John Shors is a Superstar

Personal touch

Boulder author John Shors is marketing his debut novel one book club at a time

By Greg Glasgow, Camera Staff Writer
July 23, 2006

When he was a young man reading three books a week, John Shors always wished he could sit down with his favorite authors and ask them questions about their work.

So when he grew up and became an author himself, Shors made it a priority to make a personal connection with his own readers. Since his debut novel, "Beneath a Marble Sky," came out in 2004, the Boulder-based writer has spoken to nearly 200 book clubs around the country, either in person or on speakerphone. He's appeared in person at clubs all over Colorado, and by phone to readers in California, Washington, Texas, Iowa, Florida, New York and Georgia.

"Typically if readers want to connect with authors they go to book signings," says Shors, 37, who has lived in Boulder since 1999. "In my opinion, book signings are very (impersonal) — it's a group of 20 strangers in a room. And you have people walking through looking for books, and it's not a very relaxed, casual atmosphere. And I don't think it fosters the best kinds of discussions.

"I always felt like if I published a novel, I would like to make myself available to book clubs, to give something back to readers, to kind of give them that experience that I wanted, which was to interact with an author and have the ability to ask an author all sorts of questions about the book and the publishing industry in general.

"So I was very serious about trying to give that back to readers."

The right story

Shors started off speaking to clubs attended by friends and family members. Members of those clubs told friends and family around the country, and the word spread.

On the morning of June 3, Shors spoke to a local book club on the outdoor patio at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse. With Boulder Creek rushing by about 10 feet away, the women sipped bright red hibiscus Champagne and nibbled at omelets and fruit plates as Shors spoke about his book.

"Beneath a Marble Sky," which came out in trade paperback on June 6, is a work of historical fiction set in 17th-century India, as the Taj Mahal is being constructed. It also is a dual romance: The emperor's daughter, Jahanara, the book's narrator, falls in love with the architect of the structure; she also tells of the relationship between her father, emperor Shah Jahan, and her mother, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during childbirth. The emperor built the monument in memory of his wife.

Shors began his talk to the book club by discussing his inspiration for the story: While on a backpacking trip through Asia with his future wife, Shors went to the Taj Mahal and heard the story of its creation. He knew he finally had the setting for his first book.

"Writing as a 17th-century Indian princess is not the most natural thing for me to do. But I'd been waiting a long time," says Shors, whose next novel, which is 95 percent done, is a love story set in modern Nepal. "I knew that I wanted to write a novel, but before I invested five years into it, I wanted to find the right story. And I was willing to be patient for that. When I was at the Taj Mahal and I heard this incredible story behind its creation, I knew I had the right story.

"Everything else just kind of fell into place."

Shors spent four years researching and writing the book, and despite early promises from a "hotshot agent," ended up selling it himself to a small New York publishing house called McPherson and Company. He figured if the book did well in hardback he could sell the paperback rights to a larger publisher, and that's exactly what happened.

"We won a national award, we were on the Denver Post bestseller list for a good chunk of the summer, we sold the movie rights, and all of those things put us in a really good position to sell the trade paperback rights," Shors says. "We put those on the market about a year ago, and Penguin Books came along and bought those rights.

"It kind of takes things to the next level, in terms of distribution and marketing and so forth. The book is in every bookstore in the country, and it gives me the ability to really hit the home run or try to hit the home run. That's what's good about that deal."

Every book club, he says, wants to know about the movie deal. The rights were purchased by former "E.R." star Eriq La Salle, whose Humble Journey Films is still trying to raise money to get the film made. No director or stars have yet been determined.

Back at the Teahouse, club members had other questions for Shors: Why tell the story through a female protagonist? What did you want people to get out of the book? What parts of the book really happened, and which parts did he make up? They're all questions he's heard before, but he's all too happy to answer them, realizing that each group he speaks to represents five or 10 people who may not have bought the book otherwise.

"When I touch one person that's excited about the book club program, she will go out and tell her eight friends about it and they'll go out and buy the book," he says. "So it kind of gives me a nice bounce in terms of my sales numbers because all I have to do is excite one person about the opportunity, and instead of selling one book I've just sold 10 books.

"I think I'm giving something back to readers, for sure, but it's also good for me. And that's one of the reasons I'm doing it."

The Oprah effect

Book clubs always have boosted sales for authors, but their true power became evident in 1996 when talk-show host Oprah Winfrey started her own virtual club, recommending books such as Jane Hamilton's "The Book of Ruth," Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" and Jacquelyn Mitchard's "The Deep End of the Ocean." Oprah's seal of approval meant huge jumps in sales.

