DAVID HOFFMAN PROPOSAL FOR LEONARDO 40TH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE AND FUNDRAISER

October 1, 2005

Dear Roger:

It is wonderful to be considered to join with Leonardo to help create a unique and highly successful 40th anniversary conference. As I suggested when we spoke at dinner, I am presenting the enclosed to show why my team and I would be best at working with Leonardo to create, publicize, and run this event.

Enclosed you will find a backgrounder, a proposal, and several initial strategic insights for consideration regarding the conference and the sponsorship. We are confident that bringing the best of Leonardo to Leonardo 40 will attract thousands of top people to the event; people willing to pay for the experience: people who will enhance Leonardo's global presence.

Three of my core competencies match what is needed. I create unique events. I connect investors with unique and powerful long-lasting sponsorship opportunities; and I craft the positioning and key messages that reach and motivate the best of target audiences to sign up. These competencies will positively affect my ability to achieve what is described herein.

Key Question- Why is Leonardo 40 so Valuable to Sponsors?

A goal of Leonardo 40, the conference, will be to provide an elegant environment for dialogue with a group of its magazine authors plus a community of interested “outsiders”. Together they will create genuine excitement around, and present, the Leonardo Endowment Award and participate in a multi-day conference.

Potential sponsor companies want greater impact in their marketplaces for their limited marketing and sales dollars. By identifying with brand-rich experiences, they hope to reach and motivate existing and new customers so they can credibly communicate key messages, seamlessly.

Leonardo, the magazine, enjoys a loyal reader base and an unrivaled reputation.
The Leonardo legacy includes being THE journal dedicated to the intersection of art, science and technology. For 40 years, Leonardo has been at the cutting edge of original thinking and has brought to light and shared the thoughts of thousands of writers. The creators, inventors, scientists, artists and researchers who are making breakthroughs largely write Leonardo. This makes its stature unrivalled and bestows a unique distinction on its authors, on the subjects that it chooses to present, and on any sponsors that find a way to connect with it.




An Additional Value of this Conference to Leonardo

Leonardo 40 will also become an extraordinary opportunity to create an event that substantively improves the economic stability and strength of Leonardo. Today, all similar conferences are really about bringing together wonderful presenters and presentations with creative successful relevant audiences who gather to dialogue with one another. Leonardo 40 will be a similar event. Leonardo has a unique group of writers and thinkers and creators attached to it who are for the most part, not available at any other venue to dialogue about art, science, entertainment, education, and near and long-term future dreams.

Next Steps:

If Leonardo approves moving forward with me and my colleagues, our next steps might include:

a) Find needed initial planning grant dollars that will give us the funds to do the initial development work

b) Develop and articulate the conference in all relevant details

c) Create initial list of attendees and speakers

d) Select and lock in a venue

e) Decide how closely and how beneficial it will be to Leonardo 40 to work with the Pacific Rim New Media Summit, the ISEA, The World Technology Network, Siggraph, and other potential partnering and allied organizations.

I do hope that this material is sufficient to allow you and your board to move forward toward a simple agreement between us that allows all of this to begin.


Sincerely Yours,
David Hoffman
Varied Directions International


Why I Believe Corporations Will Sponsor Leonardo 40

Corporate marketers are seeking better results in the marketplace through brand involvement programs -- that is, brand-rich experiences with their best customers connected seamlessly to their sales/response mechanisms.

Leonardo stands as the premiere print journal of science, technology and art. Its stature is unrivalled, bestowing a unique distinction on its authors and the subjects discussed. Leonardo has a long history of finding the inside track on trends and breakthroughs. This unique perspective has earned it an enviable reputation and, importantly to corporate marketers, an addressable and very desirable audience of influentials.

