HighViz Consulting introduces 24/7 PR - PROMO Challenge (SM) -unique offer of new business concept for companies who need on-demand exposure

HighViz Consulting Group introduces 24/7 “PR PROMO CHALLENGE”(SM), unique offer of new business concept for companies who need text with on-demand exposure

HighViz Consulting introduces 24/7 PR - PROMO Challenge (SM) - boutique firm challenges new clients offer of new promo concept within one business day

HighViz establishes consultative “PR On-Demand” Program - Boutique firm challenges new clients to allow HighVizPR team work on innovative concepts within 24 hour period

Haymarket, VA, November 5, 2009: HighViz Consulting Group, (HighViz), www.highviz.net , a project company serving Information Technology, legal, manufacturing, small business, non-profit and associations and organizations working within federal agencies, is announcing its consulting “PR PROMO CHALLENGE”. This unique offer provides the opportunity for promising on-demand companies and organizations to kick off a value-based trial PR campaign with a senior-level Public Relations Practitioner. This includes working out the beginning concept phase to a starting campaign for each potential client.

In addition, HighViz is offering to consult with those who are interested in taking the “Challenge”, taking the customer step by step through case studies of public relations concepts. “This is how to put high visibility to a business entity’s greatest advantage” Abbe Buck, HighViz’s Principal Consultant and Lead Publicist explains, “By learning what has worked for others who have successfully used public relations promotion techniques, the business who must promote to grow will have a running start in working toward a more intuitive, viral PR planning.”

HOW THE 24/7 PR-PROMO CHALLENGE WORKS

What is the HighViz PR Promo Challenge?

HighViz asks to have those who would like to consider hiring them to put them to the test by asking the team to come up with ideas for their businesses within a business day's time. Abbe Buck also notes, "If HighViz can come up with a starter road map toward a promotional campaign and a COMPREHENSIVE strategy we will do all that we can to earn [our] customer's business. As WWII and adopted HVPR mascot Rosie the Riveter says "WE CAN DO IT!" --and most times we already have."

Past Performance: Buck cites work that has been done for clients in this fashion for the ASSYST, USO of Metropolitian Washington, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Information Experts, Molen Enterprises IT, Lani Silver, (author), David Aaker Motivational Speaker, BoardBoost, Sarbanes Oxley Seminars, Jane Trevaskis Success-Catalyst and more.

EXAMPLE:

USAVETBIZ to Urge Congress for Government-Wide Preference Contracting & Set-Aside Programs for all Veteran-Owned Small Businesses

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS166502+20-May-2009+BW20090520

HighViz Consulting's 24/7 PR – PROMO Challenge works with an on-demand concept used within Fortune 500 companies such as IBM. HVCG asks that a form is completed on their website. Once the form is completed, HighViz will contact the marketing management who made the PR Challenge request. At this point, HighViz will do an assessment of the PR campaign needs of the organization, (normally a $1500 value). After the evaluation is completed, it will be presented to the organization, with suggestions, and a suggested “BRAND” or “CONCEPT” to put to use WITHIN ONE BUSINESS DAY (24 HOURS)

“In starting out with our current clients, the 24/7 "PR PROMO CHALLENGE” has worked well because as we thrive on deadlines, we can also share in the customer’s sense of urgency to bring their ideas to fruition and their services “to market” , HighViz's Buck says. "We want to be ‘challenged’ by our customers to go the extra mile. We need these challenges! In an information-packed society, every business, from a 'mom and pop' to a major corporation, must have the opportunity to show who they are, what they provide, why they are in business. It is our job to help them showcase their best attributes.”

To take the 24/7 PR PROMO CHALLENGE, fill out the entry form at the HighViz site:

http://highvizconsulting.com/HVCG_advertisement.html


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About HighViz Consulting Group
Short for "High Visibility", boutique PR and marketing firm HighViz Consulting Group, specializes in raising awareness for companies and organizations. The firm's services include media relations, communications, crisis management, business development, and related marketing services. The company specializes in serving information technology companies and government agencies.

