The May Report: 12/24/2011: It’s Christmas Eve day and my brother is less than 30 minutes away from picking me up to go to the land of shopping malls and car dealerships — Orland Park, and I’m having a mini anxiety attack: I have no idea what to get my nieces who are 7, 5, and 3 — as if they don’t already have everything — books, board games like Clue or Sorry or maybe a jigsaw puzzle? — what’s an uncle to do?; Anyway, much is on my mind: Is Groupon secretly transferring data to the “anti-Groupon” Belly.com?; What secrets about Eric Lefkofsky can Joel Berez dig up since it turns out that he lives two doors or a back yard away?; I hear that Cubs season ticket sales are way down; Culver has discounted space at 744 N. Wells to $199/mo.; SEO expert Steve Fisher believes that Google ads are bs; Dabble is still talking about expanding to other cities and the first one is Milwaukee; Mike Fekety told me he worked for a firm which got $52MM and was sold for $800K; and much more; in honor of my dad who would have been 86 on Dec. 22nd, I’m printing a humorous article he wrote — e-gads, now I sound like Jerry Mitchell; and we still await an announcement on the 50k sf tech center — a closely held secret; I have a list of tons of MIT-EF regulars like Richard Cross, Roy Klein, Bill McDonald, Ray Markman, Kent Vincent, Jack Quill, Tom Lemanski and many others who did not show up — nonetheless, they had at least 80 on the boat

The May Report December 24th, 2011

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

f you missed an article, go here:
www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
(BUT ALL REPORTS SINCE DECEMBER 2ND HAVE NOT BEEN POSTED YET ON THE TMRONLINE SITE DUE TO A TECNICAL ISSUE.)

Otherwise, just go to www.themayreport.com where all the articles are archived

Louis Brandeis: “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
___________________________
*************************************
The Backlinks Company is your trusted partner in building custom web application software for your business. We work will the latest programming technology including:

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Call Us for more Information at 312-288-8459 or emailmikefreud@gmail.com or visit blcompany.com/programming.html
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__________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

– Cary Chessick resigns CEO position at restaurant.com with no next chapter planned

– Michael Ferro and Merrick Ventures to buy the Chicago Sun-Times for an estimated $20MM with Timothy P. Knight to run the media empire [Editor's note: May here. Michael Ferro, btw, attended the Romney fundraiser as reported by Lynn Sweet which was held on Oct. 27th hosted by Susan Crown (of the Crown family) and her husband William Kunkler and held at Ivy Room at Tree Studios, 12 East Ohio. Attendees included: Robert H. Asher, Congresswoman Judy Biggert, Charlie Bobrinskoy, John Canning, Mayor Roger Claar, Dan Dumezich, Ty Fahner, Michael Ferro, Randy Fifield, Steven Fifield, Howard Foster, Matt Gambs, David Hoese, Richard Jaffee, Fred Krehbiel, Tim Larsen, Robert McCormack, Andy McKenna, Jr., Richard Porter, Stephen Quazzo, J. Christopher Reyes, John Rowe, Treasurer Dan Rutherford, Illinois Romney chair Muneer Satter, William Strong, Alexander Stuart, and Miles White.]

– Crain’s: Chicago-based Savo Group leased a total of 42,303 square feet on two floors at 155 N. Wacker Drive, a John Buck Co.-built tower completed in 2009. The firm is moving in March from 19,000 square feet space at 525 W. Van Buren St. — man, this gets a whole article in Crain’s — who does SAVO’s PR?

– Jeff Carter: Letter Written in December 1944 by Marine 1st Lt. Leonard Isacks, Jr. and HPA has new URL

– Irv Michaels graciously sent his notes from the CEC Start-up event on Brett Goldstein, Matt McCall, and Jim O’Connor, now with a hedge fund, formerly of Motorola — I corrected and added a few things

– Startup Bus // Chicago

– ExploreChicago.org Registers Record-Setting 6 Million Visits

– Miscellaneous notes, mostly between Ron and Social Katy (5 Messages)

– Tech Trends to Take Off in 2012

– In honor of what would have been his 86th birthday on December 22nd, the only humorous article my dad wrote (that I know of): A SNOBOGRAPHER’S SCHOLARLY APPROACH TO SNOBOCRACY

by Frederick E. May, October, 1961, The Journal of Marketing — and its amazing how applicable it is today

– My Hanukkah present came three months ago and was delivered by Federal Judge Amy St. Eve in the form of her opinion granting the defense’s motion for summary judgment — there were nine depositions, including one with economist Stan V. Smith who was so bored, he was reading the newspaper while defense attorney Jeff Becker was trying to ask him questions; and I had a lawyer who has represented that “brokerage” firm I should not name representing me in my dep. — and it was paid for by that same brokerage firm — go figure!; all in all, one sentence in TMR resulted in probably close to $100K in legal fees and expenses and we still don’t know if Dan Camphausen ever paid the Bellows law firm the $20K he still owes them

_____________________________

The Scoop section:

____________________

Cary Chessick resigns CEO position at restaurant.com with no next chapter planned

Subject: Fwd: Restaurant.com Transition
Date: 12/23/2011 2:55:51 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: willingerj@gmail.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Cary Chessick <cary@restaurant.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 1:43 PM
Subject: Restaurant.com Transition
To: “willingerj@gmail.com” <willingerj@gmail.com>

Friends,

I have made the decision to resign as CEO of the company effective 12.31.11.

I have no plans for the next chapter of my life other than to spend more time with my family.

I hope you have a great holiday and a Happy New Year!

