PR, Marketing + Advertising

Social Cincinnati: By the numbers

By Newsroom

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July 17, 2012

Mashable, the go-to site for techy trends, in 2011 named Cincinnati the most social city in the world in honor of Social Media Day. It seems the city's social butterflies are working to keep that coveted, if unscientific, designation. Local Social Media training company Social Media Bootcamp has compiled some facts and figures about the Queen City's online connections. The figures, which you can see in graphic form on the Boot Camp Digital blog, give a snapshot of Cincinnati's Social Media landscape. For instance: • There are 807,360 people in the Greater Cincinnati area on Facebook (within a 25 mile radius of Cincinnati) • There are more than 88,000 Cincinnatians on LinkedIn • 475,000 Twitter accounts mention Cincinnati in their titles In the business realm, figures show: • 81 percent of Cincinnati brands participate in social media • P&G, a leading global marketer headquartered in Cincinnati, aims to be “the most digitally enabled company in the world”. • 63 percent of Cincinnati businesses are prepared to respond to social media inquiries within hours. • 77 percent of businesses handle social media internally, yet only 30 percent have training ," "We were pretty surprised by some of the statistics that we found," says Krista Neher of Boot Camp Digital. "The infographic especially shows that Cincinnati businesses are highly active on social media (81 percent) yet also, surprisingly, they don't have a lot of social media training, and most businesses don't have a policy," Additionally, social media pros are abundant in Cincinnati. • There are more than 13,000 people in Cincinnati with social media in their Twitter profiles • There are more than 1,000 groups on LinkedIn for Cincinnati. • 50 percent of business professionals in Cincinnati are using social media in a professional capacity. • 74 percent of Cincinnatians have access to social media at work (although only 43 percent have a social media policy) By Feoshia Henderson Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

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Bluestone expands, keeping focus on relationships

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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July 17, 2012

Adam Browning and Jack Conrad met as toddlers in Northern Kentucky. They went to grade school together, started college together and stayed friends after that. Then, when Browning transformed his one-man creative shop into an advertising agency, bluestone creative, in 2003, he did it with Conrad, his creative co-founder. Today, bluestone creative exists as a testament to their ability to build partnerships that last. “We’re hell-bent on reinventing the client-agent relationship,” says Browning, who graduated from art school and turned his job at Snowshoe Mountain into bluestone’s first client project and hasn’t looked back since. Clients include napCincinnati, roadID and Red River Gorge. He’s proud that his company has never actively sought new clients, yet has gained enough project work through word-of-mouth to bring in new employees, a responsibility neither takes lightly. While the duo started lean—they were the only employees until 2008—they now have seven employees in their downtown office on Main Street. Employees wear many hats, in an effort to spur creativity while avoiding silos of skills and layers of job duties. In an atmosphere like that, relationships, like clients, build naturally. “Good creative is key,” says Conrad, who lives in Ft. Mitchell and worked in sales at Cincinnati Bell before joining Browning and making a go of it as an independent business co-founder. Though the duo worked out of Browning’s apartment in Mt. Adams for the first few years, he now enjoys sharing space with his expanding team. “It’s nice to be in an environment with other creative people,” says Browning, a father of two who lives in Crescent Springs. In addition to their work at bluestone, Browning and Conrad founded The Queen City Project with Alias Imaging last year. Their collaborative efforts with Alias and SoapboxMedia led to the Cincinnati Growing Cincinnati video that wowed audience members at the CEOs for Cities conference here this spring. Fueling their creative interests fits naturally with their less-than-orthodox mission statement: “to enjoy the scenery while we work.” So far, Conrad reports, so good. By Elissa Yancey Follow Elissa on Twitter.

Bunbury gets Techbury twist this weekend

By Newsroom

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Architecture + Design

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July 10, 2012

As world choirs make their exits and the inaugural Bunbury Music Festival launches July 13-15, visitors can supplement their music fix with new technologies and a celebration of entrepreneurial talent – from app developers to DJs – during Techbury, which takes place in a large air-conditioned tent just west of the L&N Bridge. Like other music festivals that combine music with technology (SXSW, Coachella), Bunbury launches with a tech partnership that features the combined talents of seed-stage funder CincyTechUSA and R&D from digital marketing brand-makers at Possible Worldwide. The Techbury tent will house interactive games, cool consumer products to demo and stage programming that includes local technology startup pitches, local band interviews and local DJ competitions. And did we mention air conditioning? And beer. Yes, beer. “Possible Worldwide was very eager to get involved with the festival because our agency is all about celebrating the relationship between creativity and technology,” says Meghann Craig, associate communications manager at Possible. “That's our sweet spot.” “For CincyTech, participating in the Techbury portion of Bunbury is about showcasing the startup innovation happening in our region with the tens of thousands of people who attend,” says Carolyn Pione Micheli, CincyTech communications director. With programming both on and off-stage in the tent, Techbury offers a cool place to experience the festival in a more hands-on way. “Techbury allows you to engage with the Festival in a more intimate setting and provides an experience that is unique and different from traditional music festivals,” says Craig. Techbury highlights include: • Possible Labs’ “interactions gallery” with Human Pong and other Microsoft Kinect-based games. • Friday’s Startup Pitch Wars, a battle of 16 local startups that deliver “rocket pitches,” with the winner determined by crowd vote and prizes offered by The Greater Cincinnati Venture Association and Bunbury. • Saturday’s All Night Party Local Band Showcase, featuring interviews with local bands moderated by Chelsea VandeDrink of WVXU and aired on the station. • Sunday’s Bunbury Battle of the Cincinnati DJs, which pits four local DJs against each other. By Elissa Yancey Follow Elissa on Twitter

