Mediaboss Marketing

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: At noon Wednesday, March 21, Unlimited Future Inc. will host a brown bag lunch and learn and find out how your business can use social media to communicate with your customers and increase your bottom line. The seminar will be taught by Larry Nitardy of ComAssit, a local business that helps start-ups, small and mid-sized companies identify possibilities, map and execute actions that improve margins, empower personal and corporate choices and create sustainable growth.

Unlimited Future, Inc. Business Incubator is located at 1650 8th Ave. To register, go to http://www.unlimitedfuture.org or call 304-697-3007.

TOURISM MINI GRANTS: At 10 a.m. Monday, March 26, The West Virginia Department of Tourism will be at Unlimited Future Inc. to discuss the The Tourism Matching Advertising Partnership Program (MAPP). MAPP provides matching funds for innovative and effective advertising projects that increase tourism in West Virginia. The purpose of the program is to extend the advertising resources of the tourism industry through partnerships, support advertising strategies (both small and large), provide incentive and opportunity for tourism growth and to help communities to improve the local economy by strengthening West Virginias tourism.

Attend to find out if your business, festival, fair or location is eligible to take advantage of these matching grants. Unlimited Future is at 1650 8th Ave., Huntington. To register or with questions, call 304-697-3007 or go to http://www.unlimitedfuture.org.

GOODWILL OFFERS HOMEBUYER EDUCATION CLASSES: Goodwill Industries Consumer Credit Counseling Service will hold a Homebuyer Education Class from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 24, in the conference room of Goodwills offices at 1102 Memorial Blvd. in Huntington.

The class will include assessing homebuyer readiness, budgeting and credit, the value of homebuyer inspections, financing, mortgage instruments and loan closings, as well as keeping proper records for home maintenance.

The class fee is based on a sliding scale and participants must bring proof of income to the class. For more information or to discuss fees, call Michelle Hightower, Certified Housing Counselor and Homebuyer Educator at Goodwills Consumer Credit Counseling Service 304-522-4321, ext. #135, or email her at mhightower@goodwillhunting.org.

CAKE DECORATING: Goodwill Industries is offering a six-week course in professional cake decorating beginning from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday, March 26, at 1005 Virginia Ave. The class will meet once a week, always on a Monday night, and costs $100.

The hands-on course aims to teach students to prepare, decorate and complete original cake designs. Students can develop skills in making flowers and leaves, writing and working with icing colors. Those who successfully complete the course could leave with the skills necessary to launch a career in cake decorating. Course costs includes decorating tips and supplies for the students to keep.

Students will be prepared to decorate an entire cake of their own unique design by the last week of class. Class is limited to 15 students.

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Tri-State in training: Upcoming seminar focuses on social media marketing

SEOUL -- A wave of protests by journalists in South Korea against alleged government interference in news coverage shows no sign of abating, despite threats of legal action from their bosses.

It started with a strike launched by journalists at Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) at the end of January, demanding the resignation of the Chief Executive Kim Jae-cheul whom they accuse of suppressing news reports critical of the administration of President Lee Myung-bak.

They claim that MBC has intentionally eliminated or reduced coverage that could cultivate negative public views towards the government, including vehement protests against the country's free trade agreement with the United States.

Some 700 reporters and producers at MBC have joined the strike, resulting in shortening of its nightly news broadcast to 15 minutes from an hour and suspension of several other news programs. Their walkouts were soon accompanied by strikes staged by colleagues at the country's largest television network, Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), and Yonhap Television News (YTN), a state-financed cable news network.

About 650 KBS staff members, including 250 reporters, took part in the strike but the broadcaster's management said its news programs were not affected. Yonhap news agency, the country's flagship newswire service, was the latest to join the intensifying calls for fair, unbiased news coverage that is free from government influence.

It has been worried that the strike at Yonhap could affect nearly all news outlets in the country by disrupting them from gathering news. Union members of Yonhap went on strike starting March 15 in protest against the reappointment of incumbent president Park Jung-chan to another three-year term.

"We have lost everything from fair reporting to public trust, office democracy, and reasonable appointment during the three-year presidency of Park. We have nothing left to lose," a union leader at Yonhap was quoted by local media as saying at a ceremony marking the beginning of the strike.

