FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Musicians Rally to Raise Funds, Celebrate Life
Proceeds from Concert, Auction will Benefit The Man Eats Fish Foundation for Keahlan Mullen.

Contact: Michael Pandiscio, 508.432.6675; carefactor@comcast.net

EASTHAM, Mass. – On Cape Cod, musicians create one of the most vibrant and tight-knit groups of people. And on Sunday, May 17, scores of these artists will join with the community at large to celebrate the life of Rosalie Muce, and to raise funds for a trust for her son, Keahlan Mullen.

Muce, a native of Harwich and 1994 graduate of Harwich High School, was killed in a car crash on February 27 in Falmouth, Maine. She was a hospice nurse who championed community-based care, and volunteered frequently for the eHope Foundation. Muce also received the Women's Opportunity Award from Soroptimist International in 2003 for her community service efforts.

On May 17 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., a benefit concert and silent auction has been planned at the Eastham Elks Club on McKoy Road in Eastham.

“We’re going to try to raise some money for Kealahn's future,” said Michael Pandiscio, a coordinator of the event. “We thought we would do something nice; something good in such a bad situation.”

Several local businesses have already donated items and services to the silent auction, and additional donations can be made by e-mailing carefactor@comcast.net, or calling 508.432.6675.

Music will be provided by local favorites Care Factor Zero, with special guests and former founding members Nick Muce and Tim Taylor, and by Big Rhythm Wine – A Grateful Dead Experience. All of the proceeds will go toward founding and funding the Man Eats Fish Foundation. For more information, visit www.bigrhythmwine.com.
-30-

The Buzz at Writer-Jax.com features a ProBono press release every month.

Leave Comment

Bloggers are so good at getting the word out. Just look at some of the coverage we've gotten in the blogosphere in the last few days alone:
Localism
Out of the Inkwell
PitchEngine

PF Monaco
Steve's Two Cents

Del Padre blog
Franklin Matters

...and even Ye Olde Mainstream Media has gotten into the act! 

Thanks, Reminder Publications!

Already signed up are plenty of local bloggers, vloggers, social medialites, and business owners large and small, who want to learn more about new media and social networking. This guy is coming (he paid his $20, even) and so is this guy, and maybe even this guy .  

It's all very exciting. Morriss , Tish , and I had our walk-through of the space yesterday, and it's so amazing. Hard wood floors, wide-open spaces, and plenty of big, blank walls to project Twitterstreams. We're going to provide coffee and snacks throughout the day, and live-blog and Tweet too, of course.

Coming? Don't forget your laptops, cameras, and power strips! And I would be a bad co-coordinator if I didn't mention our sponsors - Veritech Media , GoNomad.com , and Atlas TC.

Leave Comment

Related Entries:

• Deep Down, Underground...
• How'd That Go?
• We Came. We Saw. We Blogged About It.
• We need a montage. A PodCamp montage.
• TSB Featured Blogger: Allie's Answers
• Thematic Photographic # 3 - Poignant
• Thirty-something Blogger Round-up: D - E
• War of the Words
• "Spit Out Your Words, Spit Out Your Verbs"
• Lists - woo!

New Media ‘Unconference’ Comes to Western Mass.
PodCamp WesternMass Puts New Media in the Spotlight, March 28, 2009

HOLYOKE, Mass. – By now, we’ve all heard of iPods and podcasts. But what’s a PodCamp?

PodCamp is one example of an ‘unconference,’ or unorganized conference, at which participants choose the topics they’d like to discuss. It’s geared toward new media enthusiasts and professionals of all types, including bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, social networkers, as well as the people who read, watch, and listen to them.

This month, PodCamp will come to Western Mass. for the first time. On Saturday, March 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., members of the marketing, business, design, technology, and music industries will gather on the second floor of the mixed-use, retrofitted mill building Open Square in Holyoke for an unconference that aims to promote education, innovation, and collaboration between technology and media professionals.

Morriss Partee, owner of EverythingCU.com in Holyoke and a coordinator of the event, said Western Mass. has a very active new and social media community, and as such is primed and ready for a successful PodCamp.

“We have a thriving community here of some truly amazing people,” he said. “This is a chance for Western Mass. bloggers, business people, artists, and academics to get together and make connections, and for everyone to learn how social media can enhance their business, cause, or organization.”

Additionally, co-coordinator Tish Grier, chief community officer of Placeblogger.com, said that the PodCamp concept is also well-suited to the region due to the myriad issues, especially economic concerns, that face the area and the entire country.

“It's easy to think that issues going on in the ‘big city’ don't have much of an impact on Western Mass. -- but those issues, like the loss of the daily newspaper, impact us as well," she said.

There is no agenda at an unconference, and the list of potential topics is virtually endless. However, sessions often include a ‘social media 101’ and an overview of current and emerging new media tools. Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops, power strips, and cameras, and can come and go as their schedules allow. The cost of the program is $20, attendance is limited to the first 60 people to register at http://podcampwesternmass.eventbrite.com.

-30-




About PodCamp WesternMass

PodCamp WesternMass is a community-based ‘unconference’ modeled after a popular meeting concept in new media. The first PodCamp was held in September 2006 in Boston, and the trend is now spreading across the world due to the spreading preponderance of social media.

Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass. predicts that spending on interactive technologies will grow to $61 billion by 2012, and that social media (podcasting, blogging, and services such as Twitter, flickr, Facebook, etc.) will drive emerging channels to $10.6 billion.

The event is designed for anyone interested in the online world to share ideas, hear from industry experts, and participate in discussions. New media marketing experts predict that businesses can thrive if they embrace social media and conversational marketing methodologies. To learn more or to register, visit the PodCamp WesternMass wiki at http://podcamp.pbwiki.com/PodCampWesternMass.

PodCamp WesternMass would like to thank Veritech Corp. of East Longmeadow for sponsoring the event space, GoNomad.com and the GoNomad Café for providing refreshments, and Atlas TC of Holyoke for providing wi-fi during the event.

Leave Comment

Winstanley Associates Introduces Economic Stimulus Spray to the Masses

LENOX, Mass. -- With all the talk about recession, bailouts, and the credit crisis, people everywhere are wishing there was some sort of quick fix.

Always willing to lend a hand, Winstanley Associates, a marketing, advertising, and creative design firm based in Lenox, Mass., has answered the call with its latest promotional item, the Economic Stimulus Spray .

While the product itself may not do much for the economy, Winstanley has hit upon a unique way to spread its message, as well as lighten the mood a bit in offices across the country.

Created in partnership with Winstanley’s sister company, Lenox Softworks (LSW), the 2009 Economic Stimulus Spray arrives shrink-wrapped and emblazoned with promises such as ‘makes everyone feel better – for a few seconds’ and ‘smells like hope.’

In addition, the packaging directs recipients to a companion Web site, economyspray.com, where just by typing in a URL, virtually any site can be ‘stimulated.’ The interface allows the user to create a storm of floating dollar bills, add a top hat to an existing photo, or give a blog’s masthead a little bit of bling, just to name a few tricks that are part of a larger ‘Economic Stimulus Toolbox.’

Ralph Frisina, creative director at Winstanley, said the project is an example of the kind of unexpected item the agency likes to create and disseminate once or twice a year, to "cut through the clutter," as he said, and showcase its talents.
"We try to do a 3D product of some kind, because people get so much stuff across their desks. We like to cut through the noise, and do it with a sense of humor," he said.

The Economic Stimulus Spray is the latest in a long line of successful promotional items designed by Winstanley and LSW – most recently, the agency earned accolades for a product called simply ‘Nothing—‘ an empty, plastic blister pack.

"Nothing will make you happy," proclaims the package-without-a-product. "There's nothing to worry about, there's nothing inside ... it all starts from nothing."

‘Nothing; was honored with a national silver ADDY award, as well as a Distinctive Merit Hatch Award for Excellence in New England Advertising from the Ad Club, the trade organization for the New England communications industry.

For more information, visit winstanley.com or lsw.com

About Winstanley Associates
Both Winstanley Associates and Lenox Softworks are located in the historic 1790 Elijah Northrup House, 114 Main Street in Lenox, Mass. For more information on Winstanley Associates and Lenox Softworks, visit www.winstanley.com and www.lsw.com, or call 413-637-9887.

Leave Comment

Related Entries:

• Lincoln! You' gonna drive me to drinkin'.
• Shaken and Stirred
• Press Release of the Week: Ice Fishing ain't for sissies
• The Third Annual Scorpion Bowl Networking Bash
• Retail Therapy Thursday - Wear it out, say it loud
• And they're housebroken, too
• Sun is out, the temperature is up.
• Moo Schwag
• The Berkshires Seemed Dreamlike on Account ...
• Best Christmas Card Ever.

Leave Comment

Related Entries:

• Lincoln! You' gonna drive me to drinkin'.
• Shaken and Stirred
• Press Release of the Week: Smells Like Hope
• The Berkshires Seemed Dreamlike on Account ...

The lead-in is my favorite part - it's very dramatic.  But the whole story is well-balanced and well-reported, and as someone who straddles the fence between media and media relations, I can appreciate that it could have gone either way. Props to reporter Shannon Hegy - she did a great job and I think this spot is better than many. 

Leave Comment

Related Entries:

• iSpin
• iPhone craze causes multimedia producers to work on a Friday night
• A Picture's Worth a Thousand Compound Nouns
• Press Release of the Week: Applephiles, meet George.
• Riley Alert
• Riley in the Pokey
• Nino Del Padre on Howard Stern - audio!
• DVP Prez on Howard Stern with Riley Martin and Entourage
• DVP President Meets and Greets with the Shock Jock
• DVP Enters the Alien Debate ... sort of

Leave Comment

Related Entries:

• MODE for iPhone news story at Del Padre
• iSpin
• A Picture's Worth a Thousand Compound Nouns
• Press Release of the Week: Applephiles, meet George.
• Riley Alert
• Riley in the Pokey
• Nino Del Padre on Howard Stern - audio!
• DVP Prez on Howard Stern with Riley Martin and Entourage
• DVP President Meets and Greets with the Shock Jock
• DVP Enters the Alien Debate ... sort of

Ask my fellow bloggers and campadres NDP and ArcherVision what they do for a living, however, and you'll get a variety of answers. Producers. Filmmakers. Animators. Interanifilmowebbers. Whatever's en vogue in the new media world that hour week.

Most often, though, they just say they do stuff. As in, 'We do stuff. We get stuff done.'

They're men of few words, but they've found a way around the grunts and fake techno-terms (like techno-terms). When asked what the dudes do at DPD, all of us around them can now joyfully direct people to this handy little piece of AnimamultiWebpromedia goodness. 

Del Padre Digital Production Company Demo Reel 2008

 DVP is now DPD.  

Leave Comment

Related Entries:

• Shaken and Stirred
• Panel Photos: A Panoply of Chins (WNEC Media Conference Recap)
• MODE for iPhone news story at Del Padre
• iSpin
• iPhone craze causes multimedia producers to work on a Friday night
• Press Release of the Week: Applephiles, meet George.
• Power.
• Riley Alert
• Riley in the Pokey
• Nino Del Padre on Howard Stern - audio!

Eat right, get your circulation flowing, and maintain proper posture: these are the latest travel tips from the Historic Hotels of America .

In a press release from the organization, in tandem with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, seven historic hotels share some of their advice for healthy, tension-free traveling.

It’s a relatively ingenious press release, actually, as press releases go: it offers information and expert opinions, while at the same time publicizing a few of the nation’s more well-heeled tourism destinations.

“The Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, reminds guests of the importance of staying hydrated,” reads one bullet point, for instance.

In addition to getting your eight-glasses a day, here are some other tips HHoA member hotels suggest:

• Standing in long lines and racing through terminals takes a toll on the feet. To rejuvenate, Leah Wagner, lead fitness instructor at the Spa at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz , N.Y., offers a simple suggestion. Place a tennis ball or similar sized firm ball under the ball of your foot. While seated, roll the ball back and forth under the arch of your foot. This can be done in your hotel room, at your desk or even on an airplane. 


• A sure-fire way to feel tired and irritable after traveling is to indulge in junk food. Instead, Sheryl O’Brien, spa director at the Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands, N.C., recommends reaching for fresh fruit. A quick candy bar or bag of chips at the airport or gas station might offer a quick fix, but will only bring you down later. A more nutritious snack will fill you up and provide a good source of energy. 


• Daniel Chong-Jimenez, executive chef of the Spa at Norwich Inn in Norwich, Conn., suggests eating light meals comprised of lean protein such as chicken breast, tuna and light ham, along with greens and vegetables. He says eating carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and sweets will result in drowsiness and diminished energy. 


