Walter Adolf Mallace December 1st, 1935 - December 15th - 2013

My Father passed away on December 15th, 2013, he was 78 years old.  On Wednesday, December 18th at one o'clock in the afternoon we had a beautiful memorial service honoring my father.

The service was held on the shore of Lake Michigan at the Gilson Park Lakeview Center in Wilmette, Illinois.  The Service was officiated by our friend, Rabbi Phil Lieberman and was attended by friends and family from near and far.

Below is his obituary, the program from the service along with thoughts from my daughter Jordie and eulogies my brother Jeffrey and I delivered paying tribute to our father. 

Obituary:

 Walter A. Mallace "Wally", age 78. Life-long friend, partner and beloved husband for 57 years of Judy, nee Malkan. Loving father of Michael (Fran) and Jeffrey (Claudia) Mallace. Cherished grandfather of Jordie and Sydney. Dear brother of Fred (Barbara) Mallace. Fond brother-in-law of Bob and Sally Malkan. Memorial service Wednesday 1 PM at the Gilson Park Lakeview Center, 800 Gilson Park Drive, Wilmette. In lieu of flowers contributions in Walter's name to the charity of your choice would be appreciated. Info Mitzvah Memorial Funerals, 630-MITZVAH (648-9824), or www.mitzvahfunerals.com.

Memorial Service Program:

 

Thoughts From Jordie Mallace:

Jordie eloquently spoke extemporaneously about her grandfather, here are the highlights;

While there were many stories to share, she selected the following favorites. She spoke about how she would do Math times tables long distance over the telephone with my father when she was younger, and her fond memories of the "Boys" trip (Jordie, my father and I) to Wisconsin where we went to visit my old Camp Horseshoe, Eagle River and Land O' Lakes where he went on family fishing trips as a kid and where we went as well.   She went on to say how my father would not let her get a souvenir Greenbay Packers "cheese head hat" because Mallace's are Chicago Bears fans and that hasn't changed.. Go Bears!   She also recalled the Children's museum in Chicago where she was the cashier and he was shopping for groceries and the visit to the Art institute of Chicago and her Harry potter obsession back then.

Finally, she ended by saying how proud her grandfather was of her and how he would tell her she could do whatever she wanted to do in life.  

She concluded with this quote;   

"A grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart"

Fran and I could not be prouder of how poised and in control Jordie was remembering her grandfather.

Eulogy from Michael Mallace:

Walter Mallace

December 1st, 1935 -  December 15th, 2013

Eulogy

December 18th, 2013

My father, Walter Mallace, was a great man.  He was dearly loved by my mother and his soul mate Judy of more than 57 years, my brother, and I, our wives, his granddaughters, along with his, brother, brother and sister in laws, cousins, nieces, nephews and countless friends.  He was a second generation American, of German, Russian decent, born in the middle of the Great Depression on December 1st, 1935.  His parents, Paul and Selma Mallace were a colorful couple from the south side of Chicago.

At a young age he started working, first by selling eggs that his Aunt Mary and Uncle Jack would send him from their farm in Iowa. He had a very diverse and eclectic career as he worked his way through high school and college. He Sold orange pop at Soldiers Field. He did have a few career setbacks in his youth. He was an Ice cream man for one day until the warehouse that garaged the truck burned down, he was an elevator operator in a high rise office building for one day and had to quit because he got dizzy going up and down all day, he worked for a furrier for a few days but had to quit that job because he broke out in a rash when he was near the fur, he even delivered mail for a while.  He hit his stride after leaving Roosevelt University when he started selling greeting cards for American Greetings Card Company.   This laid the foundation for a long and successful, thirty plus year career as a the proprietor of Paper Plus, a card, gift and party supply retail store in the blue collar town of Waukegan, Illinois.

Honesty, integrity, hard work, the highest moral standards, determination, fairness characterized my father.   He was a thoughtful man who stood for what was right and the good things in life.  He believed in the Golden Rule of doing on to others that you would want to be done on to you.  These were not just mere words, but were the basic tenants that he lived his life by.  He led by example and a had a work ethic second to none! These were the values, the guide-posts that were instilled in our moral fiber from our early days mopping the floors and emptying the garbage at the store in Waukegan.  Quite simply, he was the hardest working man I have ever known. 

He always taught us right from wrong. That there was no such thing as a free lunch and that if you wanted something you had to work hard and smart and save for it.  I remember when I was thirteen or fourteen he told me that I was not getting an allowance any more and that if I wanted money I would have to get a job. I angrily retorted,  "At my age where am I going to get a job" His response was,  "I guess you will have to come and work for me at the store on Saturday's."   I was not happy, but worked for my dad from that point on until I moved to Arizona to go to College.

My father was also very good at framing issues and putting them into perspective as well.  I fondly remember the time I asked for a raise from my meager three dollars an hour salary.  Without missing a beat.  This was his response.   "How many bosses do you know of that will wake their employees up in the morning, drive them to and from work each day and buy them lunch"  Needless to say, I didn't get the cash.  Although, What I didn't realize at the time and not until years later was that he really did give me the raise.  There is an old saying, "You can give a person a fish and they can live for a day.  Or you can teach a person to fish and they can live a life-time." I will cherish those Saturday's, the forty-minute drive we spent together each way to Waukegan and back.  I will always be grateful for the wisdom my father shared with me as teenager.  My Saturday's in Waukegan represent the most fruitful fishing expedition I've ever been on. 

Loyalty and friendship were paramount to my father.    My father was always great with numbers.  He could do calculations in his head faster than most people could do using a calculator.  It is no surprise that he parlayed that skill set and liked to play cards with his buddies when he was a kid.  To the very end, he still played Poker and Gin Rummy with some of the same gang from high school, Sunday school, college along with new friends he's made throughout his life.

Here are some Wally fun facts.  In High School, He was thrown out of home-room one day and sent to the Principals office because he was reading the racing form in the back of the auditorium.  It gets better, to add insult to injury, my grandmother was called to school because of the issue and she got into a car accident on the way and smashed her brand new Red Cadillac on the median in front of Hyde Park High School.  Of course it was my fathers fault that she hit the median, because my grandmother was so upset and could not concentrate.  He loved to fish and especially loved going to Wisconsin on annual summer vacations with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  In high school, He would borrow his Uncle Phil's car when he wanted to go out on a date. He was an exceptionally devoted son to his mother and father.

As a child my father was stricken with many ear infections, causing him to lose his hearing as a young adult, those were the days before antibiotics.  Ironically, while he had difficulty hearing, he was a great listener.  At twenty-nine, with two young boys, he suffered his first heart attack and was in the hospital recovering for months. By age fifty-five he had his first bypass surgery and ten years later he had his second bypass surgery, after that he had a kidney removed and along the way he was diagnosed with diabetes and lymphoma.   Aunt Merle affectionately called him Felix the Cat because he had nine lives.  He actually had a lot more than that.  My father was brave, always positive, courageous and a fighter.  He always looked at life as the glass being half full not being half empty.  He and my mother faced his health issues head on and never swept them under the rug.  Interestingly enough his father was a prizefighter, a boxer.  He was tough and instilled those instincts into my father.  The twelve rounds my father fought were not in the ring but in life regarding his health.  If you would look at him or you were with him, he was always in good spirit and put his best game face on.   He never let his health condition get in the way.  People would ask me, "How's your dad doing?" I would respond,  "He's great, but when you look under the hood, there are some issues."

