The three-day weekend is almost here! Before you head out, catch up on what was new this week:

1. The FTC recently announced action against a public relations firm for violating the Endorsement Guides for advertising.  This case highlights the importance of abiding by the principles of truth in advertising in online endorsements and testimonials.
2. St. Louisans have plenty of opportunities to get out and try something new  this Labor Day weekend.  From Blues music to a Greek Festival to the Japanese Festival, check out the variety of events that let you experience the world this weekend, without ever leaving home.
3. President Obama formally ended the U.S. combat role in Iraq this week with a nationally televised address from the Oval Office.  And officials from Mariner Energy, which owns the well that exploded yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico, will take their turn answering to Congress, following in the footsteps of BP and Transocean. Are you ready to deliver your message under pressure?  TVG offers media training to make sure you’re prepared for press conferences, interviews, speeches and other moments in the spotlight.
4. Sanford-Brown College, a TVG client, appointed new leaders at two of their campuses this week. Tina Seidel is the new president of Sanford-Brown College—Hazelwood and Doug Goodwin is the new campus director for Sanford-Brown College—Collinsville.
5. Apple launched the latest version of iTunes this week, but this time with a social media twist. Apple’s new service, Ping, allows users to follow their friends and favorite bands, see their friends’ top downloads and share opinions on songs or albums.

Have a fun, safe holiday weekend!  See you all next week!

Happy Friday everyone! Here’s what we’ve been buzzing about this week:

1. St. Louis Children’s Hospital was the first in the nation to successfully implant an artificial lung this week.  Doctors from Washington University say the lung saved the life of 2-year-old patient Owen Stark, who is the youngest person in the world to receive an artificial lung.
2. Andy Likes, TVG’s Director of Public Relations, was in Branson this week at the Missouri Health Care Association’s 62^nd Annual Convention, where he led a session on how to create patient-centered brands. To learn how TVG can help you with your branding needs, visit our website at http://www.vandivergroup.com/.
3. Did you know 28 percent of the U.S. population accesses the Internet from their mobile device? New estimates show this number is expected to reach about 44 percent by the year 2014. What implication does this rapid growth have for your company’s marketing strategy?
4. MidAmerica Solar, a TVG client, held a press event this week to celebrate its new solar energy system for Orchard View Apartments in Farmington, Missouri. The system will supply energy to all the common areas of the buildings, including stairwells, hallways and building exteriors.  Excess energy is fed back to the local power grid for an energy credit.
5. NFL owners voted to approve Stan Kroenke as the new owner of the St. Louis Rams this week, but does he need media relations training? Kroenke has a reputation for rarely speaking to the press and says he just doesn’t have time to build relationships with the media.  How do you think this attitude will affect future coverage of Kroenke and the Rams?

In the most recent issue of Enterprising Women magazine, Donna Vandiver discusses the updated FTC guidelines for testimonials and endorsements in social media. Here’s an excerpt from her article, “Make Sure Your Company Knows the Rules Before Entering the Game”:

“The world of communications is changing.  Social media is growing by leaps and bounds and it is important that your company stay in the game. But in order to play the game, it is important that you know the rules.

Research firm Forrester estimated that more than $700 million would be spent on social media marketing in 2009, and more than $3 billion will be spent in 2014. With advertising dollars and the amount of users increasing in the social media realm, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revised the Guidelines Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (Guides) in December 2009. The Guides focus on protecting consumers from deceptive endorsements and testimonials and the FTC has now included guidelines for businesses using the Internet and social media spaces.”

To read more on the new guidelines click here for the rest of Donna’s article.

This article first appeared in Vol. 11, No. 3 of Enterprising Women magazine (www.enterprisingwomen.com) and is being reprinted with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

This week the kids headed back to school and summer got a little closer to its end.  Here are a few more things TVG was talking about this week:

1. Concord Bank of St. Louis, a TVG client, announced this week the sale of a building to College Bound who plans to use it to create their new local headquarters. Concord Bank, led by President and Chief Executive Tony Feraro, also made a $78,000 grant to College Bound, which helps high school students successfully get into college. Read more at: Concord Bank sells building to College Bound – St. Louis Business Journal
2. Facebook launched its new location feature “Places” this week. Similar to Foursquare, Facebook Places allows users to share their location with friends. One major privacy group has already voiced concern over the new feature. Does Facebook Places infringe on privacy? Will this effect Foursquare use? Let us know what you think!
3. It’s no small task to redesign the Arch grounds, but five design groups think they have what it takes. The designs from the five finalists were made available to the public this week and will travel around the St. Louis area until September 26^th, when a jury will pick the winning design. Public comments will be included in their review, so click here to check out the designs and express your views.
4. More companies are using blogs as marketing tools. A new report from eMarketer estimates that this year, one in three companies will have a public-facing blog for marketing purposes. That number is estimated to reach 43% by 2010.
5. On Thursday, St. Louis-based Savvis placed a record breaking Pizza Hut delivery order for 900 pizzas.  The order which covered company locations in the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Singapore and the U.S. was in recognition of the hard work by their employees in the second quarter of 2010. A total of 300 pies were delivered locally to the headquarters in Town & Country.

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! We’re about halfway through August, and it’s been another exciting week.  Here’s a few of the stories we’ve been following:

1. The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds generated the highest rating ever on Fox Sports Midwest this week. The teams were already battling for first place in the NL Central, add to that a few choice words from Reds’ Brandon Phillips and a brawl during the first inning of the series and it’s no surprise people tuned in. 
2. Recent spikes in the heat index have created dangerous conditions for anyone who is outside for prolonged periods of time in the St. Louis region. TVG’s client, Waste Management, compiled a list of warning signs for heat-related illness, which was featured on KMOV this week.
3. This week, TVG’s President and CEO, Donna Vandiver spoke to St. Louis-based InnovateVMS about social media. InnovateVMS is a venture mentoring service of Innovate St. Louis and Donna discussed with the group how to use social media for startups.
4. Twitter launched their new “Tweet Button” this week. The button lets readers share website content more quickly and includes a comprehensive count of how many times a URL has been shared. Any tweet from a site’s Tweet Button will also include an @mention of that site’s Twitter account.
5. TVG’s pro-bono client, the Walk to Washington, sets out from St. Louis this Saturday on the 50-day, 835-mile walk from St. Louis to Washington, D.C.  The walkers hope to get one million signatures on a petition to raise awareness for depression. Click here to sign the petition and learn more.

Make sure to check out TVG on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with all of our latest news. Have a good weekend!

The first week of August has flown by and it’s time for another weekend! Here were some of the highlights at TVG:

1. Forty of America’s billionaires pledged to give at least half of their fortunes to charity this week. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates founded the group, which is estimated to generate around $6 billion in charitable giving to causes ranging from education to entertainment.
2. Time magazine has released their First Annual Blog Index, which includes a list of their “Top 25 Blogs” and “5 Most Overrated Blogs”.
3. St. Louis endured excessive heat this week, with the heat index spiking above 110 degrees. TVG client, Waste Management, gives those working outside tips for avoiding heat-related illness in an article in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
4. Hollywood made a visit to Chesterfield this Thursday night with the “other premiere” of the comedy “The Other Guys”.  St. Louis won a contest for Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg and other celebrities to host a sneak-peek showing of the film. The winner was determined through votes on Facebook.
5. Missouri residents cast their ballots in the state’s primary election this week.  Click here for information on the results.

What were some of the highlights of your week?

Another summer month has passed and we’ll soon find out what August has in store! Here’s a slice of what TVG has been talking about this week:

1. Donna Vandiver’s article  FTC Guidelines for Social Media can be found in the latest issue of Enterprising Women Magazine. The article highlights rules a company should know about blogger endorsements and other online marketing practices. (login required to access article)
2. Forest Park Forever, a TVG pro-bono client, held a meeting this Thursday to discuss adding new dual “wheels and heels” pathway in park, which will offer separate surfaces for users on wheels and those on foot.  Participants pitched ideas for features they’d like to see along the new path, for a list of the most common suggestions click here.
3. A website called WikiLeaks published secret documents related to the war between the U.S. and the Taliban in Afghanistan this week. Some are calling it the biggest intelligence leak to date. The incident is different than other intelligance leaks in that WikiLeaks has allowed publicly documented feedback from around the world.
4. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-America Chapter announced today that NBC’s The Office co-star and Missouri native, Ellie Kemper will host the 2010 Mid-America Emmy Awards Gala in St. Louis on October 9.
5. This week, St. Louis continued its bid to host the 2010 Democratic National Convention in a big way with a free concert featuring St. Louis natives Chuck Berry and Nelly.  St. Louis is one of four finalists to host the event.

Another week over and it’s time for our last full weekend in July.  We’ve been busy here at the Vandiver Group, check out what we found new and exciting this week:

1. Congratulations to TVG’s Shelley Lester and Eileen Buleza who both received promotions this week! Eileen added Social Media Director to her title of Senior Account Executive, and Shelley was promoted from Account Executive to Senior Account Executive.  Follow TVG on Twitter and send them your congrats!
2. Walk to Washington, a TVG client, is on a mission to educate people about depression. Steve Curran, the Director of Walk to Washington, and three others will be walking from St. Louis to Washington, D.C. starting August 14th to try and get one million signatures on a petition to raise awareness for depression.  Check out their website or follow them on Twitter to learn more.
3. The Thursday was “An Evening of Aloha with Mighty Mo” to benefit the Educators and Students of Missouri. The event, coordinated by TVG’s own Patty Olsen, was held at the St. Louis Science Center and featured keynote speaker General Duncan J. McNabb. Kudos to all involved for a successful evening!
4. The swift firing and unfiring of Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod have been documented closely by the media this week. The situation, caused by an inaccurate portrayal of Sherrod in a blog post, has many blaming the fast-paced nature of today’s media for perpetuating the false story. No matter who’s to blame, the clear lesson here is that the importance of finding out the whole truth before taking quick action should never be ignored.
5. Facebook reached the 500 million member milestone this week. To celebrate, they launched Facebook Stories, a way for people to share how Facebook has affected their lives for better or worse. Check out this Mashable article to see how Facebook’s 500 million members are broken down by country, age and gender.

Have a good weekend, we’ll see you all next week!

Thank you for checking into TVG’s blog, here is this week’s Friday Five of items that were talked about in our office.  What was your office buzzing about this week?

1. BP placed a new cap this Thursday that brought the oil spill in the Gulf under control, and everything is holding steady  17 hours later.  While this is a positive sign, officials have made it clear the cap is not a permanent solution and that there is still a long way to go.
2. Complaints continued this week from Apple’s iPhone4 users. Poor reception has tainted the release of this long awaited technology and done damage to Apple’s reputation. In a press conference today, Apple promised free bumpers to iPhone 4 owners to help combat the reception issues, as well as a refund to anyone who wants to completely return their phone. Do you think this fixes the problem?
3. The National League defeated the American League in this Tuesday’s All-Star Game. While NL fans might be excited about the victory, it seems most of them did not tune in to watch the game itself. This year’s All-Star broadcast was the lowest rated in history. What does this say for the future of the MLB and sports broadcasts in general?
4. As of today, St. Louis has the green light to join the race for Missouri’s 13^th casino license. St. Louis will compete against at least four other cities for the license, including Cape Girardeau, Spanish Lake and Sugar Creek. Click here for more information.
5. Corn farmers from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C. this week for committee meetings, Capital hills visits and the semi-annual Corn Congress. TVGi client, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), hosted the event, which focused on increasing opportunities for corn growers.

The short work week has flown by and Friday is already here. Even with an extra day off, we still have tons to talk about here at TVG:

1. Hopefully everyone had a safe, successful Fourth of July weekend! TVG client Waste Management of St. Louis reminds us this week to properly retire our used American flags. Check out their story on Fox 2 Now for more information.
2. A recent study shows that Twitter search volume is up 33 percent since April of this year. This is mostly due to Twitter’s unparalleled ability to capture what’s happening this very second. The increase in search volume makes it even more important to get people talking (or tweeting) about your brand.
3. This Sunday is the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals, pitting Spain versus the Netherlands. As the tournament wraps up, what kind of lasting impact do you think the World Cup and all its publicity will have on South Africa?
4. St. Louis based non-profit organization Gateway Greening was one of four finalists for the What Do You Care About TODAY contest on the TODAY show. They won $50,000 for placing in the top four. Congratulations!
5. LeBron James chose to play for the Miami Heat next season in a much anticipated announcement last night and Miami companies are already revving up to accommodate the expected rise in tourism James will bring to the area. What do you think of the way James’ announcement was handled from a communications standpoint?