Tag Archives: South Coasting

Rising Up

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There’s a startlingly small degree of separation between the general population and mental illness. One out of every three people is personally affected — either they or someone close to them are mentally ill — said Denee Jordan, clinical director of Phoenix of Santa Barbara, a nonprofit mental health agency.

Dedicated to both treatment of the mentally ill and education of the general public, the Phoenix team is “putting a lot of mythology of mental illness to rest just by being here in a neighborhood,” said executive director John Turner.

The neighborhoods are 107 East Micheltorena St., home to Phoenix House, a transitional residential treatment facility; and 1231 Garden St., headquarters for Ada’s Place, a less structured transitional care facility. Also under consideration is an additional property at 37 Mountain Drive.

“In some cases the clients are indistinguishable from other people. With services and medication some of the mentally ill can live lives that are normal,” Turner said.

The agency, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, serves clients with a variety of conditions, predominantly schizophrenia. Two years ago it added a dual-diagnosis program for mental illness and drug addiction. Usually the two illnesses are treated separately, but according to Turner, these clients need specialized treatment.

“There’s no definitive line between mental illness and substance abuse but you can’t clearly see the difference in the two behaviors” said Jordan.

The staff has been trained to understand the complex relationship between sobriety and mental health. The Phoenix program is based on an adaptation of 12-step principles used by Alcoholics Anonymous. The county is also starting a dual-diagnosis certification program that will eventually be open to the public, said Jordan.

It’s not that the mentally ill are more susceptible to addiction, “but I think that the outcome can be worse. They’re already struggling with organizing their thoughts, without introducing substances,” she said.

“Someone with mental illness symptoms may use street drugs to cope with the symptoms,” said Turner. While there are now fewer side effects associated with antipsychotic drugs, they’re still very uncomfortable, said Jordan. Getting the mentally ill to stay on their medication is a huge challenge. “It has a lot of adverse side effects. The general population thinks they just don’t want to stay on it because they’re not behaving themselves,” a misconception, according to Jordan.

Emphasizing the importance of medication compliance, Turner said one of the keys to success is for staff to check in daily with clients in the outpatient program who may be ambivalent about taking their prescriptions. “Really good rapport is key for a good relationship between staff and client.”

While Turner admits that “introducing the concept of recovery into mental health is fairly novel,” his team is committed helping clients live as normally as possible. Among the guiding values of Phoenix are being creative and seeing “fun, humor and artistic expression as central to a full life.”

In addition to her clinical work, Jordan is also a professional ballet dancer with the Plexis Dance Theatre, which performed a piece on schizophrenia last year.

“I’m a great believer in how we can really shift people from maladaptive to functional,” said Turner, who has a masters in social anthropology. “I’m interested in the mix of community and mental health. It’s exciting to see people discover recovery.”

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 10, 2003.

One nation, many voices

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Patriotism, defined simply by Merriam-Webster as “love for or devotion to one’s country” has become anything but simple in our recent political climate. Throughout our nation’s history, radicals, reformers, as well as those in the middle of the political road, have viewed their actions as profoundly patriotic. What better time to reflect on its meaning than this week, as we celebrate Independence Day. Here is what some South Coast residents had to say when asked, “What does patriotism mean to you?”

 

 

 

 

“Patriotism to me isn’t blindly following the bellwether of the most powerful political trend. … Patriotism IS the unrelenting need to challenge the forces that seek to undermine all that our Forefathers created.” —Charles Rice, Gay Santa Barbara.org

 

” Patriotism is also not about waving the flag. … It is found in the responsibility we take in our daily lives to build the community we call America. Patriotism is about being well informed about what is going on in the world … being registered to vote and voting … offering constructive and civil praise and criticism to our government and being free to do so; and, it is about believing and supporting our rights granted under the Constitution.” —Marty Blum, Santa Barbara mayor

“Patriotism is the love of a nation that protects our freedom and human rights.” — Jane and George Arakelian, Jerusalem natives, Santa Barbara residents

“Patriotism … means believing that my country and the freedom it gives each individual to make the most of himself, is a unique and precious treasure that is not found anywhere else in the world.” — Sandee Beckers, community volunteer

“Pride in being an American — no hyphens in front or back of that. Joy in seeing the glorious American flag with its brilliant stars and stripes while visiting foreign nations. Love of our magnificent natural resources. Enjoying the friendship that is so typical of Americans.” –Jean Blois, Goleta city councilwoman

