Beerku: Sagebrush Classic ticket giveaway

PortlandFoodAndDrink.com -- the place for PDX food news and restaurant reviews -- is hosting a beer haiku contest where the prize is a pair of tickets to this year's Sagebrush Classic Feast.

Think golf, music and feasting: The feast consists of 18 chefs preparing small plates to compliment a particular beer. Of course there will be wine too. Here is a list of the pairings this year. Think some amazing chefs: José Andrés (I would go just to see him), Michael Smith of Extra Virgin, Mark Kiffin – The Compound, Cathy Whims from Portland’s Nostrana, Jackie Lau – Roy’s in Honolulu, Ken Frank from La Toque in Napa, and many more. You can see the complete list here. The prize for the best beer haiku is two tickets to the Sagebrush Classic Feast at Broken Top, a value of $400. “From 5 pm until dark, the plates kept coming and the Deschutes beer kept flowing. Everyone was happy. No one left hungry. There was no one there to say “no”…. There aren’t many parties like Sagebrush in the entire country, so the opportunity to sample the fare of some of the world’s top chefs in one place is rare—especially at a place three hours from Portland.” – Willamette Week The rules are pretty simple. It must be in haiku format. The ancient art of haiku requires precision: a five syllable first line; seven syllable second line; and five syllable third line. The best haiku features a final line that works like a friendly elbow in the ribs. We only ask that the haiku be at least loosely about beer.

Enter by tweeting @pdxfooddude or submitting your haiku in the comments here.

-Campbell Consulting

"A Really Goode Job" Update

The applications opened April 28 '09 and officially closed June 19. The top 50 candidates were announced on the 26 of June; and are back up for voting until July 7 when the top ten are announced and head to Healdsburg, California for Final Interviews. Four days later the winner of the Wine Country Dream Job is announced and August 15 work begins! Check out the top 50, there are some creative ones. This is the gal we are rooting for so far!

-Jacq (@jacqsmith)

Bend, Oregon Events

Bend, Oregon events this summer run the gamut from street festivals to wine tastings to outdoor movies!

The list of Bend, Oregon events and things to do is almost endless, but we've collected a few of the greatest hits for you here. Whether you're a local or a tourist checking out Bend for the first time, these are a great way to see what Oregon has to offer -- like events, farmer's markets, and sports activities. There are always fun things happening in Bend, but summer is even more packed with stuff to do. Check out this list of upcoming Bend, Oregon events for summer 2009. You can also find more fun events happening in Bend, Oregon at http://www.visitbend.com/. If you know of an upcoming Bend event that we missed, tweet at us -- @ccgpr.

NorthWest Crossing Hullabaloo Street Festival Friday, June 26th from 4 – 10 p.m. in the NorthWest Crossing Neighborhood Center on Bend’s west side. Live music performances will be headlined by Pepé and the Bottle Blondes, Todd Haaby and Sola Via. The one-day festival features fun activities such as: the popular bike crit (including the kids’ crit) through the streets of NorthWest Crossing, children’s activities, live music, great food, wine and beer, art displays, goods from local vendors and more.

Clear Choice Free Summer Sunday Concert Series Every Sunday this summer, claim a spot on the green grass of the Les Schwab Amphitheater in the Old Mill District on the Deschutes River. The free Summer Sunday concert series will continue through August 23, 2009 featuring a different artist or group for each concert. Ticketed conerts are also happening this summer with big names that include Sugarland, Lyle Lovett & His Large Band and WEEN! See who's Live on Stage or contact The Old Mill District at 541 312-0131.

Deschutes Brewery's 21st Birthday Party Deschutes Brewery is turning 21 on Saturday, June 27th and throwing a back lot BBQ to celebrate. At noon, they will tap the first keg of Black Butte XX, an imperial version of the flagship Black Butte Porter. The parking lot behind the Bend Pub will feature Woody, the traveling bar in a barrel; hot food from the grill; live music from various Deschutes Brewery staff bands:

Tuck & Roll 12:00-1:30 Good-bye Dyna 1:30-3:00 Blackstrap 3:00-4:30 How About No 4:30-6:00 and live rock & roll from Scott Fox from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Inside, bartenders will be pouring several Reserve Series beers, including Black Butte XX and XXI, Mirror Mirror, The Dissident, The Abyss ’07 and ’08, and Hop Henge. NorthWest Crossing Saturday Farmer’s Market Every Saturday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. from June 27-Sept 12 in the NorthWest Crossing Neighborhood Center. Great local vendors, plus live music scheduled each Saturday throughout the summer. 21st Annual Deschutes Brewery Sagebrush Classic Bend, Oregon's premier golf tournament and culinary event draws star chefs from all over the world. Sign up for one of the 52-team slots and play in an amateur best ball tournament, where friendly competition can lead to prizes and bragging rights. Or just buy a ticket for the Sagebrush Classic Feast and spend Saturday night dancing to live music and tasting cuisine from some of the world's hottest chefs on the hottest evening of the year in beautiful Broken Top Meadow in Bend. Deschutes Dash SATURDAY, JULY 18 – SUNDAY, JULY 19 8:00 am – 1:00 pm Old Mill District 2009 Deschutes Dash Weekend Sports Festival: July 18-19, 2009! Packet pick-up at REI in the Old Mill District on Friday, July 17, from 4-7:30pm. Events occur on Saturday, July 18, from 8-11:30 am and on Sunday, July 19, from 8-1:00 pm. Visit Fresh Air Sports for more information. Join us for the fifth anual Deschutes Dash! The most spectator friendly venue in the Pacific Northwest! The Deschutes Dash Weekend Sports Festival will again include a full weekend of activities including a Kid's Splash & Dash on Saturday.

Sunriver Music Festival August 12 through 22 Now in its 32nd year, the mission of the Sunriver Music Festival is to present quality performances of classical music and provide educational programs for the youth of Bend and Central Oregon. Classical piano and orchestral concerts plus a family concert plus performances by a flutist and a trumpeter means there's something for anyone. Check for more info at http://www.sunrivermusic.org/summer09.htm. Wine by the River FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 – SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm Riverbend Park A tribute and toast to benefit children. Wine by the River will offer over fifty award winning Northwest wineries, eight exquisite chocolatiers and fine dining restaurants. Visit Wine by the River for more information. Munch N Movies is coming to Compass Park in NorthWest Crossing every Saturday night at 6 p.m. from August 22 - Sept 12. This fun and popular outdoor movie experience is back, along with family-friendly movies, food vendors and more! Art in the High Desert FRIDAY, AUGUST 28 – SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 10:00 am – 6:00 pm Old Mill District Art in the High Desert, a juried fine art and craft festival will be held in the Old Mill District on August 28 - 30, 2009 and will showcase 110 highly acclaimed artists from across the country and Canada. Hours: Friday — Saturday: 10 am – 6pm and Sunday: 10am – 4pm Art in the High Desert is on the banks of the Deschutes River, in the Old Mill District. Art in the High Desert is produced by a non-profit community based organization made up of artists and art advocates who believe that a nationally recognized art festival helps promote Bend and Central Oregon as a cultural center. Visit Art in the High Desert for more information.

-Campbell Consulting (@ccgpr)

#iranelection

On the right of your Twitter window are Trending Topics, all starting with a "#" sign. #iranelection has had a steady top position on this list for over a week now, and when clicked on, you can see real-time results for #iranelection. The amount of involvement from all over the world is astounding, from all perspectives. It is also undeniable. This is because of the concerns expressed by the Eurpean Union and some Western States of the voting process. See Wiki for more details of the conflict around the 10th Presidential Iran Election. One of the candidates for president is Mir-Hossein Mousavi; who has a very active, serious and informative Twitter page with 26,461 followers. With this real-time social media tool and large following, Mousavi is organizing protests and events by the hour. On NYT.com, under The Lede, the Latest Updates on Iran's Disputed Election has been updated hourly since June 12. They are encouraging their readers inside Iran to submit photos and videos.

On The Lede, a response was made by President Obama after a question from Nico Pitney at The Huffington Post because of Web 2.0. The question Nico asked was directly from an Iranian using the internet to solicit questions. This response is also posted on The Huffington Post.

-Jacq (@jacqsmith)

Journalists going into PR

I just got an email from a former editor at the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia. She was laid off a few months ago and is still looking for a job:

I'm still major unemployed and money is running out. I've written a couple freelance pieces for The Pilot's home section but it pays for sh*t and does nothing for my writing prowess or ego. I'm trying to support my habit with PR jobs, but there are so many out-of-work journalists, they're all willing to be flaks to bring home a paycheck.

Talented journalists cross over to PR all the time. They write speeches and ad copy and press releases. But the recession coupled with troubles in the industry has led to a mass migration and the public relations job market has apparently been flooded with former journalists defecting to the other side. Some reporters are even trying to juggle both. This is great for the public relations sector since we're basically getting insiders and in some cases, double agents. But it's bad for journalism, which is a bleeding talent. And we must remember that if journalism dies, PR dies too.

-Adrianne (@msfener)

Be still my beating heart: PR pays for media?

