Golf: How to Play To Your Advantage
Tracking Through The Invisible Web
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Kathleen McGinn Spring and Bart Jackson were
prepared for the April 3, 2002 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
For Freelance Writers
The New Jersey Society of Professional Freelance Writers
holds a freelance workshop on Saturday, April 6, at 8:45 a.m. at the
School of Communication, Information and Library Sciences building
at Rutgers, New Brunswick. Cost: $25. Register at www.NJSPJ.com
Patty Murray is organizing the event. Now the owner of Murray
Communications (www.murraypublicrelations.com), a Milltown-based
public
relations agency, she holds a journalism degree from Rutgers (Class
of 1989). She began her career with Packet Publications, writing news
for two of its community newspapers. While she enjoyed the experience,
she also discovered, as many writers do, that journalism often
requires
long hours and does not pay terribly well in comparison with other
careers. At that point, she joined a public relations firm, and then,
about eight years ago, started her own shop.
“I’m a generalist,” Murray says. “I write for corporate
publications, write speeches, do marketing, and trade shows.”
She also arranges special events, and, recounting how she rode in
a vintage airplane and in a hot air balloon at a balloon festival,
says she finds that part of her job particularly satisfying. Overall,
though, the great appeal of public relations, she says, is the chance
to do a variety of different things, from running special events to
creating videos to producing projects.
Journalism offers variety, too, she readily admits. The upcoming
freelance
seminar aims to help writers uncover some of the opportunities. This
is the third freelance seminar NJSPJ has offered in the past four
years, and it expands on the last seminar. While that event
concentrated
on writing for publications, this one will include opportunities in
book publishing. In the future, says Murray, workshops on writing
for corporate clients may be included.
The first workshop at this year’s seminar is “Practical Business
Advice.” Panelists are Dian Killian of the National Writer’s
Union; Steve Schechter, an entertainment attorney; and Meghan
Shannon, a business planner. Next is “Publishing Your First
Book.” Panelists are John Monteleone, a Pennington-based
book agent; William Cook, who writes non-fiction on sports
topics;
Vivien Chern, the author of mystery novels; Anthony
Buccino,
who writes short stories; and Dave Siroty, a sports writer.
After a coffee break, representatives of radio, television, and cable
stations discuss “Electronic Media Opportunities.” Steve
Taylor of ABC radio and Phil Roberts of he New Jersey
Broadcasters
Association have been invited, but the exact line-up is not yet final.
The last workshop of the day is “Print Media Opportunities.”
Panelists include Barbara Fox of U.S. 1 Newspaper; Paul
Grzella
of Gannett NJ; Kathleen Casey of the Star-Ledger; Kathy
Dzielak
of the Asbury Park Press; and Nancy Nusser of New Jersey
Monthly.
For writers seeking other opportunities to network andcomparenotes, see page 28 of this issue.Top Of PageWays to Reach The NJ AudienceLying in the long shadows of two big cities — oneof them arguably the most famous metropolis on earth — New Jerseyis full of companies whose advertising messages would blanket theairwaves if only this were Alaska or Arkansas. “The northern partof the state is a bedroom community for New York City,” saysDonnaLukenbill, president of FastTrack Marketing Solutions. “Thesouthern part, near Atlantic City, is not even New Jersey.” Well,of course it is legally, but in media terms, it is tucked intoPhiladelphia.Companies that might advertise on network television elsewhere inthe country cannot begin to afford to do so here.”You’re in the number one and number four media markets,”says Lukenbill, referring to New York and Philadelphia. And it’s notjust television time that is out of sight. “It goes for radiotoo,” she says. Priced out of major media, New Jersey does offeradvertisers some unique opportunities, including, paradoxically, theblessing of crowded highways. Lukenbill looks at advertisingstrategiesfor Garden State companies when she speaks on “The Keys to MediaPlanning” on Tuesday, April 9, at 6 p.m. the Business MarketingAssociation at the Airport Marriott in Newark. Cost: $30. Call609-409-5601.Lukenbill, a native of Connecticut, left the University of Connecticutafter one year to work in radio. Then she moved into an infantindustry,cable television, spending 20 years with Sammons Communications, whereshe rose to the position of director of marketing and advertising.When