Local Government

Spartanburg County to spend more than $80,000 for tourism consultants

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20091123/ARTICLES/911231007/1083/ARTICLES?Title=Spartanburg-County-looks-at-tourism-action-plan

Newspaper demands more fiscal accountability in Oconee County

http://www.upstatetoday.com/news/2009/nov/21/more-fiscal-accountability-needed/?opinion

Many Charleston County students are far behind in reading when they enter high school

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/nov/22/some-likely-graduates-lack-reading-skills/

Federal Stimulus Watch

Stimulus funds used to hire reading specialists in Charleston schools

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/nov/23/specialists-work-to-raise-reading-skills/

Simpsonville builds new walkway on Main Street with stimulus funds

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20091123/NEWS/911230311/1004/NEWS01/State-expands-Simpsonville-sidewalk-project

Fountain Inn receives $21,000 in stimulus funds to hire traffic officer

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20091123/NEWS/911230312/1004/NEWS01/Grants-promote-traffic-safety-in-Fountain-Inn

Family Health Centers Inc. in Orangeburg will fund new building and equipment with $1.18 million in stimulus funds

http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2009/11/23/news/doc4b073e745fca8388876272.txt

Stimulus money provides key funding for Sandy Island ferry project

http://www.gtowntimes.com/local/Key-funding-approved-for-Sandy-Island-ferry-service

Corruption has been an integral part of human nature. And the slightest opportunity to make a few quick bucks or extract a benefit or two by being ‘slightly corrupt’ is too tempting to be let gone away. In view of strict checks and balances including the accountability practices in the private sector and the strict stand against malpractices have kept corruption at a low in the private sector. However, absence of the above factors in the public sector has led to rampant corruption in the public sector to the brink that now Govt. officials simply do not bother about the consequences of their corruption.

And in order to put a check on that the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI) was introduced which enabled the citizens to question the Government officials, especially the Bureaucrats in order to ensure transparency and put a check on corruption. As it directly challenged the modus operandi of the corrupt bureaucrats and their easy money-making processes, there was a lot of opposition to the Act being passed and even after that, the bureaucrats kept shouting, “People are misusing RTI Act,” and stuff.

However, I wondered, RTI Act only enables truth to come out and how can someone misuse truth? But when I saw this news, my query was answered. In a nutshell the news is about how Municipal officers of Bangalore are threatening hotel owners that if they don’t pay up money than, they will answer to the RTI Application filed against their hotel license. And if they pay up money, they would give some nonsensical answer to the RTI Application.

Hats off to the bureaucrats – A tool designed to check corruption has been successfully converted into a legal tool of extortion by the corrupt Govt. officials. This is actually misuse of RTI Act and none other than by the bureaucrats.

Given the myriad benefits of capitalism – modern medicine, the automobile and personal computers to name just three – one wonders why representatives of big business continually downplay its significance.

This is particularly evident when one watches Corporate America swoon over the “green movement.”

Around the world, major corporations, particularly those in so-called dirty industries such as oil exploration and power production, are practically falling all over one another in an effort to tout their environmentally friendly activities.

Unfortunately, though, instead of being honest and admitting that profit played a role in their decision – whether through improving their bottom line or their public perception – they choose to cloak themselves in the amorphous aura of social consciousness.

Take Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility that is offering a program that allows customers to pay a small surcharge to boost renewable energy production.

According to the utility’s Web site, Santee Cooper offers “green power” to residential customers in 100 kilowatt-hour blocks, with each block costing customers an extra $3 a month.

“We do it because it’s the right thing for the environment,” Santee Cooper spokeswoman Laura Varn told The State newspaper. “The more we can use our natural resources the better for the state and the environment.”

Of course, this is the same company that spent $242 million in recent years on a proposed coal-fired plant in the Pee Dee before pulling the plug on the project in August.

One could argue that if Santee Cooper really wanted to do “the right thing for the environment” it would shut down all its coal-fired plants and rely exclusively on renewable energy. That’s not economically feasible, of course, but neither is the premise that any corporation’s actions are motivated solely by the idea that “it’s the right thing for the environment.”

If Santee Cooper is interested in benefitting Mother Nature perhaps it could offer its green power to customers at no extra cost. That’s not as fiscally impractical as shuttering coal plants, but the company has obviously decided that the surcharge is needed to remain financially healthy.

