Dec 04

Every
now and then, toss a few pebbles of caring into your
pond of contacts. Those ripples of friendship will spread
and unfailingly return to you in waves of appreciation
and loyalty.

Especially
at this time of year, we all need to rediscover, like
Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," the giddy
delight of perpetrating on unsuspecting humanity some
random acts of kindness, some senseless acts of joy.

*
* * * *

If
you would like to share Shaya's story of joy with anyone
you know, you certainly have my permission to forward
this e-mail to as many people as you wish, to spread
a little cheer yourself and honor the spirit of the
season.

I'd
like to tell you something else that's very special about Gary.
Every Thanksgiving he sends a large, solid gold coin to someone
who has affected his life in a positive way.

And
one of the things of which I am most proud is... Gary sent me
one of these coins back in the 90's. Unfortunately, due to earthquakes,
floods, hurricanes, and the other discombobulations of my life,
I no longer have that coin. But, to me, that doesn't really matter.
What DOES matter is the memory of knowing a man such as Gary Bencivenga
held me in enough esteem to bestow me with that gold coin. That's
about as high an honor to which a person like me can aspire.

Anyway,
he publishes a monthly newsletter on the Internet called "Bencivenga
Bullets" and everybody in marketing should be reading them
(and printing them for their fodder file). Even though Gary's
"Bullets" are free... they are truly invaluable. You
can find them at www.BencivengaBullets.com.

Next
year (2005) Gary is hosting a seminar in New York City. John Carlton
will be there. So will Scott "Mongo" Haines. And yes,
I will be there too. (Along with many other "celebrity"
marketers.) But, each of us will be there as attendees... not
as participants. So don't bother asking any of us questions. We'll
be too busy ourselves taking notes and learning from one of the
handful of true living legends of copywriting and marketing.