Despite differences in their respective corporate situations, the underlying cause shared by the strikers is discontent towards alleged management interference in news coverage under direct and indirect influence of the government. The companies remain defiant, even though the protests grow in strength and numbers. MBC's Kim Jae-cheul has sued union members for defamation. KBS has also vowed stern action against what they call "illegal" strike.

However, the tide shows no sign of receding, with the strikers promoting various public events to convey the justness of their protests to ordinary citizens. A public concert was held on March 16 in Yeouido, Seoul, where the country's major broadcasters are located, to support the causes of the ongoing protests by journalists. Local media reported that some 20,000 citizens attended the event.

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S. Korean journalists stage walkouts against alleged gov't media control

MANILA, Philippines - Social networking is everywhere. It started out with people accessing their pages with only their PCs and notebooks. Now, users are accessing their pages using their tablets and mobile phones. Because of this phenomenon, it has also changed the way people communicate - be it personal or at work. A couple of years back, people open first their email than any other application. Now, its Facebook or Twitter first before anything else.

Just recently, the NPD Group released a study stating that videogame sales fell sharply in February. Sales of game software in the U.S. went down 23% in February compared to the same period last 2011. NPD data only includes sales made through traditional retail outlets and not those made over digital channels.

According to NPD, the top selling game for February 2012 continued to be ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3'' from Activision Blizzard Inc. followed by ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' from Square Enix, ''UFC Undisputed'' by THQ Inc. and ''Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning'' by Electronic Arts Inc. On the hardware side, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corporation sold 426,000 units. Nintendo Co. said it sold 228,000 units of its Wii cosole and 262,000 units of its handheld 3DS console during the month.

Now, where will we attribute the continuous decline of video game sales? I would dare say that social and mobile gaming has a lot to do with this changes.

If you could still remember, there was a time Farmville was one of the most played games. Then came Angry Birds. Now, people are playing Move the Box and Temple Run. Just to share with you, the top 10 paid iPhone games are: Angry Birds / Fruit Ninja / Doodle Jump / Cut The Rope / Angry Birds Seasons / Words With Friends / Tiny Wings / Angry Birds Rio / Pocket God / Camera+.

Top 10 iPhone downloads (Free) are: Facebook / Pandora Radio / Words With Friends Free / Skype / The Weather Channel / Google Search / Google Earth / Angry Birds Free / Shazam / Netflix. Temple Run is number 18. As an additional info, as of November 2011, Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 500 million times. While Temple Run has been downloaded 36 million times as of February 2012.

Now why the sudden popularity of these games? I believed it has something to do with the popularity of these devices: iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch. Not to mention, of course, that most of the games are free to download. Portability is another reason, gamers can practically play with these games from anywhere and anytime. Interactivity can be another reason since the games can be played with other players worldwide.

In other words, the landscape of how people play games is changing or has changed. Most of our young gamers are looking for devices that they can play games with, call, browse, text, take photos, videos among other things. A device that will entertain them and at the same time allow them to communicate with their friends.

The challenge now for game developers is to incorporate their games with social and mobile media. They should also price their games competitively, its very difficult to compete with games that are provided free of charge. The revenue stream has changed as well. Social and mobile media game changer and game developers have no choice but to join this new landscape.

I am logging off. Stay cool and God Bless!

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Social Networking Changes Gaming Landscape

Whitehall Media, the UKs market-leading business-to-business multi-platform media group is delighted to announce that it has now teamed up with leading Stockport-based internet marketing strategist, Search and More.

Manchester (PRWEB UK) 18 March 2012

Whitehall Media is committed to developing market-leading brands and driving business forward. Its brands inform, inspire and connect in every sector in which the company operates. Whitehall Media has been successfully producing public policy and mainstream commercial strategy conferences and events since 2005, delivering 50 events each year, and working with public bodies, membership associations, think tanks, campaign groups, voluntary organisations and the commercial sector. The company has created a unique range of brands and has demonstrated a proven ability to market effectively to target audiences. In the last 6 years the business has developed and is now justifiably recognised as the market leaders in this field.

Whitehall Media maintains an undiluted focus on content and product quality across conferences, awards, exhibitions, and intelligence services. This enables the sharing of best practice, ideas and inspiration, for better, more timely, and more informed decisions. Whitehall Media gives business professionals the commercial understanding and access to the people and organisations they need to do their jobs better. It specialises in delivering professionally managed and strategically marketed events on the biggest issues of the day, such as Big Data, Big Data Analytics, Critical National Infrastructure, Identity Management, Public Sector Enterprise ICT and Central Government Business and Technology. In order to continue delivering these a top quality service, Whitehall has turned to Search and More, the North Wests number one organic internet marketing strategist, to help it consolidate and build on its success in the market place and deliver an even-better and more-targeted service to its growing list of clients.

