The City of the Arts

Well, it turns out that the hometown is struggling with it's identity again, or so says the Triad Business Journal (here). There's evidently thinking that somehow the Krispy Kreme capital of the world lost it's status as the "City of the Arts" somewhere along the way. Given that I've seen more public art in downtown Greensboro recently, I'd be tempted to agree.

However, while agreeing with that statement, my mind is already contradicting itself. It appears to me - and to many others, I believe - that the Winston-Salem Symphony is doing things right and ergo, the arts are still very much alive here. Two years ago, after the former conductor left after monopolizing the job for too many years, they hired a new, younger conductor. It was perhaps the best decision the Board of Directors of the Symphony could ever make. Bob Moody seems to have worked with the Board and the staff to infuse the symphony with new life. (You can read more about Bob here.)

Case in point: There's never been a successful pops season in Winston-Salem, but this year, that's changed. The most recent pops concert was entitled, "A Salute to the Music of John Williams." Yep, that's John Williams, the American composer who is still very much alive and is very active in composing, especially for motion pictures. (He was honored with Kennedy Center Honors several years ago.)

On the program:

• Olympic Fanfare and Theme (1984 L.A. Olympics; it's the music you hear for the Olympics on NBC)
• Highlights from Jurassic Park
• "Somewhere in my Memory" from Home Alone
• Theme from Schindler's List
• "Hymn to the Fallen" from Saving Private Ryan
• Theme from Superman
• Theme from Jaws
• "Raiders March" from Raiders of the Lost Ark
• "Angela's Prayer" from Angela's Ashes
• Music from various Harry Potter movies
• "Dry Your Tears, Afrika!" from Amistad
• The Suite from Star Wars

Regardless of the music performed, which was by all accounts very professional and very well done, perhaps the thing that makes this concert so amazing (and I don't use the term lightly) was the added value. Bob took time to introduce each piece to the audience, right from the conductor's stand. He gave a little background on each of the pieces and you could tell he's passionate about what he's doing.

The Winston-Salem Symphony Chorale and the Winston-Salem Children's Chorus also participated in the concert, which just added to the richness of the experience.

But that's not it. There's more. At the end of the "Theme from Superman," Bob turned around and in classic Clark Kent style, ripped his button-up shirt open to reveal the Superman logo emblazoned on his chest. For the Harry Potter selections, he conducted with a replica of Harry's magic wand. During Jaws, a cut out shark's fin was passed through the chorus bleachers, closely followed by a spotlight, eliciting a fairly decent batch of laughter from the audience. And last, but not least, Bob was engaged in a light saber fight with a Jedi knight during the Star Wars selections. If nothing else, this group of talented individuals is the best group of buzz marketers in Winston.

Hats off - it was a wonderful show. I can't stop talking about it and I just hope that the Greensboro Symphony show that I will see at the end of February is just as good.

Friend speaks my mind

This week, I learned that the statement above is a common response in Quaker worship that shows those in the audience agree with the speaker. I'd bet that I would never have learned this phrase except that a small Quaker college in Greensboro (Guilford College) has found itself embroiled in a media frenzy because of a sad and troubling incident on campus.

It appears that several of the college's football players attacked three Palestinian students - two from Guilford College, and one from NCSU. What makes the violent act even more disturbing is that it seems unprovoked, it happened on a campus that claims a pacifist heritage by being Quaker, and it could be deemed a hate crime.

Certainly, that an incident like this should happen is upsetting to everyone involved and to the community as a whole. However, there are gifts inherent in this problem. After the dust settles and the smoke clears, Guilford College will almost certainly go through a period of mourning and re-evaluation. They will begin building an even better campus community - perhaps one of the best. This gives Guilford and all of their stakeholders a chance to critically assess and transform campus attitudes. Although it will be hard work, it will be well worth it.

Dean for Campus Life Aaron Fetrow and his media staff have done quite a good job - almost completely by the book - of dealing with the challenges inherent in dealing with such a crisis. One point of disagreement, however: Fetrow was quoted on NPR's Morning Edition as saying that this sort of thing "happen at campuses all over the nation, all of the time."

I couldn't disagree more. Yes, such violence does happen on other campuses, but if this happened on every campus, all the time, it wouldn't be such a big deal (heaven forbid that ever happen). People would be apathetic to news like this and if that were the case, Guilford College wouldn't be receiving the media attention which they have now. Thank God that this sort of violence does NOT happen frequently - and we can only hope that such things never happen again, anywhere.

