Glassboth is an interesting quiz that allows you to spread 20 points to provide your ranking of importance to the top issues with which this country is dealing e.g., healthcare, the war in Iraq, drugs, immigration, social security etc. (makes you realize how hard it is for politicians to decide where the money should go - almost all are critically important to me). You then answer a series of questions related to the topics you designated as important. Out pops the Presidential candidate which whom you are most in tune. Pretty interesting stuff.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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Ted Nicholas has founded 23 successful companies. He has written 14 best-selling books and conducted hundreds of seminars around the world.

He provides these tips to be used by superstar companies only!

1. Have fewer meetings!

Many regularly scheduled group meetings are unnecessary. Often a telephone call, memo or e-mail will suffice and is a better solution.

Meetings involving several staff members are very expensive. Just compute the hourly cost. You will be amazed! Clearly, it makes economic sense to only schedule meetings that are absolutely necessary.

2. Limit attendance.

Invite only the people who are absolutely necessary to the outcome of the meeting.

3. Start and stop meetings on a strict timetable.

Whether or not some people arrive late, start and stop at the scheduled time regardless.

4. Limit the time of the meeting.

Keep most meetings to 30 minutes. Only if absolutely necessary go to 45 minutes. In rare cases go to 60 minutes, or 90 minutes. If a subject is not covered within the scheduled time, simply shelve it to the next meeting.

5. Plan the meetings carefully.

Distribute a meeting agenda at least a day in advance. List the subjects of discussion. The decisions which need to be made. Who is responsible to implement the decision. The agreed upon completion date.

6. Preparation is critical for all attendees. Ask participants to prepare in advance for their part of the meeting agenda.

7. Appoint a person to keep notes of the meeting.

Ideally, keeping meeting notes is a rotating responsibility. Distribute the notes within 24 hours of the meeting. Tape record the meeting to be sure you have a record of what transpired. Especially important is the action to be taken. Who has agreed to do what by when?

8. Avoid the so-called open door policy. This is highly overrated. Do not conduct most one-on- one meetings in your office.

Some people just don't seem to know when to leave your work area and thus waste a lot of your time with small talk.

Instead, stop by the employee's office. Conduct your business. Then politely terminate the meeting and leave. You are much more in control of your time visiting an employee.

9. Use meeting performance as an important part of your periodic employee evaluations.

An evaluation can be an ideal time to communicate with an employee as to whether or not they are "getting it" insofar as your meeting culture.

I've observed that most small, medium and even giant companies unnecessarily allow meetings to waste endless hours of time of numerous employees.

For example, I'm a shareholder in Nestle, the world's largest food company. I also know several top executives there and have heard them complain about how Nestle wastes so much time on non-productive meetings. Indeed, if shareholders were to be made aware of how much money is being wasted, I'm sure they would not be pleased.

Put the nine fabulous proven meeting procedures in place in your organization. I promise that your company's productivity and success margin will dramatically improve.

Meetings are one of the biggest time-savers around. Email is another, although email could easily be classified as a meeting, just in a different form. Be bold, take action without checking with everyone, apologize (only if it backfires!) later.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A great post (again!) on Guy Kawasaki's blog. He asks Fred Greguras, partner in the Silicon Valley law firm of Fenwick and West to give him the top ten questions asked him by new entrerepreneurs. This is an invaluable list, with answers, of all those 'how do I start my new venture?' And if you get the answers early on, they can save you all kinds of time, trouble and money later on. Print this off and place it somewhere very prominent! And, by the way, there are 16 questions!

Question: Can I start a technology company in the same business as my current employer?

Answer: Working completely outside of an employer’s premises and not using an employer’s trade secrets or other resources may not be enough to avoid a taint on your technology and intellectual property (“IP”) for the new business. Investors will examine the creation of IP very carefully in such a situation as they don’t want to buy into a law suit. While California law favors employee mobility it also protects employers in Labor Code Section 2870 which is part of most employee invention assignment and confidentiality agreements you sign before you begin employment with a company.

Basically, 2870 states that an employee owns an invention that he/she developed entirely on his or her own time without using the employer’s equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secret information except for those inventions that either relate at the time of conception or reduction to practice of the invention to the employer’s business, or actual or demonstrably anticipated research or development of the employer; or result from any work performed by the employee for the employer.

The taint to the new business can come from the founder who is trying to continue work with his/her current employer while trying to create technology and IP for a new business or from a consultant who is “moonlighting” from a business in the same space. Some business sectors such as EDA software are notorious for litigation against departed employees who try to start a new business in the same space.

Question: When should I incorporate?

Answer: The first step in starting a business is to test the business concept with prospective customers and to look carefully at potential market size to see if there really is a business opportunity. Timing of incorporation will be driven by the need to document the founders’ ownership of the business, to secure ownership of pre-existing intellectual property, to enter into contracts with customers, to grant stock options and to accept investment. You usually don’t want to delay incorporating until just before a Series A financing round because such timing could cause tax problems for founders who want to buy their shares at a nominal price as compared to the valuation of the corporation at the time of the financing.

Question: Why don’t I use a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”) since it is cheaper to start?

Answer: An LLC is often used for consulting and smaller businesses, but not often for an operating business that will seek venture capital. You can decide whether to be taxed as a corporation or partnership when your business organization is an LLC. Losses and gains of the business flow through to the shareholders individual 1040 tax return when taxed as a partnership. Venture capitalists won’t invest in an LLC, you can’t grant stock options to employees and other service providers in an LLC, and an LLC can’t be acquired tax-free in a stock acquisition exit.

Question: Why does everyone incorporate in Delaware?

Answer: I still see some entrepreneurs use California corporations because they want to keep their costs as low as possible. Delaware incorporation advantages are venture capitalist preference, ease of dealing with regulatory authorities, flexibility in the law (such as the number of board members) and more helpful precedent on corporate law. Disadvantages are the corporation being taxed by and subject to two states regulatory requirements.

You can’t avoid California taxes if the corporation is operating in California. California advantages are lower cost and being subject to only one state’s regulatory requirements, if the corporation is operating here. One major disadvantage of using California is the difficulty of dealing with regulatory authorities on corporate filings in a financing or other situation when articles of incorporation need to be amended. If a business has been incorporated in California, the VCs will often want it to be reincorporated in Delaware as part of a round of financing.

Question: Should we incorporate as an S corp or C corp?

Answer: “S corp” and “C corp” are tax statuses rather than a type of corporation you would form in California or Delaware. An S corporation is taxed like a partnership. Gains and losses flow through to the shareholders so it can provide tax advantages if, for example, there is a long product development period with significant expenses that would flow through to individual tax returns.

There are restrictions on the number (100) and types of shareholders in an S corp. Shareholders must be U.S. citizens or residents and natural persons not entities. Also, while you can make a decision at the end of a calendar year to switch to a C corp, you can’t decide to turn S corp status off when ever you want to do so. A preferred stock financing will terminate S corp status because an S corp may not have more than one class of shares outstanding.

Question: Should I incorporate offshore since my business will focus on China/India?

Answer: This decision is driven by the likely exit strategy and the type of investors most interested in your business. Exit alternatives such as an IPO on the Indian or Hong Kong stock exchanges are not possible if you are a U.S. corporation. Some global investors will invest only in an offshore corporation such as a Cayman Islands exempted company while some domestic U.S. venture capitalists will still only invest in a U.S. corporation.

You can reincorporate from one state to another, i.e., California to Delaware, on a tax-free basis but you can’t reincorporate outside the U.S. without tax consequences. Reincorporation offshore almost always will cause the corporation to remain subject to U.S. taxes under Internal Revenue Code Section 7874. If you initially incorporate offshore you can reincorporate into the U.S. on a tax free basis so if in doubt, start offshore at the outset.

Continue reading "Ten Top Questions Asked by Newbie Entrepreneurs" »

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1. Be excited
2. Be enthusiastic
3. Expect to Win
4. Exchange negative bad thoughts for good thoughts
5. Elevate your dreams
6. Change your environment
7. Eliminate some people
8. Eliminate bad habits
9. Eliminate envy
10. Evaluate your gifts
11. Educate yourself
12. Strive for excellence
13. Give the right effort
14. Stay strong when the eye of the storm is passing
15. Encourage yourself to be an expert manager
16. Enjoy the ride

Pierre Cutler
Sacramento Executive

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Sacramento - a top ten city for:

Where People Are Losing their Houses - #4

Use of Renewable Energy - #2

Markets With Highest Mortgage Risk - #8

Have Your Identity Stolen - #9

Bike Commuters - #6

Greenest Economic City - #1

Car Theft #7

Underrated City for Travel - #10

Urban Areas With The Roughest Pavements - #7

Most Overpriced Real Estate Markets - #3

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

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Two Sacramento companies have made it onto Entrepreneur' Magazine's Hot 500 list of America's fastest growing small businesses. Response 1 Medical Staffing of El Dorado Hills and Commercial Building Specialists of Roseville.

The ranking starts with 19 million businesses and applies stringent growth criteria that weeds out all but 0.5 percent of the total. Response 1 Medical Staffing had a revenue increase of 235% from 2003 to 2005 and Commercial Building Specialists enjoyed 880%.

Thanks to these outstanding companies for getting good press for Sacramento and its entrepreneurial spirit.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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A new study by the Corporation for National and Community Service

Topping the list of the top 50 - Minneapolis-St. Paul, followed by Salt Lake City, Austin, Omaha and Seattle. Bottom of the list - Las Vegas. Sacramento came in as 13th, better than the rest of the California cities. I guess we still retain some good, old-fashioned hometown spirit.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Get introduced through an entrepreneur or attorney to a VC they have worked with in the past. A good law firm can be very valuable for investor introductions if you can convince them your business would be a good investment.

2. Talk to multiple firms at once. Create a competitive process and seek multiple term sheets if you are able.

3. Read up on term sheets and have a good understanding of them before you start talking to investors. The key terms are pre-money valuation, liquidation preference, participation, share revesting, dividends, board size and protective provisions.

