U.S. Business Climate: The Road Ahead
9-10 a.m. Tuesday, June 28
Honorable Donald Evans, Former Secretary of Commerce (2001-05)
Policy shifts in Washington regularly alter the economic landscape with the stroke of a pen. What changes lie ahead for your business? What are the key policy imperatives to be pursued during the Bush administration's second term? As a key member of the president's circle of economic advisers, Donald Evans developed the insight, knowledge and experience to offer practical observations into the principles and goals that shaped the country's economic policy.
A former businessman in the oil and gas industry, Evans strongly believes in the free enterprise system, corporate accountability and corporate stewardship. According to the White House's Web site, Evans saw his main mission in government as working to create a climate for U.S. and world economic growth.
“President Bush and I share the belief that governments don't create wealth and prosperity: people do. It is government's role to create the right conditions in which America's workers and businesses will flourish,” Evans is quoted as saying.
Evans will provide an overview of the legislative, regulatory and trade policy options that will create the competitive environment for your business and shape the global economy.
Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate and Outnegotiate Your Competition
9-10 a.m. Wednesday, June 29
Harvey Mackay, Chairman, Mackay Envelope Co.
Harvey Mackay, New York Times best-selling author of “Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive,” is a nationally syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate. He has written four New York Times best-sellers, two of which have been translated into 35 languages and distributed in 80 countries. He also is chairman of Mackay Envelope Co., a $100 million company that provides direct mail production services for the industry.
Named by Toastmasters International as one of the top five speakers in the world and referred to as “Mr. Make Things Happen” by Fortune magazine, he will share the secrets of how to develop more productive relationships; survive the ever-changing job market; outsell, out-negotiate and out-motivate the competition.
According to Mackay from his Web site, www.mackay.com, the 10 biggest networking mistakes are:
1. Don't assume the credentials are the power. Every outfit is different. No organizational chart can tell you who the real decision maker is. You need a network to find out where the power is.
2. Don't confuse visibility with credibility. Don't join any organization to advance your own interest. Your motives will be as painfully obvious as a deathbed conversion.
3. Don't be a schnorrer. That's Yiddish for people who constantly take a little bit more than they're entitled to. Save your big favor requests for the big issues.
4. Don't say no for the other guy. Don't presume that someone within reach of your network would automatically say no.
5. Dance with the one that brung you. When someone in your network comes through, don't be a stiff. Dinner, flowers, a box of candy or even just a phone call is a must.
6. Don't mistake the company's network for your network. If you're going to keep your job, your network has to be as good or better than your own company's network.
7. Don't be slow to answer the call. Don't stall. Even if you never expect to have your effort repaid. Remember that your network will be as fast broadcasting your failures as it is in broadcasting your successes.
8. It probably isn't just your network that's aging; it's you. Make a genuine effort to modernize your skills and knowledge. Catch the zeitgeist.
9. Don't underestimate the value of the personal touch. Small businesses must know how to network with their customers and prospects by emphasizing a level of personal service and attention that the big businesses can't.
10. If you don't know, ask. Even if you do know, ask. To compete, draft a questionnaire and put it where your customers can pick it up.
Keynote Luncheon & Award Ceremony
12:30-2 p.m. Wednesday, June 29
John E. Potter, Postmaster General, U.S. Postal Service
John E. Potter is a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors and serves on its strategic planning committee. Since becoming the 72nd postmaster general on June 1, 2001, he has led the postal service through some of the most challenging and difficult times of its history — from the anthrax bioterrorism attack to the development of the Transformation Plan, from refocusing employees on the USPS' core business to working closely with Congress and the Bush administration to bring about postal reform.
In 2002, Potter introduced the Transformation Plan to bring organizational changes and modernization to virtually every aspect of the business. So far he has helped bring about $8.8 billion in cumulative cost savings. New products and services — such as Click 'n Ship, Carrier Pick-Up and negotiated service agreements — also have been introduced.
With the cooperation of Congress and the Bush administration, an extensive biohazard detection system has been deployed in plants and post offices to reduce risk to employees and to the nation's mail.
