WunderMarx|PR client Sean Downs & Enclarity named Entrepreneur of the Year

Published at March 5, 2008 in Clients in the News, Awards, Current Affairs and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

We congratulate Sean Downs, co-founder and chief executive of Enclarity Inc. and WunderMarx|PR client! The Orange County Business Journal named him one of its honoree’s at today’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards luncheon.

Enclarity solves healthcare’s provider information problem. The company delivers correct, current and comprehensive provider information solutions by blending thousands of data sources, advanced analytics and healthcare expertise. As a result, its clients improve results in many areas, including claims processing, provider directories and network analysis.

The Enclarity team has earned other recognition already, too. It was named as one of the Top 100 private technology companies in North America by Red Herring magazine and awarded the Global Healthcare Information Technology Excellence Award by Frost & Sullivan.

Count Me In

Published at March 2, 2008 in Current Affairs, Business Development, Contests, Branding and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

The folks running Count Me In have a different take on economic stimulus. They want to turn a million women into million-dollar business owners. According to organizers of the Make Mine a Million $ Business program:

“Launched in 2005 by Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence and founding partner OPEN from American Express®, Make Mine a Million $ Business was created for post-start up women-owned businesses to achieve the million dollar milestone, a benchmark only 3% of women-owned businesses have met. One of the program’s goals is to encourage 1 million women entrepreneurs to declare their intent to build million dollar businesses by 2010.”

One of WunderMarx|PR’s own clients and friends is one of those women. Kelly Moore is the founder and CEO of Moore Benefits Inc. Make Mine A Million $ selected Kelly as one of the 10 winners in its Los Angeles competition on Jan. 23, 2008 at The Globe Theatre in Hollywood. The event featured female entrepreneurs from Southern California and other regions of the country who competed for business development packages that include money, marketing, mentoring and technology assistance to help their businesses grow into million-dollar enterprises. You can view a highlight video at http://www.makemineamillion.org/site/index.php?id=124.

Are you innovative? Enter AeA competition to find out

Published at February 25, 2008 in Press coverage, Contests, Business Development, Current Affairs, Green & clean, Science, Corporate branding, Corporate social responsibility, Public relations, Corporate Communications, Media relations, Technology marketing, Thought Leadership, Branding and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

AeA’s Orange County Council is seeking the most innovative local companies, individuals and products in the technology field for its 15th annual High-Tech Innovation Awards. The deadline to enter is this Friday, and the awards will be presented at the Hyatt Regency Irvine on April 29, 2008.

AeA is seeking nominations in the following categories:

  • Outstanding Private Company CEO

  • Outstanding Woman in Technology

  • Outstanding Company

  • Outstanding Medical Device Company

  • Outstanding Public Company CEO

  • High-Impact Person of the Year

  • AeA-Harvey Mudd College Green Engineering Award

The Green Engineering Award is new this year. It will recognize achievement in environmental practices in the design, production, distribution or utilization of electronics by a firm in Orange County and/or the Inland Empire.

Nominations can be made online at the AeA Orange County Web site, and all submissions are due by 5 p.m. on Feb. 29.

Tonight: Technology Leadership PAC kick-off event

Published at February 22, 2008 in Corporate social responsibility, Current Affairs, Science, Thought Leadership, Public Speaking, Web/Tech, Technology marketing and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Tonight, I’ll join appromixately 70 tech industry and community leaders in kicking off the Technology Leadership Political Action Committee. It’s been nearly a year in the making. We formed the TLPAC as a bipartisan organization that will increase participation among Southern California’s high-tech community Our goal is to impact public policy issues vital to economic growth and quality of life in our region. These issues include education, energy, health policies, IP and life science.

What issues are important to you?

Leave me some feedback on your thoughts.

Better yet — Join us tonight to share your ideas.

As we see it, the Southern California high-tech community is a sleeping giant that can and should become a powerful political force. The organization will be nonpartisan – financial support for candidates and campaigns will be decided on what is best to keep high-tech companies competitive – not on what is best for a particular political party. Local high-tech leaders will manage, direct and fund the organization that is poised to rise quickly as a potent, regional political power.

At our inaugural event, we’ll be joined by Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, State Senator Tom Harman and Assemblyman Jose Solorio and others.

Kick-Off Reception and Program
Friday, February 22, 2008
from 6 to 8 p.m.

Commonwealth Audi, 1450 Auto Mall Dr., Santa Ana, CA 92705
$150 contribution. R.S.V.P. to tlpac@wundermarx.com or call Jennifer Walker at 714-862-1112

Or, drop me a line and let me know you’re coming. 

Be Wunderful in 2008

Published at January 3, 2008 in Corporate social responsibility, Corporate branding, Current Affairs, Thought Leadership, Cause Marketing, Corporate Communications, Public relations and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

I love the start a new year and the promise it brings for new beginnings. All things seem possible. In fact, all things are possible because we’re energized to create them.

If you’re a business owner like me or a corporate manager like many of our clients, you’re probably setting goals for yourself and your team. During a stable economy, motivating talent is challenging. During an economy in flux like we’re experiencing today, motivating talent not only is challenging, it’s critical. They are the lifeblood of your company. Take care of them.