4. Be upfront about the general terms you are seeking to save yourself and the investor time.

5. Know that the pre-money valuation is only one of the most important terms.

6. Get involved with organizations in your community that can connect you to other entrepreneurs who have done it before and then have lunch with those entrepreneurs.

7. Realize that it will probably take at least 9 months to raise money from start to finish your first time doing it.

8. Realize that until you have at least $1 million in annual revenue it may be difficult to get most VCs interested.

9. Know that it may take 6 months of sustained product and revenue progress after your first meeting before a VC will consider your deal seriously.

10. Know how much money you are trying to raise before you begin discussions.

11. Know that it may be easier to seek angel funding or debt funding instead of venture capital early on.

12. Know that once you sign a term sheet it will be at least 30 days and up to 90 days before you actually close on the funds.

Courtesy of Ryan Allis. Follow the journey of entrepreneur Ryan Allis as he builds his company iContact into the worldwide leader in on-demand software for online communications, publishes his book Zero to One Million, travels the country as a speaker on entrepreneurship, explores the worlds of public policy, technology, marketing, management, leadership, venture capital, and organizational behavior, and lives a passionate life as a North Carolina entrepreneur and CEO.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I went to see an early screening of Sicko last night. Most memorable moment of the movie for me - causing me to scrabble in my purse for a pen - "If you can find money to kill people, you can find money to help people." Great quote from Tony Benn, a British politician.

Go see the movie. It is not strident Michael Moore, as people hate him (and some love him), but it certainly shows that Canadians, the British, and the French (who have the premier health care system in the world, according to the World Health Organization), treat everyone based on their need and not on their wallet. They certainly don't dump those who can't pay their medical bills outside homeless shelter - a haunting scene in the movie from the United States, which on that same WHO ranking is 37th, right after Costa Rica and before Slovenia. Sicko makes the point that even the prisoners at Guantanamo get better health care than most Americans and better than rescue workers from the 9/11 World Trade Center site.

The US is the only country in the Western world without a nationalized health system. As Michael Mooore suggests, we grab the coolest cars and wine and everything else from Europe, but not the health system. Why are we constantly fed the myth that all those countries have terrible health systems and people hate them...it's just not the truth. But making us believe that allows someone to make lots of money off our system the way it is. Oh, and that would be the health insurance companies.

Chill while you listen to President Nixon warm up to Ehrlichman explaining the fact that there are going to be "health maintenance organizations like Edward Kaiser's Permanente thing....which Edward Kaiser is running ....for profit....All the incentives are toward less medical care," Ehrlichman explains further to Nixon, "The less care they give them, the more money they make." Kaiser Permanente is now the nation's largest HMO.

People die in this movie because they can't afford care, or because they went to the wrong hospital. A physician testifies that health insurance companies pay bonuses for doctors to deny care - and people die because of it...but the doctors gets the bonuses. Children die because their parents take them in an emergency to a hospital which is not 'in-network', the insurance company denies care, and by the time they are transferred, they die. People who are unconscious from a serious car accident get transported by ambulance to a hospital, and the claim for the ambulance is denied because there was no pre-approval.

Let's stop thinking that we have the best health care system in the world, we don't. We don't live as long as people in many countries in the world mainly because we don't provide preventitive care to all of our population, and we trail 41 countries in infant mortality rate. This, even though we pay more by far than any other country for our care. The money that makes up record-breaking profits for our health insurance companies.

Is this America? We, the people. When did we stop caring about people? All of our people. When did we think it was OK to let people who could be saved, die? Go see the movie and then take to the streets and demand that everyone in this country get health insurance and quality health care.

Stop believing the lies, start standing up for every American. And while we are about it, let's decide what our priorities are as a nation: "If you can find money to kill people, you can find money to help people."

I vote for helping - but I vote. I wish everyone else of a like mind would do so also and then maybe something might change, although as Sicko shows us there are 4 time more healthcare lobbyists in Washington than there are politicians.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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California dominated the bad news in the May 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report by RealtyTrac, which tracks the foreclosure market. The state led the nation in foreclosure filings, with 39,659 in May. Foreclosure activity increased 30 percent in the state in May compared to April, and was up 350 percent over May 2006. With one foreclosure filing for every 308 households, the state came in third for foreclosure rates behind Nevada (one filing for every 166 households) and Colorado (one filing for every 290 households).

The top three metropolitan areas for foreclosure rates are all in California, led by Stockton with a 49 percent increase in foreclosure activity and one foreclosure filing for every 88 households. Merced came in second with one filing for every 100 households, followed by Modesto with one for every 118 households. California also claimed the 5th spot with Riverside-San Bernardino, the 6th spot with Vallejo-Fairfield and 7th place with Sacramento. Las Vegas, Denver, Detroit and Miami were also in the top 10 for foreclosure rates.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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10 things to do before you turn 50 By Jay McDonald • Bankrate.com

You've sensed the black bunting and cruel gag gifts dead ahead, the cheerful semi-surprise party of well-meaning younger friends and commiserating older ones who, like you, have decidedly mixed feelings about hitting the big 5-0.

The very least that can be said in favor of reaching the half-century mark is that it carries less angst than the big 3-0, less sting than the big 4-0, and certainly beats the alternative.

After all, you've accomplished far more at this point in your life than at those previous traumatic milestones. Chances are you've found love and married (perhaps more than once), you've raised a family (perhaps more than one), you've settled on what you're going to do when you grow up, and you've probably cobbled together enough assets to make retirement a real possibility.

Love, family, financial security -- what's not to like about turning 50?

Well, the downside is that one of these mornings you're going to wake up and actually be staring at a 50-year-old in the mirror.

The big 5-0, as everyone who has hit it will tell you, is the physical milestone. Somebody cranks up the gravity, makes all the print tiny and turns your favorite foods against you. Your doctor becomes a nag. Your clothes start shrinking. And you forget, but not selectively anymore.

Any day now, that AARP card will arrive in the mail and you'll be officially old. But that doesn't mean you have to go gently into that good night -- not by a long shot. After all, you're a baby boomer. You were born to be wild.

Here are the top 10 things you need to do before you greet the big 5-0:

1. Get lost

Looking for a personal mantra as you prepare to tee off down life's back nine? How about this one: Habits kill. By now, you may have seen more of other parts of the world than you've actually seen of your own hometown because you've been a good little Pythagorean and mastered the straight line between A and B and never got beyond point C.

But now is the time to get lost, at least metaphorically. Take that road you've never taken. Go to work by bus instead of train. Or get really radical, and walk somewhere. Mix it up. And be sure not to plan too much. It takes all the fun out of it.

2. Use the good china

Who doesn't know the frustrating feeling of watching our parents or older relatives deny themselves the pleasure of using fine china, linen, silver and other great things in life? Don't go there.

If you've got the good stuff swaddled in bubble wrap, locked away for safekeeping or displayed in fine glass cabinetry, pull it all out right now. Find the orneriest 3-year-old available and together build a ridiculous lunch of peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches with SpaghettiOs on grandma's finest. You'll be grinning for days.

3. Visit the wonder window

Been a couple decades since your kids were born? Need a double shot of wonder with that latte grande? One of the best free shows on earth is available at the maternity ward of your local hospital. Just drop in and stand at the window.

There's a wonderful charge from being in the presence of newborns, especially when we're feeling the tug of our own mortality. If you are a parent, it can put you in touch with all the reasons you brought your own kids into this world in the first place. That's a pretty nice place to revisit.

4. Lose the locks

Anthropologists are trying to isolate the gene that makes human beings cling against all reason to the hairstyles they had when they bought their first car. What's sadder than a 40-year-old man with a mullet? A 50-year-old with a comb-over or a ponytail, that's what.

At 50, it's time to lose the locks. Guys, give your boyhood barber a farewell tip, find a stylist half your age and get short and modern. Ladies, the '70s called and they want their long hair back. Go bobbed, go gelled, go asymmetrical, go crazy, but go short. You both will look 10 years younger.

5. Treat a stranger to dinner

Let's say you've done pretty well in life, climbed the corporate ladder, made it to the top, love the view. Congratulations. Now what? Compassion for those who didn't catch the same breaks is a pretty good place to start the cool-down from your career marathon.

Try this: The next time you dine out, look for someone who is alone, perhaps sad or troubled or less fortunate than yourself, and surreptitiously pay their waiter for their meal, anonymously. It might make a difference in their life and it will certainly make a difference, for the better, in yours.

6. Upgrade your vices

In the spin-cycle of youth, you wallowed in the shallow end when it came to pursuits of pleasure. You saw Rocky Horror 36 times, traveled with the Dead for a summer (you think), drank anything with an alcohol content and played Trivial Pursuit until your mind turned to cottage cheese. It was easy to waste time when you had so much of it.

Now you need to be a little more selective. Upgrade your vices. Read great books. See great movies. Drink better wines. Catch a live concert, philharmonic this time, now and then and spring for good seats. And spend more time with people who make you laugh. You've had the rest, now go only for the best.

7. Meet the folks

No one can give you a clearer forecast of what's in store for the second half of your life than your parents. If you haven't done so already, make a point to meet the folks on an adult level. As 50 approaches, chances are you are noticing lots in common with them that you can use to open the door to new mature relationships.

It will do wonders for all of you. Ask them about anything and everything they've experienced. You'll need all the gory details, especially the health-related ones, they sheltered you from in your younger days so you'll be able to age like a fine wine instead of a sour grape.

8. Scare yourself

One of the advantages of launching your second childhood now is that you've still got the muscle tone and mobility to truly push the envelope, get the adrenalin roaring and flash-test the old circuitry without winding up in the ER.

What's the scariest thing you always wanted to try? Glacier skiing? Skydiving? Spelunking? Karaoke? Don't just dream about it, get out there and give it a go. Great cocktail stories often involve overcoming fear. Let this be your best one.

