A few midcoast moments

Last Thursday, we made our third stop in our On the Road with Mainebiz event series. This time, we ventured to Rockland.

I have to admit to having a bit of a soft spot for midcoast Maine. I grew up in what’s sometimes referred to as the “southern midcoast,” that amorphous Brunswick-Topsham-Bath region between greater Portland and the honest-to-goodness midcoast. I’ve also been the unofficial midcoast reporter here, so I’ve traveled to the midcoast a few times to talk with a number of businesses.

Thursday’s weather was just perfect, so I decided to take a little detour on my way to Rockland and do something I’ve never done before: eat at Red’s Eats in Wiscasset. Yes, it’s true, this Maine native has never stood in line at that iconic Route 1 eatery, waiting for a lobster roll – that is, until last Thursday.

The line that day wasn’t very long but it still took a good 20 minutes to place my order. Judging by the conversations around me, I guessed the other Red’s customers were college students, locals and tourists alike.

I went for their award-winning lobster roll and some onion rings, and my order was up in just a few minutes.

I was equal parts eager and hesitant to dig in. But Red’s, I’m sorry to say -- it was not the best lobster roll I've ever had. (My view no way reflects the views of Mainebiz or my Mainebiz colleagues, especially since an informal poll showed a few Red’s fans in the office. I’m outnumbered).

I will, however, concede that Wiscasset may indeed be the prettiest village in Maine: cafes, lots of antique shops, general stores and lovely, historic buildings.

If you don't mind the traffic.

Once I made it to Rockland, I had some time to walk around and enjoy the downtown. Art galleries are to Rockland what antique stores are to Wiscasset. I had such an urge to splurge on a painting and try and fit it into my Corolla.

The Farnsworth Art Museum is the center of the town's art culture. I wonder how many tourists go there looking for a sandwich, though.

The Mainebiz event was at Amalfi on the Water and featured a simply stunning view. Despite the lovely weather that could have lured folks away, the event drew a good number of people interesting in networking and meeting the Mainebiz folks.

I left the event with some good contacts and a few story ideas – couldn’t have asked for more.

If you want to connect with Mainebiz in person, put June 14 on your calendar – we’ll be heading to Poland. Hope to see you!

You'll be able to see more photos from the On the Road Rockland event here.

A heartfelt tribute from a Business Leader of the Year

Last week, Mainebiz threw its annual shindig recognizing our 2012 Business Leaders of the Year. The event brought out more than 200 people, practically filling the Portland Club to capacity (and way overfilling the parking lot).

Photo by Tim Greenway

By the time we Mainebizzers (yes, we sometimes call ourselves that) get to the event, we already feel like we know our BLOYs (and yes, we call our honorees that -- but not usually to their faces) inside and out. Not only have we read the nominations submitted about them, we've talked to their peers about their leadership acumen, and we've interviewed them at least twice -- once for the print story and once again on camera for a video.

And while the conversation sometimes turns to personal details -- like their families, what they do outside the office and what led them to their line of work, which often is as much about their personal passions as it is their professional experience -- the stories we write generally focus on their lives as business leaders.

So what's really great about the reception is getting to know our business leaders in a different way, and our audience gets to know them better, too. Because while our articles might focus on their business side, their acceptance speeches always go to the personal, the people who matter most to them -- their employees, their colleagues and their families.

I spotted more than a few people dabbing their eyes after nonprofit leader Michael Tarpinian's emotional thank-you to his mentor: his father. Click the video to watch part of his speech.

Read about and see more of our Business Leaders of the Year here.
See more photos from the reception here.

A day in Sanford

A few of us Mainebiz editorial types headed to Sanford on April 25 for the second stop in the On the Road with Mainebiz series. We'll be making six stops around the state this year to meet and greet with business owners and readers (our first stop was Bangor).

