Gateway to Loudoun County

The Loudoun Gold Line - Social Media-driven Economic Recovery

2010-02-09T05:08:00.005-05:00

It's taken about a week for the energy and enthusiasm of the first "Big Ideas Big Action" (#BIBA) new media forum to sink into the sausage-making cavities of my unconscious, resulting in a far-too-typical 3 AM wake-up call to blog...but the ideas are percolating now as quickly as the coffee at this pre-snowpocalyptic-3 hour, and I'm thinking pink mixed with silver to make gold.

As you may know, the Dulles Metro "Silver Line" is finally now under construction, extending heavy rail service from East Falls Church out to Tysons Corner, Dulles Airport and eventually into Ashburn VA (Loudoun County) by 2016 or so. This significant investment in the region's economy is sure to sustain any long-lasting economic recovery trend that may be developing now, but it's still a ways off (though you might think it was coming a lot sooner from the proliferation of speculative real estate investment already visible along the Toll Road).

As you probably don't know, but should soon, the "Pink Line Project" is the wholesale revitalization of the DC art scene, a "catalyst for the culturally curious" - started by a BIBA guest speaker Philippa P.B. Hughes. Started as a series of local art "salons", the effort is now the trend-setting source of information and events for emerging art collectors, art enthusiasts and artists. What's also relevant here is the extensive use of DC social media channels to collect, relay and discuss Pink Line happenings.

This emerging theme of regional business and cultural revitalization on the heels of a lousy economy and global-warming induced weather patterns, lubricated by a rapidly-maturing social media ecology, is taking shape even here in Loudoun - at the very ends of the Silver and Pink Lines, and far afield from the "H Street Project". I'll borrow apologetically but thoughtfully from Philippa, and call this the "Gold Line Project".

What's happening is the awakening and convergence of business and cultural leaders in person and online to collectively share and leverage new media assets, in a long-overdue effort to seriously promote Loudoun County as prime investment material...in other words, bring your business, your organization, your family and your dollars (i.e. "heads in beds") here to the end of the Silver Line, but no need to wait for the train. This is taking shape (informally in concert with our grass roots "Made in Loudoun" online awareness campaign) as the Economic Development Commission's new "Loudoun Social Media Subcommittee".

Created in 1995 by Loudoun’s Board of Supervisors, the Economic Development Commission (EDC) is a public/private partnership responsible for promoting the county’s economic development. Its membership includes a wide range of local business and community leaders, volunteering their time on committees such as the "Marketing and Business Retention Committee" (MBRC) to, among other things, help "coordinate economic development and marketing activities among groups in the county". Its association with the Loudoun government, through the Department of Economic Development, is a different structure than that of the comparable institution to our east, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (i.e. EDA, which is a fully non-governmental institution).

Lately there's been a lot of discussion regarding whether Loudoun should move from the EDC to EDA structure to help attract businesses to the County, enabling infusion of private-sector funds and operation with an incentive-based pay-structure, outside of the control of the BOS. Regardless of the outcome, it's apparent that some change is necessary in these entities, and closer coordination with the parallel activities of the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce and Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association.

Change in fact, is evolving quickly beyond the Silver Line - to the Gold Line - with the EDA's submersion of its constituents and stakeholders into the local and regional social media ecology. If you'd like to participate in this "project", helping bring investment and economic recovery to our pre-Silver Line Loudoun (and eventually perhaps an exurbia extension of the Pink Line) - get involved. Join the LinkedIn "Loudoun" group. Follow and support Loudoun DED-related activities and initiatives. Use your own new media assets and online business networking skills to promote the County and its wealth of cultural and community assets.

Phew - it's over - 2010 Loudoun Snowpocalypse2

2010-02-06T19:46:00.002-05:00

Being thankful that our power stayed on, it was pretty fun (and sobering) monitoring the tweet-streams (http://www.twitter.com/loudoun) for real-time updates on hashtags #snowpocalypse, #snowmageddon, #snowtoriousBIG, #snOMG, etc.

We got just about 30 inches here in our South Riding, Loudoun County backyard...now the big dig begins, as does many more days of children with cabin-fever...

Game On! Loudoun EDC Social Media Subcommittee #loudounsm

2010-01-26T10:54:00.003-05:00

The initial planning session was held today at the Loudoun National Conference Center for the new Loudoun-centric "Social Media Subcommittee", an initiative of the Loudoun Economic Development Commission's "Marketing and Business Retention" Committee.

This public/private grassroots initiative will focus on engaging the Loudoun economic development stakeholders on the Internet, using social media and other new media collaboration and marketing techniques, to help promote the County as a great place to live, work and invest. Expected contributors and participants will include businesses, nonprofits, associations, residents and government input.

Much more information to come: initial discussion and information-sharing will take place via a LinkedIn.com group named, simply, "Loudoun".

Game On!

Loudoun Dulles District Update - January 2010

2010-01-21T17:23:00.003-05:00

Here's the latest Dulles District Update from Stevens Miller...

Planning Commission

I want to welcome Cliff Keirce as the new Planning Commissioner for the Dulles District. Cliff has a history of long-standing involvement in our community. He is president of the Broadlands Homeowners Association and has served Loudoun County for the last two years as a member of the Facilities Standards Manual Public Review Committee. Cliff is well known and respected throughout the Dulles District and I am sure his appointment will meet with widespread approval.

I am grateful to Sandra Chaloux for all her hard work and long hours on the Planning Commission. She worked diligently for two years for the residents of the Dulles District and Loudoun County and I wish her all the best.

(DSO - why can't we vote for this position?)

Dulles South Public Safety Meeting Sponsored by LCSO

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office will hold a public safety meeting for Dulles South on Monday, January 25, 2010. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Dulles South Station Community Room located at 25216 Loudoun County Parkway.

The Loudoun Sheriff's Office hosts quarterly public safety meetings in each of the four service areas of the county. All residents, homeowners associations, community groups, and town representatives are invited to attend. Items to be discussed are recent crime and crime trends in the area, traffic safety concerns and other public safety related issues. The meetings will be led by a Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Captain who represents the Dulles South area. Also in attendance will be supervisors from the Criminal Investigations Division, the Special Operations Division, Community Police Officers, and Crime Prevention Deputies.

(DSO - this is a must-see event)

New Traffic Light in Operation

The new traffic signal installed at the intersection of Gum Spring Road (Route 659) and Braddock Road (Route 620) went into operation last month. The response has been all positive as traffic seems to be flowing better through that intersection.

(DSO - Hallelujah!)

Budget for FY 2011

Public Hearings on the FY2011 budget will be held at 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm on Wednesday, February 24th and at 9:30 am on Saturday, February 27th. An additional hearing on Thursday, February 25th will be added if needed. It is important, especially with the challenging economy, that citizens participate in the budget process. I want to continue to hear your thoughts, suggestions and ideas on how you would like to see the budget balanced.

(DSO - Mr. Miller - what are your strategies and actions to assist the DED/EDC in attracting business investment to the County?)

New Park and Ride Lot Beginning January 25th

Loudoun County signed an agreement with the Christian Fellowship Church at 21673 Beaumeade Circle in Ashburn for use of 123 existing parking spaces to be designated commuter parking. Service at this new lot will begin January 25, 2010. Commuter parking will be permitted only in the clearly identified spaces that are designated with signs and gold striping, Monday through Friday. Some of the operations of this lot will be combined with the Ashburn North lot. The County hopes this new lot will help alleviate some of the overcrowding that is continuing to occur at Dulles North. More information and bus schedules can be found at http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=785 .

(DSO - Good Move!)

H1N1 Vacine (sic)

Loudoun County Health Department is now offering free H1N1 vaccinations on a walk-in basis every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the upper level of Dulles Town Center by Nordstrom. H1N1 vaccinations will also be available Saturday, January 23, 2010, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the same location. The free vaccinations are also available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Health Department’s Leesburg Clinic, at 102 Heritage Way, NE. For more information, visit www.loudoun.gov/flu.