9. Get spontaneous

Remember those habits we earlier said are buzz killers? Well, those small, comfortably predictable action sequences actually do serve a purpose. They help guide us subconsciously through our daily existence. Without them, we would spend most of every morning just getting out of the house.

That said, after 50, most of our habits start to turn against us, for good reason: We are no longer the same person who formed them all those years ago. How to kick the ones we no longer need? Get spontaneous, right now. Seek new experiences, new technologies, new points of view, new possibilities. Pursue your bliss and let it guide you to new habits that will serve you better down the stretch.

10. Laugh more

Native American folklore says that the first question we ask upon dying is, "Why was I so serious?"

Life today is full of reasons to scowl, frown, sputter and fume, but you know what? That's just plain defeatism and it only makes you look and feel old. Find things that make you laugh and surround yourself with them.

Set laughter goals: laughing to tears daily; falling-down, rolling, pants-wetting hilarity once a week perhaps. Laughter is your tether to youth, an instant facelift, and the purest appreciation for what a cool ride this really is.

Happy Birthday, Pierre.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:51 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I found these words of wisdom in Jeffrey Gitomer's "Little Red Book of Selling":

Ask the wrong questions. Get the wrong answers. The most important aspect of making a sale - is also a major weakness of every salesperson. Here are 9.5 benefits to make sales by:
1. Qualify the buyer.
2. Establish rapport.
3. Create prospect disparity.
4. Eliminate or differentiate from the competition.
5. Build credibility.
6. Know the customer and their business.
7. Identify needs.
8. Find hot buttons.
9. Get personal information.
9.5 Close the sale.

Great advice from the guru of selling!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Sacramento Business Journal:

The Sacramento region is the second most affordable area in the state for first-time homebuyers, according to a report released Thursday by the California Association of Realtors.

In Greater Sacramento, 43 percent of households could afford to buy an entry level home, up from 40 percent last year. The first-time buyer median price was $310,670, with a minimum qualifying income of $62,640.

The percentage of households who could afford to buy an entry-level home in California stood at 25 percent in the first quarter, down slightly from 26 percent for the same period a year ago.

Statewide, the minimum household income needed to purchase an entry-level home for $480,670 in the first quarter was $96,910, based on an adjustable interest rate of 6.3 percent and assuming a 10 percent down payment.

At 44 percent, the High Desert region was the most affordable in the state, followed by the Sacramento. Santa Barbara was the least affordable region in the state at 12 percent, followed by the Monterey region at 19 percent.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

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A very interesting list that I am sure that Pierre and I will be discussing in more detail on future blogs. The list contains many items that we constantly discuss and to which we look for innovative and daring answers. Thanks to Calvin Chan for posting this on the Sacramento Entrpereneurship Academy community website.

"I think we’re having fun. I think our customers really like our products. And we’re always trying to do better.”

- Steve Jobs

His accomplishments and character helped define a generation and change the world. He is co-founder of the fairytale company we now know as Apple Computers. And he is the visionary of the personal computers world that led the entire computer hardware and software industry to restructure itself.

This man with boundless energy and charisma is also a master of hype, hyperbole and the catchy phrase. And even when he’s trying to talk normally, brilliant verbiage comes tumbling out.

Here’s a selection of some of the most insanely great things he said, golden lessons to help you succeed in life, Jobs-style:

1. Steve Jobs said: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Innovation has no limits. The only limit is your imagination. It’s time for you to begin thinking out of the box. If you are involved in a growing industry, think of ways to become more efficient; more customer friendly; and easier to do business with. If you are involved in a shrinking industry – get out of it quick and change before you become obsolete; out of work; or out of business. And remember that procrastination is not an option here. Start innovating now!

2. Steve Jobs said: “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

There is no shortcut to excellence. You will have to make the commitment to make excellence your priority. Use your talents, abilities, and skills in the best way possible and get ahead of others by giving that little extra. Live by a higher standard and pay attention to the details that really do make the difference. Excellence is not difficult - simply decide right now to give it your best shot - and you will be amazed with what life gives you back.

Continue reading "10 Golden Lessons from Steve Jobs" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Sacramento State’s College of Engineering and Computer Science as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance and Security, for academic years 2007-12.

Sacramento State is one of only 87 universities across the country—and only five in California—to receive the designation.

“We have several courses in information security such as cryptography, network security, computer forensics and computer security and privacy, that meet the National Security Agency’s standards for security concepts and knowledge,” says computer science professor Isaac Ghansah, who led the college’s effort to become a Center of Academic Excellence. “These courses provide information on a body of knowledge that every information security professional should know. We have also developed a minor program with the Division of Criminal Justice that is open to students at Sacramento State.”

The federal government initiated the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance and Security in 1998 as a way to protect the critical infrastructure that is supported by computers throughout the country. Power, telecommunication, banking and transportation systems are some examples of systems controlled by computers which, left vulnerable, can be attacked.

“The mission of our Center for Information Assurance and Security has several facets,” says Ghansah. “We’re planning education, training and awareness programs in security issues and practices, as well as outreach programs to assist the community—including schools, industry and government—in information assurance and security issues.”

As a Center for Academic Excellence, the University will also be eligible to apply for grants to which only these centers can apply. “Also, students who graduate from a Center for Academic Excellence institution can list that on their resume, and federal, state and local governments see that as a real plus for anyone applying for a job in information security field,” says Ghansah.

“This distinction will position the Computer Science Department, the College of Engineering and the University in a unique place to serve our community,” says College of Engineering and Computer Science dean Emir Macari. “We will be able to train and educate others in our region about the importance of information assurance and security.”

Sacramento State will be among 12 other universities receiving the CAE conferral on June 5 at the annual conference of the Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education at Boston University.

“This conferral really puts us on the map and makes us unique,” says Ghansah. “We can be proud of this acknowledgement of our academic excellence.”

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 48.35 points yesterday, closing at 13,312.97. In the past 27 sessions, the Dow is up 24 times. The last time the Dow rose 24 of 27 sessions was 1927.

The sixth reason to beware of the U.S. Stock Market.

Long investors be careful! These good times won't last much longer.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:34 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The U.S. stock market's alarm bells are ringing loudly right now. Investors beware! Based on my research, here are five good reasons why long investors need to be cautious:

1. This is the second longest period without a ten percent correction in the past 75 years.
2. The average bull market historically lasts 30 months. The current bull market is 55 months old, commencing on October 9, 2002.
3. The average bull market gain is 84%. The current bull market gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average is 82% (closing on October 9, 2002 at 7286.27 and closing on Friday at 13,264.62).
4. The Dow Jones hit an all-time high on Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at 1505.62 on Friday, the first time over 1500 since 2000. The S&P 500 is within striking distance of the all-time high of 1527.46 on March 24, 2000, and the start of the big tech crash.
5. And probably the most important red flag is investor enthusiasm that things are going to just keep going up, because it's different this time. For example, my 22 year-old son Nathan, a newly minted stock broker, is feeling invincible right now. His portfolio is up 18.5% since December 11, 2006. Nathan is feeling good and he should because of performers such as Crocs, Inc., footware and apparel manufacturer. Crocs (CROX) was up $11.44 (20%) on Friday, closing at $68.85 (up 60% since Nathan bought it in December).

But Nathan, beware! The good times as a long investor are going to become more challenging!

I smell a bear!

When it comes, my son will learn a lot about investing.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Draper Fisher Jurvetson website, a very interesting blog that chronicles the predictions for the next couple of years from some of Silicon Valley's top venture capitalists:

Churchill Club Top Ten Trends Event By Dean Takahashi Mar 28, 2007 San Jose Mercury News

I attended the Churchill Club’s annual Top Ten Trends event today at the Fairmont in San Jose. It was an entertaining evening listening to emcee Tony Perkins of Always On as he grilled some of the most successful Silicon Valley venture capitalists talk about their predictions for the next year or two.

There were about 800 people present, and they all got green or red cards to vote up or down on the trends being proposed. Roger McNamee, general partner at Elevation Partners, sported some long hair, and that’s appropriate for a rock star investor. He predicted that mobile device designs will explode, giving consumers more choices for things to hang on their belts (or put in their purses) in the same way that they have choices of shoes to wear. Steve Jurvetson of Draper Fisher Jurvetson raised his red sign, saying that there’s a limit to what people will put on the belts. He was perfectly happy, he said, with his “crackberry.”

John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers chimed in and said tha the biggest selling mobile device in the next year will be the iPhone. Joe Schoendorf of Accel Partners noted that Cingular says it has a million people signed up to get iPhones already.

Doerr said his prediction is that the cell phone will be the next PC. And he added that the FCC will approve one new broadband network in the next year. That will bode well for iPhones and other devices that put stress on the current cellular infrastructure.

Perkins predicted that the Web 2.0 consumer web market would suffer a shake-out. He thinks that Google paid too much when it agreed to buy YouTube for $1.6 billion. “If there were any justice, that would be true,” said Doerr. But he said that won’t happen since Web 2.0 has enormous momentum behind it. There were 300 Web 2.0 (think user-generated videos) startups funded in 2005 and there were 500 in 2006. There is so much money going into the area that it will fuel growth for some time, he said.

Schoendorf said the addition of a billion new people into the online world would keep consumer video rolling along. He believes there will be four or five mega-billion plays in the video space from mobile on up. McNamee predicted that Web 2.0 would spread from the young crowd to mainstream audiences and older adults.

Jurvetson predicted that Moore’s Law will continue but it will bifurcate. He predicted advances in memory would precede logic by several years. He brought up the self-assembly techniques of new nanotechnology materials. With self-assembly, you essentially splash a bunch of designer molecules onto a wafer and they organize themselves into patterns. Such materials will lend themselves to memory, which follows a redundant pattern. Logic, by contrast, takes too much design and nuance in the design. McNamee said he hoped Jurvetson was right because mobile devices would need an “ungodly” amount of low-power, small form factor memory. Doerr said he believes that chip companies will have to be able to create an advantage in process manufacturing, not just design. Graphics chip makers such as Nvidia, he said, are exceptions where design matters the most. Over time, he said he expects large players will roll over rivals who don’t have any process advantages.

