2009
Hope & Michael Gibbs featured in Washington Post article, "At home with work"
The Washington Post — Reporter Dan Rafter writes: When Michael Gibbs and Hope Katz Gibbs moved this August, one house in Arlington rose to the top of their wish list: a remodeled and expanded ranch home. The big selling point? The house had enough flexible space that both of them could both set up their own home offices.
Both Hope, owner of the District-based Inkandescent Public Relations, and Michael, an illustrator, work from home. And they needed a house that would allow them to create two home offices. The ranch house in Arlington fit.
The couple have since turned their new home’s large basement into two separate offices. The space also includes a dance studio for their 14-year-old daughter, Anna.
“This is nothing new for us. We’ve each worked from home since we got married,” Hope said. “It enables us to both work as much as we do and still take care of our children the way we want. I remember when the kids were babies: I’d work, and he’d hold a baby. Or I’d be nursing one of the kids and be interviewing people on the phone. We couldn’t have done it without both of us working from home. I think that working moms have a tough time when their husbands work incredible hours and are out of the home all the time.”
Business owners are making New Year's resolutions [Associated Press]
Associated Press — “Small-business owners aren’t just putting together budgets and sales projections as 2010 approaches,” wrote Associated Press reporter Joyce M. Rosenberg in an article that published in dozens of newspapers around the country on New Year’s Eve. “Like the rest of us, they’re making some New Year’s resolutions but their goals aren’t about losing weight or exercising more. Business owners are resolving to fix problems in their companies or come up with ideas for working smarter in the new year.”
Riding shotgun with Velva Jean [Costco Connection]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The Costco Connection / Book Beat
August 2009
“Daddy says I’m going to hell,” writes Jennifer Niven in the first chapter of her first work of fiction, Velva Jean Learns to Drive, a coming-of-age tale of a spunky young woman growing up in Appalachia in the years before World War II.
“You, my baby, are not going to hell,” comforts her mother. “You’re a good child, true and pure, and the Lord will call you when it’s time. You can’t bloom the flowers before they’re ready.”
After reading those few paragraphs it’s nearly impossible to keep from being drawn into Niven’s melodic prose as she unfurls the bittersweet drama of Velva Jean’s life. Readers are quickly catapulted into the pivotal period from July 22, 1933, the day her father insists she be baptized, to the tragic moment her beloved mother dies a few weeks later.
Before Velva Jean’s mama passes, she urges her only daughter to “live out there” in the great wide world. “That’s where you belong.”
NTSB Chairman Warns 'First Impessions Can Be Wrong'
By Hope Katz Gibbs
The National Press Club
The Wire
Photo by Terry Hill
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman criticized the way some members of the press cover the aviation and transportation accidents at a Luncheon Nov. 16.
“We understand the need to solve the puzzle in the early hours of an accident, and we know your editors and producers want you to be the first to get the ‘cause’ of the accident, but what is the cost to your credibility if you are the first to get the cause wrong? We have learned from experience that first impressions can be wrong,” she said.
U.S. Postal Service in acute financial crisis, Postmaster General says [National Press Club]
The 234-year-old U.S. Postal Service is in acute financial crisis, John Potter, the 72nd Postmaster General said Thursday during a National Press Club luncheon.
After losing a projected $7 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, Potter said he is working to help the USPS reinvent itself. It won’t be an easy task, as 28 billion fewer pieces of mail were sent last year compared to fiscal year 2008, he said. Potter said that holiday mail, one of the traditionally highest volume periods of the year, was flat last year — and he expects it to be flat this December, as well.
In addition to more people using email rather than snail mail, and the lagging economy that is causing fewer people to mail printed ads pieces and other promotional materials, Potter believes the USPS’ deficit also grew out of a three-year-old law that added more than $5 billion to annual costs for prefunding retiree health benefits.
Kati Marton to come to DC on Oct. 22 to talk about her new book, "Enemies of the People: My family’s journey to America"
“You are opening a Pandora’s box,” author Kati Marton was warned when she began the research for her new book, Enemies of the People: My Family’s Journey to America.
The Hungarian-born writer paid little attention and dove headfirst into the files of the Hungarian Secret Police (known as the AVO). There, she found the fascinating and sometimes excruciating details of the controversial careers of her parents — Endre and Illona Marton — two journalists who during the 1950s wrote hundreds of articles for the U.S.-based Associated Press and United Press about what was going on behind the Iron Curtain.
