Cincinnati

Local web and marketing entrepreneurial team help Cincinnati businesses brand

By Newsroom

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March 29, 2011

Just five months after taking a website development job with a local company, Sean Vosler decided to strike out on his own starting Vezign, a web design and social media management company that specializes in the open source web design program Wordpress."I've always wanted my own business but for a long time I just didn't think it was practical; there were too many hurdles to get started. I decided that I wasn't happy at my job, and that if I could get three clients to start I could quit and at least get started on my own," said Vosler, of Loveland.Since then, Vosler has worked for dozens of local clients including Sol-Tech Group, KMG Sports Management and Puppyhood Pet Resort.He also designed a site for Resonate marketing, whose founder Jay Blumberg quickly teamed up with Vosler to offer clients marketing strategy and quality web utility."I met Jay through a client. At the time, I was getting pretty hungry for new clients and was really trying to increase my portfolio of work. He ran a small full-service marketing business that offered marketing planning and direct marketing services to several companies. I offered to do his website for free if he'd take some time out to help me with my marketing plans, and help me find new clients," he said.They soon began a professional relationship."It turned out we worked great together. With his experience in marketing we've been able to offer very high quality marketing plans that are built into my website designs, as opposed to building a website 'just because you need one,'" Vosler said.In addition to building sites, Vosler also provides social media management as well as digital photography and video services. He builds each site in a way that allows clients to take control of the content as they see fit when the company grows or changes. He is also versed in Search Engine Optimization, helping clients create sites that reach potential customers in the competitive search engine arena."We offer our clients an extremely effective method for reaching the clients that are looking for their services. For example, if it's a website for a restaurant, 9 out of 10 people are just looking for a menu and hours. They shouldn't have to wade through page after page to find the information they want. We also can offer them the ability to get directions to the restaurant, share their thoughts about the food, and then share their experience with their friends via social media. It's all about engaging the audience while making sure they find what they need," he said.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Sean Vosler, founder VezignYou can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

Latest in Cincinnati

Principal turns around failing high school, one student at a time

By Newsroom

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Cincy In The News

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March 29, 2011

Principal Anthony Smith, of Taft Information Technology High School, transformed the school from a failing, crime-ridden place to a successful, appreciated institution. Smith focused his attention towards his teachers to begin improvements nine years ago. As a result, the graduation rate jumped from 18 percent to 95 percent, making Taft an example of how to save troubled schools one at a time. As a result of his students' success, Smith was named ABC New's "Person of the Week."Read the full story here.

Fans connect with Cincinnati Reds heroes via kiosks

By Newsroom

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Arts + Culture

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March 29, 2011

Cincinnati Reds fans can look forward to a more interactive experience with their favorite players this baseball season. Three kiosks will allow them to conduct "virtual" interviews with their favorite players starting on opening day, March 31, at Great American Ballpark.Read the full story here.

UC launches first comprehensive brain cancer research program with $6.5M

By Newsroom

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Cincy In The News

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March 29, 2011

University of Cincinnati hopes to improve treatment strategies for brain cancer and has launched the first comprehensive brain metastasis-specific translational research program in the country to better understand how cancer spreads in the brain.Read the full story here.

True Body stretches work across globe

By Newsroom

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Arts + Culture

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March 29, 2011

Stacy Sims radiates energy and grace when she moves. And as founder and director of the non-profit True Body Project, she moves a lot.In its five years of existence, the TBP has produced a literary journal, a documentary film and five theatrical works, one in Los Angeles, one in New York and three in the TBP's home base, Cincinnati. There are no paid staff members; Sims' computer is her office."When I started out I had a strong belief in the notion that freedom comes in movement," says Sims, who turned 50 this year. Through movement, emotional self-examination and critical thinking about the body and body images, she has created a flexible curriculum that can be melded to fit a wide range of needs.TBP started as an intensive six-week summer session of ArtWorks, where 13 teen girls studied body, body image, gender and media as it relates to body. The project has morphed into day-long workshops, in-house workshops at children's hospital's psychiatric wards and even a week-long workshop with sex-trafficking survivors in Cambodia. Each project grows organically from partnerships with other non-profits, arts groups and individuals. All revolve around the theme of consciously connecting mind and body, influenced in no small part by Sims' background as founder and former owner of Pendleton Pilates. "We create a whole sense of self," she says.Sims' journey to Cambodia earlier this year helped kick off her year of dance—her personal way of celebrating her half-century mark and, she says, walking the talk. "I'm engaging in my own true body curriculum," she says. In XX, she worked with leaders from Transitions Global, an organization that works to help survivors of sex trafficking recapture the basic human rights of freedom and hope. The result was an inspiring beginning to a new year of growth for the TBP, which survives for the most part thanks to donations from "beautiful" supporters, Sims says. "We've really done an extraordinary amount of work on good will and good intentions, not a lot of money and infrastructure," Sims says. "It always blows me away."Do Good:• Find your authentic self. Join in the TBP at a morning workshop, Wed., April 6, from 9-11 a.m.• Find out about Transitions Global. Enjoy an evening of conversation with Sims and Transitions Global founder James Pond Thursday, April 14, at Lululemon. • Join the movement. Support the True Body Project.By Elissa YanceyPhoto courtesy of Stacy Sims