” … For me, patriotism means being ‘always ready’ to answer the call (whatever the mission may be) and to be an active and positive member of my local community.”– Lt. Bryan Clampitt, Coast Guard, Channel Islands Harbor

“I’ll give you two quotes (from other people). Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels. Peace is patriotic.” — Mickey Flacks, community activist

“Patriotism does not mean my country right or wrong. It means being an informed citizen. One who votes. One who embraces America’s founding principles and speaks out when those principles are endangered or ignored. It means questioning the notion that America has a divine mandate to rule the world. Real patriots seek peace.”– Linda Stewart-Oaten, writer

 

 

 

“It’s really too bad that patriotism has become identified with a particular conservative political ideological position and that isn’t true about the history of American patriotic expression. People’s commitment to America is not to be measured by whether they wrap themselves in flags, but what they do to make the country as good as it wants to be, and preserve its values.”– Richard Flacks, UCSB professor

“Patriotism means standing up for individual rights and limited government. For liberty to prevail, we must be forever on guard against every form of tyranny.”– Gregory Gandrud, Carpinteria city councilman

“I feel patriotism means standing behind our service men and women that defend our country every day, no matter what our political views are.” — Lola Georgi, wife of Col. Daniel Georgi

“… Being patriotic is a little bit like being married. You love your spouse and more often than not feel like they are the absolute perfect fit for you. Occasionally, you may disagree on various issues, but it doesn’t mean that you stop loving and supporting them. And when the chips are down, boy, you had better be there, defending them with all your heart.”– Ashley Snyder, mother of three

“Patriotism is an addictive escape that is self-servingly pawned off on the public by corporations and governments in order to wrest freedom from individuals and prevent us from facing and overcoming our fears.” — Justin Weaver, concert manager

“Patriotism is where a person does everything they can to help all people find happiness.”– Tobias Larouche, salesman

“Patriotism is a love for your country and strong desire to protect our hard-earned constitutional rights. There is also a hope that your country will live up to your expectations by taking care of all of its citizens, using honesty and integrity, and being a positive role model for the rest of the world.” —Catherine Dishion, United Nations Association, Santa Barbara Chapter

“Patriotism is about defending our way of life, our values, and remembering those who sacrificed their lives defending our freedoms. … I like to remember the thousands of Native American men and women who have sacrificed and served in the U.S. military — from the Revolutionary War right up through the war in Iraq — so that all of us who live on this land may be free. — Jon Gregory, general manager, Chumash Casino

 

 

 

“Patriotism for me is the act of celebrating those who vehemently disagree with me and recognizing that our debate, and the fundamental right to disagree, is what unites us as a country.”– Ben Romo, political consultant, Romo & Associates

“… Pride of country, love of family and children, respect for differences of cultures and more, basking and relaxing in the beauty of our local community and most important, getting teary-eyed each time we sing ‘God Bless America’ and watch our flag march by!”– Catherine Lee, executive director, Montecito Association

“Patriotism is being proud of your country.”– Marley Taylor, Girl Scout cadet, age 12

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on July 4, 2003.

Exit strategies

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With the impending departure of Fidelity National Financial to Jacksonville, Fla., and the speculation that other large employers may follow their lead and flee, one has to ask, how friendly is this community to businesses?

Rumors abound that Santa Barbara’s other Fortune 500 company, Tenet Healthcare, may also be pulling up stakes, but company spokesman Steven Campanini denied that.

“A move is not under active consideration,” he said. “Leaving Santa Barbara is not even on our radar screens.

“Although,” he laughed, “I’m not happy with the weather this week.”

June gloom aside, the weather is undoubtedly one of our region’s greatest advantages. But despite the lush climate, is Santa Barbara a friendly place to do business?

It ranked 31st on Forbes magazine’s 2003 “Best Places for Business and Careers,” based on a variety of weighted criteria. The areas in which Santa Barbara scored the best were crime rate and education, and it ranked lower on cost of doing business and housing afford-ability. A 2002 metropolitan — rather than city — ranking, conducted by Forbes and the Milken Institute, also ranks the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc area at No. 31.

Some doubt the veracity of this type of ranking.