HighViz is a communications and public relations firm dedicated to generating creative and effective communications programs for technology, business and consumer companies nationwide. Since 1999, Since HighViz has provided exclusively senior-level strategic counsel and execution of public relations programs that clearly and consistently deliver return on investment. Our selective client roster has included government agencies, associations, and private, entrepreneurial companies such as Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Connection Concepts, Inc., BoardBoost, Aaker and Associates, Information Experts, Stellent, Starbase, DSA, Kerrigan Media, EZ Certify, Inc., IBM, USA VET BIZ and the United Services Organization (USO). Our expertise varies from enterprise software including online collaboration to entertainment and association communications.

Media Contact: Abbe Buck, Principal Consultant, 1-800-380-2825

# # #

Dear Mr. Obama, Dear Gov. Kaine: you asked for my economic crisis - recovery story

For BJ Mesterman, wherever you are:

--- On Tue, 2/24/09, Abbe Buck ABPA (703) 753-4100 wrote:

From: Abbe Buck ABPA (703) 753-4100
Subject: Re: Your economic crisis story - I borrowed $10 K from a 19 year old
To: info@barackobama.com
Cc: abbe@highviz.net
Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 6:55 AM

Dear Mr. Obama, Mr. Plouffe, Mitch, Gov. Kaine (D-VA),   I almost lost my business after 10 years.   My husband and I borrowed $10,000 from our son's college savings for our morgage. AFTER he lost $10,000 of this money in his mutual fund. Fortunately, we took out the entire $22,000 that was left when we borrowed the 10K.   It proves we raised our boy well. Why? He has decided to go for his doctorate - in History.   My son is 19.   Bleak times. But!  I wish I could help you bolster your boss to speak more optimistically. ((((How about the 'seedlings of recovery" stories?)))))   Thanks, Mitch!   Abbe Buck, DC Metro (703) 753-4100   ABPA "We Can Do It!"   Abbe Buck / APR / PAO / ABPA fyi* HighViz is now doing business as Abbe Buck Public Affairs http://wwwpublicaffairsoffice.blogspot.com / www.publicaffairsoffice.org 1-800-380-2825  / (703) 753-4100                  --- On Mon, 2/9/09, Mitch Stewart, BarackObama.com wrote: From: Mitch Stewart, BarackObama.com <info@barackobama.com> Subject: Your economic crisis story To: "Abbe Buck " Date: Monday, February 9, 2009, 1:23 PM Abbe -- Americans have organized Economic Recovery House Meetings in all 50 states -- including 382 in California, 255 in Florida, 115 in Ohio, 199 in New York, 105 in Washington, and 149 in Texas. That's more than 3,587 meetings in 1,579 cities and 429 congressional districts. This past weekend, meeting hosts and guests watched a video of Governor Tim Kaine answering your questions about the president's recovery plan. Then they shared their own stories about how the crisis has affected them. Watch Governor Kaine's video and share your economic crisis story. The media is filled with numbers about the economic crisis. But the numbers do not tell the full story. The story of this crisis is in homes across the country -- homes where a family member has lost a job, where parents are struggling to pay a mortgage, and where college tuition has slipped out of reach. That's also where the story of our recovery begins -- in communities where repairing roads and bridges, manufacturing green technologies, and rehabilitating our schools and hospitals will directly impact the lives of ordinary people and their families. President Obama's recovery plan will help struggling families right now by saving or creating up to 4 million jobs. But it will also help strengthen our economy for the future by investing in crucial infrastructure projects in health care, education, and energy. Share your story about how this economic crisis is affecting you and your family and join your fellow Americans in supporting bold action to speed our recovery: http://my.barackobama.com/sharestories Thank you for organizing so much support at this crucial moment for our country, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to: ABBE To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe

"I can do that" DEPT.: Brief Obama NOW - here's how - YouTube, too, and more (>grin<)

.

TwitLinksRSS:  Brief Obama With Salesforce.com’s Idea Generator: Do you have a good idea for President-Elect Barack Obama?...

http://tinyurl.com/7u343p 

 less than 20 seconds ago from twitterfeed

* thanks,  little blue bird!

