Monthly Archives: May 2009

Bloomberg author visits: big ideas for small business

You should never work with anyone who gives you a headache or stomach ache. Don’t finance your customers unless you are a bank. When things are slow, do an all-office clean-up. Not working in a pig sty is a morale … Continue reading

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Top media execs on effect of new media: who knows?

Four Knoxville media heavyweights agreed on one thing Thursday when discussing the impact of “new media” on their businesses: they don’t have a clue what’s going to happen. Jeff Lee, general manager of WBIR, the number one TV station in … Continue reading

Filed under: Journalism, Media, New media, Public Relations | 3 Comments

Downtown party poopers

Wanna see a good fight? Read this post thread on The Blab. Few things get people angrier than the subject of dog poop – and people who don’t clean up after their dogs. Earlier this week, I wrote about an … Continue reading

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When target marketing involves heavy lifting

On Sunday, I saw the best example of target marketing I’ve seen in a long time. Was it a fantastic Web site? An impressive e-mail program? An attention-grabbing TV commercial or direct mail campaign? No. It was three guys in … Continue reading

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On an almost perfect downtown Knoxville weekend

Music of several varieties. Dinner at a favorite restaurant. Impromptu cocktail party at our condo. Shopping at the Market Square Farmers’ Market. Manicure at a downtown salon. And friends, friends, friends. Though drizzly, this past weekend was a showcase of … Continue reading

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Bill Haslam: Race for guv strenuous but fun

As Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, campaigns across the state he, of course, always starts his speeches by thanking his audience for attending. When Haslam was speaking recently in Fayette County in West Tennessee, he noticed that … Continue reading

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Veteran journalists: profession at precipice

Venerable newspaper publisher and editor John Seigenthaler, retired from the Nashville Tennessean, joined with Chattanooga Times Free Press publisher and executive editor Tom Griscom for an after-dinner chat at The East Tennessee History Center Tuesday night. Introduced by former U.S. … Continue reading

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KSO’s success has Maestro’s touch

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s last Pops concert of the season featuring Peter Cetera this past Saturday was a sell-out. Sales are strong, too, for the season finale of this year’s Moxley Carmichael KSO Masterworks series this coming Thursday and Friday. … Continue reading

Filed under: Knoxville, Music | 3 Comments

A fond farewell for the ‘Father of Downtown’

Knoxville said goodbye to Kristopher Kendrick Wednesday night with a packed funeral at downtown’s St. John’s Cathedral featuring an array of Knoxville notables. Kristopher would have loved it.

Sharon Pryse eulogized Kendrick as a “great neighbor.” He lived in her guest house for years before moving into the former Dulin Gallery of Art, which is next door to her on Kingston Pike. She described how he supported her during the illness and death of her first husband and how he buried her beloved dog when the dog drowned. Although he rarely accepted her invitations to dinner, she said he readily agreed to come for weekend breakfasts at 6 a.m. “I look forward to being your neighbor again in heaven,” she concluded.

Kendrick’s best friend, Jane Bailey, whom Kendrick referred to as his

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Filed under: Downtown, Historic preservation, Knoxville | 3 Comments

Does downtown need a grocery? Not really.

My husband, Alan, and I lived in downtown Knoxville for a little more than a year, mostly in 2008, while we were remodeling our “real” house in the suburbs. Probably the question we were asked most frequently was, “Doesn’t downtown … Continue reading

Filed under: Downtown, Knoxville | 7 Comments