(DSO - keep up with all Loudoun Health news on Twitter @loudounhealth)

Stay Connected

I want to hear from residents regarding ideas and thoughts on how the Board is doing. I am on Twitter, so you can easily provide me with your thoughts and comments. Send me a Tweet @DullesSuper and I’ll try to read your messages in real time while the Board of Supervisors is meeting.

(DSO - "on twitter" is a relative statement, though a sign of hopeful things to come - look for much more here on this topic in the near future!)

10 Tips for Promoting Your Employer Online via Personal Social Media - A Template for Businesses

2010-01-21T08:25:00.005-05:00

We’ve been asked from time to time by businesses about how to educate employees on using Social Media – from two perspectives. One perspective is simply as part of a broader Internet use policy, to help employees stay safe and protect information assets. Another perspective is to encourage employees to support their business in their daily online activities, should they choose to do so. This is essentially giving employees as “social media enthusiasts” the tools and guidance they should get, to help them positively contribute to the overall online marketing efforts of their employer.

Check out this Template for Employee Social Media Use, by KME Internet Marketing. It can be tailored for individual businesses or organizations, and should be shared with employees. It provides 10 tips as straightforward guidance regarding promotion of an employer using online bookmarking, social media sharing, email, links, and other Internet techniques and tools.

January 2010 Loudoun Department of Economic Development LoCo Motion Newsletter

2010-01-10T10:56:00.004-05:00

Here's the newest Loudoun County Department of Economic Development Newsletter...

Inside you'll find:

- Guernsey Office Products Moves National Headquarters to Loudoun
- Digital Bridge Completes Equity Round
- Another Loudoun Acquisition for Digital Realty Trust
- Rural Economic Development Council (REDC) Gears Up for 2010 Initiatives
- Five New Commissioners Join EDC in 2010
- Pegasus Logistics Group Opts for Beaumeade
- French Client for Brainware, Inc.
- DED's Warren Howell Retires
- Russian Embassy Selects Loudoun-Grown Tree in Annual Tradition
- Loudoun Places upcoming events.

The Loudoun DED is at http://biz.loudoun.gov/

DC and Loudoun Business Marketing in 2010 - 6 Steps to This Year's Recovery

2010-01-04T20:43:00.004-05:00

Although the last decade here in Loudoun County hasn’t officially ended (we’re in the 10th year, after all), 2009’s economy and a double-digit change in years is enough for us to officially declare an end to the first decade of the 21st century. We entered the decade helping businesses and government agencies design websites and portals for maximum “user experience”, application performance and browser compatibility, all in the name of attracting and converting visitors. We end the decade designing for the same, albeit with a lot of change in the definitions of “users”, “experience”, “applications”, “performance” and “browsers”. Business marketing and systems engineering objectives remain the same for this new year, like every year - but the tools, methods, costs and audience are dramatically different.

Businesses like yours and ours use information technology to help manage and deliver many elements of our trade, from performance reporting and financial management, to data security and storage. “What” we need to do, to support our underlying sales and service processes, hasn’t changed – but the tools we can use sure have. For example, many more options will crowd the market this year for “cloud computing” services; basically made-to-order, flexible computing capabilities accessed over the Internet. Many more devices will enter the mainstream consumer market pre-wired for Internet access, from cellphone/PDA variants to personal game consoles and entertainment devices.

There’s simply a tremendous shift in attention and expertise required for successful business marketing from the platform or technology with which it’s delivered, to the channel and circumstances when and where it’s absorbed or delivered – more often than not in geosynchronous real-time.

While the fundamental methodology for online Loudoun business marketing won’t change (appropriate content through the right channels to the right audience, backed by analytics and right time customer service) – new methods are required to deal with new contexts.

Read more from KME Internet Marketing...

Vintage 51 South Riding Restaurant - Holiday and New Years Eve Specials

2009-12-23T13:41:00.003-05:00

Join Vintage 51 in South Riding in their Holiday and New Year's Eve specials....

Vintage 51 Family Restaurant in South Riding is the "sister" restaurant of Vintage 50 in Leesburg, and serves uniquely traditional American entrees with local, organic ingredients, along with a spectacular selection of craft beers, wines from Loudoun and around the country, and live Dulles area music.

Here's some of their specials, from their website:

Holiday Gift Cards are now available!

New Years Eve '09, Vintage 51 Style -
Vintage 51 Menu

Vintage 50 New Years Eve Charity Masquerade Ball - Loudoun Community Health Center Presents "A Night in Venice" New Years Eve 2010 -
Event information; Order Tickets

Vintage 50 Growler Amnesty - Bring them to V50 or V51

Vintage 50 Has a New Signature Growler going on Sale in Time for the Holiday Season - click here to see it and place your order

Happy Holidays from the Redskins!

2009-12-21T11:36:00.003-05:00

Here's to some holiday luck against the Cowboys!

2009 KME Made in Loudoun County Awards

2009-12-19T09:29:00.008-05:00

Some light home reading under DC blizzard conditions today...Happy Holidays and New Year!

When we started our “2009 KME Online Loudoun County Promotion Business Challenge” this year, the economic downfall was in full swing, and it was apparent that the County could use some help from its resident businesses and citizens to attract new economic investment – especially on the Internet.

While the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development (biz.loudoun.gov), the Economic Development Commission (EDC) and the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce are only just beginning to evolve their online marketing strategies, the Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association (LCVA - at visitloudoun.org), as an independent but government-supported entity, appears has actually made an inspired “Web 2.0” online impact in highlighting the value and attractiveness of investing for business in Loudoun. Outside of this activity and those of our own (as subject-matter experts in Loudoun County Internet Marketing and Media), there clearly existed very little substantial online activity on the part of the Loudoun business community in promoting the County.

Therefore, we challenged the Loudoun business community to use their own online assets and reach to help market the County as a great place to invest in business. That’s the core tenet of what’s now our 2009 KME Made in Loudoun County Online Business Leadership Award. "Award" winners will receive some free public recognition and online marketing exposure of their business (a purely voluntary and non-monetary recognition by us), in Loudoun County and the Northern Virginia/Metropolitan DC region.

After a year, it’s become evident that the only local industry (besides Online Marketers like us) most actively, aggressively and successfully promoting the core economic values of Loudoun County is the Residential Real Estate industry. This is probably to be expected, for by promoting Loudoun and its work/life values, real estate property is therefore more valuable. It was, however, interesting to discover that the Loudoun business community, aside from Real Estate, simply does not actively and voluntarily help to promote Loudoun online to the outside world – rather, it relies on the local EDC and Chamber of Commerce. Not only are real estate agents and brokerages most actively using the Internet and Social Media to cover and distribute Loudoun-centric hyperlocal news and information, but they’re also the only businesses who specifically call out Loudoun advantages to home owners and investors on their websites.

Note that the Commercial Real Estate industry did recently get a boost from the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce in late October, with their “Virtual Realty Tour” under the catch-phrase “Loudoun – Land of Opportunity”; but aside from a single Washington Post article and a few local media announcements, this marketing message was no further distributed or promoted online. A great comment from this forum came from a panelist who said “I still feel Loudoun doesn’t have a corporate image”. We’d point out that successful corporate and government images these days absolutely require a well-formed and actively maintained Internet presence, across ALL online media channels.

An excellent example of this can be found right to the east...the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority has made a lot of recent investment in its online presence and advertising. Add to this a recent announcement by Prince William County to form a public/private Economic Development Task Force to “rethink” the county’s current economic development strategy; Northern Virginia’s government-driven online business promotion and marketing competition is likely to get very competitive, very fast.

The recent Loudoun Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards ceremony was another great opportunity to promote Loudoun businesses and market the economic vitality of the county – but unfortunately, no online or offline marketing of the event and winners was actually executed until many days after the awards – in fact, it was impossible to actually learn of the winners online until Leesburg Today’s video news update the Saturday afterwards.