What the utility either can’t or won’t admit is that there’s nothing wrong with this strategy.

Making money by honest means isn’t a crime. Turning a profit is the reason companies such as Santee Cooper are able to employ many hundreds in high-paying jobs and provide power directly and indirectly to millions of South Carolinians. It’s also why the utility can offer renewable energy through green power programs.

Capitalism enables people to lead healthier, longer lives. It provides for increased family stability, safer neighborhoods and a better-educated populace, as the Policy Council pointed out in its recently released book Unleashing Capitalism.

The reality is bankrupt companies not only can’t offer lucrative jobs or needed services, they also can’t put forward innovative programs and technologies.

It’s just too bad so many businesses can’t own up to the fact that making money is good for all of society.

This should be required reading for every American, especially high school and college students.

Our national debt: How much would 12 trillion eggs weigh?.

its almost 1am and I think I’m just five hours away from succeeding at pulling my first all-nighter. Inspired by Iris McGuire of course, who successfully completed two last week.

I finished my paper on Maimonides at about 10:30pm and I know its not perfect, but I didn’t know going in to it that I was signing up to write a paper on a 600 page ancient Jewish philosophical labyrinth; if I had, I would have chosen something easy like, “Who were the Chaldeans?”

So now I’m studying Acts for Exam two which is tomorrow which brings me to the seed thought for this post: Barnabas. He is a favorite of mine in scripture because of his extraordinary loyalty and sense of friendship. How many friends do you have that are willing to strengthen you beyond what would be your capacity, raise you up to above their level, and encourage you all the way. “Here you go! I was the one who taught you and told you who you were. I was your teacher, but now I’ll take the back seat and support your dreams and visions..”

There is an old couplet that goes,
“It takes more grace than I can tell
to play the second fiddle well.”

That’s so true, and Barnabas had this greatness of soul that few others have. There is a theory that the reason why John Mark turned back and left Barnabas and Paul at Perga was because he resented the way which his cousin Barnabas was falling second place, after all, when the expedition set out from Syria the order was “Barnabas and Saul” and by the time they left for Cyprus it was simply “Paul and his company.”

Did you see the lowercase “c” on “company?”

I’m not the best at this, but I want to be more like Barnabas. I want to get to a point where I’m so good at encouraging and bringing out the gifts in people, that I’m no longer a name but a lowercase c in company. Ok.. I’m not staying up all night to blog am I? Back to the dusty library books..

The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 639

This Saturday, we reported: “According to a recent notification from the Council of Ministers, the Royal Government decided to suspend all promotions for government positions in 2010. If a promotion in any position is planned, it has to wait until 2011.” That was even more surprising than another report which the Mirror carried on 10.11.2009: “The Government Cuts Salaries of Advisers” – which, in a way, was only the correction of a violation of common sense (and economic justice): Why should only some public servants, employed full time, get a second salary for an additional function as adviser, a task to be adhered to during working hours which are already covered by another salary? But such double, or even multiple payments for some persons, seem to have gone on for years. In many other countries, the Auditor General – being an independent position without special loyalties – might have intervened many years ago.

When working to select and to present texts for the Mirror, related to some new millions of dollars “to help Cambodia,” it is surprising that quite often the text does not specify whether this refers to a credit to be paid back, or to a grant. Even some statements of preference, from where it is more agreeable to receive funds – whether there are conditions of transparency or of human rights adherence part of the agreement, or whether funds come without such expectations – do not distinguish between grants and loans. Though the latter have a minor condition: they have to be paid back.

The Mirror referred last month to the loans of about US$ 1 billion Cambodia had contracted with China in 2008 and 2009, continuing: “We are not aware that details about the timing and the terms of the re-payment obligations were published. Neither did we see any evaluation of the situation in terms of what is called a “sustainable external debt” – which is defined by some scholars of economics as “a situation where a country is expected to be able to meet its current and future debt obligations in full, without recourse to debt relief, rescheduling of debts, or the accumulation of arrears, and without unduly compromising growth.”

