I am a great proponent of women’s issues – always have been. My kids and I marched down Independence Avenue many, many times. Truthfully, I was marching and pushing them in strollers when all this family activism began! I was a charter subscriber to Ms. Magazine and a charter member of the National Organization for Women. I was also one of those glass ceiling women and one of the very few to break the glass without getting too badly injured. So I am very, very glad to finally see a female Presidential candidate. Although, I wish there were more than one!

But now the internal struggle begins. Do I have to vote for the female candidate because she is female? Or is it more complex than that? I have finally decided that it is. The deciding factor – I wouldn’t vote for someone outside of my political spectrum just because she was a woman. If you are a Republican, could you imagine voting for Barbara Boxer? For Democrats, the equivalent is Liddy Dole or Condoleezza Rice – no way.

No, I am going to apply my Warren Buffett litmus test: ‘You can’t do a good deal with a bad person’ I am going to back someone that I think is honest, ethical, telling me what they really think and not what the latest poll told them to tell me. Right now that is removing John McCain and Hillary Clinton from my select list. (I am sad to remove both because one is an American hero and one definitely has the smarts and is a woman). And, I am going to pick someone that agrees substantially with my beliefs, although there are a couple of items that are non-negotiable. And I am hoping that I am going to pick someone that is going to win, but I can’t compromise on the Buffett criteria just to elect a ‘winner’. And I continue to hope that the person who rises to the top of my list will be a woman.

So, now let’s stop picking on the African-American community because they all aren’t automatically backing Barack Obama just because he’s black.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:28 AM | Permalink

Travel allows me to catch up on my reading. Gillian and I subscribe to way too many magazines and papers. They stack up faster than we can read them. So when work calls for a trip, I load up my briefcase and chill out on the plane reading. I found this almost ten days ago, cut it out, and mentally stored it away for commentary at a later date.

Proctor & Gamble is perhaps one of my top five companies that I would like to work for in corporate America. Why? Because they have repeatedly convinced me that great people want to work there. P&G is a leader in collaboration. P&G embraces openess and sharing. P&G believes for every subject matter expert inside the company there are at least 200 outside the company. P&G thinks globally. They adjust quickly, because they know that the best time to change is when you are on top. When you are the leader.

I admire the philosophy that P&G practices. And perhaps best of all, CEO A.G Lafley has the right focus. Del Jones, USA Today management reporter recently interviewed Lafley and asked, "What makes you one of our best leaders?" Here was Lafley's response:

One of my most important jobs is to build an outstanding team. I've been a change agent. I'm pretty courageous. I'm a builder and I think a lot about the greater good, the long term and whether what we're building will last 10, 20, 50 years. I'm a thinker, but I'm action- and results-oriented. Finally, I'm a low-ego guy. I don't have problems putting the greater good of the company or the P&G brands way ahead of any personal aspirations or achievements.

It's no wonder both Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and U.S. News & World Report recently honored Lafley as one of America's best leaders.

And I love his point on being a thinker. IBM's credo is - Think.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:14 PM | Permalink

Did You Know? Watch This. It's Eye-opening.

Here's the background from the guy who put it together last August, Karl Fisch, a teacher at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, CO. His version was updated and school specific information was removed by Scott McLeod with Karl's permission and that is the version (as of February 20, 2007) posted here.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 Did You Know? -------------------------------------------------

My administration asked me if I wanted to speak at one of our beginning of the year faculty meetings. I often provide updates on what's new and different with technology in our building and what teachers need to know to get the year started. But this year I'm really focused on staff development and the "vision" of where we should be headed, so I wanted to do something different. I don't know for sure how it is in your schools, but I imagine they are like mine - a faculty meeting is a horrible place to have the conversations we need to have. In addition, since 49 of my teachers are involved in the staff development described elsewhere on this blog, I felt it would be a waste of time - and possibly counterproductive - to try to discuss anything of substance in the faculty meeting.

So, instead, I decided to take David Warlick up on his idea of telling the new story. I put together a PowerPoint presentation with some (hopefully) thought-provoking ideas. I was hoping by telling some of these "stories" to our faculty, I could get them thinking about - and discussing with each other - the world our students are entering. To get them to really think about what our students are going to need to be successful in the 21st century, and then how that might impact what they do in their classrooms. It would also help the faculty that are not currently participating in my staff development join the conversation.

So I basically said most of the above to the faculty, and then told them that even though I would usually argue that just showing something and not discussing it afterward was a bad idea, that this time - since a meaningful conversation at the end of a long faculty meeting was unlikely - that's what I was going to do. But that I wanted them to hopefully think about this for their own classrooms, and then hold the conversation with each other over the next few days (and hopefully weeks and months and . . .).

I remixed content from David Warlick, Thomas Friedman, Ian Jukes, Ray Kurzweil and others, added some music, and came up with the .... presentation.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I was flipping through my latest Bon Appetit magazine (March 2007) and suddenly catch the world 'Sacramento' on the Readers' Quick Recipes section. I stop and read more closely.

There is a photo of Nick Vidargas of Sacramento, CA with his Open-Face Bacon-and-Egg Sandwiches with Argula. Nick is billed as a law student, newlywed and an enthusiastic cook. (He's model good looking too!) He used to bus tables at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and now 'on weekends, he heads for the farmers' market, picks up what looks best-and turns it into dinner.'

Wow, this guy is too good to be true. I can see this blurb put under the nose of many a husband in the coming weeks to spur them to Nick-like behavior. I, however, will simply be gloating as my husband, who loves to shop for fresh foods and turn them into delicious dinners, will be trying out Nick's recipe for us!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:51 AM | Permalink

In YouTube's corner - an interesting piece from the LA Times.

Tuhin Roy is a top exec at the Digital Music Group Inc., a distributor of digital music and video that recently struck a revenue-sharing deal to put its wares onto YouTube. Ask him why, and he'll give you an answer straight out of the Willie Sutton playbook: if you're trying to make money in an advertiser-supported business, you have to go where the viewers are. Or, as he put it in a recent interview, "To the extent that there are going to be ad-supported video services (online), YouTube will be in a leadership position because they've aggregated so much audience."

YouTube isn't generating much money for anybody at this point, largely because the company has taken a minimalist approach to advertising. Paid spots are confined mainly to banners on the menu pages. This is a company that's incredibly well positioned to sell targeted ads, given how much its users reveal about themselves as they search for and comment on clips. And its users' hunger for video makes the site a natural for video advertising, which can be much more lucrative than banners and search ads. According to Roy, however, YouTube plans to run ads on video pages only if it has a licensing deal with the clip's copyright owner. That's why deals such as the one between DMGI and YouTube are important for both companies.

So why are the likes of Viacom and other major content providers rattling sabers at YouTube, rather than trying to tap the potential spigot of advertising dollars? It's tempting to say that Roy "gets it" and Hollywood doesn't, but that's too facile (even for me). Instead, it's a matter of upside vs. downside. The biggest brands have the largest revenue streams to manage, and they worry about YouTube eating into those streams by drawing viewers away from established outlets (like, say, broadcast TV). DMGI, on the other hand, is focused on building an audience, not preserving one, and YouTube can expose DMGI's fare (including such classic TV fare "I Spy" and "Gumby") to tens of millions of new viewers. In fact, the fencing match between Hollywood and YouTube may actually help smaller players like DMGI. The Viacom and company spend on the sidelines, the better chance DMGI will have to win over YouTube's faithful.

If you doubt YouTube's power to elevate brands out of obscurity, consider the new music video by Canadian hitmakers Barenaked Ladies. It features several amateur filmmakers made famous, at least within YouTube, by videos posted there. If you've spent little or no time on YouTube, you won't recognize any of them. But if that's the case, you really don't get it.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:24 AM | Permalink

As many of you know, I am passionately political but I try hard to keep most of it out of these blogs. But once in a while my discipline crumbles in the face of something powerful I read. Today I picked up the Business section of the New York Times and read the title of Ben Stein's article: "Of Tax Cuts and Those $10M Bat Mitzvahs." I crumbled.

Here is a quote:

Is this what America is all about? We're in a war and we cut taxes to stimulate the economy - and it probably did - and we are having million-dollar parties at home while our soliders are paid starvation wages to offer up their lives in Iraq? We're in a war and the government cannot afford to pay for adequate training (and here I add 'and medical care') for our soliders but the society at home is routinely having million-dollar weddings and bar mitzvahs?