The “Search Engine Optimized” (SEO) phrase we initially selected through marketing techniques was “Loudoun Virginia business DC location great community invest”. This keyword phrase was designed to catch most online instances of Loudoun businesses promoting the County. We searched the Internet using this phrase and many variations, using Google, Bing, Yahoo, SocialMention, Twitter, YouTube, etc. After monitoring this phrase and related ones for the past year, and filtering out all results that are either not relevant (for many reasons) or are directly attributable to our own efforts (or those of our clients who already promote Loudoun County, like Ingrid Myers, Northern Virginia Realtor), we can name this inaugural year’s Made in Loudoun award winners – note the winners are as reflected in online search results for the Loudoun business investment terms and topics we covered. For this first year of our initiative, there’s no absolute clear winner – so we’ll promote the single group of winners – the “KME Made in Loudoun Business Leaders”.

The “KME Made in Loudoun Business Leaders” are, in no particular order:

Danilo Bogdanovic and Tony Arko (Market Advantage Real Estate)
Heather Elias (Century 21 Redwood Realty)
Kelly Gaitten (Prudential Carruthers Realtors)
Marilee Murphy (Long & Foster Real Estate)

Profiles and comments from two of our winners...

Danilo Bogdanovic (http://LoudounScene.com - http://LoudounForeclosures.com - two of the originial Loudoun real estate blog sites.) Real Estate Consultant and REALTOR with Market Advantage Real Estate, specializing in real estate consulting and sales in Loudoun County/Northern Virginia. Focused on staying on top of today's housing market conditions and the latest technologies and tools in order to properly serve the best interests of buyer, seller and investor clients. Currently serving on various committees at the local and state REALTOR association level.

“Loudoun is an attractive place to relocate your existing business or to start your new business for a number of reasons. (1) The proximity and accessibility to the rest of Northern Virginia, Washington, DC and Maryland; (2) lower cost of real estate/rent (residential and commercial) than Fairfax County, Washington, DC and many other neighboring areas; (3) short and long term future growth within the county (residential and commercial sector; (4) demographics of county residents including median income; and (5) the strong need for more businesses in the county to serve the growing needs of local residents.”

Heather Elias (http://www.locomusings.com - “It's not just crazy talk!”) LoCo resident, wife, mother, and full time real estate professional and blogger with Century 21 Redwood Realty in Ashburn.

“Aside from LoCo's obvious close proximity to Washington DC and all of the benefits that entails, the people of Loudoun County are tremendously supportive to local businesses and extremely loyal. I love how Loudoun flows from an urban hub of activity in the east to beautiful vistas in the foothills of the western part of the county; there is something for everyone here”.

Note that no businesses we could find on the Internet, other than ourselves and these Realtors, significantly and explicitly promoted Loudoun County online as a great place to invest in, and move a business to – using online marketing techniques. We did find a few very appealing accounts of life and business in Loudoun on various other sites, but these were either too far down in the rankings to matter, or simply not optimized appropriately to reflect the intentions we were seeking. A notable cadre of local bloggers, Loudoun tweeters and social media experts are actively representing and highlighting Loudoun news and life online, but not necessarily with consistent, explicit or implicit Loudoun County business marketing messages.

What does this all mean? It’s essentially a 2010 New Year’s wake-up call to Loudoun’s business community, and the media, associations and government departments that cover or represent them. It’s also a great pat-on-the-back to all Realtors and Brokers who tirelessly promote (online and offline) the advantages of their local communities to incoming residents and businesses. It’s time to start promoting not only our own businesses, but those of our neighbors and the overall Loudoun County business environment.

For local and regional media, start evolving your hyperlocal news coverage by partnering with those who already know what’s going on around the county, and report about it online – i.e. the Real Estate community and those that market or represent them. It’s actually pretty easy – simply write, online, about how great investing in Loudoun County is, and how the community and business climate is working for us. Write this not on glossy printed brochures, full page color newspaper advertisements, in graphic-only banner advertisements (i.e. “banner ads”), buried in emails or on roadside signs – but write this on our collective high-traffic websites, blogs, twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other Internet Media assets.

Ask your Loudoun Realtor, or Loudoun Internet Marketing and Media Firm, what you can do to promote your business and the community it represents. Search your website for the term “Loudoun” – hopefully something positive pops up, or will, soon – and your business will be the winner of the next valuable and prestigious “2010 KME Made in Loudoun County” award!

Made in Loudoun ™ is a marketing trademark of KME Internet Marketing, Loudoun County, VA.

Jumpstart Your 2010 DC and Northern Virginia Business Goals - KME Internet Marketing and Media Workshop - Jan 29th

2009-12-13T12:00:00.003-05:00

Learn Integrated Online Marketing/Advertising, Branding, Web Design, SEO, Social Media, Analytics and Internet Video - in Northern Virginia, DC metro area.

As 2009 draws to a close, it’s become very apparent that 2010 will continue to be an extremely challenging year for businesses seeking new customers, and new ways to market and advertise their brand and services. As well, the ability of Northern Virginia and DC-area professionals to effectively learn and leverage new Online Marketing and Internet New Media/Web 2.0 skills is hampered by the current lack of expert yet cost-effective, local and hands-on Internet Marketing/SEO training. Add to this the dizzying proliferation of Social Media publishing and analytic tools, the rapid change in the search engine technologies and video media industries, and the quickly-growing competition for eyeballs and click-throughs from the web – it’s about time for some local solutions.

Local Internet Marketing and Media Workshops

KME Internet Marketing (KME) in the DC metro area is holding the first of an upcoming series of professional Internet Marketing and Media Workshops on January 29th, 2010 – from 9AM to 2PM, at Trivision Studios in Chantilly, VA.

KME is the region’s industry leader in providing cost-effective yet engineering-grade solutions for online marketing, social media optimization and analytics-driven Internet marketing management. Trivision Studios is a full service global creative design, branding and media production group, operating a 12,000 square foot, state-of-the-art studio facility complete with staging, lights, cameras, two-story loading dock, meeting space, media room, and omnimedia edit suites.

Our special guest Workshop lead is Melanie Alnwick, an instantly-recognizable local DC TV anchor, reporter and journalist. Melanie will be providing significant insider-knowledge and guidance regarding attracting broadcast media attention to your business and story, preparing for interviews, producing and submitting highly-effective video for broadcast or online business purposes. Kelly McLaughlan, CEO of KME Internet Marketing, will lead sessions on SEO, PPC and Google Analytics. Trivision Studios will provide corporate branding and web video production and distribution expertise. Ted McLaughlan - Enterprise Information Management and Media Architect - will provide professional insight into Digital Asset Management and Internet Media Distribution.

What You Get

This packed 5 hour hands-on Internet Marketing and Media workshop will deliver a package of information and guidance you can immediately use, including:

Online Branding and Creative Design
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Website Reporting (Google Analytics)
Digital Asset Management, Optimization and Distribution (RSS) – for Advertising and Marketing
Pay-per-Click (PPC) Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – Local and Regional
Social Media Optimization and Reputation Management – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube
Online Web Video Production and Optimization
Harnessing and attracting Broadcast Media Exposure

There simply doesn’t exist a more comprehensive, experts-led, cost effective or personally-tailored workshop event in this area for business owners, marketing and communications managers, journalists, new SEO/SEM professionals or other technology and new media practitioners. Don’t bother with online, out of state webinars or academies, online or offline degrees costing thousands of dollars from questionable sources, community-center seminars by industry amateurs, or other less-than-professional sources for a rapid, intense and ultimately valuable infusion of truly local Internet Marketing and New Media knowledge.

Where should I post my advertisements online?
What are the short and long term priorities for better search result rankings, for my website?
What are the keys to successful PPC investments?
Is my marketing budget being spent wisely, integrated and balanced across relevant channels?
How can I make sure my brand supports my marketing goals?
How do I use reports and analytics to support my marketing objectives?
How much time should I spend on Social Media, and why? Can or should I do this myself?
Can my web designer deliver SEO services?
What should I do to get free, effective exposure for my business in the press or news?
What should be in my marketing videos?

