Friday, April 23, 2010

“Royal Pacific hits home plates grand slam - Orlando Sentinel” plus 3 more

“Royal Pacific hits home plates grand slam - Orlando Sentinel” plus 3 more

Royal Pacific hits home plates grand slam - Orlando Sentinel

Posted: 23 Apr 2010 10:47 AM PDT

Last week, Loews Royal Pacific Resort launched a Farmer's Market dinner in conjunction with Slow Food Orlando to showcase some of the best in local foods. It was a trial run for a concept I hope becomes a regular gathering.

For $45 (plus tax and tip) — a dinner tab easily tallied at any fast-casual restaurant — participants sampled foods prepared with products from five local farms and washed it down with plenty of beer from Orlando Brewing, two custom cocktails from 4 Oranges Vodka (made with Florida citrus) and wines from California's Rosenblum Cellars. With farmers and chefs at each food station, it was a nice, leisurely set-up for consumers to learn more about the local-food movement and build relationships with providers.

"This event is just one aspect of Loews' growing 'Adopt-a-Farmer' program," says executive chef Nando Belmonte. "The hotel consistently sources and buys food items that are grown and raised here in Central Florida. The Farmer's Market dinner is our way of sharing the relationships we have created with fish and shellfish operations, farmers and purveyors in Central Florida."

Inside the resort's Islands Dining Room, guests first encountered Heart of Christmas Farms "market salad station." Growers and chefs explained the flavor nuances of the various greens and tomatoes. (A Winter Park blue-cheese dressing was one of the two toppings offered.)

In the center of the room, Palmetto Creek Farms showcased slow-roasted, Italian-style pork sandwiches on ciabatta bread. The sandwiches were layered with homemade mozzarella and a sultry sweet heirloom tomato jam (hopefully, you'll see the jam recipe in this section in the near future).

Wild Ocean Market out of Port Canaveral served up poached rock shrimp, steamed middleneck clams and fresh Apalachicola oysters. On the patio, Deep Creek Ranch had a grass-fed beef slider bar. And Lake Meadow Farms provided the eggs for a decadent crème brulee station (vanilla, butterscotch and chocolate), which included an optional Plant City-strawberry compote.

The Royal Pacific Hotel hopes to do more dinners like this, says Belmonte. "It's about creating relationships with customers as well as our purveyors."

Slow Food Orlando (slowfoodorlando.org) has been a catalyst for forging relationships among growers, food artisans, restaurants, distributors and consumers. The "events" page of its Web site is full of opportunities to participate in similar events. The "Slow Down at the Brewery" series, for example, includes informal talks with chefs and farmers at Orlando Brewing (1301 Atlanta Ave.). And free farm tours pop up from time to time. On Sunday, Trish Strawn of Deep Creek Ranch led about 50 guests on an informative hayride through that operation in DeLeon Springs (more on that to come!). One of Strawn's credos that I love: "Feeding Florida from Florida."

Here's a rundown of participants from the Loews' event. It's only a sampling of the abundance of local food providers in Central Florida. You can find much more at localharvest.org. And remember, these are working farms, so it's best to call first to arrange an appointment:

Deep Creek Ranch: family-owned livestock production company providing hormone-free beef and lamb to individual consumers and volume purchasers; 6710 Lake Winona Road, DeLeon Springs; 386-216-2442; deepcreekranch.us; sold at DeLand Farmers' Market, Audubon Park Community Market and Daytona Beach Farmers' Market and on the table locally at the Ravenous Pig, the Royal Pacific Resort and Primo at the J.W. Marriott.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

More than 100 Twitter Followers Boost B2C Leads - MarketingVOX

Posted: 23 Apr 2010 11:01 AM PDT

Once a B2C company has more than 100 followers on the Twitter social network, its median monthly lead generation dramatically improves, according to research by internet marketing firm Hubspot.

101-500 Followers is Median Lead 'Sweet Spot'

A B2C company with one to 20 Twitter followers will generate a median of 11 leads per month. When the number of Twitter followers increases to 21-100, this median grows about 27% to 14. (via MarketingCharts).

However, the most significant boost in median lead generation from a B2C corporate Twitter account occurs when a company's number of Twitter followers enters the 100 to 500 range. At that point, the median number of monthly leads generated jumps 146% to 35.

Interestingly, this growth does not occur after 500 followers. In fact, B2C companies with 501 or more Twitter followers report an 8.6% decrease in median followers to 32. Hubspot analysts suggest this is due to the challenge of growing engaged followers. These more engaged individuals are those who will retweet content to their own followers, visit the company web site when enticed to do so, and/or post updates on topics related to the customer's areas of interest. Leads are more likely to come directly and indirectly through these more engaged individuals.

B2C Twitter Users Generate Double the Leads of Non-users

B2C customers who use Twitter generate two times more leads than B2C customers without a Twitter account. These results are consistent across company size. B2C companies with a Twitter account generate a median of 10 monthly leads, compared to five monthly leads for B2C companies of this size without a Twitter account. Twitter-using B2C companies with 11-50 employees generate a median of 31 monthly leads, compared to 15 for non-users. Twitter-using B2C companies with 51 or employees generate a median of 86 monthly leads, compared to 43 for non-users.

