Latest Client Press Release (blogified version): Hallenbeck Celebrates 15 Years in NH

Hallenbeck Celebrates 15 Years in NH ; Relocates HQ to Larger Space

MANCHESTER, NH — Look behind the best sales people in New Hampshire and chances are good there will be one man: Kevin Hallenbeck.

As a sales force development expert, Kevin Hallenbeck consults business owners and CEOs to organize and train their sales teams. As the owner of the New Hampshire office of Sander Training, he's celebrating his 15th anniversary and expanding to a new, larger headquarters in downtown Manchester.

Since 1994, Hallenbeck has consulted with scores of firms across the state, from small businesses to national and multinational corporations. He leads regular seminars every week for his clients in Manchester and Portsmouth. In addition, he runs free introductory “Executive Briefings” on timely and topical issues once a month in Manchester. (His next seminar, “Selling in a Challenging Economy,” is Nov. 17, 12-2PM. Lunch is provided!)

The company’s new location is at 55 South Commercial Street in Manchester, offering a more central location for his clients and a 30% larger footprint to support the continued growth of the business.

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On Tuesday, December 15th, there will be an open house for clients; other building tenants and media are also invited to attend.

About Kevin Hallenbeck

Kevin Hallenbeck is Principal of Sandler Training, a national consulting firm specializing in business development strategies, sales, and sales management training. In 2008, out of over 225 franchisees, he received the top company’s top honor, the David H. Sandler Award. He holds a B.S. from the University of Michigan and an M.S. in Engineering from Murray State University. Active in church, community, and professional organizations, including the Manchester and Concord Chambers of Commerce and the New Hampshire High Tech Council, he lives with his wife Diane and their five children in Bedford, NH.

Want to know more about him? Visit his LinkedIn profile.

Don't Forget to Vote! (Cheat sheets below!)

Ahhhh, local elections. Yes, all the stupid signs on the sides of the roads mean it's time once again for you to totally mean to cast your ballot, except that you're so busy with soccer practices and grocery shopping and you don't even know who these jokers are anyway, and what difference does it make anyway, so you don't vote.

Well, I can't help you with the groceries or ferrying the kids around, but if you're hung up on not knowing any of the names in today's Portsmouth city elections, you've come to the right place.

Of course, you want to do your research to find the candidates whose priorities and philosophies are most aligned with your own. The local papers did a good job interviewing the candidates (or at least getting them to fill out their questionnaires) so check them out.

Lots of articles and q&a with candidates from the Herald is here: Portsmouth Herald election coverage

A quick overview of the election from Foster's is here: Foster's election coverage

The city of Portsmouth web site has all the information you might need to know about your ward's voting locations here: http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/CityClerk/voteinfo.htm

Even more fun is my pal Dan Freund's youtube-style video interviews with the candidates. Go here for those: http://www.shortstream.tv/v3/localelections Unfortunately not all the candidates are there, but most of them are. Good job Dan!

Haven't got time to do all that research? There are cheat sheets! Hooray for cheating! The Portsmouth Taxpayers Association does the best job of distributing sample ballots with their picks filled in. You can take it into the booth with you, if you're so inclined. Personally, I find the APT picks tend to be opposite of my inclinations, and oppose those whom the school supporters, for example, would pick. (Yes, that's code for Republican vs. Democrat, although these seats are officially non-affiliated.)

There are other cheat sheets, too, if you look for them. For example, in the local paper, I found that the police are endorsing incumbents Nancy Novelline Clayburgh, Laura Pantelakos, and Ken Smith, as well as newbies Ryan Baker and Bob Lister.

Or you could simply ask your friends, neighbors, and co-workers who they like. There's no shame in that. Heck, it's a small town, and some of your friends might actually know the candidates personally. They may have even had some good ol' fashioned dust-ups with one of them, like my pal Erik's well-taken issues with Councilor Smith.

If you trust the editors of the Portsmouth Herald implicitly, you can use their endorsements as your guide: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20091029-OPINION-910290399


And if you'd like to simply crib off of me, here's my cheat sheet:

Bob Lister. Well qualified and well liked former school superintendent, he's my pick for mayor.

Jerry Hejtmanek. Lots of experience both civic and corporate, forward-thinking on issues like sustainability.

Laura Pantelakos. In the vein of Evelyn Sirrell and Eileen Foley, a longtime councilor, great for her institutional knowledge and old-school Portsmouth values.

Chris Dwyer. Incumbent doing a good job, leader for arts and affordable housing.

Eric Spear. Incumbent doing a good job, good ideas plus youthful energy.

