If you’ve never attended a venture conference, it’s sort of a huge speed dating event with bright enthusiastic entrepreneurs on one side and savvy, sometimes skeptical, investors on the other. The main events are presentations, where entrepreneurs have seven to 10 minutes to summarize their organization, technology and market potential into a convincing “ask” of millions of dollars. It’s like American Idol without snarky judges and text voting.

These conferences usually feature keynote addresses by entrepreneurs and innovators, many of whom are legendary. At February’s Southeast Venture Conference (SEVC), I heard Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales one day and Google’s Chief Evangelist Vint Cerf (also known as the Father of the Internet) the next. Hearing them talk about the future of their companies is like traveling to the future itself. While I’m excited about Google Earth, they’ve moved onto Google Mars. Think Wikipedia is a great open source encyclopedia? That’s so 2009. Wikia is the latest thing. And are you worried about bit rot? Well, you should be.

I return from venture conferences rejuvenated and inspired, and not just by the celebrity speakers. I’ve met amazing people with tremendous ideas—from medical technology that detects cancer sooner to solar technology that powers roadside lighting with asphalt paint to my own client, Todd Pope of TransEnterix, whose innovative surgical device will change minimally invasive surgery around the world.

Heady stuff.

In the recent economic downturn, we’ve seen traditional industries struggle and sometimes collapse—from homebuilders to banks to big box retailers. Venture conferences remind me that innovation will lead us out of this recession.  (In fact, you could say recessions inspire innovation.) Either way, spending time around people with big ideas and big dreams is a great catalyst for generating your own big ideas and dreams. Or, in our case, helping clients spark theirs.

We are excited to announce that we will be partnering with Dress for Success, an international not-for-profit organization that maintains a mission to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

We encourage our friends, family, clients and vendors to join us in cleaning out our closets! Through our collected donations we hope to contribute to the confidence needed for women to jump-start their careers.

Please look for more information on our website in the weeks to come. And don’t hesitate to call one of the Sinclair & Co. team members to find out how you can help!

Today Emily received the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Leadership Award.  She shared the stage with a prestigious group of local professionals, including Luke Roush of TransEnterix.  Check out this year’s recipients on the TBJ‘s website and read our announcement here.

Since that conversation, I’ve been thinking about how some of my favorite movies from my teens would be different if social networking sites like FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube were part of the story.  With a nod to John Hughes:

Imagine getting a text message saying “Save Ferris! Donate $5 now by texting “Ferris” to 12345.”  Or consider how much more complicated Ferris’s cover-up would have to be if his Danke Schoen performance were a YouTube sensation?

It certainly would have been nice for Grandpa Howard to Tweet that Long Duk Dong was coming to Jenny’s wedding in Sixteen Candles so Sam could have been prepared.  Farmer Ted’s FaceBook page would have hundreds of out-of-focus pictures of the prom queen in a Rolls Royce.

If Clark W. Griswold had been following the Wally World Twitter feed, he would have known about their scheduled maintenance before hauling the family truckster across the country.

Besides being an entertaining thought, it’s made me see how much social media is changing the story of our lives.  It’s not about Farmville or tweeting which breakfast cereal you chose today.  It’s about sharing bits of ourselves to make connections to help each other out — and isn’t that what marketing is all about?

That was in 2001, and Metrics’ business has changed and grown substantially from a start-up analytical lab into one of the fastest-growing contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organizations in the United States.

Over the past ten years, we’ve seen Metrics change and evolve as their business and the market they serve has grown. When we had our first meeting, it was in a closet of an office in a small building in Greenville, NC. Now, Metrics has their own 96,000 square foot facility, built to exacting cGMP standards and equipped with state-of-the-art pharmaceutical drug development and manufacturing equipment. They even have a dedicated lab on-site for potent and cytotoxic testing that is the first of its kind in the US.

