Local 25-year veteran bakery, Tarts & Truffles, is launching a website, ChocolateBakery.com, and going national. But they need more feedback on their holiday cookie line.

Want to help? By clicking here, you can order a holiday cookie sampler (1 dozen cookies) and only pay for the shipping ($4.95). Just click Add to Cart and on the next page enter your zipcode and coupon code SEB1006.

What a treat - a dozen delicious cookes shipped directly to your home just for the cost of shipping.

When you receive the cookies, remember to send your feedback to help ensure success for this Sacramento bakery.

This offer is available to the first 25 Sacramento Executive readers.

Sounds like a fun way to help out a Sacramento business and have an excuse to eat delicious cookies. I have already ordered mine and await their arrival with much anticipation.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MTV's television series, "The Real World," will hold an open casting call 10 am to 5 pm on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at The Library, 7042 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento.

Eligible candidates must be between 18 and 24 years of age, bring a photo identification and a recent picture of themselves, which will not be returned.

Oh, to be young again!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Angel investors invested $12.7B to 24,500 entrepreneurs in the first half of 2006, according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. This amount was up 15% over the same period of 2005 but the number of entrepreneurs decreased by 6%. This meant that the size of the average deal increased by 22%.

Angel investments top sector - health care service/medical equipment. This was followed by software, biotech, retail, media and IT services.

If you are interested in getting involved in a local Angel investment group, visit the Sacramento Angels website to learn more.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A request that Sacramento Executive publicize a worthy new local foundation with a mission to provide additional funds to ensure K-8 students get superior programs in Science, Technology and the Arts. If you can provide any funding or support, this seems like a great way to help stem the tide locally of what my esteemed husband calls the dumbing down of America.

Science, Technology & the ARtS (STARS) San Juan Education Foundation

An independent, non-profit community organization

Our Mission
Support and advance excellent education for all students in the San Juan Unified School District through a partnership with parents, educators, business and the community. STARS will mobilize funds from a variety of sources to benefit superior programs in science, technology and the arts.

Our Vision
Students in the San Juan Unified School District will receive an outstanding education in science, technology and the arts that will inspire a love of learning, help them to reach their intellectual potential and prepare them to lead in our quickly-changing global economy.

Our Foundation
STARS acts as a bridge linking our community with San Juan Schools. We realize that government funding alone is no longer enough for the high-quality education we all want for our children. We believe that strong public schools are the pillars of our community, and community investment in San Juan education benefits not only our students, but the community itself.

Although we work closely with the district and schools, we are a separate, volunteer-based charitable entity. The Foundation is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) corporation and all donations made to it are tax deductible. STARS is joining more than 500 public education foundations already in the state that are helping to maintain quality education in their communities

Who We Are
Our board is made up of leaders from the community, business and education with business expertise, knowledge of our community’s resources, dedication and the creativity necessary for a fresh approach to achieving our mission. The district superintendent and two school board trustees are non-voting members of the STARS board. Our board is committed to the highest level of financial stewardship as we use our resources for maximum benefit directly to the schools and students we serve.

Programs
STARS will assist the district in identifying, enhancing and funding superior programs in:
· Performing arts
· Visual arts
· Music
· Science
· Technology

Innovative Learning Grants
Starting this January, the Foundation’s Innovating Learning Grant Program will award up to $1,000 to each school for 2006/07 to enhance science, technology and/or the arts. More information will be coming soon.

STARS-Sponsored Programs
STARS will coordinate and fund specific enhancement programs in our focus areas for every K-12 San Juan school beginning in the 2007/08 school year. Candidates for STARS-sponsored programs will be evaluated this school year for implementation next year.

Please Contact Us
We’re just getting started and we’d love to hear from you. If you have any questions, ideas or concerns, please let us know.