We’ll explore these questions and collaborate in the workshop sessions to arrive at the best answers for you and your business in the Northern Virginia, DC or Suburban Maryland region. You’ll get some immediate answers, some strategies to follow and resources to help.

Who Will Benefit the Most?

Local and regional business owners whose websites haven't demonstrated success in drawing highly targeted traffic for more sales
Affiliate marketers who want to increase conversion rates by getting their product pages to come up higher in search results
Webmasters, graphic designers or photo/video experts who want to offer their employer or clients more comprehensive services – not just website building, creative design or basic media products
Bloggers, writers and journalists who need their content distributed and ranked high in search engine results
Anyone who wants to make a career change – to work in-house as an SEO/SEM specialist or begin SEO consulting by learning the latest SEO techniques
Marketers, Advertisers, Communications and PR professionals in a highly competitive industry who are under pressure to increase their brand’s visibility to reach the correct audience, while keeping costs under control

Take charge of your business marketing and advertising budget, get involved in the Web 2.0/Social Media evolution, promote and protect your brand on the Internet!

For more information about the KME Internet Marketing and Media workshop, including upcoming dates, times, location and registration, visit KME Internet Marketing – SEO Training and Education.

Loudoun, Dulles District Budget Community Meeting

2009-12-09T11:56:00.004-05:00

Announcement from Stevens Miller, Dulles District Supervisor, Loudoun County

FY 2011 Budget Community Meeting Tomorrow Night

Don’t forget! 12/09/2009 (Wednesday night) is the first district community meeting about the budget at Legacy Elementary School. It will be an interactive, town hall type meeting. I hope you are able to attend and share your opinion about funding priorities.

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 7pm
Legacy Elementary School - Cafeteria
22995 Minerva Drive
Ashburn, VA 20148

If you are unable to attend tomorrow evening, please consider coming to one of the other Dulles District community meetings:

Tuesday, December 15th at 7:00 pm, the Nature Preserve in Broadlands
Wednesday, December 16th at 7:00 pm, Mercer Middle School in Dulles South

Vintage 51 South Riding - Loudoun/Dulles South's Premier Brewpub and Local Music Scene

2009-11-26T10:41:00.005-05:00

Vintage 51 Restaurant, Brew Lounge and Live Local Music

The past 12 years here in the Rt. 50 Corridor/Dulles South exurbia area of Northern Virginia's Loudoun County have been an exercise in waiting - waiting for a real local music scene, waiting for decent restaurants, waiting for more upscale martini bars and brewpubs, waiting for the traffic, schools and economy to improve....Basically, waiting for the Dulles South region (Eastern Loudoun, Western Fairfax and Western Prince William counties) to evolve its entertainment, retail and cultural offerings in the same manner as the Dulles North area already has (i.e. Ashburn).

The wait's over, finally - at least for those in the Chantilly/South Riding area who enjoy professional and local live music, handcrafted and locally-sourced classic American meals in an "urban lounge" setting, and a spectacular selection of custom martinis, Loudoun wines and regional craft beers not seen to date this side of Rt. 15 and the Dulles Toll Road.

Vintage 51 Restaurant and Brew Lounge fully opened recently in South Riding's Market Square, at the intersection of Rt. 50 and the Loudoun County parkway. Vintage 51 is an extension of the very popular Vintage 50 Brew Lounge in Leesburg, already voted one of "Loudoun's hottest new restaurants".

Loudoun's Best Beer
While Vintage 51 in South Riding is currently unable to serve handcrafted brews created over at its own Leesburg microbrewery, it does serve an inspired selection of wines, custom martinis and cocktails, and a huge selection of great beers (in the spirit of the Northern Virginia Brewfest series) from breweries including Clipper City, Flying Dog, and Dogfish Head. We purchased our own custom "Vintage Growler" with Bell's Two-Hearted Ale for some Thanksgiving cheer...

Loudoun's Finest Wines
For the Loudoun wine lovers, the Vintage 50/51 restaurant wine bars offer over 200 wines by the glass or bottle - ranging from international to very local Loudoun winery selections including Chrysalis and Fabbioli Cellars.

Loudoun's Best Live Music
The live music scene in Loudoun County and Dulles South is dramatically improved with the addition of Vintage 51 live performers and local music events weekdays and weekends. We'll provide a lot more information on this Dulles South/Loudoun music scene shortly - last night at Vintage 51, for example, we thoroughly enjoyed the smooth, reggae-infused, heavily-improvised acoustic rock classics by Purcellville's own Miguel Aubertin, a popular favorite and regular around the Loudoun vineyard and Vintage 50 music venues. Sample his music at http://www.myspace.com/miguelandros09.

Loudoun's Hottest New Restaurant
The Vintage 50 and Vintage 51 menus are a savory collection of locally-raised beef, lamb, pork and wild fowl dinners, fresh seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits and cheeses, creative seafood appetizers, and classically modern, innovative New American comfort food. The "Made in Loudoun" initiative is clearly in play here - from the delicious lunch sandwiches with local ingredients and handmade sauerkraut, to organic meat entrees made with local ingredients from Loudoun's own organic farm at the Fields of Athenry.

Check out the new Loudoun and Dulles South restaurant, brew lounge and live music scene now on a regular basis - in South Riding.

Northern Virginia Business News, and a Thanksgiving Carpet/Upholstery Cleaning Special

2009-11-22T15:27:00.005-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving 2009! Hopefully your travels, entertaining and family events are safe and healthy this year. We're looking forward to a little downtime and giving thanks for the highlights of what's otherwise been a difficult year for many businesses. While hiring and long-term business investing hasn't exactly picked up yet, there are many signs of pickup among Loudoun and Northern Virginia small and home businesses, as consumers and other small businesses begin to pick up buying activity or at least begin planning to do so.

New this Thanksgiving - keep track of all the growing business news in Loudoun County and Northern Virginia, at Northern Virginia Business News online. A new online business and marketing publication service of KME Internet Marketing, Northern Virginia Business News (or "NOVABizNews") provides fully search-optimized and free exposure of all Northern Virginia Business News events, press releases and social media announcements. Follow us also on twitter, @novabiznews.

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Loudoun Dulles District Update from Stevens Miller - Plus Commentary

2009-11-11T06:39:00.003-05:00

November 10, 2009 Dulles District Newsletter‏

Proposed Site for HS-7
There is good news for everyone who has been waiting anxiously for information concerning the location of a new high school in Dulles South. On Tuesday, October 27th, the School Board voted to approve the purchase of 101 acres of land for construction of HS-7 and a future elementary school. The land is located on Goshen Road on the western edge of the Stone Ridge community. The School Board has worked closely with the Board of Supervisors these past months to find a site that is located near the population that it will serve. HS-7 is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012.

There will be a community information meeting about HS-7 and a future elementary school on November 18th at 6:30pm in the Mercer Middle School auditorium (42149 Greenstone Drive, Aldie). The design plan for the high school is 1800 students and 875 for the elementary school. The meeting will provide the community with an excellent opportunity to receive more information about the proposed school site and plans. I hope you are able to attend.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Sam Adamo, Director
Department of Planning and Legislative Services
Loudoun County Public Schools
21000 Education Court
Ashburn, VA 20148
Phone: 571-252-1050 Fax: 571-252-1101
Email: lcpsplan@loudoun.k12.va.us

Commentary - this is indeed good news, albeit a year delayed

Letter to Governor Kaine
In 2006, Governor Kaine set a goal to preserve 400,000 acres of land before his administration leaves office in 2010. The benefits of this goal include preserving water quality, providing additional opportunities for recreation and preserving wildlife habitat and historic landscapes. As of September 15, 2009 the state has permanently protected 352,623 acres.

