The spring season is no longer king of the hill.
Spring’s stranglehold on the real estate market has loosened in recent years, a result of diverse factors ranging from the Internet to industry-savvy buyers. Where people once delayed a for sale sign on the lawn until March or April, the quiet of a frosty home sales season has since subsided in favor of a more active real estate market; with snow on the ground, Christmas carols ringing, and temperatures dropping, this winter selling season looks to heat up further.
“This winter may be one of the most active in years given that buyers have been sitting around waiting for something to happen,” said Linda Dore, a veteran agent with Orland Park’s ReMax Team 2000. “All indications are that the wild market we’ve been having for a while is slowing and that all the things buyers wanted to see happening—a settling of the market and mortgage rates—are happening.”
For some homeowners, winter presents an ideal selling opportunity—despite an upswing of homes on the winter market supply nevertheless remains at endurable levels while the colder months also allow sellers to concentrate almost exclusively on the home’s interior. For other homeowners, however, perhaps those with a thriving landscape or dimly lit streets, winter offers some less than enticing potential. As common in the industry, homeowners must accentuate strengths and downplay weaknesses lest they risk a lingering home sale.
Indeed, the winter real estate market is one littered with positives for some homeowners and negatives for others. Will buyers be able to enjoy the spacious patio deck and envision a summer party as they shiver in the Chicago twilight? Yet, won’t those inviting holiday decorations, fresh cookie scents, and candles provide a touch of warmth and comfort?
The answer: well, yes and yes. With the winter season in tow, homeowners can capitalize on the cozy feelings of the holiday season as well as a decreased supply of homes while simultaneously battling weather and a withering outdoor life. Sellers have taken increased notice of winter’s potential in the sales market and erased the need to wait for the warmer months ahead. With a few wise steps, winter can deliver a winner.
“Sometimes we pick the time to sell our home and sometimes the time picks us. If you have the flexibility to make the call as to when the home will hit the market, then consider what aspects of the home you want to highlight,” said Barb Thouvenell, managing broker and owner of PRS Associates Realtors in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood.
“We’ve seen less of a seasonal market in recent years. Sellers used to think only about spring given the opportunity to spruce up the home, but in winter people can do some simple things they can’t do in the summer to make the home more inviting such as lighting the fireplace or candles. These are easy things that can make a home feel more like a home.”
While a well-priced, quality home prepared to sell will likely garner serious offers regardless of the season, the winter seller often needs to consider some aspects of staging that a summer seller might be able to overlook, including a seat inside the door for people to take off their shoes and accessible parking on snowy days.
“The winter seller has to be much more prepared for bad weather and scrupulous about shoveling and making a path to the door,” Thouvenell said. “The seller simply needs to take more care and cater to buyers while realizing that something like the open house requires a little luck of the draw.”
There are some uncomplicated ways, however, in which sellers can counter the ill effects of Chicagoland’s sometimes brutish winter months and make the most out of winter’s opportunities. Thouvenell advises clients to have summer, spring, and fall photos of the home’s exterior on display for potential buyers, a move she says “will help showcase the house in every season.” Dore, meanwhile, urges sellers to enter the market with realistic expectations and a positive attitude.
“The number one item to know is that you’re going to get fewer showings, so staging the home properly and making the house as attractive as possible takes on added importance,” she said.
Despite the movement toward an increasingly heated winter market, Dore cautions that the overall guiding principle of real estate holds regardless of weather and the winter season’s supply of homes.
“If you’re going to sell your home, then you get it ready in an attractive condition,” she said. “The buyer’s expectations remain high and on an attractive product no matter the weather outside.”
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Writing Sample #8: Sizing Issues: The Snazziest and Wildest Tech Gadgets of the Season in the Palm of Your Hand (ELITE, December 2006)
Bigger isn’t always better.
In fact, in today’s tech-frenzied world, in which the complete Rolling Stones song catalog can fit into one’s palm, iPods play feature length films, and GPS systems no bigger than a pocket-sized atlas direct us where to turn, the “bigger is better” mantra continues falling victim to a revolution of pint-sized gadgets keeping us updated, connected, informed, entertained, and easily accessed. To be certain, small is the new big.
“Everything is moving toward a smaller, more portable item,” reports Karrie Ann Peters, a digital entertainment architect at Oak Brook-based Tweeter. “People want the convenience of portability these days so they’re not lugging large items around.”
Tech companies, meanwhile, have responded to consumer demands for portable, lightweight items. From the Apple’s iconic iPod to the Blackberry PDA units, Silicon Valley and its global cohorts have moved toward rewarding consumers with their every imaginable desire—music, video, e-mail, photos, Internet access—and doing it in a package smaller than a juice box.
Such is the wave of the present and the future, one in which college student Nathan Kennedy slides his iPod into his left hip pocket and a cell phone into his right as he steps into class. Yet, dismiss the idea that the high-tech buzz has only affected teens and young adults, fittingly labeled iGen; indeed, technology has captured baby boomers in its web of wonderment as well, aided in large part by the industry’s renewed focus on consumer ease-of-use and technological marvel.
As the holiday season rolls around and tech-heavy conversations take the stage, a few pocket-sized items demand immediate attention for their innovation and ability.
iPod: Apple Video iPod
The iPod has achieved an envious status among corporate America—instant brand recognition and adoption into the American lexicon. Since its 2000 release, the iPod has revolutionized our listening habits—on the go, in the car, or on the run (see sidebar). With its hip marketing, portable style, and dazzling capabilities, the iPod has found its way into the hands of over 60 million Americans.
In its latest incarnation, the Video iPod, released in late-October, Apple delivers much the same features consumers have come to expect from the chic digital media player. The 30 gig memory Video iPod ($249) can hold 7,500 songs and 2-3 feature length films; its 80 gig sibling ($349), meanwhile, boasts the ability to store 20,000 songs, 100 hours of video, and 25,000 photos.
While many will continue to enjoy the portability of the Video iPod much the same as its predecessors, Apple’s continued focus on accessories lends the Video an even greater degree of versatility: speaker ports to play music at home; a firewire cable to transport video from the unit onto a bigger screen; and a car port to stream the variety of iPod programs into the car.
M3 Players: Creative Zen Microphoto
With the market dominance of the iPod, MP3 players, once the promise-holders of the tech world, have been relegated to near second-class status. MP3 manufacturers, fighting to break through the iPod hold, are making headway by offering much the same features as their popular brethren, but arriving on store shelves at a more competitive price point.
Among MP3 players reaching to secure a slice of praise stands the Creative Zen Microphoto. Though holding less memory than the iPod series, the 8 Gig Microphoto still possesses the ability to store as many as 4,000 songs and 1,000 photos and does so under $200. The Microphoto also boasts the ability to record meetings, memos and notes as well as work alongside Microsoft Works programs to organize a calendar and tasks.
Says Tweeter’s Karrie Peters, “Everybody has a choice: it’s either the iPod or an MP3 player. The MP3 players are a great option for those people who don’t want to go full out, but still want to tap into the technology that’s out there.”
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA): Blackberry 7130e
A one-stop shop for e-mail, phone, Internet access, and networking, PDAs have emerged among the most popular items for those seeking one high-tech item integrating a wide range of features.
The new Blackberry 7130e provides high-speed data in the palm of your hand. With the ability to access e-mail, make phone calls, browse the web, and organize the day’s agenda, the Blackberry 7130e meets much of the day’s expectations in a PDA device—doing so in a pocket-sized, elegant unit. Other features include Bluetooth technology (the cordless ear piece), a wide color display panel, speakerphone, and laptop compatibility with the use of a single USB cable. To be used, however, the 7130e must be paired with a plan from a registered local provider such as Verizon or Sprint.
Satellite Radio: Pioneer INNO
The FCC has issued but two licenses to deliver satellite radio programming—one to Sirius and the other to XM Radio. The continuing battle between the two heavyweights shapes up much the same as a championship boxing match: Sirius hits with an all Elvis station followed by the landing of shock jock Howard Stern while XM counters as the exclusive station for Major League Baseball and a partnership with Napster to cultivate digital music downloading.
The reality: the two providers share much the same promises, including commercial free programming and top-notch clarity, features that have enticed the American public and brought millions of users on board. While each provider requires a monthly subscription fee ranging from $10-14, one must first select a compatible radio unit amid the myriad of choices.
The Pioneer INNO, weighing in at less than 5 ounces, is one of two portable receivers available from XM Radio. An easy-to-use unit, the INNO allows users to record songs and create play lists within its 1GB of storage and arrives with a home docking station to connect with your home radio. This, of course, all pales to its primary function: clear sound and exclusive programming free of commercials.
Navigation Systems: Alpine PMDB100 Blackbird GPS System
The days of poster-sized fold-up maps have disappeared in the wake of Internet mapping programs and, now, GPS systems guided by space-hosted satellites. North America’s streets are, in fact, contained in GPS units little bigger than a deck of cards.
But sometimes the GPS system alone isn’t enough.
Ringing in at $600, the Alpine Blackbird merges GPS navigation technology with a dash of entertainment allure. The Blackbird’s hard drive includes a music player, FM modulator, and traffic receiver. The 8-ounce system claims the preloaded maps typical of GPS systems combined with over 6 million points of interest from golf courses to hospitals. A short battery life, however, means you’ll want to keep that trusty paper map in the car.
Technology on the Run: Nike+
In July, Nike and Apple merged a pair of American passions—athletics and music. The debut of the Nike+ system, a collaborative venture between the two corporate giants, created a whirlwind of chatter upon its release and the buzz has yet to settle.
A nickel-sized sensor ($30) placed under the insole of the designated Nike shoe allows the individual to track the distance walked or ran and thereafter communicate such information through the iPod Nano in a wireless-frenzied awe. During Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” for instance, the Nano will interject to inform that you’ve just completed one mile while providing your time for that distance. Athletic greats such as Lance Armstrong may later congratulate you on completing your longest run to date. Users can also create custom play lists and workouts as well as record and track their progress.
