My Day with the Chocolatier

Shawn Askinosie is much more than just a chocolate maker.

As a lover of all things chocolate, I expected to taste some of Shawn’s work as I followed him May 5 for Springfield Business Journal’s annual Day in the Life series. What I didn’t expect was his level of commitment.

#SBJ4040: A party with purpose

It was a party with a cause last night as Springfield Business Journal celebrated the 2015 class of 40 Under 40.

With nearly 450 in attendance, the Ramada Plaza Hotel & Oasis Convention Center played host to the 17th annual awards ceremony, which honored individuals under the age of 40 for their personal accomplishments in civic and professional arenas. And true to form, the office phone rang nonstop yesterday as people clamored for last-minute tickets to the sold-out event.

FD’s Grill House of magical wonder

The words just flow off the digital page: “Jared Enterprises,” “being constructed,” and “nearest location.”

So intriguing.

How about this line: “The restaurant’s menu would feature a range of blackened, fried and grilled fish options, as well as steaks, burgers, ribs, pies and salads.”

My Day with the President

Unlike my Day in the Life subject last year, Clif Smart never offered me a beer.

Having followed the Missouri State University president on Twitter for some time, I knew Clif had a sense of humor, but I didn’t know what to expect in a professional office setting. So, when I met him bright and early at 7:20 a.m. April 21 for Springfield Business Journal’s Day in the Life series, I was ready for anything.

D12: Heroes in the house

Superman, Iron Man, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Batman and Batgirl walk into a room. The start of a hilariously nerdy joke or reality at last night’s Springfield Business Journal Dynamic Dozen event?

Maybe a little of both.

My Day with the Beer Baron

If I were a betting woman, I would have laid money on the idea that if I spent a day with Springfield beer baron Jeff Schrag, at some point, he would offer me a beer.

I would have won that bet and, had I not been on assignment, I would have happily taken that beer, or two, or three he offered.

Pride In Publishing

I’ve had a lot of practice during the last couple of years with my elevator speech on what it means to be the publisher for Springfield Business Journal. I’m fortunate to have a great deal of variety in my job, so my speech varies a bit as well. However, I don’t get to take much credit for great content. That’s our editorial staff hard at work. Likewise, I can’t take much credit for those weekly print editions with growing page counts, or what we like to call “plop factor.” That’s evidence that the advertising staff is doing their job making sure we have the support we need to produce more pages.

CMYK: SBJ staff gets behind-the-scenes look at printing plant

Journalists bleed CMYK.

The basic building blocks of all printed products – cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink – can’t be replaced by a collection of pixels on a screen.

I’m no stranger to mobile devices. In fact, I consume more news each morning via my iPad than during the remaining hours of the day combined, but the format is out of necessity, not desire.

Mourning the Biz Dinosaurs

It seems odd that I should feel nostalgic about a company that sells its products via door-to-door salesmen given that the practice seems to me to be, on the whole, intrusive. But I do.

The full story is often hard to tell

I’ve been with the Springfield Business Journal for about six weeks now, and in that short time, I’ve been fortunate to work on several memorable stories. One such story was the very first one I wrote: Franchisee breaks away from LaMar’s.