Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
Wednesday, March 1st, 2006
— Month of February workout totals: Swim-5; Bike-4; Run-4; Lift-9; Yoga-5
— David and I spent most of last Saturday at the big National Gun Day event in Louisville. Anyone who has never attended a gun show should go at least once to experience the reality behind the propaganda and stereotypical distortions. The technology, heritage, craftsmanship, and diversity of enthusiasts must be appreciated firsthand. David said it was like visiting the Smithsonian and being able to pick things up without white gloves. I was amazed at one point to look down at a table of rifles and know they were collectively worth more than our Town House. I listened to an old man from New York discuss rare, obsolete cartridge cases. I listened to a guy with braided ponytail, tattoos and Harley shirt discuss arcane Victorian sporting calibers. I listened to a man who recreates authentic Kentucky flintlocks discuss the qualitative difference between his skill level and the work of the contemporary masters of the art form. I listened to a metal engraver contrast his techniques with the kind of wood engraving that I’ve done for printmaking. That’s a sampling of what I’m talking about.
— After the show, David and I drove to Campbellsville to meet up with the ladies. Our destination—Yorkshire Estate. The intent—to observe our first “Open That Bottle Night.” Janet and Jerome were splendid hosts, and the night couldn’t have been more delightful. We began with cheese, olives, and fruit, plus a Chilean Chardonnay, while an Australian Shiraz and a Washington State Cabernet awaited dinnertime in decanters. Using some of my Lake Huron fillets, Janet and Jerome prepared Salmon en Papillote, as Dana seared medallions of venison in balsamic sauce. Along with that, Janet provided some type of individual potato custard delicacies that were simply fantastic. Everything about the candlelight supper was magical, and it only got better when Lee served cookies and chocolate-bourbon cake with an exquisite desert wine brought back from South Africa. If we ever do it again, the evening will be difficult to top, but do it again we shall. Remember—the last Saturday in February is Open That Bottle Night…
— Sunday was another relaxing stay at Simpson Knob. After rediscovering the childhood fun of playing Yahtzee, Dana fixed a delicious broccoli omelette for the four of us and then worked on a food-club order with Lee while David showed me the rifle course he designed for the upcoming match he’s hosting. I shot well enough to think I might be capable of competing, but knew that I’d be spending that day with Clan instead, as a participant in “Operation Watershed.” Something has transpired so gradiently over the past couple years that I can’t say exactly when these exceptional people became two of our closest friends, but it just happened, and it’s gratifying to know that such deep relationships can develop at every stage of life.
— Well, I’m excited about getting a new client today—me. I woke up this morning dedicated to the idea of redesigning everything to do with how we position our design practice. Over the next 30 days I intend to conduct a radical experiment in time management that includes transforming our company for a new chapter of success. The rapid changes in software development and desktop publishing, along with the increasing perception of graphic design as a commodity service, has made it a necessity. Long overdue perhaps, but I’m not in the mood to look in the rearview mirror. I’m prepared to put all I’ve learned to the test, subjecting our own business to the same kind of analytical scrutiny that we apply to any other client. The timing is right. Stay tuned…
V & S
Posted in Business, Dana, Exercise, Family, Firearms, Food, Friends, Priorities, Studio, Wine | Comments Closed
Sunday, February 19th, 2006
James and I were laughing about the excessive hype that has surrounded Bode Miller, the faltering American skier, and got into a good conversation about behind-the-scenes commercialization of various Olympic personality types. When humble, dogged, amateur-style athletes prevail over the high-exposure, corporate-style athletes, marketers don’t think they have as much to work with, so often stick with an Olympic failure if their image investment still solves the demographic equation.
Dale Earnhardt’s attitude that a second-place finisher is just the “first loser” may resonate strongly with most gold-medal contenders, but the world of celebrity endorsement is different, and always will be driven more by overall persona than actual competitive results. That’s why you can expect advertising executives to be much more attracted to a cute snowboarder‘s impulsive screw-up than a veteran skier‘s credo of Olympic longevity—
“Spend a lot time on the hill, spend time training, and then, if you work hard over a long period of time, with a lot of focus, good things will happen to you in the end, and… use your head while you’re having fun.”