Recently four large, multi-parcel properties located in the Dulles District went into foreclosure. These four properties, Greenfields, Broad Run, Lenah and Arcola, comprise 4,154 acres. Three years ago, a proposal to allow 15,000 homes on these properties was narrowly defeated.

I believe the foreclosure of these four properties in Loudoun presents a unique opportunity to help meet Governor Kaine’s preservation goals as well as the increasing demand for a state park in the Northern Virginia region. At my request, the Board unanimously voted to send a letter to Governor Kaine requesting the Commonwealth purchase one or all of these properties for a state park in Loudoun.

Commentary - we believe this is also a unique opportunity to bring much-needed revenue, community services and opportunity to Loudoun and the Dulles South area, were this land set aside for things like a University Campus, Recreational fields/sports park, Environmental Educaation/Research facilities, an Arts/Entertainment Center, etc...let's be a little more visionary and serious about this?

Budget for FY 2011

As the budget process begins, the Board of Supervisors would like to hear residents’ opinions about budget priorities. There are two public input meetings about the budget scheduled in early December. I am also planning to host a few community meetings in Dulles regarding the budget. More information soon!

Budget Public Input Sessions:
- Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 6:30pm in the County Government Center in Leesburg
- Thursday, Dec. 10 at 6:30pm in the School Administration Building in Ashburn

Residents can begin signing up for either session beginning Tuesday, Dec. 1 by calling 703-777-0200.

Commentary - one area we'd like immediate, serious budget improvement and focus on, is Economic Development and Loudoun County Marketing, to attract and retain businesses, assist small businesses, attract research/educational centers, etc...hand-in-hand with this would be significant improvement in the quality of education, including teacher recruitment and salaries, research programs, advanced and continuing education in science/technology/business, etc.

Gum Spring Regional Library
The long awaited groundbreaking for the Gum Spring Regional Library was held Saturday, November 7th. The ceremony was an exciting beginning to what will be a great asset to the Rt. 50 corridor. The library is scheduled to open in 2011. http://www.leesburgtoday.com/articles/2009/11/09/news/9997library110909.txt

Veterans Day
Please remember that November 11th, is Veterans Day. This day is set aside to honor the brave men and women who have served in the armed services. Many have given a lot to keep us safe and free. Please take a moment to thank a veteran for their service and recognize their honor, bravery and service to our country.

Loudoun County Marketing and Business Retention - Awash in Unrealized Opportunity

2009-11-05T06:52:00.006-05:00

This week's Loudoun County Marketing and Business Retention Committee meeting (the MBRC is a part of the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, or DED) was quite interesting, with many discussions revolving around the status of Loudoun's marketing efforts to attract "heads in beds" as well as new business investors.

What was missing, from our perspective as a Loudoun-based professional Internet Marketing firm, was a concrete marketing plan and progress report with measurable performance indicators and objectives, that most businesses typically use to gauge the effectiveness of their integrated online and offline marketing and communications efforts. While the Loudoun County Visitor's Association (LCVA, a non-profit association mostly funded by the DED, as "primary programmatic element of Loudoun's travel and tourism promotion") is doing a fantastic job of creating online web-based marketing material and beginning to leverage social media/Web 2.0 tools (follow @visitloudoun), there's quite literally no similar effort or investment (in our opinion) for doing the same online to promote Loudoun's non-tourism related business community.

Here's the interesting tidbits we learned:

- The MBRC has recommended that the DED fully fund the LCVA for the upcoming fiscal cycle - this is a good thing, and frankly funding should be increased - though making sure that the LCVA capabilities and programs are executed in a way that they can be integrated and reused for other DED programs, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the Chamber of Commerce.

- The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce 2010 Public Policy Positions paper, regarding Economic Development, was discussed and generally received approving remarks - though we'd suggest the word "Internet" or "Online" be used once or twice. The paper does recommend twice that "measurable performance goals and metrics" should be developed and implemented, and that Loudoun leverage in its marketing the "County's strongest economic assets, including industry sectors where Loudoun possesses a clear competitive advantage". Absolutely correct.

- "Rural Tourism" initiatives should be moved to the LCVA program - this is also a good idea, as LCVA is in name a "whole county initiative".

- Loudoun's got over 4 and 1/2 years worth of vacant buildings, and it evidently costs more to provide residents with Government services than businesses - this "upside down" and otherwise bleak indicator of the economy is actually an marketing opportunity waiting to be leveraged, i.e. Loudoun's competitiveness in the DC region in terms of low-cost, accessible and environmentally-attractive places to work and recruit employees.

- One of the MBRC/DED's biggest priorities is to do a better job recruiting new businesses to the county, overcoming the persistent perception that Loudoun's incredibly difficult to do business with...what was particularly interesting about this discussion, was that despite this perception, there really are very good examples of business investment success, and very real methods and routes to successfully purchasing and operating properties in the County - these examples and information, however, are simply not marketed.

- The initial foray by LCVA into online marketing and social media is well-received and is evidently generating positive economic impact, but can be much more aggressive and infused with professional Internet Marketing and Social Media ROI tracking methodology...for example, there were "0" new subscribers to the Industry eNewsletter in September; sales numbers were significantly down this quarter because (in part) of the absence of a sales person (an online sales campaign can be much more self-propagating); there appeared to be no online paid advertising at all; overall "IT Marketing Economic Impact" was down nearly 10% since last year; and there was "no data" by which to judge economic impact of the social media activity.

- There was discussion regarding the many events recently held or being planned, including a "Teacher's Internship Project", a "Vendor Opportunity Fair", the "Breakfast of Leaders", etc...but these events simply aren't marketing or published effectively using available online tools and outlets (just try to find them using Google; one meeting attendee remarked that the Local and Regional Media outlets simply don't provide as much coverage of Loudoun/DED-related news as they should).

- There was much other discussion about "print-based" marketing and signage associated with existing or planned rest stops (to be re-opened, according to our new Governor!), visitor's centers and other community centers - all good things, but with low ROI compared to online methods.

In all, we'd classify the road ahead for the DED and MBRC as "awash with overwhelming and real opportunities for professionally-managed success, use of Internet New Media, and immediate tactical collaboration with the local business and technology community".

Loudoun H1N1 Update and Pediatric Advice...

2009-10-26T08:35:00.004-04:00

Here's some good H1N1 advice from the Pediatrics at Nite folks (at Dulles Town Center):

(edited for readability)

"Dear Friends:

We closed the week with yet another very busy week. We keep trying to keep working with you and for you.

This weekend we heard that Loudoun Emergency Department was on an 8 hour wait. That people could not find Feverall or Motrin on the shelves. There has been no Tamiflu suspension for a couple of weeks now.

The Influenza H1N1 vaccine program is delayed. We anticipate only 45% of the vaccine allotment for the coming week and 50% for the following week. We have yet to receive any vaccinations. Please see the updated info at CDC : http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/vaccination/top10_faq.htm

Please keep calm. If there is a question about H1N1 read our web site or email - PHIC@vdh.virginia.gov Please do not call your pediatrician's or school nurses at this time for routine question on H1N1, or if your child is mildly ill, is not under 2 years of age, asthmatic, diabetic or otherwise at risk. We need to keep the phone lines open to the parents that need help with sick children.

Avoid the Emergency Departments, Retail Nurse Clinics or Adult Urgent Cares. You are going to experience long wait times and the adult retail clinic and urgent cares are not experienced to take care of young or sick children.

We are moving to open at 2 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of this week, and at 3 pm on Monday and Friday. We will continue to see patients from 10 am to 10 pm Saturday and Sunday, and we are working to add physicians to both shifts.

We are suspending all non-clinical functions, shifting all of our staff to taking care of patients and have gone to paper forms to speed up our ability to see and take care of patients.

If you need to go to the Emergency Department we highly recommend that you use the INOVA Fairfax Hospital For Children. It is staffed by pediatricians with special training in Emergency Medicine.

