Mt. Adams : Innovation + Startup News

CincyMusic Spotlight is a new radio show dedicated to highlighting new and exciting music in the Queen City. Featured on The Project 100.7 and 106.3, the show’s format provides a much-needed outlet for local musicians. Hosted by veteran band promoters and DJs Venomous Valdez and Joe Long, the show’s end goal is to help expose new local artists to the general public.

“The Project already has added a handful of bands hailing from Cincinnati in their established playlist," says Valdez. "If a song does really well on the show, it has the ability to live in regular rotation. The Project would love nothing more than to help break a Cincinnati band."

Valdez, who is known by just about every venue owner as the booking agent and promoter for Wussy and The Sundresses, is a longtime ally to Cincinnati musicians.

“Cincinnati has a deep, rich musical history," she says. "For many generations, this has been a music town, so it’s in our blood. We have more genres available, more venues catering to original music than most cities larger than us. Overall, I think we have a great support system with musicians, promoters, booking agents and venues that encourages and nurtures the creative outlet."

Listeners can tune in Sunday nights at midnight on The Project 100.7 FM and 106.3 FM. Podcasts will be available on cincymusic.com and cincinnatiproject.com.

By Sean Peters

Today, Detroit-based Digerati launches its Intern in Ohio program to the public, which is sponsored by the University of Toledo. Like eHarmony, the program uses an advanced matching algorithm to match students with internship opportunities.
 
Intern in Ohio is free to both students who are looking for internships and businesses who want to post internships. To register, students and employers visit Intern in Ohio’s website to sign up and create a profile or post internship opportunities. Students fill out a short questionnaire about their preferences, and employers share information about the position. The system then identifies the top seven matches for each student, as well as for each position. When the match is made, both the student and employer are notified, and they must show interest before any contact information is shared.
 
“We encourage diverse companies—large and small, for-profit and nonprofit, government and corporate,” says Wendy Pittman, director of Digerati’s Classroom to Career. “It’s a great chance for employers to broadcast their company and internship program across the state and reach a larger pool of applicants.”
 
Only companies in Ohio can post opportunities to the Intern in Ohio website, but all types of internships are welcome. There are posts for marketing, engineering and social media, among others, says Pittman.
 
The program is open to all students who live in Ohio, whether they’re in-state or out-of-state students. Research shows that not only do internships often lead employment offers after graduation, but that students are more likely to remain in an area where they held and internship.
 
“This is the first replication of the Classroom to Career technology from Michigan to Ohio,” says Pittman. “Experiential learning is a game-changer; and we’re looking forward to working with smaller communities to make a difference.”
 
In 2011, Digerati launched its Intern in Michigan program, which has resulted in more than 127,000 matches and introductions between students and employers. Over 1,000 Michigan businesses have posted 4,824 internship opportunities, and 1,049 colleges and universities in the state use the site.
 
Full disclosure: Soapbox’s parent company, IMG, supplies content to Intern in Ohio on a contractual basis.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
Follow Caitlin on Twitter

Going on maternity leave changed Gail Yisreal’s life in more ways than having a new baby to take care of.
 
When she returned to work, Yisreal says she learned her position was no longer there, so she began to look for a different job.

As wife and mother to a blended family of nine children, she might bake up to 11 birthday cakes in a year. But she hadn’t considered turning her knack for kneading dough into earning dough until she baked a wedding cake for a couple from her family’s place of worship. Not only did they like the cake, they suggested she start selling them.
 
Listening to her fans, Yisreal founded A “Mother’s Touch” Cakes with the nurturing tagline, “Making fresh homemade cakes when you don’t have the time.” Celebrating her two-year anniversary as a registered business in August 2012, A “Mother’s Touch” features signature and custom made flavors of fresh, savory gourmet, organic and vegan cakes and cupcakes that are good—and good for you.
 
“I didn’t know anything about decorating, so I took a class to learn more decorating skills," Yisreal says. "And I was shocked to find out that 95 percent of the cakes you buy are box cakes—because everybody wants the decoration. I started doing some research about the trans-fats and artificial ingredients, and I vowed that everything I baked would always be natural and from scratch.”  
 