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Pardons by President Bush. The requests - and those who did not make one.

On the Net:

Justice Department's Office of Pardon Attorney: http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon

Ronald L. Rodgers, Pardon Attorney

The Office of the Pardon Attorney, in consultation with the Attorney General or his designee, assists the President in the exercise of executive clemency as authorized under Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution. Under the Constitution, the President's clemency power extends only to federal criminal offenses. All requests for executive clemency for federal offenses are directed to the Pardon Attorney for investigation and review. The Pardon Attorney prepares the Department's recommendation to the President for final disposition of each application. Executive clemency may take several forms, including pardon, commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, and reprieve.

Bush facing flood of pardon requests

By LARA JAKES JORDAN,  Associated Press Writer AP - Saturday, November 29

WASHINGTON - Historically stingy with granting pardons, President George W. Bush is facing a flood of requests for get-out-of-jail cards or wiping criminals' records clean on his way out of the White House.

Junk-bond king Michael Milken, media mogul Conrad Black and American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh are among the more than 2,000 people who have applied to the Justice Department seeking official forgiveness in the form of pardons or sentence commutations.

But with Bush's term ending Jan. 20, some lawyers are lobbying the White House directly to pardon their clients. That raises the possibility that the president could excuse scores of people, including some who have not been charged, to protect them from future accusations, such as former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or star baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.

Those who have worked with Bush predict that will not happen. The White House has declined to comment on upcoming pardons.

"I would expect the president's conservative approach to executive pardons to continue through the remainder of his term," said Helgi C. Walker, a former Bush associate White House counsel.

"There would also be a concern about avoiding any appearance of impropriety in the waning days of his administration _ i.e. some sort of pardon free-for-all," Walker said. "I don't think that is anything that is going to happen on this president's watch."

Last week, Bush issued 14 pardons and commuted two sentences _ all for small-time crimes such as minor drug offenses, tax evasion and unauthorized use of food stamps. That brought his eight-year total to 171 pardons and eight commutations granted.

That is less than half as many as President Bill Clinton or President Ronald Reagan issued. Both were two-term presidents, like Bush.

A pardon is an official act of forgiveness that removes civil liabilities stemming from a criminal conviction. A commutation reduces or eliminates a person's sentence.

One Washington lawyer whose clients are directly pursuing the White House for pardons _ rather than applying to the Justice Department _ said Bush is expected to issue two more rounds of pardons: one right before Christmas, as is customary, and one right before he leaves office. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid hurting the clients' chances.

Such an end-run around the Justice Department, which advises the president on who qualifies for pardons, signals that Bush may be open to forgiving people who are otherwise ineligible to apply.

Only people who have waited five years after their conviction or release from prison can apply for a pardon under the department's guidelines. Criminals are required to begin serving time, or otherwise exhaust any appeals, before they can be considered for sentence commutation.

The department is considering a pardon application for Milken, who was convicted of securities fraud charges. Two politicians convicted of public corruption _ former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and four-term Democratic Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards _ have applied for shorter prison terms. So has Lindh, convicted of assisting the Taliban, and Black, who is serving time for fraud and obstruction of justice.

[HVPR Note: Jack Abramoff is the lobbyist who got  "caught" with BIG TIME CRIME and has not applied and/or Mr. Bush is not pardoning him. Either way he has not been mentioned in this article]

Additionally, former U.S. Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos is applying to have his prison sentences reduced. Ramos and his colleague, former agent Jose Compean, were convicted of shooting a drug smuggler in 2005 and trying to cover it up.

Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said commutation applications for both Ramos and Compean were rejected in October because their cases were still in court. But Sweeney said Ramos reapplied in November after he was re-sentenced.

Under the Constitution, the president's power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled _ meaning he can forgive any one he wants, at any time.

Already, Democrats and other Bush critics are warning the president against getting overly generous with his power of forgiveness. Of particular concern is whether he will issue pre-emptive pardons to protect allies and some government employees from facing future charges for carrying out his policies.

