Award-Winning Editor Becomes Renowned JDRF Advocate
Writer and advocate Moira McCarthy is today’s Monday Maine Maven. Moira was an award-winning newspaper editor and investigative crime reporter before she reached her goal of working as a top ski writer.
Moira was east editor for Snow Country Magazine and is currently a contributing editor at SKI Magazine, SKI AREA Management Magazine and is the weekly winter sports columnist for the Boston Herald.
She has published five books on everything from golf to skiing, to raising a child with diabetes to raising teen girls (the last would star Linda Blair, were it a screenplay).
Moira was president of the Massachusetts American Cancer Society and president of her children’s school PTO (where she raised 100 times more than any other president had in one year).
When Moira’s youngest daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, she turned all of her donation time to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and its mission for a cure.
Moira has served on almost every committee of JDRF’s International Board, was “ChairMom” of their International Children’s Congress, president of the New England chapter and was named JDRF International Volunteer of the year.
Moira is an avid tennis player and holds a number of club championships and is a tepid golfer who holds some really cute golf hats. She lives in Plymouth, Mass. with her husband, Sean. Moira’s daughter Leigh, 25, is a teacher. Lauren, now 20, is thriving as a student at George Mason University majoring in – what else? — political communications.
Moira considers herself part Maniac because she’d skied with Paul Schipper and has made jello shots from a Maine cookbook.
Schooner Mary Day is Ready for Spring
At NMC we’ve been noticing signs of spring’s arrival throughout Maine. We’ve felt it at our offices in Augusta and North Anson, and we hear about it from our friends and clients around the state.
Today’s Fab Foto features our friends of the schooner Mary Day in Camden. With spring upon them, Captains Barry King and Jen Martin are busy booking windjammer vacations, sharing news on their Facebook page, and, most importantly, getting the beautiful schooner Mary Day ready for the season!
Below is a photo of Captain King and his crew after uncovering Mary Day this past weekend (photo credit to Mary Day’s crew member Zachary Simonson Bond).
Make sure to read Captain King’s own blog to see more of the uncovering process at MaineWindjammerBlog.com.
Captain King and his crew uncover the schooner Mary Day. Photo credit: Zachary Simonson Bond
CMO for Hire Shares Social Media Philosophy
Our Maine Maven today is Jennifer Beever, founder of New Incite Marketing Consulting and chief marketing officer for hire.
Jennifer has a background in B2B sales and marketing for software, technology and manufacturing companies.
Jennifer’s unique ability to analyze business situations and apply practical marketing programs gets results for her clients. Her experience in marketing technology products and services provides her with a special talent in translating the technical into stories that sell for her clients.
In 2009, Jennifer received the Inbound Marketing Certified Professional with Honors Distinction certification, which recognizes proficiency in Inbound Marketing principles and best practices, including blogging, social media, lead conversion, lead nurturing, and closed-loop analysis. Only 15% of IMCPs receive Honors Distinction.
Jennifer Beever spent fourteen years in marketing management, product management, and sales in the software industry prior to founding New Incite.
She put herself through Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School MBA program by attending night classes while maintaining her status as a top sales rep in the software industry.
Jennifer worked with many B2B companies and organizations, including: IBM, Computer Associates, System Software Associates, Marcam, Informix, ORACLE, Nissin Foods and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) IRC.
Originally from the great state of Maine, Jennifer is an avid skier, reader, and enjoys tennis and golf. She tutored children in the LA Times Reading-by-9 program (now The Wonder of Reading) for several years and has volunteered for and contributed to Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys and the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.
“The Social Media Revolution”
Today is our Social Media Boot Camp at The Senator Inn in Augusta.
In preparing for this momentous occasion, I have been thinking about social media and how it has changed my life.
It was in November of 2007 that I attended a workshop presented by Shel Holtz, one of the pioneers of blogging. The workshop was part of the annual conference of the Society of American Travel Writers in Manchester, England.
Shel inspired me to start my blog at www.maineprmaven.com in order to post my thoughts and writings about the evolution of PR.
