By Bob Andelman

BTR: Charles Grodin: Farrah Fawcett Was ‘as Nice a Person as I’ve Ever Met’

2009-06-29T15:07:00.000-04:00

"She's been on my mind more lately," Charles (above) told us of Farrah.

Ten weeks before Farrah Fawcett died tragically of cancer at age 62 last week, one of her silver-screen co-stars was singing the actress’ praises - and rightfully so.

Interviewed in April on Mr. Media, Charles Grodin reminisced about working with the beloved beauty in the 1979 comedy-thriller Sunburn.

“Farrah? Just as nice a person as I’ve ever met. Just couldn’t be nicer,” he told host Bob Andelman.

“I had love scenes [with her], but I never went out with her. She was a darling - and is a darling person,” he continued.

“I’ve never heard anyone say anything negative about her. And I know people who know her a lot better than I do.”

Also during the interview, Charles recalled how a bit player in the flick “accidentally” assaulted him while filming.

“I was supposed to be unconscious and he was supposed to punch me while I was lying there,” he said.

But after breaking Charles’ nose, the actor said to the leading man:

“You have all these love scenes with Farrah, and I have a big crush on her.”

To hear Charles’ full interview, click here.

Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!
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BlogTalkRadio.com: Peri Gilpin: Bob ‘Full House’ Saget is America’s Smutmeister

2009-06-22T08:24:00.000-04:00

Could one man possibly be responsible for all of our nation’s salacious schtick?

Yes, say sitcom staples Peri Gilpin and Candace Cameron Bure – and that man is Bob Saget.

Peri: Wise to “funny”man’s ways.

Interviewed on Mr. Media, Peri, who played Roz Doyle on Frasier, and Candace, who played D.J. Tanner on Full House, roast their pal Bob – who led the Full House cast as widowed dad Danny Tanner – big-time.

Discussing her TV alma mater with host Bob Andelman, Candace says:

“There’s definitely a place for shows like Full House, where, as parents, we can safely allow our children to watch, and not worry about whether they’ll be exposed to something that isn’t age- appropriate.”

That’s when Peri, who co-stars with Candace in the ABC Family series Make It or Break It, jumps in with this zinger:

“Wait a minute. What about Bob Saget?”

“Exactly. I grew up with that,” replies Candace. “I grew up wayyyy too fast.”

Candace (right): Corrupted by Bob (left)?

“Are you going to blame everything bad that’s happened to you on Saget?” asks our host.

“We’re blaming him for all the dirty jokes in our lives,” says Peri.

“All the dirty jokes in America,” adds Candace.

“I know Bob because I work out at the gym with him – and Candace was there, too, for a while,” says Peri, before whacking the final nail into the Sagat legacy:

“So I know Bob’s little ‘spicy act.’”

To hear Peri and Candace’s full interview, click here.

Make It or Break It premieres Monday, June 22.

Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!
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Mary McCormack: Howard Stern Says My Boobs Are Great (BlogTalkRadio.com)

2009-06-13T18:55:00.000-04:00

June 12th, 2009

"I feel so lucky that he's such a sweetheart," Mary (above) tells us of Howard.

It’s good to know that Howard Stern - who married longtime lady friend Beth Ostrosky in October - still loves his movie wife.

Interviewed on Mr. Media, Mary McCormack says the King of All Media to this day thinks of her as his queen.

Mary, 40, of course played Howard’s first wife, Alison, is his 1997 biopic, Private Parts.

When host Bob Andelman asks the actress, “You still in contact with Howard Stern?” she replies:

“I am. I was at his wedding this year.”

Later on, the married mother of two says she never thought that being cast as the mother of Howard’s kids would lead to a lifelong commitment to the shock jock.

“He’s been a great friend to me over the years. And I hope he always will be. I mean, who knew? You don’t expect it from Howard Stern,” says Mary, who plays U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon on In Plain Sight.

As Alison, with Howard, in "Private Parts."

“He’s everything you don’t expect… He’s so lovely to me and always has - and he says my boobs are great.