Can anyone say, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"?

We are creating a debt that is about $3 trillion greater than it was when Bill Clinton left office, and one sequel is $10 million birthday parties? Is this what supply-side is all about? To obligate future generations so our generation can have $10 million parties for teenagers?

As I write this, playing on TV in the background is some financial show. They are asking a question, "If you want to be in the top 1% of net worth households, what do you need your net worth to be? My financially savvy husband is responding, "One million dollars." The answer is six million. No, a million is what it used to be before we changed the rules for the rich to make them even richer. We promised that all that extra tax cut money would be re-invested. Do multi-million shindigs count as reinvestment?

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people making money. I love the fact that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are insanely wealthy because they use their money for philanthropic purposes. They don't need to advertise their wealth by holding parties that require spending obscene amounts of money.

I just put a new quote on my email from the favorite person I like to quote on my emails, Marian Wright Edelman. Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time. And, for sure, this quote from Ms. Edelman is even more appropriate for this subject - Never work just for money or for power. They won't save your soul or help you sleep at night.

Don't let America burn as we all get addled by the inane gossip of the day. Frankly I am sure that we could make the stories of our troops dying in the streets of Iraq and the families they have left behind just as riveting as Anna Nicole Smith, drug addict, sad F-grade celebrity. Let's get our priorites straght. I am going to focus on this one, another quote from Ms. Edelman: We are willing to spend the least amount of money to keep a kid at home, more to put him in a foster home and the most to institutionalize him.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:44 AM | Permalink

Pierre's Dad sent us this photo of Oswego, New York that he had just received from relatives.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Golden Rule for startups is the most basic principle in business - revenue minus expense equals profit.

It's that simple. And hard at the same time. From the outset, entrepreneurs must focus on two things revenue and expenses. Too often in the heat and passion of launching a company, mistakes are made about incurring expenses. In other words, managers make bad decisions on managing expenses. Capital is precious during the startup phase. Guard it ever so carefully. Serial entrepreneur, Wil Schroter, maintains, "Startups need to be frugal."

1. Ditch the office space. The office space lease is probably the single worst investment you make with your money.
2. Forget about hiring. The second worst offender on the cost analysis is headcount. Hiring staff in start-up mode is generally a horrible idea.
3. Write on your hand. Startups don't need office supplies. You need a barely functional computer (get one cheap through an online auction), a cell phone, which will also be your main company number, and write on the back of your hand. Anything else is a frivolous expense that's absolutely unnecessary.

Only spend on stuff that makes money.

If you want a simple way to determine what to spend money on, just focus on expenses that directly relate to income, such as marketing and sales. If it's at all possible to deliver your product or service without an expense, then it's not essential.

What you'll find by adopting a no-expense-is-necessary mentality is that your road to profitability will be much shorter. Then, when the cash starts tumbling in on the profit side of the equation, you can slowly start to add a few expenses to the mix.

RightNow Technology founder and CEO Greg Granforte agrees with this approach.

There's a sign that I keep on the wall of my office. It says simply, “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” In other words, sales is where your business begins. Sure, you may have a great product or service that you’ve worked hard to develop. You may have hired a fantastic staff. You may have cash in the bank, a logo and letterhead, a beautiful office, computers on the desks, all those things that come to mind when we picture a business. But that’s not what makes a business. Only sales can do that.

This is good news for bootstrappers. Bootstrappers can’t afford fancy offices or big staffs. They may not even have a finished product yet. But the bootstrapper doesn’t need those things to get started. As soon as you can start selling—that is, go out and find customers willing to buy his product or service—you have a business.

Live by the Golden Rule and your company stands a good chance of succeeding. If you don't follow the Golden Rule, then your company will most likely fail, like the vast majority of startups.

Simple. But hard to do.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I was at a dinner party on Saturday night and mentioned I was moving to Microsoft Vista. There was a stunned silence and then 30 minutes of conversation about how unstable new operating systems are and other dire warnings. Too late, of course, because I had to buy a new computer and what was the point of buying a 'last operating system' model.

And, so far, things have been going well. But there were more treats in store.

I was at the airport yesterday morning and wanted to use my computer to add a post to this site. Ever the optimist, I turned on my computer and looked for a wireless network. But I only found T-Mobile. And I wasn't ready to sign up and pay for that for a short time use. And then, just as I was clicking off the T-Mobile page, I noticed a Vista logo. And then I looked further and saw the word 'complimentary'. Seems that if I am a Vista user (through new acquisition or upgrade) I get complimentary T-Mobile Hot Spot service through April 30th.

So, sometimes it pays to be an early adopter.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:04 AM | Permalink

A big thank you to all of you who attended our latest Sacramento Executive event held Wednesday 21st at Il Fornaio downtown. At final count, you numbered more than 100! You can see pictures to judge the buzz. Thanks to Geof Lambert who took these ‘grip and grin’ photos. Really, that’s what they are called in the ‘industry’.

Pierre and I are truly honored that you choose to attend these events. You are the nicest, smartest, most entertaining and most fun people in Sacramento and over time many of you have become our friends as well as our colleagues. It truly is like holding a party and all of our fun friends show up and the discussions are passionate and real and challenging and mostly stay polite! And even better you guys are nice enough to help cover some of the entertainment costs! Pierre was very sorry to miss this one…and even sorrier to have to be at his corporate headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But I know he appreciated the many people who asked about him.

Thank you to our long time sponsors for underwriting the event and keeping the entry fees reasonable. And thanks to those companies who generously offer up a selection of interesting prizes. This event’s prize trove was definitely for the snow buffs.

The lucky winners were:

2 lift tickets to Northstar – Compliments of Prosper Magazine
Susan Boyme – Revionics

2 lift tickets to Sierra at Tahoe – Compliments of Prosper Magazine
Mark Tabak – MLP Real Estate Securities

$40 Gift Certificate for Hoppy Brewing
Ilya Miroshnichenko – Kovar’s Satori Academy

2 tickets to Leslie Marmon Silko – Compliments of the California Lecture Series
Scott Hildebrand – Tubes Music

‘Endless Slope’ – Ski/Snowboard Lesson – Compliments of SnoZone
Kendal B. Smeeth – SmeethCO

2 days of skiing/snowboarding – Compliments of Alpine Adventures
John Williams – Wells Fargo

Ticket to ‘Stuart Varney’ – Compliments of Sacramento Speakers Series
Paul Robinson – The Robinson Group


We’ll be contacting the winners shortly with details on how you can collect your prizes. Don’t forget to enter your business card at our next event. And help us out by RSVPing a little earlier next time – it saves you money and makes our life easier by better estimating food and space requirements.

We are thinking about El Dorado Hills for the next event, which for city dwellers like us is heresy, but we started Sacramento Executive to reach out to the seasoned executives moving to ‘the Hills’ and invite them to become part of the very interesting discourse and required heavy lifting surrounding Sacramento and its growth, pains and all. So maybe we need to take Mohammed to the Mountain (or at least the Hills). If you have fierce objections, let us know.

A bientot…until the next time.

Gillian Parrillo
Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive.

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Our friend Ed Ring is right again. Ring, a Sacramento area resident, has been talking up a storm about how federal, state and local governments' pension plans are lining up to be a significant burden on government budgets and taxpayers' pocket books.

It seems the national news media agrees with Ring. The USA Today's feature front page story yesterday was Pension Tension - More and more retirees are finding that it pays to have worked for the government instead of the private sector. Reporter Dennis Cauchon writes "Government's generosity could have serious consequences for taxpayers and pensioners. Some states - including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and West Virginia - have troubled retirement systems that may require huge tax increases, spending cuts or even defaulting on promised benefits. The U.S. government has a bigger unfunded liability for military and civil servant retirement beneftis ($4.7 trillion) than it does for Social Security ($4.6 trillion)."

What's going on here? We better wake up and do something, else we are heading for a fiscal crisis. And thanks to Ed Ring for pointing this out to us so frequently over the years.

We agree with you Ed!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kudos to teacher Melanie Hartsell. Her middle school math class read a story in the Dallas Morning News about an injustice and set about righting it, even though it happened 70 years ago.

In Dallas in 1937, Olympic gold medalist, John Woodruff, broke the 800 meter gold record. And then had the honor removed when it was determined that the track was too short.