Cary

Cary Chessick

CEO

Restaurant.com

cary@restaurant.com

(d) 847.481.5580

www.restaurant.com

_____________________________

Michael Ferro and Merrick Ventures to buy the Chicago Sun-Times for an estimated $20MM with Timothy P. Knight to run the media empire

[Editor's note: May here. Michael Ferro, btw, attended the Romney fundraiser as reported by Lynn Sweet which was held on Oct. 27th hosted by Susan Crown (of the Crown family) and her husband William Kunkler and held at Ivy Room at Tree Studios, 12 East Ohio. Attendees included: Robert H. Asher, Congresswoman Judy Biggert, Charlie Bobrinskoy, John Canning, Mayor Roger Claar, Dan Dumezich, Ty Fahner, Michael Ferro, Randy Fifield, Steven Fifield, Howard Foster, Matt Gambs, David Hoese, Richard Jaffee, Fred Krehbiel, Tim Larsen, Robert McCormack, Andy McKenna, Jr., Richard Porter, Stephen Quazzo, J. Christopher Reyes, John Rowe, Treasurer Dan Rutherford, Illinois Romney chair Muneer Satter, William Strong, Alexander Stuart, and Miles White.]

mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/chicago-sun-times-said-to-be-sold/

December 21, 2011, 7:11 pm
Chicago Sun-Times Has a New Owner

By TANZINA VEGA

10:53 p.m. | Updated A new company called Wrapports, which has a strong focus on digital media, has agreed to buy The Chicago Sun-Times and more than 40 other media properties from Sun-Times Media Holdings, the new company said on Wednesday.

The announcement was made in a news release on Wednesday night after numerous reports that The Sun-Times would be sold.

Wrapports is led by Michael W. Ferro Jr., the chief executive of Merrick Ventures, a technology holding company in Chicago, and Timothy P. Knight, former chief of the Newsday Media Group and former Newsday publisher.

In the release, Mr. Knight said the company would be “introducing cutting-edge technologies, new content portals and other tools that will expand and drive richer and more satisfying content to readers.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed in the release, but a person with knowledge of the negotiations, who declined to be identified because the agreement had not yet been made final, said the sale price was approximately $20 million with no assumption of debt — a low price for a major metropolitan daily.

The Sun-Times is Chicago’s second-largest newspaper, after The Tribune, with a circulation of 389,353, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Mr. Ferro is on the board of the Chicago News Cooperative, which publishes local news on its Web site and also has a partnership with The New York Times to produce Chicago-focused news for The Times online and in its print report. The deal is not expected to change the partnership, the person said.

In March, Sun-Times Media, the parent company of The Chicago Sun-Times, appointed Jeremy L. Halbreich chairman of the company. Mr. Halbreich succeeded James C. Tyree, the company’s former chairman, who died in March.

In 2009, Mr. Tyree, the chief executive of Mesirow Financial Holdings, joined with other investors to buy the Sun-Times Media Group, which had filed for bankruptcy that same year, citing a weak forecast for advertising revenue.

In April, The Sun-Times won a Pulitzer Prize for local news reporting for articles on the violent “no snitching” culture in Chicago. The paper had not won a Pulitzer since 1989, when Jack Higgins won one for his editorial cartoons.

______________________________

Crain’s: Chicago-based Savo Group leased a total of 42,303 square feet on two floors at 155 N. Wacker Drive, a John Buck Co.-built tower completed in 2009. The firm is moving in March from 19,000 square feet space at 525 W. Van Buren St. — man, this gets a whole article in Crain’s — who does SAVO’s PR?

www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/article/20111221/CRED03/111229966/tech-firm-doubling-space-in-move-to-155-n-wacker

Tech firm doubling space in move to 155 N. Wacker

By: Dave MatthewsDecember 21, 2011

155 N. Wacker. Image from CoStar Group Inc.

(Crain’s) — A local cloud-based software firm is more than doubling its space in a move to one of the Loop’s newest office towers, as tech companies continue to lead a small pack of tenants seeking to expand when moving.

Chicago-based Savo Group leased a total of 42,303 square feet on two floors at 155 N. Wacker Drive, a John Buck Co.-built tower completed in 2009. The firm is moving in March from 19,000 square feet space at 525 W. Van Buren St.

Savo’s move is another example of technology firms expanding their office space downtown as many other tenants shrink. Fast-growing tech businesses offer hope to landlords still smarting from the recession.

“This is going to be the fifth consecutive quarter of positive absorption of space downtown and certainly the tech sector has been a big driver behind that,” says Cal Wessman, executive vice-president at CBRE Inc. who was not involved in the deal. “We’re seeing tech companies expand pretty much across the board, and in a lot of instances it’s a pretty significant expansion as well; it’s not just a 5 or 10% growth, it could be 40 or 50% growth or doubling in size.”

Savo’s headcount has doubled within the past year, and the company expects to have 200 employees by the end of the month, CEO Mark O’Connell says. Savo is taking the 10th floor and most of the ninth at 155 N. Wacker, a 46-story building with 1.1 million square feet. Savo expects to seek more space in the trophy tower by 2013, Mr. O’Connell says.

Savo, which specializes in sales-management software, is “just a really dynamic company that’s doing real well and they’re taking off,” says Colliers International Executive Vice-President Michael Cummings, who represented Savo in the lease. He and Mr. O’Connell decline to disclose terms of the 11-year deal.

But while many tech companies continue to grow, few choose top-tier Class A buildings like 155 N. Wacker, Mr. Wessman says. The building’s largest tenants include Ernst & Young Global Ltd., the American Hospital Assn. and law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

“Tech companies are typically looking for edgier-type space,” he says. “They’re also typically cost-conscious, and a building like 155 N. Wacker is at the top of the cost spectrum. I don’t think you’re going to see a trend of young tech companies moving to super Class A buildings.”

Yet the downtown office market needs plenty of tenants like Savo to pull out of its slump. Many users continue to shrink their space to cut costs.

“Most firms, I wouldn’t say necessarily are downsizing, but most firms when they’re relocating are definitely using space more efficiently,” says Bill Rogers, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. “In any relocation you’re trying to use space more efficiently, right?”

The Savo lease bumps occupancy at 155 N. Wacker to about 92.5%, Mr. Cummings says. A John Buck Co. executive did not return a message seeking comment.