Some old debts did received special attention in recent reporting. On 11 November 2009, one paper had reported, supposedly based on information from high ranking Cambodian officials, that the Russian Government is considering to cancel the US$1.5 billion debt that Cambodia owes to Russia. But this had to be corrected on the basis what high ranking Russian officials said: when the president of the National Assembly and his delegation returned without success from Russia: “Russia Refuses to Cancel Debt” – it was clear that in spite of similar efforts in 2006 and 2008, the Russian government had not agreed to wipe out these old debts from the 1980ies. While we did not see details about the related negotiations, it is interesting to remember what had been reported formerly in 2007: that the Russian government is prepared to consider arrangements for the old debts under three conditions:

1. Russia asks for the resumption of Moscow-Phnom Penh flights, for the promotion partly of tourism, and partly of investment.
2. Russia asks Cambodia to strengthen military relations between the two countries by asking the ministries of defense of the two countries to have good relations again, because so many members of the Cambodian armed forces studied in Russia; therefore, the Cambodian Government should accept the request and organize those who studied military affairs in Russia again, and Russia, in turn, promises to accept Cambodian students to study in Russia.
3. Russia sees the possibility to exploit natural gas in Cambodia, and asks the Cambodian National Assembly to facilitate relations, so that Russia can come to invest in oil drilling, because Russia has long years of experience in [oil and] gas drilling and hopes that Cambodia will allow Russian investors to come to invest in natural gas exploitation in Cambodia.

We do not remember that these points – especially as they relate also to untapped oil resources – have ever been mentioned in the more recent reports about maritime oil resource negotiations with a number of other countries. It should therefore be no surprise that the latest delegation to Russia to discuss the old debts did not bring the expected solution: that Russia would simply write off US$1.5 billion.

Another old, much much smaller debt, also shows up from time to time. We quote old headlines as a reminder:

• 16.2.2008: US Demanded Debt [of approx. $154 million out of the debt of $339 million], Cambodia Said the Debt Was Owed by an Illegal Government [of the Khmer Republic]
• 18.2.2008: US Discusses Debt Owed by Lon Nol Era; General Opinion Says US Should Better Cancel the Debt
• 8.9.2009: America Hopes that an Agreement on the Cambodian Debt to the USA Will Be Achieved Soon to Cancel the Cambodian Debt
• 23.9.2009: The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mr. Hor Namhong Will Discuss Possible Solutions to the Debt from the Time of General Lon Nol’s Regime [the Khmer Republic] of More Than US$300 Million That Cambodia Owes America

To look forward to comprehensive information about all debt obligations, in light of what economic theories say about an appropriate “sustainable external debt” ratio is not unreasonable.

The recent dramatic decisions, to cut the salaries of the large number of advisers, and to freeze all promotions in the civilian and uniformed services, “aiming to save state resources in 2010,” is a signal of a new approach to handle public funds.

Please recommend us also to your colleagues and friends.

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Louisiana Democrat senator Mary Landrieu sold her vote to Harry Reid for $100M.  She is a whore and a theif.

Why Democratic senator Mary Landrieu is a whore
She voted in favor only after Democrat senator Harry Reid added into the bill a $100M provision that could be claimed only by Democrat senator Mary Landrieu state of Louisiana.  Landrieu, who had been public about her indecision on the bill promptly decided it was a good bill and voted yes.

Why Democratic senator Mary Landrieu is a thief
Democratic senator Mary Landrieu is taking money from the Federal government who in turn takes it from all Americans.  That means people who live in every other state in the nation are paying for Mary Landrieu’s constituents.  Americans had no voice in this decision and that should give everyone not residing in the state of LA cause to vote every Democrat senator out of office at the first available opportunity.  So every Democrat in the Senate effectively stole money from every American not in LA and gave it to the government of LA.  That makes them all thieves.  Since Mary Landrieu knew all of this and voted for it herself, she is complicit and conspired to steal $100M from most Americans and give it to the government of LA.

Should this bill pass, it is demanded that Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal reject the funding and himself demand that it be returned to the American taxpayer and only the American taxpayer.  That is to say, the money should not be redirected to any other socialist entitlement program, existing or proposed, and that Socialist Stimulus checks should not be mailed out.  The money should be returned only to those who pay taxes since it is from those Americans alone it was stolen.

Perhaps this is what Barack Obama and the Democrats meant when they promised transparency because corruption and criminal activity does not get any more transparent than that.