He always preached to my brother and I to never quit.  I can tell you unequivocally, He practiced what he preached down to his last breath.  He fought a great fight.  As sad as this is, I don't look at his passing at 78 years old as a defeat, I look at it as a victory, a huge victory!  He defied the odds. He was with us a lot longer than even he thought he would be.  He won! and we also won, because we were all blessed by his presence and influence.

Finally, I want to tell you about a true love story, the story of my mother Judy and father.  Here is some more interesting Mallace trivia.  My mother's maiden name was Malkan, my parents went to Sunday school together, they were confirmed together and went to High School together, their pictures were next to each other in the Hyde Park High School yearbook, because Malkan was next to Mallace.  As my daughter would say,  "How Cool Is That!"  They were destined to be together! 

The story goes, that after high school my Aunt Carol, my father's cousin and my mother's friend, fixed them up on a date.  After the date my father asked my mother out again and again.  By the fifth date my mother was a little frustrated that my father had not kissed her and she told Aunt Carol that she was going to kiss him if he didn't kiss her.  The rest is history. 

Their marriage was solid.  I'm sure that there were ups and downs along the way, but it endured for fifty-seven years.  It was built on trust, honesty, mutual respect; it was a partnership at home and in the business.  But most importantly it was build on unwaveringly love for each other.

Mom, if dad were standing here now (and I believe that he is), I know he would tell you how much he was in love with you and how much he appreciated the way you looked out for him and you cared for him.  You were his champion; his advocate and you selflessly gave of yourself to make him comfortable when you knew he was hurting. You were his, lover, his rock, you were there in the good times and the challenging times, you laughed together and you cried together, you were best friends!  

Mom, I hope you can take comfort in knowing that he fought to the end for you, and that he was at peace.

Mom,.. dad thanks you and so do we!

Finally, my brother Jeff has so eloquently stated, Walter Adolf Mallace will be missed, but he will not be forgotten.

Thank you

 Eulogy from Jeffrey Mallace:

TRIBUTE TO MAX MALLACE

December 18, 2013

Good Afternoon:

You’ve heard from My Brother (Michael) and My Niece(Jordie) and now it’s my Turn. I’m Jeff Mallace. Jeffrey as my Dad would call me. The youngest of the Mallace Boys

Thank you for being here today. It means a lot to my Mom, Me, and our Family.  Michael did a wonderful job describing our Dad and his Life. I wanted to take a few minutes to share a few stories about our Dad, A Man I called MAX.

Some of you may now be confused, because the program says Walter and Wally in Quotes. One thing my Brother did not mention was that our Dad was very Big on respect and discipline. We ate Dinner together as a Family at 6:15p.m. Every night. That’s when our Dad would pull in the driveway from work and Dinner would be on the table. He always asked us about school, my sports, Michael’s radio, and told us what went on at the store that day.

So now you know the background, Here’s how the story goes. The Four of us were sitting in the Kitchen having Dinner. My Dad was sitting to my right and I said Dad. No response. I said Dad. No Response. I said DAD! No Response! If you recall, most of you know that my Dad was hard of hearing. Finally, I said “Hey Wally”. Well, Somehow he heard that. Before I knew it, a loving yet firm back hand to my cheek. My Dad said, you call me Dad, you call me Father, you call me Sir, but you don’t ever call me by my first name. I don’t know where it came from but immediately I responded “OK MAX” and as the words rolled off my tongue I was bracing myself for another Love Tap to the Cheek. My Dad looked at me smiled and it was MAX ever since!

Back in the day when we wrote letters it was Dear Mom and MAX. Envelopes where addressed Mr. and Mrs. MAX Mallace. Gifts of Belt Buckles and Pocket Knives, engraved with MAX were given. And even today, Our Dad’s legacy lives on with his email address.WWW.MAXCHICAGO.COM.

MAX’s impact has touched all of you here today and many others. I describe him as selfless, caring and compassionate. Humble, Funny, Loving and Proud! He was especially Proud of Michael and me.
I think most of you know that I work for Frito Lay. I will be in my 29th year and my Dad has s been there from Day 1 to teach me, coach me, and counsel me.

Last year Our Region won Frito Lay’s most prestigious sales award. It’s called the HW Lay award, named after our Founder. Every week MAX would ask me “how is your district doing”. I told him it was a Region and we were going to win the award. We did win and He was so PROUD and EXCITED, almost as if he were also on the Team. In my mind He was on the Team and will always be on the Team!

There are Five things I’d like To share with you about my Dad.

1.) He always asked me as a Kid If I owned stock in Commonwealth Edison. I guess we were always leaving the lights on.

2.) He always told me. “Jeffrey, sit down when you eat…Relax.” To this day when I’m standing in our Kitchen, or eating something on the run, I hear this voice in my head…”Jeffrey, sit down when you eat”.

3.) Stand up Straight! This is really good advice for a 5’6 Man.

4.) Always save for a rainy day. Max always said he was coming to me when he needed a loan. That day never came.

5.) He often threatened to move into Claudia and my House. I told him MAX, if you and Mom want to move in, No problem. You can sign over your Social security check, enter only through the garage, come upstairs when I say it’s OK, and Please make sure you turn off the lights. We don’t have stock in the electric company.  Last but not least, it’s our House and if you’re going to live in our House, you’ll have to live by our rules.

Sound Familiar to any Parents out there?

My Dad touched so many people’s lives’ in so many positive ways. You may think of him as a Husband, a Father, a Father in law, a Grandfather, a Brother, a Brother in law, a Cousin, a Friend, Michael or Jeff’s Dad. A Smart Guy, One of the Good ones!

I’ll always remember him as MAX…My Dad, My Friend, My Hero!

Thank you!

Gilson Park Lakeview Center

Walter A. Mallace "Wally", age 78. Life-long friend, partner and beloved husband for 57 years of Judy, nee Malkan. Loving father of Michael (Fran) and Jeffrey (Claudia) Mallace. Cherished grandfather of Jordie and Sydney. Dear brother of Fred (Barbara) Mallace. Fond brother-in-law of Bob and Sally Malkan. Memorial service Wednesday 1 PM at the Gilson Park Lakeview Center, 800 Gilson Park Drive, Wilmette. In lieu of flowers contributions in Walter's name to the charity of your choice would be appreciated. Info Mitzvah Memorial Funerals, 630-MITZVAH (648-9824), or www.mitzvahfunerals.com. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=walter-mallace&pid=168592831#sthash.zXF1yrIO.dpuf

Chinese Food on Christmas

With the holidays around the corner, I'm reminded of the first Christmas that I can remember. I must of been four or five and we lived in an apartment in Skokie, Illinois. What I remember most of all was that it was getting late (or at least it was late for me) and we were sitting in living room. My mother had left out milk and a sandwich for Santa Clause and my parents wanted me to go to bed. The next thing I know is that I hear bells jingling outside the window. My folks say you must get to bed so Santa Clause can come. I went to bed and remember waking up early the next morning, half the milk was gone and the sandwich had a bite taken out of it. I remember that Santa Clause brought me a big, red fire truck that year.

It wasn't until years later that I found out that their wasn't a Santa Clause and I discovered that the bells jingling were actually coming from my uncle Jay who was out side the window.

As the years went on and my brother and I got older, we did not celebrate Christmas, we celebrated Hanukkah. On Christmas day we would typically be with friends, go to the movies and either go to, or carry out Chinese food. That tradition has stuck and forty years later Fran and I do the same thing with the girls.

Imagine my delight the other day when Ellen Brown posted this video by Brandon Walker on facebook. Enjoy!




