New York’s Monetary Monuments

I have a piece in this week’s issue of Time Out on the new “Capital of Capital” exhibit opening at the Museum of the City of New York. The exhibit looks at how the banking industry shaped New York, from bank notes sparking an explosion of trade after the Revolution, to the creation of national currency following the Civil War, and the rise of consumer lending in the wake of World War I. I rounded up a few sites around the city where this history can still be seen.

One that we ended up cutting is 23 Wall Street. On September 16, 1920, a horse-drawn wagon detonated a bomb here, J.P. Morgan’s headquarters at the time. It created the deadliest terrorist attack in the city’s history at the time, killing 38 people and injuring 300. The bombers were never caught (though Italian anarchists were suspected), but pockmarks from the blast are still visible on the building’s exterior.

Read the story.

Blogging for Business

Blogs continue to provide small businesses with an ideal platform for striking a more personal connection with their customers. Hubspot reported last year that 65% of companies have a blog, and 27% of them consider the blog critical to their business. Read full story.

Building a Strong Network

While 2011 may have been a sluggish year for the economy overall, the PR sector’s leading holding companies generally boasted solid returns, with digital becoming a more central focus for all. Not only was this good news for the agencies in the short term, but it also could quiet skeptics who question whether such large-scale organizations remain as vital in a more immediate and personalized digital age.

All the major holding companies saw revenues rise for the year. WPP Group reported organic revenue growth of 5.3%, with $15.4 billion in total revenue for the full year. Its PR and public affairs revenue rose to $1.4 billion, with 4.6% organic growth. Omnicom Group’s full-year revenue for 2011 was $13.9 billion, with a 6.1% organic growth rate. Full-year revenue for its PR properties, including Fleishman-Hillard, Ketchum, and Porter Novelli, increased 6%, to $1.22 billion. Organic growth, though, nudged up only 1.9%.

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PW Shout-Out

Weird-o-pedia got a nice mention (PDF) in this week’s issue of Publishers Weekly. Bill at Skyhorse mentioned it as one of the humorous reference books they have coming out this summer as part of a larger story on trends in reference. Really cool to see the cover in PW, especially to be on the same page as David Rees’ How to Sharpen Pencils, the funniest book I’ve read this year. Check it out here.

The 19th Century Strikes Back

Steam power and corsets are making a comeback in New York City, at least for a weekend.

On April 27-29, the New York chapter of the Nineteenth Century Society will be hosting its first Nineteenth Century Extravaganza, giving visitors a chance to experience how people dressed, ate and even played baseball a dozen or so decades ago.

The Extravaganza begins Friday evening at Think Coffee, at 248 Mercer St. in Greenwich Village, where visitors will be taken on a “Timeline of Taste” from 1800 to 1900. Guests will smell and sample the spices and ingredients commonly used at different points in the century as transportation and preservation practices evolved.

Read full story.

Weirdopedia is Here

I just received the advance copy of Weird-o-Pedia from Skyhorse and couldn’t be more stoked about how it turned out. I’ve poured over the PDF and nearly memorized the entries, but holding the actual flexi-bound book with the light reflecting off the spot gloss…it was very nice. I keep flipping through it, admiring the package Skyhorse put together, but have not been especially interested in re-reading much of it. Not only do I know what it says already, but I’m kind of nervous I’ll uncover a bunch of typos or weird phrasings we somehow overlooked in all the multiple rounds of editing.

I’ll just enjoy it as a lovely object for now. The book actually comes out on July 1, and you can pre-order it on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, or Indiebound and you will likely get it earlier than that.

Harder to Tell Where Work Ends and Personal Time Begins

Worries that work is taking over employees’ personal lives may be greatly exaggerated, according to a new report from Forbes Insights and marketing firm gyro.

Sharpening Pencils, and Other Artisanal Crafts

I have a roundup in Time Out New York this week of artisanal crafters around the city (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

It’s inspired by an event for David Rees’ new book How to Sharpen Pencils happening at Barnes & Noble. Since he put down his clip art comic Get Your War On, Rees has dedicated his time to brining back the lost art of artisanal pencil sharpening. For $15 a pencil he will personally sharpen your pencil, and mail it back to you complete with exquisitely pointed tip and certificate of artisanal authenticity.

I sought out a few other places in the city that offer an old-fashioned kind of creative expression. Among them were Casey’s Rubber Stamps (photo to the left, care of rebeccaprus on tumblr), the color and paint specialists Kremer Pigments, and the book-binding Center for Book Arts.

Macy’s Transforms

This spring, Macy’s will begin a $400 million renovation of its flagship Herald Square store in New York City. Touted as the largest store renovation in U.S. history, the transformation reflects where Macy’s marketing is headed as a whole, with the company eagerly embracing the possibilities of new technology, while carefully preserving the elements that made it an icon in the first place.

In just the past three years, Macy’s has made major changes in how it approaches its marketing, reorganizing its marketing department, putting a greater emphasis on local targeting, while aggressively incorporating mobile, social and e-commerce into its  channel mix.

“There’s a famous quote from Mayor Michael Bloomberg that, ‘If you have not been to Macy’s, you have not been to New York,’” says Martine Reardon, CMO of Macy’s. “There is a halo effect on this building that permeates out to all of our other locations.”

Read full story.

The Titanic, 100 Years Later

The story of the RMS Titanic is getting a closer look next week.

To honor the centennial of the ship’s sinking, the Greater Astoria Historical Society is hosting a lecture and film screening by Gary Vollo of the Titanic Historical Society, Monday, April 2, at 7 p.m.

The film being screened is original footage of the Titanic leaving port.

“It might be the only film of it,” said Vollo. “It was found by this woman in England who had found it buried in the back of her shed — her husband was a cinematographer and just happened to have made a video of the ship and stored it.”

Read full story.