Colorado Garden & Home Show Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Sick of the cold weather? Next weekend spring will arrive with the annual Colorado Garden & Home Show. Not only will the Show celebrate its 50th Anniversary but will include 15,000 blooming flowers, 100 tons of boulders and rocks and 2,000 truckloads of fresh recycled mulch, waterfalls, ponds and streams, paths and elevated walkways and bridges all add to the gardens’ living nature. It’s also the only show produced by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that contributes show proceeds (about $8 out of every $12 ticket) to grants and scholarships. To date, Colorado Garden Show has awarded $3 million in grants and scholarships to 207 organizations to support horticulture in Colorado.

What I really can’t wait to see is the “Secret Garden of Pirate’s Cove” entry garden. I’ve visited LaFond FX special effects company several times to check in on the 25 ft. tall by 32 ft. long pirate ship complete with pirates, cannons and ancient warriors. The enormity of the pirate ship is hard to describe. How they will move it in to the Colorado Convention Center next week will be a sight to see. Curious? Check out the behind-the-scenes video on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Colorado-Garden-Show-Inc/77663835284?ref=ts

More than 600 companies from 25 states and Canada will introduce new technologies in energy-efficient heating and cooling products, window treatments, siding, flooring, lighting, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, patio furniture, gutters, sound systems, storage systems, greenhouses, decks, spas and more. If you ever want to check out options for your dream kitchen or backyard this is the spot.

Other things not to miss:

Feb. 7 - 15
· Master Gardeners from Colorado State University’s Cooperative Extension Service will answer all your questions for free. Look for them in their bright green vests in The Education Garden.
· Marvel at the creative floral arrangements and designs in Colorado’s largest juried Flower Show, “Playtime in the Rockies,” presented by the Colorado Federation of Garden Clubs.
· Explore The 9News Hot Products Zone for new gardening and home improvement products from a leafproof gutter system to handcrafted children’s furniture to EcoSmart fire to permanent holiday LED lighting and more
· Looking for Green Ideas? Stop by the Smart Energy Living Pavilion to learn the five most important steps for achieving energy efficiency in your home.

Feb. 7-8
· Admire, but do not eat, the 120 extravagant cakes competing for prizes in the show’s botanically-correct “sugar art show.” The “Sweet Times in the Rockies” Cake Decorating Contest will be on display next to the show’s main entrance.
· Don’t miss the celebrity “ICE-OFF” cake competition to benefit The Children’s Hospital on Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. in the Demonstration Theater.

Feb. 11
· Stop by the Flower Sale halfway through the show when fading flowers will be removed from the garden and replaced. The Rotary Club will have these flowers on sale to the public for $2 per pot.

Feb. 14
· Discover tips and techniques for successful gardening and home improvement projects presented by regional experts at the Demonstration Theater. Richard Trethewey of This Old House will speak in the Demonstration Theater at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Feb. 15
· Twenty metro area Rotary Clubs will converge on the Convention Center to carefully box 7,000 flowers and ready them for delivery to 60 local nursing homes.

Award-winning Campaigns

I have to take a minute to brag… We were recently awarded the 2008 Grand Gold Leaf Award and 2008 Nonprofit Project of the Year Award from the Colorado Healthcare Communicators for work conducted on behalf of our clients, The Children’s Hospital and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, respectively. I was on the Colorado Healthcare Communicators board for five years and never even saw a Grand Gold Leaf. As one of our clients put it, “The strength and quality of our partnership was on full display at the ceremony with the wonderful acknowledgement by our peer professionals.”

Not only did GroundFloor Media and The Children’s Hospital receive the Grand Gold Leaf Award for the campaign, “The Children’s Hospital Makes 111 Miracles Happen,” but this campaign also received a Gold Leaf Award in the media relations category. This campaign consisted of an aggressive, proactive local and regional media relations strategy during The Children’s Hospital’s move to its new state-of-the-art facility at I-225 and Colfax in September 2007.

