By: Melinda Dale

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein

I’ve felt a deep passion for the arts for as long as I can remember.  Whether visual or performance-based, or a combination of the two, I love the new worlds and new ideas you encounter while enjoying a play or analyzing a painting. Maybe that’s why I connect so well with Albert Einstein’s quote.

I believe a little known fact about Music City is how artistically diverse the city is. As a transplant, I’ve begun to realize it’s not all about the guitars and songwriters. Whether you enjoy local and international art galleries, the ballet, the symphony or theatrical performances – you will find the art you crave in Nashville.

The Metro Nashville Arts Commission (Metro Arts) deemed October as Artober Nashville, shining the spotlight on the numerous opportunities to participate in the arts throughout the city.  On any given day, there could be a dozen different performances or showcases by local and visiting talent. Metro Arts executive director Jennifer Cole published a post on the ARTSblog this week about the month-long celebration and the benefits of a healthy arts community on the local economy (click here to read the post).

I highly encourage every Nashvillian to explore the Artober Nashville website and attend the many events occurring through October 31. Let your imagination run wild, you never know where it will take you.

Dancers from the Dance Theatre of Tennessee entertain pedestrians in Hillsboro Village with a "pop-up" performance from Swan Lake during Artober Nashville.

By Melinda Dale

• Watch the celebration on YouTube
  
• View photos from the event

In just three short months, more than 4,000 Nashville residents walked more than 100,000 miles with Nashville Mayor Karl Dean.  The feat was part of the Walk 100 Miles with the Mayor challenge, presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, a health initiative aimed at decreasing the rising adult obesity rate the city faces while introducing Nashville residents to the beauty of outdoor exercise resources.  Twice per week residents were invited to join Mayor Dean on scenic walks along the tracks and trails of 28 of Nashville’s parks and greenways.

“In Nashville we are fortunate to have an abundance of resources, and because many Nashvillians don’t know about all the great places to exercise in our city, this walk was a perfect way to introduce people to our parks and greenways,” said Mayor Dean.

Walk 100 Miles with the Mayor culminated with an eight-mile walk, the longest of the challenge, and a big celebration event at Public Square Park in front of the Metro Courthouse on July 9, 2011.  All of Nashville was invited to recognize the accomplishments of those who participated in the challenge and enjoy fitness activities, healthy food offerings, and live entertainment from country star Jo Dee Messina, American Idol alum Melinda DoLittle, and Jeremy Lister of NBC’s “The Sing Off.”

More than 500 walkers reached and/or exceeded the 100-mile goal.  All participants enjoyed exploring Nashville’s beautiful parks while improving their health, and for some this challenge was just the wake-up call they needed.

“I feel great, I feel better than I’ve felt in years,” said walker Joe Griggs, “I saw he was doing the campaign and I felt like it was the right time for me to get on board and start doing something about my health. When I started I weighed 354 pounds and now I weigh just more than 236 and I feel great!”

Walk 100 Miles with the Mayor would not have been possible without the incredible community support of such partners as presenting sponsor BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and Nashvitality.

Though the campaign has officially ended, Nashville’s movement towards better health is far from over.  Coming this fall the Mayor invites residents to join him in training to walk and/or run a 5K in November.  “This is the day when we’re going to make a statement about Nashville’s commitment to getting healthier,” said the Mayor.

By Melinda Dale

On Tuesday, March 22 more than 500 people crowded the Fifth Third Center Plaza to join Mayor Karl Dean as he challenged them and all of Nashville to start taking the steps towards living healthier lives.  He calls this challenge “Walk 100 Miles with the Mayor.”  Between April and July Mayor Dean will be out walking 100 miles of Nashville’s parks and greenways and he wants Nashville residents to join him. At the end of the challenge anyone who reaches 100 miles will be invited to attend a big celebration concert, which the Mayor promises will be well worth the effort.

What’s even more exciting than the challenge itself is how Nashville has stepped up to the plate.  In just two days more than 1,000 Nashvillians have registered on the official website, and the ongoing tally shows that they have already walked 863 miles…wait, make that 872 miles…wait, make that 881 miles (do you see a trend here?).  The challenge’s Facebook and Twitter accounts are peppered with comments and mentions from participants, documenting their progress and encouraging other Nashville residents to get involved.  If this level of participation continues, the Mayor’s Office will have to rent out Bridgestone Arena for the celebration concert.  No other venue will fit everyone who will hit the 100 mile mark!

If, by chance, you have not yet registered to Walk 100 Miles with the Mayor, check it out online and see if you’re ready to accept the challenge  –  Web, Facebook, Twitter.