You May Also Like

Tech firm doubling space in move to 155 N. Wacker
Publicis doubles space at 111 E. Wacker
MillerCoors HQ on Wacker to sell for $91 million
Pritzkers sell parking business to investment firm

In brief: Esquire Theater | Law firm move | 77 W. Huron

Read more: www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/article/20111221/CRED03/111229966/tech-firm-doubling-space-in-move-to-155-n-wacker#ixzz1hCyHQdaO
Stay up-to-date on Chicago real estate with our free, daily e-newsletter
___________________________

Jeff Carter: Letter Written in December 1944 by Marine 1st Lt. Leonard Isacks, Jr. and HPA has new URL

Letter Written in December 1944 by Marine 1st Lt. Leonard Isacks, Jr.
ronaldmay@aol.com
X
Reply
from Jeff Carter jrcarter@me.com
to
date Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 11:24 AM
subject Letter Written in December 1944 by Marine 1st Lt. Leonard Isacks, Jr.
hide details 11:24 AM (21 hours ago)
The person who wrote this letter was killed in action at Iwo Jima two months later.

www.nationalww2museum.org/give/letter-written-in-december.html

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

amended Email
X
ronaldmay@aol.com
X
Reply
from Jeff Carter jrcarter@mac.com
to RONALDMAY@aol.com
date Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 10:35 AM
subject amended Email
Important mainly because of the words in the message.
hide details 10:35 AM (21 hours ago)
Ron,

We will have two domain names, a DOT org, and a DOT Net. We would like everyone to use the .org. Thanks a lot.
hydeparkangels.org
Jeff

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Fwd: Hyde Park Angels
X
ronaldmay@aol.com
X
Reply
from Jeff Carter jrcarter@me.com
to RONALDMAY@aol.com
date Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 10:16 AM
subject Fwd: Hyde Park Angels
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
hide details 10:16 AM (22 hours ago)
Ron, we have a new website domain name. It’s a .net, not a .com. Apologize for the .com website having technical difficulties, and for taking so long to rectify it. Appreciate you helping us spread the word. Happy Holidays to you and your family and friends. Hope you have a healthy New Year.

hydeparkangels.net/

______________________________

Irv Michaels graciously sent his notes from the CEC Start-up event on Brett Goldstein, Matt McCall, and Jim O’Connor, now with a hedge fund, formerly of Motorola — I corrected and added a few things

Subject: RE: Irv, if you have time tonight, please send me the rest of your CEC notes.
Date: 12/22/2011 12:26:34 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: Irv.Michaels@insperity.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Brett Goldstein Chief Data officer Chgo
• Big data Mongo db as is storage building spatial data

• Portal -Data.www.cityofchicago.org
• Using twitter to proactive predictive model
• Chicago becoming a true data community
• Hbase
• 2012 – Chgo as a data city
• Pull data
• Use data meaningfully
• Focus on predictability
• Neighborhood health index

Matt Macoll
DFJ portage ventures
VC confidential, www.vcconfidential.com
New World Ventures
Chicago 5.0
Trends
• Social local
• Mobile
• Cleantech
• Exponential disruption. As much change in the next 2 yrs as in the last 10 yrs
• Countdown to singularity Ray Kurzweil, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil
• Angels vs VCs
VCs rolling out seed programs w VCs but then providing infrastructure

Black swan change happens when least expected

www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Impact-Highly-Improbable/dp/1400063515
1 predictions will be wrong
2. Out time, our turnnvas chicago
3. Web moves to the FB Canvas
Gaming to music/movies to e-commerce
4. Venturgedden
-Calpers has cut its venture investing from 7% to 1%
-Intermediaries
-Valley consolidation
5. You’ve been You Tubed
6. SoLoMo how to run mobile campaigns
we’re in the Middle of 15 year cycle which will end in 2015

Panel
Kevin Willer
Matt Spiegel tapme
Chuck Templeton OCA
Brittany Lockton GTrot (lightbank 11 startups)
Neo – Code Academy -

Jim O’Connor, formerly of Motorola
1. Community is building serial entrepreneurs
2. Big companies are interested in Chgo companies
3. 2012 consistently in companies selling under the radar. Money making operations i. 2012 and

_______________________________

Startup Bus // Chicago

StartupBus // Chicago?
X
Inbox
X
Reply
from Eoin McMillan eoin@startupbus.com
to ron@themayreport.com
date Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 4:29 PM
subject StartupBus // Chicago?
mailed-by gmail.com
signed-by gmail.com
Important mainly because of the words in the message.
hide details 4:29 PM (16 hours ago)
Hi Ron,

You may recall our meeting at TechWeek when I was promoting Picturely picture.ly/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=chicago (which we’re still working on). One of my other side projects is connecting with media in the lead up to next year’s StartupBus startupbus.com/competition.

As you may be aware, we recently opened an “unlock your region” competition as announced on TechCrunch techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/startupbus-doubling-to-12-buses-in-2012-but-you-have-to-vote-your-region-in/ yesterday. I noticed that Chicago, despite it’s burgeoning tech scene, is stalling behind other cities. Totally up to you but I thought you might like to give their community a little push startupbus.com/unlock.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me here or by phone. You can also send questions to the media@startupbus.com account which is monitored by a team.

Best wishes and happy Hanukkah,

Eoin

–
Eoin McMillan | eoin@startupbus.com | (347) 247 9872
Coming to a freeway near you: StartupBus.com
_____________________________

ExploreChicago.org Registers Record-Setting 6 Million Visits

ExploreChicago.org Registers Record-Setting 6 Million Visits
X
Inbox
X
Reply
from Joyce Rowe joyce.rowe@explorechicago.org via prnews2.com
to ron@themayreport.com
date Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 3:33 PM
subject ExploreChicago.org Registers Record-Setting 6 Million Visits
mailed-by prnews2.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
hide details 3:33 PM (18 minutes ago)
CHICAGO’S NO. 1 TRAVEL AND TOURISM SITE, ExploreChicago.org,
REGISTERS A RECORD-SETTING 6 MILLION VISITS
Dynamic website features event listings, multimedia content, games and social media, travel tools, visitor discounts, neighborhood descriptions, interactive maps and more

CHICAGO (December 21, 2011) – ExploreChicago.org, the City of Chicago’s Official Tourism Site, today surpassed 6 million visits (YTD 2011), the highest annual total since its 2009 launch and a 40% increase over last year.

ExploreChicago is the No. 1 travel and tourism website for Chicago based on traffic volume, outpacing chicagotraveler.com and choosechicago.com. The site is managed by the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture (COTC), an agency dedicated to promoting Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers.

