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Why the Iowa caucuses don’t matter

By Bethany Chambers | Digital Operations Manager

If you believe the headlines today, the Iowa caucuses matter now more than ever since elections are decided based on consensus opinion measured by the second via social media.

But the fact remains: We don’t elect our 45th President of the United States until Tuesday, Nov. 8.

And nine months is a long time from now.

The average voter has a pain point—that one thing that our new president must improve—and they vote for the candidate who is deemed most likely to champion that cause. What will that cause be? It could be the economy or national security, the environment or equal rights, healthcare or taxes or hundreds of other issues.

The thing is, most voters are going to choose the candidate who best addresses their current concerns. That’s where all bets are off.

Fictional presidential candidate Peter Florrick got only his family and friends in his corner at the Iowa caucuses. — Fictional presidential candidate Peter Florrick on TV’s “The Good Wife” got only family and friends in his corner at an Iowa caucus.

A Quinnipiac University poll from December showed the economy and terrorism as the issues that mattered most. Both are volatile and subject to significant changes in the coming months.

Nine months doesn’t seem like much, but consider where we were nine months ago.

Nine months ago the mainstream media wasn’t talking about the bear market or global recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen significantly since May 1, 2015, when it closed at 18,024; now it’s hovering down around 16,000. Consumer confidence is still high, but whether it stays that way remains to be seen.

[ RELATED: Iowa Caucus History | Does Iowa really matter? ]

Nine months ago a barrel of oil was still $59.15 and environmentalists were predicting a drill-baby-drill future. Today at $31.65 and with states declaring home rule to block the growth of fracking operations, the tables have turned. We don’t know what the future holds for oil prices.

Nine months ago the idea that we might see a woman president seemed possible, if not probable. We had only scratched the surface of Emailgate and accusations that Hillary Clinton wasn’t the feminist she purported to be weren’t being slung—perhaps because Donald Trump hadn’t even announced he was running yet.

Nine months ago San Bernardino was just a town in California. The mass shooting at a government office there—the worst terrorist attack on American soil since September 11, 2001—happened only two months ago. The coordinated strikes in Paris? Those were only three months ago. In nine months ISIS has become part of the national discourse and foreign policy has become paramount to voters of both parties.

At the 2012 Iowa Caucus Mitt Romney lost to Rick Santorum, in itself an upset considering that Michele Bachmann had won an early straw poll in the state. Santorum ultimately didn’t get the Republican nomination, and leading up to the general election pollsters were predicting a likely Romney Administration. And that was just days before Americans turned out to vote.

So tonight, while all eyes are on Iowa, I’ll be turning on basketball instead. It’s true that the road to the White House leads through Iowa, but Iowa isn’t a harbinger of our country’s future; it’s just one quick water break in the marathon that is a presidential campaign. Sure, our future president is probably in Iowa. So, too, are a lot of also-rans whose names you won’t remember nine months from now.

6 blockbuster films worth exploring

By Kevin Yanik, Senior Editor

I spent several off-days over the holidays and the past couple weekends at the movies checking out the latest flicks Hollywood has to offer. Most of my movie experiences were good ones and films I’d highly recommend. Here’s a breakdown of six movies I saw over the last few weeks:

“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”

This emotionally gripping film tells an apolitical story of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on U.S. compounds in the Libyan capital. Not a dry eye will walk away from this Michael Bay-directed film that offers vivid details from the perspective of the Americans who experienced the attacks.

Grade: A+

“Concussion”

I expected this to be a football movie first, but “Concussion” is really the story of Dr. Bennett Omalu and his journey from discovering chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) to convincing corporate America (the NFL) to accept his work. Will Smith puts forth some of his best work here as Omalu.