Schoendorf said he expects to see a very big power shift in world economics as new players enter the global economy. He said he was prepared to bet on India as a winner, partly because India currently has three workers to every retiree. Schoendorf said that in China there are 450 million active cell phones with 5 million new phones a month.

McNamee predicted that consumers would become active media consumers, no longer passively watching shows on the couch but actually creating their own entertainment. Web 2.0, he said, shifts the power to the consumer. (Sounds like the column I wrote in December on Henry Jenkins book on new media).

Perkins predicted that consumer Web 2.0 functions would move to the enterprise. The features of Facebook, for instance, could be used to figure out which employees went to the same school. Wikis and instant messenging are great tools that corporations should exploit, Schoendorf said. He noted that kids going into college this year had no memory of a life without the Internet (assuming their active memory starts around five years old).

Jurvetson threw another zany prediction out when he said that someone would create a synthetic life form in the next couple of years. But he said there are teams of researchers who have demonstrated the ability to take the DNA out of an organism, insert foreign DNA, and thereby change the species of the organism. He also said that in the last year, one research team hsa discovered 90 percent of the DNA on the planet. It’s a brave new world, he said. Perkins joked that Jurvetson isn’t on hallucinogenic drugs.

Doerr said that a late UC Berkeley luminary told him that “synthetic biology is the next great platform.” Schoendorf said that biotech has a bright future, particularly in California.

Schoendorf’s next prediction was that treatments for physical illnesses of the brain would arise to treat brain-related problems such as depression or schizophrenia. He said the federal government is shifting $1 billion into research into neurobiology, and he noted there are 100 such startups in California alone.

Doerr closed the night with a familiar theme of his. He expects the world will go green as everyone pursues the opportunities in rescuing the environment from greenhouse gases. He predicted a revolution in green technology that could replace today’s $6 trillion energy economy.

“My fear is that even if we do that, it’s not going to be enough” to stop global warming, he said. “We have to go carbon neutral and carbon negative in the face of pressures” such as the urbanization of China and other countries. He notes that Brazil has gone eco-friendly with 23,000 ethanol pumps in the country and as a result has shaved its greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent. But Brazil accounts for only 1.3 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. Hence, it is reducing the problem by only 0.13 percent.

He noted that the U.S. accounts for 5.8 gigatons of carbon emissions and China about 3.3 gigatons. At current rates, China alone could account for 23 gigatons by 2050.

“If we stick with business as usual, the world will be out of business,” Doerr said.

Schoendorf said that the task of turning around places such as China will be tough, since that country has 700 million people who go to bed hungry at night. The pressure to provide jobs could run counter to the need to reduce carbon emissions.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:31 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Trip Adviser, the top ten eco-friendly resorts. Have a great time and conserve all while in the lap of luxury. Pierre and I stayed at no. 7 last year and didn't even know we were being 'green' until I saw this list today.

1. Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort, Fiji

2. Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Osa, Costa Rica

3. Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, Calif.

4. Inkaterra Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu, Peru

5. Concordia Eco-Tents, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

6. Daintree Eco Lodge, Daintree, Australia

7. Hotel Punta Islita, Playa Samara, Costa Rica

8. Lodge at Chaa Creek, San Ignacio, Belize

9. Inn by the Sea, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

10. Hotelito Desconocido, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Per Capita Foreclosure Activity By County

1 Sacramento 2605
2 Riverside 2747
3 San Joaquin 2872
4 Yuba 2909
5 Stanislaus 3597

This data is supplied by Foreclosure Radar. They have surmised a booming market in foreclosures is on the horizon and per their website "will be launching a next generation foreclosure service with truly unique data, tools and analysis." It is to be launched this month. If you want to be notified at launch, you can enter your email on their website.

There's always a market - in good times and bad. Good for Foreclosure Radar for reacting so quickly.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sacramento is one of the United States' most underrated cities, according to ShermanTravel.

The report placed Sacramento at No. 10 on its "must see" list of places not often considered tourist destinations. ShermanTravel says of Sacramento:

Governor Schwarzenegger's much-ballyhooed magnetism aside, California's capital has never had the same allure as say, San Fran or L.A. But with an increasingly sophisticated food scene – think farm-fresh Bolognese cuisine at Biba or maple-glazed pork chops at the clubby Esquire Grill (one of Ahnold's favorite restaurants) – this agricultural hub appeals to even the snobbiest city-slicker. Between bites, take in the Gold Rush-era charms of Old Sacramento, bike along the banks of the Sacramento and American Rivers, and stroll amid downtown's stately Victorian homes and tall evergreens. You may even catch a glimpse of the "Governator" himself at the impressive capitol building. Wash it all down with a visit to the Sierra Foothill wineries in the Shenandoah Valley – a mere 45-minute drive to the east.

The ten underrated cities are, in order: Baltimore; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Houston; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Minneapolis; Pittsburgh; Portland, Ore.; Providence, R.I.; and Sacramento.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For the fourteenth consecutive year, the entrepreneurship program at Babson College is ranked number one by U.S. News and World Report (2008 school edition). Three California schools made the top ten - Stanford University, USC's Marshall, and UC Berkeley's Haas. The top ten rankings:

1. Babson College
2. Stanford University
3. Harvard Business School
4. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School)
5. MIT (The Sloan School of Management)
6. Indiana University (Kelley School of Business)
7. USC (Marshall School of Management)
8. UC Berkeley (Haas Business School)
9. University of Michigan (Ross School of Business)
10. University of Texas (McCombs School of Business)

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

UCLA's EyeLight team placed fifth in last weekend's business plan competition at Rice University. 36 graduate schools competed for more than $300,000 in cash and prizes. ResuRX Pharmaceuticals from Johns Hopkins University took the top prize.

EyeLight's elevator pitch - click here.

EyeLight also won the Medical Device Award.

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship hosted the event. Since 2001, the Rice University Business Plan Competition (RBPC) has become the richest guaranteed prize money intercollegiate business plan competition in the world. The three-day event is intended to simulate the real-world process of entrepreneurs soliciting start-up funds from early-stage investors and venture capital firms.

Terraview of UC Berkeley and Omega Sensors of San Diego State University also participated.

About EyeLight, Inc:

EyeLight, Inc. is an early stage start-up firm dedicated to developing surgical interventions for eye diseases . EyeLight pioneered the Excimer Laser Trabeculostomy (ELT) procedure for glaucoma, available now in Europe, and are currently developing Enhanced ELT, for world-wide glaucoma patient therapy . The company is actively seeking venture partners.

EyeLight contacts:

8733 Beverly Drive Suite 301 Los Angeles, CA 90048-1800
Phone: (310) 855-1112
Michael S. Berlin, M.D. berlin@ucla.edu or
T. Scott Rowe scottrowe@cox.net

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) and Prevention magazine have teamed up once again to study the walkability of 100 of the country’s most populated cities, but this year there’s a new twist--fitness. Madison, WI, tops the list as the Best Fitness-Walking City in America, followed by Austin, TX, and San Francisco, CA. The Worst Fitness-Walking Cities are Newark, NJ; Laredo, TX; and Miami, FL, respectively. Researchers ranked 100 cities based on fitness-walker friendliness using comprehensive criteria, including new factors, such as walkable.org’s list of walkable communities and the number of athletic shoes sold in a city, as well as the percentage of the adult population who walk for health, the accessibility of parks and more.

Madison, WI: Adopted a walker-friendly plan 10 years ago, and it shows.
Austin, TX: 50 trails, from a quarter to 10 miles long.
San Francisco, CA: The most parks per square mile.
Charlotte, NC: 40% of its residents walk for exercise.
Seattle, WA: Gorgeous views of Puget Sound and snowcapped mountains.
Henderson, NV: With an average yearly rainfall of 4.5 inches, you can walk every day.
San Diego, CA: A unique choice of beach, desert and mountain routes.
San Jose, CA: Perfect walking weather; average temp 61 degrees and low humidity.
Chandler, AZ: 6.5 miles of traffic-free walking on its Paseo Trail.
Virginia Beach, VA: A low crime rate and a boardwalk allow safe, fun strolling.
Bottom 5 Worst Fitness-Walking Cities of 2007:

100. Newark, NJ: Has a high crime rate, few parks, and few people who take mass transit—as well as the third smallest percentage of people who walk for exercise.
99. Laredo, TX: Poor air quality and the least amount of people taking mass transit.
98. Miami, FL: The fifth highest crime rate may explain why very few people walk for health.
97. Hialeah, FL: Very few parks and schools per square mile and had the second to last number of people who walk for health.
96. Detroit, MI: With a high rate of pedestrian fatalities and high crime rates, is it any wonder Motor City had the smallest percentage of people who walk for health?

And where does Sacramento appear - 52nd. Should we demand a recount?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:27 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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 | Can you digg it? | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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 | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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 | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A very interesting look at drugs and the top read list on AlterNet in 2006.

The Top 10 Things I Know About Drugs By Tony Newman, AlterNet. Posted June 2, 2006.

We have to learn how to live with drugs -- because they aren't going anywhere.

I know a lot about drugs and the drug war, both personally and professionally. Drugs have had a positive and a detrimental impact on my life. I have laughed, played and found inspiration while intoxicated. I have also struggled, fought and cried because of my addiction to drugs.

I have spent the last six years working for an organization that is working to reform drug laws. I have read thousands of newspapers articles, had thousands of conversations and spent thousands of days thinking about drugs. What follows are the top 10 (plus one) things I have learned from my immersion with drugs and the drug war.

1. Drugs are everywhere. Despite a $40 billion a year "war on drugs" and political speeches about a "drug-free society," our society is swimming in drugs. Cigarettes, sugar, alcohol, marijuana, Prozac, Ritalin, Viagra, steroids and caffeine. The vast majority of Americans use drugs on a regular basis. People always have and always will.