“So, you know, it could be worse.”

In Plain Sight airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on the USA Network.

To hear Mary’s full interview, click here.

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In Deep: Odyssey Marine Exploration, Tampa (Maddux.com)

2009-06-09T17:59:00.001-04:00

"In Deep"
Maddux Business Report
Cover Story, June 2009
By Bob Andelman

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20 Worst CEOs (Portfolio.com)

2009-05-27T18:06:00.000-04:00

Albert J. Dunlap
Author
Mean Business
Illustration by Steve Brodner, Portfolio.com
-----------------

I wrote Mean Business with Al Dunlap in 1996. With all the really bad CEOs who have come and gone in the last dozen years since publication, I was surprised Portfolio put Al in a group of "The 20 Worst CEOs." People forget that he was called "Chainsaw Al" because he was always hired to bring out-of-control conglomerates back to their basics and recover shareholder value. And that's exactly what he did, every time out but the last. I know he could be a hard guy to like, but the same reporters that throws stones at him in retirement were sucking up to him before Sunbeam. And you'd be surprised how many people still swear by the four basic tenets of Mean Business.

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Older folks are reconnecting with friends, family online — now it's your turn (st. Petersburg Times)

2009-05-11T09:44:00.000-04:00

Grandparents Bob and Karen Jodal of Seminole and great-grandmother Pat Gloeckner wouldn’t miss this birthday: Little Paige turned 1 in Dallas on April 4 and they shared in the celebration with family, including Paige’s mom and dad, Jen and Scott Taylor, using Skype for video, visible on their television, right, as well as on their computer.

[CHRIS ZUPPA | Times]

By Bob Andelman

Special to the Times
In Print: Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Mom's putting the birthday girl's highchair in place. Nervous excitement buzzes with the growing chatter of two dozen children and adults.

Redheaded Paige is plopped into her seat, grinning broadly, ready to be the center of attention on her first birthday.

And she is, across a thousand miles and two living rooms.

As Paige is served a chunk of pink frosted birthday cake as big as her head and everybody sings Happy Birthday in Dallas, her grandparents and great-grandmother in Seminole are part of the fun and can be seen and heard in Texas, singing along.

Paige giggles and grabs her cake with both hands, delightedly smearing her face.

Bob Jodal, 60, his wife, Karen, 59, and her 84-year-old mother, Pat Gloeckner, shared in this family milestone this month, keeping in touch with remarkable technology that's not limited to kids anymore. They use Skype, an easy-to-use online video conference service that has enriched their lives.

Technology can only do so much, though. Paige's father, Scott Taylor, is so tall that he is seen only as a yellow shirt in the computer monitor. And there's the matter of that cake.

"Hey, Jen," Bob asks his daughter and Paige's mom, "would you have Scott fax us a piece of cake?"

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The Profit Zone-German Edition Book Cover

2009-04-28T15:41:00.000-04:00

You might have to squint your eyes to see my co-author's credit under that of Adrian Slywotzky and David Morrison, but it's there! The Profit Zone was translated into 16 languages and has sold more than 100,000 copies to date.

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Destination Unknown: Tampa Bay Commercial Real Estate Outlook 2009 (Maddux Business Report)

2009-04-27T14:37:00.000-04:00

By Bob Andelman
April 2009
Maddux Business Report

The most remarkable characteristic of commercial real estate professionals in today’s market is that they’re not jumping out of any of those tall, empty office buildings’ windows.

Or maybe it’s just that since the Great Depression, they don’t make windows like they once did and they’re harder to get open.

Either way, commercial real estate is a tough, tough business to be in these days.

“My first question,” says Bill Eshenbaugh of Eshenbaugh Land Co. in Tampa, “is, is there an outlook?”

We’ll ask the questions here, if you don’t mind.

“This is a year of some real reckoning in terms of seeing it get worse,” Eshenbaugh says. “Retail developers are probably an oxymoron. How are you in retail and development these days?