Science, Technology & the ARtS
San Juan Education Foundation
P.O. Box 1247
Carmichael, CA 95609-1247

Message Line (916) 971-7103

Website (after October 2nd ) STARSsanjuan.org

E-mail Joy Wake, co-chair, at echopeak@comcast.net

We plan to invite them to the next Sacramento Executive event in January so you can learn more, but if they raise a certain amount of funds prior to December 31, 2006 there are matching funds available, so act soon. Check your companies matching program also - a good way to give more.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sir Richard Branson thinks so. Last week, he pledged approximately $3B dollars towards doing just that as part of the Clinton Global Initiative (see previous post). Now he has challenged airlines, airports, air traffic controllers and governments to work together to cut 25% of the world's aviation carbon dioxide emissions and to do it at a speedy pace. The aviation industry is currently responsible for about 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Part of his plan is to more efficiently move aircraft at busy airports. "One of those ideas is to set up starting grids at the airports so that instead of sitting on planes with CO2 spewing out of those planes for anything up to 60 minutes-90 minutes ... while you're waiting to get on the runway to take off, you're towed by a small tug to the starting grid and then the pilot would turn on the engines 10 minutes before take off and then take off." he explained. "We've worked out, on a global basis, we're talking about billions of tonnes of CO2 savings just on that idea alone."

Other benefits - an estimated reduction in fuel consumption of between 50-90% and people living next to airports would experience lower noise levels and cleaner air.

Let's hope this maverick in the aviation industry has enough clout to get others to buy in.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Congrats to local movie mogul Mike Posehn for his YouTube clip of the week on ABC News Good Morning America.

Check it out!

Over 1/2 a million people viewed his clip on YouTube.

Awesome!

What's next for Mike? An Academy Award Best Picture?

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The military needs more troops. The recruiters are frantically trying to meet the monthly recruiting targets. To do so, they have to lower the standards and are now accepting larger numbers of recruits with no high school diploma or GED. Worse still, up to 4% of the recruits are scoring in the 16th-30th percentile on the US Army's mental aptitude test. A larger percentage are being accepted with misdeamor charges, drug and alcohol abuse histories, and medical problems. And still we can't recruit enough so now the National Guard is being asked to step up more than anyone ever imagined.

At the same time we stubbornly refuse to recruit smart, physical fit, patriotic, and very motivated candidates for one reason. They are openly gay. In fact, it's worse than that - we actively remove them if we find out.

This hardly seems legal to me, although it is. If companies refused to hire qualified employees because of their sexual orientation, I know that is illegal. So how does the Federal Government get away with this? And what a slap in the face to these young men and women. First of all every piece of evidence by mainstream physicians show that being gay is not a lifestyle choice - there is no way to unchoose. Secondly, this can only be based on some completely nonsensical hypothesis that the gay person would make overt sexual overtures to his/her fellow soldiers. If that was true, why isn't that a legitimate concern in corporations?

So, the only way that gays can get a chance to serve their country is to lie (or at least not tell the truth) about their sexual orientation. This poses a worse situation in that if the keeping of a secret is necessary to preserve a long-term military career path, the opportunity for others to use the threat of revealation increases. And in the past that has led to people being recruited into spying for other countries.

A study completed last year by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, a research institute at the University of Califonia, Santa Barbara showed that 76 percent of potential military recruits said that lifting the ban on openly gay service members would have "no effect" on their decision to enlist. Twenty-one percent of respondents said that lifting the ban would decrease their chance of enlisting, while only 2 percent said it would increase their likelihood of joining the military. . Among respondents, 53.1 percent were Republicans, 29.8 percent were independent/other, and 17 percent were Democrats; 81.6 percent were male and 18.4 percent were female; and all were between the ages of 18 and 24.

Good grief, let's welcome with open arms anyone willing and well-qualified to bear arms for our country. At the rate things are going, we are going to need as many as we can find.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Two days ago I posted "Ten Reasons Why We Should Care About Poverty". The post was intended to get the juices flowing and thoughts moving on poverty. Poverty alleviation is one of four of the Clinton Global Initiatives.

The ten reasons are the basis for existence of Jonathan Lewis's MicroCredit Enterprise, a non-profit micro-financing company. MicroCredit Enterprises believes "ending savage poverty is both the right thing to do and in everyone's self-interest." This conviction is shared by the Clinton Global Initiative team.

What exactly is micro-financing? According to MicroCredit Enterprise -

MicroCredit Enterprises, a 501(c)(3) IRS non-profit organization (approval pending), is an innovative, anti-poverty venture which leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to people, mostly women, in developing countries who are living in extreme poverty. The impoverished loan recipients generally have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education, but with microloans they create and build home-based businesses.

