Shooting the breeze about shooting pictures: A podcast with Jim and Mike

We have a podcast for you with Jim Fisher, president of IdeaStar, and Mike Wise, VP of Sales, discussing photography. If you ever visit the halls of our office in Cleveland you will see the walls covered with photographs. Since Jim is the president most of the photographs in the main hallways are his. Mike's photographs are relegated to his office. Maybe someday Jim will allow one of Mike's in the hall but don't hold your breath.

Take a listen and hear a couple of shooters talk about their experiences and passions with the camera. The file is a biggie and lasts about 41 minutes!

Mike Wise with trusty monopod in hand. Mike loves sports shots especially of his two children, Zach, 17, and Kelly, 15. You can find his online portfolio here at SmugMug.

Jim Fisher loves shooting travel scenes like the Southern Bavarian Alps. Jim publishes his photos at his personal blog site and also sells his images globally through Alamy stock agency.

Below are a few of the images which Jim and Mike discuss in the podcast. You can click on any image to enlarge. Enjoy!

Bridge over Cuyahoga River, Cleveland, OH. by Jim Fisher

Reed Flute Cave, Guilin, China, by Jim Fisher

Game-saving catch by Mike Wise.

Copyright 2006 IdeaStar Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

A China Conference in Cleveland

IdeaStar attended an interesting conference yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. "China Risk, Reward and How to Win" was presented by the Department of Commerce and it was well-attended (over 600 people from across the country). In fact, the Commerce Department also held this conference in Houston and Washington DC but the Cleveland conference had more attendees than the other two combined.

To believe that the Northeast Ohio market is threatened by China could either be proved or disproved by the conference. We met people and heard stories from all sides but I think the overall view is that China is a bigger opportunity than a threat.

The main speakers were mainly Cleveland industrialists who either are sourcing products in China or selling in China or both. The program was opened by Cleveland Mayor "Silent" Frank Jackson who was given ten minutes. Embarrassingly to the city of Cleveland, "Silent" Frank spoke for less than a minute then left to get to his "workout". Oh well. There must have been too many Republicans in the room.

Laurel Baldwin, IdeaStar Business Development Manager, does her best "Vanna White" pose at our new mini trade show booth. We introduced our new PaxPort application at the conference and it was well received.

U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez gave a keynote address. How often do you get a Cabinet Secretary in Cleveland? He spoke about efforts the department is making to ensure the China market operates efficiently.

The conference had many exhibitors ranging from banks to law firms to architectural companies, and of course a great software company! Most of the attendees were looking for legal, financial and government partners to help them get started in China. This should give a boost to Cleveland's economy in the near future.

Copyright 2006 IdeaStar Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

That's a Lot of Ticket Sales!

Holy guacamole! That's a lot of tickets. For the second year in a row, the Ravinia Festival set a new record for first-day online ticket sales.

Approximately 52,000 tickets were sold online April 20, the start of the 2006 season. "That's about 10 percent, of Ravinia's annual ticket sales, all in one day," according to Will Quekett of Galathea STS of London.

The historic summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra uses back-end ENTA Connect by Galathea, an e-commerce package which allows real-time interaction between the customer and ticket inventory, memberships, merchandise, personal preferences, and more. IdeaStar Inc. built the front-end Web site, www.ravinia.com, which includes an interactive calendar of events, content management, store front, and additional information. IdeaStar is the preferred vendor for Galathea STS connection.

Copyright 2006 IdeaStar Inc.
All rights reserved.

Talking Web with the Europeans

I was invited to give a talk at VenueExpo in Munich. I don't speak any German except what I remember from watching "Hogan's Heroes." Fortunately the conference was in English. My talk was entitled "Enhancing Your Web Marketing Channel for Increased Ticket Sales." It sounds pretty droll but believe me those Europeans really eat this stuff up.

It's showtime at VenueExpo. Here I am quietly contemplating my talk. I'm on in a half an hour and I follow Jay Cross, President of the New York Jets. What's Jay working on lately? Oh, just a new $500+ million stadium. Hmmm, I wonder how I can spice up my talk?

Here's the big moment. I've added some gratuitous images of Cleveland including the Rock Hall of Fame, LeBron James and the Cleveland Orchestra. This is called "acceptance and respect by association." The talk went fine and there were a few questions at the end. Now over to the trade show booth.

Mary Fisher, IdeaStar's Communications Manager, and Will Quekett, Galathea's VP Sales, await the opening of the Exhibition Hall.

Well, if you remember my pictorial on Chinese signs, here's an interesting one from the Germans. These signs were all around the town so someone was pranking.

The show's over for the day and now's the time to hit the streets of Munich for some fun.

Copyright 2006 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved