Monthly Archives: May 2013

Orange and Black Entrepreneur: Chris Kuenne

Business, Technology & Innovation, , , ,
Chris Kuenne
Chris Kuenne

Chris Kuenne was one of my favorite interviews in 2010.  He founded Rosetta 15 years ago and sold it to Publicis for $575 million three years ago. He will speak at the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club reunion event on  Friday, May 31, 11 to 12:30 p.m. at the Mathey College Common Room.

Kuenne graduated from Princeton in 1985 and will follow  Ed Zschau, in teaching the university’s very popular (highly competitive)High Tech Entrepreneurship class.

Read about the university’s success in commercializing technology in the cover story of this week’s U.S. 1  Newspaper. 

Muzzle Not the Ox: Crowd Funding for the Arts

Dance and the other arts, , , ,
Something sudden swept over her? That phrase is from the title of Susan Tenney’s new collaboration with her brothers, a work that premieres in New York on June 5. But it wasn’t sudden. She’s done marvelous Tenney and Company collaborations for years. And she is crowd-funding the production on the Web, as is entrepreneurial actor/singer/composer Scott Langdon. 
Susan Tenney

Steven Mark Tenney wrote the script for Something Sudden Swept Ov3r Me (and the 3 is not a typo) with a plot that goes like this: Norbit Ufowatchin is a graduate student about to leave the field of Advanced Alien Artifacts, assume a prestigious residency, and write The Novel of His Life, when his professor entrusts him with a powerful device capable of changing planetary history. Who is the professor really, and who is his beautiful daughter?

It runs at varying times, a,Planet Connection production, from June 5 to June 16 at the Robert Moss, 440 Lafayette Street. Another brother, David Tenney, has provided music. Susan Tenney is raising money for the production through the New York Live Arts website.


In contrast, Langdon is looking to the far future for his productions, because currently he is in “Mame” at the Bucks County Playhouse with Andrea McArdle.  Some of his projects are faith-based, such as the wonderful one-man versions of “All Eyes on the Cross” and “According to Mark.” Some are secular, like a one-man version of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” that he toured to wide acclaim.  

For what he calls the Scott Langdon Project, he aims to “crowd fund” through Indiegogo. His goal: “to enrich the lives of all people, everywhere, by presenting audiences with transformative performing arts pieces through which people are challenged to see the world, and their role in it, in new and exciting ways” 
Potential contributions start at $10 and $25 (for which you get an old-fashioned, paper mailed thank you note plus a CD of the Dickens evening.)
Support your local artists and you get it back in delight. As my father used to say, quoting Deuteronomy 25, Muzzle not the ox that treadeth out the grain. Just because actors and dancers love their work, they still need to be paid.

Now and Then: the Spirit of Princeton

Around Town
Now and Then, soldiers rest after the Spirit of Princeton Memorial Parade

Social Media Wisdom from Maisha Walker

Business, , ,

At the risk of not doing justice to Maisha Walker’s excellent talk on social media at May’s Princeton Regional Chamber Breakfast, here are some of her tips. I really don’t want to lose track of what she said, and I think it’s valuable for many of us.

Any new marketing technique requires a 6 to 12 month learning curve — first to learn the technology, then to soak up that community’s etiquette.

Experts say a human can have only 150 close relationships, but — for social media purposes — each of those 150 people have their own networks, making social media a powerful tool.

Nevertheless, social media connections aren’t helpful until you build them into relationships and make them real and local. Meet your connections!

Make sure you actually have a tangible goal that will affect your bottom line.

Realize you are a publisher. What will you publish?

Use the 80/20 rule. Twenty percent of your content should be highly unusual, surprising, attention grabbing.

Leverage all your resources, cross market, be consistent.

Track it, tweak it, repeat it. Don’t start any social media project if you can’t measure the results. It is not about traffic, it’s about customers.

In the photo at left, she highlighted the five social media tools that she recommends: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and WordPress.

Debbie Schaffer of Mrs. G’s, no slouch in social media herself, said it was the best SM presentation she’d heard.

