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Award of Merit - Business Category: Communications Data Services

Customer Vision:

BizWiki allows us
to distribute time
sensitive information
as well as facilitating
peer-topeer
exchanges of
information so that
everyone can both
share and benefit
from our own intellectual
capital.

-- Tim Plimmer, Senior
Vice President
of Operations,
CDS.

Company Profile:

Company Name: Communications Data Services, a division of Hearst Corporation.
(www.cdsfulfillment.com)
Primary industry: Publishing Services
Size of Company: 3,000 Employees
Corporate Headquarters: Des Moines, IA

CDS, which provides fulfillment and data management services to publishers
including Conde Nast, Meredith, Rodale, Reader's Digest and National
Geographic Books, has used BizWiki since December 2005. The company,
which operates 240 customer care sites for its different clients, has roughly
25 million subscriber names in its databases.

The company's corporate offices are located in Des Moines, Iowa, with
branch-site locations in: Boone, Harlan, Red Oak, Tipton and Wilton, Iowa;
Bethlehem, Pa., and Prescott, Ariz. Additionally, CDS maintains an office in
New York City; owns Tower Publishing Services, Ltd., a United Kingdom
and Australian fulfillment company; and owns INDAS Limited, a Canadian
subscription and product fulfillment company located in Markham, Ontario,
and Montreal, Quebec.

CDS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Hearst Corporation and employs
3,000 people worldwide.

The Hearst Corporation is one of the nation's largest diversified communications
companies, with interests in: magazines; newspapers; books and
business publishing; television and radio stations; newspaper comics and
features syndication; cable television networks; television production and
syndication; and new media activities.

Information Resources Aren’t Current or
Complete:

As a leader in the magazine fulfillment industry with almost 3000 employees
in offices across the United States, CDS was faced with a number of content
management and knowledge sharing challenges. The first challenge
was improving methods for creating and sharing web-based information.

Challenge:

The current technologies employ a traditional repository model for finding,
sharing and delivering information, which is inefficient and doesn’t handle
just in time information needs.

CDS was looking for a solution to help its employees share relevant information
in a more efficient manner. CDS was particularly interested in improving
the distribution of internal information. In addition, CDS was interested
in finding methods to “front end� access to data living in disparate
databases and information silos, such as Lotus Notes.

“Our business is really highly information-driven,� said Tim Plimmer, CDS’
Senior Vice President of Operations. With operating centers in locations
spanning Bethlehem, Pa., to Prescott, Ariz., as well as six Iowa centers,
“we were always looking for better ways to populate pertinent information
about clients and services we perform and the nuances of their businesses
and be able to distribute that across multiple enterprises,� he said.

"Most operators know the policies, but the more intricate ones, or ones that
just came up - like if editorial content is causing a stir - the team gets a
message that there's specific content for this. 'Tell the reader this' or 'Send
it to editorial,'" says Plimmer. "We're trying to take information that's in
many people's minds or may be in manuals and create a knowledge information
wiki repository that is dynamic and ever changing to meet our business
needs."

CustomerVision BizWiki Delivers a Solution:

Plimmer determined that delivering information to employees via an Enterprise
Wiki would be a huge improvement over the existing data repository
methods. "It's very easy to create, search for, edit and read wiki pages," he
noted. In the evaluation process ease of administration was identified as
another essential requirement. The solution chosen had to be easy to administer
across the entire enterprise.

Plimmer chose CustomerVision BizWiki to handle the firm's knowledge
sharing needs. The deployment began with the firm's Customer Service,
Training and Marketing departments and has quickly expanded to the rest
of the company. The installation and implementation was straightforward
and easy, with core functionality working immediately and users were able
to learn the product without training. According to Plimmer,
"CustomerVision's support team was very knowledgeable and professional.
They responded immediately when we had questions and resolved all our
issues."

With CustomerVision’s assistance, Communications Data Services Inc. in
Des Moines implemented an internal wiki application in less than 30 days,
which it calls “Ask CDS,� in December. The world’s largest magazine sub-
scription fulfillment company, CDS services approximately 335 magazine
titles and 25 direct-marketing companies.

BizWiki is available to 1,800 employees in CDS operations - call centers,
mail processing, image scanning, e-mail customer service - at its 10 U.S.
sites as well as those in Canada, England and Australia. They use BizWiki
to inform their employees of the different protocols each publisher has for
handling subscriber inquiries.

Why CustomerVision?

CDS's initial evaluation began with a variety of potential knowledge sharing
solutions. After evaluating several potential solutions Plimmer realized CustomerVision
had a number of advantages over competing solutions. CustomerVision
BizWiki is a hosted solution so it requires no desktop deployment,
because of its ease of use it requires no training, and new content is
generated without changing employees daily jobs. "We have offices nationwide
and almost 3000 potential users. Complex products which require a
manual install are becoming harder to justify as an enterprise solution due
to the cost of the installation and training and support," he noted. With CustomerVision
CDS came across a hosted solution that didn't require extensive
training or any installation requirements.

