Game On! Loudoun EDC Social Media Subcommittee #loudounsm

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

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

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

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

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...