The event was held at the Town Club, located on the fourth floor of the old Sanford Trust building, built by the Goodalls. Sanford business leaders’ pride in the facility was obvious. Many remarked how the club was built by former mill owners as an, ahem, gentlemen’s club for their top executives. The circa 1915 charm oozed from every wood-paneled corner. As our publisher, Donna Brassard, commented at the event, we felt very Mad Men-y. (If you haven't seen Mad Men, the AMC show about New York City ad men in the 1960s, you can check out past seasons on Netflix). 

Buzzers that were used to give advance warning of any raid were still on the walls. And see that round seat behind me and Events & Marketing Manager Jenna Grant? Word was that they used to open up back in the day so the men could stash their booze when the Prohibition cops showed up. We didn't check to see if anything had been left behind...

The building has fabulous views, allowing its original patrons to look down on their mill empires.

Current patrons can enjoy looking at brightly painted buildings.

The facility is now home to Above and Beyond Catering, which providing some mouth-watering treats for our event, like these egg rolls.

As we do at every On the Road event, we organized a roundtable discussion with area readers to get their feedback on Mainebiz and talk about story ideas. During the talk, they lamented the town's lack of highway access, which they believe puts it just out of reach of prospective businesses and residents. However, leaders boasted about the town’s blue-collar work ethic, saying that more workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard call Sanford home.

As many business owners commented, Sanford struggles with many of the same issues as other towns that were once reliant on mills. But Sanford is poised for a rebound, with the Goodall Mill slated to be renovated into 36 market-rate condominiums with 23,000 square feet of commercial space and a new high school/vocational center.

We'll be in Rockland next week, on the 17th. Will we see you there? Click here to register! 

You can see more photos from the Sanford reception here.

Women to Watch Leadership Forum recap

Last Thursday, Mainebiz held its second annual Women to Watch Leadership Forum. A sell-out crowd of 150 people gathered to hear three women executives talk about "grace under fire" -- how to handle controversy and public scrutiny. The three panelists were two Women to Watch honorees -- Patricia Quinn of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which operates the Downeaster; and Colleen Hilton, Westbrook's mayor and CEO of VNA Home Health & Hospice -- as well as Megan Williams, executive director of nonprofit Hardy Girls Healthy Women, a Next List honoree who sat in for our original third panelist who couldn't attend because of a family emergency. Editor Carol Coultas and I (online editor Mindy Woerter) moderated the discussion.

Photo by Tim Greenway. See more photos from the event here.

Our panelists shared strategies for keeping your cool in the face of scrutiny, making tough decisions about when and how to respond to criticism and managing opposition while also keeping your focus on your employees. As a young woman, it was particularly illuminating for me to hear about their insights on what it takes to be a strong leader under pressure, and how important it is to develop a thick skin when it comes to criticism.

One theme jumped out during the discussion that particularly resonated with me as a journalist: how to handle the media. Our three panelists voiced some criticism for how and what various media outlets choose to cover, and shared frustration over a tendency to sensationalize to grab readers' attention. Colleen Hilton in particular wondered why local papers focused on negative news (like her decision to let go city officials during her inauguration) instead of the benefits of, for example, Westbrook's community garden. Megan Williams shared the fallout her organization got over a not-so-flattering photo that seemed to reinforce the perception that she and her colleagues are just "angry feminists." (It wasn't all bad, however -- the panelists acknowledged that the media can help get attention for certain issues, and Patricia Quinn cited a largely positive relationship with local reporters.)

Attendees latched onto the theme of media relations, asking the panelists questions about good PR and how to get the media to pay attention to your story. I leaned over to Carol and whispered that we could probably fill a room with a panel devoted solely to getting press coverage for your business or event.

I thought our panelists all had some great media savvy that they passed along to listeners. I'll share their tips along with my insights for getting the media's attention (with a caveat that I dislike the generalization "the media" -- not only because I think it's used more pejoratively than descriptively, and because I see little similarity between what I do at Mainebiz and what they do at The National Enquirer. But I digress.)