Though Nike’s shoe selection for the Nike+ system is currently limited to a handful of models ($85-130), the company has plans to extend its use to the bulk of its running shoe line. All signs indicate, however, that the Nano will continue to be the only compatible iPod unit for the Nike+ system.
In fact, in today’s tech-frenzied world, in which the complete Rolling Stones song catalog can fit into one’s palm, iPods play feature length films, and GPS systems no bigger than a pocket-sized atlas direct us where to turn, the “bigger is better” mantra continues falling victim to a revolution of pint-sized gadgets keeping us updated, connected, informed, entertained, and easily accessed. To be certain, small is the new big.
“Everything is moving toward a smaller, more portable item,” reports Karrie Ann Peters, a digital entertainment architect at Oak Brook-based Tweeter. “People want the convenience of portability these days so they’re not lugging large items around.”
Tech companies, meanwhile, have responded to consumer demands for portable, lightweight items. From the Apple’s iconic iPod to the Blackberry PDA units, Silicon Valley and its global cohorts have moved toward rewarding consumers with their every imaginable desire—music, video, e-mail, photos, Internet access—and doing it in a package smaller than a juice box.
Such is the wave of the present and the future, one in which college student Nathan Kennedy slides his iPod into his left hip pocket and a cell phone into his right as he steps into class. Yet, dismiss the idea that the high-tech buzz has only affected teens and young adults, fittingly labeled iGen; indeed, technology has captured baby boomers in its web of wonderment as well, aided in large part by the industry’s renewed focus on consumer ease-of-use and technological marvel.
As the holiday season rolls around and tech-heavy conversations take the stage, a few pocket-sized items demand immediate attention for their innovation and ability.
iPod: Apple Video iPod
The iPod has achieved an envious status among corporate America—instant brand recognition and adoption into the American lexicon. Since its 2000 release, the iPod has revolutionized our listening habits—on the go, in the car, or on the run (see sidebar). With its hip marketing, portable style, and dazzling capabilities, the iPod has found its way into the hands of over 60 million Americans.
In its latest incarnation, the Video iPod, released in late-October, Apple delivers much the same features consumers have come to expect from the chic digital media player. The 30 gig memory Video iPod ($249) can hold 7,500 songs and 2-3 feature length films; its 80 gig sibling ($349), meanwhile, boasts the ability to store 20,000 songs, 100 hours of video, and 25,000 photos.
While many will continue to enjoy the portability of the Video iPod much the same as its predecessors, Apple’s continued focus on accessories lends the Video an even greater degree of versatility: speaker ports to play music at home; a firewire cable to transport video from the unit onto a bigger screen; and a car port to stream the variety of iPod programs into the car.
M3 Players: Creative Zen Microphoto
With the market dominance of the iPod, MP3 players, once the promise-holders of the tech world, have been relegated to near second-class status. MP3 manufacturers, fighting to break through the iPod hold, are making headway by offering much the same features as their popular brethren, but arriving on store shelves at a more competitive price point.
Among MP3 players reaching to secure a slice of praise stands the Creative Zen Microphoto. Though holding less memory than the iPod series, the 8 Gig Microphoto still possesses the ability to store as many as 4,000 songs and 1,000 photos and does so under $200. The Microphoto also boasts the ability to record meetings, memos and notes as well as work alongside Microsoft Works programs to organize a calendar and tasks.
Says Tweeter’s Karrie Peters, “Everybody has a choice: it’s either the iPod or an MP3 player. The MP3 players are a great option for those people who don’t want to go full out, but still want to tap into the technology that’s out there.”
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA): Blackberry 7130e
A one-stop shop for e-mail, phone, Internet access, and networking, PDAs have emerged among the most popular items for those seeking one high-tech item integrating a wide range of features.
The new Blackberry 7130e provides high-speed data in the palm of your hand. With the ability to access e-mail, make phone calls, browse the web, and organize the day’s agenda, the Blackberry 7130e meets much of the day’s expectations in a PDA device—doing so in a pocket-sized, elegant unit. Other features include Bluetooth technology (the cordless ear piece), a wide color display panel, speakerphone, and laptop compatibility with the use of a single USB cable. To be used, however, the 7130e must be paired with a plan from a registered local provider such as Verizon or Sprint.
Satellite Radio: Pioneer INNO
The FCC has issued but two licenses to deliver satellite radio programming—one to Sirius and the other to XM Radio. The continuing battle between the two heavyweights shapes up much the same as a championship boxing match: Sirius hits with an all Elvis station followed by the landing of shock jock Howard Stern while XM counters as the exclusive station for Major League Baseball and a partnership with Napster to cultivate digital music downloading.
The reality: the two providers share much the same promises, including commercial free programming and top-notch clarity, features that have enticed the American public and brought millions of users on board. While each provider requires a monthly subscription fee ranging from $10-14, one must first select a compatible radio unit amid the myriad of choices.
The Pioneer INNO, weighing in at less than 5 ounces, is one of two portable receivers available from XM Radio. An easy-to-use unit, the INNO allows users to record songs and create play lists within its 1GB of storage and arrives with a home docking station to connect with your home radio. This, of course, all pales to its primary function: clear sound and exclusive programming free of commercials.
Navigation Systems: Alpine PMDB100 Blackbird GPS System
The days of poster-sized fold-up maps have disappeared in the wake of Internet mapping programs and, now, GPS systems guided by space-hosted satellites. North America’s streets are, in fact, contained in GPS units little bigger than a deck of cards.
But sometimes the GPS system alone isn’t enough.
Ringing in at $600, the Alpine Blackbird merges GPS navigation technology with a dash of entertainment allure. The Blackbird’s hard drive includes a music player, FM modulator, and traffic receiver. The 8-ounce system claims the preloaded maps typical of GPS systems combined with over 6 million points of interest from golf courses to hospitals. A short battery life, however, means you’ll want to keep that trusty paper map in the car.
Technology on the Run: Nike+
In July, Nike and Apple merged a pair of American passions—athletics and music. The debut of the Nike+ system, a collaborative venture between the two corporate giants, created a whirlwind of chatter upon its release and the buzz has yet to settle.
A nickel-sized sensor ($30) placed under the insole of the designated Nike shoe allows the individual to track the distance walked or ran and thereafter communicate such information through the iPod Nano in a wireless-frenzied awe. During Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” for instance, the Nano will interject to inform that you’ve just completed one mile while providing your time for that distance. Athletic greats such as Lance Armstrong may later congratulate you on completing your longest run to date. Users can also create custom play lists and workouts as well as record and track their progress.
Though Nike’s shoe selection for the Nike+ system is currently limited to a handful of models ($85-130), the company has plans to extend its use to the bulk of its running shoe line. All signs indicate, however, that the Nano will continue to be the only compatible iPod unit for the Nike+ system.
Writing Sample #7: Win or Die Trying while Feeling the Fire (Southland Business, July 2005)
Despite street addresses that define them as teams of Chicago’s south side and current first-place records, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Fire have little else in common. The White Sox, players of America’s grandest pastime, are a century old franchise with a long line of loyal followers. The Fire, meanwhile, an eight-year-old club in Major League Soccer, represent the upstart kids—a young program with immediate success and desires for stability and growth.
And from those differences emerge drastically variant marketing schemes. While the White Sox maintain a steady fan base in the hundreds of thousands and refine the franchise’s yearly marketing plan to bring more people into the ballpark, the Fire aggressively market their product in a different direction, simply urging people to give their game a try. With the Fire, a significant let-up can mean dangerous trouble. It’s a classic tale of keeping what you have versus earning what you want.
In the early to mid-1990’s, when the Chicago White Sox were perennial division contenders and a uniform redesign spurred new directions, the ball club ingrained the slogan “Good Guys Wear Black” in the minds of Chicago baseball fans.
Years later, with a slew of young talent and a quasi-rebuilding phase underway, the Sox looked at the character of their team and chimed, “The Kids Can Play.” Truth be told, some of the kids could play while others struggled to find success at the Major League level. Now, under the enterprising styles of both manager Ozzie Guillen and general manager Kenny Williams, the 2005 edition of the White Sox adopted the mantra “Win or Die Trying.” In a near perfect merger of sports marketing and sports reality, the slogan has matched the team on the field as the White Sox currently boast baseball’s best record.
“You never want to make promises with your slogans,” said Brooks Boyer, Vice President of Marketing for the Chicago White Sox. “People wanted us to play hard, smart, and win—that’s what it all comes down to. The guys on the field have taken care of what’s needed to be done.”
Yet even before the 2005 season’s first pitch, the team’s marketing staff consistently searched for ways to better the fan experience at U.S. Cellular Field. More than ever before in American sports history, the fan’s lofty expectations have moved from the product on the field to the entire entertainment experience. Everything from music to parking and cuisine achieving an elevated level of attention in the 21st century sports world.
“The number one priority is to make the experience great for the fan,” said Boyer. “All of the money that came from the park’s naming rights went back into the ballpark and breaking the stigma that [the new Comiskey] lacked character. We put things like a cover on the upper deck to make it more intimate and the Pontiac Fundamentals Deck so kids could have something. People are coming out and realizing that U.S. Cellular Field is a convenient, friendly place. The result is that we’ve created a fun experience for a wide range of people.”
Couple an improved fan experience at the stadium with the tremendous success of the 2005 White Sox and new marketing ideas develop to capitalize on all the good will.
“We got a Chevy Avalanche from a local dealer and we’ve created the White Sox bandwagon,” Boyer said. “Now, we’re taking it around and inviting people to jump on.”
And while the bandwagon approach is a relatively new one for the White Sox, it’s old hat to the Chicago Fire. Starting from scratch in 1997, the expansion Fire had to get riders on the bandwagon immediately. And while winning traditionally breeds success at the gates, the impermanent home of Soldier Field coupled with a temporary residence at Naperville’s North Central College for two seasons, dealt the Fire some unnecessary blows in building a steady customer base despite numerous on-field successes.
The club’s move into a new 20,000-seat stadium in Bridgeview, slated for opening in 2006, should provide the stability and continuity the Fire has long sought. With that, however, comes a new marketing focus.