Long time readers will know that Speaker Bill Howell, who was recently re-elected to his position as Speaker of the House (or is at least the Republican pick, though the current majority more or less secures his choice by the Caucus), is not exactly one of my favorites. I’m not going to back away from my position on the smoking ban coming into effect at the beginning of next month, though I will admit that it didn’t really hurt the ticket’s pro-business platform (though McDonnell himself opposed it, and frankly I can’t think of a single race where this was a deal breaker).

However, I do give kudos where kudos is due. Howell played very smart politics over the last few years by keeping costs down in the House and by allowing recorded subcommittee votes. That particular plank managed to appease both the media and liberal types along with conservatives for whom transparency has become a hot new issue. Howell doubled down on this strategy today by not walking away from proportional representation. From the Washington Post VA Politics blog:

House Speaker Bill Howell plans to honor current rules of proportional representation as he reorganizes House committees in the wake of the Nov. 3 election results. That means Howell will add one Republican to each committee, in line with the GOP caucus’ growth from 55 to 61 members. He will not be adding two Republicans, as has been widely rumored, according to Howell chief of staff Paul Nardo

Kudos to the speaker. Frankly, not much was to be gained here. Barring a defection from the Democratic caucus to the McDonnell administration (and possibly two, if Republicans don’t hold the 37th Senate district seat vacated by AG-elect Ken Cuccinelli), we aren’t going to control the Senate any time soon. While tempting, adding two GOPers wouldn’t do much and only aid any narrative of Republican overreach. Governor-elect McDonnell is in a good position to get many of his iniatives through already. No reason to queer the deal by angering and giving the Democrats good reason to fight tooth and nail and to give the media the possibility of comparison’s to Obama’s overreach in his first year.

So kudos to Speaker Howell and the Republican Caucus. But remember: we’re still watching.

About a year ago, I first wrote for a magazine, African Communications, in the Highbury Safika stable.

The editor, James Retief, requested that I contact and interview particular people for my articles, which I initially took as being conventional editorial suggestions.

But when I saw the published articles, I realised that the people I had been asked to contact were advertisers.

Which meant, as far as I was concerned that, that I had been duped into writing advertorial. But only been paid editorial rates.

I was furious. I objected , and secured a higher word rate from Highbury, and an assurance that if I were to be published again under similar circumstances, that I could use a pseudonym, as I objected to having my name attached to advertorial.

Now I have been contacted again by James, and asked to write yet another article for African Communications. Which I agreed to do, at an editorial word rate of R2.50. The commission duly arrived – followed two days later by another request to include quotes from an African Communications advertiser.

In a state of startled deja vu, I wrote back to James, and asked for clarification on whether I was being asked to write editorial or advertorial.

The response: “I am asking you to include a sound bite – a sentence or two from Web Africa (an advertiser), in the article. If you cannot or won’t do this then please let me know and I will withdraw the commission.”

I may be reading too much into his message, but it would seem he is implying that my desire to be paid industry-appropriate rates for distinctly different types of content creation, and my wish to retain my credibility as an independent writer, are somehow unreasonable. Rather strange, given that a few months ago he acknowledged the justice of my complaint and, to his credit, offered redress.

But since he has apparently changed his mind about what is fair practice, I have advised him to find another writer. My reputation may be modest, but I think it worth preserving.

I suspect that this kind of thing is pretty widespread. While I very much doubt that astute readers are fooled by the kind of “editorial” Highbury is publishing, it seems to me a betrayal of normal standards of editorial independence.

Transparency about how the media works – or doesn’t work – is an important part of building public trust in the fourth estate. Most people are incredible cynical about journalists, and this kind of practice explains why. It’s a pity, and rather unnecessary, as I think advertisers do benefit when publications are trusted.

Just days after a national uproar regarding the apparent funneling of stimulus dollars to non-existent congressional districts – news the Policy Council broke in South Carolina – the U.S. government has revised its data related to Recovery Act spending.

However, the new information raises still more questions.

For example, in the category of Jobs Created/Saved by ZIP code, Recovery.gov lists 5,186.7 jobs having been created or saved in the 29201 ZIP code (Columbia). This is correlated with $399,700,409 in stimulus funding.