CustomerVision made it easy for administrators to create and manage
groups and access levels from a centralized location. The CustomerVision
administrator assigns users to groups and then can assign specific pages to
these groups. This results in these groups receiving just the information
they need to see. CustomerVision’s centralized user group/level assignment
functionality gives CDS the ability to assign relevant sections to
unique business units within the firm (e.g. Marketing Department, Customer
Service, Training, etc.) with no time required from its IT staff.
The system is easy to use and makes information more readily available
than it was previously with the Lotus Notes databases the company uses,
Plimmer says. "Employees knew information was somewhere but now they
can get to it by doing a Search and get a response in a matter of seconds,
or Ask the Expert function in BizWiki can help when an employee can't find
the answer to a question they may not know who the expert is for a particular
system but within minutes a question is routed through CustomerVision
to a CDS knowledge expert who answers the question." Plimmer says. "It
wouldn't be something you can just look on the software vendor's site to see
how it's run" because the company writes most of its own systems.
After using it internally for several months among a few hundred of its operational
employees, “we’re impressed with the software,� Plimmer said.
“It’s doing what they said it would do and it’s filling a need we have for distribution
and collaboration of information that’s critical to operating our business.�

The Future:

CDS is so happy with BizWiki that in the next couple months it plans
to expand its use to its client service department to interact with publishers.
CDS also plans to run a pilot program with the software in the next six
months for a new type of communication between a magazine and its readers.
Plimmer imagines that a niche publisher or marketer, say a gardening or
cooking magazine, would include the Ask the Expert function on the Frequently
Asked Questions page of its Web site where readers could inquire
about planting azaleas in the shade, for instance. “So if one of our clients
that publish gardening magazines has a reader with a question about lilies
and can’t find it on their Web site, they can post this question,� Plimmer
said. “The software will then route it based on subject matter experts, who
will then respond back to the consumer. If that’s a highly asked question, it
would (move) up to the top, so when you went to the FAQs, that would be
one of the first things you would see.�

"Our thinking is that it's another opportunity for our clients to brand their
products with their customers and make them a source for information that
their subscribers will come back to," Plimmer says. "In the publishing industry,
renewals are king and you want to provide that value."
CDS plans to begin introducing an external wiki to its clients as well as to its
parent company, Hearst Corp., within the next three to six months, he said.

"The software’s interactive Web capabilities may provide added revenue
streams for CDS’s clients, or at the very least better position them as customer-
service-driven companies that will stick out in customers’ minds when
the time comes to renew their magazine subscriptions," Plimmer said.

The Return on Investment

• CDS feels they have experienced call time reduction and expects to
  measure this in the upcoming 6 months. Current statistics 3 million
  emails per year and 9.2M phone calls, so if we dropped 25% average
  contact time by 30 seconds, at a $1/contact savings = $3.05M.
• Creating new articles from emails, of the 566 pages over 100 have
  been created from "Ask the Expert", which reduces the future contact
  exponentially, assuming each new article save only 2 emails and answer
  the time and cost savings would be approximately, $3,000 over a
  3 month period.
• Reduction in time spent during client marketing and sales contacts due
  to quick search and availability of data and information.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Award of Merit - Business Category: Fiberlink Marketing

Challenge:

Generating a steady stream of qualified sales leads for Fiberlink is the #1 job for the marketing team. And after much testing and learning over time, we know that the strongest driver of potential customer response is insightful, relevant and timely educational content. Said another way, technical reports and whitepapers typically get IT and security professionals to act more so than free iPods and gift cards in addition to drawing in more qualified potential IT security buyers. But, in a market that is saturated with reports and whitepapers from hundreds of other technology vendors, breaking through the clutter is a significant challenge. In addition to net new leads, our plan included marketing the package to our existing customers, making them aware of Fiberlink’s new proficiencies in mobile security.

Solution:

One of Fiberlink’s Systems Engineers is an active member of an Ethical Hacking organization, and true IT security wunderkind. Marketing approached him to script a demonstration that shows how hackers are able to expertly exploit mobile devices, such as laptop computers. Knowing that some people respond to the written word and others prefer audio or video, we produced a video demonstration (using the Demos on Demand platform), as well as a written companion “how-to� guide, known together as, “Anatomy of a Hack.� Both were placed on leading security and IT Web sites including BitPipe, the Mobile Enterprise Alliance, SearchSecurity.com and IDG media channels. This ethical hacking series was marketed -- via postal and e-mail direct mail, flash media on our homepage, ePR, online media, syndicated whitepaper hosting sites, web conferences, and shown live at industry events such as Chicago’s IT Expo.

Result:

The program generated over 1,500 responses; 60% of which boiled down to leads from potential buyers. Since this program launched, we have had a deal close with an average contract value of $250K. In addition there are sixteen other deals in the pipeline that can be sourced back to this campaign. Over 100 existing Fiberlink customer contacts also viewed the campaign leading to increased awareness of Fiberlink’s new security competencies. This campaign is the most effective lead generation campaign run at Fiberlink.

