When you get back into work Monday, make sure you get yourself registered for the next MCA meeting set for Wednesday, September 12, 2012.

Maggiano's
1901 E Woodfield Rd
Schaumburg, IL

AGENDA
11:30 Sign in & Networking
12:00 Lunch
1:00-2:30 Table Competition

Special Pricing for this event!
Lunch & Program
$30.00
To make your reservation contact:
Ann Sims Ph: 847-983-2033 or
asims@halldata.com

We look forward to seeing you there.
Posted By Robert Kennedy
5 Tips to Ensure Yours is Effective

Entrepreneurs and businesses, interest clubs and civic groups, authors and even proud parents - they all have a message they want the press to help share.

They may be interested in contributing an article or column. They may have a great story they'd like a reporter to tell. Or, they have a product or book that can help readers solve their problems.

As media outlets devoted to providing news and information to their readers, the press -- newspapers, magazines and their online counterparts -- want to help! But, too often, the people interested in getting print coverage thwart their own efforts by making simple mistakes.

Here are some things to consider before sending that email:

• Pay attention to deadlines: Newspapers are generally daily or weekly; magazines may publish weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually. Both plan their feature content ahead of time. For papers that may be from a few days to two or three weeks ahead of publication. Magazines may be working on their May issue in February. Either way, working in advance is vital. If you're hoping to time your story idea or article to coincide with a season or special event, consider when you'd like to see it published and work backward from that date. It also helps to comb the publication's website for information on deadlines and policies regarding unsolicited material.

• Read the publication: Once you understand what sort of content the publication uses, in what format and in which sections, you can tailor and target your pitch. Say you, as the owner of a children's art gallery, want to provide back-to-school tips for helping inspire creativity. You can A) Send an article full of tips to the main editor listed on the website, or B) Read a few issues of the newspaper or magazine and find out if and when it publishes a parenting page or an arts page, and who the editor is. (You can also see if it uses a question-and-answer format, bulleted tips, or longer articles.)

• Pay attention to the news: Knowing today's issues, trends and breaking news can help you make your pitch timely and current? Most publications look for a "news hook" - a way to give a piece context because it relates to something happening now. There have been lots of news features on the Mormon religion, for instance, since Mitt Romney began campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination. Romney being Mormon gives publications a reason to write about that religion. He's a great news hook. Does your business offer solutions for people to help beat the recession? If it's in the news and you can speak to it, don't hesitate to get your pitch together and send it off today.

• Be concise: Often, a few sentences describing your story angle and how it relates to a timely topic is enough. Avoid burying the important information in a long narrative or in glowing paragraphs about how wonderful your idea, product, book or company is. Instead, present the information in a way that respects your contact's time. Brief is best.

• Make the important information easy to find: If editors have to search for dates, your contact information, or local relevance, they may give up - even if they're initially interested in your pitch. Think of the information you would need if you were considering writing a story or publishing what has been provided. The vital information should be present and clearly visible.

Even if you don't make these common mistakes, catching the interest of an editor can be difficult. Remember to paste your pitch into the body of your email - don't send it as an attachment, which may get it flagged as junk mail. Follow up with a polite phone call ("Just wanted to make sure you received my email regarding an article I can write for you"). Getting print coverage is possible, so don't give up!

About Marsha Friedman

Marsha Friedman is a 22-year veteran of the public relations industry. She is the CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com), a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity services to corporations, entertainers, authors and professional firms. Marsha is the author of Celebritize Yourself: The 3-Step Method to Increase Your Visibility and Explode Your Business and she can also be heard weekly on her Blog Talk Radio Show, EMSI's PR Insider every Thursday at 3:00 PM EST.

Author Wallace Evenson announces the release of Adam to Christ

CAMBRIDGE, Minn. - In his book Adam to Christ: An Accurate Account of Old Testament Chronology: The Lineage of Jesus from the Beginning of Creation (published by AuthorHouse), author Wallace Evenson delves into the Bible and uncovers clues which he uses to propose a possible chronology of the major events of the Bible.

Evenson calls Adam to Christ "... the truth in dating the 60 generations from Adam to Christ." He looks at lineages, clues about settings, and literal interpretations of the Bible to put dates to the most known - and most commonly questioned - events of the Bible.