“The Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture is a recognized leader in the visitor industry for using cutting-edge technologies and social media to market Chicago as a premier leisure travel destination,” says Dorothy Coyle, Executive Director, COTC. “We’re thrilled that more and more visitors and residents are using our award-winning website to plan their trips and learn about the city’s vibrant neighborhoods and world-class cultural attractions.”

Earlier this month, Google invited ExploreChicago.org to provide Chicago tourism and travel content for its innovative new magazine and trends reader, Google Currents. This fall, a study conducted by Nichols Tourism Group and the National Laboratory of Tourism and eCommerce at Temple University found that ExploreChicago significantly influenced $172 million in direct visitor spending and $3 million in local taxes.

There were nearly 40 million total visitors to Chicago in 2010, three-quarters of which were leisure travelers. The Chicago visitor industry generates more than $11 billion in direct spending, $616 million in tax revenue, and sustains more than 124,000 jobs for the city’s economy.

Recent additions to ExploreChicago.org and other highlights include:
· A popular blog, launched in April to provide a unique insider’s point of view of the city;
· Events, tours and attractions, searchable by date, neighborhood and interest areas;
· Social media travel tools including free visitor assistance via Twitter (@explorechicago);
· Fun, location-based games including 11 free SCVNGR treks and Foursquare badges;
· Multimedia content such as videos, slideshows, podcasts and an itinerary builder;
· “Insider Profiles” of real Chicagoans, with their favorite things to see and do in the city;
· Convenient airline and hotel booking services provided by Orbitz.com;
· Detailed information and interactive Google maps for Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods.

Visitor Information Resources
Visitors and Chicagoans planning to entertain out-of-town guests can receive trip-planning assistance and information by visiting ExploreChicago.org. Brochures and information on Chicago’s exciting events and activities are also available at the Visitor Information Centers. Friendly Visitor Representatives can answer questions and assist in planning an unforgettable itinerary. The visitor centers are located in two of the city’s most popular areas: across from Millennium Park in the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph Street; and at the historic Water Works pumping station, 163 E. Pearson Street at Michigan Avenue.

For daily alerts about fun and free things to do in Chicago, follow Explore Chicago on Twitter at Twitter.com/ExploreChicago and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/ExploreChicago, where you can also weigh in on your Chicago favorites. Receive answers to your Chicago questions on the go, and tips on the latest citywide events and activities, via the FREE Twitter Concierge Service (@explorechicago) available daily.

The Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture is dedicated to promoting Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers, providing innovative visitor programs and services, and presenting free world-class public programs. For more information please visit ExploreChicago.org.

# # #

Media Contacts:
Jamey Lundblad, jamey.lundblad@explorechicago.org, 312.744.6569
Joyce Rowe, joyce.rowe@explorechicago.org, 312.742.2036

_____________________________

Miscellaneous notes, mostly between Ron and Social Katy (5 messages)

_____________________________

#1: SOCIALKATY
X
Inbox
X
Reply
from Katy Lynch katy@socialkaty.com
to ron@themayreport.com
date Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 4:09 PM
subject SOCIALKATY
Important mainly because of the words in the message.
hide details 4:09 PM (8 hours ago)
RON MAY!

Great seeing you at the Social Media Club holiday party – even though you a) insulted my boyfriend and b) asked for my business card for the zillionth time. Don’t you have about 100 of them sitting in a drawer at home by now?!

Anyway, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Thought you’d enjoy this lovely wee holiday photo of the SocialKaty team.

Cheers,
Katy

–
President | Founder
SocialKaty, LLC
www.socialkaty.com
203-216-7366

___________________________

#2: Subject: Re: Katy, how’d I insult Craig? I met one of your people at MIT-EF 2nite.

:
Date: 12/21/2011 8:56:35 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: katy@socialkaty.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Ron – I’m just kidding. You didn’t insult Craig. He just think it’s hilarious when you say things like “did you break up with your boyfriend yet?”.

On Dec 21, 2011, at 12:25 AM, RONALDMAY@aol.com wrote:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

#3: Subject: Re: The woman I met — and interrogated — at MIT-EF was Anne-Catherine Dargis.
Date: 12/21/2011 8:54:42 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: katy@socialkaty.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Anne Catherine is AWESOME!!!

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 21, 2011, at 1:02 AM, RONALDMAY@aol.com wrote:

_______________________________

#4: Subscription
X
Inbox
X
Reply
from Anne-Catherine Dargis acdargis@socialkaty.com
to ron@themayreport.com
date Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 10:29 AM
subject Subscription
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
hide details 10:29 AM (5 hours ago)
Images are not displayed.
Display images below – Always display images from acdargis@socialkaty.com
Hi Ron,
It was nice to see you again yesterday. Can you please make sure to add this email address to your subscriber list? Much easier to keep up with TMR if it’s right in my inbox.
Thanks,
Anne-Catherine

–
Anne-Catherine Dargis | SocialKaty | Social Media Assassin
734.751.6914 | acdargis@socialkaty.com
www.socialkaty.com | @SocialKaty

__________________________

#5: Subject: Re: Lanny, you never miss an MIT-EF party. Where were you last night?
Date: 12/21/2011 10:25:06 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: lanny@protectiveipservices.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com

Ron,

I didn’t know that I was so noticeable. I am on vacation out of town.

Happy Chanukah and a happy, HEALTHY, and prosperous New Year.

Lanny Feder
Protective Intellectual Property Services LLC
847-780-7477
Lanny@protectiveIPservices.com

Connected by DROID on Verizon Wireless

—–Original message—–

From: RONALDMAY@aol.com
To: lanny@protectiveipservices.com
Cc: ronaldmay@aol.com
Sent: Thu, Dec 22, 2011 03:03:18 GMT+00:00
Subject: Lanny, you never miss an MIT-EF party. Where were you last night?

