Izzo begins Final Four runs in November

Tom Izzo prepares his team for deep tournament runs with a diverse and challenging non-conference schedule

Tom Izzo has built a great program in his tenure at Michigan State University. His run to the National Championship game last year was absolutely amazing, gaining the support of many Michigan residents and shocking many in the college basketball world.

What makes Izzo so successful in the tournament? Great coaching? Great players? Along with this combination is the willingness to play a rugged and tournament tested non-conference schedule. In some years this has resulted in slow start out of the gate. While this can be irritating to fans, I see no complaints in March and April when the team is still playing.

Exposure to great teams and coaches early in the season is a great test to prepare for tournament games. Win or lose, Izzo is able to test his players and give them a great learning experience to learn from. Playing North Carolina, Texas, Florida and Gonzaga this year will present the team with challenges in each contest.

I’m expecting this team to play tough down the stretch and making another strong tournament run. With the experience and confidence of the players and the basketball genius of Izzo, I don’t expect anything less.

My first 313 Digital event and what I took away

I attended my first 313 Digital event yesterday evening. It was a creative knowledge event sponsored event sponsored by Reuters. I had no idea what to expect but was very impressed with the overall event.

The speakers were Molly Beauregard (Professor from CCS) and Dennis Lim (EVP Creative Director from Campbell-Ewald). They were both great and had great presentations.

Molly is a sociology professor and gave valuable insight in that field. She explained the “black turtleneck” rule. She explained this as walking into an art gallery and seeing the leggy blond in the black turtleneck, causing you to become intimidated and walk away. She also made points about the best creativity is in the moment, you should take on new ideas, creativity is a connection and a watch pot never boils. The watch pot theory explains that ideas pop when you walk away.

Dennis Lim was the second speaker. He presented a flow chart that began with fear. He discussed that fear breeds everything amazing and that it is the mother of invention. He also noted that how you learn to deal with fear determines your success. The next step was method, doing what you know. He used the example of his experience in judo, stepping on the mat an performing. Then came point of view. He spoke about an associate who said, “there is no security in this business.” He replied, “your only security is your portfolio.” Your portfolio is what you have to add to this world. My personal favorite thing he said was pertaining to interviewing and not getting hired. He said, “That’s there loss, not mine. I still have my POV and portfolio.” Finally came courage, which results in fear driving courage. Every closed door opens another door and there is always a way to overcome fear. Other points he made were that the the biggest survival tool is adaptation and becoming valuable to someone.

I enjoyed the event and also enjoy the Adcraft Club of Detroit events. These provide great learning opportunities and provide great opportunities to meet new people and learn their perspectives. I’m looking forward to attending another event very soon.

Looking for a great read?

I read “Stop Hiring Based Only on Category Experience” today. It was refreshing to read after applying to several jobs over the last day.

While experience certainly plays a large role, I’ve always believed that the tangibles are key qualities. You can’t teach ethics, punctuality, passion for your work, etc. These will keep people around and allow them to adapt to new and unfamiliar situations.

Both in organizations and professionally I’ve worked with great and some not so great individuals. I did not let this hinder my responsibilities, I just learned the best way to adapt to working with the person.

I learned this from a very young age. I would often complain about guys on my baseball, basketball and football teams. Whether it was general dislike or I didn’t accept their poor work ethic, I would speak about this with my dad. He told me, “Son, don’t let it bother you. You’re not going to get along with everyone. You’re going to work with assholes one day so get used to it.” I’ve remembered these words of wisdom in each difficult situation I’ve run across with another person.

Interview at McCann-Erickson

I’m really looking forward to my interview with McCann-Erickson Detroit tomorrow. This is a really great opportunity to get back in the industry and keep growing professionally.

I don’t believe Detroit is dead, there is still a lot to learn from this great creative city. I’m also a fan of the advertising community in Detroit, I’ve met a lot of great people by attending Adcraft Club events.

I’m certain I will have a great experience to write about after tomorrow and I’m betting there is also a great ending.

Jimmy V quotes can be applied to any situation

I find it best to take a step back and analyze the situation at hand. A job search can create quite the frustrations.

You’re thinking: I’m clearly qualified… don’t they like me? Then you see who they hired and are completely puzzled.

I started looking at some Jim Valvano (Jimmy V) quotes to remind myself to keep dreaming and keep fighting. Every email I get that begins “We regret to inform you…”, or of that nature is the driving force of my future success. I’d like to frame every rejection email, note, letter, etc. in the corner office someday. A personal tribute to say thank you.

After a brief Twitter poll, I’m off to write a cover letter. This is for an agency I’ve been interested in for a long time.

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” – Jimmy V

MSU Homecoming

I’ve noticed some differences in being an undergrad and being an alumni. There were so many things I took for granted as an undergrad:

Seeing your friends everyday

The electricity of the city during football and basketball season

Sunday morning breakfast with everyone

Meeting great people everyday

Rick’s American Cafe… for better or worse

I enjoy heading to East Lansing for the home football games and just seeing everyone and simply just enjoying the day. A MSU win can usually help that out.

Lighten up!

I read a hilarious article today titled “PepsiCo iPhone app draws fire for stereotyping“. The article is about an iPhone app from PepsiCo that assists you with pickup lines and allows you to track these conquests.