Need a fresh new idea on how motivate employees? Read the Entrepreneur.com article called “Volunteering as a Benefit: Learn how some companies are offering employee volunteer programs that are motivating and retaining current employees, and attracting new ones.“

Here at WunderMarx|PR, we believe in volunteerism. It’s part of our Be Wunderful philosophy and one of our reasons for being. I was able to share with Entrepreneur.com writer Kristin Edelhauser Chessman how we make volunteerism an employee perk. Hope the article and my comments spark ideas on how “being wunderful” is good for business. Write me and let me know.

WebVisible Named in “Seven Internet Predictions for 2007″

Published at January 21, 2007 in Public Speaking, Thought Leadership, Current Affairs, Technology marketing, Web/Tech, Networking, New media and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

When Scott Kessler of Standard & Poor’s Equity Research gazes into his crystal ball, he sees WebVisible. Kessler follows technology stocks for S&P Equity Research and gave BusinessWeek “Seven Internet Predictions for 2007.”

Among them: WebVisible is one of the private companies to watch this year.

He writes:

“We expect transactional activity involving private Internet companies (primarily acquisitions of and minority stakes taken in them) to continue throughout the year. We have talked and met with a number of interesting private companies over the past year… Among companies that have products and services we find interesting… local Internet advertising company WebVisible.”

WebVisible is a WunderMarx client and one of the Orange County, Calif.-based companies defining the Innovation Economy. This Irvine-based software developer acts as a transaction engine between resellers of its interactive media products and online media providers, such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, ValueClick and others.

You can meet founder and CEO Kirsten Mangers at the upcoming Tech Coast Venture Network panel on Jan. 25 discussing how to build and leverage a board of directors.

Three PR Resolutions You Can’t Afford to Break

Published at January 1, 2007 in Media relations, Technology marketing, Thought Leadership, Press coverage, Web/Tech, New media, Weblogs, Corporate Communications, Public relations, Personal branding and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Billionaire American businessman and adventurer Steve Fossett says he intends to break the absolute land-speed record in 2007. OC METRO publisher Steve Churm aims to infect those around him with enthusiasm. Laurie Benson, CEO of Inacom Information Systems, pledges to THINK BIG.

What’s your New Year’s resolution? If you’re like most, you’re mixing business and personal goals together to create a healthier and more successful lifestyle in 2007. Consider weaving in at least one of these three PR resolutions to create a better-branded year for you and your company.

  1. Embrace the new mediasphere. YOU are TIME’s Person of the Year. After a decade of commercial viability, the Web has replaced mass media with user-generated media, putting you in control of how to receive and disseminate information. According to TIME writer Lev Grossman, “It’s a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it’s really a revolution.”

    Don’t be confused. This new mediasphere isn’t just for tweeners and teens dishing on MySpace. It’s for 56-year-old IT directors in Ohio, mid-career compliance managers in Florida, on-the-brink-of-a-cure diabetes researchers in California and that freshly minted MBA sitting in the cube next to you. It’s for everyone. It’s for you.

  2. Write news releases not press releases. Before the Internet, press releases were written for press consumption only. Journalists would access your press releases via exclusive distribution into their news rooms, gather their data and write articles for their readers. Today, readers are viewing press releases online at the same time journalists are receiving them. Although the term “press release” is acceptable, it’s far more accurate to refer to these communications as news releases and treat them as direct dialogues with the stakeholders who matter most to your company: boards of directors, investors, customers, sales channels, employees, vendors and, of course, the media. For tips on writing Web 2.0-friendly news releases, read my article, “Don’t Kill Off the Press Release Just Yet.”
  3. Include bloggers in your media relations outreach. A blogger may or may not be a journalist, but he or she is an influencer. You can research industry-related bloggers by querying Google Blog Search or Technorati. Then follow the practices of good media relations skills: Read blog entries thoroughly before pitching the blogger and pay attention to whether the blogger refers to people who have commented on the blog, it’s a good hint as to how the blogger handles pitches. Also try commenting on the blog topics half a dozen times before pitching. If the blogger recognizes you and respects your comments, he or she may be more receptive to your pitch.

Writing Healthy Press Releases — More Tips

Published at September 4, 2006 in Media relations, Press coverage, Web/Tech, New media, Corporate Communications, Public relations and Weblogs. 0 Comments

My last post, "Don’t Kill Off the Press Release Just Yet," resulted in record feedback. Thanks for your comments, e-mails and phone calls. Here are additional do’s and don’ts on how to write effective press releases for today’s Internet-based PR world.

Continue reading ‘Writing Healthy Press Releases — More Tips’

Don’t Kill Off the Press Release Just Yet

Published at August 31, 2006 in Media relations, Writing for sales, Press coverage, Web/Tech, New media, Corporate Communications, Public relations and Weblogs. 1 Comment

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the death of the press release are greatly exaggerated.

Continue reading ‘Don’t Kill Off the Press Release Just Yet’

CMOs’ Jobs Get Tougher

Published at August 30, 2006 in Branding, Technology marketing, Personal branding and Corporate Communications. 0 Comments

Who has the most staying power among the C-suite? According to a recent survey conducted by Spencer Stuart executive search, it’s not the chief marketing officer.

Continue reading ‘CMOs’ Jobs Get Tougher’