Sammons was sold to Cablevision, she decided to go out on herown. “I literally grew up in Sammons,” she says. “I didn’tthink I would ever find another business relationship like that.”Nevertheless, with one daughter about to be married and anotherenteringher last year in college, Sammons decided the prudent thing to dowould be to take another job, at least for a couple of years. Shespent that time at News 12 New Jersey, where she says she got theadvertising department up and running. “I was there before therewere walls,” she says.With her daughters settled, Lukenbill turned herattentionto starting a company. Founded in 1995, FastTrack’s services includebusiness plans, marketing plans, media strategy, website development,and crisis management. Clients include banks, pharmaceuticalcompanies,law firms, car dealerships, and universities.Media planning is rarely the same for any two clients. There are toomany variable. But some of Lukenbill’s advice applies to every entityreaching for an audience:Have a plan. “The essence of media planning,”says Lukenbill, “is to have a plan.” It sounds basic, butmany companies — particularly small companies — let mediabuying just happen. Salespeople come through the door all day, eachdeclaring his or her outlet the best place to advertise, and busyowners just say yes — or no — with little thought of anoverallstrategy.”Don’t be reactive,” says Lukenbill. “Or you get visitedby media reps and you get overwhelmed.” With a plan in place itis easier to see how a particular media opportunity fits with anoverallmarketing goal.Draw up a budget. “This is the most importantcomponent,”says Lukenbill. “You can only be as effective as a budgetallows.”With a budget in place, it is easier to fend off impulse media buysand to resist any tendency to overspend on one medium or one timeof the year.Blend media messages. “You should have awell-integratedplan,” says Lukenbill. “Media that supports one another.”She points to Verizon’s “Can you hear me?” campaign as a goodexample. Listening to the ad on the radio, consumers quickly pullup a mental picture of the man in the Verizon television ads dressedin hip boots or safari gear trekking to the ends of the earth, cellphone in hand, testing to see whether his voice is getting through.Small advertisers need to be as savvy as a Verizon in seeking morethan one way to get a message across. Billboards, for example, areseen by many people, but, says Lukenbill, are passive. “They’rereminders,” she says. “The gross impression is tremendous,but short-lived.” Persuasion needs to be delivered via radio,cable television, or print, and then reinforced by a billboard.Know your audience. At the moment, Lukenbill is workingup media plans for two universities. Each, she says, has to reachtwo very different audiences — parents and counselors, at oneend of the age spectrum, and teenagers at the other end. “Theyshare equally in the decision,” she says of the two groups. Yetone group is likely to abhor the other’s taste in radio stations,magazines, and Internet sites. “You need a different medium toreach each group,” she says. “It can be expensive.”Use New Jersey’s strengths. It is tough to buy into majormedia here. It’s just too expensive for many companies. But the GardenState does have its strengths. Every traffic jam is an opportunityto spend time with a captive audience. “Outdoor is very importantin New Jersey,” is how Lukenbill puts it. In this, the mostdenselypopulated state in the union, billboards and radio can deliverexcellentvalue. “We have the lowest cost per thousand in outdoor,”says Lukenbill.Cable television is important here, too. With network television outof reach, cable stations become an important part of the advertisingmix.Build a website. “People use the Internet forinformation,”says Lukenbill. Consumers may not buy a car or a couch online, butthey are very likely to research the purchase there. “Customersare not threatened by a website,” she says. “Maybe they won’twalk in to a business, but they will go to the website to see whatit offers.” A website won’t double sales, but, says Lukenbill,”it will give you more access.”Use the Internet, but carefully. Lukenbill says E-mailis an important direct marketing tool, but will only use it ifconsumershave signaled that they really, really want to get the messages.”Ionly use double opt-in,” she says. This means, she explains, thatconsumers check off a box saying they want to receive informationvia E-mail when they register at a website, and then agree againbeforethe information is sent.As for advertising on the Internet, Lukenbill says it’s early daysyet. The standards for measuring the effectiveness of Internetadvertisinglag those