“There’s no real scientific measure of business friendliness,” said Bill Watkins, executive director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. “The problem with those sort of ranking systems is that they’re based on somebody’s value judgments of what is best. Given our environment, (our level of business-friendliness) is appropriate. If unemployment were higher it might be different.”

A report by the Public Policy Institute of California appears to support Watkins’ position, stating, “The idea that there is a single business climate in the state that is applicable for all businesses and regions is too simplistic.”

Despite the oversimplification, when the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency was questioned about the number of businesses leaving California, it said data was not tracked by the government, instead pointing to research from Fortune magazine (No. 1 state with 53 Fortune 500 companies; 15 of the “100 best companies to work for”); Inc. magazine (No. 1 for “fastest-growing companies”); and Forbes (five of the top 25 fastest-growing tech companies).

“We consider it to be very friendly here,” said Raytheon spokesman Ron Colman. “We have no plan at all to move.”

While Raytheon Vision Systems, formerly SBRC, recently purchased a new building in Lompoc, and plans to locate 40 employees there by year-end, Colman said that expansion was predicated on the specific need for a clean-room facility and has no implication for future expansion into the North County at the expense of the South Coast.

“In a weak economy we tend to be a little more friendly,” said Steve Cushman, executive director of the Santa Barbara Region Chamber of Commerce.

“In the North County, there’s more available square footage … they’ve created more incentives … the approval process is faster and more dependable.”

Regarding the permitting process, Dave Gustafson, Santa Barbara’s assistant community development director, cited ongoing efforts to streamline the development approval process.

“I don’t think we’re all that unpredictable,” he said.

On the housing issue, he continued, “We are constantly looking at land-use strategies to try to accomplish affordable housing for the workforce.”

State-mandated constraints such as insurance and workers’ compensation are also a business concern over which “the city has no control,” said City Councilman Dan Secord.

“Employers must pay the freight for richer benefits to the injured worker,” he said.

Secord urged an active business retention program for the city to “express the city’s caring for business, whose productivity in jobs and taxes make the other city services possible.”

Thus far, Goleta city officials have not announced any plans for business retention or future outreach programs. Calls to Mayor Jack Hawxhurst for comment on business issues were not returned.

The city of Santa Barbara is planning a series of meetings with different business segments in the community to see how it can best address their needs, Gustafson said.

“Businesses want to be appreciated,” Cushman said.

Cushman cited Alias-Wavefront and Openwave (formerly Software.com) as companies that followed a familiar scenario of starting here, getting acquired or merging, and eventually having the parent company question the expense and travel inconveniences of being located in Santa Barbara.

While Tenet seems to be staying for the moment, “Vetronix is on the edge,” Cushman said. “We’re hoping they’ll stay.”

When questioned about the city’s efforts to try to retain Fidelity, senior vice president Daniel Kennedy Murphy said, “As far as I know, nothing really was done.”

Meanwhile, Fidelity chairman William Foley was quoted by Jacksonville’s First Coast News as saying, “Jacksonville actually wants to have us. California likes having us, but it isn’t very concerned about not having us.” Foley declined to return a Beacon reporter’s phone calls on this matter.

“I think it (the Fidelity move) was a surprise to us,” Gustafson said.

“I think there was not anything we could have done to stop it. Florida gave them $12 million worth of subsidies … We don’t have the financial tools to compete,” he added.

As for preemptive gestures to secure Tenet’s future in Santa Barbara, Campanini said there’s been “no interaction with the city that I’m aware of. You would have to ask the mayor’s office.”

Gustafson answered queries to Mayor Marty Blum.

“Over time there’ve been lots of meetings with Tenet. Many, many meetings with them,” he said.

“I don’t know, to be honest with you, about with Fidelity. I believe there’s one pending with Tenet’s new chairman.”

On the business growth vs. lifestyle issue, he said, “If we were looking to attract large Fortune 500 companies there might be environmental issues to that growth. This gets into the whole growth, and quality of life balance.”

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on June 19, 2003.

Monty Roberts—the Horse Whisperer

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Monty Roberts, the real life horse whisperer

Monty Roberts, the real life horse whisperer

In the world of celebrity lecturers, Monty Roberts is indeed a horse of a different color. Soothing savage beasts — of both the equine and human variety — seems to come naturally to the world-renowned horse gentler.