Anecdotally, the “Anatomy of a Hack� was picked up by the Department of Homeland security in their daily newsletter, had over 150,000 net impressions on the EthicalhHacker.net site and Digg.com resulting in multiple blog streams. The demonstration has been requested for use by IT professors at the Cittone Institute, among others for their IT-related coursework. And, BitPipe made a statement that it was amongst the top campaigns downloaded off of their site in 2005.

Due to the success of “Anatomy of a Hack,� we recently launched a sequel to this demonstration, called “Hacking the Mobile Workforce,� which is a more granular view into advanced and modern hacking techniques. This campaign is currently being promoted by SANS security, CIO and CSO online, Findwhitepapers.com, EthicalHacker.net, SearchSecurity.com and BitPipe. This demonstration will be presented at the SANS Network Security trade show in Las Vegas, NV in early October.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Award of Excellence - Business Category: HTC America

Case Study - HTC America: We need a Wiki!

Introduction:

For almost a decade, HTC has been designing, manufacturing and marketing innovative and groundbreaking Smartphones and Pocket PCs. If you’ve got a device running a Windows Mobile OS, you’ve most likely got an HTC phone. They’re sold under the carrier’s names here in the US (Sprint, T-Mobile, Cingular and Verizon) and elsewhere under the HTC, Q-Tek, iMate or regional carrier’s logos.

Founded in 1997, High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) is a technology provider specializing in cutting-edge converged mobile devices. Since its establishment, the company has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations, and launched state-of-the-art PDA Phones and Smartphones for operators and distributors in the global telecommunications industry.

HTC has established very unique partnerships with key mobile operators, including the leading five European mobile operators, the top four US operators, and many fast-growing Asian operators. Its leading R&D capabilities also attract the most advanced technology developers to work with HTC to facilitate the best applications and to introduce and promote mobile data services universally.

Business Problem/Challenge:

One core business problem and challenge facing HTC America today is in regard to customer care and support in teaching people how to take full advantage of the complex features in a Smartphone. A key challenge has been educating first-time users about their new devices, and solve any initial set-up difficulties quickly and efficiently to reduce churn and support costs. In addition, HTC had a goal of reaching new users to educate a broader audience about the benefits of using a Smartphone over a standard mobile phone that has limited communication abilities. .

Target Audience:

To solve this dilemma HTC looked to Waggener Edstrom to help determine creative and progressive ways to get to root of the problem, which ultimately was improving customer education and satisfaction. Target users were largely comprised of technology enthusiasts, but the benefits of reaching this core group also translated into advantages for HTC’s partners including cell phone carriers, developers and software providers.

Program Goals & Objective(s):

As mentioned earlier, HTC approached Waggener Edstrom to help them with this problem. With that in mind Waggener Edstrom recommended building an HTC Community Wiki, a user-based, interactive Website that would help customers (and potential customers) learn the intricacies of their particular device including set-up, usability, tips’n’tricks, and posting downloadable applications that maximize the user experience. An additional goal was to create a community of smart-phone users who, in turn, help each other solve problems and create their own nice support network

A wiki is an interactive, participatory community of like-minded enthusiasts. With content management tools available to anyone who registers on the site, everyone is free to add, comment, correct, and place content. It’s open-source customer care in a way. Overall, a Wiki is truly a community site open to the customers and fans who love their smart phones and who want to help others get the most out of their experience.

Solution:

To solve these problems and create a wiki, Waggener Edstrom developed the creative concept for the Wiki including lay-out, look and feel and navigation, suggested and developed initial content, handled all legal elements of this new endeavor, and developed a comprehensive communications strategy to unveil the Wiki to a core groups of Smartphone enthusiasts to promote organic growth of the site. We also researched and engaged with an outside hosting firm that could support the site and substantial traffic as the Wiki evolves.

On the communications front, Waggener Edstrom developed a tiered strategy to inform select media of the Wiki launch to build grassroots support. This involved notifying select gadget and device enthusiast blogs about the project in advance of the official “launch� to solicit feedback and create buzz and excitement with this community. Once the site was formalized, we again notified our key blog sites and Gizmodo, Smart Phone Thoughts, HTC Wizard Web, The Unwired and other mobility blogs highlighted the wiki on July 25th, and from there, the number of visitors and registered users jumped dramatically.

The team of people included Nathan Misner, Sue Schmitz, Kevin Murphy and Linda Mills

Results:

The HTC Wiki was official launched in late July and in the month and a half since then the site has grown dramatically and now receives over 13,000 unique visitors per month. In addition, there has been a 300% increase in the number of devices profiled on the wiki, and 540 registered wiki contributors. The vast majority of posts and comments have been extremely positive in nature and the site is quickly becoming a leading resource for questions on not only HTC devices, but Smartphones in general.