As long as we are in the Holiday spirit, Sydney and I were watching the movie This Christmas with Chris Brown. It was a cute movie. What I enjoyed the most was Chris Brown singing "This Christmas". This is my new favorite Christmas song.

Watch the music video here.




On a much more serious note, it is tough out there right now. Not only in the broadcasting industry but in just about every other industry as well. Radio consultant Jim Taszarek had a heart felt post in his "Daily News and Tips" email on November 25th.

The headline was "Layoffs and Thanksgiving". The message is just as powerful for the holidays as it was for Thanksgiving.

This is what Jim had to say.......

Want to feel good over Thanksgiving weekend? I know two anonymous heroes; a MM and a GM who didn't choose, but were required to lay off some people in the last couple months. One is having a Thanksgiving Dinner for them and their families. Another gave up frequent flyer miles for a former jock to see her mom. That is so cool.

If you're at a station that had recent layoffs, but you still have a gig, let's take a moment to discuss our departed brothers and sisters. Things they might be able to use . . .


A Call

Ideas for where to look for a gig.

Babysitting

Rides for kids

Copying

Borrowing a laptop

Car repair - but mostly . . .

Your Attention

Your Time

Your Concern

Your Friendship

Your Encouragement

This will help both of you to be grateful on Thanksgiving.

Sign up for Taz's news letter here. It is a must read for radio people.

Steve Dahl's Influence

I just read in the radio trades that Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl has been let go by CBS radio. He had been heard 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WJMK-FM 104.3 (Jack FM).

Steve Dahl was just starting out in Chicago radio when I was in finishing high school in 1978. Steve Dahl was one of the first "Shock Jocks" that I remember listening too.

Chicago Tribune media columnist Phil Rosenthal writes about Dahl's departure and the departure of other high profile / high paid media personalities in Chicago and around the country. A very interesting and insightful read. Read it here:

UPDATE:
Here is another post by Phil Rosenthal. Read it here:
Here is the link to Steve Dahl's website. www.dahl.com

Personally, I vividly remember driving with with my father somewhere listening to Dahl in the car (my choice not his) . Dahl was detailing a story about the tragic death of a young woman who had died during a love making session with her boyfriend. He went on to say that when the doctors performed the autopsy, they determined that she had choked to death and discovered a foreign substance in her throat (interesting). I remember the story, but don't remember how my father reacted. I was a bit embarrassed and am sure he was too. I was biting my tongue so I would not laugh hysterically. (Hey, what do you want? I was 18 and this was locker room humor at it's best)

Dahl was funny, topical, crude and he certainly new how to relate to a young male audience at the time.

Believe it or not, the car incident with my father in 1978 has helped me formulate some of the on-air philosophies that help guide me today. When targeting young males the content of the show is one thing. When targeting people that have young kids in the car with them, acceptable content is quite different. I suggest to our programmer and jocks on MEGA, an adult 25-54, family oriented station that we should not broadcast any content that would embarrass a parent while listening with their kids.

On the flip side, I also feel that parents have to take responsibility for what is acceptable to listen to as well. A case in point was just this week when I made the mistake of listening to POWER 98.3 in the morning while driving my eleven year old daughter to school. POWER is going through some imaging and programming changes and I wanted to hear what was going on.

The morning show was taking calls from listeners, asking them what happened to their first boy/girlfriend. A girl called in and said her old boyfriend had been in jail for a while and when he came out he was into tattoos and piercings. Today, he is a professional "Pecker Piercer". Funny bit, not appropriate for an eleven year old. Shame on me for listening to POWER with her in the car. Needless to say, I had to explain what a "Pecker Piercer" was. Embarrassing....

Back in my EDGE days, when we carried Howard Stern, I would listen to him in the morning while taking my oldest who at the time was four or five to daycare. One day, I heard a childs voice from the back seat say, "Daddy, that was a bad word"! Oops, that was the last time I listened to Howard with her in the car.

Both girls are probably scarred for life and will remember these incidents 30 years from now just like I remember Steve Dahl with my father...

Dahl could also be funny without being crude. After I moved to Arizona to attend ASU, Dahl gained notoriety for executing one of the best radio promotions I can ever remember. The Disco Demolition at Comisky Park, the former home of the Chicago White Sox. Dahl and the White Sox encouraged listeners to come to a Thursday night double header, bring a disco record and get in for ninety-eight cents. Dahl would blow the disco records up on the field in between the games. The promotion was a success, thousands of listeners turned out with their old disco records. When Dahl blew the records up, fans went crazy, they stormed the field and a small riot ensued. Game two of the double header was canceled. Not a great day for the White Sox organization, but an out of the park home run for Dahl and the radio station. This put Dahl and WLUP on the map.

The Chicago Tribune's Phil Vettel wrote a story about the Disco Demolition. Read it here:

Also, there is a great entry in Wikipedia detailing what led up to the demolition, the promotion and the aftermath. Read the Wikipedia entry here:

Finally, Steve Dahl's wife Janet writes a blog titled Janet's Planet. In her most recent entry she writes about Steve and his departure from WCKG.

Here is an excerpt from her December 5th, 2008 entry...

It was a rough spot, but it had a happy ending. Many happy endings, really. The Loop, WLS am, WLS fm, The Loop again, AM 1000, WCKG, Jack. Every job had its personal challenges; Steve learned in every slot. He got crazy. He drank. He partied. He became a father. He grew up, grew wise, grew sober. With every year, his show evolved to reflect the man he was. He refused to be a fake personality. He couldn't do pranks. He grew tired of the old parody songs. His goal was to be a constant presence in the lives of his fans-a human being in a box, so to speak. It was his job to be an extended family member, a guy who gets to spin a story, comment on the vagaries of life, or laugh at its absurdity. He could give volume to Everyman's irritations. His financial goal was to get his boys through college- a goal refined by his own entry into radio at 16, armed with a GED and a dream. His determination to provide for his family guided him to CBS. It was acquiring Howard Stern, and Steve would be the afternoon Yang to his Ying. The rest is history. Done.

Janet gives you a rare insight into what it is like to be the wife of a radio personality. Read her entire December 5th post "The years spin by... " here: It is well worth the read.

What is a Cohort? It Must be a MBA Term...

Fran, I and the girls traveled to Tucson this weekend to witness the commencement ceremony for the Executive MBA 2008 graduates at The Univeristy of Arizona's Eller College of Management. Our friends Holly Capps and Kristi Staab were both graduating. It was a great honor for us to be there with their family's to celebrate this great accomplishment and watch them walk across the stage in their caps and gowns to receive their hard earned diplomas.

As you know, I like to include speeches on my blog that I think are particularly meaningful, insightful and enlightening.

Holly was chosen by her Tucson cohorts to deliver the student address. Holly hit it out of the park.... A Grand Slam! Her address gave us insight in to what it is like to be a successful and busy executive and study diligently for fourteen consecutive months to reach the milestone of obtaining an Executive MBA. Her comment's were entertaining, informative, addressed camaraderie and most importantly came from the heart.

This is what Holly had to say....

When people hear we are graduating, there is one typical response: “Already? Man, that went by so fast!”

Perhaps for those around us, the past 14 months did go by quickly. However, a lot can (and did) happen in those 14 months.


Here’s a sample of what happened to the Tucson cohort:

3 of us got engaged
2 of us got married
3 babies were born
2 of us lost loved ones
7 of us took new jobs
4 of us moved
1 of us had major surgery
1 of us became an American citizen
2 of us got glasses
6 of us got stronger glasses
14 of us leave with more gray hair than we started with
9 of us leave with less hair
6 of us developed a nervous twitch or stutter
1 of us developed stress-induced Irritable Bowel Syndrome

And it’s not just our brains that got bigger in the program: collectively, we gained 169.38725 pounds.

