Marketing Directors Targeted in Scam|Spam

 I did start this as a place to talk business and here is a perfect thing to discuss... If you have the word marketing in your title, beware!I received this email today at my business email address:

From: Matthew T. Keener [mailto:matthew@cmo-summit.org] Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 7:33 AM To: Talia Davis Subject: Talia, let me know if you can participateHi Talia, hope you are well. On behalf of our Board, I wanted to personally invite you into The CMO Summits because of your key role and experience.The CMO Summits is an invitation-only group comprised of the very best CMOs and Marketing executives and visionaries. We meet monthly by teleconference to exchange what is working, what is not, strategies and ideas. It is a confidential forum with dedicated groups of other successful CMOs and Marketing leaders whose only agenda is to help each other outperform. Our meeting schedule is at cmo-summit.orgI am certain you will find the experience both enjoyable and useful in your efforts. Please take a look and let me know of your decision or relay if you think another is more appropriate. Thanks Talia.Truly, Matthew T. Keener CMO Summits The Organization of CMOs and Marketing Executives cmo-summit.orgThis message is confidential and intended only for the original recipient. If you have received this message in error, please delete it or mail us back if you no longer wish to receive further email. If any follow-up is needed I show your contact information as: Talia Davis, ******@*******.org Allied Jewish Federation ***-***-**** and you may also reach us at 1200 Abernathy Rd, Atlanta Georgia 30328 or through the contact page of our site.

Wow... sounds cool, right? Well, when you click on the link you are taken to a URL parking lot.

Well, being the inquisitive person I am... I started google-ing. Turns out, there may have actually been a real CMO Summit in 2010. It's website is here - www.cmosummit.org and they list Accenture, Jigsaw, Denny's, Farmer's Insurance, Jeep, Motorola, Nokia, Orbits, Subway, Wells Fargo, AAA, ADP... I am listing these all here in the hopes that these brands monitor their brand and see this blog and that they know that this other website is using their name.

So CMO Summit sounded kinda cool. I wrote the Matthew back and told him that his links were bunk and to provide more information if he wants me to be interested... Then I dug some more...

Here is the WhoIs listing for CMO-Summit.org:

Continuing to google, I find this website - altlink.org/cmosummit/main.htm - hum, altlink is not a very reassuring start to a web address. They seem to use quotes from famous people (Bill Gates for example) but there is no evidence that they are members... oh yeah, I didn't mention... they want you to join for $1250 a year to access their conference calls and networking. Well, since it took me nearly an hour to unearth this website (by searching the addresses provided) I don't know how extensive their networking is. It appears to be a part www.bizsummits.org which has a list of 3,500 orgs that they say work with them. Again, extensive and 'impressive' but the website is generic and really provides little information.

However, I have found these blogs saying the whole process is a scam:

• http://jessicawarrens.blogspot.com/2008/01/beware-email-scam-from-chris-jameson.html
• http://blog.badera.us/2008/01/cio-summit-phishing-scam.html
• http://www.joewein.net/blog/2011/11/24/summit-spam-from-atlanta-georgia/
• http://spam-ip.com/lookup-341187-69.65.12.64.html
• And from Email-Report.com:
  • matthew@cmo-summit.orgName: Matt T. KeenerLocation:UnknownAn unsolicited or spam email has been received from this address with the title Scooter, interesting speaker. Because this was a spam message, it is recommended not to trust the content of any emails that you are receiving from this matthew@cmo-summit.org.
  • He uses these emails: matthew@cmo-summit.org, matthew@cmosummits.org, matthew@thepublicrelationssummit.net

PLEASE NOTE: I am presenting information here. Information that I feel is pertinent to my fellow marketers. Some of these may be legit businesses but there are practices that I feel are spammy or scammy and make them suspect to me. These are my own opinions.

UPDATE:

I was recently threatened by the CEO of Biz Summits. To read this, click here.

Religiously Observant Athletes

It is fascinating to hear the stories already coming out of the Olympics, especially regarding religiously observant athletes.In particular, the intersection of Ramadan and the Olympics this year.The Islamic calendar is a purely lunar one. What this means is, their months float around on the secular, Gregorian calendar. Thus the month in which they must fast, Ramadan, falls in different seasons. This can become an advantage when the days are short and so are the fasts.Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars are:

1. Shahadah - the declaration of faith.
2. Salat - praying five times a day.
3. Zakat - giving charity.
4. Sawm - fasting during Ramadan.
5. Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca.