Library offers free, legal music downloads

By Jen Saltsman

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Arts + Culture

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July 10, 2012

At $1.29 per download, five ITunes singles can cost $6.45. Thanks to the Public Library of Cincinnati’s commitment to online accessibility, you can download five songs from the Freegal music database every week legally and for free. “There is a tremendous variety of music available on the database,” says Sandy Bolek, the library's website coordinator. “And we’re excited to offer a product that is similar to our e-books' collection.” In 2004, The Public Library of Cincinnati became one of the first libraries in Ohio to add an e-books collection to its online resources. Since then, Bolek says she has noticed an increase in library use and library card applications. “The e-books have been popular among library card holders,” says Bolek. “They give people the option to easily access the library’s services from home. We have been trying to make a gradual shift to more online accessibility for our customers.” In 2011, the Public Library of Cincinnati added Freegal’s music database to its online resources. Currently, Cincinnati Public Library cardholders can access music, e-books and audiobooks using computers at the library, computers at home and smartphones. As with any library transaction, a library card is required for the Freegal music downloads. But, in not-so-typical library fashion, there is no return date. Once the songs are downloaded onto your Mac, PC or phone, they are yours to keep forever. Bolek says that the downloadable music program has been successful. She also says that the staff is always looking for new ways to make the library digitally available. “In the future,” she says, “you may not even need to come into the library to use most of its services.” Do Good: Visit: a public library near you. Download: music with your library card. Like: the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County on Facebook. By Jen Saltsman

Brandery works to keep startups in Cincinnati

By Newsroom

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Architecture + Design

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July 10, 2012

A few years ago, when Bryan Jowers and Justin Stanislaw were dreaming up an app to help friends pool money to give gifts, they felt they needed to leave Houston to improve their chances of finding investors and forging connections. Instead of relocating to a Silicon Valley hotspot, they moved to Cincinnati, lured by a startup accelerator called The Brandery. As one of six startups participating in the summer of 2010, they got 12 weeks of intensive help building their product, called Giftiki. Read the full story here.

Copper Mountain debuts new quick-cook steel cut oatmeal

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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June 26, 2012

Just Heat and Enjoy! ™ It's the trademarked motto for Cincinnati's Copper Mountain's Hot2Go instant food and drink products. After the success of its hot lattes and cocoas, Copper Mountain has recently debuted a third product, heat-and-eat steel cut oatmeal. The oatmeal is currently being sold in Cincinnati-area Remke Markets and Indianapolis-area Marsh Supermarkets, with plans to roll out the oatmeal in convenience stores, says Copper Mountain founder Steve Hatch. The oatmeal comes in three varieties—original, maple and brown sugar and apples and cinnamon. The 120-calorie oatmeal is ready to eat after 40 seconds in the microwave, and doesn't require added water. Traditional steel cut oatmeal can take up to 30 minutes to cook. “It's not a dry oatmeal packet,” Hatch says. “We're bringing convenience to a very healthy product.” Hatch says the product, the first of other planned food offerings, should help convenience stores stay competitive with the growing fast-breakfast market. Big brands like McDonald's and Starbucks have recently expanded breakfast offerings, to include oatmeal. “This should allow convenience stores to be competitive. This offers a very convenient, healthy oatmeal at a good price (from $1.79 to $2.29)." Copper Mountain, founded in 2010, is housed in the Hamilton County Business Center. Hatch started the growing company after leaving a job as V.P. of Sales at Tradewinds Beverage Company. “The whole company is built around a formula of delivering quality and convenience,” Hatch says. By Feoshia Henderson Follow Feoshia on Twitter.