In our tiered approach the majority of press and analysts were incredibly excited about the concept and commented it was the right approach for HTC to do, especially given their unique niche between the customer and mobile operators. One of the most influential bloggers in the mobile industry, Ryan Block of Engadget, provided the following comment in regards to the wiki:

"I rarely say this, but this Wiki is brilliant. Tell whoever’s idea this was congrats, their finger is on the HTC users' pulse. It'll take some time to fill out, and be really useful, but hey, that's a wiki. I just signed up."

Popularity: 9% [?]

Award of Merit - Business Category: Martopia/Texell Interactive Media

Martopia/Texell Interactive Media’s Executive Podcasts
(http://www.executivepodcasts.com)

Problem/Challenge:

A new partnership between a financial services public relations and marketing firm and a new media production company (the team) needed to prove to the mortgage lending segment of the financial services industry that:

• the PR firm fully understood the important issues of the industry,
• the production firm could produce an ongoing show on a weekly basis,
• that podcasts could be an effective method for delivering industry content.

In order to accomplish this, the team decided to produce a weekly audio program and distribute it via e-mail to an established mailing list of industry executives. Guests on the show would be given a perpetual license to use the show as a marketing tool as long as they did not edit the file.

The program’s goals would be to gage the attitude of the industry, in general, and influence key decision makers to become interested in podcasting as a marketing medium, the PR firm as an industry partner and the new media producer as a technical facilitator.

The Solution:

The team designed a weekly audio program that would consist of 5 minutes of audio, the majority of which would be one executive talking about a key industry issue. The new media firm developed the show, including the intro and outro music, the announcer’s scripts and a process for recording and editing a show each week. The PR firm began marketing the idea to a list of key industry players in search of guests for the show.

Guests were scheduled for the show by the PR firm. The guests were recorded over the telephone using a Voice-over-Internet Protocol service directly into a PC where the audio was captured in Audacity. The shows were then edited for length and output in the MP3 format. The PR firm designed a co-branded website where the shows were featured. The PR firm then wrote a press release announcing the weekly show and distributed it to the mortgage industry trade press.

Significant obstacles included, (1) unwillingness of guests to participate in a show that was so different from anything they had previously experienced, (2) difficulty in getting the show guests to remain focused on key industry issues and not on marketing-specific messages, (3) difficulty in getting the trade press to treat the show as newsworthy as it was considered by some to be competitive in nature.

The Results:

The first show was produced and released in the second week of January 2006. The show was successfully produced each week thereafter through August 2006. A number of media outlets commented on the show and the hundreds of industry executives monitored the show each week. The show was never in need of guests and each program was produced on time.

In July 2006, a major trade group became interested in the program and a deal was negotiated to make the program part of its normal website offerings. Both the brand of the PR firm and that of the new media producer will remain on the program. This was considered the ultimate endorsement of the program and the team considered it a great success.

In October of 2006, the team is scheduled to begin producing the show for the trade group and the program will continue into the future.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Award of Excellence - Business Category: Stormhoek Winery

Problem/Challenge:

Launching a new wine label in a crowded marketplace is a difficult endeavor. The typical wine shop presents the shopper with hundreds of bottles differentiated by region, grape, label and vintage. The market itself is spread so horizontally that historically, the largest wine maker in the world, Gallo has only a 2% global market share.

Under these circumstances, a new label has to quickly differentiate itself so that consumers are aware of it before they even enter their local wine shop.

Most consumers are poorly educated as to the specifics of what makes a good, great or poor wine. They are often attracted to the date a wine was produced, seeking the older bottle, when in fact most wines are best served within a year or two of the vintage. Screw caps, a new innovation in the wine marketplace, is often viewed as indicative of a cheap or poor quality wine when in fact screw caps are better at protecting wine in the bottle than is cork.

Stormhoek, a small South African vineyard, was introduced in the United Kingdom in 2003. Initially it had several challenges:

• Competition with better known regions;
• Competition with better known providers;
• Use of a screw cap instead of cork;
• The grapes and method of preparation called for the wine to be drunk within a few years of vintage, therefore, any marketing campaign needed to emphasize the idea of “freshness" for wine.

Solution:

Beyond ensuring that consumers were aware of Stormhoek prior to entering their local wine shop, the goals of the marketing program were to associate Stormhoek with the notion of wine as a social lubricant. That is to connect Stormhoek with conversation, social interaction and good company.

With this in mind, Stormhoek hit on the idea of working with bloggers as a way of creating conversation around this idea.

Stormhoek and blogger Hugh MacLeod introduced a sampling program for UK bloggers. In the spring of 2005, MacLeod announced in his blog (www.gapingvoid.com) that any UK blogger who was interested in trying out Stormhoek could receive a bottle if they emailed him their address. 100 bloggers signed up for the initial program.

Each blogger received one bottle of Stormhoek with a personalized label with the URL and name of their blog. A brochure with artwork and a “manifesto� authored by MacLeod accompanied each bottle.

Ideally, the bloggers would of course mention Stormhoek on their blog, however they were not asked specifically to comment on the wine, either positively or negatively. This was to ensure the program did not seem fixed and was done in the open and transparent spirit of the blogosphere.