To me, these five pillars are the 'biggies' in Islam, like we have our 'biggies' in Judaism. If I had to identify them, I would probably say they are: Fasting on Yom Kippur, lighting shabbat candles, saying the Sh'ma, giving tzedakah (charity), and remembering our journey out of Egypt (aka Passover). I think it's nice to have the five most important actions/ideals laid out for you like that.Anyway, back to Ramadan. So this year, the month long fast falls during the Olympics. Many athletes have had to make the decision to either fast and (most likely) have their performance suffer OR delay their fast. Muslims who observe Ramadan are allowed to eat before daybreak or after nightfall so many wake up before the sun to get some sustenance in... but that won't work for athletes who burn the calories so fast and need hydration.As a religiously observant Jew, I love learning how other religiously observant people in other religions struggle with and find the balance of their religion and the secular world. It's been fascinating reading!What are your thoughts on religious observance 'interfering' in secular life?The Hunger Games: Muslim Athletes Observe Ramadan at London OlympicsRamadan and the Olympics: to fast or not to fast?

No Pants Dance – Month Three... already?

WOW! This challenge is flying by! And it has become such a part of my life, my spending habits have changed so much already, I am announcing here and now that I am extending it for another three months. That would be a total of six months! My challenge will end at the end of November now. I know... be proud. :)July was pretty easy. Again, I purchased one or two small things, with coupons to satisfy that craving. I really believe if you cut yourself off too cold turkey when it comes to shopping, you are going to suffer. For many women, shopping is a way to perk up their wardrobe AND their emotions. So if you stop spending anything on yourself... you will probably explode after a few weeks or months.Anyway, my biggest annoyance/purchase this month was a plane ticket and rental car. I have a 50th anniversary weekend at my childhood camp in Georgia and I thought... maybe if I keep putting it off I will have the money... yeah, not so much. So that happened... But I did the math for all of my finances and "found" $2000! Aka, I thought I was $2000 MORE in debt that I am! That's awesome. I am still putting more than a third of my income to debt repayment (credit cards, student loans, car payments) but sometimes it feels like I'm not getting anywhere. I wish I could just save more on my housing expense (aka rent) as that is my other big expense per month. Otherwise, I'm not spending much.This month will be hard too as I have to renew my tags and pay six months of car insurance... less than awesome. But I feel good that I am thinking regularly about finance and Sweet Boyfriend and I are making future plans.Meanwhile, we have been growing a lot of our food... I mean, except for protein, fruit, and booze... we have grown everything else we have eaten for at least the past month. Almost 100 pounds of produce from our three gardens. That is a definite money saver. Next year, we plan to grow a lot more and since a lot of the equipment investment happened this year, we will be saving even more! Speaking of which, we made the most AMAZING pickles the other day! Check out my recipe here: Half-Sour Pickles.On another saving note, it was my nephew's 15th birthday and this year, Sweet Boyfriend and I are investing money for him. I will be the 'money manager' and custodian for this account and we will be investing it. He gave us about half of the cash he received on his birthday (pretty good for a teenager) and SB and I will essentially be matching that. I'm hoping he continues to invest and I will be putting money into the account for him for holidays and birthdays. I hope to teach my nephew and my future children how NOT to go into debt!Wish me luck!Goals:

• I will be out of credit card debt in 9 months
• I will have a significant amount in my retirement account by then
• Once I am out of CC debt, I will put that money towards my car, student loans, and savings
• I will put at least 30% of my income towards bills, loans, or savings every month

Homemade Half-Sour Pickles

This year, we planted a garden filled with all of my favorite vegetables... turns out, most of my favorites are viners  and prickly!