“I had a bumper sticker the last time that said, ‘Lord, give me one more cycle and I promise I won’t piss it away like I did the last one.’ This last cycle had a 15-year run. We thought the parade was going on for a while. Look at how many homes were sold! We were down to 3 or 4 percent unemployment. You’ll find very few who made it to the sidelines safely because it was so much fun.”

You know it’s true. And so does Bruce Erhardt, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield in Tampa.

“I get guys who call me and say, ‘I got this land for 30 cents on the dollar!’” he says. “And I say, ‘Oh, you paid market?’ And there’s silence on the line. They don’t want to hear that.”

That said, there is still no reason to have hope according to seasoned professionals such as Erhardt, Eshenbaugh, Lee Arnold, Larry Richey, Robin Bishop and Dan Woodward. They’re all doing exactly the opposite of giving up.

Of course, they’re doing it while trimming staff and overhead, expanding their leasing and property management operations… and crossing fingers that they’re not overly optimistic.

“There are only three land buyers today: investors, land users and the government,” says Erhardt. “Developers are not in the market, for two reasons. Reason one: financing. Reason two: there is no need to deliver new product to the market today – retail, industrial, office or hotels. Maybe apartments, but those other products don’t need to be built.”

That said, there will be land deals done in ‘09 that are bank deals. There are some deals that have legs, Erhardt says–from education, medical and government and users. “We know of two federal government deals in the market right now that have a good chance of closing this year and I know of an education deal. But if you think somebody is going to buy office or suburban retail, that’s on the edge. Remember years ago when Publix went to Van Dyke at Dale Mabry, far out on what was the edge? We’re not seeing retailers take that risk now.”

Click HERE to keep reading!

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Find New Mr. Media Posts...

2009-04-25T14:36:00.000-04:00

Wondering where the latest Mr. Media audio interview have gone? They're all at http://www.mrmedia.com or http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mrmedia ! Come on over and see us there!

You can also follow Mr. Media on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/andelman !

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So this is 50 (St. Petersburg Times-LifeTimes)

2009-03-27T15:00:00.000-04:00

10 Tampa Bay area women reflect on life at 50 — and beyond

By Mimi Andelman, LifeTimes Editor

& Bob Andelman, Special to the Times

St. Petersburg Times

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Beverly Mitlin, 81, left, volunteers in the family waiting room at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. At right is volunteer Evelyn McArthur.
	[LARA CERRI \| Times]

Turning 50? Welcome to middle age. It's not necessarily a milestone that a woman — or a man — greets without some angst.

For women, it can be an especially annoying occasion, crepe-papered in black by societal expectations, hard-wiring or just stereotype.

But mostly, it's time to stop and assess. Where have I been? Where am I going? Who am I right now?

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Barter It! (Corporate Meetings & Incentives)

2009-03-26T14:56:00.000-04:00

By Bob Andelman

Corporate Meetings & Incentives Magazines

January 2009

Highlights

The economy has forced meeting managers to get creative and look for deals in new places. One of those places is barter exchanges.

The economy has forced meeting managers to get creative and look for deals in new places. One of those places is barter exchanges — companies that specialize in bringing together manufacturers and service providers in mostly cashless exchanges of product overstock and inventory. That includes hotel rooms, says Tom McDowell, executive director of the National Association of Trade Exchanges in Mentor, Ohio. “A lot of hotels and resorts are already organized for barter, and those that aren't are usually open to barter opportunities.”

For example, Les Grafman, publisher and owner of New Parent magazine in White Plains, N.Y., used trade credits for magazine ads to take his entire staff to an industry trade show rather than just 40 percent of the staff, which is what he could have afforded otherwise. Grafman is a regular client of NTA Trade, a barter exchange company based in Niles, Ill.

“Everything went great,” he says. “There were probably 30 room nights involved. We used cash for taxes plus some miscellaneous meals and drinks. But 95 percent of it was on trade.”

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

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David H. Lawrence XVII pulls Mr. Media’s strings as the ‘Heroes’ Puppetmaster!

2009-03-25T21:57:00.001-04:00

Golfer Amy Alcott gives Mr. Media a peek at her Leaderboard!