MicroCredit Enterprises leverages the collateral assets of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital in the United States which is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations in order to make thousands of tiny business loans to local entrepreneurs. MicroCredit Enterprises' reverses the cycle of poverty in economically distressed countries using the tools of the marketplace to provide self-help opportunities to millions of impoverished women and their families.

Micro-financing, the MicroCredit Enterprise way, is a noble cause. The Sacramento Executive supports this cause.

As we watched the events of last week's Clinton Global Initiative unfold, I was pleased to see the Standard Chartered Bank in association with its partner ACCION International pledge $500,000,000 in micro-loans for entrepreneurs in Africa and Asia. The pledge will benefit 4 million people over a five-year period. This is a bold step forward in alleviating poverty.

Thank you Bill Clinton. Thank you Jonathan Lewis.

As I predicted earlier, philanthropy will be on a role for the next two decades. Micro-financing will be too. I have a dream - with the likes of Bill, Jonathan and others we can eradicate poverty.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pierre and I get to spend an unexpected weekend at our lake 'shack'. I am excited to relax, play my latest iPod additions and do a little blogging. Fat chance!

My iPod throws up a full screen of some hieroglyphics that not even a Martian could decipher and then settles into a bold black line across the top of the screen. That's it, just a black line that no matter how I tried to dislodge it, refuses to budge. Goodbye cool new tunes - the one CD in the CD player of Christmas anthems hardly sets the mood I had intended for our romantic weekend at the lake.

But, of course, I could dial in and check out my mail, write a blog or two. Fat chance! No mater how hard I try, and try I did, the Earthlink server rejects me. There was no sneaking by. Now what? I have no way of logging in to find a number to call Earthlink to sort this out. As usual, a situation this dire requires a call to our friend Paul, tech guru supreme, who, as usual, answers immediately, makes appropriately concerned noises and gives me the toll free number to Earthlink - which, by the way, is well hidden in the bowels of some out of the way site.

Oh joy. I get to call tech support. I am still resetting all of the passwords wiped out by my last call to tech support . Sean - yeah, sure - answers and over the course of an hour he issues a series of instructions designed it appears more to keep me thinking something is being done to solve my problem than actually resolving anything - sort of reminds me of security screenings at airports. When the server continues its stubborn rejection, Sean 'guaranteed' - yep, that was his exact word, that if I called back in 25 minutes, the server would be waiting for me with open arms (do servers have arms?) and we could kiss and make up and go back to living the way we always had.

It appears that Sean was way too confident. Or, maybe I was way too naive when I hung with great hope of success down the line. Nothing, nothing. At this point Pierre is beginning to get edgy and I suddenly realize that he had only limited hours left before he has to finalize his Fantasy Football lineup. Wow, maybe if I had mentioned that to Sean he might have tried harder. Although maybe Fantasy Football is not that big in Bangalore?

Another call to Earthlink. Another Sean who tells me that even though Sean 1 had told me my account was perfect, there is a major imperfection. My account has been downgraded to only allow me to read email remotely and not to have access to the Internet. Why that happened is not readily apparent? "Well," I say, thinking I can maybe find some interesting email to read to Pierre that could momentarily distract him from climbing the wall regarding his lack of access to his Fantasy team, "How do I download my email." "Let me refer you to this website to learn how to do that." says Sean 2. I am momentarily speechless. Wasn't that the point of the last 2 hours that I have wasted - to get on a website?

Divine intervention occurs. My husband who relies on my limited technical skills reaches such a level of desperation that he becomes Supertech, complete with pocket protector. Whips out his PC, fires it up, and figures out some other planet way of connecting to the Internet that could never be recreated in the next 100 years.

And then divine retribution occurs. As soon as I log on to my computer the next day when I am back in the land of wireless networks, there is an email from Earthlink asking me to rate my call with Sean! Of course, if Earthlink actually read their feedback, then maybe it was divine retribution.

So much for technology on the road. Next time I am bringing a stack of magazines and a pack of playing cards.