An excerpt from Adam to Christ:

The first day is the beginning of Biblical dating. Six full creative days were to make phenomenal changes in this dark chaotic waste. Are the six days literal days? Can anyone know? This is where faith in the word has an advantage; we can believe that the six days are literal because He said it! If we can't trust Genesis to be literally true and understandable, how can we trust the rest of the Bible? The literal meaning of a day is then strengthened by the next verse.

"So the evening and the morning were one day." (Gen 1:5)

Evenson confidently refers to Adam to Christ as accurate and the truth because he relies so heavily on analyzing Scripture. As he says, "All Scripture is inspired by God."

About the Author

Wallace Evenson lives and writes in Cambridge, Minn.

For the latest, follow @authorhouse on Twitter.

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918studio to release Schaefer's In Search of Lode September 1

LECLAIRE, IOWA ? August 27, 2012 ? In Search of Lode, a collection of poetry by Nancy Ann Schaefer, will be released by 918studio on September 1. The chapbook is Schaefer's first collection of poetry. Cover and interior design for the collection was by Sarah Throne-Ploehn of Rivertown Creative.

Schaefer will read from her collection at a chapbook launch party and book signing to be held from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, September 15, at the Midwest Writing Center. The event will be held in the third floor conference room of the Bucktown Center of the Arts at 225 East 2nd Street, Davenport. The public is invited and refreshments will be available.

Schaefer is a poet and Quad Cities area college professor, and teaches sociology and liberal arts at Western Illinois University's new Riverfront campus. She was twice a finalist for the Max J. Molleston Award in the Mississippi Valley Poetry Contest, and is a member of the Quint City Poets and the Rockford Writers' Guild. Her poems have appeared in a number of anthologies and journals including The Rockford Review, Numinous, Off Channel, Avocet, Outloud, In Other Words: Mérida, Struggle, and Women's Voices Journal.

Local poet, Ellen Tsagaris, had early praise for Lode: "With In Search of Lode, Nancy Ann Schaefer shows us that poetry is indeed a universal language by offering verses in English, Spanish, and Dutch that cross the United States but traverse the world. She makes the common and simple sublime, and the sublime simple to understand with verse that is lyrical yet familiar, as if the lode were the depths of our communal heart
songs."

Milliken University English chair and award-winning poet, Stephen Frech, said Schaefer mines "mineral and personal depths...[to] recover 'artifacts of concord [...] tangible reminders of our conjoined / past.' In Search of Lode beautifully reclaims the ironies of finding the pure and infinite in things "preserved like ants in amber?forever young."

In Search of Lode is available for purchase at the Midwest Writing Center and on Amazon.com.

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For more about 918studio, visit

www.918studio.net or email 918studio@windstream.net

For more about Rivertown Creative & Co, visit

www.rivertowncreative.com

For more about the Midwest Writing Center, visit

www.midwestwritingcenter.com

DES MOINES, IA (08/15/2012)(readMedia)-- Ribbons were awarded in the FFA Photography competition judged prior to the start of the 2012 Iowa State Fair.

Complete results follow:

Black and White/Toned

1) Marshal Wilz, Eddyville

2) Amanda Ratliff, Eddyville

3) Matthew Noland, Adair

4) Caitlin Reed, Fremont

5) Tayler Foster, Riverside

Color

1) Katrina Van Ringelestein, Fremont

2) Alaina Martensen, Onslow

3) Morgan Diedrich, DeWitt

4) Amanda Ratliff, Eddyville

5) Anna Brooks, Blue Grass

Animals, Birds and Wildlife

1) Alexandra Cleverley, Newton

2) Sierra Kaufman, Chelsea

3) Hannah Fisher, Coggon

4) Lynn Koenigsfeld, Reinbeck

5) Alex Foust, Bernard

Still Life Compositions

1) Shelby McKinney, Lytton

2) Felicia Summers, Olin

3) Maria Finan, Knoxville

4) Maria Finan, Knoxville

5) Christina Dittmer, Lacona

Iowa Landscape

1) Hannah Fisher, Coggon

2) Allie Renner, Independence

3) Courtney Hughs, Knoxville

4) Travis George, Slater

5) Cynthanee Heeren, Anamosa

Landscape Outside Iowa

1) Eli Joslyn, Muscatine

2) Abby Pothoven, Knoxville

3) Joe Gast, Story City

4) Kristen Lowe, Dysart

5) Greigh Olson, Sumner

Plants

1) Bridget Bouska, Waucoma

2) Anna Krug, Newhall

3) Mandalyn Martin, Moulton

4) Mandalyn Martin, Moulton

5) Quinn Ruth, Adair

FFA

1) Christina Dittmer, Lacona

2) Sarah Doese, Fairbank

3) Savannah Wilz, Eddyville

4) Hannah Fisher, Coggon

5) Kayleigh Koch, Hawkeye

Supervised Agricultural Experience

1) Levi Collins, Knoxville

2) Hunter Wilz, Eddyville

3) Matthew Noland, Adair

4) Lane Vanderhart, Knoxville

5) Sean Owens, Oskaloosa

Agricultural Photo Essay

1) Dakota Nelson, Anamosa

2) Mckenna Davenport, Adair

3) Danielle Delange, Albia

4) Katrina Van Ringelestein, Fremont

5) Bret Cunningham, Dike

Contemporary/Creative

1) Macy Lanser, Lynnville

2) Alexandra Cleverley, Newton

3) Gabi Martens, Wyoming

4) Cassie Rosauer, Walker

5) Benjamin Zelle, Waverly

Theme Class

1) Alison Schrage, Waverly

2) Brittany Shaw, Newton

3) Kelcey Loges, Farmington

4) Austin Henningsen, Griswold

5) Alexandra Cleverley, Newton

State Advisor's Choice: Katherine Newhouse, State Center

State Executive Secretary/Treasurer's Choice: Emma Christensen, Shenandoah

Best of Show Grand Champion: Alison Schrage, Waverly

Best of Show Reserve Champion: Hannah Fisher, Coggon

"Nothing Compares" to the 2012 Iowa State Fair, August 9-19. The Fairgrounds are located at East 30th and East University Avenue, just 10 minutes east of downtown Des Moines, and are open 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. each day of the Fair. Exhibit hours may vary. For more information, call 800/545-FAIR or visit iowastatefair.org.

* * *

WASHINGTON, August 15, 2012 - TOMORROW, August 16, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will join RURAL TV and RFD-TV live at the Iowa State Fair to discuss the U.S. Department of Agriculture's continuing efforts to assist farmers and ranchers impacted by drought.

As part of continuing steps by the Obama Administration to assist livestock producers in response to the historic drought, USDA will utilize nearly $16 million in financial and technical assistance to immediately help crop and livestock producers in 19 states cope with the adverse impacts of the historic drought. In addition, USDA will initiate a transfer of $14 million in unobligated program funds into the Emergency Conservation Program. These funds can be used to assist in moving water to livestock in need, providing emergency forage for livestock, and rehabilitating lands severely impacted by the drought. Together these efforts should provide nearly $30 million to producers struggling with drought conditions.

Most recently, Secretary Vilsack signed disaster designations for an additional 44 counties in 12 states as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat. Counties designated today are in the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakota. During the 2012 crop year, USDA has designated 1,628 unduplicated counties across 33 states as disaster areas-1,496 due to drought-making all qualified farm operators in the areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans.

Secretary Vilsack will be taking questions from Twitter on USDA drought assistance efforts. Questions may be submitted in advance by using the hashtags #askUSDA and #Iowastatefair.

 

Thursday, August 16, 2012
7 p.m. CDT

WHAT: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be LIVE on RURAL TV and RFD-TV to discuss the U.S. Department of Agriculture's continuing efforts to assist farmers and ranchers impacted by drought.

WHERE: Penningroth Media Center*
Iowa State Fairgrounds
East 30th Street and East University Avenue
Des Moines, IA

* Please enter the Penningroth Media Center from the west side of the Cattle Barn.

All media should arrive by 6:30 p.m. CDT.  A member of RURAL TV and RFD-TV or USDA staff will be there to assist.

Please note, the fair charges a $7 fee to enter the fairgrounds.

CHICAGO - August 14, 2012. Lt. Governor Sheila Simon today announced that Kati Phillips will serve as her new chief of staff effective August 15. Phillips has served as the deputy chief of staff for communications in Simon's office since January 2011 and will continue to fulfill that role. She replaces DK Hirner who plans to work in Missouri.