Winfrey is now credited with creating a huge boom in book clubs, whether they're informal meetings between friends or family members, groups sponsored by book stores or schools, or online.

The concept has even taken over whole cities: Locally, the "One Book, One Boulder" program is now in its second year; Julie Otsuka's "When the Emperor Was Divine" is the 2006 selection for a community-wide reading and discussion project that culminates in October with art exhibits, a film series and an appearance by the author.

"Book clubs of all sizes — from five friends sitting around a dinner table to an entire community adopting a favorite book — have become incredibly important when it comes to spreading the word on a book and author," Craig Burke, vice president and director of publicity for Penguin's New American Library division, which released the paperback edition of "Beneath a Marble Sky," writes in an e-mail. "Books that have become major bestsellers in the last few years, like 'The Kite Runner' and 'The Secret Life of Bees,' were embraced by reading groups and 'one city, one read' programs."

Word of mouth

Katy Ferris, a member of the club that had breakfast at the Teahouse, said Shors' appearance was a highlight of her five years in the group. Usually they just read a book and discuss it, but to actually have a dialogue with the author made it a whole different experience.

"That was completely unique. It was a treat, because we've never done that before. We've never had an author come to our book club. It's so fun," Ferris says. "...I actually wrote down questions while I was reading (the book). Typically, if we bring questions it's after the fact and someone got online and printed them out.

"This was nice because you actually thought of things at the time, and I would jot them down, knowing I would have the opportunity to ask him later. It made it such a unique experience."

Shors is taking that unique experience to the next level with the paperback, which includes an author's note at the end inviting readers who enjoyed the book to contact Shors about speaking to their book clubs. So far, he says, about 15 people have taken him up on the offer.

"John is the kind of author publishers dream about — he's dedicated to finding interesting and innovative ways to promote his book," Burke writes. "John had success calling book clubs and reading groups when the hardcover edition of 'Beneath A Marble Sky' was published, so as we geared up for the paperback publication, he understood how important these groups can be to the longevity of a book.

"John has made reaching out to his readers a real priority, and participating in book group discussions by telephone offers him the opportunity to interact with readers all over the U.S. without having to travel. Today's readers are looking for ways to connect with an author, whether it be in person, on the phone, or over the Internet. That's why we've seen a huge rise in interest for author blogs, online discussion boards, and author and book pages on such popular Web sites as MySpace."

Shors cites bestsellers such as "Cold Mountain" and "The Kite Runner" as books that started off slowly but gained popularity through word of mouth. Of course, he hopes the same thing happens with "Beneath A Marble Sky."

"If people didn't like the book, then none of this would work," he says. "But people like the book, so the whole issue is getting information out there that this book exists. My whole thought process has been to generate this grassroots buzz, and that's why I've done the book club program. ... When people read it, they want to tell other people about it.

"And a lot of books, that's how they get going and how they become bestsellers."

Contact Camera Staff Writer Greg Glasgow at (303) 473-1342 or glasgowg@dailycamera.com.

Copyright 2006, DailyCamera. All Rights Reserved

From Special Olympics to Starbucks...

So - by now you've figured out that our amazing Special Olympics experience was fueled in large part by Starbucks. Trust me, it's hard to keep long hours and keep up with 3,000 athletes, 30,000 spectators and 200+ media on a continental breakfast alone... The beauty about our love affair with Starbucks is that it doesn't end with morning coffees and afternoon pick-me-ups, the company is a GFM client!

I have the pleasure of working on the Starbucks team and believe me, it really is a pleasure (and no, they don't bribe me with free grande soy chai lattes to say that... hint, hint.) I continue to be amazed at the company's commitment to corporate social responsibility. Having a long background in nonprofit work, believe me that I can sniff out a real philanthropist quickly - and Starbucks is the real deal.

Yesterday (Thursday, July 13) we held a press conference to announce a $75,000 gift from Starbucks to Denver Parks and Recreation to revitalize Garfield Lake Park in southwest Denver. One-third of the residents in the area around Garfield Lake Park are under the age of 18, so the park is a real community gathering place for these young kids and their families. Yet, this park that's so beautiful on the surface really needs a facelift. At the conference we announced revitalization projects that will include resurfacing the basketball court, planting more than 50 trees, installing the first public park-based recycling program, replacing the backstop and many, many more amazing projects that will really make an impact. Volunteers will help us complete many of these projects on August 11 and we'll "reveal" all the updates to the community with a big park-based celebration on August 12.

With more than 20 Starbucks store managers in attendance we had a great and enthusiastic crowd. On a surprisingly busy news day (that included breaking news in the middle east and a visit to Denver by Katie Couric that coincided with our event), we were able to draw print, radio and broadcast reporters which also made us pretty excited to get the ball rolling!