for other media, and keep changing.”At one time it was number of hits,” says Lukenbill. “Thenit was unique visitors.” The Internet, she says, “probablystill represents the smallest portion of your budget, and, right now,rightfully so. We’ve learned it isn’t the be-all and end-all.”But then, in media buying, nothing is. Even companies withbudgetslarge enough to finance time on New York network affiliate televisionstations will not reach all of New Jersey’s diverse citizens. Or asLukenbill puts it: “Not everyone watches `Everybody LovesRaymond.’”No, a number of us are watching the tail lights of the car in frontof us — and memorizing billboards.Top Of PageGolf: How to Play To Your AdvantageGolf is the number one sport used for business,”says Jeanne Hogan, an exercise physiologist and creator ofPerformanceGolf, a conditioning video. A new golfer herself, Hogan also saysthe sport is “incredibly intimidating” — especially forwomen.Hogan gives golf tips on Wednesday, April 10, at 6 p.m. at a NJAWBOpresentation, “Golf 101,” at the Pennington Golf Center.CoreyKrusa, the center’s pro, also appears. Dinner follows at TJ’sTrattoria.Cost: $38. Call 609-924-7975.For Hogan — no relation to Ben — fitness and sportsconditioningis a second career. Prior to the birth of her daughter, Lindsey, asophomore at Peddie, the Pennington resident did technical writing.She stayed at home for two years after her daughter was born andnoticedthat she had eight pounds of postpartum weight that would not go away.She joined a fitness program for the first time in her life to banishthe pounds, and decided she could do a better instruction job thanmany of the fitness professionals she encountered. That, combinedwith a lifelong love of sports, led her to enroll in the College ofNew Jersey to start work toward a degree in exercise fitnessphysiology,which she completed in 1999.She has led classes at the Fitness Corner in Pennington since 1985,did an internship training the Princeton University lacrosse teamfor the NCAA championships, and was program director and fitnessdirectorof Momentum Fitness from early-1997 through May, 1998. She now doespersonal training from a gym in her home, teaches fitness classesat several locations, including the new fitness center at MerrillLynch’s headquarters, and gives golf conditioning clinics.And while she breezed through weight training, changing careers, andstarting a business, there is one enterprise Hogan has put on theback burner. “I’m not marketing my video now,” she says.In her golf outings, she noticed many golfers taking tortured swingsat the little white ball. She did research, and found that 53 percentof male golfers and 45 percent of female golfers suffer from backpain. She learned that in golf — a sport in which the whole bodyrotates around the spine — hip, shoulder, wrist, hamstring, andforearm injuries also are common. This was not surprising, she says,given the fact that only four percent of golfers work out, and thatfew do even a little, basic stretching before heading to the firsttee.Selling a video that demonstrated stretches and golf-specificconditioningexercises would be a snap. “I thought I would storm the area,go into pro shops,” says Hogan. She embarked on a cold-callingcampaign to 700 courses, asking their pros to sell the video in theircourses’ pro shops. She still has 500 calls to go, but is puttingthem off. “I called 200 courses,” she says. “I gotrejections,and they were not nice rejections. The pros were unbelievablyrude.”She thinks her gender has a lot to do with the reception she wasgiven.Hogan says she got hooked on golf right away, relishing the challengesof the hard-to-learn game and enjoying the camaraderie, scenery, andfresh air of the courses. But, along the way, she discovered thatgolf is not a game for women who are faint of heart. It’s not justthe way a ball can overshoot the pin on a rock-hard green with thecontours of a roller coaster. Or the choice of driving over a pond,or threading the ball down a narrow fairway banked by trees. It’sthe other golfers.Given the slightest provocation — real or imagined, “the menglare at you,” says Hogan. It is a man’s game, she has found.There are still courses where women are barred from prime tee times,and refused service in some bar areas. Still, now a five-year veteranof the links, she says the sport is well worth the steep learningcurve and occasional nasty look. Her daughter has been offered asummerjob as a bag girl at a private golf club, and she is urging her totake it. The sport, she says, offers entre to a world where “menare out on the course doing business every day.” To women whowant in, she offers this advice:Buy the book. A collector of golf