the products but also to
learn about companies and the way
they treat their customers. In general,
Nikon users tended to be more satisfied and the information I gained was
more useful for helping me make my
ultimate choice.
Perhaps there are user groups in your
industry. How do they shape consumer
choice in your business category.
In my journey, I also visited youtube.com and was able to view commercials, videos and consumer photography turned into videos. What a
world we live in. It is all so easy. And
the companies that do a superb job
of managing the Web’s easy access
Sales Centers, Exhibits, Museums and Image Décor
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Ask about vehicles,
window graphics,
retail POP, and
installation services
throughout the U.S.
Fritsch
Can you identify this local ad-biz
legend, shown during his wild-n-crazy
teen years? For the answer, go to horsfall
creative.com/blog and read David’s story
on The Leader of the Pack. Scan on down
for lots of other good “reads” too.
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE to information, along with creating
brand differentiation, will grow market
share. Most companies don’t do a good
job of this.
Ultimately, I did choose Nikon and,
though I paid a higher price, I have no
regrets.
If you’d like to see some examples of
photos I took last year, check out this
site: http://gallery.me.com/billfritsch.
s
Bill Fritsch is CEO, North America Group for Anthology. He can be
reached at bill.fritsch@anthology
marketing.com or 206-465-6700.
NEED
TO
KNOW
By Larry Coffman
s Raynor’s Rise: The best and most exciting news I’ve received in a long time was
a recent e-mail from my good buddy, Dave
Raynor, who I first came to know when he
used to advertise his audio-production
services in this newspaper.
I’d sent Dave a packet of information
about the 2011 ATLAS, thinking he might
still be doing his audio-production thing,
despite telling me when last we talked that
he’d gotten his real estate license and was
seriously pursuing that new career.
So much for that idea! His message—
along with the photos on Page 3 and
above—informed me of his arrival in the
big time, as a performer with Bill Medley,
half of the famous Righteous Brothers
(Unchained Melody, You’ve Lost That
Lovin’ Feeling, etc.) duo, in Branson, MO.
Knock me over with a feather!
This is hardly an overnight success story.
“Raynman,” as I like to call him, has more
than paid his dues as a musician and writer
since 1972, when he moved to Seattle from
Big Gig: That’s Dave Raynor, second from left, playing in a recent concert with Bill Medley in Branson, MO.
The ensemble, from left, includes Larry
Hanson (formerly with Alabama), vocalist McKenna Medley, her father Bill,
and Tim Lee, not visible behind Gabe
Rabben, at far right.
Camas. “My musical roots have always
been soul, jazz and R&B music,” Dave
told me. “I won a Grammy in 1987 for
a gospel tune I wrote for Deniece (Let’s
Hear It For The Boy) Williams.”
On our infrequent golf outings, he
used to tell me about this gig or that and
snippets of his experiences in L.A. But I
had no idea about all the achievements
he describes on his Website at www.dave
raynor.com/about us.
Dave had his audio-production studio in
the Darth Vader building in Seattle from
1993 to 2003 and before that was in a space
near what is now Safeco Field. He’s been
successfully writing tunes for Muzak since
1992 and has more than 50 compositions
on the Muzak system.
He’s currently playing guitar and singing
s 0AT )N 0OLAND Artist-rep-turnedlifter Pat Hackett will compete in the World
Masters Weightlifting Championships in
Ciechanow, Poland, on Sept. 18 after winning her division of the National Masters
in New York City in April. She also won
the Best Lifter trophy in her age group
for having lifted the most total weight per
pound of body weight of all lifters in her
age bracket. She even lifted as much
as a fellow competitor who weighed 221
pounds, compared with Pat’s svelte 136.
She plans to leave for Italy a week in
advance of the Worlds to practice her Italian and “get my body into that time zone.”
Then she’ll fly to Warsaw, pick up her
coach and fellow weightlifter, Trish Zuccotti, and they’ll drive to Ciechanow. Pat
has hired a Lithuanian photographer/videographer to record the event. Says Pat,
“He doesn’t speak Polish, English or Italian and I don’t know a word of Lithuanian,
so this should be quiet a communication
experience.”
A total of 20 weightlifters from the USA
will be competing in various classes, wearing the USA team singlets and colors.
backup with Bill Medley and The Texas
Tenors in Branson until this January. [Dave
actually teams with Bill on the classic Rock
& Roll Heaven as a stand-in for Bill’s late
partner Bobby Hatfield!] And he’ll return
to Branson in September 2011 to continue
with the same big-time schedule.
Raynor said the life-changing Branson
connection was the result of a series of
business relationships dating back to the
early ’80s that culminated in Everett native
Tim Lee (see photo) “throwing my name
into the hat” when Bill Medley formed a
new ensemble for his run at the Starlite
Theater in Branson.
This is an overworked phrase, but this
amazing success story truly couldn’t have
happened to a nicer guy! Dave’s e-mail
address is mstrwooley@gmail.com...
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE The ‘Consolidated Entrepreneur’
Then I thought of the industries that
have been crippled or killed by rapidly changing technologies, like the
music business, the newspaper industry, broadcasting, land-lines sold by
telephone companies, etc. But those
topics have been covered more than
adequately by all existing and “new”
media; some of which is now “old”
media.
This story is about a different type
of consolidation. Clear Channel may
have been the first to adopt the “less is
more” marketing slogan to curb flagging ratings (though when I was at
KING radio more than 30 years ago
of online sharing site Squidoo, explains the phenomenon in his book,
Small is the New Big. There is a line
in his introduction that really hooked
me. He writes, “Sometimes it’s hard
for me to figure out exactly what I do
for a living. Looking through some of
my PowerPoint slides, I saw an image
that clarified my thinking. It helped
me understand what it is I do all day.”
