The May Report: 11/29/2010: Gian Fulgoni of comScore anticipating the possibility of $1B in online sales for Cyber Monday; What not to do in your new start-up as told by Jim Eiden; Is Jerry Mitchell now a franchisee for internet merchandising?; and Chicago columnist thwarts attempted iPhone robbery

Editor and publisher: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com , 773-525-3944.

Assistant editor: Melanie Adcock, iPHONE: 312-259-0610, melanie_adcock@msn.com

If you missed an article, go here: www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
_____________________________
********************************************
Drupal Business Summit – November 30
Join the Revolution – revolution2010.acquia.com

*See what people are saying about the Drupal Business Summit – Twitter hashtag #jointherev

Acquia is hosting the Drupal Business Summit on November 30 at the Gleacher Center in Chicago. This unique event is packed with fantastic stories by companies like VML featuring Cartoon Network, Scranton Gillette Communications, Florida Hospital, World Business Chicago, Chicago Public Media and the Gilbane Group. Sessions will discuss how these organizations are taking advantage of the power of Drupal to create communities, get closer with their customers and employees and improve top and bottom line ROI. The Drupal Business Summit is ideal for Senior IT and Marketing Professionals who are responsible for their Corporate Website CMS, Interactive Media Technology – including social media platforms and online communities, Web Platform and Application Management, Digital Communications, Marketing and Branding. There is no cost to register however space is limited. revolution2010.acquia.com
***********************************************
__________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

– Gian Fulgoni of comScore on a $1B Cyber Monday
– Melanie Adcock: Update on Mike Rhodes
– Wednesday, December 1: ChicagoAndroid.com invites you to Chicago Android: Augmented Reality; Camera Preview
– Thursday, December 2: BMA Chicago. “Information 3.0: Intelligent Marketing for a Smarter Planet,” a presentation by IBM’s Matt Preschern
– Wednesday, December 8: FundingFeedingFrenzy: Today, Nov. 29th, is the last day to register at reduced prices
– Chicago columnist thwarts attempted iPhone robbery
– J. Kauffmann: Comments on 20 years of innovation at Radiology conference
– Anonymous: Is Jerry Mitchell now a franchisee peddling merchandise on the internet by spamming?
– What not to do in your start up — or When the small fry think even smaller. A plan obviously hatched on the crapper. Here’s the kind of “entrepreneur” you’ll meet at the MEF or MSBF – Eiden could have “bootstrapped” his startup by holding a bake sale and btw, Jim Eiden has had 20 jobs since 1992 according to his LinkedIn profile
– Black Friday Boasts $648 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 9 Percent vs. Year Ago
– Thursday, December 9: GrowthLaw: Retaining good employees
– Miscellaneous notes (6 messages)
– John Katsantonis: HOPE JERRY MITCHELL THANKS YOU FOR RUNNING THIS PIECE….
________________________________
************************************************
GP Ventures specializes in M&A advisory services for technology
companies in a wide range of sectors. GPV has industry connections
throughout the US, Europe, and Asia.

Recently, GP Ventures expanded its reach by becoming an affiliate of
the Woodbridge Group (www.woodbridgegrp.com), an investment banking
firm focused on middle market M&A.

For more information on GP Ventures or Woodbridge, please contact:

Tom Kastner
GP Ventures
847-431-3993
mail@gp-ventures.com

M&A Advisory Services for technology companies in EMS, PCB, Software,
Defense, IT Services, Electronics, Distribution
*********************************************

__________________________________
[Editor's note: May here. Both Connolly and Lundin, my so-called experts on PR, tell me that Cyber Monday is essentially a PR thing. The reason is that consumers can buy online whenever they want to, not just on Cyber Monday. When the concept started being used, home computers may have been slower so people carried over their buying from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.

Here is some Cyber Monday history from Wikipedia:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Monday

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States created by companies to persuade people to shop online. The term made its debut on November 28, 2005 in a Shop.org press release entitled "'Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year".[1] According to the Shop.org/BizRate Research 2005 eHoliday Mood Study, “77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially last year on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday this year (2005)”. In 2006, Shop.org announced[2] that it launched the CyberMonday.com portal, a one-stop shop for Cyber Monday deals. In 2009, comScore[3] reported that consumers spent $887M online on Cyber Monday (excluding travel), the second highest spending day of 2009. Cyber Monday is also used as a marketing term in Canada, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Germany. In these countries, with the exception of Canada, Cyber Monday sales last for eight days, typically from the last Monday in November to the first Monday in December. In Canada, the sales period mirrors that of the U.S.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rahm will be interviewed tonight on Chicago Tonight. He is sure running a lot of ads while no one else appears to be. But Connolly tells me that someone called in to WLS this morning and said that he owns property in Madison, WI; he pays property taxes, he votes there, but he can’t be mayor because he does not live there. Brian also said that the decision on whether Rahm will be on the ballot will be made by Ed Burke’s wife who is on the state supreme court. She might be expected to give Rahm a pass, but to avoid the appearance of politics as usual, he told me she is likely to not allow it in order to preserve the image of integrity associated with her position. Who knows?? What I have noticed anecdotally is that a lot of people I talk to like the idea of Rahm as Mayor. They like that he’s a tough guy, that he’ll crack the whip and that he has the stature for the job. Chicagoans do seem to have a Tory mentality at heart. Follow the leader. As Jeff Gilbert said years ago, it’s SiliCapone City. ]
_______________________________
The Scoop section:
_________________
Gian Fulgoni of comScore on a $1B Cyber Monday

Subject: RE: Gian, I don’t know what you can say, does comScore expect 107 mil buyers today?
Date: 11/29/2010 8:38:30 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: GFulgoni@comscore.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Not sure about buyers, but I have my fingers crossed that we will see the first ever $1 Billion online spending day today.