After working as a waitress for two years and in management at Starbucks for six years, Yisreal developed a love for coffee. She jokes that most ex-Starbucks managers feel they know enough about coffee to create their own line, which she actually did for A “Mother’s Touch.”
 
Having tried organic coffees with weak flavor profiles, she researched and found Dean’s Beans, a fair-trade pioneer that allowed her to design her own custom blends. Her signature A “Mother’s Touch” blend is made with Mexican and Indonesian beans and pairs with her carrot cake as an after-dinner coffee.
 
“I’m really proud of my coffee and the fact that it really was custom blended for what I wanted to complement my desserts,” Yisreal says. And, true to her mission to serve natural, sustainable goods, she says that her blends are 100 percent organic, fair-trade certified and are shade grown.
 
Being on the scene without a storefront hasn’t stopped Yisreal. Instead, she’s building her brand as the “cupcake lady” who networks everywhere and invites people to taste samples of her creations. Yisreal also tapped into hidden markets by hosting deals through social media.
 
“I did a Living Social promotion last year, which was huge,” Yisreal says. “That first day, I think I got 1,500 hits on my website, and probably about 85 deals, which I thought was really good for people who didn’t know who I was.”
 
And even though she sells more cakes today, the ease of transporting cupcakes built her clientele.
 
“When I first came out, because of my financial situation, literally, cupcakes were paying my rent,” she says. After she and her husband separated, she remembers what it was like to go from making an annual salary of $60,000 to less than $20,000 a year. But she doesn’t do it all alone.
 
“I have three almost-teenage girls; 12, soon to be 15 and 17, so they are my preppers,” Yisreal explains. “It’s hilarious because we’ll be in the kitchen and everybody has their big bonnets on, and they’re scraping carrots, mashing fruit, lining the liners. I have a girlfriend who I’ll sometimes sub-contract out to do deliveries. And if it’s a huge event—like for the Autism Foundation, I had to knock out 40 dozen cupcakes—I have two sisters, and at the time I had just split up with my husband so we were in literally an 800-square-foot apartment. The kitchen was all of maybe 150-square-feet, we put out six-foot tables and we were like an assembly line! It was hilarious, but we got it done. It was like an I Love Lucy episode!”
 
By Mildred Fallen

There’s something decidedly sci-fi about digitizing green plants, but that’s what a new partnership between the Cincinnati Park Board and local tech startup QuipTV hopes to achieve.

This month, the duo launched a pilot project that allows Ault Park visitors to access informative videos about specific plants, the community and the park by using smartphones or handheld devices to scan QR-tagged plants. 

So far, 87 specimens have been tagged with another 40 to be added in the coming weeks, according to the Parks. Plans are also in the works to extend the project to Krohn Conservatory in time for its 2012 holiday exhibit, “Trains, Trestles & Traditions,” which runs Nov. 17-Jan. 6.

“We would like to expand the program to more locations in the future, but we will wait to see some of the responses from the pilot projects at Ault and Krohn,” says Deborah Allison, business services manager at the Parks.

You don’t have to visit the sites to learn about the plants, either. The informative videos can also be accessed remotely via the Cincinnati Parks’ YouTube channel and its mobile app, which was launched in July.

According to Kris Kubicki, co-founder of QuipTV, the videos also direct users to local vendors that sell the featured plants.

“We own a small nursery and were trying to figure out a way to generate enthusiasm for plants and let people know that we exist,” says Kubicki. “Recognizing that many small businesses are struggling and need the support of their community, this project helps them, too. In this technology-driven culture with smartphones in the hands of many, we can take a moment of curiosity and educate with a 20-50-second video.”

Organizers hope the project will help people connect more with the outdoors and interact with other Cincinnatians through existing groups like the Greater Cincinnati Master Gardener Association and the Civic Garden Center.

“This project engages people with their surroundings and provides options for citizens to be more proactive,” says Kubicki. “We all need each other. Supporting our local communities is where we start fixing the future.”