Write-in: Former Mayor Steve Marchand. We sure could use his leadership again about now.

Write-in: Unofficial mayor of downtown, Dave Campbell, AKA "The Wine Guy" or to me, "Dad." He's too modest to run officially, but I think he'd do a great job.

Hint: As veteran of many of these elections, I'll tell you that while there are 9 seats on the city council, you do NOT have to vote for 9. Don't hem and haw over seats 7, 8, and 9 if you don't know any of the names remaining. Better is to vote for only those with whom you feel comfortable. Remember, if you only vote for say, 5, then you've distanced those 5 from the rest of the pack, giving them a better chance to be elected. (Indeed, since the top vote-getter for council becomes mayor, you've given them a better chance to be elected mayor, too, FWIW.)

As for the school board, here's a good overview of the candidates from the Herald. Another good crash-course on the school board is here, where each is asked if we should level-fund the schools again. Most years level-funding equals a cut, and I'm not willing to compromise our schools.

My cheat sheet for School Board then is:

Chellman, Ellis, Serlin, Stevens, and Kent LaPage for his longevity, experience, and I'll take him at his word when he said in the Herald: "I will not send a wasteful budget ever to the City Council. But I also will no longer send any program reduction to the children of Portsmouth and SAU 50."

Fire Commission has 2 candidates for 2 slots, so fill them in or not, it makes no difference.

Police Commission has 3 candidates for 2 slots. Here I'm voting for Jerry Howe and letting the chips fall where they may.

IMPORTANT! Polls close at 7PM so most of you have plenty of time to get there after work. And if you don't happen to be registered to vote yet in Portsmouth, you MAY do so at the polls. So no excuses, get out there and do your civic duty already!

Then, tonight you can watch as they tally and announce the winners. You can root for your picks just like in fantasy football!

eCoast companies named finalists for MITX Awards

Always love to see NH-based companies competing successfully with Boston-based companies. Got my e-mail from MITX the other day announcing the finalists for their annual web awards, and as I scrolled down, right there with the likes of big-city heavyweights like Digitas, Sapient, Arnold, Mullen, and Molecular, I saw Portsmouth's own PixelMedia and Mad*Pow.

I hope all companies in the NH seacoast area realize the level of talent right that exists right here in their own backyard when they bid out for web development projects. But I know they don't. And that they think they need to go to the cities for the high-level professional jobs. This is why I blog about it. ;-)

Review all the finalists here: http://www.mitxawards.org/interactive/Finalists.aspx

Happy Anniversaries!

Happy Anniversary to...

...My old pal Brigham Pendleton, who is celebrating his 10th year of operating Brigham Pendleton Design. Brigham and I go way back to Flywire days, back when it was still VisuaLink Technologies, where he was employee #2 and I was employee #3. Good to see he's learned a thing or two from me about the value of PR; his press release was picked up in a nice blurb in the Portsmouth Herald. The new site looks good, too, with a distinctly 2.0 look and feel to it.

...The crew at PixelMedia, who celebrated their 15th anniversary this week with a soiree at their new digs on Pease. Of course, 15 years is like 60 in Internet time, so this is no small feat. Congrats to TJ and Erik and the whole gang. I'm waiting or the looking-back video to hit YouTube so I can link it; it was historical and it was hysterical. Great to see Evan Karatzas and Tom Cochiarro there, too.

...My new friend Kevin Hallenbeck, who has been training the best sales people in New Hampshire now for 15 years. In fact, that's his web URL: www.bestsalespeople.com. Kevin will be celebrating his crystal anniversary by launching a marketing campaign (with help from yours truly) and by moving into a new, larger space in Manchester.

Of course, marking an anniversary is an excellent publicity hook for companies, especially those that tend to work behind the scenes and out of the spotlight. To celebrate an anniversary immediately generates buzz about your company, and it validates you as a legitimate player in your market because you've stood the test of time. Business newspapers and magazines are likely to give you a blurb marking the occasion, and sometimes you can parlay that interest into a feature story. Your 5th, 10th, 15th, or 20th anniversary is also a great time to throw a little party for your staff, clients, etc. Ideally, you hold it in your office space, like Pixel did, where you can casually show off your people and your work. Don't be afraid to get creative with it, either; my dad, AKA The Wine Guy at Ceres Street Wine, made up special t-shirts that celebrated his "10th Wineversary."

