Meeting with customers can be tough if you're walled off in a corporate office, like those at Vistaprint's US headquarters in Waltham, and most of your interactions take place online.
That's why Vistaprint president Trynka Shineman and her colleagues are hitting the road, with a 40-foot-long recreational vehicle, outfitted with a colorful Vistaprint-branded wrap on the outside and with meeting spaces inside.
The RV is setting up shop in a different city each week, giving Vistaprint teams an opportunity to meet with existing local customers and to land new ones. Vistaprint, the largest arm of Dutch company Cimpress, provides business cards, marketing materials, and other marketing products and services to small businesses.
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The 22-city tour kicked off in Waltham on May 31 and a crew heads to Cleveland next week with Shineman helping out at the RV from Tuesday through Thursday.
Sometimes, Vistaprint workers need to get creative to attract passersby. In Washington, D.C., for example, they noticed a lot of people walking dogs, so they put out water for the pooches, Shineman says.
Shineman says she's looking forward to the trip. When she meets with customers personally, they often become e-mail pen pals. She hopes to return home from Cleveland with a few more.
"That would be a great sign of success," Shineman said. "I'm fine with them reaching out [to me]. It's probably the favorite part of my job." — JON CHESTO
About that gender gap at the Redstone trial . . .
The men still outnumber the women — 37 to 6 — but that's what counts as progress in the legal battle over Sumner Redstone's $40 billion media empire.
At the first hearing, the dearth of female lawyers — just 2 out of 22 — prompted Norfolk probate Judge George Phelan to admonish participants by saying: "I'm wondering why there are not more female attorneys among us."
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Counsels got the message, and women were more visible last week. The plaintiffs — Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman and Boston lawyer George Abrams — brought a team that included one woman.
The defendants, primarily the Redstone family, featured two female litigators from Mintz Levin — Betsy Burnett and Wynter Deagle. Both of them represented Shari Redstone, whom Dauman and Abrams allege is exerting undue influence on her ailing 93-year-old father. Sumner and Shari Redstone want the case dismissed, or at the very least moved to a court in California where Sumner now lives.
Some of the other female attorneys include: Mia Frabotta of McCarter & English who is representing Phyllis Redstone, Sumner's ex-wife and Shari's mother; Inez Friedman-Boyce of Goodwin Procter, who is representing Redstone trustees Tad Jankowski and Jill Krutick; and Sara Jane Shanahan of Sherin and Lodgen, who is representing Keryn Redstone, one of Sumner's granddaughters.
— SHIRLEY LEUNG
Denterlein gets a new president
To PR maven Geri Denterlein, it's time to make some room for the next generation of business leaders in Boston.
Denterlein says that's one reason why she just promoted longtime lieutenant Diana Pisciotta to be president of the communications agency that bears her name. Pisciotta used to be Denterlein's executive vice president.
The two go way back: Pisciotta first worked with Denterlein at the former McDermott/O'Neill agency, fresh out of Boston College 20 years ago. After venturing out on her own in 2000, Denterlein hired Pisciotta within a year to join her then-new PR firm.
Now the firm has a team of about 25 people. The newest addition, Peter Howe, arrives this week as a senior advisor. Howe was most recently business editor at NECN for eight years, and was a Globe reporter before joining the Newton-based station.
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Denterlein says Pisciotta's promotion isn't about succession planning. Pisciotta's supervisory responsibilities will increase, Denterlein says, although she was already overseeing the day-to-day operations and remains integrally involved in strategy. Meanwhile, Denterlein says she's not going anywhere: She'll focus more on business development and talent acquisition as the firm's chief executive.
"Once you have the title of 'president' by your name, you can walk in a different circle in Boston," Denterlein said of the promotion. "It's important for those who are coming up the ladder to assume their rightful place in the city as leaders. They can't do it unless we give them the opportunities." — JON CHESTO
New ideas for old problem
The Boston College School of Social Work and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley are thinking big for their first partnership. As in, really big: ending family homelessness.
They aren't tackling the issue themselves, however. The nonprofit is offering up to $25,000 in prize money, plus technological and development help from the school, to up to three social service providers that come up with the most innovative yet practical ways to address the problem.
Startups need not apply, however. The hope is to nurture an idea that has been on the back burner at an established nonprofit, encouraging "intrapreneurship" from an group equipped to raise funds and devote staffing once a concept's off the ground, said Stephanie Berzin, codirector of the Center for Social Innovation at Boston College.
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Local heavy hitters such as Pine Street Inn, Horizons for Homeless Children, Birthday Wishes, and FamilyAid Boston are being encouraged to apply, along with hundreds of other nonprofits.
The partnership between United Way and Boston College is designed to encourage relationships between academia and service providers to address social problems, and a similar challenge will be issued every year.
"A contest like this says to an organization, let's take a risk," Berzin said. "In the nonprofit space, money is tied to what you do, not testing a big, bold idea." — KATIE JOHNSTON
Can't keep a secret? Tell us. E-mail Bold Types at boldtypes@globe.com.