Missionary Training Center

These are the Elders and Sisters who are the MTC with me. Some of them have already flown, but most of us will be there on Monday and Tuesday. What a marvelous group of people! Some of them have served three and four missions. When we talk about a worldwide church, this is.

This is my district. The young returned missionary is our teacher. She served in Nauvoo. In fact, I kept looking at her, trying to figure out where I knew her. Finally, we figured it out when she said she had served in Nauvoo. She had been assigned to us at the pageant. Small world? My companion is the sister standing next to me. She runs marathons. Obviously I'm gong to have a hard time keeping up.

I have had some marvelous experiences. We have been teaching volunteers who come to the MTC and pretend to be non-members or less active. What a great opportunity this has been! The spirit is very strong here and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.

I want to share one experience. We were talking about reaching out to people. I kept feeling prompted to tell my Nauvoo experience with the sticks and I kept ignoring it. Finally, I shared it and the trainer for all senior missionaries said, "It couldn't be better said than that and we got a break. For those of you who haven't heard that story, we were training the children of the pageant how to approach people. We told them to pick up a stick for each person they talked to. When time was up, there were three sticks left on the ground. Being taught by the spirit, those weren't three sticks, but three of Heavenly Father's children whom He loves that no one cared enough to offer the gospel to. When I picked up those three sticks, I realized how it important it is that I give everyone the opportunity to hear the message.

In case you can't tell--I love being a missionary!!!

myOWs (no, I don't need a bandage!)

(Image property of & copyright myOWs.com; used here only for promotion of myOWs)


Today I received a hot tip in an email from my friend Randy (thanks, Ran!) about a new web tool on the horizon. 'myOWs' is a web service for helping creatives to protect the copyright on their original works.

'myOWs' is an acronym for 'my Original Works', and the site was set to launch in August of this year. Developing a new concept often takes longer than expected, and the service rollout is still  on the drawing board. However, it's set to be the next big thing for creative artists of many mediums, and I'm on board to support it wholeheartedly!

I've added the site link to my right sidebar, along with other tools to help you with copyright and online content theft issues. I'll pass along news about the launch as soon as I hear something.

Check out this Interview with Max Guedy, founder of this incredible concept, on Frisk Design's site to learn more about myOWs and how it can help YOU protect your creative property.... and thanks, Max, for sending me this COOOOL 3-D image of your logo! (He said I could be the first one to share it!!!)

Craig Ferguson read this post and sent a comment in, along with a link to his interview with Max. Thanks,  Craig! The more we all spread the word, the more we people we can help Max help!

Deb's Article in One Coast Advisor (link added)

One Coast is the largest U.S. sales rep agency for merchandise in the retail gift industry. Their website is not only a wholesale sales venue for those products, but also a resource filled with information that helps retailers succeed and a hub that connects people, ideas, and products. It's no wonder that they are known as much for their educational videos, podcasts, and articles as they are for the products they sell - and with many categories of subject matter, the information is helpful to retailers no matter what kind of products you carry.

One Coast contacted me about running one of my blog posts as an article in their biweekly e-newsletter, 'OneCoast Advisor'. It's nice to be asked, for one thing, and it's also nice to be recognized as a resource that can benefit retailers and help them..... yep, you got it: ...'Build Better Businesses'! I'm thankful for the kind acknowledgment of my value ("You have great insights that our retailers would like to read") and am looking forward to this opportunity for exposure to the One Coast reader base. (Thanks, Vicki!)


The most recent newsletter has been broadcast, and my article in it has been added to the OneCoast Advisor Archives. Read it online here.


For more about One Coast, their product lines, their large resource library, and to sign up to receive the 'OneCoast Advisor' newsletter (so you don't miss my article!), go here: http://www.onecoast.com

Image property of One Coast; used with permission.
No renumeration or payment received from One Coast for post reprint or promotional post.

