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Nobel Town
Five Nobel laureates have lived in Hastings-on-Hudson. Is there something in the town’s water?
YOU MIGHT NOT EXPECT A SUBURBAN VILLAGE OF JUST
8,000 to have been home to five Nobel laureates, but that’s the case for Hastings- on-Hudson. And they weren’t all just commuting to nearby universities and institutes, either. The two most recent winners—both for economics—are actually Hastings High School grads. The five Hastings laureates are:
MAX THEILER: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1951 “for his discov- eries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it.”
LEO JAMES RAINWATER: Physics, 1975 (along with Aage Niels Bohr and Ben Roy Mottelson), for establishing that atoms’ nuclei aren’t usually symmetrical.
JACK STEINBERGER: Physics, 1988 (along with Leon M. Lederman and Melvin Schwartz), for the discovery of a subatomic particle called the muon neutrino.
ROBERT C. MERTON:
HHS ’62: The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1997 (along with Myron
S. Scholes), “for a new method to deter- mine the value of derivatives.”
EDMUND S. PHELPS: HHS ’51: Economics, 2006, for examining how expectations affect inflation.
—BB
Vodka You'll (S)love
Already known for the fabulous food at his four area restaurants, Chef Peter X. Kelly is now introducing delectable drinks with his new venture, Slovenia Vodka.
Life’s a Pitch
Get your elevator pitch off the ground floor.
YOU’RE ON AN ELE-
vator ride with a higher-
up who turns and asks,
“How are you?” Or you’re
at a networking event
when you meet someone
who can help your com-
pany. In both instances,
you can either come off
looking like a chump—or
a champ. That’s the dif-
ference between having a well-crafted “eleva- tor pitch” and, well, not having one. We enlist- ed Rochelle Carrington, president and CEO of Sandler Training in Mount Kisco and Stamford, Connecticut, who’s been training business pro- fessionals for years, to help us hone yours.
➤ Elicit conversation.
When meeting someone, “the first thing you want to do is ask them what they do, which helps you figure out how to tailor your ‘commercial,’” says Carrington. They’ll always ask you the same in return, which leads to your pitch.
➤ There’s no “I” in elevator.
An elevator pitch isn’t meant to sell yourself. Instead, target three problems your audience may be experiencing and explain how you can fix them. “Prospects are more interested in their situation than they are about you.”
➤ Stand out.
“The problem with most elevator speeches is that they all sound the same: The person says their name, company, an explanation of what they do, and how long they have been in business. Yawn,” says Carrington. To stand out, she recommends using a “pattern interrupt”—a catchy phrase that makes people remember you. Carrington gives us her own example: In her pitch, she tells people that her clients call her their “sleep therapist.” Says Carrington, “I work with a lot of business owners who are losing sleep these days, because they are worried about how they are going to meet their sales goals in 2013.”
➤ Avoid jargon.
Don’t go littering your speech with jumbled industry speak. “Usually people don’t know what it means, but they will never admit it.” Speak as if your audience knows nothing about your industry, suggests Carrington.
➤ Keep it brief.
An effective elevator pitch lasts just 30 to 60 sec- onds. “In that time, you can do your intro, pat- tern interrupt, mention three targeted problems you can fix, and ask a question,” says Carrington.
—SS
IT STARTED IN 2009 WHEN KELLY AND
his family took a trip to Slovenia.
Impressed with the beauty of the land and sophistication of its people, Kelly “wanted to be part of something that could bring Slovenia to the lips of America.” Already in the
food and wine business,
Kelly saw vodka as a
natural progression. So he
teamed up with Slovenian
beverage company Fructal
to develop a recipe.
“I believe by using a cu- linary perspective to make the vodka, we were able to create a recipe that is head and shoulders above the competition,” says Kelly. One of the key ingredi- ents: Slovenian buckwheat, which, Kelly explains, adds a richness and viscosity to the vodka while also giv- ing a smoothness found
in very few vodkas. With a palate perfected through years in the kitchen, Kelly found only a small portion of buckwheat was needed. “I like to think of it like us- ing saffron in my bouilla-
baisse—a little goes a long way,” he says. Because he owns a restaurant, Kelly
legally can’t invest in the vodka, so he’s acting as “goodwill ambassador” to help market the product in the States. Bill Murray and Mikhail Baryshnikov, both long-
time friends and patrons
of Kelly’s, also joined on
to help market the vodka after Kelly had them taste it. “I think they add a level of sophistication and fun to a market segment badly in need of both,” says Kelly.
Launched in April and already the recipient of a couple of awards, Slovenia Vodka will be available around the tri-state area for about $36 a bottle. The company expects to sell at least 40,000 bottles this year, and that’s only the beginning. Says Kelly: “The concept of a European product utilizing American branding techniques coupled with the appeal of two celebrities with inter- national recognition speaks to global aspirations.”
—SS
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