In Godin’s case, it was the picture
of a gas station that sold fireworks
that made him realize that what he
does is sell fireworks. He sells sizzle.
He writes and delivers keynotes about
what people already know in order
‘Sometimes its hard for me
to figure out exactly
what I do for a living’
we limited our inventory to 10 units
an hour and no more than two commercials in a break), but less is more
has actually become a new mantra for
small business.
Seth Godin, noted author and CEO
to motivate them to move forward—
with their businesses, their careers
and their lives.
Godin admonishes readers to “do
something that matters” and offers
that “the ability to change fast is the
single best asset in a world that’s
changing fast.”
The consolidated entrepreneur not
only believes in those principles but
lives them. He or she takes all of the
skills and experiences gained in their
work life and personal life and combines them to create something remarkable.
I recently interviewed two artists
who opened their own gallery to promote not only their art but the art of
others they believe in. We’ve seen
countless ex-this-or-that company
employees open new businesses and
thrive in an unforgiving financial climate. And countless others who have
become self-employed “entrepreneurs” by necessity, not by choice.
Becoming a consolidated entrepreneur isn’t easy. While corporations
divvy up the workload by creating specific jobs and duties filled by
people who excel in that very narrow
work silo, consolidated entrepreneurs
excel in multiple disciplines.
I, like Godin, woke up one day wondering what I do for a living. Laying
in bed with my eyes closed, I tried to
re-craft my elevator pitch. As a devotee
,AWSON s -!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Business
By Steve Lawson
We’ve all witnessed consolidation.
In the late ’90s, small- to mid-size
printing companies, advertising agencies, PR firms, dry cleaners, radio and
TV stations, newspapers and more
were being gobbled up by larger entities enticed by the promise of efficiency and scale that would devour the
competition and inflate stock prices to
unprecedented levels. This, of course,
was preceded by consolidation in the
banking, airline, investment and retail
sectors.
We all know the outcome. This story didn’t have a very happy ending.
Though, to be fair, we haven’t actually reached the end of the story.
But all is not doom and gloom.
Consolidation spawned yet another
new business form—the consolidated
entrepreneur.
Never heard that term before? Neither had I, until it popped into my
head as I began brainstorming ideas
for this article. At first I was going
to write about how technology continues to transform my business, and
millions of other small companies.
The Height of Fall Fashion
by Larry Sivitz
T
he effective melding of Web site and
retail store, like the making of customfitted haute couture, requires weaving
many threads into a cohesive virtual and
physical fabric. The
seamless stitching of
Seattle’s
Nordstrom
between online and
offline, including the
launch of new Social
Media features this fall,
is attracting Web shoppers at both ends of the
etail funnel.
While others in the high fashion category
have been taking cover during the economic
doldrums, Nordstrom has blossomed. The
company’s Direct division, which includes
its website and catalog, took in $144 million
for the first quarter this year, a 38 percent increase from a year ago. and direct sales were
up 34 percent in Q2 over last year — nearly
triple the growth rate for overall sales.
Inventory control and distribution have
been critical. “We understand that if you’re
shopping online, and we don’t have it, you’re
going to go back to Google and say, ‘Who else
has it?’ said Jamie Nordstom who runs Nordstrom Direct. “We have 115 full-line stores
out there — chances are one of them has it!”
Just one year ago, the company wove those
individual stores’ inventory to the Web site,
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-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Personalized
variable
messaging
Dataand
Content
Management
Multi-Channel
Marketing
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206-548-6273
www.PrintStreams.net
essentially creating a networked virtual warehouse for online. The percentage of customers who bought merchandise after searching
for an item on the site literally doubled on
the first day, and the search-and-sale ratio
has stayed there. Nordstrom recently began
shipping online orders seven days a week.
On Aug. 21, 2010 following 3 years of development and a lot of direct feedback from
customers, Nordstrom has relaunched the
flagship site with a brand new look and feel.
Highlights include improved navigation
and enhanced product pages that simplify
the process of finding merchandise in the
right size and color, as well as richer content
to help the customer make a more informed
purchase decision. “The simpler navigation
and cleaner look probably was designed
with mobile devices in mind,” said marketing professor Mary Ann Odegaard, who directs the Retail Management Program at the
UW’s Foster School of Business.
But the biggest makeover for Nordstrom
this fall will be in Social Media.
Conversation” is a new destination for
fashion editorials, interactive content, videos as well as a Fashion Forum. “This forum
enables customers to share thoughts and
ideas directly with us, says spokesperson Colin Johnson, “as well as post, share and rate
content (including comments, photos and
videos) along with other fans of Nordstrom.
The
//home.page/ NWShowcasing
Internet Industry
Our customers are very vocal and have told
us they want a platform where they can talk
about fashion, shopping and all things Nordstrom. We’re excited to see where the customer takes this.”
“There is no finish line,” said Jamie Nord-
strom, who estimates a couple hundred employees in Seattle focus on the website. “on
this. “Every time we launch a new function,
the next day we have 10 more ideas. This is
what retailing is about for the next 10 years.”
Send i-News to larry@seattle24x7.com
NETWORK NEWS
Great news for folks in Edmonds who are already trumping Seattle in terms of better Internet connectivity. The city will expand the fiber
broadband offered by Frontier (formerly Verizon); with a locally, municipally owned alternative. The resulting competition should benefit
customers in pricing and service. The city is expected to recoup its investment by 2015.