In addition to gaining international recognition for successfully starting raw horses in a gentle effective manner with a technique called “Join-Up,” and teaching the value of “trust-based relationships” to more than 250 blue-chip corporations, Roberts has also published three best-selling books, including one aptly titled Horse Sense for People.

On Saturday night, “the man who listens to horses” will add to the almost $2 million he’s already raised for charities, with a fund-raising demonstration of his nonviolent horse-training methods at Earl Warren Showgrounds. The beneficiary is Hearts Adaptive Riding Program of Santa Barbara. Therapeutic riding programs such as Hearts Adaptive, which promote the benefits of the horse for individuals with physical, emotional and learning disabilities, were first brought to Roberts’ attention by none other than the Queen of England.

“This was the queen’s baby — she started therapeutic riding in England about 30 years ago,” he said.

Roberts’ level of international recognition skyrocketed in 1989, when Queen Elizabeth II invited him to demonstrate his training methods at Windsor Castle. She encouraged him to tour with his Join-Up training technique and to write his first book, The Man Who Listens to Horses.

When the queen asked Roberts to support therapeutic riding, there wasn’t much awareness of it in the United States. Roberts did some research and became convinced that “flight animals have a fantastic ability to put people at ease and cause them to relax and set about the working of muscles and eye-hand coordination that otherwise is just not done in a whirlpool or treadmill or something like that.” He now travels the world, doing about 100 benefits of this type every year.

While Roberts has done therapeutic riding benefits at his ranch, Flag is Up Farms in Solvang, this is the first demonstration of this kind that he’s done in Santa Barbara.

“What far outweighs the fund-raising efforts is to leave a community with a greater awareness,” he said, encouraging parents or spouses with a challenged family member to take advantage of available programs like Hearts Adaptive.

Not only does Roberts support these programs at his demonstrations, he also asserts “therapeutic riding horses that are trained in the absence of violence are better than those that are trained with violence.” The nonviolent theme carries through to his work with children. He and wife, Pat, have raised 47 foster children, in addition to their three grown children, Debbie, Marty and Laurel, who all work in different areas of the horse community.

When questioned about the acceptance of nonviolent techniques by the horse community, Roberts said, “I won’t change those old rednecks. You have to try to help the next generation to come along. They say that 200,000 horses will be started by my methods in the next 12 months in the world. … That’s probably more than 10 percent of all the horses that are broken traditionally, so that’s a huge impact. … The greatest change that’s come over the horse industry in 8,000 years.”

Originally published in South Coast Beacon

New members take their places in city council history

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When Brian Barnwell, Helene Schneider and Das Williams were sworn in as members of the Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday, in addition to their new responsibilities they also received a place in history alongside such luminaries as John Nidever, who served on the council for one week, then resigned in 1856; Edith Hancock, the first woman elected to the council in 1947; S.L. (Bud) Eyman, who had an angry citizen throw a pie in his face during a council meeting in the 1970s; and Charles E. Cook, who was assassinated 1862 after serving for six months.

Along with their new seats on the dais, Barnwell, Schneider and Williams also took their places in the fifth edition of “Civic Leadership in Santa Barbara,” which traces the history of the Santa Barbara City Council from 1826 to the present. The book (available at the public library) is a labor of love by former Mayor and Councilman Hal Conklin, who began the effort in 1990 with the assistance of Carrol Villanueva, a UCSB intern.

“I’ve always loved California history. It’s been a passion of mine ever since I was a kid,” said Conklin, who holds the record for longest city council service, leaving public office after more than18 years (due to term limits). “Coming to the city of Santa Barbara of course you’re seeped in history all the time. When I was on the council I was acutely aware that I was in a long line of secession,” said Conklin, who now serves as the director of public affairs for Southern California Edison.

First incorporated as a city in 1850, most of the members of Santa Barbara’s Common Council, as it was called, were reputed to be wealthy landowners, with recognizable local surnames turned street names, such as Carrillo and De la Guerra. Among the laws of the day were a Public Intoxication Ordinance establishing a fine of $100 for any white proprietor or landlord and a fine of $2 for any Indian with the same offense and a Hog Ordinance “to prevent hogs from running at large within the limits of the city.”

While the sow problem seems to be under control, it will be up to the new council to try to weave a silk purse from the city coffers currently being drained by the state, as well as deal with pressing regional issues like neighborhood preservation, a housing shortage, the environment, traffic and growth.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on January 8, 2003.