“Moving to our own home in Bridgeview, one that better suits our needs, allows us to better control the presentation of the event,” said Fire President and CEO John Guppy. “Now, we’ll reach to create a more intimate atmosphere within the stadium that’s driven by the hard-core fan. We’ll try to create something different for the live event experience. The best selling tool is always word of mouth and we’ll want people to leave talking about us.”
While the White Sox have the benefit of season ticket holders and a steady stream of individual ticket sales, the Fire turn aggressively to group sales to spur the club’s financial fortunes. Working closely with Chicago area soccer leagues and teams, especially on the youth level, the Fire pursue group attendance at home games with a furor unlike their baseball counterparts.
“We’re more aggressive with group sales than any other sports team in Chicago,” Guppy said. “And that’s because we have to be. To build that strong foundation, you start with people who have a connection and support for soccer.”
And that aggressiveness extends beyond group sales, eventually reaching the average Chicago sports fan.
“The White Sox have decades of history and awareness. Everybody knows when their seasons starts and where they are,” Guppy said. “People are not programmed in such a way with the Fire. People are aware of us, but it’s not top of the mind. That’s why it’s even more important that we’re aggressive getting in front to people and educating them on why they should come to a Fire game. Our marketing strategy is akin to a political campaign. Get in front of them and tell them why you’re a good choice.”
Guppy also acknowledges the shift in the sporting fan’s expectations when coming to a game. Just as the White Sox aimed to create a more intimate, fan-friendly experience, the Fire seek to achieve a similar feel in their new Bridgeview stadium.
“There are more entertainment options available for people each day and so it’s become more incumbent on sports teams to create a positive experience for the people,” said Guppy, echoing the thoughts of Boyer. “Once it was purely about what happened on the field of play. Now, it’s entirely about the experience and the entertainment value. Fifteen years ago, sports was sports. Now, more than ever before, sports is entertainment.”
Given the realization that sports has matured into a viable entertainment option, both of Chicago’s south side teams have committed themselves to the entertainment experience first and foremost, adding another similarity to a growing list.
“You want to make the experience as good as it can possibly be for everybody who walks in—from the diehard fan to the novice guest,” said Boyer. “You want the fans to be participants in the action, not sitting on their hands.”
And though Boyer speaks specifically of the White Sox and U.S. Cellular one can’t help but think similar thoughts are being expressed among Guppy and his front office colleagues with the Chicago Fire.
“The interesting thing about sports,” said Boyer, “is that the more things change, the more they actually stay the same.”
And from those differences emerge drastically variant marketing schemes. While the White Sox maintain a steady fan base in the hundreds of thousands and refine the franchise’s yearly marketing plan to bring more people into the ballpark, the Fire aggressively market their product in a different direction, simply urging people to give their game a try. With the Fire, a significant let-up can mean dangerous trouble. It’s a classic tale of keeping what you have versus earning what you want.
In the early to mid-1990’s, when the Chicago White Sox were perennial division contenders and a uniform redesign spurred new directions, the ball club ingrained the slogan “Good Guys Wear Black” in the minds of Chicago baseball fans.
Years later, with a slew of young talent and a quasi-rebuilding phase underway, the Sox looked at the character of their team and chimed, “The Kids Can Play.” Truth be told, some of the kids could play while others struggled to find success at the Major League level. Now, under the enterprising styles of both manager Ozzie Guillen and general manager Kenny Williams, the 2005 edition of the White Sox adopted the mantra “Win or Die Trying.” In a near perfect merger of sports marketing and sports reality, the slogan has matched the team on the field as the White Sox currently boast baseball’s best record.
“You never want to make promises with your slogans,” said Brooks Boyer, Vice President of Marketing for the Chicago White Sox. “People wanted us to play hard, smart, and win—that’s what it all comes down to. The guys on the field have taken care of what’s needed to be done.”
Yet even before the 2005 season’s first pitch, the team’s marketing staff consistently searched for ways to better the fan experience at U.S. Cellular Field. More than ever before in American sports history, the fan’s lofty expectations have moved from the product on the field to the entire entertainment experience. Everything from music to parking and cuisine achieving an elevated level of attention in the 21st century sports world.
“The number one priority is to make the experience great for the fan,” said Boyer. “All of the money that came from the park’s naming rights went back into the ballpark and breaking the stigma that [the new Comiskey] lacked character. We put things like a cover on the upper deck to make it more intimate and the Pontiac Fundamentals Deck so kids could have something. People are coming out and realizing that U.S. Cellular Field is a convenient, friendly place. The result is that we’ve created a fun experience for a wide range of people.”
Couple an improved fan experience at the stadium with the tremendous success of the 2005 White Sox and new marketing ideas develop to capitalize on all the good will.
“We got a Chevy Avalanche from a local dealer and we’ve created the White Sox bandwagon,” Boyer said. “Now, we’re taking it around and inviting people to jump on.”
And while the bandwagon approach is a relatively new one for the White Sox, it’s old hat to the Chicago Fire. Starting from scratch in 1997, the expansion Fire had to get riders on the bandwagon immediately. And while winning traditionally breeds success at the gates, the impermanent home of Soldier Field coupled with a temporary residence at Naperville’s North Central College for two seasons, dealt the Fire some unnecessary blows in building a steady customer base despite numerous on-field successes.
The club’s move into a new 20,000-seat stadium in Bridgeview, slated for opening in 2006, should provide the stability and continuity the Fire has long sought. With that, however, comes a new marketing focus.
“Moving to our own home in Bridgeview, one that better suits our needs, allows us to better control the presentation of the event,” said Fire President and CEO John Guppy. “Now, we’ll reach to create a more intimate atmosphere within the stadium that’s driven by the hard-core fan. We’ll try to create something different for the live event experience. The best selling tool is always word of mouth and we’ll want people to leave talking about us.”
While the White Sox have the benefit of season ticket holders and a steady stream of individual ticket sales, the Fire turn aggressively to group sales to spur the club’s financial fortunes. Working closely with Chicago area soccer leagues and teams, especially on the youth level, the Fire pursue group attendance at home games with a furor unlike their baseball counterparts.
“We’re more aggressive with group sales than any other sports team in Chicago,” Guppy said. “And that’s because we have to be. To build that strong foundation, you start with people who have a connection and support for soccer.”
And that aggressiveness extends beyond group sales, eventually reaching the average Chicago sports fan.
“The White Sox have decades of history and awareness. Everybody knows when their seasons starts and where they are,” Guppy said. “People are not programmed in such a way with the Fire. People are aware of us, but it’s not top of the mind. That’s why it’s even more important that we’re aggressive getting in front to people and educating them on why they should come to a Fire game. Our marketing strategy is akin to a political campaign. Get in front of them and tell them why you’re a good choice.”
Guppy also acknowledges the shift in the sporting fan’s expectations when coming to a game. Just as the White Sox aimed to create a more intimate, fan-friendly experience, the Fire seek to achieve a similar feel in their new Bridgeview stadium.
“There are more entertainment options available for people each day and so it’s become more incumbent on sports teams to create a positive experience for the people,” said Guppy, echoing the thoughts of Boyer. “Once it was purely about what happened on the field of play. Now, it’s entirely about the experience and the entertainment value. Fifteen years ago, sports was sports. Now, more than ever before, sports is entertainment.”
Given the realization that sports has matured into a viable entertainment option, both of Chicago’s south side teams have committed themselves to the entertainment experience first and foremost, adding another similarity to a growing list.
“You want to make the experience as good as it can possibly be for everybody who walks in—from the diehard fan to the novice guest,” said Boyer. “You want the fans to be participants in the action, not sitting on their hands.”
And though Boyer speaks specifically of the White Sox and U.S. Cellular one can’t help but think similar thoughts are being expressed among Guppy and his front office colleagues with the Chicago Fire.
“The interesting thing about sports,” said Boyer, “is that the more things change, the more they actually stay the same.”
Writing Sample #6: Inner Journey: Wayne Rutledge on Fate, Fear, and One Sure Thing--Life (USA Cycling, January 2003)
His dreams of Olympic glory have faded. An existence once defined by sporting magnificence reduced to constant battles played out in the mind and in life.
Fate, it is said, has an odd way of intervening in life’s drama. What once may have seemed certain and right may be challenged and thrown in the most tragic and unexpected of directions. Such is the case with the tale that follows.
While the story’s primary action may have taken place on May 25, 2002 at the Encino (California) Velodrome, the script’s pen is still to the page months later—and it’s unlikely to be lifted anytime soon. For in the life of 20-year-old Wayne Rutledge, nothing is certain and everything is taken one day at a time.
A fantastic specimen
By all accounts, Wayne Rutledge was well on his way to an athletic career filled with success. An accomplished speedskater, an in fact an Olympic hopeful in that sport as well, the Buena Park, California teen took up cycling in 1997 as a cross-training activity only to soon discover that he was a natural fit for the bike, his 6-4, 210-pound frame making him a Goliath in the saddle and a powerful rider with intense, untapped ability.
His prowess was evident, even to the likes of U.S. National Track Coach Des Dickie.
“I told the kid he was a fantastic specimen for sprinting,” said Dickie. “He had the potential, but he needed to be in a structured program. It would have taken time, but the talent was there for a coach to work with.”
So impressed was Dickie with Rutledge that he attempted to earn the youngster acceptance into the resident athlete program at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs where training would become Rutledge’s sole focus. With no results nationally, however, his application was denied. Nevertheless, Dickie invited Rutledge to participate in various USA Cycling elite training camps in Chula Vista, California. There, Rutledge, still a relative novice on the track, continued to impress.
It was widely agreed upon, the future of Wayne Rutledge was colored in bright lights.
"I’m grateful I have life"
In southern California, on a traditional May evening in 2002, 19-year-old Wayne Rutledge’s life was threatened in an untraditional way.
Riding in a kierin qualifying heat at the Encino Velodrome’s racing series, Rutledge made a move for the second position coming out of the fourth turn. His wheel tangled with another rider seeking the same spot and, at nearly 40 miles per hour, Rutledge went down, his head taking the brunt of the fall.
