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*******

Contact  Winnie , to add your 'Newsletter' & 'Events' on our 

weekly newsletter.

Hello Alaska,    

 

When Winnie's talents were recently needed elsewhere I began taking a more hands-on role with Buy Alaska's social media. As I reported a couple of weeks ago, installing the TwitterDeck tool was part of this process, as was eliminating about 500 follows.

 

Everyone that uses MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or any other tool to connect with others privately and for business, has run into the problem of wanting to say no to a friend request (usually done by ignoring it forever) and wanting to unfriend/unfollow without hurting someone's feeling. I ran into a problem along those lines this week when someone sent Buy Alaska a Tweet, to ask whether there was a specific reason for the recent unfollow. Some people become apologetic when they get busted, I become analytical (and a little defensive).

 

A)Could it be that my social media strategy is incorrect?

 

B)Should I re-evaluate my approach?

 

C)Should I simply follow that person again for appeasement?

 

As you all know, the correct answer is D, none of the above.

 

I do my very best to separate my personal and professional social media outlets. In turn, I manage three Twitter and Facebook accounts, for Buy Alaska, for myself and for my business. If I don't friend you on my personal Facebook page its not because I don't love you, its simply not my vehicle to interact with professional associates. I have a LinkedIn account specifically for that purpose. Many people don't make that distinction and use only one account for all their social interaction. This is especially tricky for sole proprietors who ARE their business and brand. Everything they post represents who they are professionally and I follow them for that reason. The problem for me begins when personal information exceeds business info. When people say things that don't interest me, the first thing I do is stop listening. Secondly, when I find a business relationship unsatisfying, or not productive, I end them. That doesn't mean we can't try again at a different time, but not right now.

 

Facebook is a unique tool in that it allows others to post on a page once a relationship has been established. It's open mic night at the Buy Alaska improve. Step up and share your story and information!! Twitter is different. The relationship that is established by following is much more superficial and rather than open mic night it feels more like standing in a crowded room, trying to listen to several conversations at the same time. Although there are a number of filtering tools that help you isolate conversations, the sheer mass of information can be overwhelming. For organizational purposes segregating your friends into groups makes sense on Facebook, but on Twitter I equate that to taking the people from the crowded room and putting them into 10 separate rooms. Now you're able to walk from room to room and although the size of the group is more manageable, the odds of you picking up something interesting at exactly the point when you are in that room are slim! I realize that you can scroll through the conversation on Twitter later, but one of the key elements of social media is the immediacy of the information. It doesn't do me any good to read a Tweet out about Friday's special sales event on Saturday.

 

Here are my business Twitter rules -

 

 1) It makes no sense to follow someone just to receive a follower. In the end you may have 2000 followers, but they really don't care what you're saying and vise versa (and if they don't care why would they pay attention to you?)

 

2) If you use Twitter to chit-chat with one person at a time, following you serves no purpose. Please use email for the details and give me the highlights!

 

3) When deciding whether to follow you, I look at your profile, which shows your last 20 Tweets. I make my decisions based strictly on that information.

 

4) I have three categories on my TweetDeck that serve all my needs.

  •  All friends - shows every Tweet from everyone we follow
  • Mentions - shows Tweets that mention Buy Alaska  
  • Direct Messages - shows direct Tweets to us.

5) Every now and then I hit the "who to follow" button to see who else is out there, that may be new, or I may have missed. Again, I'm looking for quality, not quantity.