Q and A: Store Lighting for Impact

I received the following email last week, asking for my assistance with a retail visual impact issue: how to counteract the darkness of dreary winter weather and early evenings during this season. I thought that since I had just completed a consultation with a new client to solve exactly the same problems, sharing some info about this issue might be helpful to many of you. So, here we go:

Dear Debi, I own a small card, stationery, gift shop in North Seattle (Richmond Beach). I need help with lighting; on a sunny, summer morning my shop looks so inviting but when it starts getting dreary out, especially in the early evenings the shop looks dreary as well. I'm also having trouble with fading. Some is caused by the sun coming through the windows but I think the lights are also a problem. My space has the (ugly) ceiling tiles with inset flourescent lights and I have added track lights. Any suggestions or ideas on where to go for help would be great. Thank you, Susan

Hello Susan, I read your email with interest and a smile.... just last week, I completed a consultation with a new client for exactly the same solutions! The darkness and this 'Northwest Gray' sky have more effects than many people realize! Let me offer you a few general solutions to try:

1. Take a look at the color of the walls in your shop. If they are white or a cool color (blue, green, etc) then they are working against the effect you want to have. Using warm, glowing colors such as ambers, golds, caramels, light browns, earthy oranges, etc. will serve to expand the light within your spaces. Even if you just paint the wall across from the windows one of these colors, you'll see a big difference in the way it feels.

2. Check your track lights and any other light fixtures you have in the store. Are all of the bulbs working? Are the track modules aimed in the most efficient direction? It's common for most light in a store or restaurant to be aimed downward onto tables, counters, displays. This is necessary - but you also have to bounce light around so it hits vertical surfaces and is visible from the street outside. This means aiming a few track modules onto those warmly painted walls so that they glow even more.

Introduce floor & table lamps into your space - several set into your displays throughout the store will serve to cast warm ambient light and draw the eye to them. Best to place these sparingly, and also use incandescent bulbs in them. (I know, it's not the most energy efficient way to do it, but CFL bulbs have a cold light.) You need warmth to draw people in, and using pools of light throughout the space is the best way to do it.

Those overhead flourescent fixtures you have are the bane of all retailers: you need light, but that blue light just flattens out all of the detail in your products. Counteract it with as much natural light as you can - yes, even our Northwest gray gloom is better than flourescent light! Place mirrors on walls & fixtures across from the windows, to bounce the light around the space.

Appropriate for the holidays (and actually any time of year in retail) try adding some twinkling white lights on tall tree branches or a tall garden trellis inside the store. Place them in the back half of your store, across from the windows, and make sure they are on well before dusk. This bit of light and movement will work to attract attention - and it needn't be in the window to work.

3. Although it is true that 'Windows are the eyes to your store', you can't expect them to do all the work! Window displays often get overloaded in an attempt to make them stop traffic. When building window displays, have the goal of providing a large visual statement that clearly represents your store - your brand image, your product offerings, and something interesting or whimsical like a seasonal theme.

Don't try to load every inch of the space with product, though. Use no more of 1/2 of your window space for this - build one large display in the window's center, or two smaller displays on either side - leaving some space open so that customers who walk or drive by can see PAST the displays into your store. This is where the lighting discussed above becomes paramount in importance: The space beyond the windows needs to be well lit to be seen, and to work to pull people in your doors.

This should help a bit with your fading problems, and changing out your window displays each month will also help prevent product damage. Your product is primarily two-dimensional and small, so you need to think a bit out of the box in order to make it work in large window displays: Try making blown-up, inexpensive color copies of interesting seasonal cards, (to an 8X11 size) and hang them from large tree branches or ribbons in the window. The movement factor there is good for attracting attention. Or, find a roll of wallpaper that coordinates with a new stationery line, and use it as a backdrop for a desk whose drawers are pulled out and loaded up with items from the line - and use a color copy of the item to front the box of cards, papers, etc. again to help keep fading to a minimum. A small lamp on the desktop will serve to attract attention, too.