He inspired me to think about the ways that we, as marketers, can build communities of supporters for our brands through blogs and social networks. Thank you, Shel Holtz!
Maine Adventure Resort President Develops Effective Social Media Strategies
Today’s Maine Maven is Northern Outdoors President Russell Walters. Northern Outdoors is one of Maine’s year-round outdoor adventure resorts, offering whitewater rafting, hiking, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, leadership retreats, and more at its base in Western Maine.
Born in England and now living in Kingfield, Russell is a leader in the outdoor industry, a former board member of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, a member of the Maine Tourism Commission, and co-founder of AdventureRes, a reservations and management solution for Adventure Travel operators.
In his spare time, Russell enjoys hiking, skiing, snowmobiling and rafting with his two sons and wife, Sheryll.
1.) Russell, you have always been eager to try new marketing techniques and tools.
What do you feel has been the biggest change in marketing over the course of your career?
Two things stand out as the biggest changes in marketing that I have experienced: 1) User-generated content, and 2) exponentially greater distribution of marketing messages/promotions at a 1-to-1 level.
With the advent of social media, we have found our guests are doing a great deal of “marketing” for us, by way of their user-generated content talking about their experiences of their Maine vacation with Northern Outdoors. They do this on multiple channels, in their own words, which become powerful, focused, relevant marketing messaging for us.
Our job is to then focus on delivering the highest quality vacation experiences that make a guest want to share it with their friends!
The resultant distribution of marketing outreach and promotions is at a scale, depth, and relevancy unparalleled by anything I’ve experienced during my career, thanks to online distribution channels. This means that our marketing works so much more efficiently and travels so much further than anything we could have afforded to do pre-internet (for example, TV, radio, or print advertising/PR).
How to Write a 3-Paragraph Media Pitch
Through Facebook, I have started following “PR in Your Pajamas” which is helpful in reminding me of PR basics, but also an intriguing concept….wouldn’t you prefer to do PR in your pajamas rather than in your panty hose? (Sorry, guys, please substitute whatever item of clothing you would like to substitute for pajamas. I personally despise panty hose, but I digress.)
Elena Verlee, a passionate publicist with two decades of brand building experience, is the founder of a successful PR agency called Cross Border Communications that works with high-growth and technology companies to promote them in the US, Canada and the UK.
Elena’s blog and do-it yourself website “PR in Your Pajamas” helps micro entrepreneurs and small businesses who can’t afford a publicist to get heard, get known, and get talked about so they can change the world.
You can read more about Elena and her PR expertise here.
Elena’s post yesterday was particularly interesting to me, since I feel that media pitching is fast becoming a lost art.
If you ask any journalist, they will tell you that a succinct, timely and relevant pitch is preferable over a long and detailed press release any day… at least to suggest a story idea.
Once the reporter has committed to writing a story, they will want more facts, but if you are trying to get their interest, and determine if a story would be a good fit with their publication or broadcast outlet, a good pitch is the way to go.
Thanks, Elena Verlee, for bringing us relevant content on best practices in PR through your Facebook posts, your website and even your book, “PR for Newbies.”
Interactive Marketing Manager is a Measurement Expert
Today’s Maine Maven is NMC Interactive Marketing Manager Matthew Rideout. In his position, Matt develops and executes strategies involving two way communication between businesses and their target markets.
Through the use of social media, surveys, websites, focus groups, and events, a business can interact with its target market in order to learn from and strengthen the relationship it has with customers and donors. Matt is an expert in facilitating this interaction and using the data received to grow profitable relationships.
Prior to working at NMC, Matt worked at a direct response marketing firm where he connected infomercial ads to social media.
Additionally, Matt is fully versed in e-commerce and has even designed and licensed a custom e-commerce platform to minimize direct response customer abandonment, as well as conform to the strict requirements set by the FTC for the direct response industry.
You can read more about Matt’s PR insight at his personal blog ProfessionallySocial.com.
1.) Matt, you have been focusing on consumer behavior, market research, Web development and social media. How do all of these things converge for you in any given day?
