Cathey McClain Finlon’s Career Lessons

Cathey McClain Finlon  

Determine if a company’s mission matches your vision and values.  Early in her career Cathey McClain Finlon did just that.

Finlon’s expertise in matching vision and values is found in reviewing the following:

 

 

  1. “For things to change, I have to change.” In growing the McClain Finlon advertising agency to Ad Age Top 100 U.S. agencies responsibilities were given to those who were trained.  It is a challenge to give up things to other people as a company grows.
  2. Spend time working with industry and community boards to build skills and let those skills flow into the company, (Finlon spent 30 percent of her time on boards).
  3. Mentors pick you, and you earn their mentorship.  People who identify themselves as serious doers are chosen to be mentored.  “Show me your friends and I will show you, you,” Finlon.
  4.  Unbalanced work and home make life rich and full.  Unbalance is fun and intense which can allow you to achieve more.
  5. Work harder than the next person, leave no rock unturned.
  6. Check fear at the gate; don’t let it run your business.
  7. Run, don’t walk from bad work situations.
  8. Be optimistic.
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Exporting: ThinkGlobal Inc., Commercial News USA and First Priority Emergency Vehicles

Greg Sandler is president of ThinkGlobal Inc. which publishes Commercial News USA.  An instant download and free subscription is available online, at: www.thinkglobal.us.  The Commercial News USA connects U.S. companies with international businesses to export American products and services.  The magazine is distributed to embassies across the world.  The Commercial News USA’s circulation is 95 percent outside the U.S.  ThinkGlobal also host the USA Export Expo, an online, virtual expo that connects exporters and buyers, www.usaexportexpo.com.  This amplified expo provides connections to overseas markets, an auditorium with featured topics and industries, a learning center, a networking lounge and a media library. USA Export Expo provides all the traditional expo services at a cost savings as well as qualified leads.  The expo’s focus is different each week, for example one week will focus on the automotive industry, and then followed by franchise the next week.  

Robert Freeman, president of First Priority Emergency Vehicles is one of America’s leading exporters of emergency response units. The Commercial News USA brings creditability to doing business overseas.  The Commercial News USA is partnered with the U.S. government so that gives exporters validation.  Freeman advices companies wanting to export:

  1. Start incrementally
  2. Grow a good reputation
  3. Build business.  It might start slow with a few orders at first but it is still building. And keep with it to see success.
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Energy & Emerging Economies

Energy systems play an important role in economic growth.  Today and tomorrow, the Global Commerce Forum is hosting the 4th Annual International Conference on Energy, Logistics, and the Environment.  This year's focus is on emerging economies- especially those in Africa where energy infrastructure is less developed. Check out the livestream here:  http://www.livestream.com/icosamedia

“Energy will be critical to the prosperity of Africa and other emerging economies,” says Bill Ritter Jr., Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) at Colorado State University and former Governor of Colorado

http://www.livestream.com/icosamedia

 

other speakers: http://globalcommerceforum.org/2011-conference/speakers/

 

organizers & volunteers: http://globalcommerceforum.org/about-gcf/organizers-and-volunteers/
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Marketing Insights from the Mind

Every year, hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on advertising to communicate brand messages.  Modern marketing, which is part art and part science, has had many innovations leading up to where it is today.  Now, companies have revolutionary new tools in measuring how brains actually respond to advertisements through discoveries in the field of neuroscience. In researching the new field of "neuromarketing", one company stood out above the rest.  Neuro-Insight was founded five years ago  by Dr. Richard Silberstein, bringing new advanced technologies into the marketplace.  Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, the company now has offices in London and New York.  Recently, ICOSA sat down with Pranav Yadav, the CEO of Neuro-Insight USA, in New York City.

http://youtu.be/Keztae6RIzk

Compared to traditional methods such as EEG and fMRI, NeuroInsight's patented technology, known as Steady State Topography (SST), offers serious advantages for marketing.  EEG measures neural amplitude, which ambiguously describes a subject's brain activity, while SST measures the speed of electrical activity and has a higher signal to noise ratio.  This means it provides clear insight into precise brain activity after only one test showing of an ad, while the other methods require 6 to 10 trials.