And now I am off to the Apple Store to figure out why the replacement iPod they gave me behaves worse that the one I traded for!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Apparently September 26th was the day the public employee unions in
California launched their latest TV campaign to attack Governor
Schwarzenegger.

It would be helpful to our democracy if more voters would take a hard
look at the disparity in pay and benefits between unionized public
employees and people who work in the private sector who do work
requiring similar levels of skill and education.

If you make this analysis, you will find that the cost per year for
public employees is two to three times what their equivalent
counterparts cost per year in the private sector. This is not only
because public employees generally make more in their base rates of
pay, but because, on average, they have about twice as many paid days
off per year, and because most of them have pensions.

If you consider the cost of funding a pension for a retirement that
begins, on average, ten years earlier than social security benefits
begin, you need to basically double the amount of money it costs to
pay a public employee. If a public employee who is a nurse makes $50K
per year, taking into account their pension funding, this nurse costs
over $100K per year. In the private sector, a $50K position with
social security payments added costs at most about an additional $5K,
or $55K per year.

The cumulative impact of this is to put every public sector agency in
California - city, county and state - on the verge of insolvency. The
only reason we aren't seeing demands for higher taxes to stave off
civic bankruptcies is because this year California's economy is doing
pretty well. Even now, with record revenues fueled by record property
tax receipts, we are seeing services cut and hiring slowed at public
agencies.

The reason we have totally unsustainable public pensions is because of
the power of public employee unions. The cost for public employees in
California, per year, is about $50 BILLION more than the cost would be
if these people were paid according to the rates and benefits that
prevail in the private sector.

This is why public employee unions hate Schwarzenegger. He went to
Sacramento and realized this was what had happened to public finance,
and he had the temerity to try to do something about it. It doesn't
matter what your politics are, the idea that unions who raise hundreds
of millions of dollars per year of taxpayers money to elect whoever
will perpetuate their benefits which are far out of line with normal
private sector pay is a violation of public trust. People in uniform
who campaign so disingenuously against Schwarzenegger should be
ashamed of themselves.

Today public employee unions exercise virtual control over every
public agency in California. Their financial clout combined with
their grassroots organizing - all funded by our taxes - makes them
nearly impossible to stop. The idea that business interests can match
this power is absurd. First of all, most business lobbyists don't
care - they want the public sector to be starved for money and what
better way than to grossly overpay the people working in government.

If you believe in the potential of government programs to improve the
quality of life for all workers, public AND private, then you have to
conclude the power of public employee unions must be broken. They
serve themselves, not the people, and they are driving our public
institutions headlong towards a fiscal catastrophe. Wake up.

Ed Ring
Editor, EcoWorld

Note:
We welcome different opinions on subjects of interest to Sacramento readers. If you would like to write an opposing view, please send it to Gillian@Sacramentoexecutive.com.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The billionaires' philanthropy march continues. At President Clinton's recent Global Initiative Conference, Sir. Richard Branson, of Virgin Group (Airlines, Music, etc.) fame, stepped up to a donation of all profits from his transportation businesses over 10 years to combat global warming — profits that he estimated would reach $3B. Yes, that was a B for billion. The $7.3B total pledged at this year's conference swamped last year's $2B.

Google’s billionaire founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, pledged free advertising on their search engine to any nonprofit group or charity that made a commitment through the Clinton Global Initiative.

Even Laura Bush was there to announce Play Pumps, a partnership aimed at bringing clean drinking water to communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

And the beat goes on. An amazing feat by an ex-President who brought together a non-partisan field of world leaders to create creative and far-reaching programs to better the world. He looks like he has found his niche and might give Jimmy Carter a run for his money on being the most productive President in solving world problems after leaving office. Too bad the press paid much more attention to his run in with Fox News reporter Chris Wallace and the length (or lack thereof) of Clinton's socks during the interview. It shows how divided we are and how sensationalism trumps real news. Personally, I am really sick of it and I don't think I am alone.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When you think of technology transfer programs from academia to industry, what two leading universities come to mind? MIT and Cal Tech. Common wisdom for the past two decades held that these two schools were at the top of the list by the venture capital and angel investment organizations.