Best

The Pediatrics@nite Team"
Twitter

Loudoun County HyperLocal News Online – What’s Next in Loudoun Social Media and Blogs in Suburban Washington DC

2009-10-25T21:10:00.023-04:00

Quite a lot of news, analysis and conferencing has been going on lately about the challenges of the traditional news community, both online and in print. The advances of “citizen journalism” catalyzed by Internet social media tools like Twitter and real-time search are contributing to far-reaching outcomes - from the demise of long-lived newspapers like Colorado’s Rocky Mountain News and the shuttering of the Washington Post’s hyperlocal LoudounExtra.com experiment, to interesting conversations at the recent REBlogWorld and DC Twitter Conference regarding both opportunities and competitive animosities between journalists and bloggers competing for online “eyeballs”.

When we first moved to Loudoun County in the late 90’s, comprehensive local news was an afterthought to the large newspapers and regional broadcast media, and seemed mostly relegated to the entrenched local papers like Leesburg Today and the Loudoun Times. Of course, the citizen and business population was quite lower, too. Actual or “near real time” news was only gained via local radio and special TV reports, perhaps a radio-shack emergency band scanner, and the growing proliferation of neighborhood online chat, discussion and email groups. Very few non-personal blogs existed, but picking up the phone was still useful to contact local authorities and reporters.

Today, our “situational awareness” of local and regional events is multi-channel and immediate, and can be filtered to precise interests, sources or level of abstraction. This past Friday night, for example, large explosions permeated our neighborhood – a bit odd for this time of year, but immediately provoking both memories of a deadly natural gas explosion in 1998 and our latent, persistent homeland-security uneasiness. Finding out what was happening was pretty efficient – a few searches on Twitter, a look at the local events calendars, a call or two to the neighbors…a homecoming football game fireworks display was the culprit. “Traditional media” coverage was to be found the next day, in game reviews and search engine results…but event-to-analysis lag was at least 12 hours.

Where then, and why, should we be going to find the best “hyperlocal” news as a Loudoun County resident? Is “hyperlocal” truly relevant, particularly in this area of interstitial communities, long-ranging commuters and multi-county politic, economic and government service dependencies? Can traditional publishers of general interest news and the journalists they support coexist with or ultimately become the “Internet Media” Geoff Livingston alluded to in his prognostications for the future of social media?

This particular blog is an example of a constantly evolving solution to our Loudoun County and regional news interests. While started many years ago in response to a hyperlocal “Comprehensive Planning Amendment” (CPAM) issue in the Braddock Road/Dulles South area, it’s grown to include and syndicate information about mostly business, education and community interest items not only in the Loudoun County/Dulles South region, but in Western Prince William, Western Fairfax, and other Northern Virginia areas. We broadcast information through most online social media channels (such as @loudoun on Twitter), aggregate and curate great material from Loudoun-centric news sources, citizens, businesses and nonprofits (for example via @loudoun_news), and syndicate this material as necessary to regional and national channels (for example through BlogNetNews.com, our Loudoun Times blog, @northernva_news, and many social media sites including Mixx and LinkedIn.).

We asked other prominent local bloggers and journalists who’ve routinely covered Loudoun County local and regional news what their perspectives were to these questions. For example, Dan Sousa, a self-described “old newspaper guy who has worked for newspapers for more than 30 years” relates; “When I speak to high school journalism classes and ask how many kids read a paper daily and not a single student raises their hand - then the writing is indeed on the wall! What will replace the newspaper as the "hyperlocal" news deliverer? Probably not 1,000 competing blogs, but the future may lie in a collaboration or network of these new journalists into portals that present their niche offerings to the public as part of an overall patchwork of Loudoun coverage.”

Sousa’s broad and detailed coverage of local Loudoun sports (prep/high school and youth) at http://www.vivaloudoun.com and LoudounPrepSports reflects his opinion that “even though Loudoun is home to far-flung commutes and a wide array of interests and cultures, "hyperlocal" news still matters especially in those areas closest to home such as education and high school and youth sports. Where is the next high school going to be built? What about recent crime in my neighborhood? How did the local football team do Friday night? What time is the local book fair Saturday? These are all questions that tie a community together, whether the neighbors are transplants from New Jersey, lifelong Loudoun residents or a family that recently emigrated from India.”

A very similar perspective comes from Erin Rice at http://www.suburbanfizz.com (and the organizer of the very successful Loudoun “Bloggers for Good” charity support events), who says “I've found hyperlocal news to be incredibly helpful in ad hoc but frequent and repeatable situations. I use local sources to learn about community events, opportunities, and news events. When there was a violent crime in my neighborhood, local news was extremely important. I relied on it to find out what happened, the status of the investigation, and how it affected me. As rumors circulated and panic mounted, it was local -- and reliable -- news websites that kept me informed and even influenced my behavior, suggesting ways to get involved and stay safe. The importance of local news grows as community ties grow stronger. The more skin we have in the local "game," in areas like schools, public safety, access to health care, traffic, government, taxes, real estate values all increase the dependence we have on hyperlocal news. National news is critical, but access to local information is equally important. Frankly, on any given day, construction on Route 7 or a new school lunch policy can affect my world more than any bill before congress.”

Here at Gateway to Loudoun, we’re not journalists in the formal professional definition. We are, however, recognized subject-matter experts in many areas (mostly enterprise systems engineering and architecture, social media, internet marketing and business management), and we know many other SMEs who have much to add to the intellectual conversation and analysis of Loudoun-related material. The timely and relevant insight available from these SMEs ranges from widely-covered technology issues to very local Loudoun politics, sports, education, real estate, business services and wine making. This network of SMEs and contributors is a hugely valuable source of information, and does include trained journalists. Much of our own analysis and research for use in publishing (whether for business, marketing or community use) certainly leverages the work of journalists, and much of it doesn’t – especially the more “real-time” material, or very subject vs. event-specific topics. I’ll point out that information posted by SMEs, journalists, media, bloggers and everyone else on the Internet is equivalently classified as “unverified open source” by the government when it comes to authoritative sources of information for real-time incident management operations – it’s all scanned, it’s all considered and much very quickly does become “verified” in context, on merits of trustworthiness and substantiated relevance.

Therefore, we’ve created a citizen-sourced “Loudoun Internet Media” hub of sorts - that while somewhat subjective to our interests, is published, personalized, accessible and syndicated in a manner that it can quickly, in near real-time provide a broad cross-section of Loudoun news and information from citizen and business perspectives, and routes to find more. It’s also helpful to include some advertising – this ensures the capability to keep the hub operating and brings local businesses and nonprofits to the table to communicate their own events in an equitably recognized manner. We’d expect other blog-centric Internet Media hubs to develop, and the network of blog hubs with attending links of relationship-vetted contributors and SME-vetted material to become a truly verifiable source of news as you need it in Loudoun.

While Internet search will continue to be a primary channel find a lot of this, as Google and Bing move towards more “real-time indexing” of sites like Twitter, the need for a constant destination site or “dashboard” will remain (as will, we predict, the need for the armchair dashboard – i.e. printed newscopy). Some local news sites are evolving this way, for example the Loudoun Times with its local and well-known blogger corps mix of employed and citizen journalists, its balanced use of multi-media and granular RSS feeds, its not-too-intrusive advertiser promotion, and its quickly growing and conversational Twitter presence.

Keep up with Loudoun County Internet Media AND Traditional Media sources here at Gateway to Loudoun County, through the sources and web channels of those mentioned in this article (we’ve conveniently assembled a list of notable Loudoun-news tweeters here; all media sources are aggregated under @loudoun_news), and through subscriptions to other Internet Media services who cover or syndicate what our hyperlocal knowledge community produces.

The Loudoun News BlogRoll

Here’s The List of notable, active, general Loudoun news-centric blogs to follow – not just from Loudoun, but about Loudoun.