For the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Division, we received the Nonprofit Project of the Year Award and a Gold Leaf Award in the new media category for the What If? Colorado social media campaign, which was comprised of both traditional and non-traditional public relations components, including a reality competition.

I’m extremely proud of our team members at GroundFloor Media and have to commend them publicly for continually generating fresh, strategic ideas to help our clients meet their marketing and business objectives!

Poop Happens

The write up in last week’s Denver Business Journal says it all. I’ve never been so proud while laughing so hard, so I have to share…

AND NOW, FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Speaking of disgusting things, how ‘bout that “Animal Grossology” exhibit in Parker at The Wildlife Experience, way south of Denver, where South Peoria Street meets Lincoln Avenue — and the farther away, the better.

“I have a nephew who is 12, and he thought it was AWESOME!” says Amy Moynihan of GroundFloor Media, which landed this prestigious account. Animal Grossology features a number of interactive and hands-on exhibits, “and you can dissect owl pellets [in animated form], and there’s a big cow that demonstrates how their digestive systems work. There’s lots of game stations, so you can make slime and fake poop.”

School and children’s groups have toured the exhibit, and there are educators and volunteers present to help. More fun facts to be gleaned: A dung beetle can roll dung 50 times its weight, which rivals any politician. Also, cows are the gassiest animals on Earth, which also defies belief as we’re assaulted by political commercials this fall.

When the Gold Pick Awards come around next fall, someone oughta nominate GroundFloor Media for:

• Headline of the Year: “Animal Grossology Exhibit Lands at the Wildlife Experience Featuring Pooper Scoopers, Blood Suckers, Vomit Munchers, Slime Makers and More!”

• Company President Quote of the Year: “Snail slime and the dung beetle, otherwise known as ‘nature’s pooper scooper,’ definitely qualify as unique story angles!” says Laura Love in a GroundFloor Media news release.

The exhibit runs through April 26, with hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. It’s closed Mondays, and we’re guessing that’s when someone places a giant fumigation tent over the building and has at it. Info: www.thewildlifeexperience.org or 720-488-3300, if tiny bugs haven’t burrowed their way into your cellphone.

Fuse Me

In this insane world of PR, we’re constantly juggling multiple conversations with colleagues, reporters, clients and even our clients’ customers. In this age of instant connectivity, that usually means an inordinate amount of e-mails, Facebook wall posts and tweets. Maintaining these online conversations can be challenging, even overwhelming at times. I’ve tried adhering to the principles of Inbox Zero or GTD, but truth be told, the only time I clear out my inboxes is when I’m on a transatlantic flight. And usually, I just want to sleep or watch a few really bad movies with subtitles.

Enter Fuser.com. Fuser.com is an online tool that lets you to check your e-mail and social networking accounts (Facebook, Myspace and Twitter) in one secure place, so you don’t have to log into tons of different Web sites each day. Once you’ve registered your accounts you’ll get your messages delivered to one online inbox that you can access from any Internet connection. You can reply, send, forward – basically do all the things you’re used to doing already – from within Fuser.com. It’s free and you don’t have to download or install a program to use it, so you can access it easily from work or home.

Now, for the disclaimer… we began working with Fuser last year when they unveiled the initial version of Fuser.com. As one of the first companies to offer Internet users a way to avoid “inbox overload” while also helping them increase their connectivity, it was easy to understand why people instantly starting using it. Earlier this month, Fuser unveiled a new version of Fuser.com that is 40% faster, offers a completely new user interface and a slew of more message management features. Once again, the response has been great and we’re excited to be part of the Fuser.com fan club.

Fuser also has a cool viral marketing campaign going on that includes a microsite with some pretty hilarious videos and emails. You can see it at http://www.nevermissamessage.com/ (as in, “with Fuser.com, you’ll never miss an important message again). Here’s an example of what may happen to you if you miss a message:

Take the Trek

One of the fabulous things about working at GroundFloor Media is that we are committed to working with great clients who have great stories to tell. And that’s not just lip service. That’s why it’s been so wonderful to work with the Denver Story Trek – the epitome of having great stories to tell!