We have had lots of squash and cucumbers and tomatoes. With this extra produce, we decided to play with pickling and in particular, make our own pickles! We both spent a lot of time on the East Coast and LOVE our half-sours! Here is the recipe we used/made up. Try them with some farmer's market cucs and then next year, grow your own! :)

What kind of cucumbers did we use? We grew the typical small pickling cucs and our plot neighbors were growing salt and pepper cucumbers. Since we were plot sitting for them (watering and picking) we ended up with several of different kinds of cucumbers. As for pickles, Dan liked the small green cucumbers we grew best and I liked the lighter salt and pepper cucs better as pickles. We may even explore pickling lemon cucumbers next! Pick them when they are small and if you are buying them, the younger the better. Larger ones taste very different and sometimes you have to skin them.Never heard of a half-sour pickle? Oh I am SO SORRY for you!! These little guys are DELISH!  John Thorne (The Dill Crock, 1984) describes half-sours as "cucumbers still, not pickles-little cucumbers who died and gone to heaven."  It's so true! They are mild and perfect!

Here's our method:

Please note: our recipe is super free form. You can make a small batch or large. The only thing that is relatively exact is the salt...

Talia and Dan's Half-Sours

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt

• Coriander seeds

• Black peppercorns

• One bay leaf

• Garlic cloves

• Dill (stalks, flowers, and leaf)

• Cucumbers

• Water

• Optional: A fresh grape leaf

Directions:

1. Find a jar that fits the number of cucumbers you want to make. You can continue to add cucumbers in later if you want. Note: If you want to eat them half-sour —> plan to eat most in two weeks. The longer they sit, the more pickled they will become.

2. Place the pickles in the jar and cover them with cool water. Yes they will float but push them down and see how much water it needs to just cover all the cucs.

3. Then measure the water you put in. We did this by pouring the water out into a measuring cup.

4. You will need approx two tablespoons of kosher salt per liter of water. Don't be afraid to add a little more or less... just play!

5. Once you have measured out your salt, dissolve it in hot water. This makes it easier for the salt to work.

6. Now that it is dissolved, DON'T PUT IT ON THE CUCUMBERS! Whoah! Why the yelling, Talia? Because I don't want you to have mushy pickles! We like them nice and crunchy and the warm water will make them soft. Okay, now that we have calmed down, put some ice in that hot, salty water and cool it off.

7. While it is cooling off throw the rest of the ingredients on top of the cucumbers in the jar.

   • Throw some coriander seeds in the jar... It is a great flavor but should be secondary so don’t go overboard.

   • Put some black peppercorns in the jar also. Again, don't go crazy.

   • Toss a bay leaf on there. You can crack it in half first but Dan says just toss it in.

   • Two or three garlic cloves for a small jar, six or seven for a large jar (depends on how garlicky you want your pickles). You can cut them in half first if you want.

   • Dill time. Dill + cucumbers + salt = the flavor you love in pickles! So I recommend getting fresh, smelly dill from a farmers market or grow your own. If you can get the stalks and flowers in addition to the typical dill leaves (the stringy things you think of as dill), your pickles will be very happy. The stronger the dill smells, the better! Put half a head of flowers in a small jar or a head or two in a large one. Break some stalks into the jar and add the leaves.

8. The water should be cool by now so pour the salt water in and then fill the jar with cool/cold water. Remember how many cups you put in before? Yes, same number. It should just cover the cucumbers.

9. If you are using a large jar and the cucumbers won't stay submerged, place a glass or bowl in the water to help keep them down.

10. Let them sit on the counter for two-ish days. By the second day you should see some bubbles forming on surfaces in the jar and the water should start to be cloudy. This is GOOD! After two days, take one out and try it. Once the water is pretty cloudy, put them in the refrigerator. This slows the process down.

11. Enjoy!

This is a total experiment and eat project. Have no fear if they don't come out perfect... they continue to pickle as the days go on. But don't leave them out of the fridge too long or you will end up with full sours... unless you want full sours!

Let me know how yours come out!

---

2020 update:

We have been making this recipe now for 8 years and they work amazingly well. We put up 10-15 jars a year and eat them all year long!

No Pants Dance - Month Two... How am I coping?