When our class thinks about the best memories from our time together, many of us think about our International Trip – there can’t be a better way to see Bangkok and Shanghai then hanging out on buses and planes with 60 of our closest friends. As you’ve probably guessed, we shared many laughs together – some at entertaining professors, some caused by late nights and stress, and most of it at our own expense. We laughed when we figured out the professors and staff were all included on our class email list. We laughed when group presentations went…well…less than perfect – we labeled those times “learning opportunities for the rest of the class.” We laughed about professors, our mistakes and our gaffes. We laughed in McClelland Hall, at the Marriot, at Gentle Bens and at the Dubliner. Bottom line: we laughed. And we laughed together.


Top 14 things we learned during the Eller Executive MBA program, at no additional charge:
14. It is totally possible to pull a fast one using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

13. We can become intolerant and crabby when we’re deprived of sleep over a period of say…oh, I don’t know…14 months.

12. Time in the restroom can be vital to reading your homework. Don’t be ashamed to take it with you.

11. Your colleagues are the best resources you can get. Some of them have great ideas and others serve as shining beacons of what NOT to do.

10. No matter how much you try, you may not get everything done to your complete satisfaction. You have to learn to accept the best you can do in the time you have to spend, and move on.

9. Multi-tasking: We can eat, study, eat, participate in class, eat lunch, go for a walk to the 7-11, eat while listening to lectures, break for a snack, listen to more lectures and head out for dinner. What an expansive skill set!

8. It is totally possible to be stressed out and enlightened at the same time.

7. Chickens prefer contacts over spectacles.

6. Averages are useless: With one hand in boiling water and the other hand in ice water, on average, I am comfortable.

5. Pirate jokes…lots and lots of pirate jokes.

4. It is far more painful to have a hangover during MBA classes than it was in undergrad classes.

3. You don’t have to pay taxes on things you launch into space.

2. We can do more and push ourselves farther than we ever thought possible.

1. Most everything in business is a guess.

As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve picked up a few new vocabulary words along the way. You’ll be hearing them often…we’ve paid a lot to get them and they make us feel smarter. Here is a small sample of our favorite new words and phrases:

• Arbitrage
• Pedagogical
• Value proposition
• Iteration
• Launch the biscuit
• Photovoltaic
• Pro forma
• Greenfield & brownfield
• WACC
• Ideating, which is followed by winnowing
• Open the kimono
• Fungible
• Sunk cost
• BATNA
• Pivot Table
• Extracting consumer surplus

And my favorite new vocabulary word:

• Cohort – they started calling us that on the first day of the program

• Definition: a group of subjects with a common defining characteristic

• But over the last 14 months, we learned what it really means: “those who will stick by you through good times and bad” or in short “family”

Job well done!

I'm Going Green

Last week our dryer broke. We were in a bit of a panic. You can only imagine how much laundry accumulates when you live in a house with three women. The laundry was piling up as we were waiting for for the repairman to come out and fix it.

Then it dawned on me. We live in Arizona and it is HOT out side. What do we need a dryer for? We have our own Solar dryer in the backyard and it doesn't break down and it is extremely energy efficient.

I was reminded of the days when I was a little kid and used to visit my grandparents here in Cave Creek. My grandmother had a washer but no dryer. She would hang everything up on the clothes line behind her house. The warm breeze coming off the mountain would dry the clothes. Then there were the summer vacations on the lake in Wisconsin and my mother would hang up all of our clothes to dry. Most recently, we were in Italy and every where you went people hung their clothes up to dry.

If it was good enough for my mother, grandmother and the Italians, then it is good enough for me. We don't have a clothes line in the backyard but we do have a pool fence that goes the length of yard. It is a modern day clothes line.

Jordie and I did the laundry, took it out of the washer, threw it in the basket, walked out in the yard and started hanging up the laundry on the pool fence. All of the jeans and towels were neatly draped over the top of the fence, the shirts, blouses and t-shirts were put on hangers and looped over the top of the fence, underwear and socks were on top of the fence as well. The only problem I had was that the wind blew some underware and socks into the pool, I will have to get clothes pins next time!

Interestingly enough, it took about the same amount of time to dry as it would in the dryer. The clothes smelled fresh (no fabric softener) and since half of the clothes were already on hangers, time was saved in the long run because I did not have to take the shirts out of the dryer and hand them up.

Most importantly, I was doing my part in conserving energy!

If it were up to me, I'd forget about the dryer and not repair it. I'm sure I would get a bit of resistance from Fran and the girls.

Four hundred and seventy dollars later our four year old, state of the art, computerized, digital GE dryer has a new motor in it. Fran and the girls are happy. I've decided to go GREEN and let nature dry my clothes.

All kidding aside, I have become more energy contentious this past year. There is a great channel on cable called PlanetGreen started by the discovery network. Check them out and check out their website here. We all need to do our part to conserve.

I'm driving a Honda and hanging my laundry out to dry.... It's a start!

As Much As Things Change... Nothing Changes At All

When I was a kid in high school, I was very fortunate. Our high school, New Trier West in Northfield, Illinois had a 100 watt FM radio station. It covered a large part of the north shore of Chicago. The friendships that were fostered at WNTH 88.1 FM in the mid 70's have continued for more than 30 years. We were a bunch of guys that had one thing in common. We ate, drank, breathed and slept the radio station, sometimes at the expense of our classes and grades, to our parents dismay. We were passionate, we wanted to learn about radio and broadcasting we had a love of music, electronics and most of all, we wanted to have fun!

Through the years we have all gone off in different directions and careers. Some still live in the Chicagoland area and some of us have moved out west. What is so special is that we have maintained our friendship through the years.

At this point, I must note that I am the youngest of the group. I will turn 49 this month. The majority of the guys have already turned 50 or are turning 50 this year. With that said, we thought it would be great if we all got together in Las Vegas for a weekend to celebrate everyones 50th birthday. A mini high school reunion if you will. We have done this periodically through the years and always have a good time.

This year it was no different but a bit more symbolic. As I get older, I get a little more sentimental as I cherish the times we all get together. We had the big weekend last week. Telling you that it was a great time would be an understatemt. It is hard to explane because we really did not do anything that was out of the ordinary except share each others company.

I'll share some hightlights in a minute.

First, a little insight into the group.... There were nine of us. The group from Chicago included Alan who travels around the country and the world selling electronic components, Loren who is an attorney specializing in realestate, Steve who is a doctor (MD), Kenny is a financial adviser and Bill is a CPA, accounting software consultant and now a pain (back) management specialist. Roger and Scott came from Southern California. Scott manufactures dance shoe's and costumes for dance schools around the world and Roger is a voice actor / actor and producer in Los Angeles. Tom came in from Portland and he is the former Chief Engineer of a number of television stations and now runs a media monitoring business in the Portland Area.

On with the story... We met and stayed at the Paris hotel in Vegas on Friday evening. We all look the same, some of us a little heavier, some of us with gray hair, some of us with no hair and then some of us with all of the above! We had drinks and caught up at the bar. Scott had arranged for us to go see Elton John that night. How symbolic was that? When we were growing up Elton John was at the top of his game, his "Good By Yellow Brick Road" album was one of the biggest albums of the 70's and we played Elton John songs all the time on WNTH. The concert was great! We came full circle! As a side note, both Loren and I agreed that "Grey Seal" off the "Good By Yellow Brick Road" album is one of our favorites!