If you haven’t checked it out yet, visit www.denverstorytrek.org to choose your trek through some of the best kept secrets in Denver. The landmark “hubs” of the Trek include the Molly Brown House Museum, Four Mile Historic Park, Black American West Museum, Byers-Evans House Museum and Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art. And while all of these establishments are well worth the visit, there are so many things to see along the way as well – like the Stoiberhof Mansion, which reveals a second Denver connection to the Titanic through mysterious passenger Hugh Rood, who lived in this mansion just blocks away from the Unsinkable Margaret “Molly” Brown.

The coolest thing about the Denver Story Trek, in my opinion, is the Trek Connect feature. By dialing in on your mobile phone, you can listen to stories along the Trek and record your own memories. There are nearly 40 recorded stories to choose from (and the list is growing), all with a unique perspective on Denver’s rich heritage. Go ahead, call in to share your story and become part of history!

Therapy Garden Healing the “Lost”

This past Saturday I visited a therapy garden with Cheryl Preheim of KUSA (NBC) at an organization called Lost and Found (www.lostandfoundinc.org). We were met at the front door by Loren Lichti, a counselor/therapist and an avid gardener. Lost and Found’s Transitional Living Program (TLP) emancipation program is based in Arvada and gives residential treatment support to emancipating youth who’ve typically come from the “system” (foster care, social services and/or youth corrections). The therapy garden was made possible by a $3,000 grant from the Colorado Garden Show.

Loren has worked with the young men in the TLP program to develop a therapy garden that includes natural space for one-on-one and group sessions. The garden has been carefully designed to incorporate flowers, vegetable and fruit bearing plants, bird houses/feeders/baths and seating areas. It is a vast improvement from the formerly weed-infested area. Loren told us it has been a slow process getting the guys outside to work with him in the garden. “Initially, the guys just watched, but after a few days, they decided to get their hands dirty and now they work in the garden 2-3 hours per day.” We spoke with several of the youth that morning which all have a tough story from serious addictions to broken families to mental health problems. One youth walked me through the garden and showed me various peppers and onions in his plot. He didn’t want to be on camera but mentioned he once thought gardening was for women but had changed his mind. “Now that my garden is growing, I kind of like coming out here. It is peaceful and I can think.”

Therapeutically speaking, remarkable things have happened in the attitudes and hearts of these young men. Loren shared a story about a young man who asked him how long the garden paths they created would exist as he wanted to know if, when he had a wife and kids, he could bring them back to show them the path he built. It was decided that all the garden paths would be named after the youth who built the path. Each path has a sign with the youth’s name, even the ones who have left. “It is kind of cool that when I leave a piece of me will be remembered here in the garden,” a youth told me.

It was an eye-opening experience to speak with these youth. I went home and hugged my kids. I also thanked my parents.

To learn more, check out the segment and interview with Cheryl Preheim here.

~Amy M.

Looking For Love?

If you've followed my blog posts, you know that I'm typically GroundFloor Media's resident foodie. But, if you've read my real story you'll know that another of my real passions is the health and well-being of animals. That's why it's my pleasure to break away from food for just a minute to remind you all that June is Adopt-a-Cat month. If you're looking for love in the form of a faithful, feisty, friendly or fearless companion like Salty Reilly (pictured here), a cat might just be the right fit for you! In Denver, you can visit the Dumb Friends League (www.ddfl.org) or any number of other area shelters to learn more about the many cats who are at just waiting to find the right family to call their own. GroundFloor Media is working with the Dumb Friends League and a handful of other feline-focused partners to launch an exciting cat-related campaign that we look forward to revealing later this summer. In the meantime, let us know if you add a feline family member to your home this month!

