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Jackson Hole Has An Elf Problem

December 10, 2007 By Culture

Traditionally, elves have gathered on the National Elf Refuge in Jackson Hole as a resting place on their journey from warmer climes during their off-season back to the North Pole to help Santa make and deliver toys to all the girls and boys of the world. The gathering of the elves was a pleasant time for them to relax and for Jackson Hole locals and visitors to watch the elves, observing them in the wild before they began the final leg of their journey to the North Pole.

But times have changed. Today, some elves have straggled behind the rest of the pack. These are the more mischievious and delinquent elves of elf society, and they are beginning to take a toll on the Jackson Hole community. Some of these particularly troubling elves can, from time to time, be seen loitering outside the National Elf Refuge, no longer allowed onto their previous resting grounds for concern by local officials and refuge managers that they are depleting the natural resources and harassing other wildlife on the refuge. In addition, elves have been spotted around the Town of Jackson, harrassing tourists and others in the Town Square, sleeping on park benches and in bus stop shelters, pan-handling, illegally attempting to wash car windows of passers-by, playing in traffic, throwing snowballs at vehicles, and generally wreaking havoc and causing a nuisance throughout Jackson Hole.

When this problem first came to light, Town of Jackson officials created a local worker elf program to get delinquint elves off the street and help make them productive members of our human society. Local businesses have employed elves in various capacities. Mayor Mark Barron himself has employed elves in the town offices and at his own business. Unfortunately, the effort has been almost entirely unsuccessful. Again, this year the elves are, more often than not, creating trouble in the workplace or simply not showing up for their jobs, and are back to causing a nuisance around the valley.

So this year, fed up with the current elf situation, local businessman and owner of Circumerro, Latham Jenkins, has begun the Save The Elves campaign, starting a petition pleading to Santa Claus himself to bring an extra large sleigh down here to Jackson Hole before Christmas, gather up the elves, and take them back to the North Pole, to their natural habitat, where they can be reintroduced into elf society and lead productive lives.

So, as part of Circumerro’s message of good will and peace on earth this holiday season, we are asking everyone around the world to support the Save The Elves campaign, letting Santa know how important it is for him to retrieve these wayward elves and take them back to the North Pole in time to help make toys for this year’s Christmas. Please visit SaveTheElves.org to watch our informative video and sign the petition to Save the Elves.

For every person who signs our online petition, giving their name and email address, Circumerro will donate one dollar to Jackson Hole’s Children’s Learning Center (CLC) supporting families in need this holiday season. Remember, all you need to do to save the elves and help a family in need this holiday season is sign the petition. Circumerro will take care of coordinating with Santa and making the donation to the Children’s Learning Center.

Thank you for your help in this worthy cause. Please be sure to tell your friends and family about SaveTheElves.org, and have a happy holiday season.

Seasons greetings and peace on earth,

Your friends at Circumerro

Delinquent Elves Cause Ruckus in Jackson Hole

December 7, 2007 By Culture

Quoting from Animal House’s Dean Wormer, “Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son!,” is the thought that comes to mind with our delinquent Elf situation in Jackson Hole. As a local employer, it is a social and economic burden to our community and it is impacting our businesses.

I am trying to take the high road (and save money while doing so) by starting the campaign, SaveTheElves.org, to petition Santa to come get his elves and take them back to the North Pole and set them on a Righteous Path of excellent work ethic and conservative nog-drinking habits.

Please join me and our community in helping these wayward elves get back to the North Pole. Go to SaveTheElves.org and sign our petition today.

Sincerely,
Latham Jenkins
President and Founder of Save the Elves

P.S. For every signature received, I’ll donate monetary funds to a needy family in order to make their Christmas truly special this year.

Locale Charleston Connects Buyers to Realtors

November 7, 2007 By Culture, Design

Locale Charleston (Charleston.Locale.com) is helping local Charleston realtors reach out-of-area real estate buyers interested in the Lowcountry lifestyle. Locale Charleston is a top ranking real estate web site that gives perspective buyers the local insight to make informed real estate decisions.

