Holdcom would like to extend a great big THANK YOU to all those who supported our 2010 Food Drive. Your donations will go to support the Kitchens at Eva’s Village in Paterson, New Jersey.

Two very special “Thank You’s” go out to Gail Della Fave at St. Joseph’s Ambulatory Imaging Center in Clifton, NJ and Eric Gettle at Belmar Spring Water in Glen Rock, NJ for their generosity, time, and support!

If your organization is interested in a Food Drive and needs some suggestions, please email Joe Pietsch at joep@holdcom.com.

Help support the Diabetes Foundation on May 16th with a 5K run/walk and Kids Fun Run through Fort Lee and Cliffside Park, New Jersey.  Currently affecting 24 million adults and children, Diabetes is a chronic disease that impairs the body’s ability to produce or properly use insulin, a hormone essential for life.  Diabetes – along with its complications which include heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, and stroke - is the third leading cause of death by disease in the United States.  All proceeds from the event will be used for the benefit of the Diabetes Foundation, Inc. serving the state of New Jersey.  To learn more about this organization, go to www.diabetesfoundationinc.org.

WHEN

• Sunday, May 16, 2010 (Rain or Shine)
• Check in opens: 8:00 am
• Opening Ceremony: 9:45 am
• Race begins: 10:00 am
• Walk begins: 10:15 am
• Kids Fun Run begins: 11:00 am

WHERE

• Fort Lee Community Center 1355 Inwood Terrace, Fort Lee, NJ

REGISTRATION

• Online at www.raceforum.com/palisades or www.firstgiving.com/DFI

ENTRY FEE

• 5K Run/Walk: $20 (USATF members $18)
• $25 day of the event
• Kids Fun Run: $10

LENGTH

• 5 Kilometers (3.1 Miles) through the towns of Cliffside Park and Fort Lee
• USATF Certified Course – Flat & Fast

AWARDS

• Top overall M/F 5K participants
• Age group awards
• All Fun Run participants receive a ribbon
• All participants receive a T-shirt

App of the Month

In last month’s edition of the Holdcom Voice, our Tech Guru “introduced” the iPad to our readers.

This month. I’d like to tell you about an app that, in my opinion, would be a true delight to iPad owners. I first stumbled upon “Classics” during a stroll through the iTunes Store.  Having an iTouch, and being a fan of such time-honored literary masterpieces as “Paradise Lost”, “A Christmas Carol”, and “Treasure Island”, I quickly downloaded the app and never looked back.  Because of the limited screen size of the iPhone & iTouch, this app would translate beautifully on the iPad.

Each classic book is presented in clear fonts, with illustrations in most of the novels. Fall down the rabbit hole with “Alice in Wonderland”, bring life to the lifeless in “Frankenstein”, and sink to the depths in “20000 Leagues Under the Sea”.  The best part of this app…is the price…20 plus classics, for only 99 cents.  Broaden your literary horizons for less than a cup of coffee!

Happy Reading!

What’s the SOCAP Spring Symposium all about?  In a “Wordle”, it’s about Social Media and the customer.

HOLDCOM is delighted to be attending the Spring Symposium.  Come join us and hundreds of your industry peers at the 2010 Symposium, April 25-28, at the Omni Hotel at CNN in Atlanta, Georgia.

The 2010 Symposium will offer you the opportunity to network and share ideas with other customer care professionals from your industry vertical. SOCAP’s featured Industry Communities at the Symposium will be:
* Food & Beverage
* Household & Personal Care
* Retail & Consumer Goods
* Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices
* Travel & Hospitality

The SOCAP Symposium will provide a convenient, effective forum for customer care professionals to discuss key issues, trends, and strategies with industry peers while engaging with top business leaders and subject matter experts all in ONE place!

Day One of the 2010 Symposium will include industry-focused sessions with in-depth discussions and case study presentations.  Day Two will offer sessions focused on relevant, timely topics to enhance the knowledge of today’s customer care professional.

The Symposium will feature keynote speakers from major industries, call center tours from each of SOCAP’s Industry Communities, and an Exhibit Hall with all of SOCAP’s business partners.  Share ideas and network with industry peers and professional colleagues all in one place at the 2010 Symposium!