Text and the City connects communities via hyperlocal deals, content

By Newsroom

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Arts + Culture

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June 26, 2012

Sometimes the most simple, direct way is the best way to use technology to connect with customers. Text and the City, a startup that recently moved from Cleveland to Northern Kentucky, relies on the the simple text message to create an ongoing connection in small, urban neighborhoods. Text and the City offers to-the-point, local community information, news, weather alerts and coupons through humble SMS. “I got the idea when I wanted to go to a concert series in Medina, and it was going to rain," says Text and the City founder Shawn Blain, whose background is in advertising and sales. "I thought, 'Wouldn't be great if I could just get a text telling me if it was on, or cancelled?' Or, 'Wouldn't be great if I I could just get reminders in case I forgot about an event I wanted to go to?” Through Text and the City, users can opt-in to one or two text messages a week that include event reminders, news stories or local emergencies such as severe weather notices. The text feature works in concert with a mobile community website that features an event calendar, mobile coupons, a dining directory, a things to do page and lowest nearby gas prices. The mobile website is accessible regardless of whether users opt into the text service. The free site launched in June 2011. Text and the City is currently available in Fairlawn, Strongsville and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Blain moved the company to Northern Kentucky as part of the ongoing UpTech tech-business accelerator. The company is preparing to target Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati neighborhoods as it revamps based on feedback from pilot communities and the help of NKU's College of Informatics, she says. The company's long-term goal is to be in 8,000 hyperlocal markets. Text and the City offers small and medium-sized business owners an affordable way to keep in touch with those who want to stay connected. “When someone opts into a text service, it means they are giving you access, but a lot of businesses don't know how to properly use that access," Blain says. We think we have the right mix and frequency of texts to keep people interested and connected.” By Feoshia Henderson Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Cincinnati builds the world

By Newsroom

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Architecture + Design

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June 26, 2012

From a health clinic in Tanzania to contemporary modern homes, architects in Cincinnati help “build the world,” the title and focus of the latest exhibit at the Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati’s gallery space downtown. In the village of Roche in Tanzania, health care needs seemed overwhelming. Chris Lewis, MD, who founded the NGO Village Life Outreach, looked to design partners at the University of Cincinnati for ideas. The design team at UC, led by architect and assistant professor Michael Zaretzy, researched, designed and built the Roche Health Center, which opened last spring. The environmentally conscious design laid the groundwork for continued building and outreach in Tanzania, cementing a partnership that enriches lives and educational opportunities, according to Village Life Outreach Executive Director Richard Elliott. Other firms and designers with work in the AFC’s latest exhibit include Jose Garcia Design, Kolar Design, A359 Partners in Architecture, FRCH Design Worldwide and SFA Architects. Do Good: • Attend the opening reception. Visit the gallery at 811 Race St., June 26, from 6-8 pm. The exhibit runs through Aug. 16. • Learn more. Find out the history and the current work of the Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati. • Shop the AFC online store, where you’ll find books and information about Architreks’ tours. By Elissa Yancey Follow Elissa on Twitter.

Northside Fourth goes family friendly

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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June 26, 2012

Every Fourth of July, neighbors and visitors in Northside gather for a neighborhood parade like no other. Starting at noon, politicians walk alongside floats for kids, neighborhood businesses and groups like the "men's drill team" and the "lawnchair ladies." Afterward, revelers gather at Hoffner Park for music and food for the afternoon. But this year, there's a twist. Since the Fourth of July falls on a Wednesday, in addition to a July 3 evening Rock 'n Roll Festival, the Northside Business Association hosts a Family Fun Carnival for the afternoon of the Fourth. The Fourth of July starts early in Northside, at 9 am, with a Red, White & Blue Pancake Breakfast that benefits Happen Inc. After the parade, the Family Fun Carnival features a range of activities for kids of all ages offered by local, kid-friendly nonprofits including Happen, Inc., Churches Active in Northside, WordPlay Cincy and others. Food vendors, from gelato to pizza and beer, and local entrpreneurs with populate booths to round out the celebration, which starts with the parade at noon and ends at 5 pm. Do Good: • Find the Parade on Facebook. • Learn about Cincinnati Northside online. • Like the Northside Community Council on Facebook.

Behind SEO success, a ‘knuckle down’ approach

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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June 12, 2012

“About every web company says they do search engine optimization,” says Allison Kulage, who is often the person these companies call when they need a subcontractor. As the founder of Bare Knuckle Marketing, she works with businesses directly, helping them identify and meet marketing goals with SEO. Kulage, who has a marketing communications background, looked for marketing jobs after graduating from college, but found that many of them were little more than commission-based sales positions. After leaping from one job to the next, she discovered a talent for search engine optimization, or SEO – a practice of organizing web content to be friendly to search tools like Google. After more than a decade working with SEO, Kulage grew tired of watching web marketing companies charge clients for search engine optimization that amounted to little more than adding tags to a WordPress site, to keywords to a meta header (part of a website that tells search engines what it’s about) or – at worst – nothing at all. With SEO, Kulage says, there are no immediate or automatic fixes. “One day, I just said to myself, ‘You gotta knuckle up and work hard at this stuff! The gloves are off. It's competitive and the only way to win is do honest, hard work by creating good content that users want.’ " With the help of Bad Girl Ventures, where she took classes in business management, a SCORE mentor and practical training from the American Small Business Centers, she was able to quit her full-time job to launch Bare Knuckle Marketing in just two months. These days, Kulage advises companies to diversify their online traffic sources, so that if and when Google changes its algorithm, they’re still getting website hits from other sources, such as other search engines, social media sites, blogs and more. “People focus too much on how they rank in search engines," she says. "For years, Google has personalized search results, which means you and I can search for the same thing, but get different results based on our search history. You may be number one [in a Google search], but you may only be number one on your own machine. There’s too much focus on rankings, and not enough focus on real metrics -- not just traffic, but traffic that’s converting.” By Robin Donovan