Haven’t heard of Metrics? We’re not sure why. They’ve been recognized by the Pitt County Economic Development Commission as “Business of the Year” and as a “Business Champion” by Business Leader Magazine and Wake Tech Community College. They have recruited some of the best minds in pharmaceutical development, expanded their services with a presence on the West coast, and one of their founders, Dr. Bray, was even Tarheel of the Week in the Raleigh News & Observer.

After all this time, we like to look back and see how we were able to help a great company like Metrics become a leader in their field. Sinclair & Co. is proud to say we’ve worked with Metrics 10 years, and we’re looking forward to many more!

In her new role, Rachel uses her experience to support account managers with research and special projects for the agency’s clients. She provides operational support for bookkeeping, human-resources programs and general office management. She also is responsible for organizing Sinclair & Co.’s volunteer initiatives and company events.

Rachel is a native of Virginia Beach, Va., and earned her bachelor’s degree in arts administration from George Mason University.  A devoted, season-ticket-holding Carolina Hurricanes fan, Rachel spends some of her free time taking ice skating lessons.

The store had four models on display behind the cash register. When I described my need to the clerk sitting on a stool, playing with his Blackberry, he casually pointed over his shoulder.

“We’re out of the Sony so you’ll have to buy that one, the floor model,” he said, his eyes firmly affixed on his Blackberry.

Suddenly he looked up and added, “No matter which model you get, you need an extended warranty.” And he proceeded to lecture me on the notorious unreliability of portable DVD players. Their batteries fail. Their screens quit working.

“And if you lose the power cord, forget it,” he said. “Good luck replacing that.”

Now, I know that (a) most extended warranties are a complete waste of money and (b) they represent pure profit, which is why retailers are so eager to sell them. But to try to make a sale by describing how bad the actual product is before I’ve bought the product? That’s nutty.

Good service means understanding your customer’s needs and doing your best to meet them. In this situation, the clerk made no effort to find the best portable DVD player for my family. It’s why I walked out the door without buying anything.

Companies that don’t grasp the concept of good service will find themselves –like this retailer – “struggling to remain relevant.”

(The answer in the comments.)

Its use at a panel discussion on social media last week caught my attention.  In a response to a question about using social media outlets for consumer marketing, the panel urged transparency in social media campaigns.  They encourage you to be clear to the audience about who you are and your intentions.

Isn’t that the transparency we seek in all the other ways the term is currently being used?

I used Google’s Trends tool to see how the term’s search pattern in the United States has trended, which you can view here: http://www.google.com/trends?q=transparency&geo=usa&sa=N

Its search volume has increased slightly so far this year over last year.  But what I found most interesting is that occurrences of the word “transparency” in news articles for 2009 are up significantly and steadily over last year.

Google Trends is a tool that we use in our interactive planning. And it’s also cool to check out for cultural trends like this.

While the feds explore whether Mary Easley’s husband, former N.C. Gov. Mike Easley, violated any campaign rules as they relate to her hiring, I feel confident saying some of the folks involved violated three basic rules about communicating with the media.

These are rules we at Sinclair & Co. cover during media training with clients and they are pretty fundamental:

• Never lie. This seems like a no brainer, but time and time again people fail to heed this simple admonition. (Remember Richard Nixon? Bill Clinton?) Lying only makes your problem worse – and lies will always come to light.
• When you have bad news to share, share it early and quickly. Bad news is just like a stuck-on Band-Aid® – you must address it quickly. Sure, it’ll hurt like heck and you may even scream, but then the pain is gone. As N.C. State officials learned the hard way, taking off a bad-news bandage bit by painful bit prolongs the agony for everyone involved.
• Admit your mistakes – then move on. Martha Stewart is an excellent example of this. Sentenced to time in prison for insider training, Stewart came out ready to put the past behind her and move her career forward. Her prison time has become a mere mention in most articles; it’s no longer the primary focus.

The fundamentals of strong media relations really are the fundamentals of life – don’t lie, do the right thing and don’t dwell in the past.