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Member News

Member Announcement features a variety of announcements from Chamber members.News releases should be one or two brief paragraphs. Photos must be professional headshots in either color or black and white, labeled with the persons last name, and must be 300 dpi at full size and saved in a tif or jpg format. Send your information to Brenda Farner.

 

 

 

 

Keith Elrod Makes International Finals 

K & M Gallery owner, Keith Elrod, CPF, was named an international finalist in the world-wide custom picture framing competition recently held in Anaheim, CA.  The competition is sponsored by the Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA), of which Keith is the only Blount County member.  This marks the fourthelrod2 consecutive year that Elrod has made the finals, featuring works by framers from several countries. All the framers who enter the competition frame the same piece of art and compete in local and regional competitions to advance to the finals. This year there were 36 finalists.

Elrod's project will be returned to the gallery in about a month.  Meanwhile, photos of the project can be seen on the K & M Gallery Facebook page, which is also accessible through Elrod's Facebook page. With the convention being part of the PMA (Photo Marketing Association) tradeshow, K & M Gallery will soon be introducing many new photo services that became available at the tradeshow. Call the gallery and arrange to see the products and services that are unique to the area.  The number is 977-9441 .... and Always Buy Chamber!

 

7th Annual Leadership Summit to Address Health Care

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For seven years, Leadership Blount and the Center for Strong Communities at Maryville College have been partnering to present the Leadership Summit, a highly-focused, single-day summit bringing together Blount County's elected officials and community leaders to address a single issue of import for the present and future success of the county.

On Friday, March 5, the seventh annual Leadership Summit will take place at the Clayton Center for the Arts on the Maryville College campus. The theme of the 2010 summit is, "Health Care - Redefined."

Keynoting the summit will be Dr. John McKnight, co-founder of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute of Northwestern University (ABCD).

National Issue, Local Importance

"When the Leadership Summit committee began discussing this year's theme we wanted to discuss, on the local level, the issues that are demanding national attention," said Cathy Cate, executive director of Leadership Blount. "Health care is certainly front and center."

But rather than host a point and counter-point event or a session filled with heated debate, the Leadership Summit's aim is to provide Blount County's elected officials and community leaders information. "It's an opportunity to receive a ‘check-up' on the County's health," Cate continued.

"We knew that regardless of the current national administration's movements on health care, there would exist issues surrounding this topic on the local and regional levels," noted Billy Newton, director of the Center for Strong Communities. "The Seventh Annual Leadership Summit is the place to talk about what health and wellness mean to our community. It's time for a check up, not a political debate. That's why we chose the title, ‘Health Care - Redefined.' What exactly does health care mean to our community in this day and time?"

The summit will begin at 7:30 a.m. with a breakfast session offering Blount County facts and figures related to health issues. Leading the breakfast session are area school health coordinators Ms. Mary Beth Blevins of Blount County Schools, Ms. Kelly Gallemore of Alcoa City Schools and Ms. Heather Ledbetter of Maryville City Schools. Mr. Micky Roberts, County Health Director, will moderate the session.

Plenary sessions will follow from 9:15 a.m. until noon. Plenary sessions will include three concurrent sessions: a panel discussing Health & Productivity featuring Mr. Jim Richards of Mast General Store, Ms. Margie Kidd of Clayton Homes, Ms. Becka Wilson of Radio Systems/Pet Safe and Mr. Bruce Guillaume of Mountain Challenge; an overview of Health Care Legislation presented by Dr. Carole Myers; and a Perspectives on Care session, featuring Dr. Clint Wight of Blount Memorial and Dr. John Pittenger of East Tennessee Medical Group.

"The breakfast session and the plenary sessions promise to provide a ‘pulse' on issues currently impacting Blount County wellness and new perspectives on the health and approach to wellness of Blount County," said Cate.

McKnight To Provide Keynote Address

Lunch will take place at 12:15 p.m., accompanying a keynote address by Dr. John McKnight.

"McKnight offers a unique way of viewing a community's position in respect to health and wellness," commented Newton. "Our lensmcknight is so often one of defining problems and illness. McKnight uses a lens that takes an entirely different perspective by asking questions about the assets we have as a community to aid in our wellness efforts."

For nearly three decades, John McKnight has conducted research on social service delivery systems, health policy, community organizations, neighborhood policy, and institutional racism. He currently directs research projects focused on asset-based neighborhood development and methods of community building by incorporating marginalized people. McKnight has been associated with many of the ABCD Institute's major research projects since he joined the organization in 1969. These have included research on the urban determinants of health, law enforcement, urban disinvestment and metropolitan government, deinstitutionalized child welfare services, police anticrime programs, and the effects of the perception of crime upon community responses.