The students, motivated to right the wrong after reading a story by Dallas Morning News columnist James Ragland used all of their mathematical prowess to prove that Mr. Woodruff beat the world record by 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 seconds. Several other mathematicians have endorsed their results.

Mr. Woodruff who is now 91 was touched by the students efforts. Many people have been trying to get Southern Methodist University to uncover the error and confer the honor upon Mr. Woodruff, including Bill Cosby who has an honorary degree from the uuniversity. While the race did not take place on SMU's grounds, they did host many of the atheletes and it was their engineer who had measured the track prior to the event.

Some believe that Mr. Woodruff lost his title under questionable circumstances during a time of deep discrimination when the idea of a black man breaking the record in Dallas would have been untenable. At the time, black atheletes were not allowed to stay at the SMU dorms with the other athletes but were sent to a segregated YMCA.

SMU has been unable to determine the exact circumstances but has decided to honor Mr. Woodruff's achievements including his winning the 800 meters in the 1936 Olympics, a feat overshadowed by Jesse Owens' multiple gold medal wins at the same Olympics. Mr. Woodruff also earned a master's degree and served in the military during WWII and Korea. SMU has set up an athelete scholarship in Mr. Woodruff's name.

But back to those 120 students who used a formula they conceived, Distance = Rate x Time, which they called DiRT, to prove it. Talk about using math to prove something real and to undo a very big wrong, better late than never.

Congrats kids and bigger congrats to your teacher who answered the questions you assuredly have asked many times, "Why do I need to learn this?" "What will I ever use it for?"

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

PS: And yes, this is the same SMU that will almost certainly be the future home of the President George W. Bush Presidential Library

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:08 AM | Permalink

I was on Dhttp://www.digg.comigg.com and saw a headline "Can You Survive 24 Hours Without A Computer? It sent cold chills down my spine. I arrived at the site that is polling to find the answer to this question. 3,589 blase people - oh, sure, i would walk, write, etc. etc. And 497 type A people like me - no way and I don't even want to think about it!

If you want to join in, the date is March 24 2007. They are even asking for links to videos of the no-computer day - a Mike Posehn second in the making?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:50 AM | Permalink

After our weekend of techno wizadry, this made me laugh.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:50 AM | Permalink

I go through PC notebooks like high fashion models go through clothes - one a season it seems. For the last two weeks my latest notebook lost its display ability, which required me to unhook Pierre's screen from his PC and plug it into mine. It worked pretty well too, but Pierre was getting a little antsy! Then my notebook decided to not bring up its operating system. Many tries of turning it off and bringing it back up with no fix, resulted in my turning it over and shaking it vigorously. This not only fixed the problem, but temporarily fixed the display problem too. Nothing like a good shake to get things back in order again! It finally, however, became clear that it was time for another new PC.

At previous times like this, we have always had our techno-knowledgeable friend Paul to assist us at every turn. But now we aren't local and he can't come to dinner every Sunday as payback for his invaluable input so we were stuck with going it alone. OK, well I did run by him the details of the PC I was going to buy for final approval!

First we began by replacing our all in one printer. We bought an HP because we have always had luck with them. We were immediately impressed with how easy everything set up including making the PC part of our network and accessing it wirelessly. It went almost flawlessly.

Next we decided that we needed to upgrade our backup function. So we purchased a Western Digital MyBook device. And, other than a few dark moments, I managed to back up my old PC - seemed like a good thing to do - and then move all of my documents over to my new PC, including figuring out how to move all of my Outlook files (especially like important files containing Contacts and Calendar items). OK, for you techies, this sounds like small potatoes, but to us, it was huge.

And now I am figuring out Vista. It took us several minutes to figure out how to print from Outlook - clicking on the Windows logo is not immediately apparent. But so far, I have been very happy with all of the new functionality. It really feels like the security is much tighter especially in terms of Spam in Outlook.

I am really pretty excited about discovering lots of new bells and whistles in the Office 2007 edition. But I haven't as yet moved over my ITunes music as there appears to be some major glitches there and Apple is still working on a fix.

Emboldened by our weekend foray into technoland, we called Directv and ordered an HDnet DVR and we bought another small flat panel TV which Pierre hooked up himself although it required a joint effort to program the remote!

Watch out world, we might even decide to get rid of our 10+ year old VCR player soon!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:29 AM | Permalink

Mike Posehn, local Sacramento film maker, is at it again with this time elapsed film of the Queen Mary slipping into San Francisco.

Mike, fantastic work!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:50 PM | Permalink

John Dorfman, legendary money manager and stock picker, is stepping down as a columnist for Bloomberg News after nine years. Dorfman intends to devote full attention to his investment firm Thunderstorm Capital. In his last column he highlights nine lessons learned from his nine years as a stock investment columnist.

1. Out-of-favor stocks are the best road to capital gains.
2. Don't be swayed by Wall Street analysts.
3. High portfolio turnover is not necessary for good results.
4. The investment value of a stock is independent of whether it has been moving up or down.
5. Predicting the market with consistency is extremely difficult.
6. Predicting the economy is even harder.
7. High valuations alone aren't a good reason to sell a stock short.
8. High profits alone are no reason to invest in a stock.
9. Dialogue with readers was one of the best parts of my experience as a columnist.

John, sage advice. We will miss your column.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:30 PM | Permalink

Wishing everyone a happy Chinese new year.

The year of the pig/boar, for people born in 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007. One of those is my year. People born in the Year of the Boar are honest and tolerant and make good friends, but tend to expect the same from everyone else, and more often than not they end up disappointed. They thrive in the arts as entertainers.

Famous people born in the Year Of The Boar:
Dudley Moore, David Bowie, Elton John

A bunch of Brits...just like me!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:59 PM | Permalink

Today the New York Times featured an article on blogs focused on consumers becoming debt free.

This is a must read article for those who struggle with their personal debt load. Several blogs are identified where people share their journey on becoming debt free. Here are a few blogs that are worth checking out: blogging away debt , save leigh ann and k gazette It's sort of like AA for spenders. Oh, and by the way, Leigh Ann provides 'professional' advice to companies and individuals on the subject of getting debt free.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gillian made the call and set me up for the dreaded doctor's appointment. Dr. Casenave entered the room. I knew what she was about to say.

"Pierre, you have diabetes." My suspicions were confirmed. Well it's time to fix the problem I told the doctor. I asked her what we were going to do. She responded in her usual frank way (after all, she's the one who pointedly tells her patients they are fat, if in fact they are fat) - "Pierre you are going to take pills the rest of your life. You are going to diet correctly and exercise 30 minutes a day. Exercise six days and take Sunday off to sit on your butt."

She exclaimed that she was going to craft a diet for the diabetic - me. She tapped away on her Dell laptop, as if she was the top queen in typing class. Moments later she handed me this:

1. Breakfast: oatmeal with berries, EAS Advantage shake, eggbeaters.

2. 10:30 Snack: one orange, one apple, one banana, 20 almonds, 2 pkg low fat string cheese, Power Bar or South Beach Bar

3. Lunch: salad with oil/vinegar, meat (any meat you wish with fat cut off and no gravy and no frying), green vegetables: green beans, asparagus, spinach, zucchini, squash, onions, bell peppers.

4. 15:00 same as 10:30.

5. Dinner same as lunch.

NO, NO, NO: no juice of any kind, no sweets of any kind. NO white rice, no carrots. Very little wheat bread, brown rice and very little potatoes.

Yes, yes, yes: water, 2 miles per day of exercise, diet soda, Crystal Light, sugar free popsicles.

I told her that I loved to cook and eat. She said I could still be a gourmet chef, but maybe eating out was going to be different.

Dr. Casenave and her husband don't own a TV. Every weekend they go to a movie. Isn't the Doctor a trip!

Life goes on. And so does diabetes.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:31 AM | Permalink

I don't know why I never went to the Crocker during all the time I was in Sacramento. Well, truth is that I went to some events - a wedding, a reception, a holiday party - but never just to an exhibit. Maybe I didn't feel a personal connection to any of the exhibits. A huge billboard outside the museum with the exhbition titles and dates - not enough detail for a personal connection.

Here in Dallas we have gone to quite a few special exhibitions. Matisse: Painter as a Sculpter; shared between the Nasher and the Dallas Museum of Art, Van Gogh at the Dallas Museum of Art, Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth and even BodyWorlds, a somewhat creepy display of plastinated human dead bodies. We even have a trip planned to Houston for the end of April to see the Masterpieces of the French Paintings from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (they will be on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston during the Mets renovation project).