Well, we are nine days into our second month... I've been doing okay but I did make two purchases this month. I know... bad news bears but in all honestly, they weren't that bad AND I am thinking of extending the dance a few more months...How did I fall off the wagon? Well, first off, I use a certain store's credit card that sends me back rebates. I had a rather large chunk of rebate waiting for me and I didn't want it to expire... PLUS I saw a super cute pair of shorts that would be great for work this summer. With the rebate bucks, I ended up only having to pay shipping! Not to bad, just $7 for a brand new pair of shorts that will liven up my wardrobe. The second purchase was less money saving and more necessity... I love a certain type of tanktop/undershirt. It is NOT expensive and from a ... shall we say ... 'teen' retailer? So they aren't a billion dollars to begin with. Well, Sweet Boyfriend and I started to notice that the white ones I wear ALL THE TIME were getting thin, with holes in them, stretching out, etc. I was going to make due but he encouraged me to look into replacing them. Well I went online and saw that they were on sale for $5 a piece. Plus I found an online coupon for $5 off if you spend $30. Well, with $30 of shirts in my cart, I used the coupon and essentially got one of those for free! Now I can dump the old ones and not worry about the holes!One thing that I am really learning through this process is to be much more mindful of how I spend money and what I spend it on. When Sweet Boyfriend and I talk about the future, I realize that I would much rather put my money towards that (and have it gain interest in the meantime) than a new outfit that may not be my favorite.So let me reiterate my goals for you (and for myself):

• I will be out of credit card debt in 9 months
• I will have a significant amount in my retirement account by then
• Once I am out of CC debt, I will put that money towards my car, student loans, and savings
• I will put at least 30% of my income towards bills, loans, or savings every month

It isn't easy but I'm doing it!

Creating A Return On An Investment...

ROI - in business ROI stands for return on investment... And that is exactly what Lynn Schusterman got from the recent ROI Community Summit in Jerusalem, a return on her investment of the future of the Jewish people.From June 10-14, I attended this summit in Jerusalem with 150 other young Jewish innovators. Out of 600 applications, we were selected as connectors and creators, entrepreneurs and catalysts. From the United States, Israel, England, South Africa, Latvia, Brussels, Turkey, and even Uganda, we represented 30 countries. As a community, we descended on Jerusalem to sharpen our skills and pitch new projects or refine old ideas. I instantly connected with the local director of AIPAC in Dallas, an experiential journalist from London, an event promoter from NYC, a guy working to get the Israeli flag and a Torah on the moon, a woman running a speakeasy and kosher, organic, and locally grown restaurant from her Brooklyn home, a leader in the National Young Leadership Cabinet (NYLC) in Atlanta, and a Chabad rabbi. I also got to spend time with Boulder's very own Jonathan Lev, the executive director of the Boulder JCC. All I can say is, "yeah, that happened." Words seem so inadequate to express this experience.We spent five days connecting and creating. Part of the program was the opportunity to present a concept that you want to develop and then crowd-source it to get support, help developing it, and potentially funding. This year 50 ideas were posted to the site IdeaScale and for the first time, the world could vote for them. The top three ideas and their creators had the opportunity to pitch the idea to four celebrity judges. Danna Azrieli - chair of the Azrieli Foundation in Israel. Noa Tishby - actress, producer, model, and non-profit spokeswoman. Yossi Abramowitz - one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world in 2011 & 2012 according to the Jerusalem Post. President and co-founder of the Arava Power Company. Yossi Vardi - an Israeli high-tech entrepreneur.I highly encourage you to go to roisummit2012.ideascale.com and look at what came out of this conference. And yes, I did pitch an idea. One that my co-worker at the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado, Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez and I have been developing. It is called Tikkun Platoon. This is flash mob philanthropy, where collective identity meets collective responsibility to affect social change.  I hope that with the help of the ROI community, this dream will become a reality soon!The amazing thing about ROI is that it is not just a conference, it's a community. I am now a part of something big, with some 800 ROI'ers across the world, we have access to each other and our talents and microgrant funding for projects. The goal is that through a 1000 ROI'ers, we will reach 1 million people. And it is happening. You may be familiar with G-dcast.com, the weekly parsha videos online or Moshe House? These are both concepts born from ROI. Judging by the brilliance that was posted on IdeaScale, there will be many more.At the end of the day, though, my favorite moment happened on the last day. Lynn Schusterman, who made it possible for me to be at ROI, and I sat together after a morning session and we did our yarn crafts together and chatted. She, knitting a scarf for her grandchildren. I, crocheting a scarf for my friend. We discussed technology and yarn and knitting and the beauty of Colorado. And that is what ROI is about, finding people with similar interests and connecting... Even if there is an age difference.See my ROI profile at http://www.roicommunity.org/users/talia-davis-haykin