Not anymore! Move over Cal Tech. You are no longer in the top two. Can you guess who has muscled into the number two spot?

The University of California system.
UC you rock!

The Milken Institute last week released an in-depth examination of the world’s leading universities for biotechnology research and technology transfer, meaning the ability of those universities to turn their intellectual property into commercial applications.

This examination of the commercialization of university research reveals that the U.S. dominates the top rankings on many key measures, including published research, patents issued and licensing income.

The study, Mind to Market: A Global Analysis of University Biotechnology Transfer and Commercialization, includes the Milken Institute University Technology Transfer and Commercialization Index, which ranks U.S. and Canadian universities at their ability to take world-class research and turn it into licensing income and business startups. The top five are:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2. University of California system
3. California Institute of Technology
4. Stanford University
5. University of Florida

What's up with University of Florida? Now this begs another post!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Every four seconds, someone, somewhere, dies of hunger.
2. 24,000 people today will die of hunger; 18,000 of them will be children.
3. 500 million people worldwide are chronically malnourished.
4. One of two children live in poverty (1 billion children).
5. 11 million children die each year from preventable causes like malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.
6. Every year 6 million children die from malnutrition before their 5th birthday.
7. One billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a newspaper or sign their name.
8. 1.2 billion people cannot pour themselves a glass of safe drinking water.
9. 1 in 6 people around the world live in extreme poverty (less than $1.00 a day).
10. Half the world -- nearly three billion people -- lives on less than $2.00 a day.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sacramento Executive held its fourth networking event last night at Lomo's in Old Sac. It was a great success. Thanks to everyone who attended.

Thanks to our sponsors: The Cal Group at Merrill Lynch; Montgomery Professional Services; Michelle Hallsten of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittmanand, Caroline Hallmark-Jensen of Coldwell Banker.

And now announcing the winners of the corporate prizes:

Alpine Adventure's Hit The Slopes ski package - Tom Kandris

Prosper Magazine Rhythym & Ribs - Jon Schuller

California Lectures' Frank McCourt tickets - Tom McNamara

Sacramento Speaker Series Season Tickets - Scott Shibayama

Lunch with a VC (American River Ventures) - Peter Matlock

Lunch with a CEO (American River - Package One) - Gabriel Nacht

Golf with a recruiter (WorldBridge Partners) - Libby Crawford

Special thanks also to Mark Zetter of Amplify LLC who provided the registration for the event. If you are ever in need of a truly excellent registration process with phenomenal and personal customer service, contact Mark.

And more special thanks to the trusty Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy graduates - Elena Naderi, Will Merchad and John Williams who not only did a stellar job at the registration desk but also, due to their high degree of professionalism, so impressed an attendee that he committed to join the SEA board on the spot.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Item: The arena wars continue from coast to coast, with the Orlando Magic squabbling between the city and county for a $358-million arena, while Sacramento King owners Joe and Gavin Maloof seemingly can't get over the top to have what they want in downtown Sacramento as opposed to the railyard location the city is proposing.

What this really means: More and more it is apparent that unless local economies give up something for a new arena, NBA teams will be on the move again. It seems inevitable that the Sonics will be leaving Seattle after this season or next, while the war between the Maloofs and the Sacramento government seems to find new angles every month (now it's parking revenue and the size of the area surrounding the new arena). Get it done, guys — the Maloofs want the team to stay. Yes, they really do.

Meanwhile, in Orlando, this is as close as the Magic have come to actually getting a new building, and that may ultimately prevent what appeared to be inevitable — the DeVos family selling the team and the Magic moving. If chairman DeVos does come up with what the area considers a significant portion of the proposed $358-million building, you would think with all the tourism tax, the city and county could come up with something suitable to retain the only major professional sports team the city may ever have.

Source: Fox Sports

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The 2006 Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative will begin on September 20th. This effort, in only its second year, has already resulted in 300 commitments valued at more than $2.5B. For three days each September,

the initiative brings together some of the world’s best minds and most distinguished problem solvers to identify immediate, practical solutions

You can stay abreast of what's happening in real time starting on the 20th.