All of this 'culture-vulturing' as my parents called it, left me wondering about the Crocker, which led me to make a great discovery of their current exhibition - Yosemite 1938. On the Trail with Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe.

In 1938 friends Ansel Adams, Georgia O'Keefe, David McAlpin and the Godfrey Rockefellers set out on a 10 day trip through Yosemite. Here is a description of the trip from the University of Wyoming Art Museum's website:

Adams, O'Keeffe, McAlpin, and the Rockefellers departed for the High Sierra on Sunday, September 11, 1938. With them came a pack-string of fourteen mules, enough animal-power to haul all the camping, kitchen, and photo equipment, with a few extra mounts for those who wished to ride. The ten-day trip through the high country was not particularly arduous, outfitted as they were with plenty of blankets, food, and hired help. Assisting the group were local backcountry experts Al Kay, Alvin Rhode, Robert Barnett, and Lile Pierce, who assumed the duties of guiding, packing, unpacking, setting up camp, and cooking. Five campers with four hired hands is a luxurious ratio when it comes to wilderness treks. Adams had arranged everything with convenience in mind, so the campers could photograph, hike, or relax as the mood struck them.

It was reportedly quite cold on a number of evenings, particularly after the group climbed to 10,000 feet and camped near Tuolumne Pass. Ever positive, Adams recalled that everyone considered it a "prime adventure." Mornings began with hot coffee and a good breakfast. Adams was an early riser, who liked to be up with the sun so he could take advantage of dawn's dramatic light. During the day, the party made small excursions from their base camp or trekked to their next campsite. Gas lamps enhanced the light of the campfire at night and the party scheduled dinner for after sunset, to allow for more photography at dusk.
To have the group in Yosemite, seeing and appreciating the land that he loved, must have been uplifting for Adams. His later reports of the excursion are glowing. In his autobiography, he wrote, "O'Keeffe loved campfires and would stand close to them in her voluminous black cape, her remarkable features and her dark hair gleaming in the flickering light. She never seemed bored or tired and enjoyed every moment of the trip.

After the trip was over, Adams, even then a well-known photographer of the California wilderness, made 3 photograph albums, including personal notes, and sent them to his fellow travellers.

Adams' most famous photographs are of sights in Yosemite. This trip might well have been the beginning of his great awe for the wondrous beauty of this spectacular area.

The exhibition is made possible because the heirs of David McAlpin donated his album to the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and this album has become the basis for the exhibition at the Crocker.

The exhibition runs until May 6th. You can get more informaiton on the Crocker website.

I am going to check it out when I am next in Sacramento. It sounds fascinating.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Tour of California, an eight-day, seven-stage, 600-mile bicycle race, is coming through Sacramento on February 20th. Sacramento is the end of Stage 2. Racers will enter Sacramento across the Tower Bridge and head to the Capitol. They will circle the Capitol before racing to the finish line at 11th and I Streets.

Huge crowds are expected. Traffic will be affected as the race involves more than 80 intersections.

To enjoy the fun with a minimum of disruption, plan to assemble no later than 2PM.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:04 AM | Permalink

Bob Shallit reports in his Sacramento Bee column today that:

WebRaiser Technologies, which makes software for kiosks, has been snapped up by Flextronics International Ltd. of Singapore.

No details are being released. But Mark Breunig, WebRaiser's senior VP and general counsel, confirms the sale and says a formal announcement is set for a trade show in April. "We don't want to tip our hand to competitors," he says of the company's taciturn stand.

He does note, however, that the sale is a "good exit" for investors.

About 15 employees work at the 10-year-old company, and all are being retained by Flextronics, which is making its second dip into the Sacramento startup market. In December, it purchased Roseville-based International DisplayWorks Inc. for $243 million.

WebRaiser had a deal with Home Depot to manage the propane kiosks outside the front of their stores. I always loved their technology. The problem is that it had such broad applications that trying to focus on a few markets was tough. With Flextronics' might and deep pockets, WebRaiser will have what it needs to really break out.

Reporting on all of these acquisitions is a dream come true for people who have believed for a long time that there is lots of talent waiting to break out here in Sacramento. As I reported last week in the post on the CoreLogic 'merger', events like this are great for Sacramento. They build confidence in entrepreneurs to start new companies; they build confidence in investors that investments in local deals can be lucrative, which provides funds for the entrepreneurs; they build confidence in acquirers that this region has good candidates for acquistion, and it spins off capital that investors and insiders can put back into more local deals. A wonderful momentum for which we have been striving for much too long.

Let's keep 'em coming.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:51 AM | Permalink

This weekend our kitchen sink got clogged. Pierre noticed it first. "We'll have to call a plumber, " he states emphatically. When I give a less than positive response, he moves to "We'll have to go buy some Drano."

I know for sure, there will be no plumber until I have done everything in my power to fix it, including taking the pipes below it apart, using the plunger for 3 or 4 hours, and putting down the drain a concoction so lethal (even though made of household ingredients) that it puts Drano to shame.

As Pierre continues his capitulation to the clog god, I rush to the garage and grab the plunger. The new super dooper plunger with concertina effect. Pierre plunges, but his heart isn't in it because he is busy planning his trip to buy Drano, followed closely by his call to a plumber. Meanwhile, I am mixing up a lethal brew. I have actually no clue what I am mixing together but I am pretty sure it will open the drain but maybe by blowing up the double sink area together with the granite.

"What is that?" Pierre asks. "Oh just something to get things moving," I say. One second later Pierre says, "It's not working." "

For goodness sake," I say, not wanting to admit defeat, but privately worried that it's really not going to work. "Give it some time. It didn't clog in 5 minutes."

And then I grab the plunger, plunge with verve and just when I am about to give up, there is a parting of the waves noise and a gush of water down the drain.

"There," I say. "No need for a plumber."

Ok, so my never say die attitude extends to clogged drains, but I work at rates much less than a plumber and much, much less than the cost of a bottle of Drano.

And Pierre is good at other stuff, like programming this website and cooking.

Happy Valentine's Day, honey. I love you

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:57 AM | Permalink

Do something nice for someone today...or something nice for lots of people.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:33 AM | Permalink

Over the past few months, this blog has been honored to be chosen several times by IpsoSacto as a candidate to have one of its postings published in the upcoming Sunday edition of the Sacramento Bee.

IpsoSacto (isn't that the greatest name?) was started by blogger John Hughes. He monitored blogs from "Stockton to the Oregon border, Fairfield to Tahoe." I thought it had been started by the Sacramento Bee, but somewhere along the line the close relationship envisioned between the Bee and John was paired down to a column in Sunday's Bee that highlighted (in very brief format due to the small amount of space allocated) 3 or so posts from local blogs.

Last week we received word we were one of the candidates and today I decided to check to see if we had 'risen to the top of the heap' and received a mention in the Bee. I typed in the URL and got this notice:

Sometime between 11:30 p.m. Feb. 12 and 6:45 a.m. Feb. 13, someone gained unauthorized access to this server and deleted all of the content in the web directory.
The ipsoSacto project and the Blog Watch effort are now officially dead.
If you have some technical expertise in computer security and would like to help me locate the security hole that allowed this fatal breach, contact me at jomariworks at gmail dot com

Good grief. Who would do such a thing? A snubbed website owner who learned he or she had not been chosen for an appearance in the Sunday Bee? Some lunactic looking for kicks?

I think it's sad. Not sad because no more mentions for the Sacramento Executive in the Bee, but sad because:

Someone wiped out this guy's great idea and on-going business. (Ok, so he probably should have had better security, but so should we all), and

Sacramento Bee reader's won't get to figure out that the local blogs are talking about subjects that the local newspapers and other media outlets wouldn't cover in a million years.

Lately when I want to get the most up-to-date info on a news item, I go straight to Google's blog search. Otherwise, I have to wait for ages for the regular news services to post, but not bloggers. It's the closest thing you get to instant news and while it's not always accurate, neither are the mainstream media outlets. The other day when I heard something outrageous on CNN and wanted to ensure that it had really been said, the CNN transcript never showed up on line, nothing ever made it into the mainstream press, but there it was front and center on the blogs.

As we watch the mainstream media wimp out, thank goodness for the blogs.

