From Hammock editors Jamie Roberts and Shannon McRae:
In our opinion, New York is the center of the world. During a three-day trip to the Big Apple, we stayed within a city block of some of the week’s biggest news stories: Charles and Camilla attended a MOMA event, the Top of the Rock observation deck opened to the public for the first time in almost 20 years, and the Radio City Music Hall orchestra walked off the job on the opening day of the Christmas Spectacular.
So why were in the center of the universe (other than to eat sushi and take in a show)? We went to attend the 2005 FOLIO show, one of the publishing industry’s leading seminars.
It’s always good to hear about what other people in your industry are doing. And sometimes the best brainstorms come when you’re not in the office. Here’s a top 10 list of what we learned this week (some of which we hope to use in American Spirit and MyBusiness magazines):
1. Some magazines are having great success with online readers’ panels.
2. Creating a summary of stories for designers to read before they begin layout is more helpful than handing them a stack of copy.
3. The editors and designers at Hammock get along a lot better than those at other publications.
4. American Airlines has a tough time getting luggage from Nashville to New York and back again on direct flights.
5. To encourage reader feedback, make sure you consistently remind readers of how to contact you.
6. A magazine is not a community–community is real people connecting…but a magazine can help bring a community together, according to one of our favorite panelists.
7. Encouraging free thinking and regularly recognizing employee contributions is a good way to avoid editorial burnout.
8. Enlist readers to provide content–under certain parameters, of course!
9. Hammock designers do a pretty good job of following the four-point approach to good cover design: Simplicity, Strength, Sizzle and Sophistication. They even win Ozzie awards for their covers.
10. No matter how long you lived in New York, it takes time to harden your feet to pounding the pavement again!
p.s. Is it just us or does the girl in the FOLIO ad look a little like our own Lena Basha?

So its Wednesday (aka The Day Lost Comes On), and lots of Hammoratis are among the millions of Americans taken with ABCs Emmy-awarding winning drama, Lost. Even though we dont have a water cooler at Hammock, we still gather somewherein the hallway, kitchen or copy roomon Thursday mornings to dissect what happened on the show and to fill each other in on the many details that can be discovered in each weeks episode.
Since a few Hammoratis were late in tasting the Kool-Aid and are still catching up on the first season, we cant make any predictions just yet about whats going on in season 2. But below, some of the show’s biggest fans reveal which character(s) they identify with most:
* Spoiler warning, some small things about season 2 are mentioned in answers.
Summer: I’d have to say I identify most with Shannon. Give me a loving dog and some cute clothes, and I’m a happy girl no matter where I am!!!
Laura: I am trying really hard to like this show because I want to be a cool kid, too. I have just started watching in the 2nd season, and I have no idea who anyone is except for Jack [well, wait, is he the doctor or the guy who wanted to open the hatch??] and the guy who won the lottery. Oh and Rose. She seems nice. I’m sure she’s hiding /something/. It looks like everyone is. So I don’t have a favorite yet because I can’t discern who’s evil [besides everyone] and who’s good [besides everyone].
Barbara: The new season of South Park starts tonight. Thats much more important.
Shannon: Id say Im a mixture of Michaelbecause hes bound and determined to get off that island as I would be; Charliebecause he can be a little whiny (my worst trait); and Waltbecause he loves his dog.
Allison: On most issues I can say I identify with Jack. Even though he succumbed, I would not have re-set the clock/timer thing. I would have wanted to know what would happen, because I don’t think anything would have happened. I think it is a mind game being played on them. I would just be out to survive and create the best environment possible, but I wouldn’t feel like Locke and believe the island has some special powers or whatever.
Jamie: A little hard to write about … I think I’m a combination of Sun (observant), both Jack (skeptical) and Locke (while having faith in lifes mysteries), and Hurley (likes to eat).
Lena: I think I’m the female version of Hurley (minus a few pounds). I would avoid the monsters at all cost, people wouldn’t find me too terribly annoying and I’d have a good time, despite being stuck on an island in the middle of the Pacific with losers like JACK and KATE. That last statement, coming from someone who once said, “You guys are crazy! Shannon is cool. I like her.”
Julia: I would have to say that Sun fits that bill. She is strong, sensitive, creative and resourceful. In her life, she has stood up to her parents for the privilege of living her own life. She was ready to walk away from Jin, her husband and true love, when his lifestyle threatened her values. On the island, she has quietly added many things to the survivors’ existence acting as a nurse, gardener and friend. She seems to be an all around decent human being who is always ready to make her very worthwhile contributions to the cause. However, I would have to say that my favorite character is Sawyer. He brings a lot of humor and interest to every scene he’s in and, let’s face it, he’s very easy on the eyes.