Special thanks to Kim Bailey from Denver Parks & Recreation and to Rosemary Rodriguez who is current City Council President and District 3 Representative for proving to be amazing and inspirational spokeswomen. Phil Smith, regional marketing manager for Starbucks, did a great job, too. Phil and I shared a laugh about my attention to detail (okay - so it's more of an obsession...) but I think in the end it all paid off. (Oh, Phil, for the record I had Total cereal with sliced strawberries and soy milk for breakfast. I promised to keep you in the loop!)

We need volunteers to help revitalize the Park on Friday, August 11 - so if you'd like to sign up please call 303.331.4061 or e-mail dprvolunteers@ci.denver.co.us. You can also learn more about Starbucks' overall commitment to parks by visiting www.starbuckslovesparks.com.

Stay tuned for more updates! And, so you all know all the details, I'll be having chicken breasts and steamed broccoli for dinner - but I'm still deciding between grilling or baking the chicken. I'll update you on the next blog entry!
- Carissa

Wendy's Top Ten List for Ames Iowa

Like usual, I'm the last one to get around to doing something........but I've finally managed to find a little time to post my thoughts on the Special Olympics event we were so fortunate to be a part of. After 10 days in Ames, there is plenty I could write about. But, to keep you from falling asleep, I've decided to give a quick Top Ten list of my favorite things from Ames.

Here goes.....

10 - Witnessing how a simple case of the flu was transformed to a major health outbreak involving "quarantines" within a matter of minutes.

9 - Watching Shors crawl back to the media center after being in a "crisis bullpen" for four hours and missing Closing Ceremonies and saying......"I need a drink!"

8 - Thai Spice. The new Ames restaurant, which was previoulsy located in Boulder, where we ate dinner almost every night (or at least when we had time to eat dinner!)

7 - Drinking a 12 dollar bottle of beer with the folks from Farmer's Almanac TV while watching fireworks on the 4th of July.

6 - Watching the New York vs. Florida men's basketball game. Watch out Shack! These guys were TOUGH and it was the best game I've ever seen!

5 - Hearing a story from spectators about Tawnee Castillo, a swimmer from Arizona. Tawney competed one day and won a gold medal. The next day, she swam against the same person she beat the previous day. On day two of her competition, she slowed down during the race so the girl who was in second could take first place and win a gold medal too. According to Tawney, she "already had one and everyone deserves a gold medal here!"

4 - Meeting a team of deaf soccer players from South Carolina and getting their incredible story on the news for everyone to see/hear!

3 - Meeting Mark Heffner from Merced, California. I met Mark at the Cessna Airlift. When he found out what I do, he told me "I want to go full court press while in Ames" and gave me a list of papers and TV stations he wanted to be in/on. The next day, Mark was on the front page of the Des Moines Register.

2 - How during the National Games, Ames became "a microcosm of how the world should be." This was borrowed from a writer at the Ames Tribune. As the writer noted, if you stuck around at any of the venues long enough, "You'll find countless examples of simple human kindness at work."

1 - Ronald Weintraub, the Special Olympics athlete from New York who volunteered in our media center for the week. Ronnie was an entertaining and wonderful addition to the "red room" where we all spent way too much time while in Ames. He made the trip seriously worth-while and I hope he becomes a life-long friend!

I hate to brag....but that was seriously the ten most rewarding days of my professional career! I've already called Special Olympics Maryland to find out what I can do to get involved permanently!!

Wendy

Times certainly are a changin'