Posted in Business, Current Events, Family, James, Personalities, Priorities, Sport | Comments Closed
Friday, February 10th, 2006
• Opening a statement from the Social Security Administration did not get my day off on the right track, and it began to go downhill from there. Fortunately, I was able to recover a bit by putting some good sales moves on the Republican candidate for Boyle County Judge Executive, who will definitely need a high-credibility graphic image as part of any success campaign to unseat the entrenched incumbent. After that, I attended the opening of “4 Seasons — 4 Directions,” Kathleen’s inspiring collage exhibition at Danville’s Community Arts Center. By evening, Dana and I were in Berea with Lee and David, eating delicious Thai food and learning English Country Dance—so the day ended fully back on its proper rails.
… graybeard prospector …
Posted in Angst, Art, Business, Community, Dana, Dance, Food, Friends, Political Affairs | Comments Closed
Saturday, December 24th, 2005
I laugh to myself every time I think about it, and I’m not sure if I should, or whether a bit of angst is the more logical response—as if angst ever had a thing to do with logic. When I was finishing my last stint as a 2005 Red Kettle bell ringer, Jeanne saw me at the Wal-Mart grocery entrance. She told me she was thinking of Grandy-bo because I was wearing the Hudson Bay coat that originally belonged to William Breidenbach, and she remembered that Dadbo wore it for a few years after Dana gave it to him. She didn’t realize it was me at first. We were having a sweet brother-sister moment when my Rotarian replacement arrived, a lady who’s a top employee at one of our client businesses. Jeanne put her arms around me and gave me a kiss. I said, “See you tomorrow night.” It wasn’t until later that I recalled the odd look on the woman’s face when I handed her the bell and wished her a Merry Christmas…
Posted in Angst, Business, Community, Dadbo, Dana, Family, Jeanne | Comments Closed
Monday, December 19th, 2005
• Sometimes it takes awhile for a prospecting effort to result in a strike. I can’t remember exactly when the Dixon Family Reunion was held at the Blue Bank Farm (May 2004?), but by the time it was over, my cousin Joe and I had made the first step toward exploring a working relationship. He runs a company in Virginia and was looking to support his sales and corporate identity objectives with a higher level of visual design. We continued to talk, and when Bruce was in the hospital last spring, Joe even stopped there once to make a connection. Yesterday we talked again and I knew it was the moment to close the sale. I think he knew it, too. I’m excited about what 2006 holds in store, and this is one more good reason.
Thar’s gold in them thar hills!
… graybeard prospector …
Posted in Business, Family, Studio | Comments Closed
Sunday, December 18th, 2005
• One of best things to come from my going to the local GOP holiday reception was the opportunity to talk my friend Ken B, who got a fairly high political appointment with the Kentucky State Resort Parks at the beginning of Governor Fletcher’s term. The timing seemed right to raise the issue of how we might present our studio qualifications to the Department of Parks, since we’d just won our third “Traverse Award” from the Kentucky Tourism Council.
Ken offered to hand deliver some examples of our work to the proper person and open the door so we could make the case for using Dixon Design. It will be up to us to go through the standard review process for becoming a resource to state government, and that’s the way it should be. We may not have worked for the Commonwealth before, but we’ve been honored at the state level more that once for our brochure design, so I’m ready to throw my hat into the ring.
… graybeard prospector …
Posted in Business, Friends, Studio | Comments Closed
Friday, December 16th, 2005
In the past 40 years, the very best broadcast television series—with the notable exceptions of Mission: Impossible and Seinfeld—have all been Western hybrids:
The Wild Wild West (western/espionage)
Kung Fu (western/martial arts)
The Yellow Rose (western/soap)
Ned Blessing: The Story of My Life and Times (western/literary)
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (western/fantasy)
And now, wholeheartedly, I can add another to my list—
Firefly (western/science fiction)
Well, to be accurate, perhaps not the very best from an objective standpoint, but my top favorites. You have to keep in mind that I have unusual tube tastes, and I’ve also never had premium cable channels like HBO, so I’ve yet to see an episode of The Sopranos, wasn’t able to follow the anthology series Dead Man’s Gun, or have had an opportunity to watch the currently running, critically acclaimed Deadwood.
