This is big news.  The rapid rise of mobile technologies, broadband access and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have created a news kaleidoscope that shifts in real time.  As the report says, this kaleidoscope is “Portable, personalized and participatory.” 

I encourage anyone involved in marketing or driving sales for a business to read the report and consider how these shifts in the making and sharing of news are impacting your business today, and how they might in the future. 

Key stats from the report:
1. TV is still the biggest source of news (78% of Americans say they get news from a local TV station), Internet sits at second place (61% of users get news online), ahead of radio and newspapers.
2. Three fourths of the people (75%) who find news online get it either forwarded through e-mail or posts on social networking sites.
3. Half of them (52%) forward the news through those means.
4. 59% of those surveyed get news from a combination of online and offline sources.
5. Nearly half of Americans (46%) claim they get news from four to six media platforms on a typical day.
6. Only 17% — claim they read news in a national newspaper such as The New York Times or USA Today
7. Very few people nowadays (7%) are getting information from a single media platform.
8. Thirty-three percent of cell phone owners now access news on their phones
9. 28% use personalized news, meaning they have a customized page that includes news from sources they’ve chosen.
10. News consumers today participate in the creation of news; 37% have contributed to news creation, commented on news or shared it via social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter. 

For the full report, click here.

Click here to read the article.

Founded by two Southern Oregon dairy farming brothers in 1992, the fun-loving and spirited private coffee company opened 13 new stores in 2009. There are now 153 locations across Oregon, California, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona, with plans to open an additional 10 stores in existing markets throughout 2010.

Click here to read the article.

Two moms came up with the idea after one of them, Amy Paterson, went through a battle with breast cancer. She went to 144 medical appointments in a year and had to arrange for child care each time.

“We believe that since retail stores, gyms and movie theaters offer drop-in child care, so should hospitals, where families are often in crisis and could use it the most,” Paterson said in a press release sent out by the hospital.

Click here to read the full story and watch the video.

“We are incredibly happy about our move to Madison Avenue,” said Wendy Lane Stevens, president and CEO of LANE PR. “This location is iconic for its role in the emergence of America’s marketing industry, and it’s fitting that from our new offices on Madison Avenue we will grow LANE PR’s footprint in results-driven marketing and public relations on the east coast.”

The LANE PR New York office opened in 2003 and focuses on financial services, technology and consumer accounts. The office is led by Amber Roberts, a director at LANE PR.

Heather Gleason
Heather Gleason has nine years of public relations experience with a diverse client portfolio.  At LANE PR, Gleason has managed and implemented strategic marketing and public relations for a variety of clients including Wines from Spain, Sexy Hair and University of Phoenix. Gleason’s previous experience before joining LANE in 2007 includes creating and implementing strategic public relations campaigns for national cable networks and clients in the entertainment, healthcare, business and non-profit industries

About LANE PR  
LANE PR is an independent firm specializing in public relations-driven marketing strategies with offices in New York and Portland, Ore.  Founded in 1990 by Wendy Lane, LANE PR provides integrated marketing communications and public relations for a host of industries, including technology, business, consumer and non-profit clients.  The agency has won several awards during its 18 years, including the 2009 PR Week Young PR Professional of the Year, 2008 PRSA Bronze Anvil Award for outstanding public relations tactics and the 2008 Gold Bulldog Award for Excellence in Media Relations. For more information about LANE PR, visit www.lanepr.com.

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But for much of his illustrious career, Giesey was also a chronic abuser of alcohol and pain pills. At one point, he drank as much as a gallon of whiskey a month and took between 12 and 25 Vicodin pills a day.

So on Dec. 1, 1998, Giesey reluctantly entered what is now called Hazelden Springbrook, a substance abuse rehabilitation facility in Newberg that specializes in catering to health care professionsals.

Click here to read the article.

Just as the volume of this online activity reached its height yesterday, we were hit with the news of the devastation that occurred in Haiti. It was an instant reality check for all of us. A reminder of the life and death issues facing the world that are much more important than the future of our late night TV.

The family of a dear friend of mine is in Haiti. She has only been able to reach a few of these family members over the past 24 hours. The fate of some of her loved ones is unknown as I write this post.

If everyone that took the time to voice their “O’Brien vs. Leno” opinion now took a moment to donate to the rescue effort in Haiti, we would be able to make a small dent in the tremendous need for resources that now exists in Haiti.

If you are looking for a way to help and are able to do so, here are some links to organizations through which you can make a donation online:

https://www.imcworldwide.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=878

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.1a019a978f421296e81ec89e43181aa0/?vgnextoid=a8712721ea326210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

https://my.care.org/site/Donation2?5000.donation=form1&df_id=5000

Portland was a different food town then.  We were just beginning to talk about the amazing products that the Willamette Valley and the Pacific Ocean provides as well as the growing authentic food culture.

As a result of our emerging importance, the 1998 IACP conference attracted many national food luminaries.  Perhaps my favorite was Julia Child.  I met Julia one morning at The Pearl Bakery.   Julia and the majority of attendees on this side trip had arrived by bus. 

I was with Suzanne Hamlin, a food writer for the New York Times and Fran McCullough, a cookbook author.  I had taken them to The Pearl Bakery in my car as I had invited them to have lunch after the tour.   Julia was a friend of Suzanne’s and she asked if she could invite Julia to join us for lunch.     

We had been on a very fast schedule and I hadn’t decided where we should have lunch.  I called Kim Paley at Paley’s.  (They were open for lunch in those days.)  I asked Kim if I could bring Julia Child for lunch in ten minutes with two other food writers.  She happily said yes.

Julia ate two hamburgers with frites along with the Oregon pinot that we ordered.  Julia was a very expansive conversationalist and quite upbeat.  She talked about many things from her time in Paris to living in Santa Barbara. 
She had also been a great friend of James Beard and since Portland was his home town, she wanted to talk about him.  She said that while she brought French cuisine to the American people, it was James who taught Americans their own cuisine based upon wonderful, fresh ingredients. 

I grew up with a grandfather, a butcher, who had a grocery store in Gaston, Oregon.  My uncle farmed onions, hazelnuts and plums.  My mother, a home economist, gave food demonstrations at grange halls.    I understood those food memories.

My lunch with Julia made me very aware of the special food place that Oregon is and very excited to share it’s bounty.

Click here to read the article.

Two events were held, the first at Spur Gastropub in Seattle, and the second two days later at Mercat a la Planxa in Chicago. 

Spur’s chefs, Chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough, were recently called rising star chefs by Food + Wine magazine, and Jose Garces of Mercat recently won the title of the Next Iron Chef. 

Both events included an informative olive oil tasting led by olive oil producer, Rosa Vañó, followed by a six course meal, each dish featuring one of the following varietials: arbequina, hojiblanca, cornicabra and picual.