Last week, our team at Times Digital Group completed a documentary which celebrates the recent 2009 Harvard Innovation in Government Award presented to the City of Kingsport earlier in the year. This excellent presentation features interviews with city leaders and describes the ideas and passion that helped earn this recognition and we were glad to be a part of this year’s celebration.
It’s been really busy the past few weeks as we begin to roll out several new websites we’ve been working on at GoTriCities. Our staff have completed some of their best work all year long this past week and we have received a lot of attention for the work.
Last week, we were proud to launch the new Kingsport Chamber of Commerce website which included lots of fan fare including an appearance on the Kingsport ChamberZone business television show with Bob Feagins and Laura Steel, a couple of presentations and a feature in the newspaper this past week with Chamber president Miles Burdine.
The new Chamber website is a exciting new improvement from their old site and features a ultra-intuitive distinction that makes it super easy to navigate. There are plenty of pages that promote their programs from Fun Fest to Keep Kingsport Beautiful and lots of events, promotions and videos throughout the website. The site features a complete directory of all Chamber members, a daily update for available jobs in the region and more.
Early traffic numbers show a two-fold increase in their traffic patterns so far and we’re excited about working with area businesses to promote their brands on the site in the coming months. We’re working with Accuforce to telemarket Kingsport businesses to extend new marketing opportunities on the site.
I’m very proud of some of the new commercials we have been producing with our creative staff at GoTriCities. Here are a couple of new projects we moved out of the studios last week.
The first one is a new commercial for IShopTheTri.com – a new regional Internet directory based out of Johnson City. The commercial focuses on the depth and variety of the listings in this useful Internet application and has a chic music bed to support the tech framework.
The second video supports a new mobile application we just launched for Town and Country Realty. Brad Smith did a great job as talent on the spot and Elaine Rinder was a pleasureable voiceover for both of these new videos.
Speaking to an audience has gotten easier for me in the past several years. With 24 years of experience in sales, you get to the point where the butterflies subside, especially after you make a mountain of mistakes along the way.
There’s still a bit of anxiety though and these opportunities are always learning experiences because mastering the art of presentation is a key to business success and I had chance to speak a three gatherings recently.
We’re getting ready to launch the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce website this week. Prior to the launch, I spoke to their Board of Directors for a sneak preview at their offices in Kingsport on May 20th. A group of 50 or so people were in the room that day and I had 10 minutes to deliver the quick tour.
On Thursday, May 16th, I was invited to speak to the Tri-Cities Metro Advertising Federation in Johnson City on the subject of Social Media. Mary Ellen Miller was also speaking that day and we had a chance to present several new ideas to the area’s advertising and marketing professionals.
This was a small group, but it was a significant gathering of peers at the Bank of Tennessee Financial offices in Johnson City. This swanky conference room overlooks State of Franklin road and the board room there has some of the coolest presentation tech that I’ve seen lately.
With windows all around, I lowered the screens in the circular office and presented a 15 minute presentation before about 35 agency reps, banks, hospitals, public relations professionals and small businesses.
My presentation was a collection of social media tools from our newspaper network, a review of the tools reshaping the media landscape and review of some of the ideas our clients are implementing using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other tools.
My main theme was the fact that social media isn’t all that new, citing our human desire for interaction and authenticity in conversations, but the the tools have certainly changed and we reviewed those ideas together.
Some of the interesting points of conversations from the session included how to effectively separate personal and professional identities using social media and how to ensure productivity in the workplace with these tools proliferating our lives.
Mary Ellen Miller did a great job introducing a lively collection of social media public relations examples and has been very successful re-branding herself after experience in television news, magazines and leading a PR firm at a local tech company. Her discussions on Social Media will continue on WJHL over the next several weeks.
Special thanks to Sarah Clevinger with The Bank of Tennessee and Jessica Bland with The Corporate Image for organizing this event. It helped me to sharpen my Keynote skills and I enjoyed sharing the new ideas about Social Media.
I’ll continue that discussion with clients over the next several weeks including a presentation to the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce tomorrow – June 1.
My last presentation was caught on video and that gives me a chance to critique the work.
The Kingsport Chamber of Commerce sponsors a Fourth Friday Breakfast every month at MeadowView Resort and Convention Center and they had me on the agenda for their session on May 22nd.
This morning meeting is open to all Chamber members to discuss business and encourage networking opportunities (plus a free breakfast) and it was up to me to open up the new Chamber website and give another peek before an audience of 250 local business people.
