Keleigh and Wendy were each given a white apron and asked to do what they would to it for An Apron Affair at our beloved Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum.  The two are among 30 local artists invited to participate in the event, which includes an apron fashion show and silent auction for the original works of art.  Won’t you join us at the event and cheer on all the artists?

When: November 14th, 4-7 pm
What: Silent Auction & Fashion Show featuring 30 unique artist’s original work
Where: Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, 115 SE Lake Street, Ilwaco.  360-642-3446
Why: Food, Wine, Fun and Fundraising!
Admission:  Non-perishable food item(s) for local food banks

[caption id="attachment_1688" align="alignright" width="161" caption="Allen Hansen at Chinook Salmon Derby late 1940's, CPHM collections"][/caption]

The Apron Affair is in conjunction with the Museum’s food-themed temporary exhibits this year.

KEY INGREDIENTS: AMERICA BY FOOD just closed; this Smithosinian Institution Travelling Exhibition explores the connections between Americans and the foods they produce, prepare, preserve, and present at the table.

Coming in February is PENINSULA EATS!: DINE AT THE SOURCE, an exhibit which compliments Key Ingredients by exploring the traditions of food on the Long Beach Peninsula. This region has long been the source of good eating both for residents and visitors.  Known for our fresh oysters, salmon and the popular razor clams people have long flocked here to partake of the local bounty.  Included in the show will be artifacts related to home cooking, food production and the well respected restaurants that have brought visitors to our area for generations.

We hope to see you there!

Rally Towels run rampant.  One of the St. Louis Cardinals complained recently about a sea of white at a recent game in Los Angeles.  Thanks to HomerHankee.com, you can easily be a part of that sea!  Not limited to professional sports, HomerHankee.com owner David Ferrara hopes to increase school spirit with his rally towels as well. While Pro-Team Hankees are available online, you can also order a Custom Hankee to show your support for your school, club or other organization.

David had a logo concept and color palette in mind when he and Karl first talked about the site.  Keleigh did a little work to transform the logo concept into logo artwork and vectorized some of David’s Hankee designs.  Meanwhile, Karl got busy on the site’s structural design, which includes a rotating ‘Featured Hankees’ function as well as integration of PayPal buttons that allow customers to easily place orders for their favorite hankee.  PayPal is a great way for start-up site owners to get their feet wet in e-commerce without making the investment in a fully-customized, secure shopping cart solution.  We’ve had good success starting people this way who eventually upgrade to a more expensive site –once the site is able to pay for itself.

Because David has big plans for his new company, he wanted Karl to give him a site that would grow with him, but not look empty in the meanwhile.  Take a click over and enjoy a site that celebrates America’s favorite past-time!

Randy Dennis of Dennis Company shared this timely and accurate information.  Enjoy.

Sixteen Ways to Survive a Recession and Build Your Sales by Toni Harkins

Managers who approach tough economic times with a get-down-to-the-essentials attitude come out of a recession with renewed vigor and a jump-start on the good times to come.

Managers can use these 16 tactics as survival techniques during the recession and to lay the groundwork for capturing greater market share when it’s over.

DON’T EXPERIENCE RECESSION.
The economy has not completely collapsed; it’s just harder that it was a few years ago to sell. There’s still business to get. Step up advertising, marketing, television marketing – all front-end business activities. It’s important to hold on to your cash, but don’t do the foolish things that cause your customers to forget about you. You need more customers, not fewer.

LOOK AT YOUR RESOURCES.
Brainstorm how you can make just a small difference in improving results with each resource. Time, salespeople, and customer service representatives are your finest resources. Think “resource to results” and utilize your resources to get better results.

GO FOR EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE.
Get finicky on behalf of customers. Do whatever it takes to give legendary service. Be sure that not only your staff is customer friendly, but that all systems are friendly, including distribution (purchasing and merchandise flow), accounting (accounts receivable and accounts payable), delivery, and follow-up services. Search for small things you can do better.

GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONES.
Do and think things you’ve never done or thought before. It’s time for a change. Old reflexes that used to kick in when recession loomed will have to be rethought. Get innovative, entrepreneurial, and forward thinking.

BELIEVE THERE IS AN ANSWER.
Be convinced that others have won in all kinds of difficult situations and are still winning. You can, too.

REJUVENATE SELF-CONFIDENCE.
In hard times, it is easy to become discouraged. But if you’re discouraged, the entire company becomes discouraged. Be the leader you know you are. Sharpen up and shape up!

WORK ON A PLAN OF ATTACK.
As if you were a great general leading your forces into battle, remember: Wars are won in tents. Write down your goals and prepare a written action plan.

TRAIN TO PEAK PERFORMANCE.
People are your number one unlimited resource. Hold on to your cash in a down market, but not your training dollars. If sales are down, train your salespeople. If morale is low, management training needs to be number one in your plan of attack.

MEASURE PERFORMANCE.
When performance is measured and reported back, the level of performance improves. Frequent measurement in key areas will boost morale, and productivity will jump, as well. Measuring performance more often will accelerate improvement.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL.
In most companies, getting and keeping clients is the most important activity. Nothing should get in the way of this. Ask yourself throughout the day, “Is this activity getting and keeping clients?”

INTERACT WITH THE SALES FORCE.
Have daily meetings. If your outside salespeople don’t come to the office regularly, have them fax (or e-mail) their daily schedules to you. Poor time management and people management leads to a deadly disease – procrastination. Inspect what you expect.

CREATE A THEME.
Some examples: Catch the vision. Catch the Fever. I have a dream… When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Put inspirational posters and mottos on the walls, in the foyer – everywhere. Don’t let your people forget their unlimited potential.

ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY.
Don’t blame anyone or anything. Blame drains you of energy. You need massive quantities of energy to manage manpower and morale.

STAY THE COURSE.
Columbus stayed the course. His daily log, through storms, mutiny, disease, and disaster repeated only one entry: “We proceeded south by southwest.”

ADJUST.
It is easier to adjust to the hardships of a good living than to those of a poor living. Make the decision. You, the boss, need to be in the field networking and selling, just as you did in the old days. I gave this sage advice to the president of a copy machine company. He hit the streets for the first time in 15 years and closed a contract for 60 new machines in the first five days.

HAVE A DREAM.
Become a visionary! “I was International Business Machines in my father’s garage,” said Thomas Watson.

. . . . . . . . . . .

“Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them.”

Richard E. Byrd

Last June the Pacific County EDC brought together local businesses and experts in security, finance and emergency communications to help strengthen our community in case of disaster. I was honored to be a speaker, sharing what I know about protecting your digital world from disaster.  The EDC is bringing back the ‘Ready, Respond, Recover’ Conference on October 14th to help even more businesses prepare for the unexpected.  This time, the conference will be in Long Beach.

While we’d all like to think a natural or man-made disaster won’t impact us, we’re all at risk. As a local business owner or manager, you need to protect your staff, facility and other assets. Join us on October 14, 2009 at the Chautauqua Lodge from 8:00am to 1:00pm for the ‘Ready, Respond, Recover’ Conference. You’ll learn disaster planning tips from local experts, and get personal coaching to create a plan for your business. Registration is only $35.

Call 360-642-9330 to secure your spot today!

I hope to see you on October 14th!

Here’s what I get to share with folks:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKdlCxSlPJo[/youtube]

Keleigh