Joomla! site syndication http://www.donmcnay.com Sun, 11 May 2008 21:53:04 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.donmcnay.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.donmcnay.com Joomla! site syndication http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/368/9/ What Big Name Kentuckians are Reading and Listening to It's going by the book -Johnny Cash John Eckberg asked in his book, The Success Effect, what book business leaders had by their bedside and what music they were listening to. I posed the questions to a number of well known Kentuckians. (You can get the complete list of responses at www.donmcnay.com (/) ) A clue to personality is how they responded to the question. Judge Bill Clouse (Madison and Clark Counties) selected books that reflected his passion for history and law. I was impressed by how he answered. He responded well before my deadline. He neatly organized the list of books and directed where I could find more information on each. If you ever show up in Judge Clouse’s courtroom, you had better be on time and you had better be prepared. Peter Perlman, a former president of the American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA) would impress Judge Clouse. They were both reading John Grisham’s latest book, The Agenda. Business Columns - General Sun, 11 May 2008 19:12:15 +0100 http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/366/9/ When to take a severance package In the end there is once dance you’ll do alone -Jackson Browne In 1991, the IBM plant in Lexington, Ky. became Lexmark. IBM offered employee severance packages. People could take the package or take a chance that Lexmark would keep them on. Several IBM employees came to me for advice. Some took the package and others did not. After seeing that, I concluded that taking a package is an individual decision. There are no set guidelines. Many of the IBM employees were engineers or had heavy statistical backgrounds. They wanted an answer they could quantify. They sought me to calculate the present value of their package. After 30 seconds crunching the numbers, I asked the essential question: What are you doing to do with the rest of your life? Business Columns - General Thu, 08 May 2008 21:43:08 +0100 http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/364/9/ How to Pick a Kentucky Derby Winner When your sitting back In your rose pink Cadillac Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day -Rolling Stones As the son of a son of a gambler, people ask me for betting advice. Although I started going to race track before I was able to walk, I don’t know that much about the horse industry. I go the track a few times a year and bet small amounts. Most of my equine knowledge was gleamed when I worked on the clean up crew at the Kentucky Horse Park. I can tell you what horses make the biggest mess. Although there are people more qualified to give Derby tips, like political or financial commentators, I won’t let lack of expertise stop me. I came to the conclusion in the mid 1980’s that I wanted to live my life in Kentucky, I needed to know how to bet on horses. I found a book called Racetrack Betting: The Professors' Guide to Strategies by Peter Asch and Richard E. Quandi. It was written by two statistics professors and not the easiest book to read. I can sum up the advice in two statements. 1. Bet on the horse that everyone else is betting on. 2. Bet on the horse to show, not to win or place. Business Columns - General Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:50:02 +0100 http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/363/9/ “It’s amazing. With the blink of an eye you finally see the light. -Aerosmith Legendary Kentuckian Al Smith came to visit me last week. For a guy who is supposedly retired, Al stays awfully busy. After retiring in November from a 33 year run as host of Comment on Kentucky, Al spent the winter in Florida. He is working on his autobiography and promoting causes he believes in. Al is Chairman of the Advisory Board for Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. Is it an outstanding program, based at the University of Kentucky, and Al’s been beating the bushes to help the program get money and recognition. During a long dinner, Al mentioned that every minute of his upcoming week was completely booked. Every breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is going almost 24 hours a day. Business Columns - General Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:20:30 +0100 http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/360/9/ Rock Roll and the Success Effect “Music can be such a revelation.” -Madonna A person’s taste in music and books tells me a lot about who they are. When John Eckberg, business reporter and columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote The Success Effect, (Sterling and Ross Publishers) he interviewed Donald Trump, Jerry Springer and over 40 other successful business people. Eckberg showed us the traits that helped these successful people get to where they are today. He also asked them what CDs were in their CD changer and what books were on their nightstand. I am fascinated by what people listen to and what they are reading. Common musical tastes allow me to connect with people I might otherwise disagree. Business Columns - General Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:36:37 +0100