“Charleston, South Carolina is a top destination in the South for lifestyle real estate buyers,” says Latham Jenkins, founder and president of Locale. “We established ourselves in Charleston in 2003 to help local Charleston realtors reach the national and international audience interested in the waterfront, oceanfront and coastal setting that Charleston offers.”

“The Charleston real estate agencies have been very supportive through the years,” says Chrissie Batten, sales director for Locale. “We have seen a very loyal following because of the amount of exposure we are giving to real estate property listings for sale our clients market through us,” said Batten. Locale offers the real estate consumer the local Charleston insight they need to make informed decisions, and gives the consumer the local’s perspective and helps prospective real estate buyers find a Charleston locality that has the right composition of amenities.

About Locale
Locale offers Lifestyle Real Estate in Exceptional Places to Live. Through our network of “blue-chip” locales, we give consumers the local insight on what is like to be a local, helping them make informed real estate decisions as they consider which lifestyle community best fits them. For Realtors, Locale delivers the most targeted, qualified audience of online real estate buyers through our top-ranking Web sites that have a national scope. For more information, visit: www.locale.com.

About Circumerro
Circumerro is a creative media agency with four divisions: creative, publishing, web video and stock photography. Together they provide clients with best in class service and communication tools. Circumerro was founded in 1995 and is based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

New From Locale: Insider Real Estate Market Reports

October 31, 2007 By Culture, Design

Locale’s first Insider Report examines the real estate market in Teton Valley, Idaho, which has seen incredible growth in the past several years due to skyrocketing real estate prices in nearby Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Teton Valley Insider Report includes:

—Holistic overview of the real estate market
—Detailed look at the market inventory
—Detailed information on Teton Valley’s major planned community developments.

With an in-depth look at specific communities within the Locale network, Insider Reports give prospective buyers the up-to-date information they need to help make an informed real estate purchase decision. Insider Reports are valuable tools for realtors and are available exclusively through Locale. Download your copy of the Teton Valley, Idaho, Insider Report today.

Locale is the network of Lifestyle Real Estate in Exceptional Places to Live. We provide you with powerful search tools to find the right real estate in an exceptional place, the kind of place you have always wanted to live. Then we give you perspective on what it’s like to be a local. For realtors, Locale delivers the most targeted, qualified audience of online real estate buyers through our top-ranking Web sites with local focus and national scope. Locale is published by Circumerro in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Circumerro’s divisions include Creative, Publishing, Stock and Video. Together they provide best-in-class communications tools and services.

Here’s to Working Women! …And Everyone Else, Too.

October 18, 2007 By Culture, Inspiration

If you haven’t seen it already, check this week’s issue of the Jackson Hole News&Guide’s Working Women! special supplement. Not that I necessarily condone these types of blatant attempts to garner more advertising dollars from a limited pool of businesses, but Circumerro has a particularly fun ad in it. (If you didn’t notice, it’s right at the top of the post.)

Now, I certainly don’t mean to belittle the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of our female co-workers—specifically in our company, and generally throughout the valley and beyond—but the way I see it there are at least two ways to look at this.

First, is it enough to simply acknowledge them in some kind of “special supplement” in the newspaper? From what I’ve heard and seen, women still aren’t compensated at the same level as men for the same jobs. (As one co-worker put it, “Screw the special section and just pay me fairly for what I do.”) If we can’t all be honest about it, at least I will: most of the women I work with work harder than I do. And I’m just talking about 8 to 5; forget about what happens once they get home. I know first-hand that my wife does; as I write this she’s in the other room working into the evening to get orders out to her customers (it’s 8:45 pm).

Second (and here’s my opportunity to get sexist), when was the last time the N&G (or any newspaper for that matter) published a Working Men! “special supplement”? If we’re going to be equal opportunity about this, let’s have a Working Men! supplement, and a Working Latino! supplement, and a Working African American! supplement (it would be pretty light here in Jackson Hole), and hell, what about a Working Beast of Burden! special supplement? Let’s give props to all those horses, cows, sled dogs and llamas out there!

OK, like I said at the beginning, I don’t mean to belittle the very hard work that women do. But let’s keep things in perspective here. It’s definitely not a balanced world and we each have an opportunity to help bring it more into balance ever day, with each interaction we have in the workplace.