Video Game U
Opens in Redmond
The DigiPen Institute of Technology has
opened a new 100,000 square foot campus
headquarters in Redmond, exclusively devoted
to the education and training of students in
video game design, development and animation. DigiPen’s students have already placed the
largest number of student projects in the Independent Games Festival (IGF) student showcase
every year since it began with a seven-year total
of 23 finalists. The new facility can accommodate up to 1,200 students.
PS Well-Represented
in Inc 500 Listings
There are 16 Washington companies on the
newly released Inc 500 list of the fastest-growing
companies in the country. Among the Puget
Sound’s Internet-related firms are: QuoteWizard
#36, ClearAccess #66, Chasing Fireflies #111,
Visible Technologies #164, Mpire #166, Countour #183, Avalara # 275, and SEOmoz # 334.
An iPhone App in Minutes
Promises Red Foundry
Startup Web Foundry says it can enable
anyone to build a high quality iPhone app
at a fraction of the cost with nothing more
than a web browser. When you’re ready to
submit your new app to Apple’s App Store,
there is a one-time $79 fee to compile and
publish your app. The company integrates
advertising into the app which helps it defray
costs. Once built, a monthly fee applies that
is currently $29.95/mo. (with ads shown)
and $99,.95/mo. (ad free.) Visit http://redfoundry.com/ for details.
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Edmonds Moving Ahead with
Municipal Broadband Plans
4IPS &OR ! 0OWERFUL 0OWER0OINT
Online Events
By Melinda Partin
For webcasts presented in applications such as Live Meeting, WebEx
and GotoMeeting, the PowerPoint presentation is the key visual aid used to
convey ideas.
While the enthusiasm and clarity
of the presenter can
counteract a poorly
designed
PowerPoint to a degree, a
webcast will have
the most impact if
the presenter’s ability to emotionally connect
with and tell a good story to a virtual audience
is supported by a compelling presentation.
There are three main factors to consider
when creating a PowerPoint presentation—audience behaviors, application
limitations and story/design.
Audience Attendance Behaviors
In a live webcasting environment, there
are important audience attendance behaviors that must be taken into account. The
first five minutes of a webcast involve
people logging-in, solving technical issues
and running late.
Any critical information should not be
presented during this time. This should be
reserved for introductions, speaker bios,
an overview of the upcoming presentation
and ice breakers.
Attendees typically exit early as well.
Wait to present key information after the
first 5 to 10 minutes of the webcast, and
then revisit it again 5 to 10 minutes before
the webcast ends. Use the end of the session for Q&A, feedback or other audience
interactions.
If the time a live webcast is presented
bleeds into the lunch hour, attendees may
bolt mid-way. This is something to consider when scheduling a live webcast across
multiple time zones. Offering giveaways
slides will not work in most applications.
Once a PowerPoint is loaded into the webcasting application, every slide should be
reviewed to ensure the encoding didn‘t
cause strange formatting changes. It may
take some trial-and-error to figure out the
idiosyncrasies of each application, but a
company that offers professional webcasting support services, like Worktank (www.
worktankevents.com), can identify the pitfalls upfront.
Story and Design
In structuring the PowerPoint, the presenter should develop the story outline first
Present all key information
AFTER THE lRST MINUTES
to the attendees who stay until the end or
complete the post-event survey also can
help keep people from logging off before
the event is over.
Application Limitations
The webcast applications have limitations on how well they support PowerPoint. For example, web-friendly fonts
resolve better and less-common fonts may
not resolve correctly. Also, animations
don’t resolve correctly and should be broken out over a series of slides.
Video embedded into most PowerPoint
to organize his/her thoughts around how
ideas need to be conveyed. Once the story
arc is developed, the presentation content
should support the verbal presentation and
not be used as a script to read from.
Words and images can be constructed in
multiple ways, and working with a designer who can convey ideas visually can mean
the difference between another boring old
PowerPoint and full audience engagement.
Above are examples of Before and After
PowerPoint slides created by Artitudes Design (http://www.artitudedesign.com/). It’s
Mobile advertising’s moment is here.
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Apple recently rolled out the new iAD JS development kit, and its interactive possibilities
are greater than any existing media. Agencies are now able to develop stunningly inter-­
active ads based on their clients’ needs.
Just think: mobile apps and ads that update to real-­time status;; detect orientation;;
accept the user’s gesture by touch screen and by motion;; and fully integrate with social
media by connecting to a social network and downloading dynamic content.
So in order to stay relevant—and profitable—your business requires a presence in the
emerging digital ecosystem.
That’s where we come in.
reactionDrive is dedicated to implementing the steps needed at various stages of the
execution process. We understand the importance of engagement, geo-­location, and
geo-­mapping in mobile platform devices.
Today’s mobile advertising requires expertise in iAD JS, Cocoa Touch, and Objective-­
C/C++ to name a few. And we have those bases covered.
Don't know your Cocoa Touch from your Cocoa Puffs? That’s ok.
Leave it to us. We’ll leave your cereal alone.
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SEATTLE, WA 98101 USA
T: 206.569.8248 sales@reactionDrive.com
clear that the After slide (bottom) supports
the presentation more effectively than the
Before (top).
In Support of the Audience Experience
In-person meetings and presentations
offer personal connections between the
presenter and the audience. With a Webcast, the connection points are often just
a presenter’s voice and the PowerPoint
presentation. Extra effort must be made to
engage the audience and keep it focused
on the presentation. Even highly relevant
content must be provided in a compelling
way, both verbally and visually, to keep the
audience’s attention.
s
Melinda Partin is a co-founder and chief
strategic relations officer at Worktank, a digital
marketing and online-events firm. Contact her
at melinda@worktankseattle.com.