2009-03-25T21:43:00.001-04:00

Golfer Amy Alcott gives Mr. Media a peek at her Leaderboard!

2009-03-25T21:42:00.001-04:00

Meeting Counsel: Tyra W. Hilliard Q & A (Corporate Meetings & Incentives)

2009-03-25T14:53:00.000-04:00

By Bob Andelman

Corporate Meetings & Incentives Magazine

January 2009

It would be hard to find anyone who's traveled the career path of TYRA W. HILLIARD, Esq., CMP. Having moved from meeting planner to CVB staffer to hotel catering pro to lawyer to educator, Hilliard has a rare perspective on the industry. Now, she's combining her skills as a consultant and teacher in George Washington University's Department of Tourism & Hospitality Management while maintaining a Washington, D.C., law practice that represents associations, nonprofits, and independent meeting and event professionals.

Corporate Meetings & Incentives: How many legal issues come up in the world of meetings and events?

Hilliard: More than you would think. In fact, it was my experience as a meeting and conference planner and hotel catering manager that eventually drove me to law school. I realized that one of the biggest issues for meetings was contracts and liability. That was even before attrition and cancellation clauses were common and before we had so many monetary damages just for performance issues. There were a couple of attorneys specializing in the meetings industry back then, but not too many. I decided that was a niche that would be good for me, and, best case scenario, I would be able to help planners with the kinds of legal issues that I wished I had known more about when I was a planner.

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Polk County Corporate Report (Maddux Business Report)

2009-03-24T14:49:00.002-04:00

By Bob Andelman
Maddux Business Report
March 2009

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A PCMA First: Kati Quigley Q &A (Corporate Meetings & Incentives)

2009-03-23T09:31:00.000-04:00

Image via CrunchBase

By Bob Andelman

Corporate Meetings & Incentives Magazine

Feb 1, 2009

Kati Quigley, CMP, is the 2009 chair-elect of the Professional Convention Management Association, the first corporate planner to hold that position.

Corporate Meetings & Incentives: What has been your involvement with PCMA, and how do you see the year ahead?

QUIGLEY: I have been a member of PCMA for close to 15 years now. I started when I was on the association side of the business, but when I switched to Microsoft, I stuck with PCMA because I think the education is so solid and at a senior level.

For the year ahead, I think what has shifted a bit is that, with the economy, people have to be more agile. PCMA can support its members given all of the struggles that everybody's facing right now. I think that's probably the most important thing for the organization to do in this coming year.

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Will Eisner: A Spirited Life Audiobook Exclusive--Ch. 20: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons of Watchmen

2009-03-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

Cover of Watchmen

In 2005, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, Bob Andelman's authorized biography of the late American comic book master, was published by Dark Horse/M Press.

This spring, the audiobook version of the book will finally be released via Audible.com and iTunes.

In celebration of “Will Eisner Week” (March 3-7, 2009) and the release of the much anticipated film adaptation of Watchmen on March 6, 2009, Tampa Digital Studios agreed to release an exclusive audio excerpt of Will Eisner: A Spirited Life for broadcast on the BlogTalkRadio.com network.

Beginning at 10 p.m. ET on March 5, 2009, you can listen to the excerpt here: http://tinyurl.com/bqkk7e

Chapter 20, from which this excerpt comes, deals with Watchmen creatorsAlan Moore and Dave Gibbons reminiscing about creating the first issueof Will Eisner’s The Spirit: The New Adventures. It was their first collaboration in a decade, since the publication of the original Watchmen comic book series in 1986.

Will Eisner: A Spirited Life audiobook is narrated by the book’sauthor, Bob Andelman. It is produced by Michael Piotrowski andengineered by Joshua Agnew for Tampa Digital Studios.

Will Eisner: A Spirited Life

Mr. Media's audio interview with Dave Gibbons

Cover of Watchmen

In 2005, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, Bob Andelman's authorized bioraphy of the late American comic book master, was published by Dark Horse/M Press.

This spring, the audiobook version of the book will finally be released via Audible.com and iTunes.