By Hannah Purnell
Follow Hannah on Twitter.

When he wasn't busy governing the city and country and practicing law, Cincinnati native David Pepper always wondered why people would spend an hour working out at the gym, only to grab a soda and candy bar on their way out the door. So the lawyer-turned-businessman decided to try his hand at social entrepreneurship.
 
“You've got these vending machines all over the place undermining the goals that people have set for themselves," Pepper says.
 
And in some instances, foods high in saturated fat, sodium or sugar are the only snacks available to children.
 
To provide a different option, Pepper, best known for his political career and his lineage (he is the son of former P&G CEO John Pepper and philanthropist wife Francie), began operating a chain of healthy food vending machines in Cincinnati last year.
 
“We thought it was a really interesting idea both as a business, but also as a part of a cause,” Pepper says.
 
Pepper started the business with partner Scott Stern, who lives in Denver, last April with a trial run at the Krohn Conservatory Butterfly Show. Their business, called Pepstern, now has about 50 machines in Cincinnati and Denver with plans to expand in both regions. Most of their machines are located in places like schools, gyms and corporate offices, and each location sells a mix of snacks custom-tailored to its clientele.
 
While it’s difficult to broadly define “healthy snacks,” some products available in the machines are all natural, low in fat or low in sodium, but all of them stand as an alternative to the classic snack items typically found in food vending machines. The machines, provided by a company called H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending, carry food like Stacey’s Pita Chips, Popchips and Pirate’s Booty, and drinks like Honest Tea.
 
Pepper says he and his partner spent the first few months figuring out what products work best in the different locations. The machines contain feedback mechanisms that update the owners every six hours with information about what items have sold in which locations.
 
“You learn quickly what sells and what doesn't sell,” Pepper says.
 
Pepper’s company installs machines in schools that enable the schools to be in compliance with healthy eating guidelines implemented by the Ohio state government last year. He said schools are by far their best-selling locations.
 
Pepper said a healthy vending machine located next to a pack of standard snack machines does not sell well. The success of a healthy food vending machine hinges on it being in the right location.
 
“We find locations that actually care about this issue,” Pepper says. “They need to be places that say, ‘Hey, we want our employees or our customers to have healthier options.' ”

By Henry Sweets

Empower MediaMarketing, a full service multimedia marketing firm in Mt. Adams, continues to grow with six new hires.

This brings the company's total number of employees to approximately 180, said Empower President and CEO Jim Price. The company has been hiring at a quick pace in the last few months, adding 24 employees to its ranks in the first quarter alone. And the company is recruiting plenty of area talent as well; many of the new hires are from the Queen City.

Empower specializes in reaching consumers through a wide variety of media platforms. In-the-field consumer engagement and social media campaigns are behind most of the company's rapid growth, Price said. Clients include Red Robin, U.S. Bank, Meijer, Marzetti Company, Godiva Chocolatier, Long John Silvers, Bush Brothers & Co., Humana and Michaels Arts & Crafts Stores.

"What we have always done really well in the last 26 years is what we call one-way communication. That's planning and buying TV, radio and print ads. Combining that with digital media is very effective in creating two-way communication," Price said. "More companies are developing a social marketing strategy in combination with the traditional media space and that's where we really start to see results."

Besides developing engaging websites and social media campaigns, the company also contacts social influences like popular bloggers to promote their clients products and services. One campaign, called Chiquita Moms sought out influential bloggers and Tweeters with a kit that contained Chiquita Banana Recipe Cards, banana coupons, a Baby-Safe Chiquita Bowl, Cup, Spoon and Fork Set and more. Bloggers who agreed to receive the kit often wrote about them and some held kit giveaways.

In this campaign, as with other successful social media efforts, transparency is key to Empower's client work, Price said.

"(With Chiquita Moms) we reached out saying saying 'I am so-and-so with Empower Media and wanted to give this information, because I thought you might be interested in it.' There is no incentive, there is no money involved. It's purely up to them if they want to write about Chiquita, so it's very transparent," he said.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Jim Price, Empower Media Marketing President and CEO Jim Price

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

On March 12 a nearly 40-person strong Hip Hoppin' flash mob emerged at Newport-on- the-Levee. The unexpected and quickly choreographed three-minute dance routine garnered attention, cheers and applause, but it was just a small part of a nationwide social media experiment.

