Maine Native Explores Evolving Social Media Landscape Personally and Professionally
NMC is happy to feature our own Account Coordinator Whitney Moreau as today’s Maine Maven. Whitney has been working at NMC since April 2011.
She is responsible for the administration of integrated strategic marketing and communications campaigns for clients, including strategic planning, copywriting, press release distribution, web copywriting and the execution of social media strategies.
Whitney graduated from Thomas College with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management and a Master in Business Administration.
1.) Whitney, you grew up in the era of social media. At what age did you start to use social media?
I remember hearing about Facebook my freshman year of college when I was eighteen. Since I was born and raised an Oakland, Maine but studying at Endicott College in Massachusetts, I began using the social media platform to network with other out-of-state classmates. This is really when I started adapting social media and becoming engaged.
If someone had told me in 2005 where we’d be with Facebook or other social media websites today, I probably would have been skeptical.
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Travel and Explore Internationally, Cook and Eat Locally
Our Maine Maven today is Kathy Bechtel, culinary director of Italiaoutdoors, local chef, and TV show host.
After a career as a telecommunications engineer, Kathy retired and enrolled in culinary school. She graduated at the top of her class in 2004. Since then, she has worn many cooking hats, including leading cooking classes, catering, and as a personal chef.
Early in 2010, Vernon McClure approached Kathy about joining efforts to offer unique active culinary and wine tours in Italy. Kathy pairs a passion for sharing the amazing foods and wines in regions of Italy with her position at Italiaoutdoors.
Kathy complements Vernon’s expertise in recreational programming with an equally strong food and wine program. Their goal is to introduce guests to the incredible diversity of the regional cuisines and local wines they experience first hand each visit to Italy.
Kathy currently divides her time in the US between Newburyport, MA and Sugarloaf, ME. She works full-time as a ski instructor during the winters at Sugarloaf, and enjoys hiking, biking, and golfing in the warmer months. When not in the kitchen, outside is where you’ll find Kathy.
From Social Media to Stickers: PR Pro Successfully Communicates Ski Brand
Today’s Maine Maven is Ethan Austin, communications manager at Sugarloaf. A graduate of Tufts University with degrees in English and environmental studies, Ethan has been a member of Sugarloaf’s Marketing team since 2005, serving as communications manager since 2008.
Ethan is a native of Wales, Maine, and grew up skiing at Sugarloaf in the winters and hiking and fishing the surrounding mountains during the summer months.
An outdoor enthusiast, Ethan is an avid skier, cyclist, and hiker, and completed a continuous thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2005. He was named one of Ski Area Management magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30” in 2011.
Ethan currently lives in Kingfield with his wife Rebecca.
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.
Nationally Known Chef Encourages Sustainability and Local Ingredients
Happy Monday! Many of you either already know of today’s Maine Maven or have at least eaten her food. Originally from Long Island, Chef Melissa Kelly is the executive chef and proprietor of the well-known Rockland based restuarant Primo.
According to Food is Life, the online magazine of The Culinary Institute of America, Melissa started cooking in her Italian grandmother’s kitchen, instilling in her a lasting love of Mediterranean accented foods.
Melissa graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY, in ’88 at the very top of her class.
Melissa’s resume includes chic restaurants from around the US and the world. Food is Life shared that Melissa “was named one of the upcoming chefs of the 90′s by Food & Wine magazine,” and that “Nation’s Restaurant News, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Chocolatier, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Travel and Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Town & Country, and New York Magazine, among others, have all recognized her culinary talents.”
Pairing her culinary abilities with a passion for using local resources, Melissa has developed a “Full Circle Kitchen,” using produce and animals that were harvested and grown on Primo’s property in Rockland. What is not grown at Primo is from the surrounding community or other sustainable farms. Read more about Primo and their sustainability initiatives here: primorestaurant.com/story.
Maine Based Nonprofit Drives Social Change through Empowering Young Women
Happy Monday! Today’s Maine Maven is well known around the state for her leadership and incredible work with young women. Megan Williams is the president of Hardy Girls Healthy Women, a national, research-based non-profit empowering girls with knowledge, critical thinking skills, and a platform to drive social change.
A graduate of Colby College, Megan was hired in 2005 as Hardy Girls Healthy Women’s first staff member. During her time with Hardy Girls, Megan has created the Girls Advisory Board – an adult-youth partnership model designed to give girls leadership experience and an equal voice in programming decisions.
Megan launched the Training Institute – a national initiative for adults who want to integrate Hardy Girls’ strength-based approach to working with girls into their work, and she transformed HGHW from a volunteer-run, Maine-based organization into a national brand, widely respected for its girl-powered social change approach.
Megan was included on MaineToday Media’s 2011 40 Under 40 List – a list of Maine’s most accomplished young leaders, recognized for their commitment to leadership, professional excellence and their communities; Mainebiz’s 2009 Next List – a group of 10 emerging leaders recognized for shaping the future of Maine’s economy.
Also, in 2010, Megan was awarded the first ever Open Door Award from the Frances Perkins Center, an award given to a woman under 30 who has demonstrated exceptional leadership.
Additionally, under her leadership, Hardy Girls was awarded the 2010 Governor’s Award for Nonprofit Excellence for achieving significant results by combining ingenuity with sound management practices and principles.
