Page 2 - TOB Magazine March/April 2013

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TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2013
Put a little TED in your life...
PUBLISHER’S LETTER BY ed o’connor
TED? As a kid, there was Ted, my bear, boyhood hero
Ted Williams; later in life, there was Ted Kennedy, Ted
Koppel, Ted Turner and the infamous Ted Bundy along
with legions of other Teds. TED, today’s “It” is an acronym
for “Technology Entertainment Design.” TED came into
focus for me while mindlessly scanning radio stations in
my pickup truck. I was captivated by the author, Elizabeth
Gilbert’s, TED presentation on NPR. Her subject: “Your
Elusive Creative Genius.”
Yours truly is frequently accused of hyperbole. I use words
like “great,” “terrific,” “fantastic” and “extraordinary” to
describe even the most ordinary. Our editor-in-chief works
to wean me from my tendency to puff up the mundane, and
she reports some modest, hard-won improvement. Before a
complete conversion to a less hyperbolic adjectival style, I
request one further indulgence: applause for the absolutely
wonderful, fantastic, terrific, extraordinary “Your Elusive
Creative Genius” presentation by Elizabeth Gilbert. You
may listen to this wonderfully entertaining, insightful and
poignant 17-minute presentation by Googling “Elizabeth
Gilbert—TED.”
There are days when life’s drone is filled with the FDA’s
“no can do,” “can do,” “don’t know if you can do” and “won’t
tell you even if known;” days when closed-minded “anti’s”
refuse the benefits of harm reduced tobacco products
shouting uninformed epithets from their soapboxes; days
when we get fined by the TTB while moving inventory
in the back of the store, while our staff in a moment of
inattention or while waiting on a customer allows a minor
to enter the premises. These are the days in need of a
prescription, a curative.These are the days you need to tune
into “Your Elusive Creative Genius.”
In his TED presentation, “Schools Kill Creativity,”
Sir Ken Robinson speaks of the “gift of the human
imagination.” When next overcome by a world “too much
with us,” consider a “riveting talk by remarkable people.” It’s
free! Go towww.TED.com.Listen to Sir Robinson hold
forth on schools and creativity. I promise you good laughs,
maybe a cry. You’ll change, moving from an arid moment
of concern to the great plain of a stimulating thought.This
prescription is for you. Please accept it as our special gift.
Thank you for all of the good things you do…
Good selling,