And by the way, thank you to all the women of Circumerro…and beyond.

—Chris

Circumerro Brings Short-Form Web Video to Jackson Hole

October 15, 2007 By Design, Photo/Video

Circumerro launched a new division, Circumerro Video, targeted to help Jackson Hole businesses create short-form video profiles for their websites. Since the division’s recent launch, over thirty films have been made featuring local businesses and organizations. “Video is the greatest content tool to hit the Web yet,” said Latham Jenkins, president of Circumerro. “It allows consumers to experience your product or service vs. just being told why to buy it.”

Circumerro Video creates Web videos for local businesses and organizations, from travel resources and hospitality providers to product launches and fundraising efforts. “Nearly any business or organization out there can expect competitive advantages with Web video,” said Jenkins. “The conversion rates we’re seeing with online users are amazing and our destination community is perfect for the adoption of video to help communicate with out-of-area consumers.”

“People tend to respond to video on a more personal level than any other medium,” added Circumerro Video Producer Alden Wood, who previously worked at MTV in Los Angeles for over five years before moving to Jackson Hole in 2004. “People get to see the business, the owners and the employees. How they speak, their body movement, their sense of humor—it’s very authentic,” continued Wood.

“One story really stands out as testimony of Web video’s power,” said Jenkins. “After seeing a video online we created for a local real estate agent, an individual flew to Jackson aboard his private jet to purchase the property, which was listed for over $4 million.” Circumerro Video completes all aspects of production, from preproduction to post. Videos range from thirty seconds to over four hours and are shot in the industry’s latest High Definition Video.

Circumerro Video also provides the hosting of the videos, in addition to distributing the Web videos to online media sites like Google, Yahoo, MSN, YouTube, and others.

Locale Launches Redesign of Real Estate Sites

September 7, 2007 By Culture

Locale announced today the launch of its redesigned network of Web sites featuring real estate in lifestyle places to live. To date, Locale’s real estate network features nine sites, from Charleston SC real estate to Jackson Hole real estate.

Knowing that more than 80 percent of real estate buyers now conduct their initial research online, Locale aims to enhance and aid in the real estate information gathering process for those looking to relocate to “blue-chip” communities while improving conversion rates for advertisers.

“Whether people might be searching for Beaufort SC real estate or simply coastal real estate in South Carolina, we know that people searching for real estate have moved online and that the Internet is the most effective medium for those in the market,” said Latham Jenkins, President and Founder of Locale. “Success online requires you to marry your listings with contextual content about the lifestyle, specifying what the neighborhood or region offers prospective buyers.”

Locale has incorporated the latest Internet technology and best practices into its many sites, including: blogs authored by local real estate industry experts; videos featuring properties, agents, agencies and regions; and vastly expanded content about each locale. Knowing that transparency of information is paramount with today’s buyers, Locale increases the “deal flow” between buyers and sellers by giving buyers what they need to make informed decisions. “It is a simple strategy,” continued Jenkins, “most Internet users start their online experience with a search engine, where all of our Locales—from Savannah real estate to ranch real estate in the West—have top rankings.

The users then enter the Locale site, where we sell them on the lifestyle benefits of that locale through insightful, informative and locally produced content. We then help them choose a neighborhood or region based on their preferences and show them the available inventory for that particular area,” said Jenkins.

Locale offers many advertiser benefits. By achieving top search engine rankings, Locale drives real estate-specific traffic into each marketplace where listings are previewed by a highly targeted audience of prospective buyers. Locale now features larger, standardized banner ads with less competition on each page, resulting in greater per-ad impact.

In short, Locale provides realtors with an inexpensive, customizable Internet marketing campaign through a highly qualified advertising platform. Locale has partnered with top national brands for real estate search and is garnering increased exposure for its advertisers’ listings through New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Locale listings are also syndicated through Google Base, Trulia and Oodle. Join Locale today and reach buyers in the market for real estate in lifestyle places to life.