These are general tips that I hope will provide a starting point for improving the visual impact of your store during the darker winter season. You can see in the photo at the top of this post that Cindy Sullivan, owner of Haley's Cottage in Mill Creek, Washington, has utilized all of these tips to help make her store interior sparkle year-round. She has the advantage of having doors & windows at both ends of her space, as well, but large mirrors placed on a back wall can duplicate this effect easily.

For more specific advice and solutions, I am happy to provide my consultation services in person in your store or via email & digital photos. Email me at Debi.WardKennedy (at) Gmail (dot) com for more info on my services and rates.

Photo credit: Taken by DWK of Haley's Cottage 2009; used with permission.

Preparing to Go

This has been a real eye opening experience for me. I know now why my Mom was ready to send me off when I left on my first mission. All of the stuff that she did, I'm having to do myself now. I played with my friends while my mom got suits and coats and other stuff ready to go. I have spent many hours doing all the things that she did for me.
In addition, I have had to prepare my home for someone else to live in. All my furniture is going into the family room. I have had to get rid of one full year's supply of food and other stuff. I also got Christmas wrapped and delivered to all of my friends and family. And somewhere in between, we put together a huge dinner for general women's conference and we put together a stake leadership meeting. NUTS! But now it's time to focus on being a missionary and getting myself off to Nauvoo.

US Chamber wants climate bill after all! Who's having the best hoax day ever?

Who doesn't love a good fake press conference?! Apparently the US Chamber of Commerce, especially when the joke is on them... Reading up on Grist this morning I found this hysterical post where a fake Yes Man (a NYC team of professional hoaxers) caused a stir and even managed to get a real PR guy from "The Real" Chamber pretty bent out of shape.



These guys agree with a lot of the folks that are jumping ship from the Chamber that has turned into one huge climate change denier network. It's okay though, it's mostly just small companies like PG&E, Exelon, and a tiny IT biz called Apple. The Chamber seems to think that cap and trade is bad business, but some folks seem to think that extinction and climate calamity is possibly worse for the bottom line.

All that being said - it sure is hysterical to see a group that can get under their corporate skins.

- Charles

Here's the link to the Grist article--->
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-10-19-chamber-plays-the-fool-in-yes-men-hoax/

Green Lightning?

Re-used ice? Not sure. Recycled pucks or FSC certified hockey sticks? Maybe not.

However, this Thursday is Go Green Night at the St. Pete Times Forum for our Tampa Bay Lightning. Here's what I like - ride your bike and get in free... Yep, that's right Alan Snel! Oil the chain and grab a helmet and lock! How's about a few thousand bikes around the old ice palace parking lot? Everybody is still pumped from the Bicycle Bash by the Bay so why not channel that energy? (Shameless plug courtesy of our guilt at not being able to make it to what looked like an awesome event).

This is part of Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful's recycling awareness and they will have volunteers helping people recycle at the game. Don't feel like biking after a long day at the office? Bring that ridiculous yellow book that got dropped off on your doorstep and get in for $5.

P.S. Does anybody even use the yellow pages anymore? C'mon, just google it and get on with it. You don't want to sit home and flip through to the pizza delivery page, dial em up on your rotary phone, and watch Seinfeld re-runs again do you? (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

-Charles

Going Green Expo Follow Up

Well I didn't get a photo with Ed, but I did see him. He's tall! He walked right by me as I was chatting with Jennifer from Why Not Boutique. She had scored an indoor spot which was nice considering how hot it was outside.

TSM was out in the heat, but under a tree which did a nice job of keeping us cool. We handed out lots of cards and got a lot of people to hear of our little shop that had never even heard of us (amazing right?!). We even made some sales and shared some knowledge with anyone who would listen. We like to go on and on about composting, furniture design, and recycled materials. We did meet some great folks like Keep Hillsborough Beautiful and I got an in depth tour of a plug in Mazda Protege. We also got to debut the Tweeprints that our new friend Thuy brought by the week prior. They are really cool and clean designs with the bonus that they are printed on recycled paper with soy inks from a local designer. We even sold a few sets of the limited edition versions that feature local and international artists, yeah! Proceeds from those go to Habitat for Humanity and they are very unique Thank You cards.