By Tonya Kimbrough

I was talking about my recent visit to the Greenbuild tradeshow in Chicago, when someone asked, “What makes a building green?”  Before I began working with our client SSRCx, I had the same question.  I imagined walking into a green building and being overwhelmed with all of its greenness.  “Ah, so that’s it.”

In fact, I’ve learned green buildings don’t look very different, if at all, than other buildings.  They are just built smarter, with more efficient systems and features.  These features can include things you might not notice at first, like low-emission paints, fabrics, carpets, and even green cleaning supplies.

Walking the aisles at Greenbuild, you will find most of the materials look very similar to what you would find at other building shows, including, as our guest blogger in this post points out — toilets!  But the products and services are made or operate differently in a way that makes them more efficient and healthier, both for the environment and building occupants.   It shows that little changes here and there can make a big difference.  

Check out this post from Brian Bloom with KVBPR WorldCom Partner Liggett Stashower (LS) in Cleveland, Ohio, where he discusses his impression of Greenbuild 2010.

Going, going . . . green

By Brian Bloom, Liggett Stashower

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, I went to visit several of my clients and prospects at a trade show. Well, actually, it looked like a green flea market called the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo with a potpourri of sustainable building products and services.

Walking through the entrance in Chicago’s McCormick Place West, Greenbuild looked like a normal trade show. Once inside, the expo had all the ingredients of a fruitcake. Very fitting for the upcoming holiday season! All the big boys were exhibiting. You know, companies like Philips, General Electric, Glidden, Sherwin-Williams, Armstrong, Andersen Windows, Acuity, Rubbermaid, etc. However, the largest exhibitor at Greenbuild, in only a 30’ by 30’ booth due to the show’s space constraints, was selling toilets. Yes, TOTO toilets! Most of the other exhibitors were in 10’ by 10’ and 20’ by 20’ booths.

Read more of Brian’s post

By Aileen Katcher, APR

The fall 2010 Worldcom Americas Region meeting was in Cleveland in late September.  There, our more than 50 partner firms from across the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, spent three days sharing best practices, learning from national experts, planning, socializing and, of course, rock and rolling.  And, yes, I did have to remind the group a few times that Nashville is the real Music City, not Cleveland.

Why did it rock?  It wasn’t just the music.  Here are some highlights:

I was able to personally thank Elizabeth Sosnow from Bliss PR in New York for referring a crisis client to us last month.  A contact of theirs in London represents a UK firm that owns a manufacturing plant in West Tennessee that had a fire and needed crisis communication assistance – fast.  We jumped in and went to work within an hour of the first call.

Miguel Martinez, from Infomedia, our Buenos Aires partner, bought me a drink to thank me for referring the Nashville Health Care Council to him to assist in planning its November International Health Care Trade Mission to South America.  And, I made plans to visit with him while we’re in Brazil and with our brand new partner, Arturo Arriagada, director of LatinMedia Comunicaciones Limitada in Santiago, Chile, the Council’s first stop on the trade mission.  It’s nice to have friends in far off places.

Jon Bloom, CEO of McGrath Power PR in San Jose, CA and I were able to close a deal with Iridium Development, a Nashville-based phone app company, who wanted local Nashville representation but needed Silicon Valley technology expertise and connections.  Having a Worldcom partner that we know and trust with a proven track record introducing phone apps makes the relationship a win-win.

Jim Reynolds, consultant with meeting sponsor Alterian gave me some great advice about how to resolve a firewall issue that was hampering social media monitoring and posting for one of our clients.

Greg Waldron, principal with OptionA Advisors, another sponsor, shared some insights into strategic planning for PR Firms that resonated with me (and my partners when I related the information to them).

Being a Worldcom partner gives us myriad resources that help our team and our clients nearly every day.  It does indeed “rock.”  Cleveland was great and our partner and host firm there, Liggett Stashower showed us a great time – but Nashville is still the true Music City and always will be.  But, Cleveland is a close second.

By Nancy DeKalb

I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
I do not like green eggs and ham.

Fifty years ago Dr. Seuss responded to his publisher’s bet, writing Green Eggs and Ham using only 50 different words.

Today, Green Eggs and Ham is read and recited by children and adults. It has been turned into a computer game, is the closing number of a Broadway musical and is part of a U.S. district court ruling.

Dr. Seuss created a critically acclaimed book using only 50 words, so there’s no reason a company spokesperson can’t get her/his message across in less than 50.