The dance gave a glimpse intp Cincinnati's part of The Boomerang Effect II. It's a partnership of volunteer initiative SERVE 60™ and The Marcus Graham Project, which develops diverse talent in the advertising, media and marketing industry. The two national organizations came together for The Boomerang Effect II, a 60-hour mashup of networking, social media and community service.

The Boomerang Effect takes its name from the early '90s movie Boomerang, where Eddie Murphy played an advertising executive. In that vein, among the aims of the weekend was to open the world of advertising and marketing to African-American and other minority professionals and students.

This was the first year Cincinnati joined The Boomerang Effect; it was organized by local social media marketing entrepreneur Jeremy K. Smith. He quickly pulled the weekend together with help from a number of local resources. Eleven other cities participated, including Detroit, New York, L.A., Miami and Milwaukee.

Smith was formerly and sales and recruiting and has used social media for several years as part of his work. He recently started his own social media marketing company Authentic New Media. He believed the event was a good way to showcase a diverse crowd interested in social media and marketing. He estimates over 200 people participated over the weekend.

"I think it was fantastic. Coming into it, some people didn't think there would be support for something like it. That mainstream professionals wouldn't show up. But I was very pleased at how it played out. Everyone who decided to participate had fun," Smith said.

It kicked off Friday night with a networking event at The Bowtie Café, opened by Bengals' player Dhani Jones. The mixer also featured P&G Global Brand Manager Hamilton Brown and LebronJames.com Digital Media Manager Jay Bobo. Saturday was the flash mob event, with music provided by DJ Band Camp. Sunday the video was part of a Tweetathon, where the video with the most Tweets, views and likes was awarded $1,500 to support a nonprofit. Cincinnati didn't win, but the video has received more than 600 views.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Jeremy K Smith, president and CEO Authentic New Media

You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

Like all sorts of review websites that have popped up in the last few years, Yelp relies on local input from seers and doers for its millions of reviews of restaurants, local services and businesses.

Yelp, though, is going a bit further with its local investment in Cincinnati and in dozens of other cities hiring community managers who do everything from host local get-togethers to write weekly newsletters.

In Cincinnati, Alex Shebar, a city import with a background in reporting and communications, is spreading the Yelp gospel, highlighting the city's local businesses as community manager.

"It's a lifestyle job. You cannot run Yelp Cincinnati like Paris or London or even Columbus. You need to love the city and want to talk about it for a living," he said.

Shebar's job is to know  - and tell - what's new and hip in Cincinnati, from bars and supermarkets to hotels and boutiques. He does this by exploring the city and by hosting Yelp events with an especially enthusiastic group known as the Yelp Elite Squad. This squad is made up of locals who spend time crafting insightful, varied and numerous reviews.

"They are the best of the best. They write great reviews and a lot of reviews," Shebar said. This Elite Squad is an invitation only group, but anyone can apply to be part of it (except business owners who can open free business accounts). As part of being in the Elite Squad members are invited to Yelp events across the city once a month in partnership with a local business.

"We throw a party for them. We've had them at bars, galleries, bowling allies. I've been trying to do more in Over-The-Rhine so people can see it's really not the most terrifying place on earth," said Shebar, who lives in the historic, but sometimes troubled, neighborhood.

He also hosts events open to the public.

Though Yelp might be most known for its restaurant reviews, it also contains reviews of dozens of services and businesses like spas, hospitals, auto repair shops and veterinarians. You can even find a few apartment and school reviews.

Yelp reviews have had an impact on businesses, even ones those that aren't so glowing.

"There are two ways you can handle negative reviews, you can get upset about them or you can respond to them. A great example is Coffee Emporium (an OTR coffee shop where Shebar has hosted an event). Some reviews said the place was noisy, and the owner put in $5,000 of sound dampening equipment," he said.