You can also check out the latest issue of Fortune magazine:

The power of philanthropy
Bill Gates has the money. But no one motivates people and moves mountains like Bill Clinton. He's even got Rupert Murdoch onboard. A look at how the former President has borrowed from the business world to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and other scourges.

Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.

Buy or rent a hybrid car.

Install solar water heaters or solar electric panels at your home or office.

Buy a flex-fuel car and fill your tank with ethanol.

Buy energy-efficient appliances.

Update your company’s energy management system with smart metering.

Ask your utility how to buy clean, renewable power.

Walk, bike or carpool to work.

Donate to organizations that install renewable energy systems in developing countries.

Invest in a clean energy fund.

Calculate your carbon footprint, reduce your energy use and then offset the rest with investments in clean energy.

Demand action from your elected officials on climate change..

Gates, Buffet, Clinton and the Google founders. All putting their personal spin on philanthropy. This is getting very, very interesting,

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gillian and I went to our first NFL football game - the traditional rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins.

It was the Sunday night game, so we decided to catch a bite to eat before the game. We head downtime for a quick meal, passing the Redskins team buses enroute to Texas Stadium with the State Police in tow. We have a nice quiet meal two hours before kickoff. The restaurant was nearly empty. All eyes were settling in at home prepping for the big game. If you weren't at home your were one of 65,000 heading for the game or tailgating at the stadium.

We head to the stadium about an hour before kickoff. We pick out the cash parking lot (most lots are pre-paid - blue or red). We find the cash lot - an outrageous $18 to park about a mile away in a field of mud and water. We trudge through the lot getting our feet soaked along the way.

The fans have been vastly over served with beer. Piles of empties litter the lot. The crowd, a working class group, is marching through the parking lot like a herd of cattle on the way to the slaughter house. Team jerseys abound. $125 shirts everywhere. $250 for the throwbacks. The crowd doesn't look like they can afford these clothes. But it's Texas. Texans wear their money on their sleeves (Dallas has the lowest FICO scores in the U.S.).

We arrive at the gates. I am refused entrance, because I'm in the girls only line. I must go back to the guys line. Why I ask? Homeland Security sir! They frisk each of us as we pass through. Good grief! bin Laden has managed to impact my football! Feeling very secure after my frisking (they forgot to check my bag though), I give my $100 ticket to the gatekeeper. She scans it (more security) and I pass through the gates.

My first NFL football game! The crowd is moving towards their seats. Kick-off is moments away. The piles of empty beer bottles (plastic, more security) is mountainous. The crowd is at a fever pitch. The PA system is amped to the max - it's way too loud.

Most notable during the event is the crowd. I just can't figure out how they can afford such an event. They continue to consume massive quantities of beer. The profanity. The jeering of the visiting crowd. The rudeness. It's insane.

From the endzone, we swelter through the evening. This enormously fat woman sits next to me. I am very cramped, with my neighbor spilling over into my space. It's half time. We are drenched from sweating. We decide to buy a couple of bottles of water. Two 16-ounce bottles - $7 dollars. We quench our thirst and go back to our seats for the second half.

The noise volume from the PA blares on with no sign of relief. The TV timeouts are frequent. The game drags on. My wife is a saint. Football is not her top thing. I don't even care who wins. I'm rooting for Santana Moss, my fantasy football starter.

I'm dreading the end of the game. The mile walk back to the car and the single exit from the parking lot (the sea of mud). It's going to be a long night. With eight minutes to go, I ask Gillian if she wants to leave. In her own way, she says yes. And we do. We make our way back to the car. The lot is littered with trash, mostly beer bottles.

Sacramento citizens, be happy you don't have to pay for a football stadium. Oakland can keep theirs! As we got back to the car, I remarked - well, check that box. We saw an NFL game. NFL from the comfort of my living room is so much better than in person at the game. John Madden and Al Michaels, I missed you. But not again!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

First, it was Bill Gates. Then add the considerable fortune of Warren Buffett. And now the Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are weighing in. They have set up an organization and seeded it with $1B in capital and provided a mandate to work on solving issues involving poverty, disease and global warming. But as you would imagine, Page and Brin, as they often do, have provided a twist to the model. The organization they have set up is not a non-profit, but a for-profit.