By comparison, in the 29211 ZIP code (also Columbia), $640,467,845 is listed under stimulus funding, but zero jobs have been created or saved in that area, according to Recovery.gov.

In fact, more than 90 South Carolina ZIP codes that have stimulus money associated with them but have no jobs created or saved listed, according to the government’s Web site.

Dozens more have had fewer than 10 jobs created or saved. Among those: ZIP code 29801 (Aiken) where $191,270,648 is listed but just three jobs have been created or saved.

It’s unclear whether the government is just counting money already handed out or is also adding in money scheduled to be handed out. It’s also unclear if the job numbers being touted are for jobs already created or saved, or projected to be created or saved, said R.J. Shealy, spokesman for the South Carolina Comptroller General’s Office, which is tracking the stimulus dollars flowing through state agencies.

“The only thing that’s clear is that you can’t have faith in these job numbers,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Policy Council reported that the government claimed to have allocated $40.75 million in stimulus money and created or saved 52.4 jobs in South Carolina’s 7^th, 12^th, 16^th, 32^nd, 43^rd and 45^th districts, along with District 00. The problem is none of those districts exist.

Nationwide, the Franklin Center reported that $6.4 billion had been spent in 440 phantom districts.

That was followed by a series of reports nationwide on the flawed information relating to the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

Thursday, a congressional committee tried to determine whether the flawed data was the result of a propaganda effort meant to show that the Obama administration’s economic policies are working, or were they simply clerical errors?

Board members from two different nonprofits called me to express concern and surprise after learning in recent board meetings that their organizations were in financial distress or even crisis.  Both indicated that while they were seeing regular financial statements, they were not seeing anything that related to cash flow.  Both attributed the distress to a shortfall in foundation funding.  They each indicated that the boards were surprised by this news!

Boards should not be surprised by the financial status of the organization.  Given the impact of our nation’s financial crisis on funding sources, including foundations, there should be contingency plans in place.  The full board (not the Finance Committee, the Treasurer or the chief executive) is responsible for the financial statements and the financial viability of the organization.  So what can boards do to ensure that they are not surprised?  At BVU, we work with hundreds of boards each year, and find the following to be useful:

Establish a strong Finance Committee – Recruit more than one person with the relevant skills and expertise to work with staff to develop a realistic budget and financial forecasts at regular intervals (Quarterly? Monthly? Weekly?).  Ensure that the board’s financial reports are useful for forecasting and decision making.

1. Develop a one-page dashboard – Identify the key measures that board (and staff) must monitor on a regular basis to ensure that the organization is making progress towards financial, fundraising and programmatic goals.  For each category, track progress against budget-to-date and compare with numbers from the previous year.  Focus on key variances.  This is an excellent tool to help boards provide accountability, plan and make decisions, but it does not replace the need to provide financial statements to the board.
2. Create a culture of transparency and accountability – Share the financial forecast and the dashboard with the full board at each meeting.  Discuss options, priorities and realistic strategies for board and staff to help raise funds or reset the budget.  Access to this information should not be limited to the Finance Committee or the Treasurer.  The chief executive should feel comfortable that the board is a partner in addressing challenging financial issues.
3. Use meeting time to focus on important issues – View board and committee meetings as precious time where the organization’s board can focus on the issues that matter most.  Don’t waste time on details or reports that board members can read in advance or see in the dashboard. Use meeting time to discuss strategic issues and options.

BVU provides training and consulting to hundreds of nonprofit board members and boards each year.  Please contact Elizabeth Voudouris at evoudouris@businessvolunteers.org for a sample dashboard or to learn more about BVU’s services to strengthen your board.

Board members from two different nonprofits called me to express concern and surprise after learning in recent board meetings that their organizations were in financial distress or even crisis.  Both indicated that while they were seeing regular financial statements, they were not seeing anything that related to cash flow.  Both attributed the distress to a shortfall in foundation funding.  They each indicated that the boards were surprised by this news! 

Boards should not be surprised by the financial status of the organization.  Given the impact of our nation’s financial crisis on funding sources, including foundations, there should be contingency plans in place.  The full board (not the Finance Committee, the Treasurer or the chief executive) is responsible for the financial statements and the financial viability of the organization.  So what can boards do to ensure that they are not surprised?  At BVU, we work with hundreds of boards each year, and find the following to be useful:

Establish a strong Finance Committee – Recruit more than one person with the relevant skills and expertise to work with staff to develop a realistic budget and financial forecasts at regular intervals (Quarterly? Monthly? Weekly?).  Ensure that the board’s financial reports are useful for forecasting and decision making.

