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By now most of you know that local Oregonian columnist, S. Renee Mitchell has been the object of downsizing as an ever shrinking readership of newspapers in general has swept the nation - not to mention the economic downturn.

I received a very nice letter from Renee several weeks before her column made the official announcement.  Aside from the initial shock, I began to wonder what this means to the many readers of her column.  You may not have agreed with everything she said, or maybe you did.  Doesn’t matter.  What matters is a voice that resonated with the community on so many levels, has been removed from a major source of communications in this city.  There are no words to express the loss this represents.  Life will go on, and we will all collectively forget the richness that Renee brought to our Oregonian.  Just another layer of sadness we’ll bury among the flotsom and jetsom of a tanked economy.  What follows are some excerpts from her letter to me:

Hi Greg,

In case you hadn’t heard: After 10 years at The Oregonian, being
nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes, and named No. 1 Commentor in five Western
states by the Society of Professional Journalists, I have taken the
paper’s very generous buyout offer. I officially leave my job on Oct. 1.

I will remain based in Portland, where I will continue to invest my
talents, voice and energy into community building and becoming a full-time
writer on my own terms. (see attached press kit) My various projects
include publishing my first novel, discovering my potential as a
multi-media artist, and expanding my reach as an international speaker,
performer and women’s advocate. I also plan to travel more, record more CDs
(have you bought my new songs on iTunes yet?) and spend more time with
my twin boys, who are living in Detroit with their father. (If you
didn’t know that, here’s the link to my Aug. 20 column:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/renee_mitchell/index.ssf?/base/news/1219191906326940.xml&coll=7
In a few weeks, I will be traveling to Guam, New Orleans and Florida to
speak and/or perform my now-one-woman show, Tangoing With Tornadoes
(www.tangoingwithtornadoes.com)  I ask for your prayers, advice, insight
and referrals for even more paid gigs. I am also available for hire
as a media consultant, graphic artist, grant/proposal writer, copy
editor and ghost writer, among other God-given talents that I want to
share with the world. Please keep in touch!

Keep raising hope,
Renee

    * www.reneemitchellspeaks.com
    * www.linkedin.com/in/reneemitchellspeaks
    * www.youtube.com/sreneemitchellspeak
    * http://cdbaby.com/cd/naenaymusic
    * www.tangoingwithtornadoes.com

S. Renee Mitchell
Columnist, The Oregonian
rmitch@news.oregonian.com
503-221-8142/503-294-5023 (fax)
www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/renee_mitchell

Renee left me with her electronic press kit.  You can access it by going here:  http://nlemedia.com/SRMpresskit.pdf

If you would like to receive NLE Media Production’s Newsletter, click on the Newsletter link.  We make announcements about various events and projects we are involved in twice a month.  Our Small Business Forum (sbforum.net) adds regular blogs spotlighting new businesses and organizations in our community.  Be a part of our community.  Join today! 

Entrepreneuer, Jeff Wackerly who has been an entry in this blog before (http://blackstonebuilder.com/) has added an additional business to his repertoire:  http://helpfulhandymannorthwest.com/

This company specializes in the little day to day kinds of help that homeowners find themselves in need of.  Maybe you need new locks installed in your home, or minor repairs to the home.  For some of us gutters are an accident waiting to happen, and fixing a broken window is just asking for a ride to the emergency room.  Come to think of it, the last time I attempted a major electrical update my screwdriver managed to get welded to the outlet box.

Here is another small business in your community making a difference in the way we live.  Go to their website for more information and details.

http://helpfulhandymannorthwest.com/

If you would like to receive NLE Media Production’s Newsletter, click on the Newsletter link.  We make announcements about various events and projects we are involved in twice a month.  Our Small Business Forum (sbforum.net) adds regular blogs spotlighting new businesses and organizations in our community.  Be a part of our community.  Join today! 

Part of August West and Company’s business description states the following:  “We pride ourselves in a 20 year tradition of fine house painting, finishing and giving you a great value for your investment.”

