I can say on the front end that copyright law is one of those necessary evils for the publishing industry. Necessary — it gives writers, artists and others the financial incentive to create works, allowing them the rights to the money made from their writing, their photographs, their illustrations. An evil — it’s complex, and most freelancers and publishers would likely agree that Congress ignores copyright law for years on end, then addresses it from a less informed viewpoint than most of us would prefer.
Copyright law is one of those issues that really makes me wish for a benevolent dictator, despite my love otherwise for our imperfect democracy. In my opinion, far too much copyright law is decided in the courtroom, admittedly for lack of any reasonable alternative.
(Fair warning: I’ll still be talking about copyright law after the jump….)

Happy New Year! Well, kinda. If we still measured our year according to the Julian calendar, March would be the time we’d sing “Auld Lang Syne” instead of “When Irish Eyes are Smiling.” In the March/April issue of American Spirit, which we publish for the DAR, Bill Hudgins writes about the challenges that came with Colonial America’s adoption of the Gregorian calendar—and the confusion the switch still causes genealogists.
Whether or not your grasp of etiquette would past muster with Emily Post, be relieved that you didn’t have to abide by the rules of courtesy books, 18th-century manuals on the proper behavior of gentlemen and women, which we also spotlight in this issue. From table manners—“Make not a noise with thy Tongue, Mouth, Lips or Breath, either in eating or drinking”—to personal appearance—“Wear not your clothes foul, ripped or dusty, but see to it that they be brushed once every day at least”—these books provide surprising glimpses into the everyday lives and aspirations of early Americans.
The issue also covers the recent International Preservation Trades Workshop, where experts demonstrate hands-on techniques for preserving historic structures. We feature some talented craftsmen and women who are whizzes at reglazing vintage windows, renewing wood finishes, repairing ornamental plaster, carving bricks and stone, and dozens of other traditional methods of historic preservation. This story is especially fitting now that DAR has embarked on a multimillion-dollar restoration of its many historically significant buildings, including the century-old Memorial Continental Hall. The next time you’re in D.C., stop by for a tour of the complex, only steps away from the White House. On 1776 D Street, of course.

I was on the phone with a friend of mine the other day, telling her about the new Hammock.com and offering to send her a couple of quick links to different sections if she’d give me her new IM username (she’s a late adopter). That, of course, would be the fastest, most instant way to get the links to her.
“IM?!” she exclaimed. “I’m at work; my boss would kill me if I logged into my instant messenger here!”
How 1998.
Are we at Hammock in the minority because we use IM in our daily tasks? Are other companies missing out on a great communications tool if they’re not? I think so, on both accounts.
Using IM in the workplace has several advantages, one of which is knowing that my colleagues are only a click away. It’s fast, simple, real-time and free. Instead of getting distracted for 10 minutes in the breakroom talking about headlines, we can brainstorm together for 30 seconds over IM and achieve the same results.

We’re proud of Rex for his foresight in helping to found the Custom Publishing Council (CPC) back in 1998. The CPC has always been a special partner with Hammock in promoting and creating excellence in custom media, so we were thrilled to attend CPC’s first conference, the Custom Content Conference, held in New Orleans earlier this week.

Here are some of my favorite quotes and highlights from the sessions I attended:
Joe Duffy, Duffy & Partners: “Yesterday’s consumer is becoming today’s programmer.”
Remember when Time named its 2007 Person of the Year “The Consumer”? As Joe’s session illustrated, now consumers are in control—from the color of our Nikes to the playlist on our iPod to the design for our Mini. In this atmosphere, it’s vital for brands to deliver authentic experiences. One exciting way to make that happen is through custom content.
Robert Passikoff and Amy Shea, Brand Keys: “The percentage of contribution that ‘customization’ makes to products and services through engagement, adoption and loyalty is 18%. It was 4% in 1997.”
People are bombarded with advertising messages all day, every day. To cut through the clutter, you have to speak directly to your audience with messages targeted specifically to their wants and needs and desires. With customization’s growing reach, how can you afford not to?