Gian Fulgoni Chairman | comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR)

o +1 (312) 775-6481 | m +1 (312) 953-1694 | f +1 (312) 775-6495 | GFulgoni@comscore.com

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

comScore

Measuring the Digital World

Introducing Video Metrix 2.0

The industry’s first tool for understanding online video monetization

www.videometrix2.com

From: RONALDMAY@aol.com [mailto:RONALDMAY@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 8:04 AM
To: Fulgoni, Gian
Cc: ronaldmay@aol.com
Subject: Gian, I don’t know what you can say, does comScore expect 107 mil buyers today?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: RE: Gian, I don’t know what you can say, does comScore expect 107 mil buyers …
Date: 11/29/2010 11:00:42 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: GFulgoni@comscore.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
CC: alipsman@comscore.com

Ron:

We won’t have the Cyber Monday data until late tomorrow. Copying Andrew.

Gian

Gian Fulgoni Chairman | comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR)

o +1 (312) 775-6481 | m +1 (312) 953-1694 | f +1 (312) 775-6495 | GFulgoni@comscore.com

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

comScore

Measuring the Digital World

Introducing Video Metrix 2.0

The industry’s first tool for understanding online video monetization

www.videometrix2.com

From: RONALDMAY@aol.com [mailto:RONALDMAY@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 10:43 AM
To: Fulgoni, Gian
Subject: Re: Gian, I don’t know what you can say, does comScore expect 107 mil buyers …

Gian,

How long will it take to get those numbers, at least a preliminary estimate?

Can I call Andrew Lipsman later today or first thing in the morning to get some preliminary info.?

Ron
___________________________________
Melanie Adcock: Update on Mike Rhodes

Subject: Update on Mike Rhodes
Date: 11/29/2010 1:28:11 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com, ron@themayreport.com

Update on Mike Rhodes

I’m at the Sync Tech Center right now and I did see Mike Rhodes here. He looks great. There is a twinkle in his eye and he just got a haircut. He was touched that Ron spent all the time and effort to look him up while he was in the hospital. He is eating a special soup and sandwich for lunch this afternoon and is getting some sound medical advice from his doctor regarding his stomach condition. He really missed being at the Syncubator and was so glad to be back!

Here is a funny video I made awhile back of Mike reading The May Report:

For those of you reading this who don’t know who Mike Rhodes is, let me give you a brief description. Mike runs the the Sync Tech Center and Syncubator syncubator.com/ in Chicago located at 322 S. Green Street. The Sync Tech center is a friendly welcoming place that supports tech entrepreneurs. If you haven’t been to this place please go. Mike is hard working yet incredibly humble which is why so many readers might not know who he is. He isn’t out there puffing himself up, instead he’s hard at work. He has tremendous leadership capabilities to nurture, inspire and serve as an example. Here is a link to a recent interview of his published in BusinessNewsDaily written by Managing Editor Jeanette Mulvey. It’s a great read and nicely written, but Sync Tech was misspelled in the article. There is no “h” in Sync. www.businessnewsdaily.com/mike-rhodes-myabui-small-business-0744/ When it’s not my own, I’m not half bad at editing. At any rate, Mike’s a good guy and we will keep a watch over him here at The May Report.

-Melanie

Melanie Adcock
iPHONE: 312-259-0610
DROID: 312-833-1825
E-Mail: melanie_adcock@msn.com
Facebook Fan Page: bit.ly/MelanieAdcockFacebookFanPage
Bio: bit.ly/MelanieAdcockARC
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melanieadcock
Twitter: twitter.com/melanie_adcock
Facebook Profile: www.facebook.com/melanie.a.adcock
____________________________________
Wednesday, December 1: ChicagoAndroid.com invites you to Chicago Android: Augmented Reality; Camera Preview

Subject: RE: ChicagoAndroid.com invites you to Chicago Android: Augmented Reality; Camera Preview and… (Dec 01, 2010)
Date: 11/29/2010 2:57:38 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Dec 01, 2010
5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

Syncubator
322 S. Green St.
Ste. 300
Chicago IL
View Map

Attend

Event Details: Brief introduction to Augmented Reality – by Uki D. Lucas Camera Preview and Overlay – by Mark Perona We will create an Android application that renders your camera preview and a transparent graphic overlay. This technique is a crucial…Read more

Want company? Share this event on Facebook and Twitter.

Cheers, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving

Uki D. Lucas

spam/tweet me back @UkiDLucas

ChicagoAndroid.com NEWS:

Android Becomes Asia’s Most Popular Mobile OS. It has overtaken Symbian, iOS and Blackberry in Q3 of 2010- GFK research bit.ly/hBox9l

Samsung i510 Stealth V – about to appear. The questions are – when can we get it and what will be its price? bit.ly/eHIJLi

Android: some probes into Barnes & Noble NookColor Tablet bit.ly/eXkFR2

Nook Color – Android 7 inch Tablet from Barnes & Noble – great look but NO way to install your own applications on it bit.ly/dIQMHs

Viewsonic 10 inch G tablet – Chicago Android Review bit.ly/e1tFCq

Velocity MicroPC “Cruze” Tablet $250 at BestBuy stores – Chicago Android Review bit.ly/fbVAjT
Android leading smart phone sales at 44%, 9.1 million units shipped bit.ly/icLdd5
Google makes content ratings for all apps in Android Market. This will help users select the best app for them.http://bit.ly/hi4deX 