___________________________

Tech Trends to Take Off in 2012

Tech Trends to Take Off in 2012
Inbox
X
Reply
from Lindsay Rafayko lrafayko@empowerpr.com
to “ron@themayreport.com” <ron@themayreport.com>
date Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 5:10 PM
subject Tech Trends to Take Off in 2012
mailed-by empowerpr.com
hide details 5:10 PM (9 hours ago)
Tech Trends to Take Off in 2012
The New Year’s Next Big Things

From tablets to Siri, we saw a slew of new technology in 2011, so what can we expect in the new year? Karl Volkman of Chicago-based SRV Network, Inc. weighs in on his predictions for the top tech trends of 2012.

Cloud Computing: While its initial announcement was met with concerns regarding security threats, cloud computing will likely begin to catch fire as these fears subside and consumers realize the benefits and convenience of moving their info to “the cloud.” A “cloud” in computing terms allows users to have their data and files stored out in the internet that can be easily accessed on all of their internet capable devices. Apple recently introduced their free iCloud service in a move to forever change and revolutionize how internet browsers store and access data. In 2012, it’s extremely likely that we will see many companies introducing their own versions of cloud services as well as businesses and individuals moving their data to a cloud service.

YouTube Television: YouTube is already recognized for revolutionizing the way video is transmitted and viewed online, but it will push the bar even further in 2012 with the introduction of its own television service. First announced in 2009, Google wants to launch a television service on YouTube that will include over a dozen unique channels and programming. If Google goes ahead with their plans to launch YouTube TV in early 2012, it’s likely to shake up the playing field and compete with both traditional television services as well as streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix.

3D Technology: 3D technology isn’t the same as it was during its 80’s peak, requiring you to wear goofy glasses to see Jaws up close and personal. It has seen immense advancements in the past few years, including home television and video game capabilities. In 2012, the price will likely come down on home 3D television sets, bringing it closer to the realm of affordability for many middle class consumers. Along with the drop in price, we will likely see a much higher quality picture and network television utilization of this technology and its capabilities. We may also see 3D technology integrated into gadgets like phones, cameras and video cameras.

Mobile Payments: First we replaced cash with checks, than we replaced both with credit cards. In 2012, we will continue the cycle and replace credit cards with mobile apps. Many more businesses will begin to become mobile payment friendly and you will have the ability to instantly pay for your merchandise with the touch of a button or the tap of your screen. As with all new technology, especially those pertaining to our money, some security concerns will arise, however the convenience will win out and the service providers will do their best to assure our money is safe.

Voice Recognition Software: Done are the days of having to repeat “call dad” into your phone five times before giving up and just dialing the number. With the introduction and success garnered from Apple’s Siri software based on the iPhone 4S will come an industry wide push for better voice recognition technologies. It’s likely that 2012 will see many Siri imitators not just limited to mobile devices, but potentially on television, in cars, or even in homes to control functions such as lighting or temperature.

To speak with Karl Volkman on 2012 tech trends, please contact me directly.

Best,

Lindsay

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______________________________________

In honor of what would have been his 86th birthday on December 22nd, the only humorous article my dad wrote (that I know of): A SNOBOGRAPHER’S SCHOLARLY APPROACH TO SNOBOCRACY

by Frederick E. May, October, 1961, The Journal of Marketing — and its amazing how applicable it is today

A SNOBOGRAPHER’S SCHOLARLY APPROACH TO SNOBOCRACY

October, 1961

by Frederick E. May

This snobbish treatise deals with the changing tastes among American car users.

MANY a superficial attempt to describe and classify snobocracy (1) has been made by non-marketing oriented writers. (2,3,4,5) The author wishes to establish his claim to the only serious analysis with a marketing viewpoint.

What is a snob? The origin of the wrod is uncertain. 1. A townsman, as opposed to a gownsman or a memebr of the university. (Old slang) (6)

This apparently was the common usage of the word until William Makepeace Thackeray changed its meaning in the famous Snob Papers. (7) These were contributions which “appeared weekly in Punch (8) from 28 February 1846 to 27 February 1947.” (9)

The relevant meaning of snob today is given in another dictionary: (10)

2. One who blatantly imitates , fawningly admires, or vulgarly seeks association with those whom he regards aas his superiors.

3. One who repels the advances of those he regards as his inferiors; one conscious of his superiority; one inclined to exclusiveness; as, an intellectual snob.

What is a “reverse” snob? Neither of the two cited editions of the dictionaries defines the meaning of this popular term. Reverse, as an adjective, must, therefore, be defined by the author as acting and operating in a manner opposite or contrary. Thus, reverse snobbery is defined as behavior which is opposite or contrary to that of those whom one regards as one’s superiors; for example, vulgar seeking of disassociation, or fawning admiration for something which the superiors despise.

Both snobs and “reverse” snobs are motivated by desires for upward mobility. (11) The difference between them is found in the cost of their upward movement . For the snob it is costly, for the reverse snob less costly but vastly more uncomfortable.

The problem was to find a method for classification, and to measure changing tastes among snobocrats.

THE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

The procedure employed was to select a random sample of American car users – including owners as well as nonowners of automobiles. Since Latin squares (12) were not available, the American square (13) design was employed. Interviews were conducted for eight years running.

Snobs and reverse snobs were classified according to their car-using behavior. In order to measure the changes in taste among these snobbish car users, a special measurement scale was designed. It included looking at the man’s car (if he owned one); questioning the respondent about his attitudes (Guttenberg (14) scaling them for consistency); and a talk with the man’s wife and children. Respondents who failed to answer some of the questions were classified either as 1. snob-degree not ascertained , or as 2. not ascertained whether snob.

THE FINDINGS

The respondents were classified in accordance with relevant measures of their behavior, both external and internal, for the period circa 1953 through 1959. The following categories were found to exist. They are listed below with the dimensions used to classify individual respondents:

Snob-first degree:
1. Foreign sports-car owner-no other evidence required for this classification.

Snob-second degree:
1. Owns American car equipped as outdoor parlor.
2. The following items must be operated electrically via pushbutton:
a. all windows
b. front-seat movement in six directions
c. transmission shift
d. fins

3. The car must have low-slung external appearance and driver’s seat which has been lowered in order to put the driver in a lounging position.

4. Car must be equipped with power brakes, power steering, air conditioning, radio with rear speaker, and a premium high-octane bas-burning engine.
5. The wife and children must be dressed in rags.
6. The family must live in a one-room house with outdoor plumbing.