Twitter Enhances Individual Relationships

Hubspot recommends that B2C marketers use Twitter to build relationships with individuals who prefer shorter-format content and consider building their Twitter reach by following companies and individuals related to their industry. These individuals are likely to follow a company and share its Twitter updates as retweets.

In addition, Hubspot advises marketers to enhance relationships with individuals who are already blog subscribers by serving them blog content in a shorter, more digestible format that they can consume 'on the go' through mobile devices. Furthermore, tweets are now searchable in real time via Google.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

A New Beginning: Presidential Summit on ... - Whitehouse.gov (press release)

Posted: 23 Apr 2010 11:08 AM PDT

A New Beginning: Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship

In his June 4th, 2009 address in Cairo, President Obama announced that the U.S. would host a Summit on Entrepreneurship to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations, and entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world. The Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship will be held this coming Monday and Tuesday, April 26-27th at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.

Co-hosted by the Departments of State and Commerce, the Summit will bring together more than 275 participants from over 50 countries around the world – from Morocco to Indonesia, Uganda to Kazakhstan, France to India. They include men and women from many different walks of life – business leaders from diverse sectors, educators, community organizers, and social entrepreneurs among others. With attendance by the President and various Cabinet Secretaries and senior U.S. Government officials, this Summit is meant to highlight the importance of entrepreneurship to fostering economic opportunity and community development. And, as the President said in Cairo almost one year ago, education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century, and the Summit will help build relationships that lead to greater opportunity at home and abroad.

We have some amazing participants from all around the world attending the Summit. They're here to identify ways to advance economic and social entrepreneurship, build networks among stakeholders in entrepreneurship, and provide an opportunity to establish partnerships that advance entrepreneurship. Check out some great coverage of the participants here and get additional information at www.entrepreneurship.gov/summit.

We want you to be able to participate in this discussion, too. At the Summit on Entrepreneurship, GOOD, an independent media platform and community for the globally-conscious people, businesses, and NGOs will interview featured entrepreneurs to capture their perspectives on how to advance entrepreneurship around the world. You can also watch the President's remarks here on whitehouse.gov/live.

Jenny Urizar is Director for Global Engagement at the National Security Council

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Publicity and Social Media: A Match Made in Heaven - Huffington Post (blog)

Posted: 23 Apr 2010 11:58 AM PDT

The role of publicists has always been to promote the public image and reputation of people, products and businesses. It is their job to develop a strategy, shape a consistent message, work with the media, and create exposure. This job has never been more important or multifaceted than right now. Due to social media tools, the responsibility of a publicist is moving and growing, creating a very robust and exciting time for the industry.

The question has been raised lately about the value of publicists in today's market. Of course, I accept my bias, but I think you need a publicist more than ever, and here are the five reasons why:

Reason #1: Social Media
Social media tools allow publicists to interlock all the activities into a cohesive campaign. Through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Slideshare, features on websites, and blog reviews they can get more exposure and help build the clients' reputations in their target communities.

Reason #2: Timing
Social media has also changed the timing of marketing campaigns. Instead of creating a blitz campaign of shock and awe (advertising driven), today we need a sustained campaign of community building and long-term exposure. Publicists are best suited for this kind of work. Blogging and social media are only tools. A good publicist should map out a campaign strategy so you know what to blog and tweet about. The strategy should be blended carefully into the short- and long-term goals of the client. Here's a cool tool you can use to check out timing: Google Trends can give you an idea about when a topic becomes a tipping point.

Reason #3: Cost-Effective
As amazing as your product or company may be, it needs help to find its market. It is more cost-effective to tailor the relationship-building campaign to its niche markets through blogger outreach, Web publicity and social media interactions than to spend the money on advertising in mass media.

Reason #4: Access
Although access to journalists and producers is no longer the domain of the well-connected publicist, those relationships are more important than ever. Journalists are getting pitched by amateurs through email, not to mention on their blogs, Twitter feeds, LinkedIn and even on Facebook. Many of them tell me that they are feeling under siege from these relentless nonprofessionals. Although getting access has become easier, gaining attention is tougher than ever. A publicist builds his or her relationship with editors, journalists, producers, freelancers, and bloggers over months and years. They then trust the publicist as a filter for quality and control.

Reason #5: Reputation Monitoring
Word of mouth and positive reputation is not only important today, it is the essential growth element for all persons and businesses. Creating good will and a good customer experience is important for the tech savvy consumer who is a click away from switching to another expert. Monitoring reputation has come a long way. With search tools like Google, Topsy, and Social Mention, publicists can stay current with the conversations, allowing them to react more quickly to protect their clients' reputations as well as to take advantage of any hot-button issues. Another great tool to monitor conversations is Bing's real-time Twitter search.

In this new decade, publicity is changing in an exciting and fundamental way. It is constantly improving because the tools to monitor, research, build relationships, and develop strategy have never been better. This trend will only continue to grow and expand. In the words of Seth Godin, "Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations."

If you are interested in social media and digital marketing news, you can follow me on a new Twitter feed @WebSnapshot

Fauzia Burke is the Founder and President of FSB Associates, an Internet marketing firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors on the Web. Founded in 1995, FSB's mission is to give authors an opporutnity to promote their work to an eager, targeted audience online. FSB is based in the NYC area. For more information, please visit FSB Associates.

Follow Fauzia Burke on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FSBAssociates

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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