Those newly serving the board include attorneys Armen Baghdasarian of the Glendale firm Irsfeld, Irsfeld & Younger LLP and Charles L. LeCroy III with Baker, Olson, LeCroy & Danielian, also located in Glendale. Joining them is Lee Wochner of Counterintuity LLC, a full-service creative marketing company in Burbank.

Robert Knauf, of Arroyo Insurance, has taken the lead as Board President. As a member of the Board of Directors since 2005 and a Glendale resident, Knauf’s goals are to focus on closer relations with businesses and corporations.

“The Foundation’s role in our community is to assist individuals and businesses with their philanthropy and we want to get this message to those who may not be aware of the Foundation’s work,” he said in a statement.

Ernest P. Burger, an attorney and Glendale resident with Burger Law Group in Burbank serves as Vice President. Serving as CFO and Secretary are Eric Ashton Jr., Glendale attorney, and Mary Ann Plumley, former Glendale City mayor, respectively. The four lead the activities of 18 fellow directors who all serve on a volunteer basis.

The CFV was established in 1956 as a 501.c.3 public nonprofit to cover Burbank, Glendale, and the Foothill communities of La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and Verdugo City.

The organization provides individuals and businesses with options for donating to community causes and also manages donor-advised funds. The foundation also oversees endowments for nonprofits through agency funds but is best known for grants that are issued to nonprofits in a competitive application process.

Visit www.communityfoundationoftheverdugos.org.

Counterintuity was awarded a Davey Award in November for Transportation Website Design for www.BraggCrane.com, shortly after receiving three W3 awards, which were announced in October. The Davey Awards honors the finest creative work from the best small firms, agencies and companies worldwide.

The company won three W3 Awards: Both General Construction Website and Visual Appeal for www.BraggCrane.com; and Online Film and Video – Political/Commentary for “Where Will You Go?,” made for client “Yes on 21” Committee, Californians for State Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

The W3 Awards honors creative excellence on the Web, and recognizes the creative and marketing professionals behind award winning Websites, Web Video and Online Marketing programs. W3 is the first major Web competition to be accessible to the biggest agencies, the smallest firms, and everyone in between.

“All of these awards highlight the out-of-the box thinking and creative execution that exemplify what Counterintuity is all about,” said Lee Wochner, Counterintuity’s CEO. “We are honored to be recognized for being at the forefront of our industry, pushing the limits in creativity and design.”

Both awards programs are judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 200+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. Current IAVA membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including: Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Yahoo!, Estee Lauder, Wired, Insight Interactive, The Webby Awards, Bath & Body Works, Brandweek, Polo Ralph Lauren, ADWEEK, Alloy, Coach, iNDELIBLE, MTV, Victoria’s Secret, HBO, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Myspace.com, and many others. See www.iavisarts.org for more information.

Less than 10% of all W3 entries (3,000 in all) were selected as Gold Winners, and we are thrilled to announce our website for Bragg Crane took home the gold in the construction category.

In determining winners, entries are judged based on a standard of excellence as determined by the IAVA, according to the category entered. To uphold a high standard of excellence, a category may have multiple winners, or may have no winners at all. Entries are scored on a ten point scale by the judges. Outstanding entries are are awarded Silver Winners, and we’re happy to claim two of these: Bragg Crane website for Visual Appeal, and our political satire video “Where Will You Go?” created for a 2010 state ballot initiative.

“This year’s W3 Winners demonstrate the out-of-the box thinking and creative execution that exemplifies what the Web is all about” said Linda Day, the Executive Director of the IAVA. “On behalf of the entire Academy, congratulations to this year’s W3 Award entrants and winners for their dedication to pushing the limits and finding new ways to raise the bar in Web Creativity.”

Photo courtesy of Andre Murray/The Bern Agency

Counterintuity has more than doubled its space in Burbank. The move reflects significant growth the company experienced during 2010, as well as future expansion plans.

“We continue to grow to meet the needs of our clients,” Counterintuity CEO Lee Wochner said. “Our new space keeps us close to many of our clients, while helping us to better serve them.”

“It was important to us to remain in Burbank so that we could continue to deliver exceptional service to our clients while also retaining our highly talented local work force,” said Amy Kramer, president of Counterintuity. Kramer said the additional space will also allow Counterintuity to hold social-media training sessions.

Counterintuity is a full-service creative marketing firm offering website, ad and logo design; social media marketing; search engine marketing; Search Engine Optimization (SEO); strategy and public relations. For more information, call (818) 848-1700 or visit www.counterintuity.com.

As a whole, one of our goals coming out of this retreat is setting aside time for personal-Counterintuity growth. There are so many times where I come home, or in my off time on the weekends, where I think to myself, “If only I had time to FILL IN THE BLANK.”

My FILL IN THE BLANK’s tend to be:
• Read more about marketing
• Learn more about the various software we have here at work
• These can go on forever

Well, starting yesterday, we’re starting to turn that, “If only” into “Today, I’m taking the time to…” and really setting aside 15 minutes for personal-Counterintuity growth. I’m excited for the growth that will benefit me personally, but also for the corporate growth that will occur spontaneously from achieving our 15 minutes of Adventure.

PS. I am open to suggestions for a good business/marketing related book read for my 15 minutes of Adventure.

Companies using tools like Facebook and Twitter say customers like being engaged.

By Zain Shauk, Burbank Leader (reprinted)

Audrey Robles doesn’t panic about the economic slowdown or the dwindling foot traffic outside her Kenneth Village store. Instead, she fires up her Twitter account.

 She also posts to her blog, monitors her Facebook page and adds to her biweekly e-mail newsletter.

The media blitz may seem aggressive to those unfamiliar with the social networking tools, but Robles credits her efforts for not only keeping audrey*k boutique in the black, but pushing it to new heights as well.

