Gateway to Loudoun County

Northern Virginia Dentists & Orthodontists - a Preferred Family Services Directory

2012-01-17T11:03:00.008-05:00

Now that most of us are off the holiday sweets and baked goods diet, and on to our New Year's resolutions focused around personal and family health - it's a good time to re-evaluate or reinvigorate attention paid to personal and family dental care. Whether the focus is on orthodontics and Invisalign services, cosmetic dentistry or dentures, teeth whitening services, dental surgery including sedation dentistry, or just general, family and children's dental services - following is a short list of preferred, exceptional dentists and dental practices serving specific areas of Northern Virginia, including Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William and Arlington counties.

Dentistry

Orthodontics

General, Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Northern Virginia

Sterling, Potomac Falls/Cascades Family and Cosmetic Dental Practice

Seeking family dental services, implant or cosmetic dentistry in the Ashburn area of Loudoun County, including Sterling, Countryside, the Cascades/Potomac Falls communities and the Dulles Town Center neighborhoods? Dr. E. Richard Hughes DDS offers a sterling reputation and long experience delivering local family cosmetic dental services to adults and children in Potomac Falls (formerly the Cascades), with family-friendly weeknight office hours and an extremely convenient location directly off Rt. 7. Dr. Hughes has been trained by and with some of the world's most prominent implant dental specialists. He is known as a leading implant dentist in Sterling and throughout Northern Virginia and the DC Metro Area, and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry (Board Certified). There are less than 400 dentist world wide with this designation and it is the most rigorous "bona fide" dental implant credential to earn.

Find out more about Dr. Hughes and this exemplary Sterling and Potomac Falls dental practice and family dental services by visiting their website, or calling (888) 698-6507 for appointments.

Loudoun County and Leesburg Family and Cosmetic Dental Practice

Perhaps you're searching for a cosmetic dentist or family dental services in the Leesburg area of Loudoun County, right in town or in nearby areas of Purcellville, Ashburn or Lansdowne? Dr. Sandra Varney and Dr. Robert Leipzig and their staff offers an extremely family-friendly, full service dental practice experience for adults and children in Leesburg. This Leesburg dental office was created to help dentistry patients feel welcome and comfortable - the playroom is perfect for entertaining children while your smile is improved. Relax with sedation dentistry while your teeth are repaired with advanced restorative care, and afterwards take a minute for yourself in the private relaxation room.

Find out more about the Loudoun Smiles Leesburg Family and Cosmetic Dental Practice by visiting their website, or calling (703) 779-7779 for appointments.

Reston Town Center Dentist - "Smiles at Reston Town Center"

If you're a professional, visitor or nearby resident of Reston VA, particularly within the Reston Town Center area, the absolute most convenient and highly-equipped modern dental office to visit is the Smiles at Reston Town Center dental practice. The very experienced dentist staff including Drs. Riaz Rayek, Eun Hye Grace Lee, Nassir Barekzi, Maya Bachour and Bob Leipzig offer the full scope of personalized dentistry services, including preventive, restorative, cosmetic, periodontal, and implant dentistry and Invisalign orthodontic treatment. They'll work closely with you in achieving and maintaining long-term dental health and wellness - both for you and your family. The very newly-appointed Reston Town Center dentist office was also created to help dentistry patients and their children feel welcome and comfortable - as well as being an extremely efficient, effective visit for professionals working regular office hours among the numerous Reston Town Center businesses and organizations.

Find out more about the Smiles at Reston Town Center Dental Practice and Dentists by visiting their website, or calling (703) 437-0007 for appointments.

CNS Dental Arlington Family Dentist

If you're in the Arlington VA area, and seeking the most professional, effective and family-friendly environment for dental services - check out Dr. Cara Shantz (a McLean, VA native) and her CNS Dental Arlington Family Dental Services. At CNS Dental you're treated like family and all of your dental needs are provided for in a relaxing and inviting atmosphere - you’ll be amazed at what CNS Dental can do to improve smiles and boost confidence, for you and your children. Dr. Cara Schantz and her Arlington dental practice staff specialize in general oral care, cosmetic dentistry, pain-free dentistry, and Invisalign orthodontic treatment.

Find out more about the CNS Arlington VA Family Dental Practice by visiting Dr. Shantz's website, or calling (703) 304-3881 for appointments.