In celebration of “Will Eisner Week” (March 3-7, 2009) and the release of the much anticipated film adaptation of Watchmen on March 6, 2009, Tampa Digital Studios agreed to release an exclusive audio excerpt of Will Eisner: A Spirited Life for broadcast on the BlogTalkRadio.com network.

Chapter 20, from which this excerpt comes, deals with Watchmen creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons reminiscing about creating the first issue of Will Eisner’s The Spirit: The New Adventures. It was the first collaboration in a decade, since the publication of the original Watchmen comic book series in 1986.

Will Eisner: A Spirited Life audiobook is narrated by the book’s author, Bob Andelman. It is produced by Michael Piotrowski and engineered by Joshua Agnew for Tampa Digital Studios.

Will Eisner: A Spirited Life

Mr. Media's audio interview with Dave Gibbons

RCMA 2009 Annual Convention: Video Day 3

2009-02-07T12:28:00.002-05:00

Here's Day 2 video highlights from the 2009 Religious Conference Management Association, as produced by Larry Keltto and myself.

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

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RCMA 2009 Annual Convention: Video Day 2

2009-02-06T08:10:00.000-05:00

Here's Day 2 video highlights from the 2009 Religious Conference Management Association, as produced by Larry Keltto and myself.

Day 2

Day 1

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RCMA 2009 Annual Convention: Video Day 1

2009-02-05T08:04:00.002-05:00

Something different: every year since 2002, I've been part of a team with Larry Keltto and Kristen Payson that produces a daily newspaper for attendees at the Religious Conference Management Association's annual convention.

This year, Larry and I added a new wrinkle to our RCMA coverage: daily video highlights. We literally learned how to do it on the fly using my daughter's new video camera and figuring out iMovie as needed. It was a blast and I'm hoping it leads to new opportunities.

Check out Day 1's video highlights here!

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Meeting Counsel: Tyra Hilliard QA (Corporate Meetings and Incentives Magazine)

2009-02-04T15:58:00.000-05:00

By Bob Andelman

Jan 1, 2009

Corporate Meetings & Incentives Magazine

Corporate Meetings & Incentives: How many legal issues come up in the world of meetings and events?

CMI: Looking back at 2008, airlines' reduced schedules and other woes have played havoc with meetings. From a legal perspective, can planners protect themselves?

Hilliard: When maintenance issues grounded the American Airlines MD-80 fleet in March, that created attrition situations for a lot of groups. People couldn't get to their meetings or couldn't get home from them. And with cutbacks, established routes to second-tier cities were suddenly no longer there, which created some interesting issues. The problem is that the law doesn't always look at that as a no-fault sort of thing. To some extent, this is a business risk that you take when you choose a destination for your meeting, and your people book their airfare. Everybody wants a contract clause that will protect them like a suit of armor, but I don't think there is such a thing. But language has come out of some of those situations that's been applied in similar situations that can protect people, like making sure they negotiate strong attrition clauses.

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Barter for Meetings (Corporate Meetings and Incentives Magazine)

2009-02-02T15:53:00.000-05:00

By Bob Andelman

Jan 1, 2009

Corporate Meetings & Incentives Magazine

“Everything went great,” he says. “There were probably 30 room nights involved. We used cash for taxes plus some miscellaneous meals and drinks. But 95 percent of it was on trade.”

How It Works

The essence of barter exchange is this: If your company makes widgets and finds inventory is higher than expected, you might commit $25,000 worth of those widgets to a barter exchange for credit. Meanwhile, across town or across the country, a conference hotel knows that February weekends are its quietest time. It makes 100 rooms and a banquet hall — valued at $25,000 — available to the barter exchange for every weekend in February.

Sales reps at the barter exchange then look for a match. The hotel and the widget manufacturer don't trade directly. The widget manufacturer might apply its $25,000 in barter credit toward a February weekend at the hotel; the hotel might use its value in advertising, office supplies, equipment for its operations, and so forth.