Maximizing The Medium’s Potential
By Bob O’Brien
With all the attention people are paying to social media these days, one
of the most important trends facing
media professionals
may be overlooked.
It’s a trend that’s not
only in our immediate future, but one
that’s closer to being more precisely
measurable as well.
The trend is that TV
is moving from a passive into an active
experience.
We’ve long heard about Interactive
Television (iTV)—the cable-enabled
technology that uses television as an
advertising medium and also a customer-response mechanism (see example at upper right)..
This technology forces us—media
and marketers alike—to stop thinking
of television advertising as a linear
process that accomplishes one goal at
a time. The new approach begins with
the same type of branding message
we’ve always used: a 30-second TV
spot. But interested viewers are now
able to go much deeper.
For spots that are iTV enabled,
viewers can use their remote control
to request additional information, accept coupons, enter sweepstakes or
opt into special offers. Or they could
immediately jump from that spot to an
on-demand video to learn more.
This technology will provide advertisers with a valuable new lead each
time a viewer clicks to request details
or enter a sweepstakes. It currently
takes a lot of time, money and creativity to create a brand while drumming
up such effective leads from truly engaged, interested people.
What I find exciting is that this
technology will start a conversation
the rapid results and extensive information that one medium in the mix
can produce.
Advertisers can track new leads, the
number of people responding to their
spot, how deeply they clicked through
and much more. Key metrics and prospective leads from customers who
opt-in to an offer can be returned to
advertisers almost immediately from
set-top cable boxes. Clients also can
make changes to their messages right
away when necessary, rather than
waiting until the campaign is over.
It’s important, going forward, to
make sure advertisers have adequately
TV is moving from a passive
to an active experience
between advertisers and consumers in
a completely new way. It’s more indepth, more substantial, more likely
to get results and more powerful as a
means of measuring return on investment (ROI).
And that potential for ROI is huge,
to the extent that these technologies
will change what we expect from
ROI. Advertisers may be surprised at
prepared for this new future. Do they
have the tools and the infrastructure to
follow up on leads? Is their in-depth
information compelling, once they
lure the viewers in? If they’re ready
for it, the return on investment has the
potential to be amazing.
Some advertisers are bound to have
some challenging questions about
iTV. Some may feel the need to take a
wait-and-see position. But for the adventurous few, this new technology,
founded on solid metrics, could be
just the thing to jump-start one’s business after several years of economic
stagnation.
s
Bob O’Brien is the general manager
of Comcast Spotlight in Washington,
overseeing all sales operations in the
Seattle and Spokane markets. You can
reach him at robert_o’brien@cable.
comcast.com. For information about
advertising on local Comcast cable
networks, visit comcastspotlight.com.
Watch for the
MARKETINGNW.com
3UPER 3ITE IN We help Business-to-Business companies
make noise and get noticed. Named one
of the top 100 B2B agencies in America
four years straight 2007-2010. Specializing
in brand and interactive lead generation.
BR A NDING. L E A D GENE R AT ION . IN T E R AC T I V E .
Make noise. Get noticed.
hodgsonmeyers.com
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Interactive Television
Toppled Towers Still A Mystery
#ONTINUED FROM 0AGE -!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE show weekdays 12-3pm, which ironically pits him against Ian Furness on
KJR. It was Furness who was retained
full-time, while Grosby was scaled back
to part-time hours (and salary) at KJR
two years ago. Grosby already had a
foot in 710’s door by virtue of his broadcasting Seattle U. basketball games on
that station last winter.
Calabro’s show will continue at
3-6pm and will be co-hosted instead by
Jim (the Go-To Guy) Moore, a former
P-I columnist who was relegated to freelance status when the P-I ceased its print
edition. The new lineup includes the
Brock (Huard) and (Mike) Salk show
from 9am to noon weekdays, replacing
the Colin Cowherd syndicated show.
Each will get a boost with the start of
Husky (KJR) and Seahawks (ESPN)
football. As one KJR source said, “We
love the competition, it just adds to the
sports-take audience—like putting a
Nordstrom and a Macy’s in the same
mall adds to the shopper pool.”
And at the third local sports-talk
station, KRKO in Everett, veteran
sportscaster Pat O’Brien (NCAA Basketball, World Series, NBA Finals) last
month joined FOX Sports Radio’s Loose
Cannons program, with Steve Hartman
and Vic “The Brick.” The show, previously known at Hartman & Friends, airs
weekdays from 12 to 4pm and features
the latest news, information, analysis
and interviews from the world of sports
and entertainment.
Speaking of KRKO, the FBI still has
no leads in the vandalism of the new
KRKO towers a year ago. Last month it
replaced two of the four towers needed
to broadcast its nighttime signal. The
349- and 199-foot-tall towers were destroyed by vandals and antenna testing
on the new towers begins in October.
Investigators now say that the towers
could have been destroyed by an upset
neighbor, rather than as an act of ecoterrorism. A $25,000 reward still stands
for those responsible.
Seattle native Mark Christopher,
former Oldies 97.3 KBSG daytime
host—when he’s not hosting Pledge
Nights on KCTS—is putting his communications skills and knowledge of
Northwest history and trivia to good use
a Ride-The-Ducks driver (aka “Capt.
Broadcast W rld
Noah Lott”). This required that Mark
obtain a Coast Guard Captain’s license
with a Masters endorsement, since Lake
Union, where the Duck “swims,” is an
international waterway.
And watch for Mark’s nationwide
Pledge Night for PBS on KCTS this
month entitled Echoes of Creation, by
local director and producer Jan Nickman. It’s like Over Washington but
shows the great wonders of the West
Coast, Mark explained.