English true to service roots, at work and in song

By Newsroom

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Arts + Culture

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March 29, 2011

When she was on her honeymoon in Paris, Melissa English made a pit stop for work, with her new husband's approval, of course. She had barely officially joined the staff of Ohio Citizen Action as the Southern Ohio campaign director, though she'd been involved with the advocacy non-profit for more than a decade. The OCA's ongoing Good Neighbor Campaign, an effort to work with business to improve the quality of life of the people in its community, was focused on a manganese refinery in Marietta, Ohio, Eramet. Eramet's international home base just happened to be in Paris. English, 42, laughs when she remembers the May 2007 day when she delivered documentation to Eramet. It only took about an hour out of the honeymoon, she says, and the resulting picture her husband took of her standing in front of Eramet's HQ serves as a reminder of how much her work and life goals align."I have an orientation for service that will never change," says English, who also sings in Magnolia Mountain, a roots music band working on its third album.Whether she's crooning original songs at the front of Magnolia Mountain at the CEAs, decrying the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining or presenting to community groups, the tall, dark-haired English brings her quick wit along. "I discovered my ham gene very early," she says. At OCA, she works with three other full-time staff members and a shifting number of canvasers that cover counties in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. They are the well-informed advocates who travel door-to-door, explaining specific campaign issues and asking for support in the form of funds or letters written to business and government leaders. "It's a very collaborative environment," she says. "We get feedback at the door every day."OCA's campaign in Marietta has led to new relationships between the community and the nearby plant. So far, the company has kept to agreements to make improvements to its facility that improve air quality and limit the release of nauseating fumes. "When you can see that the work you have done is making it easier for people to breathe, it's a real thing," she says.A stickler for evidence and accuracy, English is hard at work educating canvasers and the community about OCA's new campaign to promote recycling over an expansion of the Rumpke Landfill. Do Good: • Get some music. Order your copy of the compilation CD, Music for the Mountains, featuring work by Magnolia Mountain, The Tillers, Rabbit Hash String Band and many others. • Join the Action. Contribute to Ohio Citizen Action online. • Like Ohio Citizen Action. Keep up with the latest OCA news via Facebook. By Elissa Yancey Photo courtesy Ohio Citizen Action

Popular driver network offers freedom, independence to seniors

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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March 29, 2011

Nancy Schuster saw the painful confrontation first-hand. She watched her parents try to convince her grandmother to hand over her car keys. But in the end, it took an intervention by her family doctor to drive the point home. "She wouldn't listen to any of us," says Schuster, 46. "It gave me a much better appreciation for the challenges that are out there."When she learned of an opening to direct the new Independent Transportation Network of Greater Cincinnati, a program developed last year by the Deaconess Association's Foundation, she saw an important opportunity.The statistics are scary for every driver and any child with senior parents holding on tightly to their car keys as a path to freedom, independence and control of their lives. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that drivers 85 and over are nine times more likely to die behind the wheel as their counterparts aged 25 through 69.The ITN Greater Cincinnati serves seniors and people with visual impairments who live and travel within the I-275 loop. The process is as simple as it is powerful: riders join the network for a $75 annual fee, then pay a pick-up fee and a per-mileage rate to cover their transportation needs, which range from trips to the doctor to the grocery to the beauty parlor. The average cost for a round-trip service is about $10, depending on distance. "We offer all of our members door through door, arm through arm service," Schuster says.She is also a volunteer driver, and regularly takes a rider to the Sycamore Senior Center. While most trips are practical necessities, some are pure fun. One volunteer driver took a regular rider to a night out at Eddie Merlot's; December brought many Christmas shopping trips.Bonds develop quickly between drivers and riders. "It happens naturally," Schuster says. "Even when you are driving someone once or twice, you still form those relationships. We've become part of their families."Before the end of 2010, ITN Greater Cincinnati had given more than 1,000 rides with just a dozen drivers and fewer than 100 member riders. This year, demand has grown each month. "We've driven more than 30,000 miles," Schuster says. Volunteer drivers get more than good will in return for their efforts. They get automatic membership in the network, which they can donate to anyone they like. In one of the program's most innovative strategies, drivers can choose to be reimbursed directly for their mileage or bank their credits in their own Transportation Social Security Accounts. They can also give them to a friend or loved one, or to a rider in need. "You are doing a charitable act, but it's so much more," Schuster says.As the demand for rides continues to increase alongside gas prices, Schuster says the ITN Greater Cincinnati plans to be able to offer scholarships for low-income riders by this summer. Do Good: • Be a rider. Click to learn more about how to donate your services. • Make a donation. Click and make a tax-deductible donation to help seniors ride with pride. • Give a gift. Know someone who could benefit from ITN Greater Cincinnati's services? Gift a membership or sponsor regular visits to the mall. By Elissa Yancey Photo courtesy of ITN Greater Cincinnati