Develop relationships. Our panelists talked about the importance of figuring out which reporters cover their geographic area or industry and cultivating relationships with those people. Adam Lee, president of Lee Auto Malls and on the board of the Efficiency Maine Trust, was in the audience and stood up to share an anecdote: He was always getting calls from reporters about issues related to sustainability. He finally asked why he was their go-to person. The answer? "You always call back, and we have a file photo of you." If you're willing to respond to media requests when reporters are on deadline, they'll feel more favorable about taking your call when you're looking to pitch a story.

Anticipate the spin, as Megan Williams put it. I hesitate to use the word "spin," because, again, I think it has a negative connotation. But it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the kind of stories a publication generally prints and tailor your pitch accordingly. Let's say you have a story idea about a major sporting event coming to town. A daily newspaper might be interested in interviewing a local person who's participating or in covering the event itself. What if you wanted to pitch that story to Mainebiz, a publication that focuses on statewide business news? We'd be interested in knowing about its anticipated economic impact, if it's part of a regional or national market trend aimed at boosting economic development, and if there are businesses or municipalities doing something innovative to take advantage of that opportunity.

And if you can anticipate a concern a reporter might have, head it off by addressing it up front. You're jazzed about the sporting event, but maybe some residents have been publicly complaining about its potential for traffic or noise. A pitch is much more comprehensive if you can say, "Yes, there are concerns about this, but here's how they're being mitigated," instead of ignoring the issue altogether.

You might think -- "isn't it kind of silly to mention anything negative when I'm trying to get publicity for my event?" But in actuality, that kind of pitch reads much more authentic to a reporter, whose job isn't to get your event free publicity -- it's to serve the publication's readers with information they need to know. Tying into that....

Being awesome isn't enough. Even if your company is doing something completely and utterly remarkable and innovative, most reporters are going to want some context. So, instead of a pitch that simply iterates how fabulous your company is, try to craft something that shows why the company's work is interesting -- is it addressing a problem in the marketplace in a new way? Is its work having a positive effect on other businesses or industries? Has the company found a way to overcome an obstacle and is seeing some tangible results? Again, it might seem counter-intuitive to tell reporters that your company's sales dropped in 2010, but a story pitch about how your company responded to a challenge and what your learned from the process is more interesting than just, "Sales are great." We get pitches all the time from companies being recognized for their good work, so what about your company's success sets it apart?

And, one more tip from me: Don't take it personally if your idea doesn't result in a story. Reporters are juggling lots of deadlines and projects -- sometimes a pitch comes at a busy time, or a time when the resources aren't there to dig into it. (At Mainebiz, we're often asked to cover ribbon-cutting events or groundbreakings, and we usually have to say no, not because we don't want to be there, but because it's a challenge when you're a staff of four and you have an entire state to cover.) If you don't get a response or the response you wanted, it's not because we have something against you. Stay in touch, remain persistent, and keep on the lookout for a way to make a story idea fresh so you can pitch it later.

We'll get more in detail about writing a good press release in another post, but keeping these ideas in mind should help you the next time you're looking to get the media's attention.

Of course, the best way to find a captive editorial audience, at least from our perspective, is to find us at one of our receptions or networking events. There's just something about hors d'oeuvres and cocktails that make us more receptive. We'll be in Sanford next week!

Feel free to share your thoughts and best takeaways from the leadership forum by commenting below.

Story planning, Sebago and Snoop

About once a quarter, us editorial folks take an afternoon to get out of the office, escape our phones, desks and deadlines, and talk about story ideas. While we have weekly in-house meetings to talk about stories we're working on, these offsite meetings are a chance for us to really brainstorm and think far in advance for upcoming issues. And we also get a little food and beverage into us, which really seems to help the story-planning process.

