From Bob Giles:

Within the context of an unbelievable convergence of national and state challenges, people within the state government as well as the people within the “Valley” or watershed have the following dozen challenges that must be addressed more vigorously than ever if the people of the Valley are to achieve their potentials:

1. Interstate issues at the headwaters in North Carolina counties (parks, land use, clean water, electricity generating capacity) and as the New River flows into West Virginia (pollution, floods)
2. Water pollution, the river and tributaries reaching legal limits of dissolved solids
3. Land pollution, “brown fields” and sub-surface pollution. [50% of the area is classified as Karst topography (lands with sink holes and underlying limestone caverns and channels)]
4. Population centers are over Karst, thus with threats to pollution and land collapse
5. Urban sprawl onto prime agricultural lands
6. Increasing water withdrawals from the river and aquifers and new demands for piping water to distant areas now suffering droughts
7. Declining rural and small-town populations
8. High infant mortality and high juvenile abuse rates
9. Dispersed communities with limited rail and highway routes for energy-efficient transportation of goods or services
10. A host of ecological issues: climate change, shifting ecosystem productivity, invasive species, endangered species,
11. The 12-year decline of coal mining in Central Appalachia
12. Increasing drug problems

***

Robert H. Giles, Jr. writes High Five for Handshake 2.0, a technology business news and Web 2.0 services enterprise of Handshake Media, Incorporated, a member company of business acceleration center VT KnowledgeWorks.  The opinions Robert Giles expresses are solely his own and are not necessarily shared by Handshake 2.0 or its sponsors or advertisers. 

You can follow Robert H. Giles, Jr. on Twitter @Bob_Giles

Robert H. Giles, Jr. is a Virginia Tech Professor Emeritus with a vision for a rural land management system.  He writes two blogs, The Survivalists and Faunal Force. 

Handshake 2.0 brings you edition #12 of Connecting People in the RNR with Stuart Mease.

From Stuart Mease:

"On Monday, 1/26/09, Jon Roberts, managing partner of TIP Strategies in Austin, TX was in Roanoke, Virginia and presented a talk on economic development strategies during the global recession. I met Mr. Roberts in Atlanta at the IEDC conference and at that time he told me his son was attending VMI. We exchanged cards and he called me in the latter part of 2008 saying he would be in Roanoke visiting his son and said he would be willing to meet with some local officials. So we put it together... very informal..."

Here are the PowerPoint slides of Jon Roberts's presentation, "What does a national recession mean for Roanoke?"  Download Presentation for Roanoke by Jon Roberts

"RNR" refers to the Roanoke Valley and the New River Valley of Virginia.

Stuart Mease writes the blog Connecting People.  On Stuart Mease's about page, you can find myriad ways to connect with him online and in person.  You can find out more about Stuart Mease on Handshake 2.0.

Connecting you through wine

Looking for a go-to wine for when colleagues or friends drop by? 

Try Hey Mambo, offered by The Other Guys, Napa, CA:  a medium-bodied red wine that pleases a variety of palates.  Its smooth, yet tangy flavors are a fine accompaniment to nearly any hearty main course.   Available in the New River Valley of Virginia at Vintage Cellar for under $15.

***

Today's Eclipse, the wine review for Handshake 2.0, is written by Rik and Melissa Obiso, co-owners of Eclipse Winery, LLC, a new winery located in the New River Valley of Virginia.  Eclipse Winery, LLC plans to open to the public as early as 2012.  The Eclipse Winery story, Couple hope grapes will yield dream business was featured in The Roanoke Times.  You can read all the Today's Eclipse columns and more about Eclipse Winery on Handshake 2.0.

You can follow Eclipse Winery on Twitter @eclipsewinery.

“PR shortens the sales cycle.”
--Robert Geller

And one way - perhaps the most important way - it happens using Web 2.0 PR is The Great Forward.

Robert Geller, senior vice president with Fusion Public Relations in New York, and I have been having a conversation via blog, blog comments, Twitter, e-mail and phone about the only truly important question concerning the business use of Web 2.0.

Before we go on, first some definitions.  Robert Geller explains in an e-mail about the use of the phrase "Web 2.0" vs. "social media":  "I view Web 2.0 as a collection of technologies - RSS, Ajax, Ruby on Rails, blogs, wikis - and not necessarily one and the same as 'social media.'  Social media is more often used to refer to participatory media, and at least in the PR circles I travel in, people more typically talk about social media PR or SMPR for short."

Definitions matter.  The bottom line is still this:

Will a company’s use of Web 2.0 or social media or social media PR increase sales?