 

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 Feedback from the TwitterDeck -

Three weeks in and now I've had a very humbling "good news, bad news" experience. One of my accounts is soccer specific and I follow several men's and women's national team players. Some of them are more active than others and a few aggressively use social media to expand their fanbase and entrench their brand as an athlete. Maurice Edu plays for the Glasgow Rangers in Scottland and the US men's national team. Last week I read one of his re-tweets that mentioned another player's game in Austria. 10 minutes later Edu Tweeted that he had a hankering for Fogo de Chao (a Brazilian-style steakhouse with locations throughout the US) and I promptly replied that I love Fogo De Chao, that we had none in Alaska, but since he is in Austria he should have a Schnitzel instead. Ten seconds later Edu Tweeted "Austria? I'm in Cali! I apologized for the mistake and told him I would get my Tweets straight next time. There was no response! The good news, I had a direct twitter conversation with a US national team player, the bad news is that it was so he could call me out for being a dork!  

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Your quote for the day -

   

The biggest mistakewe see companies make when they first hit Twitter is to think about it as a channel to push out information!

 

Tim O'Reilly & Sarah Milstein - Co authors of "The Twitter Book"

 

What's cooking at the Anchorage SBDC?

Visit the SBDC Facebook page to find an event, or class in your area

 

Alaska Native Arts Foundation

 

For artists from First Peoples Fund: Call for Applications: 2012 Artist in Business Leadership Program is an independent arts fellowship program that features a working capital grant of up to $5,000 to be used to support a one year marketing plan/strategy or business goal as defined by the artist applicant. Deadline is Sept. 1, 2011. Visit www.firstpeoplesfund.org for more info.

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ALASKA SEAFOOD RECIPE CONTEST

Want to win an AppleŽ iPad and the chance to appear on the Cooking Stage at the Southern Women's Show with Alaska Seafood fisherwoman, Ruthie Anderson?

 

Alaska Seafood is going to the Southern Women's Show in Orlando on
Thursday, October 13 - Sunday October 16 2011 and they want to hear from you! Submit a recipe using Alaska Canned Salmon or Alaska Surimi Seafood (Imitation Crab) for your chance to win fabulous prizes and the opportunity to show off your cooking skills on stage at the show.

Click here for more information, Submit your recipes here

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The Alaska Writers Guild Presents:

Author, Mike Dillingham - After the Publishing, now what?

Marketing your books and dealing with Author Appearances

Join the AWG in the Wilda Marston Theater at the Loussac Library for an evening of insight and exploration.

August 16, 2011, 7pm

Loussac Library

Free and Open to the Public

Mike will be autographing books before and after the meeting

 

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ATIA'S 2011 CONVENTION & TRADE SHOW - JUNEAU

ATIA is proud to invite you to the capital city of Juneau for the 2011 ATIA Annual Convention & Trade Show.

October 4-6, 2011 at the Centennial Hall

$350 Delegate Registration if received by 8/15/11

$650 Exhibitor, including 1 Delegate Registration

For additional prices, please see the Registration Packet below

Click for Registration Packet 

This Week:

SawFest is at the Kenai Peninsula!

Fifth Annual Invitational Chainsaw Carving Competition, July 13-16

Hosted by The Town of Living Trees at 41672 Sterling Highway, across from the Harley Davidson shop just outside of Soldotna

For more information contact Sandy: chainsawcontest@alaska.net or 252-3119

 

1st Annual Fishin' Chix Pink Rubber Boots Ladies Fishing Rodeo

Benefitting the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank

The Fish Hut Charters and Lodging, Kenai, AK

July 17, 2011

King Salmon Series

The First Place winners will receive 60%; Second Place will receive 30% and Third Place will Receive 10% of the cash pot. The start time will be 7:00 a.m. shotgun start with the weigh-in at NOON sharp! The cost is $75 per person with 5% of the gross proceeds going to the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank and $21.25 towards tournament expenses. There must be at least one Fishin' Chix Member on the boat to be allowed in the Tournament. Men may fish but are not eligible for any prizes. There is a BBQ immediately following this event.