Hot AC KPLZ-FM 101.5 continues
in first place in the July 2010 Arbitron
PPM for Seattle-Tacoma with a 5.3
share. CHR KBKS-FM 106.1 jumped
into second with a 5.2 and soft AC
KRWM-FM 106.9 was third with 4.9.
Fisher Communications reports
that second-quarter 2010 revenue from
its 20 TV stations is up a remarkable
37%, compared with the same quarter
in 2009. Fisher president/CEO Colleen
Brown said, “The increase was due primarily to higher advertising revenues
and income from fees paid by cable and
satellite companies for rights to retransmit Fisher television content,” adding
that “Fisher also benefitted from... the
sustained recovery in local advertising
and our ability to capture a larger share
of the markets we serve...”
Seattle music director/musician
George Shangrow, 59, was killed last
month in a head-on
car crash on Highway 20, east of Winthrop. He was on his
way to lecture at the
annual Methow Valley Chamber Music
Festival when an oncoming car crossed
the center line. He died at the scene.
Shangrow previously hosted Live,
By George on KING-FM 98.1 for
16 years. The broadcast featured live
classical performances by local musicians.
Former KVI-AM 570 Seattle
morning host Kirby Wilbur has returned to local airwaves Mondays on
KTTH-AM 770 for a segment entitled
Four O’Clock Freedom Shot, which
airs during the David Boze show. Wilbur was released from KVI last November.
s
You can reach
Linda McCune at
linda@donmccune
library.com or 425483-3759.
An Insider’s View Of Fisher History
By Phelps K. Fisher
The company we now know as Fisher
Communications Inc. was founded by
the Fisher family, including my grandfather, Will. All shared the drive to succeed, to manage business soundly, to be
productive and to serve their communities. These traits carried over to future
generations and permeated throughout
the company, laying the foundation for
it to become what it is today, a leader in
local media innovation.
The company began as Fisher Flouring Mills, incorporating on April 4,
l910 and beginning milling operations
in 1911 with the largest flour mill in the
western United States. For 90 years,
Fisher Flouring Mills manufactured
quality products that were sold to consumers and bakers in the western U.S.
and shipped to customers in more than
60 countries worldwide.
I grew up thinking I would work in
the milling operation and began my career with Fisher as a mill messenger at
age 12, working every Summer in various capacities through my junior year
at the University of Washington, when
hours of sweeping floors and packing
flour on the swing and graveyard shifts
resulted in an allergy to flour dust, end-
Retired Fisher Board Chairman Phelps
Fisher, center, with Secretary of State
Sam Reed and Fisher CEO Colleen Brown
at Fisher’s Centennial Celebration May1
at the Museumof History and Industry.
ing my milling aspirations.
Broadcasting was a new venture for
the company when it bought the license
for a radio station that first went on the
air as KOMO on Dec. 31, 1926. My father, Ken, then a UW student, was very
proud to have been an announcer on
KOMO on its first day of operation.
Innovative marketing was a hallmark
of the company, as indicated by the fact
that my great uncle, O.D. Fisher, formed a
group of local business leaders known as
“Totem Broadcasters.” They subscribed
to 100% of the advertising available on
KOMO in its first year of operation.
KOMO radio’s first offices were located in Seattle’s Cobb Building and the
station used the most up-to-date equipment available to assure listeners the
best in live radio entertainment. In 1948,
KOMO moved into the finest regional
broadcasting facility in the country at
4th & Denny, which was built to be the
home of KOMO radio and the future
home of KOMO-TV.
Fisher’s long-awaited license to begin television operations in Seattle was
granted by the FCC in 1953 and KOMO
-TV signed on the air on Dec. 10 as an
NBC affiliate. In June of 1955, I had
the good fortune to make the transition
from milling to broadcasting when I was
hired as a floor director at KOMO-TV.
It was exciting to be part of the crew
when KOMO-TV presented the first live
color TV to the Northwest during the locally produced Deadline News, featuring Herb Robinson and Keith Jackson.
Chief news cameraman Merle Severen
had revolutionized the broadcast news
business by discovering a way to process color film in 90 minutes, thus permitting same-day use.
In 1958, KOMO radio and TV entered
into an agreement to become ABC affiliates, and, in 1959, after much fanfare,
the switch for both was completed with
great success, and KOMO-TV finished
#1 in the prime-time ratings, in competition with KING-TV, KOMO-TV and
KTNT in Tacoma.
Over the years, Fisher’s broadcast
operations have grown, beginning with
the addition of KATU-TV in Portland
in 1962, the purchase of Gene Autry’s
KPLZ-FM and KVI-AM in 1994 and
the acquisition of the Walter Disney
family’s Retlaw (Walter spelled backwards) Broadcasting 11 television stations in June of 2000. In 2006-2007,
Fisher entered the Spanish-language TV
field with the purchase of KUNS Seattle,
KUNP Portland and KUNW+ Yakima/
Tri-Cities, all affiliated with Univision,
and most recently acquired the CBS and
FOX affiliated stations in Bakersfield,
CA (KBAK and KBFX).
Today, Fisher owns 20 television stations, reaching an estimated 4.5 million
viewers weekly, and eight radio stations
in Washington, Oregon, California,
Idaho and Montana. Fisher TV station
affiliations include ABC, CBS, FOX,
Univision, The CW, THIS TV, RTV and
MyNetworkTV.
The stations are continually acknowledged for their excellence, having
earned national and regional awards,
from the coveted Edward R. Murrow
&ISHER s -!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Centennial Celebration
Show
HL2+
Events
“We’re terribly disappointed and very sorry for those who put in their entries and did
all that work,” Wendy said. “It’s our plan, as
the economy picks up, to reinstate the Show,
once we believe there would be enough entries to make it financially viable.”
