I love dogs. I always loved dogs. I grew up with a black labrador retriever named Lady. So when it comes to dogs, I have a soft spot. I don’t have dog now. Working nearly 60 hour weeks, raising two kids and volunteering in the community leaves me little time for anything! I’m one of those people that think if you don’t have the time for a dog, don’t have one!

In any event, if I did have a dog, I would have small dog that I could dress up. I love that. I think it is so cute when people dress up their dogs with little sweaters and such. This Halloween I was reading in Time Out Magazine that there will be a costume dog parade in NYC. What fun!

My good friends, Jeff and Randi Goldberg sent me a photo of their new pup all dressed up and ready to go trick or treating.

And, one of my favorite artist friends, Olan, sent me a photo on Facebook of his dog dressed as a bee. (Funny, HJMT is going to be in a trade show in NYC on November 19 at the Small Business Xpo. Our theme is the “bee” — Creating buzz without the sting! We are going to be dressed as bees too!)

Anyway, Happy Halloween to all and enjoy the weekend!

When anyone passes away in our community, it’s a sad day. But when someone who has impacted so many people passes away before their time, it’s a crime. That’s what happened to a young woman, Leah Walsh, 29 from Bethpage.

I never met Leah, but she worked at the School for Language and Communication Development (SLCD). We have been working with SLCD representing them for more than two years. Lisa Gordon, HJMT Supervisor, is their account person but the whole HJMT publicity team pitches in and helps get the school as much exposure and visibility as possible.

I first heard about Leah on Monday, when my contact at SLCD called us to tell us that a teacher never reported to work and her car was found with a flat tire on the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway. Later in the day, our contact told us that her bag was found not too far from the car. We advised the school to issue a statement to the press advising of their deepest concern for the situation and that they were working with investigators on the case. We also advised that something go out to the parents in the student’s backpacks.

Yesterday, police found a young woman’s body. It was identified as Leah Walsh. Today, police arrested her husband for this horrible murder.

News media had been at the school since the start of the investigation. Children, teachers and administrators were not only feeling deepest grief for the loss of this young teacher but were also feeling uncomfortable with news media camping out.

HJMT’s advice was to hold a press conference after the police press conference at the school. Account Executive, Mike Kytoski prepared a media alert and sent the alert to all the news media.

At 12:30 pm, when Senior Account Executive, Allie Herzog and I got there today, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, 1010 wins, CBS Radio, Newsday, News 12 LI, Daily News, NY Post, Telemundo among many other reporters were already lined up waiting for the press conference. We worked very closely with the press to make sure that their needs were met but also making sure that school administrators felt comfortable with the process.

Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Ellenmorris Tiegerman and Director, Dr. Christine Radziewicz did a wonderful job telling reporters how they felt about Leah and how their heart goes out to her family and friends. They said that Leah was one of the warmest most energetic teachers and really cared about the children. “You need to be a very special person to help children with special needs and Leah was very special,” said Dr. Tiegerman.

Leah’s mother came into the school this morning and dropped off lolly pops to all of Leah’s students. Leah had 12 students and three other teachers in her classroom. There are 350 students at the School for Language and Communications Development.

Although I didn’t know Leah Walsh, I see what an impact she has made on the people around her and people who live in the community. The family has made a pledge to send donations to SLCD.org in her memory.

Three stooges… Three blind mice… Three legged race… What’s up with 3?

Is three a good number or a bad number? According to a Google search, “3″ is a good number. The majority of the entries say that good things come in 3′s!

But yet, I always thought the contrary. I think I’ve heard “bad things come in three’s,” more often than good things come in three’s!

Haven’t you heard, “two’s company, three’s a crowd?” or “when you hear of two accidents or deaths, there will be a third?”