Within seconds, the 19-year-old Rutledge went from a youthful existence as an Olympic hopeful to battling for his life.
Rushed to a nearby hospital, an unconscious Rutledge had the first of two brain surgeries within one hour of the crash, his second brain surgery came the following morning. Doctors reasoned that he could be in a coma for up to one year. There was also the possibility that he would never awake.
In a week, however, Rutledge was out of his coma. Two weeks later, he walked out of the hospital.
“I look over the 600 pages of medical records and I’m grateful for everything I have now,” said Rutledge. “I was supposed to be in a wheel chair not able to read or write or have any motor function. It’s hard for me to think about, but I’m grateful I have life.”
Following Rutledge’s crash, an outpouring of support arrived from those near and far. Hundreds of comments poured onto a message board set up at fixedgearfever.com while family, friends, concern, and prayer blanketed the hospital waiting room.
“There was an outpouring of support from the cycling community that truly touched us,” said Don Somerville, Rutledge’s brother. “A tremendous amount of people, maybe too many, came to the hospital and shared their blessings and hopes with our family. It was so difficult because we went from one end of the spectrum to the other so quickly.”
And some individuals outside of Rutledge’s immediate family went above and beyond. Ashley Knight, Rutledge’s girlfriend, took the 60-mile drive to the hospital each day. Rutledge training partners Jay Brown and Dave Hansen lent consistent support while Mark Perez, a Los Angeles County Firefighter and cycling father, took responsible control of the accident scene to care for Rutledge’s safety. Scott Patton, director of fixedgearfever.com, offered his website to allow others the opportunity to share their thoughts and well wishes with the Rutledge family.
“Laying in a hospital bed not know what happened is a scary thing,” said Patton, himself speaking from experience. “Being unable to get to see Wayne, [putting up a message board on the website] was something I could do to let he and his family know that friends were behind them. The Internet has a way of letting people know. Cyclists, in general, are good-hearted people. We all risk our lives on bikes every day and when we hear of a ‘brother’ going down, we want to reach out . . . . I think it was really quite therapeutic for everybody to post and read.”
The story of Wayne Rutledge touched and affected many outside of his immediate circle, a sign of the cycling community’s tight-knit ways and ability to see beyond the differences to discover the overall shared community that exists.
It’s a daily struggle
Months after his accident, there is little to indicate that Wayne Rutledge touched death’s hand only to slap it away for a second chance at living. With long hair, a baseball cap, and a button-up shirt, the visible scars of Rutledge’s near fatal encounter are well concealed. The interior scars, however, run deeper.
The injuries incurred in the fall have affected the right frontal lobe of Rutledge’s brain, where planning and future goals are practiced, as well as the left rear, where language and long-term memory processes occur.
“Emotionally and mentally, it’s a daily struggle,” said Somerville, one of Rutledge’s closest confidants.
Rutledge is currently enrolled in a two-year academic program at Coastline Community College in Costa Mesa, California. Designed for individuals who have suffered a diverse variety of brain injuries, the Acquired Brain Injury program focuses on all aspects of critical thinking and reestablishing a new thought process with particular attention paid to future possibilities. Brain injuries, however, are a curious thing. Oftentimes, remarkable strides occur immediately before the progress flatlines; yet, for every individual the process differs. Where the path of Wayne Rutledge’s future leads is a tremendous question mark.
“Getting through the situation I’m in right now is first and foremost,” said Rutledge. “I want to get a better education. I have things I would’ve liked to have done, but now I don’t know what the future holds.”
Others maintain added hopes for Rutledge and his uncertain future.
“I hope [Wayne] eventually makes a significant recovery and finds something in his life that will define him and give meaning to him,” said Somerville. “His identity was so tied to his success on the bike and now, with that removed, I want him to find something that gives him a solid sense of identity.”
One thing not in Rutledge’s future is a trip around the velodrome. Another fall could prove fatal.
“Deep inside, I can’t put myself back on the bike because I have the fear of dying,” he said. “I thought about being in the hospital as nationals came along and I had the idea I’d be fine, but logically I wasn’t going to be fine.
“I totally loved cycling, so much so that I put speedskating on the backburner. I could ride anytime and I love being outdoors. On the bike, I could go-go-go and never have to worry. It’s hard for me to find an activity now that I can do that can take the place of cycling. I hope there is something that can fill that void, but I don’t know when, where, or if ever that will come.”
"I’m just moving on"
While May 25, 2002 may be the day that forever altered the course of Wayne Rutledge’s life, it is not the day that will define him, he says.
“I have a [resilient] attitude. I’m in bad shape, I’m not going to lie. Things happen each day when I question why this happened to me—and I hope no other cyclist ever has to go through what I went through—but daily I just thank God that I’m alive.
“I’m just going on with my life. There were things I may have taken for granted before, like reading or writing, but now I have a whole new look on life. It’s a day-to-day thing. Today, I did this. Tomorrow, I’ll do that and a little extra. Things happen for a reason and I just have to believe and trust that.”
Indeed, fate has an odd way of intervening in life’s drama and, to Wayne Rutledge, live dealt a crushing hand. Yet, life is not over. It has been altered drastically, yes, but it is far from over.
“I’m just moving on,” said Rutledge, “thankful that I have life.”
Fate, it is said, has an odd way of intervening in life’s drama. What once may have seemed certain and right may be challenged and thrown in the most tragic and unexpected of directions. Such is the case with the tale that follows.
While the story’s primary action may have taken place on May 25, 2002 at the Encino (California) Velodrome, the script’s pen is still to the page months later—and it’s unlikely to be lifted anytime soon. For in the life of 20-year-old Wayne Rutledge, nothing is certain and everything is taken one day at a time.
A fantastic specimen
By all accounts, Wayne Rutledge was well on his way to an athletic career filled with success. An accomplished speedskater, an in fact an Olympic hopeful in that sport as well, the Buena Park, California teen took up cycling in 1997 as a cross-training activity only to soon discover that he was a natural fit for the bike, his 6-4, 210-pound frame making him a Goliath in the saddle and a powerful rider with intense, untapped ability.
His prowess was evident, even to the likes of U.S. National Track Coach Des Dickie.
“I told the kid he was a fantastic specimen for sprinting,” said Dickie. “He had the potential, but he needed to be in a structured program. It would have taken time, but the talent was there for a coach to work with.”
So impressed was Dickie with Rutledge that he attempted to earn the youngster acceptance into the resident athlete program at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs where training would become Rutledge’s sole focus. With no results nationally, however, his application was denied. Nevertheless, Dickie invited Rutledge to participate in various USA Cycling elite training camps in Chula Vista, California. There, Rutledge, still a relative novice on the track, continued to impress.
It was widely agreed upon, the future of Wayne Rutledge was colored in bright lights.
"I’m grateful I have life"
In southern California, on a traditional May evening in 2002, 19-year-old Wayne Rutledge’s life was threatened in an untraditional way.
Riding in a kierin qualifying heat at the Encino Velodrome’s racing series, Rutledge made a move for the second position coming out of the fourth turn. His wheel tangled with another rider seeking the same spot and, at nearly 40 miles per hour, Rutledge went down, his head taking the brunt of the fall.
Within seconds, the 19-year-old Rutledge went from a youthful existence as an Olympic hopeful to battling for his life.
Rushed to a nearby hospital, an unconscious Rutledge had the first of two brain surgeries within one hour of the crash, his second brain surgery came the following morning. Doctors reasoned that he could be in a coma for up to one year. There was also the possibility that he would never awake.
In a week, however, Rutledge was out of his coma. Two weeks later, he walked out of the hospital.
“I look over the 600 pages of medical records and I’m grateful for everything I have now,” said Rutledge. “I was supposed to be in a wheel chair not able to read or write or have any motor function. It’s hard for me to think about, but I’m grateful I have life.”
Following Rutledge’s crash, an outpouring of support arrived from those near and far. Hundreds of comments poured onto a message board set up at fixedgearfever.com while family, friends, concern, and prayer blanketed the hospital waiting room.
“There was an outpouring of support from the cycling community that truly touched us,” said Don Somerville, Rutledge’s brother. “A tremendous amount of people, maybe too many, came to the hospital and shared their blessings and hopes with our family. It was so difficult because we went from one end of the spectrum to the other so quickly.”
And some individuals outside of Rutledge’s immediate family went above and beyond. Ashley Knight, Rutledge’s girlfriend, took the 60-mile drive to the hospital each day. Rutledge training partners Jay Brown and Dave Hansen lent consistent support while Mark Perez, a Los Angeles County Firefighter and cycling father, took responsible control of the accident scene to care for Rutledge’s safety. Scott Patton, director of fixedgearfever.com, offered his website to allow others the opportunity to share their thoughts and well wishes with the Rutledge family.
“Laying in a hospital bed not know what happened is a scary thing,” said Patton, himself speaking from experience. “Being unable to get to see Wayne, [putting up a message board on the website] was something I could do to let he and his family know that friends were behind them. The Internet has a way of letting people know. Cyclists, in general, are good-hearted people. We all risk our lives on bikes every day and when we hear of a ‘brother’ going down, we want to reach out . . . . I think it was really quite therapeutic for everybody to post and read.”
The story of Wayne Rutledge touched and affected many outside of his immediate circle, a sign of the cycling community’s tight-knit ways and ability to see beyond the differences to discover the overall shared community that exists.
It’s a daily struggle
Months after his accident, there is little to indicate that Wayne Rutledge touched death’s hand only to slap it away for a second chance at living. With long hair, a baseball cap, and a button-up shirt, the visible scars of Rutledge’s near fatal encounter are well concealed. The interior scars, however, run deeper.
The injuries incurred in the fall have affected the right frontal lobe of Rutledge’s brain, where planning and future goals are practiced, as well as the left rear, where language and long-term memory processes occur.
“Emotionally and mentally, it’s a daily struggle,” said Somerville, one of Rutledge’s closest confidants.