1. Develop a one-page dashboard – Identify the key measures that board (and staff) must monitor on a regular basis to ensure that the organization is making progress towards financial, fundraising and programmatic goals.  For each category, track progress against budget-to-date and compare with numbers from the previous year.  Focus on key variances.  This is an excellent tool to help boards provide accountability, plan and make decisions, but it does not replace the need to provide financial statements to the board.
2. Create a culture of transparency and accountability – Share the financial forecast and the dashboard with the full board at each meeting.  Discuss options, priorities and realistic strategies for board and staff to help raise funds or reset the budget.  Access to this information should not be limited to the Finance Committee or the Treasurer.  The chief executive should feel comfortable that the board is a partner in addressing challenging financial issues.
3. Use meeting time to focus on important issues – View board and committee meetings as precious time where the organization’s board can focus on the issues that matter most.  Don’t waste time on details or reports that board members can read in advance or see in the dashboard. Use meeting time to discuss strategic issues and options.

BVU provides training and consulting to hundreds of nonprofit board members and boards each year.  Please contact Elizabeth Voudouris at evoudouris@businessvolunteers.org for a sample dashboard or to learn more about BVU’s services to strengthen your board.

He took the time to inquire at the Public Utilities Commission as to why we had not been updated on our case.

According to Mr. Setzer, the engineers at the PUC were not satisfied with the information and documentation provided by Duke Energy and had returned it to Duke so they could correct the problems.

I’ll take that as a good sign on several fronts. Duke isn’t getting to pull any shenanigans…at least so far…. that get them off the hook scot-free .

Perhaps the fact that I am attempting to create some transparency is having some small effect.

And knowing that the Governor is aware of the situation can’t hurt either.

We’ll see how it goes from here.

Narragansett is a beer brand that has been around since 1888 and seen it’s highs and lows.  Most recently, Mark Hellendrung, who was one of the key players in building the Nantucket Nectars brand has brought ‘Gansett back.  He relaunched the brand in 2005 and has been doing things the right way.

Their website alone is a great example of building a strong brand on word of mouth and transparency.  In fact Mark isn’t building a brand, he’s on a mission.  He’s taken one of Naragannsett’s weaknesses of not owning a brewery and made it a strength by creating a cause for New Englanders to support so that they can grow the business, build a brewery and help the economy.  Brilliant.  My favorite part is the powerpoint they share on the “Support the Cause” (not website) home page. 100% transparency on numbers and vision.  If only employees of all companies could be so lucky!

The best part is that all of this is 100% real.  It’s not some phony “support the cause” that will go away when the campaign is over.  Mark and the rest of the folks at Gansett seriously want to be “your neighbor.”

Mark and I traded a couple emails and I asked him some questions on how he is positioning the brand and building it from scratch.

—

Neal: What are your thoughts on brands having a home base from an operational and marketing standpoint? How do you bring that local positioning to life without the use of big advertising campaigns?

Mark: I think localness is a differentiating idea, and the concept has been building for a while and has only accelerated in the last 18 months. You could see it starting a while ago with the re-emergence of things like local farmers markets and the backlash of corporate sell-outs and jobs going overseas. Then when the economy when south, I think you had people realizing that this model doesn’t work, and now the thought leaders are saying how can I create local jobs, support local businesses, etc.

I actually think the use of big advertising campaigns risks undermining your local authenticity in that you start to look like a big company, and consumers are pretty cynical right now. So you’re left with a path build on relationships (selling one account at a time), a lot of sampling, word of mouth marketing and use of social media.

Neal: How have you found your brand influencers or loyal consumers for Nantucket Nectars and for Gansett?

Mark: The thing about Narragansett Beer is that it’s built on 120 years of heritage, so while we work to contemporize our story it’s still fairly well-defined, i.e., there are only so many different ways it can go. Given that, we try to look at the beer drinking community and try to identify who would be most interested in our story and most likely to carry it on.

Neal: What was the best use of your limited marketing dollars since you relaunched Gansett a few years ago?