Joseph Plummer, Advertising Research Foundation: “Engaging storytelling campaigns prove superior in creating relevant, lasting connections with consumers that enrich brand meaning and ultimately impact brand behavior.”
At Hammock, we say “Your Story Starts Here.” It’s not only a catchy slogan, but it represents how we feel about the work we do for our clients. To us, a client’s story is the essence of their brand, so our primary goal is to communicate that story in the most engaging way possible to their members and customers.

On some level of course, America’s Marines don’t really need an introduction. They’ve been protecting our shores for more than 232 years. But because they are, famously, “The Few …” there’s a lot about becoming and being a Marine that most Americans never see. To correct that, the United States Marine Corps has launched a broad-based community and public relations campaign designed to give the rest of the world more insight into what it takes to be a Marine. A centerpiece of the campaign is a new TV spot that was taped at locations across the country, featuring the Corps’ legendary Silent Drill Team. A companion Web site, OurMarines.com, documents the video shoot and collects stories about Marines and their families. The site also contains an extended version of the TV spot.
One of the photos from the making of the commercial, taken in Columbia, TN, a few miles from Hammock Inc.’s Nashville offices, graces the cover of the March-April 2008 issue of Semper Fi, the Magazine of the Marine Corps League, which we publish for the League.
Elsewhere in the issue, we encounter a different “kind” of Marine – one made of plastic and aluminum and electronics. The Marines and other services increasingly use robots to perform highly dangerous tasks such as reconnaissance, investigating potential explosive devices, even retrieving wounded comrades under fire. While there is not now and never will be a true substitute for boots on the ground, ‘bots will take on new and more complex tasks as another weapon in the Marines’ arsenal.
Speaking of that arsenal, the Marine Corps League co-hosts three trade shows a year that bring active-duty Marines together with military suppliers. The Marines are not shy about giving the vendors (many of them veterans) a quick and incisive analysis of their products. And the vendors hustle to fix, upgrade and adapt their products and services to meet the warfighters’ needs. Semper Fi reports on the Marine West Expo in January aboard Camp Pendleton, CA; we’ll be at the next one, Marine South at Camp Lejeune, NC, in early April.

The February/March issue of MyBusiness is out now, and we’re tackling an issue facing small business owners every day: Surviving in hard times. While we might think of today’s current economic woes when we hear that, for a small business, “hard times” might also mean losing your top salesperson or Wal-Mart building a new store down the street.
Created by the National Federation of Independent Business for its small business owner-members, MyBusiness magazine handles tough topics like this every issue. A regular feature the past few months has also examined how small business is dealing with the health care crisis. We examine possible solutions, and NFIB’s role as the voice of small business on critical issues like health insurance.
Hammock has produced MyBusiness since 2000, but it’s only available as a benefit for NFIB members. You can take a sneak peak at MyBusinessmag.com — also created by Hammock.

At Hammock, we have a long tradition of adopting early any technology that improves our ability to create media and efficiently manage the production flow of highly complex publishing projects. We’re constantly pushing the edge on new ways to collaborate and design everything from magazines to the newest forms of digital media.

But there’s one tradition we have here that is extremely non-technical — and very old school. It’s a tradition we’ll never give up — even though we already replicate the process digitally and online.

It’s the wall. That’s what we call it. And that’s what it is: A big wall with strips of corkboard tracking lining it from floor to ceiling. We know it should have a more clever name, but it named itself before any of us could come up with one.

The wall is where designers post proof-spreads of page layouts during the magazine production process. As people walk by the wall, the spreads just beg for comments and so there’s always a handy red marker nearby. The pages grow and soon, the wall is full — sometimes with two or more magazines being produced simultaneously.

At some point near the end of the process, a “Wall Meeting” takes place and the editorial and design team gather in front of the wall for a wide-ranging conversation about the flow and pace of soon-to-be-published magazine. Is something not working? Should something be moved? Is there a gap here? What can we do to make this stronger?

Conversations. Debates. An occasional argument. They’re all a part of the wall tradition. It’s is a part of who we are and how we work.

We’ll never tear down this wall.