Harmonizing with Soluna

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By Leslie Dinaberg

SuperOnda Managing Editor

Soluna, For All Time

Soluna, For All Time

Somewhere between the sun and the moon is the female foursome Soluna. Formed in the late ’90s, the group quickly signed with DreamWorks Records and recorded its self-titled debut CD, which came out in May. With the release of their hit single “For All Time” and the accompanying video airing on MTV’s popular TRL viewer request show, band members “T” (short for Christina) Lopez, Jessica Castellanos, Aurora Rodriguez, and America (pronounced Amereeka) Olivio are clearly on a roll. SúperOnda caught up with them in Santa Barbara, hours before they performed as the opening act for Marc Anthony. The four Southern California Latinas were energetic, excited, and entertaining after a rare day of rest for them during the tour.

SO: I know you’ve been together for only three years. How did you get signed with DreamWorks?

Jessica: We were fortunate to get noticed early on in the inception of the group. We had all been struggling artists as soloists. We’ve been trying to do this since we were four years old – singing in church since we were little. But once we got together with the band, doors started to open. People who knew people opened doors for us. They had friends that you never knew they knew. Like your friend had a friend who had a company … and you’re like, “you never introduced them to me before …” [all laugh].

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An Interview with Cerida Corporation’s Jeanne Lambert

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Recognizing the critical need for teleprofessionals who could focus on driving the entire sales cycle — from marketing to sales to customer development — Jeanne Lambert founded Cerida Corp. (formerly TeleSales, Inc.) in 1993. As President and CEO, she has built up an impressive client list that includes IBM PartnerWorld, Cisco Systems, and Texas Instruments. Here, Lambert shares her insights on customer service, CRM and what she’s learned recently about branding.

SAM: Define expert customer service.

JL: We refer to our expertise as Customer Development as opposed to pure customer service. … Our emphasis … is to focus on up-selling, cross-selling and other revenue opportunities. … We consider ourselves sales cycle experts, going from the objective that a marketing side of the organization is trying to target, qualify, educate — moving through to sales and further education — and closing business by going back to your existing customers to sell, and up-sell while they’re going through that customer service center.

SAM: From the client perspective, the benefit to up-selling and cross-selling is obvious, but in terms of the customers, how would you define an excellent experience?

JL: … First [make] sure that customer service is easily accessed, and gives you all kinds of channels, so that as a customer, you select how you want to be serviced. The choices in the market today are about the customer.

[Also critical is] the sophistication of the customer service experience … Do not send me a blanket e-mail response that says “thank you for your request, we will be processing that” and then take credit in the market for having a fast response! You didn’t answer my question, you just acknowledged the fact that I sent you one.

SAM: What else is important?

JL: … You don’t have to go through this “could you hold, I need to get my supervisor to talk to you about this.” We learn good quality customer service and we go over those things with clients first, so that as we’re going through training with our clients, we’re aligned with them.

SAM: So you try to be proactive?

JL: [If there are problems with a product] we work with them on an answer level. … very quickly we are able to train the agents so that they can deal with those as soon as a customer calls and complains … Usually you disarm the issue … when you’re on top of it.

SAM: That makes a lot of sense. What about your company’s marketing strategy? Prior to this you were working under a different name, why the change to Cerida?

JL: …We were getting feedback … that our name [“Telesales”] was deceiving and limiting in its perception in the market. … I’m Irish. … I found this site that had Irish goddesses: Cerid, the Irish Goddess who imparted knowledge and intelligence to humans. … It’s that thing that I think describes what we as a company are trying to do.

SAM: Now will the essence of the name be part of the branding that you’re doing?

JL: Absolutely. …. It’s … right under our logo. “Our name, Cerida, is derived from the name of the Celtic goddess Ceridwen, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. We carry this name because it symbolizes what we do best, apply business knowledge and sales wisdom at any (and every) point in the contact sales cycle.”

SAM: It’s perfect. In your field, especially, there are a lot of company names that are either confusing or nonsensical.

JL: … I just started to really understand and I’m learning every day and reading a bunch of books on what the word branding means. That was a foreign concept to me. My background is mostly sales and now that I’m now getting involved in marketing and understanding more about it and the concept of branding is everybody’s responsibility in the company. I never really understood that before.