John, my condolences. I think I will buy an IpsoSacto coffee mug on CafePress to make me remember everyday the importance of the voice of the people.

And if any of our readers has any technical expertise that could help John, send him an email at jomariworks@gmail.com

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sacramento-based startup DMGI (NASDAQ:DMGI) announces another deal with an industry leader - this time YouTube. Details of the deal from Media Week

YouTube Inks Deal With DMGI
Mike Shields

After recently tussling with Viacom over roughly 100,000 video clips from some of the most popular shows among young adults, YouTube has signed a deal to distribute full-length episodes of several TV series that much of its audience has probably never heard of.

The Google-owned video repository has signed a deal with Digital Music Group Inc., a distributor of independently owned music, TV and film catalogues. The arrangement will result a host of classic TV series dating back to the 1950s and '60s, such as Gumby, I Spy and My Favorite Martian, being made available for viewing on YouTube.

Also as part of the deal, the YouTube community will soon have legal access to use certain DMGI owned or represented song recordings in their own user-generated clips. In total, the company owns or controls over 40,000 musical recordings.

For YouTube, this brought them content that did not carry copyright concerns. It also may bring an older demographic to their site to watch these vintage videos. Once there, they may get hooked and stay a while!

Mitchell Koulouris, DMG's founder and chief executive, is quoted in the Sacramento Bee as saying the deal was one of the most important his company has forged since it went public a year ago. "We are among the first to do this kind of deal with them," Koulouris said of YouTube. "On a scale of one to 10, I'd rate this a 10." He expects to see revenues from this deal in the second half of 2007.

The market liked the deal bidding DMGI's stock up by more than 30% on the day of the announcement.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:34 PM | Permalink

Research has shown a link between good students and the arts. Better students lead to a better workforce, better business, better economic development and lower tax rates.

Based on this premise, Dallas will begin a program that over the next 6 years will cost almost $40M and will ensure that every elementary school student in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) will be exposed to at least 45 minutes of music education a week, the first time since 1978. The program will include hiring 160 new music and art teachers.

The funding will come from the Dallas Arts Learning Initiative, a partnership among Big Thought, a Dallas-based nonprofit arts group; the Wallace Foundation, an independent national education and arts foundation; the city of Dallas; and DISD. The Wallace Foundation wanted to ensure the money was well used, so it brought together more than 500 parents, educators, politicians and art advocates discussing ways to improve access to high quality arts education. From this discussion came this big, bold plan.

In addition to the in-school education initiatve, two other initiatives were also announced:

1. Work with the City of Dallas to create networks that coordinate arts programming for children and families at the neighborhood level.

2. Work with Dallas cultural providers to more deeply position the arts as a tool in the teaching of science, math, social studies and language arts as well as bolstering fine arts education

The program will take existing programs at local venues – libraries, churches, schools, recreation centers – and look to ways to coordinate and improve these arts opportunities. People are thinking big in Dallas (the big D!) imagining a time when any student in the city would have access to any arts program in the city either through the school district, the city or the community.

Sounds like a great plan and something our children are sorely missing. But the greater payoff is how many more productive members of our society we will build along the way.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:24 AM | Permalink

On January 29, we started the diet. Lose twenty pounds in twenty days. The diet was simple in design - only eat package-free natural foods.

Gillian and I both signed up for the diet. We argued a lot about what we could and couldn't eat. Eggs? Not if they come in a carton I argued. But in bulk, OK. Nuts? Yes, but not if they come in a wrapped bag. Milk? No. Unless you have a cow and a pail handy. Cheese? Not if it comes in a package. Wine - off the list because of the cork and bottle.

We settled in on a great routine. Eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, poultry, fish, and lentils. We had a lot of fun, trying new recipes. Abstaining from wine was difficult. We usually enjoy red wine with dinner. From the start, we shed the pounds with ease. We each lost 7 pounds the first three days.

At this clip we were on pace to lose 40 pounds in 20 days. What a concept. The diet was working we exclaimed! But it was hard. We missed the wine. We constantly fought hunger.

And then I noticed someting not quite right. The symptons. Light-headed. Dizziness. Tingling sensations in my extremities. I said nothing to Gillian, trying to hide it. And then the pain on the left side, under the rib cage. Kidney disease, I thought.

On day nine, 11 pounds lighter, I shared with Gillian that something wasn't right. For years I suspected a problem, but did not want to confront it. I thought I could handle it my way. I hate doctors. I hate lifetime medicines. I've been in denial.

The diet worked. I did lose weight. However more importantly, it forced me to confront reality. Gillian, call the doctor and make an appointment for me.

I think I have diabetes. The American epidemic.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:12 AM | Permalink

Check out the survey in Men's Fitness Magazine of the Fittest and Fattest Cities in America. The magazine says they come up with the results by "spending months poring over statistics on the things that make real people fit or fat. We gather the data from weather patterns to junk food, from availability of public recreational facilities to TV-viewing habits. We dig through data on how much exercise people get, whether they use their gym memberships, how healthfully they eat, and how much time they spend sitting in traffic. We even quiz city park departments and mayors to learn about local exercise venues, civic leadership, and programs designed to get citizens off their couches and moving."

Hey Sacramento - we don't look so bad as the 17th fittest city, although we have slipped from 11th place last year.

Here are the fittest:
1. Albuquerque, N.M.
2. Seattle
3. Colorado Springs, Colo.
4. Minneapolis
5. Tucson, AZ
6. Denver
7. San Francisco
8. Baltimore
9. Portland, Ore.
10. Honolulu
11. Washington, D.C.
12. Omaha, Neb.
13. Tulsa, Ok.
14. Boston
15. Virginia Beach, Va.
16. Milwaukee
17. Sacramento
18. Louisville-Jefferson, Ky.
19. Columbus, Oh.
20. Philadelphia
21. Austin, Tx.
22. Nashville-Davidson
23. Charlotte
24. Atlanta
25. Oakland, Ca.

and the fattest:

1. Las Vegas
You can see the rest of the list but Texas isn't looking very good at all - San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, El Paso and Arlington all on the 25 fattest cities list!

Want a little motivation, clip the picture from this piece and tape it on your refrigerator!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:11 AM | Permalink

Most investors have a few simple litmus tests that act as a filter during or before an initial meeting. Common litmus tests are:

1. Was this deal referred to me by someone I trust? If not, they won’t look at it at all. They figure if you can’t reach me through their trusted network, then you are either not motivated or not bright.

2. Was I immediately impressed by the entrepreneur? Many investors reason that if you can’t impress them in the first 5 minutes, then you can’t run a company. They want to hear who you are, what you’re doing, and why they should care and they want to hear it right away.

3. Do I instinctively trust the entrepreneur? Many investors will immediately dismiss an opportunity if they get any inkling that the person they’re talking to may be anything less than perfectly trustworthy. Would you give money to someone you didn’t fully trust the first time you met them?

Source: Colorado Startups

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:37 AM | Permalink

Mark Cuban gets a bad rap. There are lots of complaints, chief among them that he is arrogant. But one thing I knew, he doesn't just put his money where his heart is, he puts his heart where his heart is!

At this week's Mavericks game, I watched Mark come to his usual courtside seat at the American Airlines Center. Moments later, a wheelchair entered the arena and was pushed to the back of Mark's section. And then ever so painfully a young man rose from the wheelchair and painfully inched his way to the seat next to Mark. As he approached, Mark reached out and hugged him. It was pretty obvious that this was a returning US soldier who had lost one or both of his legs in Iraq. There was no flash, no pubic announcement, it was just a simple act of recognition and honor.

OK, nothing will ever make up for the sacrifice that these young men have made and continue to make in this devastating mess called Iraq, but being invited by a billionaire to sit courtside at a major sports venue at least says in some simple way, "We see what has happened to you, we can never make it up to you, but we want you to know we won't ever forget you."

And for those who believe that if you are against the war (which I would surmise Mark Cuban is having hired Dan Rather to work for him) you must be against the troops - I guess this simple act should put that charge to rest.

Hey Mark Cuban might be lots of things, but he has a heart and he's not afraid to show it. Not just by sending checks, which I am sure he does, but by reaching out on a one-on-one basis.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:13 AM | Permalink

Put a cork in it. In my day, that was a less than a polite remark. But this time, I'm referring to wine bottles.