In addition to the bloggers campaign, Stormhoek itself maintained a blog at http://www.stormhoek.com. Entries discussed various issues related to wine including how the grapes are grown, the logic behind using screw caps instead of corks and explanations of the freshness issue. The blog itself maintained a light, humorous air, consistent with the image of MacLeod’s blog and cartoons.

Results:

The results, both quantitative and qualitative, were dramatic.

• Shipments of Stormhoek to UK wine shops doubled, from 50,000 cases in 2004 to 100,000 cases in 2005;
• Flickr alone has more than 600 photos of Stormhoek bottles;
• Technorati reports over 2,100 blog posts mentioning Stormhoek;
• In 2006, Stormhoek was recognized for their innovative approach to wine marketing with the prestigious Drinks Business Magazine Award for Best Consumer Campaign (http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5198&Itemid=226) beating out far more prominent consumer brands for recognition by the UK’s leading wine industry publicaton.

As measured by blog entries, tags, pictures on Flickr and other social media mentions, the program was a dramatic success. This has created a great deal of interest in Stormhoek’s ongoing launch into the US market, currently underway with a similar program but one that focuses on blogger gatherings and dinners. New labels, drawn by MacLeod in the spirit of his blog and cartoons, are also being introduced in conjunction with the US launch.

In a more quantitive measure, Stormhoek now has the reputation of being the wine of blogging and, more specifically, of the Silicon Valley hi-tech crowd. Following prominent mentions in TechCrunch and ValleyWag, it now seems natural to expect to see Stormhoek at geek dinners, conferences with bloggers in attendance and at Silicon Valley events.

More importantly, Stormhoek has changed the way wine can be marketed. Traditional wine marketing, emphasizing pastoral scenes with vineyards and classical music, is passé and not relevant to the way people enjoy wine. Stormhoek’s blogger campaign took its cue from the idea that enjoying wine is a social activity and whom would best understand that would be bloggers. In the process it made a name for itself as one of the first consumer brands to leverage social media for its launch and to differentiate itself in an over-crowded marketplace.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Award of Excellence - Business Category: vidavee

Situation:

In March 2006, Palm Canada announced the launch of Mobifest – Canada’s first mobile film festival, created to recognize excellence and innovation in made-for-mobile films. Produced by NOW NOW Corporation, a producer and distributor of made-for-mobile movies, this international film festival was the first exclusively mobile film festival. All film content was shot and created specifically for the “small screen� – either for a mobile phone, smart-phone or other handheld device.

Challenge:

Mobile film-making represents cutting edge terrain with many filmmakers not well versed with the medium. Additionally, the technical challenges were considerable. “Mobifest was powered by vidavee because they have the unique ability to deal with all facets of mobile video,� said Duncan Kennedy, president and founder, NOW NOW Corporation. “They also provided the integration and the social networking component with the voting powered by them.�

Vidavee facilitates community interaction around video enabling users to manage, edit and share digital video content easily online. vidavee allows mobile filmmakers – as well as average consumers – to capture video on any device – including cell phone, PDA, PC and digital camera/camcorders – and convert the video into useful applications, share with others and create original collaborative content. With Mobifest, vidavee distributed all of the mobile movies to the Palm Treo.

Results:

Mobifest winners were chosen from a pool of 60 international finalists from Columbia, Argentina, Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, the U.S., and Canada. More than 250 entries were entered into the competition. Palm Mobifest: Canada’s Mobile Film Festival announced the winners of its inaugural competition at a screening and awards ceremony at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto in May 2006. “Prior to Mobifest, mobile devices weren’t considered a typical forum for movie making or viewing,� said Ed Gass-Donnelly, Palm Mobifest judge, 2006. “But after judging the finalists from this impressive pool of entries, it’s obvious that this mindset has completely changed. You can see just as much enthusiasm and creativity in this mobile movies as in regular short, or feature-length films.�

“I was amazed by the diversity and creativity of the content that was submitted which ranged from visual art, political animation, comedy and content with deep messages – and all delivered in under a minute� said Mark Brenner, president and chief executive officer of vidavee. “The festival proved that these movies are of great interest to the viewing community at large.� Winning entries can be viewed at www.mobifest.ca. The mobile festival attracted the attention of press with over 100M media impressions generated from national and international broadcast, print and online outlets.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Award of Merit – Professional Category: Edward H. Lundquist

Case Study: The Job of the Week Network Touches a Networking Nerve

Problem/Challenge:

How can one communicator help another? And how can many help each other? Ned Lundquist’s Job of the Week e-mail networking newsletter is the unique, tangible manifestation of a network of communicators who share job opportunities, advice, humor and our human condition. What he started in 2001 with 38 communicators is now a network of nearly 10,000, because cooperative networks work for people.

