August 17, 2009
Milwaukee Twestival – DM me to help Fill in the blanks!
Milwaukee, WI
Bigger than ever – Twestival Local 2009 comes to Milwaukee
Global Twitter-Based Charity Event Returns with Local Twist
Following the success of the first global Twestival on February 12th 2009, in which 202 cities participated, Twestival returns in September with a local twist on “Twestival” – the volunteer-run, charity fundraising events for people who know each other through the micro-blogging service twitter.com. The event will take place on <Date> September at <Venue> raising funds for <City> based <Charity> who <Chosen charity’s cause>.
The first 24 hour “‘tweet-up’ with a social conscience” inspired thousands and raised $250,000 for clean water charity, charity: water, and the next event Twestival Local, looks to be even bigger. Twestival Local again gives every city in the world the chance to hold their own Twestival, but this time they can run their events anytime between the 10-13th September 2009, and choose their own local charity. Twitter users in <City> chose <Charity> /will be nominating and selecting charities based on an online vote, details of which you can see at www.city.twestival.com.
Volunteer teams in <City> and cities across the world are now coming together to survey their communities, nominate causes, plan events, gather sponsors and raise funds. <City> Twestival organiser <Representative name> said “We’re so excited about the next Twestiva in . <City> and working with our great team of volunteers and sponsors to raise funds for <Charity>. We’re hoping to see lots of <City> Twitter users coming along to have an amazing time with us and generate lots of cash and awareness! ”.
Optional: Insert charity or key sponsor quote.
Global partners across all countries for Twestival are Amiando, Citrix Online, Blurb and Causecast. For the for the full and changing list of cities, or to get involved yourself, go to www.twestival.com.
ENDS
Links & contacts:
- http://twestival.com/media/
- @twestival
- Email: pr@twestival.com
- Videos of Twestival money being used to drill wells in Africa .
August 3, 2009
Tom Strini Launches “Culture Desk” at ThirdCoast Digest
Tom Strini Launches “Culture Desk” at ThirdCoast Digest
Former MJS music and dance critic will take on Milwaukee’s broader cultural scene in new role
August 3, 2009—(Milwaukee, WI) The publishers of ThirdCoast Digest are pleased to announce that former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel performing arts writer Tom Strini is now contributing a new column exclusively for TCD.
Tom Strini
“We’re excited to welcome the extraordinarily talented and highly-respected Tom Strini to ThirdCoast Digest,” said TCD co-publisher Jon Anne Willow. “Strini’s vast knowledge and experience will help establish ThirdCoast Digest as the leading destination for news and criticism about arts and culture in the Milwaukee region.”
“Strini’s Culture Desk” will take on a broader swath of Milwaukee’s cultural scene than his most recent beat at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which was primarily music and dance. Tom will offer his take on the traditional performing arts – classical music, concert dance, theater, visual art and architecture – while also writing about broader topics including cooking, design, and the unexpected aesthetic moments of everyday life.
“My commitment to covering the Milwaukee arts scene has never been greater,” said Strini. “I am grateful to ThirdCoast Digest for the opportunity to continue doing what I love, and I’m looking forward to helping build this online magazine into Milwaukee’s most important source for news, commentary, reviews and feature stories related to the performing arts, the visual arts, architecture, and to the art of living.”
Tom Strini served The Milwaukee Journal and then the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as dance critic, critic at large and music and dance critic for almost 27 years. He was one of several Journal Sentinel writers who took a buyout and left the paper on July 31, 2009, as the paper downsized. Keep reading →
July 7, 2009
Google is coming to Milwaukee!
“Google is coming to Milwaukee!
This Thursday, July 9th, join fellow Adworkers as we welcome two of Google’s top advertising relation executives to present exciting things happening to a company that is nothing short of synonymous with the Internet. Tim Pretzsch and Jen Shap both worked on the agency side prior to joining Google, giving them particular insight as to how Google can best be utilized for our changing agency cultures.
On the agenda…
-Google’s Evolution
-Trends we are seeing
-Creative ways to use the Google platform
Join us at 6:30, THIS Thursday, July 9th (door open at 6:00) at 220 East Buffalo Street, on the 1st floor (below Purple Onion and Hanson Dodge).
Oh yeah, admission is FREE for members ($10 for non-members)!
Heidi Sterricker
Director of Adworkers
Are you in the advertising industry? If so think about joining Adworkers HERE!
Click here for Future Updates
Click here to follow on Twitter
April 28, 2009
Mission Critical. Milwaukee Transit Vote set for Wed!
We have come to a deciding moment for our region. Your voice is very important and is needed NOW! The Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the RTA Thursday morning (April 30th). Their vote will play a role in determining the future of the RTA – and the future of our region.
Now is the time to take action: Call or send an urgent reminder and let decision makers know the RTA is vitally important to you and to our region, cities, families, and businesses. Ask associates, friends, neighbors to voice their opinion by forwarding this message to all of your contacts.
Here’s how:
Take a moment now to contact key legislators and urge them to support the Governor’s RTA proposal
Contact key Joint Finance Committee members from SE Wisconsin:
Senator John Lehman (Racine) especially needs to hear from you!
