Huffington / Website Development / Exhibits / My Biggest Concerns.... - 4/25/08

[Smartmarriages]

- HUFFINGTON PICKS UP 'SEX-STARVED'
- FREE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT/UPGRADE TELE-CLASS MAY 15
- EXHIBITS REOPENED
- CONFERENCE: MY BIGGEST CONCERNS

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- HUFFINGTON PICKS UP 'SEX-STARVED'

What a great way to get the word out - and sell books!  Michele Weiner-Davis
does a blog for Psychology Today and Huffington Post picked up her blog on
Sex Starved Wives.  The comments are interesting!

Go here and then click on Sex Starved Link to read all about it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/living/

Michele will present a Sex-Starved keynote on Thursday in San Francisco and
a 90-min workshop on Friday on her two "teach right out of the box" TOOB
programs:

> 403 - Fri 10am
> Divorce Busting Programs - TOOB
> Michele Weiner-Davis, MSW
> Marriage Breakthrough & Keeping Love Alive: two programs to help even
> last-ditch couples avoid divorce, even if only one spouse attends! Teach
> classes or use the techniques in your practice.

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- FREE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT/UPGRADE TELE-CLASS MAY 15

Diane, 
I  would like to help marriage advocates understand how an effective web
strategy can impact the success of their initiatives. To do this I'm
offering a FREE teleconference call on May 15, 2pm EST. To REGISTER:
1. Login at the FAMLI Site. (http://www.famli.us)
2. Click on Conference Call Registration and register.
3. Registration info will be emailed to you.

I have posted the most frequently asked questions by marriage advocates who
want to launch or upgrade their marriage website and a demo site at
http://www.famli.us, but here is a summary of what we offer:

We can do an audit of your site and suggest changes to ensure it is search
engine and user friendly, and correctly positioned to reach your target
audience.

We can align your site with your goals. For example if you are a marriage
grantee, and your goal it to increase the number of marriage mentorees in
your state, a quantifiable increase in online registrations would be a
success metric.

The type of data collected is determined by the type of site. We can
integrate advanced data collection and reporting capability into the site to
accurately report your progress in real time.

Hosting, security, scheduled site backups and full support of all technical
issues are included with the site we deploy.

And we create a site that YOU YOURSELF can easily manage - add new content
or upcoming events to your site.

The costs are considerably lower than hiring in-house talent of similar
expertise. Most organizations will fit into a monthly subscription plan for
their ongoing initiatives and determine a return on investment within a
short period. 

On average it takes only a few days to not more than a couple of weeks to
have a site up and running.

Please email me at Gerstenchris at aol.com if you have any additional questions
and I will respond individually.

Chris Gersten 

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- EXHIBITS REOPENED
I told several callers this week that the Exhibits were closed. I apologize
that I didn't keep your contact information, so can't call you. Hope you see
this. I've worked today with the hotel and we've figured out a way to do a
major reconfiguration of the space, so can take about five more exhibits.
For an application, see: http://www.smartmarriages.com/exhibitors.html

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- CONFERENCE: MY BIGGEST CONCERNS

Here are clips from an email I just sent the 200 conference presenters.
We're just 2 months out, and decided I should also share these with the list
- don't want any of you arriving on the wrong day either. Or, not knowing
about the upgrades.  Or missing out on the early-bird, online registration
discount....  - diane

> 1) MY BIGGEST CONCERN: We've had the same conference pattern for the first 11
> years, but THIS YEAR THINGS ARE CHANGING and I've already talked to several
> presenters and attendees who didn't realize we were shifting!
> 
> Instead of starting on Thursday night, we start on Wednesday night.  The
> opening keynote is 6:30pm Wednesday July 2.  The breakout sessions have
> traditionally been on Fri, Sat and Sun. In San Francisco, they're on Thurs,
> Fri, and Sat. The General Conference ends at 10pm Sat night after the Sat
> Night Live keynote by John Gray.  Post Conference Institutes are all day
> Sunday, July 6, 8:30am-5:30am.
> 
> Likewise, the PRE-Conference Institutes are also shifted: everything is
> shifted forward one day.
> 
> If you don't have a brochure handy to check the schedule of your sessions, you
> can download one here:
> http://www.smartmarriages.com/download.brochure.html
> 
> PLEASE CONFIRM THAT YOUR hotel reservations and your flights arrive and depart
> on the right days.
> 
> If you haven't booked your flight, people are telling me the United Discounts
> really are making a difference:
> Go here for info: http://www.smartmarriages.com/travel.html
> 
> 
> 2) HOTEL I've checked and some of you don't have reservations. Perhaps
> you're staying somewhere else.  If you plan to stay in the Hilton, CALL
> TODAY: 800-445-8667  Ask for the Smart Marriages rate of $115 single/double.
> 
> 3) HOTEL UPGRADES:
>> HOTEL UPGRADE:  For an additional $50 a night
>> you can upgrade to a room above the 35th floor which "guarantees a great
>> view"
>> and puts you on the Executive level which includes free breakfast in the
>> morning and hors d'oeuvers in the evening in the Executive lounge on the 45th
>> floor.  This is $50 PER ROOM so includes anyone staying in a double/triple or
>> quad room.  Not sure what I recommend - agree the views ARE spectacular and
>> the lounge is extremely convenient, BUT the food in the nearby restaurants is
>> so good that you may not want to eat in this lounge. However, it's also true
>> that there is no way to gain entry to the lounge unless you have an executive
>> level room.  And to compound things, City Scape restaurant on the very top of
>> the hotel - on the 46th floor - is closing. The hotel will use that space for
>> private parties (weddings, etc). So the option to go up there for one meal or
>> drink to take in the spectacular view is no longer available.  The hotel is
>> also closing most of its restaurants - they say it just doesn't pay:
>> "Everyone
>> goes across the street to eat where there is great food at NON-hotel prices."
>> They'll have only two upscale restaurants that will also be open to the
>> public
>> (open onto the street).  They're 'under construction' so I didn't get to see
>> the space or menus/prices.
> 
> If you've already made your reservation, just call and upgrade -800-445-8667
> For new reservations, the option is available either online or through the
> 800#. 
> 
> This by the way, does nothing for Smart Marriages - we don't earn any extra
> perks or stars on our forehead.  Just do it if you want to. $165 is still
> WAY below this hotel's normal rack rate.

> 4) REGISTRATION: The ONLINE Registration form is at:
> http://gotomylist.com/cme/smc05/smc08rf2.cfm

> Register by May 12 and save $60 and be guaranteed all your first sessions.