It seems that natural cork remains the favorite closure of US consumers. Consumers in the UK and Australia have a much higher acceptance level of screwcaps and synthetics. The French, like Americans, prefer natural cork. The tide is changing, however, with a global increase in the acceptance of synthetic and screwcap closures.

The survey results were announced at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, held recently in Sacramento, Billed as the largest wine and grape trade show in the nation, the Symposium drew attendees from around the world to hear industry experts share their views on winemaking, grape growing, finance and business, public relations, and market trends.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:57 AM | Permalink

Sacramento Parents Monthly Who knew? An on-line magazine website jampacked with resources for parents. I stumbled on it quite by accident. It's impressive. The events calendar is phenomenal. No more, "What are we going to do this weekend?" There's a treasure trove of activities. There are also some free events for readers: Reader Appreciation Day - A Family Safety Clinic - Saturday, February 24th at selected Kovar's Satori Academy of Martial Arts locations. You have to sign up on the website to attend though.

And lots and lots more interesting subjects - Fertility and Pregnancy, Fatherhood, Support Groups, Summer Camp and more. And a wonderful story about how the magazine was founded 25 years ago by a young mother with two small children and no experience in publishing. In 1999, she sold the magazine and 5 years later had a chance to take it back. She now gets help for her adult daughter and daughter in law. Local entrepreneurism at its best.

This is a wonderful resource for parents in the Sacramento area. Go check it out.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:24 PM | Permalink

I heard again yesterday that the Sacramento area is positioning itself to be a leader in clean technology. I have been hearing about this idea for a long time. I heard that organizations are holding informational meetings and are very enthusiastic and I thought to myself that we better speed things up because I bet a lot of other jurisdictions are pretty interested in being seen as a leader in clean technology. And then today I ran across this article in the Vacaville Reporter that shows pretty clearly that there are many other places that are interested in attracting clean tech companies...and not just interested, they have solid plans laid out to do so, and with the full support of their state government. Stop talking Sacramento and start doing. (With apologies to the few that have done, especially those connected with CleanStart).

For months, Vacaville's been vying for an electric vehicle asembly plant that's valued at $100 million and would create approximately 300 high-tech jobs. But the chief executive for the Silcon Valley start-up scouting locations told The Reporter that the numbers simply don't add up to build a plant in California.

"There are some states that are very, very interested in having green manufacturing, and California doesn't seem to be one of them," Martin Eberhard, Tesla Motors' CEO, said in a phone interview.

"Take, for example, New Mexico," he said. "New Mexico has made it a very clear priority that they want to attract new companies and especially green manufacturing - they've put a number of programs in place to do so."

With regard to Arizona, he said, "I have had two phone calls personally from the governor and they've proposed all kinds of programs to make it easier for us to locate there."

And, Eberhard added, the governor of Michigan "cornered" him to make it clear any obstacles to building its plant there would be cleared from Tesla's path.

In California, on the other hand, Eberhard said, "I get shunted to a fellow in the California governor's office," who, he quipped, may as well change his name to "Dr. No." He was basically told the state doesn't believe in business incentives, he said.

Offers made by North Carolina and Arizona would cut the plant's initial start-up costs by more than $15 million, while the golden state has offered $20 million in annual

tax credits on machinery and tax credits of up to $30,000 per employee if the company locates in an Enterprise Zone, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported.
But Enterprise Zones are designed to encourage development in blighted areas, and Vacaville does not qualify for them. Nor can it financially match the deals from other states on its own.

"Vacaville as a city made a very strong presentation to us and was very enthusiastic," noted Eberhard. "But Vacaville can't solve the sort of financial differences (at stake)."

"It's extraordinarily difficult to compete," admitted Mike Palombo, Vacaville's economic development manager. "When we started this process, we thought we had a good chance given our history with electric vehicles, the fact that we're a pro-business community ... and we thought we could put together a reasonable business incentives package."

Without additional help from the state, however, the city is limited to return-to-source type packages like the one it offered Genentech, in which the city agreed to return a portion of the company's property taxes for a given number of years.

City employees' long-established use of electric vehicles, Vacaville's creation of an electric vehicle incentive program for residents, and its location may count for something, Palombo said.

"We believe Northern California is a hotbed of electric vehicle use, and we're right in the middle of the market," he said.

San Ramon-based Tesla developed the Tesla Roadster, a slick-looking, $92,000 fully electric roadster that goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in four seconds, and runs for nearly 250 miles per charge. That vehicle is currently assembled in the U.K. and will hit roads next year; the U.S. plant for which Tesla is scouting locations would assemble a lower-priced sedan, dubbed WhiteStar. WhiteStar is currently in development and expected to reach the market in 2009.

Reporter Amanda Janis can be reached at business@thereporter.com.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Bee

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sacramento-based CoreLogic, which provides mortgage risk and fraud prevention solutions is being merged with the First American Real Estate Solutions (RS) Division of First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF). Combined revenues in 2006 for the two merged organizations was $326M.

CoreLogic has been on the top of all Sacramento pundits' lists as rife to do something big in 2007 - acqusition, merger, IP. Well, it happened yesterday. First American paid $100M in cash and stock of unspecific value.

The company will remain in Sacramento. The co-founders of CoreLogic, Steve Schroeder and Kraig Clark, have assumed key roles in the newly formed organization.

This is all great news for Sacramento including the many local investors who will be reaping the rewards and be enboldened to invest in more local startups. Hopefully this will also mean more high-paying tech jobs for Sacramento, which improves the overall local economy. And maybe more out of town investors will cast a more positive eye on Sacramento and invest in more of our great (but underfunded) companies.

Congrats CoreLogic and those who advised you. This is a big day for the Sacramento technology community.

Gillian Parirllo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My friend and I were all set to leave on a 5 day trip to Mexico City. As we were about to walk out the door, I wondered if my cell phone would work there and, if it did, how enormous the roaming and other charges would be. So, I called Verizon, but I was not expecting a usable, customer-focused, response..

First shock. I got through right away. I got through right away to someone who could understand me. I got through right away to someone who understood what my problem was. And biggest shock, I got through to someone who cared about my problem and knew right away how to fix it.

She agreed my phone would work, but there would be giant roaming charges, etc. But she could change my plan to a different plan that didn't have roaming charges and change it back to the current plan once I got back. The price would be $10 more for the pro-rated new plan and she would personally go in and change it back. She even made sure I knew what access code to dial. I was shocked. Customer service from Verizon. Friendly, helpful, timely customer service from Verizon.

Today, I got a text message. She turned my service back to the original plan. She remembered. I felt pretty special.

Keep it up Verizon. And whoever you are, wonderous Verizon Customer Service rep, thanks.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:35 AM | Permalink

The UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship is offering a one-week academy, March 26 - 30, 2007, for PhD candidates, post-docs, and faculty working in biotechnology, alternative energy, sustainable agriculture, sustainable construction, science and engineering interested in exploring the commercial potential of their research in green technology . Please share this opportunity with any researchers, faculty and students who might be interested in participating. The application deadline is February 23, 2007.

This one-week intensive was created to allow participants to explore the commercial potential of their research while working with faculty, experienced entrepreneurs, and investors. The program includes topics in intellectual property management, market and business validation, building a team, and negotiating with investors. The participating venture capitalists manage roughly $500M in funds targeting green technology ventures.

If you have any additional questions, please contact Nicole Starsinic at nstarsinic@ucdavis.edu

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:16 AM | Permalink

The Dowtown Sacramento Partnership website lists 3 leading downtown restaurants that are offering special Valentin'es multi-course dinners.

The Firehouse offers a 5 course dinner for $99 per person

Restaurant 55 Degrees offers a 3 course dinner with complimentary champagne toast for $65 per person

Dawson's Restaurant at the Hyatt is offering a 5 course dinner with complimentary champagne toast for $130 per couple.

Check out some of the other great choices also - among them Biba's and The Waterboy.

And don't forget to make reservations ASAP. I use OpenTable and couldn't be more pleased with the ease and efficiency in making reservations online with this free service. They also have a few more suggestions for Valentine's Day special dinners.

Of course, you could consider a special romantic dinner at home!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:41 AM | Permalink

“You can’t make a good deal with a bad person,” so says Warren Buffett.