Grade: A-

“Creed”

Rocky meets Creed. Rocky beats Creed. Rocky beats Mr. T. Rocky beats Drago. Rocky wins street fight. Rocky makes comeback. Rocky coaches Baby Creed. After six Rocky movies you might be asking yourself what a 65- or 70-year-old Rocky could possibly offer the big screen in a seventh go-around. Well, the Philadelphia-bred fighter has one round left in him in “Creed,” which is worth a watch if you generally have enjoyed the Rocky franchise.

Grade A-

“Daddy’s Home”

This film starring Will Ferrell doesn’t hang with “Anchorman,” “Old School” or “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” But Ferrell and co-star Mark Wahlberg have a good comedic chemistry. If you liked “The Other Guys” starring Ferrell and Wahlberg, you’ll get plenty of laughs out of “Daddy’s Home.”

Grade: B-

“The Revenant”

I haven’t seen every movie nominated for the Academy Awards’ Best Picture, but I’d be surprised if another nominee bests this Alejandro González Iñárritu-directed picture. Leonardo DiCaprio is fantastic as usual, and the outdoor cinematography is worth the price of admission alone.

Grade: A+

“Sisters”

This is no “13 Hours” or “Revenant,” but you shouldn’t expect an award winner here. The movie, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, offers a few laughs, but the plot tires quickly as most of the movie is one big over-the-hill party.

Grade: D

Kevin Yanik joined North Coast Media in 2012 and has worked in B2B media for more than seven years in various editorial positions. Kevin is a Cleveland native and a 2006 graduate of John Carroll University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications.

GPS World Europe editor chairs session at Munich Summit

GPS World Europe Editor Tim Reynolds chairs the session GNSS and Sciences for Life at the Munich Navigation Satellite Summit, which will be held March 1-3.
Reynolds is director of Inta Communication Ltd. and a long-term Brussels observer writing on many aspects of European government policy and implementation for a range of clients and publications. He is the contributing editor for GPS World’s new quarterly e-newsletter, EAGER: the European GNSS and Earth Observation Report.
The annual summit, held in the historic Munich Residenz, is an conference with global impact dealing with satellite navigation. The one-of-a-kind convention of high-ranking worldwide speakers from industry, science and governments provides the participants with a broad overview and different perspectives on the latest developments in the field of GNSS.
Reynold’s session, GNSS and Sciences for Life, will cover maritime search and rescue (SAR), precision agriculture and livestock management, personal fitness and emergency medical attention.

Other sessions include:

GNSS Program Updates — Global systems, chaired by Hank Skalski, Department of Transportation, DOT Liasion to Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, USA
GNSS Program Updates — Regional and augmentation Systems, chaired by Dr. Todd Walter, Stanford University, CA, USA
GNSS in the Southern Hemisphere and Equatorial Regions, chaired by Prof. Vidal Ashkenazi, Chief Executive of U.K.-based Nottingham Scientific Ltd, Nottingham, UK
Precise Positioning Technology in Agriculture and Forestry, chaired by Dr. Herbert Landau, Managing Director, Trimble Terrasat GmbH, Hoehenkirchen, Germany
Legal Issues of GNSS Timing, chaired by Dr. Ingo Baumann and Dr. Oliver Heinrich, Partner, BHO Legal, Cologne, Germany

Plus, expect a brand-new conference format for this session:

The GNSS Knowledge Triangle: Tying the Knot Between Education, Research and Industry, chaired by Dr. Fabio Dovis, Associate Professor, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy

The summit is part of the efforts of the Bavarian government and the cluster on aerospace and satellite navigation to stimulate applications and services in this high-tech field.

Things to know when media planning

By Scott Gebler, Marketing Manager

Know Your Audience.

Before you can find the best channels to reach your audience, you have to know exactly who they are. Sit down internally (or with your client) and assess your audience down to the last detail. What are their demographics? Where are they physically located? If you’re B2B, what industry or industries are they in? What kinds of companies do they work for? What are their specific job titles?

Write everything down, condense it, and circulate it throughout the company for more input and ideas – a worksheet like this can be more helpful than you might think in determining what media channels you will need to look into.