books, Hogan has foundnone better than Feeling Naked on the First Tee: the Essential Guidefor New Women Players, by Ann Kelly. “Read this first,” shesays. “It tells you everything you have to learn.”Take lessons. Golf is a complex sport. The swing for adrive is different from that used out on the fairway. The stance foreach is different, too. Then there is the short game, the matter ofgetting onto the green and then into the hole. Dedicated golfers spenddecades learning to “read” the greens.For those whose shots stray, there are sand trap techniques, the artof shooting in near proximity to a gnarled oak, and the challengeof hitting a ball out of the muddy fringes of a swamp. None of itis easy to master.Hogan recommends that beginners take at least 12 lessons, perhapsone or two a week for three months. Group lessons, she says, can beas effective as individual sessions. “Just make sure,” shesays, “that the student to teacher ratio is not more than fourto one.”Go shopping. No, the clothes one wears to wash the car,jog, or play tennis will not do on the golf course. For starters,Hogan exclaims, “no jeans. Never any denim.” Shirts absolutelymust have collars, and shorts may not be too short. Public coursesare more lenient than are private clubs, but the beginner who wantsto avoid withering looks will play it conservatively innearly-knee-lengthshorts, tailored golf slacks, or a culotte-like golf skirt. When indoubt, advises Hogan, call ahead and ask about dress codes.Anyone who frequented golf courses circa 1985, but has not been outin a while, will notice a change in foot wear. Spikes, once derigueur,are now forbidden at many, if not most, golf clubs. In place of theseshoes, which made a very satisfying crunching sound, are soft spikesthat look often look a bit like the common sneaker. And, in fact,Hogan says actual sneakers are sometimes permissible. But, she adds,don’t count on seeing many pairs at private clubs.Borrow clubs. While taking up this sport probably willnecessitate some wardrobe additions, Hogan says beginners should notinvest in clubs right away. Clubs are expensive and can be purchasedin a rapidly increasing array of permutations. The new golfer willhave little idea of which clubs will serve her best down the road.Find a good mentor. Hogan’s early golf partner was a maleneighbor. An accomplished golfer and a patient man, he taught herabout the sport and about the elaborate etiquette that surrounds it.She suggests that all beginners find such a golf mentor to accompanythem on their early outings.Learn the rules. There are any number of seemingly normalbehaviors that will earn a new golfer the eternal disdain of herfellows,not to mention some immediate, harsh rebukes. Do not ever, forinstance,drive a cart onto a green. And don’t even think about giving a balla good scrubbing in the noisy cleaning machines when a fellow golferis teeing off. There are more caveats, lots of them, some universal,and some peculiar to a particular club. Memorize all of them beforeteeing off.Warm up. “A golf swing is one of the most explosivemovements in sports,” says Hogan. Golfers may swing hundreds oftimes in a single round, and some 60 percent of those are all-outswings. Stretch and do warm up exercises before starting a round ofgolf, is Hogan’s advice. This is a one of only a few sports, shepointsout, that can be played by 90-year-olds — and their older sisters.Anyone aiming for a long career on the links does well to cut downon the chances of an injury. For men, injuries often arise becauseof a lack of flexibility. For women, says Hogan, the problem usuallyis a lack of strength, making a strength training regimen a goodaccompanimentto the sport.Keep moving. Golf as played on Princeton-area courses— and in most other places — is not for dawdlers. Coursesare crowded and golfers tend to be single-minded in their desire torace around them as quickly as possible. Anyone holding up play facesa stern talking-to from the course ranger (yes, there are rangersin golf) and hostility from fellow golfers.”The rule,” says Hogan, “is to pick up your ball at doublepar.” In other words, on a par four hole, a golfer who has alreadyswung eight times should pack it in and move along to the next tee.In addition, it is impolitic to spend much time parting the grassesor scouting the woods for lost balls. Drop another ball, take thepenalty strokes, and keep moving.Play during off hours. If you are a beginner, says Hogan,forget about weekend play if you want to have a relatively goodexperience.Golfers on crowded courses trying to get home in time to satisfyspousesbent on a day at the beach have little patience for beginners. Playduring the week, says Hogan, suggesting 