Gateway to Loudoun County (http://www.dullessouthonline.com/loudoun_county_gateway/)
Loudoun Stats (http://loudounstats.com/) – by Tony Arko, Realtor
Our Loudoun Schools (http://blog.loudounschools.org/) – by John Stevens, Loudoun School Board
Loco Musings (http://www.locomusings.com/) – by Heather Flynn, Realtor
Suburban Fizz (http://www.suburbanfizz.com) – by Erin Rice
Viva Loudoun (http://www.vivaloudoun.com) – by Dan Sousa
Living in Loco (not the old LoudounExtra one) – (http://livinginloco.blogspot.com/) – by Vicky Chrisner, Realtor
Loudoun Times (A whole gaggle of great Blogs) – (http://www.loudountimes.com/blogs/)
Loudoun Education Alliance of Parents (LEAP) (http://leapforloudoun.blogspot.com/)
Every Restaurant in Leesburg (http://every-restaurant-in-leesburg.blogspot.com/)
DC's Wine Country/Visit Loudoun (Loudoun Convention and Visitor's Association) (http://dcwinecountry.blogspot.com/)
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy (http://www.loudounwildlife.org/blog/)
Loudoun Landscapes (http://www.loudounlandscapes.com/pastoral/)
Realtor Ramblings (http://ginatufano.blogspot.com/) - by Gina Tufano
Loudoun Scene (Real Estate) (http://loudounscene.com/) - by Danilo Bogdanovich

There do exist other blogs, directories and websites associated with Loudoun in one way or another, though not as focused on actually delivering news and information about Loudoun - or simply not very well-maintained or delivered. KME Internet Marketing has the entire list of Loudoun-centric online traditional and social media websites, blogs and directories, along with the return-on-investment estimates (ROIs) for local advertisers to use them (if they accept advertising)...contact us if you'd like to take advantage of this.

- Ted & Kelly

Real-time Loudoun County News, Business and Information on Twitter

2009-10-24T09:54:00.004-04:00

Are you using Twitter? Think of it as another channel on your TV - turn it on every once in a while (or simply stare at the feed all day long on your blackberry, as we do!), and scan what's happening. Follow your favorite "tweeple", meet some new ones, and check these handcrafted, knowledgeable sources out for more info about Loudoun...

@loudoun - our primary Twitter
@loudoun_news - a hand-curated, metered aggregation of Loudoun-centric media and tweeters
@northernva_news - another aggregation, but covering all of Northern Virginia
@fairfax_county - another aggregation, covering Fairfax to the east

(Note these are not "official" government channels - though most gov't sources are included in these aggregated feeds.) For example:

@loudouncountyva - official Loudoun County
@fairfaxcounty - official Fairfax County

There's also now a new Twitter @loudounhealth we've set up to monitor Loudoun health/H1N1 media, and to monitor various physician/health center page updates on the subject. Not much info is readily available in social media from Loudoun providers at the moment, without going directly to particular websites or news outlets.

Find some other notables at this "Loudoun News/Info Twitter List"

Send us more suggestions of the very best Loudoun-Centric news, business, education, community information blogs!

Northern Virginia Sedation Dentistry - Remove the Bleah, Stoke the Happy

2009-10-14T20:28:00.002-04:00

Most of us have memories extending to childhood of visits to the dentist. They’re not always very happy memories, though your regular early dental care went far towards the great smile you’ve got today (especially if you lived through the agony of braces and retainers). Visits to the dentist today are quite a bit more comfortable and efficient, for typical cleansing and routine oral care. The fluoride treatments taste better, the drills aren’t quite as loud, and some offices even provide ceiling mounted TV or Internet access to take your mind off the proceedings (if you’re not texting or dentweeting away).

Many dental procedures, however, still provoke anxiety, fear and legitimate discomfort no matter how comfortable the dentist’s chair is, how reassuring your dentist is, or how ergonomically advanced the oral care or surgical instruments and tools are. After all, your teeth and gums are very sensitive, most significant procedures require a lot of intrusive, painful activity in your mouth, and it’s really hard to ignore the high-pitched drills and associated sounds of uncomfortable, invasive foreign machinery in your head. Suction, please – now rinse and spit. Bleah.

No wonder “sedation dentistry” is now quickly building a popular following among the legions of us who truly fear and loathe the dental visit, regardless of the extent of work to be done. Sedation dentistry in DC and Northern Virginia is used to provide a relaxing and anxiety-free experience for certain people receiving dental treatment, enabling those who may be too afraid to go to the dentist to receive the dental care they need, while avoiding a common apprehension called “dental phobia”. You’re actually happy to be there – and certainly feel good about the results.

Sedation is a process used to establish a relaxed, easy and calm state through the use of sedatives. Sedative drugs (tranquilizers, depressants, anti-anxiety medications, nitrous oxide, etc.) can be administered in a variety of ways. Patients do have alternatives to the traditional methods of inhalation (nitrous oxide or “laughing gas”) and IVs – a "no needle” (meaning, no injection) approach very commonly used for oral sedation tends to appeal to most people. The medications create such a comfortable experience that most patients don’t remember the visit; it’s as if they slept through the whole treatment (this is very helpful for longer and more complicated procedures, and can reduce the number of successive procedures required – i.e. the “Teeth in a Day” concept, a real time-saver). However, oral sedation dentistry does require an appropriate level of consciousness in the patient for proper medical safety and cooperation.

As one of the pioneers of sedation dentistry in Northern Virginia, Dr. Winkler with our friends over at the Winkler Centers for Sedation Dentistry in Burke have helped thousands of people overcome their fears and create many new, healthy smiles :). Dr. Winkler’s passion for helping people has revolutionized the art and science of sedation dentistry and greatly contributed to the evolution of the overall anesthesia dentistry field. Dr. Winkler is on the cutting edge of implant dentistry in the DC area, and has been placing dental implants for 20 years. He has also utilizes the concept of “Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques (MIST),” utilizing lasers and micro-surgical techniques to reduce healing time and provide optimal results with minimal discomfort – a “Total Dental Solutions” outcome.

Find out more about the leading methods, practices and advantages of sedation and anesthesia dentistry in Northern Virginia, by contacting the Winkler Centers for Sedation Dentistry or visiting their website, at http://www.winklersedation.com.

#fail Washingtonian - Why You Should Love This School - Thomas Jefferson

2009-10-10T08:35:00.003-04:00

Our blog title is actually a carefully chosen phrase, since we're prone to using Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization techniques around here in Northern Virginia. This latest issue of The Washingtonian features a really good, insightful and factual writeup of the very best high school in America, Thomas Jefferson. But the magazine's front cover is a horrid, nasty and insulting dig at the greatness of the school and its hard-working, motivated students - for which the editor quite literally should be fired (or at least counseled on the impact of search engine marketing).

While the reviews of fascinating, very likeable students and the world-class opportunities made available to them are motivating reading for all those parents in this area striving to offer their children educational opportunity, this stupid attempt at politically-tainted humor simply squashes the hard work and sacrifice these students and parents have made to rise above the sludge that is our local and US public educational system and politics. The magazine content is an incredible dichotomy of the inane and vapid vs. intellectual, with the TJ article immediately following some pure DC fluff and flotsam about "the most stylish people"....something we sincerely hope none of our children or those in great schools around the region ever aspire to.

From a Northern Virginia online advertising, marketing and reputation management perspective, this is a pure slam-dunk for the Washingtonian, and pure horror for TJ and its students....the article has generated plenty of controversy and reader reaction, probably selling many more copies and generating increasing traffic to its site (we're guilty of supporting this, simply by posting this blog...though we'll not include any page-rank enhancing backlinks). The online marketing inanity comes from the search engines....simply search in Google for "Northern Virginia Most H$%ed High School" - you'll see what we mean (again, we're not going to actually post these despicable phrases).

As the tweeters say, #fail Washingtonian.

JMU Alumni MetroDukes Celebration - 2009 Family Crab Feast in Centreville!