Some ads work. Some do not. Advanced neurotechnology empowers companies to make intelligent choices and to get results.

See Also:

Dr. Richard Silberstein explains Neurostates and how they can affect media:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTCwiEyQ9DI&feature=related

Jimmy Wales dances in the rain

Many know Jimmy Wales as the founder of Wikipedia and Wikia.com. However, did you also know he likes (or is rather willing) to dance (walk) in the rain in the streets of New York? Rain- buckets of it and no end anytime soon.  I quickly jumped in the cab the concierge grabbed for me.  So much for my outdoor photo shoot with internet entrepreneur and humanitarian Jimmy Wales.  Fearing the worst I called the Marriott in Times Square and made last minute arrangements for an indoor shoot and interview (we were supposed to do it in Times Square).

Anyways, I arrived at the building Jimmy asked me to meet him at.  We shook hands and walked outside to flag another cab.  And stood.  And stood some more.  We tried to make small talk but both of us were frustrated with the rainy day.  Myself more than Jimmy.  I could see my interview falling apart and began thinking the worst.  Here I am in NYC after flying in from Denver just for this meeting and now I was going to miss out on it.
Then, out of nowhere, Jimmy said, "Wanna just walk?"  We were a mile away mind you and it was raining pretty hard.  I said, "I'm game Jimmy if you are."  We began our walk, and wound up at the hotel wet, cold, and tired.
After a photo shoot with our photographer Andrew, we grabbed some coffee and sat down for the interview.  His eyes lit up as he told me his story and his vision of the future of his organizations.  I could tell he'd told this story many times before but his explanations dripped with enthusiasm and hope as he talked of his plans to change our world in a massive global collaboration involving wiki's.
Now, I'm not going to give away the details just yet.  How he's shaking things up with Wikipedia and how www.Wikia.com is exploding on the scene and creating all kinds of opportunities for fan based community and advertisers.
You'll have to wait for the article and video for that.
The point I wanted to make is that I saw a man who despite being one of the most influential people on this planet, decided to walk with me.  Who took time out of his day and personal comfort to accomodate me, someone he'd never met before, and up to that point had all correspondence handled through his amazingly organized assistant.
You don't find a lot of that anymore.  If the roles were reversed I can't say I would have done the same.  I may have just rescheduled but I guess that's the difference between us.
You've taught me a valuable lesson Jimmy Wales and caused me to reflect on the way I treat others.  I hope I can capture your story and help your cause with Wikipedia and Wikia.
More soon......
For all you Jimmy Wales fans- I've tagged a few of you in this story.
Additional Suggested Articles:
Wikipedia

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
Wikia

Create a wiki about your favorite topic and begin collaborating with people who love what you love.
“ "Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge." - Jimmy Wales, founder, Wikipedia
NOW Marketing Group
September 12, 2011
“ "Free access to all human knowledge. Some called it impossible,i called it wikipedia."Jimmy Wales, Founder of wikipedia.
Rezanades Muhammad Ilham Bintang
September 9, 2011
“ Call Jimmy Wales an idealist, if you'd like. The very thought that humanity would come together and write an accurate encyclopedia on just about any subject you could think of takes ...
Majid Baran
September 12, 2011
“ Watching Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia) at the Exact Target conference... Pretty cool!
Scott Sawicki
September 13, 2011
“ Most people assume the fights are going to be the left versus the right, but it always is the reasonable versus the jerks.Jimmy Wales
Bello Saeed
September 4, 2011
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The Export Factor, Bioscience

Selina Marques and Lana Lennberg Selina Marques works extensively in exporting bioscience and agribusiness across Colorado.  Marquez is a senior international trade specialist with the U.S. Commercial Service Export Assistance Center in Denver.  Bioscience and agribusiness encompasses medical, dental, pharmaceutical and chemical supplies.  A partnership with the U.S. Federal government has given 1.5 billion in assistance to the industry of exporting these goods.  There are 16,000 jobs in Colorado in this sector.  Developed countries such as the U.K., Germany, Spain and Japan are the most shipped to countries.  The typical process for a company is to sell locally, regionally, nationally and then internationally.  Export centers nationally can facilitate this process.  Regulatory and registration procedures are a challenge for this sector and as such the U.S. Export Center’s focus is on making the procedures doable through Trade Missions and Webinars.

