EKA Welcomes Leigh Ann Venable

We are proud to announce the addition of our newest associate, Leigh Ann Venable. Leigh Ann is the former owner of 360 marketing in High Point, NC.  Leigh Ann brings with her several valuable clients and a vast depth of knowledge. In addition to client service, Leigh Ann will also lend her expertise in new business acquisition.

EKA President, Jon Kemp, says “we are so lucky to have her as a part of our team. Leigh Ann has a great reputation in the industry and our partnership allows her to offer her clients a wider array of services. She will play a valuable role in the continued growth of our agency.”

Leigh Ann lives in High Point with her husband, Terry. She has two daughters, Allison, an upcoming sophomore at N.C. State and Emily who just graduated from State with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Welcome to the EKA family Leigh Ann!

Giving Birth To An Annual Report Without The Excruciating Labor

In the middle of creating an annual report for Skyline Rural Telecom Cooperative, we were given a compliment.  “This isn’t nearly as hard as we thought it would be!”  For some companies, annual reports are an arduous process and a necessary evil.  We try to make the process easy and even fun.  EKA staff brings their prodigious organizational talents, project management skills and fresh creative perspective to tell your company’s important year-end story. We aim for the reader to be engaged, and your company’s burden in the project to be light.

Making Small Budget TV Look Big Budget

Many of our clients face the same challenge – creating local TV spots to compete with big-budget national commercials.  At EKA, we’ve always felt that a strong concept well executed with creative resourcefulness can trump a big budget.

Recently, we did just that for North State Communication’s PLEX Voice, Wireless, Broadband and TV products.

Using a combination of such powerful tools as digital animation and custom music we were able to create a visually rich and engaging spot with no costly location shoot or on-camera talent fees.

You can see the spot here http://www.youtube.com/user/EdKempAssociates

Is Social Networking Working?

JON’S NOTES

Strategic Marketing Advice and Tips from EKA President Jon Kemp

Twitter, Linked-In, Blogs, Facebook… Is it alll Worth it?

One minute I’m thinking “social networking is great – I’ve reconnected with people I haven’t seen since high school.” The next minute I’m thinking “why do these people spend hours every day yakking on these sites –  don’t they have 

anything better to do?” No matter which face I’m wearing today, the viability of social networking is something that cannot be ignored. You may use it for connecting with friends and family, but don’t ignore its importance as a 

business tool as well. It allows you to strengthen the bond between you and your client by connecting you on both a business and personal level. These connections can be valuable in the long run.  The best news is that, for the most part, it’s free.   

We Remember… Bill

Our EKA family mourns the passing of our long time friend and colleague, Bill Campbell. For the past eighteen great years, Bill was a brilliant and consistent source of great ideas and beautifully expressive copywriting. Bill possessed the rare ability to take a pile of chicken manure and transform it into gourmet chicken salad. He was a delightful person with wit and wisdom in abundance. He had an amazing command of the English language and was the EKA “walking dictionary”.  He introduced me to so many new words (some of them are even repeatable) that I often accused him of studying “Word Power” in the Reader’s Digest in his spare time. The first time he called me “obstreperous”, I didn’t know whether to curse him or thank him. He made me “look it up”. We enjoyed many successes thanks to Bill’s brilliance and at least as many laughs to go along with it. It’s a lot quieter around here without Bill but his memories live within all of us who knew and loved him.

Newest addition!

We are proud to announce the arrival of EKA’s most junior, junior art director. Adorable Emmi McLawhorn was born in August (yes we know it is now March!) to interactive director David McLawhorn and his lovely wife Betsey. Her parents claim she is already exhibiting PhotoShop prowess.

Grounded.

Every few years, my family – me, Denna, my two daughters and my Mom – take a special vacation. A couple of weeks ago, we flew to Bermuda for 5 days. The trip was great and Bermuda is beautiful, but flying sucks. I’m thinking now that we shouldn’t have given the auto execs such a hard time about taking private jets to D.C. for the congressional hearings. If I were rich, I’d have a private jet too. The hassles of flying are so much worse today than they were just a few years ago. I know – 9/11 changed everything. But flying is such a hassle, it can start your trip off on a sour note and end it on one too.

Nowdays, you have to get to the airport at least 1 1/2 hours early because you never know how long you’ll have to wait in line for ticketing (no curbside check-in for international flights) and then you leave that line and head for the TSA screening line. Will you be 12th in that line or number 106? You never know. Going through there is always a treat. About half the time, there is a delay because someones’ 90 year old grandmother has an artificial hip that is setting off the machine, or your computer refuses to start up causing you to be identified as a security risk who must be hand-screened with the wand while everyone else in line wonders what your ties to the Taliban are.

Once you are re-dressed, it could have taken 5 minutes or 20, you never know. Then you hustle to your gate as you try to get your laptop back in the bag and not trip on your shoelaces. You arrive at your gate on time and out of breath only to find out that the flight is delayed. Once you finally get squeeezed into your tiny little seat, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Would you like a blanket? ($7) How about a nice snack box?($8) A bag of peanuts with your jigger of apple juice? Not gonna happen. To make matters worse, once you arrive in paradise, you go to baggage claim, retreive your beat-up bags, dig out your passports again and head for customs. Once again, you stand in line for the nice person to welcome you to their country and then ask to search your bag. Find a taxi driver who, hopefully, knows the direct route to your hotel.

The stay in Bermuda was wonderful. It is a clean, picturesque and delightful place to spend a few days. The only problem is that you have to once again head to the airport at the end, and wade through the hassles all over again. I am so glad I don’t have to fly a lot for my business. I would have to save up for a private plane. Maybe one of those ultralight things with paper wings and motor off of some kids go cart. It might not be comfortable, but at least you could take a bottle of water with you without being arrested.

SEO vs. SEM

One of our suppliers specializes in search engine optimization. Another one specializes in search engine marketing. After playing 40 questions with each of them, I finally understand the difference. SEO involves making subtile changes in your website in order for it to show up sooner in free searches on Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc. SEM deals with paid search engine advertising – the sponsored links on the top and sides of the pages. Both SEO and SEM are important if you want to maximize your exposure on the web and especially crucial if you are operating an e-commerce site.

Honoring my Dad

Yesterday, my Mom and I were invited to what is normally an empty lot in downtown High Point. On this day, about 50 people had gathered to unveil a historical marker in honor of GTCC’s founding in High Point. My Dad was a member of the N.C. House in 1955 when the technical school first opened its doors. Coincidentially, that was the year I was born. In the face of strong opposition, he pushed through the bill that established what is now our community college system. Many kind words were said in rememberance of my Dad. I’m grateful for former legislator Mary Jarrell for making the marker a reality. Lee Kinard, former WFMY-TV news anchor and author of the book, “GTCC: 1958 – 2008″ and Mayor Becky Smothers had kind words for Dad. He would have been honored to have been recognised for this – one of his proudest accomplishments.

Who’s in charge of this?

I’m wondering why we are here on Memorial Day. Who thought this was a good idea? The phone’s not ringing, we’re not really busy and everyone else is having a cookout. NEXT YEAR, we’re taking the day off. I hope I remember to tell someone that.

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS! I SHUDDER TO THINK WHERE WE WOULD  BE WITHOUT THEM!