Last Friday, we walked from our office to Sebago Brewing Co. in the new Hampton Inn. It was the first offsite meeting for both Senior Writer Randy Billings, who joined Mainebiz in late December, and Staff Writer Matt Dodge, who's been writing for Mainebiz as a freelancer but joined us as a full-time employee last month. We shared some guac and chips while we hashed out stories for the next few issues, discussing business trends, topics we've been mulling over and other tips and ideas we've heard from business and economic development people.

From left, that's Matt, me and Editor Carol Coultas. Oh, and the remnants of a shared tiramisu there in the middle.

In case you don't recall, last Friday was the day that both President Obama and rapper Snoop Dogg were in town (but not for the same event, of course). While enjoying our meals, we happened to notice this eye-catching bus pull up to the light outside Sebago's window. We were pretty sure it wasn't the president's ride, which means it had to be Snoop, right?

It's never dull working in the Old Port.

Do you have a story idea for us? Tell us about it!

Behind-the-scenes video from Business Leaders of the Year taping

In March, Mainebiz chooses three executives as our Business Leaders of the Year, writing profiles of them and their work in our print issue. This year, we decided to take things to the next level and do short videos on each one, pulling out one aspect of their impact to highlight.

The videos took a lot of coordination, since we wanted to not only include the business leader, but a couple of his or her employees or colleagues, and we wanted to shoot on location. The team who worked on the videos spent a few hours on site with each business leader to capture what we needed.

For our video on Michael Tarpinian, CEO of the nonprofit Opportunity Alliance, the team shot at a preschool program run by PROP, which recently became a part of Opportunity Alliance. The team's presence made quite an impact on the 3- to 5-year-olds there. Our editorial assistant/videographer, Travis Bernier, even got out from behind the camera to read them a story.

You can watch the final video of Michael Tarpinian here.

We hit the road to Bangor

For the second year in a row, we're holding an On the Road with Mainebiz series of events, traveling to various locations around the state to meet and greet. There's food, a cash bar and a chance to mingle with members of the business community. For the editorial team, these events are prime opportunities to talk to business people and get story ideas. Prior to each networking event, we also convene a panel of Mainebiz readers to get some feedback on our print publication, primarily, but also our online offerings.

On Wednesday, Editor Carol Coultas, Senior Writer Randy Billings and I traveled up to Bangor for the first On the Road event of the year. It wasn't the easiest of commutes. Around Bowdoinham, we ran into that butter truck accident, and an apparently outdated GPS device took Carol and me to Veazie. Instead of arriving at the Hollywood Casino on Main Street in Bangor, we ended up at railroad-track crossing in Veazie, deserted except for a couple rusted-out trucks. Better luck next time?

Randy, a Bangor-area native who made the wise decision to take his own car, made it to the casino but didn't press his luck at the new table games.

Instead, he checked in on the progress of the $65 million arena under construction, which an impact study says would generate $26 million in new revenue in Penobscot County every year. Paul Bunyon is hard at work on it.

We also learned that Bangorians (Bangorites?) love their wings.

At our reader roundtable, we plied participants with cookies and coffee and asked them about their news-reading habits, what they read most in the pages of Mainebiz and what we could be covering better. That's Carol and Randy on the right.

Cynthia Smith, president of Angel Secure Networks in Orono, takes some notes during the roundtable discussion.

Despite the glorious weather (we spotted a temperature sign that said 87 degrees!), the reception brought out more than 100 people. We did some networking and again kept our ears open to story ideas, since Carol charged us with coming back with at least two ideas and a stack of business cards.

A business card exchange...

Getting story ideas...

A reporter's work is never done.

After the event wrapped up, we hit the road back down to the Portland area, but not before stopping at Red Robin in Augusta for a late dinner -- and an onion ring tower.

We had our weekly meeting this afternoon to talk about our story ideas, some of which I'm sure you'll see in the pages of Mainebiz in the next couple of months.

Our next On the Road event happens April 25 in Sanford. I'll be updating my GPS before then...