"Well, this is my first-ever blog entry. Times certainly are a changin'.
It's July 13th, and Wendy and I have been back from Iowa for a few days now. I think that we're both finally recovered from ten days of nonstop action. I don't think that I've ever been on my feet as much as I was this past week. Keeping 200 or so reporters happy over a ten-day period (in addition to doing a thousand other things) didn't allow for much rest. My phone would start ringing at 6 a.m. and wouldn't stop until about 10:30 p.m. I think my U2 ringtone was pretty much driving everyone crazy by the end of the event.
Highlights?
Well, I'd say that one would be Ronnie. He was a former Special Olympics athlete and had paid his own bus fare to Ames (his family didn't want him to make the trip so he did it on his own). Ronnie was autistic, and reminded me of Dustin Hoffman in Rainman. Ronnie volunteered in our media operations center, and was always excited to send out press releases, and alert the New York media of breaking news. He was full of gossip, rumors, etc., about all of the celebrities who he was convinced were going to descend upon Ames, Iowa. Ronnie was quite a character. At one point, he turned to me and very enthusiastically said, "I've got a great idea, John. Tonight, you and me go out to dinner. Your treat." Wendy and I later took him out to Kentucky Fried Chicken and listened to all of his excited chatter about the New York basketball team, which was playing Florida in the championship. It was quite enlightening to work with Ronnie, and Wendy and I are going to keep in touch with him.
What else?
I saw so many amazing things over this ten-day period: a young girl leaping into her family's arms after she won the gold medal in tennis, a woman speaking of how her classmates used to tease her and how it made her determined to succeed, basketball players helping each other off of the ground after intense collisions, a South Carolina soccer team composed entirely of people who were not only intellectually disabled but who were also deaf, siblings crying as their brothers or sisters competed to the best of their abilities, scores of athletes coming up to us and profusely thanking us for all of our support, etc.
In short, it was great to use PR to promote such a wonderful cause. The work our team did made a big difference in this event (for instance, our work helped lead to more than 11,000 people offering to volunteer), and it was gratifying to be able to work hard on behalf of such a phenomenal event. Wendy, Debbie, and Carissa were fantastic. As were Laura and Rebecca, who volunteered for several days.
I think we all learned a lot from this experience and are better people because of it. - John

Space to Think...

You always hear about those moments in life where it all starts to make sense and your life begins to -- quite possibly -- actually have a purpose behind it. I am not sure if I had my big AH-HA moment, but when I was driving home from the airport after the Special Olympics, something hit me. I always imagined it would feel like the proverbial 'ton of bricks' but this one felt more like a hot air balloon gently landing on my head -- and my head has been spinning ever since. It’s a new business idea.... shades of this idea have probably manifested thousands of times, but with a distinct twist or a slightly different flavor.

Denver is a committed city. People are socially conscious. There are so many people, foundations, and causes that need a helping hand. How do we give back, connect the dots and make a difference? How do we do it in a way that is different than the standard fare? I have only shared this idea with a few people -- people I knew would tell me 'its been done before' or 'there isn’t a need for this idea'. So far, all I have heard is 'let me help you talk to the right folks at the City', 'sign me up' and 'how can I help?' Stephen helped me snag a domain name today. I am surprised it wasn’t taken, but that is a good sign in my book. The internet gods may be smiling down on us...

I blame this on the athlete that screamed 'I love you, dad' before she started the power lifting competition. Wherever you are now... I thank you (I think...).

- Laura

Making us all feel special

I didn’t post a blog like the rest of my fellow “blue shirts” during the first days of the inaugural Special Olympics games, so thought I’d toss this one up in retrospect. It was written from a worn seat at the Des Moines airport bar… the bartender is now a good amigo for the deals and last-minute favor.

Tom Arnold half joked to Debbie during the B-roll interview that he expects more hugs this week than what he got from all three of his wives combined (and no dog-gate to hit "you know where"). While I’m not sure if that includes his young attraction du jour, I think our entire group – and every other Special Olympics contributor – can relate to his sentiment.

And hugs are just icing on the cake…warm hearts, instant friendships and pure positivity are rampant in Iowa this week and have enveloped us all like fuzzy blankets. We’ve all treasured swapping state pins with the athletes (I think we might even be more eager to fill up our lanyards), high fives that turn into lingering hand shakes, the practicing athlete that flirtatiously greets us with a “hiiii ladies!” as he swells his chest, and the unassuming soccer, track, golf, swimming and bocce boasts.

Uplifting Airlift
The airlift in Des Moines was amazing on so many levels. You know from other GFM posts that we experienced the thrill, novelty and euphoria right along with the athletes. The reporters we escorted on landing strip were equally moved. The AP photographer darted to 10 Cessnas in a row to watch the doors swing open and the athletes – grinning ear-to-ear – step off pumping their arms to a level of applause fitting for their new-found rock-star status. It should be a more common occurrence in our worlds. We beamed right back and cheered on their arrival. It’s sad to think that we were taken aback when loving, total stranger athletes threw their arms around us at first sight. It made you forget about the bad stuff in the world for a minute.


Kathy, the Des Moines Register reporter, hadn’t reached the runway before shedding tears at the sight of proud athletes high-fiving their way through the rowdy cheerleader line. Her eyes leaked again when interviewing the 75-year-old brother and sister volunteer duo doling out cookies in the blazing heat – they had baked 2,000 of them in all varieties to boost the athlete’s energy. We all enjoyed chatting with 15-year-old Joshua whose Native American chanting impressision fooled us on his ethnicity. Wendy held her ground as she engaed him in pow-wow, cowboy and pioneer conversations.

