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	<title>the Dream Shop</title>
	<link>http://thedreamshop.com</link>
	<description>play more, give more, live more</description>
	<pubDate>Sun, 03 Aug 2008 07:08:48 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Play More</title>
		<link>http://thedreamshop.com/sound-bytes/play-more/</link>
		<comments>http://thedreamshop.com/sound-bytes/play-more/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:11:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kat</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Sound Bytes]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>Play More is my mantra for finding balance&#8230;work seems to be in my thoughts at all times and cloud my life with responsibilities. Loving what I do makes it all the harder to walk away from the computer. I have to remind myself that I need time to feed my soul, to create with my hands, to laugh with others, or just explore new spaces.   It&#8217;s a lovely thing to whisper to yourself&#8230;go play. You can&#8217;t help but smile.</p>
<hr /><h2>Related Posts</h2><ul><li><a href="http://thedreamshop.com/sound-bytes/play-more/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Play More">Play More</a></li></ul><small>Copyright &copy; 2007 K. Markert @ theDreamShop.com </small>]]></description>
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		<title>Firefly Restaurant</title>
		<link>http://thedreamshop.com/cool-business-cards/firefly-restaurant-san-francisco/</link>
		<comments>http://thedreamshop.com/cool-business-cards/firefly-restaurant-san-francisco/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Nov 2007 23:13:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kat</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Cool Cards]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thedreamshop.com/cool-business-cards/firefly-restaurant-san-francisco/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://thedreamshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/07-10-firefly.jpg" alt="Firefly Restaurant" /></p>
<hr /><h2>Related Posts</h2><ul><li><a href="http://thedreamshop.com/cool-business-cards/firefly-restaurant-san-francisco/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Firefly Restaurant">Firefly Restaurant</a></li><li><a href="http://thedreamshop.com/about/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: About">About</a></li></ul><small>Copyright &copy; 2007 K. Markert @ theDreamShop.com </small>]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Successful Event Promotions</title>
		<link>http://thedreamshop.com/nonprofit-tips/successful-event-promotions/</link>
		<comments>http://thedreamshop.com/nonprofit-tips/successful-event-promotions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:17:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kat</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Nonprofit Tips]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Promotions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thedreamshop.com/nonprofit-tips/successful-event-promotions/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Girls Inc. is an amazing educational nonprofit that provides services to over 7000 local kids every year. I&#8217;ll be posting more on some really cool behind the scenes stories, but I wanted to do a quick writeup on a few of our successes for 2007&#8230;before the event has even happened.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sakeme/308460265/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/106/308460265_d530ddb7f5_o.jpg" alt="Women of Taste '06" align="left" height="400" width="300" /></a></p>
<p>Women of Taste is the annual <a href="http://womenoftaste.org/info-tastings.php" title="food and wine fundraiser" target="_blank">food and wine tasting</a> fundraiser for Girls Inc of Alameda County. This is a premier event in our area&#8230;with close to a hundred purveyors offering tastings, and more than 1200 guests attending.</p>
<p>This is the 16th anniversary of Women of Taste, and the first year the event has sold out. It&#8217;s really been a great achievement for the planning committee and Girls Inc. staff.  We&#8217;re all ecstatic about this so I thought what a great opportunity to share the promotional tools we utilized.</p>
<p>After having received the sell-out news Girls Inc. development manager sent out a thank you letter to our sponsors and volunteers. It was interesting to note the changes in our strategies and how the directly had an impact on ticket sales. This included&#8230;</p>
<ul>
<li>TV interviews</li>
<li>TV psa ads</li>
<li>donated color print ads</li>
<li>larger print ads</li>
<li>sales donations at local retailers</li>
<li>more website calendar listings</li>
<li>dedicated email newsletters</li>
<li>new website with event photos</li>
<li>online ticket purchasing</li>
</ul>
<p>Planning and marketing an event this size is no easy task. Our volunteer committee was comprised of approximately twenty people, not including staff members. We have a number of subcommittees and three core groups that help manage promotions: public relations, website, and sponsor development. There is a constant flow of information among these teams that keeps the ball rolling. Our goal is to; a) bring in media sponsors to spread the word, b) grow press coverage, and c) provide easy to access information online and off to the community.</p>
<p>This is by far one of the most exciting projects I&#8217;ve worked on and we&#8217;ve already been brainstorming for 2008. One of the new concepts that i&#8217;ll be targeting is adding interactive features to the website that will pull in visitors and donations year round.</p>
<hr /><h2>Related Posts</h2><ul><li><a href="http://thedreamshop.com/nonprofit-tips/successful-event-promotions/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Successful Event Promotions">Successful Event Promotions</a></li><li><a href="http://thedreamshop.com/web-services/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Services">Services</a></li></ul><small>Copyright &copy; 2007 K. Markert @ theDreamShop.com </small>]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>The Dream Shop Blog Launch</title>
		<link>http://thedreamshop.com/news/the-dream-shop-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://thedreamshop.com/news/the-dream-shop-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kat</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Fresh News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>The Dream Shop is getting a revamp!</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve got lots to chat about including some great web conferences I recently attended (both <a href="http://www.wordcamp.org" title="Wordcamp" target="_blank">Wordcamp</a> and <a href="http://www.blogher.org" title="Blogher" target="_blank">Blogher</a>). If you&#8217;ve been struggling with the isolation that often comes with being a webmaster there&#8217;s nothing like hanging out with hundreds of bloggers to get the motivation rolling.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a great piece of trivia&#8230;.although I launched theDreamShop.com in 1997 (when I started doing web consulting) this is the first time I&#8217;ve setup a blog on this domain. Of course i&#8217;m no stranger to personal blogging and thought it was time I started showcasing some of the great biz connections I&#8217;ve made over the years.</p>
<p>So please come on in and make yourself at home.</p>
<hr /><h2>Related Posts</h2><ul><li><a href="http://thedreamshop.com/news/the-dream-shop-blog/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: The Dream Shop Blog Launch">The Dream Shop Blog Launch</a></li><li><a href="http://thedreamshop.com/web-services/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Services">Services</a></li><li><a href="http://thedreamshop.com/about/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: About">About</a></li></ul><small>Copyright &copy; 2007 K. Markert @ theDreamShop.com </small>]]></description>
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