…Know More About Your Audience.

Take it a step further – ask yourself:
•   What matters to my audience?
•   Why should they care about my product/service?
•   Why should they choose us over the competition?
•   What media are they really paying attention to?

You might end up discovering that the features/benefits you think are important don’t really matter to your audience – or that they’re not actually interested in the media channel you prefer.

A good media partner (like North Coast Media {ahem}) is probably already gathering this kind of information through audience surveys, polls, or third-party audits. Ask for it.

Know Your Budget.

“That’s all I have to say about that” – Forrest Gump

Know that Bigger isn’t Always Better.

A lot of times, the first instinct will be to lean towards the media with the largest audience number. While a lot of times that’s great, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should ignore a channel with a smaller audience. That list might be half the size, but double the quality.

Again, ask the media provider if they have detailed audience insights.

Know Your Schedule.

Once you’ve set your media plan, make sure you’re prepared to follow through on it. Sure, you’ll know the space close and ad materials dates, but be sure to build in plenty of time for the design, production, review, revisions, re-review, re-revisions, re-design, etc. of your advertisement. Putting in all the time and effort on a well thought-out media plan… and then having to knock out a rush job ad in 2 days is not the way to go.

Know How You Performed.

There are a number of simple, inexpensive ways you can track the effectiveness of your advertising. Create a trackable vanity toll-free number for a particular ad or per channel (Dial800 and CallFire are two options). Direct your audience to a special landing page. Create special URLs. Use a trackable URL shortener (like Bitly). Provide unique coupon codes or quick response (QR) codes.

When the year – or whatever length of time your media was planned for – is over, these will be invaluable in helping to determine which ads and media channels worked best.

It’s also important to remember that these performance metrics aren’t perfect, though. If you prescribe to the theory that it takes between 6 and 13 marketing “touches” before you generate a sale or lead, there’s probably no way of knowing whether the ad you’re tracking is the first, sixth or thirteenth.

An open letter from Cleveland Browns fans to St. Louis Rams fans

By Bethany Chambers | Digital Operations Manager

Dear Rams Fans,

Go ahead, let it out. You feel hurt. You’ve been betrayed. Your team is moving for sunnier pastures and warmer waters. Forget all the history you have, The Greatest Show on Turf, the Super Bowl victory, the agony at the feet of Adam Vinatieri.

The logo you once wore with pride — “This is my team.” — now means something much worse, a symbol of a traitorous owner who would pick a stadium over the people in it, a local boy blinded by glitzy new digs into selling out the very friends who filled his old dome every Sunday for 20 years.

We get it. We were once in the seat you are in, watching as our heart was torn out leaving a giant concrete void in the center of our city.

Art Modell opted to relocate the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1995 without so much as waiting for the citizens to vote to remodel Cleveland Stadium, much as Stan Kroenke lied to you about his intention to stay.

The unfaithfulness hurts just as much as the upheaval.

Ask the fans in Anaheim who mourned the Rams’ move out your way in ’94. They know what it feels like to be left with just baseball and hockey (which many of you likely don’t consider a sport).

A photo posted by L.A Rams Fans (@l.a.ramsfans) on Oct 30, 2015 at 10:33pm PDT

But here’s where we have some advice for you that differs from conventional wisdom: Don’t fight it, and don’t try to get another team. It doesn’t work. Cleveland filed an injunction to keep the team in the city and season ticket holders banded together to file lawsuits, much like the one filed by your fellow fans just yesterday.

You know what we got from it? The Cleveland Browns name, and nothing else. It was an empty win. Is that really what you want? A Rams name that actually started here in Cleveland in the 1930s? We didn’t think so.

An expansion team won’t replace the champions you lost. On the contrary, it will be like getting a Marc Bulger for a prime Kurt Warner. We went from legendary teams led by Otto Graham and Jim Brown and Bernie Kosar to a long list of players as unmemorable as they were unhappy. We made a deal with the devil to get an expansion team. The price we paid? To start every season with a new 22-year-old quarterback and Draft Day as our Super Bowl.