Portsmouth Company Sold

Congrats to Portsmouth firm BeyondTrust on its successful sale to California-based Symark. This was reported by Jackie Noblett in Mass High Tech yesterday. The deal closed August 19th and as you can see from BeyondTrust's web site, the company has decided to adopt the BeyondTrust brand. This sale represents yet another feather in the caps of Eric Voskuil and John Moyer, who previously co-founded DesktopStandard (formerly AutoProf) and sold it to a little company called Microsoft in 2006. BeyondTrust was a spin-out company born out of that sale, and now it too has been sold -- a neat (and profitable) trick to be sure. Most importantly, according to correspondent Dave Choate in today's Portsmouth Herald, the Portsmouth location will retain its employees at its Brewery Lane location.
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Cocchiaro Sacked!

When he told me on Friday morning, you could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather. Aside from peeling his face off and announcing he was an evil space alien, it was the last thing I expected him to say. After 15 years at the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, Tom Cocchiaro was officially a local institution, so for him to be let go unceremoniously on a random Thursday in August was certainly a surprise to anyone who has worked with him. Even worse, it was a total surprise to him. If you read the account in the Portsmouth Herald, that is pretty clear.

What isn't clear is why. We just had a terrifically successful eCruise (that's Tom, topside) that Tom had planned and managed. The Chamber annual dinner held just a couple weeks ago was a big hit, too, from all reports. It could simply be a cost-cutting move for the Chamber, and we'll know that soon if his replacement is conspicuously young and affordable. Which is fine, I suppose, as long as you realize that his experience and institutional knowledge (he had worked under, what, 5 or 6 different directors?) can not be replaced.

What's also unclear is the effect this will have on the eCoast organization in general. Tom was essentially the point man for most of the eCoast programs, and the last time the Chamber sacked our main contact (Ginny Griffith), the eCoast was almost scuttled completely.

In the end, of course, this an opportunity for Tom. He's bright, creative, articulate, professional, and highly connected. I know I'll keep him in mind for projects and positions going forward, and so should you.

iCruise + uCruise = eCruise!

Last Thursday evening ~225 high-tech businesspeople, both local and from away, clambered aboard the MV Thomas Laighton for a 3-hour cruise. After a year's hiatus, this was the triumpant return of the eCruise, our yearly floating eBrew. Despite the fact that I was on the planning committee for this excursion (full disclosure), I am happy to report that the eCruise was a resounding success! Many beers and businesscards were exchanged with a backdrop of pretty views and refreshing ocean breezes--what better way to spend a nice summer's evening?

We departed a bit later than we expected (about 5:55PM) but we had to get our sea-legs under us right quick. In past years, we were content to stay in the harbor, hug the coastline, or even go up river, which disappointed the more adventurous eCruisers. But this year, our captain announced at the outset that the seas were calm, so we'd be heading straight out to the Isles of Shoals. We soon found "calm" to be a relative term, with eCruisers stumbling across all 3 decks, surfing from chairs to railings to poles for support as the steamer chugged out to sea at a steady clip, ignorant of the waves and the mostly landlubber crew.

Once we arrived our our destination, though, we lingered leisurely along the rocky crags of Appledore, Smuttynose, and Star Islands. I overheard many remarking that they had never actually been to the Isles and what a treat is was to finally see them up close. The return trip was steady-as-she-goes, with a pretty sunset lighting the way. (See more pictures on Flickr and Facebook.)

Thanks To: All of our sponsors, but especially Chris King (pictured) of SEEDA for being not only the major sponsor but also opening his tab for yours truly and several other grateful folks. This was SEEDA's party and we were all along for the ride.

Cool Factor: Off the Wall handed out multi-color-glowing name tags, which quickly became the most coveted tchotchke onboard. These trumped the early favorite Pokens, which were cool but made a late appearance.

Nice to Meet: The Off the Wall folks, Pam from BBJ/MHT, Rebecca from Global Technical Talent, and everyone else. What can I say, it was a good crew!

Surprise Hit: I don't eat fungus, but apparently the sausage-stuffed mushrooms (courtesy of Galley Hatch) were knocking everybody out.

RIP: The lens cap to Melanie's Canon Rebel XTi, knocked overboard and lost at sea.

Loved: The nifty tote bags, emblazoned with the eCruise logo and all the sponsors.

Raffle-osity: How does one guy win three (3!) major prizes, including the much-coveted Netbook? I call shenanigans! ;-)

$: Financially, the trip was solidly in the black for the Chamber, thereby ensuring the eCruise will return next summer.

After-Party: Scandalous!

Programming Note: There will be NO AUGUST EBREW. But if a few folks wanted to meet at the Coat for pint night, I'm always up for that.