So I was happy to accept an invitation to their Grand Opening event last night to see the new store with a good friend and glass of wine in hand.  The store is marvelous, spacious, well organized and stocked with a much wider range of products than could fit in the smaller Crabtree location.

After making my big $5 purchase last night (a spider strainer) I was handed a gift in a small signature Crate and Barrel box on my way out of the store.  It contained a lovely Iitalia candle holder and this card.

We often talk with clients about their corporate giving philosophy and the benefits it brings to their brand. This is a very nicely executed example.  I like that it:

• Cleverly uses the Crate&Barrel brand to create the Crate&Durham image
• Shares that my purchase and those made through their first weekend will benefit the Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center.
• They made their grand opening about their community.
• They gave me a nice little gift.

Their gift and donation to Duke Children’s and the way it was executed made a retail store opening about more than retail sales, it become about me, my community and the hospital. Perhaps it was the Pinot, but the fun event, the gift, and the donation have strengthened my image of the Crate and Barrel brand.

So, if you are looking for an excuse to go this weekend, there you have it.

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.

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.

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.

I was so impressed last weekend with the crisis communications executed by Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.  After watching him speak for just five minutes, even I knew what his key messages were.

Today I have been working with our client TriSure to share some important communications to help their clients prepare for Hurricane Hanna that is approaching North and South Carolina.  It’s true that preparing for a possible insurance claim is too easy to overlook while you’re busy protecting your assets and gathering provisions for your family, friends and pets.

There are a few pointers on their web site at http://www.trisure.com/hurricane.html that will help not only TriSure’s clients, but also businesses throughout North Carolina manage their risk and expedite the claims process.

As TriSure told its clients today: Prepare for Hurricane Hanna.  Keep an eye on Ike.