Spring/Summer 2009 Newsletter: To Tweet or Not to Tweet?”

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?”

Every day we find ourselves talking — or “tweeting” as it were — about social media with clients and colleagues. With the economy taking its toll on traditional media, I believe more of us realize we must start to migrate to social media. As a result, social media seems to be taking off like a rocket!

Speaking of rockets, VE PR is again pleased to have promoted the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics among U.S. youth through the world’s largest rocket contest. One of the strategies we used to promote the national contest, which is a hands-on, rocket-building competition for middle and high schoolers, was an online social media campaign. The campaign was effective in generating enthusiasm and excitement among students across the country.

From where I sit, there is a great divide of users in social media. The early adopters are those under 35 years old. Those of us in the “above 35” age range are reluctantly gravitating toward social media — and only because the 140-characters of writing is on the virtual wall. We must evolve, just like our nation in these tough economic times, or we’ll miss out on business opportunities, and the next generation of professionals will surely outperform us!

The good news is social media is easy to learn. If you want to learn, I recommend the book, The New Rules of Marketing of PR by David Meerman Scott. It has many insights on why and how you can start to use social media to evolve your online communications. I will gladly provide friends with a copy of this book if you are among the first 10 folks to contact me via LinkedIn or Facebook.

VE PR is glad to help you make business sense of all of this online chatter. So, until then, I’m always happy (and still prefer) to do business the old fashioned way — face-to-face, over lunch. Call me — 301-581-7298 — Laura Van Eperen

VE PR Selected as Regional PR Firm for National Health Insurer

The country’s largest health insurer has selected VE PR as its mid-Atlantic regional public relations firm. VE PR is honored to help raise visibility of the good work the health insurer does in the mid-Atlantic region as well as position the company for growth.

VE PR Helps Spark Students’ Interest in Rocket Science

For the second year in a row, VE PR was tapped to help ignite students’ interest in science and engineering by promoting nationally and locally, the Team America Rocketry Challenge. VE PR broadened its support for TARC ‘09 by producing a professional video about the benefits of the competition to encourage sponsorship as well as social media campaign and media tool kits for sponsors and local participating teams across the country. The goal of these tools is to better connect sponsors and teams with each other and communicate the benefits of the national program, which challenges teams of middle and high school students to design and build rockets that will reach 750 feet and return a payload of one raw egg lying on its side – mimicking the position of an astronaut – to earth unbroken. The program is sponsored by AIA, NASA, the Department of Defense and numerous companies in the aerospace industry.

Walk4Hearing Steps Up Its Look With VE PR

VE PR recently teamed up with the Hearing Loss Association of America to rebrand the nonprofit association’s national Walk4Hearing. VE PR together with our design partner, design25 Graphics, developed a creative new brand for the walk that inspired more walkers than ever to participate across the country.

We have included a “before” and “after” shot of the Walk4Hearing logo.

Featured Partner: design25 Graphics

Laura Van Eperen, CEO of VE PR, and Laura Lloyd-Henry, principal of design25 graphics, are proud to announce a strategic alliance between the two women-owned firms. VE PR has successfully teamed with design25 graphics on several recent account projects, including developing logos, web sites and numerous print publications. As design25 graphics expands to the Baltimore area, VE PR will continue to align with Lloyd-Henry to further serve the Baltimore-Washington region.

For those who have not met “the other Laura,” design25 graphics believes your design should reflect “sophisticated simplicity with impact.” To achieve this, VE PR and design25 graphics:

• develop innovative design solutions to achieve your marketing goals to effectively promote your products and services;
• extend your brand identity across a variety of communication mediums: print advertising, direct mail, marketing collateral, publications and web; and
• provide you with personalized service and integrated concepts to meet your communication objectives within a specified time frame and without exceeding your budget.

Thinking about a web redesign project or another graphics-related project? Visit www.d25g.com to see Laura’s work and contact Laura Van Eperen for more information.

Staff Notes:

Laura Van Eperen Gets Social With Women in Defense

Laura Van Eperen has been named the programs chair for Women in Defense-Washington Chapter (WID), an organization dedicated to creating connections among women in the defense industry. As one of her committee’s first programs, Laura organized a networking event at President Lincoln’s Summer Cottage and the Armed Forces Retirement Home in NW Washington, DC. Dozens of WID members were treated to private tours of Lincoln’s Cottage, which is a retreat set high upon a hill just three miles from the White House where President Lincoln spent about a quarter of his presidency. The Cottage is located next to what was then called the Soldier’s Home and today is the Armed Forces Retirement Home. Following the tours, WID members joined veteran residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home for a special dedication of a new outdoor park bench donated by WID. The bench is located in a new garden area on the grounds, and will allow the residents, many of whom served in World War II, to rest and relax outside. Following the dedication ceremony, WID members mixed and mingled with the women who shared stories of their time in the military.

Strohm Named Vice President of VE PR and Board Member of Rockville Chamber

VE PR named Jennifer Strohm Vice President in May, following Strohm’s successful two years with the firm. Strohm will continue to manage VE PR’s accounts while helping to continue to grow the firm- specifically in the areas on online and social media. In addition, Strohm was invited to sit on the Board of Directors with the Rockville Chamber of Commerce. In this capacity, Strohm helped successfully announce the Chamber’s new CEO in early 2009, and launch and manage the Chamber’s Facebook online networking site.

March Lorman Seminar

Jennifer Strohm, VE PR VP, continued a multi-year tradition for VE PR leadership in March of 2009, by presenting best practices for working with the public on land development issues. Strohm served as a facultywith Lorman Education Series, which provides continuing education courses for professionals working on land use issues in the public and private sector.

May 11, 2009

Laura Van Eperen and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia at the May 11, 2009 U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Transportation Joint Conference on Infrastructure Strategies. Van Eperen served as press liaison at the Supply Chain Infrastructure conference, and was quite honored to brief General Duncan J. McNabb, USAF Commander, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, IL. USTRANSCOM is the single manager for global air, land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense.

VE PR Names Charity of Choice

The Lisa J. Flaxman MusiKares Fund for the Celebration of the Arts has become VE PR’s charity of choice. The non-profit fund was set up earlier this year to honor the amazing life of Lisa J. Flaxman, a North Chevy Chase and Rosemary Hills mother who passed away on January 14, 2009 after a long battle with breast cancer.

Flaxman was a friend and former client of VE PR. She was founder of musiKids, Inc., www.musikids.com, which continues to bring together the joy of “music and movement” in class settings to thousands of children up to five years in greater Washington.

As part of musiKids®, Flaxman established musiKares, a charitable giving program for the community to share its love of recorded music with the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, area hospitals, and especially pediatric wards.

This Fund honors Lisa's legacy of support for the arts in the community. Donations will be used to support arts celebrations, elementary school artist-in-residence programs, public school community performances, and scholarships. The fund is administered through the Montgomery County Community Fund. Donations can be made online at http://lisaflaxmanfund.org/ or sent to:

Lisa J. Flaxman MusiKares Fund/MCCF
c/o The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region
Attention: Kenny Emson
1201 15th Street, NW, Suite 420
Washington, D.C. 20005