When I saw the recent AdAge article about publicists buying media, I think my heart stopped for a moment. What!? Public relations firms focus on earning media coverage: all the emails, phone calls, deskside visits, special events – striving for just a “mention” by the writers we woo on a daily basis. I checked all my college text books. No mention of purchasing media placement. The most we can do is cajole with some free products or travel. Okay, okay. It’s not that extreme. Gur Tsabar’s AdAge article limits our purchasing power to one small area: search. Marrying paid search ad placement with PR efforts can exponentially enhance key messages – quickly and effectively. It gives a level of control that traditional public relations does not include. And, it just makes sense. People search for information everyday online, we can feed them the information they need and back it up with legitimate media coverage. The premise may have made my heart skip a beat, but the article brings it right into perspective. The communications landscape is changing at light speed, but it’s not time to recycle those old textbooks quite yet.

-Marie (@mariefayandre)

SEO Tip #2: Vary your link text

One of the considerations Google, Bing and other search engines take into account when tallying up the number of links to your web site is something called "anchor text." Anchor text is the text that you click on to follow the link. Search engine robots use this text to help figure out what the web page is about. You probably see a lot of unoptimized links around the internet with anchor text like "Click here for more information" or "To read more, go to www.deschutesbrewery.com." (Note: This is the main reason why it's important to have keywords in your domain name.) The temptation when writing a press release would be to optimize your anchor text. Something like:

Check out the Bend, Oregon Golf Tournament and Culinary Event Sponsored by Deschutes Brewery.

would be a nicely optimized link. But don't write all your links like this. You should definitely pay attention to anchor text when writing releases and other online copy. But Google and other search engines consider it normal for your backlink profile to contain a lot of unoptimized links, and Google especially has heavy penalties when it sees something that looks like the over-optimization tactics that spammers, porn sites and shady mortgage providers tend to use. For this reason, it's important to vary your anchor text when writing press releases and web copy. In addition to the nicely optimized link above, you should include a link that look something like this:

For more information about the Sagebrush Classic Golf Tournament, click here.

and this:

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities and how to purchase tickets for the Sagebrush Classic Feast online, go to http://www.sagebrush.org/tickets/.

This way, you give yourself the benefit of a beautifully optimized link, plus some normal-looking links to avoid setting off red flags at Google.

-Adrianne (@msfener)

Happy 21st Birthday, Deschutes Brewery!

What: Deschutes Brewery’s 21st Birthday Block Party When: Saturday, June 27th, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Where: Deschutes Brewery & Publichouse in the Pearl District, 210 NW 11th Ave, and Davis St. Why: Deschutes Brewery is turning 21! What to Expect: BBQ, Music & Brews Davis Street will be blocked off for the event, which will feature an outdoor grill, live music Deschutes Brewery staff band, Water & Bodies. Inside, bartenders will be pouring several specialty beers, available only at the Pub. Brewers will unveil Black Butte XXI, an imperial version of the brewery’s flagship Black Butte Porter.

-Campbell Consulting

A Very Goode Job

The Deal: Murphy-Goode Winery is looking for a Web 2.0 Guru including Facebook, blogs, social media, and YouTube — to tell the world about the Sonoma County Wine Country. "We got to thinking about the new age of communications and we figured it was a pretty good thing." Web 2.0 Ladies and Gentlemen, is here to stay. If you want to see some front-runner candidates for the 'really goode job' and some American Idol-esque contestants (hilarious), check this out!

-Jacq (@jacqsmith)

A word on branded apps

We posted before about the usefulness of branded new media applications. Should you invest in one or not? iPhone applications typically start at around $10,000 for development. What most people don't realize is that you can get a lot of the same utility -- for a lot cheaper -- by investing in your mobile web site. Your mobile web site is the version of your web site that users see when they visit it from their phones. The site can detect what platform people are using -- iPhone, Palm Pre, Blackberry, etc. -- and present you with a web site designed specifically for that platform. Here's a tool that lets you see what your web site looks like on your customers' mobile phones.

-Adrianne (@msfener)

An indie filmmaker's viral marketing campaign

Check out this social + viral marketing ploy by Portland indie filmmaker Andy Mingo:

Actor Eddie Wretch is still missing, six months after his director first tried to reach him to let him know that his most recent film, The Iconographer, is a likely film festival hit...

...Without evidence of some crime the actor is just another missing person to law enforcement so film maker Mingo has turned to social media to create a Wretch Watch.

He has enlisted Wretch's and his own fan base to help in the search and he spends his evenings posting Find Eddie messages on Facebook and MySpace. He's even working on a quick Where is Eddie Wretch documentary to raise awareness of the lost actor.

To maximize interest in the search for Eddie Wretch director Mingo is offering an atypical reward: an invitation for two to a private screening of The Iconographer at a Portland celebrity's home.

"...We're following every lead but my goal of finding him before the big preview seems more unlikely each day," said Mingo.

Read the full story here.