Thanks to all the folks that came out! We're looking forward to our next day out which just might be the WMNF Holiday Bazaar. Come on by this weekend to see the new and cool furniture pieces we completed this week and to cash in that discount from the show.
-Charles

Going Green Expo Workshops Fri-Sat Oct.9-10

Should you recycle pizza boxes (cheesy?) or how does micro-irrigation work (extremely tiny tomatoes?) At the USF Going Green Expo Friday and Saturday you can find the answers to these questions and more. Other interesting-sounding talks include a power saving device demo from Virginia Grabowski at Green Earth Group and a presentation from the City of Tampa where we might finally find out what the heck they think a "green" business is in their new designation.

These talks are part of the Expo and are on top of the already exhaustive list of talks and presenters attached to the Sustainability Conference that is running concurrently with the show. If that's not enough to get you to head up and eat lunch at Mel's Hot Dogs (a Tampa institution and absolute must for trips to the USF area) then you can also catch a free shuttle from the Expo to the USF Plant Sale at their Botanical Gardens. Okay!?! Try fitting all this in one day and now you'll see why this baby is a two day affair...

Head out to see these and more.

-Charles

The complete list of presentations is below the fold...

FRIDAY

1:00-2:00 Composting with The Earth Machine!

Learn how to compost using The Earth Machine http://www.earthmachine.com/

Presenter: Adam Schlacter, The Earth Machine

Location: Topiari Bull/Crescent Hill Area (Outdoor)

2:00-2:30 Green Switch Come see a demonstration of the Green Switch, http://Florida.GreenSwitch.tv/,The product is an idle current and power saving device. The presentation will feature a “mini” home to show how all the power draining components and thermostats can be switched to save energy and money.

Presenter: Virginia Grabowski, Green Earth Group

Location: The Plaza Room (#2708)

2:30-3:30 Organic Certification: The Current Regulatory Environment

What businesses need to know if they are considering the organic marketplace!

Presenter: Rick Martinez, Founder and Executive Director, Sweetwater Organic Community Farm

Location: The Hillsborough Room (#2709)

SATURDAY

11:00-11:30 Green with Envy

Learn how to “Green” Your Business

Presenters: Thomas Snelling and Jack Bevilacqua, City of Tampa, Growth Management and Development Services

Location: The Plaza Room (#2708)

11:30-12:00 Residential Recycling in Hillsborough County

This workshop will provide information regarding Hillsborough County’s curbside and drop-off recycling programs including how to get started recycling at home and answers to many frequently asked questions.

Presenter: Katie Brown, Waste Reduction Specialist, Hillsborough County Solid Waste Department

Location: The Hillsborough Room (#2709)

12:00-12:30 Green Switch

Come see a demonstration of the Green Switch, http://Florida.GreenSwitch.tv/,The product is an idle current and power saving device. The presentation will feature a “mini” home to show how all the power draining components and thermostats can be switched to save energy and money.

Presenter: Virginia Grabowski, Green Earth Group

Location: The Plaza Room (#2708)

12:30-1:00 Chipotle Guacamole Cooking Demonstration Location: Chipotle Booth (see Exhibition Map for specific location)

1:00-2:00 Waterwise

Learn Florida-friendly landscaping principles, water conservation tips, and micro/drip-irrigation. Hillsborough County households will receive a coupon for one free micro-irrigation starter kit (limit one per household and only those that have NOT previously attended a Water-Wise workshop). Coupons can be redeemed for the kit at the Extension office in Seffner, FL.

Presenter: Maria Carver, Water-Wise Program Coordinator, Hillsborough County Extension

Location: The Plaza Room (#2708)

2:00-3:00 Rain Barrels

Learn how Rain Barrels can reduce stormwater runoff and decrease the use of potable water for your landscape! Hillsborough County households attending this workshop will receive a coupon for one free rain barrel (limit one per household and only for those households that have NOT previously attended a Rain Barrel workshop.) Coupons can be redeemed for the rain barrel at the Extension office in Seffner, FL. The 55-gallon barrel includes an installed spigot.