That is the question, and the implied objection, I have heard from the leaders of small and medium businesses, SMB, who hesitate to use Web 2.0 tools for their companies.

“When people see my product, they buy it.  My product sells itself.  What do I need Web 2.0 for?”

If a company is satisfied with its sales and sales growth, then it doesn’t need a Web 2.0 strategy any more than it needs an expanded traditional media strategy. 

I spoke with a business owner last week who, after more than 30 years in commerce, still doesn’t use e-mail.  Loyal customers, word-of-mouth referrals, moderate local community involvement, and modest traditional media placements - primarily ads in the local newspapers - generate the owner’s desired sales and sales growth.  Good.

For companies who wants to increase sales growth, however, even for those with products that sell themselves, Handshake 2.0 offers this version of Robert Geller’s wisdom.

Web 2.0 PR shortens the “it’s who you know” cycle.

A business principle that’s never in a beta version is that contacts = sales.

In a phone conversation on 1/22/09, Robert Geller said, "We tell our clients, ‘Yes, customers buy from you when they know you.  PR gets you known.'"

Web 2.0 PR gets you known more widely and more quickly.

For example, the Web 2.0 tool I'm using right now - a simple blog post - will be globally available within the seconds it takes me to post it.  Loyal readers of Handshake 2.0 will see it, subscribers via e-mail and RSS feed will see it, and search engine users seeking information related to terms and keywords used in this post will see it.

And then any of those who see it may like it enough to honor it with The Great Forward and send a link to a contact.

Contacts = sales. 

The Great Forward is the online version of that priceless business “it’s who you know,” word-of-mouth referral. 

Using Web 2.0, it can happen in seconds.

Now that’s shortening the sales cycle.

***

If you're interested in this conversation, you can see its beginning in our series of questions and answers on Twitter.  I, @handshake20, asked Bob Geller, @rgeller, on 1/21/09, this question:  "How does a small or medium business 'monetize' a Web 2.0 strategy?" In reply, he wrote Web Monetization for the SMB for his blog, Flack's Revenge.  You can see we continued our discussion on Twitter, then, needing more than 140 characters per thought, we talked on the phone.  This post is my latest contribution to our latest topic of discussion. 

But as I explained in this post about Handshake 2.0 on The Huffington Post, Robert Geller and I began a Web 2.0 conversation about all things Web 2.0 in August of 2008.  I treasure his expertise, his mulit-industry experience, and thoughtful insights.

TORC Technologies gave me, Anne Giles Clelland, founder of Handshake 2.0, a dream of a ride in its ByWire XGV, an unmanned Ford Escape Hybrid converted to drive-by-wire.

What does that really mean?  It's the TORC car!  It's like magic!  And it's for sale!  I could buy one! 

Or someone could buy one for me...

Anne Clelland of Handshake20.com
Drives TORC's ByWire XGV Using Remote Control

From Jim Flowers:

“Success or failure of a new venture is determined very early, on the strength or weakness of only a few fundamental factors, four, to be exact.  Those four factors are Market, Magic, Mentors, and Moxie.  If these are not "right,” nothing else really matters.  It's not that a business with some weaknesses in these areas can't survive; but it's highly unlikely that it will flourish.”

Excerpted from MOXIE and other fundamental entrepreneurial concepts.

Pat Matthews and two partners started a dot-com business in 2000.  It failed.

The Market at that time was crazy.  Everybody thought they had the Magic.  Since the Internet world was new, effective Mentors were scarce.  But Pat and his partners had the most important factor in abundant supply.  They had Moxie.  And they kept on trucking.

In the midst of failure, Pat met Matt Khan.  “Matt taught me how to handle failure and rejection, how to deal with people more effectively, and how to appreciate the knowledge you can gain from self-help and business books.” 

Meanwhile, a compelling marketplace need became apparent.  Corporate email was becoming a vital part of the commercial world’s basic structure; and it was hard to manage.  There was little defense against spammers or viruses or downtime.  Bingo.  They had found their Market.

But what could differentiate Pat and company from any other email provider?  Simple.  Mailtrust delivered something more than email.  They delivered personal, passionate concern for their clients.  And the word got around.  The Magic was working.

Later on, Howard Kossak came into the picture.  Again, in Pat’s words, “Howard was a local consultant that worked with many entrepreneurs.  Howard and I formed a unique relationship.  Howard was in his 60s and I was in my early 20s.  We developed a real friendship and worked together for two years before I ever hired him.  Howard saw something in me and I could just feel that he truly believed in my potential.  This gave me confidence enough to go out and raise half a million dollars from outside investors to help grow our business.  It didn't matter how many times we failed, Howard believed we'd make it happen.  And we did.”

