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Things We Love 11/11

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

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Debbie loves Grand Union Pub at The Forum Shops on Military Cutoff Road – Went to Grand Union Pub Saturday night for dinner and was delighted with the decor, the food and the huge, circular bar. The interior has been completely transformed with sky high ceilings, warm woods and exposed brick. The extensive beer selection of tap and bottled brews will satisfy beer aficionados. The veggie burger and sweet potatoe fries were great and the price was right. I will return often.

Shawn loves Trivial Pursuit’s new campaign which pits males against females – That usually never turns out well for anyone involved. But this is actually a great playful campaign complete with a hysterical video showing men and women caught in the act of stupidity as well as an interactive Web site. After logging on to defend my gender I got a little nervous with my first two wrong answers, but then I hit a winning streak and decided to call it a day. I did my part to defend the intellegience intelligence of men all around the world.

Susan loves the “Dislike” addon for Facebook – some days your friends post something on Facebook that really makes you wonder where the Dislike button is. Like, say if they cancel plans with you at the last minute, you want to be able to show your displeasure. But all Facebook will let you do it “like” it. Well now, my snarky friends, thanks to Firefox there is an addon that you can use that will squeeze a “Dislike” option into your newsfeed. The only caveat, your friends must have the addon too in order to see your justified thumbs-down opinion.

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Things We Love 11/4

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

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Debbie loves holiday catalogs – And much to my delight, the annual onslaught of holiday catalogs is in full swing. I enjoy leafing through the holiday editions of Pottery Barn, LLBean, PetsUSA and Sundance. I rarely order by phone and do most transactions online, but the catalog is the marketing catalyst that drives me online. So contrary to what some marketers will espouse, traditional catalogs are still an effective sales tool. So bring on the catalogs. I’m ready to start shopping and collecting creative gift ideas!

Nathan loves the triangle roll – If you’re in Wilmington and haven’t been to Hiro’s Steakhouse near Racine, during the business week they have half dollar sushi until 7pm. Try the triangle roll. It’s seriously the most odd sounding yet most delicious tasting sushi roll ever. It’s a combination of something like pineapple and mango and other amazing flavors. Yes, it probably has sushi makers of old rolling over in their grave, but it’s amazing. I’ll be honest. The first time you try it, you’ll be confused. You will probably order some other sushi rolls. Then, after about 20 minutes, the absolute deliciousness will hit you… and you’ll have a new favorite.

Susan loves NaNoWriMo – November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal: write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. That boils down to 1,667 words a day. My novel is a tale of  sisters, cupcakes. Oh yeah, and a little about love. To help keep me motivated to reach my goals, I follow #nanowrimo on Twitter to connect with other writers who are on this insane journey with me. I also loaded the NaNoWriMo app on Facebook, which posts my word count to my wall when I update the official tally on the NaNoWriMo site. After the first 3 days I’m at 7,122 and counting!

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Register for Talk’s free Facebook 101 webinar on 11/19

Friday, October 30th, 2009

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With more than 300 million active users, Facebook is a marketing force unto its own. Savvy business people are using Facebook strategically to build their brands and drive sales. Facebook fan pages attract more than 10 million users each day. To learn how you can use Facebook to help grow your business, register today for our free, one-hour webinar entitled “Facebook 101″ to be held at noon on Thursday, November 19. And to learn more about Talk, visit our Facebook fan page

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No news can be good news

Monday, October 26th, 2009

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Sometimes news is only news to a small group of people. In these situations, it can be difficult to get media to cover a story, even if it’s cool and newsworthy. That’s where crafty PR people come in. We’re trained to not just think outside of the box, but around it, on top of it, behind it and next to it. We leave no box unturned when it comes to getting our clients ink.

We handle publicity for Landfall, a private golfing community in Wilmington. Since a lot of their activities are for residents, members of the Country Club of Landfall, and guests only, it takes some creative thinking to get the media interested. On October 15, Landfall unveiled a new garden labyrinth and bronze sculpture in the memorial garden at Kenan Chapel. The Chapel and gardens are only open to the public during specific special events, so the majority of the news watchers or readers won’t have access to it, thereby limiting the chances of getting media attention.

