Covington Museum A Hidden Gem

I had a belated chance yesterday to check out the remodeled (it happened a year ago) Behringer Crawford Museum in Covington's Devou Park. The three-million dollar project has transformed the place and includes a video about the history of the region and a refurbished street car named The Kentucky. This museum is different from others in our area in two ways. In many of the exhibit areas, there is a separate fly area for kids related to the theme in that room. That way, adults accompanied by small children can focus on content not worrying about distractions. The other differentiating point Behringer-Crawford (www.bcmuseum.org) offers is the perspective of how the growth of transportation (exhibits on Ohio River traffic, the airport, the interstate system) has fueled commerce. Sounds like these history lessons could serve as good reminders as Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky explore street cars. Check out this museum. It's a local hidden gem. I was so impressed, as we concluded a private tour with Executive Director Laurie Risch, I became a museum member.

Male Shoppers "Down Under"

J.C. Penney has created this new site just in time for last minute mail shoppers. It has received nearly two million hits. Coincidentally, Mike Boylson, J.C. Penney's Chief Marketing Officer, will be in Cincinnati Friday, January 16 at the monthly American Marketing Assn. luncheon to talk about this and other topics related to the company. Sign up for the event by going to AMA's website, www.cincinnatiama.org.

Welcome to the Doghouse: J.C. Penney Goes Viral Epicenter from Wired.com

2008 Top Newspapers, Blogs & Consumer Magazines

BurrellesLuce (the media monitoring service I use at the NKY Convention & Visitors Bureau) is out with its 2008 Top Newspapers, Blogs and Consumer Magazines. The numbers and changes from 2007

Newspapers
1. USA Today
2. Wall Street Journal
3. New York Times
4. LA Times
5. The Daily News (NY-moves up one slot flip-flopping with NY Post)

English Language Blogs
1. Huffingtonpost.com (5 last year)
2. Techcrunch.com (4)
3. Engadget.com (1)
4. Gizmodo.com (3)
5. Boingboing.net (2)

Magazines (all ranked same as in '07)
1. AARP The Magazine
2. AARP Bulletin
3. Readers Digest
4. Better Homes & Gardens
5. National Geographic

Better To Be Blue

I've never watched a movie in Blueray but I might start doing so. I learned this week that the high tech video technology is named for the blue laser that reads the content on the disc and translates it to your screen. This is in contrast to "old" dvds that utilized red lasers. The difference for the quality? The blue ray is more focused than the red. It caused me to pause and consider that one of my New Year's Resolutions should be to attempt to maintain the focus required to excel more in my professional and personal life.

Blogs, Social Networking More Important With Newspapers' Decline

I was facilitating a session of the Cincinnati American Marketing Association chapter's newly formed Non-Profit Shared Interest Group this morning led by local blogging guru Michelle Lentz. Michelle talked about the importance and growth of blogging and how it impacts impressions of your organization whether it's a non-profit or for-profit. I was reflecting on this especially in light of the great decline in traditional media, places like the Cincinnati Enquirer (http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-259-bloodletting-at-the-enquirer.html). Pardon the cliche, but the hand-writing has been on the wall for the past year or two as the Enquirer has launched its Get Published initiative. Coverage in standard news media sources is not going to get better/more plentiful. It's going to get worse. Gannett, the Enquirer's parent now considers the daily newspaper a baby-boomer niche publication according to one high-ranking executive to whom I spoke. It really does reinforce the notion that blogging, tweeting and the use of Facebook and other social networking tools is going to grow as businesses and charities alike try to expand their notoriety in the public eye.