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PBS President Paula Kerger Speaks to the Atlanta Press Club - Pt. 2

Jacqui — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:07:46 +0000

PBS President Paula Kerger Speaks to the Atlanta Press Club - Pt. 1

Jacqui — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:04:33 +0000

Happy Holidays from the Press Club!

Melanie Lasoff Levs — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:12:37 +0000

We at the Atlanta Press Club wish all of our members, sponsors, staff, board members and friends, as well as all of their loved ones, a joyous, peaceful, safe and memorable Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year.

We look forward to 2009!

And the winners are…

Melanie Lasoff Levs — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:10:47 +0000

Some of you have been asking, “Who won the GM Escalade Hybrid from the Holiday Author Party?!??!” Well, we have the answer…(drum roll)

I did!

Ok, not JUST me, but some great friends and I — also Atlanta Press Club members — who had planned a girlfriends’ getaway weekend for early January, won the use of the car.

During the holiday party, Fran Kaplan, Mickey Goodman, Kelly Watton and I made a video “pleading our case” for the Escalade. We stated that we and another friend and Press Club member, Blane Bachelor, were going to Jekyll Island and would GREATLY benefit from being able to drive all together. Taking one car is good for the environment, right? We also shared that we are a group of friends that span several decades…we range in age from the 30s to the 60s, which means a lot to all of us.

So thanks again to GM for sponsoring the Holiday Author Party…and for helping my friends and I enjoy a special trip together, no strings attached.

Happy Holidays!

Colleagues, Family Launch Foundation

Melanie Lasoff Levs — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:02:28 +0000

Colleagues and family members of Mike Kavanagh, anchor of News/Talk 750 WSB Radio, who died earlier this month at age 57, have launched a charitable foundation in his name. The Mike Kavanagh Foundation was founded by Lisa Campbell, Kavanagh’s longtime co-anchor and friend. Campbell will serve as managing director of the organization, which will serve three of Kavanagh’s favorite charities: Friends of Disabled Adults & Children; Hosea Feed the Hungry & Homeless; and Clark’s Christmas Kids. Kavanagh’s widow, Grace, will serve as co-chair and trustee of the Foundation. Mike Reiner and Woody Alpern of Capital Investment Advisors will serve as co-chairs.

For more information or to donate to the Foundation, visit its website here.

Please share your remembrances of Mike Kavanagh with us by commenting on this blog post. We at the Atlanta Press Club will keep his family and friends in our thoughts during what is sure to be a difficult holiday season.

Fantastic festivities at GA’s Big “Fish Bowl”

Melanie Lasoff Levs — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:37:51 +0000

Last night was the Atlanta Press Club’s annual Holiday Author Party, which featured 32 authors and 375 guests at the Georgia Aquarium. This year, unlike the first year we had our party at the aquarium, the “big fish bowl” was actually open for us before the party for guests to view the permanent exhibits and the current Titanic exhibition.

Thankfully, the erased the sense of melancholy we felt from the presentation of Titanic artifacts…guests mingled with each other and chatted with authors, who signed many books. We’re also excited to announce that, after expenses, we raised $15,000 — $9,000 of which was from the silent auction. Next week, we will announce who won the GM Hybrid Escalade.

Special thanks again to GM, for being the annual sponsor of the event. The Press Club and its board of directors also thanks Barnes & Noble, for selling books, and the Holiday Author Party committee for putting together a wonderful, festive event. And, as always, the board and Press Club members thank our amazing staff, Lauri Strauss and Elaine Hudson, and our interns, for serving us so well. Happy Holidays to all!

Shocking Passing of Mike Kavanagh

Melanie Lasoff Levs — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:01:48 +0000

The Atlanta media community mourns the untimely passing of WSB Radio’s Mike Kavanagh, who died Saturday of a heart attack in his Alpharetta home. Sadly, that day was also his birthday. He was 57.

Kavanagh, host of the radio show Money Matters, celebrated 40 years in TV and radio as of 2007, according to the WSB Radio website.

The Press Club sends condolences to his wife, Grace, his daughter, Melissa, and the rest of Kavanagh’s family and friends in the media community. He will be missed.

GM responds to Turner Comments

admin — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:59:43 +0000

Auto industry executives are engaged in another round of Congressional hearings appealing for a bailout. While many Atlanta Press Club members are covering the hearings and other aspects of the fragile economy, others have their own opinions of what is happening to our nation’s finances.

A few weeks ago during an Atlanta Press Club Newsmakers lunch, media mogul Ted Turner ridiculed the industry’s bailout proposal. Though there was some applause from the audience over his comments, several employees of General Motors Corp., an APC sponsor, were present and took exception. Moderator Tom Johnson invited anyone in the room from GM, which has donated $15,000, to the APC this year, to respond to Turner’s remarks. So GM representatives sent along these statistics from a recent Center for Automotive Research (CAR) report on how the economy would be impacted if the “Detroit Three” (i.e. General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co.) reduced by 50 percent its overall employment and production:

The potential loss of 2.5 million jobs in 2009, with 240,000 coming from automakers; 800,000 from suppliers; 1.4 million others due to the “ripple effect”
A reduction in personal income by more than $125 billion in the first year, with a total loss of $275 billion over the course of three years
A loss to state and federal governments of $50 billion in 2009, or about $108 billion over three years.

Locally, the closing of GM’s Bill Heard dealership meant the loss of 2,700 jobs in the Atlanta area, according to GM representatives.

For more information on GM’s request for federal assistance, click here.

So Long, Atlanta Peach

Melanie Lasoff Levs — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:02:30 +0000

I was a big fan of this magazine, run by a great publisher, Elizabeth Shulte Roth. According to the AJC article, HR reps from its parent company visited Atlanta Peach’s Buckhead office yesterday and informed them of the magazine’s demise, citing the current economic climate.

These current times have been extremely hard on our industry. Best wishes to Roth and the entire Atlanta Peach staff, just the latest talented casualties.

Mumbai, in Person

Melanie Lasoff Levs — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:24:39 +0000

Atlanta Business Chronicle reporter URVAKSH KARKARIA was in Mumbai last week for what was to be one of the most joyous times of his life — his wedding and reception. But on the last day of the festivities, disaster struck. Karkaria shared his personal account of the devastating terror attacks on the city in his hometown newspaper, The Florida Times-Union, this past weekend.

He and his bride were to stay at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower the night the assault began, Wednesday, November 26. “”Had the terrorist assault on the Taj begun a couple of hours later,” he writes, “I might not have been around to write this.”

Thanks to Atlanta Press Club member Mitch Leff’s Atlanta media blog for the tip. Visit Leff’s Atlanta Media here.