Rutledge is currently enrolled in a two-year academic program at Coastline Community College in Costa Mesa, California. Designed for individuals who have suffered a diverse variety of brain injuries, the Acquired Brain Injury program focuses on all aspects of critical thinking and reestablishing a new thought process with particular attention paid to future possibilities. Brain injuries, however, are a curious thing. Oftentimes, remarkable strides occur immediately before the progress flatlines; yet, for every individual the process differs. Where the path of Wayne Rutledge’s future leads is a tremendous question mark.
“Getting through the situation I’m in right now is first and foremost,” said Rutledge. “I want to get a better education. I have things I would’ve liked to have done, but now I don’t know what the future holds.”
Others maintain added hopes for Rutledge and his uncertain future.
“I hope [Wayne] eventually makes a significant recovery and finds something in his life that will define him and give meaning to him,” said Somerville. “His identity was so tied to his success on the bike and now, with that removed, I want him to find something that gives him a solid sense of identity.”
One thing not in Rutledge’s future is a trip around the velodrome. Another fall could prove fatal.
“Deep inside, I can’t put myself back on the bike because I have the fear of dying,” he said. “I thought about being in the hospital as nationals came along and I had the idea I’d be fine, but logically I wasn’t going to be fine.
“I totally loved cycling, so much so that I put speedskating on the backburner. I could ride anytime and I love being outdoors. On the bike, I could go-go-go and never have to worry. It’s hard for me to find an activity now that I can do that can take the place of cycling. I hope there is something that can fill that void, but I don’t know when, where, or if ever that will come.”
"I’m just moving on"
While May 25, 2002 may be the day that forever altered the course of Wayne Rutledge’s life, it is not the day that will define him, he says.
“I have a [resilient] attitude. I’m in bad shape, I’m not going to lie. Things happen each day when I question why this happened to me—and I hope no other cyclist ever has to go through what I went through—but daily I just thank God that I’m alive.
“I’m just going on with my life. There were things I may have taken for granted before, like reading or writing, but now I have a whole new look on life. It’s a day-to-day thing. Today, I did this. Tomorrow, I’ll do that and a little extra. Things happen for a reason and I just have to believe and trust that.”
Indeed, fate has an odd way of intervening in life’s drama and, to Wayne Rutledge, live dealt a crushing hand. Yet, life is not over. It has been altered drastically, yes, but it is far from over.
“I’m just moving on,” said Rutledge, “thankful that I have life.”
Writing Sample #5: Maintaing Values Will Remain Reagan's True Legacy (Chicago Sun-Times, June 23, 2004)
Ronald Reagan has been laid to rest, but a legacy stands.
In the past days, the nation has been inundated with recollections of America’s 40th president. People have spoke of Reagan’s success in bringing the Cold War to a close; his impact on today’s political structure; and his lasting legacy as a President and man. We have also been deluged by video and audio clips detailing Reagan’s life, including perhaps his most famous words at a 1987 Berlin Wall speech in which the President said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
A line that changed history. A line that almost didn’t happen.
Presidential speechwriter Peter Robinson drafted the now famous speech and was met with immediate resistance from both his superiors and other government agencies, including the State Department and the National Security Council. The point of contention centered on Robinson’s—and ultimately Reagan’s—direct language in addressing Gorbachev and the Berlin Wall.
Despite concerns, Reagan said he didn’t want to drift around the topic. No, the President wanted to make it clear to Gorbachev and others that the wall must vanish if peace was to prevail.
Up until the final day, NSC and State Department officials submitted alternative drafts, most deleting the wall reference or at best relying on vague, pretentious language. Reagan, however, remained committed to the truthful and sincere diction.
“The boys at the State are going to kill me, but it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
We can speak of Reagan’s leading role in ending Cold War hostilities or his action in the oval office. Yet, what we must always remember about Reagan is not his foreign policy or legislation, but rather a man who acted on deeply rooted principles. True, we cannot all change history as Reagan did, but we can lead our lives based on values and truths we hold dear.
And that should be Reagan’s enduring legacy.
In the past days, the nation has been inundated with recollections of America’s 40th president. People have spoke of Reagan’s success in bringing the Cold War to a close; his impact on today’s political structure; and his lasting legacy as a President and man. We have also been deluged by video and audio clips detailing Reagan’s life, including perhaps his most famous words at a 1987 Berlin Wall speech in which the President said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
A line that changed history. A line that almost didn’t happen.
Presidential speechwriter Peter Robinson drafted the now famous speech and was met with immediate resistance from both his superiors and other government agencies, including the State Department and the National Security Council. The point of contention centered on Robinson’s—and ultimately Reagan’s—direct language in addressing Gorbachev and the Berlin Wall.
Despite concerns, Reagan said he didn’t want to drift around the topic. No, the President wanted to make it clear to Gorbachev and others that the wall must vanish if peace was to prevail.
Up until the final day, NSC and State Department officials submitted alternative drafts, most deleting the wall reference or at best relying on vague, pretentious language. Reagan, however, remained committed to the truthful and sincere diction.
“The boys at the State are going to kill me, but it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
We can speak of Reagan’s leading role in ending Cold War hostilities or his action in the oval office. Yet, what we must always remember about Reagan is not his foreign policy or legislation, but rather a man who acted on deeply rooted principles. True, we cannot all change history as Reagan did, but we can lead our lives based on values and truths we hold dear.
And that should be Reagan’s enduring legacy.
Writing Sample #4: Singles Increasingly Navigating the Real Estate Road Alone (Daily Southtown, August 15, 2004)
Maybe Dave Cahill wasn’t like so many others, but purchasing the first home—and doing so alone—has a way of placing us all on the same plateau.
When Cahill, a 28-year-old native Southsider and area manager for Chicago Beer/Budweiser, made the decision to purchase his first home he was armed with a wealth of patience and a positive outlook.
“I guess my situation was a little unique,” says Cahill, “because I wasn’t opposed to living at home and saving my money. There was no rush for me.”
Still Cahill, like so many other singles, trod a path traditionally tread arm and arm with another. But with a hot housing market and “a loan for everybody” reality, 21st century singles are waving good-bye to rent checks or the parents’ abode and greeting mortgage payments. Now, more than ever in the nation’s history—and certainly the Chicago area—singles are signing on the dotted mortgage line and taking the keys to their new home.
“The 100 percent loans and other beneficial programs like that have allowed single people and younger people to get in the market earlier,” said Pam Patterson, a managing broker with Re/Max All Properties based in New Lenox. “I’m selling more and more to singles and I’d have to say that’s a trend across the board as well.”
About ten years ago, Patterson recalls selling a home to a single woman who was called a spinster on the title.
“Imagine that—a spinster,” she says. “Times have changed haven’t they?”
Indeed they have. Double-digit loan rates of the past have been replaced with slim rates in the six percent range, adjustable rate mortgages, and a general view that the home is a safe investment.
“Singles—and everybody in general really—have so many more options available to them. There are adjustable rates, interest only loans, and just about anything for somebody to get their foot in the door,” said Jim DeSantis, a 25-year real estate veteran with Oak Lawn-based Century 21 Accent-Homefinders who has also observed a spike in single homebuyers over recent years. “Everybody knows how the market’s been accelerating and people are eager to get into it.”
Outside of less stringent mortgage plans, a plethora of other factors have led to an increased amount of single homebuyers. Most notably, a stronger condominium market than ever before has invited singles to enjoy the benefits of homeownership without much of the maintenance. An altered view of homeownership, meanwhile, has singles seeking the home as a singular step to another phase of life. Whereas it was once marriage and then the home, the home is increasingly entering the equation ahead of the nuptials.
“I think singles are looking at the home as a stepping stone,” said DeSantis. “They have an idea of the type of property they may want to be in somewhere down the road and if they choose to get married, then they have a property that functions as that stepping stone. It’s better than renting; you can build equity and look at the home as an investment. People are saying this more and more.”
But purchasing a home as a single does not come without its trepidations. The aforementioned Cahill had his concerns about forging ahead on his own.
“I thought back and forth about staying at home and saving more money because money was the major concern,” he said. “You keep asking yourself if you’ll have enough for everything. And I definitely didn’t know anything going in—about taxes, mortgages, the loan process.”
Both DeSantis and Patterson say such concerns arrive with credibility. Both veteran real estate agents merely encourage single buyers to investigate the entire scope of their situation.
“You have to be cautious not to overextend yourself,” says DeSantis, “because there’s not another person to share that burden with you. Yes, you may be approved for a $300,000 home, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend that much. You have to be more specific and positive about your income.”
Patterson offers similar guidance.
“Have extra money in reserve in case something comes up—that’s the reality,” she said. “There are also home warranties that can protect you from the unexpected; you can know that things will be taken care of.”
After enlisting the help of Coldwell Banker’s Kristin Vanoni, herself a single first-time homebuyer, Cahill has settled nicely into his two-bedroom, two-bath Chicago Ridge condo. Though concerns have not vanished, Cahill has nonetheless found the positive in his bold decision.
“I was never intimidated to ask questions and having an agent not far removed from the process herself helped that,” Cahill said. “I’m seeing that I need to manage my money better and having the home has helped me with that. I still don’t understand half the technical jargon, but at least now I know the steps to take and the timetable to get things rolling.”
When Cahill, a 28-year-old native Southsider and area manager for Chicago Beer/Budweiser, made the decision to purchase his first home he was armed with a wealth of patience and a positive outlook.
“I guess my situation was a little unique,” says Cahill, “because I wasn’t opposed to living at home and saving my money. There was no rush for me.”
Still Cahill, like so many other singles, trod a path traditionally tread arm and arm with another. But with a hot housing market and “a loan for everybody” reality, 21st century singles are waving good-bye to rent checks or the parents’ abode and greeting mortgage payments. Now, more than ever in the nation’s history—and certainly the Chicago area—singles are signing on the dotted mortgage line and taking the keys to their new home.
“The 100 percent loans and other beneficial programs like that have allowed single people and younger people to get in the market earlier,” said Pam Patterson, a managing broker with Re/Max All Properties based in New Lenox. “I’m selling more and more to singles and I’d have to say that’s a trend across the board as well.”
About ten years ago, Patterson recalls selling a home to a single woman who was called a spinster on the title.