Some of those people could include officials who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists after Sept. 11, 2001. Critics want incoming President-elect Barack Obama to investigate possible war crimes.

Others to be pre-emptively pardoned might include advisers _ Gonzales or other Bush administration lawyers, for example _ who sanctioned potentially illegal policies or lied to Congress about them.

"If President Bush were to pardon key individuals involved in the misdeeds of his administration, from warrantless wiretapping to torture to the firing of U.S. attorneys for political reasons, the courts would be unable to address criminality, or pass judgment on the legality of some of the president's worst abuses," Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., wrote in a Nov. 20 op-ed for Salon.com. "Issuing such pardons now would be particularly egregious, since voters just issued such a strong condemnation of the Bush administration at the ballot box."

Gonzales' lawyer, George Terwilliger, said Justice Department investigations have proved its former top boss did nothing wrong.

"As has been made clear from the results of months and months of investigation of Judge Gonzales' tenure as attorney general, there is no basis to even suggest that a pardon is needed for anything," Terwilliger said in a statement. "It is time for this to end."

Clemens is under investigation for his congressional testimony when he denied under oath that he ever used performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens was identified in former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell's report on drug use in baseball. He has maintained his innocence and filed a defamation lawsuit in January against his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who claims he injected the seven-time Cy Young award winner with steroids and human growth hormone.

Though absolute, the president's pardon power does not come without risks.

Clinton's 2001 last-day pardon to fugitive financier Marc Rich tainted Democrats who worked for him _ including then-Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder who is now awaiting Obama's nomination to run the Justice Department.

Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, pardoned Reagan-era Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who was indicted in the Iran-Contra arms scandal. Weinberger's indictment by a special counsel days before the 1992 presidential election is believed to have contributed to Bush's defeat.

And President Gerald Ford narrowly lost re-election in 1976 after pardoning former President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal _ the most controversial pre-emptive pardon in U.S. history.

In his most high-profile official act of forgiveness so far, Bush saved I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from serving any prison time in the case of the 2003 leak of then-CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Libby was convicted of perjury and obstructing justice.

Libby, who was Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, has not applied for a full pardon, Justice spokeswoman Sweeney said.

Margaret Love, former Justice Department pardon attorney under Clinton, said Bush has never seemed interested in flexing his power to pardon, going back to his days as Texas governor.

"His has been a very sparing, very regular and very conservative use," Love said. "There's no reason to think based on the pattern of his grants to date that there are going to be any irregularities or surprises at the end of his term."

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Gawker did WHAT??? They cracked Sarah Palin's blackberry wide open!

This screenshot from Gawker.com shows an email account of Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008. Hackers broke into the Yahoo! e-mail account that Palin used for official business as Alaska's governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate. (AP Photo)

---opened up her personal e-mail. But why? What was the point?

DRUDGE REPORT(S):

Palin's E-Mail Account Hacked, Published on Web Site...

McCain camp seeks investigation...

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The Media Fog

once you cut through it, the white noise is deafening


Most E-Mailed - International Herald Tribune, London

24 Hours

7 Days

30 Days
1.
Global markets fall after Wall Street trauma
2.
Georgia offers fresh evidence on war's start
3.
Examining the ripple effect of the Lehman bankruptcy
4.
Fed takes steps to aid AIG
5.
Chinese baby formula scandal widens with 2nd death
6.
AIG's credit rating lowered
7.
A global fight over the pieces of Lehman Brothers
8.
Former Bosnian Muslim leader is convicted of cruelty
9.
Obama and McCain strive to break through media fog
10.
Florida increasingly takes to McCain's view on offshore drilling
-and!-
Biden living up to his gaffe-prone reputation


Obama and McCain strive to break through media fog
By Adam Nagourney
Published: September 16, 2008

Yet that attack barely broke through the day's crush of blog postings, cable television headlines, television advertisements, speeches by other candidates and surrogates, video press releases, screaming e-mailed charges and counter-charges — not to mention the old-fashioned newspaper article or broadcast report on the evening news.

