Protest or Small Gathering? Small Scuffle or War on Christmas?

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Wachovia/Wells Fargo apparently doesn't require its branches to display Christmas trees and apparently that's a problem for ten people who marched in front of the Wachovia building in Winston-Salem.  That was enough to attract some local news folks, but I don't think the "War on Christmas" story they were hoping for materialized.  From the story:

Ten people gathered Tuesday in front of Wachovia's offices on West 4 ½ Street to protest a company policy they said doesn't allow branches to recognize the Christmas holiday.

Joyce Krawiec organized the event after she said the company banned the display of Christmas trees in its branches…

It should be noted that the Wachovia offices where the protests were held do display a Christmas tree inside. But, Krawiec said she's checked in branches throughout the area and found very few that were displaying Christmas trees…

Wachovia, acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008, said in a statement that the decision to display poinsettias in branches was to achieve a common look within the markets in which the company operates.

The statement from the company also said that company policy doesn't prohibit Christmas trees from being displayed.

Okay, I think we need to come up with a few news rules here:

  1. If you have fewer people than can sit on a school bus it's not a protest.  If you must cover it as a "news" story then come up with a new term for it.  I like Airing of Grievances (think Festivus).
  2. If someone is protesting, er Airing a Grievance, about a corporate policy that ends up not being a policy then for God's sake turn off the camera and wish them a nice day.
  3. Unless someone shoots a mall Santa do not run a "War on Christmas" story. 

If these kind of stories keep showing up I think I'm going to grab four of my friends, a six pack, a couple of hand drawn cardboard signs and head over to the mall to walk around and air our various grievances about saggy drawers, terrible Christmas music, terrible tattoos, nasty body piercings, etcetera, etcetera.  See you on the 6 o'clock news.

 

Popcorn Porn

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Below is popcorn popping in super-slomo.  I l-o-v-e popcorn, so much so that I only eat the microwave variety when I have no other choice.  Needless to say my Stir Crazy popper gets a regular workout.  All that said, even I am a little turned off by the voice over on the video below, especially when the narrator describes the inner part of the kernel as "starchy endosperm." Seriously?

 

Fannie and Freddie Don’t Deserve All the Blame

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From an interesting piece (found via Ed's blog) reacting to the Republican reaction to the Financial Crisis Commission's findings:

After 20 years of free-market fervor, the world of the mid-’00s had become one of overleveraged banks too big to regulate and trillions of dollars worth of derivatives bets that no one had track of — which in turn were helping to accelerate huge flows of capital coming in from abroad — and a Fed and government regulators who weren’t aware or weren’t watching.

And that was the real cause of the crisis, whose aftereffects continue to drag on the economy today. Fannie and Freddie were, like almost every other big player, both culprits and victims, but just two of many.

 

Sedgefield Sells

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Sedgefield Country Club has been sold by its members to McConnell Golf of Raleigh. From the Biz Journal article (subscription required):

Sources did not disclose the amount offered, but it is believed that McConnell will assume Sedgefield’s $2 million debt and invest at least that much in course and clubhouse upgrades.

Sale talk has been extremely heated at Sedgefield, known for its Tudor-style clubhouse, Donald Ross-designed course, rich golf history and being the founding location of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. Older members believed the current debt was manageable and were not eager to cede control of their home away from home. Many such opponents aren’t fans of the Wyndham, either, disliking how it disrupts their access to the club for two weeks a year.

But advocates, including the board leadership and local Wyndham officials, have maintained for months that selling to McConnell could be the last best chance to keep the club not only vital but solvent.

Read more: Sedgefield approves sale of country club | The Business Journal

I'm hoping someone does a case study on the process the Club's board went through over the last year, because I suspect it would be a lesson in how to lead an organization through the process of making a drastic shift in strategic direction due to a changing business/economic environment.

 

 

Kirkman Lands in Florida

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Don Kirkman, former director of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, has landed in Florida and has been named the president of Florida's Great Northwest, an economic development group for the northwest region of Florida. From the release:

Florida’s Great Northwest, the 16-county, regional economic development organization of Northwest Florida, is pleased to announce the appointment of a new president, Don Kirkman. At the organization’s board meeting in December, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to hire Kirkman following a nationwide search. Kirkman will take the helm on Jan. 1 and operate out of the organization’s Destin corporate office.

A seasoned economic developer, Kirkman most recently served as president and CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership in North Carolina, a 12-county economic development organization. He was chosen because of his extensive background in regional economic development including marketing, business recruitment, government relations and fundraising.

Kirkman left the Piedmont Triad Partnership earlier this year after a leadership change on its board led to the hiring of a new CEO.  After David Powell, the new CEO, arrived on the scene Kirkman stuck around as head of operations, but it didn't last long and he left the organization. 

I had the chance to meet Mr. Kirkman a couple of times and was impressed with his passion for promoting the Piedmont Triad, and I found myself nodding in agreement whenever he gave his presentation about building regionalism. It's nice to see him land another gig that seems like a good fit for his regional economic development outlook.

 

Farewell to the Winston-Salem Journal Copy Desk

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A video farewell to the 18 copy desk employees at the Winston-Salem Journal who lost their jobs thanks to Media General consolidating the copy desk operations for its three metro papers. Not sure how a city newspaper is supposed to function without its own copy desk, but I guess we're about to find out. (Thanks to Scott Dickson for sharing this on Facebook).

 

ATP Tour Event Moving to Winston-Salem!

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I'm a huge tennis fan so you can imagine my excitement when I read this morning that the ATP is moving a tournament from New Haven, CT to Winston-Salem.  I'd heard rumors that it might happen, but now that it's a reality I'm absolutely stoked.  I haven't heard any details yet, but I'm willing to bet a serious chunk of change that Don Flow was involved with this and if that's the case all I can say is "Thanks Mr. Flow!'

Update: Just did a little research to confirm what I thought I remembered, which is that the New Haven tournament has traditionally been a warm up for the US Open, played the week before the Open starts.  We won't likely see the Federers or Nadals of the tour, but usually it attracts its fair share of top-50 players like Baghdatis, Gonzalez, Robredo, etc. Even better, it has a doubles draw.  Did I mention that I'm really stoked?