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What Sustains You From Within, When Everything Outside of You Falls Away?
The Lake Communicators, a Lake County-based professional organization for individuals in the marketing and communication fields throughout Northeast Ohio, will hold a luncheon on Wednesday, September 8, featuring guest speaker David Cowen. The luncheon will be held from 11:30 AM to 1:15 PM at the Lake Metroparks Pine Ridge Country Club located at 30610 Ridge Road in Wickliffe.
 The topic that will be discussed is personal sustainability – what it is, how to be more sustainable, and the relationship to your organization's sustainability program. Dave recently retired as the Public Affairs Manager for The Lubrizol Corporation where part of his role entailed corporate oversight for defining Lubrizol's approach to sustainability.
During his 35-year career with Lubrizol, he held various positions in research and development, manufacturing and corporate. He has discussed topics such as interpersonal skills, diversity, and personal effectiveness at Lubrizol University workshops.
In the community, Dave has facilitated workshops on leadership, human effectiveness, time management, and strategic planning processes for non-profits.
The cost for the luncheon is $15 for members and $25 for non-members. You may send a substitute if unable to attend, no refunds will be allocated for no-shows.
Reservations are due by Friday, September 3. Please pre-register so we can better serve you. Walk-ins pay an additional $5 fee. For more information about the Lake Communicators monthly lunch meetings or to make reservations, call Diana Lewis at 440-255-8932 or
. You may also register and pay online via PayPal on the Lake Communicators Web site.
Images from Lake Communicators Night Out at Classic Park
Apex Awards Update
Talent and creativity often shine brightest under pressure. With the current economic climate forcing the members of the Lake Communicators to do more with less in their efforts to promote their clients, now is the time to showcase the quality of your work.
The Lake Communicators APEX Awards is seeking entries for consideration in the 2010 competition. Celebrating our 29th year, Lake Communicators is a Lake County-based organization for those in the marketing communication fields in Northeast Ohio.
 This year, each company with a Lake Communicators member will have the opportunity to enter one item for free. Our goal is to encourage members who have not entered in the past, or who are working with tight budgets this year, to enter the 2010 competition. To be considered, projects must be the product of companies, organizations, free-lancers, and individuals who live in, work in, and/or provide services to clients in Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula counties. All entries must have been produced between Aug. 1, 2009 and July 31, 2010 to be considered.
The deadline for entries is Sept. 22. Entries can be dropped off at the Laketran offices, 555 Lakeshore Blvd. in Painesville Township; at the Willoughby branch of the Lake County YMCA, 37100 Euclid Ave. in Willoughby; or at The Holden Arboretum's Cooper Administration Building, at 9500 Sperry Road in Kirtland.
Winning entries for each category will be awarded a Gold, Silver, or Bronze prize during an award ceremony slated for Nov. 10 at the Pine Ridge County Club.
To learn more about the competition categories, or to enter online, visit http://www.lakecommunicators.com/apex/apex.php or contact Cait Anastis at 440-602-3828.
Lake Communicators welcome new members
Karen Lucek
Graphic Designer
12 East Shore Blvd.
Timberlake, OH 44095
Phone: 440-477-2237
Thank you Karen for making a contribution to our scholarship fund!
More than meets the eye
Tips for making online video one of your most compelling tools
By: Roger Rosenbaum; PRSA Tactics
Web video has become desktop television. Sales and marketing teams can becomes today's TV network programming executives, replacing traditional corporate suits responsible for shows like "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
The Web clip culture inspired by YouTube and GoogleVideo has paved the way for businesses to create their own high-quality PR content to build the loyalty of current customers and educate new customers about the benefits of their products and services. Online video is a great way to raise positive visibility in the marketplace and the community because it can sell, tell, educate, motivate, train and entertain. Think of it as your company's own TV network broadcast in offices and homes around the corner and the globe.
Effective Web video can range from a single clip to a series, from lighthearted to documentary style. The options are endless, but the following tips will help you make your choices strategic:
- Focus on the purpose. Web video must serve a defined purpose. Do you want a viewer to place an order, forward the clip to a colleague, join a discussion, or RSVP to a seminar or trade show? The ultimate goal for any Web site is to make the content and information so compelling that visitors check it regularly. Having a community that participates regularly is a robust competitive advantage.
- Get back to basics. Developing a Web video strategy requires teamwork, the IT staff embedding the content, and the marketing or PR team developing a creative position for the company. That makes it a great time to re-evaluate who you are, what you do, who your audience is and why you do it. Examine branding and marketing materials to see if they are up to date and effective. Ask, what are your distribution channels and what do our customers say about us? Think SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) marketing analysis.
- Make a connection. While putting clips of a telegenic and charismatic CEO (a la Steve Jobs) on a Web site to showcase the company mission and goals can be effective, this should not by the only PR effort. Add customer testimonials, a very powerful tool to build a brand or increase visibility, and allow viewers to rate or comment on videos. The goal is to bring the company's products, services, team and industry to life with compelling content.
- Measure your reach. Another appealing aspect of Web video is accountability. If you have produced a great Web video that accurately and creatively positions you or your client's products and services, you must properly track involvement to justify the value. You can track how many people viewed the video, how much time they spent on the site and what zip code they are in. We produced content for an Ulster County, N.Y., client that led to 50,000 views during a 30-day period, a high number for a focused, regional campaign. But remember that factors beyond Web video (like a powerful Web site) also impact the results of a campaign.
- Expand your audience. High-quality production can be expensive, but the good news in the digital age with nonlinear editing is that footage can easily be used in many formats. You could include it in a PowerPoint presentation at an exhibition or trade show, or put it on a SmartPhone, iPod or portable DVD player to show on sales calls. Special tags can be embedded so Web search engines find the video and optimize placement high in search results. Another option is to embed the video clips in electronic newsletters to customers or news releases. Building buzz around your content is one surefire way to get it noticed. Write a news release about the new content or insert it in an RSS feed.
Though fewer boundaries restrict Web content than traditional advertising, content is still limited by technology and the shrinking attention span of Web surfers.
Web video is one of the most dynamic PR tools created to date and a clear signal that one-dimensional, billboard-like Web sites are a thing of the past. |
