Oregon Dry Cleaners Assoication
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From the President-Elects Desktop...
You're getting this introduction from me this
month, as our fearless editor Brian Olson has been
dealing with a gravely ill loved one, whom
unexpectedly passed away Monday morning. He had
the whole newsletter done and ready to go out except
for his introduction, so as always he's made my job
simple. Our thoughts are with Brian this month. Anyway I'll keep it short. I'd just like to encourage
everyone to get out and attend the "Perfect
Shirt" seminar. It's something we've never done
before and I think it will be interesting. Scott gives
additional details in his article below and there is
more information at the bottom of the newsletter. Have a safe & happy Independence Day!
Contact Leslie
Kettenhofen
at
webmaster@oregondrycleaners.org.
Leslie Kettenhofen, President-Elect & Webmaster
It's the first of July, and maybe, finally, summer is here and we can enjoy some sunshine at last. I would like to take a few minutes to encourage all members and non- members alike to attend the "Perfect Shirt" seminar being held on Saturday, July 12, at Bee Cleaners in Portland. It is sponsored by the ODCA and Seitz Chemical and will be an interesting and educational seminar that will take you through the steps on how to properly clean your shirts and how to press them to produce a perfect shirt. The first half of the class will be the proper procedures to clean the shirts and the second half a demonstration on the Unipress Lighting NT shirt unit to produce the final product. I hope to see you all there. The second thing I would like to talk about is the continuing need of our neighbors all over this state, especially in areas that have been hit hard by the local economies going downhill. We are all facing the rising costs of goods and services. But some of the areas that come to mind are Roseburg, Klamath Falls, Bend, Eastern Oregon and Corvallis, and the list goes on. The Oregon Food Bank says that in some of these areas 20% or more of the population is seeking assistance to be able to eat. What can we do as an organization to help our friends and neighbors? With members in all parts of the state, we can participate for one month in a food drive at our stores. The Oregon Food Bank will provide the barrels for collection and we can deliver it ourselves to local distribution centers. I know a lot of us have vans we can use for this purpose. ODCA can provide a banner and contact local radio & TV stations for free public service announcements about the food drive and locations. It seems to me it's the least we can do to help those in need, some of whom may well be customers of ours. I am in the process of putting this together and will have a program ready to announce in time for the "Perfect Shirt" seminar. I will lay out the particulars and will follow with a special newsletter alert. I hope we can all join in this food drive and help make a difference. Thanks for reading!
Contact Scott
McClure
at
smcclure@oregondrycleaners.org.
Vinyl records are obsolete! Is your marketing plan also? Last month I shared how we implemented, in our cleaners, just one of the things we learned from Jeff Hargett of the Ritz Carlton Leadership Training Center. I had no idea the powerful information that would be shared the next morning by David Meerman Scott in his presentation entitled "The New Rules of Marketing and PR". The first thought I had after David's presentation; Nora Nealis and the NCA staff are on it. This was nothing I had heard before, it was cutting edge. NCA did their research to bring us today's relevant information. I made more notes from this presentation then I had over the last several presentations I attended. There was just so much new material and a whole new way of thinking. David spoke about how "interruption advertising" is becoming a way of the past. Just think about the times lately that you have gone to a search engine like Google for information. You are seeking out what you want to know, not waiting for it to come to you. There were so many areas he covered, website content, myspace, facebook, and blogging just to name a few. David shared the what, where, and how to use these new tools. I have updated our website using just a few of his suggestions and am amazed at the feedback I have already received from potential customers. An example of this is when a customer called to get more information. I always introduce myself when I answer the phone and her comment was, "I know you. I saw your picture on your website, it is so nice to know who you are talking to". This potential customer already felt a connection to our cleaners because of a simple picture placed on the website. David Meerman Scott shared so much information, the best I can do is recommend that you buy, beg, borrow, or steal his book, "The New Rules of Marketing and PR", and devour it. Mr. Scott proved his ideas by marketing his book using the techniques he shared. In my 30 plus years in this industry, I have never seen a National Association work as hard as NCA does on my behalf! They not only present Brainstorming with the Best, but they are leading by example with their You Tube contest. Dry Cleaners could not do more for their business than attend one of these events. NCA understands how hard it is to get away from work and does a wonderful job of allowing you to get some down time (vacation) by putting together information and relaxation for you to move your business to the next profit level. I encourage you to make plans now to attend Brainstorming 2009!
ODCA Presents Our Instructor's are: Seitz North American Vice-President, Kurt Wickiser and Canadian Vice-President, Trevor Holmes. Demonstration of Unipress Lightening Shirt Unit Included. The Location is: Bee Cleaners, 1026 SW Salmon, Portland The Time is: 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM (Lunch is provided) Registration Fee: ODCA Members 35.00* Non-members 55.00 *Members who contact Kathey Butters at kbutters@oregondrycleaners.org or 503-871-5144 by 5 PM Wednesday July 9th will recieve a voucher to cover registration fees. To join ODCA or to register online visit us at www.oregondrycleaners.org
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