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. as goodweekday tee times.At some point, says Hogan, it is inevitable that women won’thave to tip toe around the golf course to avoid hostile comments.”Golf has to evolve like any other area, in the same way anythingthat has been restrictive for women has evolved,” she says.”It’sthe last hold men have on us.”Top Of PageTracking Through The Invisible WebSigns can be difficult to interpret. Be they Delphicsmoke, trembling oak leaves, or the twitching runes upon a magneticweb, they do not easily yield up their treasure to anyone who justhollers for an answer. You need a pro — some priest(ess) who knowshow to seek out and interpret the gushes of mysterious verbiage.A great and clever host of these informational wizards will conveneand reveal their Web wandering secrets at the spring conference ofthe Pharmaceutical and Health Technology Division (PH&T) of theSpecialLibraries Association (SLA) on Monday and Tuesday, April 15 and 16,at the Princeton Marriott. Cost: $250. Register at www.SLA.org.The SLA is a professional organization for librarians who typicallydirect the information collections of businesses, medicalinstitutions,and law firms. Convention seminar topics include “PipelineDatabases,””Competitive Intelligence,” and “Building a WorkflowTool.”Cynthia Hetherington, founder of Hetherington InformationServices,speaks on “Information Discovery on the Invisible Web.”Definitely the most invisible and underused research tool is one thatbusinesses and individuals have already paid for. You can phone orE-mail your research question, and no matter how exhaustive, a teamof experts goes instantly to work, phones you back with the answer,and will fax you whatever accompanying papers you desire. Whetheryou seek only the total weight of the Pentagon, or an entire corporateprofile on a competitor, they can get it into your hands. After hoursin the Garden State, they provide the same service 24/7 viawww.QandA.org.Where labors this bought-and-paid-for team of information experts?At your tax-funded public library.Our skewed vision of the public library — as a place merely forlonely spinsters to find romance novels — causes many informationseekers to overlook this powerful resource. Speaker Hetheringtonherselfbegan as a public reference librarian for the Hawthorne, Teaneck,and Englewood libraries. Despite advanced degrees from New JerseyInstitute of Technology, she claims “nothing was as valuable forWeb-searching work as my Rutgers MLS (Masters of Library Science)degree. It gave me not just computer savvy, but organizational skills,and a host of research hunting grounds.”In 1996 IBM began to realize the potential of library science andasked Hetherington to help establish what she calls “a very fancyindexing process.” This first freelance assignment launchedHetheringtoninto the private sector. Shortly after, she founded her ownHetheringtonInformation Service, based in Elmwood Park (201-794-3075), which hasprovided an astounding range of data for the criminal justice system,the intelligence community, as well as the pharmaceutical and othercompetitive industries. The calls come in over her website atwww.Data2Know.com:Can you find me a female jockey who is sympathetic to workers’ comp?I need a printout on this railroad freight train — the contentsof every car. Does my new wonder drug have any competitors and willits new name work in every country? Hetherington is every inch a freeagent whose knowledge of the Web’s invisible strands makes her a muchsought after wizard.”Most people are just now beginning to learn that an invisiblesector of the Web actually exists,” says Hetherington. She definesthis invisible Web as “that whole unlisted collection of sitesthat standard search engines, such as Yahoo and Google, neversee.”It is such sites that have disproved the old maxim of “everythingis out there on the Web if you just surf long enough.” Businesseshave neither the costly in-house time nor the staff expertise to findanswers in this ever-broadening uncharted vale. To both tantalizeand test your web knowledge, Hetherington proffers these few sites.Do you know how to reach these?SEC.gov. Supposing you want to find out who truly runsa business, just how well he is running it, and exactly what he isgetting in compensation for this direction. The Edgar database ofthe SEC.gov site details every public document that every firmgrossingover $10 million annually must file. This includes quarterly andannualreports and a list of everyone in upper management with profiles andcompensation records. The tricky thing about the Edgar database isthat Google will lead you into a portion, but not all of the site.U.S. Patent