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David Allen Profile (Nimbus/Biz 941)

2009-01-21T23:22:00.000-05:00

Cover via AmazonBy Bob Andelman
July 2007

Fast Company magazine called New College alum David Allen (’68) “one of the world’s most influential thinkers on productivity.”

Lots of people know the work of Allen these days through the reach of major profiles in Time and Business 2.0 magazines, as well as his popular books, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity and Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life, and management seminars.

Based now in Ojai, California, Allen is an admitted late bloomer in life who left New College and Sarasota in the mid-1960s for the California Zen. His path took him through the heart of the ‘70s New Age movement, during which he developed a relationship with pop psych guru John-Roger and his Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness. Along the way, Allen married four times, finally hitting pay dirt with Kathryn, with whom in 1996 he founded and runs the David Allen Company (www.davidco.com ), which had 2006 revenues of $6 million and 32 employees. His approach to organization and efficiency has hit the right note with thousands of people nationwide.

“I happen to like no-stress; I like clear space in my head,” Allen says. “I think everybody can relate to feeling buried and confused. But if you make a list, you feel better. If you realize that, you will never feel confused the rest of your life. That’s what I figured out. Get stuff out of your head, realize what it means to you and you can negate that stuff.”

Allen, 61, a Louisiana native who once made his presence known on campus with the roar of his motorcycle, has nothing but fond memories of his unconventional education at New College.

“It makes people like me who don’t fit in, fit in,” he says. “It was a great, noble experiment. It certainly was a microcosm of a lot of the world, a great window into a lot of opportunity, a lot of bright people thrown into a small space. I’ve always loved the idea of a salon, where people of like minds get together and things happen. New College created a fertile atmosphere for that. I still feel a sense of gratitude to New College for having had that experience there.”

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Stephen Sensoli Profile (Nimbus/Biz 941)

2009-01-19T23:27:00.000-05:00

New College, Sarasota, image by RTC1 via FlickrBy Bob Andelman
July 2007

One year of sending his son to the University of Miami and Stephen Sensoli’s father was fed up.

“I’m glad you’re having fun,” he said of Stephen’s entertaining freshman year at one of the mid-70s’ predominant party schools, “but this doesn’t make sense.”

And that’s how Sensoli (’80) found himself enrolled at New College in 1977.

“I wanted to stay in Florida and go to a good college. New College was, and hopefully still is, a place where people who didn’t fit in in other places could go. That’s the way I was. I didn’t have time to deal with the realities of a typical school. New College allowed me to focus on what I thought – at the time – was important to my future career.”

That career was destined be as an entrepreneur, as Sensoli went on to earn an MBA from the University of Michigan and build a reputation for himself as a business development expert in the pharmaceuticals industry. He worked for Leeco Diagnostics, a Michigan-based biotech company, for 10 years, including time spent in China setting up a joint venture for his employer.

When he returned to Michigan, the company announced a joint venture with Johnson & Johnson and Sensoli was asked to run the startup, which produced the Fact-PlusTM home pregnancy test and a Strep A home diagnostic test. “I got a reputation in Southeast Michigan as someone who could grow things.”

GeneWorks was one of several companies he helped start. During his six years as CEO, the company raised $20 million and did deals with nine biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

“We genetically engineered chickens to lay eggs with pharmaceutical protein in the egg whites,” Sensoli explains. “That was a really cool company with a lot of super-smart people. At least 22 of the 25 employees had masters or higher degrees. We used to have great Trivial Pursuit parties. There was almost no topic where you could stump the crowd.”

Today, Sensoli commutes weekly from his home in Plymouth, Michigan, to his position as director of global business development with Banner Pharmacaps in High Point, NC.

Sensoli, 49, a married father of two teens, well remembers the culture shock of landing at New College from Miami. “As one of the smartest and highest ranking kids from my high school, going to New College – where everybody was highest ranked – was humbling. But that was good, too. It’s a great place to build a lot of character and independence. It really prepares you for the world when you get out of that. You are truly responsible for building your own curriculum and accomplishing it. It prepares you for the business world and life.”

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