Mark: Investing in our street team (sales and marketing) is the best use of our dollars. It builds availability and distribution. The team does a lot of sampling, which is critical in that we’ve got a great beer, we just need people to try it. And the relationships that we create cement us into the community.

Neal: I assume you don’t spend a ton of money on consumer research to uncover opportunities or validate marketing campaigns, so can you give me a couple examples of how your gut instincts have worked or not worked?

Mark: One thought we had going into this that didn’t play out was that there were a whole lot of older guys who grew up on Gansett that would be interested in our comeback and switch back. What we learned though is that many (not all) of these guys were just too far gone and settled into their routine of current brand choice. We thought we could switch them because when we talked to them that weren’t overly excited about their brand. However, they weren’t necessarily dissatisfied either, so there was no real motivation to switch.

On the flip side, we had a feeling that the craft community would appreciate our beer, and it’s played out pretty well. For a lot of the craft guys, I find that they love their craft choices but when they find themselves in a higher usage occasion or are just looking for something a little lighter, they really didn’t enjoy settling for one of the mainstream domestics. Our beers have a little more flavor and our brand has a little more character and you can see us selling some Gansett in “craft bars” whereas the mainstream beers aren’t even on the menu.

Neal: Thanks Mark. Keep up the good work.

www.giambattistavalli.com 

Related posts:

Giambattista Valli: Fall-Winter 2009/2010 

Antwerp: Fashion, Shopping & Café 

Shoes book Paris Women’s Collection Fall-Winter 2008/2009

Photos: nymag.com / Lay out : Mademoiselle Le K

Over drinks with some friends last night we started talking about the Ellicott District Council seat that is up for grabs in Buffalo. And the question that came up over and over again was – how does this work? Who actually has the power to decide who gets to fill the seat of what is, arguably, one of the most important Council districts in the City of Buffalo. (Since so much of the development in Buffalo is situated in the Ellicott District).

Yes, Mickey Kearns authored and was able to pass a law in 2006 that says when a Council seat is vacated that seat has to be posted on the website for 5 days and applications and letters of intent then have to be entertained from all members of the same party and same district that wish to apply. Those applicants then will go before the Council to be vetted in a public hearing. Well, that sounds about right. But questions still remain? Who looks over and decides which of these applicants is actually eligible? Do we get to see a list of all those who apply? What about their resumes? How long will the vacancy be posted, it only says a minimum of 5 days – can it be up for longer and who will decide? When will they go before the Council? And most importantly when does this process happen in relationship to the other, even murkier, side of the coin?

Before the 2006 law it has always been tradition, though not legally binding in the Charter, that the Committeemembers of the party from which the vacating member hailed would get together and make a recommendation to the Council and the Council would then rubber stamp that nominee. I guess this is how it has “always” happened. Now, this is Buffalo here folks – the land of “don’t change anything – ever”. Tradition is is not just a word, it is the entire 10 commandments of the City. So we have to assume that once again, in this case the Democratic Committeemembers of the Ellicott District, will make a recommendation and the Council will rubber stamp.

But how do we know anything about the decision leading up to the recommendation? Who are these Committeemembers? How do candidates reach out to them to ask for their vote? We do know that by Erie County Democratic Committee rules that the vote is weighted to the turnout by election district in the most recent Gubenatorial general election – so which Committeemembers have a bigger vote? Who is being considered and what do their resumes look like? Can other candidates be suggested or is it a closed process? Will their be a ballot vote and will the vote totals be released? When will this happen?

Yes, the Democratic Party is a private entity – for members only and in this case only the Committee members of the Ellicott District. But if they are going to give us a nominee that (though not legally binding) will in great likelihood be chosen as the new Ellicott District Council Member doesn’t that give us, the public, a right to know more about the process?

You know, usually no one but political junkies would care. But this seat, this Council, has been tainted. Buffalo politics, especially at the Council level, are often in gridlock. We are in a continuing economic crisis but we have huge possibilities for positive change looming on the horizon. Asking for transparency about the process and a public vetting of the candidates for the seat could help restore confidence in the system again. It could shine a light on how things are done and give the public a front row seat to this person that has the potential to build or burn bridges at City Hall.

I vote for bridges built in the light of day – but I can’t find a place to cast that vote.