The crackerjack GFM team of John, Wendy, Laura, Carissa and Debbie helped make the amazing airlift media coverage a reality, but I doubt any of us would refer to the tiring and steamy 13-hour day as work. That said, Laura was forced to fend off a plane owner who mysteriously lost his wedding ring, Wendy couldn’t commit to an athlete’s request for a Donald Trump introduction, and John ended up with a true farmer-style sunburn on his calves that earned our empathy in a rousing round of laughter. We rested our aching cheeks (from smiling) and feet over a few Singha beers and some spicy curry at a new Thai joint on Ames’ main street before retiring back to the cozy Baymont hotel.

A big pat on the back to John for not only writing an amazing novel that’s being re-released, but for also being the central focus of a six-minute NPR interview. (We PR people count minutes and seconds). Carissa lent the humor of her book club group who were enthralled with naan and sex. Take a listen at: http://www.onthemedia.org/

Rehearsal Day
Did I actually sleep last night?? I now know what it means to catch a couple of winks because we were back up at 5 am this morning after a quick and stormy rest. We slammed some java in the lobby and bolted to the Special O headquarters for the Today Show taping. It was impossible to complain after another round of jovial hellos and high-fives from the Iowa and Illinois teams who gathered as the show’s backdrop. The dreamy Mr. Tim Shriver who was a Today Show guest and a Special Olympics VIP made it very easy to keep our eyes wide open too with his classic Kennedy family looks and charm. Lucky Debbie got face-to-face with him for a while (for a B-Roll interview) as the rest of us passed around the Kleenex to catch our drool as we cozied up for a pic. His mother Eunice formed the Special Olympics in ’68. His sister and Ah-nold were absent.

Today Show weatherman Sean (pron. Seen) McLaughlin predicted 85 degrees today. Despite the cooler temps, I think we all were glad to be “manning” the media operations center and not pounding the pavement.

Next up at the Hilton Coliseum was the opening ceremonies rehearsal. I was eager to catch what I could since I’d be jetting off before the rest of the crew. After listening to Ronan Tynan belt out a spine-tingling rendition of God Bless America to an empty auditorium, Tom Arnold was next at bat. He’s a pretty damn funny Iowa native and Hawkeyes fan. You could sense his true love for the athletes as he posed and signed autographs. He then took to the stage and ad-libbed with Eddy from the movie “The Ringers.” Debbie and I related to his interview comment about loading on pounds in Iowa. He then traded his horizontally striped polo for an all-black version – a good call.

I will not spill the beans on Carissa’s tendency for communicating at midnight, John's interesting choice of overnight bags, nor Laura’s pants drying on the Camry's rear, but rest assured it was a Midwest trip we’ll all remember. In the future, we might tote a 100-in-one memory card reader and cuter khakis.

I was sad to be the first one to depart, and before the Games officially kicked off the competitions, but I must admit that real sleep was nice. Thanks to Laura and GFM for letting me experience the SONG. Many cheers to Wendy and John for their remarkable planning and execution and continued dedication. They made us all look good! May iced cheeseballs and the world's largest lasagne keep you strong.

~ Rebecca

Let The Games Begin...

Carissa and I made an executive decision this morning. We are quitting our day jobs at GFM and going to volunteer for the Special Olympics. However, when we started exploring what that really looked like, we decided that neither one of us was any good at a particular sport (with the exception of speed walking and ‘power’ lifting up to 35 pounds) so we might have to actually take up a sport in order to be able to volunteer anywhere near an athletic facility. I may have to stick with my day job for a bit longer...

We actually ended up getting about six hours of sleep last night. It was much needed. After watching the Today Show piece Debbie pitched about the Bass family from North Carolina, we spent the day touring the different venues and watching athletes compete in power lifting, swimming, gymnastics and track and field. There isn’t anything quite like a competition where a young athlete, 18, is getting ready to lift and stops to turn around and yell from the stage, “I love you dad”… it sort of blows you away. Many of the swimmers finished their competition and instead of seeing how they did, would just turn around and ‘high five’ the other competitors.


We are off to the Olympic Village to meet some more athletes and then it is back to Des Moines in uur faithful white chariot so Debbie, Carissa and I can catch our flight. I am a bit jealous that John and Wendy get to stay for the week and see the Closing Ceremonies. They will definitely need a long vacation when this is all said and done. My appreciation for the work they have put into this event continues to grow as I begin to get a better understanding of the nuances and logistics that went into planning and executing an event of this magnitude.

Off to trade some more pins - Laura

Ground Zero...

So - it's just a few hours to show time and things are heating up at the Special Olympics National Games! Debbie, Laura and our new favorite short-term intern Jacqui helped collate and stuff a whole bunch of media kits which will provide direction to media tonight.