It all comes down to finding consumers’ motivations and isolating what makes them make a decision through old fashion market research.
Let’s take the decision to book a particular style of vacation on the Maine Coast. On the surface, I usually receive a list of logical responses for motivators such as, “It was affordable,” “A friend recommended it to me,” “We love the owners of the establishment,” etc.
These are the logical reasons people come up with for why they do things, but there are a lot of affordable vacation options, friends might have several recommendations, and there are a lot of really nice and friendly resort / cruise owners (a few happen to be our clients). So what is it that really makes the decision?
Social Media Boot Camps April 4
In this era of rapid change in the way we communicate both personally and professionally, it is important to learn new skills and techniques every day.
To encourage social media engagement, we are hosting two Social Media Boot Camps on Wednesday, April 4 at the Senator Inn & Spa in Augusta for businesses and organizations looking to increase their social media presence.
There will be two boot camps designed for different levels of expertise.
1.) The beginners’ session from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. is intended for people with a general social media understanding and who are currently using one or more social media networks.
2.) Those attending the advanced session from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. must have a thorough knowledge of Facebook and have already created an active presence on one or more other social media websites.
Both sessions’ attendees are invited for a complimentary lunch from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Senator.
Pre-registration is required by Friday, March 23.
To register, visit bootcamp.marshallpr.com/register. Each session is limited to 30 attendees on a first come, first served basis.
In the spirit of capitalizing on social media as a tool to engage and share, I encourage you to use the event’s Twitter hashtag #NMCsmbc to discuss the boot camps before, during, and after April 4.
This Social Media Boot Camp will help keep you on the cutting edge!
Social Media: One Part of the Ski Industry PR Puzzle
Happy Monday! Today’s Maine Maven is award winning ski journalist Heather Burke from Kennebunk, Maine, with over fifteen years of ski news coverage.
Heather’s husband Greg provides ski photos to accompany her work. Heather’s ski review websites, www.familyskitrips.com and www.luxuryskitrips.com, have extensive reviews on skiing in New England, as well as the West, and Canada, plus news on the latest trends in skiing and snowboarding.
1.) Heather, you and Greg embraced Web technology early on for your writing and PR efforts.
What compelled you to jump on the Web bandwagon when you did?
We launched our first ski site, www.familyskitrips.com, in 1998 as a resource for skiing families. Our kids were young and there were no helpful sites for skiing families like ours.
We knew the power of the web, and wanted to share reviews of the many ski resorts we had visited and provide tips for teaching your kids to ski.
With Greg’s marketing savvy (he started his marketing agency IMS-21 in 1995) and his photography skills, we developed extensive content for skiing families.
In 2008, we launched www.luxuryskitrips.com as a sister site geared more toward sophisticated ski travel with reviews of luxury ski resort lodging, heli-skiing, and high-end ski vacations. Our two sites should surpass half a million visitors this year.
Ski Writer Values Traditional and Modern Media Outlets
Happy Monday! Today’s Maine Maven is Dan Cassidy of Winslow, Maine, president of the Eastern Ski Writers Association (ESWA). Dan is a veteran skier of Maine, New England, the western mountains, Canada and many resorts in Europe.
Nancy has been a member of ESWA since 1985 and has come to know Dan through the association. She shared, “He is so passionate about skiing and the mountains of Maine that I wanted to profile him as a Maine Maven.”
Dan is also a member of North American Ski Journalists Association (NASJA) and the Ski Museum of Maine.
During the summer months, you can find Dan hiking, biking, mountain climbing or canoeing in remote steams of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway region.
Dan writes for a number of news sources. His columns appear in several publications including Central Maine Newspapers, The Town Line and The Irregular under the titles “Ski Tracks” and “INside the OUTside,” as well as in a number of resources online.
1.) Dan, you worked in the newspaper industry for many years and have witnessed a metamorphosis in the publishing business.
What have you done to embrace the web as a way of distributing your writing and photography?
As a member of the Eastern Ski Writers Association, I have included my “Ski Tracks” columns on the MaineTodayMedia.com website and also on the Eastern Ski Writers Facebook page.
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