In a tribue to the outgoing Chief Googler, here’s a highlight reel of favotire Bushisms:
“Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?”
“They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the commander in chief, too.”
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
“I want to thank the dozens of welfare-to-work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves.”
“Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech.”
“This thaw — took a while to thaw, it’s going to take a while to unthaw.”

And of course, the all-time winner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MunMCO3uNd

Napa, CA (December 15, 2008)—The Morgan Stanley/Spine Cycling Team’s Bikes for Tots program is preparing to deliver two-wheel holiday cheer next week when more than a hundred underserved Bay Area children will receive new bikes. Kids in San Francisco, Oakland and Napa will be picking up their new rides at select Bay Area Morgan Stanley offices on December 17 and 18.

The team’s holiday workshops, courtesy of Napa River Velo and Livermore Cyclery, have been bustling with activity as 140 bikes are readied for delivery. Team members and volunteers have been assembling Specialized Hot Rocks bikes and putting a shine on brand new helmets in anticipation of next week’s festivities. Morgan Stanley/Spine will also be making a grant to Trips for Kids to support cycling growth.

“Bikes for Tots is a great opportunity for us to leverage our cycling connections and provide some holiday cheer to deserving Bay Area children,” said Shawn Oliver, vice president of Morgan Stanley, Napa, and cycling team director. “I hope that someday we’ll be cheering one of these kids when they line up for the Tour de France.”

2008 marks Bikes for Tot’s forth year, and all totaled, nearly 1,000 bikes will have been disbursed. Funds for the program are generated by the elite team’s annual fundraiser ride, donated race winnings by team members, individual financial contributions, and additional corporate support. Bikes were provided to the program at a discount by Specialized.  The team works closely with Bay Area community organizations including Napa’s CASA, Glide Memorial Church, the Seneca Group and various underserved schools to identify recipients.

For more information, donations or to recommend a child for Bikes for Tots, please contact Morgan Stanley/Spine Team Director Shawn Oliver at (707) 254-4434 or shawn.oliver@morganstanley.com. Visit the team’s website at www.morgan24cycling.com.

In Time for Holiday Giving, Any Soldier® Announces Ten Most Requested Items from Service Men and Women in Iraq and Afghanistan

Organization also Seeks to Remind Donors that Troops Need Support Year-Round

Hoagland, IN (November 5, 2008) In time for holiday giving,  Any Soldier®, a non-profit organization devoted to matching individual needs with individual Military Members, has announced the ten most requested items by Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Via its website, the organization matches requests received on its website directly from Soldiers deployed to battle zones with donations and support.

The top ten items most requested by Troops on the www.AnySoldier.com website are:
1.    Prayers, letters and cards
2.    Non-perishable items such as tuna pouches, protein bars, granola bars, beef jerky, peanuts, slim jims, hard candy/gum, hot cereals
3.    Unscented Baby-Wipes
4.    Toiletries for men and women — razor blades, shave gels, shower gels, lotions, etc.
5.    Powdered drink mixes for either hot or cold weather such as Gatorade, hot chocolate, coffee and apple cider mix
6.    Games to help pass the downtime
7.    DVDs, preferably new to keep up with what is going on back home
8.    Socks and Uniform t-shirts
9.    Toys and school supplies for kids
10.    Magazines and newspapers

Because needs are diverse based on where Troops are deployed, Any Soldier® is the only organization in the world that can match the specific needs of particular units, for Troops in all branches of the military.

To donate, individuals visit www.AnySoldier.com, where they find messages from deployed Troops who specify the needs of their units. Anyone who wants to donate the requested items can obtain the address through the website and send the package directly to their chosen Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine. When the package arrives at the base with the “Attn: Any Soldier®” line in his or her address, the packages and letters are delivered into the hands of Soldiers who often don’t receive much or any mail and might otherwise remain out of touch with those back home.

In order to avoid the holiday rush, the best time to ship packages to Troops is either before or after December. Because people are generally in the giving spirit during the holidays, Military members receive more donations at this time of year. However, when the holidays are finished Soldiers are still in need of the items mentioned above.

Any Soldier® is a donation-based company.  Financial donations to Any Soldier® serve to fund their operations and help with the many programs to provide direct support to our troops. For more information visit www.anysoldier.com.

Media Contact:  Abbi Whitaker, 775-851-7492 or abbi@lymanpr.com

 
According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 report, the majority of bloggers surveyed currently have advertising on their blogs. Among those with advertising, the mean annual investment in their blog is $1,800. The mean annual revenue is $6,000 with $75K+ in revenue for those with 100,000 or more unique visitors per month.

There have been a number of studies aimed at understanding the size of the Blogosphere, says the report, yielding disparate estimates, but all studies agree that blogs are a global phenomenon that has hit the mainstream.