A Bronx native who started as a clerk in New York in 1978, Potter has a degree in economics from Fordham University. He is a Sloan Fellow and earned a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before becoming postmaster general, he was chief operating officer. He also served as vice president of labor relations and held a number of other senior operational positions.
Potter will share his vision for the future of the agency and how “organizational transformations” within the postal service will affect the direct marketing industry.
DM Days New York Conference & Exhibition 2005 Marketer of the Year Award
12:30-2:15 p.m. Wednesday, June 29
David Neeleman, Chairman/CEO, JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways began operations in February 2000 from its base at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Five years later, it serves 29 cities across the United States and the Caribbean with a fleet of 73 new Airbus A320 aircraft.
As chairman/CEO, David Neeleman has launched his third successful aviation business and is realizing his desire to bring humanity back to air travel, by offering passengers low fares, friendly service and a high-quality product.
JetBlue was recently ranked No. 1 in quality and overall performance of U.S. airlines in the annual Airline Quality Ratings by the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute and the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University.
Generation Marketing
9:15-10 a.m. Thursday, June 30
Jane Buckingham, President, The Intelligence Group/Youth Intelligence
Jane Buckingham has been studying and interpreting America's youth for more than a decade, helping companies, educators and parents better understand 7-35-year-olds.
Buckingham founded Youth Intelligence in 1996. Building on quantitative and qualitative analysis, the company provides marketing consulting, trend forecasting and market research to determine today's concerns and tomorrow's trends. Clients include Levi's, Microsoft, Nike, Bank of America and L'Oreal.
The Intelligence Group publishes the leading trend forecasting product, The Cassandra Report. The report is issued three times a year and addresses trends in fashion, lifestyle, hot products, technology and entertainment. The Intelligence Group also created trendcentral, which includes a daily e-mail and comprehensive Internet trend site about 12-35-year-olds, covering fashion, beauty, lifestyle, technology and entertainment.
In her book “The Modern Girl's Guide to Life” (published by Regan Books and available in paperback at bookstores or online sellers), Buckingham wrote:
“I'll admit it: The words 'domestic goddess' give me a panic attack. Maybe it's because I consider myself a twenty-first-century career chick who's better at making spreadsheets than folding bedsheets. Or maybe it's because the idea of spending eight gazillion hours of my (nonexistent) free time fashioning swan-shaped soufflés and embroidered his-and-hers laundry bags just doesn't sound like a party to me.
“The problem is I want to revive the traditions that made me feel at home as a little girl. I want my mother-in-law to know that her son isn't living one step up from a hostel, my children to realize that dinner doesn't have to come from a delivery boy, and my houseguests to enjoy staying with me, rather than balking, 'No, really, Jane! We'll just stay at a hotel!' But the more I try to make my house the perfect example of domestic goddestry, the more befuddled I become.
“Meanwhile, so many of my friends seem ridiculously 'together' on the home front. Take my friend Brooke, for example. Every time I walk into her home, there are turberose Diptyque candles burning, fresh flowers in clean glass vases in every room, and freshly folded towels in her bathroom … rolled in a basket, just like the B&Bs do it. The second I sink into her (vacuumed) couch, she always offers me something freshly baked or freshly squeezed from her kitchen. Her pantry, medicine cabinets, and closets are perfectly organized (I snooped, sue me). And she doesn't just go into Martha mode when she knows company's coming over — her abode has looked equally abundant when I've dropped by unexpectedly. On top of that, she holds down a demanding nine-to-seven job at a law firm. I admit, all of that je ne sais quoi she had for chic living started making me feel resentful … and increasingly horrified to invite her and her husband to my own messy digs. That is, until the night I got it out of her over cocktails. She has a housekeeper. Twice a week. Who cooks. Everything.
“So there you have it. Not all domestic goddesses are quite as savvy as they seem. It's fairly reassuring, no? Sure, some women are more naturally adept at keeping house than others (surely Brooke surprised me). But what I've recently learned is that being a modern (aka “mock”) domestic goddess isn't about doing it all: it's about taking shortcuts to give the impression of having it all. And all you need to do is get a little more organized, learn some kitchen basics, and cut a few corners here and there.”
