Business Management - Marketing/Sales

Did Ya ever have a conversation, leave it and then wish like hell you'd said one more thing? That thing, that remark, was probably the best or funniest or the most important point. One more brilliant, scintillating point—and you forgot to say it! You slap your forehead and say, "Whoa doggies. Where was that comment when I needed it?" Or when she said, "You're the first, the last, my everything." All you could muster was, "Well, darlin', I love you more than my Harley!" You shoulda said you love her more than your '86 Ford F150, you big dummy. Or, if you really,

In late May of this year, just a month before my 63rd birthday, I realized that I had denied myself the luxury of a mid-life crisis. A lot of my friends and business associates had some sort of mid-life crisis. Their stories of a fast break from the routine boredom of their ho-hum lives sounded exciting and fun. My opportunities for some mid-life fun just passed me by. I was always too busy doing a deal, writing a column, making a speech or trying to keep up with my 30 ballplayers—cleaning the men's and women's port-a-potties and making sure we had enough game balls

I was soaking in my spa reading the March 16th edition of Time magazine. The jets were pulsing hot massaging surges and I was thinking, "It doesn't get any better than this." But, then again, I'm old and easily satisfied. I read a column by Patricia Marx about the famous and enormously publicized runaway bride. The column made me laugh out loud and when I finished reading, I said, "Wow! I wish I'd written that!" I'm an envious cuss and it always sparks my petty jealousy when someone does something that I do better than I do. (I know that last sentence was lousy,

by Vincent Mallardi, C.M.C. Energy price hikes are tanking economic energy. Real GDP, net of fuel and power, is zero, which means any growth in '05 will be in the second half. Printing sales are up at a nominal 6 percent pace, but with less value-added because of energy-related inflation in paper, electricity and freight costs. Most benefitting from the present 4.3 percent inflation rate at the consumer level is banking/insurance ($2.68T, +5 percent; with $14B to print). Commercial banking ($>9B to print, +21 percent) is cashing in on the tougher federal bankruptcy law and lesser restrictions for charge card issuance. Bank on

The top companies in the commercial printing industry must have chosen their moniker for a good reason. To those not familiar with the giants of the graphic arts world, the names RR Donnelley, Quebecor World, Vertis and Banta could just as easily be leaders in any field. The fact is, they don't exactly scream "printing." Today, printers do so much more than just put ink on paper, that having "print" in a company's name doesn't tell the whole story. In fact, it could pigeon-hole a company from getting work not traditionally thought of as done by "printers." The most recent big-name printing company

I am writing this column on April 6, 2005. It's about 5:30 a.m. and I have got to finish this thing because Attila the Editor and his nefarious henchman, Chris Bauer, the managing editor, are insisting that they need it today so they can lay out the May edition of the magazine. Reread that last sentence with a whiny insistence in your voice and you will hear what I heard when they called to check on my progress. It's been 61 days since I quit smoking cold turkey and this kind of pressure isn't making it any easier. Now I can't drink—too many empty calories

This is a column about women in the printing industry. I believe that women have far more to contribute than the men in the industry presently allow. I believe that women are, generally, under-recognized and underpaid versus their co-workers who speak in tenor, bass and baritone. Too few females hold senior management positions. Many great ideas go unheard because we live in a man's world. But you know all that. I have written about it before. My friend and arch nemesis column writer for another magazine, Dick Vinocur, characterizes himself openly as a "babe magnet." "BABE MAGNET?" Then I saw two gorgeous 30ish

At 2:05 a.m. on February 5, 2005, I lost a lover and a friend. We'd been together nearly 50 years. We met at age 12 in the woods behind Richard Lanier's house in Brooksville, FL. From that point forward, we were never far apart and we grew closer as time passed. At first, our courtship was casual and irregular. We had sweet and awkward, clandestine trysts. We were carefully secretive in my teens. The meetings were often passionate and sometimes left me dizzy, reeling and breathless. We stepped boldly out of the closet at age 20 and had a 42-year intimate relationship. We

Having emerged from the recent election with the first popular vote majority since 1988 and firmer control of Congress, George W. Bush is pushing ahead with some of the programs he championed during the recent campaign. Top of the list is a restructuring of the nation's creaking Social Security scheme, followed by reforms of America's tax and tort systems. All three reforms, however, will face stiff opposition from powerful, and entrenched, interest groups. The crisis in Iraq continues to sap Mr. Bush's political capital, as the Iraqi elections look less and less likely to quell the insurgency. America's economy will remain strong, despite widening deficits

By Erik Cagle Senior Editor When Bruce Ross took a tour of the construction site that will soon host the Kansas City Star's shiny new production facility, the newspaper's director of marketing services was stunned. "It looks to me like an aircraft carrier," Ross said of the planned 424,000-square-foot building. "It's a sloping kind of wedge. It's all glass, it's green and it is beautiful." The futuristic-looking piece of architecture will complement the massive revitalization era that is sweeping through this midwestern city, adding sizzle to a town known for its steaks. Voters have already approved a glass-enclosed sports arena that will take up