Sometimes I wonder... which was better, the speech I prepared and practiced, the speech I gave, or the speech I review on the drive home after the event. It's funny how the three blur together so you no longer know if you delivered what you intended. Hence, the importance of gathering specific, objective, outside feedback as part of any "after action review."

Messages... are absorbed by people in pieces, a little at a time, even in very personal communications. Therefore, to deliver a specific message requires constant, on-going communications with a consistent, easily identified theme. Source: Advanced Marketing and Complex Sales Course.

FRB... The Federal Reserve Bank's regional offices, as noted in last month's newsletter, are an excellent source of information. Simultaneous to last months letter, we received an issue from the Minneapolis branch's covering regional airports and their impact on the region's economy; cargo and passenger trends; service cutbacks at regional locations in spite of consistent or increasing boardings; mandatory pilot retirement at 60. The Jan. 2001 issue will address this topic in greater detail. If you're interested in pursuing the article, e-mail: <paeditor@mnpls.frb.org>

Co-Author Wanted... Interested in co-authoring an article on business retention with Blane, Canada Ltd.? Co-authoring includes research, analysis, and writing. Articles will be submitted for publication in ED Review, Economic Development, and other professional publications. If interested, contact Eric: <ecanada@ix.netcom.com>

Check this one out! … The University of Minnesota is offering economic development classes on line! Winter and spring courses include: Community Economic Analysis, Quality Service Management, E-Commerce, and BR&E Leadership Training. If you don't have the budget to attend professional seminars, investigate this option at http://www.edo.umn.edu

Garrison Keillor... would love this coverage of the Lake Wobegon country! Hastings, MN was recently covered by Jeffrey A. Tannenbaum, a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal. According to the article, an entrepreneur was hired to incubate small businesses. To date, he has nurtured about 20 small businesses!  Source: Jeanne Creighton

Winston Churchill said... "It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary."

Share your success story... Towns under 10,000 that have had a special success (or informative failure) can share their stories for an upcoming collection to be assembled by the National Center for Small Communities.  The Center will select 50 cases for an online database. The collection will build on their book "Harvesting Hometown Jobs," focusing on topics such as visioning, planning, telecom, business development, tourism & retiree attraction, school based enterprises, and growth management. Send a brief description of your town's story plus contact information to Nancy Stark at <hn4004@handsnet.org> or fax (202) 624-3554. If selected, a follow-up interview will be scheduled to secure details.

Interesting imagery... "...the world's information landfill, the Internet." Extending the imagery, if you are not driving traffic to your web site with proactive marketing, your web effort just dumps information into the landfill. Quote: Tim Jones, Chicago Tribune tech writer

Seeking definitions of IT and HT... cont'd from last month.

- Nancy McCrea of NASDA (National Association of State Development Agencies) in Washington, D.C. wrote that they've looked at various definitions, all, which seem to be based on SIC codes. How do you define technology to include the application of technology? She referenced a useful source, the Office of Technology Policy report on "State Technology indicators."

Mental meltdown... Enough is enough. Too much, on the other hand, is pollution yielding mental gridlock, a common occurrence for a site selection prospect. Are you adding to the pollution and gridlock by giving too much information? Your job, should you elect to play the game, is to gather, organize, analyze, and communicate information relevant to the decision. Anyone can dump data.

Speaking of data dumping... The CUED and AEDC have now specified the roughly 1,200 facts needed by a development organization. Caution - Caution - Caution. While the jury is still out on whether building this data set will be valuable, having the data at your fingertips is one thing; knowing how to use it is another. The standard data set is a start, it is not the answer.

Same day delivery option... Relay a prospect proposal and get it to their office the same day through Kinko's proposal service. For example, using the Kinko's Web site, see if the prospect has a Kinko's located nearby by entering the prospect's zip code. If there is a Kinko's nearby, use Kinko's free, special PDF maker online that creates a KDF (Kinko's Document Format) file. E-mail the proposal to Kinko's. They will print, bind, and deliver it. Delivery is at little or no cost. A "finished" proposal can travel very quickly this way, perhaps within hours. http://www.kinkos.com

Web Design... got you down? Frustrated? Annoyed? Check out the information resource at Yale University's Yale Web Style Guide by Patrick J. Lynch. http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/contents.html

What's in a name?... Most e-mail addresses these days include parts of a person's name, the server, and a standard ending. However, some people have selected "cute" monikers. This can backfire if viewed as inappropriate to business contacts. Use caution.

Try hard... We do! Each month's e-mail newsletter results in an average return of 7% due to server errors, changes in the e-mail address, or a job change. Help us with any address change you might have, and be sure to notify other important contacts when you expect a change.

"Your newsletter is like a voice in the woods to the true economic development practitioner." Thanks, John Grueling, CO

Literally hundreds... of economic development consultants, but only one specializing in marketing: Blane, Canada Ltd. Let us know how we can help you take advantage of opportunities and/or improve your results! 630.462.9222 or ecanada@ix.netcom.com