and Trade Office database. Who else producesyour new medicine or software? In what regions and nations are theyselling it? Will your new trade name trip over that of your competitoror that of some unknown export firm located in Peru? Again, thegeneralsite is easily reached, but the full site remains mostly invisibleto most engines.Pac-Info.com This is a superwarehouse of state records.For example, every corporation must receive a charter in every statein which it transacts business. These charters can prove veryrevealing.In addition to the charters, every scrap of trade law and officialregulation for each state can be found on this site. Pac-Info linksonto Canadian and many foreign sites as well.Sonbiz.org. All Uniform Commercial Filings are listedhere. Every registered agent and full financial disclosure areavailablestate-by-state on this site.Specialized sites. Just to name a few, Cannanews.comprovidesall the political, sports, and business news of the Caribbean area,along with a deep archive. NCES.ed.gov/surveys/intl willlink you into the National Center for Education Statistics, whereyou can find out how well your son’s high school shapes up.Classynet.comopens of an entire Pandora’s box of nationwide classified ads.My wife and I have a saying in our house: “If you don’t see it,you don’t own it.” Truly, the World Wide Web has become amagnificentnew millennial oracle. But without the proper wizard to interpretthe message, you will wander through it as blind as poor old Oedipus.— Bart JacksonTop Of PageDonate PleaseSponsor a hole at the Links to Youth golf outing forthe Princeton-Blairstown Center, and you will send one childto camp. The outing is Tuesday, May 21, at 10:30 a.m. at Cherry ValleyCountry Club. Round up a foursome to play the Rees Jones-designedcourse and your fee of $1,500 pays for sending five kids to camp plusget a quarter page ad in the program. The individual golfer pays $250,which includes lunch, greens fees, golf cart, reception, buffetdinner,awards, and prizes. A business card ad in the program costs $75.The Princeton-Blairstown Center, established in 1908, is an outdoor,adventure-challenge experiential education center in northwest NewJersey. It operates year-round and during the summer hosts 400 at-risklow-income youth from social service agencies and schools. StevenWeintraub MD chairs this event; call 609-258-3340 for information.United Way of Greater Mercer County says it has suffereda $500,000 shortfall, has cut program funding by $283,000, and willhave to cut more if contributions don’t pick up. The agency, whosewebsite is www.uwgmc.org, says more funding decreases will affectprograms meeting basic and emergency needs in the community, includingfood, shelter, intervention programs, and supportive services forthe disabled, elderly, mentally ill, and at-risk youth.Donations can be made at the organization’s website. For moreinformation,call 609-637-4900.Top Of PageApply PleaseThe New Jersey Business/Industry/Science Education Consortiumand the Public Service Electric and Gas Company are sponsoringthe 10th annual Environmental Education Grant Program. The competitionis open to teachers of grades K-5 and 6-9 who teach in PSE&G’s servicearea. Teachers who can successfully link their students’ understandingof math, science, computer science, and/or technology concepts withan enthusiasm and appreciation for the environment are encouragedto apply.Applications that focus on the development of one of more classroomunits, the expansion of an existing course or curriculum, or theextensionof classroom work to community or after-school activities will beconsidered.The grants provide financial resources to carry out the project fortwo years. Grants are available in amounts of up to $3,500, and maybe used to purchase materials and equipment, take field trips, anddevelop innovative curriculum-related activities. Call 201-216-5635.Top Of PageCorporate AngelsThe Trenton Thunder has donated more than $1.8 million of itsintended goal — $2 million in donations to area charities. Forits “Grand Slam/We Care” fundraiser, the Double A affiliateof the Boston Red Sox has partnered with First Union National Bank,Johnson & Johnson, New Jersey Education Association, PrincetonUniversity,PSE&G, Merlino’s Waterfront Restaurant, and Wawa.New this season is the “Minding Our Business Market Fair Days”co-sponsored by Merrill Lynch and Rider University. Rider Universityprovides seed money for Trenton middle school students to start andrun their own businesses, and the baseball team runs a series of tradeshows to help the students understand business concepts. Forinformationcall 609-394-3300.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