Communication Issue to be Addressed/Solved:

The basic principle involves the strength of networking. JOTW is intended to create an instant network for skilled communicators who have not yet developed their own network and/or rely too heavily on less-effective methods of job searching, such as newspaper ads and other media. Ned strove to create a collegial online atmosphere that encouraged informality, exchange of information and support.

Communication Theories/Principles/Maxims that are Addressed:

JOTW targets one of the most simple communication theories around: “It’s who you know.� For entry-level communicators just starting out in the field, networks are practically non-existent; for mid-level and senior communicators, job requirements become more specific and traditional methods of job searching (want ads, etc.) are inadequate. Networking enables workers to conduct more effective job searches and maximize time and resources.

Audience:

The target audience for JOTW is communication professionals in the U.S. and abroad, in all aspects of the communication field. This includes media relations, public relations, public affairs, investor relations, internal relations, editing, writing, web design, web content management, photographer; graphic designer, advertising, broadcasting, corporate communications, internal relations, for non-profits, corporations, and government. Also targeted are students planning to enter the field, educators, executive recruiters and HR professionals.

“The success of the solution is its simplicity,� Lundquist says. “I collect job opportunities submitted by communicators, recruiters, HR professionals and those he sees in various websites and publications, and present them in a weekly newsletter. There is no cost to subscribe. There is no charge to post a listing, nor any charge for a job seeker to access a complete listing. JOTW is an ongoing experiment. I don't know where it's going. But I want to find out. Something positive and unanticipated is going to happen. I want to find out what it is.�

Program Goals and Objectives:

To create an online job search network, providing a resource not only for people looking for jobs, but also for companies seeking well-qualified individuals in the communication field.

Solution:

Ned created JOTW in 2001 and built the program through word of mouth. The approach is decidedly low-tech—JOTW is delivered weekly as a text email—no html, no flashy ads, no fancy logo. The intent is deliberate—content is king, and readers can avoid fluff/clicks/pop-up ads that populate other sites and get right to the nitty-gritty—jobs (lots of them) and exchange of ideas/solutions.

One element in JOTW, the “One-Paragraph Pitch,� allows communicators seeking positions to sell themselves in a brief yet effective format. The OPP is sited at the top of the email to maximize exposure; submitters may include contact information, attachments and other pertinent information. The program is quite effective—Ned reports that the waiting list for OPP submissions is several months long.

Plan or Implementation Strategy:

Philosophically, Ned believed that the success of JOTW would be reflected by word-of-mouth—networking, after all, is a proven element of success. With virtually, no overhead, Ned was not under pressure to meet financial or advertising goals. Ned initially targeted friends and other members of both the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and other professional communication trade organizations. The initial distribution of JOTW entailed 38 charter members. Shortly after its implementation, JOTW began to add free subscribers at a rate of more than 250 per month to its present level of more than 10,000 subscribers (which, in turn has indeed attracted potential advertisers).

With JOTW, subscribers debate communication issues that help us to improve our presentations and skills. And rather than limit itself like so many other niche networking sites, JOTW has the ability to breathe, to expand and contract as needed. Its membership requirements are simple--supply an email address. It has no dues structure. It does not require personal information that subjects one to identity theft, or worse--unsolicited advertisements or sales pitches.

Tools Involved (including Vendors):

Ned has a working agreement with Topica.com, which provides JOTW with a site, a subscription/unsubscribe email function and a free list service.

Team/Roles/Components of Program:

JOTW is and remains a one-person team. Ned has a volunteer Advisory Panel (informally known as the “Dream Team�) that provides ideas, feedback and provides written support for communicators seeking advice on professional goals and even personal matters.

Assessment:

Describe Qualitative and/or Quantitative Measures of Success

While Ned started JOTW because he needed to find a new job, it now continues because many people seek work, and all of us seek to maintain a sharp awareness of the job market. Moreover, the newsletter is dedicated to the positive and unanticipated consequences of networking,� JOTW readers are interested in learning about each other's personal issues, challenges and achievements.

All this is done without having to go through an RFP or IT request. Thus, in its nearly Luddite approach, JOTW becomes, in a sense, a site in which the reader does not have to think about functionality. There is no complex searching; there are no layers upon layers of Web pages that hide the information one needs. Instead, readers focus on the issues, the controversies confronting today's marketing communication experts. And it works because JOTW continues to grow. Ned has a full-time job. But he still publishes JOTW each week, offering 35 to 100 jobs in each issue. Let me boil it down to three words: Simple. Concise. Informative. What more do you need?

How do the Results Specifically Map to the Objectives?

Says one reader: “JOTW is a full-service network. Need a job? Ned has posted more than 10,000 of them. Need a date? He offers free personals, called ‘Kommunicators in Search of Someone Special’ or ‘KISSS.’ He has a team of resume reviewers who offer their services for free. His ‘Pimp My Job 'Dream team’ offers a person in a difficult job situation the advice of a labor attorney, HR director, employment counselor and senior communicators. People with personal problems can get guidance at ‘Pontoof's Podium of Pontification.’