Today is Teach Children to Save Day

I find it interesting that John McCain recently made a comment about “financially irresponsible citizens” and the Colorado’s Governor Ritter proposed legislation last month to revamp the school system with more rigorous classes and assessment tools. It is evident that financial education for children is top of mind among leaders and it is definitely a necessity. With an unstable economy, the current mortgage crisis and America’s consumer debt now exceeding $2.4 trillion there must be something done to teach our children, the next generation of leaders, how to be fiscally responsible.

April is designated as Financial Literacy month and April 29 is Teach Children to Save Day. One GroundFloor Media client, Young Americans Center for Financial Education, is dedicated to the financial education of young people in Colorado, the United States and around the world. In celebration of Teach Children to Save Day, Young Americans Center for Financial Education conducted a survey of more than 600 local children between the ages of seven and 13 to find out more about allowance and spending habits. Why did they choose allowance as the survey topic? Because financial literacy begins with allowance. Financial skills can be taught as early as age four and allowance is usually the first introduction of money to kids.

The survey found that nearly 75 percent of kids receive an allowance and only 42 percent save a percentage of their allowance money. Not a great finding when it comes to saving. The key is to teach children how to manage and save money at an early age so their successful spending and saving habits will continue into adulthood. Young Americans Center for Financial Education teaches kids about saving, spending, donating and investing money. There is also an entire program dedicated to entrepreneurial ventures.

Young Americans Bank is the only FDIC-insured bank in the world for kids under the age of 22. Clients are children from all 50 states and 12 foreign countries. Kids can open an account two different ways: by mail or by visiting the bank in Denver. Young Americans Center for Financial Education is the nonprofit arm of Young Americans Bank. Since 1987, more than 360,000 kids have participated in financial literacy courses held by the center.

Young Americans Center for Financial Education offers Saturday classes for customers, with topics ranging from Savings Smarts to Budgeting to International Currency. These free classes are age appropriate and include hands-on activities. Weeklong summer camps for 2nd – 7th graders are also available. Classes and camps are held at the Cherry Creek location, 3550 E. First Avenue in Denver, or at the Belmar location, 401 S. Pierce Street in Lakewood.

For more information, visit yacenter.org or call 303-321-BANK.


- Alexandre

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month

I was skimming The Aurora Sentinel last week when I came across an impactful article written by Boyd Fletcher on the topic of child abuse. Boyd and I have worked together for the past two years on multiple stories about The Children’s Hospital and it did not come as a surprise to me to see his most recent coverage of a topic that is so important to the folks at The Children’s Hospital.

Unlike many of the other articles Boyd has written, this one was more serious in nature and certainly touched my heart as I am expecting my first baby in July. In all honesty, it is quite difficult to think or even read about the topic of child abuse. It is even more unfathomable to imagine an individual shaking a baby so violently that it could cause permanent brain damage to the baby. I can’t tell you how many of my mommy friends have shared with me all the joys of being a new parent, however, they have certainly been honest and told me it is hard work. Just like my friends have told me, the Web site (dontshakeababy.com) agrees that as a parent, you have limited energy, patience and tolerance, and it's normal to feel overwhelmed, helpless and angry by the constant demands of your baby.

However, it is important for all moms to know that is normal to ask for help. In all my parenting classes, all the instructors can’t stress the importance of seeking advice, friends and family support, and just taking a five minute break from the stressful situation. As a mom-to-be, I was thrilled to find the following five tips for consoling a crying baby and already printed off the document and posted it on my frig. A friendly reminder can’t hurt any of us!

· Talk to your child's doctor. There may be a medical reason why the baby is crying so much · Seek parenting support - Families First offers a 24-hour family support line at 1-877-695-7996 OR call free child abuse hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453). These hotlines are free and they will listen to you, offer emergency help, then direct you to local agencies that can help you and answer your questions.
· Call a friend and talk about it
· Let the baby cry it out if you have tried to calm him, but nothing seems to work
· Call the doctor if you think the baby may be sick

For the past three years, The Children’s Hospital, in partnership with The Kempe Foundation for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect and Kohl’s Department Stores, has implemented a Colorado campaign to educate the community about the dangers of shaking a baby and to offer solutions for how to calm a crying baby. A severe form of Child Abuse, about one child per week was admitted to The Children’s Hospital with signs of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) in 2003.

