Art Bradley introduced STEVE DANIELS, the new owner of the UPS Store (previously owned by Art).

Brent Adams introduced DEVON CUTRELL, owner of Devos Screen Printing and coach of the Mac High Rugby Team.

Walt Haight introduced JAMES GORRY, former inbound exchange student to our club from England. He is now studying at the University of California, Berkeley.

 

Chuck Pattishall introduced WEST LIVOUDIS, a member of the Newberg Rotary Club who participated in the Guatemala dental service mission last year along with members from our club.

 

Erin Stephenson introduced MARTY CROOK of the Soroptimist Club.

Russ Rainwater introduced MARIANNE MILLS and BOB DODGE of the McMinnville Habitat for Humanity chapter.

Lee Means introduced our inbound exchange students, CONI CAMPBELL of Chile and AOF SOMBATPIRON from Thailand, our outbound MELANIE PURVIS, and our new honorary member ARACELI ORTIZ.

MAGGIE JESSUP of Platform Strategies, a public relations firm headquartered in Vancouver, WA, introduced us to her book, "FAME 101." She is a former reporter and writer for several business journals in both the U.S. and Canada. She is now a publicist for Platform.

MAGGIE explained that the American Dream is still alive and available for anyone. That each of us, if we have the desire, can get to the top 1% of our respective fields. People who are featured on magazine covers, in the news or on radio as experts or authorities on a subject are typically put there by reporters. If you can deliver your story in a way that emphasizes the benefit to the reporter's audience, they are much more likely to choose you. A publicist can help you craft your brand and image.

Such techniques include: issuing well-written press releases about things you've done; releasing easy news clips such as "Top Five Lists" of solutions to common problems; having a web site with an intriguing biography about you on it, synopsis of your accomplishments, a Question and Answer section about you, and good head shots or other photos that the media can easily use.

To be recognized as an expert, you also need to publish a book. It's not that hard, according to MAGGIE, and most advice books are ghost written anyway. Many just record their thoughts on their subject of expertise onto an MP3 player, give it to their publicist, and they hire a ghost writer to put it into captivating words. The book must have a compelling title, cover and back cover, as that's where people are first introduced to your book on the shelves.

She also introduced the idea of Internet geography, which means having several websites: one for you personally, another for your book, perhaps another for your subject of expertise. The more sites with your name, the more you will come up in a search engine, and the more likely it is you will be regarded as an expert.

Finally, you can start speaking publicly about your subject. Good public speakers get anywhere from $2,500 to $20,000 AN HOUR for their time! You must be interesting, humorous, entertaining, of course. Finally, MAGGIE explained that once you get a "tag" as a best-selling author or winner of some award, you have that and can promote it for life.

MAGGIE closed by saying that she would be available after the meeting to sign copies of her book, which was for sale for $20, with $5 going back to the club.

President Elect Bruce also had MAGGIE sign a book for the Early Reader Program.