I am convinced that the corporate marketing community has undervalued the Leonardo opportunity, leaving this gem untapped. So far at least, Leonardo has not competed for sponsorship dollars with either high profile, big-bang events or with a coordinated print/TV/event offer that creates for sponsors, one-to-one touch opportunities. Nevertheless, with its hard-earned and longtime established stature and loyal audiences, Leonardo is, if properly positioned, a magnificent opportunity for the right corporate and or international organization sponsor or sponsors. Only Leonardo:
- Distills science, technology and art into the clearest views for present-day leaders and of the future
- Is expert at selecting and pinpointing emerging trends-ahead of the curve coverage
- Identifies and delivers the latest developments in science and art across broad range of fields
- Is unmatched as a credible authority, influential and yet accessible

By expanding into the conference space, Leonardo will:
- Create a new opportunity to generate revenues for Leonardo
- Create a more powerful global presence that will make it more noticed
- Energize, renew and reinforce the leadership position of the Leonardo in the science, technology and art fields especially with its valued audiences

A unique conference like Leonardo 40 will afford sponsors a new way to reach target audiences. Funding Leonardo 40 will benefit a sponsor with:
- Greater impact from total communications plan investment
- Association with Leonardo science & art innovation
- Important access to unique and valuable audiences
- Creating new opportunities to engage target customers in dialogues
- Thematic materials that enhance communications channels, including private gatherings, e-mails, web & letters, internal & external presentations
Leonardo 40: Connecting Art, Science and Technology

Initial thoughts:

Leonardo’s 40th anniversary celebration, as we envision it, will bring together over 1000 journal contributors and an additional 1000 carefully invited delegates. Leonardo 40 will serve its communities by:
- Encouraging and stimulating collaboration between artists, scientists and technologists
- Promoting and documenting work at the intersection of the arts, sciences and technology
- Increasing the size and scope of this community

Areas for presentation and discussion might include:
- New research
- Exhibiting artworks
- Active exchanges and debates on art and technology

Who Could Attend --- and Why?

WHO: Invited Attendees
- People who have published in Leonardo over its 40 years
- Individual nominees within defined categories
- Corporate nominees within categories nominated by the committee/board as the most innovative companies/organizations in their fields

WHO: Invited Delegates
- Others interested in the intersection of art, science and technology
- Key lists from related publications, organizations, associations, and membership directories
- Exhibitors/sponsors/media partners
- Press and media representatives
- Total: 1000 specially selected media, technology, art, and science leaders taken from lists such as the list for the TED conference, Agenda, + others

Why Will They Attend?
The presenters and the subjects that they will be discussing are unique. This select audience could not directly find one another in any other forum.

Who will pay for the conference? Why is it of corporate interest?
- Corporations will pay the cost for the chance to attach to and communicate with an audience that is difficult to reach
- Scientific American, the magazine, is the only other example where this audience could be reached -- SciAm sponsors are many, and its total advertising dollars impressively large. Leonardo 40 sponsors could be: Traditional - IBM, Intel, Sony. Not so traditional- Google, Amazon, Yahoo. Out of the Box Possibilities - Pierre Schwab, Exploratorium, Kavli Institute, corporations whose founders are serious art collectors such as The Gaps Don Fisher


David Hoffman- Overview

I have not been a conference developer. So what do I bring to the table and why should you work with me to create and produce Leonardo 40?

I have created and developed strategic communications opportunities for enterprise companies

For over 25, years, corporations like Sony, Mobil, AT&T, Motorola, Ricoh, United Technologies, and Amazon have called on me to create, to find, and to develop experiences that can reach and affect their customers, partners, and suppliers. In this case, I would not be the creator of the experience. Leonardo is quite capable of that. I am proposing that my team and I build a communications program in the United States and around the world using traditional and guerrilla media communications techniques that will attract the very best of corporate sponsors and the ideal group of attendees. Companies that are eager to pay the cost of the conference. Companies that know how to stand aside and yet actively communicate the event so as to enhance Leonardo's global presence (and theirs). At this kind of relationship and activities, I am a master.