A trade mission to Botaga, Colombia has been developed where the export center matches U.S. companies to vendors in Botaga, Colombia. It will be held on November 15-18, 2011 with a focus on oil and gas, plastics, mining, auto, security, pollution control, tourism, and medical industries.  As of today there are seven open opportunities for companies to meet vendors in Colombia for a more than reasonable price of $1,850 which includes airfare and lodging.  For more information call Selina Marques at 303-844-6623 ext. 215.

Lana Lennberg is a senior international trade specialist with the U.S. Department of Commerce/US Commercial Service (USCS) and has been assigned to the U.S. Export Assistance Center (EAC) in Denver, Colorado since 1998. She invites companies to the Export Center’s webinars, starting Nov. 2nd.  This webinar focuses on exporting plans.  For more information, (303) 844-6623, and ext.: 213; e-mail: [email protected].

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Kristin Tarr and Tammy Fernandez engaging in Community and Business Partnerships.

Tammy Fernandez Community and business partnerships are results of corporate values and social responsibility in action.  To form a partnership first look into your company’s core values and strategy, and then research other entities with the same vision to form opportunities.  Set goals with measurable outcomes such as, count hours volunteered, public relation analyses within Facebook or a website, and increased partnership opportunities.  Most importantly tell about these partnerships in social media, press releases, and through internal and external company webpages.  By measuring success of a project future profits can be determined.

Kristin Tarr asks for a call to action and speak-out.  To get involved in helping your community or if you have a story of involvement to inspire others, visit: Business Service Corps on Facebook or http://www.businessservicecorps.com.  Ms. Tarr is co-founder and managing partner of the Business Service Corps where the motto is working together brings the highest level of efficiency.

Tammy Fernandez is executive director of community investment at the University of Phoenix.  The University of Phoenix has 260 locations nationally in 41 states.  In 2011 the University of Phoenix adopted corporate social responsibility in education to help the community.  This lead to the Points of Light project in Atlanta, Georgia and next year they will focus on internal and external social responsibility communication to complete more projects.

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ICOSA is transforming collaboration.

Kim DeCoste is vice president and editor-at-large for ICOSA where she manages the media team, and contributed to editorial planning for the magazine and a book on connections + collaboration. A few of her articles are “The Evolution of E-Learning,” “A Win-Win: Kroenke Sports Enterprises Does Great Work for Kids & Education,” “Living the Mission: Private STEM Solutions & Public Education,” “Authentic Leadership is Gender Neutral” and “Closing the Education Gap.”

ICOSA is thought of as organic―focused on developing collaboration and taking it to the next level which is transformation.  The method ICOSA uses can conceptually be adopted to fit into high schools but specifically higher education.  To be a doer one needs to learn to walk with others, and identify goals and meeting those goals in a manageable way.  ICOSA would like to work with higher education in providing students with collaborative methods.

Amazon is an example of a company who has successfully transformed.  Amazon.com launched its marketplace in 2002 selling books, music, videos and DVS’s and now has since developed the Amazon Kindle e-book reader and sells just about any product globally.

The difficult areas of collaboration are blending the different view of what success looks like and keeping people together and focused on the mission.

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Leading by Example and Small Business Success and Community Engagement

Jeff Wasden  

 

Jeff Wasden, owner of PROformance Appeal took a failing company and turned it around to being awarded Business of the Year and Best of the Best. Wasden points out during difficult economic times businesses pull back on promotional items and professional memberships which handicap businesses. People do business with people―that is what draws business in.  Industry and community partnerships have businesses value―it can be everything to a business.  Equally as important is building a culture of involvement. Wasden noted, evaluate where you want to go, what your passion is, and join business chambers to establish yourself and not just to grow your business.  Growing your business is something that follows.  Establishing business relationships and giving back are at the forefront.

