Marketing Summit starts Feb. 21 at Idaho Falls Shilo Inn

Riverbend Communications and Lvate are holding a three-part Marketing Summit at the Shilo Inn, Idaho Falls, covering everything from branding and strategy to media buying to social networking.

The two-hour sessions start Feb. 21 at 8 a.m. and continue March 6 and March 20. Session 1 will focus on the buying process, which includes market identification, primary vs. secondary marketing messages and strategic business "tone." Session 2 is devoted to branding, measuring marketing success and comparing yourself to your competition. Session 3 will be about creating market awareness, leveraging the Internet and search engine optimization.

Cost of all three sessions is $99. For more information, contact Mike Sutton at 208-535-8327.

Tips on naming a business and branding

Are you at the fateful stage of naming a business? This is a big decision, one that could make a big difference in how well you do, say Jay Conrad Levinson, Jeannie Levinson and Seth Godin in an Entrepreneur.com story. What should you consider?

For starters, don’t listen to everyone. Names created by committee are usually losers, they say.

The first thing you want to do is list your attributes. Are you speedy, experienced, fun, daring, reliable, inexpensive, honest, unique or the best? This list is valuable when it comes to free associating a name that has straight-to-the-forehead memorability.

Consider Nike. What were they want to convey when they chose that name? In Greek mythology, Nike was the winged goddess of victory, in war and sport. Not everyone knows that, but they don't have to for a sense of what the company is about.

On the other hand, you've got generic names (General Foods) and descriptive names (Speedi-Mart). The thing is, whatever you choose, it's the product or the service that ultimately establish your brand. After all, John Lennon's friends thought "The Beatles" was the dumbest band name they'd ever heard.

Last of all, it is absolutely imperative that you do a legal name search to check your rights to the name. If there's anything worse than branding, it's re-branding.

For more on this topic, visit www.entrepreneur.com/article/222532

EITC Dollars for Scholars online auction starts today

If you want to look to the right of this post, you'll notice the Dollars for Scholars online auction has begun. Yes, we are making easy for you to bid on some fabulous stuff (including a month's worth of advertising on BizMojo Idaho), all to benefit students with scholarships at Eastern Idaho Technical College.

  

Go to the link and see over 100 items, including:

• A signed Boise State University Football
• Hotel Packages that can be utilized in Idaho Falls, Las Vegas, San Diego, Salt Lake City and more
• Fashion accessories, including Miche Bag, iPhone skins and jewelry
• Entertainment, including season tickets for the Idaho Falls Chukars and tickets to the Idaho Falls Symphony
• Advertising opportunities including BizMojoIdaho.com and Social Eyes Marketing
• Restaurant gift cards, including Pachangas, Texas Roadhouse and Chili's
• Services, including oil changes, tire rotations and dry cleaning

Bidding ends Thursday at 7 p.m.

Nuclear Engineer named INL Fellow

Joy Rempe, a nuclear engineer with more than 25 years of research and development experience, has been selected as an Idaho National Laboratory Fellow. This is the labs's top scientific achievement designation, given in recognition of an individual's contributions to the scientific and engineering community. Only nine other people have been named INL Fellows.

 She holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  During her 23-year tenure at the INL, she has established an international reputation in severe accident analysis, high temperature testing and advanced in-pile instrumentation. She currently leads in-pile instrumentation development for the Advanced Test Reactor's National Scientific User Facility and Fuel Cycle Research and Development programs.

Since 2010, Rempe has been a member of the Advisory Committee for Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In 2005, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). She is completing a three-year term on the Board of Directors for the ANS. She has held a variety of offices and been professionally active in ANS, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Rempe’s own work is documented in 45 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 80 peer-reviewed conference papers. She also has three patents or patents pending relating to her research.

INL nuclear engineer Joy Rempe at work with a High Temperature Irradiation Resistant Thermocouple

Bonneville County Realtors see better times in '12

It may be that Jana Merkley took the helm of the Greater Idaho Falls Association of Realtors at the low ebb of the local real estate market.

At least Merkley, who came on as the association's CEO in June 2011, hopes that's true. She sees it as her job to be optimistic, and she says there have been signs this year that her optimism is warranted.

"We're getting more calls from agents who want lockboxes, we seem to be consumer confidence coming back," she said.

Merkley is also CEO of the Snake River Regional MLS, which is getting ready to post its annual statistics for 2011 on its Web site, www.snakerivermls.com.

Across the board, the numbers were down from 2010.

In light of what has been happening in the rest of the country, "I just think it hit us later," she said. Given the encouraging economic numbers that have been coming out lately, combined with record low interest rates, there is cause for hope this year.

She encourages anyone looking to buy a home for the first time to take Finally Home! class, which is sponsored by the Idaho Partners for Homebuyer Education. "There is a lot you can learn from it, and a lot of mistakes you can avoid," she said. "Most people I talk to say, 'I wish I had taken this earlier in the process."