This model, they believe, will allow the organization to fund startups, partner with venture capitalists, and even undertake political lobbying -something that a non-profit cannot do. Rumor has it that the first project will be to fund a highly fuel-efficient hybrid. The goal is produce a hybrid that will obtain gas mileage of more than 100 miles per gallon.

Are we entering a whole new era where we will look to the exceedingly wealthy, not governments, to fund cures for global problems? And will this result in more creative thinking and more nimble implementation? Let's hope so because if there was ever a time the world needed some new blood and large brains cells, this, in my book, is it.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have been involved in many discussions lately with friends and acquaintances about the economics of buying a hybrid car. The fact is that if you do the math, you can't justify the extra cost based solely on the payback from gas savings. But, in a 20 watt lightbulb moment, I realized that this is the wrong justification. If we add in other factors like having our grandchildren be able to breathe, like saving polar bears from drowning, like being able to appreciate the beauty of the mountains that surround the Central Valley because we can see them. Then the justification is easy. Go buy a hybrid car and do something good for the world!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A study released by two economists argues that social drinkers are more charismatic, have a bigger Rolodex and more friends than non-drinkers or solo drinkers. These characteristics lead to more networking, more contacts, and new job opportunities, which all add up to bigger paychecks. Their findings - men have 10% higher incomes and women 14% higher.

I'll drink to that!

But not too much. The research found that after 35 or more drinks per week, the paycheck advantage vanishes.

The research was undertaken by Bethany Peters with Analysis Group and Edward Stringham, who teaches at San Jose State University.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Why do politicians, the media, and American citizens say the word "immigrant" like it's a dirty four-letter word?

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Maintain a positive can do attitude
2. Communicate – no surprises
3. Understand and help meet the boss’s incentives
4. Listen and empathize
5. Solve problems
6. Be willing to learn
7. Identify the boss’s priorities
8. Make yourself available
9. Focus on results
10. Be prepared
11. Volunteer for the job no one else wants
12. Keep your boss out of trouble
13. Don’t let the boss lose sleep at night
14. Don’t dominate your boss’s time
15. Know when to give advice and take direction
16. Don’t be combative
17. Take action, don’t wait for direction
18. Do what you say you will do - meet commitments - on time and within budget
19. Understand your shortcomings and work to improve them
20. Have fun and make sure your boss does too

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas, died yesterday at the age of 73. Her passing is the sad end to an era of rough and tumble, gutsy women, who cast aside adversity, discrimination, and other obstacles to become better than anyone thought they could be. She told it like it was. She fought until the end. She is an inspiration to all of us to never give up, to take what life hands us and turn it into something positive, to rise to the occasion, and to question and prod and work to improve life for as many others as is possible, and then some.

You were an amazing inspiration to me, Ann Richards. Your death brings me sadness but also
spurs me to pack more into the time I have left to make this a better world.

One of my favorite Ann Richard's quips: "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."

Photo depicts Ann Richards celebrating her 60th birthday by doing something she had always wanted to do - ride a Harley

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I’ve been to all previous Sacramento Executive events, and there’s another one coming up September 20th in oldtown Sac. Everytime I’ve gone to these things I’ve met some really cool people, gotten lost in great conversations and ended up missing the food and drinks. No more I tell you! This time I’m making up for the lack of alcohol consumption, and any and all good food will be in my belly. Speaking of food take a look at the restaurant’s website. If you’re around the Sacramento area then you don’t want to miss this one, and you might even want to consider the trip if you’re in the Bay Area.

A lot of the investing and business community gathers at these events, and the Sacramento Executive events in particular. I think it’s because the only people that know about it are already involved somehow with investors or companies in the area. If you’re an entreprenuer looking for investors, management, advisors, etc, or an investor looking to find that special startup with crazy potential (like mine!), then get your ass to this party. Come to have a good time and meet people who might be able to help you, or people you might be able to help. I’ll be there, you can find me near the buffet table. Details and registration info are at the top of the front page at Sacramento Executive.

Scott Hildebrand
Founder, Tubes

Thanks Scott...now others will have a clear path to all the great prizes...
Lunch with a local VC
Lunch with a local CEO
Golf with a local executive recruiter
Rivercat's tickets
Season tickets to the Sacramento Speakers Series
Tickets to see Frank McCourt at California Lectures
And a chance to win just by dropping your business card in a box! Pretty cool return and better odds than the California Lottery.