Search and More is the internet marketing strategist of choice in the North West with a proven 10 year track record of making business work better and smarter. Search and More doesnt believe in approaching internet marketing in the traditional way. It prefers to look at the whole picture, and doesnt focus purely on search engine optimisation (SEO). Although SEO might improve short-term search engines ratings, it isnt necessarily a sustainable strategy and will never deliver the sort of results that businesses would like. Search and More uses a more rounded, holistic approach that focuses on every aspect of a businesss internet marketing strategy. Far too much emphasis is placed on keywords in internet marketing. Although the right keywords are important and might improve search engine ranking for a while, they will never guarantee that website visitors will like what they see, nor buy any of the products on display.

To get any website noticed, it needs to rank highly in the search engine results, and to achieve this it needs to provide relevant and useful information content. The simple truth is the higher the ranking on Google, Bing and other search engines, the more people will click on the website. Every extra click could be a potential new sale. The aim of search engine optimisation (SEO) is to improve search ranking for chosen keywords. Not all websites can be on the first page, there are only 10 places available, but with some effort Search and More can give any website the advantage that will hopefully take it to number one.

Every website is different. Every one will have its own strengths and weaknesses and each will have differing needs and requirements. The company tailors every SEO package around the clients business, as one size does not fit all. To begin with, Search and More will carry out a detailed analysis of the website and produce a report explaining what needs to be done to make the business more effective.

Managing Director, Robert Gaskell, confirmed the details of the new deal and expressed his satisfaction that Search and More has been able to add such a respected and established North West company to its growing list of clients:

Search and More is delighted to welcome Whitehall Media on board. It is a nationally respected company, with a fantastic reputation for delivering quality and measureable value. It is quite rightly recognised as the market leader in its field, and its easy to see why. Search and More is really looking forward to working with Whitehall Media and believe that this will be the start of a long and mutually successful partnership that will be of significant benefit to both businesses in the medium and long term.

The latest agreement comes on top of the recent announcement that Search and More is also now representing another dynamic, high profile UK company, Freshcig. Freshcig is the UKs favourite electronic cigarette supplier, and has built an enviable reputation in the market by offering its customers value for money, unprecedented levels of customer service and unmatched choices: the choice of a healthier and cheaper alternative to smoking tobacco-based cigarettes, the freedom to legally smoke in public spaces, and the UKs best and widest choice of flavours to suit every one of its customers individual tastes. Freshcigs ultimate goal has always been to give its customers what they want, when they want it, at a price that suits. Freshcig is determined to continue to deliver these goals, and has turned to Search and More, the internet marketing strategist of choice, to help it consolidate its rightful place in the market.

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Whitehall Media, the Market-Leading Business-to-Business Multi-Platform Media Group, Teams up with Stockport-Based ...

UNILAB Ideas Positive, the only social marketing congress and competition for college students in the country today, is expanding this year from Metro Manila to the entire Philippines, covering North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The nationwide expansion is a result of the encouraging response from universities and college students to the program, which was first launched in 2010 to serve as venue for Filipino youth to improve the health and wellness of their communities with their social marketing ideas.

"The increasing number of positive ideas we receive every year and the passion the youth have shown in helping their communities have inspired us to open the venue to more youth in the Philippines," said Unilab Ideas Positive program lead Barry Barrientos. "By partnering with more youth on this cause, we believe that well also be able to help more communities become healthier and more productive."

Fifteen communities all over the country will benefit from this expansion through the social marketing programs by 15 youth teams that will all receive P100, 000 seed money for the implementation of their ideas.

One of the participants to the boot camp, Jhanette Co of the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, thanked the program for giving young people like her the opportunity to be heard and make a difference.

"Unilab Ideas Positive is a game changer by providing us with a venue to learn social marketing from experts, and more importantly, giving us the opportunity to make meaningful change in communities by bringing our ideas to life," she shared. "Its refreshing to see how a big company like Unilab demonstrates belief in the youth of today."

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Unilab Ideas Positive invites the youth to team up for a healthier Philippines