Reverse snob–first degree:
1. Does not own a car.
2. Signs of substantial wealth abound in respondent’s home, for example, built-in stereo set, several originals by Picasso.
3. Does not own or view TV, except occasionally in a public plae behind cover of Manchester Guardian.
4. Answer to question, “How do you get about?”-”I take taxicabs occasionally, but much prefer to walk.”

Reverse snob–second degree:
1. Same as first degree on 1 through 3.
2. Answer to question, “How do you get about?”-”I take taxis frequently and rent a car every weekend. This permits me to drive a new car and reduces my transportation costs to an irreducible minimum-$10 per day plus 10 cents per mile.”

Reverse snob–third degree:
1. Owns a compact car of foreign make.
2. Steers it, rather that herds it.
3. Has passed a course in Cybernetics-the science of steermanship with immediate feedback.
4. Feels that continuous attention to steering keeps him alert to the hazards of the road.
5. Feels that frequent manual shifting of gear lever installed in the floorboard increases the joy of the driving experience in heavy traffic or in hilly terrain.
6. Feels that the lack of certain accessories keeps him in better physical shape. Accessories not found in the car are:

a. Heater-driver is forced to exercise to keep warm in winter.

b. Gas gauge-driver is forced to walk frequently to the nearest service station.

c. Rear-view mirror-car is capable of driving on the yellow line between lanes, and consequently is never in danger of being bumped from the rear.

d. Wide rear windows-driver is forced to make occasional full body turn from the rump. Good muscular exercise and change to show smiling face to passing girls.
7. Plans on selling car for higher price than original purchase price.

Reverse snob-fourth degree:
1. Owns American-made car at least nine years old, fully rusted out, and fully depreciated.
2. Income is within upper 10 per cent of American families.
3. Claims repair costs are low for standard parts.
4. Feels it is not necessary to repair bumpy fenders or broken window.
5. Car burns regular gas only; it would choke on premium high octane.
6. Owner feels that he need not pay attention to amount of gas consume per mile.
7. Independent laboratory report shows that the car uses about one-half gallon in the economy run.
8. Owner who reports this car as a second car should be classified at least one degree higher.

Reverse snob-fifth degree:
1. Owner bought American made compact in the period 1953 through August, 1959, that is, prior to the introduction of any Big Three compacts.

Reverse snob-sixth degree:
1. Owns a fully-equipped 9-passenger station wagon.
2. Prefers it to a sedan because of its “hard” riding qualities.
3. The owner states that it is used as a garbage carrier, lumber transporter, moving van, and neighborhood school bus.
4. The owner has had a window installed by a factory which separates the driver’s seat from the rear compartment. When children begin to get noisy or start a fight, he rolls it up and communicates through a one-way microphone located in the hub of the steering column.

RESULTS OF THE STUDY

The entire sample of respondents was again interviewed in early 1961. Certain significant taste changes appear to have occurred. The analysis of the new data has not yet been fully completed. This must, therefore, be a report of preliminary findings.

1. A significant proportion of snobs-second degree have purchased American made compacts.
2. Reverse snobs-fifth degree; those who had bought an American compact before August, 1959, felt they would have to trade it soon for something

new. There appears to be considerable confusion among them as to what to buy. Many mentioned the possibility of leasing a compact on an annual

basis.
3. Owners of foreign-made compacts were generally found to be jittery. Many mentioned their intention to trade in and get a jeep with four-wheel drive. Several respondents were considering the purchase of a British made Land Rover which would allow them to combine their town driving with camping trips. (15)
4. The owners of fully depreciated American-made cars frequently mentioned their plans to buy a three-year old used Cadillac with low mileage. Some had already purchased one. They decided to retain their old car, which had become their wives’ car.

These Cadillac owners expressed the view that five miles per gallon under favorable driving conditions was quite satisfactory to them. When pressed, most expressed the opinion that gasoline costs constitute an unimportant part of total costs of transportation. However, a sizeable number of respondents reported that they were taking their Cadillacs to off-brand service stations for gas, and to Sears for replacement of worn-out tires, batteries, etc. Most were reluctant to discuss the amount of the annual depreciation.

CONCLUSION

This snobography (16) should be very useful to the marketing researcher in some way. Otherwise it would obviously not appear in the JOURNAL OF MARKETING.

(1) New Standard Dictionary of the English Language (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1951), p. 2,307. Snobs as a class.
(2) William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Biographical Edition, editor, Anne Ritchie, Vol. 1 (London: Smith Elder & Co., 1900).
(3) Frances Trollope, Domestic Manners of the Americans, editor, Donald Smalley (New York: Knopf, 1949).
(4) Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, any edition.
(5) Stephen Potter, One-upmanship (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1951). Not, however, Lifemanship, by the same author.
(6) New Standard Dictionary, same reference as footnote 1, p. 2,307.
(7) Contributions to Punch, &c, Works, Vol. 6.
(8) English humour magazine.
(9) J.Y.T. Greig, Thackeray, A Reconsideration (London: Oxford University Press, 1950), p.90.
(10) Webster’s New International Dictionary.
(11) For the meaning of upward mobility see any standard sociology text index-social climbing.
(12) A technique known to psychologists. See any basic text.
(13) A technique known to snobographers.
(14) A well-known German Bible printer.
(15) A Land Rover is a light truck equipped with four-wheel drive. It has served travelers who had to cross the continent of Asia via the southern route and has shown outstanding performance qualities on the Afghanistan plateau and in the foothills of the Himalayas.
(16) New Standard Dictionary, same reference as footnote 6.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The author was formerly Director of the Center for Studies on the Inhuman Behavior among Humans supported by the Brand X Foundation. He is now Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Missouri. The author wishes to take full credit for all ideas contained in the article, and wishes to deny credit to those of his colleagues who served as subjects for his research, or read the manuscript and made negative suggestions.