• The Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, reminds guests of the importance of staying hydrated. This is especially true when traveling to warmer climates and higher altitudes. The El Convento offers abundant supplies of bottled water at various points throughout the hotel. 


• Kate Means, director of the Spa of Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Va., which includes the Williamsburg Inn and Colonial Houses, advises getting adjusted to the new time zone quickly. Set your watch on the airplane, then focus on diet, exercise and relaxation and enjoy your surroundings. There are some great places in this world and you should take the opportunity to appreciate them. 


• Once you reach your destination, don’t just sit on the couch. Sue Andersson of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel in Jekyll Island, Ga., says getting up and out will start you off on the right foot. Take a 20-30 minute stroll early in the morning to clear your mind for the day ahead, to get your circulation flowing and to explore the sites. For instance, on a walk near the hotel you will see beautiful century-old cottages, the Jekyll River, the Historic Wharf and the huge oak trees covered with Spanish moss. 


• Maintaining proper sitting posture while traveling will help to prevent neck and back soreness according to Rob Vorhees, head personal trainer, and Phyllis Ellerman, fitness director at the Sports Club at Boar’s Head Inn in Charlottesville, Va. They suggest keeping your seat in a more upright position; keep your head in upright position; support your lower back by placing a small rolled-up towel between your lower lumbar back and the seat back; and keep your shoulders in proper alignment. 


Leave Comment

Related Entries:

• The Art of the October Wedding
• Battle of the Budge
• These are the Days
• New Orleans, 2008
• Ze Story on France? She is Up on ze Internets, oui!
• The Horror! The Sandwiches! The Surf Rock! (Very Late Weekend Update)
• Joe? Joe Who? JoMAMA!
• Truck on Down to Truckee
• Press Release of the Week: Globetrotter Logbooks Going Virtual
• Retail Therapy Thursday: Don't Forget to Breathe, in and out

It ain't all history; the hot tub with fireplace, located at Cranwell Resort and Spa in Lenox, Mass.

For months, I've been getting press releases in my inbox from the Historic Hotels of America . I've even blogged about them here and there a few times - the releases tend to be these cool 'tip sheets,' offering little tidbits of information about how different establishments involved with HHA mix a drink, tell a ghost story, clean the house, and make travel healthier, among other things.

There are more than 200 HHA hotels in the U.S., including in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. All are included on the National Registry of Historic Places, but for the most part, that's where the similarities stop; each hotel has its own flair, its own sense of place, and its own stories to tell -- hence, the factoid press releases.

I have to be honest, of the hundreds of press releases I receive a day, the HHA media mail is probably the best. They're quick, informative, and well-written, not to mention they have a great shelf-life. Instead of announcing one-time events, they usually provide NTKs (Need to Know!) and DYKs (Did You Know?) that change little over time, and thus are infinitely publishable.

Upon receiving my latest installment of HHA publicity -- Haunted Happenings, one of my personal favorites of the year -- I started thinking about how I could parlay the coolness of HHA into an article .

The four hotels in our general region are a good sampling of all member establishments. One is an opulent luxury spot that welcomes celebrities regularly, one was voted among 'the world's coolest hotels' by Conde Nast Traveller, one is championing sustainable agriculture in its kitchens, and one is a premiere golf resort first owned by Henry Ward Beecher, Harriet Beecher Stowe's brother.

This diversity creates a branding problem for historic hotels; while their identity makes them unique, it separates them from the corporate-owned hotels, and more importantly, corporate-owned budgets.  That's where the HHA comes in. It groups all of these places together under one umbrella, promotes them in an annual guide and on their Web site, and through their cheeky press releases.

One of my contacts said since joining, her establishment's occupancy hasn't dropped below 50% in the winter. In the Berkshire Mountains where, as James Taylor says, the first of December is covered with snow and so is the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston, that's no easy feat.

Leave Comment

Related Entries:

• The Art of the October Wedding
• "Only Pay Attention to the Dreams in Your Heart" -C. Vivian Stringer
• These are the Days
• New Orleans, 2008
• From Maine to Mini-series - Stephen King keeps popping up
• I was 12 when these started? D'oh!
• Thematic Photographic #5 - Water, water everywhere
• Thematic Photographic #2 - The Vanishing
• This is the World We Live In
• A journalist and a lot of hot air? Not surprising, but still cool.