Debbie is practicing her "no comment" PR skills in this photo - but really has been a real trooper, gathering B-roll all morning and editing all afternoon. I think she might be my hero! Laura really likes stuffing packets (note to selves for future projects...) She likes the "process." Who knew?

The media center is hopping and about 100 degrees with one little fan. We're looking forward to getting the show under way in a few hours, as the colliseum has been about 20 degrees all day. If we don't get pneumonia from the climate changes, we will have great stories to tell.

More later! - Carissa

If it's Sunday, this must be Ames...

So, it's only 9:25 a.m. and I think each member of the GFM team has misted up at least twice this morning. "Mister" no. 1 - watching Team Iowa and Team Illinois march into the Hilton Coliseum for an appearance on Weekend Today with Iowa native and weatherman Sean McLaughlin. The teams were decked out in their uniforms, armed with homemade signs and beaming smiles. Although it's cloudy and rainy here in Ames this morning, I think there were sun beams radiating from the Coliseum during the segment!

Laura and Rebecca took the opportunity to chat with a few athletes from Illinois, trading pins and making new friends. They met two amazing women named Georgia and Amelia, both eloquent and energetic athletes from Illinois. Georgia is a swimmer and Amelia competes in power lifting. Amelia has a long history with Special Olympics, and actually carried the torch during the first international Special Olympics at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Debbie spent the morning buzzing around and grabbing excellent interviews, which included a few minutes with Georgia and her proud dad - later with Amelia and her inspirational story. Recognize the handsome, Camelot-like features on the guy in this photo? No, not John (although of course we think he's handsome.) Debbie landed an interview with Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics, International. The GFM team got a picture with Tim after we made poor Wendy run the stairs in Hilton Coliseum to join us. (I personally enjoyed Tim joining in on the "Hurry up Wendy!" calls as we were standing at the ready for our photo op... Wendy's a good sport, and amazingly quick up a flight of stairs!)


After the Shriver interview and the Weekend Today segment, the Torch Run organizers started their practice run into the stadium. (That's right - "mister" no. 2.) The words to the music alone got us started - and the torch runners really sealed the deal. Wendy, Laura and John admitted to misting up last night while watching "Deep Impact" (oh wait, Laura just admitted they were 'sobbing')! Guaranteed to see lots of tears tonight.




We have a new friend and media team member - Ronnie, a Special Olympics athlete from New York. Ronnie is a great help and has been tracking Google hits for the National Games. Here's a photo of Ronnie and his "spread." He wants to get 50 notebooks going to track coverage state-by-state. He also wants to hold daily 8:30 a.m. meetings and is trying to organize some "security" for the media... He's pretty energetic and couldn't be more enthusiastic about having joined our team! We'll see if we can keep up with him. He might have to post the next blog while we take a nap...

"Mister" no. 3 (I know, I said there were only two...) - we just returned from a visit to the local Starbucks. (Funny how coffee can inspire tears of happiness after just 5 hours of sleep.) Laura is our official chauffer in Ames and has needed a little help with directions - but somehow Laura and our trusty Camry have a homing device with directions to Starbucks. If the car and Laura are missing, I have a hunch we'll know where to find them.

Stay tuned for more info later! - Carissa

Sunday Morning .. Tim Shriver and more!

We were up this morning at 5 am .. Laura called me in my room because their power went out and they were worried we would all miss our alarms. I woke up just before 5 am anyway because it was raining hard outside. We all got pretty and drove to the Hilton Coliseum for the Today Show segment. The entire Special Olympics team from Iowa woke up early to be in the segment with Sean McLaughlin, the weather reporter. Sean grew up here in Iowa and it turns out he went to college with the video crew we are working with to shoot/edit the B-Roll footage. They had a reunion this morning .. AGAIN, everyone is SO NICE HERE. I can't help but think that if these games were in a large metropolitan area we might not be interacting with people who are as laid back and genuinely happy to help at every turn. Now we understand why the Special Olympics decided that Ames, Iowa would be a good place for the national games. Not to mention that Iowa State University is the perfect venue, and so easy to navigate.

After the Today Show interview, I interviewed Tim Shriver. His mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, started the Special Olympics in 1968. I was a little nervous ... and when I introduced myself I said "Hi, I'm from Debbie, how are you?" Oh my, that was embarrassing. He's so nice though .. we got a nice chuckle at my expense. Then I explained to him that I just needed a few sounds bites for a B-Roll package. He's obviously used to doing interviews and as the Chairman of Special Olympics gave me the sound bites I needed in about 10 minutes. Ok, I will also admit that he's very handsome and I enjoyed that interview very much. The GFM crew then got a photo with him .. how could we resist?