Lonesome Dove might be the best evidence that the viewing public will always respond to a well-made, well-marketed Western (but that was just a mini-series, and made over 15 years ago, now that I think about it). It’s possible that the 20-year drumbeat of Gunsmoke scripts (better add Bonanza to that) sucked the life out of the genre for the mass audience, forcing it to mutate to survive. In that sense, the Western has never gone away, but diversified for niche audiences. The problem is that television, even in the age of cable/satellite channels and the explosion of niche marketing in just about every other realm of business, still hasn’t learned how to reap success with smaller segments of loyal consumers of entertainment. Notice how many of my favorite shows were cancelled prematurely, if not in a preposterously capricious manner.
This should finally change forever with the maturity of the Internet.
I hope I live long enough to watch Con-Geeki, that really good Frontier Polynesian Interstellar Grifter Comedy I’ve always longed for.
Posted in Business, Television | Comments Closed
Friday, December 9th, 2005
Have you recently looked at a five-year gold chart?
For those of us who’ve been along for the ride, the question is whether to take some profits now or stay the course. And if you do sell, whether to park or buy something else. And if you do buy, what kind of investment will go up rather than down.
Are we in the midst of a long bull market or the tail end of a trend?
Everybody knows the answer. Nobody knows the answer.
Posted in Business, Current Events, Precious Metals | Comments Closed
Saturday, November 19th, 2005
— I reconfigured the screen saver on the Mac G4 Mini to display a sequence of abstractions by Kurt Schwitters. I can’t say why, but, as far as motivating me to make art, nothing of late has been more inspirational to me than the rule-shattering creations of this early 20-century master. One could say he basically invented the medium we know as collage (he certainly was the first to perfect it), and it won’t hurt if I can subconsciously absorb a wee bit of his genius. Did KK really go to Newcastle? My God, that’s the repository of the Schwitters “Merzbarn,” one of the most genuinely innovative artistic concepts of the last hundred years! I may never get to see it myself… Go back there, Caitlan; it’s in the Hatton Gallery at the University of Newcastle!
— Don’t know any details, but it seems as though conditions are imploding at the school where my sister Joan has worked for many years. I feel bad for her because I think I know what she’s going through. Dana and I still refer to the “Golden Age” at Wright State University Communications (where we first met) before that department went into a nose dive. Things were never the same. Some of our coworkers saw it coming early and escaped most of the madness. Dana and I saw the handwriting on the wall before many in our group, but we still had to endure six months of collapse until we made the leap and started our partnership and studio. Several of our friends tried to make the best of it and had to experience a lot of nastiness before what was left of our creative “dream team” had been totally dismantled. A few of us from those years started our own companies and continued to work with each other sporadically, and we keep in touch as friends to this day. Since then I’ve learned that good working relationships and situations can rarely be sustained indefinitely. Everything always changes. Undesirable situations can improve, but, unfortunately, great situations inevitably decline, or even crash and burn. There’s been quite an ebb and flow in our clientele since those days (26 years ago). It’s not that existing relationships will sour, but it’s more often a matter of the natural, dynamic flux in any organization’s personnel equation. Never underestimate the wake of change that can occur when outstanding people move on with their lives. It can cause a “brief, shining moment” to fade into personal mythology. The silver lining for me—I still have my “partner in all things” and my Clan, and that’s as close to permanent as I’ll ever know.