Old wives tale? Maybe. But I started to reflect back on my life. My parents had three kids. My husband’s parents had three kids. My sister and I were born the day before my mother’s birthday (3?). My cousin, Josh, married a woman, Rose, who has the same birthday as well. (Now there are three on the same day….) Coincidence? Maybe…

I was thinking about three’s because a few months ago, I had knee surgery on the right leg — a meniscus repair as a result of a skiing accident out west. A month later, my sister had bunionette surgery on the right leg. (Sounds kind of pretty, huh? It wasn’t!) And about a week ago, my mother had skin cancer on the right leg. The cancer was removed but then she developed a major infection and she’s been in the hospital ever since. She had surgery yesterday to take out the infection and graph the leg. Was that a coincidence that we all had surgery on the same leg? Maybe…

This morning, I set my alarm for 5 am, got ready, packed up lunches for the kids and was on my way to NYC by 6 am. My friend, Matthiew Weiss, President of EO-NYC, told me about an event in NYC where Author, Seth Godin was speaking. Since I had never seen Godin and am an avid reader of his books, I wanted to go.

“You need to be there by 8 am the latest to get a good seat,” he said.

So there I was at 7:30 am at a local McDonald’s getting coffee eager to enter the hall in which Godin was speaking. I had just finished his latest book, TRIBES, last night and was anxious to hear his views on the subject. As I entered the hall, I met some business owners from Boston and New Jersey who were pretty interesting. I also got to meet the author and have him sign my book. (I bought three of his books for my staff and as a result was able to get free admission.)

In my book, he wrote, “Hilary! Lead us” and signed his name. I read that and smiled. It was well worth the long drive to get a nice endorsement like that!

The seminar was fantstic! Seth Godin talked about how the world is changing and how we used to buy ads in print, radio and tv and even developed viral marketing programs to interrupt people over and over again until they made a purchase. He said that those days are over. The good news, he says, is that organic systems are resurging — who will be there and who is going to lead? He also said that there is a dramatic shortage of leaders.

“Why do people buy?” he asked the crowd. “After they get food and shelter, in this economy people need to feel good!”

He talked about how tribes share common interest and explained that tribes and crowds are different because tribes are much more powerful, he said. “Tribes are longer lasting because they take longer to stick.”

In a tribe you just need a few dedicated people, he said. “You need to care only about the passionate ones!”

Seth Godin also discussed the difference between religion and faith saying that religion has far too many rules and faith is what you believe in.

He said if you want to be a leader, you need to:

* Challenge People

* Create a Culture

* Have Curiousity

* Be Charismatic (being charismatic does not make you a leader, if you are a leader you are charismatic)

* Connect people to each other

* Finally Commit to the Movement

The best take away that I got from the book, Tribes was this quote:

“The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Print a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow,” Godin writes.

Thanks Seth Godin for your inspiration… And of course, I purchased another two books that I hadn’t previously read…I’m excited to delve into these too!

During the last four years, I attended the Newsday Marching Band Festival at Hofstra University at the James M. Shuart Stadium. And every year I go, it seems like it gets colder and colder!

I attended the festival for two reasons — first, my daughter is a color guard in Long Beach High School and second, HJMT Communications, represented three school districts that participated — Sewanhaka Central High School District, Plainedge Schools and Carle Place Schools. And I, the school photographer, would get a press pass and shoot photos on the field.

This year’s 46th Annual Newsday Marching Band Festival started tonight and will run through October 23rd. All the bands were well rehearsed and together. I was very impressed. But, I’m impressed every year.

During the past few years, I went to the festival right from work, so I was often in a suit. This year, I had the luxury of going home first and changing into sweat pants and lots of sweaters under a down coat! We also wore hats, gloves and scarves. (It only took four years to realize what to wear!)

Whenever I go to the Newsday Marching Band Festival, I often think about my time in Long Beach High School wearing a silly uniform that made me look like a Q-tip! I found it so difficult to play the flute, march in sync and keep the Q-tip hat in place all at the same time. If I had the opportunity to be a color guard, I would have done that!

In any event, kudos to all the students who participated in this year’s 46th Annual Newsday Marching Band Festival! All of their hard work really paid off! (They went through some challenging times to get to this point, giving up weekends, evenings and even vacations!)