The events are free, and offer writers more fodder for their reviews. In addition to setting up events, Shebar also writes the Weekly Yelp Cincinnati edition, a theme based email newsletter that highlights entertainment and other local interests. Focusing on only independent businesses, it includes reviews, event listings, openings and other news. You can interact with Shebar on Twitter @YelpCincy.

Shebar doesn't sell ads for the site, though it does have a corporate sales staff since the site relies on advertising to make money.
The next scheduled Yelp event is Yelp Drinks in April which will feature about a dozen bars that will offer half-off of their three best drinks. It's an open event.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Alex Shebar, Yelp Cincinnati community manager

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

Rockfish Interactive, one of Cincinnati's newest multi-media marketing agencies, has been named 2010 Agency of the Year for Web Design and Development by OMMA Magazine, a leading industry publication.

Rockfish expanded into Cincinnati last summer tapping two local P&G execs, Dave Knox and Bryan Radtke, to help lead the Cincinnati branch. The company, based in Northwest Arkansas, is among Inc. 500's fastest growing companies. In Cincinnati, Rockfish now has seven employees in its Mt. Adams office, with a handful of additional hires expected in the New Year, Knox said.

"The award from OMMA is for the diverse portfolio of work that Rockfish delivered in the past year such as America's Health Rankings, Sam's Club Holidays and Royito's," Knox said.

The company also has offices in Little Rock, Dallas and San Francisco.

OMMA named Rockfish a top agency among eight others including international players Wieden + Kennedy and SapientNitro.

"We are in great company with agencies such as W+K and SapientNitro that employ thousands of people.  OMMA (part of Mediapost) is one of the most influential trade publications in marketing, advertising and online media," Knox added.

The Cincinnati office is working to add to Rockfish's prestigious kudos with its latest hire, creative director Chris Zieverink.

"Chris brings a deep experience in creative, having developed best-in-class work for clients such as Timberland, Hasbro, Southern Comfort, Nature Made, Walgreens and Pearle Vision.  His work consistently pushes the boundaries, winning a number of key industry awards.  In Cincinnati, Chris will build a team of copy directors, copywriters and art directors and designers in concept, design and execution," Knox said.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Dave Knox, Chief Marketing Officer

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

A survey co-sponsored by BlackBook EMG and Cincinnati USA Chamber's HYPE is looking for young professionals to share their work and community life experiences to gauge the risk of the region losing young talent.

The 25-question survey, located here, takes about 10 minutes to finish. It's geared toward anyone who lives in the metro Cincinnati area and is employed. The results will be unveiled at the HYPE talent symposium Oct. 19. The symposium's theme is "Ignite the Fire! Leverage Cincinnati's strengths as part of your recruitment and retention strategies."

BlackBook, whose Compass technology matches employee performance with local events, venues and businesses, has a 2,000-person response goal for the survey. So far, just under 1,000 people have responded, said Carla Messer, Blackbook's senior vice president of operations. To encourage responses, participants can enter to win one of three iPads. Survey results are kept confidential.

The survey asks questions related to the concept of "community embeddedness" or the experiences, people and places outside of work that keep a person in a particular area.

"The survey asks how an employee fits into culture of an organization, and also how people are connected to other people and places where they live. At the workplace you're made to feel like it would be a great sacrifice to leave, but from a community standpoint often things outside the workplace that keep people retained in the organization aren't considered. Things, if you left behind, like a country club, church or neighbors would feel like a big sacrifice to leave," Messer said.

The survey is an effort to drill down into how or even if workers have those outside connections. Under the theory of community embeddedness, the more satisfying community links a person has, the less likely they are to leave a current city or place of employment.

"Companies spend a lot of time and money trying to explain why people leave. We are trying to evaluate why people stay, and create those connections and experiences that get people to stay," Messer said.

The survey is open until Oct. 1.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Carla Messer, Blackbook senior vice president of operations

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiawrites

Empower MediaMarketing has just added eight new employees to the full-service multi-media communications firm.