So on Friday, Obama tried again, this time with a rollout that began with the 6 a.m. release of two new attack advertisements, followed by a memorandum from Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, telling the world exactly what Obama was doing and why attention must be paid

That episode reflects what has emerged as one of the most frustrating challenges that McCain and Obama are facing going into the final weeks of this campaign: the ways in which the proliferation of communications channels, the fracturing of mass media and the relentless political competition to own each news cycle are combining to reorder the way voters follow campaigns and decide how to vote. It has reached a point where senior campaign aides say they are no longer sure what works, as they stumble through what has become a daily campaign fog, struggling to figure out what voters are paying attention to and, not incidentally, what they are even believing

Yet that attack barely broke through the day's crush of blog postings, cable television headlines, television advertisements, speeches by other candidates and surrogates, video press releases, screaming e-mailed charges and counter-charges — not to mention the old-fashioned newspaper article or broadcast report on the evening news.

So on Friday, Obama tried again, this time with a rollout that began with the 6 a.m. release of two new attack advertisements, followed by a memorandum from Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, telling the world exactly what Obama was doing and why attention must be paid

That episode reflects what has emerged as one of the most frustrating challenges that McCain and Obama are facing going into the final weeks of this campaign: the ways in which the proliferation of communications channels, the fracturing of mass media and the relentless political competition to own each news cycle are combining to reorder the way voters follow campaigns and decide how to vote. It has reached a point where senior campaign aides say they are no longer sure what works, as they stumble through what has become a daily campaign fog, struggling to figure out what voters are paying attention to and, not incidentally, what they are even believing.

Matthew Dowd, who was the chief strategist for President George W. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004, said that given a proliferation of news sources — and the fact that so many once-trusted news organizations are under attack — campaigns would be wise to discard the standard playbook.

Dowd went so far as to suggest that McCain and Obama were wasting their money on television advertisements, and that they would be better off preparing for the coming debates. Those encounters, he said, are likely to be the only chance the candidates have at capturing the undivided attention of the public.

"At this point, the ability to create and drive a message narrative is all but impossible," he said.

"There's just so much stuff. The average person has 90 channels. They all get the dot-coms. They all get a newspaper. There is so much flow of information that they just to begin to discount it all."

Beyond that, he suggested, in this increasingly partisan atmosphere — one in which the dueling campaigns are accusing each other of lying, and where McCain has made an orchestrated attempt to discredit news organizations — voters are no longer as apt to accept what they hear as truth.

"They distrust — more and more — the marketplace of the campaign," Dowd said.
The formula was once transparent and established. Voters learned about the candidates through campaign advertisements, what they saw on the evening news, and what they read in national newspapers — like The New York Times and The Washington Post, which tended to influence what the networks covered — but also, even more importantly, on the front pages of local newspapers.

With the addition of so many other sources of information, the old formula, while not quite dead, is no longer so dominant in communicating information and shaping opinion.

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In Summary: The Best Speech at the Democratic National Convetion was made by....John Kerry! (D-MA)!

(((ABSOLUTELY.)))

But like "jude the Obscure" let's just change his name to John, and the sex to politics; Kerry, who just won his 6th term, is very much in the Senate. But man, oh man, he was more powerful than any campaigning done in 2004. It proves that any swift-boating tactics could not shut this man DOWN.

the new republic's sister blog, national post, said:

The speech you should have watched: John Kerry's blistering assault on McCain
Posted: August 28, 2008, 3:02 PM by Shane Dingman
U.S. Politics

((( WATCH IT NOW! )))

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/08/28/the-speech-you-should-have-watched-john-kerry-s-blistering-assault-on-mccain.aspx

Our sister-publication The New Republic and its staff are blanketing the Democratic convention, and from their coverage we wanted to return to an underappreciated star of the convention. It was, no kidding, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, Senator John Kerry.

Here's TNR's Chris Orr on one speech you may not have watched:

"Like most, if I'd been told yesterday that John Kerry would give a sharper speech than Bill Clinton, I would have assumed it was because Clinton tanked. The latter didn't (remotely) happen, but the former did, with Kerry giving by far the best speech I've ever seen from him.