To learn more about The Children’s Hospital’s efforts to prevent child abuse, visit www.thechildrenhospital.org or read Boyd’s article.

Investing in Colorado’s Green Future

There are parts of a job that make you feel like you can make a difference. Working with the Colorado Garden Show is one of those examples. I wish every day I could feel as amazing about what I do in public relations. On Wednesday, Carissa and I attended the Colorado Garden Show board meeting to interview two student candidates for scholarships to Colorado State University (CSU). These are not your typical high school seniors. Their activities, grades and background on their farms make us city folk look like couch potatoes. Or at least gave me a little guilt for sleeping in late and arriving at the office by 9 a.m.

Ashton Dilka of Briggsdale, Colo. showed up in her letter jacket with her parents and spoke about getting up at 4 a.m. to feed livestock before heading to school all day. She plays four varsity sports. She raises swine (pigs), has moved miles of irrigation pipes and pulled millions of rye weed from the wheat fields. Can you imagine? And she probably weighs 110 lbs. soaking wet. Ashton graduates from Briggsdale High School this May. In addition to farming she has participated in countless extracurricular activities and organizations including Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) National Honor Society and Future Farmers of America (FFA).

After asking her questions about her career aspirations and why she wanted to attend CSU the board took a brief break. It was unanimous. She was called back into the boardroom with her parents and told she had been awarded the Colorado Garden Show’s four-year, full-ride scholarship to Colorado State University to study agricultural education and business. In addition to paid tuition, room and board, she will receive a laptop with a printer and all expenses will be paid for her books and fees. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

“The only obstacle standing in the way of my educational aspirations was my lack of financial funding to help with the major expense of college. Without the help of the Colorado Garden Show’s full-ride scholarship, my dream of continuing my education would have been next to impossible,” said Ashton.

Her proud parents could not help but express their gratitude and excitement. “We live on a small family farm and this scholarship takes a lot of stress off of our family,” said James Dilka, her father. “A college education will help give Ashton a better path in life and will help her not struggle so hard to get there.”

Ashton hopes to someday become an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor to help teach others with the same passion for agriculture. “It’s not about the money. It’s about the rewards,” she adds. “I look forward to the day when I can make a difference in this changing industry.”

Colorado Garden Show also awarded a two-year scholarship for tuition, books and fees to Rachel Hornung of Stratton, Colo. to attend CSU. Rachel graduated from Stratton High School in May of 2007 as valedictorian and has served the past year as the Colorado FFA vice president visiting more than 25 agricultural programs throughout the state. Rachel impressed the board by remembering almost everyone’s names and for handling questions better than a political candidate in a press conference.

She looks forward to attending CSU this fall and will major in agricultural education. “I have a fondness for agriculture and serving as a State FFA Officer has added to that passion. This year I have learned more about the incredibly different aspects of agriculture from horticulture to cattle production to agricultural business to agronomy. Only 1 percent of Colorado’s population is directly involved in production agriculture, yet there are more than 350 different careers in the field including science, business and technology fields. Because of this I know I will have a great career in agricultural education,” Rachel said.

But that’s not all! Proceeds for the Annual Colorado Garden & Home Show, about $8 of every $12 ticket, go toward grants and scholarships. More than $500,000 will be given out this year. Additional Colorado Garden Show college scholarships for the 2008 – 2009 school year include:

Jamie Petersen of Denver received a one-year scholarship to cover tuition, books and fees in the Horticulture and Landscape Technologies program at Front Range Community College.