Responding to Abundance: Cornerstone Community Kitchen

Faith and Social Justice

Cornerstone Community Kitchen serves free dinners every Wednesday, in partnership with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, at the corner of Nassau and Vandeventer Streets, just inside the doors of Princeton United Methodist Church. Everyone is welcome, no questions asked. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. volunteers serve plates heaped high with a main dish, vegetables, salad, fresh fruit, and dessert — with plenty of take-home bagels available. Cornerstone Kitchen is well into its second year of “never miss a Wednesday.”

Lots of people help serve this abundance, and here are three examples — one from a congregation, one from a small business, one from an individual.

Jeannette Timmons of The Jewish Center of Princeton volunteers weekly. Now that the Methodist church kitchen is undergoing renovation, the “prep” for the fresh veggies and salads is being done at the Jewish Center. Jeannette Timmons, a weekly volunteer, wrote this account of how the gift of a stove has warmed the friendship ties between the two congregations.

Evan and Maria Blomgren, of the Rocky Hill Inn , furnished the main course last Wednesday. Owner and chef at the Rockh Hill Tavern, Evan prepared delicious chicken masala, roasted potatoes, and asparagus and peppers. Panera Bread and the Bagel Hole regularly donate baked goods, and Zorba’s Brother has also donated a meal. More donors welcome!

Maurice Galimidi, of Allegra Printing, made a generous donation to CCK, and he tells why:

I am not a well-to-do man but I try to remember that in spite of that – I live in abundance.
My father taught his children to never feel that they are better than others just more lucky.
If I can make a small donation to allow myself a sense of connection to those with less than I have, it will keep me in my Father’s graces (he is now resting in peace).
I am a Jewish refugee from Egypt.  One of the most powerful images from Egypt  that my Father left me was on the eve of each Sabbath before going to temple he would go to the local bakery.  He would ask the baker if he can buy the remaining bread that was yet unsold – and he would purchase the lot. He left the bakery without the bread and homeless people would be on line in the street waiting for their chance to take a loaf of bread. It was different time in another country but it was testimony that he felt he was living in abundance.
I thought I would share.

Thank you, everybody.

Just 24 Notes, ‘Taps’ is Hard to Play

Around Town

Having played “Taps” for more than 40 years, the “Lone Bugler” talks with authority on sounding it. “There are only 24 notes, but it is difficult. ‘Taps’ is an emotion; music is an emotion. It is the only time you are laying someone down for the love of the country.”

Three trumpet players, I am pleased to say, are in the Fox family. My son, George Jr., was the lead trumpet during his time in the Princeton High School Studio Band, and two of his children are on the way to being fine players. I love hearing brass play, whether on the parade field or at church. 

So my heart warmed when I read the paragraph above, part of an article, in this week’s U.S. 1 Newspaper.  Dan Aubrey interviewed First Sergeant U.S. Army Retired Richard Pinter, also known as the Lone Bugler, about what it means to play the trumpet at a military funeral. Click here for a read that befits Memorial Day.  

Smelling Salts to De-Stress the Modern Woman

Business, ,

In your purse, carry the aroma of lavendar or eucalpytus — known for soothing the mind and spirit, said the expert at Capital Health tonight. At the 2nd anniversary of Woman in Business Alliance, (WIBA), an enterprise of the Princeton Regional Chamber, more than 100 women heard some stress tips from Dr. Randi Protter. It was a gala occasion, for some photographs, click here.

Protter gave this unusual tip about soothing scents. You can’t carry the vial of lavender with you,she noted, it would leave your purse full of oil. But you can take a small glass vial and fill it with rock salt or kosher salt, then drip the essence over it. When you need a spa break, sniff sniff sniff.

Another good tip: try “square breathing,” in for four counts, hold your breath for four counts, breath out for four counts, don’t breathe yet for four counts. That works too. We all tried it.

Stress goes back to cavewoman days, said Protter, when women developed their output of cortisol and adrenaline. Back then, they had two choices, make dinner or be dinner. Now we have more choices, but we still have stress!