Says Ned: “This isn’t a traditional communication program. It isn’t something I’ve done to improve the image, reputation or awareness for an organization. This is about all of us, and what we need at the most basic level.�

Popularity: 9% [?]

Award of Merit – Professional Category: Sharon P. Whiteley

Sharon P. Whiteley is working tirelessly to change our mindset about aging from one of limitation and decline to that of freedom and possibilities. A seasoned entrepreneur, business leader, early stage investor and author, she is the CEO and the driving force behind the growth of ThirdAge Inc. (www.thirdage.com) - a leading online media, research and marketing company focused exclusively on the dynamic Baby Boomer population.

Today, ThirdAge.com has close to one million members and is the premier on-line destination for adults in their 40s through 60s. Prior to taking the reins at ThirdAge, Sharon founded and built five other successful companies, including Peacock Papers – a social expression and gift manufacturer known for its positive messages and celebratory themes around life and milestone aging.

A natural leader who has the skills and drive to take an idea and grow it into a successful enterprise, Sharon is able to attract and enroll outstanding individuals in her vision because her passion and enthusiasm are contagious and her values embraceable. She has tenacity, perseverance, and resilience, qualities which enable her to take risks and learn from setbacks and mistakes and firmly believes in applying her intuitive senses to product creation, finding new and better ways to meet the needs of her constituents and contribute to society.

Sharon uses her abilities to re-envision problems as opportunities, and believes in the power of collaboration. She prides herself on being a strong and empathetic listener – one attuned to the voice of the customer and her team. She also uses these insights as inspiration for new products. This year she recognized the need for online learning with the needs and interests of the transitioning Baby Boomer generations in mind. She brought her energies to bear and spearheaded the creation of a new online learning imitative at ThirdAge called ThirdSemester.

This same year she also championed the development of a weblog to the site - the ThirdAge Blog, gathering some of the world’s foremost experts in health, relationships, money and wellness to share their thoughts and ideas with their community. Most recently the company has added a new audio blog called ThirdAge “Conversations�, powered by an innovative start-up,Yack Pack created by a Stanford Professor B.J. Fogg. This new platform enables the ThirdAge community members to carry on conversations rich in tone. Expansion plans are underway to offer this connecting technology platform to a number of ThirdAge community partners; and a new community/social networking site called ThirdAge Confidential.

Sharon believes there is something valuable to be gained from every experience – the successes, the challenges, and the failures. She is a perpetual learner, and a great believer in people. She is unflaggingly positive and prides herself on being a “relationship builder� and a mentor, believing that her success is tied to giving people the opportunity to stretch, persevere, and win.

As an aging baby boomer herself, Sharon’s energies are devoted to changing our cultural attitudes about getting older. Much of her professional life has been dedicated to developing, creating and promoting products and services that are geared to the needs of the mid-life community. A frequent guest lecturer and author, her thought leadership in the area of aging continues to make a profound impact, and her currency in this area has made her an ever more popular speaker.

Sharon is also reinventing an old idea by making it new again. As founder and CEO of a social expression and gift company called Peacock Papers from 1982-1996, Sharon was more than aware of the power of positive messages around milestone aging. She is now re-creating that company, bringing the vision and mission to the online world to foster emotional connectivity through choreographed type.

Sharon scoffs at the stereotypical myth that mid-lifers are fearful of technology, and believes that new Internet technologies will serve the needs of a vast audience of time-starved people who want to reach out and connect with friends and family but don’t have an easy way to do so. In the future, her zeal to popularize positive beliefs about aging will provide a counterpoint to old notions that “it’s all downhill from here.� As a business owner, Sharon will continue to support and create products and services that cater to the interests and needs of the aging population, and be steadfast in her belief that the 21st Century is the perfect time to rewrite the rules the world now lives by and redefine what it means to get older.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Award of Excellence - Professional Category: Margaret Saizan

Louisiana Woman Documents Katrina Experience with Online Blog
Margaret Saizan Uses New Media to Comment On, Learn From
and Teach Others about Tragedy

“Greetings this is Margaret Saizan reporting on Hurricane Katrina from Baton Rouge
Louisiana… Right now everything feels pretty normal - literally the calm before the storm.�
That’s how one Baton Rouge personal-life coach and mother of three began documenting the storm that became the nation’s worst natural disaster. More than one year and 1,400 posts later, www.hurricane-katrina.org continues to be a resource for journalists, area residents and news aficionados from 159 countries, with personal perspective and national resources for those who survived the storm.

“I started this blog on the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall to provide live coverage
of the hurricane and to pass the time while waiting out the storm,� recalls Margaret. “The blog
soon morphed into a critical resource in the early aftermath, and it continues to be a news
source for keeping the issues in the forefront.�

With the new mission came a new name – Beyond Katrina. Logging more than
400,000 visitors in the months after the storm, the blog’s focus is on activism and recovery.
But it also provides valuable tools to help people prepare for another storm, research on
Louisiana’s ever-shrinking coastline, and the popular clock counting down to the end of the
2006 hurricane season. Blog readers run the gamut: from academics studying the effects of
global warming during the hurricane season to families who lost loved ones in the storm and
are still grappling with how it could have happened. While different aspects of the blog
resonate with different audiences, Margaret’s daily narratives recount what has happened and move forward with questions on how we can change our response to crisis and traditional media’s coverage of tragic events.

