Tesar-Reynes

Last Winter I bristled at the thought that the naysayers would gain any ground in the fight to prevent Chicago from hosting the 2016 Olympics. Chicago is a great sports town. How could anyone be against bringing the Olympic games to the home of Michael Jordan, two professional baseball teams, and one of the NFL’s first franchises?

But a Tribune poll earlier this month has shown a significant sway in public opinion. While 61 percent of Chicagoans favored the Olympics last February, now only 47 percent support the Summer Games. That number should have gone up, not down. Chicago 2016 has a PR problem if I ever saw one.

Just weeks before the IOC makes their official decision, Chicago 2016 is launching a last-ditch …

Every 6 to 9 months we run into a stalker. This is a person who feels that we have no short term memory and should be reminded on a regular basis about how wonderful they are. The conversation, every 2-3 weeks, includes phases like the following.

• I just thought I would call to check in.
• What is new in the market?
• What are you working on that would fit my unique experience?
• Did you get the new resume (version 71.b) that I just sent?
• Is there anyone else in your company that you think I should talk to?
• I am going out of town for a week or two. Do you want me to check in when I get back?
• Do you see yourself getting any searches soon that would fit me?

Guess how fast this type of person wears out their welcome in our company.

John Kopchinski gets much respect from me for sticking to his ethics. A former sales representative for Pfizer, Kopchinski was given the ax several years ago after he filed a whistleblower lawsuit exposing the drugmaker’s shady marketing for the pain drug Bextra.

Bextra increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Unhappy with sales tactics, Kopchinski filed a “qui tam” lawsuit, leading to federal investigation and eventual felony charges against the pharmaceutical company. Pfizer didn’t pull the drug from shelves until two years after Kopchinski’s filing and subsequent firing.

At the time of filing, Kopchinski had a baby boy and his wife was pregnant with two kids. He went from making $125,000 a year to $40,000. He depleted his 401k just to make ends …

News came last week that Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) plans to cut 650 jobs over the next six months. Thoughts went out to my former coworkers at BCBS, where I did my first internship as a Web content editor. Even then, the health insurer had instituted a hiring freeze in their IT department, causing my summer internship to be extended 8 months but without the possibility of a position.

Did you know BCBS is actually considered a non-profit? Not in the traditional sense, of course, but they do enjoy some non-profit benefits because they are required by federal law to keep administrative costs below 12.5%. That means with all the hefty premiums they collect, summing up to billions, less than 12.5% can be devoted to expenses like payroll and …

Everything I have read talks about the change in the buyer behavior of this country. That our savings rates are back up and that spending is way down. I have tended to believe this until I heard an ad the other night for buying foreclosed real estate.

The ad intimated that whatever your credit, they could get you into the house of your dreams. Note to self: re-check the DVR, were you watching a new episode of CSI or was it one from early last year?

I came across this Yahoo article How to Protect Your Online Reputation this morning. Forbes writer Amanda Berlin details some nice tips on keeping track of your personal brand on the Web. With all the social networking going on, do you know what image you’re projecting?

Here’s a list of tips she recommends:

1. Google your name
2. Register your name as a domain and with social networks
3. Create a Google Alert for yourself

Searching for yourself is self-explanatory, but make sure to do an image search too. I’m pretty lucky to have a unique name like …

I have tuned out the whole debate. It is a waste of time. As a small business owner, I am acutely aware of the need for reform. BCBS graciously increased our rates by 57% this year. Our insurance guys shopped out our needs to other carriers to no avail. Nobody needs to tell me that a company with less than 10 people is like a fish in a barrel for any insurance company. It is painful and unfair.

I have turned off the debate because it is all hot air and political posturing right now. The media is not telling me news, it is telling me moves in the debate. And, in turn, most parts of the plan have not even reached the mark-up stage. …

It is a beautiful Friday here in Chicago. The temperature reads 80 degrees and the sun shines bright. Not a single cloud hangs over the city. I think I’ll head to the beach after I get this post out.

So, in celebration of good spirits, here’s the latest viral video craze. The Today Show featured this video of a wedding party dancing to Chris Brown’s Forever earlier this week, and it’s reached over 12 million hits already. (Thanks to my friend Sarah Bonkowski for tweeting this earlier in the week.)

Now that’s how you celebrate starting a new life with someone! How happy was that bride when she came out into the aisle? Amazing!

It’s a time of transitions for me. I’ve lived with my good friend Jeramiah …

I was talking to a good friend of mine in the banking regulation business. We were smiling over the fact that the Dow had broken 9,000. We were even talking about the possibility of “the boys taking a hiking trip in the Rockies”. I was pretty stoked about some good news. But then I am by nature, an optimist.

After a refreshing positive pause, we started talking about the crunch that is about to appear in commercial real estate. We wondered aloud about whether it would have much effect on the recovery. We decided it would have some, but “not too much”.

I was still in an okay mode until he talked about the fact that, since the banks are not lending the money like they should, and …

How do you handle stressful workplace situations where your own ethics come into question?

Recently, some friends and I discussed a very uncomfortable and unfortunate workplace incident over e-mail. One of us works as a financial advisor at a mid-sized office. He received word that 6 of his coworkers had been fudging numbers just to meet minimum productivity levels. They were found out and most likely will be fired.

I won’t get into the details of the situation, as I’d like to respect my friend’s privacy and the privacy of his firm. I think all of us encounter similar temptations in the workplace and can relate to similar circumstances. The extra pressure to perform can drive some to disillusionment. It may be tempting to fool yourself that you’re acting within moral grounds in the name of your position or family.

Another friend spoke …