Contact Jackie English - Independent Chapter Representative (907) 398-7877, akfishinchixs@hotmail.com, or Colleen Denbrock - Tournament Director (907) 262-4296 for more information and registration form:

 

Alaska Department of Labor Wage & Hour Seminar

July 19, Aug 16 - 9:00 AM -- 12:00 PM

3301 Eagle Street, Room 104, Anchorage

Free seminar from State of Alaska:

9:00 AM Wage & Hour

10:15 AM Child Labor

11:00 AM Title 36

For more information call (907) 269-4900.

See listing of this and other seminars on the AK SourceLink website calendar: http://www.aksourcelink.com/calendar

 


Mark Your Calendars:

 

Alaska Dance Promotions is hosting the annual Alaska Salsa Festival at the Hotel Captain Cook this July 21 to 24, 2011.

It sounds like last year's event was a huge success, with over 300 people attending. Alaskans from Juneau, Fairbanks, Kenia and Anchorage joined with dance champions from Los Angelos, Washington and New York for four days of dance workshops, performances and competitions. To get more information about the 2011 version, please visit: http://www.alaskadancepromotions.com/  

 

AEDC Annual Outlook Luncheon

Featuring author and radio host Kurt Andersen

Wednesday July 27th

Noon-1:30 p.m.

Dena'ina Civic & Convention Center

Get Your Tickets Here

 

Valley Radio KMBQ 99.7 the station that is sponsoring the Uncle Kracker concert has decided to kick things up a notch and get an early start on the festivities. Rather than simply giving tickets away to the event, the station is hosting a "Go Kracker Krazy for Uncle Kracker" food drive from Noon on August 5 to 3pm on August 8th. The station will broadcast simultaneously on both AM (700 KBYR) and FM LIVE for 75 hours from the Carrs/Safeway parking lot in Wasilla, to collect as much food and money as possible for the local Food Pantry. To top it all off, each hour for the 75 Hours, Q99.7 will give away 1 pair of tickets to see Uncle Kracker.

They're willing to share, so get involved as a sponsor by contacting Sarah at sgoff@mediaak.com, or by phone 907-373-0222

 

The Alaska Chapter of the AMA proudly presents -

Summer Lecture Series -

Facebook, Marketing Online

         August 11

         Presented by Ross Johnston, Fine Point

This in-depth lecture series takes place in the Carr Gottstein building Auditorium on the Alaska Pacific University campus. Parking is free. Open to the public, Free to AMA, AK Chapter members, and $10 for non-members. Bring a friend, your own lunch and we will see you there. Registration recommended at www.amaalaska.org

 

The Alaska Chapter of the American Planning Association is pleased to announce the 1st Annual Alaska State Planning Conference! You are welcome to join the APA at the Westmark in Fairbanks, November 7-8 for this historic event! The conference planning committee is currently seeking session proposals. Additional information about the conference will be posted on the Chapter website and Facebook page.

 


SBDC Workshops for Entrepreneurs:

 

Welcome New Buy Alaska Members  

  • South-Central:

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    Central:


    Great North:

    Southwest: 
    Taylor'd Image

     

    Southeast:


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    Find us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter 

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    Travel Info

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    Bid Opportunities

      

    Sub-Contractor Opportunities


    State of Alaska

     

    http://notes3.state.ak.us/pn/pubnotic


    State of Alaska-DOT

     

    http://dot.alaska.gov/procurement/index.shtml

    • South-Central -

    Department of the Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, 3 CONS - Elmendorf

    Trackless Asphalt Heater

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF

     

    Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, is conducting this market research to ascertain if there are businesses which have the capability to construct an addition to the existing Buckner Physical Fitness Facility, Fort Richardson, Alaska to include: a new indoor swimming pool including as a minimum, two 25 meter lap swim lanes, open swim area, a diving area, a zero depth entry area, a moving water simulator, a wading area, and a water slide. Additionally, other public and support areas, including showers, restrooms and changing areas, basketball court, volleyball court, free weight and exercise area are included. Primary exterior facilities will also include a baseball field, softball fields and a multi-purpose field. Supporting facilities include all site utilities and connections, exterior lighting, paving, parking, walks, curbs and gutters and information systems.