(608) 266-1832 (866) 615-7510, Fax (608) 267-6793, Sen.Lehman@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 7882, Madison, 53707 Representative Cory Mason (Racine)
(608) 266-0634, Rep.Mason@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 8953, Madison, 53708Representative Pedro Colon (Milwaukee)
888 534-0008, 608 282-3608 fax, rep.colon@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 8952, Madison, 53708 Representative Tamara Grigsby (Milwaukee)
888 534-0018, 608 282-3618 fax, rep.grigsby@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 8952, Madison, 53708 Senator Lena Taylor (Milwaukee)
608 266-5810, 608 267-2353 fax, sen.taylor@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 7882, Madison, 53707 Senator Alberta Darling (Milwaukee)
608 266-5830, 608 267-0588 fax, sen.darling@legis.wisconsin.gov
PO Box 7882, Madison, 53707
We need dedicated funding to stabilize our transit system and build the KRM. The time to do this is now and in the state budget.
We need dedicated funding for transit, and a sales tax is the only viable option.
· A sales tax is the most stable, reliable funding source available for transit and the KRM; it is likely the only local funding option that will help us secure an FTA grant to build the KRM.
· Our current transit system is inadequate and obsolete; I cannot efficiently get workers to my locations, and transit is critical to the success of my business moving forward.
· Without a dedicated funding source, transit service will cease to exist in southeastern Wisconsin. While the need for dedicated funding is extremely urgent in regard to Milwaukee County, Racine and Kenosha are heading down the same path and when considered proportionately, are facing the same financial crisis as Milwaukee County.
· The local business community is solidly behind the RTA and its recommendations to shift funding for transit to a dedicated sales tax. We support the language in the Governor’s budget, but would like to see mandatory property tax relief.
· Some say that a sales tax for transit is anti-business, but in reality a lack of available transit has a greater impact on local companies than a shift in how we pay for it.
· The scenario of running a business with thousands of employees, and having no public transit system to get them to work is far more devastating to local businesses and the local economy than shifting transit from the property tax to a sales tax.
We need to connect workers to jobs
· Our region needs jobs, and the ability to connect southeastern Wisconsin residents with over one million existing jobs. The KRM commuter rail will spark transit-oriented development creating up to 70,000 jobs for workers in southeastern Wisconsin.
· It would quickly create 5,000 construction jobs.
Even though you don’t use it, transit affects everyone in the region
· Even though you may not use it, transit affects everyone and has major implications for our economy. Although you may not personally rely on public transportation to get to and from your job, it is important that you consider that many of your constituents rely on mass transit to get to jobs and school. Many companies rely on transit to bring employees to and from work each day.
· When looking to relocate or expand, the strength of a region’s transit system is one of the top five factors a business will consider. A weak transit system hurts our entire region, making it less attractive to new business development and expansion.
We need to be competitive as a region
· Of the top 50 most populated U.S. cities, only 7 do not have or are not developing rail transit. Wisconsin is falling behind in this regard.
· We need to tap into the talent pool of workers in northern Illinois, and make sure we are retaining the talented workers in the region by offering jobs and amenities competitive with those in other developing regions.
· Public transit encourages urban development, provides access to arts, culture and entertainment, along with other amenities and education opportunities. Such quality of life issues and transit options are rapidly becoming key determining factors in where young professionals choose to live and where businesses choose to locate. Regionally, we need to be able to compete. Right now, we’re not even at the table.
Photos by cedric sam and Lizzaka
April 7, 2009
Milwaukee Tweet Up
The Milwaukee Tweet Up is scheduled for less than an hour away at the Iron Horse Hotel. They are a sponsor as well as Identify Yourself, a branding and image releations LLC ran by two lovely young women I had the opportunity to meet over coffee. It was an interesting meeting as they were very “gung-ho” about a big event driven “tweet-up,” yet hadn’t actually been to one themselves. I had, JSOnline, Twestival, which I hosted, Spreenkler crowd events and a few others. I knew them all to be small informal gatherings. I think it will be nice to see what unfolds, but I do have few thoughts:
What I have seen so far is a corporate approach for better or worse that has included press releases, data collection, personal invites, some of which include the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and Fox News 6 affilliate here in Milwaukee.
Is this a good thing for Twitter? I’m not sure. iDo know that it is a social tool. iDo know that we recieved our company analytics today and Twitter was even higher than our anchor site for traffic distribution to our satirical content and little local news stories.
In the last month I’ve been asked 5 times to speak on social media, yet only had the opportunity to do so once. I wonder if iWil
l be saying any words about Twitter tonight as I did hep with some of the PR by “retweeting” and setting up a group for Milwaukee, called the Milwaukee Meetup.com Tweet Up Group.
Some questions i’d like to answer by attending this event are: Will the local Twitter elite be there? How will thy respond? How much of this is a PR machine for the sponsors and really what else is there? I’m not sure. I hope that some of this is headed for a good cause or that it isn’t a big commercial for a few media outlets to commandendere part of our antartic ice shelf. We are the 48th biggest Twitter community in the world btw. 
January 9, 2009
SoHo BizTube Launches LIVE
I have had the pleasure of getting to know CD Vann and some of the key players that made SOHO magazine and SOHO biztube a success. I also owe her a a dinner. Check out the latest version of SOHO Magazine right here. and follow on Twitter too!
Go to website! http://www.sohobiztube.com/
December 30, 2008
Once upon a time in Baires: A Marketing Tale
For a few years I lived outside the walls of the united States. However I was able to connect with people via the internet and perhaps the world’s “FamilyCast” via skype in 2005. This is a brochure I created for students wanted to come live, play, and work abroad. The program was very successful in it’s day. I recruiteed clients via email, myspace, facebook, and skype. However nothing compared to when i would meet them in my office in chicago or the school in Baires. 