Example of My Past Work:

I was the creator of the term and the concept, “Guerrilla Media”, and with my mentor Tony Schwartz, have time and again used Guerrilla Media techniques to enhance a variety of corporations and organizations, for national and international social and artistic issues, and for political ones as well. In these capacities, I have worked with the Smithsonian Institution and other great art and science institutions in Europe and Asia, with national and international social-issue organizations like the American Cancer Society and EarthShare, with political organizations like the Democratic Party, the Navy League (US) and with other event organizations such as the Olympic Games.

My Wall Street Journal advertising campaign for United Technologies that positioned UTC as a world leader is still presented by the WSJ as the most successful advertising campaign (in terms of responses) that the journal has ever offered. 6 million individuals responded to one ad by requesting printed copies.

For Ricoh, I launched Ricoh Silicon Valley, their think tank laboratory facility- the place where they wanted to present their creative ideas.

For Pratt & Whitney I created a global PR and education campaign (where I brought in NASA as a strategic partner) to support pilot Linda Finch in her effort to re-create and complete the flight Amelia Earhart.

For Lucent, I launched the Lucent Firewall, a major product, with live events in both Silicon Valley and New York City.

For UTC, I launched major art exhibitions (accompanied by books and videos,) at the National Gallery of Art and in the Air and Space Museum, the Louve and the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

In these and other activities, I was responsible for developing the concept including exhibitions, leading the articulation and creation of materials, and bringing in the audiences.

Coincidentally, on behalf of corporations large and small, I have attended most major conferences in the United States (and a few in Europe as well) that in some way parallel what Leonardo and we are considering- conferences like TED and D3.

For AT&T, I wrote developed presentations at conferences such as Agenda, PC Forum, and when AT&T President Bob Kavner was the keynote speaker at Comdex in 1997, he called me and to write his speech and to handle the enormous response he got when the speech first presented the term, “hosting.”

My Proposal for a Partnership Relationship for Leonardo 40

My proposal is simple. I propose to lead the effort to raise the necessary funds from a single or a few very carefully selected corporate sponsors, who will agree to fund the direct costs for Leonardo 40. My team and I are estimating that the cost at $250,000. These funds will allow our joint teams (Leonardo and Varied Directions) to create a spectacular and unique multi-day event that invites, at very low cost ($600?) to an individual, all 4000+ writers who have written for the journal over the last 40 years. My guess is that maybe 1000 would come.

My team and I would also take responsibility, in consort and dialogue with the Leonardo team, for creating a master list and inviting another very select group of scientists and artists and their colleagues who would pay a more substantive fee for attendance ($3000?). And in consort with Leonardo, we would be responsible for and supervise all venue details, speaker selection, PR, publicity and other media, etc. from an office set up for this purpose in California. All of the expenses would be covered out of the $250,000 raised from our corporate sponsor (s).

In order to commit the time and energy needed to make certain that this international event will stand up against all other conferences as uniquely Leonardo, my proposal is that Leonardo and Varied Directions split all income derived from any source (estimated at several million dollars) after expenses.



My Key Colleague - Full Time on Leonardo 40
Joni White

Joni has more than 13 years of experience working extensively in the fields of event production and public and media relations. She has provided marketing for high technology, start-up corporations and the Stanford-run national laboratory, SLAC, in Silicon Valley.

She has planned and run events for very similar audiences with Stanford Linear Accelerator/PS1Gallery New York, Financial Research Associates, and The Association of Professional Model Makers. Joni has also provided marcom assistance to community foundations, non-profits, and a local museum organization. Her industry specialization includes product design and manufacturing, computer hardware, high finance and science communications.

Joni’s marketing and media relations projects have included: a national branding campaign for SOHOware, Inc. Photo project with Peter Ginter, winner of the World Press Prize for Photography, Stanford site support for Lucas Film scouts, Tracing the PC Pioneer Trail, an interview with Steve Wozniack for Tech TV, PBS film shoot Dark Side of the Universe with Alan Alda for Scientific American Frontiers, installation of 2 sculptures and multiple art exhibits as part of the SLAC art committee, and she maintains relationships with several local television reporters and industry analysts.