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USA/COE

     

    Department of the Army, National Guard Bureau

    JBER intends to award a purchase order for the purchase of the following Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) items: 45 EACH Gatorz Radiator (custom) Gunmetal/Grey Polarized mfr# RADGUN01P 45 EACH Gatorz Radiator (custom) Black/Clear mfr# RADBLK06

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USA/

     

    Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

    Snow machines to Kotzebue and Anchorage

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOI/

     

    Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

    Janitorial Services at the FAA Flight Service Station (FSS) in Talkeetna

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOT/FAA

     

    Department of the Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, 3 CONS - Elmendorf

    Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson (JBER), Alaska has a requirement for outside storage and regularly scheduled maintenance of privately owned vehicles (POV) in storage, and a permanent fence to be erected around the storage site.

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF

     

    Department of the Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, 3 CONS - Elmendorf

    Snow Brushes

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/PAF

     

    Anchorage School District

    SOUTH ANCHORAGE HIGH SCHOOL REVEGETATION

    http://www.asdk12.org/

        

    • Mat-Su Valley -

     

    • Northern - Arctic -

    Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

    Snow machines to Kotzebue and Anchorage

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOI


     

    • Southwest -  

    Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

    This is a presolicitation notice to provide services to capture up to 20 beluga whales to hold for attachment of satellite transmitters and health tests in Bristol Bay

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA

     

    Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard

    Upgrade Mechanical Rooms Married Officer Quarters L,M,Q & R Base Support Unit Kodiak

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DHS/USCG

     

    • Kenai Peninsula -

    Kenai Peninsula Borough

    ˇ       1,500 GPM Triple Combination Pumper

    ˇ       1,000 GPM Urban Interface Pumper

    ˇ       Nikiski Fire Station #1 and #2 Monument Sign and LED Reader Board

    ˇ       Parking Lot Paving

    ˇ       Capital Improvement Project K-B Drive & Bye Way

    ˇ       Capital Improvement Project Ridgefield Road & Fishhook

    ˇ       Cabin Lake Drive Paving

    ˇ       Sheep Drive & Charlie Drive

    http://purchasing.borough.kenai.ak.us/Opportunities.aspx

      

    • Southeast -

    Department of Veterans Affairs

    COLUMBARIA AND SITE IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT AT SITKA NATIONAL CEMETERY IN SITKA

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/VA

     

    Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration

    Janitorial Services at the FSS/SSC Facility in Sitka

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOT/FAA

     

    Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

    Log Transfer Facility Reconstruction - LTF's can be accessed by either marine or air traffic only and are approximately 28 air miles North of Ketchikan

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USDA

     

    Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

    Tonka Timber Sale Layout

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USDA

     

    Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

    Lake Eva Cabin Site Reconstruction

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USDA/

     

    Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

    North Tongass Float & Dock Repair at salt lake Bay

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USDA/FS

     

    Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

    Lake Eva Cabin Site Reconstruction

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USDA

     

    • Interior -

    Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command

    Mercedes-Benz Complete Drop-In Engines

    https://www.fbo.gov/notices

     

    Interior Department Electronic Acquisition System

    Well Drill Teklanika & Wonder Lake

    http://ideasec.nbc.gov

     

    Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

    Utility Terrain Vehicle, delivery and acceptance shall be Galena

    https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOI/FWS

     


    "Keeping the Change" in Alaska's Economy

     

    BUY ALASKA's goal is to encourage Alaska's to shift their spending by 10%, effectively keeping over $700 million in Alaska every year.

     

    When you purchase good and services from businesses with Alaska locations, you are doing your part to create more jobs.  And more people employed in Alaska means more property taxes for schools and roads, more charitable donations, more support for your youth teams and more customers for your business!  

     

    Like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/BuyAlaskaKeepTheChange for more phone call and business!


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    BuyAlaska is a program of the UAA - Alaska Small Business Development Center.