FEEDBACK
global economy. People need
to be shown the rocks in the
road along our path.
stEVE trAsh
Frog pond, aLaBaMa
stevetrashrockinecohero@
gmail.com
already solved many of
the world’s problems. We
take McDonough’s vision
and try to apply it to our
daytoday work.
nAnCY hirshBErG
Londonderr Y, new haMpshIre
ah, how the media love
to create celebrity deities—
and then topple them! Yes,
McDonough is a “mortal
messiah.” Anyone who has
worked with him (as we
have at Stonyfield) knows
that he has strengths and
weaknesses. But what a
tragedy if you let his
shortcomings overshadow
his phenomenal gift to the
world. If it were as easy as
most visionaries seem to
make it, we would have
this is a story that should
have been told three years
ago. But if you’re in the
business, you can’t afford
to criticize him.
jon DoUGAl
Lake Forest, ILLInoIs
jondougal@gmail.com
environment where the
consumer can simply skip
over their messages. Utilizing
popculture icons to produce
advertising that actually has
substance is more refresh
ing than Fred Astaire
dancing with a vacuum.
MAtt GAlE
okeMos, MIchIgan
mwjcg@hotmail.com
Computer Crime
this is a great article (“To
Catch a Thief,” November
2008), though I was sur
prised that Gadget Trak,
one of the popular compa
nies in this space, wasn’t
included. It deals with
computers, PDAs, cell
phones, the whole deal.
MiKE DonoVAn hAUslEr
portLand, oregon
mike@geredonovan.com
the Joker
i really enjoyed Josh Dean’s
story (“Family Values,”
November 2008). It will be
interesting to see how adver
tisers will transition to an
updates
Off the Runway There’s no shortage of drama at Liz
Claiborne (“Project Rehab,” April 2008). On election
night, Michelle Obama wore a blackandred dress
by Narciso Rodriguez. Unfortunately for Liz CEO
William McComb, he had just ended the company’s
relationship with the designer. But Liz will have a
moment in the limelight this month, when Isaac
Mizrahi unveils his first line for the brand. Think
“color therapy,” McComb says. —DANIELLE SACkS
the power of presentation
as a college student, I see
my share of PowerPoints
(Made to Stick, November
2008) with too many bullet
points and too much clip
art. My professors should
read this article. If they
did, they would understand
that effective PowerPoint
presentations focus on
the main ideas and feature
images specific to them,
and I might just pay
attention in class long
enough to learn.
trACiE DAViDson
san dIego, caLIFornIa
tdavidso@rohan.sdsu.edu
my firm uses similar software
for managing our clients’
computers. Laptops have
been stolen, and while the
New York Police Department
did assign detectives to the
case, recovering stolen
laptops isn’t on their priority
list. Don’t believe everything
you see on Law & Order.
Morris tABUsh
new York, new York
mtabush@tabush.com
The Next Pixar?
“What we’re doing will
blow people away,” pre
dicted Travis Knight when
we visited the set of 8dgVa^cZ
at Laika Entertainment,
the fatherandson studio
owned by Nike cofounder
Phil Knight (“The Knights’
Tale,” July/August 2007).
Travis could be right. The
film’s 3 D stopmotion ani
mation, an industry first,
is dazzling—and timeconsuming. “Dear God, it’s
hard,” Travis told the audience at a New York screen
ing in November. When the nearly $70 million movie
opens nationwide on February 6, we’ll see if Laika,
now with more than a dozen films in development,
is a worthy challenger to Pixar. —CHUCk SALTEr
i will go postal if I am
forced to watch a presenta
tion where the speaker
shows a million slides with
a million words, reads the
million words, and then
passes out a handout of
the million slides with the
million words. I am a
graphic designer, and people
want me to produce their
million words on a million
slides with bad art. They
don’t want me to help them
design a presentation that
won’t make people run to
the door. Next time, I’m
going to say, “Wait, let me
see your business card. Does
it say graphic designer?”
That would be fun.
KAthE stoEpEl
chIcago, ILLInoIs
koff52@comcast.net
What Fliers Really Want
of course, it’s nice to have
“happy” colors in airport
terminals (Fast Talk,
November 2008). But what
really makes us happy as
travelers is improvements
in baggage handling
(including promptly getting
luggage to the baggage area),
fewer extra fees, and
reasonable ticket prices.
l AUr A hAth AWAY
huntIngton Beach, caLIFornIa
lhathaway@
thepegasusschool.org
Movie poster: courtesy of Focus Features 2008
fast fixes In the November
2008 issue, we misspelled
the name of photographer
Matthias Clamer. In the
same issue, in “In Your
Eyes,” we incorrectly stated
the number of human
rights videos that have been
uploaded to the Hub. The
correct number is 1,442.
We regret the errors.