Prior to joining with David Hoffman, Joni was a Producer with Financial Research Associates responsible for creating, organizing, and managing their conferences on the financial issues. Prior to that, the PR manager for the Director of Communications at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Evaluating the Competition

The Leonardo 40 conference needs to be similar to and yet uniquely different from, conferences that draw audiences similar to those that we will want to draw -- conferences like TED, the Camden Conference, the Aspen Institute and to some extent Davos and D3. Each of these conferences, and I have attended all of them but for Davos, have wonderful presenters and wonderful audiences -- audiences that one can dialogue with throughout the event. Leonardo 40 will also have great speakers and a spectacular audience and will delve into subjects, and present recent history, that has not been offered to audiences at any other conference to my knowledge. It is this unique Leonardo audience and subject and speakers that have not been presented before, that will draw people, excite press and corporate sponsors and attendees.



David Hoffman- A Short Resume

Core Competencies: For 30 years, Hoffman has created opportunities that help companies to market their brands, products, services and causes.

Entrepreneur History: Founder & CEO of three successful communications companies: Varied Directions International, Maine Line Greeting Cards (sold to Russ Berrie) and The Hoffman Group.

Experience: Hoffman led communications efforts at Fortune 500 companies such as: Amazon, AT&T, IBM, UTC, Lucent, Sony, Motorola, Fidelity, Ricoh, Mobil, and Aetna, at startups and small public companies such as: Wink, Mail.com, Beatnik, and PostX, and at non-profits such as The American Cancer Society, The Coma Foundation, The Navy League, among others.

Corporate Sponsored Media: Hoffman became a media producer as part of his strategic communications practice & has made more than 100 corporate sponsored TV specials & series for PBS, Turner & others. These programs were designed to help companies and products get noticed, change attitudes, build brands, develop strategic partnerships and sign on customers. Hoffman has won every major industry award including 4 Emmys and an Academy Award.

Early Background: Hoffman learned his skills while working with the famous CCO (Chief Communications Officer) of Mobil, Herb Schmertz. Together they produced op-ed pages for the NYT and the WSJ, museum exhibitions at the MOMA and at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and the Mobil TV Network that produced Ten Who Dared, Upstairs Downstairs, and Masterpiece Theater.

An Example of Hoffman’s Work: Attracting a Corporate Client

To test Hoffman before awarding a grant, Lockheed asked him to write just one page on the nature of war. He submitted the following.

“A writer, looking at the world’s problems, summarized his solution in a few words. “Peace on Earth.” His name was Luke. Oddly enough, another writer – me - is looking at the same problem 2000 years later. From my desk, the solution is substantially the same. Seems to me that we have contained chickenpox. We have Scotch tape. We have cars that can talk. We have chips that make a billion decisions a second. We can save fuel by turning right on red. We have frozen broccoli. We can talk to everyone in the world at the same time. We can even improve most parts of human body with man-made replacements. We can do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING …

Except to get rid of the urge to throw a rock at our neighbor’s head.
Something went wrong back in Eden, and we are still trying to figure out what to do about it.”

Hoffman got the client and a large grant!


My Offer

My team and I offer the benefit of our 35 years direct marketing experience with the audiences that will be invited to attend this conference and those invited to present as well. We also have unique expertise in event and exhibition planning and marketing communications to the critical target audiences.

Our expertise allows us to identify these target audiences and to craft the positioning and key messages to reach and motivate them.

We will raise the necessary funds from a single or a few corporate sponsors to pay for the entire 40th anniversary conference.

We can develop a set of speeches that were uniquely those that fits Leonardo's perspectives.

We will also be responsible for the venue, the speakers, the public relations, the media, the invite list, responses, etc.




Colleagues & Clients Speak about Working with David Hoffman

Brian Dougherty Founder- Wink Communications and Geoworks

“David is THE master of communications, positioning, and 3rd party support. He has an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a company, a product or a person and figure out how to communicate their benefits. At Wink, we had a challenge launching into the cable and satellite television industry. Without David’s help we would not have been able to cut through the noise. Today over 10 million homes enjoy Wink’s interactive technology. In starting Wink, I was fortunate enough to get David on my side early.”