“Imagine that—a spinster,” she says. “Times have changed haven’t they?”
Indeed they have. Double-digit loan rates of the past have been replaced with slim rates in the six percent range, adjustable rate mortgages, and a general view that the home is a safe investment.
“Singles—and everybody in general really—have so many more options available to them. There are adjustable rates, interest only loans, and just about anything for somebody to get their foot in the door,” said Jim DeSantis, a 25-year real estate veteran with Oak Lawn-based Century 21 Accent-Homefinders who has also observed a spike in single homebuyers over recent years. “Everybody knows how the market’s been accelerating and people are eager to get into it.”
Outside of less stringent mortgage plans, a plethora of other factors have led to an increased amount of single homebuyers. Most notably, a stronger condominium market than ever before has invited singles to enjoy the benefits of homeownership without much of the maintenance. An altered view of homeownership, meanwhile, has singles seeking the home as a singular step to another phase of life. Whereas it was once marriage and then the home, the home is increasingly entering the equation ahead of the nuptials.
“I think singles are looking at the home as a stepping stone,” said DeSantis. “They have an idea of the type of property they may want to be in somewhere down the road and if they choose to get married, then they have a property that functions as that stepping stone. It’s better than renting; you can build equity and look at the home as an investment. People are saying this more and more.”
But purchasing a home as a single does not come without its trepidations. The aforementioned Cahill had his concerns about forging ahead on his own.
“I thought back and forth about staying at home and saving more money because money was the major concern,” he said. “You keep asking yourself if you’ll have enough for everything. And I definitely didn’t know anything going in—about taxes, mortgages, the loan process.”
Both DeSantis and Patterson say such concerns arrive with credibility. Both veteran real estate agents merely encourage single buyers to investigate the entire scope of their situation.
“You have to be cautious not to overextend yourself,” says DeSantis, “because there’s not another person to share that burden with you. Yes, you may be approved for a $300,000 home, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend that much. You have to be more specific and positive about your income.”
Patterson offers similar guidance.
“Have extra money in reserve in case something comes up—that’s the reality,” she said. “There are also home warranties that can protect you from the unexpected; you can know that things will be taken care of.”
After enlisting the help of Coldwell Banker’s Kristin Vanoni, herself a single first-time homebuyer, Cahill has settled nicely into his two-bedroom, two-bath Chicago Ridge condo. Though concerns have not vanished, Cahill has nonetheless found the positive in his bold decision.
“I was never intimidated to ask questions and having an agent not far removed from the process herself helped that,” Cahill said. “I’m seeing that I need to manage my money better and having the home has helped me with that. I still don’t understand half the technical jargon, but at least now I know the steps to take and the timetable to get things rolling.”
Writing Sample #3: Breast Cancer Survivors Embrace New Perspective (Midwest Suburban Publications, October 5, 2006)
On May 14, 2005, 41-year-old Kathy Haselton went skydiving. It wasn’t a mid-life crisis impulse nor an adventurous soul taking up a new weekend activity but rather a celebration of life, for that spring day marked Haselton’s first anniversary of a cancer-free existence.
In September 2003, Haselton obeyed the general recommendation that women her age receive a mammogram. That routine experience, however, turned into shock when doctors asked her to return for more tests and eventually diagnosed her with breast cancer. The ensuing months forced Haselton out of her first grade classroom and into chemotherapy and radiation treatments and, ultimately, into a new role as cancer survivor.
Haselton represents one of many stricken with breast cancer, a disease affecting over 210,000 Americans each year and sending the realities of cancer through homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods. Increasingly, however, women are turning the negative prognosis into a positive life experience, battling the cancer with equal doses of medicine, spirit, and attitude.
Naperville’s Darleen McFarlan learned of her breast cancer two decades ago, a time in which she had an upstart business as well as five children ranging in age from 3-20.
“I really didn’t think it was possible,” said McFarlan. “You have challenges in life and this certainly wasn’t something I was prepared for.”
Complicating matters yet further, however, was the bleak forecast laid before cancer patients in the mid-1980s.
“They pretty much pronounced me dead and gave me no hope,” says McFarlan, now the 62-year-old business owner of Naperville-based Darleen’s Interiors and a grandmother of seven.
Still, McFarlan overcame the dim prospects. After her diagnosis, she faced amputation, plastic surgery, and chemotherapy. In addition to traditional medicine, she enlisted the help of holistic doctors, a relationship that helped her release the fear of the situation and look toward a positive future. During her recovery, she rejected people who couldn’t see her as whole and complete, including her church pastor.
“If you can see yourself well, then that’s the best hope you can have,” McFarlan said. “I didn’t want to be around people that saw me as somebody different than who I was.”
Now, a 20-year survivor of breast cancer, McFarlan coaches others faced with similarly unpromising health prospects. She urges them to take advantage of the opportunity cancer allows—to check in to what’s going on with life and family and define a new perspective. Yet more, she says the path to recovery provides life altering lessons if people open themselves up to the experience.
“Cancer was just a chapter in what it takes to be successful in life,” she said. “Others may want to hold onto it, but it’s in the past. The stand I took then is the same one I urge others to take: what did I learn through this and how can I apply such lessons to my life?
“And each birthday,” McFarlan adds, “I tell myself I’m going to live to be 104.”
For Haselton, who endured a second cancer scare one year after her original breast cancer diagnosis, her new outlook remains under construction. The mother of two teenage boys, she admits her battle with cancer has strengthened their lives as well as hers.
“I used to think about it all the time, but now I realize that some of these aches and pains and more a process of getting old,” she said. “You cannot go through this experience and not arrive on the other end with a new outlook. It’s cliché, of course, but the lesson is not to take life for granted and to recognize that when you have your health you have a lot. But I suppose it’s cliché for a good reason.”
While she participates in a cancer support group at her local church, a gathering of those with a shared knowledge of the mental and physical processes one must endure when facing cancer, Haselton says her annual trip to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Chicago provides her one of life’s strongest lifts.
“You see these people at all different stages—some women with no hair because they’ve just begun chemo to the women who’ve been cancer free for decades, the ones who went through the cancer when there was no hope given,” she said. “And it’s so empowering to be at such an event, to be with all of these women who have a positive attitude to share.”
And at least one with an attitude strong enough to leap out of an airplane in celebration.
In September 2003, Haselton obeyed the general recommendation that women her age receive a mammogram. That routine experience, however, turned into shock when doctors asked her to return for more tests and eventually diagnosed her with breast cancer. The ensuing months forced Haselton out of her first grade classroom and into chemotherapy and radiation treatments and, ultimately, into a new role as cancer survivor.
Haselton represents one of many stricken with breast cancer, a disease affecting over 210,000 Americans each year and sending the realities of cancer through homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods. Increasingly, however, women are turning the negative prognosis into a positive life experience, battling the cancer with equal doses of medicine, spirit, and attitude.
Naperville’s Darleen McFarlan learned of her breast cancer two decades ago, a time in which she had an upstart business as well as five children ranging in age from 3-20.
“I really didn’t think it was possible,” said McFarlan. “You have challenges in life and this certainly wasn’t something I was prepared for.”
Complicating matters yet further, however, was the bleak forecast laid before cancer patients in the mid-1980s.
“They pretty much pronounced me dead and gave me no hope,” says McFarlan, now the 62-year-old business owner of Naperville-based Darleen’s Interiors and a grandmother of seven.
Still, McFarlan overcame the dim prospects. After her diagnosis, she faced amputation, plastic surgery, and chemotherapy. In addition to traditional medicine, she enlisted the help of holistic doctors, a relationship that helped her release the fear of the situation and look toward a positive future. During her recovery, she rejected people who couldn’t see her as whole and complete, including her church pastor.
“If you can see yourself well, then that’s the best hope you can have,” McFarlan said. “I didn’t want to be around people that saw me as somebody different than who I was.”
Now, a 20-year survivor of breast cancer, McFarlan coaches others faced with similarly unpromising health prospects. She urges them to take advantage of the opportunity cancer allows—to check in to what’s going on with life and family and define a new perspective. Yet more, she says the path to recovery provides life altering lessons if people open themselves up to the experience.
“Cancer was just a chapter in what it takes to be successful in life,” she said. “Others may want to hold onto it, but it’s in the past. The stand I took then is the same one I urge others to take: what did I learn through this and how can I apply such lessons to my life?
“And each birthday,” McFarlan adds, “I tell myself I’m going to live to be 104.”
For Haselton, who endured a second cancer scare one year after her original breast cancer diagnosis, her new outlook remains under construction. The mother of two teenage boys, she admits her battle with cancer has strengthened their lives as well as hers.
“I used to think about it all the time, but now I realize that some of these aches and pains and more a process of getting old,” she said. “You cannot go through this experience and not arrive on the other end with a new outlook. It’s cliché, of course, but the lesson is not to take life for granted and to recognize that when you have your health you have a lot. But I suppose it’s cliché for a good reason.”
While she participates in a cancer support group at her local church, a gathering of those with a shared knowledge of the mental and physical processes one must endure when facing cancer, Haselton says her annual trip to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Chicago provides her one of life’s strongest lifts.
“You see these people at all different stages—some women with no hair because they’ve just begun chemo to the women who’ve been cancer free for decades, the ones who went through the cancer when there was no hope given,” she said. “And it’s so empowering to be at such an event, to be with all of these women who have a positive attitude to share.”
And at least one with an attitude strong enough to leap out of an airplane in celebration.
Writing Sample #2: E-mail Communication Builds Relationships, Loyalty, and Profits (from Pizza Today, December 2006)
People buy from people.
Despite the marketing promises of highway billboards and primetime television spots, human interaction with the customer often produces the business world’s loftiest prize—increased revenue and profitability.
To gain the customer’s ear and open the doors to one-on-one communication, pizzeria owners have turned to the personalized allure of e-mail, capitalizing on the Internet charge by creating e-mail campaigns highlighting special offers, loyalty programs, and community involvement. Best yet, customers often respond with cash in hand.
