Thank you to J & M Wedding Photography for volunteering to shoot our February and April events. We’ve added their banner to our sponsors on the sidebar at right.
We still need volunteer photographers for …
Dec. 15, 2009
Jan. 19, 2010
March 16, 2010
Keep in mind that while we typically meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., a few of these meetings may end up as lunchtime or breakfast events.
How Sustainable Word-of-Mouth Marketing Can Help Boost Your Bottom Line
Geno Church and Spike Jones show how to identify those brand advocates already speaking out on your word-of-mouth program. Build an effective, meaningful movement for your brand to directly impact your bottom line.
Who: Alabama chapter of the Public Relations Society of America
When: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Dec. 3
Where: Innovation Depot, 1500 First Ave. N., downtown [map]
Cost: One can of food, to be donated to United Way Food Bank; food and refreshments provided, plus door prizes.
• Birmingham lifestyle magazine Portico has recently relaunched its Web site, porticomag.com. What do you think?
• EXCLUSIVE: Shelby Living launched today. This quarterly lifestyle magazine on Shelby County, from the publishers of the Shelby County Reporter weekly newspaper, also has a site at shelbyliving.com.
We asked senior editor and founding partner Todd Keith if Thicket had folded. Keith responded, “I wouldn’t say that. We are in discussions with several groups as well as individuals about the magazine and looking at a number of possibilities.”
When pressed further about the missing issue, the two partners who left but are still listed on the site, the current state and future of the magazine, and which groups or individuals were in discussions with Thicket, Keith responded, “We should have a more clear picture of where Thicket is going in the first quarter of 2010 and feel free to check back in at that time.”
Matt and Dennis often use a Flip camera, one of the more popular and less expensive options out there.
You can use a digital still camera to shoot video, but keep in mind that the quality won’t be as high, since it’s primarily designed for photos.
Before going out on a shoot, check two things: battery life and available memory. You can’t shoot if your battery is dead or your memory is clogged with older videos. (The Flip has no accessible memory card — you must dump footage to your computer to free up space, delete it or no shoot.)
They use basic video editing software that usually comes standard with computers: Windows Movie Maker and iMovie for the Mac.
With the Flip, proximity is important for good audio. The model Matt showed off had a mono microphone (Flips have no audio input jack).
Besides YouTube and Vimeo and other video sharing sites, you can also post your videos to AL.com to reach the hometown audience.
Breaking a long video into a series of shorter ones (around 2 minutes or less) can yield higher numbers of views.
To have a home for each video, embed it on one of your Web pages or within a blog post. Then, you can write a headline and some explanatory text for maximum search engine optimization (how users find it through Google).
Red Cross officer lost part of leg to motorcycle accident
Video: Chris Osborne’s aha moment
for Mutual of Omaha commercial
Chris Osborne lost part of his left leg following a 2004 motorcycle accident. Instead of slowing down, he went to physical therapy and learned to use a prosthetic leg. Osborne also visited other amputees in the hospital to help them in their recovery.
His story is featured in a new series of commercials for Mutual of Omaha to air in the spring. The insurance company visited 25 cities, including Birmingham, to record inspirational stories for its aha moments campaign. Osborne’s commercial made it to the Top 10.
Osborne is chief branding officer for the Birmingham chapter of the American Red Cross. Before, he worked as a reporter for ABC 33/40.
“I’m extremely honored that so many people thought enough about me and my story to vote. There were some really incredible ‘Aha Moments’ from people here in Birmingham and around the country.”
My Scoop, a Birmingham-based online lifestyle magazine, has launched a Mississippi portal to add to its Birmingham and Nashville ones.
Mississippi native Elizabeth Sparkman Fowler will serve as editor and publisher of the new edition. She previously served on the advisory board for the company.
The site offers features on style, shopping, travel, food and entertaining.
The bloodshed continues at Southern Progress Corporation.
The fall layoffs continued into week 2 at the Birmingham-based publisher: Media of Birmingham has learned from company sources that five Cooking Light editorial staffers were laid off Tuesday.
Update Nov. 12: We’re revising the total to six laid off Thursday. Worth noting: Editor Mary Kay Culpepper left in September; executive editor Billy Sims is leaving voluntarily; and managing editor Maelynn Cheung was laid off in this round. Which means all three top positions at the mag have been vacated in the last 2 months.
The news comes as Time Inc. reports a third-quarter ad revenue drop of $129 million, or 22 percent, compared to the same quarter in 2008. And yet, despite that gloomy news, Cooking Light had a 27 percent increase in December ad pages, while Southern Living had a 34 percent increase. Both figures for the Southern Progress titles are self reported to the Publishers Information Bureau.
With additional reports coming in, the count for this round stands at 54 people laid off.
Update Nov. 12: The Birmingham Business Journal reports two possible but opposing outcomes. First, Time Inc. spokeswoman Debra Richman said the company will hire back “a number of positions” but did not elaborate on how many or which jobs. Second, the story concludes with, “Southern Progress sources said they expect layoffs to continue through December.”
If you’ve been laid off from SPC, or know someone who has, please let us know via our contact form. We’ll keep your personal information confidential.
Welcome to Media of Birmingham, a networking group in Alabama. We meet on the third Tuesday of every month, and we welcome professionals in journalism, advertising, public relations, new media and marketing. Membership is free.