Bob Kavner –Chairman of the Board – Idealabs –Former Senior Officer at AT&T

“David is a powerful blend of innovation and determination. When I was the senior officer of AT&T, I took advantage of David’s skills to find for AT&T events, companies, & key individuals. He grew to become a highly respected communications adviser t to a group of executives at AT&T in strategic marketing, product placement & speech making. He produced wonderful material that launched products, and he wrote a number of speeches including the keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show. David will deliver more than he promised and will not rest until you are fully satisfied.”

Bill Fallon – VP Product Marketing – EasyLink Services Corporation

“When the task involves articulating and communicating the essential value of an organization, David Hoffman is the best that I have ever worked with. With Hoffman, you find yourself engaged in a dialogue with someone with the experience and wisdom gained from positioning countless companies, nonprofits, social issues, over many years. Someone who has helped executives in
companies ranging from the world’s largest, to startups. Someone who has created award-winning communications that moved millions of people, worldwide. If the people currently working with you develop your messages think like you do, I suggest that you get in touch with Hoffman right away.”

Isaac Applebaum – Venture Partner: Lightspeed Ventures

”I am proud of the numerous successes I have had in my life. They are based in part on my knowing and working with the very best colleagues. I consider David Hoffman at the top of this list. As a communicator and marketer, for corporations will of any size, he knows no equal. He understands on the deepest levels, what makes employees, and customers, and partners, and managements, feel best about one another, take positive action, and feel motivated. He does this, using techniques that he developed over the course of his life. They make the resulting work credible, and possibly more importantly, enjoyable. I am proud to add my voice to David’s other colleagues in support of his efforts.”

Tim Schmidt – CTO: FAA –Former CIO, Internal Revenue Service

“David Hoffman is tenacious. While I was a senior executive at the IRS, I could count on David to understand my needs and to present the best industry talent at my doorstep. I frankly find David amazing in his ability to sense the necessary chemistry, open channels, and to set the stage for mutually rewarding and enduring business relationships. I would recommend him to anyone having a need to stratify their marketing options and who must stay abreast of the evolving competition and upcoming talent within a specific industry segment.”

Jeffrey Munks- Executive Learning Officer – US Navy Former CEO, Arista & Co-Founder, Language Line Services

“There have been a number of professional chapters to my life and many have been characterized by enormous challenge, eventual success, and David Hoffman. From opening new markets, to using his wonderfully intuitive imagination to create events, to technical development questions, David has always been a source of “useable” information, actionable strategies, and business inspiration both to me and to my various organizations for more than a decade. The dimension I appreciate most is his candor – he knows no way to communicate other than honestly and openly.”

Joe Kraus- Founder – Excite at Home. Founder- DigitalConsumer.org

“There is no better synergist and storyteller than David Hoffman. He has a sense of how to craft messages in ways that yield results. David has a knack of how to communicate at a visceral level. I think he believes that any idea, no matter how dry and intellectual, can be made meaningful with an injection of his brand of reality. When I built my digital consumer organization, events would not have been successful without David. Helping to tell my story is why I hired him.”

Neil Greer – President/CEO: Impact Engines, Inc.

“There are few people who can do what Hoffman does; period. As a software entrepreneur, I get asked about my “proprietary advantage”. Honestly, I’ve rarely found proprietary advantage in technology. Hoffman has taught me that the benefits from advances in technology are what make technology proprietary, not the technology itself. In short, if David Hoffman works on your story, it will get heard. In my opinion, this makes David my ‘proprietary advantage’.”

Thampy Thomas – Founder – AMD- Active Venture Capitalist

“I have worked with David Hoffman for more than 7 years. During that time David has done many critically important things for my portfolio companies. Among other things, he uncovered (and closed on) a multimillion-dollar strategic partnership and created our first national announcement with the United States Postal Service in Washington. David’s consistently positive attitude, high-energy, and desire to get things done (to sign deals, to improve positioning and key messages) have made him very valuable to us, over and over again.”