Case Blog

We were originally planning to head to Blackhawk this week, but two very exciting transactions that we will announce shortly will keep us in New York City for the next two weeks.  While we  await the time when we can make these announcements, I thought I’d share some excellent diversions to tide everyone over as summer gets under way.

Within the past week, Mary Claire and I have paid two visits to what we lovingly refer to as my cousin’s cafe, Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto, which is the well-known Tuscan chef Cesare Casella’s latest creation. It is located on the Upper West Side of New York City (above Columbus Circle, on Amsterdam Avenue near 73rd Street). I knew we would be back this weekend, after having brunch last Sunday and Mary Claire telling Cesare that his caponata (cooked vegetable salad, with the primary ingredient being aubergine) was the best she had ever tasted.  He has taken a small plates approach, which is taking hold across the country, particularly in wine bars, and is very attractive in the current economic climate.  I trust that we will make one or two more visits before we head west. www.salumeriarosi.com

Tonight, I look forward to watching Phil Jackson coach the Lakers to his 10th NBA championship. With this win, he will stand alone. He has been tied at 9 with the legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach. Looking back on Jackson’s record with the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan and now with the Lakers and Kobe Bryant, it is clear that he knows how to put together a winning team with the chemistry necessary to carry them all the way to the pinnacle of success. I am confident that this record will stand for many years.

If you make it west to Sonoma County this summer and are looking to have a spectacular dining experience, I strongly recommend that you make a reservation, well in advance, at Cyrus in downtown Healdsburg, just off the square. Their champagne and caviar cart to start the meal is exquisite. www.cyrusrestaurant.com

For wines I am going to focus on the much-maligned chardonnay and recommend several special wineries that consistently produce outstanding chardonnays.

Aubert: I have referenced Mark Aubert previously with regards to his outstanding Pinot Noir wines. His chardonnay releases are my personal favorites. www.aubertwines.com

Copain: With a slight detour from the chardonnays listed, if you are looking for something very different for a summer day, I recommend Wells Guthrie’s Tous Ensemble Rose, which is dry and crisp.  www.copainwines.com

Martinelli: Their winemaker/wine consultant, the legendary Helen Turley, consistently releases outstanding unfiltered chardonnays from several vineyards. www.martinelliwinery.com

Rochioli: This Sonoma-based winery consistently produces excellent chardonnays and sauvignon blancs. www.rochioliwinery.com

Williams Selyem: This legendary winery is known primarily for its pinot noir releases and has a huge fan base. While I continue to enjoy their pinot noirs, I am always intrigued by their chardonnay releases, which are very limited but are truly outstanding. www.williamsselyem.com

Starting on Thursday we will have golf’s U.S. Open Championship to focus on, with its return to the Bethpage Black Course on Long Island. Is Tiger Woods back in full force to defend his amazing ‘08 championship, and will he once again tame Bethpage Black as he did in ‘02? Will Phil Mickelson, a crowd favorite in New York, challenge him or will we see one of the younger pros in their 20’s make their move? Regardless of who triumphs, it will hold our attention as only a fabled major golf championship can.

Each of us in the media industry continues to review our models for content creation, particularly during this advertising recession. We often look toward the Google  (GOOG) model of aggregated content from sources around the globe with envy and realize that they identified a model, with paid search, that allows them to monetize their significant audience with great efficiency. We also realize that their cost of content creation is not a significant expense line in their model.  Most of us also understand that this model is not one that can be easily replicated. While we need to find more efficient ways to publish and distribute our content, we should focus on producing high-quality editorial content that becomes high-demand information and can be re-purposed many times across multiple platforms.

Over the course of my career, I have been privileged to have a front-row seat when talented editorial teams created high-quality, must-have information products. For example, in the ’80s I was able to witness the rapid growth of the personal computer revolution and the many first-class products created by the Compute! editorial team led by Robert Lock and Richard Mansfield.

During the early ’90s, I watched and supported the impresario of events, Stewart Alsop, establish the Agenda Conference as the event that set the course for the PC industry as it exploded.  His fireside chats with Bill Gates are memorable, even today.

In the late ’90s, I supported and applauded the efforts of John Battelle and Jonathan Weber as they launched The Industry Standard, which became the primary information source for the Internet revolution.  It was a publication that was in such demand that its publisher, Steve Thompson, and his team set the all-time advertising page record of 7,700 ad pages for a single year.

Today, we are one week away from the launch of the ai5000. When it launches on June 15th as a digital publication (you can get a sneak preview and a complimentary subscription at www.ai5000.com), it will fulfill a vision of high-quality and must-have information that the asset owners around the globe deserve. The original vision for this dynamic launch came from Charlie Ruffel, the founder of Asset International. Much of the first-class editorial came from the efforts of Kip McDaniel, a unique talent. Together with the rest of the AI team and a group of talented contributors, they have produced a level of excitement for our global capital markets that our industry can use after a long and deep recession,

As we migrate more and more of our assets and events to the digital world, we must renew our quest for quality content. This will insure that we can once again grow during the recovery cycle that has just begun.