Megan serves on the steering committee for KV Connect, a networking group for young professionals. She is a vice-chair of the MaineShare Board of Directors, an organization that provides support to nonprofits doing progressive social justice and root cause work, and a board member for the Maine Association of Nonprofits, a membership organization advancing and strengthening Maine’s nonprofit sector.
Marketing Successes and Challenges for Historic Maine Windjammer
Happy Monday! Today’s Maine Maven is Captain Barry King, co-captain of the beautiful schooner Mary Day in Camden with his wife Captain Jennifer Martin.
Barry and Jen are both Coast Guard licensed masters and have extensive sailing and educational backgrounds. Barry has voyaged to Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and along the Canadian maritimes to Newfoundland. Jen’s sailing career took her to Florida and the Bahamas before becoming captain of Figaro IV, a classic ocean racing yacht, here on the Maine coast.
Barry is a Registered Maine Guide, and a Nationally Registered Wilderness EMT. He also sails as an officer aboard the 1877 barque Elissa. Jen is a nationally certified Wilderness First Responder.
Jen and Barry met as students with the Audubon Society’s Expedition Institute while earning master degrees in experiential environmental education. This program gave them in-depth experience in a diversity of human and natural communities ranging from a sub-artic fishing village in Labrador to the native American desert southwest.
Captains Barry and Jen with their children Sawyer and Courtney aboard the schooner Mary Day
Barry and Jen were married aboard Mary Day and live year round in Maine with their children Sawyer and Courtney.
Combining their enthusiasm for people, wilderness, and beautiful traditional sailing vessels, Barry, Jen, Sawyer and Courtney will be happy to welcome you aboard.
Using PR and Social Media to Make a Difference for Maine Youth
Happy Monday! Our Maine Maven today is Sharon Abrams, executive director of The Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers (MCH), friend and client of NMC.
Sharon has worked for MCH for 38 years this September. She came to the agency as the first teacher in the Teen Parent School Program and later became the director of that program.
After 14 years working with the teen parenting program, Sharon became a licensed social worker and provided casework for young women who were considering adoption as an option. This included the legal surrender and release for adoption in Probate Court and post adoption counseling.
Sharon later became the assistant executive director which included the financial aspects and development work for MCH. In 1994, Sharon became the executive director at MCH.
Besides the programs that Sharon has been involved in directly, MCH provides out-patient mental health counseling, an early care and education program, as well as a Christmas and summer camp program.
1.) Sharon, what do you find is your biggest challenge in sharing the message of The Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers?
Our biggest challenge is making sure our messages are seen by the correct people. We need for clients of our various programs to know what is offered for services while also reaching potential funders who may donate to the organization.
2.) Has your marketing changed due to developments in social media and the internet?
Have these technological advancements been good for your organization?
Marketing has changed with developments in social media. We have found that Facebook is a great way to get events publicized.
We also utilized Facebook this Christmas to get the word out fast about immediate needs in our packing. We found that posting our need for mittens, hats and clothing in a specific size really worked. You can find our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mainechildrenshome.
3.) How can people donate or help The Maine Children’s Home?
People may donate on our website, by mailing to MCH at 93 Silver Street, Waterville, ME 04901.
They can also give gifts of stock, insurance or through their estate planning. MCH also uses volunteers depending on their interest. Volunteers working with children would be required to have background checks.
The Friend’s of the Maine Children’s Home are volunteers who help fundraise for MCH and also work specifically on the Christmas Program. They do two major events to help raise funds for the Christmas and Summer Camp Scholarship Program, the Lobster Lunch in October and the Spring Yard Sale.
Structural Steel, Social Media, and Giving Back
Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. Our Maven today is native Mainer Mary Howes, owner of Howie’s Welding, a structural steel fabrication company in Jay, Maine.
Mary started Howie’s Welding with her first husband, Normand “Howie” Howes, in 1983. Sadly, in 1996, Howie passed away. Widowed with two small boys, Mary had a business to run. With a great support system in her family, Mary knew she could and would continue the business.
Howie’s Welding has prospered and Mary has remarried to a wonderful man, Tim DeMillo. Mary and Tim recently purchased the former Wausau Paper Mill in Jay and, as partners, are redeveloping the site into a multi-use business park.
Mary continues to operate Howie’s Welding, along with a small apple orchard, Howes Orchard, in Jay. Mary and Tim also started a non-profit called The North Jay White Granite Park Association. They have established hiking trails and picnic areas near the old granite quarry in North Jay and are working towards the preservation of that history.
In her “spare” time, Mary is active in Town politics – Tim is a selectman and Mary is vice chair of the Planning Board. Mary and Tim truly believe in “giving back” and try to instill that in their four children.
1.) Mary, even in the 21st century, not many people associate women with the welding and structural steel industry. How have you positioned yourself as a serious business woman in such a male dominated field?
I seriously don’t give much thought to being a female in a male dominated field. It obviously has changed tremendously over the last 28 years. I have built a very good relationship with our clients over the years. They trust me to be fair, but they also know I am tough and I will fight for my business…so they can’t walk all over me! In every aspect of this industry, there are more and more women in top level positions, which is great to see.
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