MEET KATI MARTON IN PERSON: Oct. 22, 6:30pm in DC
Kati Marton is coming to DC on Oct. 22, from 6:30-8pm, for a special evening to talk about her new book and network with local women. Hosted by Robin Strongin, publisher of the popular blog Disruptive Women in Health Care (www.disruptivewomen.net), Kati will be taking questions and sharing her insights. Tickets are only $28, and include a copy of the book, cocktails and food. Buy your tickets today at www.meetkatimarton.eventbrite.com.
Laura Lee Williams: The art of the design [elan magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
elan magazine
August 2009
Beautiful beads from Tokyo—more than 30,000 of them—grace the most elaborate offering by Laura Lee Designs, a handbag firm founded in 2005 by California native Laura Lee Williams.
Other designs—such as her trademark M bag—feature fewer beads, but the focus here is on the three-inch wrap of Australian snakeskin in the middle.
“The white version is perfect for weddings, and pink version is a personal favorite because we contribute a portion of the proceeds from each purchase to Breast Cancer Research,” says the soft-spoken brunette, who shares the tale of how she got started in the handbag business as she sips chamomile tea at a café not far from her current base of operations in Vienna, VA.
Gail McGovern: Leading the Red Cross through turbulent times [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club
July 21, 2009
When Gail McGovern took over as president of the Red Cross last year, the former AT&T vp had no idea she’s have to deal with the aftermath of eight hurricanes and tropic storms, a record tornado season, and the worst flooding in the Midwest in 15 years.
She did know that she was inheriting a $209 million operating deficit, a mandate from the Board of Governors to eliminate it within two years, and that she was the 10th person to take the helm of the PR-challenged agency in the last decade, she told the crowd packed into the McClendon room at today’s Club luncheon.
And the Harvard marketing professor — who since 1998 has twice been named one of the “50 Most Influential Women in Corporate America” by Fortune magazine — said she isn’t complaining. “I pinch myself every day because I feel so fortunate to serve in this remarkable [128-year-old] institution.”
FASB chairman insists transparency is key to maintaining a sound financial system [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club
June 26, 2009
“One welcome development that has arisen from the financial crisis is that a broader constituency is calling for greater transparency as necessary ingredient for recovery and the rebuilding of investor and public confidence,” said Robert Herz, chairman of the influential Financial Account Standards Board (FASB), at a June 26 Club luncheon.
While accounting did not cause the crisis and improvement of standards will not end it, admitted Herz, “it did reveal a number of areas requiring improvement of standards and overall transparency.”
Transparency, Herz said repeatedly in his hour-long speech, is the key to getting the country back on its feet — and keeping the world from suffering another economic crisis.
"Wire" Producer Laments Future of Professional Journalism [National Press Club]
by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club
June 8, 2009
Photo by Noel St. John
Clad button-down blue shirt, no tie, faded black jeans and black-and-white wing-tip shoes, former Baltimore Sun police reporter David Simon — producer of HBO’s The Wire — said professional journalism self destructed.
Simon, who has earned awards and fame writing and producing NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street, the Emmy Award-winning HBO mini-series The Corner and The Wire, spoke at an NPC Luncheon Monday.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that the Internet crept up on us,” said Simon, who said he is worried about the future of journalism since before he took a buyout in 1995. “We destroyed ourselves. We didn’t care enough about the product. All of the research and development money went to Wall Street. The people in the board room wanted monopolies — and now they are lamenting about the demise of newspapers as they play 18 holes on the golf course in Hilton Head.”
Virgin Atlantic's Branson Says No to British Airways/American Airlines Merger [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club, The Wire
May 14, 2009
Photo of Sir Richard Branson by Noel St. John
“Please join me in saying ‘No Way BA / AA,’ ” said Sir Richard Branson during his breakfast speech on May 14. The English industrialist was in Washington to make his case about why the proposed merger between British Airways and American Airlines would damage competition on transatlantic routes.
Cokie Roberts on "Ladies of Liberty" [Truly Amazing Women]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
April 24, 2009
Truly Amazing Women
What would the founding mothers say to us today? “They’d look us square in the eye and say, ‘Honey relax, you got it easy,” says Cokie Roberts, the award-winning journalist who spoke today at the EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNMENT conference in Washington, DC. “The truth of the matter is that this is so true. We are not pregnant every year. Typhoid hasn’t just come through town and killed two of our children. We are not making candles and bread before we prepare the evening meal. I think this perspective is wonderful because it’s true: We have it easy.”