That brings the total number of employees up to 170 at the Mt. Adams company that specializes in reaching consumers through a wide variety of media platforms. Empower was founded in 1985, and clients include U.S. Bank, Meijer, Marzetti Company, Godiva Chocolatier, Long John Silvers, Bush Brothers & Co., Humana and Michaels Arts & Crafts Stores.

The growth comes from bringing on new clients and adding services for existing clients, said Empower MediaMarketing president Jim Price.

"We've grown specifically in word-of-mouth marketing. A lot of that is in social media and grassroots experiential marketing," Price said.

Several of the new employees are from the Cincinnati area. Others came from Chicago. All have started work and will be working in Cincinnati, Price said. In addition to word-of-mouth strategists, the company has also hired a local broadcast strategist, a media associate and media coordinator and other positions.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Jim Price president Empower MediaMarketing

You can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiasoapbox

Nearly two dozen local restaurants across Greater Cincinnati have teamed up with Christ Hospital to offer easily-identifiable heart-healthy eats on their menus.

Part of The Christ Hospital Restaurant Partnership launched in February, participating restaurants are all independently owned, and dishes in the program are made to meet guidelines set by the American Heart Association's Step I Heart Healthy Diet. Each qualifying menu item is marked by the Christ Hospital tower symbol. 

"We applaud these restaurants for taking an active role in caring for their customers' heart health," said Susan Croushore, President and CEO of The Christ Hospital. "They have created some spectacular dishes that taste great without excess calories, fat and cholesterol."

The participating restaurants include Cincinnati Sports Club Deli in Fairfax, Chalk Food + Wine in Covington, Lavomatic Café downtown, Café Bella in Mason and The Polo Grille in Mason.  You can find a complete list here.

Before displaying the hospital's tower symbol, partnership restaurants must submit recipes to The Christ Hospital for confidential analysis using NutriBase nutrition software. To be considered "heart healthy" each meal must be less than 650 calories, have less than 20 grams total fat, less than seven grams saturated fat, less than 800 mg sodium and less than 100 mg cholesterol.

"The initial response from local restaurants has been phenomenal and includes a wide range of foods for all kinds of tastes," said Cheri Miller, M.S., coordinator of The Christ Hospital Restaurant Partnership. "As additional restaurants express interest in joining the program, we expect to be able to expand the list of dining options well into the future."

Heart Healthy isn't code for bland. Check out these options from one of the newest partner's Andy’s Mediterranean Grille in Walnut Hills: Salmon with Lebanese salad; Tuna with hummus and Lebanese fries; Andy's Vegetarian kabob with rice and Baba Ghannouj, Andy's Greek salad or Lebanese salad; Andy's shish kabob (beef) with rice and Lebanese salad.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: The Christ Hospital

In recent years the Cincinnati Chapter of All Aboard Ohio has fallen by the wayside. The organization - comprised mostly of rail enthusiasts -  had lost its steam.

"The Cincinnati end (of the statewide organization) had kind of fallen off," said longtime member and Cincinnati/Tri-State Regional Coordinator Beau Tuke.

But it's amazing what $400 million in stimulus funding can do. Ohio was awarded those funds for a proposed rail project that has the potential to transform passenger rail across Ohio and the Midwest. All Aboard Ohio is mobilizing across the state, including in Cincinnati to raise awareness and garner support for state adoption of the 250-mile 3C corridor that would connect Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati through daily train service for the first time in 40 years.

Ohio's $400 million grant was one of the largest awarded in the country under the Federal Railroad Administration stimulus program.  This rail project is far from a done deal, with a contentious debate going on in Columbus and in communities across the state as to the benefits of a rail system. All Aboard Ohio is among organizations working to garner local, community and business support for passenger rail.

"We're really working to raise awareness and support," Tuke, of Mt. Adams, said. "This isn't just about being able to ride from Columbus to Cincinnati, but being connected to Chicago, Indianapolis and other places by rail."

The Cincinnati Chapter of All Aboard Ohio currently meets the second Tuesday of each month in Tower A at Cincinnati Union Terminal at 6:30 p.m. Tuke is working to expand the group's membership by adding more community and business-minded voices that want to help make the case for the 3C. The group is also working to get support from the Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana communities.