Individual and Family Orthodontics in Northern Virginia

Lansdowne Orthodontics

For those seeking individual or family orthodontic treatment in the Lansdowne, VA area (including Leesburg, Ashburn, Sterling and Purcellville), Dr. Navin Hukmani's Landsowne Orthodontic practice is one of the most experienced, professional orthodontics dental practices available. Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of dental and facial irregularities. Just as there are specialists in medicine (such as cardiologists, gastroenterologists, neurologists, etc.), there are specialists in orthodontics. An orthodontist such as Dr. Hukmani is a board-certified specialist who has completed an advanced educational program following dental school to learn the special skills required to manage tooth movement and guide facial development in an efficient and timely manner. The state-of-the-art Lansdowne dental practice delivers orthodontic treatment in an atmosphere that is relaxed and nurturing - with the goal to create beautiful, healthy, properly aligned teeth so our adult, adolescent and child patients can enjoy the physical and psychological benefits gained from smiles that look their best and function properly for a lifetime.

Find out more about the Lansdowne Orthodontics office in Leesburg (Loudoun County, VA) by visiting their website, or calling (703) 858-3600 for appointments.

Manassas, Fredericksburg and Woodbridge VA Orthodontics at Glow Orthodontics.
Families needing professional, experienced orthodontic treatment in the Woodbridge, Manassas or Fredericksburg areas of Northern Virginia need look no further than Glow Orthodontics. Drs. Hukmani and Pandya and their accomplished orthodontic clinical staff and assistants deliver the highest quality of care across at these three regional orthodontic practices. A complimentary initial visit is an important opportunity to get better acquainted, allowing the Glow Orthodontics orthodontists and staff to address patient concerns and answer any questions regarding local orthodontic treatment. Depending upon examination findings, a custom plan for treatment is developed that could begin with any one of the following stages for adult or children's comprehensive orthodontic care - "Observation of Growth and Development", "Interceptive Guidance or Early Interceptive Phase Treatment", or "Full Phase Treatment".

Find out more about the Glow Orthodonics practice in Woodbridge, Manassas or Fredericksburg VA by visiting their website, or calling (703)491-4489 for appointments.

Britto South Riding & Chantilly Orthodontics.

Last but not least, we can personally recommend Britto Orthodontics of South Riding & Chantilly, for their wonderful and family-friendly environment, experienced and professional children's orthodontic expertise, and overall community service as the local South Riding orthodontics providers. Find out more about Britto South Riding Orthodontics by visiting their website or calling (703) 230-6784.

This consumer information posting is an aggregation of community business information, promotional messaging and professional feedback. Would you like to see your dental practice, services or news highlighted here, and across this Northern Virginia home & health services content network? Deliver great dental services in Northern Virginia, and give KME Internet Marketing & Media a call.

Dulles South Loudoun Education Visions - via the Dulles South Alliance

2012-01-10T11:01:00.002-05:00

At today's Dulles South Alliance Meeting entitled "The State of Loudoun County Schools", several perspectives and strategies for the year(s) to come were presented by Scott York (BOS Chairman), Edgar Hatrick (LCPS Superintendent), Jeff Morse (School Board - Dulles District) and Jill Turgeon (School Board - Blue Ridge District).

Here in the "epicenter of growth" (Dulles South), Mr. York reviewed the themes common to both his latest campaign and the generally unified vision of the Board of Supervisors (BOS) - including ongoing support of the coming MetroRail as "as fundamental to our infrastructure as AOL's original fiber networks now supporting the Loudoun data centers", though not on the backs of future Toll payers "the out-year projections show monthly, weekday tools exceeding $600, or more than a typical car payment". He further explained the new Board's emphasis on finding avenues of savings (on duplication of effort) between the School Board and BOS, to avoid "hiking up taxes - we can't always keep up with the Jones's next door (i.e. Fairfax & Montgomery Counties).

Mr. Hatrick, on the other hand, sees this coming period as a "tipping point", where we (Loudoun) are in fact the "Jones's", and it's now imperative to support and sustain those great investments and new programs within the LCPS system made in recent years - within the compound constraints and competing priorities from economic development needs, affordable housing programs and "educational community" development (i.e. improving and increasing the supply of in-county personnel to fill teaching or other educational support roles). He mentioned that over 93% of the educational employees in the County were physically located in schools, vs. the "head shed" (a.k.a. the LCPS Administration Building) - which is evidently one of the highest area ratios of educator-to-student "hands-on" availability. Therein becomes again visible the conflict of the School Budget; while lower taxes are important to families and businesses and in turn drive an improved economy and supply of great personnel - lower taxes doesn't necessarily support the continuing growth of 2500-3000 new students each year into the school system, and this in a state (Virginia) where the student educational burden is almost entirely borne by the locality.