As chief of staff and communications director, Phillips will work as a senior policy advisor, manage office operations and execute the administration's internal and external communications. She replaces DK Hirner who resigned after successfully re-establishing the office that had been vacant since 2009.

"Kati Phillips shares my commitment to transparency and accountability, and she will serve taxpayers well in this expanded role," Simon said. "I thank DK Hirner for her leadership in starting the office from scratch, and look forward to working with Kati to move our office and state forward."

Phillips formerly served as deputy director of communications for State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Prior to entering public service, she was an education and news reporter at the Daily Southtown and Star Newspapers in the south suburbs of Chicago and Elmira Star-Gazette in upstate New York. Her watchdog coverage of school districts in Calumet Park and Sauk Village received local and national awards. Born and raised in Bloomington-Normal, Phillips graduated from the University of Iowa and resides in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.

"I appreciate this opportunity to serve as chief of staff and maintain continuity in our leadership," Phillips said. "I have great respect for Lt. Governor Simon and am excited to pursue meaningful education and ethics reforms that will make a difference for Illinois students and taxpayers."

Among her accomplishments as chief of staff, Hirner lists the Lt. Governor's Complete College tour of the state's 48 community colleges and the resulting policy report, "Focus on the Finish." As a result of Simon's attention to education reform, Illinois was chosen by the Lumina Foundation to participate in its Postsecondary Productivity Strategy Labs, a network that is providing guidance on performance funding for community colleges and universities and higher education affordability and completion issues.

"Now that the office is fully operational and positioned to make a difference in the education of Illinois children, I feel my work in the Illinois Lt. Governor's office is complete," said Hirner, who previously served as the chief of staff and policy director for former Missouri Lt. Governor Mel Carnahan and deputy chief of staff for former Missouri Governor Bob Holden. "I plan to put my experience to good use in helping my friend of 33 years, Mary Still, in her run for the Missouri Senate. It has been a pleasure serving Illinois, and I wish Lt. Governor Simon and her staff all the best and continued success in the remainder of her term."

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This election season, media personality Glenn Beck brings his own political comedic debate to movie theaters nationwide with "Glenn Beck's Unelectable 2012 Live" on Thursday, September 20 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT / 7:00 p.m. MT (tape delayed) / 8:00 p.m. PT (tape delayed); followed by a second showing in select theaters on September 25 at 7:30 p.m. local time. Beck will unleash his no-holds-barred political commentary when he faces off against Brian Sack, host of The B.S. of A., and his "say anything to get elected" candidate character. NCM Fathom Events and Mercury Radio Arts present this live broadcast event from the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, TX.
Tickets for "Glenn Beck's Unelectable 2012 Live" are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.fathomevents.com.
Glenn Beck's Unelectable 2012 Live will be playing at the following theaters in your area on September 20 (click here for a full list of participating theaters):
RAVE Davenport 53 18 with IMAX 3601 E 53Rd St Davenport IA 52807 7:00 P

Davenport West High School grad Grace Allison launches "Wander," a comedic fantasy epic

SAVANNAH, GA (08/10/2012)(readMedia)-- Grace Allison, 2007 graduate of Davenport West High School and 2011 graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, has just released the first installment of her digital-only comic series, "Wander: Olive Hopkins and the Ninth Kingdom," a comedic fantasy that follows perpetual grad student Olive Hopkins as she finds herself transported to the Ninth Kingdom, a World of Warcraft-style fantasy land straight out of that section of the Barnes and Noble Olive has always avoided. Grace is the artist and colorist for the series.

Having graduated with a B.F.A. in Sequential Art from SCAD, Grace was accepted into the prestigious artist collective, Periscope Studio, in Portland, OR, where she currently lives and works.

Comic Book.com calls "Wander" a "terrifically entertaining book....Allison's art is stylized to the book in a way that's perfect."

"Wander: Olive Hopkins and the Ninth Kingdom" is available on Comixology, part of publisher Monkeybrain's new initiative to offer a digital comics line, available cross-platform, meaning one purchase will allow readers to enjoy the comic on computer, iPhones, iPads, etc.

The second installment in the epic series will be out in early September.

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