However, Show tri-founder Larry Asher
raises some serious questions about the viability of the Show in its present form in his
article on Page 5.
Another founder, Tracy Wong, called
the show “more or less an economic indicator... agencies need to cut costs because
clients from dozens of different industries
have cut costs... the math is simple”
And the third founder, Fred Hammerquist, said he plans to meet with Larry and
Tracy in the next few weeks “to discuss a
potential framework for next steps. The
current board is 100% committed to finding a new direction for making the Seattle
Show a relevant showcase.... It’s time to
reinvent.”
For the record, entry fees have remained
in the $65-$75 range for each of the nine
entry calls since the first Show in 1998.
Glenn Blue of Olympus Press, presenting sponsor of the Show the past seven
years, said, “We’re disappointed at the
cancellation of this year’s show...[but]
through creative efforts in marketing we
can all be part of the economic recovery. I
look forward to the party that will follow!”
another 100 in its other offices in Atlanta,
Los Angeles, Portland, Spokane and London. Ascentium’s blue-ribbon client list includes Microsoft, Cisco, T-Mobile, Precor,
Brooks Sports and WorldVision.
A spokesperson pointed out that after divesting its CRM unit in April and with the
HL2 additions, the agency is down slightly
in numbers compared with three years ago,
adding that “we’ve streamlined and are
more focused than ever on our mission of
delivering on exceptional experiences.”
A source close to the story said three
HL2 principals—Matt Rammerman, Greg
Hunter Tom Horton—were among those
joining Ascentium. Only Don Low did not.
Meanwhile, the TM Advertising story
caught most everyone—including us—by
surprise! One agency principal called the
TMA demise “old news” but a half-dozen
others said it was the first they’d heard of it.
Here’s what we could piece together from
what has to qualify as the best-kept agencyshutdown secret in recent memory...
You’ll recall that the old McCann Erickson morphed into Sedgwick Rd. several years ago, under the leadership of Jim
Walker. A couple years ago, Sedgwick affiliated with IPG-owned TM Advertising
in Dallas and took the TM name. Walker
then commuted between the two cities as a
lead creative exec.
(, s president/CEO Michael Makin, the
top two execs from the Printing Industries of America, will be on hand as
well as Friday night keynote speaker
Jeffery Hayzlett. Hayzlett, the former
chief marketing officer of Eastman
Kodak is now a best-selling author of
The Mirror Test, copies of which will
be given to all attendees.
The PrintROCKs! awards party on
Saturday night will be accompanied
by well-known local print exec Pat
Detmer, who will deliver a comedy
routine titled Not Fit for Print—37
Years & Counting. Go to ppiregional
conference.org for details and registration information.
And CraftNet president Dan Lane is
encouraging everyone to sign up for
the return of the Gallery awards to the
popular Space Needle venue. Dan said
a cut in the Gallery member-entry fee from
$85 to $75 and the non-member fee from
$100 to $85 is a reflection of “these tough
economic times.” He also said the organization is, in effect, subsidizing banquet
attendance, which costs “an absurdly low
$60 if you pay by Oct. 22 for an event that
actually costs us nearly $100 per person.”
Sign up at craftnet-seattle.org or 253854-8227.
Also, call Dan if you’d like to judge
Gallery entries on Sept. 18.
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE #ONTINUED FROM 0AGE #ONTINUED FROM 0AGE #ONTINUED FROM 0AGE Gibson
Detmer
Print
#ONTINUED FROM 0AGE Allegra president Patrick Finney.
In addition to marketing consultation, copywriting and graphic design
services, Allegra offers full-color
printing, digital-color signs, posters
and banners, finishing, mailing and
promotional products. The shop is located at 8300 Greenwood Ave. N. in
Seattle. Visit allegra seattle.com.
Pollard Group in Tacoma has
called it quits after 79 years in business. Principal Rob Pollard has been
hired by Consolidated Press but there
was no information available about the
future of the remaining 26 employees.
And this late flash—West Coast
Paper Co. has changed its name to
WCP Solutions, with the new tagline,
“Paper, Packaging, Jansan (a reference to its janitorial supplies), Equipment.” The company will celebrate
its 80 years in business with an event
on Sept. 24 at its Kent facility.
Leonhardt
Continued from Page 7
"ULLSEYE 0ROJECT
Bullseye Creative branded, designed
and developed “e-Park,” that new realtime electronic parking-guidance system
for the City of Seattle Department of
Transportation.
The system is intended to make it easier
to find available parking in the downtown
area, with electronic signs that guide drivers from arterial exits to garages with
short-term parking spaces.
Six private garages are participating in
the pilot program, with plans to expand
that number. The system is part of the
City‘s initiative to address parking needs
related to the Seawall and Alaskan Way
Viaduct construction projects.
Working with Team Soapbox, Bullseye
also is introducing the Everything Easier
Downtown advertising campaign to promote
the launch of the system, which eventually
will include Web and mobile applications.
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE they do with the staff is project focused.
As a result, the firm never grows beyond
a project team. What to do?
Learn to lead. Leaders set goals for
the firm and help the staffers understand
how they can succeed while helping the
firm grow. Leaders work on the business,
as well as in the business. At least once a
week, ask yourself these questions:
s )S OUR DIRECTION SUSTAINABLE
s 7HERE ARE THE NEXT THREE JOBS COMing from?
s (OW CAN ) DELEGATE MORE RESPONSIbility?
s!RE THERE PROBLEMS THAT )M IGNORING
Small can be beautiful, sustainable
and satisfying. If remaining small is
your choice, it’s important to understand
the limitations of a firm that revolves
around the founder. Take the time to step
back from the daily demands to spend
time on your most important project—
your own company.
s
Ted Leonhardt founded The Leonhardt
Group in 1985 and sold it in 1999. In
2001 he moved to London as chief creative officer of Fitch Worldwide. In 2003
he began his own management consultancy to help creative service businesses
grow and prosper. Contact him at ted@
tedleonhardt.com.