2009-10-04T11:50:00.003-04:00

What a perfect way to spend a beautiful Saturday Fall afternoon in Bull Run Park, Centreville - chowing fresh Chesapeake Blue Crabs, tasty selections from Starr Hill Brewery of Charlottesville (find them next at Northern Virginia's spectacular Fall Brewfest, Oct. 24-25!), the kids having fun in huge moonbounces from GoJumps of Northern Virginia, and hanging out with JMU "Metrodukes" alumni... an absolute solid part of our Fall schedule now for years to come.

Alumni to come!

Go Jumps!

Little Dawgz!

Middleburg Seven Loaves Charity Concert - SGGL Kicks off VA Fall Races and Polo in Upperville

2009-10-03T08:27:00.005-04:00

We spent a fantastic evening last night at the historic Blackthorne Inn & Restaurant in Upperville VA, a hunt-country getaway at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains and historic Ashby Gap once owned by George Washington, reliving UVA Charlottesville concerts in the ampitheatre by (various combinations of) Speidel, Goodrich, Goggin and Lille.

The concert and silent auction benefited the Seven Loaves Services Food Bank of Middleburg - an ecumenical volunteer organization dedicated to providing food, personal supplies, and other assistance to those in the Middleburg community and the surrounding area that are in need of assistance. Sponsors included the Blackthorne Inn, Salamander Hospitality and Fields of Athenry Farm (organic meats).

SGG&L hit the first of 3 sets with many of their older, original work - and amped it up progressively as the jeans, boots and jackets dancing got under way - all under a spectacular moonlit tent setting by the Inn courtyard. (It was a bit disconcerting to hear a full drum set and keyboards with the acoustic foursome; but it certainly made for a more lively party...) The Inn put on a great show, with Fields of Athenry Hors d'œuvres - with full menu fare available in the very cozy, hunt country themed Wolfe Tone's Pub.

We met a bunch of great people - several of whom were in town for the upcoming "5th Annual Ride to Thrive Polo Classic" event, Oct. 10th at the Merriweather Manor Polo fields in Leesburg. This event supports the very popular and successful Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program of Clifton. The Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program provides equine assisted activities for children and adults with disabilities, youth-at-risk, veterans, and their families in an inclusive, community setting. The program was originally chartered, in 1980, as the Fairfax 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program, under the Virginia 4-H extension program.

This program is very much like the Leesburg-based Loudoun Therapeutic Riding Foundation (LTRF), which also provides opportunities for horseback riding and other related activities for therapeutic purposes for children and adults with disabilities. Swing by their 35th anniversary celebration and family fun fair Oct. 24 at Morven Park in Leesburg!

Another great Fall event in horse & hunt country coming up - Brad and Elaine Boland and the Vintage 50 Restaurant Group cordially invite you to join them on Saturday, October 17th at 3pm at the Fields of Athenry Farm...Elaine Boland and Chef Aaron McCloud will be pit roasting and BBQ-ing locally organic-raised Lamb, Beef, Chicken and Pork. Wine pairings, pony rides, face painting, and more are included...10% of all product sales benefit Leesburg's Faith and Family Therapy Dog Program. This program is evolving to place specially trained, GCC certified companion therapy dogs with specially identified, disabled children - much like the very popular and successful Paws4People program out of Round Hill, VA.

Vintage 50 (in Leesburg) and Vintage 51 (in South Riding) Restaurants and Brew Lounges support many Northern Virginia and Loudoun charities and events - including the extremely popular Northern Virginia BrewFest series in the Summer and Fall. This Fall's 3rd annual brewfest/beer festival, a "World Beer Experience", is at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, Oct. 24-25th.

Northern Virginia Brew Fest - Harvest Time is Here in DC’s Beer Country

2009-09-28T19:45:00.002-04:00

Fall in Northern Virginia is filled with countless harvest festivals and seasonal entertainment, mixed in among the demanding schedules of school academic and athletic events. It’s hard not only to find a spare moment to relax and enjoy the Oktoberfest-influenced, pre-holiday season, but to also choose among the myriad offerings of Northern Virginia’s best outdoor venues – including farms, restaurants, wineries and vineyards, parks, rural and suburban communities. For those seeking the perfect mix of outdoor entertainment in great Fall weather, seasonal harvest brews and local food, plus a great mix of fun-loving residents, families and visitors – make plans now to visit DC’s Beer Country out in the Loudoun County/Dulles South region for the great 3rd annual Northern Virginia BrewFest.

The World Beer Experience on October 24th and 25th, at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, VA, will feature more than 40 of the world’s best breweries, plenty of delicious food to complement the craft beers and outstanding local and regional bands providing entertainment. Bull Run Regional Park includes huge, spacious fields, scenic woodlands and trails, and is a quick trek about 30 minutes to the west of DC, off of Rt. 29 in Centreville - an easy ride from Rt. 66.

Musical entertainment on the Main Stage will include genres such as rock, classic rock, blues, and folk - and all are included with the price of admission. Great local and regional bands will be joining us all weekend long, including Road Soda (rock/hip hop/classic rock quartet from Fairfax, Virginia), Gonzo’s Nose (80’s and 90’s rock covers, from Arlington), Gypsy Sons (classic rock, from Alexandria), The Cheaters (rock, southern and classic rock, from Baltimore), Backseat Betties (Northern Virginia female trio, 80’s through today’s rock and country covers), and Klepto Radio (classic/modern rock to old school/modern Hip Hop).

For those ready to sample the very finest and world-renown beers, here’s the lineup of over 40 breweries expected – some especially fabulous and award-winning breweries featured along with local champs:

Vintage 50, Abita, Allagash, Ballast Point, Bear Republic, Beck’s, Bells, Birra Peroni, Bitburger, Blue Grass, Boston Brewing Company, Boulder, Brooklyn, Budweiser, Capitol City, Clipper City, Dogfish, Flying Dog, Fordham, Franziskaner, Het Anker, Hofbrau Munchen, Hook Ladder, Huyghe, Kona, Kostrizer, Lagunitas, Lancaster Malt, Brewing Co., Leinienkugel, Mad Fox, Magic Hat, New Holland, Northcoast, Old Dominion, Oskar Blues, Otter Creek/ Wolavers, Peak Organic, Plzensky Prazdroj, Raven, RedHook, Sierra Nevada, Spaten, St George, Starr Hill, Van Housebrouck, Victory, Weihenstephaner, Widmer, Wild Goose, and Woodchuck.

Just because it’s a BrewFest, don’t think that the kids aren’t welcome as well. There’s an area dedicated to entertainment for the children including moon-bounces, face-painters, and other hands-on activities. Local Virginia crafters and artisans will also be on hand to provide unique, handmade products and some early shopping for the holidays this year. There’s even a local vineyard or two representing, for the Virginia wine lovers in all of us.

As an entirely family-friendly, safe, fun local arts, crafts, music and brew festival, the Northern Virginia BrewFest in DC’s Beer Country offers a full slate of early and late entertainment for everyone – and represents one of the very best, professionally managed and most anticipated outdoors fall events in all of Northern Virginia. Free parking’s available, and lots of great hotels are very near, with special rates available to festival attendees.

Should your Northern Virginia or Loudoun Business Tweet?

2009-09-23T06:44:00.002-04:00

Here's a bit of advice via the KME Internet Marketing of Loudoun expert community, regarding your decision as a business owner to tweet or not to tweet. We're finding this is a pervasive question among most small to medium-sized businesses; the answers align with existing online marketing and communication strategies.

"The jury’s still out for most businesses on whether or not significant effort is made in “tweeting” information via Twitter.com – but the evidence is IN regarding whether or not to simply sign up and prepare to do so.

Your company’s online popularity, reputation and ultimately success is derived from two core things – what you say, and what others say about you. Let’s address these communication elements as “attributed source information” (ASI). “Attributed” from the perspective that there is in fact a known source (though it may be an anonymous ID), “source” from the perspective that it’s the very first sincere representation of the communication or concept actually published online, and “information” in that it’s not just some data or graphic fragments, it’s actually a message or concept with enough context to drive interest..."

Read more about Northern Virginia and Loudoun Business Tweeting...