Margaret is a life coach and community activist focused on large scale healing and
change. Thus when she found her feet planted in the epicenter of one of the most significant
disasters in U.S. history, she used her profession and her passion to examine how traditional
journalists and ordinary citizens alike might harness the power of this new form of media to
forge new ground in responding to crisis. She understands how the contribution of blogs and
citizen journalists, like her, to the disaster has truly awakened the world to the enormous power and potential of real time, collaborative, personal and social media.

A graduate of Newfield Network, one of the best regarded international coach training
schools, Margaret focuses on empowering leadership and facilitating action during transition,
crisis, and disaster as the pathway to new vision. www.hurricane-katrina.org and Big Vision
Media aspire to ignite wise action, new vision and positive change through transformational
media.

Writing about anything on a daily basis requires a lot of work and unyielding discipline.
Many blogs have faded away because their authors could not commit the time or energy to
make them last. But Margaret Saizan has bloomed and turned her blog into a lively form of
citizen journalism that continues to evolve. She is currently syndicated on BlogBurst, a site
which delivers online blog content to mainstream heavyweights like Gannett publications, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, and the San Antonio Express-News. She has been interviewed by The Washington Post, The Week magazine, Scotland’s Sunday Herald, CNN and WAFB TV in her hometown of Baton Rouge, La.

In addition to traditional media outlets, educators and business professionals have relied
on Margaret’s daily record to teach and inform their constituents. She recently assisted
Appleseed, a network of independent public interest law centers with offices in 18 states,
including Louisiana, in developing a report to provide a snapshot of the status of evacuees in
host cities one year after the hurricane; and facilitating communication between the many
agencies working with evacuees in host communities throughout the region. And an
instructional specialist with the Georgia Department of Education at the National Science
Center/Fort Discovery Educational Technology Training Center in Augusta, Ga. used “Beyond Katrina� as a key language, culture, and environmental story for an educational pilot program.

She is also currently helping doctoral candidates at Columbia University in New York with
research projects looking at both the demographics of the deceased from Katrina and how how people use the internet to express themselves and create change.
When the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina was commemorated in late August,
journalists from across the globe returned to New Orleans and south Louisiana to see what has and has not transpired one year since the devastation. But residents in the trenches like Margaret Saizan, who have documented the events from a local, real-time perspective, provide an invaluable resource for traditional journalists and Web surfers alike as they learn from the mistakes of the past and set out for transformational change in the future.
The mission of the Society for New Communications Research is to investigate,
develop, share and transfer in-depth and forward-facing insights resulting from a deep ongoing study, learning, and continuous mastery of new communications tools and technologies. Margaret Saizan embodies that spirit and her blog “Beyond Katrina� promotes best practices within the industry in its content, consistency and contribution to the ongoing dialogue of crisis response and recovery.

Margaret says it best herself: “For me, living and journaling Katrina on
www.hurricane-katrina.org has been a voyage of discovery that has enabled me to see the
deeper wisdom in this disaster and hopefully, to help others do the same.�

Popularity: 7% [?]

SNCR Fellows Neville Hobson & Shel Holtz, along with Joseph Jaffe and CC Chapman Announce crayon, First Company to Launch in Second Life

SNCR Member News & Updates

By Jen McClure, Executive Director, Society for New Communications Research

SNCR Fellows Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz, along with Joseph Jaffe and CC Chapman have announced the launch ofcrayon.

The new marketing company has the distinction of being the first company to launch in Second Life. According to Hobson, crayon is unique because it "comprises a range of talented people and a collective venture that I believe will offer companies a compelling and fresh alternative. Crayon integrates consulting, agency, advisory, thought leadership and education worlds. The goal of crayon is to help our clients make sense of the recent changes and tap into them in order to differentiate themselves from their competition, participate in community-driven conversations, and stand out from the crowd."

Holtz explained on his blog, "crayon is something of a mashup. We’re not an agency or a consulting firm, but we do bring the best of what those types of companies have to offer. We’ll approach our assignments with fresh eyes... We understand that customers (in the broadest sense of the word) are fed up with being marketed to, communicated to, advertised to. Engagement, conversation, co-creation, involvement—these are the approaches that we are anxious to bring to our assignments. Not as an afterthought or add-on, mind you, but as the cornerstone of our work."

Crayon is the brainchild of Joseph Jaffe, author and thought leader on new marketing. CC Chapman, a pioneer in the podcasting field, a passionate advocate for new marketing, and expert in the virtual world of Second Life, rounds out the team.

Stay tuned for more on this exciting new venture from two SNCR Fellows and their impressive colleagues.

Popularity: 6% [?]

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