MORE NEWSMAKERS
Reed ‘Arrives’: Songbird Francine Reed was excited to see her picture in the Metro
Transit ad promoting Teatro ZinAanni’s Maestro’s Menagerie show, which ran through
Aug. 29 in Seattle. “That’s me,” Reed exclaimed repeatedly when she spotted the sign
during her off hours, “I have arrived!” She is best known for her back-up vocal support
of Lyle Lovett as a member of his Large Band. The transit ad was placed through Titan
Outdoor, which handles all of Metro’s on-transit-vehicle advertising.
Continued from Page 4
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE advanced care close to home to help
patients get back to living the lives
they love”... Molly Murrah, a Kirkland freelance designer, has been
giving an online watercolor webinar
for beginning artists, presented by
creativeLIVE.com, an online training
company based in Seattle. The class
originally was broadcast in February,
and after a successful first run, was
presented again live, beginning July
30. The course, titled Watercolor 101,
saw more than 2,300 people from all
over the world register to watch the
live feed. For those who missed it, the
course can be purchased for download at http://creativelive.com/courses/
water color101/. The last class in the
series was Sept. 3. With enough online participation, more artists will be
brought in by creativeLIVE to present
classes in other mediums. “The series
was for anyone who loves art and has
MORE NEWSMAKERS
0LAUDITS
PhotoMedia magazine won yet another Maggie Award as the Best SemiAnnual or 3x Per Year Trade Publication
for its Summer 2009 issue on nature
and wildlife photography. This was the
sixth prestigious Maggie for PhotoMedia
from 23 nominations over the last 11
years. The magazine, published by Gary
Halpern, also was nominated for Best
Interview or Profile/Trade for the Mark
Moffet profile story, The Adventures of
Doctor Bugs, in the same issue. Only 77
Maggies were awarded from more than
1,300 entries in this competition honoring excellence in publications operating
west of the Mississippi River... Hodgson/
Meyers won two Gold Communicator
Awards for a WatchGuard Technologies
advertising campaign and the Churn
direct marketing campaign for Denverbased CGS Systems described on Page
4. The Communicator Awards competition draws 9,000 entries from companies
of all sizes, making it one of the largest
competitions of its kind in the world.
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE BIGink was chosen
by the DirtFish Rally
School to wrap its training vehicles. Graphics
were printed, laminated
and applied at BIGink’s install bay near
Safeco Field. DirtFish
offers rally-car training, hands-on experience and group activities at its “playground”
in Snoqualmie, near the
Mt. Si. Golf Course.
ever thought of trying to paint in watercolors or any other medium,” Murrah said. ... Kathy Pine of WorldWise
Jewelry on Vashon Island has created
jewelry for more than 15 years, using
envionmentally responsible practices
and following fair trade principles.
She recently launched a distinctive
line of elegant handmade pieces that
are available online at worldwise
jewelry.com...
Lawson
Fisher: Spanning 63 Years...
#ONTINUED FROM 0AGE of the book Focus, The Future of Your
Company Depends On It, by Al Ries,
it finally dawned on me that my lack
of focus was my biggest asset!
Curious by nature, I’ve continued to
learn new skills that complement my
existing skills. So, while some may
have me pigeon-holed as a recording
engineer or voice talent, or a business
owner, or a “music guy,” in reality,
I’ve been and continue to be all of the
above.
I’m also a writer, blogger, art director, producer, video editor, executive
producer, Web designer, husband, father and grandfather. I’m proficient
with numerous software products,
have a strong background in accounting and finance and get along quite
well in meetings with real live people
of all types.
For me, being a consolidated entre-
#ONTINUED FROM 0AGE Best Newscast in America (KOMO 4
News) to countless Emmys. Fisher stations are woven into the fabric of the
communities they serve, and not only
are they considered the ”first responders” when big news stories occur, they
Consummate
consolidated entrepreneur Steve
Lawson, clockwise from top, as
audio guru, public speaker and
grandfather.
preneur means using all of my skills
to benefit my clients. As a Social Media consultant, I wear many hats, and
wearing those many hats well is what
makes my services remarkable to clients and their bottom lines.
Long gone are those wonderful days
celebrated by the TV show Mad Men.
As Godin writes, “Small is the new
big because big has gone from being
a huge advantage to a liability.”
As budgets are being slashed and clients are demanding more for less, no
one is better suited to serve those needs
than the consolidated entrepreneur.
s
Steve Lawson is a consummate consolidated entrepreneur (see examples
above left), providing all facets of
Social Media design and implementation. You can contact him at www.
friendlyvoice.com or 425-649-9114.
does
What it
to
take
make
a
mark?
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Fearless thinking.
The kind that gets people talking, tweeting, taking
action. From multi-city media tours to local stakeholder
outreach – we have the experience and know-how
to develop tailored programs that make an impact.
And get results.
L^Zmme^lE^Z]bg`Bg]^i^g]^gmIn[eb\K^eZmbhgl
Zg]In[eb\:__Zbkl?bkf
WWW.FEAREYGROUP.COM
also follow-up by helping meet community needs.