 “This year has actually been our most profitable year in the three years since I’ve been here,” she said. “So even though there is a recession, customers still come and buy.”

 Robles is not alone.

From real estate agents and restaurants to car dealerships and shopping malls, businesses in Glendale and Burbank are increasingly buying into a nationwide trend toward using social media as a tool to expand their reach and connect with consumers who have more options than ever before.

While some business owners have experimented with Web-based services and given up on them, social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook are developing into valuable marketing frontiers, even for small businesses, said George Geis, professor of information technology and entrepreneurship at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

“The online sites have done quite well, so consequently, in a challenged economic time like we still are in, it’s important to recognize that you want to be where people are hanging out,” Geis said.

Businesses are using the service to promote their products and services, and keep their customers in the loop about discounts and special events, but the most effective social media marketers go far beyond that, said Amy Kramer (@amykramer), president of Counterintuity, a Burbank-based marketing consulting firm that advises clients to set up Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Having exchanges with online contacts is, in many cases, more important than simply blasting out advertisements in the form of Twitter posts, Kramer said.

“That’s the key that a lot of people miss is the relationship part,” she said. “People will tweet, ‘Oh, buy this. Oh, buy that,’ but what helps businesses the most is when they engage because it’s a very interactive medium.”

 Kramer manages two Twitter accounts where she has exchanges with clients and friends.

On her company’s account (@counterintuity) she will share announcements, but she will also distribute news related to marketing and useful information that might be of interest to her online followers, while not having a direct connection to her business.

She also mixes in her observations on a personal account (@amykramer), where she talks about marketing, but also recently tweeted, “Getting my embarrassingly dirty car washed. I feel less ashamed already.”

“It’s about relationship-building; establishing yourself as an expert in your field, but also making people feel that you’re relatable,” said Kramer, who recently added a client from among the neighborhood moms who monitor her posts.

The networking tools are becoming more valuable during the recession, when businesses are cutting back on advertising budgets, owners said.

They are also giving consumers a platform for discussion about products and services, a dimension of online communication that has become important for shoppers, said Kendyl Young, an independent real estate agent who regularly updates her Facebook, blog and Twitter posts.

The online arenas give consumers an opportunity to learn more about items they care about while interacting through a business’ website, but comments are directed at other readers instead of the vendors or service providers, Young said.

Visitors to Young’s blog may begin discussing their preference for neighborhoods or their interest in finding a location for their families without asking Young directly, she said.

That makes the blog a useful destination where visitors interested in Glendale homes might find themselves sifting through collections of posts and launching into exchanges with other readers, often leaving them more knowledgeable than they might have otherwise been, Young said.

Consumers have other places where they can discuss homes, but Young’s posts about trends and home market developments that might interest prospective Glendale buyers keep visitors coming back, she said.

Discussion on the Facebook page for Revelation Tops in Montrose has also become popular among customers, co-owner Mary Dawson said.

Dawson posts pictures of new dresses or announcements for special events, which often spurs conversation about what customers may like, dislike or want to reserve.

Without the store’s Facebook page, Twitter account and blog, customers who typically log onto the sites at work or from home might fall out of the loop, Dawson said.

But with regular updates and online comments, customers stay connected, she said.

“They love the little quick communications because it’s quick and painless and fun,” she said.

To my high school buddy Richard Jalichandra, CEO of blog aggregator Technorati (who just launched Twittorati.com): I’m sorry I doubted you.  Not that either of us knew back then which road Twitter would take, but you were confident it would stay on course.  Alas, eating humble pie doesn’t taste so bad when losing a debate actually helps me help my clients realize how Twitter fits into their business.

The solution came to me last week as I received a cell phone call from an  unknown number.  “Hi, Lisa, this is Steve, and I am the Customer Service Manager for Sport Chalet.”  Thinking he was calling about the “Nike Super Speed D 3/4′s” we ordered weeks ago,  I replied, “Are the shoes in?”  Nope. “I’m the customer service manager for Sport Chalet Corporate (!) and I am calling about the problem in our store you mentioned on Twitter last week.”

Panic hit, because some of the Sport Chalet kids know my kids. Feeling like a school-girl caught in a gossip scandal, I blurted out how sorry I was for badmouthing them on Twitter but I had been so frustrated and we really needed the shoes right away and they hadn’t come in yet and no one had followed up and why do they never have our size annd blah blah blah blah blah.  Don’t remember precisely what I said. It’s like getting caught with the smoking gun and your dad is at the other end of the barrel.

Somebody actually read Tweets???? “Hooray” and “OMG” went through my head simultaneously.

In this big wide online world, who would have thought that I could Tweet my frustrations, have them actually get back to Sport Chalet, have them look up my Twitter account, click through to my website, find out my  name, get my cell phone number and call to solve my problem?

But that’s PRECISELY my point. Sport Chalet took the time to read my Tweet,  look up my Twitter account, click through to my website, find out my name, get my cell phone number and call me.  And to apologize and offer to solve the problem. This was no impersonal Twitter DM.  This was a personal phone call from a corporate officer of Sport Chalet!

It hit me that THIS is the real future of Twitter–a direct, personal, one-on-one experience with companies who actually care about customers as individuals.  No more talking to “John” in Mumbai who might pass your ire on to “Sally” in the cubicle next door.  I got Steve at Sport Chalet corporate headquarters, prompted personally by a CEO who has better things to do than worry about a pair of cleats—like run 55 stores.

Sport Chalet cared about ME.  And it felt good, not just personally, but for my clients.  Because now I know exactly how to help them make their Twitter account successful.

It’s not about making money-it’s about creating relationships.  White papers and links to websites are great.  But my experience with Sport Chalet helped me to see that the true value of Twitter for business is to connect with customers and make them feel important. It sure worked on me!