Had a great time today on the SATW panel in Charleston - focused on Reinvention. Number one takeaway: if you’re not reinventing yourself these days, you should be. Number two: it takes a village to hone an entrepreneur. None of us makes it alone!

We were proud today to assist the Verizon Wireless PR, HR and management teams with an event focused on eliminating Domestic Violence. Remarks by state Attorney General Henry McMaster focused on “South Carolina’s number one crime problem.” Verizon Wireless’ effort is to get other business leaders to see the horrible impact in the workplace - and to learn how they can help end the epidemic. See the release here:

May 4, 2009

Len Abbazia

973-656-7020

Colleen Troy

843-296-2033

vERIZON wIRELESS joins SC Attorney General, elected officials and local business leaders to Hold domestic violence awareness event to honor slain employee

Company to Donate $10,000 to SCCADVASA in name of Verizon Wireless Employee

Katrina Johnson and Present $10,000 Scholarship Gift for her Orphaned Children

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC — More than 36,000 victims annually report domestic violence (DV) incidents to law enforcement agencies around South Carolina. To raise awareness of this growing problem in South Carolina and honor the memory of Katrina Johnson, a Verizon Wireless Charleston Call Center employee and local resident who recently lost her life to domestic violence, the company is joining forces with South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, business leaders, elected officials and domestic violence experts to host an awareness event today in the company’s North Charleston Call Center.

One out of three American women report being abused at some point in their lifetime, and 21 percent of full-time, employed adults report they have been a victim. Keynote speaker Olga Mendez, a Verizon Wireless employee and domestic violence survivor, noted that the epidemic affects not only victims and their families but also adversely affects the workplace. Ms. Mendez provided some startling workplace statistics on the impact of domestic violence for both the employee and employer:

· U.S. businesses lose $6 billion a year in healthcare expenses and lost productivity to DV.

· DV costs the workplace 8 million paid work days every year.

· 64% of DV victims say their ability to work is affected by violence.

· 74% of employed, battered women say they have been harassed by their partner at work.

· 84% of Fortune 1500 employees believe corporations should be part of a solution to address domestic violence.

To honor Ms. Johnson, Verizon Wireless presented her family with a $10,000 donation into the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan for her two orphaned children. The Verizon Foundation also donated $10,000 in Ms. Johnson’s name to the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVASA), a statewide membership coalition consisting of all the domestic violence programs and rape crisis centers in South Carolina to represent the critical needs of victims/survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Verizon Foundation funds programs that address the heart of social issues such as literacy, K-12 education and domestic violence prevention.

“Domestic violence is South Carolina’s number one crime problem,” said Mr. McMaster. “Domestic violence victims bring their worries and fears to work every day, and it is up to each of us to recognize the signs and act.”

“For the past 14 years, domestic prevention and awareness has been the major community relations focus at Verizon Wireless,” said Linda Broderick, director of Customer Service, Verizon Wireless Charleston Contact Center. “The loss of our Katrina Johnson was devastating. It reminds us we must all work together at the grassroots level by rallying Charleston business and community leaders to educate their employees to detect the signs of physical abuse and follow through with the resources for victims to get help.”

Since 1995, Verizon Wireless has worked to help prevent domestic violence and increase community awareness via its HopeLine national community relations program. HopeLine collects no-longer used wireless phones, batteries and accessories and puts the nation’s most reliable wireless network to work in communities by turning them into support for DV victims. To date, the company has distributed more than 76,000 phones with over 228 million minutes of free wireless service used by victims to help them rebuild their lives.

# # #

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and data network, serving more than 86.6 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 86,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

The Charleston Fire Department has been training in the Cigar Factory on East Bay Street. Here’s a video of a the training last Monday. The Cigar Factory was happy to lend their building to the fire department, because they are currently in the demolition process so nothing can be damaged. Firefighters knocked down walls to find a missing comrade and dragged another firefighter out by his air tank to simulate a rescue mission.

Here’s a link to the Live 5 New story.

