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.

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!

Videocity

I love it when we hook up with a company that we can consider a partner to help us deliver more marketing options to our clients. This is a somewhat rare occurrance because we are SOOOOoooo picky! We just worked with new partner, MYRIAD MEDIA in Raleigh on 2 new TV spots for North State Communications. They are GREAT to work with. The project came off without a hitch and we are all thrilled with the outcome! Need high quality video production? We’ve got an app for that! See the TV spots here.

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting Jon’s Notes!