Android OS 2.2.1 Update Comes.Your phone’ll work better.Why does Google releases OS 2.2.1 while Gingerbread is coming? bit.ly/fE8DxF

Interesting news – Thanks to Android HTC market is growing faster than Apple’s iPhone. bit.ly/edTYuQ
Viewsonic 10 inch G tablet – Chicago Android Review bit.ly/e1tFCq
_________________________________
Thursday, December 2: BMA Chicago. “Information 3.0: Intelligent Marketing for a Smarter Planet,” a presentation by IBM’s Matt Preschern

BMA Chicago. “Information 3.0: Intelligent Marketing for a Smarter Planet,” a presentation by IBM’s Matt Preschern. 11:00am – 1:30pm, Thursday, Dec. 2, The Standard Club, 320 S. Plymouth Court Chicago.
Details and Registration.

www.bmachicago.com/events/matt-preschern-vice-president-demand-programs-ibm-north-america

______________________________________
Wednesday, December 8: FundingFeedingFrenzy: Today, Nov. 29th, is the last day to register at reduced prices

Subject: RE: Last Day to Register with Early Bird Prices!!!
Date: 11/29/2010 3:36:22 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com

November 29, 2010
LAST DAY TO REGISTER WITH EARLY BIRD PRICING!!!!

Register now as an Attendee for $60 and as a VIP for $127! Pricing go up on the 30th so register now before it’s too late!

To register now visit our website at www.fundingfeedingfrenzy.com

Jump in, the water is just right…

The Funding Feeding Frenzy is an exceptional event launching this December 8th 2010 in Chicago at the Sync Technology Center. www.synctechcenter.com/

We’re assembling some of the most interesting and exciting entrepreneurial companies around to showcase their businesses in an attempt to take their companies to the highest levels of success.

On December 8th, each company will present to a panel of four to five investors (including angel investors, private equity investors, alternative funding sources and venture capitalists) whose investing specialties align with the company’s general profile. This makes the Funding Feeding Frenzy the ideal opportunity for entrepreneurs and business owners to get input from real investors who back growing companies.

Click here for agenda information and planned activities.

The Funding Feeding Frenzy is designed to connect Entrepreneurs, CEOs and Founders of fast growing companies, with panels that include active investors with sizable portfolios of companies. These Include Angel Investors, Private Equity Groups, Venture Capitalists and alternative funding sources.

To register now visit our website at www.fundingfeedingfrenzy.com

As an Investor attending this event, The Funding Feeding Frenzy showcases Entrepreneurs and business owners who have exciting companies and ideas, who are seriously seeking connections and resources in order to sky-rocket their companies to success. This is the place to see these companies in action.

How Can I Become A Sponsor or Exhibitor?
If your business involves providing resources to entrepreneurs and / or investors, as a potential exhibitor or sponsor for the “Main Event”, you can be assured that the Funding Feeding Frenzy, Chicago 2010 will be an exceptional springboard to position your company strategically. Contact Kati @ 224-805-8722 or Kati@fundingfeedingfrenzy.com to take advantage of this awesome opportunity and get the details about how to become a sponsor or exhibitor.

There’s something stirring in the water…do you dare to find out what it is?

To register now visit our website at www.fundingfeedingfrenzy.com

Company Spotlight

Luxe Life
Lisa Marie Ackerman
President

We are a sales and marketing service company that has combined the concept of traditional consignment sales businesses for luxury product item categories creating a lifestyle brand. Luxe Life offers a brand appropriate, turnkey, online consignment sales service for luxury and collectible goods to individuals and businesses.
We create a unique and edited mix of product offerings for our global Buyers. The Luxe Life Chicago Showroom offers easy access to the public and is used for item evaluation, assessment and processing. Choice items in the collection are on display promoting store front sales. Luxe Life ‘Designer Direct’ provides a selling platform for emerging and established artists from the community. Our Dealer Support Services will provide marketing, sales and promotional support to high-end, trusted and respected Dealers of products that meet our standards (Jan 2010). Luxe Life proprietary product offerings will follow. Our goal is to offer a brand appropriate experience to the consignor and bring our shoppers the best in lifestyle design from yesterday and today.
The Luxe Life business model combines industries that are projected for growth and are highly fragmented. Our intentions are to create a concept, model and lifestyle brand that can be replicated in multiple markets in a short period of time. We incorporated 5/29/09 and opened our Valuation & Processing Center 11/11/09 and are actively seeking funding to go to the next stage of our development.

Kati Scronce, Event Director
322 S Green, Suite 300 Chicago Illinois 60607
224.805.8722
kati@fundingfeedingfrenzy.com

Bob Bock, Operations
322 S Green, Suite 300 Chicago Illinois 60607
708.646.9047
Bob@fundingfeedingfrenzy.com

This message was sent from Robert Bock to ronaldmay@aol.com. It was sent from: robert bock, 322 S Green, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60607. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below.
Email Marketing by
________________________________________
Chicago columnist thwarts attempted iPhone robbery

Subject: Chicago columnist thwarts attempted iPhone robbery
Date: 11/29/2010 3:47:27 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com, ron@themayreport.com

Chicago columnist thwarts attempted iPhone robbery

www.macnn.com/articles/10/11/26/details.attempted.mugging.chase.and.more/

updated 06:35 pm EST, Fri November 26, 2010Details attempted mugging, chase and more

In some cities, at least, high-tech should be kept on the down-low, says one iPhone blogger. In a harrowing tale of attempted robbery, Chicago Now online magazine www.chicagonow.com/ columnist Scott Kleinberg details in his latest iPhone blog post his successful disruption of an attempted iPhone theft — in this case, the iPhone in question was his own.
Kleinberg was using his iPhone 4 at a bus stop on Lower Michigan Avenue in the downtown district when a young male attempted to snatch the iPhone away from him, exposing a host of accomplices and leading to a mile-long foot chase through the streets of Chicago the day before Thanksgiving.