Instead of simply pitching the dedication ceremony to local media and hoping for a slow news day, we researched the origin of labyrinths and the growing trend of building these maze-like paths in churches and at hospitals. Then we developed a pitch that positioned labyrinths – like the new one at Kenan Chapel at Landfall, as well as two others in town – as places for emotional, spiritual and physical healing. This out-of-the-box approach garnered coverage in the Star News and the upcoming issue of Focus on The Coast and on WWAY’s 5:30 newscast the day of the dedication.

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Crisis Management: Avoid A Crisis by Planning for One webinar slides

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Thanks again to everyone who attended our Crisis Management webinar! If you have any additional questions that we didn’t get a chance to answer, please feel free to leave it in the comments below and we’ll respond how we can there! Check back next week for a video of the presentation.

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Things We Love 10/21

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

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Debbie loves GE’s Ecomagination program – I learned of GE’s ambitious foray into green initiatives at the GreenLiving Expo luncheon hosted on Wednesday, October 21 by Greater Wilmington Business and Cape Fear Green Building Alliance. Katharine Brass, Executive Director of Ecomagination, was the keynote speaker and did an excellent job of detailing why GE is investing billions into green initiatives. GE developed the Ecomagination project in 2005 to help meet customers’ demand for cleaner and more energy-efficient products and to drive growth and profits for GE. Ecomagination is a green initiative that is truly green. Meaning that it both saves resources and makes money. What’s not to love?

Nathan loves his non gas guzzling vehicle – Sure, it’s a KIA, which isn’t exactly an upgrade from my most recent vehicle, but there’s just something satisfying about being able to drive an entire week without having to get gas. Perhaps the biggest loss for me is that the KIA doesn’t even really have horsepower. Horsepower doesn’t even seem like a comparable scale for it. I’d say it’s should be gaged with something a little less powerful, like badgers. But that can be good, too. I am probably a lot less reckless while driving now. You just have to drive differently when you don’t have a strong set of horses pulling your wheels. Never the less, I am loving my KIA.

Susan loves Glee – This little gem of a show is truly brilliant. From the witty, snarky writing to the kick-butt music selections to the in-your-face stereotypes, I can’t get enough of Glee. And the marketing genius behind the show certainly knows what he/she is doing. The Glee kids will have two albums coming out featuring the songs from the show, they’re going on tour, and they are even going to sing the National Anthem at the World Series. Take that, NBC, for not letting these cool kids in your Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They’ll continue to rock the rest of the world long after your balloons deflate.

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Things We Love 10/14

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

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Debbie loves the Pink Chick Parade at The Forum Shops. – Swain & Associates and The Forum Shops launched the First Annual Pink Chick Parade on Tuesday Oct. 6 to raise money for the Pink Ribbon Project. For $125, you can purchase a 5′ tall Pink Chick (a weather resistant cutout) that will march in the “parade” out in front of The Forum Shops through October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. $125 is the cost of a mammogram administered by the Pink Ribbon Project for uninsured or underinsured women. So “Buy a Chick and Save a Life” out at The Forum Shops! See the Pink Chicks strut their stuff at www.shoptheforum.com.

Nathan loves sushi - That’s not to be confused with sashimi, which I happen to enjoy, but wouldn’t say that I love. Sushi is just so delicious. In particular, I love the “triangle” sushi roll. It has pineapple and mango in it. It sounds totally disgusting, but tastes absolutely delicious. I swear instead of putting roe on the triangle roll they put crack, or at least crack inside the roe. It really is that good.

Shawn loves Humor with Dead Flies – Yes, this is a strange one, but how could I be expected to not click on a link with that name. And I’m glad I did. Further proof that creativity has no bounds. I would love to meet the person responsible for these little comics on Humor With Dead Flies. Although, I may not want to shake their hand. “Moth”er & child is priceless.

Susan loves Vitamin Water’s Flavor Creator - My favorite daily drink has launched a Facebook campaign to have fans write and design a label and name the newest flavor of Vitamin Water, black cherry and lime. Whether you are an experienced designer or just a drink junkie like me, they make it easy to submit your ideas and offer a Mad-Lib style copy wizard. In addition to seeing the winning design on the shelves, the winner will receive a cool five grand. You better hurry, the contest ends on Tuesday, October 20th. Go vote for my entry, Verve!