Google’s addition of bike directions in Google Maps, which launched in March 2010, may have caused a ripple effect greater than expected.  You may have recently seen an ad popping up on biking websites and blogs or have noticed the option for bicycle directions in the drop-down when searching on Google Maps.

Google is well-known for their affinity towards alternative transportation methods and has slowly been making it clear there are other alternatives to driving by car.  Back in December 2005, Google launched Google Transit on Google Labs, initially with support for Portland, Oregon – but now it includes hundreds of cities around the world.  In October 2007, Google Transit graduated from Google Labs and became fully integrated into Google Maps, displaying public transportation routing.  Then, less than a year later, in July 2008, walking directions were added to Google Maps.

The news of Google Bikes has many biking enthusiasts excited, some even suggesting that “Google’s heft could also influence city planners to create more bike lanes and more-reluctant bikers to put on a helmet and get peddling.”  The idea that the introduction of bicycle directions on Google Maps could influence city planners is a bold statement.  I believe the influence of Google’s bike directions will be felt in many circles beyond city planners as well.  It may take months and years for the positive effects to be seen or felt, but Google’s endorsement by adding this feature will send a loud signal to those at the edge of this discussion.

Is it a coincidence that right after Google’s introduction of biking directions, a few days later The Secretary of Transportation for the United States of America, Ray LaHood, issued his ’sea change’ comments on his blog?  “Today, I want to announce a sea change.  People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning.  This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.  We are integrating the needs of bicyclists in federally-funded road projects.  We are discouraging transportation investments that negatively affect cyclists and pedestrians.  And we are encouraging investments that go beyond the minimum requirements and provide facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.”

By adding this feature to Google Maps, Google Biking will not only attract a larger audience to this topic, but Google has put biking on an equal playing field with driving, mass transit, and walking.

One thing is for sure - Spring is here, offering the greatest biking incentive: warmer weather.  Google has certainly picked the right time to get things rolling.  Enjoy the ride!

This holiday season, rest assured that you don’t have to trudge through a blizzard to check your mailbox for holiday greetings; electronic greeting cards, or eCards, are the way to go. With hundreds of eCard startups, robust social media platforms, and eco-friendly initiatives, more people are turning to eCards for their annual dose of holiday cheer.

But what about tradition! Don’t worry: printed holiday greeting cards still generate $7.5 billion in annual revenue, with the average household buying 30 cards. But greeting card giants such as Hallmark and American have made a solid transition to digital greeting cards, while many novelty websites such as JibJab offer multi-media options that traditional printing cards cannot replicate: such as customizable “sendables®,” where you can crop a picture of yourself or a friend to be placed on a character’s body in a humorous dance video.

Though traditional printed cards may have sentimental value, eCards have endless customization features. Incorporating video or audio will reflect a unique greeting card – one that doesn’t rely on stock photos of snowy pastures or a jolly Santa Claus. Hearing, a warm, soothing voice will provide your loved ones with a more meaningful experience. 
Paired with the knowledge that you are contributing to a cleaner environment can only add to holiday goodwill, or getting started on a new years resolution.

More and more younger families are turning to eCards as a cheaper and faster alternative to printing, collating, and mailing. Holdcom specializes in providing voice talent, sound effects, and audio fine-tuning for eGreeting cards of all types – whether for the holidays, birthdays, or anniversaries.

Marketing specialists have applied advances in digital technology to document, track, and evaluate consumers’ transactional behavior more effectively and with greater precision than ever before. And yet, even as the iPad went on sale April 2^nd, following months of anticipation and speculation, the “experts” continue to wonder just who will buy this “magical” device, and how will John and Jane Q. Public actually put it to use. What percentage of early adapters will utilize it as an e-reader; how many will prefer it as a gaming device; and just who will turn to it as a primary source for viewing their Netflix rentals? No one knows just yet, but surely with the passage of time, acquisition of customer feedback, and accumulation of apps download statistics, there will be enough data available to provide the answers. Check out a preview of some early customer survey results.

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