StickNews

From: Michael Kollwitz [michael@michaelkollwitz.com]
Subject: February 2007 Newsletter
Date: 02/02/2007

Holy cow! It's already February. My oh my- where does the time go? At any rate, I hope that 2007 has started off well for both you and yours. It's certainly been exciting around here so far! Here's what's happened:

Many of you have met my 13 year old daughter, Kimberly, over the years because she regularly accompanies me to many of the summer festivals I've performed at. If you have met her, you already know what a great kid she is and that's why I wanted to share this story with you.

It all started right after the Christmas holiday while Kimberly was here visiting. She got the opportunity to attend the humongous Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, so we put her on a plane to Las Vegas where she met up with them there. Mind you- CES is the world's largest trade show with roughly 140,000 in attendance and over 2700 vendors represented- everything from Microsoft and Intel to even the smallest of companies. Her aunts, uncles and grandparents have been involved in the industry for many years and thought it would be a great experience for her and her two cousins from Palmdale, CA. Boy- were they ever right!

On the first day of the show, Kimberly and her two cousins- Beth & Sarah- CA were waiting outside of the building where Bill Gates was to give his opening KeyNote speech. All three were working on their Tablet PCs when a reporter from Associated Press approached them. He asked many questions and took photos of them. Lo and behold- the very next day the story (and photos) goes out on the AP's wires and appears in the business section of hundreds of daily newspapers nationwide! The story and photos also appeared in several European newspapers and even as far away as Brazil! How exciting.

After the show, Kimberly returns to Arizona and the next thing you know, ABC News in Phoenix picks up on it and writes a news story about her and her cousin's techie website: http://www.NeekTalk.com . As it turns out, manufacturers like Intel Corp. and Microsoft are very interested in their opinions on what to consider when designing future products. Who would have thunk it?

A few days ago, the story was also picked up by a half dozen daily newspapers throughout the State of Arizona- from Tucson to Prescott to Flagstaff and others. How amazing! I talked to Kimberly last night and Channel 12 News in Phoenix had just called- they want to interview her, as well. So whaddya think of that?

Of course, we're all beaming with pride. Turns out I have not one, but two super techno kids. Am I lucky or what? If you'd like to read the initial story put out by ABC News in Phoenix, you'll find it here: http://www.abc15.com/news/morenews/index.asp?did=32972

Boy oh boy- if only I could get this kinda publicity, I'd be in hog heaven!

All the best,

~Michael Kollwitz

Chapman Stick performer
http://www.MichaelKollwitz.com
http://www.MySpace.com/MichaelKollwitzbr>