2. Different people have different relationships with different drugs. My wife is someone who can enjoy an occasional cigarette and only smokes when she drinks. I am an addict who cannot control my cigarette problem. If I have one cigarette, I will end up smoking a pack a day. Some people have serious problems with alcohol and can't enjoy even a single drink. I can handle alcohol and enjoy a drink or two some nights, leave it alone on others, and I rarely have negative experiences with it. Different strokes for different folks.

3. People use drugs for joy and for pain. Many people enjoy using mind- and body-altering substances. How many of us enjoy having some drinks and going out dancing? How many of us enjoy a little smoke after a nice dinner with friends? Many people bond with others or find inspiration alone while high on drugs.

On the flip side, many people self-medicate to try to ease the pain in their lives. How many have us have had too much to drink to drown our sorrows over a breakup or some other painful event? How many of us smoke cigarettes to deal with anxiety or stress?

4. Drug abuse does not discriminate, but our drug policies do. Rush Limbaugh, Noelle Bush and Patrick Kennedy remind us that drug addiction does not discriminate. Unfortunately, our drug policies do. Ninety-three percent of the people incarcerated under New York's draconian Rockefeller drug laws are black or Latino, despite equal drug use among blacks and whites. Treatment for the privileged, jail for the poor.

5. Relapse happens. Anyone who has tried to quit cigarettes knows that relapse happens. I have unsuccessfully tried to quit cigarettes 15 times. While we know that drug treatment is more humane and more effective than prison, it is not a silver bullet. Many people will quit, relapse and need support to quit again.

6. Smoking five cigarettes is better than smoking 20. Using marijuana is better than using heroin. Many well-intentioned people think drugs are terrible and abstinence is always the answer. I believe that progress can be made, even if someone continues to use drugs. My 70-year-old landlord is a pack-a-day smoker. After some serious health problems, he is now down to smoking two cigarettes a day. This is progress. Some people who have struggled with heroin have been able to quit heroin, but still use marijuana. Our criminal justice system and many in the abstinence-only treatment world would view this as a failure and send the marijuana smoker to jail. I say congrats on giving up heroin. Keep it up.

7. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse. Locking someone up in a cage for using marijuana or some other drug when no harm has been done to anyone else is cruel and inhumane. People who prohibit clean syringes to reduce the spread of HIV have blood on their hands. Denying financial aid to students who have a drug offense is counterproductive. Many of our country's laws are more harmful than the substances they are trying to combat.

8. Prohibition doesn't work. Prohibition is responsible for most of the violence associated with drugs. We tried to prohibit alcohol in the 1920s. It did not get rid of alcohol, but it did create a black market for hooch, and empowered and enriched violent gangsters like Al Capone. Marijuana and cocaine are not responsible for the drug war shootouts. What is responsible is the fact that both are worth more than gold because they are illegal. It is the underground trade of these drugs that causes people to kill each other over the right to sell them. No one is shooting anyone else over a Budweiser anymore.

9. Drugs and the drug war touch most families. Almost every family in America has to deal with drug addiction or the war on drugs. Millions of people have a loved one behind bars on drug charges. Many millions more have struggled themselves or have a loved one who has dealt with addiction to illegal or legal drugs. By declaring a "war on drugs" we have declared a war on ourselves.

10. We have to learn how to live with drugs, because they aren't going anywhere. The drug war has been waged over the last 30 years. Currently we have 500,000 people behind bars on drug charges. We spend $40 billion a year, and despite the decades of war, incarceration rates and money spent, drugs are as plentiful as ever and easily accessible. We have to accept that drugs have been around for thousands of years and will be here for thousands more. We need to educate people about the possible harm from drug use, offer compassion and treatment to people who have problems and leave in peace the people who are causing harm to no one.

*Bonus point: The public is ahead of the politicians. The majority of Americans supports treatment instead of incarceration. Californian voters passed Proposition 36 in 2000. Since its passage, more than 60,000 people have received treatment instead of jail for their nonviolent drug offenses. Eleven states have approved medical marijuana for sick and dying patients. It is the timid politicians who are resistant to change. We need to continue to demonstrate to our leaders that we want an end to the war on our families. If the people lead, the leaders will follow.

Tony Newman is communications director for the Drug Policy Alliance.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:15 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I came across this on the web today and was horrified! CitySearch, through its local editor, Elizabeth Bucceri, lists the

Top Ten Experiences in Sacramento as:

From a popular landmark or attraction to a must-visit restaurant or bar, uncover Sacramento's ultimate top 10 experiences.

1. Arco Arena
1 Sports Pkwy, Sacramento, CA
Throw on your Chris Webber jersey, paint your face purple and "feel the roar" of the crowd as you cheer the Kings.

2. California State Capitol Museum
10th St & Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA
Pace around this grand building that houses the governing bodies of the Golden State.

3. Biba
2801 Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA
Taste some of the best northern Italian cooking in the country at celebrity chef Biba Caggiano's award-winning restaurant.

4. Esquire Grill
1213 K St, Sacramento, CA
Sip a glass of wine while rubbing elbows with politicians like Gov. Schwarzenegger, known to frequent this classy eatery.

5. The Delta King
1000 Front St, Sacramento, CA
Climb aboard this historic riverboat and try not to look suspicious during the interactive murder-mystery show.

6. Pancake Circus
2101 Broadway, Sacramento, CA
You're not a local until you've joined the down, the out and just plain broke for cheap hotcakes at this longtime greasy spoon.

7. Sheraton Grand Sacramento
1230 J St., Sacramento, CA
Sip a cool martini while curled up on an overstuffed couch overlooking J Street, a prime spot for people-watching.

8. Zelda's Original Gourmet Pizza
1415 21ST St, Sacramento, CA
Dig into some of the best flaky, deep-dish pizza in town at this Sacramento institution.

You might also consider

The Melting Pot Dip Into Something Different. 6839 Lonetree Blvd Rocklin CA

Ciro's Pizza Cafe
We Deliver Award Winning Pizza To The Sacramento Area
7521 Old Auburn Rd Citrus Heights CA
www.cirospizza.com

Elizabeth, listed as the Citysearch Contributor, have you ever been to Sacramento? If so, how could you only find 8 - and frankly your selection results are unfathomable. Did you forget Music Circus, the Crocker, Tower Theatre, the Capitol, Land Park, Old Sacramento, Memorial Auditorium, the Julia Morgan House? And if you are going to list restaurants, how on earth did you leave out Frank Fats, an insitution of enormous proportions in town? I could go on.

SacEx readers: Let's gather our top ten list. Please send suggestions. Best list gets a free registration to the Sacramento Executive event on February 21st - which is a WEDNESDAY, not a Tuesday.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:33 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

NEW YORK, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Kennel Club(R) announced today the "Top 10" most popular AKC(R) registered dogs in Sacramento for 2006.

The AKC also announced today that the tiny Yorkshire Terrier is making news nationwide. The "Yorkie" has overtaken the beloved Golden Retriever to become the second most popular purebred dog in America according to AKC registration figures. The Labrador Retriever is the most popular purebred dog in the country once again -- a spot it has held since 1991.

Here's a look at Sacramento's favorite dogs as compared to the rest of the country:

SACRAMENTO 2006
1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Dachshund
5. Golden Retriever
6. Chihuahua
7. Miniature Schnauzer
8. Poodle
9. Shih Tzu
10.Boston Terrier/Pug (tie)

NATIONWIDE 2006
1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Dachshund
7. Boxer
8. Poodle
9. Shih Tzu
10.Miniature Schnauzer

Local Statistical Snapshot

-- The Dachshund descends in popularity in Sacramento, moving from 2nd in 2005 to 4th this year.
-- The Yorkshire Terrier advances in popularity locally, as it has in many cities across the nation, moving from 3rd to 2nd to tie with the breed's national ranking.
-- The confident German Shepherd Dog, which held at 5th place last year, continues to gain admirers as it moves to 3rd.
-- The Pug makes a dramatic leap into Sacramento's top 10 after ranking 17th last year.

"The Boston Terrier, Pug and Chihuahua all show up on Sacramento's top 10, yet don't appear on the national list," said AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson. "Active Sacramento residents obviously appreciate smaller dogs that can be taken with them when they're on the go."

SOURCE American Kennel Club

As Sacramento residents become more urban, could they be choosing smaller dogs?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My weekends are made for reading. We subscribe to a number of print media publications. During the week my reading material stacks up and by Saturday, the pile is frequently several inches tall.

Today was no different. I sat down after my Saturday ritual - my wife makes fun of it, but I like it.

Walk the dogs early; go to the grocery store to buy the morning's breakfast goodies; cook; eat and then nestle down for a few hours of reading. Predictably, no less than fifteen minutes into the reading, I will find several outrageous articles. As I uncover them, I will read them out loud to Gillian. And together we will ponder how our world can be so crazy, and why we accept it so. Today was no exception.

The Dallas Business Journal published the annual list of highest paid Dallas-based executives of publicly traded companies. I scanned the list to see who I knew. Page one. The top 25 list. All men. I paused and shared my findings with Gillian. I asked her where the first woman would show up in the list.

Surely, we would find a woman soon. Oh, by the way, tops on the list - Bob Simpson, CEO of XTO Energy with $32M in compensation for the year. Not too shabby!

Page two. The next 25. No women. Gillian, can you believe not a single woman in the top 50. I asked Gillian to review the list. Clearly I must have missed a female name. Gillian reviewed the list. Nope. No women.

Page three. Well, what do you know! We found one. Number 53, Susan Byrne, "Chairman" and CEO of Westwood Holdings, a management investment firm. Ms. Byrne's compensation for the last year - $1.7 million.

Sadly, in the top 100 paid executives list, just three women. The first 52 in the list - all men, earning an aggregate $206 million for the year. Not one dollar earned by a woman. It's still a good old boys' network in corporate America. Don't let anyone fool you!

