If you missed Accolade’s Creative Director Ariel Richmond-Parks at Arlington Economic Development’s Perfect Pitch business mixer in June, check out the AVN Channel’s recent “Up Close” profile featuring event footage as well as information on BizLaunch, Arlington County’s small business resource center.

In addition, the resource packet from Ariel’s presentation is now available for distribution via SlideShare.

Ariel will be discussing the art of the pitch for small business owners and will also serve as a judge for the event’s pitch contest where attendees will compete to win a grand prize from American Airlines.

About the Perfect Pitch Business Mixer

When you meet a potential client, investor or partner, how do you position your company? Can you effectively communicate the products or services that your business offers or do you find yourself rambling on? At this business mixer, you’ll receive expert advice on how to make your pitch more effective and have an opportunity to practice what you’ve learned by competing to win a prize courtesy of American Airlines.

The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. Register now via BizLaunch.

Perfect Pitch is sponsored by BizLaunch, SCORE DC, the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) and American Airlines.

American Airlines Contest Details

Looking to give your company’s travel budget the ultimate boost? Win up to 50 tickets and exposure to thousands of potential customers via an in-flight video testimonial featuring your business, an ad in American Way magazine, and much more by entering American Airlines video contest at the Perfect Pitch mixer!

To enter the contest, simply film a short video with the American Airlines film crew explaining how 50 round-trip tickets and exposure to American Airlines’ customers would help your business succeed.

In addition, American Airlines will also give away a complementary travel certificate*. So, be sure to give your business card to an on-site American Airlines representative for your chance to win!

*Travel is valid within and between the US48 and the Caribbean, Canada, or Mexico. Valid for one year.

Dan Zarella – Need to Justify Social Media? Use Real Numbers About Real Money
Zarella tackles justifying the ROI of social media and his thoughts on the subject are spot on. If the field’s practitioners can’t substantiate their claims with hard data, then it’s completely reasonable for organizations to avoid further investment. In light of the fact that calculating ROI is a matter of simple mathematics, the time has come for more accountability.

Clickz – SEO + QR Codes
Interested in effectively bridging the gap between online and offline marketing? Then QR codes may be for you. Crispin Sheridan’s article detailing creative use cases of the technology as well as the United States Postal Service’s new promotion to encourage the use of direct mail featuring QR codes is a must read for those interested in taking the plunge.

Find Email Design Inspiration with Emailium
If you need design inspiration or just want to keep tabs on design and trends of a particular industry, check out Emailium. The free search engine features email campaigns across a spectrum of industries and is searchable by a wide variety of criteria including:

• Company
• Subject
• Body Text
• Color
• Industry
• Date

The data returned for each query includes deployment time, email service provider as well as lists of related emails. Additionally, individual emails can be shared via Facebook or Twitter or saved and tagged for future reference to build a personal clip file.

One caveat worth mentioning is that Emailium is certainly not comprehensive and is no replacement for pre-existing resources like The Retail Email Blog or in-house clip files. That said, it’s a great addition to any email marketer’s toolkit.

To register for a free beta account, see http://www.emailium.com.

AMEX Open Forum – Lessons from Sociology: 5 Tips to Help You Sell More

We love marketing that makes use of social science and this article is a great primer on applying sociologist Everett Roger’s groundbreaking theory of innovation adoption to marketing and sales processes. Rogers’ work has recently been popularized by a number of books, including Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.

Convince & Convert – Is Twitter Massively Overrated?

Given the latest report by Edison Research and Arbitron, the short answer appears to be “yes” for most people. That said, we’ve always counseled our clients that Twitter has definite reach into certain niche audiences that appreciate its real-time capabilities. Jay Baer’s article carefully discusses this issue and also persuasively argues for a reconsideration of  Twitter and Facebook as interchangeable channels in light of their distinct audiences.

Google – Introducing Page Speed Online

Site owners take note! Although there is plenty of speculation about key factors affecting Google’s algorithm, the launch of a site performance tool is a clear indication that page speed is a significant factor. Let’s face it – performance matters and we’ve all been bored to tears waiting for a sluggish site to load. Take some time today to make sure your site is up to speed.

Mashable – Facebook Profile Migrations : A Cautionary Tale

A must read for anyone that is considering  trading up from a Profile to a Page using the new Facebook migration tool. Unfortunately, it looks like we are still stuck with the time (and labor) intensive process of creating a new Page and attempting to convert friends to fans via the “Suggest A Page” option or a promotional campaign (e.g. contest, discount coupon, etc.).

Email Insider – New Email Era: Beginning Of The End Of Batch-And-Blast

We’re often asked if social media is the email killer and our take on it is that we are looking at a convergence of channels with social media improving upon email’s shortcomings, especially where email marketing in concerned. Ideally, this would mean fewer broadcast campaigns and more personalized outreach with the added benefit of distribution over a wide array of mobile devices. With this in mind, Loren McDonald’s article is spot on in its take on current trends affecting the field.

AllFacebook  - Facebook Testing Removal of Keyword Targeting

We were included in the test pool and feel that this is tremendous step backwards since the value of Facebook ads is in the ability to target audiences using extremely specific demographic information.

If this model is adopted, it’s likely to result in less targeted (albeit more expensive) ads as advertisers bid competitively for a smaller pool of categories as opposed to the larger collection of keywords generated by Facebook users.

AWeber – Email Timing: A Look at 6 Marketers

Timing is everything in life and email marketing. If you’re trying to figure out the best time to hit ‘send’, check out this quick read on how major brands use customer preferences and use patterns to help schedule campaigns.

MarketingVox ­- 8 Tactics to Try as Google Tinkers with its Ranking Algorithm

Has Google’s new algorithm lowered your ranking? Get back on track using these simple content creation recommendations.

This strategic online marketing project focused on driving press interest and ticket sales for the launch of a new performing arts festival under the direction of a consortium of DC’s leading arts presenters and dance companies.

Accolade crafted an online strategy that leveraged eye-catching branding and content with the strengths of blogging and existent social media tools to target and engage a well-defined demographic of young, urban professionals in the Metro DC area.

As a result, the festival garnered considerable buzz both online and in traditional media outlets which resulted in a sold-out audience of 2,800 during its 2-day premiere.  The festival was also selected as a finalist in the Innovation in the Arts category during the 25th Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards.

Additionally, VelocityDC’s post-event assessment by Shugoll Research revealed that the festival exceeded industry benchmarks for reach into desired demographics and earned exceptionally high audience engagement and satisfaction ratings through its use of innovative marketing practices.

Press Coverage

• The Washingtonian
• The Baltimore Sun 2009 Fall Arts Guide
• The Washington Post
• The Washington Post / Express Night Out
• Dance Magazine

Project Scope

• Designed the festival’s branding concept and online marketing strategy
• Developed and maintained the festival’s web site and social media accounts
• Created custom content for the festival’s web site, social media accounts and email campaigns
• Managed the festival’s email marketing initiative

In 2007, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) needed viral content from the annual West Oak Lane Jazz Festival for its pilot travel and lifestyle portal, uwishunu.com, targeting tech-savvy travelers seeking an insider’s perspective on the best things to see and do in Philadephia.

Project Scope

• Custom content (e.g. live audio, video and photos) creation
• On-site blogging services from the event location