The Money Man (Bernanke) and The Wit (Remnick)

Around Town, ,

See live broadcasts when Ben Bernanke speaks at Princeton University on June 2 at 2 p.m. and David Remnick speaks on Monday, June 3. 

Here is the info I got from the Princeton University publicity folks: a summary of the graduation events leading up to and including Princeton’s 266th Commencement. I have deleted mentions of how to pick up journalist credentials and, no, I don’t plan to do that myself. 

The Bernanke and Remnick speeches will be simulcast on Channel 27 for Comcast subscribers and Channel 21 for Verizon FIOS subscribers. The events also are scheduled to be webcast live and archived online for later viewing at www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/. For more information, visit the Commencement website at http://www.princeton.edu/commencement/events

—The Baccalaureate service will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 2, in the University Chapel. The speaker will be Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve. 
 
—The Class Day ceremony for seniors is set for 10:30 a.m. Monday, June 3, on Cannon Green (Jadwin Gym in the event of severe weather). The speaker will be David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker.

— The Hooding ceremony for advanced degree candidates will begin at 5 p.m. Monday, June 3, on Cannon Green (McCarter Theater in case of severe weather). The guest speaker is Sheryl WuDunn, a graduate from the Class of 1988. 
 
—The Commencement program begins with the academic procession at10:20 a.m. Tuesday, June 4 on the front campus on Nassau Street. The University’s 266th Commencement ceremony is slated for 11 a.m. on the lawn in front of Nassau Hall (Jadwin Gym in the event of severe weather). Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman will preside over the event and address the graduates. Several honorary degrees traditionally are conferred, but names are not announced until that day. 

PLAN FOR THE TRAFFIC! 
 

Twitter May Rule, but Press Releases are Alive and Well

Business, , ,

A press release is not an anachronism, says Anne Sweeney in a press release to me! And she’s right. Here is an excerpt from her excellent copy, where she says that the press release “is the launching pad for all your “new media” efforts..” and she goes on to offer four press releases for a modest sum. 

Here to tell, in person, about how to use new media is the speaker for the Princeton Regional Chamber breakfast, Maisha Walker, founder of Message Medium. She helped digitally brand Unilever, Columbia University, and Mars Chocolate.

Hearing her will lure me away from my favorite anti-aging yoga class, so I will be at tomorrow’s Business Before Business Breakfast. Register for $25 if you are a chamber member (and that includes all my PUMC friends). 


Sweeney reminds us, as I’m sure Walker will agree, to post the press release on your website, but also on Facebook “with a quick comment and an attractive photo” and hope it spreads virally. Also  “both the Facebook and the web link will show up on Google as two separate entries.” Hmm,  I didn’t know that. 

But I do know that a print item in the Ewing Observer (full disclosure, a Community News Service paper, as is U.S. 1 Newspaper)  brought somebody last Saturday to the New Jersey State Button Show. The visitor said that, at breakfast, she read the calendar listing and decided it would be a great way to spend a Saturday. The calendar listing came from a press release, so — yes — press releases are alive and well. 

RIP Merrill Brockway: He Brought Dance to America

Dance and the other arts

Other than grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the single best Good Thing that happened to dance in the ’70s and ’80s was Merrill Brockway, who began producing dance for public television in 1976 with Dance in America. 

Millions of Americans got to see the greats — we really had great, seminal choreographers then. Graham, Balanchine, Cunningham, Robbins, Taylor. Because I was a dance critic from ’78 to ’86, PBS would send me  the review tapes. What treasures! Until then, dance history scholars and would-be dance critics had to hover around 16 mm projectors in darkened rooms. These tapes — we could play them over and over again until the dances were etched in our DNA.

He taped his programs so the dancers could be ‘full figure,’ not showing “dancing feet” as was the custom until then.

And our “sisters and our cousins and our aunts” in Kalamazoo and Great Neck and Puddle Jump Illinois now knew what we were talking about when we talked about Balanchine.

Brockway died at 90 on May 2 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here is the New York Times obituary.