March 2010
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E-mail Remains a Marketing Mainstay

email graphicSometimes simple really is better.
 
In marketing these days, folks are constantly scrambling for the next big thing, finding fresh ways to pitch their products and services to a vast marketplace. They spend their days updating Facebook pages and tweeting, acting as founts of bite-size facts and figures.
 
Studies support the use of new media technologies as effective to a degree in advancing product and service branding, but when it comes to taking good old-fashioned story-form information to the consumer, all points lead back to the e-mail - and its offshoot e-blasts and e-newsletters.
 
Nearly 30 years into its existence, the Internet-based e-mail remains the marketing mainstay; published reports from Email Marketing Reports and Pingdom estimate that some 1.4 billion people had active e-mail addresses in 2009, up 7.7 percent from 2008, and e-mail usage is expected to grow 35.7 percent to 1.9 billion by 2013.

By comparison, Twitter even after an explosive growth in the past two years has 25 million users. The burgeoning Facebook has an estimated 350 million, but most still use it as a social site rather than for product or service marketing.

For business marketing, e-mail is the mother lode, on par with the telephone. And our evolving "smart phones" have brought e-mail full circle. According to a Pew Research Center study completed Jan. 19, 2010, 37 percent of adult cell phone owners are now considered "on-the-go" consumers who regularly access their e-mail from their phones.
           
Considering these facts, it makes simple sense to amass as many e-mail addresses as you can and promote your goods, services and news items via stories - just like this one - created for e-mail, e-blasts and e-newsletters.
 
At Whisenhunt Communications, we create our own e-newsletter - and we are available to help create yours. For details, e-mail swhisenhun@aol.com.
Actor Zachary Levi is Grand Marshal of St. Patrick's Day Parade

Zachary Levi, Ventura St. Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal Zachary Levi, an actor best known for his television role as Chuck Bartowski in the NBC action-comedy "Chuck," was grand marshal of the 22nd annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 13 that drew thousands of spectators to Downtown Ventura.
 
Levi, who grew up in Ventura and graduated from Buena High School in 1998, led the parade of 91 entries seated in a convertible next to his sister Shekinah. The 29-year-old actor's grandmother, Patricia Troxell, was one of the founders of the parade.
 
Co-chairs of the big parade are Ventura City Councilman Jim Monahan and Nan Drake, community relations director for Harrison Industries.
 
Whisenhunt Communications created the St. Patrick's Day Parade's official Web site. To see pictures from this year's parade and for more information on the event, visit www.venturastpatricksdayparade.com.

VCOE Focuses on Budget, Student Achievement

Focus on Education Winter 2010Tackling the budget issues pervading California's education system at the county level, the Ventura County Office of Education released its Focus on Education community newsletter on Feb. 17.

This 12-page insert in the Ventura County Star provided an overview of how local public schools have been affected by the budget cuts and what often innovative approaches the districts have taken to maintain Ventura County's high quality of education. Even with the constant challenges presented by declining enrollment and decreased funding, Ventura County schools have continued to maintain or improve their students' standards when compared to their peers statewide.
Ventura Law Firm Welcomes
New Associates

John A. Hribar and Joanna L. OrrThe Ventura law firm of Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP is pleased to welcome two new associates, Joanna L. Orr and John A. Hribar.
 
Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP is one of Ventura County 's largest law firms, with 25 attorneys handling a range of business, tax, family law, estates and trusts, criminal law employment, personal injury and other legal matters.
 
Joanna L. Orr spent more than five years working for a Los Angeles firm where she engaged in a varied practice including taxation, business transactions and general civil litigation. In 2003 Joanna received her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Davis, King Hall School of Law. While in law school, Joanna interned at the Franchise Tax Board, gaining valuable insight into California taxation. In 2004 she earned a Masters of Law in Taxation from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where her graduate thesis examined state taxation of gambling and Indian gaming in California .  
 