"He spoke for just under 14 minutes, but in his limited time Kerry hammered the crap out of McCain for most of his speech, and did so in a way that highlighted how wrong Kerry thinks the Bush/McCain axis has been and how right candidate Obama is."

----Abbe Buck, PR, HighViz PR

# # #

Part 2: Media, Social Media and MORE uncertainty --with a certain film clip

Why should one embrace "social-(ized )- media"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm7UiSObOlQ&feature=related
In a sound-bite, YOU HOO TUBE, face - book - link me in, minute news drenched-society, where we are all going A.D.D. or reading books-newspapers-periodicals from tape--> truncated to computer, nothing brings me more joy than the film clip of Cleavon Little riding his horse in the desert with Basie acc. (from Blazing Saddles, (1974)).

Let the film + clip + the sound + bite AD NAUSEUM live on -- all I need to do is point click and laugh my troubles far away


----------------------------


is our social media going to give advertisers their big payoff? Is this where the lemmings are going to swim ashore at?

Hmmmmmm....whatever happened to reading...a....book?

AP - Uncertainty aplenty as Web, media leaders convene
Monday July 7, 6:01 pm ET
By Jeremy Herron, AP Business Writer

Media, Internet moguls meet at Idaho luxury retreat, most seeking more online revenue

When media and technology tycoons convene Tuesday in idyllic southern Idaho for five days of dealmaking and outdoor recreation, the mountain air will carry more than a whiff of uncertainty as most arrive with their businesses in various states of disarray.

ADVERTISEMENT

Powerful moguls come to Allen & Co. investment bank's annual retreat in Sun Valley seeking new acquisitions and alliances and -- increasingly in recent years -- the opportunity to retool their businesses.

But this year both media and online leaders are grappling with the Internet's increasing fragmentation. And they're all looking for more advertising revenue online, where media companies have recouped only a small fraction of what they lost in print and where Web companies want to maximize their investments.

Even the top Internet companies -- save maybe Google Inc. -- are seeing revenue growth slowing as online audiences fragment. And they worry that, without steady access to high-quality content, they won't be able to attract enough viewers to keep growing fast.

At the same time, the barons of old-line newspapers and broadcast TV seem to have realized it's pointless to keep fighting the shift online, but they're still unsure how to embrace it. And they're struggling to attract new online users just to survive.

The flagging economy, slowing consumer spending and costlier capital on Wall Street will only add to any gloom and may prevent the summit, hosted for 25 years by investment banker Herb Allen, from living up to its reputation as an incubator for big deals.

"This could be the least headline-making Allen & Co. event in the past 10 years," said Porter Bibb, managing partner at Mediatech Capital Partners, a financier of media businesses. "Most companies have real problems and they don't necessarily know where to turn for help."

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, a perennial at the Allen conference, won't be joined by CEO Steve Ballmer. But he is bringing the company's top dealmaker, Henry Vigil, Microsoft's senior vice president for strategy and partnership.

The world's largest software maker, still desperate to catch up in Internet search and grab more of the ad revenue it generates, is reportedly trying to enlist Time Warner Inc. and News Corp.
for a joint bid to split up Yahoo Inc. for parts. For years, Yahoo has lost ground to Google in the race for Internet ad sales. And its embattled CEO and co-founder, Jerry Yang, who faces attacks on several fronts after Microsoft Corp. withdrew a $47.5 billion takeover bid, will be on hand.

Will Gates and Vigil seek out Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes or News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch? Will Yang seek cover again with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who inked a deal in June with Yahoo on shared ad sales? Investor Carl Icahn, among those most actively pushing Yang to sell or make another deal with Microsoft, will not be in Sun Valley, according to a copy of the guest list obtained by The Associated Press.

These delicate dances among the Internet titans -- unlikely before power began diffusing in the Internet and media worlds -- underscore how tenuous a hold on power the top firms have. Even Google appears at a crossroads in the content vs. distribution dilemma as it dabbles in setting up its own newsgathering capabilities.

