This morning, I had the pleasure of attending EDAWN’s Morning Business Buzz. Besides for the wonderful networking opportunity to catch those that usually get missed due to hectic schedules, I’m always amazed at the number of new faces that pop up at Reno events. This morning’s keynote speaker was Lt. Governor - and Horse Power podcast alum - Brian Krolicki.

Lt. Governor Krolicki discussed many items he’s excited about concerning Nevada including the possibility of getting the 2018 winter Olympics. Apparently, Northern Nevada has equal chances with Denver and the decision might be decided based off who gets the 2016 summer Olympics.

He also discussed Nevada’s opportunities to take advantage of clean energy initiatives and becoming the hub to the Pacific Rim. Nevada’s geographical position makes it ideal for businesses looking to break in to Western America. The crux of his presentation was around a public/private partnership that would see some state funds invested into private businesses with the goal of making money for the state in the long run. This money would not be from taxpayers, but I fear going to into detail as I don’t want to do injustice to the plan by getting facts wrong.

Technorati Tags: Brian Krolicki, EDAWN, Olympics

On this episode of Horse Power, we talk with John Wallin about the creation of the Nevada Wilderness Project and the mission of the organization. We discuss what it takes to achieve wilderness designation, and how that relates to Congressional activities and the myriad of special interests that surround public land.Nevada has more public land than any state outside Alaska. With over300 named mountain ranges and a rugged landscape that ranges from 500to 13,000 feet, Nevada is one of the most biologically diverse states.“The Nevada Wilderness Project is committed to saving spectacular,rugged-and imperiled-public lands in Nevada as permanent Wilderness,the strongest protection possible.”Founded in 1999, they work to protect Nevada’s wild lands as legal Wilderness,the highest level of protection for public land. They do this throughgrassroots education and activism, and through an ongoing citizens’inventory of potential wilderness.Listen Now (MP3, 26.5)

In this episode of Horse Power, we are joined by Connie Brennan, CEO and publisher of the Nevada Business Journal. We discuss NBJ’s history as the only state-wide business publication, some of the differences between Las Vegas and Reno businesses, as well as their strategy of providing all of their content online for free.

We also discuss Connie’s 10 kids, and how a girl from Arkansas came to adopt 4 girls from the Philippines.

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In this interview, we talk with Sam Shad of Sam Shad Productions about his move from London to the United States and his career evolution. Sam has gone from DJ and radio host to TV reporter and producer of his own shows including, "Nevada NewsMakers" and "The Dining Show." He is a member of the Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Shad is a self-professed performer, businessman and salesman, and his cheerful manner and trademark attire of suit and white tennis shoes established him as one of the area’s most popular TV personalities.

“Nevada NewsMakers” airs in northern Nevada on NBC affiliate KRNV-TV Channel 4 and on Charter Communications Cable Channel 14, 15 and 18 (depending on the market). “Nevada NewsMakers airs in Las Vegas on NBC affiliate KVBC-TV Channel 3, and on Cox Cable Channel 123. “Nevada NewsMakers” also is carried by Reno radio station KOH-AM 780, and is available in streaming video on nevadanewsmakers.com, and also on audio and video Podcasts on iTunes.

The same Reno TV channels also carry “The Dining Show” (previously “Best of Reno”), which Sam launched in 2001 to showcase top restaurants in the region. “The Dining Show” is also available in streaming video on thediningshow.com.

Listen Now (MP3, 29.3)

Looking back at 2006, I’m excited about the number of new blogs we’ve implemented for clients. It might be because I am so passionate about it, and it’s seemingly all I can talk about. But that doesn’t give enough credit to the intelligence of our clients. They see the value of communicating directly with their customers and the transparency involved. As an example, here are two new blogs that we are excited to introduce you to.

• Heavenly Ski Resort - Heavenly has been a customer of Twelve Horses longer then I’ve worked here (I’m going on my 7th year). In our most recent redesign of the site, a blog strategy made perfect sense. I won’t go into the details now as we’ve recently interviewed John Wagnon, Vice President of Marketing for Heavenly, and he does a much better job explaining the fit then I could. That podcast will be out next week.
• Cingular - John Coman owns and operates 5 Cingular stores in Reno. His web site was very basic and simply had the phone number and locations of his stores. Together, with John and his Director of Operations, Tyler Moss, we came up with a strategy to be the mobile authority of Reno. They feel that by localizing news and information about the mobile industry to the Reno area, they can help educate and bring up the level of knowledge here in town. This will help them show their expertise and be the de facto experts for all things cellular.

We have three more blogs in development that should be launching in January. I can’t wait to tell you guys about them so stay tuned.

In this episode of Horse Power, Robert and I interview Ellen Oppenheim, president and CEO of the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority (RSCVA) about the changes she’s implementing within the organization, as well as her strategic plan for the coming years.

In fact, Ellen recently implemented a blog designed to openly discuss the RSCVA’s strategic plan with community stakeholders.

Previous work experience includes, positions such as the Director of Conventions, Cultural and Visitor Services for the city of San Jose, Vice-President/General Manager for GES Exposition Services based in San Francisco and prior to that was the Associate Dean of Students at Stanford University.

Oppenheim has a B.A. in Psychology and M.B.A. in Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has managed and marketed a wide variety of facilities, programs and services.

Listen Now (MP3, 33.9 MB)

Twelve Horses will be at the Governor’s Conference most this week. We are one of the sponsors and David is giving a presentation on Wednesday afternoon.

The conference is at the Silver Legacy this year and officially kicked off yesterday. There are many interesting presentations scheduled and it should be a fun couple of days.

BTW, this photo was taken yesterday at the Reno/Tahoe Airport.

One of Reno’s beloved hang-outs and eateries closed it’s doors last week. The Deux Gros Nez was a trendy restaurant that had a unique atmosphere that locals loved to patronize. It opened in the summer of 1985 on California Avenue and closed November 30, 2006.

The Deux Gros Nez has been a long time client of Twelve Horses and we’ve enjoyed working with Tim and his team over the years. Tim penned a very nice letter to all his loyal customers that we’ve posted on the Deux website. As a tribute to Tim and his passion, Twelve Horses has decided to continue to host the website and we’ve added a guestbook where visitors can post their fondest memories of the Deux. This will provide a running legacy of what the Deux meant to so many people here in Reno. You can also subscribe to the guestbook via RSS so you can be notified of each new memory added.

In this episode, we talk with Steven Fine, online director for the RGJ.com about their overall online strategy and how they are positioning the website in the new media landscape. 

Community is a constant theme as Steven shares what the RGJ.com has implemented to date and hints to where the site is headed in the future.

The Reno Gazette-Journal is a Gannett holding, which is one of the largest media companies in the world.

Before joining the Reno Gazette-Journal, Steven was the lead developer for Casino2Casino, new media director for Hi-Tech Communications, and co-founder of Spider Internet. He is a native of Nevada.

Steven’s photograph was taken with a Cingular 3125 Smart Phone.

Listen Now (MP3, 25.9 MB)

In this interview, Robert Payne & Josh Kenzer talk with Phyllis Freyer, vice president of marketing for Renown Health, a healthcare network that recently went through an extensive rebranding effort after serving the Reno, Nevada region for more than 140 years as Washoe Medical.

The rebranding of Washoe Medical to Renown Health was a monumental task requiring the work of several local and national agencies, as well as the staff at Renown Health. Any business professional will appreciate how important it was to have a well-constructed and well-executed strategy to ensure success.

This interview takes you through the process, which started 2 years ago, and uncovers the challenges and successes of the organization both internally and externally.

Listen Now (MP3, 26.6 MB)