Wed, Jul. 15 2009
Just launched this slick little brochure site, for local Westchester marketing biz–Stratosphere Research. Daryl Bressler, the owner, has worked with some impressive brands, including SeaWorld, Budweiser, and Hasbro.
In discussing her work in market analysis and evaluation, Daryl shared a story about how a research project for SeaWorld led to the creation of sister park, Discovery Cove–the first park in Orlando to allow park visitors to swim with the dolphins. Discovery Cove has since gone on to become one of Orlando's most successful park destinations. The idea to open a dolphin experience park interestingly came as a direct result from Daryl's careful analysis of market data in response to a simple question - "What new attractions would you like to see most at Sea World?"
Check it out:
stratosphereresearch.com
Tue, Jul. 14 2009
A family member turned me on to the VideoVolunteers project. The concept is simple and quite brilliant–empower poor, illiterate people living in slums in places like India, by teaching them to become their own community producers.
Armed with a relatively cheap video kit, each producer goes out into their neighborhood and talks about the issues their neighbors are up against. It's much easier to teach someone to use a video camera than to teach them to read and write and the results are igniting the sparks for real change.
videovolunteers.org
Tue, Jul. 7 2009
Just catching my breath and dusting off the blog after a fantastic Fourth of July weekend in Montauk at my dad's beach house rental.
We drove out late Thursday and got there just after midnight.
My wife and son crashed almost immediately but I stayed up with my dad, sipping a tasty Honey Moon Summer Ale, and we watched most of the PBS American Masters episode featuring Garrison Keillor - The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes.
If you don't know Garrison Keillor, he's been around since the 70's and he's most famous for his "Prairie Home Companion" live radio show - a quirky program that mixes humor, storytelling and music–aimed squarely at America's heartland.
Now if you know me, I'm not exactly a Chevy and apple pie kind of guy, but I was hanging with my dad and he's a fan of Keillor and I also happen to know one of Keillor's crew, having worked with Fred Newman on a kids home safety video for Weekly Reader, so I went with it.
The show is an absolutely fascinating portrait of Keillor. The man is a natural storyteller and he's got the kind of voice that makes you want to listen. Before I knew it, I was pulled right in to his world. I was talking to Steve about this and his parents are also Keillor fans and he says whenever he's visiting he gets sucked in to the radio show. Such is the universal appeal of Keillor–he manages to draw you in, whether you like apple pie or not.
As we were watching, I explained to my dad that I'd worked with Fred Newman and next thing you know I hear Fred's voice and he's being interviewed on-screen.
Good stuff.
Check it out:
Garrison Keillor on PBS