Great idea, but so far the social media campaign seems lackluster -- I couldn't find much evidence of Mingo following through on his promise. If you have a killer idea about how to use social media, go all out! It's cheap and easy to promote something virally, but you need more than a press release. Post videos that combine clips from the movie with content created exclusively for the viral campaign, or create digital images of a missing person poster. The key is to create things that people can spread around. A good example is the extensive social + viral campaign that promoted the 3D claymation film Coraline. Wieden & Kennedy (from right here in Portland, Oregon) sent props from the film to influential bloggers and created a mystery for them to solve that involved the numbers of the boxes. The campaign also created a complex web site with secret "rooms," and in one room you could click on a box of Nike Duhks and win a pair. And so on. Part of the reason Coraline exceeded expectations at the box office by 30%.

-Adrianne (@msfener)

The Social Media Un-Road Trip

While browsing treehugger, (a site that should be bookmarked on at least 51% of browsers) a posting surfaced about Boaz Frankel. With social media marketing in action, Boaz is taking himself on an "Un-Road Trip" across America. This is an un-road trip because he plans to use everything but a car... He is updating us all, especially the media, via twitter. Photos and short documentaries are also being posted on his website for our eye-feasting. His ultimate goal is to zig-zag his way across the country using only alternative modes of transportation, a.k.a, "...not our beloved car." This is an 'of-the-times' marketing idea for beginning and already established businesses. Boaz mentions the names of various businesses and hotels that have helped him out along his journey on his twitter, blog, and in his video shorts. By using social media, @Boazf is able to create buzz for new and existing businesses, and for himself. He even landed air time with NBC News Anchor Matt Lauer to narrate Un-Road Trip: The Trailer. Don't underestimate the power of social media. Treehugger source.

-Jacq (@jacqsmith)

I'm Having an Identity Crisis - On Twitter

I sat down several months ago at my desk, cracked my knuckles, took a big drink of coffee and settled down for some hard work. In fact, I had blocked my entire day off for one thing: Twitter. I was determined to launch myself into the world and get myself some tweeps; figure this thing out once and for all. I knew that Twitter was an important part of brand-building, relationship management, SEO and more for my clients. I wanted to add this powerful tool to their communications arsenal, but first I wanted to make sure I had it down on my own. Thus, @mariefayandre was launched. Today, I spend time each day tweeting away with my new friends from around the country. Sometimes I love these tweeps so much I just want to send them cyber-hugs. They really "get" me. I dream about doing a cross-country road trip to visit them. But, I have a tiny problem, an identity crisis of sorts. I have been in public relations and marketing for the last 15 years. I love to network with others, to share information and tap into the vast amounts of knowledge that exist in the minds of fellow marketing professionals. And I have discovered many of these brilliant minds on Twitter. But I am afraid that I am boring them to death, because I love dogs. Anyone who knows me knows that I am an avid dog mama - I devote nearly all my spare time to rescue, care, love, feed, pet, wash, walk, run, snuggle my dogs and foster dogs. My breed of choice (although I am not exclusive in my love) is the misunderstood pit bull. Do you have any idea how many people love these dogs? Well, I do. We've found each other on Twitter. Sure, I try to create balance in my tweets. I want to be valuable to my marketing tweeps and connect with them on a professional and personal level. Yet, I love to tell my dog tweeps about my latest dog drama, rescued dogs that need homes and ask for advice on dog diet, training and behavior. So, what's a girl to do? I wish I could run two identities from my Tweetdeck. I could conceivably have three different browsers up with three different handles going at once. But somehow, it seems a little false. That's one thing I really love about Twitter - the honesty. Marketing tweeps - I sure hope you love dogs. I am not trying to be annoying with all the canine talk - I am just being myself (and if you ever want to adopt a dog, you know who to DM first). I hope I provide some value to your day in spite of my distraction with all things doggie. Dog tweeps - who couldn't use a few PR and marketing tips here and there? Plus, I know you love me anyway. We're in this together. Maybe an identity crisis is a good thing. Maybe it helps us find out who we really are. And maybe, just maybe, there's room on Twitter for a dog-crazy PR gal.

-Marie (@mariefayandre)

Campbell Consulting Clients on Twitter: The Sagebrush Classic

The Deschutes Brewery Sagebrush Classic, the Northwest's premier golf and culinary event, is tweeting away at @sagebrushbend. Check it out for a countdown to the event, news and links as well live updates from the actual golf tournament and beer and food pairing feast.

Recession Marketing: Should You Cut Your Advertising and PR Budget?

New research from Oregon State University and Western Oregon University shows that companies that companies that don't cut theor advertising and public relations spending in a recession have a competitive edge in the future.

"Firms that are able to increase advertising during recessions are likely to have stronger future earnings, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon State University and Western Oregon University.

"The researchers studied data from five recessionary periods since 1971, sampling data from more than 3,000 firms listed on the public stock exchange that demonstrated a four-year advertising contribution to earnings.

"They found that when adjusting for inflation, advertising expenditures contributed to increased earnings by firms for up to three years."

Read the rest of the article here.

-Adrianne