Fisher, which is traded on NASDAQ
as NASDAQ: FSCI, has had a long
history of innovation, which continues
today. In 2006, the company created
Fisher Interactive Network, bringing
all of its online assets together as an
integrated platform. Last year, Fisher
stations completed the FCC-mandated
transition from analog to digital and
took advantage of the digital transition
by launching multicast stations in most
of its markets.
Also in 2009, it became one of the
first companies in the country to broadcast ATSC Mobile TV, adding another
distribution platform (TV/radio/Web/
mobile) for the KOMO News brand to
connect with viewers and listeners.
This year, Fisher carried out its
“broadcast-to-broadband” strategy by
launching more than 120 community
Websites with more than 1,600 local advertisers, bringing solutions to
advertisers in its television markets.
Fisher won the Innovator of the Year
award for this service at the Borrell
Local Online Advertising Conference.
Whether it’s radio, television or
community sites, the marketing principles at Fisher are the same as those I’ve
always practiced and still believe in.
Every branch of Fisher, from the earliest days, focused on a quality product, customer service, the importance
of “doing the right thing” and focusing
on client results.
In my 63 years of working at Fisher,
from mill messenger to chairman of
the board, I learned that, while many
things change, key marketing principles remain the same: understanding
the needs of our customers and focusing on their success.
Over the year, the most fun I had
was the personal involvement with
clients, learning about their businesses
and collaborating in their success. Today, Fisher continues to create opportunities to improve clients’ business
and assist them in moving goods and
services. I’m thrilled to see the Fisher
sales team continue the legacy by providing creative marketing solutions to
their clients.
s
An extensive exhibit of the Fisher
centennial story is on display through
Sept. 6 at the Museum of History and
Industry and a portion of the exhibit
will be on display in the Fisher Plaza
lobby, beginning in October.
Watch for the
MARKETINGNW.com
3UPER 3ITE IN Calendar
Sept. 15—American Marketing Association, Jerry Hayek of Microsoft and Brian
Donaldson of Wunderman on Launch of
Microsoft Office 2010: Lessons in Integrated Marketing Strategies, 11:30am,
WAC, psama.org or 206-623-8632.
Sept. 16—AdClub Seattle, ArtBash—
When Art and Advertising Collide, 6pm,
The Baltic Room, 1207 Pine St., Seattle,
The first 100 people to purchase tickets
online (adclubseattle.com) will receive a
free drink ticket.
s 0UBLIC 2ELATIONS 3OCIETY OF !MERICA
Bob Frause on Ethics Program, 11:30am,
Frause, 1411 4th Ave., Suite 1210, Seattle, prsapugetsound.org or 206-623-8632.
HL2+
#ONTINUED FROM 0AGE Near the end of last year, TM Seattle
went back to McCann, Walker departed
and McCann decided to shut the office in
May following the failure of its key
account, Washington Mutual.
It was at that point that two creative guys,
Zach Hitner and Forrest Healy, brought
several of the former McCann folks and
the Group Health, Red Hook and Seattle
Cancer Care Alliance accounts with them,
to form Frank Unlimited. The good news is
that a new shop arose from the TMA ashes.
Strangest of all, the old TMA offices at
1741 1st Ave. S. are long vacant but the phone
Oct. 6—American Marketing Association,
Joel Book of ExactTarget on the Next
Generation E-mail Marketing: How
Smart Marketers Integrate E-Mail with
Social and Mobile Media, 11:30am,
WAC, psama.org or 206-623-8632.
Oct. 20, Public Relations Society of
America, Annual Chapter Meeting, Dave
Marriott of Gogerty Marriott on Amanda
Knox, Airline Crashes and More, 7:30-9am,
Harborside Restaurant, 1200 Westlake Ave.
N., prsapugetsound.org or 206-623-8632.
Nov. 10—Public Relations Society of
America, Annual Seminar for Non-Profits,
8am-3:30pm, Seattle Center, Northwest
Rooms, prsapugetsound.org. or 206-623-8632.
voice mail (206-971-4200) still answered as
we went to press, as if it was business as usual!
Blend is the new name for the former
Image Ink, founded by Blake Barfuss and
Dennis Richter in 1977. Current principal
Chris McInerney explained that, “The old
name said it all—they were designers for print,
the primary medium at the time... Blend
came about because we wanted something short, easy to say and that spoke to
our capabilities today in creating integrated
brands across multiple channels, including
collateral, event
graphics, packaging and Web and
interactive design.
—LC
C e le b rate Yo u r Cr a f t
‡
Make sure your product
gets noticed by using
our top quality printing
services!
Q State-Of-The-Art
Equipment
Q Professional Customer
Service
Q Prepress Technical
Support
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COMMERCIAL PRINTING DIVISION
Sh o w c a se Yo u r A r t
‡
425.339.3050
vanwyk@heraldnet.com
A ppl a u d You r S cien ce
*LSLIYH[L.YHWOPJ(Y[Z,_JLSSLUJL
:H[\YKH`5V]LTILY[O)L;OLYL
ticket includes observation deck access
before, during & after dinner.
mix-n-mingle & peoples Choice @ 5:00pm
Dinner @ 6:30 PROGRAM @ 7:30-ish
RSVP by October 22nd or SOONER!
phone 253.854.8227
email events@craftnet-seattle.org
web www.craftnet-seattle.org
Magical ‡ Ingenious ‡ Mysterious ‡ Technical ‡ Yo u
Ca l l it Pr in t in g ‡ Highly-Skill ed
‡ In telligen t ‡ Beautiful ‡ Precise
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE Presenting awards for both the
local & International contests!
at the freaking SPACE NEEDLE!
R E S U L T S
-!2+%4).' s 3EPTEMBER/CTOBER s 0AGE The kind that make you want to hug the pressman.
A Cenveo Company