How many times have we had an interaction with someone and left feeling vaguely uneasy? And yet when a chance comes along to do a business deal with that same person, we too often put our feelings aside and focus on the potential of the deal. But almost every deal that has gone badly for me has been with someone that, in looking back, I knew better than to get involved with. The latest example, a new house I bought from a builder who told me that she was going to make an insurance claim for damage that I knew wasn’t legitimate. Now I own a house built by an unethical builder with all of the resultant shoddy work and little or no attempt on her part to make anything right. I hold a position in a company that is floundering run by a person who didn’t keep his word in a previous deal. And I lost a large sum of money by backing an enthusiastic entrepreneur whom I knew had used and abused other supporters, but I thought it would be different this time. I could go on, but it's too depressing!

My advice, to myself as much as you, run, don’t walk, if you find yourself getting seduced by the ‘deal’ and not listening to your inner voice which is screaming at you to put two and two together and make four this time.

Note to Warren: You can make a bad deal with a good person. You just don’t feel as stupid when you do!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fast-growing Sacramento ranks last in a list of the country's 50 largest cities for the number of uniformed police officers per capita, according to the figures compiled by the FBI. In 2005, there were 1.46 uniformed police officers in Sacramento for every 1,000 residents - roughly half the national average for large cities.

Leaders of the Sacramento Police Department say their agency is woefully understaffed and struggling to stop the proliferation of some types of crimes. According to Sacramento City Manager Ray Kerridge, police officials are working with an outside consultant to outline the need for additional officers and facilities over the next 15 years. A draft of the plan is scheduled to be completed next month.

Source: AP Wire

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:15 AM | Permalink

Davis resident and best-selling author John Lescroart did it again. His seventeenth book, The Suspect, is on the the New York Times Best Seller List for the second week in a row at number 7. Published on January 16, by E.P. Dutton Publishing, the book immediately jumped on the list.

Congratulations John LesCroart. John lives in the El Macero neighborhood of Davis and writes out of his office on 'C' street downtown Davis. LesCroart actively speaks in local venues, most recently at UC Davis on January 31. Gillian and I had a chance to hear John speak a couple of years ago at the Sacramento Library Foundation's Authors on the The Move annual charity event (the 2007 event was held last night at the Hyatt, and featured David Eggers, Lisa See and Kim Stanley Robinson). He's an engaging speaker and a local treasure.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 8:54 AM | Permalink

World Community Grid is encouraging individuals to contribute their idle PC time to assist humanitarian research.

World Community Grid uses grid technology to establish a permanent, flexible infrastructure that provides researchers with a readily available pool of computational power that can be used to solve problems plaguing humanity. Grid technology joins together many individual computers, creating a large system with massive computational power that far exceeds the power of a few supercomputers. Importantly, World Community Grid is easy and safe to use. The project is supported by the IBM Corporation and a group of 160 companies, associations, foundations and academic institutions.

Individuals simply download and install a free, small software program on their computers. When idle, your computers request data from World Community Grid’s server. Computers then perform computations using this data, send the results back to the server and prompt it for a new piece of work.

In its first year, World Community Grid ran the Human Proteome Folding Project, which provided scientists with data on how individual proteins within the human body affect human health, enabling them to develop new cures for diseases like lyme disease, malaria and tuberculosis. Scientists now have descriptions of 120,000 protein domains that are critical to human well-being; without the benefit of this free grid technology, it would have taken 5 years to get these results, compared with just 12 months on World Community Grid.

More recently, World Community Grid launched FightAIDS@Home. FightAIDS@Home, which is sponsored by The Scripps Research Institute, is using computational methods to identify new candidate drugs to block HIV protease, a key molecular structure that when blocked, stops the virus from maturing and thus is a way of avoiding the onset of AIDS and prolonging life.

Possible future projects will address global humanitarian issues, such as new and existing infectious disease research; genomic and disease research; and natural disasters and hunger.

Wow, I think that is amazingly cool. You can sign up here.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:43 AM | Permalink

I am proud to be an American. America is the leader in many areas. However, sometimes being number one is not good. Presidential candidate Mike Gravel pointed this out in his speech this week at the National Democratic meeting in Washington, DC.

Here are ten areas where I am not proud of our American achievements as being #1:

1. Prison incarcerations
2. Calorie consumption per person
3. Creator and user of nuclear weapons
4. Government debt
5. Consumer debt per person
6. Energy consumption
7. Creator of pollution
8. Obesity per person
9. CO2 emissions
10. Military spending

I believe we can work together to lower our ranking in each of these. However, hopefully, another country will not unseat us as the leader of using nuclear weapons (this would mean we failed in our diplomatic duties).

Our fellow world citizens and future generations deserve our attention in mitigating these issues. On the positive side, addressing these issues will result in promoting innovative business ideas, creating jobs, and building new companies.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:57 AM | Permalink

DON'T BAN INCANDESCENTS
by Ed Ring, Editor, www.EcoWorld.com

How far will the government go in controlling our lives? In California's state house, left-wing and right-wing political hacks are joining forces to enact sweeping green legislation that is often of questionable value - raising the ante. Now some have called for a statewide ban on incandescent lightbulbs. This latest prospect of flawed and over-reaching law takes the cake in many ways, even surpassing California's pending prohibition on parents spanking their own young children.

First of all, incandescent lights don't pollute, dirty energy production is what pollutes. Why don't California's legislators fund another million solar rooftops instead? Why don't they create incentives for investors to build in-state photovoltaic panel and industrial battery manufacturing plants? Why don't the legislators mandate energy efficient elevators in commercial buildings? For that matter, why don't they come up with new and comprehensive green
standards to retrofit all commercial buildings, starting with those over 100,000 square feet? There are many ways to increase the supply and reduce the demand for electricity, without having to invade the insides of our homes!

A green hack is anyone who wants to push along today's ultra fashionable "green, green, how much I want you green" bandwagon without bothering to assess who might be getting run over, or where better the bandwagon might go. That California's green hack politicians believe they are helping is only somewhat reassuring. These are the same people who helped kill the electric car so they could waste billions of dollars and waste decades of precious time on
hydrogen fuel cell cars.

And where will big government go next? Beginning in the late 1970's, California had a drought that lasted over ten years. There will be another drought, and when there is, we will either manufacture more water, or the government will come into our homes - turning our showers into mist dispensers, rationing our wash cycles, and mandating cactus instead of lawns. When all we had to do was build a couple of desalinization plants (two kilowatt-hours is all it takes to
desalinate a cubic meter of water), or increase our groundwater storage, or make everyone pay market rate - residential water consumers don't use that much water, and pay far, far more than farmers do for their supply. A slight increase in water pricing, with means-tested credits for low income residents, would manage any drought, and fund investments in new water utilities. That is also the proper way to manage electricity consumption, not through rationing, or punitive pricing for heavy residential users of water orelectricity. If you think about the precedents represented by a ban on incandescent light bulbs, you will not support it. It is the wrong approach.

Another way to describe a green hack is anyone who might support drastic and long-term measures based on fluid tactical data. There are many ways to build a light bulb, with sea-changes imminent. Technically speaking, a light emitting diode could be considered incandescent, are we going to ban them, too? These "LED" bulbs are coming onto the market and have very low intrinsic costs to manufacture. Florescent bulbs, in spite of years of research, still require subsidies to be affordable. If you ban cost-effective incandescents now, you impart an advantage to the well-established florescent manufacturers to the detriment of the emerging and more efficient LED manufacturers. When it comes to light bulbs, innovation
is better than regulation.

Instead of banning incandescent lighting, why doesn't California's legislature ban any form of lights on the outside of residences that exceed a reasonable amount of lumens? There are homeowners who think it's ok to install a complete 360 degree array of 500+ watt outdoor lights. Too many homeowners have extreme outdoor lights; this is ridiculous, obnoxious light pollution, and collectively a prodigious waste of energy. If our legislators want to intrude again into our lives with regulations, let them be good ones. Ban over-illumination of outdoor nneighborhoods at night.

What about the fact that florescent light looks bad? To threaten to come into our homes, and force us all to remove warm, variable, many-hued incandescent light bulbs, replacing them with blazing, micro-flickering, ultra cool, glaring and invariable florescents - this is an insulting, unconstitutional affront carrying possibly no benefit to society, and calls into question the competence of any legislator who might support it. Not only is the operation of an incandescent light bulb absolutely 100% pollution-free, but increasing numbers of homes are energy positive; they ought to be able to make any use of their energy they wish - including operating inefficient, but aesthetically acceptable incandescent lights.

