Just being in Los Angeles in itself is like being in another world. Weather that is perfect, a breeze blowing softly and the fat lemons on the tree behind the house just ripe for the picking. Bougainvillea in its purple splendor adorning corners of the yard.

And the people, everywhere are beautiful people, tall, slender, blonde with revealing low cut blouses and frighteningly short skirts. And men with arms hard as rocks and buns that look like the statue of David. So, LA is the appropriate setting for Hollywood.  Where else would Hollywood reside? There is no other place in the world like it.

So, this is how I got to spend the evening with Will Smith and friends. It started at an auction in Louisville for a red carpet premier. A bid for an item that sounded like fun. The months of discussion with the events coordinator at Columbia pictures about what movie would make the best trip to the premier seem worth the ridiculous amount that I had paid for it. Then the decision that Will Smith would be the one.

LA is awash with billboards about Hancock. Huge billboards. And all I have to show that I am participating is one piece of paper that designates self parking. The day arrives. I really do not know what to expect. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is cordoned off with a wall of security like the president is visiting. Men in black suits with sunglasses about every 3 feet on Hollywood from Highland to Orange. But my friends and I breeze through them with that flick of the paper in hand. Will call. My name on the envelope allows the four of us into the theatre. The tickets are definitely scrap book material as they have the now very familiar image of the unshaven Will Smith as Hancock on them, and they are reserved primo seats. One of my friends had asked, teasingly, “can we get popcorn?” Well there was popcorn and soft drinks, all free, and as much as anyone wanted. But who wanted to eat or drink when the idea was to see who was there, and to see if Will smith DID actually come to his premiers and then to just experience the evening of a lifetime.

The lights blink off and on. The theatre is almost full. He appears, in a gray suit with a vest. And he yells. He loves the adoration and he loves, even more, being the center of attention. “You are legend” comes a yell back from the other side of the theatre. And a hearty welcome to all from Will Smith, and let’s start the show. To quote Will, “Ladies and gentlemen. I give you Hancock,”

Great movie is all I can say. A screen that wraps and envelopes the viewer. Sound that surrounds and reverberates through your body. And a movie that is exciting, touching, thrilling, ridiculous, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Then the afterparty. Yes, we have tickets to the afterparty. We exit the theatre. Hollywood Boulevard is still closed off, and there is one lane set aside for us to walk from Grauman’s to the afterparty site. Crowds line the street and photograph and yell, “Charlize, Charlize!” Turning, I realize that Charlize Theron is right behind me, and she is closely followed by Jason Bateman. We are walking with the stars down Hollywood Boulevard to the afterparty.  On a balmy June 30th. For a Will Smith premier. I am not dreaming. This is real.

Tickets are handed over as we walk the red carpet through tight security and under a 20 foot tall emblazoned eagle spanning the entrance. The event is outside in an area about the size of half a foot ball field. There are food bars, drink bars, drive-in movie sized screens, djs, lounge areas, sitting areas, bar areas, tattoo artists, photo settings with wrecked cars to hold up by a finger for the cameras, and stars. Beautiful movie and recording stars mingling, drinking, laughing, talking, posing, and doing what they do in Hollywood. Being adored, being photographed, being stars.

Mingle, stroll, gawk, drink, enjoy the evening and keep pinching myself that this is really happening. Then Will Smith takes the stage. He really loves the spotlight and he loves performing. His dj friend. DJ Jazziy Jeff,  is there to set the stage as Will performs rap song after rap song. His buddies join him on the stage, and he dances, sings, jiggles his extraordinarily tight buns amazingly at the audience, and has himself a fine time at his own party. And the crowds love him back.

There are flaming wrecked cars everywhere, used as backdrops for all the bars. There are loud speakers everywhere. There are screens everywhere. This is Hollywood premier at its finest, and I am sharing it with friends. And I am sharing Will Smith with friends. Cross this one off the bucket list. I have red carpet premiered with Will Smith and now I have indelibly in my memory for those times when life is not Hollywood and things are just normal back in Louisville.

Yew Dell Gardens in Crestwood, Kentucky defies marketing odds. It is in an inconvenient location, not easily accessible, and not really close to anything. It is a garden that has to be a destination - a journey in itself for the visitor. Yet, June 6 from 5-8 PM Yew Dell Gardens was awash in visitors, paying money to visit and see the sculpture that had been placed strategically on the manicured grounds.

You can have the best of the best, and if no one knows about it, then there is no buzz, no sizzle, no sales. So how did

"My pleasure" said the obsequious waiter at Proof on Main, one of Louisville's top restaurants this Memorial Day weekend. "My pleasure" he said every time my husband or I said "thank you". Hubbie said, "It's not his pleasure. It's his job." To which I replied, "Well, 'my job' just does not get it as an appropriate response to a customer. If he said "my job' every time you said 'thank you', you'd be laughing so hard you couldn't finish your bison tenderloin."

Thus began the conversation on what a waiter should say to a customer, since, in doing ...

In this era of specialization, did you know that there are specific weight bearing exercises now recommended for people specifically to combat osteoporosis? It is now recommended to vary the weight bearing and lift weights with only one hand at a time (seems that the body gets used to the symmetry and will strengthen the core better if the asymmetrical method is used), to use two weights together to work on grip (a noted problem with aging is the inability to open jars or pillboxes), to experience "hard landings" so there is stress added to the hip joints (a bit out of the ordinary from the message that impact is bad....seems now that SOME impact is good and the elliptical is not all the older exerciser needs).

The other item is that any exercise is good exercise, even if done in shorter stints. So exercising 10 times a day for 3 minutes is almost as good as exercising for 30 minutes in one straight blitz. So, don't think that because you do exercise and have a routine that you won't have to learn new tricks as you age.

How does this relate to marketing a product or service?  You have to really understand what it is you are selling and to whom, and change the message or the delivery method as the targets changes and evolves. Plus, like the 3 minutes 10 times a day, the importance is in just doing it. In marketing it is communicating what it is you want the target to know, in a variety of ways, over time.

Dan Ariely in his book Predictable Irrational has researched why people buy and the advantages of choices and comparables when shopping. No where is this more apparent than in Puerto Vallarta in the sales of time share properties. Everywhere one goes from the first contact after disembarking at the airport to breakfast, lunch or dinner at the hotel, there are people selling timeshares. And the comparables and choices get better with each offering.

The marketing message learned here is that people do compare offerings. And the presentation and promotion does make a difference. Basking in the sun with a fresh squeezed mango margarita makes owning a time share in a laid back place seem a wonderful opportunity for an inexpensive getaway. And the money also seems reasonable based on what vacations cost.

Choosing what rules to live by is a crucial part of one's destiny. On a recent trip to South America I was introduced to the Inca culture and was taken by the powerful, but simple rules of that civilization.

Inca rules: Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t be lazy.
Inca values: Knowledge, Love, Hard Work.

If you think about it, these values and rules sort of encompass all other rule books by all religions and cultures. And, not only did the Incas have their values and rules down to a science, their architecture and engineering feats are still to be revered.

Amazingly ...

What is it that an effective marketing communications strategy always does?

Marketing communications strategy always targets an audience. The more well defined and the more specific the audience, the more effective the marketing communications strategy will be.

An effective marketing communications strategy sells brands, not companies. Trying to market yourself as an institution to buyers who only want some specific industry services is what most companies do, and ineffectually.
When the marketing communications strategy targets a narrow niche, “one rising tide lifts all boats.”

A good example of this was when corecubed took on the National Private Duty Association’s (NPDA) marketing and pr ...