Recent Blog Posts on Derrick Branford

Oregon Philanthropist

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:53:31 PST

I one day hope to see my name added to this list of amazing people......... AFP Oregon Philanthropy Awards: A tradition since 1986.

Vollum Award for Lifetime Philanthropic Achievement

This award recognizes individuals who during their lifetimes have tirelessly committed themselves to bettering their community through serving, funding and enlisting support for a range of community charitable causes.

John and Carol Hampton, 2005
Joe Weston, 2004
Albert & Susanne Corrado, 2002
Donna Woolley, 2000
Maribeth Collins, 1999
Maurie D. Clark, 1998
James F. Miller, 1996
Thomas E. Autzen, 1995

Outstanding Philanthropist

This award pays tribute to an exceptional individual donor who generously provides a lead gift or substantially assists a nonprofit organization - an individual or family who offers philanthropic leadership.

Thelma and Gilbert Schnitzer; and the families of Leonard, Morris and Manuel Schnitzer, 2004
Judith & Martin Kelley, 2002
Cindy & Duncan Campbell, 2001
Tom Holce, 2000
George & Carolyn Propstra, 1998
Mary & Pete Mark, 1997
Dr. & Mrs. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr., 1996
Arlene & Harold Schnitzer, 1995
Carolyn Chambers, 1994
Samuel C. Wheeler, 1993
Robert P. Booth, 1992
John D. Gray, 1991
Douglas C. Strain, 1990
Robert Chandler, 1989
Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Wessinger, 1988
Mr. & Mrs. William Wessinger, 1988
L.L. "Stub" Stewart, 1987
H.J. Casey, 1986
Edmund Hayes, 1986

Stop Nimis!

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:49:46 PST

The act of overeating (Nimis) is epidemic in the USA. Yes this act causes obesity, hyper tension, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, acne, cancer, diabetes and list go's on, but there is a moral reason not to overeat. Every year, malnutrition kills five million children. So join me in showing respect and acknowledgment of this fact by Stopping Nimis! And in return, you will give yourself the health benefits of under indulgence. I recommend 1000 to 1200cal a day for women and 1000-1600cal a day for men, with weekend water fasts of zero calories.

Help fight malnutrition with "Plumpynut".

S.E.O. without it, your website could be dead in the water

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:00:00 PST

The importance of Search Engine Optimization has gone under the radar for most businesses due to Web Design Firms not having the ability, tools or desire to make their clients first page on search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AltaVista. There are many ways to improve rankings on these search engines, but a great ranking is usually only achieved when Ability, Tools and Desire are combined! If one component is missing, then the results will suffer.

When companies decide to make the jump to an online presence they do so for only one outcome. Increased Visibility. Business minds know that increased visibility in a crowded market is direct way to increase sales.

So the question I ask is........ what good is an online presence if that presence is never felt?

When looking at your present website, or when deciding to make the jump to an online solution, then I suggest putting at least 1/3 of your budget towards S.E.O. This will assure great returns in your investment and save you the nightmare of wasting time and money on a website that is never seen. Dont end up dead in the water, get S.E.O.! Contact the proven S.E.O. provider Empowered Internet Solutions for a S.E.O. campaign specifically designed to your business needs.

Business is my sport

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 PST

Once a long long time ago in a far far away place I was an Olympic Weightlifter. The sport consumed me. I even turned down a spot on the Oregon Ducks Football team when I was 19 in order to pursue my Olympic Dreams. As I progressed through my career I sustained many injuries, medical bills, equipment costs and all for a sport that was not paying me a dime. I became the strongest man in Oregon history regardless of bodyweight. This is a cool title to have to this day, but the guys I took that title from are now in the NFL making millions. I consider myself slightly intelligent, so I new that there was something wrong with this picture. I now had sustained too many injuries to compete even though my numbers were good enough for Olympic trials, I was broke compared to the guys I could destroy as an L.B. and I had an empty feeling of years lost for nothing but a title. Now I could either become depressed and talk about all the things I could had done or I could make the best of the situation. I decided I would choose another sport and become the best of the best once again. I wanted to choose a sport where my intelligence was an edge, and a sport that was of monetary value. I had found the perfect sport. One I actually played when I was 13 years old when I purchased my first stock. The sport was business. All the qualities it took to become an Olympic level athlete such as intelligence, determination, perseverance, tenacity, drive, ability to overcome failure, goal setting, self management, and guts transfer perfectly over to the business setting. Now the only difference is I am not approaching weights but rather situations. Just in how I used to control the weights, I now control the situations.

Looking back I would had never competed in Olympic Weightlifting. I would have attended college, maybe played sports, and built my brain instead of muscle. My peers that are now in the NFL are doing great and making great money. That is a wonderful thing. But ask the guy writing their checks each week what sport he is good at, and I bet he answers Business is my sport. I have a great feeling I choose wisely this time.

Dot Com Me

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:00:00 PST

I have a vision that one day everyone will have their own professional domain name (own-name.com) unlike social personal sites like Myspace and Facebook. It will be a place for other biz professionals to stay updated on your biz ventures, network, meetings, informational content such as video and a place to post resumes. People will one day say "dot com me" instead of "call me" or handing over a biz card. This will change the interface of business relationships and streamline the networking process. Soon a consumer version of the famed ZeppOS Pro software called ZeppOS Lite will be available. ZeppOS Lite will be the tool that allows everyone to achieve a professional web presence without the help of a webmaster, and will also be the reason my vision becomes reality...............stay tuned!