“The goal of all organizations and businesses is to have a better relationship with customers. E-mail facilitates this because it engages people in dialog,” says Chris Baggot, co-founder of ExactTarget, an on-demand e-mail software company located in Indianapolis.
Scott Anthony, owner of Fox’s Pizza Den in Punxsutawney, PA, utilized his establishment’s 30th anniversary celebration with roll-back-the-clock $1.40 pizzas to test the viability of an e-mail promotion. Customers traveling to Fox’s website could request an e-coupon for the one-day offer. On that Wednesday night in 2001, Fox’s Pizza Den sold over 900 pizzas, a ten-fold jump from a typical mid-week day. The e-promotion, however, allowed for future contact with customers, vaulting Anthony’s sales figures and his e-mail plans.
“Our database is over 1000 now, more than a tenth of our immediate area,” he says. “This has given us an edge over anybody else in town.”
Outside of its ability to establish and maintain regular dialog between customer and business, e-mail delivers other key benefits. While direct mail campaigns often run a dollar per person, e-mail ventures cost as little as a penny per person for the in-house variety and up to a quarter per person if handed to an outside agency.
With Anthony’s present emphasis on e-mail, secured from a one-time investment of $300 to learn html, Fox’s marketing expenses have dwindled to a fraction of its once annual $6000 direct mailing costs. The same minimal investment holds for Buenos Aires Pizzeria in Denver, where owner Ana Carrera uses the software program Constant Contact to distribute her monthly messages. Chicago-based Home Run Inn, meanwhile, partners with Fishbowl to send nearly 20,000 e-mails each month to its Pizza Lovers League.
“There’s no question that e-mail boosts our bottom line. Even better, though, we’re building impressions for the restaurant and we’re doing so in an affordable way,” says Home Run Inn’s Gina Bolger.
Moreover, e-mail levels the competitive field, placing major chains on equal footing with independents, perhaps even nudging local pizzerias ahead given their ability to connect neighbors, schools, and community events.
“The major chains can beat all the Ma and Pa places on all other mass marketing venues, but with e-mail the small guy can be just as effective,” Baggot says.
The first step in e-mail communication also doubles as the most important: building a database. The snazziest e-mail creates nary a whimper if only arriving in a handful of inboxes. Home Run Inn switches between push and pull methods to gain a stream of contacts—affording customers the chance to enter special contests (a trip to Disney World) before moving to a server’s contest with incentives for the server garnering the most addresses. In contrast, Anthony’s 30th anniversary promotion provided the bulk of his database’s 1,000 names in a single day’s time.
“Nothing’s more important than building that network of names,” says Scott Shaw, CEO of Fishbowl, a Virginia-based company specializing in e-mail marketing for the restaurant industry.
With a database established, e-mails can flow with creative flair, including offbeat promotions, surveys, and contests. Home Run Inn sends special offers for birthdays and anniversaries in addition to monthly deals. Buenos Aires capitalizes on its niche as Denver’s only Argentinean-style pizzeria hyping its gelato and empanadas in addition to its pizza. Some pursue on-line ordering and use e-mail to drive it. One pizzeria on the ExactTarget plan sends an afternoon message to working moms allowing them to ready dinner with a few clicks.
“Dial up the creativity and engage people,” Shaw says. “Your e-mail needs to be just as tasty as your pizza.”
Pizzerias wary of cyberspace need not fret. E-mail software programs such as ExactTarget join with comprehensive providers like Fishbowl to afford proprietors different avenues to seize simplicity, productivity, and results. Nearly all programs claim straightforward means to monitor open rates, forwards, and redemption, thereby tracking success.
Now, some owners, like Scott Anthony, cannot imagine business life without e-mail marketing.
“I can’t see another way of doing this,” he says. “E-mail has cut my marketing costs, increased profits, and provided me a means to communicate with customers and build their trust.”
The Rules of E-Mail Engagement
Get permission: “People don’t want unrequested interruptions in their lives,” says Shaw. “Only e-mail those people who want to receive your messages and do it in a responsible way.”
Answer “What’s in it for me?”: “The e-mail can’t just be news or info, it’s got to be something the customer can use. Give an offer,” says Bolger.
Champion yourself: Share news on employees, community contributions, and photos of contest winners. “This will localize and humanize the e-mail,” Baggot says.
Be consistent but not pushy: “You don’t want to get in people’s minds and then drop off,” says Anthony. “Send out e-mails once or twice a month…but do not hammer people with e-mail just for the sake of e-mail.”
Encourage feedback: Give customers the means to reply to the message. “It then becomes a human relationship,” says Baggot. “Even a complaint can be answered constructively.”
Track results: “Look at the open rate. Look at the response to e-mails with a coupon versus those without. Look at the sales of a new product after its e-mail announcement,” Shaw says. “Keep evaluating what’s working and what isn’t hitting the mark.”
The “Three” rule: A customer who has visited you three times is 90 percent more likely to continue the relationship. “Entice customers to come in not once or twice, but a third time and you increase your odds of having a loyal customer,” says Baggot.
Despite the marketing promises of highway billboards and primetime television spots, human interaction with the customer often produces the business world’s loftiest prize—increased revenue and profitability.
To gain the customer’s ear and open the doors to one-on-one communication, pizzeria owners have turned to the personalized allure of e-mail, capitalizing on the Internet charge by creating e-mail campaigns highlighting special offers, loyalty programs, and community involvement. Best yet, customers often respond with cash in hand.
“The goal of all organizations and businesses is to have a better relationship with customers. E-mail facilitates this because it engages people in dialog,” says Chris Baggot, co-founder of ExactTarget, an on-demand e-mail software company located in Indianapolis.
Scott Anthony, owner of Fox’s Pizza Den in Punxsutawney, PA, utilized his establishment’s 30th anniversary celebration with roll-back-the-clock $1.40 pizzas to test the viability of an e-mail promotion. Customers traveling to Fox’s website could request an e-coupon for the one-day offer. On that Wednesday night in 2001, Fox’s Pizza Den sold over 900 pizzas, a ten-fold jump from a typical mid-week day. The e-promotion, however, allowed for future contact with customers, vaulting Anthony’s sales figures and his e-mail plans.
“Our database is over 1000 now, more than a tenth of our immediate area,” he says. “This has given us an edge over anybody else in town.”
Outside of its ability to establish and maintain regular dialog between customer and business, e-mail delivers other key benefits. While direct mail campaigns often run a dollar per person, e-mail ventures cost as little as a penny per person for the in-house variety and up to a quarter per person if handed to an outside agency.
With Anthony’s present emphasis on e-mail, secured from a one-time investment of $300 to learn html, Fox’s marketing expenses have dwindled to a fraction of its once annual $6000 direct mailing costs. The same minimal investment holds for Buenos Aires Pizzeria in Denver, where owner Ana Carrera uses the software program Constant Contact to distribute her monthly messages. Chicago-based Home Run Inn, meanwhile, partners with Fishbowl to send nearly 20,000 e-mails each month to its Pizza Lovers League.
“There’s no question that e-mail boosts our bottom line. Even better, though, we’re building impressions for the restaurant and we’re doing so in an affordable way,” says Home Run Inn’s Gina Bolger.
Moreover, e-mail levels the competitive field, placing major chains on equal footing with independents, perhaps even nudging local pizzerias ahead given their ability to connect neighbors, schools, and community events.
“The major chains can beat all the Ma and Pa places on all other mass marketing venues, but with e-mail the small guy can be just as effective,” Baggot says.
The first step in e-mail communication also doubles as the most important: building a database. The snazziest e-mail creates nary a whimper if only arriving in a handful of inboxes. Home Run Inn switches between push and pull methods to gain a stream of contacts—affording customers the chance to enter special contests (a trip to Disney World) before moving to a server’s contest with incentives for the server garnering the most addresses. In contrast, Anthony’s 30th anniversary promotion provided the bulk of his database’s 1,000 names in a single day’s time.
“Nothing’s more important than building that network of names,” says Scott Shaw, CEO of Fishbowl, a Virginia-based company specializing in e-mail marketing for the restaurant industry.
With a database established, e-mails can flow with creative flair, including offbeat promotions, surveys, and contests. Home Run Inn sends special offers for birthdays and anniversaries in addition to monthly deals. Buenos Aires capitalizes on its niche as Denver’s only Argentinean-style pizzeria hyping its gelato and empanadas in addition to its pizza. Some pursue on-line ordering and use e-mail to drive it. One pizzeria on the ExactTarget plan sends an afternoon message to working moms allowing them to ready dinner with a few clicks.
“Dial up the creativity and engage people,” Shaw says. “Your e-mail needs to be just as tasty as your pizza.”
Pizzerias wary of cyberspace need not fret. E-mail software programs such as ExactTarget join with comprehensive providers like Fishbowl to afford proprietors different avenues to seize simplicity, productivity, and results. Nearly all programs claim straightforward means to monitor open rates, forwards, and redemption, thereby tracking success.
Now, some owners, like Scott Anthony, cannot imagine business life without e-mail marketing.
“I can’t see another way of doing this,” he says. “E-mail has cut my marketing costs, increased profits, and provided me a means to communicate with customers and build their trust.”
The Rules of E-Mail Engagement
Get permission: “People don’t want unrequested interruptions in their lives,” says Shaw. “Only e-mail those people who want to receive your messages and do it in a responsible way.”
Answer “What’s in it for me?”: “The e-mail can’t just be news or info, it’s got to be something the customer can use. Give an offer,” says Bolger.
Champion yourself: Share news on employees, community contributions, and photos of contest winners. “This will localize and humanize the e-mail,” Baggot says.
Be consistent but not pushy: “You don’t want to get in people’s minds and then drop off,” says Anthony. “Send out e-mails once or twice a month…but do not hammer people with e-mail just for the sake of e-mail.”
Encourage feedback: Give customers the means to reply to the message. “It then becomes a human relationship,” says Baggot. “Even a complaint can be answered constructively.”
Track results: “Look at the open rate. Look at the response to e-mails with a coupon versus those without. Look at the sales of a new product after its e-mail announcement,” Shaw says. “Keep evaluating what’s working and what isn’t hitting the mark.”