Mr. Morse's focus zeroed in on the LCPS budget process underway, and his expectation of a completely "bottoms-up" review - with focus on all the things we truly "have" to do, setting aside as possible things we'd "like" to do. In a county "desperate for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) resources" (like the newest STEM activities at Liberty Elementary, and the STEM focus at the nearby Nysmith School in Herndon), perhaps many of the things we'd "like" to do can be accomplished with significant, additional business-education partnership initiatives. This includes encouragement/support (i.e. School Board and community support) for new private schools and alternative education approaches (for example, the coming South Riding area Catholic High School, the newly proposed (2013 6-7th grade enrollment) Loudoun Math & IT Academy, and accelerated private area tutoring programs such as MyEdMaster).

Ms. Turgeon was supportive of this conservative spending position, though remarked that if we're simply budgeting for all the "good" things that can be done (vs. "better" and "best"), we may miss out on some of the "best" things we can provide for students in Loudoun. Both Board members acknowledged the "missing part (in LCPS improvements) is the parents and families", and indicated a lot of effort should be spent on improving not only the interaction between the BOS/Business Community and LCPS, but also the interaction between the community (as represented in the DSBA meeting) and the School Board. (Having attended several School Board meetings myself, there's typically little if any public input or commnity representation).

To further support this theme, Ms. Turgeon's initiatives include increasing visibility of the School Board with a much improved, transparent and useful online website presence. This theme mimics that of the Loudoun DED/EDC, seeking to leverage online tools and assets for far greater transparency and dialogue with the community - though it may need to happen outside of the local government framework.

In some follow-up conversation, an issue did surface about consistent challenges in county-wide educational program (especially IT initiatives) coordination, across the educator community - and Ms. Turgeon suggested the need for a CIO (Chief Information Officer) role for LCPS...I personally support this position (and can supply a resume!), and I'd further suggest that in addition to more professional management and execution of integrated educational technology investment programs, the School Board take a look at the public/private relationship established between the Board of Supervisors and the business community, via the EDC (Economic Development Commission). Perhaps an "Educational Investment Commission" or "Education Development Commission" be formed in the same manner, to enable a well-represented and somewhat independent framework for the purposes of supporting and advising the School Board.

Loudoun County EDC Transitions New Leadership & New Members for 2012

2012-01-07T11:04:00.004-05:00

This week's first meeting of 2012 for the Loudoun County Economic Development Commission featured installation of new members and transition to new leadership - from John Wood (CEO of Telos Corporation) to Shaun Kelley (Senior VP, PNC Financial Services Group).

New "Group B" Commissioners (3 year term) included Christopher Charron (CEO/Owner, Charron Construction Consulting, Inc.), Benjamin Leigh, Esq. (Partner, Atwell, Troxell & Leigh PC) and Keith Segerson (Associate VP for Economic Development & Executive Director, The Mason Enterprise Center (MEC)) .

New "Group C" Advisory Commissioners (1 year term) included Sharon Virts-Mozer (Owner and President, FCi Federal), Todd Pearson (VP of Acquisitions & Development, B.F. Saul Company), Sharon Steele, Esq. (General Counsel, Mid-Atlantic Security & Training LLC) and Ted McLaughlan (Homeland Security IT Consultant; Co-Owner and CTO, KME Internet Marketing).

One new member was appointed this week to the Rural Economic Development Commission (REDC) - Jean Brown (Bed & Breakfast Industry), Owner of The Oakland Green B&B, and member of the Historic District Review Committee among other local organizations.

Several New Year themes emerged from the meeting agenda and discussion, solidly in support of the "Loudoun is Open for Business" tagline. Scott York (Loudoun BOS Chairman, among several Loudoun Supervisors present) reiterated the focus of the new board on Loudoun's economic development priorities, among which included significant attention to Dulles Airport access from the Rt. 50/28 corridor in the Dulles South region, as well as a southern airport access route. Ken Reid (Leesburg District Supervisor) reiterated the "Live, Work, Play" tagline reflecting support for establishment of a County Arts & Cultural District to compliment and support the Leesburg Arts & Cultural District. The reported objectives and status from individual committees reflected continuing support for small business assistance, Dulles Metro to Loudoun, and continued growth of the Data Center industry segment.

A particularly interesting topic was raised - that of exploring ways in which the community of business leaders participating in the EDC could develop, support and possibly assist in developing finance strategies for Loudoun-wide economic development objectives - via a non-governmental organization construct different from that of the current EDC. One potential tool that could therefore be more appropriately, widely and successfully leveraged would be digital social media and other online assets of local businesses - this concept having been surfaced in early 2010 here in this blog.