I knew that a law passed last year made internet radio stations pay to play songs, but I had no idea that just playing a CD could get you fined. Classic Cookie in Waldo, MO got repeated letters from BMI, an agency that represents music artists. The owner thought it was a scam so she disregarded the notices until someone delivered a notice in person. The store owner assumed if you purchase a CD, then you can play it. As it turns out, you must pay to play CD so the owner paid $300 in licensing fees for the year.

I researched a little further to find out more about licensing and found these FAQ…

According to the BMI website FAQs:

Q: We Use Our Own Tapes, CDs, And iPod. Isn’t This Our Private Property To Play Where And When We Like?

A: Although most people buy tapes, CDs, or digital audio files thinking they are now their property, there is a distinction in the law between owning a copy of the music and owning the songs on the CD, etc. There is also a difference between a private performance of copyrighted music and a public performance. When you buy a tape, CD, or digital audio file, the purchase price covers only your private listening use, similar to the “home” use of “home” videos. Once you decide to play these tapes, CDs, or your iPod in your business, it becomes a public performance.

It looks like voters will be getting plenty of perks tomorrow. Here are some freebies I’ve seen around town and the nation

• Charleston’s own Tristan will be serving a complimentary glass of champagne to anyone with an “I Voted” sticker
• Starbucks will be offering a free 12-ounce drip coffee
• Krispy Kreme is giving away a free star-shaped doughnut with patriotic sprinkles on Election Day to those wearing “I Voted” stickers
• Ben & Jerry’s is offering a free scoop of ice cream between 5-8 p.m.
• Shane’s Rib Shack will give you three chicken tenders, fries and a 20 oz. drink with your “I Voted”
• Chick-fil-a will give you a free Chick-fil-a sandwich if you turn in your “I Voted” sticker from 10:30 a.m. until 8 p.m.

The Taste of Charleston held its first Iron Chef Competition on Friday, October 10 to celebrate the opening of the Culinary Institute of Charleston’s Palmer Campus. Here are some photos from the evening.

Aaron in the kitchen with emcee Mickey Bakst of Charleston Grill

Aaron creating his menu

In the kitchen

Aaron presenting his masterpieces to the judges

Saute

Slicing tomatoes

So how much attention are you paying to your website and its online popularity? Pay more!

A recent Pew study found 79% of Americans are on the internet. And searching for information is second only to email as their favorite online pursuits. That means that if your site isn’t pleasing to the bots and spiders at Google, you’re not coming up very high in those searches. One great trick: Add video to your site. Google’s Universal Search system loves video. It gobbles it up. Check out Folbot.com to see some great examples. Also: Lowcountry AIDS Services, Tristandining.com…there’s no end!

Nope - not talking about the movie. Talking about the article in today’s New York Times here: which basically says growth is a mindset, and hiring Valedictorians might not be as effective as cultivating the hard-working B+ student. Well…that’s how we read it. We also think it’s a great way to think about growing your own business: be oriented to growth, to acquiring new info - vs. stuck thinking you’ve figured it all out. Final thought - it’s also a theme that our new client, Crystal Barkley Corporation, adheres to: everybody has greatness within them. Sometimes they need a little help teasing it out - or fanning its flames. Check them out at www.careerlife.com.

We love the old adage, and it’s true: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It’s true in these recessionary times - and some of us are just old enough to feel that today’s scariness will turn out okay. We need to get back to those truisms our grand parents (and great grands) taught us: spend carefully, save for a rainy day, play nice. We liked this article on MarketingProfs.com…and thought you all might benefit from it. Click Here:

Rather than send booze or food for the holidays last year, we honored our clients by joining Donors Choose. This terrific non profit has miniscule admin fees, and enormous impact. On behalf of Touchpoint clients, we adopted three classrooms at high-need schools throughout South Carolina. Some received books. Others received notebook paper (!!!) and others received Time magazine, opening their eyes to the big old world. Here are just a smattering of the photos and thank you notes they sent. We truly got a bit misty! Thanks, everybody, for being a part of this!