Time Warner's Bewkes appears to have decided the future is in producing content that can attract large audiences, not in controlling the means of distributing it: He is divesting Time Warner of both its cable property and the faltering AOL online access service. But what to do next isn't clear.

"These companies' identities and the way forward may not be as clear as in years past," said Peter Kreisky, of Kreisky Media Consulting, who predicted this year's conference will be "much more amorphous."

Indeed, what will these guys -- and, aside from Yahoo President Susan Decker, the media and Internet worlds are still decidedly run by men -- be talking about?

"How do you build or buy an industry leader in the digital world?" Kreisky suggested. "The business model to generate money online is still emerging."

What to do about user-generated content -- which attracts a large audience but raises editorial control issues and has yet to generate significant revenue -- and how to capitalize on intensely popular social networks will still be important debates this week.

At Sun Valley two years ago, it is widely believed that YouTube founder Chad Hurley laid the groundwork for his company's sale to Google three months later. Media companies saw YouTube as having solved the problem of attracting users and figured they could soon hitch their own content to its wagon.

Last year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg enjoyed most-favored status at Sun Valley because participants saw his social-networking site's 70 million registered users as a ready-made advertising audience. He'll likely be in demand again, and Murdoch -- hailed for snapping up MySpace in 2005 -- will not be lonely either.

But no one so far has turned social networking into a rainmaker, though that may not take attention away from LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman. His networking site's audience of professionals is seen as an optimal vehicle for attracting deep-pocketed advertisers, and it's fresh off an equity investment that valued it at $1 billion.

Deals may be rare as the biggest players retrench. Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone -- an old-school mogul of legendary power and a Sun Valley regular -- is reportedly even skipping this year's conference. Investors have soured on Viacom's split from CBS Corp. two years ago, which Redstone thought would position them both to tackle the Internet more successfully. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman and CBS boss Leslie Moonves will represent the feuding siblings in Idaho.

Even Murdoch has been relatively quiet in the months since News Corp. closed its deal for Dow Jones & Co., parent of The Wall Street Journal.

And newspaper companies finished last quarter with a flourish of staff cuts amid cost increases and falling ad revenue. Two weeks ago, half a dozen newspapers said they would slash payrolls by a combined 900 jobs and Tribune Co., one of the biggest newspaper publishers in the country, said it might sell its iconic headquarters tower in Chicago to raise money. Last week, three more papers announced more than 400 more job cuts, including 250 at Tribune's Los Angeles Times.

Tribune boss Sam Zell is not coming to Sun Valley. But Washington Post Co. head Donald Graham, E.W. Scripps Co. CEO Kenneth Lowe and Thomson Reuters CEO Thomas Glocer are all scheduled to be there.

"The heads of the traditional media companies are likely to be despondent," said John Morton, a newspaper industry analyst at Morton Research Inc. "They are realizing that newspapers focused on bigger markets may be losing advertising forever, and they have no answers for that."

Fret not for the kingpins, though, as they will have plenty of opportunity to find solace in the surrounding beauty. The closed-door meetings -- schedules and even event names are closely guarded -- typically break up in late morning.

That leaves the afternoons free for outdoor pursuits from horseback riding to mountain biking to golf. And conference participants typically spend their evenings at invitation-only dinner parties, where they'll be able to debate the NBA draft with basketball commissioner David Stern, or the Chicago Cubs' unexpected dominance with Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

# # #

How to throw Barack Obama under the bus -- by Reverend Jeremiah Wright

.

"I think Reverend Wright has a greater interest in his self-importance." --NEWT GINGRICH (!) to Barbara Walters on Good Morning America -- that yes, the good Rev. set Obama up! ~ That his remarks at the National Press Club were deliberate, to make Obama look bad, to deliberately hurt (read: sabotage) Barack Obama...

ENTIRE STORY HERE: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/gingrich-wright.html

# # #

Gov. Bill Richardson, LA TIMES: 'you don't transfer loyalty to a dynasty.'