Kleinberg starts off his tale by noting that the downtown area had been hit with a rash of mobile-gadget thefts — including incidents that happened to two co-workers — and listing the advice points he had given his wife (but ignored himself), such as not using the iPhone in a visible way in the crime-ridden area.

As with many such setups, the would-be thief was not alone, using pals to identify the potential victim and distract them by asking for a bus timetable or other directions that would be answered more easily using the smartphone. When the victim takes out his phone to look up the requested information, the robber makes a grab and then takes off running, using their youth and agility to outrun victims who might chase after them.

Kleinberg, being a dog owner, was able to dodge the grab in an automatic gesture of raising the iPhone quickly over his head, pass it to his other hand and pocket it, thus retaining it. Despite being — by his own description — out of shape, Kleinberg gave chase to the would-be thieves for about a mile, using his iPhone to contact police and update them with his location and descriptions of the robbers. Although he ultimately lost them, the police were able to apprehend two of the accomplices a short time later thanks to his detailed report, which may allow them to ultimately round-up the rest of the ring.

The story is told in an involving first-person narrative style, with Kleinberg giving a running commentary as he recounts the events unfolding.

“By now I’m at Wabash past the Trump Tower,” Kleinberg writes. “I probably ran a mile, including a pretty steep flight of stairs. My chest hurts. It’s 33 degrees out. I’m out of shape. I think I hurt my lungs. I’m completely out of breath. I tell the dispatcher that if there’s an officer near the McDonald’s or Trump Tower that I could use the help. She thanks me and says she’ll call for an officer … the last thing she hears before I hang up is ‘there they are!’”

Kleinberg has promised follow-ups www.chicagonow.com/blogs/iphone-therefore-iblog/2010/11/to-catch-an-iphone-thief.html to his story in future postings, and says he’s now “on a mission” to help find the remaining thieves.

Read more: www.macnn.com/articles/10/11/26/details.attempted.mugging.chase.and.more/#ixzz16i5uBhYT

Melanie Adcock
iPHONE: 312-259-0610
DROID: 312-833-1825
E-Mail: melanie_adcock@msn.com
Facebook Fan Page: bit.ly/MelanieAdcockFacebookFanPage
Bio: bit.ly/MelanieAdcockARC
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melanieadcock
Twitter: twitter.com/melanie_adcock
Facebook Profile: www.facebook.com/melanie.a.adcock
_____________________________________
J. Kauffmann: Comments on 20 years of innovation at Radiology conference

From: jkimaging@aol.com
Subject: Re: The May Report: 11/24/2010: Melzinie Babylon Buttinsky actually comes up with some real breaking news on this, the day before Turkey day: SoleSearch- Exciting Shoe App is getting Traction; Dating for Nerds- Nerds at Heart; Mike Rhodes of Syncubator rep
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:43:43 -0500
To: ron@themayreport.com

Ron :

<< [Editor's note: May here. RSNA is the radiological association which is meeting at McCormick Place next week.] >>

‘Radiological’ is somewhat misleading (although that’s what ‘R’ stands for in the RSNA acronym).
RSNA is the world’s largest technological event in the medical world.

That’s where I saw twenty years ago or so the first PACS (Picture Archiving & Communications System), the ancestor for image databases, the first demos for teleradiology (image transmission), and the first steps for speech recognition. Not to mention 3-D, and later on, so-called 4-D imaging.
Just to name a few innovations demo’d at McCormick.

J. Kauffmann
Imaging Management & Communications
_______________________________
Anonymous: Is Jerry Mitchell now a franchisee peddling merchandise on the internet by spamming?

Subject: CONFIDENTIAL DON’T PRINT THIS WITH MY NAME OR EMAIL ADDRESS…..Fwd: my introduction to savings
Date: 11/27/2010 4:12:47 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: Name withheld upon request
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com, ron@themayreport.com

RON,
DID YOU GET ONE OF THESE?? IS JERRY NOW A FRANCHISEE PEDDLING MERCHANDISE ON THE INTERNET BY SPAMMING??

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Jerry R. Mitchell
Date: Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 4:01 PM
Subject: my introduction to savings
To: shop@jerryrmitchellandassoc.com

THERE IS NO NEED TO WAIT FOR MONDAY!

The only stop that you are going to have to make this holiday season is here.
There is no cost, or limit on how much you can earn

there is no obligation when you register

Go to the link www.marketamerica.com/imagebuilderstudios

Follow the instruction :

1) click sign in on top on the right : sign in as a prefered
customer

2) fill in your information

3) when they ask who refered you put in my email address
jerry@jerryrmitchellandassoc.com

4)Save Big , Win Big

5)Even better Get Paid on all the shopping of people you refer!
have them put your email address in as the person who refered them
and you will receive .5% every time they shop on line

In addition we will have a drawing for a $100 gift card selected from
those who register as a prefered customer.

The drawing will be on December 20th

We will contact the winner
___________________________________
May here. So I have it slightly off. Jerry is selling more than nutraceuticals — he’s selling toys too! Jerry, I hope you are not using the MEF mailing list for this. Also, can someone get this guy a spell checker? Refered should be referred. Prefered should be preferred.
_______________________________
What not to do in your start up — or When the small fry think even smaller. A plan obviously hatched on the crapper. Here’s the kind of “entrepreneur” you’ll meet at the MEF or MSBF – Eiden could have “bootstrapped” his startup by holding a bake sale and btw, Jim Eiden has had 20 jobs since 1992 according to his LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn
Jim Eiden has sent you a message.