October is a busy month so far for Hammock Days. What’s a Hammock Day you might ask Well, it’s the anniversary that each of us joined the Hammock team. Oct. 14 was that day for John Lavey, so we played a game of 20 questions, well, 10 actually.
1. October 14 was Hammock Day for you. How long have you been with Hammock Publishing? Nine years.
2. What do you remember most about your first day at Hammock? I started the same day as Anne Ray (formerly Crump), who worked at Hammock for several years and now works in San Francisco. She became a good friend. On that day, I remember thinking that the offices were much quieter than a newspaper newsroom, where I had come from.
3. If you didn’t work at Hammock Publishing, what do you think you would be doing? Hmm. Probably teaching literature and coaching track and cross country at a public school. With plenty of time left for my house full of girls (Hannah, my wife, and Frances and Mary Sparks, my daughters), and hobbies like running, travel and bird hunting. That, or Vandy divinity school.
4. What was your favorite cartoon growing up? On TV, there was a Japanese cartoon called Kimba the White Lion, which I watched back in the ’70s. It was basically the same story as today’s Lion King. In the newspaper, I was a fan of Peanuts (yes, really).
5. What was the last book you read? Last magazine you read cover to cover? David Halberstam’s “The Powers That Be,” a book about the rise of major media companies in the U.S. and the people behind the companies. Racer X, a magazine that covers the sport of motocross. This magazine is really well-done, beautiful images and well-written, relevant to the people who love this sport, fat with advertising, and of all things, published in Morgantown, W.Va.
6. What was your most memorable day at Hammock? Many memorable days, but 9/11 stands out. I walked in late because I had been at home watching, and no one here knew what was happening, so when I arrived, we all walked into the kitchen and turned on the TV. Everyone here (and it’s a pretty lively, opinionated bunch) was silent, horrified and in shock (no different than all Americans in those first few hours, I suppose). I’ll never forget the look on people’s faces here.
7. What’s your favorite reality TV show? Would you ever participate? Not a fan of the genre, but I suppose I have to say “Rock Star: INXS,” since my brother, Andrew, is a producer on the show. That show had great production values, and I do like the music competition part. No, I would not participate on the show. I’m the guy who selects Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” for Karaoke because it’s almost like speaking and not singing.
8. Where did you go to college? The College of William & Mary in Virginia. Second-oldest college in the United States, after Harvard. Established by Royal Charter in 1693. It’s where Thomas Jefferson and Jon Stewart both went to college. It’s where the academic honor code was established.
9. Where did you grow up? I grew up in the suburbs of Northern Virginia, about 15 miles from Washington, D.C., with the exception of two years in Colorado. Most of my life, I lived in Fairfax County. I lived in Annandale and went to school in McLean.
10. If you could switch places with any other Hammock employee for one day, who would it be and why? Bill Hudgins, because he lives on a farm and because he knows how to dance really cool ballroom dances, including Latin dances like the tango. I know how to dance the hustle and other appalling steps that entertain me.

At the invitation of one of our favorite national publications managers (Faye Porter of NFIB), Hammock once again was a sponsor in this year’s Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation’s Race for the Cure.
Thousands of walkers and runners turned out on Sunday to walk in celebration, memory or support of women fighting breast cancer. Hammock purchased a sign in Susan’s Garden, one of the many activities set up at MetroCenter’s Business Park where the race took place.
Five Hammoratis (Barbara not pictured) laced up their sneakers and joined the 5K race. Though all are avid athletes, four decided to walk instead of run the race (out too late celebrating Vandy’s 4-0 season?). Celebrity gossip diva Lena Basha (the only one from the group who ran) got a taste of stardom herself when she was recognized by a fellow racer, who witnessed Hammock’s impressive victory in last week’s 12th Annual Nashville Adult Literacy Council Corporate Spelling Bee.
The Race for the Cure raised more than $400,000.

I had the pleasure of attending the Titans game this past Sunday with my dad. It was the first time either one of us had been to the Coliseum. We sat directly behind McNair’s family!
If you have a chance to go, make sure you know the correct street for parking since several are blocked off. We drove around the entire stadium to get to lot F (enter from 1st street for a much more direct route). I wore my t to show off my Hammock pride.
In case you didn’t know, we won 25 to 10.