It's still a man's world! Shareholders - we need to hold corporations accountable. Why so few women?

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Too much holidays, family and bad winter weather. Time to get re-introduced to your sweetie? Well, here's your guide:

The Top 10 Romantic Islands of the World

1. French Polynesian Islands
2. Bali Island
3. Fiji Islands
4. Seychelles Islands
5. Hawaiian Islands
6. Greek Islands
7. Madeira Islands
8. Cook Islands
9. Caribbean Islands
10. Bermuda Island

This list is prepared by: Howard Hillman, who bills himself as the world's leading travel wonder authority. Wow, I want that job!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Yahoo

What do you think?

Iraq, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Global Warming, 2006 Election Results. Not even close

1 Britney Spears
2 WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, for those who aren't in the know!)
3 Shakira
4 Jessica Simpson
5 Paris Hilton
6 American Idol
7 Beyonce Knowles
8 Chris Brown
9 Pamela Anderson
10 Lindsay Lohan

What? No Nicole Richie. I demand a recount. Seriously, this is good fuel for Pierre's dumbing down of America rant.

For those more serious types, here is the Top Ten News Searches:

1 Steve Irwin death
2 Anna Nicole's son dies
3 Iraq
4 Israel and Lebanon
5 U.S. elections
6 Fidel Castro stroke
7 North Korea nuke
8 JonBenet confession
9 Saddam Hussein trial
10 Danish cartoon

Still a little "celebrity" rich for my blood.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:58 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Fortune Magazine's reporter Jia Lynn Yang identifies ten rules for building wealth in the December 25, 2006 publication.

1. Start early.
2. Use your 401K.
3. Keep it simple.
4. Don't try to beat the market.
5. Don't chase trends.
6. Make saving automatic.
7. Go heavy on stocks.
8. Hold down fees.
9. Ditch credit card debt.
10. Defer taxes.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Over my career I have learned ten effective ways to manage my manager.

1. Do what you say you are going to do.
2. Provide no surprises.
3. Keep your manager out of trouble.
4. Maintain a positive can do attitude.
5. Be a team player.
6. Volunteer for the tasks no one else will.
7. Meet your manager’s objectives and priorities.
8. Anticipate and plan accordingly.
9. Be the go to guy.
10. Bring solutions, not problems.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What are the top ten cities for entrepreneurs? According to Entrepreneur.com, the best cities for entrepreneurs are:

1. Phoenix - Mesa
2. Charlotte - Gastonia - Rock Hill
3. Raliegh - Durham - Chapel Hill
4. Las Vegas
5. Austin - San Marcos
6. Washington - Baltimore
7. Memphis
8. Nashville
9. Norfolk - Virginia Beach - Newport News
10. San Antonio

Where is Sacramento? Number 34. What are the attributes of a top-ten city?

Austin:

Population: 1,250,000
Median Home Price: $167,200
Hot Industries: Technology and business services
Significant Startups: 5,469

Why Start Here?

• Diverse, highly trained and readily available employees
• No personal or corporate state income tax
• Minimal union activity
• Eight area colleges and universities with renowned academic programs and enrollment of more than 114,000 students

San Antonio
Population: 1,590,000
Median Home Price: $133,400
Hot Industries: Aerospace, biosciences, information technology, telecommunications, logistics and manufacturing
Significant Startups: 4,399

Why Start Here?

• Free Trade Alliance San Antonio assists firms in exploring, developing and expanding international business
• San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative, a network of institutions, individuals and resources, is dedicated to growing technology and entrepreneurship in the region

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I am starting to get really excited about Podcasts. TED Talks keep winging my way and I have quite a collection. And now the new release of iTunes has suddenly opened up my eyes to a limitless amount of really interesting information that I can download to my iPod. I just saw that Ted Koppel has 14 episodes from Discovery News on really difficult and timely issues - for example:

What's Up With North Korea?;
Is the US Stuck in Iraq?
What Will the United States Look Like in 50 Years?

So I have added those to my list of 'have to listen to podcasts'. And now my problem is, when?
What do I give up to fit podcast time into my schedule?

I think I need to find a way to hook up my iPod to show these through my TV set which would make for more natural viewing during the evening when we switch from one terrible TV show to another without finding anything substantive to watch.

Guru help needed!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | 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 | Can you digg it? | 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 | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On this day of September 11, 2006, I have ten wishes for my world:

1. Our world citizens live without fear of their enemies.
2. Our world citizens live in a clean environment.
3. Our world citizens live in a prosperous manner.
4. All citizens have access to affordable healthcare.
5. All citizens are treated equally.
6. All citizens can live where ever they chose to do so.
7. No child is left behind in pursuit of education.
8. No citizen suffers from any invading force.
9. No citizen has to send a child into battle.
10. World peace.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:37 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Fodors:

The midtown area, just east of downtown, contains many of the city's best restaurants and quirkiest shops; Good

Downtown, pedestrians-only K Street Mall has a persistent panhandling problem. Bad

An infusion of upscale, popular restaurants, nightclubs, and breweries is nevertheless energizing the downtown scene. Good

Ten miles west is the college town of Davis, which, like nearby Woodland, is beginning to feel more suburban than agricultural because many Sacramento workers are settling there. Good/Bad?

Sacramento contains more than 2,000 acres of natural and developed parkland. Good

Grand old evergreens, deciduous and fruit-bearing trees (many lawns and even parks are littered with oranges in springtime), and giant palms give it a shady, lush quality. Good

Genteel Victorian edifices sit side by side with art deco and postmodern skyscrapers. Good

Though cheap-looking apartment buildings abound in midtown, and stuccoed suburbs are obliterating a lot of the greater metro area's rural charm. Bad

I think that's pretty fair - K Street Mall is an eyesore, no matter how we pretend it's not, and there are some monstrosity apartment buildings in mid-town.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Success secrets from the founders of the top ten Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2006 Hot 100 Companies:

1. My father taught me two principles: The customer always comes first, and you have to have good people with you. You also have to treat those people like you treat your family; otherwise you have nothing. Founder Gary Holdren, Huron Consulting Group
2. Develop a core competence and stick to it. Founders Tim Williams and Craig Woerz, Media Storm
3. You can't do it all yourself. Use the advice of many people--both internal and external--with expertise and experience in a lot of different areas to help build your business. Founders Christopher J. Ziegler, Barry M. Koski, Steven S. Baum, Joseph C. Lyne Jr., James E. Johnson, and George A. Minor, Compass Energy Services, Inc.
4. If you surround yourself with incredibly talented individuals and provide a culture where they can showcase their talents and grow, you can't help but be successful. Founders Mark Pugh and Art Deas, Alliant Pharamceuticals
5. Hire the best person for the job. Founder Peter Foley, Nations Builders Insurance Services
6. Don't be afraid to think outside the box and make decisions based on instinct. Founders David Gulian, Richard Hodge, Craig Wilensky, Cosmo Denicola, and Al Ciardi, Infologix, Inc.
7. Stop focusing on yourself --focus on the people around you. When the success of others becomes a priority, success will follow you. Founder Rich Morgan, American Laser Centers
8. Spend as much time and resources on customer relations and service as possible. Founders Tony Somers, Larry Pangalangan, Andy Haenszel, Nate Williams, Doug Broshar, John Roth, and Bill Kleeh, Capital Media Group
9. Hire for attitude, and train for skill. Founder Kirwan, Razor Competitve Edge
10. You're only as good as the people who work with you. Founders R. Scott Kelley, Lloyd S. Dollins Jr., and R. Randolph Weis, Service Center Metals, LLC

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:02 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Money Magazine's annual list of the Best Places to Live allows you to input the degree of importance to you of several categories and personalize your choice of the best place to live.

Many of us are getting close to retirement. We can finally make choices on where to live, not based on the best place to raise our kids, but the best place for us. And so many of us are struggling with the sudden freedom and the variety of choices.

Criteria that you can rate from not important to very important are:

Affordable housing
Plentiful leisure activities
Plentiful cultural options
Job growth
Low crime rate
Good weather
Short commute time
Good health care access

I plugged in my choices and my list came out as:

1 AZ Phoenix
2 CA San Francisco
3 AZ Tucson
4 CA Los Angeles
5 NM Albuquerque
6 CA San Diego
7 TX Dallas
8 CA Sacramento
9 NM Santa Fe
10 MO Kansas City

Well, I lived in 8 for many years and now I am living in 7. Maybe I should work my way up the list, although LA and Phoenix air quality issues are a worry. But next stop San Diego and then Albuquerque. I could do that.

Give it a try...it might help narrow the multitude of choices.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

California has four of the top ten ranked graduate level entrepreneurship programs in the U.S., according to U.S News & World Report. The 2006 rankings (based on my research approach of visiting each school's website, versus purchasing the report from the magazine's website) put Babson College number one for the thirteenth consecutive time. What is Babson College doing to earn the top spot for so many years? I intend to look into this and report back my findings. The top ten entrepreneurship graduate programs are:

1. Babson College
2. Stanford Graduate School of Business
3. University of Pennsylvania (The Wharton School)
4. Harvard Business School
5. MIT (Sloan School of Management)
6. University of Southern California (Marshall School of Business)
7. University of Michigan (Ross School of Business)
8. University of Texas (McCombs School of Business)
9. UC Berkeley (Haas Business School)
10. UCLA (Anderson School of Business)

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More from the Rowenta Ironing Survey (see previous post).

The fifteen cities surveyed included: Atlanta, Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Nashville, New York, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington, DC.