A photo posted by Brokaw Inc (@brokawinc) on Sep 18, 2015 at 9:38am PDT

Just as Kroenke will have the equivalent of a big new house in Inglewood with no furniture, a new team for St. Louis will be a shiny new jersey without the heart. You’re better off if you keep your memories…and start watching hockey.

Yours in defeat,

Cleveland Browns Fans

Pit & Quarry 2016 Hall of Fame class announced

CLEVELAND, OH — January 14, 2016 — Pit & Quarry’s 2016 class of Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a black-tie induction ceremony and dinner at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 20. The event follows the NSSGA Chairman’s Welcome Reception at the Omni Nashville Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. The three new inductees, detailed below in alphabetical order, were selected by a group of peers from a pool of nominees submitted by industry experts and you, our readers. This group joins the 17 current members in the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame. To purchase tickets to the black-tie induction ceremony and dinner, click here. You can nominate a worthy individual for the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame today at www.pitandquarry.com/hall-of-fame.

Rick Feltes, Feltes Sand & Gravel Co.

Rick Feltes, who grew up in the aggregates industry, was a key figure in the development of AGG1, which launched in 2009 alongside the World of Asphalt. Well regarded for his dedication to National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) initiatives, Feltes has served the association in various capacities and as a chairman. Yet, Feltes’ investment in NSSGA continued at a high level in the years following his chairmanship because of a drive to help others in the industry succeed. With AGG1, Feltes made sure the event incorporated a mix of educational seminars, site visits and equipment exhibits to attract a wide audience of people in the aggregates industry. AGG1 has grown significantly since its inception, achieving records in 2015 for attendance, exhibitors, exhibit space and education tickets sold, according to NSSGA. Feltes was also an instrumental figure in his family-owned, Illinois-based operation, Feltes Sand & Gravel, which Lafarge North America acquired in 2007. Previously, he was named a Barry K. Wendt Memorial Commitment Award recipient for his dedication to the industry.

Don James, Vulcan Materials Co.

Don James, who joined Vulcan Materials in 1992, led the largest aggregates supplier in the U.S. for 18 years, significantly expanding company’s operations throughout the country. James guided Vulcan through periods of strong growth and difficult market downturns, positioning the company in recent years to increase operational efficiency and maintain disciplined growth. Under James’ leadership, first as president and then as CEO, Vulcan’s enterprise value grew from $2 billion to about $10 billion; its permitted reserves base doubled from 7.5 billion tons to more than 15 billion tons, and the aggregates facilities it operates increased from 122 to more than 325. James served as Vulcan president from 1996 to 1997 and as CEO from 1997 to 2014. He began serving on the company’s board of directors in 1996 and was named chairman in 1997. James was named non-executive chairman last January and retired from that position at the end of 2015. Vulcan originally hired James as senior vice president and general counsel.

Steve Zelnak, Martin Marietta Materials Inc.

Steve Zelnak, whose career in the aggregates industry began in 1974, grew Martin Marietta revenues from $450 million to more than $2.2 billion during his tenure as the company’s CEO. Zelnak joined the Martin Marietta Corp. in 1981 as vice president of planning and business development for its aggregates company. He was quickly promoted, taking on a role as president in 1982. Zelnak was elected an officer of the parent corporation in 1989, and he was promoted to president of the company’s Materials Group in 1991. In 1994, as president and CEO, Zelnak led a transition for Martin Marietta Materials Inc. as a publicly traded corporation on the New York Stock Exchange. He was elected chairman of the company’s board of directors in 1997 and was responsible for more than 70 acquisitions, broadening the company’s geographic footprint. Zelnak also devised and implemented a unique long-haul distribution strategy, making Martin Marietta a leader in rail- and/or water-distributed aggregates products. Zelnak retired as chairman in 2014.