Fran Drescher's Powerful Role: Health Advocate for Women [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
April 14, 2009
National Press Club
Photo: Greg Tinius
April 14, 2009, National Press Club — “I am not glad that I got cancer, but I am better for it,” award-winning actress Fran Drescher told the National Press Club today when she came to DC to promote her new role as the U.S. State Department Special Envoy for Women’s Health, and her nonprofit organization Cancer Schmancer (which is also the title of her second New York Times bestselling book).
IRS Presses Off-shore Tax Havens, Commissioner Says [National Press Club]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
April 13, 2009
National Press Club
Photo: Greg Tinius
April 13, 2009, National Press Club — With millions of Americans facing job losses and the threat of foreclosure — and just two days before the April 15 income tax filing deadline — IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told a luncheon audience at the National Press Club in Washington, DC: “In today’s economic environment, it’s more important than ever that the American public feels confident that individuals and corporations are playing by the rules and paying the taxes they owe.” He said the IRS has been turning up the pressure on off-shore financial institutions that help U.S. citizens conceal taxable income.
G is for Green [Costco Connection]
Article by Hope Katz Gibbs
The Costco Connection
April 2009
From organic peas to natural wooden toys, more parents and grandparents are determined to expose their little ones only to the safest, environmentally correct products. Execs at the UK-based publishing company Priddy Books have taken the cue from these savvy customers, and recently launched the Organic Baby book series, which is printed on recycled paper with soy ink.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Success in the City
Truly Amazing Women
February 11, 2009
Debbie Wasserman Schultz was raised to believe you can have it all. At 42, the attractive, active U.S. Congresswoman from the 20th Congressional District who represents Miami-Dade / Broward County Florida certainly seems to have hit the mark. With two kids, a husband who is incredibly supportive — he buys her clothes and is willing to put her career before his — and a plum seat on the House Committee on Appropriations and Committee on the Judiciary, she is determined to expand on her reputation as a fighter for families.
Mind Your Manners: Emily Post's kin Anna Post on "The Etiquette Advantage in Business"
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Success in the City
Truly Amazing Women blog
March 23, 2009
Etiquette expert Anna Post (great great granddaughter of the queen of good manners, Emily Post) charmed a room filled with dozens of businesswomen at a networking event on March 23 honoring past winners of the Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business awards.
Anna’s top tips included 7 Best Business Social Practices, 5 Tricks to Terrific Table Manners, and ways to ensure your house guests always have a fabulous time. Indeed, being graceful, authentic, and polite is the key to having the etiquette advantage in business, Anna insists. “As today’s workplace becomes increasingly competitive, knowing how to behave can make the difference between getting ahead and getting left behind.”
NPR President Vivian Shiller: What Public Broadcasting can learn from commercial media - and vice versa [National Press Club]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Article for National Press Club
Truly Amazing Women blog
March 2, 2009
With only eight weeks under her belt as the head of one of the 39-year-old media organization, Vivian Schiller, the new president and CEO of National Public Radio, is to many an ideal choice to take NPR into the digital age. Since May 2006, she served as senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com. Prior to that, she was the senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times Channel, and before that senior vice president of CNN Productions.
As the head of NPR, Schiller – who took the helm on January 5 – will oversee all network operations, including partnerships with 800-plus member stations reaching more than 26 million listeners every week. It’s a job that Schiller says she relishes.
How do you get to be a curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum? Ask Joanna Marsh
Blog entry by Hope Katz Gibbs
Truly Amazing Women
February 26, 2009
When Joanna Marsh was a child, the James Dicke curator of contemporary art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum dreamt of becoming a doctor. She reconsidered after one year as a biology major at Cornell. “It became very obvious, very quickly, that I was not cut out for a career in the sciences,” admits the 32-year-old.
Several women on the Cornell faculty, however, inspired her to double major in English and art history — and once she found her passion success came quickly. Following graduation she spent a year and a half at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, where she received a master’s degree in post-war and contemporary art. “The Institute was minutes away from the British Museum and within walking distance of the National Gallery and Sotheby’s auction house, as well as the University of London. It was an incredible place to learn and grow as student of art history.”