There’s a name for Matt and Howard and all those books - Mentors.

Moxie.  Market.  Magic.  Mentors.  Well, what do you know?

So how does the story end?  Actually, it hasn’t ended; but there was a great big exclamation point after the most recent chapter.  In 2007, after four straight years of 100% growth, Pat and his team at Mailtrust joined forces with Rackspace, a very, very successful hosting company, led by people as passionate as Pat.  A quick look at Rackspace, by the way, reveals the same conjunction of Market, Magic, Mentors, and Moxie.  They’re clearly a good match.

Pat, I’m proud to shake your hand.

Rackspace was listed on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to work for in 2009.

Jim Flowers is the architect and Director of the VT KnowledgeWorks business acceleration center in Blacksburg, Virginia.  He is the author of MOXIE and other fundamental entrepreneurial concepts.

From Temp Job in Paradise Pays $100,000, The New York Times, 1/14/09

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Position: island caretaker. Duties: lazing around the Great Barrier Reef for six months. Salary: $100,000.

It sounds too good to be true, but the position is real. Calling it the “best job in the world,” Australian tourism officials say they are seeking someone to spend six months relaxing on Hamilton Island, part of the country’s Whitsunday Islands, while promoting the destination on a blog.

Within 24 hours, more than 200,000 prospective applicants had visited the Web site advertising the job, islandreefjob.com, a local tourism official said. Applicants must submit a 60-second video application, and 11 finalists will be flown from their home countries to the island in May for the final selection process. The application deadline is Feb. 22.

In exchange for the pay, a free stay in an oceanfront villa and airfare from the winner’s home country, the employee will be required to stroll the island’s white sand beaches, snorkel, maybe take a dip in the pool — and post photographs and videos of the experience on a weekly blog.

***

Phrases found very thought-provoking by Handshake 2.0:

"...while promoting the destination on a blog."

"Applicants must submit a 60-second video application..."

Thanks to @rgeller for letting @handshake20 know about this story.

From Bob Giles:

I was once told that my entrepreneurial concept for the New River Watershed and western Virginia would fail because there was not an adequate "market" - which I later learned meant "not enough potential buyers of products or services."

I began gathering data that I thought were related to "markets," needs, and opportunities.

For the New River:

1. 11 counties and 2 cities in Virginia through which it passes (2 counties in NC, others in West Virginia)
2. about 2,000,000 acres in the watershed
3. 4,800 farms
4. 184 acres average farm size
5. 226,800 beef animals
6. 625,000 acres in pasture
7. only 14,700 acres in prescribed grazing
8. 65,000 acres in crops
9. 827,000 feet of fencing
10. 355,166 human population

Later it dawned on me after reading The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Friedman, that there are abundant national and international markets (e.g., eBay) for my dream-enterprise.

***

Robert H. Giles, Jr. writes High Five for Handshake 2.0, a technology business news and Web 2.0 services enterprise of Handshake Media, Incorporated, a member company of business acceleration center VT KnowledgeWorks.  The opinions Robert Giles expresses are solely his own and are not necessarily shared by Handshake 2.0 or its clients, sponsors or advertisers. 

You can follow Robert H. Giles, Jr. on Twitter @Bob_Giles

Robert H. Giles, Jr. is a Virginia Tech Professor Emeritus with a vision for a rural land management system.  He writes two blogs, The Survivalists and Faunal Force. 

Blog Diva, a.k.a. Anne Giles Clelland, has wanted a ride in a magical TORC car ever since she saw the fully autonomous version at a NewVa Corridor Technology Council meeting almost a year ago.  

Today, on The Smart Road in Blacksburg, Virginia, TORC Technologies made her wish came true.

David Cutter of TORC Technologies takes a photo of
Anne Giles Clelland, founder of Handshake 2.0,
waving her hand happily from the backseat of a
ByWire XGV - Hybrid Escape

Handshake 2.0 brings you the 11th edition of Connecting People in the RNR with Stuart Mease.

Stuart Mease urges job candidates to "personally brand" themselves, to take advantage of local employment events, and to use the City of Roanoke's Job Help site.

"RNR" refers to the Roanoke Valley and the New River Valley of Virginia.

Stuart Mease writes the blog Connecting People.  On Stuart Mease's about page, you can find myriad ways to connect with him online and in person.  You can find out more about Stuart Mease on Handshake 2.0.