“This Hammock T-shirt was at the Sturgis South Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis Mississippi before riding home (Franklin TN) along the Natchez Trace Parkway. More pictures next month – riding to Texas via Clarksdale Mississippi and God Knows Where…..” Robert Jansen

Last week, I was working out and listening to the IPod, when my guilty pleasure song played. A few years ago, Maggie Flynn collected the guilty pleasure songs of Hammock people, but here is an update from those who are so bold as to bear their souls.
Summer Huggins responded first:

Oh man, that’s a toughy… I recently got satellite radio in my car, and with 160-some-odd stations, I find I don’t move very often from the ’80s station. The first song that came to mind when I saw this question was Culture Club’s “Miss Me Blind.” I heard it recently while in the bathroom at a restaurant and found myself dancing uncontrollably. Please don’t tell anyone!

Sorry, Summer, I just did, and I own that particular Culture Club album.
Ride managing editor Bill Hudgins says:

I have so many, it’s hard to pick a favorite. So I will be utterly fearless and give you several:
Massachusetts and Words – The Bee-Gees
Gloria – Laura Branigan
MacArthur Park – Richard Harris
El Paso – Marty Robbins

Bill, “Massachusetts” is probably the best thing the Bee Gees ever did. Try Jive Talking or If I Cant Have You, I Dont Want Nobody Baby from the disco era.
American Spirit managing editor Jamie Roberts admits to liking:

1. Beat It by pre-1987 Michael Jackson (may he R.I.P.)
2. Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim
3. Bust a Move by Young MC

Laura Creekmore at first was uncommitted.

Hmmm. I really think my entire music collection is a guilty pleasure. I think it would be easier to name you the two songs I listen to which I know to be hip. But let me see if I can think of the guiltiest of my pleasures, musically. And I’ll define this as not only a song that’s campy now, but one that was also considered bubble gum or goofy at the time of its release.

Upon further prodding, Laura commits to I Will Survive.
Allison Lund

Probably a lot of my iTunes could be considered guilty pleasures, but this song is not on my iTunes. “Man on the Silver Mountain” – by Rainbow. (Ronnie James Dio prior to singing for Black Sabbath.) I played this for my husband and he looked at me like I was an alien.

Emily McMacklin

I have two: Love to sing along to “I Will Survive” by Aretha Franklin (I think she sang it?). I also like to get down to “Shake Your Tailfeather” by P.Diddy & Co.

No, Emily, Gloria Gaynor sang I Will Survive. And P. Diddy just changed his name to Diddy.
My Guilty Pleasure song is another 80s classic Come on, Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners. Another favorite of mine from the 60s is Morning Girl by the Neon Philharmonic. This album featured the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, which was the first time that a symphony orchestra played on a rock album.
Barbara Mathieson

Hot of the presses is Hammock Publishing’s new collaboration with Conferon Global Services: The CGS Guide to Room Block Management. The 64-page resource details the best practices of the industrys leading meeting planning firm, drawing on its collective wisdom of 35 years of experience.
Because successful room block management is one of meeting planners’ toughest challenges, the CGS Guide breaks down the process for veterans and novices alike. The publication gives strategies for compiling group history, selecting a site, determining room counts, creating the proper mix of hotelsall while ensuring that meeting attendees are satisfied and associations remain on firm financial footing.
Hilton Hotels, sponsor of the Guide, shares cover billing with CGS. They will unveil the new publication at this weekend’s annual meeting of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) in Nashville.

Hello from Greece.

Hammock Publishing Inc. has won eight awards in the 17th Annual APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, including a Grand Award for American Spirit, the member magazine of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) – the third consecutive year that American Spirit has received this honor.
Hammock submitted the November/December 2004 issue for the competition. In making the award, the judges said of American Spirit: “Marvelous spreads with first rate photography, illustrations and type set the stage for compellingly written features. This meticulously crafted, exceptionally designed and written magazine is absolutely top-drawer.”
The contemporary iteration of a century-old publishing tradition, American Spirit is the official magazine of the DAR, one of the best-known and most celebrated women’s organizations in America. Available on national newsstands and by subscription, the bimonthly American Spirit reflects our nations fascination with historic preservation, travel, genealogy, collectibles and Americana.
Winning Awards of Excellence in the contest were:
Design & Layout – “Voyage of the Periauger” – American Spirit
Feature Writing – “When Women Lost the Right to Vote” – American Spirit
Best Redesign – Ride PWC Magazine, published for the American Watercraft Association
Most Improved Magazines & Journals – Ride May/June 2004
Magazine & Journal Writing – MyBusiness (published for the National Federation of Independent Business – April/May 2004
Web & Intranet Site Content & Writing – NFIB.com
Custom Published Newsletters – “Sumner Health” (published for Sumner Regional Health Systems Inc., – Autumn 2004