Ruchika Agrawal of Aurora, Colo. was awarded the Architecture, Construction and Engineering (ACE) Mentoring Scholarship toward tuition each year for four years of college. She will attend Community College of Denver next fall.

Teri Howlett of Windsor, Colo. was awarded a graduate scholarship of tuition, books and fees for one year at CSU towards her Ph.D. in horticulture.

Jessica Jo Johnson of Greeley, Colo. was awarded a scholarship for tuition, books and fees for one year at CSU towards her degree in agriculture business and agricultural education.

Heidi Moss of Ft. Collins, Colo. received a scholarship toward her degree in landscape horticulture focusing on design and contracting at CSU.

Chandi Aldena of Denver received an endowment scholarship toward her degree in landscape architecture at CSU.

Congratulations to all the students! My week is complete. It just doesn’t get any better than this…

~Amy M.

Happy Earth Day!

After living in Boulder for close to ten years, it’s hard to not pick up a few green habits. For example, I recycle everything I can, I use reusable canvas bags for all my shopping and I switched out all my old light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. However, I still have significant room for improvement and I’m committed to really amping up my efforts this Spring and Summer (bring on the Hybrid!). From the conversations I’ve had lately, it sounds like a lot of you guys are too. So in honor of Earth Day, and in hopes of giving everyone a little greening motivation (myself included), I thought it would be fun to highlight what a few of our clients are doing to make their own worlds a little greener.

Rally Software: Rally’s commitment to sustainability was built into their company from day one. Rally’s use of a Software-as-a-Service delivery model eliminates much of the waste that is traditionally associated with software products (boxes, cds, special server hardware, etc.). Rally’s founder and CTO Ryan Martens has worked tirelessly to spread the concept of “Greening the Software Industry” by speaking on the topic at several major industry conferences and authoring numerous articles and white papers.

Internally, the company has formed a “Green Team” that meets once a month to define company-wide green objectives and make specific commitments towards their achieving them. This month, the focus is on implementing an internal composting program, next month the focus will be on reducing its employees’ commuting emissions. Rally also participates in Boulder’s “Be Climate Smart” initiative, a countywide effort to help individuals, families and businesses increase their energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. As part of this program, Rally buys Renewable Energy Credits to cover the energy used to power and cool their production servers with 100% carbon free wind energy.

You can read more about Rally’s sustainability efforts by visiting the Green Brainstorm hive in their Web 2.0 community, Agile Commons.

Corporate Express: Corporate Express is one of the world’s largest business-to-business suppliers of essential office and computer products and services and a great example of a large corporation making a significant commitment to sustainability. The company’s new line of Sustainable Earth cleaning products includes naturally-derived active ingredients and no harsh chemicals like carcinogens, nervous system toxins, harsh acids or reproductive toxins. Corporate Express made sure these products also met or exceeded the stringent sustainability certifications of Green Seal, the most widely recognized name in environmental cleaning products standards, and the EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) program, which seeks to promote the use of institutional cleaners with improved environmental and human health characteristics.

Internally, Corporate Express is doing their part to decrease fuel usage and truck emissions by using an advanced delivering routing technology that helps reduce idling, among other factors. The company is also planning to convert a portion of their fleet to biodiesel, which they hope to pilot by mid-2008. And they’re currently testing hybrid diesel-electric delivery trucks for future expansion into their fleet.

You can learn more about what Corporate Express is doing on the sustainability front here.

Colorado Garden Show: One organization that is really putting their green thumb to good use this Earth Day is Colorado Garden Show Inc., a nonprofit corporation that provides funds for horticultural-related grants, scholarships and events. This year, Colorado Garden Show will provide grants around the state to support programs such as a major grant to Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado for planting 1,000 trees on Arbor Day; a children’s garden for Advocates Against Domestic Assault; native plants and signage for Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo; and a gathering garden for Montrose Botanical Society.

Since the program launched, Colorado Garden Show has awarded more than $2.5 million for horticultural projects and scholarships throughout the state. You can learn more about the Colorado Garden Show here.