Much of his recent work on asset-based community development is captured in McKnight's co-authored book, "Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets" (1993), which has circulated through a broad range of community, government, business, nonprofit, and educational institutions in the United States and Canada. McKnight's keynote address will close the Leadership Summit, concluding at 1:30 p.m.

Participation in the summit is by invitation, and letters requesting attendance have been sent to local leaders. All events are free of charge but space is limited to 150 individuals.

The Leadership Summit is the Legacy Project of the Leadership Blount Class of 2003. Previous years' summits have addressed education, smart growth & development, sustainable tourism and navigating economic change.

For more information, please contact: 

For more information, contact:

 

Cathy Cate, Executive Director of Leadership Blount cathy@leadershipblount.org | 865.984.9368 leadership

 

or

Billy Newton,Director of the Center for Strong Communities

billy.newton@maryvillecollege.edu | 865.273.8893

 

 

 

 

 

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 Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this Month

REMINDER.....  All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.

 Don't know if you've done this, but you need to.

.... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

 

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222.

It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

 

East Tennessee Firms Launch Interactive Springboard

Interactive Agency and PR Firm Start Joint Venture

 

Blue Media Boutique, a web development and interactive agency, and Mary Beth West Consulting, a public relations and reputation management consulting firm, announced today the launch of Interactive Springboard (www.interactivespringboard.com), a joint venture that provides an integrated, research-based approach to social media that supports client marketing communications.

The firms, led by Tori Rose of Blue Media Boutique and Mary Beth West, have partnered successfully on several diverse client projects since 2008 involving web strategy and social media and are now formalizing their collaboration under the Interactive Springboard name.

"Our work model is unique to this market in both its collaborative approach between two highly specialized firms and its focus on utilizing market research," West said.  "Many current social media programs suffer two missing links: the effective use of audience research and a content-development process that drives dynamic relationship-building.  Our team is prepared to meet those client needs for better online engagement."

According to West and Rose, the best web development and social media strategies demand client-specific audience research as the foundation.  Without that research, companies risk taking a "shotgun" approach and failing to realize the benefits of social and online community-building to their true potential. 

In some cases, companies get in over their heads and launch social media applications that they are unable to support with consistent and relevant content for their online audiences, resulting in a loss of credibility with customers and the public alike, Rose said.

"Great social media execution is the ultimate moving target today," Rose said.  "With the constant changes taking place in social media technology development and use by consumers and businesses worldwide, it's critical for clients to know their own customer base first-hand and how their media-use behaviors are trending." 

Both firms comprising Interactive Springboard offer diverse team backgrounds and have their own histories of extensive work partnering with other third-party agencies and teams, both in the Knoxville market and beyond.

Blue Media Boutique's design, programming and animation professionals are based across the continent and include a collective 50-plus years of interactive and web development experience.  

Rose's background is extensive and diverse, spanning several marketing disciplines over a period of 16 years at companies in the United States and Canada. Most recently, as vice president, creative director of RIVR Media Interactive (RMI), Rose was responsible for RMI's creative vision, design, and interactive projects for a wide variety of clients, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Shell, Gibbes Museum of Art, and Duke University. In addition to launching RMI's first property, Needled.com, Rose developed three award-winning pieces for the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP) and won a PRSA and IABC award for two Morrison Management Specialists projects.

Prior to RIVR, Rose served as creative director of Edison Schools in New York, Chris Whittle's entrepreneurial initiative to change public education in America. Rose was a key player in the design and development of Edison's distance learning initiative-using live video, animation and Internet resources to deliver a K-12 curriculum program and professional development training to the classroom. She holds a master's degree in media from The New School University and a bachelor of arts degree from Wake Forest University.

The team at Mary Beth West Consulting includes a collective 75-plus years of marketing communications and public relations experience working in-house with such companies as General Motors, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association, Eastman Kodak, Corrections Corporation of America and Champion Products.

Accredited in public relations, Mary Beth West's own 16-year career has included award-winning work producing national media relations campaigns, employee communications programs and crisis preparedness systems in the energy, financial services and corporate sectors.

West has served two appointments on the national board of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the world's largest organization of public relations professionals, and is a past president of the Knoxville-based PRSA Volunteer Chapter.  She serves on the UT College of Communication and Information Board of Visitors.

Interactive Springboard can be found at www.interactivespringboard.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

 

About Blue Media Boutique

Based in Knoxville, Tenn., Blue Media Boutique provides creative, technology and marketing services, including design, development, animation, video, illustration, branding, print, e-commerce, database, CMS, search optimization, copywriting, promotions, events and campaigns. www.bluemediaboutique.com

 

About Mary Beth West Consulting, LLC

Based in Maryville, Tenn., Mary Beth West Consulting advances clients' communications, relationships and reputations to meet business and organizational objectives.  The firm's services include research strategy, integrated marketing communications campaigns; media, community and employee relations programs; interactive media strategy and program management; crisis preparedness; and special events.  www.marybethwest.com

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