Presenter: Lynn Barber, IFAS, Hillsborough County Extension

Location: The Hillsborough Room (#2709)

3:00-3:30 Green with Envy

Learn how to “Green” Your Business

Presenters: Thomas Snelling and Jack Bevilacqua, City of Tampa, Growth Management and Development ServicesLocation: The Plaza Room (#2708)

Ed Begley to visit Tampa (Street Market?) this week

Photo from edbegley.com





If I can get a photo of Ed Begley sitting on the TSM bench we just finished for the shop, I think we might finally crack open that aging bottle of champagne in my fridge door. Here's hoping he gets to see some of what makes Tampa so great while he's spreading the "Green News" at this week's Sustainability Conference at USF.

Also speaking is Bruce Faulmann of Florida Trend and a whole host of professors and experts on eco issues and sustainability. There will be workshops and presentations starting Thursday on Green Building, Legal Issues, Agriculture, and Transportation. Interested in high speed rail? Thinking about water issues in this drought?

Get to http://www.sustainablefloridaconference.org/ and sign up.


Also there will be an Expo where Tampa Street Market will be displaying our recycled designs and sharing the eco-excitement on the grounds of the Marshall Center. (Let's hope for weather like last week!) The Expo runs Friday Oct. 9 from 1-5 pm and Saturday Oct. 10 from 9-4 pm.

The official info lifted From GoingGreenTampaBay.com :

The Going Green Tampa Bay EXPO 2009 is designed to focus on sustainability issues and opportunities that face the Tampa Bay area, showing the nation and the world that our region a viable place to grow a sustainable business or industry. The 2009 EXPO will showcase sustainable products and services as well as information about creating a more sustainable Tampa Bay area. The EXPO will also feature ways we all can do our part to live more sustainably and reduce our impact on our environment.


Formal exhibits and workshops will take place inside the Marshall Student Center (left) while a small business Marketplace along with solar exhibits and eco-vehicles can be found around the beautiful Marshall Student Center grounds. Fun for the young and young-at-heart as well as local restaurants will be part of the Expo.

The EXPO will:
Showcase goods, services, information and ideas about renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable design, resource efficient development and green building
Foster growth of local sustainable product lines and services
Stimulate community-wide interest in sustainability, and jump start actions to avert climate change
Highlight sustainability-related career opportunities
Provide family fun and interactive activities to explore
Provide food from local restaurants

This years EXPO is being held in conjunction with the 4th Annual Campus and Community Sustainability Conference. Working together, we are bringing the best and brightest in sustainability to Tampa for this Earth changing event.
Over 3,000 people visited the 2008 EXPO.
Don’t miss this one!

Successful Show Booth Design Resource from Deb

Last June, I presented a seminar to the vendors selling their wares at an antique show. Following a very harried day of setup for everyone, I shared some tips & tricks of visual merchandising and show booth design. Since most of their booths were already set up at that point, much of that information was intended to help them at their NEXT show. I provided them with handouts filled with everything I spoke about, and more, so they could refer to it later.

Because I know that this information is helpful to all kinds of dealers, artists, artisans, and others who present products at shows in various industries, I want to make this resource available to all of you. I have converted my seminar handout into a Google document. It's available here for you to view, print, and use in the practice of your own business.

To be clear, this is my original copyrighted material.
I am sharing this information here FREE for your 'personal use only'. I ask that you please do not print and distribute more copies of it, nor sell it, nor use it as content on your own blog or web site or in your book, seminar or store, or in any way profit from it.

I could limit access and sell this info, as many people do on their blogs, but I'd rather just get it out there to the new show vendors and my faithful readers so it will benefit you all. So let's all play nice, shall we? (I think that about covers all the bases.... and I think everyone who reads my blog knows what will happen if that request is ignored. SMILE.) If you want to spread the word about it, feel free to link to this post. No problem with that!