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Young at Art

The Chester County Art Association is currently holding it’s 39th Annual Student Art exhibit. The gallery features nearly 500 hundred works of art, created by 12 area High Schools across Chester County. The various works include illustrations, paintings, watercolor, photography, ceramics, graphic design and jewelry.

A reception and awards ceremony was held Monday, April 29th during which the following awards were presented: Chester County Art Association Excellence Awards and Honorable Mentions, William Hirsch Award for Excellence in Sculpture, William Hirsch Award for Excellence in Black and White Drawing, Will Newcomb Memorial Award, and the Congressional Art Show Awards.

It was an amazing show of talent and proud moment for “bragging rights,” as my son Spencer, a 9th grade student at Henderson High School, accepted an award.

CCAA - Spencer Parke with his award winning digital Illustration entitled “Sigma.”

Spencer Parke with his award winning Digital Illustration entitled “Sigma.”

The show will run through Saturday, May 4, from 9:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Chester County Art Association, located at 100 North Bradford Avenue, in West Chester.

admin 2017-05-22T13:17:03+00:00 May 1st, 2013|Local, Shows|6 Comments

Making Strides

SPARC is a nonprofit clinic that serves individuals with autism as well as children with a variety of behavioral concerns. Back in January we received a letter from Dena, their Marketing Director asking for donations to support “Strides for SPARC” 4th Annual 5K Run/Walk here in West Chester.

We were happy to give our support by donating our services to create promotional materials, such as posters, flyers and t-shirt designs for upcoming event. In addition we recreated the SPARC logo, since their only copy was a low resolution jpg version, providing them a full set of clean logos for printing and the web.

SPARC Poster & T-Shirt

Look for the posters around town and hopefully we’ll see you at the event, which is scheduled for 9:00 am next Saturday, April 27th at West Chester University.

admin 2017-05-22T13:17:03+00:00 April 23rd, 2013|Design, Local|Comments Off

Backstage at the Armory

The heart of downtown West Chester was beating this weekend with the sound of the many performances to come at Uptown! Entertainment Alliance Red Carpet Gala event, to give the performing arts a new home.

The Armory West Chester - Uptown Red Carpet Gala

Uptown! Gala funds will help finance the transformation of the historical 1916 National Guard Armory on High Street into an entertainment venue. The Armory was alive with history and music as the First Ladies of Rock & Soul and their 14-piece band and singer/songwriter Joel Roberts entertained a sold out crowd.

The evening was a class act and we can’t wait to visit the Armory again in all its full glory as a permanent theatre for film and live performances.

The power of the performing arts can be seen in Uptown’s video “Entertainment Needs a Home.”

We were truly inspired by this video and cast of local performers on roof tops, alleyways and store fronts of West Chester. Bravo!

admin 2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 April 15th, 2013|Local|1 Comment

You are here, here, here …

The internet has long been a way of finding local businesses online. But these days more and more people are using mobile devices to search, having the resources at their fingertips and relying on recommendations by fellow users in real time.

Since attracting new customers can be a major challenge for local businesses, taking advantage of some free business directories can be of great help, allowing the placement of coupons, specials, announcement, and photos directly into their listing.

You are Here Here & Here

Google Local, Bing, Yelp, Foursquare, and other social networks can be powerful marketing channels for small businesses. Take for instance the last time you were out in a new town looking for a place to eat. If you didn’t do your homework, and no restaurant caught your eye, chances are, your phone came to the rescue. Restaurant owners are very familiar with the value of increasing their star rating on places like Yelp. And it’s not just restaurants that profit, other kinds of businesses make up 75% of the listings, so everyone can take advantage of targeting online customers.

The top 15 listings according to HubSpot are listed below or click here for a complete list.

1. Google	6. LinkedIn	11. CitySearch
2. Bing	7. YellowPages.com	12. Mapquest
3. Yahoo!	8. Whitepages	13. Biznik
4. Yelp	9. Supermedia	14. Local.com
5. Merchant Circle	10. Yellowbook	15. Foursquare

1. Google
2. Bing
3. Yahoo!
4. Yelp
5. Merchant Circle
6. LinkedIn
7. YellowPages.com
8. Whitepages
9. Supermedia
10. Yellowbook
11. CitySearch
12. Mapquest
13. Biznik
14. Local.com
15. Foursquare

Every directory that you submit to is another chance to attract customers, so it’s important to make sure you’re listed in as many of them as possible. The businesses with the most visibility will see a boost in website visitors and hopefully attract new business as well.