Date: 11/27/2010

Subject: Black Friday Beverage Follow up – Fugitive Form Justice

If you’ve been following this tale, you know that I had the idea of selling hot beverages to those waiting in line for Black Friday sales. In Chicago it was 13 degrees.

I was given such a hard time at the Will County Health Department that I demanded my money back and walked out. They wanted me to put up a shelter just to serve coffee. Never mind people waiting n line for sales in 13 degrees didn’t have any shelter.

My partner & I agreed to limit our startup costs to $100 to $150 each. We wanted to limit our risk in case it didn’t go well, we’d be out $150.

Because they regulations & requirements to provide a shelter that could withstand Chicago winters, I backed out.

If I can’t afford to pay for a permit and all the costs involved in putting up a robust shelter in a full parking lot, why would I risk doing it without a permit?

If I was going to go out there and try this without a permit, why would I have gone and try to get a permit in the first place?

But that is reasoning and common sense.

My partner and I made plans to sell hats, gloves, blankets, and hand warmers instead of beverages. This plan never came to be. My partner & I were scheduled to meet at 7 or 8 Thanksgiving night to go out and start selling to people in lines. Since we had no beverages to set up, it would go a lot faster.

At 5 pm on Thanksgiving night, I get a text from my partner saying the health dept was at the Rt 59 train station. The rt 59 train station is closed on Thanksgiving. The owners of the rt 59 train station where had originally planned to brew our coffee got a call saying the DuPage County health dept was there.

When I told Will County Health Dept to forget it. I meant it. But they called the DuPage County Health Dept as I guess they thought trying to capture me in the act without a permit would yield them big fines.

The owners of the rt 59 coffee concession tld my partner he probably shouldn’t go out even to sell hats, gloves, hand warmers, blankets because if the health dept is out looking for us, we might get into some kind of trouble and why risk it.

After I had left the Will County Health Dept saying to forget it, I meant it. I went to our confirmed Client, the GameStop, and told them I was not going to do it without a permit. The Manager wasn’t there so I left her a handwritten note. I also sent her an email. Emails have a date / time stamp, so that was going to be my proof that I officially canceled in case something happened.

So the Will County and DuPage County health Dept’s were out looking for us hoping to catch us selling illegal coffee, hot chocolate and Tea in the hopes of assessing us big fines. I wonder how much in triple overtime on a Holiday night they had to pay these inspectors. They drove around looking for us rather than being at home with their families.

My partner I never went out that night, yet two County Health Dept’s were out in force looking for us.

Did they really think I was going to go and try to do this without a permit after I filled out an application giving them the location time I was going to be there? If I couldn’t afford to do what they required in terms of providing a shelter and pest control to sell coffee to people waiting in line on Black Friday, why I risk the fines if I was caught?

If my partner & I would have successful, we would’ve tried for a $300 mobile permit next year and invested even more money into the venture. Instead they lost my $75 permit fee and spent additional resources trying to track me down, even though I had canceled the whole thing.

I wonder how much resources they wasted looking for us?

Needless to say I learned some very important lessons here:

1. Never ever try to startup a business in Will County.

2. If you are going to startup a business, never ever go to the Gov’t to try to do the right thing.

3. I guess the Will County gov’t must have plenty of money to make it hard for me to get a permit and try to go after me for big fines instead. Even though I did nothing wrong. I guess they don’t need a tax increase in this county. They just don’t need the additional revenue another small startup business could provide.

4. Never ever try to startup a business with limited savings of $150.

5. never be honest with the Gov’t as they will try to use it against you.

Congratulations Will County, you succeed in preventing a startup from doing business.

On the other hand, I’m flattered that they spent all that time & resources trying to catch me.
__________________________________
Black Friday Boasts $648 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 9 Percent vs. Year Ago

Subject: Black Friday Boasts $648 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 9 Percent vs. Year Ago
Date: 11/28/2010 3:23:23 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: news@comscore.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL WITH ANY QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO ITS CONTENT AT PRESS@COMSCORE.COM
To ensure delivery of comScore news releases, please add news@comscore.com to your safe senders list.

Greetings:

comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 26 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $11.64 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 26) saw $648 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2010 and representing a 9-percent increase versus Black Friday 2009. Thanksgiving Day (November 26), traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 28-percent increase to $407 million.

The press release below is also available at: comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/11/Black_Friday_Boasts_648_Million_in_U.S._Online_Holiday_Spending

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to speak with an analyst.

Thank you,
Andrew Lipsman
comScore, Inc.
press@comscore.com
312-775-6510

****************************************************************************

Receiving too many emails? We are now offering the comScore Weekly News Roundup as a solution to help reduce your email volume while still keeping you up-to-date on the latest news. Click here to learn more: www.comscore.com/weekly

If you would like to discontinue receiving news updates from comScore or to modify your subscription options, please visit: www.comscore.com/modify

******************************* comScore, Inc. News Release*******************

Black Friday Boasts $648 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 9 Percent vs. Year Ago

Thanksgiving Day Surges 28 Percent to $407 Million as Consumers Increasingly Use Day for Online Shopping

RESTON, VA, November 28, 2010 – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 26 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $11.64 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 26) saw $648 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2010 and representing a 9-percent increase versus Black Friday 2009. Thanksgiving Day (November 26), traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 28-percent increase to $407 million.