New scholarship honors Knippenberg’s inspiration

By Newsroom

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Arts + Culture

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March 29, 2011

Jim Knippenberg knew how to capture his audiences' imagination.Many knew him for his pithy "Psst" columns in the Cincinnati Enquirer, his party-friendly demeanor and his warm embrace of all things wacky and wild in Cincinnati. Many others, though, students in his classes at the University of Cincinnati, knew him as a generous, thoughtful teacher, a gentle, funny guide into the world of feature writing. They looked forward to seeing him each week, and mourned his loss in 2009 at age 68.Knippenberg's resume is a classic Cincinnati history. He graduated from Elder High School and got two degrees from UC, an undergraduate one in English Literature and a Master's in Education. He started working at the Enquirer as a copy boy- yes, it was the 1960s- and came on staff full-time the same year he earned his Master's, 1971. He wrote stories about news, music, entertainment and more. His range was wide and inclusive. He was just as comfortable interviewing Yoko Ono as highlighting countless fundraisers throughout the region, always sure to point out a stunning dress or unexpected guest.Now, supporters and friends who want his memory to live on at UC have started the Jim Knippenberg UC Scholarship Fund as a way to support his alma mater. At a kickoff party Monday, April 4, at The Celestial Restaurant in Mt. Adams, hosts Nick and Nina Clooney will help launch the effort. Once the fund reaches $50,000, it can be used to award an annual $2,500 scholarship for a UC student. Do Good: • Go to the party. Tickets are available for the scholarship fund kick-off party Monday, April 4. • Take a timeless coaster tour. Refresh your memory of Knippenberg's writing when you read this great round-up from 2003. • Support the fund. Can't make it to the party? You can still make a tax-deductible gift. By Elissa Yancey Photo courtesy Cincinnati Enquirer

Soapdish: Take Up Arms, Cincinnati Under Attack!

By Casey Coston

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General

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March 29, 2011

Columnist Casey Coston offers this editorial about the latest round of road blocks being thrown on the tracks of Cincinnati's streetcar project, and wonders what they might mean about our sense of regionalism and the kind of future city we envision.

Know Theatre expands into new space in Germania building, forges creative collaborations

By Soapbox

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Arts + Culture

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March 29, 2011

Years of building creative partnerships has made Know Theatre an important part of Cincinnati's contemporary arts scene. Founded in 1997, Know opened its own theatre space on Jackson Street in Over-the-Rhine after seven years operating out of a church basement on Sycamore Street. In recent years, the theatre company has collaborated with Exhale Dance Tribe and Concert Nova, among others, and led the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, which utilizes spaces throughout Over-the-Rhine. But as the Theatre and its partnerships grew, so have its needs so now Know and its partners are taking advantage of Over-the-Rhine's historic building stock. "We've always helped each other out," says Eric Vosmeier, Know's producing artistic director. "What I'm looking to do is formalize that process."Know has signed a lease for a new rehearsal space inside the historic Germania Building, owned by Kelly Dragoo and Kelly Murphy of Eden Floral Boutique. In addition, the fourth floor will also be used to provide affordable office space to artists and small arts organizations. The programs are a part of Jackson Street Market, launched in August by Know with a mission of investing in the local community of artists in new and innovative ways. Current tenants include mural and street artists, Higher Level Art, and the Requiem Project, a non-profit organization that is restoring and programming the historic Emery Theatre across the street.Requiem plans to use the Germania building space for one year, when the Emery could have a certificate of occupancy. Project founders Tina Manchise and Tara Gordon say Vosmeier has been supportive of Requiem since it began in 2008. They say creative collaborations are part of the Requiem's core mission as well."When you start to collaborate in ways that don't currently exist, you tend to draw (new) people to the area and stimulate new audiences," Manchise says. Vosmeier says the costs for tenants of the Jackson Street Market are minimal. "The plan is that we will essentially invoice them at the end of the month for their cost of the utility bills for the square footage of the space that they are using," he says. Know's next efforts include renting two additional spaces at Germania and launching a resource-sharing website, or "a library of everything we own that people can check in and check out," Vosmeier says. It's also moving its scenic shop and storage to a new space on Spring Grove Avenue in partnership with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.Know Theatre previously kept its scene shop in a building owned by the Art Academy, but the Academy's plans to move their ironworks facility in Pendleton closer to their Over-the-Rhine campus had Know seeking new space. Vosmeier reached out to Cincinnati Shakespeare Company artistic director Brian Issac Phillips who proposed the shared space."There are some tools and toys they have that we don't and vice versa," Phillips says, "and our openings fall far enough away from each other that we can do that without hurting one another." It is another example of how strong theatre companies in Cincinnati can be when they work together."Writer: Rich Shivener