The next day we did things that we would never do if we were with our wife and kids. We went to the Atomic Testing Museum and then went to an indoor shooting range where you could shoot just about any type of handgun or riffle. I didn't shoot, but I was the official photographer. There were some very interesting people at the target range! All and all a great day. It was capped off by a relaxing couple of hours at the pool hanging out in the jacuzzi and in lounge chairs talking and picking up where we had left off the last time we were all together.

Growing up we would hang out, go to the movies and always end up the night having pizza some where. The places I remember were Jakes, Carvelle, Yesterdays and Barnaby's. It was fitting that we went out for a nice Italian dinner. Once again, Scott came through and suggested that we go to Il Mulino at the Forum shops at Ceasar's.

A fabulous choice! This could be one of the best Italain restaurants I've ever eaten at. Instead of stuffing our faces with pizza, we were gorging ourselves with fine northern Italian cuisine. Back in the day we would share cheese, peperoni, sausage and veggie pizzas. At Il Mulino we were sharing Grana Padano (cheese), bruschetta, garlic breads, country bread, focaccia, chicken Parmesan, veal, ravioli, shrimp fish and more. And just like 30 years ago we told stories laughed and had a great time.

One of the more comical and telling events of the evening was right at the beginning after we sat down. The waiter brought over the menus. It was so dark and the printing was so small on the menu that none of us could see. We all had to borrow Steve's pocket L.E.D penlight so we could see what to order. I guess our eyes are not what they used to be. As always, Steve was prepared and there to save the day!

I have known these guys for more than half my life and I realized a few things. First, it doesn't matter how long it has been since we have seen each other or spoken, we just pick up where we left off the last time. And for as much as everything changes, nothing really changes at all.

When I got home, I looked at the girls and see them with all of their friends. I wonder who they will be friends with 30 plus years from now. I only hope that they are as lucky as I have been.

Do The Right Thing... Be Righteous

I am not a theologian or a deeply religious person. Far from it. Although, I feel that I am very spiritual. I also feel that to be a good (fill in the blank with your religious preference or affiliation) requires that you simply be a good person.

Throughout my life, both personally and professionally, I have always endeavored to do what I believe to be the "right thing". This is a concept that was impressed upon me as a child growing up by my parents and one that Fran and I impress on our girls as well.

Fran, I and the girls went to Temple last week to celebrate Yom Kippur. Rabbi Rony Keller delivered a very thoughtful sermon addressing the extraordinary economic times we are in and how to react to them by being righteous. This is one of those sermons, like Mr. Muller's commencement speech that I wrote about earlier this summer that transcends all people. It does not matter what your faith is, Rabbi Keller's sermon is very powerful and resonates by putting things in perspective. At least it does for me!

Yom Kippur Morning
Sermon Presented By:

Rabbi Rony Keller

2008/5769
Congregation Beth Israel, Scottsdale, Arizona

"If I were a rich man…

I know that you might not be able to tell from my singing but I did play Tevye in the JP Taravella high school production of Fiddler on the Roof.

Those very familiar words to a popular book, play, and movie speak volumes to us. When Tevye the Dairyman sang that song in Fiddler, he was passionate, he was hopeful, and he was desperate. Tevye was the head of a family of seven people. He worked hard, and he worked tirelessly to ensure that his family had what they needed to survive. It wasn’t easy and sometimes it was scary, but Tevye and his family somehow made ends meet.

As you might recall in the film, Tevye spoke about wealth. He dreamed of a big house and the fineries in life; but throughout the film his intentions were always good. He sought to better his life and the lives of his family and ultimately he wanted time, time to pray and give back to his community. So what’s wrong with being rich he’d ask?

What’s wrong with being rich is an excellent question. The answer is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being rich. The problem arises when rich isn’t good enough, when wealth needs to equal power, and when greed settles in.

As you know the United States has had a less that stellar month financially.
I think many will recall that IndyMac, the largest mortgage lender in the US collapsed due to tighter credit, falling home prices and rising foreclosures. Lehman Brothers was the next institution to declare bankruptcy, followed by the government bailout of AIG.

Times are difficult for everyone. Our investments have been compromised, our nest egg dented, and our trust in the financial system severely tested. The New York Times reported that the American economy lost 159,000 jobs in the month of September alone. Although the recently passed “bailout’plan may stabilize some parts of the economy, most reports say....well it’s better than nothing. It’s challenging to hear that we are currently living through the most devastating financial crisis since the great depression or perhaps ever. What does that mean? How do we cope? What should we do?

When we sat here last year, reading the Yom Kippur liturgy, most of us would not have guessed that we would be in this dire financial situation. It seems that our economy has been as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof. A lot can change in a year, some of us have lost our jobs, many can’t sell our homes, and we all have difficulty filling up our gas tanks. The Unetaneh Tokef reminds us of the question: Who shall be poor and who shall be rich?”

The answer to that question is unknown, but this prayer reminds us that Repentance, Prayer, and Tzedakah temper judgments severe decree! These three pillars: repentance, prayer, and tzedakah create the foundation for our year. Two of the three are internal: when we repent, no one knows the sincerity in which we introspect, and when we pray, no one knows the true internal meditations of our hearts. However, when we engage in tzedakah we physically do something.

The brilliance of the word tzedakah is its grammatical root, tzedek which means righteousness. So, tzedakah doesn’t just mean charity, it’s much more.... it’s a righteous act! When we are righteous in our actions then we can make a difference in the world.

If everyone acted with righteousness the world would undoubtedly be a better place. Imagine if everyone in your life acted righteously: the postal worker, your drug company, the fast food employee, your investment broker, your hairdresser, your bank president, your mechanic, and your insurance company. How would our daily lives be different if everything we said and did was righteous; every meeting and action we performed was based in righteousness.

In this morning’s haftarah, the prophet Isaiah is yelling at us! He’s speaking to us about our fast. Through his message God tells us to cease our empty thoughts, and to stop our meaningless acts of going through the motions Isaiah says (Isaiah 58:6-8):

This is not the fast that God wants from you, a fast just to afflict yourselves; instead God wants you to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the poor into your house? When you see the naked, clothe them.

In other words Isaiah is telling us that the passive act of simply fasting because we have to, simply going through the motion of not eating will not bring us any closer to redemption. God doesn’t want us to needlessly starve just as a physiological exercise. Our fast is futile if it’s just an empty act that we do for Yom Kippur. The fast that God wants is much more complex. God is seeking true introspection in our repentance, focused intent in our prayer, and selfless action in our tzedakah. God is seeking righteousness.

Yes it’s beautiful that we brought in thousands of pounds of groceries today, and it’s wonderful that we remember to temper judgments decree with repentance, prayer, and tzedakah today on Yom Kippur, but what about tomorrow? What about the rest of the year; 3 days from now won’t our friends need our repentance, 3 weeks from now won’t God need our prayers, and 3 months from now won’t our community need our tzedakah?

In these tricky financial times, righteousness is even more elusive. When we are facing hard times personally, it’s difficult to think of others. When we are worried about our own homes,
investments, and expenses, how can we be expected to worry about anyone outside of our own families?

Rabbi David Wolpe writes in his book Floating Takes Faith,’Jewish law mandates that even a beggar who receives tzedakah must in turn give tzedakah, for it is important for all of us to feel that we have something to give. But what of people who truly have nothing? Tzedakah is often material, but not always. We give tzedakah when we share our imagination, our efforts, and our love. Tzedakah is the gift God expects us to give one another. Giving money, while essential,is only the beginning. Even the recipient must in turn give tzedakah. In other words, giving tzedakah is not a choice; it’s a mitzvah, commandment, and an obligation. Being righteous is our responsibility.