_______________________________

My Hanukkah present came three months ago and was delivered by Federal Judge Amy St. Eve in the form of her opinion granting the defense’s motion for summary judgment — there were nine depositions, including one with economist Stan V. Smith who was so bored, he was reading the newspaper while defense attorney Jeff Becker was trying to ask him questions; and I had a lawyer who has represented that “brokerage” firm I should not name representing me in my dep. — and it was paid for by that same brokerage firm — go figure!; all in all, one sentence in TMR resulted in probably close to $100K in legal fees and expenses and we still don’t know if Dan Camphausen ever paid the Bellows law firm the $20K he still owes them

+++++++++++++++++++++

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NOTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

Case No. 10 C 3605

DAN CAMPHAUSEN,
Plaintiff

DOREEN SCHWEITZER and
RONALD MAY
Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

AMY J. ST. EVE, District Court Judge:

On June 10, 2010, Plantiff Dan Camphausen brought a three-count Complaint against Defendants Doreen Schweitzer and Ronald May based on the Court’s diversity jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C 1332(a). In his Complaint, Camphausen alleges a defamation claim against Schweitzer (Count 1) and defamation and invasion of privacy claims against May (Count II and III). Before the Court is Schweitzer’s motion for summary judgement pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56.(1) For the following reasons, the Court grants Schweitzer’s motion and dismisses this lawsuit in its entirety against Defendants Schweitzer and May.

BACKGROUND

Doreen Schweitzer was married to Steve Schweitzer from 1975 until 2001. (R. 60, Def.’s Rule 56.1 Stmt. Facts para. 13.) In or about 2001, Steve Schweitzer became a client of Camphausen, who was employed by Advanced Equities, Inc. (“AEI”). (Id. para. 14.) During this time, Doreen Schweitzer also utilized Camphausen’s brokerage services. (Id. para. 15.) The Schweitzers divorced in 2001, at which time Doreen Schweitzer (hereinafter “Schweitzer”) continued to use Camphausen’s brokerage services. (Id. para. 16)

In 2005, Schweitzer began to question the profitability of her brokerage account and asked Camphausen for documentation about her account . (Id. para. 17) Schweitzer and Camphausen engaged in communications concerning this issue , including one conversation that occurred on or around November 14, 2005 (the “November 2005 Conversation”). (Id. para. 18.) During the November 2005 Conversation, Schweitzer and Camphausen discussed the fact that Schweitzer was thinking about moving her account to a Merrill Lynch broker named Nick Photiadis because Photiadis told her
she was losing money with Camphausen. (Id. paras. 19, 20.) During their conversation, Camphausen told Schweitzer that Photiadis was wrong about Schweitzer losing money and told her to look at her brokerage reports to fully understand how her accounts were performing. (Id. para. 21.)

Meanwhile, Camphausen agrees that he had a problem with Photiadis and that he was insulted by the comments Photiadis and Merrill Lynch made about his trading practices. (Id. paras. 25, 26.) Camphausen also agrees that he criticized Photiadis and made negative comments about Photiadis during his November 2005 Conversation with Schweitzer . (Id. para. 28.) Camphausen , however, denies that he made a specific statement about Photiadis ending up at the “bottom of a river” during the November 2005 Conversation. (Id. paras. 29, 35; R. 65, Pl.’s Rule 56.1 Stmt. Facts paras. 20, 21.) In December 2005, Schweitzer transferred her account to Merrill Lynch. (Id. para. 38; Pl’s Stmt. Facts para. 5.)

Five years later, a group of former AEI customers – all of whom had been clients of Camphausen – initiated an arbitration related violations of federal and state securities laws in relation to investment funds in Alien Technologies (the “Alien Technologies Arbitration”). (Def.’s Stmt. Facts paras. 39, 40.) Schweitzer, who was not an original plaintiff in the Alien Technologies Arbitration , was considering whether she wanted to become involved in it. (Id. para. 40.) Consequently, Schweitzer spoke to an attorney named William Anthony to gather more information about the Alien Technologies
Arbitration. (Id. para. 41.) Anthony directed Schweitzer to an online newsletter known as “The May Report,” which covered stories about Chicago technology. (Id. para. 42; Def.’s Ex. G, 2/12/10 May Report.)

On or around February 9, 2010, Schweitzer visited the “The May Report” website, but she was unable to navigate the website, so she contacted May, the publisher of “The May Report” by telephone. (Id. para. 43.) In that conversation, Schweitzer told May that Camphausen had made several comments about Photiadis including a statement about Photiadis ending up at the “bottom of the river.” (Id. para. 46; Pl.’s Stmt. Facts para. 11.) After May spoke with Schweitzer, he published an edition of “The May Report” on or about February 12, 2010 that stated in part:

“Doreen said that Dan Camphausen supposedly threatened the Merrrill guy with unthinkable things like “You might end up in the bottom of the river.” The issue was defamation by the ML guy and loss of the trust of his clients by Dan. I must tell you that in the early days of my looking into AEI, I had a few conversations with anonymous people, presumably AEI brokers which went along the same lines. It may just be a reflection of the wind and woolly world of trading and brokering.”

(Def.’s Stmt. Facts para. 60; Pl.’s Stmt. Facts paras. 12, 17.)

SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). A genuine dispute as to any material fact exists if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S. Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L. Ed. 2d. 202 (1986). In determining summary judgment motions, “facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party only if there is a ‘genuine’ dispute as to those facts.” Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380, 127 S. Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007). The party seeking summary judgment has the burden of establishing that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U. S. 317, 323, 106 S. Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). After a

“properly supported motion for a judgment is made, the adverse party ‘must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.’” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255 (quotation omitted).