Cherry-Apricot Jam/Preserves

I am sorry I have been slacking! I have had so many fun culinary adventures with my Sweet Boyfriend. We have been documenting them all and taking pictures. I have to get him to write here to tell you more about his smoking and grilling and fast cooking ways but for now, I'll share my side.A few weeks ago we went for a weekend walk through the neighborhood. It so happens that his neighborhood has TONS of cherry trees! We decided at the last minute to pick some of these super ripe cherries and use them. They were very small and the tart/pie style of cherry. We grabbed one of the bags provided for 'doggie cleanup' and started picking... We ended up with a pound and a half of cherries!We also picked up a few local, organic apricots at the farmers market in his neighborhood. Once we got home we were a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cherries picked! I decided I wanted to make a cherry preserve or jam with the apricots. I researched online and found SavorySweetLife.com and her Cherry Jam recipe. We modified it, used less sugar, and added apricots. It turned out so well!

I really like this recipe because there is no pectin in it. It is an easy, simple, and healthy recipe. Sweet Boyfriend and I decided that it would be delish on chicken or duck. His parents and mine enjoyed their servings immensely.Here is the recipe and pictures. Mind you, there aren't really measurements here... seems hard, I know but just watch it and feel it. You will be fine!

Easy Cherry-Apricot Jam/Preserves:

Ingredients:

• Cherries (the more tart the better), stems and pits removed, and chopped
• Apricots, chopped and pitted (fresh, NOT DRIED)
• Lemon rind/juice
• Sugar

Directions:

• In a medium size pan, add chopped cherries, apricots, lemon rind, and lemon juice cooking on medium-high heat for 5 minutes. 
• Add a cup or two of sugar. Taste the brew and feel out how tart the cherries are. Do you need more sugar? Add slowly and taste frequently!
• Once the sugar is fully added, reduce heat to medium.
• Stir everything until sugar has dissolved.
• Cook for an additional 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat and cool.
• You can jar it or enjoy now!

No Pants Dance Update - Month One

Okay, I know. I totally suck. I haven't updated you except for the fast, tiny update at the start of the month. I am SO sorry! June was been quite a whirlwind month and I don't think I even had three seconds to do anything! (Including, by the way, shopping!)Part of this craziness was induced by a short notice 10 day trip to Israel. Yes. It was incredible but I was also concerned about breaking my no pants skirt dance. For those of you just joining us, after reading a very inspiring article in May, I decided to put my choices spending (optional stuff, clothing, etc) on hold for three months and see how I do. You can read about that here - No Pants Dance.I promised to blog about it and I horribly failed to do that this first month. But fortunately, that is about the biggest failure from the first month (and I blame it on insane traveling schedules and falling head over heels in love with my sweet boyfriend). My boyfriend and I were playing travel tag. I went on a trip then he went on a trip (we didn't see each other for two weeks solid!) then we were home together for a week and I left for a 10 day trip to Israel. So we were spending every second we had staring into each others eyes and telling each other how awesome and cute we are. It was a lot of work!  :)When I came home, I had about a week to get myself together again and then it was his birthday and my sorority's international convention held right here in Denver... a convention that I had been on the committee for and been planning for TWO YEARS! Okay, so seriously, this is my first week back into any sort of normal groove. But let's look at how I did on the No Pants Skirt Dance in June:

I spent VERY wisely when I was abroad. I did not go insane and buy the entire state of Israel. I limited myself to one treat (a dress from the shuk) and then got sweet boyfriend a kippah (skullcap), some tea that he enjoys, a cute magnet for our refrigerator collection, and a bunch of spices to play with when we cook. I didn't eat out much but I did get a couple of the fabulous ice cafes that are pretty unique to Israel (it's like a frappachino... with real coffee... you can't get coffee with ice cubes in it in Israel... well you can but it takes some explaining).

