FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 23, 2003
The accounting and business consulting firm of David B. Robinson, CPA is pleased to announce that the firm’s principal, David Robinson, was recently hosted in New York City for four days by a group of business and radio executives to promote and network Mr. Robinson’s idea for an Entrepreneurial Zine, a publication to promote entrepreneurial thoughts and concepts to young people, and to discuss the return to the airwaves of his radio show, The Entrepreneurs’ Hour Radio Show™.
“I’ve made no secret that passion and enthusiasm in the marketplace are the key ingredients to starting, and then making, a company of any size successful,” said Mr. Robinson, “and one way to foster the growth of future entrepreneurs is to communicate with them on their own level. In fact, it’s mandatory.”
In January, Mr. Robinson‘s company, the largest accounting firm in Midlothian, Virginia, a suburb of Richmond, published a small booklet "Tales, Ideas, and Quotes From a greatcpa™ .” The booklet was an effort to inspire young people (14 to 25) about entrepreneurialism but is also an interesting and creative read for people of all ages who are interested in the passion necessary to be a successful business owner.
The booklet offered an extensive amount of entrepreneurial ideas, business, investment and financial advice, inspirational and motivational quotes and a few true stories that Mr. Robinson and staff members wrote. The information is conveyed on the level that Mr. Robinson feels that young people will identify with as a representation of their own interests.
“In Richmond, our little Zine was received very well in the Chesterfield and Henrico County high schools, in the high schools of the City of Richmond, at Virginia Commonwealth University, at Randolph-Macon College and at The University of Richmond, but I wanted to see if it had appeal on a national level, which apparently, it does.”
Mr. Robinson is the host and creator of The Entrepreneurs’ Hour Radio Show™, a live radio show that aired 280 episodes from 1998 to 2002 on several different Richmond radio stations. The show does not currently air on any station, but it is and has always been Mr. Robinson’s goal to syndicate the show nationally.
“We aired the show in Richmond for two years on the RadioRichmond stations under the tutelage of Michael Mazursky and then for a little over a year on WXGI, America’s oldest country station but last August it was time to re-direct the show to take it away to bring it back at some point, bigger and better than ever,” said Mr. Robinson. “The combination of the issuance of future issues of ‘Tales, Ideas, and Quotes From a greatcpa™’ with a syndicated radio show gives the issuance of entrepreneurial battlecrys an unusual combination. The radio show will promote the Zine and the Zine will promote the radio show,” he continued.
On Thursday, April 17th, hundreds of Zines were distributed one-on-one to passersby in Time Square at the height of business rush hour, 5:00 p.m. Excitement was created by staging, according to Mr. Robinson, “little artistic play to attract attention.“ Mr. Robinson, under the direction of his hosts, enlisted other people to also stage dramas to create the excitement that was necessary to prompt people to ask to be given a Zine. A celebratory dinner was sponsored by Hakata at 230 West 48th Street.
On Friday, April 18th, hundreds of Zines were distributed to young people in the off-Broadway clubs of New York City through a network established by Mr. Robinson’s hosts. Celebratory dinners were sponsored by Iguana New York at 240 West 54th Street and The Slaughtered Lamb Beer Bar at 182 West 4th Street.
On Sunday, April 20th, hundreds of Zines were distributed by Mr. Robinson, and people enlisted to help him, to passersby during the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade.
Of the approximately 1,000 Zines that were taken to New York by Mr. Robinson, only one souvenir copy--signed by many of the individuals that sponsored and/or helped him--was left undistributed.
At present, Mr. Robinson expects to receive sponsorships, both on a local and regional basis, for the publication of the next issue of "Tales, Ideas, and Quotes From a greatcpa™” from both Richmond and New York entities. Mr. Robinson has been invited to return to New York for two speaking engagements and expects to enter into a marketing and networking partnership with WCBS NewsRadio88. WCBS is a 50,000 watt AM station at 880 on the AM dial. It is usually able to be heard in Richmond in the evenings through its very strong signal.
“I’ve been listening to WCBS almost every night in Richmond since I was given my first transistor radio when I was a little boy; to partner with NewsRadio88 would be a dream come true,” Mr. Robinson said.
“A partnership with WCBS to bring the show and/or its content to WCBS would be wonderful, especially if simulcast with a Richmond Station. We have a lot of work to do to coordinate getting The Entrepreneurs’ Hour Radio Showä back on the air, but I am confident that it will happen, at some point, given WCBS’ need for 24 hour, 7 day-per-week, original programming that fits their ‘all news’ format. WCBS also presents The WCBS/Chase Small Business Breakfast Series and I hope to be an official part of that in the very near future,” stated Mr. Robinson. These professionally managed and very well attended seminars are presented at The Regent Wall Street Hotel in New York City.
Zines are paperback booklets with small press runs of 10 to 10,000. They usually deal with obscure or unusual subjects, or they're about the life of the publishers. A Zine is not defined by its topic so much as its funkiness, its personality and its lack of pretension. The word "Zine" evolved not from the word "magazine," but from the word "fanzine," a term that dates back to the science fiction fanzine booklets of the 1930s and '40s. Much of the format, language and style of those Zines is still alive today in Zines written about a variety of subjects. Most of the Zines published in the 21st Century are either literary Zines or those dealing with controversial and cross-cultural and, often, counter-cultural topics. Pamphlets printed in Boston, Williamsburg and Philadelphia in the 1760s and 1770s had Zine-like qualities and helped bring about the American Revolution. The family newsletter--the origin of the personal Zine--started in the 1890s.
The next issue of "Tales, Ideas, and Quotes From a greatcpa™" will feature, almost exclusively, the original writings of Mr. Robinson. While the first Zine was perhaps 30% original content and 70% quotations and other items, the next Zine will be almost 85% directly attributed to Mr. Robinson. It is expected to be released in Richmond and New York in late June. Ms. Devan H. Barber will assume both the roles of Editor and Artistic Director for the next issue. For the first issue, she held the position of Artistic Director while Mary E. O’Brien held the position of Editor.
Mr. Robinson, host of The Entrepreneurs’ Hour Radio Show™, said many times during the show’s four-year run on WLEE, WVNZ, WHAP and WXGI that "just because I’m a Certified Public Accountant doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to be boring." His Zine and his radio shows give very personal looks into the passion and enthusiasm of what Robinson thinks is required to be a successful entrepreneur in today’s marketplace.
"Tales, Ideas, and Quotes From a greatcpa™" is usually distributed at no charge, but is normally priced at $5 each, 3/$10 and 8/$20 for mailorder purposes. It is available from David B. Robinson, CPA, Post Office Box 35926, Richmond, Virginia 23235. It can also be ordered by calling 1-804-378-5096.
The accounting and business consulting firm of David B. Robinson, CPA was founded in 1990 by David Robinson with five clients. The firm has over 1,100 today with three offices and five employees. Mr. Robinson was the 1998 U. S. Government’s Small Business Administration’s Accountant Advocate of the Year for Virginia. In 1999 and 2000 he was an Editorial Adviser to the JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTANCY. He was, in 2002, selected by VIRGINIA BUSINESS Magazine as one of the "Top 100 CPAs in Virginia.”
*****For additional information, please contact Mr. David B. Robinson (Principal), or Ms. Devan H. Barber (The Zine’s Editor and Artistic Director) at 1-804-378-5096.*****