The Cincinnati chapter has an email distribution list for those who can't always make it to the meetings. If you're interested in being added to the list email Tuke at beautuke@yahoo.com

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Beau Tuke, All Aboard Ohio Cincinnati Chapter

You can follow Feoshia on twitter here.

Empower MediaMarketing employees, under the theme "Giving Back Instead of Looking Back," took on an innovative 24-hour volunteer project to celebrate the Cincinnati company's 25th anniversary.

The volunteer project involved tackling a multitude of tasks - and tweeting about them - at the non-profit Brighton Center in Newport, and could serve as a blueprint for future volunteer projects by Empower. 

160 Empower volunteers worked over 24 hours straight at the Brighton Center, which offers community support services through its Family Center, Bright Days Early Childhood Education Program, Homeward Bound Runaway Shelter, Two Rivers Senior Facility and Saratoga Place Senior Facility. Volunteers painted, cleaned, had breakfast with the center's teens, played bingo with its seniors and completed some minor repairs.

"There were at least nine different shifts; we did everything," said Empower President Jim Price.

The effort had an added dimension, employing social media tools to create a wider buzz about the Brighton Center. Empower employees, well-versed in using social media tools, used Twitter, Flikr and Facebook during their volunteer work. It allowed the Empower employees to broadcast their work, and promote the Brighton Center to their network of friends through status updates and photos.

"We drove awareness though 160 well-connected people by using our skills through social media channels," Price said.

Empower corralled the tweets, photos and other updates in a central online location that also includes a video featuring Brighton Center clients.

"Our micro site is designed to increase advocacy for the Brighton Center," Price said. "By increasing awareness through social media, our experience tells us that the Brighton Center will see additional volunteers and donations over time. It's a well-deserving organization with a variety of needs."

Empower clients and service partners are also supporting the effort, including donations from Marco's Pizza, Meijer, Rust-Oleum and Hoover.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Sources: Jim Price Empower MediaMarketing

Cincinnati Metro is going green.

To prove its commitment to greening things up, its first fleet of hybrid buses – six of them – were put into service on Earth Day, April 22.

In an effort to show them around on the day prior to use, the six hybrids made a jaunt from Eden Park – where they will run – into downtown, displaying a new "go*GREEN" design.

These buses will replace a fleet of older buses now past their prime while significantly curbing the harmful emissions associated with diesel. To be precise, hybrid buses use an electric motor and a diesel engine.  The engine and braking action generate electricity as the bus slows down or stops. This equates to a 95% decrease in particulate (soot), 90% reduction in hydrocarbons and 50% drop in nitrogen oxide (NOx) output.

Hybrids also offer quieter, smoother rides for passengers.  And with a 30% decrease in fuel use – three thousand gallons of diesel annually per bus – this equates to significant savings. "Tomorrow, on Earth Day, Metro will officially put these six, beautiful new hybrid buses into service," says Metro CEO Marilyn Shazor.  "For a tax-supported transit system like ours, it’s about being green and saving green at the same time."

This fleet of hybrid buses was just one aspect of Cincinnati's Earth Day festivities. Upon arriving downtown after the journey from Eden Park, fashion models wearing environmentally-friendly digs exited one of the buses at Fountain Square and walked down a flower carpet runway created by Cincinnati graphic designer, Joel Knueven.

In addition to the bus parade and eco fashion show, six trees were also dedicated by Cincinnati Parks to form a grove in Eden Park.  These six trees, which are dedicated to the students of six
Cincinnati Public elementary schools, commemorate the six buses. 

"We are proud that our new hybrid buses support the critical environmental goals of the region," said Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board chair Melody Sawyer Richardson. "Goals are important, but we should take a minute to remember why those goals exist: we want to build a greener, healthier future for our children and their children."

The financing for these buses came from a combination of federal and matching local funds.  More buses have been ordered and are expected to be operational in 2010.

Writer:  Jonathan DeHart
Source:  Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority