Famous Dave’s helps July 4th Diamondbacks game June 29, 2009

John Erlandson of Famous Dave's and Wilbur the mascot

FOX SPORTS ARIZONA HONORS THE MILITARY ON JULY 4 DURING ITS ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS/COLORADO ROCKIES TELECAST

FAMOUS DAVE’S BAR-B-QUE DONATES FOOD FOR EVERYONE IN ATTENDANCE

For the third consecutive year, FOX Sports Arizona will honor the United States military with its July 4th “This One’s For You” telecast. This year, it takes place during the Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies telecast and coverage begins on Saturday, July 4, at 4:30 p.m. with the Miller Lite Diamondbacks Live pre-game show. The network will be on location at the Arizona National Guard’s 161st Refueling Wing at Sky Harbor Airport, where it will produce both its pre-game and post-game shows live during a Fourth of July party.

“This One’s For You” was created to offer the network’s thanks to the brave men and women who currently serve and have served the United States of America in the military and to remind everyone about the sacrifices these heroes are still making in the Middle East.

Nearly 250 people are expected to come to the event at the 161st Air National Guard Refueling Wing. Families of fallen Soldiers, families from the Arizona Army National Guard’s 123rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (currently in Iraq), Soldiers and Airmen who have previously been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Phoenix Area Air National Guard Color Guard and the Patriot Guard Riders will be in attendance.

A satellite feed from Balad, Iraq, will allow Arizona National Guard Soldiers to interact with their families back in Phoenix throughout the event. FOX Sports Arizona will conduct live interviews with the 123rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment who will be watching the D-backs/Rockies game at its base when it begins at 3 a.m. there. Meanwhile, American troops worldwide will also be able to celebrate July 4 by watching the D-backs & Rockies live via the American Forces Network, which is making FOX Sports Arizona’s telecast available to Department of Defense military, civilian employees and their families stationed overseas and aboard U.S. Navy ships at sea.

This Arizona National Guard unit will watch the game in Balad from the 3d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Public Affairs Office Broadcast Studio. While deployed, the Soldiers of the 123rd MPAD provide Public Affairs support to the 3d Sustainment Command Expeditionary. The 3d ESC is responsible for providing all logistical support throughout the Iraqi theater of operations. This is the second time the 123rd MPAD has deployed in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The soldiers of the 123rd MPAD are from the following communities: Chandler, Flagstaff, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix, Prescott, Scottsdale, Tempe, Tucson, and Yuma. The unit is also augmented by soldiers from Amsterdam, N.Y.; Los Angeles, Reno and San Diego. More than 5,000 Arizona Army and Air National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have answered the call and been ordered to federal active duty in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom since September 2001.

FOX Sports Arizona’s D-backs announcers Daron Sutton and Tom Candiotti will be able to interact with the troops in Iraq and their families in Phoenix during the game telecast. Brad Steinke, Jody Jackson and Ken Phelps will host the pre and post-game shows at the 161st Refueling Wing and Mark McClune will be on site in Denver for the network’s coverage as well. The D-backs Rally-backs crew and Baxter will also be at the base to entertain the families with the tee ball games, a inflatable speed pitch machine and raffle giveaways.

Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que is donating all the food and drinks that will be served to the families at this event and this effort is another part of its wide-ranging commitment to the military. The local franchise is offering a year-long promotion on Mondays in which all Famous Dave’s Valley locations will provide anyone with a military ID or family military ID a 20% discount on their meal, at any location, any time until December 31, 2009. Famous Dave’s restaurants in the Valley are located in Chandler at 3250 West Frye Road; Peoria at 16148 North 83rd Avenue and Mesa at 1011 Dobson Road. For more information www.famousdavesbbq.com.

For this special telecast, all of FOX Sports Arizona’s advertisers are contributing to the production by agreeing to remove all of their sponsored elements within the telecast in order to allow for as much time as possible for the troop’s involvement.

“This is our way of saying thanks to the men and women in the United States military who serve our country so bravely in not only the Middle East, but around the world,” said Mike Connelly, FOX Sports Arizona Senior Vice President & General Manager. “We hope it allows them to escape the realities of what they are facing and let them and their families connect on this very special day for our country.”

Media wanting to gain access to the base for interviews, photographs or live shots during the event need to have prior approval and should contact Major Paul Aguirre in the Arizona National Guard’s Public Affairs office at 602-267-2550. The 161st Air Refueling Wing is located at 3200 East Old Tower Road in Phoenix, AZ 85034 and is just south of Sky Harbor Airport. You can only access the base from 24th Street. Follow Old Tower Road until it comes to a dead end in front of the base.

FOX Sports Arizona televises the most regional sports action in the state and is the exclusive cable television home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Coyotes, Arizona Cardinals, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Phoenix Mercury. FOX Sports Arizona is currently seen in 2.8 million households in Arizona & New Mexico and can also be seen across the country via home satellite services.

— FOX SPORTS ARIZONA —
Contacts: Brett Hansen, FOX Sports Arizona, 602-251-8902
Major Paul Aguirre, Arizona National Guard Public Affairs, 602-267-2550

Staffing Services Save Small Businesses Money June 23, 2009

All businesses experience employee turnover. But small businesses are hit especially hard by high turnover because it forces them to pay the high cost of hiring—again. The cost just to hire and screen an employee can be as high as $375. This includes advertising for the position, conducting a background check and drug screening). And most small businesses don’t have a human resources department that can do these tasks.

Staffing services are taking the burden off small business owners by providing pre-screened employees that have been interviewed, drug tested and had their backgrounds checked. This gives the business owner several advantages, said Mike Hayes, owner of Momentum Specialized Staffing.

“Sometimes because the owner doesn’t have the time or resources he or she will not check references or ask for a drug screening,” Hayes said. “This can be a fatal mistake. Some people come across well in the interview but if you investigate their job history, you’ll find things that show they are not a good employee. And while it does happen occasionally, very few people will show “signs” of addiction during a job interview. A drug screening will alert you to any problems and save you a lot of headaches in the future.”

Hayes offers companies a ‘try it before you buy it’ on the job interview to employers.

“’The employee agrees to work at employer for three hours at minimum wage to see if there is a good fit,” Hayes said. “The small business owner didn’t have to go through the hassle of hiring the employee and doesn’t have to go through the hassle of letting the employee go.”

More and more companies are using staffing agencies. According to the American Staffing Association, on an average day in 2008, U.S. staffing agencies employed 2.66 million workers. Mike Donley, owner of Donley Service Center in Phoenix, is one of them.

“A staffing company has been absolutely essential to the success of our business, not only in finding quality employees, but for saving time and money on the amount of work our staff would have had to devote to going through resumes and interviewing,” Donley said. “We’ve been able to focus on servicing our clients instead of wasting quality time and money on searching through hundreds of applicants.”

The number of applicants for any type of job is expected to increase. Arizona’s unemployment rate is at 8.2 percent, the highest rate in 26 years.

“We had two customer service positions recently and we had 150 online applications, 35 people who came into our office and 375 resumes,” Hayes said. “We get this kind of response every time we post a job.”

Michael D. Hayes is owner of Momentum Specialized Staffing in Phoenix. Mike is a member of the Executives’ Association of Greater Phoenix (EAGP), 100 Club of Arizona, Men’s Art Council, and The Arizona Trucking Association. He provides practical, real world advice on his blog, www.momentumstaffing.wordpress.com. Mike has been featured on several Phoenix television and radio stations and in the Arizona Republic. You can learn more at www.youtube.michaelhayesspeaks.com. Email: hazer@momentumtrans.com 602-477-8193

Social Media Basics – Are you socially acceptable? June 9, 2009

I’ve been asked to talk Twitter and other hot social networking sites a lot lately by the media and local communications groups. Part of the reason why is that the producers and group organizers see me online, being social. I am not wasting time online, but instead building and nurturing relationships with others who are in the biz (media, PR pros, clients, etc.) Thats basically the point of social media. A new way to build relationships and get the word out and learn.

I was on 12 News Morning show today. Here is a clip.

If you’d like a few bits of info on what social media is about and how it can help you, see below:

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USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS

Social media, broadly defined, is internet communications services that provide the means to interact with a narrowly defined or selected group of people who share similar interests.

Popular Social Media Sites:

YouTube: Videos online of anything and everything. Send, comment or upload your videos to share with others.
Yelp: Allows users to post reviews, photos and descriptive information and can become a top referring website
Flickr: Photosharing site. Post photos, do basic editing, share photos or have others upload their photos with yours (for example a family gathering, everyone puts their photos on one page.)
Facebook: Created as an interface for social interaction where users join groups and share information between people with similar interests.
Digg: Is a way to classify and bookmark web content. It allows users to share important URL’s with others and together build a storehouse of knowledge about a particular subject.
Twitter: Twitter is like a micro-blog, where you can follow people you find interesting and share common interests

Tips to get started: Find a blog that is of interest to you. Or, find a blog about a topic you’d like to learn more from. Comment once in a while.

Start a Facebook page and look for old school friends or neighbors to get back in touch. Become a “Fan” of your favorite busineses, tv shows, etc Start a Fan Page for your business or cause and use it to update others on whats happening in your biz and interesting articles that relate. Post photos, events, news.

Use Twitter to discuss topics, news, etc in 140 characters or less. Use it on your phone to discuss whats happening now, wherever you are!

It’s a Marathon, not a sprint. Learn as you go. Good way to find more common ground with younger generation, too. Social Media is how they converse!

STILL CONFUSED? Take a Hands-On Class for Social Media or WordPress this weekend!