— Today Dana told me that Bruce had a bad night, but pulled through without having to go back to the hospital. He gets into vicious cycles of fever, nausea, low red cell count, weakness, low blood pressure, and then sometimes passes out when he tries to stand up, if he has the energy to move at all. I don’t know the actual sequence of it, but he manages to will himself forward, or he relies on his mother or Pam for the encouragement to ride it out when this happens. It apparently has something to do with dialysis, or the lingering infections, or another factor I’m not aware of. He told Dana this past week how much he wants to feel good again, and that he’s not giving up. Dana will stay with him until he improves enough that she can turn her role over to someone else. Until then, she must be there while Pam is at work. Meanwhile, I continue at the home-front and make my effort to get work, be productive, juggle the volunteer commitments that have a momentum I can’t control, and resist the kind of distractions I’ve always invited to avoid facing—right now—the full emotional impact of bearing life’s load (for example, making overly long blog entries).
V & S
Posted in Art, Blogging, Business, Caitlan, Creativity, Dana, Family, Friends, Home, Joan, Personalities, Priorities, Studio | Comments Closed
Tuesday, November 15th, 2005
• First excellency — Bruce gets released from the hospital today. Let’s hope and pray that it sticks this time. Dana has responded with another trip to Indianapolis. What a mom!
• Second excellency — I got a called from Liz the Advocate-Messenger reporter, and she wants to meet with me soon to discuss the issues and concerns I raised at the open meeting last week. This could be taking shape nicely—after sensitizing elected officials, work with the media to boost public awareness.
• Third excellency — During a long conversation with Dr. Williams about his brand identities and our ongoing professional relationship, he assigned to me an extraordinarily good design project—create a new image for Burkmann’s premium equine nutrition that will stand toe-to-toe with any other product in the competitive environment.
Not a bad day.
Posted in Business, Community, Dana, Family, Prayer, Public Service, Studio | Comments Closed
Thursday, November 10th, 2005
• Attended a joint meeting of Fiscal Court magistrates plus the elected officials of all three cities in Boyle County—Danville, Perryville, and Junction City. In my capacity as a member of the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeway Commission (KBBC), I advocated for a strengthening of language that deals with bicycling and pedestrian concerns within the Goals and Objectives for the new five-year Comprehensive Plan.
They ended up overwhelmingly passing a minor amendment to the transportation section. More important was the opportunity to raise public awareness of the need to take into consideration the interests of walkers and cyclists when planning and building transportation infrastructure, in keeping with relatively new state and federal policies that promote the benefits associated with traveling by bike or on foot.
I don’t know if these activities I take on as a result of being appointed by the Governor will enhance my separate effort to generate new projects for the studio, but if public policy leadership in one area convinces someone that I could be a good resource for image promotion or communications planning in another area… well, so be it.
Posted in Business, Community, Exercise, Public Service, Studio | Comments Closed
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005
• Went to the Community Arts Center with Dana for the Great American Brass Band Festival’s annual recognition luncheon. Mary Q told everyone that Dixon Design was honored with a “Traverse Award” from the Kentucky Tourism Council for our brochure design promoting the Festival. The distinction was announced recently at the awards dinner the Council hosts in conjunction with the Kentucky Department of Tourism’s annual meeting.
One of the nicest things to happen was to have both John A and Vince D stand up to compliment us personally and salute our work on behalf of the Festival. Vince’s tribute was particularly warm. Although I expected that our award would be mentioned, I did not anticipate his kind remarks about our long-term influence on the image of the Festival. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a public endorsement from anyone at his level of talent. It was a rare moment.
We’ve won the “Traverse” twice previously (in 1997 and 2000) for tourism pieces we did for the local Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Perhaps this time we’ll make a better effort to capitalize on the special recognition.
Posted in Business, Community, Dana, Music, Personalities, Studio | Comments Closed
Tuesday, November 8th, 2005
• Traveled to Liberty and participated in the City Hall reception for J.A., the new economic development professional for Casey County. Just about everybody who’s anybody in local leadership circles was there and I met Representative Higdon, Mayor Sweeney, the new director of the Chamber and several others, including the guest of honor. One of my most interesting conversations was with Richard M, who has a history with our family that goes back to the early years of the Clan.