A member of the State Bar of California since 2003, Joanna is also member of the Ventura County Bar Association, Women Lawyers of Ventura County and the CPA/Law Society of Ventura County. 
 
John Hribar worked as an attorney in the litigation department of a large Los Angeles law firm. He represented clients in a wide variety of industries at all stages of litigation with an emphasis on complex civil litigation and white collar criminal defense. John has also worked with the judiciary, completing a one-year federal district court clerkship with Judge Dale S. Fischer in Los Angeles .  
John graduated from UCLA School of Law with Order of the Coif honors and has been a member of the California Bar since 2003. John also belongs to the Ventura County Bar Association. 
 
Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP is located at 1050 South Kimball Road in east Ventura . Visit www.fcoplaw.com or call 805-659-6800.
Mantooth Runs Unopposed for Election

Stan MantoothVentura County Superintendent of Schools Stan Mantooth will run unopposed June 8 in a countywide election to retain the seat he was appointed to in June 2008. Prepared for a possible election battle, Mantooth thanked his supporters, citing strong early endorsements and successful fundraising as two reasons that no one chose to run against him.
           
"Please also know that your confidence will sustain my dedication to serving our students, schools and communities for several years to come," he wrote after learning that no one else had filed for the election by the March 12 deadline.
CMH Holding 'New Beginnings' Art Exhibit through June 5

CMH New beginnings paintingPaintings and drawings celebrating spring as the season of rebirth, renewal and rejuvenation are on display for public viewing at Community Memorial Hospital as the Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation presents its "New Beginnings" art exhibit through June 5.
 
The exhibit is a joint partnership between CMH, the Buenaventura Art Association, the Ventura Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Ventura and the Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation.
 
All paintings and drawings on display are by local artists, with proceeds to be used for future exhibits as well as to benefit local artists, the Buenaventura Art Association and the foundation's philanthropic efforts.

Painting above: "Beginnings," by Myra Cambianica
Issue: 7
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  Writer Does Not Live by Pen Alone

Jake Finch Besides being a writer and editor at Whisenhunt Communications, Jake Finch is an award-winning quilter, three-time author, quilt magazine writer/editor and a national quilt teacher. A quilter for more than 20 years, Jake's love of the cloth merged with her writing career after the birth of her daughter nine years ago.
 
With more time on her hands at home (during those too short naptimes!), she designed quilt patterns and innovative projects. A book proposal to her favorite quilt publisher on quilted book covers, Fast, Fun & Easy Book Cover Art, was accepted on the first round and Jake started writing about and designing quilt patterns in a big way. Her second book, Comfort Quilts from the Heart, provides quilt projects to help people who are sick. Her third book, Quilting: 200 Questions and Answers, is not yet released.
 
Teaching is the natural off-shoot for a professional quilter and Jake travels to quilt guilds and shows throughout the country showing others how to unleash their creativity and kindness through quilting and sewing. It's an industry that's changed greatly in the last 30 years, becoming more modern in style and tech-savvy in practice and Jake is excited to see that quilts aren't just for beds anymore.
 
Her Web site is www.jakefinchdesigns.com.

Photo by Juan Carlo, courtesy of the Ventura County Star.

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Client News In This Issue
E-mail Marketing
Ventura St. Patrick's Day Parade
Ventura County Office of Education
Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP
Stan Mantooth for Ventura County Superintendent of Schools
CMH
Check Out WC's
Web Site


Don't forget to visit Whisenhunt Communications'
Web site, www.whizcomm.biz.

Read about the company and its team of media and graphics experts.
 
Founded in 1990, Whisenhunt Communications specializes in helping businesses, school districts, governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations reach targeted audiences.

The firm's many diverse clients make enormous contributions to the community and the public relations firm has been instrumental in helping them accomplish
their goals.

All Whisenhunt associates have extensive experience with print and digital media.
Stan Whisenhunt
Whisenhunt Communications