Originally published in SAM Magazine in September 2001.

Case Study: Interliant’s Sales Incentive Program

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The Challenge: Every morning, Travis Lupo, Web Hosting Sales Manager for Interliant, an ASP with offices through the U.S. and Europe, meets with his 25-member Atlanta-based sales team. Daily updates and friendly competition are an important part of his motivation strategy, but Interliant’s internal platform for sales reporting was being transitioned and he couldn’t get daily updated results for the sales reps.

The Solution: A sales incentive program developed in conjunction with Salesdriver provided Interliant with a cost-effective, efficient, web-based solution.

“We provide real-time feedback for sales managers,” says Dan Berger, Salesdriver’s CEO and President. “Right now the Internet is the most powerful change agent in the $23 billion annual incentives market.”

Lupo agrees. “Being web-based … it’s more efficient … you have to do a lot less manually as far as rolling it out to your people, and the results are up there on Salesdriver on an automated basis. … less strain for management.”

Salesdriver’s innovative on-line sales contest service allowed Interliant to build their program for free, and launch it with the click of a button. The bill came when the “DriverDollars” were cashed in by winning salespeople at the end of the contest — the ultimate “pay for performance.”

“Trips and electronics are what incent our employees the most,” says Lupo. “We’ve been using Salesdriver for almost a year now.” The results? “It’s kind of hard to quantify, but our numbers have definitely grown exponentially and the sales force and efficiency in the organization have boosted our revenue … I would say this has definitely positively impacted our revenue.”

Originally published in SAM Magazine in July 2001.

Case Study: Contempo Design’s Employee Newsletter

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How do you keep in-house communication lines open when your company grows from 50 to 450 employees in seven different locations? Contempo Design (www.contempodesign.com) needed to meet the internal challenges of evolving from a single product line of exhibits to a supplier of retail/financial environments, specialty interiors, events and labor management. One tool: an employee newsletter to market the company’s brand and philosophy internally.

” We looked at doing it on the web or via e-mail, but … the shop guys don’t have e-mail and we wanted them to use the newsletter, not just the salespeople,” said Chris Kappes, Contempo’s VP Corporate Marketing & Communications.

The resulting newsletter, with its second edition recently released, is a nice mixture of company information, such as employee interviews, and reports on new business and awards; communication from upper management, for example, a “state of the union” from company president Rob Shaw, and thoughts on the company brand from Kappes; as well as industry information, like interviews with editors from Exhibitor Magazine and B to B.

“Newsletters work best when there are a bunch of different offices,” said Rebecca Hayne, Director of Public Relations for Alexander & Walsh, the firm that works on content development for Contempo’s newsletters, among others. “Not only do they keep the rumors down, but they help to unite the office and avoid the game of telephone.”

As an added benefit, Kappes reports that the newsletter, designed by ZGraphics, Ltd., has been so well received they are planning to “give it more of a consumer spin” and use it as a promotional piece for clients. That’s the kind of killing two birds with one stone (or print job) strategy to make any marketer want to give it a whirl.

Originally published in SAM Magazine in July 2001.

SAM talks to Donald Baird about the America’s Schools Program

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Talk about a win-win proposition. Who wouldn’t want to associate their brand with something as wholesome and all-American as helping to bring textbooks, art, music and sports to their children’s schools? Aussie Olympian Donald Baird, Founder and CEO of the International School Licensing Corporation, has devoted over twenty years of his life to developing revenue generating programs for schools, school districts and athletics. As any good coach will tell you, one key to success is having a great game plan.

With that in mind, Baird has been laying the groundwork for the America’s Schools Program since 1984, developing partnerships with school boards and schools districts throughout the United States. The hardest part is over — 14 states representing 80 percent of the country’s population have signed on to the program. SAM caught up with Baird recently, as he was about to launch his pitch to the Fortune 500.

SAM: To a marketer, the America’s Schools program appeals on a few different levels. You have the partnership marketing where you’re sharing the expense and the promotional efforts with a lot of different companies, and, the philanthropic aspect is still a bit unusual.

DB: It is unusual. We’re putting the entire educational family under this one identifiable mark. [the America’s Schools logo] … We’re not one of the 30,000 companies trying to get a foothold in education, we’re working with education for education.

SAM: How?