ANALYSIS

In his Complaint, Camphausen alleges that the statement attributed to him in “The May Report” is defamatory because it imputes the commission of a criminal offense. (R. 1, Compl. paras. 16, 22.) (2) To establish a defamation claim under illinois law, the defendant made an unprivileged publication of that statement to a third party, and that this publication caused damages.” Seith v. Chicago Sun-Times, Inc., 371 Ill.App.3d 124, 134, 308 Ill.Dec. 552, 861 N.E.2d 1117 (1st Dist. 2007); see also Lott v. Levitt, 556 F.3d 564, 568 (7th Cir. 2009) (“Defamation is the publication of a false statement that ‘tends to harm a person’s reputation to the extent that it lowers that person in the eyes of the community or deters others from associating with that person.’”) (citation omitted). Under Camphausen’s theory of liability, Schweitzer is liable because she made the false statement to May and May is liable for authoring an article containing the false statement and then publishing the article in “The May Report.” See Roehfborn v. Lambert, 277 Ill.App.3d 181, 184, 213 Ill.Dec. 923, 660 N.E.2d 180 (1st Dist. 1995) (“‘publication’ in defamation requires only that the matter be communicated to a third person”); Brennan v. Kadner, 351 Ill.App.3d 963, 970, 286 Ill.Dec. 725, 814 N.E.2d 951 (1st Dist. 2004) (“The republisher of a defamatory statement made by another is himself liable for defamation even if he gives the originator’s name”). “Illinois courts have recognized four categories of statements that are defamatory per se: (1) words that impute the commission of a crime; (2) words that impute infection with a loathsome disease; (3) words that impute and inability to perform or a want of integrity in the discharge of duties of office or employment; or (4) words that prejudice a party, or impute lack of ability, in his or her trade, profession, or business.” Republic Tobacco Co. v. North Atlantic Trading Co., Inc., 381 F.3d 717, 726 (7th

Cir. 2004); see also Lott, 556 F.3d at 568. If a statement is defamation per se, a plaintiff need not demonstrate actual damages to reputation because “statements that fall within these per se categories are thought to be so obviously and materially harmful to the plaintiff that injury to its reputation may be presumed.” Republic Tobacco, 381 F3d at 726.

“Although a statement may fit into one of these [per se] categories, this fact, standing alone, ‘has no bearing on whether the alleged defamatory statement is actionable, because certain factors may render defamatory statements non-actionable as a matter of law.’” Giant Screen Sports v. Candian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 553 F.3d 527, 532 (7th cir. 2009) (citation omitted). One of these factors includes the innocent construction rule. See Lott. 556 F.3d at 568 (“a statement that is reasonably capable of an innocent construction is not perse defamatory”). “Whether a statement is reasonably capable of an innocent construction is a question of law for the court to decide.” Madison, 539 F.3d at 654. Under Illinois’ innocent construction rule, a statement ‘reasonably’ capable of nondefamatory interpretation, given its verbal or literal context, should be so interpreted. There is no balancing of reasonable constructions.” Green v. Rogers, 234 Ill.2d 478, 500, 334 Ill.Dec. 624, 927 N.E.2d 450 (Ill. 2009) (citation omitted); see also Pope v. Chronicle Publ’n Co., 95 F3d 07, 13 (7th Cir. 1996) (the “court is not to balance reasonable constructions, nor is it necessary to conclude that the statement cannot be construed in a defamatory way.”) (emphasis in original). The innocent construction rule “requires a court to consider the statement in context and give the words of the statement, and any implications arising from them, their natural and obvious meaning.” Madison v. Frazier, 549 F3d 646, 653-54 (7th Cir. 2008) (quoting Solaia Tech., LLC v. Specialty Publ’g Co., 221 Ill.2d 558, 304 Ill.Dec. 369, 852 N.E.2d 825, 839 (2009)). Courts “are to interpret the words of the statement as they appear to have been used and according to the idea they were intended to convey to a reader of reasonable intelligence.” Seith, 371 Ill.App.3d at 135.

Here, Camphausen maintains that the comment attributed to him in “The May Report,” namely, that he threatened the “Merrill guy” by saying “you might end up in the bottom of the river” is a death threat, which imputes a commission of a crime. Schweitzer, on the other hand, argues that “this statement is reasonably capable of being interpreted to mean that Camphausen made a rhetorical or colloquial comment out of frustration rather than an actual threat to kill someone and place his body at the bottom of a river.” (R. 59, Schweitzer Mem., at 11.) May argues that the comment was not a

death threat, but that Camphausen was just “trash talking.” (R.63, May Mem., at 1.)

Based on the context of this statement in May’s on-line newsletter discussing AEI and Merrill Lynch brokers, the reasonably intelligent reader would understand this statement to be an expression of frustration and bravado in the high stakes-world of brokerage firms, especially in light of May’s comment that the alleged threat “may just be a reflection of the wild and woolly world of trading and brokering.” And, even if a reasonable reader construed this statement as a death threat – as Camphausen asserts – under Illinois law, “if a statement is capable of two reasonable constructions,

one defamatory and one innocent, the innocent one will prevail.” Muzikowski v. Paramount Pictures Corp., 477 F3d 899, 904 (7th Cir. 2007). In other words, Illinois law “prevents a case from getting to the jury if there is any possible reasonable innocent interpretation of the language.” Chicago City Day School v. Wade, 297 Ill.App.3d 465, 471, 231 Ill.Dec. 835, 697 N.E.2d 389 (1st Dist. 1998). Thus, Camphausen’s defamation per se claims against both Schweitzer and May fail.

On a final note, because Camphausen’s invasion of privacy claim against May is based on May’s statement made in “The May Report,” Camphausen’s false light claim against May in Count III also fails. See Madison, 539 F.3d at 659; Muzikowski, 477 F.3d at 907; Seith, 371 Ill.App.3d at 139.

CONCLUSION

For these reasons, the Court grants Defendant’s motion for summary judgement brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 and dismisses this lawsuit in its entirety.

Date: September 27, 2011

ENTERED

__________________________

Amy J. St. Eve,

United States district Court Judge

(1) May, who is proceeding pro se, filed a summary judgement memorandum and a reply brief, but did not file an actual motion for summary judgement or any Northern District of Illinois Local Rule 56.1 Statements. The Court nevertheless considered May’s arguments in the context of Schweitzer’s summary judgement motion.

(2) In his Complaint, Camphausen also alleges that the statement imputes a want of integrity in the discharge of his professional and employment duties. (Compl. paras. 16, 22.) Camphausen, however, fails to make any such arguments in response to the present summary judgement motion, and thus has abandoned his claim. See Steen v. Myers, 486 F.3d 1017, 1020 (7th Cir. 2007) (absence of any discussion legal brief amounts to abandonment of claim).

________________________________

END OF REPORT

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