Locale is the network of Lifestyle Real Estate in Exceptional Places to Live. We provide you with powerful search tools to find the right real estate in an exceptional place—the kind of place you have always wanted to live. Then we give you perspective on what it’s like to be a local. For realtors, Locale delivers the most targeted, qualified audience of online real estate buyers through our top-ranking Web sites with local focus and national scope.

Locale is published by Circumerro in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Circumerro’s divisions include Creative, Publishing, Stock and Video. Together they provide best-in-class communications tools and services.

Making Videos Faster

August 24, 2007 By Design, Digital, Photo/Video

Funny how one thought can spawn another. Latham’s post on Locale Best Practices of The Marriage of Online Video and Real Estate got me thinking about something relatively random I read earlier this week. In his Salon Machinist blog earlier this month, blogger Farhad Manjoo details a comment made by Apple’s guru-in-chief Steve Jobs about the new iMovie program that comes on the new machines.

An Apple employee whom Jobs identified as “one of our most brilliant video engineers” took a vacation recently to the Caribbean and, when he came back, tried to make a movie of his trip in a half-hour. “He couldn’t do it,” Jobs said. The old iMovie—not to mention Final Cut Pro, the company’s professional video-editing program—just didn’t have the tools to do a good movie so fast. So the fellow created his own program. “We were so blown away that we decided to use it,” Jobs said.

With this new software and its productivity-enhancing features, one might suppose they will have the ability to create simple videos even faster and easier than they can right now (that is, if they’re doing so on a Mac). Hard to say exactly how that might manifest, but one can guess that entrepreneuring folks like Andre Kendall (who, according to this referenced Wired blog post, himself admitted that editing his MiniDV movies in iMovie “was too lengthy of a process”) might take advantage. The first wave of the short-form, online (call it what you will) video revolution has barely begun to crest.

—Chris

Taking the Brand Experience to the Loo

August 22, 2007 By Culture, Design

I was attending a function at the Goolge Plex last night and was amazed at just how far Google looks to push their brand experience. I would have to say that it was a first to see outhouses all alight with Google’s colors.

If the outhouses were following the brand palette, so was everything else: the bar and colors of cups they serve; the building decor; the snowcone colors; the lighting upon the wall. Google has shown great execution with their brand and obviously that attention to detail pours over into all facets of their business.

As for July 2007, Google is commanding a 64.4% market share of search (reported by Hitwise.) Not a bad run since September 1998 to have built up almost a 160B market cap.

While on Google, George Anders also has an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal on Google’s ability to execute going forward. Just a snippit for your delight.

“History suggests that it is perilous to seek long-lasting inspiration from young companies when they are riding high. In the early 1980s, experts lauded People Express for developing an upbeat, winning approach to employee relations. Unfortunately, that couldn’t protect the airline from financial troubles and an eventual sale of the company on distressed terms.”

—Latham

Launched Today… 9/11 Logo and Site

August 16, 2007 By Culture, Design

As a New Yorker and someone who was in the Lincoln Tunnel when the first plane hit, a volunteer on Ground Zero two days after 9/11, I was sent this on a daily email and though it should be shared. The anniversary is coming up in less than a month and I will never forget what I saw. It changed my life and is part of the reason I ended up out here in Jackson. Launched today was the new logo and website for the 9/11 memorial. I found this online at mediabistro.com.

“The new name, logo and identity for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have just been unveiled, along with plans for a traveling exhibition where the public will be invited to sign steel beams to be used in the construction of the new Memorial & Museum. The new website also launched today.

“We are building a national symbol that, like the Statue of Liberty, tells us something about who we are as Americans. The re-naming of this project to the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center reflects this national scope,” Memorial & Museum President and CEO Joe Daniels said. “Every day, we continue to build momentum for this campaign, helping to ensure that the events of September 11th are told to future generations. We look forward to bringing this exhibition to cities around the country.”

As had been mentioned in a previous blog, branding is everywhere, it shapes us. Here is the new logo that shapes a world tragedy memorial. Its hard to believe it has an official look. But we need consistency, something that won’t piss people off and the squares represent the two towers disappearing. Its polite, it makes sense and is tasteful.

Take a look at the new site as well www.buildthememorial.org.
Its full of info, photos and an understanding.

—Julie