DB: We are … developing what is going to be the biggest, most powerful marketing vehicle this country has ever seen. … a system that will enable national advertising dollars to affect the well being of a local school. Every school is going to be treated exactly the same. The money is distributed to each individual school based on population.

… I did not want to stand in front of a major corporation unless I could explicitly tell them that we have the school systems signed on. We met in Tennessee and 14 states, representing 80 percent of the country’s population, convened [to establish] the America’s Schools National Business and Licensing Board. Eventually it will be structured from all 50 states.

SAM: It sounds like a tremendously ambitious program.

DB: It is. If you can envision something it can happen. … All you have to do here is basically just have a half a million people believe in one thing. That’s all.

SAM: Now that you’ve conquered the schools, what about marketing this to corporate America?

DB: We are at a point where we can sit down and present the program with all the confidence in the world. The first company that’s going to see [our presentation] is Coca Cola. We have to show corporations that I am going to change what I do on a national basis. One of the challenges we had with each individual state, was that they had to sign a contract of a minimum of 12 years, some of the contracts are as long as 26 years. The reason for that is to show solidarity.

SAM: That makes sense.

DB: … a minimum of 50 cents on every dollar had to go back to the local school districts. That’s before any money went to any of the bodies that were helping to put this together. We’re looking for corporate partners, not sponsors — people … that are going to be impacted by a corporate relationship with the educational system.

SAM: With Coca Cola, do you have a certain percentage in mind that you’re asking for these partnerships?

DB: What it’s going to be is a minimum. We spoke to people [on the boards of] five Fortune 500 companies … and asked them hypothetically … would you, for the exclusive relationship with this program on a nationwide basis, be interested in the program, how would you go about getting involved with it, and the third thing, which is would you be turned off by the fact that it would be 25 million up front annual fee. In every case they said they would be excited.

SAM: Are you going to be doing any kind of promotional campaign, besides having signage in the schools?

DB: We have a deal with Viacom [who owns a number of media companies, including CBS and MTV] …Where there’s available billboard space, they are giving us the space. They want to work with us and help make this work.

By the fifth year, in our budget, we will be spending 50 million in advertising alone, that’s all funded by the individual corporations. … Our objective is to make this symbol more recognizable than the Olympic rings and Nike put together — in one-eighth of the time it took them to establish themselves.

SAM: And what’s the timetable that you’re looking at for the core group of partners?

DB: By September/October we’re hoping to put in two to three. Within 2 years we hope to have 12 put together.

SAM: Have the school boards given you any kind of guidance in terms of the types of corporations?

DB: No tobacco, nothing religious, no alcohol, all the typical things. The final list of companies has come from that national board … already pre-approved.

SAM: Is it meant to be a non-profit model?

DB: No, it’s not. Anyway, that’s what I keep telling my investors. It’s gonna take some time. If you’re talking 25 million and you’ve got 12 companies, you’re basically talking about 300 million in annual revenues that are going to be created. Obviously we have a certain threshold or a certain dollar amount that we’ve got to make in order to be profitable in order to make it work.

… 76% of the entire country said that if price and quality are equal, they will buy something that supports a cause over buying something from a competitor — if it’s for a cause that they can relate to. Their family is the most important cause …

SAM: That’s absolutely true.

DB: If we can positively affect the hearts and minds of these people, their pocketbooks will follow, just out of natural human instinct. We’re gonna hit the hearts and minds of everybody in this country. It’s gonna be unbelievable, unlike anything that anyone’s ever done before. It’s gonna be like a virus across this entire country.

SAM: The part that’s going to be of the most interest to our readers is the corporate angle, that’s still evolving. Our readers are going to be most interested in how that whole arrangement will work.

DB: They’re gonna pay money to have a relationship with us, and we’re gonna be directing every check that comes out of it to the schools. The education system … it is the airport of life. Everybody has to go through school.

SAM: What was your inspiration for coming up with this program in the first place?

DB: Frustration. … There is absolutely no reason why a girl or boy should be deprived of a full education for the lack of money. The money exists. … That’s the inspiration. If I can imagine it, it can be done. And luckily enough there are some great people out there who feel the same. Our board of directors rivals any Fortune 500 company in this country.

If we do this right, when they write the book of the history of marketing and sales and advertising, I think there’s gonna be at least a paragraph on the America’s Schools Program.

Originally published in SAM Magazine in July 2001.