The “Three” rule: A customer who has visited you three times is 90 percent more likely to continue the relationship. “Entice customers to come in not once or twice, but a third time and you increase your odds of having a loyal customer,” says Baggot.
Writing Sample #1: Smoking Bans: No Longer a Black and White Issue (from Bowling Center Management, October 2004)
(Honored by the United States Bowling Congress as one of the TOP TEN feature stories of 2004)
Greeley, Colorado is a college town of 100,000 an hour north of Denver. It covers nearly 60,000 acres of irrigated farmlands, blue-collar homes, and true Americana: simple people who live life the right way. That said, Ed Greeley wants out.
Almost 1500 miles away, in Buffalo, New York, the gritty, industrial, football-crazed town resting on the U.S.-Canadian border, resides a city found on hard work and the simple life. But Tammy Recckio is less than pleased with local government.
To the immediate north of Chicago, in the heart of America’s Midwest, sits Skokie, Illinois—a middle-class community with its share of affluence, but nonetheless grounded in a rich history as one of Chicago’s first suburbs. And there, Jim Hammersmith, is content with life but none to happy with it.
What connects Greeley and Fickes, Buffalo and Recckio, Skokie and Hammersmith is not the bowling centers they own, but the legislation handed to them by local government—more specifically, no smoking bans that have extinguished not only the cigarettes, pipes and cigars but also a chunk of business.
“You Can’t Keep Bleeding”
Tuesday, November 9, 2004 marks the day when this nation elects its second president of the 21st century. It’s decision day for many. But for Ed Fickes of Greeley, Colorado it’s also de-annexation day. He hopes.
Fickes’ Classic Bowling Lanes, a 24-lane, 40-year establishment, sits on the edge of Greeley and neighboring Garden City, the town to which Fickes wishes to “move.” Greeley’s smoking ban, successfully passed by residents in November 2003, prohibits smoking at any location where two or more people are gathered save the private residence. Garden City has no such restriction. Thus, Fickes, who has seen business decline at Classic Lanes in the ban’s short life, wants out. His de-annexation request, the first in the city’s 134-year history, will be on the ballot this November. To the tune of $17,500 out of Fickes’ pocket.
“When all is done this will have cost me around $125,000. And that’s a safe estimate to say for what I’ve paid for attorneys, the election, and other assorted fees,” Fickes said. “This [2004] is also the first year we didn’t have an increase in business. I didn’t even have the money to do summer maintenance. We saw a 15 percent loss to bowling, food, and beverage and the biggest loss was in open bowling.
“Generally, the bowlers don’t come in early anymore to eat before bowling and don’t stay late after their games are over. Nobody seemed to recognize all the issues [the no smoking ban] would create. The games are slower and everybody’s affected. We’ve also heard talk from the ABT that they won’t be back if the ban’s in effect.”
De-annexation wasn’t Fickes’ first attempt to halt the ban’s negative presence at Classic Lanes. He first attempted to convince the Greeley City Council that his $60,000 air filtration system would do the trick. When that measure failed, Fickes was forced to take his struggle the de-annexation route.
“This is a battle I shouldn’t have had to fight,” he said, “because the air system I put in is a quality one. The city was willing to look at amendments but the voters voted. We [the public establishments] did nothing but sit on our hands and watch it pass. I assumed voters were smarter because it’s the strictest ban you could ever have.”
In retrospect, Fickes admits, public establishments such as restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues should have consolidated efforts to inform the public.
“We should have formed a committee of concerned citizens for owners’ rights to allow people to make the choice whether or not to patronize a business and allow smoking. That didn’t happen until after the fact. Nobody seemed to recognize all the issues it would create. And it has been a costly and aggravating mistake.
“I’m doing everything I can for my bowlers—the smokers and non-smokers. I suspect that in time a group will get together to revoke the ban but I can’t wait for that. I felt this special ballot was a necessary step. You can’t keep bleeding.”
“A Proven Hardship”
Recckio’s Bowling Center and Perfect Shot Sports Bar in Buffalo has also felt the sting of New York’s state smoking ban.
Enacted in the summer of 2003, the state’s legislation prohibits smoking in any public place and additionally states that one must be 50 feet from a doorway to light up. Recckio, who took ownership of the center in 1999, anticipated the ban coming and made bold moves. She spent $1.5 million doing reconstruction, adding a sports bar and taking the previous bar away from the lanes to allow bowling its private space. But the moves weren’t enough once the law, a more forceful one than most had expected, was handed down.
“We had been hearing rumors for five months prior and we found out two weeks before the ban became active that it was a done deal. It was done in a closed door, weekend meeting and even our lobbyist for the Bowling Proprietors Association was unaware,” Recckio said.
Immediately, Recckio saw a drop in business and looked for a fix.
“We saw a 50 percent decrease in our bar alone,” she said.
Initially, Recckio called the Erie County Health Department, the organization in charge of enforcing the ban, but saw little progress. She then went to smoking and legislative meetings.
“I felt we weren’t getting anywhere in getting the law rescinded,” she said, “so I tried to come up with some kind of waiver or compromise.”
Recckio sought certain times for smoking, but the city wouldn’t budge. Eventually, they made concessions. The Erie County Health Department allowed waivers to be issued, but the application process was not an easy one for Recckio and her staff.
“The waiver application required about 90 hours of work and is very much like going to an IRS audit. It’s as intricate as doing taxes for the last three years with liquor invoices, canceled checks, and sales receipts,” Recckio said.
And what did the successful waiver application get Recckio? A pair of smoking rooms, each equipped with a negative pressure ventilation system, an alarmed door, and non-smoking brochures.
“It’s been a proven hardship,” said Recckio. “It’s been at least $50,000 just on labor, costs, and loss of business. But besides the monetary losses, you’re taking away enjoyment people need right now. It’s caused some dissension.”
“I Have to Eat It”
At Skokie Lanes, Jim Hammersmith sees his visitors take their puffs at will, but not without a drop in business due to the Skokie, Illinois smoking restrictions. Originally, the Skokie ban prevented anyone under the age of 18 from being in a smoking environment unless accompanied by an adult.
“I was at all the meetings and they told me it was going to be nobody under 18 unless with an adult. And I had no problem with that,” Hammersmith said.
However, an amendment was added, in a move Hammersmith says was personally motivated, to ban all minors from smoking environments. As such, Hammersmith’s two sons—by law—can’t even visit dad at work.
“I’ll have people call and ask about open bowling or such and I’ll have to tell them that everybody must be over 18. We used to have a lot of families who would come in here with their kids—10, 12 years old—but not anymore,” Hammersmith said. “The ban went into effect on July 7, 2003 and in that time period we’ve lost 15-20 percent of business. Thankfully, I have enough people here and this is their watering hole.”
Hammersmith’s contention, as is the case with so many others dealing with smoking bans, is that people can then travel within five minutes of his place to do their bowling.
“It’s actually a foolish move by the village,” he said. “People who live in Skokie have to go spend their money elsewhere. I’m the only bowling alley left in Skokie.”
While Fickes and Recckio took drastic measures to counter the legislation, Hammersmith, who’s owned Skokie Lanes for 26 years, sees no such moves on his part.
“I’m not going to hire a lawyer and deal with all that. They say it’s hard to fight city hall,” said Hammersmith. “If there were others effected by the ban, then I’d try to get people involved in a fight, but there’s not so I have to eat it.”
“People Will Adjust Their Habits”
Nearby Hammersmith’s Skokie Lanes, in the northwest Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove, is Bill Feldgreber and his eSkape Entertainment. Feldgreber voluntarily made his establishment a non-smoking one upon opening in May 2003.
“We have 60,000 square feet of entertainment space and there’s no smoking except in the bar, which is completely separated from the lanes,” said Feldgreber, whose proactive approach—though not the one most center owners would impose—has been met with success.
Feldgreber’s decision was not an easy one; it came with research, hundreds of conversations, and a constant process of discerning information.
“I went to every single convention possible. I’d ask the questions and get opinions from others. I listened to what they had to say. I was at a seminar recently and some businesses have gone down 40-50 percent,” Feldgreber said. “I look at New York, California, Florida and I see it’s happening and there’s little people can do about it.”
Yet, one tale pushed Feldgreber to the no-smoking side. At one conference, he heard the story of a 60-lane center on an Army base in Texas that went non-smoking.
“That story convinced me that this was the way to go. I said, ‘If they can do it, then why can’t I?’ It was a gut decision and after a year and half we’re happy with that decision. It hasn’t hindered our business. We have over 1400 league bowlers and as we solicited them the question came up. I stood firm with my decision because I believe it’s the right one. Smoking causes a lot of issues.”
Ultimately, however, says Feldgreber, it’s not about smoking or not smoking, but rather the environment you create for the bowlers that will make them take to your lanes over others.
“If you make yourself different than anybody else and make it a special place to be, then people will adjust their habits.”
What to Do? Solutions and Ways to Get Involved
From the stories of Fickes, Recckio, and Hammersmith, it emerges clear that smoking bans can have a nasty effect on business and lead to time-consuming and expensive alternatives to escape the grip of legislation. The trio offers these words of advice to others hoping to protect their business:
Never Assume. “Don’t assume that because something is so restrictive that people will look past it,” Fickes said. “It’s been a shock to me and an expensive shock at that. It’ll likely take two years to recoup all because I assumed the voters were smarter.”
Know Your Lobbyist and Work with the Legislation. “Talk to your government and give your avid opinions,” Recckio said. “And if this does happen, work to get waivers as soon as possible and go through the process with detail and care.”
Be Proactive. Protect your business and avoid any potential hazards by speaking with your local government about ways to keep your establishment the way you want despite any potential legislation. Take control of your destiny and see if you can counter a no smoking ban if one should ever come your way.
Gather with Other Business Leaders. Make sure your interests as well as those in similar business ventures are protected. Educate voters about potential legislation and the far-reaching effects it can have for them and their entertainment. Be prepared for everything, says Hammersmith. Know what the village is planning on doing. Get organized, ask questions, get answers, and check up on everything. And most, don’t take anything too lightly.
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