Winners of the various ironing categories

85% iron their jeans in Dallas - nationwide 72%
65% iron their T-shirts in Dallas - nationwide 55%
21% iron their socks in Cleveland - nationwide 12%
5% iron their bathing suits in Chicago - nationwide 3%
41% iron their gym clothes in Cleveland - nationwide 27%
32% iron their towns in Cleveland - nationwide 23%
43% iron their sheets in New York - nationwide 34%
44% iron their pillowcases in Pittsburgh - nationwide 37%
64% iron their curtains in Pittsburgh - nationwide 56%

Many report ironing on the hood of a car - one reports ironing on an altar - hopefully it's the same one who reported ironing priest robes.
Many wear mumus while ironing - others wear nothing at all.
Be careful when you fly out of Denver, because one respondent from that city says they fly planes while ironing!
In San Francisco, a respondent said they ironed a wet suit. Another, a lampshade. Think costume party?

When all is said and done, San Francisco ended up in the Peer Presser Category, while Dallas was a definite Ironing Afficionado. One more reason I am not sure Dallas fits my ironing personality "If Absolutely Necessary - Hire It Out'

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:19 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Rowenta, a high-end German home appliance maker, has undertaken a 15 city study to understand ironing habits.
Based on the results, three distinct personalities revealed themselves:

Ironing Aficionado - a perpetual presser ironing a large variety of items from boxers to socks to curtains;
Peer Pressure Presser - an ironer who sticks to the basics yet has a firm grasp on the importance of the task;
Seasonal Steamer - an infrequent presser that dusts off the iron for special occasions, only pressing what's necessary.
Some of the more interesting data:

25% confessed that they iron their clothes while wearing them. There were multiple incidents of respondents ironing in the nude, others used their irons to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Nearly 40% reported combining ironing with some other task such as singing, dancing, praying and having sex. (Editorial comment: the mind boggles!)

If the idea of ironing in the nude, while making a grilled cheese sandwich, praying and having sex (or some combination thereof) appeals to you, you can go to Rowenta's website and take the survey and determine your 'ironing personality'.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Forbes Magazine has just released their lists of the world's most expensive homes. Topping the list is Updown Court Palace. It is a brand new home built outside of London near Windsor Castle.

Want to borrow a cup of sugar from the neighbors? If the Queen or Elton John are at their homes, I am sure they will be glad to help out.

Have a big family or expecting alot of visitors? The 103 rooms and 5 pools should be more than adequate.
And you can bring all your guests in via helicopter that lands at your heliport, or failing that, limo them in. There is room for several limos in the garage and the driveway is marble and heated to boot.

If they aren't awed enough, wait until they get a glimpse of your gold leafed study floor.

Price tag: Cheap at the price - $140M.

I am sure there isn't one good argument to be made regarding diminishing your carbon footprint if you own this house.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From an article entitled A Flowering Evil written by Mark Seal in the August 2006 issue of Vanity Fair

The Lake Naivasha area [Kenya] provides the perfect conditions for growing roses, carnations and other cut flowers. One of the area's most successful farms, Pserian, was established in 1969..the owners first began flower farming in 1982. But the real influx begain the late 1980s, and soon a new gold rush was on. With few environmental or zoning restrictions, and almost no government controls, Dutch, British, and African flower concerns began leasing and buying up prime sections of lakeshore, which they covered with vast white plastic hothouses. In these hothouses, grow lights blaze day and night, disrupting the normal life cycle of insects..known to be the foundation of all other life-forms. The hothouses also limit the nocturnal feedings of hippos and other animals on land, while sucking up water for irrigation and spitting back fertilizer and pesticides. By 2000, Kenya had become one of the world's major producers of cut flowers....

Bad enough, but the industry also depends on cheap labor to process the flowers. In a country where jobs, even very low paying jobs, are very scarce, the promise is a magnate for thousands - many more than the jobs available. The population of the region has grown almost ten-fold to approximately 300,000 from 1990 to 2002. Those who are lucky to be employed, mostly women, earn approximately $3 per day. The rest fall to lawlessness, including overfishing the lake without regard for licenses or the size or number of fish allowed to be caught, dooming the future of the lake.

Says Dodo Cunningham-Reid, who owns an upscale lodge on the lake, "If consumers in Europe knew the misery caused by one rose, they wouldn't buy it."

This is but one example of how an industry's desire for short term profits are creating destruction upon our beautiful and fragile world. And how, if the story were widely known, consumers would gladly change their buying habits. As consumers, it is up to us to do our research and then request and require more responsibility on the part of industry.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Interesting loft facts:

• Developers in many cities cite the presence of sports arenas as an important decision on where to build new downtown loft housing. Are you paying attention, Sacramento?
• Retirees are a growing population in urban buildings. They cite the closeness of public transportation and the ease of maintenance as key decision factors.
• People who live in lofts participate in greater numbers in cultural events – theaters, museums, and concerts.
• Loft dwellers cite the following factors as pluses of their lifestyle


• Cultural events
• Nightlife
• Convenience
• Ethnic diversity
• Shopping
• Jobs and access to jobs
• Loft dwellers cite the following factors as drawbacks of their lifestyle
• Crime
• Congestion
• Pollution
• Cost of living
• Pace of life
• Don’t forget to check
• Flight patterns
• Reputation of the builder
• Future development plans that could affect your view, etc.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:48 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What's going on with our educational system? It's simple, we created and continue to perpetuate a caste system, based on skin color, sex, parental education level, and income. Our system is heavily biased towards rich white males. The 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Educaction Topeka, Kansas struck down racial segregation in our public schools. This ruling occurred 52 years ago, yet we have not been able to integrate with any significant positive results.

Here are the facts - the SAT scores of 2005 college bound seniors:

1. Race - Whites 1068, Native Americans 982, Hispanics 923, African Americans 864.

2. Sex - Males 1051, Females 1009.

3 Highest level of parental education - No high school diploma 871, high school diploma 950, bachelor's degree 1063, graduate degree 1131.

4. Family income - less than $10K 884, $10-20K 906, $20-30K 937, $30-40K 967, $40-50K 996, $50-60K 1014, $60-70K 1026, $70-80K 1039, $80-100K 1063, more than $100K 1131.

Why do males score higher than females on the SAT? Why to kids score better, if their families earn more money? Why does race matter? Why do parents' educational backgrounds matter?

You see my point? We have a caste system, even 50 years after the courts ruled it unconstitutional.

Education drives income. Those who get educated make more money. Those who score higher on the SATs get into better colleges. Those who get into better colleges get better jobs. African Americans, Hispanics, and women are still way behind.

Are we making an honest attempt to teach women math? The evidence (504 for women and 538 for men) suggests not. Are we making an honest attempt to teach African Americans to be good scholars? The evidence (i.e., Washington D.C., a predominantly African American school district, ranks dead last in SAT scores) suggests not.

Why is the Texas school system performing so poorly (49th on verbal, 47th on math, and 48th overall, and just barely ahead of South Carolina, Georgia and D.C.)? Why is the Florida school system doing just as badly as Texas (45th on verbal, 49th on math, and 47th overall)? Why is Iowa the best (both in verbal and math)? And why are the top ten performing states all midwest states (Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Michigan)?

What does this all mean? Those school systems who are leaving their children behind, such as Texas, Florida, and D.C., will produce adults who will be left behind in terms of economic prosperity. Think about it! The midwest is putting a greater emphasis on education and will lead the nation in terms of economic prosperity. But perhaps the saddest fact is women and non-whites will continue to lag white males.

The American caste system continues to roll, without regard to laws and court rulings. America - wise up and let's educate every citizen! It's good for America and it's morally correct!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive.

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Great old neigborhoods.
2. Diversity of people.
3. Burgeoning downtown.
4. Parks and recreation.
5. Delta breezes.
6. The Kings...go Kings!
7. Two rivers.
8. Big city, but small enough for people to make an impact.
9. Proximity to San Francisco, Tahoe, Napa, and Sonoma.
10. Promising future.

Gillian & Pierre
The Sacramento Executives

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Philip Humbert of International Cyber Business Services, Inc., identifies the top 10 traits of highly successful people.

1. They work hard.
2. They are incredibly curious and eager to learn.
3. They network.
4. They work on themselves and never quit.
5. They are extraordinarily creative.
6. They are self-reliant and take responsibility.
7. They are usually relaxed and keep their perspective.
8. Extremely successful people live in the present moment.
9. They look over the horizon to see the future.
10. Repeatedly successful people respond instantly.

This is a great list for graduating college students who are now entering the corporate world. Yet another thing they didn't teach me in business management school!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The blueprint to building successful companies is simple, yet most companies have a hard time implementing the blueprint. Why do most companies fail? Because they don't have the right game plan, or if they do, they divert from the game plan. The game plan is very simple:

1. The most important ingredient to success is the team. Assemble the best team possible. The team includes executive management, non-management employees, the board of directors, vendors, suppliers, and service providers. Dysfunctional teams kill success. Highly functional teams ensure success. The team is the number one reason why investors invest in a company. Don''t be afraid to take corrective action regarding the team. Bad team members will quickly take down the team.

2. Focus. Focus. Focus. Keep things simple. Never lose sight of the big picture. Identify your core competencies. Establish your goals and objectives. Hold everyone accountable to meeting the goals and objectives. Every employee must know the goals and objectives. Each assigned task must be targeted to achieving the goals and objectives. It is the manager's job to ensure that every action being taken by the employee is in some way contributing to the stated goals and objectives. If an action doesn't contribute to achieving the goals and objectives, then immediately terminate or modify the action.

3. Be customer driven. Every person in your company must provide superior service to the customer in everything they do. Listen to the customer. Understand the customer's needs. Don't sell to the customer. Solve the customer's problems. Show the customer your value propoposition. Make sure that you quantify the benefits you provide the customer. And just do it. Again, and again. Go way beyond simply meeting the requirements. Make the customer extremely satisfied. And if the customer is unsatisfied, quickly take action to fix it.

4. Know what it takes to win. Make sure every employee embraces this attribute. Constantly ask your employees what it takes to win. Once an employee identifies what it takes to win, put the employee in a position to succeed. It is the manager's reponsibility to makes sure the employee has the resources to win.

5. Establish a corporate value system. Core values should include leadership, diversity, respect for the individual, customer service, and ethics.