___________________________________________________________________
2010 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2009
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc. .
Millions ($)
2009 2010 Percent Change
November 1 – 26 $10,317 $11,639 13%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25) $318 $407 28%
Black Friday (Nov. 26) $595 $648 9%
___________________________________________________________________
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru
November 27, 2009)

“Although Black Friday is known for the flurry of activity occurring in brick-and-mortar retail stores, online shopping is increasingly becoming the refuge of those preferring to avoid the crowds and long lines,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “The $648 million in online spending this Black Friday represents the heaviest online spending day of the season-to-date and a solid increase over last year’s Black Friday. Interestingly, we are also seeing consumers beginning to buy online in a more meaningful way on Thanksgiving Day, which has historically seen low buying activity.”

Black Friday Bargains Boost Web Browsing Behavior
As the online channel becomes increasingly influential in driving offline shopping behavior, consumers are turning to Black Friday sites on the web to conduct research in advance of the day’s events. comScore analyzed eight Black Friday deal sites for the five days ending Black Friday (Nov. 22-26) compared to the corresponding days last year, finding that Black-Friday.net led the pack with 3.1 million unique visitors, up 42 percent versus last year. BlackFriday.info followed with 2.7 million visitors, while Black-Friday2010.com (up 478 percent to 1.5 million visitors) showed the greatest growth.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Unique Visitors to Selected Sites Featuring Black Friday Deals
Nov. 22-26, 2010 vs. Nov. 23-27, 2009
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc. .
Unique Visitors (000)
Nov. 23-27, 2009 Nov. 22-26, 2010 Percent Change
black-friday.net 2,224 3,147 42%
blackfriday.info 2,753 2,671 -3%
bfads.net 3,918 2,483 -37%
blackfriday2010.com* 266 1,537 478%
theblackfriday.com 1,368 1,257 -8%
blackfriday.com 551 630 14%
blackfriday.fm 409 422 3%
gottadeal.com 453 229 -49%
_______________________________________________________________________________
*Site was known as BlackFriday2009.com in 2009

Some other notable findings about Black Friday deal-seeking include:

The number of visitors to coupon sites on Black Friday grew 4 percent versus year ago to 3.6 million visitors, while the total number of visits to the category increased 16 percent to 7.4 million.
BlackFriday.info was the most visited coupon site on Black Friday with 630,000 unique visitors, followed by CouponCabin.com (543,000), RetailMeNot.com (332,000 visitors) and Groupon.com (332,000).
ShopLocal.com ranked as the most visited comparison shopping site on Black Friday with 2.1 million visitors, up 45 percent versus year ago.

Amazon Wins Black Friday Online
Four retail properties surpassed four million U.S. unique visitors on Black Friday, with mixed results in comparison to last year. Amazon Sites was the most visited retail property on Black Friday, growing 25 percent from the corresponding shopping day a year ago, followed by Walmart, which saw a marginal decline of 1 percent. Target Corporation (up 9 percent) and Best Buy Sites (up 1 percent) rounded out the top four.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Growth in Unique Visitors Among Top 4 Most Visited Retailer Properties on Black Friday
Excludes Auction Sites (e.g. eBay)
Black Friday 2010 vs. Black Friday 2009
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc. .
Retail Property Percent Change in Unique Visitors
Amazon Sites 25%
Walmart -1%
Target Corporation 9%
Best Buy Sites 1%
_______________________________________________________________________________________

“Amazon, with a sizeable increase in traffic on Black Friday, continues to experience remarkable success during the holiday season,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “We will be watching closely to see if the leading online retailer is able to sustain this momentum through Cyber Monday and into the heart of the online shopping season.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

***********************************************

Follow Us on Twitter
twitter.com/comScore
twitter.com/m_abraham
twitter.com/gfulgoni

If you received this email through a forward and would like to join our mailing list, please visit: www.comscore.com/join

Read top comScore thought leaders’ views on current industry news at the comScore Voices blog: www.comscore.com/blog

Sign up to receive the latest comScore news via RSS feed: www.comscore.com/rss

Do you have any comments or concerns that you would like to share with us? You can contact us by e-mail at press@comscore.com or by sending a letter to:

Attn: Andrew Lipsman
comScore, Inc.
233 South Wacker Drive,
Suite 3400
Chicago, IL 60606
________________________________
Thursday, December 9: GrowthLaw: Retaining good employees

CEO Series Dec 9

In This Issue
Dec 9 CEO Series: Retaining good employees

CEO Series founders:
Advantage Business Concepts
customized solutions for achieving breakthrough strategies and tactics.

GrowthLaw
business-focused law firm dedicated to matching client businesses with opportunities to grow.

Zuk-Lloyd Associates, Inc.
turns ordinary business information into extraordinary stories through the creation of highly effective sales materials.

Forward to a Friend
WAP prof photo
Questions? Want to suggest a topic or speaker?
Contact event chair
Bill Price
at 800.630.4780 or wprice@growthlaw.com.

View my profile on LinkedIn
Be a CEO Series Co-Sponsor
Join the team of CEO Series cosponsors by agreeing to share our meeting announcements via email
to your company’s or business group’s contact list.

We thank our cosponsors at each meeting, and appreciate them always. Our cosponsors help these event announcements reach hundreds more people than any of the series founders alone could reach.