Finally, if you’re feeling a little inadequate now after reading about these impressive green initiatives, don’t. There are a number of green ideas that are quick and easy to implement at home or at the office that can really make a difference. For example, the Fuser.com team up in Boulder has a few suggestions:

• Recycle paper, cans and bottles


• Set your office lights on timers, so they are shut off at night even if someone forgets and leaves them on


• Set up your offices and bathrooms with motion detector light switches (so they go on when you walk in a room)

I know I’m now way past my word-limit for this post, but I hope these examples have been able to inspire you (even a little) to go forth and be green.

Happy Earth Day!

Spring is abuzz with change for a GFM client

It’s the end of the ski season and I’m jumping up and down that spring is here, bringing pink blooms on my trees, weekend camping trips, and margs on the patio. But, I also have a tinge of regret at seeing the last runs close down and an epic season wrap up. I have similar feelings about the news that Umbria was acquired by J.D. Power on April 2nd.

A GroundFloor Media client for three years, Umbria is one of those rare companies that you talk up even when you’re off the clock. It’s just plain cool and stocked with smart people. It’s on the cutting edge of Web 2.0, but still reeks of Boulder…in a good way.

For those who follow the social media research industry (Umbria’s milieu), the acquisition was hardly a surprise – the news was more about who was doing the acquiring. That’s because Umbria is one of many new-school research companies that has been paired with an older-school counterpart in recent years. BuzzMetrics, Intelliseek and Cymfony met similar fates, and we’re all guessing who’s next.

A big congrats goes out to the Umbria team, as well as to the brains at J.D. Power who are keeping Umbria’s talent and Boulder location in tact! It’s been awesome to watch them move fast and furiously from the startup cradle to “graduation,” and we’ve been proud to be associated with them along the way.

Buzz analysis is mind-blowing stuff and it’s just now moving up the bell curve. It’ll be fun to take stock of the industry after making my last runs on next year’s spring slush.

~Rebecca S.

Savings Meets Web 2.0

When my husband and I were knee-deep in wedding planning a couple years ago we were constantly getting asked where we were registered. We had both lived as single adults for a number of years before getting engaged, so we didn’t need another toaster oven or a new set of dishes. What we really wanted was cash for our honeymoon trip to Brazil, but wedding etiquette prevented us from mentioning this to most of our guests. I had heard of honeymoon gift sites that would allow guests to contribute to a couple’s trip, but the couple sites that I found offered very limited options and didn’t seem very reliable.

Fast forward two years and now I’m working with a company that I sorely wish was around when I was still alter bound. Launched earlier this week, SmartyPig (www.smartypig.com) is goal-oriented savings meets Web 2.0. It combines social networking with savings to help people save for a specific goal (e.g. honeymoon, new HD TV, baby furniture, family vacation) – but with three unique twists that actually help users reach their savings goals faster. First, SmartyPig is the only online savings tool that leverages Web 2.0 technologies to allow account holders to make their savings accounts public – so family and friends can securely contribute to a savings goal. Second, SmartyPig currently offers the highest (4.30 % APY) interest rate and will always maintain a competitive interest rate for account holders. Finally, SmartyPig gives consumers even more for their money by offering additional cash boosts (up to five percent of total savings) from best-in-class retailer partners like Amazon.com, Royal Caribbean, Pottery Barn, Best Buy and Home Depot once they reach their savings goal.

The response to SmartyPig so far has been tremendous. Consumers, personal financial pundits and technologists are all loving SmartyPig for taking such a simple and smart idea and making it a reality. (You can read what folks are saying at http://www.smartypig.com/press.) For me, I’m so excited that a company has developed a way to actually keep me interested in saving by adding elements that appeal directly to my social networking addiction. I only wish they’d been around before I got married – maybe I’d have one less waffle maker and wouldn’t still be paying off my honeymoon debt.