Guilford College President Kent Chabotar says this at the beginning of his statement regarding the incident: "This is a sad time for Guilford College. This is a sad time for the students, especially the students who were injured on Saturday morning. Our sympathy and prayers are with them and their families."

Friend speaks my mind.

I love my sisters

And they'll probably kill me for posting this, but it just shows you how much fun we are when we get together. I miss them both, lots, because they live in far, far away places. Ok, maybe not so far away places, but for me to get there, I'd actually have to plan to go. Which I need to do soon.

Ink is ink

After taking my new, wonderful job my boss and I decided to do what every good communication/PR person does. We sent a release stating such to the local media.

Of course, despite the four paragraph release, I was lucky enough to garner one, sometimes two, sentences in the four print media outlets in which it was published (Winston-Salem Journal, High Point Enterprise, Greensboro News & Record, and Triad Business Journal). Others I know are counting our company website as further ink, but I directly told the webmaster to upload the info, so that one doesn't count in my book.

In any case, it turns out that I've become apathetic about the small ink - especially the ones that we PR types call "mentions." Mentions are the smallest type of PR victory there is, blurbs rank somewhere in the middle, and then you have the varying degrees of stories. (Those, of course, are completely unscientific and unprofessional descriptors. Someday I may look up the real nomenclature of my profession, but the general public seems to understand the substitutes pretty well, so I'll stick with them for now.)

This apathy, I believe, comes from the fact that mentions are pretty darn easy to get, especially when it's something that a paper uses as filler between the "real" stories. In my experience, you send your release and - voila! - several days later, you're getting clippings.

So why is it that I had to have someone remind me - someone who's not in PR at all (officially, anyway) - that regardless of how apathetic I am about the whole foofaraw, it's still GOOD? Ink is ink. People get jobs from ink. People go to jail from ink. People get sued over ink. Ink pays the salaries of reporters, editors, copy writers, advertising reps, PR people, and the PR clients get all sorts of great things: brand building, name recognition, more sales, fewer problems, etc.

Yes, more ink is always better than less ink, but for those who don't understand that it doesn't take much to get ink, it's a pretty big thing. I suppose that comes from the thinking that you'll only be in the paper three times in your life: when you're born, when you get married, and when you die.

Any PR person will tell you that limiting yourself to ONLY three times in the paper is selling yourself short. You ought to be in there for graduation (all of them), any time you receive an award, every time you get a new job (especially if you're a professional), any time you publish something, every time you sit on a board, etc., etc.

So, thanks Jim, for reminding me that, "Ink, no matter how insignificant you may think it is, is still ink." I needed that.

Cars I lust after

In case you were interested . . . the Tesla Roadster (all electric, baby; 135 mpg) and the all new Infiniti G35 Coupe. Too bad I really just can't afford either one . . .

Movie reviews

Pursuit of Happyness: Great, uplifting story about a young father who has hit upon hard times while working as a bone density scanner salesman. The wife leaves, convinced that there's nothing worth waiting around for. He happens upon a man who is a stock broker, decides that is the job he needs to make his life better, applies for an internship at Dean Witter. There's nothing wrong with admitting this ending, as I think it's pretty obvious from the title of the movie: he does, of course, end up being the only one in the internship class who gets offered a job.

Turns out that the Pursuit of Happyness is a true story. This actually happened to someone, and not only did he succeed and get the job at Dean Witter, he also started his own firm. Several years after that, he sold a minority interest and became a multi-millionaire. Definitely a feel good movie, one that should give everyone hope during stressful times.

The one drawback: this movie suffers from the same popular cinematography effects as some others these days. There are times when there's a complete lack of use of the "Steadicam" feature on the camera. I'm convinced that there was a good reason they invented the use of the Steadicam, and it may have something to do with the fact that NOT using it tends to make people sick, including yours truly.

Happy Feet (wikipedia): FUN, regardless of your age. Now, if you're like my hmh and you'd rather watch paint dry or channel surf, you won't care for it. Let's put it this way: I will soon own not only the DVD, but also the CD of the music in this movie.

This is a completely unbelievable yet cute story about a young penguin who happens to be different than the others in his group (clan? I don't know the appropriate word here). A journey of self-discovery takes place, as the penguin learns that it's OK that he's different and that he can, in fact, make a difference in the world. Later, he certainly does make a difference, as it's his true talents that "save" the penguins.

There's definitely learning opportunities in this movie, what with the accepting of the other and understanding of the environment, here. Add that with the fun, and the entire family will enjoy (given the exceptions noted above).