I have to say that I felt a welcoming atmosphere that was new and different, as though a page had turned in my connection to a community that has been a puzzler for over twenty-five years, or perhaps the timing is just right to extend every benefit of the doubt to a place that continues to pull at me—after many, many moons.
Posted in Business, Community, Family | Comments Closed
Wednesday, October 12th, 2005
Speaking of the augury of birds (were you not?), Dana and I saw a blue heron fly over our path (from left to right). It was the largest heron I’ve ever seen. It reminded me of our pelican omen of 1979, when we christened our business partnership, which has survived 26 years. Whether or not we’ve begun a new cycle of good fortune, it certainly feels as though the recent studio tribulations are firmly behind us.
Posted in Business, Dana, Nature, Studio | Comments Closed
Friday, May 20th, 2005
I realized that our financial pinch has been going on for over a year. Lots of reasons for it. I just need to identify and deal with them, one by one. We’ve been giving away a lot of work, that’s for damn sure. I watched Rose interview Lucas tonight and was taken with the film maker’s remark about when he got started. He just expected his films to flop because nine out of every ten movies made are failures, but he learned the value of persistence and the importance of manipulating the system to one’s advantage, because talent and intelligence aren’t enough.
Posted in Business, Movies, Personalities, Studio, Television, Time | Comments Closed
Thursday, May 19th, 2005
I’ve been dealing with vendors for 30 years now—printers, sign fabricators, product manufacturers, film labs, paper mills, display companies, et-cetera—and it’s true that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” The landscape has been transformed (long gone are the typesetters, photostat technicians, and dot etchers), and new services never contemplated in the 70s are commonplace (stock photo agencies, Web hosts, and digital technology suppliers), but one simple fact remains. People who appreciate quality, pay attention to detail, and have respect for their craft are still the gold standard in the graphic arts industry. All the rest are just going through the motions, and will never understand what I’m talking about.
Posted in Business, Studio, Technology, Time | Comments Closed
Wednesday, April 27th, 2005
I spent the day with exterminators (don’t even ask!) and felt my livelihood slide one more notch toward crisis. All I want to do is watch “Alias” and “Eyes,” back to back (the two most entertaining dramas on network television, due to Ron Rifkin and Tim Daly).
Posted in Angst, Business, Home, Personalities, Studio, Television | Comments Closed
Saturday, April 23rd, 2005
Anybody who reads this will be pleased to know that Bruce has improved to the point of getting out of the ICU. Over the past five weeks he’s battled back from the edge of the void with the benefit of advanced treatment and lots of love, positive thoughts, and prayerful intent from an amazingly huge network of well-wishers.
Our studio clients have stood by us with compassionate understanding during a very difficult period. We’ve been in business long enough to know the kind of customers that many companies have to deal with. By contrast, Dana and I are fortunate enough to serve a group of people that happen to be exceptional human beings. In the competitive marketplace, that’s a true blessing.
Family has made the difference in so many ways. In these times, the word “Family” is defined in various ways. For me, it comes down to “crunch times” like this. However you choose to compose it, if it doesn’t pull together in support to get you through this kind of a challenge, then it isn’t really a family after all.
We’re getting ready to go to Indianapolis again to be with Bruce, along with my sister Joan (Brendan’s Mom! That’s why my name is Uncle John!). I don’t think the full impact of relief will strike me until I see him in his own room, minus all the medical paraphernalia that was necessary to provide the fighting chance that he employed with such stoutheartedness.
Bravissimo!
Posted in Awe, Brendan, Business, Dana, Family, Prayer, Studio | Comments Closed
Thursday, April 21st, 2005
Every so often it’s cool for our studio to get a naming project, but I’ve never been asked until this afternoon to recommend names for the new company a client is setting up to replace the need for services we are currently offering them. Now, let me run that by you again…
Posted in Business, Studio | Comments Closed
Tuesday, April 19th, 2005
— It’s a perplexing day when the media decides to focus on the naming of a new pope instead of the monumental story of the year: that Lance Armstrong will retire!