Tom Arnold is coming to the Hilton Coliseum for rehearsal in about a 1/2 hour. We also need him for the B-Roll (and hopefully I can figure out how to introduce myself by then). Hootie and the Blowfish is supposed to be around soon too. Apparently the whole band does the interview together or nothing .. so that will be interesting to get 6 band members in the frame. Hmmmmmm, can't I just have an interview with Hootie? Eunice Kennedy Shriver will also be here today and I would love to get an interview with her, but that is a coveted thing and the jury is still out on whether they'll let me get close to her. Her son will probably warn her against it :) since I grilled him so much.

Opening Ceremonies starts at 7:30 pm. From the looks of rehearsal over the last few days, it's going to be AMAZING. Performers, musicians, speeches, the final torch run and torch lighting .. and we've been told to be prepared with lots of tissues because we won't be able to last the first second without tears. We already had many hugs from athletes this morning. They continue to inspire us ... Media from all over the country will be here tonight so we will be busy. They can interview outlets and do live shots from outside the coliseum and then they have to stay in one spot to get video during the ceremonies up in the mezzanine. We have a pool feed available for them so crews can pull audio and video .. so stay tuned and watch out for hits!!

Tomorrow morning the Today Show is scheduled to air another segment about the Bass Family who are here with four kids who are participating in the Special Olympics. The Today Show went to their home a few weeks ago to spend two days shooting video of them for the segment. They are a perfect example of what the Special Olympics are all about ... Gail and Steve Bass have several children and then adopted four kids with intellectual disabilities. Three of them are on the North Carolina soccer team and one is a coach. The story should be awesome and we are really excited to see how it turned out.

Thanks for reading .. more later ... deb

Cessna Citations Take Over Des Moines

Well, today marks one of the most heartwarming and humbling experiences I have had in my life. John, Wendy, Debbie, Rebecca, Carissa and I started the day at 6 a.m. on the tarmac at the Des Moines airport. We spent the past 12 hours working with the media as they covered the 230 Cessna Citation planes that flew in more than 1,800 Special Olympics athletes and coaches from across the country. These planes took off or landed every 60 to 90 seconds and, for most of these athletes, it was the first time they had ever boarded a plane -- much less a private jet.

Today, Cessna Aircraft Company just pulled off one of the largest private airlifts in history. I’m still amazed it all came together – even after 14 months of planning. It is fairly incredible to think how many corporations from all over the U.S. donated their planes and their pilots to fly these athletes in and out for this event. The pilots and the athletes definitely form a strong bond during the flight – lots of hugs and high fives as they leave the plane to board the bus.
Thirty-eight years ago this July, Special Olympics began at Soldier Field when the city of Chicago, Chicago Park District and Joseph Kennedy Jr. Foundation staged the first Special Olympics International Games with 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from the U.S. and Canada. Now it’s a worldwide movement with more than 2.3 million athletes in 150 countries. I expected much younger athletes but most were young adults who definitely had more energy than our entire group put together.


We spent the day with members of the United States Law Enforcement Torch Run® (LETR) Final Leg team. A group of law enforcement officers and Special Olympics athletes from around the country have spent the past few weeks carrying this "Flame of Hope" from Soldier Field to Ames. As you can see from the photo, they were definitely there to help keep spirits high as the bathroom lines got longer and the temperature got hotter. They also were quite fond of doing the Macarena with the Ames High Cheerleaders. Who can blame them? They had been running for the past four days. I, too, might dare to dance the Macarena just so I wouldn’t have to run another mile.

But the athletes… they put it all in perspective.

We spent some time with Joshua, a 15-year-old basketball player from Denton, Texas. Once he learned I grew up in Oklahoma, he went into great detail about Pow Wows and even demonstrated his amazing warrior calls. His mom and seven-year-old brother drove for 22 hours just to meet Joshua’s plane. Michael, 35, is competing in bowling. I told him he definitely was going to blow my bowling skills out of the water. He told me to come on over and try it. I think I just might. Or I will send Debbie. Her score was ‘6’ the last time we bowled together. Yep, 6.



Check out the air traffic control tower... pretty funny stuff.
Tonight we drove back to Ames to work at the media operations center on the ISU campus. Tomorrow, more than 3,000 Special Olympics athletes from all 50 states will participate in Opening Ceremonies and spend the next five days competing in 12 Olympic-style sports. We are watching the dress rehearsal for the opening ceremonies on the closed-circuit TV. I’m fairly confident there won’t be many dry eyes in the stadium tomorrow night.