Is your business taking advantage of local directories? Which ones seem to attract the most loyal customer base? Let us know in the comments section.

admin 2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 January 6th, 2013|Local|Comments Off

Wall to Mall Art

Art students of West Chester School District have been given the opportunity to display their work at the Exton Square Mall during this holiday season. Opening night I was one of many proud parents of an aspiring artist, in a crowd filled room alive with music, visitors, friends and family.

Take the opportunity to see a group of dedicated students display their “Gift of Talent.” The exhibit will be open until January 6th, 2013.

admin 2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 December 21st, 2012|Local|Comments Off

Back it up before Doomsday!

12/21/2012 won’t be the end of the world as we know it, but it sure could feel like it. If you’ve ever had a complete hard drive failure, lost a laptop, contracted a virus, or dropped your phone in a lake you will fear the end is near!

It’s about keeping copies of information that you didn’t even know you wanted until it’s too late. Thankfully it’s a simple process with several options to back up your content to separate locations.

1. External Hard Drives. Keep your data safe on a portable hard drive that you can keep in a fireproof safe, safe deposit box with your bank or credit union. Or simply store it in an unattached structure, such as a garage, shed or your office to prevent loss during a fire. A good rule of thumb is to purchase a external hard drive with twice as much storage as your computer’s hard drive.

2. Backing Up to the Web. Select from a number of cloud-based, hosted backup service you feel comfortable with. Some providers include Carbonite, DropBox and Mozy.

3. Back up Your Smart Phone. Storing information in the cloud means you can access them from any device that has an Internet connection. Your content will live online, available on a personal, password-protected website.

4. A Direct-to-Friend Back Up or Shared Hard Drives. Keep multiple copies of your data in the hands of trusted friends or family. If something happens to you, at least the people you trust will also have copies of your memories, to pass along to the people you wanted to have them.

Avoid your digital world from crashing down, Henny Penny. Don’t store all those eggs in one basket, back up to a hard drive or online. We all use different operating systems, look for the one that works best for you.

admin 2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 December 4th, 2012|Big Thinking, Local|Comments Off

6 Marketing Tips for Small & Midsize Business Owners

We all rely on marketing to tell us about the latest and greatest events and promotions. We constantly need to move forward, create new things through information, knowledge and, most of all, imagination!

1. Build a strong connection with customers. Know the customer base you want to target, and advertise in places where they frequent. Do you want to increase customer loyalty, boost brand awareness or sell products? Think of the three things that make you better than everybody else or what differentiates you.

2. Reach a large audience. Contact local magazines and newspapers to be considered for an interview regarding your business. You have a chance to reach thousands – even if you don’t have a budget to match. Two good examples in Chester County would be countylinesmagazine.com and chestercounty-life.com

3. Join the Chamber of Commerce or local professional organizations. Then make your “connections count” by getting out on the street and talking to people. Even if your business is primarily online, you still need the support of your local community.

4. Push the envelope. Digital printing has put the FUN back into full color printing at a more affordable price than traditional methods. Drive traffic to your website with announcements, posters, banners of special upcoming events and sales.

5. No more boring websites. Creating relevant content attracts your target market and positions you as the expert in your industry. Expand your presence onto the proper social media sites, start a blog, record videos for your business and upload them to YouTube, or create a Pinterest account that showcases your products.

6˚ Creativity Rules! A highly creative idea will take you far beyond a limited budget. Great marketing is part science, part art.

And for the really BIG thinking go a little bananas with “Guerilla Marketing.” This type of marketing is primarily designed for small businesses–without layers of bureaucracy to go through.

admin 2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 November 29th, 2012|Big Thinking, Local|Comments Off

Think Big. Shop Small.

We live here. We work here. We shop here. Show your holiday spirit and support downtown West Chester’s small businesses on Small Business Saturday, November 24th.

Where we shop, eat and have fun makes our community home and many local shops have felt like part of our family for years. Shops such as Fairman’s, Taylors’ Music and Mad Platter have remained in business at the same location for some 25 to 83 years. West Chester boutiques’ have become the number one shopping destination for that unique homecoming dress, skate shoes or one-of-a-kind accessories. I’ll often find gifts here in town that I won’t find in larger stores. And my husband is sure to find the perfect gift at any one of West Chester’s fine jewelry stores.

All this shopping makes me hungry and we all have our favorite water holes and restaurants, but be sure to check out some of the new comers like Jack’s Steaks & Shakes. As my husband said in total satisfaction, “That was possibly one of The Best Cheese Steak I have ever had!”

As you make your holiday wish list, remember that your purchases make a positive impact. The money you spend here stays in the community. Local businesses support everyone by paying taxes that reduce local property taxes, and build strong neighborhoods by creating more jobs.

So think big, shop small and have a happy holiday.

admin 2017-05-22T13:17:05+00:00 November 16th, 2012|Local|Comments Off