December 9: Retaining good employees
CEO series logo dec 2010 On December 9, Jeff Bartelt of Midwest HR, LLC, will be speaking about how his company handles own employee retention. MidwestHR, a Professional Employer Organization, has been providing administrative and benefit outsourcing for its clients since 1997. The company helps clients get the greatest benefit out of the ever-changing local and state regulations affecting employment. And, while many companies struggle to retain valued employees even two years, the average Midwest HR employee has stayed with the company more than eight years. So you can beleve him when he talks about how your company can attract and retain the best employees. Use this link to Register for Dec 9 right now.

ceoseriesdec2010.eventbrite.com/

_____________________________________
Miscellaneous notes (6 messages)
______________________
#1: From: jkimaging@aol.com
Subject: Re: The May Report: 11/24/2010: ChIvas REgal
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:56:08 -0500
To: ron@themayreport.com

Ron :

What about Chivas Regal ??

www.chivas.com/

just pronounce it Chevas — as in Rigal
+++++++++++++++++++++++
#2:: From: feulingneil@gmail.com
Subject: Re: The May Report: 11/25/2010: So far, so good. Mike Rhodes was in Hinsdale Hospital but has been discharged. I still have not heard from him.
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:10:42 +0000
To: “The May Report”

I don’t know mike rhodes. I hope he is ok. However, I think its inappropriate to send this to the whole group. I will unsubscribe if these emails are not business relevant.

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: “The May Report”
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:54:51 -0600
To:
Subject: The May Report: 11/25/2010: So far, so good. Mike Rhodes was in Hinsdale Hospital but has been discharged. I still have not heard from him.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
#3: From: “Charles Stack, MPH”
Sender: “Charles Stack, MPH”
Subject: Happy Thanksgiving, Ron!!
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 23:59:04 -0600
To: “ron@themayreport.com”

Best to you & yours, I’ve got 2 minutes to officially wish you Happy Thanksgiving!

Take care, Chuck

Charles R. Stack, MPH
Vice President
Constant Compliance Inc.
140 South Dearborn Street
Suite 411
Chicago, Illinois 60603 USA
Cell phone (630) 841-8706
Fax (312) 782-0936
Website: www.2Ci.com/

On 11/25/10 2:55 PM, “The May Report” wrote:
+++++++++++++++++++++++
#4: From: DSSA310@aol.com
Subject: Re: The May Report: 11/25/2010: Mike Rhodes’ daughter Rachel called at 4pm. M…
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 23:39:28 EST
To: ron@themayreport.com

Ron:

Nice, generous/caring comment. Kudos.

Don

In a message dated 11/25/2010 5:06:28 P.M. Central Standard Time, ron@themayreport.com writes:

To view this email as a web page, go here.

November 25, 2010

The May Report: 11/25/2010: Mike Rhodes’ daughter Rachel called at 4pm. Mike was discharged yesterday and it was Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, not Hinsdale Hospital; The problem was….
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
#5: From: MGlotz@aol.com
Subject: Re: The May Report: 11/25/2010: So far, so good. Mike Rhodes was in Hinsdale …
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:21:42 EST
To: ron@themayreport.com

Martin Glotzer started living at Highwood East (Fort Sheridan) Nov 26th

In a message dated 11/25/2010 2:55:33 P.M. Central Standard Time, ron@themayreport.com writes:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
#6: From: Mike Blaine
Subject: Happy Thanksgiving!
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:27:37 -0500
To: ronaldmay@aol.com, ron@themayreport.com

Happy Thanksgiving Ron!

All my best,
-Mike

Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless

—–Original message—–

From: The May Report
To: mike@chicagofast.com
Sent: Thu, Nov 25, 2010 20:55:23 GMT+00:00
Subject: The May Report: 11/25/2010: So far, so good. Mike Rhodes was in Hinsdale Hospital but has been discharged. I still have not heard from him.
_______________________________
John Katsantonis: HOPE JERRY MITCHELL THANKS YOU FOR RUNNING THIS PIECE….

Subject: HOPE JERRY MITCHELL THANKS YOU FOR RUNNING THIS PIECE….
Date: 11/25/2010 2:51:39 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: jpkattt@att.net
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

….especially since the percentage of those who read TMR and practice the “do-the-direct-opposite-of-what-Ron-says” thing is much larger than those who heed your admonitions. In this case, the snark level is uncalled-for….

What did Jerry do to you, Ron? Did he save your life and then forget to thank you for the opportunity to do so, or something? It’s this kind of negative crap that keeps you from being The Best, Ron…if you could do even 1/10th of what Jerry has, to help entrepreneurs grow, to help companies prosper, and to encourage rather than criticize, the planet would be a better place. There’s still time for you to actually contribute to the betterment of life, though~jk
*****************************
Why listen to customers? A living case study by Jerry R. Mitchell: Co-located with the MEF Semi-Annual networking party: December 6, 2010

During this fascinating case study in action you’ll see the tactics that Jerry Mitchell has used to shrink his organization from more than 300 to a handful of members in one short decade. Jerry’s mandates that new customers are bad and old customers are even worse will be on full display during this event. Some of the takeaways include:

** Customers don’t know anything about your business, what value can they possibly have?

** If customers don’t like what you’re selling they’re clearly too dense or ignorant to bother with.

** Why innovate and change? If your current customers don’t get it, it’s their problem.

** You know your business best, so the heck with anyone else’s ideas.

Careful adherence to these principles and tactics will ensure that your organization or business will follow the same path as Jerry’s — a testament to the success of this approach can be found in his recent MEF meeting downtown in November — 186 seats were in the auditorium and 5 were filled.

Register today: space is unlimited!
www.MidwestEntrepreneursForum.Org/CalendarEvents.aspx

Monday we’ll tell you who will and who won’t be there and Tuesday, we’ll tell you about the All Mobile party going on at the same time! The betting in Vegas as of today is that attendance will be below 65 which would be thirteen times the attendance at the November downtown meeting.
_________________________________
Ron May here.

