NAIOP Marks A New Writing Adventure

A new writing client of mine is NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. The acronym, by the way, rhymes with "skytop."

It's a fitting memory device, considering my first assignment, in March, was to write a summary of "A View from the Top: The Nation’s leading Real Estate CEOs Provide Insight Into The Industrial Market.”

A week ago, I covered a panel discussion of "Chicago Rail: Economic Development for the Region."

Much like my experience with the Chicago district of the Urban Land Institute, writing for NAIOP has been a most educational experience.

More than once, the remarks have sent me scurrying to the Internet to dig for more context. With my most recent write-up, I even included a bevy of links to aid others who may be inclined to do the same additional research.

To quote from the assocation's website, NAIOP is "the leading organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial and mixed-use real estate."

Want to learn more? Click the link that appears with this post's first word.

McAdam Featured in Earth Day TV Segment

Last night, on the eve of Earth Day, Jackie Bange of Chicago's WGN Channel 9 filed a report with a refreshingly different take on environmental stewardship: not only honoring the stuff of the Earth, but also some individuals who are in need of a fresh start.

As part of her reporting, Bange came out to Forest Park-based McAdam Landscaping and its Nursery & Garden Center last week. For years, McAdam has hired graduates of the Green Corp program profiled in the piece.

In 1997, brothers Scott and Rob McAdam, along with two other partners, started WRD Environmental, Inc. The company provides consultation for native landscapes and currently oversees the Green Corp program of Chicago’s Department of Environment.

As the WGN report notes, the city of Chicago has partnered with WRD "to create a green jobs program for those who have a difficult time finding employment, many of which are ex-offenders."

Some elements of that visit are evident in the segment below, including interviews with Scott McAdam, the company president, and employees Anthony Harris and Rosa Montes.

Clearly, they are among a larger group of individuals, including some others interviewed on camera, that have played instrumental roles in this successful initiative. Kudos to the entire team for its collective willingness to do "the right thing," as Scott McAdam told Bange.

To learn more, you can read the summary here or or click on the video (graciously provided by WGN) below.

 

Ride IV Reasons: Guinness Bid Gets Under Way

On Sunday night, with the much-awaited start of Ride IV Reasons, Inside Edge PR entered the marathon PR phase of its effort in support of that Guinness World Record attempt.

George Hood, a 52-year-old Aurora, Ill. man, has already set the Guinness mark twice—only to have the record eclipsed shortly thereafter by other ultra-athletes. This time, George wants to stretch the record so far (over 12 ½ days to a staggering 300 hours) that it discourages anyone else from ever trying to top it.

The journey will play out in the space most recently occupied by Lazarus Furniture, in the Aurora Marketplace Shopping Center, at the northwest corner of Route 59 and 75th St. It is most certainly open to the public, so if you're anywhere close, be sure to swing by as there are a variety of activities under way. Details are at the Ride IV Reasons website.

You can also see George live via video webstream.

The fund-raising goal is $200,000. Beneficiaries will be the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, which provides support to Marines injured in Afghanistan and Iraq and their families; and a variety of programs through the United Way of Fox Valley, about an hour west of Chicago.

It's the third time I've done public relations as George has gone on a protracted spin and I encourage you to get involved as well in some way, through your time, a financial donation, or both. It's always gratifying to be part of something so much bigger than any one individual person.

More updates to follow. Meantime, you can see the countdown to the start right here.

My `Smart Behavior Strategies' Moment

Today, on the VoiceAmerica Business Channel, I had the honor of being a guest on Smart Behavior Strategies with Joe Takash.

Last week, Joe had Jeffrey Gitomer on as a guest and in the coming weeks he will be interviewing top business leaders like Brian Tracy, Tony Allesandra, Patrick Lencioni and several other best-selling authors.

Just a few minutes of listening to Joe (author of Results Through Relationships and owner of Victory Consulting) is enough to see how he's able to draw such immense talent: he is by turns hilarious, insightful, poignant, self-effacing and dynamic.

Above all, though, Joe delivers golden nuggets of practical wisdom borne of years in the business world.

So there I was this morning, smack dab in the middle of all those luminaries, for about a half-hour.

There was a reference to Starsky & Hutch, the "Guttenberg Effect" that I've coined, a pop math quiz that caught me only slightly off-guard, and discussion of the most common press release mistakes to avoid.

If you want to listen to our wide-ranging talk, through the wonders of modern technology, you can. It was entitled "Get Connected: Communication Secrets from a Media Insider."

A big "thank you" to Joe for inviting me on his show, and for allowing me to share some of my views with his listeners.

The Story Behind `Super Skateboarder Stopper'

A quarter-century ago, I was fooled--hook, line and sinker--by an April Fool's story in Sports Illustrated.

It was about "Sidd Finch," a newcomer to the baseball scene purported to be able to hurl the ball 168 mph, or roughy 68 mph faster than anybody else.

And I like pulling legs as much as anyone else--and much more than most.

So when I had a chance recently, at the invitation of Wednesday Journal managing editor Helen Karakoudas, to pull an April Fool's stunt involving my alter ego, Super Shopper Spotter, I quite literally leapt at it.

Of course, last week when the article appeared in the "Wednesday Jerbil," I doubt anyone believed for a moment that Triple S now stood for Super Skateboarder Stopper.

Just the same, it was fun. You can see the tale, "Superhero scouts new economic stimulus," here at the Wednesday Journal website.

You can also check out some of Super Shopper Spotter's other exploits here.