So, how can we be righteous during these difficult times? Maimonides a 13th century theologian explains, a tzaddik, a righteous person, is someone whose merit surpasses their iniquity. According to this definition everyone sitting in this room can be righteous! We don’t need to save the world・ighteousness can be achieved in small everyday actions. Make tzedakah a habit.

Every time we go shopping we can buy two or three additional items and drop them in a separate bag in our pantry・hen the bag is full, donate it. Did you know that there is a donation bin right in the rotunda at Beth Israel? Every time you come to the synagogue for religious school, pre- school, services, or an event, bring an item and drop it in the bin. We can also find a comfortable percentage of our annual salary to donate. Collect your loose change from each week and give away the sum at the end of the month. Sign-up to Race for the cure this weekend with Beth Israel. Volunteer at a food pantry, retirement home, school, or shelter. Don’t just give charity; that’s easy.... be righteous!

We can keep ourselves focused by creating a daily righteousness checklist:

• Did my merits outweigh my iniquities today?

• Did I make someone’s life a little bit sweeter?

• Did I judge myself without judging others?

• Did I help someone today without expecting anything in return?

• Did I act with integrity?

During the opening song from Fiddler on the Roof, the following conversation takes place:

Nachum: the beggar says [begging] Alms for the poor! Alms for the poor!
Lazar Wolf: the butcher replies- Here, Nachum, here's one kopeck.
Nachum: One kopeck? Last week, you gave me two kopecks!
Lazar Wolf: answers I had a bad week.
Nachum: responds, So? If YOU had a bad week, why should I suffer?

Just because we have a bad day, week, or month, it does not mean that we can cease acting righteously. When we are righteous in giving tzedakah, and finding ways to temper judgments severe decree, the question of who shall be poor and who shall be rich is less significant. It’s easy to be righteous when it’s Yom Kippur- we’re sitting here and fasting. Be righteous when it’s difficult, be righteous when others aren’t - in the words of Rabbi Hillel: in a place where there is no righteous person, endeavor to be that person."

Print a copy of Rabbi Keller's Sermon here:

My Own Crisis

I'm a gadget guy. In my opinion one of the greatest inventions of our time is the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). We had to add a second one in our house because the girls would use the one in the living room and there was never enough space for Fran or I to record/watch our shows. Then for Valentines Day a couple of years ago Fran got me my own DVR for the bedroom so I could record my shows. Fran is so romantic!

This device is the best! The DVR allows us to watch what we want to. With our schedule, we never have the time to watch the television shows we enjoy when they originally air. We always "DVR" them. Then when we want, we play them back at our convenience. Simple, right? 99% of the time it is unless you are a pack rat like I am and forget to erase the shows that you have already watched. In fairness, there is a feature on the DVR that allows you to automatically erase shows, but I don't use it.

Enter my crisis. Boston Legal is one of my favorite shows on television. It is permanently programmed into the DVR to record every week. This past week, I started watching it on the DVR and it stopped sixteen minutes into the show. I was in a panic! How could this be? This has never happened before. I pressed all the buttons and see all the messages on the screen, then realize that I had run out of memory. A DVR stores everything on a giant hard drive (like a computer) and unfortunately, mine was full.

I then go through and erase everything that I don't think I will watch again and free up seventy-five percent of the hard drive in an effort to avert another disaster.

Problem solved? Not exactly. I was going through Boston Legal withdraw. In light of everything that has been going on in the world around us this was going to be my hour to escape, I felt deprived and had a bit of anxiety.

A couple of days later, I was talking about this with Fran and the girls. Sydney my youngest daughter, who I have mentioned before is our personal "IT" specialist, suggested that I go on line to ABC.com and watch the show over the internet. Good suggestion. I went on online and sure enough it was there.

Thank goodness, we have COX high speed broadband! I was sitting in my home office watching it on my thirteen-inch Macbook book over the internet without it buffering once. At last, I was getting my weekly fix of Boston Legal and escaping for an hour. Now, this is not as good as laying in bed and watching it on my big screen HDTV (although, It sure is a great alternative).

Crisis averted!

What You Can Learn From Your Kids Part 2

On August 13th I wrote a post about some interesting things I learned about cell phones, texting and social networking from my kids. Read that post here:

Yesterday I had another one of those seminal moments with my oldest daughter who is 14 (going on 22). It was just the two of us and we were running errands and then out to lunch at one of our favorite dives. Over hummus and Gyro sandwiches we started talking about politics, the candidates and current affairs. I was actually having and intelligent adult conversation with her, hearing about her political views and those of her friends. She had some interesting thoughts and ideas and asked some very bright questions. I was very proud of her. I have waited 14 years for this moment!

As a parent first, then a broadcaster and marketer I was very curious to know how and why she formed some of her opinions. To my surprise, she told me that she discusses this with her friends. I was impressed! We might have an activist or a politician in the making.

Then I realized, that with the advancement of digital media it has become increasingly easier for youth to find out what is going on in the world. I'm not suggesting that a 14 year old reads the drudgeReport, CNN.com or Foxnews.com. Although, when they log onto their myspace and FaceBook accounts there are links to RocktheVote.com and ads for all of the candidates both nationally and locally. On the home page of MTV.com there are news stories about the debates, the economy and they are also registering people to vote too. YouTube has section on the race as well called YouChoose where there is a wealth of information on all the candidates and videos of speaches, debates and more.

I can tell you that at 14 I was not as politically aware as kids are today. The information simply was not as easily available or even more importantly, targeted to me, either directly or indirectly as it is today.

Then, there are even more strategic websites like thegreatschlep.com. This is a website developed by the Jewish Council on Education and Research. The Great Schlep features a video by comedian Sarah Silverman that is targeted to Jewish youth and college students who have grandparents that reside in Florida. It encourages these kids to convince their grandparents to vote for Obama.

Watch the video here:



What ever your political leanings are, you have to agree that this is targeted marketing at its best.

Finally, another source of information to youth is television and on-line video clips. Last night, Saturday Night Live did a hysterical parody of the Vice Presidential Debate, featuring Tina Fey and Queen Latifah.

Watch it here:



Talk to your kids. If you don't have kids talk to your friends kids. It's fascinating and you just might learn something. My friend Darice Putterman said it best.

"The world thru eyes of your own child, your teenager, your young adult daughter or son....ALWAYS enlightening to me, refreshingly so..."

Honda Update

Just got back from a long, cool weekend in San Diego. We took the new Honda Civic and we're getting over 30 miles per gallon on the drive over and back. Very Exciting!!!

We Live In A Global Society

At the radio station we are a family. Sometimes a dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless.

This morning, my friend Alex Santa Maria who happens to be our Morning DJ and Music Director on MEGA stopped by my office to say hi. He was so excited to tell me about his daughter Sheila and her new adventure. Sheila is 17 and a high school student in Phoenix. She just left home to study, immerse herself in the language, customs and culture of Japan for six months as a foreign exchange student. The more Alex told me, the more excited I got hearing about it! I was wondering how at 48, I could take a sabbatical and be a foreign exchange student.

Alex also shared with me that he is going through a little separation anxiety as well. Although, before she left, taking advantage of technology, Sheila set Alex and Veronica up on Skype so they can video conference each other. It's just as simple as logging on to the internet and a couple of mouse clicks later.... wal la...they are communicating a world apart! This should help ease Alex's anxiety once he figures out the time zone issues.