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Things We Love 9/30

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

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Debbie loves Kindle – I don’t think the Kindle will ever replace my love of having a good book in my hands, but it is mighty convenient. I can download a book instantly for $9.99 and start reading right away. It allows me to bookmark, highlight and dog ear pages, just like a real book. And it will even read the books aloud! The text to speech feature is a bit robotic, but not too bad. It’s great for my morning commute and particularly for longer road trips. So now I can carry around up to 1,500 books on my Kindle, which weighs less than the average paperback. Now if I only had more time to read!

Nathan loves Airborne – Well, I should say, I love Airborne apart from it tasting like poorly fermented orange juice mixed with vitamins. It kind of makes me think of how we treat dogs. The bait and switch of “Look at this delicious food that couldn’t possibly have a pill you need to take in it!” Never the less, the dog always seems to figure out there’s a pill in his food, and Airborne tastes like medicine juice. What’s worse is when you go to their website, which actually looks OK, they’ve got the sound effect of what their disintegrating airborne tablet on loop. Yes, if you listen to it for more than 30 seconds it does begin to make you nauseous. All that said, having been feeling under the weather today, Airborne has helped boost my immune system and put me on track. Or it’s the placebo effect.

Shawn loves Life Magazine’s 30 Stupidest Inventions Ever post. I can come up with some crazy ideas that I simply laugh at later, but a few of the ideas on this list are truly stupid. Imagine placing your baby in a “Baby Cage” designed to give your little loved one some fresh air while suspended above a busy street. Sometimes it’s just better to keep your ideas to yourself.

Susan loves the Add This application – Most news and entertainment sites have the Add This application built into each post, but for blogs or other sites that don’t offer a share function, this application in Firefox makes sharing online content and bookmarking sites as easy a simple mouse click. If I like a story and think others will too, I just click on the plus sign in my browser and it brings up a multitude of options for how I want to share. Now letting the world know about the latest TV and Twilight news is easier than ever!

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Register for our free 1-hour Crisis Management Webinar

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

All companies are susceptible to crisis, regardless of size or industry. istock_000007480462medium2A natural disaster, labor dispute or community opposition can cripple a company that is unprepared. To make sure an issue doesn’t escalate into a crisis, you need a crisis plan and a communication specialist on call. Register for our free, one-hour webinar entitled “Crisis Management: Avoid A Crisis by Planning for One” which will discuss how to mitigate damage, organize supporters and manage the media in the midst of a crisis. Thursday, October 22, noon to 1:00 p.m.

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Things We Love 9/23

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

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Debbie loves the smart and pragmatic points of view presented by panelists of the Greater Wilmington Business Power Breakfast on “Brand Wilmington” held on Tuesday, September 22. I was particularly impressed with the comments made by Melanie Cox, Executive Director of Coastal Carolina Tomorrow and Chad Paul, Managing Partner of Harbor Island Partners. Both advocated that Wilmington take a broad view regarding the types of businesses and industry we welcome into our community. High tech, “knowledge-based” businesses are wonderful and we want more of them. But we need a healthy mix of all types of business to sustain a vibrant community. We cannot exclude manufacturing. Bravo to GWB for hosting a great event and to the speakers who reminded us that Wilmington should support diversity in all aspects of our community — including industry.

Nathan loves Market Samurai – When it comes to doing niche or long-tail keyword research, Market Samurai is a great tool in finding keywords in bulk while also crunching the numbers on a lot of common SEO factors that help determine the viability of a particular keywords. While Market Samurai isn’t free, they do have a great free trial that you can download to see how it suits your needs.

Shawn loves that sometimes less really is more.

Susan loves Banned books week– I’m an avid reader. And little gets me more riled up than when great works of literature get banned for idiotic reasons. I understand not wanting children to read books that have graphic violence or explicit sex. But c’mon, a tale of a boy wizard who ensures good triumphs over evil and demonstrates the importance of family, selfless acts of kindness and being loyal to your friends, how is that bad for anyone to read? So if you love books and believe in what they can stand for, celebrate Banned Books Week from September 26 through October 3!

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