By following his interest in politics Wasden (chair of Business Leaders for Responsible Government and the Legislative Action Committee) within the South Metro Denver Chamber organized the Elevate Colorado 2010 Governors Forum, an event for business and community leaders surrounding the gubernatorial conversation featuring former Governors Bill Owens, Richard Lamm, Mayor John Hickenlooper, Dan Maes and Tom Tancredo.  Wasden commented that it was an event not to steer people a specific way but to inspire people to stand-up and do something.

www.proformanceapparel.com and www.bestchamber.com

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“Every Conversation Is an Opportunity for Success”

  Debra Fine

 

 

Rotary is an international service organization with thousands of members.  One of those members is best-selling author and communication expert Debra Fine.  “The Fine Art of Small Talk: How To Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills -- and Leave a Positive Impression!” has been featured on the Today Show, the Early Show, NPR, CNN, Fox Business News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Men’s Health Magazine.  Fine mentioned that small talk develops interconnected relationships and in essence is a necessity in growing any relationship; personal or business.

Fine is president of the Rotary Club Denver Southeast.  She knows "a desk is

Cover of

dangerous places to view the world," John Le Carre.  And as such Rotary’s current project is Race Across Africa a “virtual” race up the Nile River raising money for water projects in Africa; www.raceacross.org.  Rotary’s mission is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

Rotary’s members comprise of like-minded people who follow The Four-Way Test;

  1. Is it the truth?
  2. Is it fair to all concerned?
  3. Will it build good will and better friendships?
  4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

These questions can be asked to ensure ethical projects are being accomplished.

Rotary International emblem

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THE PARADIGM PROJECT― Sustainable Development and L3C Social Enterprise

Wood Walk  

A group of talented, passionate people who want to use “Paradigm” as a vehicle for connecting commercial markets in Europe and America with developing world communities in such a way that makes drastic impact on people and the environment in a sustainable way.

The Paradigm Project’s Greg Spencer has a passion for Africa and leveraging the valuable carbon market to nonprofits and communities.  “Commercial business concepts applied to nonprofits are key to successful development work,” according to Spencer.  Carbon offset projects are typically planting trees, water efficiency based, and prevention of overharvesting and deforestation whereas cook stoves increase social benefits by enabling financial redistribution, time, and increase health creating a more sustainable lifestyle.

THE NUMBERS­―

28,973 stoves sold 52,000 trees saved 14,000 tons of carbon avoided 1 million+ hours of time saved

THE COLLABORATORS―

Collaboration between investors, donors and communities such as the Clinton Global Initiative, Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves, World Vision, Food for the Hungry, and Compassion International brings these stoves to communities for $40.00 per stove.  These stoves release 60% less toxins and 50% less wood is needed equaling cleaner combustion and fuel efficiency.

For more information, visit: www.theparadigmproject.org or to read the article featured in ICOSA Magazine, visit: www.theicosamagazine.com/a-burning-desire-to-change

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The U.S. Department of Commerce and Frederick Exports

Martha Butwin and Zach Frederick  

Martha Butwin, Senior International Trade Specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Denver Export Assistance Center facilitates exporting goods and services for a variety of companies.  The Gold Key Service program (starting at $700) serves as a starting point for companies working towards exporting.  The International Partner Search (starting at $550) pairs companies who are potential partners.  Each program starts with questioners to determine a match.  An international company profile is prepared to reduce the amount of scammers.

Butwin recalls the high point in her career as working with partners, Project C.U.R.E. and CAP World Wide to provide not only medical supplies but life supplies to Afghanistan people.  To view the video “From Colorado to Kabul”, visit: www.theicosamagazine.com/videos

For more information, visit: www.export.gov

Zach Frederick, founder of Frederick Export, an export management company attributes five practices for sustainable success: 1. Management must buy into exporting, 2. Global pricing parody, 3. Knowing industry contacts, and 4. register your trademarks in every country you export to is vital, (as company control can be lost to a distributor), 5. Qualify the leads.

For more information, visit: www.frederickexport.com

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