See you on the 20th and please RSVP soon as the restaurant wants a final count and I want to make sure we have enough food for Scott this time!

PS: It is rumored that Pierre will be in attendance!
PPS: It is rumored that a group is coming from the Bay Area.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mike Posehn, entrepreneur, angel investor, Kings' fan, and photographer, made another of his fun time-elapsed films - in his own words he describes the film-

106 balloons in a mass ascension (including Jesus!). Even the cow jumps over the moon.

Nice shoot Mike!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, titans of America's commerce scene, are now titans of America's culture scene. Bill and Warren's greatness in business has now migrated to greatness in their philanthropic endeavors. They are trend setters. Philanthropy has always existed, just not on the level of Gates and Buffett. I suspect these two moguls have no idea what is about to happen as a result of their actions. Philanthropy will be the "in thing" for the next two decades.

Successful people take action. Successful people have passion. And the truly successful people help others succeed.

Last night I was fortunate to see action and passion in a man who I had never heard of until two weeks ago. A man who's parents immigrated to Boston from Russia and Germany. A man, in spite of his humble beginnings, who managed to attend Boston University and Duke University, and set off to Dallas to make his mark. 85 years old, this man has made his mark, building his fortune through real estate. Along the way he and his wife Patsy assembled perhaps the greatest private sculture collection in the world.

So great is this man's passion that he built two world class museums to house his collection - one at Duke University which opened last October and the second in Dallas.

Ray Nasher - a man of passion and action. Ray's philosophy is simple - a combination of commerce and culture makes a city better and stronger. Commerce and culture have a significant positive economic impact on a city. I am convinced Ray is right.

We should all have the passion, action and philosophy of Ray Nasher.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now the heroes who protect us and save our lives are also experts on energy and who knows what? That’s right, the Firefighter’s Union has decided they don’t like Proposition 87. How could it transpire that we now have firemen on television, using taxpayer’s money that was supposed to pay their salaries and maintain their equipment, making commercials telling us to vote no on Proposition 87? Some background is in order.

Something called global competition forced unions to start being reasonable in private industry about thirty years ago. But as reality took hold in private industry, the government beckoned as an inexhaustible source of money, with no competition to force it to operate efficiently. Union bosses who were driven out of private industry took over the government sector, and since the government has a bottomless pool of money, at first nobody noticed. But back in 2005 when California’s Governor called a special election to reform these unions, then the ones representing our heroes, the people we admire, decided they didn’t like our Governor any more. These unions directed their own people to deliver their attack; policemen, firemen, and others engaged in public safety, people who take risks for us, people we respect a lot. But they didn’t respect our Governor. They vilified him, on TV, while wearing their uniforms.

Back in 2005 and ever since, the unions supposedly representing these good and heroic people have gotten them on camera in uniform, and encouraged them to say all kinds of angry things about our Governor. Why are they so mad at him? Because he tried to eliminate defined benefit plans for incoming employees in their organizations, and he tried to limit the new defined contribution plans under the new program to only twice as much as your typical best case in private industry. What’s so bad about that? Just that one reasonable reform would save tens of billions every year of taxpayers money. Money we could use to hire more firemen, police, nurses, teachers, and build more hospitals, schools, freeways, high-speed rail, etc. No new taxes, no new bonds. Just a few common sense fiscal reforms.

There’s nothing wrong with providing extra pay and retirement security to people who take risks to protect the rest of us. But these benefits have grown to the point where the cost to fund a public employee pension is often equal to or greater, each year, than that employee’s base pay. And these unsustainable pensions, and other benefits, have been extended not only to public safety officers, but in large degree, to all unionized public employees. This excess is crippling not only our state government, but also every city and county in California. But don’t run for office if you want to point out the obvious.

Every year, several tens of millions of dollars of our tax money pour into public union coffers for the explicit purpose of exercising influence over our elections and our public policies. This isn’t news, although what is inexplicable is the continued public indifference, and media silence, regarding what is now nearly total control of California’s state, county and city gover