Reports in 2008 include these estimates:
comScore MediaMetrix reports: (August 2008)
• Blogs… 77.7 million unique visitors in the US
• Facebook… 41.0 million
• MySpace… 75.1 million
• Total internet audience… 188.9 million

eMarketer says: (May 2008)
• 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users)
• 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 (12% of Internet users)

Universal McCann finds: (March 2008)
• 184 million world wide have started a blog
• 346 million world wide read blogs
• 77% of active Internet users read blogs

Wikipedia defines the Blogosphere as the collective community of all blogs. interconnected and socially networked. While discussions in the Blogosphere have been used by the media as a gauge of public opinion, Technorati isolates the Active Blogosphere as the ecosystem of interconnected communities of bloggers and readers at the convergence of journalism and conversation.

But, says the study, as the Blogosphere grows in size and influence, the lines between what is a blog and what is a mainstream media site become less clear. Larger blogs are taking on more characteristics of mainstream sites and mainstream sites are incorporating styles and formats from the Blogosphere. In fact, 95% of the top 100 US newspapers have reporter blogs.

Technorati tracked blogs in 81 languages in June 2008, and bloggers from 66 countries across six continents, finding that Bloggers have been at it an average of three years and are collectively creating close to one million posts every day. Blogs have representation in top-10 web site lists across all key categories, and have become integral to the media ecosystem.

The key findings included such things as:
• Personal, professional, and corporate bloggers all have differing goals and cover an average of five topics within each blog
• They use five different techniques to drive traffic to their blog.
• They’re using an average of seven publishing tools on their blog and four distinct metrics for measuring success
• Bloggers ae receiving speaking or publishing opportunities, career advancement, and personal satisfaction
• Bloggers are using self serve tools for search, display, and affiliate advertising, and are increasingly turning to ad and blog networks.
• Four in five bloggers post brand or product reviews, with 37% posting them frequently
• 90% of bloggers say they post about the brands, music, movies and books that they love (or hate)
• Company information or gossip and everyday retail experiences are fodder for the majority of bloggers
• One-third of bloggers have been approached to be brand advocates

This time of year often triggers my Seasonal Confusion Disorder, which is currently collecting overtime While I love warm weather and the California sun, it’s hard to not get excited about everything going on this season: air service at Mammoth, the World Freeride Tour at Squaw Valley USA, and our friends at Moody’s opening their second restaurant, Baxter’s, which will be located in the Village at Northstar.

So Mother Nature, here’s a toast to you and good acquaintances the Snow Gods. We hope you’ll look kindly on all the ski resorts this season.

While I’ve always loved the drive to Mammoth (which I do often from Napa) for its scenery and serenity, I have to admit the view of the Eastern Sierra range from above is even more dramatic.  Of course, the major change air access will impart on the resort & destination goes without saying.

Horizon touches down for first time in Mammoth

The hour and five minute flight literally flew by aboard the 76-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft (pictured above landing in Mammoth yesterday). Upon landing we headed up to Mountain Side Grille and dined on some of Patina Group’s new culinary offerings before heading back to LAX.

Flights will start from $79 each way and can now be reserved here: www.mammothmountain.com/plan/getting_here/air/index.cfm

However, as a voter, watching McCain-Obama II was at times about as exciting as, uh, listening to politicians stump. In their dogged determination to drive home a policy position or debunk the other candidate, there was a fundamental failure to present solutions for what ails Everyday Americans - especially when these everyday folks were standing in front of them and asking the questions. The candidates stayed on message but failed to make their point clear.

The takeaway for PR professionals is apparent: spokespeople have to deliver key messages but in an engaging manner that also addresses specific lines of inquiry.  It’s not good enough to simply regurgitate a presentation finely tuned within the corporate office confines. Rather, spokespeople have to think on their feet, engage with (as opposed to lecture) media, and convey messages that build to a relevant, understandable story.  Most importantly, spokespeople have to answer questions posed by the media, and convey how/why their widget is a game changer.

There’s not need to travel to the four corners of the earth or figure out if your insurance policy covers hair transplants.  Just answer the question.

Bringing a level of swank to Napa that’s uncommon in this Wine Country town, Ken Frank’s La Toque restaurant opened Thursday in the new Westin Verasa, a luxury condo-hotel on the Napa River.  Full story here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/24/FDI3132L0O.DTL

Wine country travelers can savor the resort’s convenient location within walking distance of Downtown Napa’s most popular attractions as well as Chef Ken Frank’s renowned La Toque restaurant, which relocated to The Westin from Rutherford.

“The opening of The Westin Verasa, Napa is the culmination of years of planning, design and effort to create a resort that’s unprecedented in the region,” said Brian Collins, President, Intrawest. “It represents a marriage between the high level of quality for which Intrawest has become known and Westin’s outstanding reputation.”

The 180-room hotel, the first full-service, upper upscale property to be built in Napa in nearly five years is located blocks away from COPIA, The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, and the new Oxbow Public Market.

For more information visit www.westin.com/verasanapa.