The Today Show is live tomorrow morning so we are planning on another early morning… Carissa threatened to make a GROUNDFLOOR MEDIA sign. Debbie thinks she might be burned at the stake. We are just going to get Starbucks instead. I guarantee we will need it.

Shors may need to start drinking coffee... check out his legs. Someone forgot sun screen. We made him feel better at the Thai restaurant in town and bought him a few Singhas....

- Laura

Debbie Does Des Moines - But Please don't pronounce either "s"

Ok, we won't tell you who can't pronounce "Des Moines" the right way, but today at the Special Olympics Cessna Citation Airlift we heard several different iterations. It didn't matter though .. no matter how you pronounce it, the airlift via private donated jet - which brought 1800 athletes to Iowa for the games - brought smiles to everyone's faces!! We all agree that we worry about STUPID STUFF every day .. just being here around all of these wonderfully positive and excited athletes humbles you.

I should start from the beginning ...
Our trip to Ames for the 2006 Special Olympics US National Games started when Laura and I boarded our (small) Skywest plane for Des Moines. We were walking to our seats and spotted Carissa, who was already decked out in her khakis, white shirt & tennis shoes (our "uniform" while we are here, minus the white shirt because we all get Special Olympics volunteer shirts) .. she was real thrilled that we hadn't told her that we didn't need to wear our uniforms until today (Saturday)... She looked cute though so it didn't matter.

The ride to Des Moines was smooth until it got really turbulent before landing. Carissa *almost* got puked on by her neighbor - this is no joke. We then got our bags but Carrissa's wasn't on our plane ... I've decided Carissa has a really really good attitude because she didn't bat an eye about it - I surely would have complained and whined a little at this point.

Shors came to pick us up at the curb and he was surprisingly calm and collected .. He took us to the airlift location across the airport tarmac near a hangar where the Cessna media briefing would take place in an hour. Wendy, John and Rebecca had been in Iowa for a full day already and started getting the rest of us up to speed about how we were going to help over the next few days. None of us had eaten ... and were starting to feel a little famished. Tons of media showed up for the briefing, when they learned about where, when, why and how they would cover the airlift. Wendy was Marilyn's (VP from Cessna) assistant .. holding up a map of the airport so reporters could see exactly where they could go for the airlift. She was lovely!

After the airlift Wendy & John were summoned to a meeting. It was 4pm and the rest of us went to scarf down Arby's sandwiches and curly fries for "lunch" (after almost eating our arms) and to shop at Target. Laura & Carissa got cute backpacks for carrying essentials over the next few days, Debbie & Laura got see-through rain jackets (mine: white, Laura's: a pixie purple) and we purchased 5 umbrellas in case it rained during the airlift. Suffice it to say .. we are returning everything except the backpacks.

We headed back to the media center to pick up our credentials and shirts ... and participate in a meeting with folks from Two Rivers Marketing (from Des Moines) and Special Olypmics International PR team. We were talking about handling media during the airlift and about the Today Show segment that will be airing live tomorrow morning (!) - look for photos after tomorrow of the big event. I'm also producing a B-Roll package .. it was fed out today with airlift and SO file footage, along with sound bites, and we know that there are about 30 stations who said they wanted to download it off of the satellite (it fed out at 1 pm CT), as well as CBS Newspath! We're also going to put a second B-Roll package with even more footage on satellite for TV stations on Monday at 1pm CT. The good news: CNN has already said they want to download the feed! I'm also working with the nicest B-Roll crew in Iowa - everyone is nice here - but they are exceptional.

Speaking of good media coverage ... the airlift today was covered by all - and I mean ALL - of the media in Ames and Des Moines. As the planes were coming in to drop off athletes from literally every corner of the United States, the energy was amazing. Athletes and coaches got off of the planes to cheers, chearleaders from local high schools greeted them as they came into the hangar, a band played music and everyone was hugging everyone! I can confidently say that none of us has hugged or been hugged that much in a long time .. and how inspiring it was!!

These athletes, most of them really articulate, want to share their stories and learn more about us too. They are so wonderful. One athlete noticed that I had a microphone in my hand .. and came up to me and shared that her dream is to be a Telemundo reporter. She has an incredibly positive attitude about life and I have no doubt that she'll probably make it happen! These athletes don't know to be discouraged .. or insecure .. or embarrassed. They just love .. and laugh .. and express their excitement at being here. Some of them flew today for the first time, left their homes for the first time ... and experienced everything with huge smiles on their faces. We all walked away better people having met them.

Oh, by the way ... Carissa's bag showed up at the hotel last night, right before a United representative called to tell her that they couldn't deliver it because they didn't have a complete address of the hotel .. go figure.

We are excited to see what tomorrow brings for all of us ....