Corporate Innovation

A subject SM& is exploring at our panel on Thursday, corporate innovation is most effective when it can be translated into best practices and replicated by others. So I was intrigued by a recent NYT article about large corporations pooling their “green ideas.” Taking a page from the free-ware movement in technology, larger corporations are sharing ideas that reduce greenhouse emissions, create greater efficiencies of scale, and remove toxins from the environment.

For instance, I.B.M. has created a recyclable cardboard packaging insert that requires less fossil fuel to create than traditional foam inserts. DuPont has developed a method for better detecting pollution in soil, air or water by using a microorganism that produces light when exposed to a pollutant.

---Marika Beaton is an account supervisor at Solomon McCown & Company. She can be reached by email at mbeaton@solomonmccown.com

Innovation: Spreading the Word in Unconventional Ways

Talk about thinking outside the box. New York Daily News reporter Elizabeth Lazarowitz recently wrote a piece, “Art to dry for: Artists install exhibition at laundermat dealing with NYC housing struggles,” about two Brooklyn-based artists who are raising awareness of the state of housing in New York City through art. Their photographs, part of The Laundromat Project, show scenes of poor living conditions in NY, and how people are affected by the rising cost of housing in the city. The photos are accompanied by audio clips from interviews with 11 subjects who are fighting to “find a spot to call home.”

The Laundromat Project, which will put on three laundromat-based shows this year, is “hoping to make art more accessible, especially to people of color in low-income neighborhoods.” What a great way to spread the word and help people learn about their neighbors while doing laundry.

Come see how other organizations are adapting and innovating their way through a struggling economy at the SM& Presents panel event, “Rising in a Down Economy” on Thursday!

---Jane Munkelwitz is a senior account executive at Solomon McCown & Company. She can be reached by email at jmunkelwitz@solomonmccown.com

We take our job seriously, even if we look silly doing it!

This is a picture of Tina Cassidy, vice president at Solomon McCown who heads up the real estate practice. It was taken Friday on the site of a $341 million, 237-bed replacement hospital for Capital Health that our client Skanska is building in Hopewell Township, NJ. The project will include a facility for a Cyberknife®, a robotic radiosurgery system that can reduce or eliminate certain lesions and tumors that are often considered inoperable.

One of Skanska's core values is zero accidents with the end goal of fostering an injury free environment (IFE). Hence the full safety regalia required just to step foot on the dirt near the job, PR team not excluded!

--- Christine Comey is an account executive at Solomon McCown & Company. She can be reached at ccomey@solomonmccown.com

What we can learn from HBO

In today’s Boston Globe, Peter Funt, a writer and TV host, says cable television has been successfully charging for content and argues that internet news sites can and should do the same. He predicts that online content will be sold in pieces, just as cable does it for sports, entertainment, weather, and hard news; for those of us who love all of it, we will be offered some sort of value pack or pricing.

Funt maintains that what helped cable succeed will also help the digital age. “Content is key,” he writes. “And consumers will support it. Quantity is appealing, but quality sells.”

---Alison Thompson is an account supervisor at Solomon McCown & Company. She can be reached by email at athompson@solomonmccown.com

Trick or Treat: Did the media make your costume?

Last year Sarah Palin was the popular Halloween disguise. How could it not be with all the attention that was being paid to the election and the uncanny resemblance Tina Fey had to Palin when playing her on Saturday Night Live?

This year, Michael Jackson has dominated the headlines so it comes as no surprise that, according to a recent CNN poll, he will top the charts for Halloween costumes.

It should be a thrilling night.

CNN.com link: http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/02/news/economy/halloween_costumes/index.htm

---Hanah Smith is an account executive at Solomon McCown & Company. She can be reached by email at hsmith@solomonmccown.com

H1N1 Outbreak Declared National Emergency

By now it is near impossible that you have not heard of H1N1 or swine flu. It has invaded the media and pandemic planning has even been parodied in the Dilbert cartoon.

It was announced Saturday that President Obama has declared the H1N1 outbreak a national emergency. The declaration, made shortly after it was announced that only 28 million doses of the vaccine will be available by the end of October instead of the 40 million originally predicted, will give his health chief Kathleen Sebelius the ability to bypass federal rules by allowing hospitals to relocate emergency rooms offsite in order to speed treatment and protect non-infected patients from exposure.

As the nation prepares for the impact of H1N1 on hospitals, now more than ever, businesses need a plan in preparation for the flu’s impact- including how an outbreak in the office will be communicated. This is something that SM& is well versed in and we frequently work with clients to build a crisis communications program to ensure effective communications in any situation (including an H1N1 outbreak). Those that take the time to plan ahead and encourage employees to keep other team members informed of daily workload and status will be more sustainable through flu season and will operate more seamlessly when staffing shortages hit this season.

--- Christine Comey is an account executive at Solomon McCown & Company. She can be reached at ccomey@solomonmccown.com

The Strength of CHAPA’s Brand

When you can state your organizations mission in one sentence and have 1,300 people back it up, you know you have a strong brand. The Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) http://www.chapa.org/ can do just that.

CHAPA’s mission is to encourage the production and preservation of housing which is affordable to low-income families and individuals. Last night CHAPA held its 42^nd Annual Dinner at the Boston Convention Center and it was packed with more than a thousand people who support that mission.

Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), was the keynote speaker at the event. He complimented CHAPA and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for fighting for affordable housing. He also outlined President Obama’s commitment to the issue. But I really think Secretary Donovan put it best when he said, "The futures of our children should not be determined by the zip code they grow up in.”

I was lucky enough to grow up in Quincy, a city that has affordable housing options for its residents. But not all communities are there yet. Some elderly people can’t stay in the communities where they have lived for decades and raised their families because rents are just too high. CHAPA is constantly trying to make that reality a thing of the past and they do so without fanfare. Last night it was an honor to take a moment and applaud CHAPA and its mission.

--- Francy Ronayne is an account supervisor at Solomon McCown & Company. She can be reached at fronayne@solomonmccown.com