Modern Mom: Adriana Escalante Calderon [I Am Modern magazine]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
I Am Modern magazine
Modern Media
Spring 2009
Adriana Escalante Calderon considers herself a typical modern mom. She has three small children (Alberto, 6, Alejandro, 5, and Valeria, 7 months), a sterling jewelry company called Vaccari that she founded in 2002, and a new venture — a thriving blog, www.themomsbuzz.com that she writes and sells advertising for.
Of course, the Peruvian-born beauty doesn’t realize the wonder woman she is — and when it’s pointed out shrugs off the compliment saying that her life is similar to most women today.
Press Release: Dr. Muhammad Yunus to Speak at GWU's Lisner Auditorium Feb. 4 at 7pm about his new book, “Creating A World Without Poverty”
Washington DC, February 2009 — Anyone who understands the importance of micro-lending as a means to end global poverty will want to join our client Hooks Book Events when it hosts a special event with Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. on at the Lisner Auditorium on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
The Grameen Foundation founder and managing director will be speaking about his latest book, “Creating a World Without Poverty,” which outlines his vision for a new business model that combines the power of free markets with the quest for a more humane world. He’ll share the inspiring stories of companies that are doing this work today.
This event is open to the public. Portions of the proceeds of book sales will benefit the Grameen Foundation. Tickets to event are $25 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.
Former Sec. Margaret Spellings talks about 21st Century Skills [City Schools Close-Up / The Parent Diaries]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Director of Communications
City of Fairfax Schools
Editor, City Schools Close-Up
Winter 2009
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings visited Fairfax High School on November 19 to view the AVID program and observe other cutting-edge initiatives it has embarked on with the goal of improving students’ 21st Century Skills.
As one of the principal authors of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, Spellings said throughout her four-year tenure, “We cannot prepare students for the global economy if we don’t get them to grade level first.” In 2005 she convened a Commission on the Future of Higher Education to recommend reform at the post-secondary level.
The reason for concern, she explained during her trip to FHS, is that students are not being adequately prepared to land jobs after they graduate from high school.
ConocoPhillips CEO Urges Pragmatic Approach to Green Energy [National Press Club]
By Hope Katz Gibbs
National Press Club, The Wire
Photo by Rex Allen Stuckey
January 14, 2009
ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva addresses a luncheon crowd at the National Press Club
James Mulva does not yet drive a plug-in or hybrid car, but at a Jan. 13 luncheon, the chairman and CEO of the nation’s third largest energy company, ConocoPhillips, was adamant that the Obama administration focus on the energy opportunities.
“In just seven days, our new president takes office, [and] his confidence and calmness are reassuring,” said Mulva, pointing to one of the solutions that the president-elect has suggested is the creation of a green energy economy. “We agree that we must reduce the environmental footprint of energy production and consumption. But we must be realistic about the cost of green energy. Also about its true potential, and how long it will take for commercial-scale supply contributions.”
Philanthropist Edie Frasier: A magical bumblebee
By Hope Katz Gibbs
Director of Communications
Success in the City / CEO Chick Chat
January 14, 2009
“A magical bumble bee” is what Success in the City’s founder Cynthia de Lorenzi called Edie Frasier, a philanthropist, businesswoman, and diversity advocate, who spoke to a room filled with professional women business owners at a recent SITC CEO Chick Chat.
As the president, founder and CEO of Diversity Best Practices, Business Women’s Network and Best Practices in Corporate Communications — all part of the Public Affairs Group, an iVillage Company — Edie supports more than 170 organizations, corporate and government members. Most recently, she co-authored Do You Giving While You Are Living, with well-known TV and radio reporter Robyn Spizman.
Dr. Helen Fisher to speak about her new book 6pm, Feb. 11 at the at National Press Club
Washington DC, January 14, 2009 — Why do you fall in love with one person rather than another? That’s the question biological anthropologist Helen Fisher will address when she speaks about her new book “WHY HIM? WHY HER?” at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11 at 6pm.
Dr. Fisher’s new book — the fifth from the world-renown Research Professor and member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University — stems from her current work as Scientific Advisor to the Internet dating site, Chemistry.com, a subsidiary of Match.com. Her data and ideas are based on her analysis of patterns of attraction among 28,000 men and women, as well as data from genetics, neurochemistry and personality studies.