Alex is definitely the proud father! He was glowing as he was telling me about Sheila. I love seeing Alex like this and hearing the stories!

As Alex and I were speaking, I was reminded of a story that Fran shared with me when she was studying for her International MBA at the Thuderbird School of Global Management. She had a professor who said that since we live in a Global Society, "the greatest gift you can give your children, is to expose them to a different country every year". Fran and I subscribe to that philosophy and have taken it to heart and have tried to do this with the girls. Although, being a foreign exchange student is the ultimate gift. I hope that our girls will have the opportunity to study abroad some day too.

Back to Sheila...... Sheila is an exceptional artist and a talented writer as well. Through the years, Alex has shown me Sheila's artwork and it is incredible. I have always been amazed by here drawings and sketches. To give you an idea of how talented Sheila is, the picture below is a sketch she did on the flight to Japan. It is a drawing of all of her new friends that she met on the way over.


Someday, I hope to have a Sheila Santa Maria original on our wall!

Sheila's has started a Blog where she is keeping a diary of her experience. Click Here:

I'll be anxious to check in on it over the next six months to hear about her adventure and see more of her artwork.

Here are a few more links to Sheila's art work.

http://www.ba77ousai.deviantart.com

http://www.freewebs.com/ba77ousai/index.htm

http://www.fanfiction.net/~ba77ousai

http://www.myspace.com/ba77ousai

I Don't Get It!

I went to Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall with the girls this evening and something happened that I just don't understand. Maybe someone can explain it to me.

We went into two makeup stores (teens need makeup), Sephora and Bare Minerals and then walked by Armani and Metropark on our way to have dinner at the Grand Luxe. There was one common thread among these five business establishments, they all were playing dance music from "Deep House" to current remixes. As a matter of fact, Armani had a live DJ mixing.

This is what I don't understand. If five establishments are playing dance music why doesn't dance music have a bigger commercial footprint on terrestrial radio here in the United States and specifically in Phoenix? I don't get it. Walking through the mall, I heard a disproportionate amount of dance music compared to other current types of music. Why do retailers feel that dance music works for them in their stores but we can't seem to have any great success with it on the air?

Before everyone comes out of the woodwork and tells me that in Phoenix on Energy we have a bad signal,crummy programing and don't know what we are doing, Stop! That's not what I'm talking about. Say what you want about our station, you are entitled. I'm talking big picture, about dance music as a viable sustaining format on radio stations across the country. After all, dance seems to do well in Europe, why doesn't it do better domestically?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that dance music hasn't had it's success's on the radio. I am suggesting that it hasn't been a hugely successful, sustaining format. Pure dance stations are simply niche formats that rarely break a one share. Yet, you go to the mall and aggregate all the music genres played in the stores and I can assure you that dance represents much more than a one share of all the music types being played in there.

I'm a big fan of the genre and the format. We brought the format to Arizona and have been committed to it for five years. I'm anxious to get your take on the disparity.

What You Can Learn From Your Kids If You Pay Attention

School has started in Arizona and this morning I was signing last minute releases and forms for our eleven year old who started middle school. On one of the forms she needed to fill in her email address, she challenged me on that and said that she never uses her email any more. I found that very odd since she is on the computer almost as much as I am. She is my go to IT person at home because she knows how to use the computers and internet better than anyone.

I asked her why she doesn't use email and she told me that she text messages and uses AIM instead. Interesting.....

Tonight, I had to pick up my oldest from her first high school social. While at dinner, I sent her a text and asked if I could pick her up early. Of course, she said no and wanted to be picked up at nine. I texted back "OK". At nine, when I got to the school I sent her another text telling her I was in the parking lot waiting for her. She sent back a note saying she would be right there. We never talked on our cell phones to each other.

While in the car going home we were discussing how she was planning on getting home from school tomorrow. She told me that she was getting together with an older friend of hers who drives and that she thought she could pick her up and take her home. She then went on to say that when she got home she would talk to her friend on Facebook and firm things up and then let me know what her plans were.

Wait a second! My little one doesn't use email and my older one doesn't talk on the cell phone. But they both are big into text messaging and social networking (AIM, MySpace, Facebook) as a normal way of communicating. What's going on here?

Then I was reading Fred Jacobs Blog today titled "Email Is For Old People" and it all became crystal clear. In it he sites research from the Bedroom Study and Jupiter Research which states ..........

"The rise of social networking activity, coupled with texting and incessant cell phone use, has created a notable decrease in the use of email".

To top it all off, Fran signed up for Facebook today and added me as a friend. How ironic. I'm living this research.

My point is that conventional forms of communication are rapidly changing and becoming obsolete for the younger generation. As broadcasters and marketers we need to understand what is going on and be proactive. The reality is, as much as we want to believe that we know what is going on, we can learn a lot from our kids. Talking with my girls is like having daily mini focus groups. Kids today are on the cutting edge of technology and communications! Talking with them helps me become more relevant and understand how to best communicate with our listeners and customers.

Read Fred Jacobs Blog "Email Is For Old People" Here:
Read The Bedroom Study Here:
Read The Jupiter Study Here:

Lesson Learned Part 2

Turn around is only fair!

Less than a week after shooting off a letter to US Airways regarding my treatment on a recent flight, I was pleasantly surprised by a note I received from their customer relations department.

They were very apologetic about the incident and appreciated my feedback. Furthermore, they offered Fran, myself and the girls travel vouchers as a gesture of good faith and to "convey their apologies".

I expected a letter. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect a travel voucher.

You have to give it up to US Airways. They took a page right out of the customer service handbook and confronted the situation head on and did the right thing to try and make things right.

Thanks US Air. I appreciate it!

Lesson Learned

Being very big on customer service, we just got back from our summer vacation and I wanted to share this story with you. We were very fortunate this summer and went on a cruise in Europe for seven days. We took the girls and had a great time.

On the way over we flew US Air. Fran and I are both Elite flyers with them, Fran a Gold and me a Silver. We flew from Phoenix to Philadelphia and then on to Athens. More than eighteen hours on the plane.

Our flight to Athens was delayed three hours due to mechanical problems. I understand this, I sure don't want to be over the Atlantic and have there be problems. Although, We were a bit frustrated that we had to stay on the plane the entire time that they were fixing the problem.

Fran and I sat together and were separated by a few rows from the girls. This is were the story gets better.

Every hour or so, Fran or I would get up and check on the girls to make sure that they were doing OK. Towards the end of the flight, I was standing in the aisle leaning over talking to the girls when a flight attendant intentionally elbowed me in the back and told to go back to my seat. I looked at her and explained that I was checking on my girls and asked her why she was being so rude to me. She then lashed out at me in the middle of the cabin in front of my children and the group that we were traveling with. She yelled at me and called me a "Goof-ball and a Hideous human being". (I've been called worse) I'm not embellishing or exaggerating, she was yelling at me at the top of her lungs and everyone in the cabin was watching!

Needless to say, I was very surprised by her action. My initial response was to give her a piece of my mind but the thought of being escorted off the plane and thrown in a Greek jail when we landed was not the way I wanted to start my vacation. I calmly suggested to her that it was people like me that ultimately paid her salary and went I went back to my seat for the last hour of the flight. I should have kept my mouth shut, bit my tongue and walked away, but I was tired and frustrated at the way I was being treated. I did nothing wrong. I did what every parent would do. The seat belt sign was off and all I wanted to do was check on the girls. Don't lash out at me and call me names in front of my friends and most importantly my kids!

Further more, I don't know what was going on with the crew on this flight, by enlarge they were all pretty cranky. This is not what they promote in their new trans-Atlantic Envoy service.