We'll note that significant additional opportunity for online, transparent dialogue and information or idea-sharing about these topics, can be very effectively conducted via the public Loudoun Business social media group on LinkedIn (among others). This type of online dialogue works better, in our opinion, than trying to engage in discussion via blog comments. Join us there!

The next EDC meeting is the first Friday of February - all meetings are open to the public, as are sub-committee meetings...this year would be an especially good year for businesses and Loudoun residents interested in supporting the renewing economic development and growth of the County to attend and support EDC events and activities.

New Invention - Deck Railing Table Tray Made in Loudoun County USA

2011-12-17T09:18:00.003-05:00

In the spirit of local, Loudoun County USA American entrepreneurial spirit and a legacy of “Made-in the USA” manufacturing history, Over the Edge Creations, LLC proudly offers its newest product line “The-DeckMate”.

The-DeckMate is a patent-pending polished, aircraft-grade aluminum and solid glass deck railing table tray, easily and securely installed for additional working or entertaining space on any deck, porch or patio railing. This absolutely unique and highly functional deck railing table is an all-weather, durable and beautifully-designed addition and compliment to any outdoor living area, whether installed permanently or for temporary use.

The-DeckMate is now available for purchase in limited quantities here at The-DeckMate.com, and is available to resellers and retailers in wholesale lots. The-DeckMate is currently available in two sizes, with many additional configurations and uses to come – including a deck rail mounted herb garden, disposal bin and with additional decorative and adjustment features.

Truly Made in Loudoun County USA

Invented and designed in Ashburn, VA by Chris Petrakis of Over The Edge Creations, The-DeckMate is wholly manufactured, assembled and shipped from Tallulah, LA – an agriculture-based yet growing regional center for shipping and manufacturing in the heart of Bayou Country USA. All corporate, marketing and manufacturing operations are based in the Southeast USA, in full support of the renewed and critical “Made in America” movement sweeping the nation during this troubled economic recovery.

“It’s incredibly important to both support local economies and help small businesses such as mine create and produce products that employ Americans and save jobs” says Mr. Petrakis, “my own story is similar to many, many others generated out of family-run startups, balancing the needs of raising a family with building a small business in a very tough economy. I’m very happy to support the engine that drives America’s growth and global leadership for future generations”.

The-DeckMate solves many challenges and offers many solutions for small or cramped outdoor deckspace, quickly and easily creating an extra surface that’s both practical and decorative. It functions as a removable deck caddy, a temporary deck tray, a deck railing table accessory and as a porch or balcony rail table - highly functional, extremely useful and set up or removed in minutes.

Purchase The-DeckMate today for your own deck, as a winter or spring holiday gift (Christmas to Mother's Day), and find additional space and use for your outdoor deck railings when entertaining, gardening or simply for decorative appeal!

CAFN DC, MD, Northern Virginia Foreclosure Mobile CellPhone Assistance - Text HOME or CASA to 877-877

2011-11-30T07:39:00.007-05:00

Regional Community Service Announcement

TEXT HOME or CASA to 877-877

The Capital Area Foreclosure Network (CAFN) very recently announced the launch of a new foreclosure prevention text messaging service. The service will provide those in or worried about foreclosure with access to advice, reminders, and alerts through their mobile phones in either Spanish or English. The goals of the campaign are to increase the number of homeowners and renters that get help from a nonprofit housing counselor, and decrease the number of people who drop out of counseling.

TEXT HOME or CASA to 877-877

Parties can opt-in to the service by using their mobile device to text message HOME or CASA to 877-877, and will then immediately receive critical information and a hotline number to use when they are ready to connect to a counselor at a HUD approved counseling organization.

After opting in, mobile subscribers will receive periodic reminders, information about foreclosure prevention programs available in their jurisdiction, such as the new mediation programs in D.C. and Maryland, follow-up instructions, alerts to scams, financial literacy tips, and much more.

"We wanted to try a new way of getting our message across", said Peggy Sand, Director of the regional coalition. "Mobile phones are the most effective, easy and affordable way to connect with struggling residents."

Data from March 2011 shows that more than 9 percent of all loans (approximately 115,000 mortgages) in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area were in foreclosure or delinquent. Prince George’s County has been hit particularly hard by the crisis; approximately 5 percent of mortgages were in foreclosure and 15 percent were delinquent in the County as of March 2011. Studies show that homeowners that seek help from a certified nonprofit counselor have a better chance of avoiding foreclosure than homeowners who work alone.

"So many individuals who have lost their homes have fallen victim twice: first to predatory lenders and then to foreclosure rescue scam artists who promise they can save people’s homes, charge thousands of dollars, and do nothing to help" said Chuck Bean of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, who co-leads CAFN.