Dear JKatt:

Your response brings the number to exactly two – who have rallied around the waned legacy of J. Mitchell. Add my name to the list and the other three people in attendance at the last meeting of the MEF – or should we re-title it MSBF (Midwest Small Business Forum) – because that’s much closer to the demographic – and you’ll probably have the number of people who care or even think about Jerry Mitchell these days. And that’s really the point of this whole exercise Jkatt. Mr. Mitchell, along with people like Mr. Dalka and others who rely on hyperbole to prop up their flagging egos, are idiosyncratic of the problem in a town like ours: too many people have been coasting on puffery for far too long.

Do you think that I would spare Tech Cocktail, BigFrontier, Midventures, the ITA, MIT-EF or any other event or organizer if they repeatedly threw events that brought in less than ten people? Less than twenty?

The guys behind those events would be hung out to dry. Yet Jerry continues to maintain the charade that he actually has an organization and an event and is some kind of godfather figure in the tech community. He’s nobody. He was a paint salesman, now he’s a door to door nutraceutical salesman! Don’t take my word for it. See the note that he is using the MEF mailing list to send to soliciting business for his firm. Jerry has been out of this game for nearly a decade now. Calling himself an expert in bootstrapping or entrepreneurship is an insult to those who are. Ask Jerry how many companies he’s consulting with, how many schools have asked him to teach. The answer is zero — or maybe one in the case of IIT. Now – if he were truly trying – if he talked to people – went to events other than his own – became engaged – I would give the guy a pass. But he’s not trying. He is phoning it in. He’s like someone in denial of a death sentence. And he isn’t going quietly into that good night, or the grave, nor is he going kicking and screaming. He’s simply oblivious to reality.

So to answer your question JKatt, this isn’t going to stop until I see a change in the man behind the tissue thin curtain. And I’m not holding my breath. Maybe I’ll see you at Jerry’s Holiday Wake – that is if you’ve brought in enough business to afford the $20 cover charge at the door. I wouldn’t look to Jerry to spot you any money – with competition from places like GNC and Osco on Black Friday, he’s likely to be doing a lot of door knocking to make ends meet.

You know I wear different and multiple hats and sometimes it can be confusing. In my role as the publisher and editor of TMR, I have to adhere to standards of fairness not just for individuals or organizations, but across organizations.

So, if TMR is going to complain about ITA policies that don’t allow for people to attend more than two events without joining the organization and if TMR is going to complain that the ITA does not allow individuals to become members, in the interest of fairness, it also has to question the value being received from an annual membership in MEF which only allows individual memberships and not corporate memberships and on top of that, they often don’t hold the downtown meetings or the ones they do hold, as in the November 8th meeting less than a month ago, draw so few people that the meeting should not have been held. Put bluntly, if you attend downtown MEF meetings and not Wheaton meetings, you are being screwed by the membership fees.

In fact, Jim Eiden was kicking himself all night on Monday November 8th because he had just re-upped on his membership for the year at the registration desk, but as he told me when we went to eat later at Subway, he would not have paid an annual membership had he known that there were only four people attending the meeting that night. Ironically, the Jim Eidens of the world need MEF (I refer you to the bonehead idea he had for a new business which he announced to the world was a complete failure — see above in this report).

Jerry would argue that it’s an inapt analogy to the ITA since it is like apples and oranges. His is a volunteer organization and their’s has a paid staff, but I would argue that Jerry is just plain wrong on that one. Both organizations have to keep their customers (attendees) happy. From the point of view of the customer, it does not matter who is running the show or how those people are compensated. What matters is that they get value.

Having said this, I also wear the hat of Ron May the individual who has his own perspective and opinions.

I did write the nominations for Jerry to receive a couple of awards and I was sincere in doing so.

On a personal level, I wish the guy well and good health, happiness in his new marriage, etc.

But also on a personal level, I have to say that his day has come and gone.

Todd Allen may have been right when he wrote that Jerry deserved the CityLIGHTS Award more than Linda Darragh, but the judges for the winner of that award (who were the ITA board members) also knew that Jerry Mitchell’s glory days were well behind him. If we went back seven to ten years, the outcome may have been different. But today — or in this case 2009 — Jerry could not compete with Linda.

Last night, I watched parts of a couple of movies on cable. One was the excellent film Dead Poet’s Society with Robin Williams. Do you remember the dramatic and emotional last scene when Mr. Keating, the character played by Robin Williams, comes into the classroom to get his things and he is saluted by Todd Anderson, and a number of other boys.

That fond farewell is no longer possible for Jerry Mitchell. I wish for Jerry’s sake that it were, but alas, it is not.

Just showing up is not enough. Or as they say in the vernacular, being there is not enough. To quote Woody Allen, 80% of success is just showing up, but Jerry isn’t even doing that. Just hanging in year after year when you are constantly shrinking your customers is not a basis for the salute that Mr. Keating got.

While Jerry may deserve it and he may certainly feel he deserves it, so much time has passed since he has created consistent value that kudos and honors no longer matter.

I also saw part of another movie I have seen before. Christopher Plumber played Mike Wallace of ’60 Minutes’ in the movie The Insider with Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. At one point, Mike Wallace explains that his position (on airing the interview with the Russell Crowe character Jeffrey Wigand) was not driven by the desire for celebrity, and nor was he looking to spend his final days in the desert at NPR. He tells this to the Al Pacino character who plays the producer Lowell Bergman in the movie.

The Mike Wallace character admits that he has no future and he needs to be concerned only with his legacy. That is where Jerry stands. At this point he had better be all about legacy.

The point is made by the Mike Wallace character that people remember infamy much longer than they remember most of the good things one does.

So, if Jerry is smart, which he decidedly is not when it comes to timing and atmospherics, he will exit gracefully now, but I wouldn’t count on it. Jerry’s personality is hang on to the bitter end — and that’s what I’d expect to see.
___________________________________
END OF REPORT