— Joan tells me it’s difficult for her to read this log on her computer because each entry is a single, horribly long horizontal line of text that scrolls endlessly. Must be a problem with her browser settings, and I hope it can be fixed. Don’t stop reading, Sis! I can’t afford to lose 50% of my fan base!
— I have no idea how it ended up in the library of the University of Indiana Medical School, or why it’s on display, but Marty and I couldn’t deny ourselves a close look at the death mask of John Dillinger. It’s got to be one of the creepiest damn things I’ve ever seen, not because of the casting itself, but how it was so amateurishly hand colored. And while we’re on the subject of creepy, you’ll find a whole archive of death masks at Thanatos.net.
— I remember Joe scolding me the time I made a condescending remark about Pookie, explaining that he just needed to find his identity as a dog, and, if we gave him a chance, he would. I never thought about Pookie the same way after that, and now it gives me a bit of pleasure (within the sorrow) to know that he got the second chance that Joe could see and I couldn’t.
— Bruce is breathing on his own and striving to gain the upper hand against his numerous infections. I try to accept how often they put him through yet another test, but that’s just the nature of modern pharmacological care. They try to match the drug to the bug. Dana is by his side at the hospital while I hold the fort at the studio. According to her latest report, he’s able to maintain a good, steady rate of respiration and cough productively, much better that when the ventilator was removed before. They’ve taken away the special bed that rotated and vibrated his chest. The PT seemed pleased that he’d gained strength since the previous therapy. The nephrologist cancelled the scheduled dialysis. Nobody has made an official statement that he won’t require it again, but the kidney numbers are normal. My son is a freakin’ warrior! God bless him up one side and down the other!
Posted in Business, Current Events, Dana, Death, Family, Marty, Personalities, Pets, Studio | Comments Closed
Thursday, April 14th, 2005
Rather than grant it any form of permanent expression, today’s dark mood is best left to the ethers…
Posted in Business | Comments Closed
Friday, March 25th, 2005
— I woke up this morning with a distinct phrase in my mind: magnesium fusion triggers. Look, I don’t drive the thing. I’m just ridin’ shotgun…
— Marty called last night and we talked about a subject that’s totally captured his excitement, the new Sony PS Portable. Hey, you’re allowed to get excited about something like this when you’re thirteen. For me, at that age, it was probably Art Linkletter’s “The Game of Life,” or something like that. However, I can’t help but think of this quote from Ben Stein: “I tremble for the day that the next generation has to provide for themselves with what they have learned from their video games.” Relax, Ben. They’ve probably learned more than I ever learned from watching too many hours of “The Avengers,” “The Prisoner,” “Hawaii Five-0” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”
— From what I can discern through the Associated Press, Josh and his 623rd Field Artillery unit was with the convoy that came under attack on Sunday morning, but it stayed with the trucks during the battle and sustained no casualties (from a Bruce Schreiner byline story).
— The new brochure we created for the Brass Band Festival is a major hit, according to our friend who’s retiring as director of the Visitor’s Bureau. I told her I hoped our work makes a good impression with her successor. She said she thought it would and will put in a good word for us. Sounds promising, but the new person brings strong connections to her former employer, a previous client of ours turned competitor. All I can do is stay positive and make my case at the appropriate time. I’d insert a link to the Festival, but the site is just too ugly. Wait a second! This is a job for Website Makeover™ Man!
— Dana and I are heading back up to Indy today to check on Bruce. Normally I have my Rotary Club meeting, but we’re dismissed for Good Friday, so we’ll deal with any urgent matters in the studio and then hit the road before it gets too late.
— I decided to google for “magnesium fusion triggers” and found myself reading an overview at GlobalSecurity.org about special weapons facilities on the Indian subcontinent. OK, so what am I supposed to be more scared of, the metastasis of the World Wide Web, unchecked nuclear proliferation in South Asia, or my own dadburn subconscious?
Posted in Business, Community, Current Events, Dana, Family, Friends, Marty, Personalities, Playtime, Studio, Television, Time | Comments Closed
