Native Elements, specializing in one-of-a-kind jewelry by native American artists, is to hold special Christmas show-- wow, this fledgling eCommerce business is off to a fine start. We are grateful to its owner and developer for calling on us to help build its brand identity and its business and look forward to expanding this brand in the New Year. 

• Annual Report: Just completed the Family Service annual report for the year 2010 (http://www.familyserviceri.org)
• New Video: Undertaken a new video for the Preservation Society of Fall River, one designed to help save the Congregational Church building in this city, most recently the home of the Abbey Grille ( http://phayemuss.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/central-congregational-church-auctioned-for-250000/). Didn’t I see some of you on location back in the 1970s when Stephen Tyler and Aerosmith shot their “Cryin’” video at this very site?  Our new video follows on the production for the Preservation Society of last summer, now on Youtube, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llfKasSyhfI/
• Public Event: For the Mill Owners Association of Fall River (of which I am fortunate to be a co-founder), held its second public event on March 15, open to the public, “Grow Our Mills, Grow Our Economy.” The keynote speaker was Mayor Will Flanagan, supported by over 30 additional speakers each representing a resource to small business owners trying to muddle through this difficult time. Co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Small Business Development Network, this event drew more than 150 guests to Bristol Community College. Though the final video will be ready for viewing in 10-15 days, a rough-cut video is now posted to Blip.TV, and can be seen here,  http://blip.tv/standweunited/grow-our-mills-grow-our-economy-5235993
• Non-Profit Organization Celebrates: Very nearly completed the process of becoming a 501 ©6 organization. We are planning what will be the first-ever Mill Owners’ Association Ball, tentatively scheduled for early October of this year. In collaboration with some state representatives, we are also planning legislative initiatives designed to enable mill owners to more favorably become hubs to new business enterprise early in this new century. Over the long term, our plan calls for sharing what we learn with the other approximately 24 Gateway Cities of Massachusetts. This will depend in part upon receipt of a grant from MassDevelopment, to whom we have made application.
• New University: Presented to the Mayor of Fall River and to representatives of City Council, an idea to help lift the city out of decades of deterioration by creating for its diverse population of almost 100,000, a new educational institution-- see the concept expressed at http://www.universityfallriver.us/. This concept utilizes 12-14 existing schools currently for sale in the city, plus key properties also for sale in the center of the city and along the Narragansett Bay waterfront. What better a time than now to consider such an idea? One has only to reflect upon some of the large scale projects undertaken back in the 1930s that helped propel the country forward, and out of the depression. Response is mixed, but a qualified, “thumbs-up.”
• Poetry Exhibit: Provided creative leadership in the development of 16 graphically expressed poems for a public poetry reading at Central Congregational Church, in April. See exhibit photos, here; http://www.centralchurch.us/index.php/photos/album/72157626247381920/2011-partners-in-poetry-gallery-exhibit.html/
• eCommerce website: Undertaken the development of a new website that will be a full eCommerce site, B2C, focusing on the languishing but still ticking art market. We expect to have this in launch mode by the end of July.
• American Revival Series (Posters): Submitted a proposal to the Smithsonian Institution by which aaaForay, Inc. would make available to its retail outlets our series of digitally output American Revival Series of posters. This series has been designed to follow-up on the “Who We Are” series of seven American flag posters, admitted to the Library of Congress collection back in 2009. No word, as yet.
• Start-up Internet Radio & New Media: Offered conceptual approaches on the topic of new media applications for a new radio start-up, one that is Internet-based rather than terrestrial. These communications models are currently in development. The new venture fuses traditional radio with video and social media to create a very strong business model within the nascent industry. Stay tuned, more to come.
• New Skills: On the theory it is never to late to learn new skills, even for an ole’ Rooster, yours truly is learning Final Cut Pro, the state-of-the-art video editing system, which I confess is a monster program, but increasingly valuable in the work we offer.