Conversely, on the remaining flights back home the flight attendants were great and both of our flights arrived early.

So here is the lesson learned. We had four flight segments on US Air. Three of them the service was great. One of them the service was horrendous. When you look back at this post, how much time was devoted to the positive service versus the inferior service? When I talk about my summer vacation, do you think I'm going to be talking about the good service or the bad service on US Air?

Finally, If you want to learn about customer service that goes over the top, read about Crystal Cruise lines. US Air could learn a lesson from them.


My father always taught me that there are two rules in business.

Rule #1) The Customer is Always Right
Rule #2) See Rule #1

The lesson learned, Don't be rude to your customers, It's bad for business!!!

Just Like Home

Fran and I had dinner tonight at Eddie Matney's new restaurant, Eddie's House with our friends Marvin and Adrienne. Eddie's opened yesterday In Scottsdale at Marshall Way and Indian School. What a great experience.

The restaurant is very comfortable, the art work and decor are fun, the service was superb, the food is outstanding and it is priced reasonably. Meets all my criteria for a good restaurant. You never would have known that this was only their second day in business.

We had fish, meatloaf and barbecue chicken (a little spicy). The portions were generous and everyone enjoyed their meals.

There is a reason that Eddie calls this Eddie's House. You feel like you are sitting in his dining room. Eddie came around a few times to check in on us to see how everything was. As we were finishing up, he pulled up a chair and talked with us for a while. Great customer service. We will definitely go back.

I am passionate about radio and food. As I've mentioned before, I feel that there are a lot of similarities between the restaurant business and the radio business. I can tell you that like the launch of a new radio station, Eddie has done a great job. The product is great, people want to come back for more and they will be telling their friends about it too. His customer base (listeners) will grow and hopefully he will have a big success on his hands.

The Arizona Republic did a nice piece on Eddie yesterday. Read it here.

Thank You!

Last night was the annual Black Tie Gala for Body Positive. Thank you to everyone that supported the event and bought raffle tickets. We appreciate your support!

Stephanie Heymann and David Smith chaired the event. They, along with the entire staff and volunteers of Body Positive should be commended for a job well done!

As Always it was a great event. I had two dates last night. Since Fran was out of town I brought two younger women, my two daughters. "Pistol" Pete Kelly from the radio station (ENERGY/KNRJ) also joined us. Pete has been a very big supporter of the organization through the years by hosting events, doing on-air interviews and and live broadcasts for "Dining Out For Life".

We had a nice time, good food, good music (Richard Marks) we and we raised some money. The girls and I bid on and won some artwork during the silent auction.

Beside supporting a good cause, it was gratifying for me because on the drive home I had a very intelligent conversation with the girls about HIV/AIDS, the causes and the prevention of the disease. They asked some good questions. I think that they were surprised that the disease impacts teens as well as adults. We also spoke about giving back to the community and getting involved in organizations to help others. This is something that Fran and I believe very strongly in and we try to impress this on the girls.

There were a couple of exciting announcements at the event including the new Friends and Family vitamin program where we can all go on-line and order the highest quality vitamins and have a portion of the proceeds support the organization. Finally, they also announced a name change for the organization. Body Positive will now be known as the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS.

Here is a copy of the press release that went out this morning. Please take a moment to read it, it is very interesting and informative.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Lysa Fitzhugh Jeffrey Davidson

Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS RIESTER

(602) 703-7139 (602) 819-4288

LFitzhugh@swhiv.org jdavidson@riester.com

BODY POSITIVE MARKS A NEW ERA WITH CONTINUED COMMITMENT AND A NEW NAME: THE SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR HIV/AIDS

Arizona is Home to the Only HIV/AIDS Service Organization in the United States to Combine
Research, Prevention, Education and Wellness Under One Roof

PHOENIX (May 18, 2008) – In order to reflect its expanding reach and awareness, Body Positive christened its new name on Saturday, May 17, at “Night for Life,” the organization’s annual gala fundraiser. Visionaries in the field—activists, doctors and researchers—were also among the guests that gathered at the Camelback Inn to celebrate nearly two decades of being at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Arizona as Body Positive, founded in 1990 by Kirk Baxter. The agency’s new name, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, marks a new era of the organization’s expanded outreach and continued commitment to building awareness locally and regionally.

The vanguard HIV/AIDS organization in the desert Southwest region, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, continues to pave the way for research, prevention, education and wellness for people affected by HIV/AIDS. In an effort to combat this devastating disease, the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS has created broad awareness and its leading-edge clinical trial program has worked to bring 26 of 28 Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to the market to treat this devastating disease. It is the only HIV/AIDS nonprofit organization that delivers all three services in what it coins as an “individual health, individual help” model.

“The Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS provides the public with knowledge to prevent this disease while providing critical resources to help individuals live long and well with HIV,” said Carol Poore, president and CEO of the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS. “Since its inception, the organization has grown in scope to address the shift in reported cases of HIV/AIDS that have erupted among minority women, adult men as well as youth.”

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), there are 12,000 people infected with HIV/AIDS in Arizona, and another 12,000 who may be infected but unaware of their status. Among these people, Black and Hispanic women show the largest trend of new infections, with Black women being seven times more likely than women in any other ethnic group to become infected. The changing nature of the disease is evident by the following statistics:

· Hispanics form approximately 28 percent of the population in Arizona but 20 percent of the HIV/AIDS cases.

· Blacks, while constituting less than four percent of the state’s population, represent 12 percent of the HIV/AIDS cases.

· Native Americans represent five percent of those infected in Arizona.

· Men having sex with other men of all races represent 70 percent of HIV/AIDS cases.

· Intravenous drug users represent 15 percent of HIV/AIDS cases.

“Many people view HIV/AIDS as a gay man’s disease, however the face of HIV/AIDS is changing,” said Mark Howard, board chair for Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS. “This is not a disease that discriminates, it can affect anyone and we understand the changing needs of the communities we serve. Our particular concern is the careless attitude toward the disease among youth. Many believe that a simple pill can be taken to combat this disease and are unaware of the devastating side affects the medication causes. Prevention is critical as we battle to educate our most important audiences, our youth.”

According to ADHS, 490 people will be infected in the next hour. Worldwide, 14,400 people are newly infected each and every day and fighting this disease becomes a devastating reality.

“It is the goal of the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS to bring this destructive epidemic back to the forefront through education and awareness,” added Poore. “We want to be on the front lines of preventing this disease from spreading.”

The Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS proven individual health, individual help approach takes into consideration the client’s behavioral state, personal finances, wellness and health, since all these factors greatly affect which medicines each person receives. It also provides a variety of nutritional and naturopathic interventions designed to improve quality of life and overall health.

About the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS

Phoenix-based Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS is the only HIV/AIDS service organization in the United States that combines research, prevention, education and wellness services under one roof. The agency is a leading HIV/AIDS research and resource center, and serves more than 1,200 clients infected by HIV/AIDS while providing outreach to more than 25,000 at-risk men, women and youth annually. The Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS’ history of partnership with pharmaceutical companies for clinical trial research has helped bring 26 of 28 FDA approved drugs to the market to treat this destructive disease. Visit the Web site www.swhiv.org for more information or call 602-307-5330.

Funding at the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS

A 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization, several programs at the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS are funded in whole or part by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, the Ryan White Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006, Maricopa County Department of General Government, Arizona Department of Health Services and other state municipalities. Other major funding sources include (but are not limited to) Valley of the Sun United Way, Arizona Diamondbacks, private foundations and donors, and agency fundraising events.

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