We had a good session and although I felt like my presentation was 20 minutes, it turned out to be only 9 minutes and that’s good. Most resources say people have at most a 30 to 60 second attention span and considering the early meeting time it would be very easy to fall asleep.
I had a good time speaking to all of these groups and look forward to other opportunities in the future.
Here’s the video from the Chamber of Commerce presentation.
It was another busy week at work and we launched a new website for the Tennessee Constables Association.
This is an excellent design from our group and features several aspects of the constables in our state. Constables perform many legal services including, Evictions, Home Security Checks, Subpeonas, Deliver of Legal Documents, Summons, Security Escorts and much more.
The new website’s key function is the useful search where visitors can find their constable by zip code by the online database. The site also explains the services provided by these government workers and publishes handy links to other programs supported by their group.
Earlier in the week, we wrapped up a detailed user seminar for them to update every aspect of the website and we look forward to providing them greater services in the future.
We end the month at GoTriCities with a slew of great websites ready to come out of the hangar. Our guys have been working on several projects this year and we’re finally ready to launch some wonderful new destinations and we’re proud to show them off.
Last week, we were excited to reveal a new non-profit organization that helps the homeless in our community.
Hope Haven Ministries, Inc. is a Christian, interdenominational, non-profit ministry that reaches out to homeless men, women and children who may be impoverished economically, educationally, emotionally and/or spiritually. We offer emergency shelter – safe, clean, temporary housing for those in distress. You have the opportunity here for a new start on life and a place to experience God’s love. Hope Haven is a step along the path of recovery, not a destination.’
The new website has a great new design that replaces their old one and includes an intuitive donation path that allows visitors and volunteers to commit resources and time to this important cause for our city.
Their slogan says it all ‘helping the homeless help themselves’ and so far they have helped hundreds of people in our city and we look forward to locking arms and helping them with their mission even more. Our guys did a great job with the site which features a custom content-management software which enables their staff to create regular updates and more.
Visit their new website at http://www.hopehavenkpt.org and find out more about Hope Haven Ministries in Kingsport.
The 62nd annual Kingsport Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner was a refreshing break from the sliding stock market, corporate layoffs and other bad news we seem to be smothered by lately.
In fact, it was a soaring night of optimism as area business leaders celebrated last year’s success stories and look forward to the future. Besides that – the Beatles were in town…sort of.
In a new book, ‘The Black Swan ,” author Nassim Nicholas Taleb proposes an interesting concept whereby the unexpected events in our lives shape us more than those you predict. He relates this idea to the notion that just because we’ve never seen a black swan doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
It’s an intriguing concept for a book and he associates this book with disasters, politics and culture. Although the title doesn’t deliver anything revolutionary, it was enough for reflection this past weekend – because one of my unexpected “Black Swans” came out of nowhere and landed me in the ER Sunday night.
“The last time I saw you, you was on Saturday Night Live.”
It’s not often you greet friends with a comment like that, but not Matt Mahaffey. He has a stellar musical career and the last time I saw him, he was performing a live set with Beck – jamming on spoons and other instruments before a world-wide audience.
Matt was in town this past weekend to perform at Capone’s in Johnson City for an annual benefit that honors his brother Mike who passed away four years ago.
He talked about Borat in the SNL dressing room (in character) and how they played Letterman the next night. He commented, “Dave must have a sweat thing or something because that studio was frigid.” Here’s his performance on You Tube. Matt is at stage left on guitar – he gets to perform with Borat.
Downtown Kingsport’s nightlife was busier than it has been in a long time last Friday night.
It was 8.00 and Main Street was lined with cars along Main Street at Kingsport Grocery Company. Rascals was glistening with cars in the moonlight and it was difficult to find a parking place on Broad Street. For the first time in a long-time, Downtown Kingsport was ground zero for entertainment too.
I haven’t mentioned much about Slow Motion Trio over the past several months as we’ve been working hard on creating a new vibe, but that will change soon. We’ve had several gigs over the past six month and last Friday was our first show in Kingsport at The Stir Fry Cafe.
We had a good time too, but I’ll have to be careful with some constructive criticism. I’m sure things aren’t always this way, but by the end of the night, it was like walking out of an episode of the Twilight Zone and like nothing I’ve experienced as a musician.
On Thursday, May 16
It was another busy week at work and we launched a new website for the Tennessee Constables Association.
We end the month at GoTriCities with a slew of great websites ready to come out of the hangar. Our guys have been working on several projects this year and we’re finally ready to launch some wonderful new destinations and we’re proud to show them off.