Working with owner, Pat Dallaire on the August West & Co. website, www.augustwestandcompany.com, offered me an opportunity to see the detail and workmanship of a fine craftsman and artisan.

For 23 years I stood at the helm of a small company devoted to custom furniture, furnishings and finishes.  I never thought I would meet anyone who could come close to the standards and attention to detail my company did - until now.  August West and Company, under the leadership of Pat Dallaire, has met and exceeded my demands for quality and value.

If you are looking for excellent quality and value for your home or office contact Pat at:  503.222.3868 or e-mail him:  pat@augustwestandcompany.com

Be sure to visit his website, it is a visual delight.  www.augustwestandcompany.com

If you would like to receive NLE Media Production’s Newsletter, click on the Newsletter link.  We make announcements about various events and projects we are involved in twice a month.  Our Small Business Forum (sbforum.net) adds regular blogs spotlighting new businesses and organizations in our community.  Be a part of our community.  Join today! 

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the newest member of our forum:  Alba Glass - the creation of David Chis along with his wife, Heather. Recently Adrian Chis has come on board as Sales Manager.

If you are looking for go getters intent on providing quality, reliable service look no further.

They have an excellent website:  www.albaglas.com  you can get a quote online by using their encrypted secure site.  Easy and safe.

Take the time to get to know the people and businesses in your community.  These folks come to your door or wherever your automobile is - saving you the time it takes to book and drive your vehicle in for auto glass repair and replacement.  In this age of high priced fuel, you can’t afford to pass up businesses who come to you.

One year ago this month we started posting videos of our Small Business Forum on the net.  This month and next we are taking time off as we prepare and engage ourselves in a caravan to Boise, Salt Lake City, Bryce Canyon, The Grand Canyon, Zion, Sidona and all places between.  So we have put together a list of speakers we have had over the last year.  It is not a complete list by any means, but it represents the kind of subject matter near and dear to the Small Business Forum.  We start with the first part of Anne E. Denecke’s keynote address from April 2007:

Anne E. Denecke;  Dr. Laura Torgerson;  Renee Mitchell;  Stewart Kent;  John Doherty;  Shareefah Abdullah

At NLE Media Productions we offer many services including the editing that was done in the videos shown on this blog. For more details on what we can do for your business or organization:

See: http://nlemedia.com/Pages/products.htm

See: http://nlemedia.com/Page/services.htm

See: http://nlemedia.com/NLEmmercial.htm

See: http://nlemedia.com/eventvideo.htm

See: http://nlemedia.com/Video Production Packet.pdf

Season’s Greetings and Best Wishes for the New Year!

Our November Small Business Forum was lightly attended.  If you recall, there were threats of freezing rain throughout the day.  As it turned out, we had a nice little get together with a few friends, sharing stories and poems.  We made a short night of it avoiding complications from the inclement weather.

If you have been following any of the hype surrounding Microsoft’s  latest operating system, “Vista”, you have to be wondering what is going on in Renton?  As a former programmer and systems analyst I have been watching this unfold with great skepticism.  I must say this is probably the worse release of a bloated operating system, ever.  What galls me is that Microsloth has bragged about how many millions of dollars and thousands of new IT jobs will be created as a result of this new product.  Since when is the need for more service techs a good thing for consumers?  If it is so complex and buggy as to require all of this added infrastructure, then count me out.  Remember, you, the consumer will be ponying up the millions of dollars required to maintain these thousands of new jobs.  A fellow observer, Ron Wackerly, sends this link on the problems Vista will create just in one area of hardware:  http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt

Joan Stewart publishes a wonderful site, http://www.publicityhound.com/, appropriately named.  If you are looking for ways to promote your business, be sure to link up with this site.  She also publishes an eBook  http://tinyurl.com/y4dnwr filled with hints and tips you can start using today to promote your business.  Please check it out.

Lastly, what would a Small Business Forum Post be without links to some of our latest videos?  Here are 2 we shot in Washington DC this past October:

The Incident in the Oval Office;  The Incident at Farragut Park