By Georgia Fogle

By now, many of you have seen the Metro Nashville Arts Commission’s installment of the ‘Citizen‘ exhibit in Public Square Park at the Courthouse. If you haven’t seen them it is definitely worth a trip downtown to see these 30-foot, interactive sculptures.

The Metro Nashville Arts Commission has also been busy installing bike racks around town. Wait… bike racks by the Arts Commission? These aren’t just any run-of-the-mill bike racks, friends. These are true works of art that are not just awesome, but also functional. The bike racks are part of an initiative by Mayor Karl Dean to make our city a more walkable and bike-friendly place for everyone.

KVBPR’s intern, Rebecca, got some photos and video of the bike rack dedication at the Roundabout on Music Row. You can also check out more photos from the Mayor’s office.

By Renee Sloan

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20 is a prime example of a nightmare. Eleven people lost their lives in the Gulf of Mexico that day and their bodies have never been recovered. Every day a different BP official gives the American public an update on how many barrels of oil are leaking from the three major underwater leaks, while they are being fined $42 million a day.

The oil spill estimates have gone as high as 60,000 barrels (2.5 million gallons) a day, while we watch underwater cameras showing the oil continuing to gush out.  President Obama says the Federal government is overseeing BP’s repair efforts because they have the expertise to stop the leaks which are located a mile below the Gulf’s surface while BP asks the public for ideas on how to accomplish it.

In the aftermath following the collapsed oil rig, both plant life and wildlife along the Gulf Coast has been harmed. Recently, a German biologist  created an uproar by issuing a statement saying it makes better sense to kill the oil-coated wildlife than to try to clean them up. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publishes a daily Collection Report which shows the affected wildlife in the Gulf area. As of June 7, there had been 1,007 birds collected in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi – 413 had visible signs of oil and were still alive and another 594 were dead. Of the birds that will be washed and released, less than 1 percent will live, says Rick Steiner, an Alaska marine biologist who was involved in the 1989 Exxon-Valdez cleanup.

The birds didn’t cause this mess – people did!! We owe it to the entire Gulf area to work tirelessly until we make things better. Please note that I did not say “back to the way things were.” It’s too late for that. But I’m willing to try to increase the wildlife’s survival percentage rate.

Is washing birds covered under the KVBPR Leave of Absence policy?

By Heather Schablik

If you look hard enough, you can find a day for anything. Want to talk like a pirate? Try September 19. How about celebrating cheese doodles? March 5 is your day. Or my personal favorite, National Ice Cream Day? Celebrate with me on July 20.

Today, June 4, individuals across the country celebrate an important day in our culinary history – National Doughnut Day. As a marketing professional, days like today always make me wonder what businesses are doing to capitalize on these observances and in turn, honor customer loyalty. Free products? Special offers for loyal patrons? Contests? It seems to me you’re missing an opportunity by doing nothing.

You’ll all be relieved to know that National Doughnut Day does not disappoint. Here in Nashville, both Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts are celebrating with giveaways. However, they are both doing so with their own twist. Krispy Kreme is offering free doughnuts to all patrons, which works great for a company whose reputation is built firmly around its infamous glazed donut. Dunkin’ Donuts, on the other hand, is offering a free doughnut to anyone purchasing a beverage – somewhat ingenious given that they are best known for their world-renowned cups of coffee.

So, the question of the day is very simple: what works? Does the offer have to be “free” in order to get you in the door, or does your brand loyalty get you there regardless? And from the company’s perspective, does giving away product really result in increased sales in the weeks following (a la Krispy Kreme), or does Dunkin’ Donuts have a better strategy by tacking that free doughnut offer to the delicious cup o’ joe sale, thus hoping it results in the upsell next time around?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a doughnut – or two – to eat.

By Nancy DeKalb

I have a terrible time remembering names. It’s not my aging mind.  It’s been a lifelong weakness.

My father-in-law had the same problem.  So, his solution was to call every female “Suzi” and every male “Jackson.”  It sure created a few awkward moments the first time I met him.  And his son had to field questions about former girlfriends.

Although pretty formal for a family gathering, name tags might have helped him get around the “Suzi” and “Jackson” solution.

Name tags.  They’re a godsend for those of us who weren’t blessed with great name recall.  Name tags with first names in LARGE bold print are especially helpful.

Event planners know name tags are a standard item on the checklist.  Hours are spent making name tags, ensuring correct spelling and then lining them up appropriately on the registration table.

So, wear a name tag correctly.

No matter your political leanings, the right side is the correct side for name tags. That’s so when you shake hands (firmly, please) you can easily see the person’s name.

Hear the name. See the name. Repeat and use the name.  That’s my mantra for trying to improve my recall of names.  What’s yours?