Now you are armed and ready to make it happen.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today's top ten out of area visitors of the Sacramento Executive hail from:

10. Windermere, Florida
9. St. Paul, Minnesota
8. British Columbia
7. Windsor, Ontario
6. New South Wales, Australia
5. Aberdeen, Scotland
4. Tokyo, Japan
3. Belfast, Northern Ireland
2. Hamilton, New Zealand
1. Ivory Coast, Africa

Thank You!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Sacramento Bee reports that Intel, greater Sacramento's largest private corporation, will add a major new building to itrs R&D complex in Folsom. And Microsft Corp., also announced plans to expand. Is the technology boom starting again? And will Sacramento be in on the action this time?

"This is what we've been kind of expecting," said David Lyons, labor market consultant at the California Employment Development Department. "We knew that the industry would turn around; it has taken longer than many of us expected."

You are right there, David. Every week I get calls from several highly qualified senior technology managers looking for a spot in Sacramento and it's getting depressing to have to tell them the pickings are slim.

Let's hope we can figure out how to slot these talented people into our local companies soon before they give up and move back to tbe Bay Area or further afield. What a loss that would be.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gillian reported on January 26 that Sacramento is a great place to have a baby. Here are more details on the subject.

Sacramento's local CBS affiliate, KOVR, reports on their website that Sacramento ranks in the top ten cities to have a baby in three different categories. The rankings are based on a study conducted by the magazine "Fit Pregnancy" of the fifty largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. The results are:

• Stroller Friendliness #9 (number of parks per capita, walking paths and clean air).


• Safety #9 (includes pedestrian collision rates).


• Affordability #10 (includes the cost of home ownership and available low-cost pre-natal care).

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

FitPregnancy Magazine has named Sacramento as the 10th best city in which to have a baby. Here's what they have to say:

What’s Good


California has among the most generous family-leave and disability laws in our survey.
California has particularly progressive laws guaranteeing a nursing mother the right to breastfeed in public.
Babies are 29 percent less likely than average to be born premature.
California allows greater dependent-related tax breaks than most.
The CDC reports very low infant mortality rates for California.
84 percent of Sacramento mothers attempt breastfeeding. That’s the 4th highest percentage of any city in our report.

Continue reading "Sacramento: Best City to Have a Baby" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:25 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Diane Darling, Co-founder of Digital Eve and the Director of its Boston chapter, presented the TOP TEN NETWORKING SKILLS FOR 2005. They still seem pretty valid for 2006.

1. Quality vs. quantity - The number of people you know does not matter. It is the quality of your contacts that does. Who are the decision makers? Influencers? Who can you help and how?

2. Slow down - No one gets married on their first date - business relationships take time too! Get to know people not only from a business perspective but from a personal perspective too.

Continue reading "Top Ten Networking Skills" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:47 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

From Newsweek as developed by Babson College Professor Leonard Green. The Professor is an enthusiastic entrepreneur involved in 14 businesses that run the gamut from thoroughbred horses to real estate and pet food, so his credibility is high.

You must be willing to take calculated risks.
You must move toward the edge and almost step over it.
You must truly utilize out-of-the-box thinking and rat-like cunning.
You must be ready to lead by example and empower your teammates to make decisions and handle crisis situations.
You must have a management style that is flexible and changes based on situations.
You must have “passion” for what you are doing. If you do, then you will spend as much time at it as is required to be successful.
You must learn to come up with new and innovative ideas that produce meaningful and perceptive differences, and be able to communicate that idea.
You must surround yourself with a great team.
You must constantly reinvent your business.
You must always be ready to “jumpstart your brain.”

Gillian Parrillo
Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:30 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

After reading the list of the top grossing stars in the Los Angeles Times, I am not feeling so out of date anymore? The old guys are still on top! Measurement adds concert grosses tabulated by Pollstar Magazine and album sales monitored by Nielsen SoundScan as a window into which acts pried the most money loose from fans during the year.

Continue reading "The Oldies are Still the Goodies" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:59 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Risk & Insurance Magazine in conjunction with Air Worldwide Corporation, a catastrophe modeling company, have put together the 10 Safest Cities list for 2005. Sacramento tops the list.

Hard to imagine how the city with the highest flood potential in the US got this designation. Although now the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to decrease Sacramento’s counter-terror funding looks like it might make more sense.

Continue reading "Sacramento #1 Safest City In Which To Do Businesss" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am refraining from any comment...

Google News - Top Searches in 2005

1. Janet Jackson
2. Hurricane Katrina
3. tsunami
4. xbox 360
5. Brad Pitt
6. Michael Jackson
7. American Idol
8. Britney Spears
9. Angelina Jolie
10. Harry Potter

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Center for Digital Government has announced the winners of its 5th annual Digital Cities Survey. The survey assesses how city governments are using IT to operate and deliver service to its citizens and customers.

Leaders of more than 300 cities were invited to respond to 22 questions in the areas of implementation and adoption of online service delivery; planning and governance; and the infrastructure and architecture that make the transformation to digital governments possible. Cathilea Robinett, the executive director of the Center, noted that the survey ‘showcases a significant increase in cities’ utilization of both wireless and broadband infrastructure.’ She added that the survey ‘continues to showcase the level of commitment by local officials to view technology as a key element in delivering vital citizen services.’

Continue reading "Sacramento Not a Digital Cities Winner" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to A. G. Edwards, America’s average personal saving rate has plummeted in the last 20 years to now compare with levels in the 1930’s – think Great Depression. And if that’s not bad news enough, we have one of the lowest rates in the industrialized world.

Only 53% of Americans have a formal retirement plan and half of American households have $10,000 or less in an employment based retirement plan. And all this is happening when the cost of things we need to be saving for – education, health care – are increasing dramatically.

Continue reading "Salinas Beats Out Sacramento" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Out of town guests? Consider these venues:
1. The Downtown Ice Rink Show off your spins and spinouts!
Insider Tip: they only take cash
2. Imax Theater viewing of Polar Express 3D - yes, you get those way cool glasses. Roger Ebert loves it. Rink and Movie discount combo ticket available.

Continue reading "Happy Holiday Hints" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gallup has released its annual survey on the honesty and ethics of people in various professions. Nurses continue to top the list - and by a substantial margin. Next are pharmacists, medical doctors and high school teachers. Bottom of the list - telemarketers and car salesmen.

Maybe our Governor should have tangled with his Hummer salesman instead of the nurses?

Gillian Parrillo
Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

As discussed in a recent article Googling Sacramento, one of the items on the list of 'Sacramento is the largest' was an embarrasing entry. Sacramento is the largest metropolitan center without a state-of-the-art planetarium and observatory.

All that changed last week with the announcement that construction would begin in the spring of 2007 on the Science and Space Center at the CSUS campus. The building will contain a planetarium. The projected cost has risen recently from $8M to $10M.

Congresswomen Doris Matsui related how her husband, the late Robert Matsui, helped get $1.5M for the project, with $950,000 recently being granted from the California Assembly. A further $400,000 was bequeathed to the project by two former CSUS physics professors - Royal Vanderberg, together with his wife Kirsten, and Chien Yuan Hu.

Sacramento just took a big step up. Congratulations to all who made this happen.

But how do we get an entry changed in Google?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sacramento, let's have a little fun. What top ten lists, good or bad, does Sacramento appear on in the print or video media? Please post your documented research in the comment section below. A panel of our corporate sponsors will vote on the best list. The winner will be announced at our spring networking event in April. The prize - dinner for two with the Sacramento Executive publishers at Mason's fabulous Park Complex.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Every now and then it is helpful to understand how the world at large views our beloved city of Sacramento. What if we do not like the world’s view about our city? What could we do to create a more positive image? What if we really liked others’ views? Could we get more people to embrace these positive images?

Well, what does the world think of Sacramento? Who is writing about Sacramento and what are they saying? If you asked somebody from Kansas to finish the following sentence, what would they say?

“Sacramento is the largest ……”

Let’s ask Google to complete the sentence. I did and Google provided 479 results. Ten of the most interesting are:

1. Sacramento is the largest metro area in the U.S. with a high flooding danger.
2. Sacramento is the largest metropolitan center without a state-of-the-art planetarium and observatory.
3. Sacramento is the largest metro area in the country without a private university and the only capital in the United States without a private university.
4. CalPERS, based in Sacramento, is the largest pension fund in the United States.
5. Old Sacramento is the largest concentration of historic buildings in California.
6. The California State Railroad Museum, located in Sacramento, is the largest museum of its kind in North America.
7. Sacramento is the largest city in California and the sixth-largest in the nation that has no form of independent oversight of its police Department.
8. Sacramento is the largest exporter of rice in the United States.
9. Sacramento is the largest TV market in the nation not served by its own regional sports network.
10. The California Teamsters Apprenticeship Training Center, headquartered in Sacramento, is the largest Teamsters Union training program in the United States.

Are these the messages that we want the world to have of Sacramento?

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Amador Bustos, CEO of Bustos Media, and Alexander Gonzaelz, President of Sacramento State, have been named to the list of the 100 Most Influential Hispanic Leaders in America by Hispanic Business magazine. Nominations from readers, website visitors, contributing editors, writers and magazine staff determined the annual list in the October 2005 edition.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Joan Didion, who was raised in Sacramento, won the National Book non-fiction award for "The Year of Magical Thinking", which chronicles the year after her husband's death. The fiction prize went to William T. Vollman, a long-time Sacramento resident, for his World War II novel "Europe Central".

Planners for Authors on the Move, the major fundraiser for the Sacramento Public Library, scheduled for March 18, 2006, food for thought!

Both books can be purchased here:

Listen to readings by the finalists.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:09 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A study by Darmouth Medical School researchers evaluated 5 California regions - Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego - and found that Medicare costs are significantly more in some regions but the quality of care is no better. Sacramento topped the list at providing the least expensive care.

(Full Story...)

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:41 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yep, you got it. Sacramento.

(Full Story...)

Gillian Parrillo
Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:07 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)