More than 500 Tristate tech workers who just moved to Hewlett-Packard Co. from Procter & Gamble Co. got their first taste last week of Carly Fiorina, CEO.

The Hewlett-Packard chief executive officer held court at one of her "coffee talks" at the downtown Convention Center (there actually was coffee in the lobby).

Obviously relishing the spotlight, Fiorina didn't shy from bold predictions about HP's future, or from shots at its major competitors.

"We don't intend to be IBM. We don't intend to be Dell. But we do intend to beat them," she said.

There are obvious parallels between Fiorina's HP and recent years at P&G, where CEOs Durk Jager and A.G. Lafley attempted to loosen an entrenched culture and revitalize the product mix. The latest step at HP came Monday, when the company unveiled more than 100 new digital products.

"We believe there is a digital revolution going on in the home, and we expect to lead that revolution," Fiorina told the ex-P&Gers.

Notable new member

The new Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. still is very much a work in progress.

But it's already achieved one notable coup: Reds owner Carl Lindner has agreed to join its board.

Normally, that in itself wouldn't be cause for celebration, because the board is sure to be stacked with plenty of CEOs from the Tristate's biggest companies. Procter & Gamble Co.'s A.G. Lafley already leads it.

But since Lindner's American Financial Group Inc. is among the largest of the employers and landowners downtown - it controls the block bordered by Third, Fourth, Vine and Walnut streets - it's especially important to have him on board.

And while Lindner is the senior member of the Cincinnati Business Committee, he hasn't been active at Downtown Cincinnati Inc. or other newer downtown development efforts.

It's time for a trip

Straight from the where-are-they-now file: John Garman, former president of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, is retiring from the same job in Anderson, S.C. and will spend time with chamber executives in Russia this fall.

Garman, 63, said he would retire the second week in September. He'll then head to Russia for a three-week program run by the Center for International Private Enterprise. He'll meet with Russian executives about chamber agendas and "business advocacy."

Garman left the Northern Kentucky chamber in 1998 after 12 years. Since then, the Anderson chamber has grown to about 900 members and stemmed the red ink in its annual budget. This year, it earned several state and national chamber awards.

"This was a turnaround situation, and frankly, I enjoy (working on) that," Garman said.

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com