If you’re not laughing this post isn’t for you.

The article has some great quotes that made me laugh from start to finish. Of course there is criticism from the public. Don’t we all need a good laugh in awhile?

What makes it such a bad app? It is clearly a form of entertainment that engages the consumer (hmmm doing it’s job?). It isn’t meant to function as a tool such as a GPS. People need to stop being so negative, especially with advertising. Don’t take everything as a personal persecution, learn to laugh at yourself.

“He who never made a mistake never made a discovery.” – Samuel Smiles

Change is good

I’ve decided to get back up on the horse and continue to produce blog posts. These posts will be a little different as there is no client news to report at the moment.

The posts will be shifting to a more personal feel, I promise to not pull at the heartstrings too much. I’ll be taking you through the day-to-day as I try to find an exciting opportunity in public relations, advertising and communications. I’m open to any ideas, opportunities, criticisms and general input.

I’m looking to keep up a writing strength and improve as well.

Hope everyone had a great day and make tomorrow count.

Detroit students teaming with homeless to turn old tires into new hope

MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 8, 2009

For More Information:
Rebecca Martusewicz, 734-730-7359 or rmartusew@emich.edu

Detroit students teaming with homeless to turn old tires into new hope
Kids’ innovative ‘green’ project with Eastern Michigan University, Hope of Detroit Academy, Cass Community Social Services transforms scrap rubber into doormats

WHO: 22 seventh-grade students and teachers from Hope Detroit Academy are partnering with EMU educators, Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision, Cass Community Social Services staff and local homeless volunteers

WHAT: Collecting scrap tires from the neighborhood where the school is located in SW Detroit and taking them to Cass Community Social Services for conversion into new residential doormats (Cass provides training and jobs to homeless clients they serve by teaching them the conversion process)

WHY: The project is part of the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (www.glstewardshiporg) and Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition to improve K-12 education and protect the environment by having elementary, middle and high school students use “place-based learning” to study ecology and community issues

WHEN: 8:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (noon) Tuesday, May 12

WHERE: Intersection Hope Detroit Academy, 4443 N. Campbell, and east of Livernois Avenue

The Country Club of Lansing Sponsors Fashion Show to benefit The Greater Lansing Food Bank

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2009

Contact: Cathy Lazar,
The Country Club of Lansing
Phone: 517-318-5201
Mobile: 517-290-1007
Email: clazar@cclansing.org

The Country Club of Lansing Sponsors Fashion Show to benefit The Greater Lansing Food Bank

LANSING, Mich. — The Country Club of Lansing (CCL), one of Michigan’s most recognized and revered golf, dining and family clubs, today announced that it is sponsoring the first-ever Fashion for Food: a Fashion Show to Benefit The Greater Lansing Food Bank. The event on Thursday, April 30th begins at 5:30 p.m. at The Country Club of Lansing, 2200 Moores River Drive, in Lansing.

The event will preview the latest Spring and Summer fashions by Carlisle, Doncaster and Etcetera women’s fashion collections. The idea for the fundraiser was a collaborative effort by several local women business owners, Jane Bitsicus, Marian Boulus, Melinda Doyle, Vivian Dwyer, Pam Harden and Elizabeth Vanis, to create an exciting, upbeat event that would benefit a very worthy and relevant cause in our community. “In these increasingly difficult economic times, we are seeing a dramatic rise in the number of people accessing the food bank, in fact a startling 49% are children.” according to Cheryl Wald, Chair of the Board of Directors, of The Greater Lansing Food Bank. “As summer approaches we have an even bigger need to provide for kids, and we appreciate fundraising efforts such as the Fashions for Food event”, said Terry Link, the new Executive Director of The Greater Lansing Food Bank.

The community is invited to attend the fundraiser this Thursday, April 30th, at 5:30pm at The Country Club of Lansing , 2200 Moores River Drive, in Lansing. The cost is $50 per person to benefit The Greater Lansing Food Bank. Hors d’oeuvres will be served from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and the Fashion Show begins at 6:30 p.m. Attendees will be invited to stroll the collections following the show. There will be drawings for door prizes donated by the business owners of Carlisle, Doncaster and Etcetera. Bob Hoffman, Manager of Public Relations for the Wharton Center will emcee the fashion show and local models will model the collections. A number of local business owners have made donations to assist in the production of the fashion show on April 30 at The Country Club of Lansing.

To attend this event, please call (517) 484-4567 to make your reservation. In addition, please feel free to bring non-perishable items to fill the truck from The Greater Lansing Food Bank.

The CCL has long been known for delivering a first class dining experience, a premier clubhouse, beautiful and challenging 18-hole golf course, swimming pool and tennis courts and family-focused programs to enjoy all year long. Chris Freeman, General Manager, said,” We are pleased to provide a venue for such a worthy cause in our community.”

The CCL began on May 4, 1908 as the Lansing Golf Club. The organization incorporated and became the Country Club of Lansing in 1920. The CCL today continues to provide a traditional country club lifestyle for its members and their families and guests. Members enjoy personalized service, impeccable food and championship caliber golf.

For more information, please contact Cathy Lazar, CCL Marketing Director, at clazar@cclansing.org or 517-318-5201, or Chris Freeman, CCL General Manager, at 517-484-4567.

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