So wake up, California legislature, and leave incandescent lights alone. Don't discourage us from investing in energy positive homes, nor force us to turn our warm kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms into florescently illuminated industrial warehouse space.

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Crocker/Flanagan, a Sacramento-based communication agency has announced today its merger with Astone, a marketing and advertising agency with offices in Fresno and San Diego. The combined firm, with billings of more than $25 million and a staff of 45 professionals, will focus on public and private sector clients in California and the Western United States.

Scot Crocker will be president of Northern California operations with a focus on client strategy and business development. David Flanagan will become executive creative director for the entire firm and Mark Astone will remain as CEO.

Astone bought out partners of Panagraph, Inc., a 30-year-old advertising agency in Fresno, and has been seeking opportunities to grow Astone throughout California. Now with offices in three major markets, the agency is poised to expand services and its client base.

Congrats Scot

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:38 PM | Permalink

Local startup, XtremeSno, has spent the past two years improving their Personal Snow Vehicle and now needs money to close out a round to ramp up production.

CEO Jim Wade writes:

We have just finished our updated production XSR-125, PSV (Personal Snow Vehicle). After input from users and potential customers we have a much improved vehicle over our "proof of concept vehicle" you have all seen. It works and rides better than the first XSR - More power, nicer ride, great steering, better ergonomics....and at the same weight. So that now we have 30 HP on a 100 lb vehicle...wow!.....on top of that the XSR-125 has all the production details figured out and we have customers from around the world - US, Canada, England asking for vehicles. We need to round out the initial funding so that we can proceed with production. Now if it would just snow a little around here .......

Maybe showers of money would help. You can email Jim at jwade@xtremesno.com.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:25 PM | Permalink

This headline on the BBC news website caught my attention this morning. With the lack of natural snow in the Sierras, could the local ski resorts be testing a new snowmaking procedure? Or was it just a publicity stunt to increase their number of visitors? It turns out that the headline actually read ‘Smelly orange snow hits Siberia’ and that our pristine slopes were safe for the time being.

But, it does show how desperate most of us are for any good news from the Sierras. Sure we just finished with the driest January on record here in the valley. But thanks to the marvels of modern snowmaking, most of the resorts surrounding Lake Tahoe still have a large percentage of their runs open. If you like the thought of perfectly groomed runs, like the fabled cruisers at Deer Valley, then this is your year to experience the best Tahoe has to offer. I ventured up to Northstar this past Wednesday with Alpine Adventures and had one of my best days skiing in years. At times it felt like the whole mountain was mine, with wide open runs and no one around to cut me off, or scream past me out of control. Talking to my friends over a glass or two of wine as we headed home on the bus, we all agreed to keep our magical day a secret from those who “aren’t in the know”.

Of course, there will still be plenty of people who won’t venture out until we get that next large snowfall. That’s fine by me, as I’ll be out there enjoying the uncrowded slopes and getting the best value for money from my lift ticket in years. If you’re stuck at home, there are still a few things you can do to get prepared. Local independent shops like Land Park Ski & Sports and The Ski Doctor are pretty quiet at the moment. If you’re thinking of buying some new skis or a snowboard or checking out the latest in boot technology, this is the time to get advice from the experts and get your equipment tuned up and ready for that first big snowfall. For something more active, a local outfit called Snozone uses a revolving deck to develop the skills and muscles you need on the slopes and can greatly reduce the amount of time you waste on the mountain.

So put down that remote control, skip the mall and get out there and enjoy the wonders in the Sierras. As for me, I’m heading back up there this weekend and making sure that Orange snow doesn’t mess up any of the fluffy white stuff covering the slopes.

Note from Gillian: Alpine Adventures is offering another fabulous ski prize at the next Sacramento Executive event on 2/21. Ed Ring still raves about the one he won. Check for details at the top of this page.

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Sacramento area is the home of two companies on Fortune Magazine's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Congratulations to Nugget Market and Vision Service Plan.

Nugget Market, an 80-year old, family-owned company located in Woodland, enjoys an employee turnover of 8%. According to Fortune Magazine, this is an unheard of rate in the grocery industry. Not only is the Nugget Market a good company to work for, it's a great store to shop. Nugget is my favorite grocery chain in the Sacramento region.

Vision Service Plan, a Rancho Cordova, non-profit, eye-care benefits company, is known for fantastic perks such as 15% of salary contributions to employees' 401(k) and 100% coverage of health insurance premiums.

In the best small companies category (1,000 to 2,500 employees), Nugget Market ranks number 3 and Vision Service Plan ranks number 7.

Well done!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:21 PM | Permalink

QUIZ: 10 QUESTIONS

Do you have the right stuff to start a business?

1. Did you franchise your lemonade stand when you were 8 years old?

2. Do you have "entrepreneurial" genes?

3. Are your spouse, children and parents loyal?

4. Is wealth a better reason to start a business than riches?

5. Do you love your better mousetrap?

6. Do you know when to replace passion with pragmatism?

7. Ever doubled down in Vegas?

8. Are you honest, trustworthy and committed to avoiding evil?

9. Do you know a spreadsheet from a bed sheet?

10. Do you have the tenacity of a pit bull?

What's your score?

Number of "yes'' answers to quiz on starting businesses:

1-3: Don't quit your day job.

4-7: Begin saving start-up money

8-10: Watch out, Donald Trump!

Source: USA Today

You can read the whole interesting accompanying article also.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:26 PM | Permalink

I was walking my dogs on Tuesday AM. I took the street that leads one short block to Turtle Creek. The uppity Turtle Creek, surrounded by upscale high rise condos and exclusive neighborhoods. As I rounded the corner, I saw numerous police cars and, upon closer inspection, a blue drape on the ground. I called to them, "It's not a homeless guy, is it?" But they didn't hear me. And so I came home and sent a note to my neighbor, the local TV news anchor, and he confirmed my worst suspicions. It was a homeless guy, found dead, presumably from exposure, in the park. I don't know if it was the homeless guy that I would exchange pleasantries with when I walked my dogs, but I fear it was. He was an older, gentle, soft-spoken man who sat on the same bench every day, reading a book.

And since then, I can't stop thinking about how it was a block from my house. And how if it was from exposure that somehow I could have done something about it. A blanket, a warm coat, a tent, a night at my house, something. I had made the same offer to an old woman who I run into periodically as she searches through neighborhood garbage cans, but I didn't think about this guy because he didn't seem ever in the slightest bit desperate.

And I kept searching the paper for the smallest sign of respect for this man's death. And nothing. And finally after a long internet search, I found this on Cox.net for West Texas:

(Dallas, TX) -- Investigators think a homeless man died of exposure. His body was found Tuesday morning, at William Dean Park. He apparently passed away sometime Monday night.

And I keep thinking, he deserved more and I should have done more.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:38 AM | Permalink

Molly Ivins has died of breast cancer at the age of 62.

First it was Anne Richards, and now Molly Ivins. Two feisty, spunky, outspoken, tough women who managed with a keen sense of humor to get their messages heard.

I was living in Paris when a co-worker introduced me to "Molly Ivins: She Can't Say That, Can She? I read the book from cover to cover and kept on reading anything she wrote. When I would get crazy about the latest political debacle, Molly would remind me that you have to see the humor sometimes otherwise you will self-destruct...and then what good would you be?

Molly's call to action in her last column:

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders.

I wasn't ready for this. I am still mourning the loss of Anne Richards. And still wondering, who takes up the strong voice of these women? Gloria Steinem has never been fun enough, Susan Sarandon is dismissed as being part of the evil Hollywood, Oprah is too spiritual and highfalutin' for me, Jane Fonda just can't get passed Vietnam. And Ann Coulter and Dr. Laura just aren't my cup of tea.

I hope the days of the Tough Old Broads isn't over? I love the back and forth, the flirty put downs, but always with the eye on the prize. Katherine Hepburn, without the Hollywood hype.
Where are you, next generation?

A favorite Molly story:

She was known for hosting unforgettable parties at her Austin home, which would feature rollicking political discussions and impromptu poetry recitals and satirical songs. At one such event, I noticed her dining table was littered with various awards and distinguished speaker plaques, put to use as trivets for steaming plates of tamales, chili and fajita meat. When I called this to her attention, Molly matter-of-factly replied, "Well, what else am I going to do with 'em?"

Hey God - fasten your seat belt, Anne and Molly ain't finished yet!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:49 AM | Permalink