I had already purchased Sweet Boyfriend's birthday presents prior to the beginning of the No Pants Skirts Dance. That was very good. I did have to get a bit of packaging for them but it wasn't too bad.

There were some expenses involved in the traveling and the convention that I had not anticipated. It amounted to a couple hundred bucks... that disappointed me but at least I had it because I wasn't spending that money on other non-essentials.

The best part of June was when I came home and Sweet Boyfriend decided that he was going to take the challenge too. Since this is for OUR future, he said, we should do this together. So he is on a No Pants Dance too. He decided he liked polo shirts for the summer but only had two. He had a credit from purchases on ebay plus we are selling some older shirts and thus, getting more useful items while not spending any money! Brilliant!

Oh... one other thing did happen in the middle of this crazy month... I found out that my identity was stolen. Yes. Some jerk decided not live his own life on his own merits and hard work and would rather live on mine. Fortunately, I caught it pretty early. They used one of my existing credit cards and opened another... and tried but failed to open yet another. I went through a fairly intensive process of filing police reports, filing reports with the FTC, sending in fraud alerts, etc. And that was an additional unexpected expense... purchasing protection and monitoring for my credit and identity.

Sweet Boyfriend has been incredibly encouraging and helpful in this whole situation. He is a financial wiz so he is able to give me a realistic view of the future of our finances and frankly... if I keep working hard, it looks pretty good!$$ update:

I am currently putting a third of my income towards paying down my debt. At this rate, I will be clear of all debt, except my car payment and my student loan payments, within 8-9 months. If I can hold out, the No Pants Skirt Dance may last that long. This is all still while contributing to my 401k and putting away savings.

Once those debts are paid off, I will be putting that 33(ish) percent of my income towards the car and savings. I am hoping to build a strong financial base for myself and my future family. I know what it feels like to just scrape by and it is not a good feeling. I don't want my kids to have to deal with that.

For once in my life, I am actually jazzed about finances. It does help to have a smarty pants Sweet Boyfriend around...

No Pants Dance - Starts Today

I have 30 seconds but I wanted to say...No Pants Skirts Dance starts today. No more shopping for three months. Wish me luck.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

After all that cheese and dairy, it's time for something soothing and hearty. I made this soup for my boyfriend this weekend. He was coming home from a trip to London and Paris and I thought he might enjoy something simple but hearty. The ginger was an added bonus to help settle his stomach if the flight was rough. I know when I travel, I don't always feel like eating something heavy. This is a fairly simple recipe and I can't even remember where it came from, an online recipe site, but I did add my own spicing to it.I'm going to remind you, read the recipe all the way through before you start. Trust me, I've made that mistake before and I have some tips at the end.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp margarine
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
• 2 tsp coriander seeds*
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• dash salt and pepper, to taste
• Nutmeg, cloves, chili powder/cayenne pepper - optional

Preparation:

1. First thing, I started to make this mistake, prep all your vegetables before you start the recipe. Chop your onions, carrots and mince your ginger. Have them ready in prep bowls before you start sauteing the onions.
2. In a large soup pot, cook the onions in margarine until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add carrots, ginger and coriander seeds* and cook, stirring for a few more minutes.
3. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a low simmer. Cover and cook for at least 25 minutes, or until carrots are very soft. (This was about 50 minutes for me... but make sure you aren't boiling off the liquid too much)
4. Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and puree, working in batches if needed. I did not blend it into oblivion. I left it a touch chunky.
5. Add a dash of salt and pepper and other spices. Serve hot, re-heating if necessary.

After I had blended the soup, I started playing with spices. It can be a bit bland so I added nutmeg and just the smallest dash of cloves. Too much cloves will make it almost sweet. I added a dash of spice with the chili powder (or you can use ground cayenne pepper). Again, be careful - it is easy to over-season and you DO have the ginger in there. It comes out with a nice bite but tastes good.*I could not find coriander seeds where I was shopping so I used ground coriander. I added a bit when I added the carrots to the onions but put more in after the blending.The key is to taste the whole way through. You can also add white potatoes or sweet potatoes if you want some more starch in it.