CAMPAIGN '08
Why Gov. Bill Richardson didn't endorse Clinton
Photo: Shari Vialpando / Associated Press

Gov. Bill Richardson, shown here in New Mexico on Tuesday, has drawn criticism from supporters of Bill and Hillary Clinton for endorsing Sen. Barack Obama. "I was loyal," Richardson says. "But I don't think that loyalty is transferable to his wife.... You don't transfer loyalty to a dynasty."

The New Mexico governor says he was dismayed by pressure from the Clinton camp, and impressed by Obama's optimism. Besides, 'you don't transfer loyalty to a dynasty.'

By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-richardson12apr12,0,1175443.story?track=mostviewed-storylevel

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MEMO to DCRTV, XM Radio: RE: Chris Core: Now! Get this man back on the air!

From highvizpr

To Core

Subject: POTUS Channel



Say, Chris, I happen to know someone at XM-Sirius, and P.O.T.U.S. '08 ("President of the United States") is XM Channel 130). Your pals at DRCTV (Dave is the man and knows EVERYBODY) could also hook you up! I will be e-mailing you. Let's make this deal work!



Cordially,



Abbe Buck

A HUGE Core fan and publicist

HighViz Consulting Group



Dear HighViz (atom) Readers, start writing in to XM ABOUT CORE: (YOU, TOO MIKE, FRED, TOM)



http://blog.chriscoretalks.com/2008/03/06/i-am-sally-fields.aspx?results=1



I Am Sally Field
Posted by Chris Core at 3/6/2008 8:03 AM and is filed under uncategorized
To all of you...thank you. I am Sally Field: "You like me, you really like me." But I am a Midwestern guy. I blush easily. Two special thanks. I got a personal note from Fred and Jeri Thompson... what an honor! And former Governor Bob Ehrlich called me at home to offer sympathy. I reminded him that he was recently fired too. And yet we both think we did a pretty good job while we had it. I will be on Newschannel 8 at 4pm today...and I have had many offers to sort through. Anybody know a name at XM? Apparently they have a channel called POTUS '08. Sounds like a fit for me!

I cannot re-pay the kindness you have shown. As they say in radio....stay tuned!

Chris



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NYT is dead-wrong! Fred Thompson can campaign any way he damn well pleases -- let the other Romneys stomp Iowa six times a day

NYT- SPARSE SCHEDULE FOR THOMPSON ON TOUR: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/us/politics/16thompson.html?ei=5065&en=06396b6588b0d702&ex=1190520000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print


Okeydoke. Bus trip. That was the way that it was done. The tour bus off to Iowa, New Hampshire, Virginia, Tennessee, Iowa, Texas, California, put the West Wing Vol 6 in the DVD player, sit back and enjoy the ride. Don't forget New Jersey! Not this year. Not if you read DRUDGE, NYT, Reuters, Yahoo!, Salon, YOU TUBES RANTS, Newt Gingrich's doom + gloom forecast (80% democrat, Mr. Speaker?), the cal thomas' cavalcade, and the best part, " rudy vs hilary and the battle of ny"right in Battery Park!....no, sir. No need today.

The way that it is done in 2008 is simple, new-fangled MEDIA, PROMOTION and CHUTZPAH. YOU TUBE and the swinging 24 hour media are only part of it because the news NEVER shuts down!

Remedy is immediate: Just get out the message and pass it along. No tour bus needed.

Yes, like the message, clean up the war, pro-life, federalist values. Yes, now even Greenspan says http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i684kQul6CZHqjTLwK5ECHUpnUMQ that Bush got us into war but to save our oil. Why couldn't he just come out and say that TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE to stop Saddam in the first place? What's done is done. Now someone has to be depended upon to clean up the mess, and damnit, have the US come clean.

But I ask you, does it really matter where you hear this, and learn how it will unfold?

(after all, you are reading this, aren't you? Do you really care where I am? And who am I talking about?

F R E D i D. IT H O M P S O N, now broadcasting from MCLEAN, VIRGINIA.

you got it!)

---abbebuck, apr

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