CAFN believes that adding a mobile-based initiative will provide wider access to DC, MD and Northern Virginia foreclosure community and government assistance for home foreclosure victims in the National Capital Region. The success of other mobile campaigns, like those responding to the earthquakes in Haiti and Text4baby, has been inspirational for many nonprofits. Moreover, according to a May 2010 Pew Report, 87% of Hispanic households have multiple mobile phones and use them more than any other personal or handheld technology. Thanks to a recent grant from Freddie Mac, CAFN can now connect with this audience in a familiar medium.

CAFN has designed the text messaging campaign to complement its other outreach initiatives, including a newly-redesigned interactive website (www.cafn.org) and a regional Spanish and English hotline (888-794-8830). Text messages will encourage users to contact the hotline so they can be referred to a nonprofit housing counselor, and will direct users to the website for additional information and resources on the foreclosure process.

The Capital Area Foreclosure Network (CAFN) is a Washington metropolitan area coalition that supports the work of nonprofit organizations, local governments and national partners working to help homeowners and renters facing foreclosure. CAFN is jointly led by the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

CONTACTS:

Peggy Sand, peggy@cafn.org / 202-390-9709
Steven Kania, skania@mwcog.org / 202-962-3249

Huge Northern Virginia Business Expo & Conference - Chantilly, 12-2-2011

2011-11-24T10:25:00.005-05:00

The Northern Virginia Business EXPO is here!

Join a timely gathering of Fairfax, Loudoun County and Northern Virginia’s most interesting and successful local businesses and business leaders for this valuable Dulles area regional networking and business development event. Experience over 100 exhibitors and sponsors, onsite catering plus door prizes, social media and marketing seminars. Hear opening remarks and leadership address by Gerald Gordon, President and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority and Kristina Bouweiri, President and CEO of Reston Limousine.

This is THE local business networking event this holiday season in the Dulles region – sign up early as a visitor or sponsor!

Friday, December 2nd, 2011, 08:00am- 01:00 pm
NORTHERN VIRGINIA SPORTSPLEX (Formerly Hoop Magic)
14810 Murdock Street Chantilly, VA 20151-1018
More Info and Registration at: www.ultimatenovabizexpo.com

Register today to visit the EXPO, and network with our broad, diverse and accomplished local and DC regional business community...knock a few items off the holiday gift list, as well!

For more details on sponsorships/exhibitors reservation, email basilelemba@yahoo.com or call (703) 359-5642.

Events Schedule:

7:30 - 8:15am: "Introduction to Engagement Marketing & Social Media" – Gina Watkins, Constant Contact
7:30 - 8:00: Networking reception (exhibitors only)
8:00 Doors Open!
8:00 - 8:30: Registration, Exhibit and Networking
8:30 - 8:50: Introductions, keynote speaking and ribbon-cutting
8:50 - 12:15pm: Exhibit and Networking
12:15 - 12:45: One-on-One Networking
12:45 - 1:00: Door prizes session and farewell remarks
1:00 - 2:30: "Social Media Made Easier" Seminar by Gina Watkins (optional, with lunch for attendees/Must register)

The NOVA Business Expo asks each attendee to bring one or more unwrapped toys to lighten up the Holiday Season of underprivileged children. These toys will be received and distributed by Reston Interfaith, Inc.

Booths are now on sale! Call (703) 359-5642 or e-mail to basilelemba@yahoo.com to reserve - discounts are available for early registrants. Only 3 companies per local industry segment.

Local Media Sponsor:

KME Internet Marketing – DC and Northern Virginia Digital Interactive Marketing, Social Media

Go Fairfax Events for Mobile iPhone Android Apps - Nov 19-20

2011-11-18T16:11:00.004-05:00

GoFairfax (GoFFX) event listings on your iPhone or Android Mobile App for this weekend...add your own Fairfax County VA events for Chantilly, Dulles, Sterling, Herndon, Reston, Great Falls, McLean, Tysons Corner...

Saturday, November 19
08:00am - 10:00am	St. Jude Give Thanks Walk @ Tysons Corner Center
09:00am - 11:00am	Community Coffee @ Reston
10:00am	Belvoir Officers' Spouses' Club Holiday Craft Boutique & Family Funfest @ George Mason University Patriot Center
02:00pm - 06:00pm	Barnes & Noble Book Signing @ Tysons Corner Center
02:00pm - 04:00pm	Singles Saturday - Il Fornaio, Reston Town Center @ Reston Town Center
05:00pm - 07:00pm	Fall Focus Reception and Exhibition - Greater Reston Arts Center @ Reston Arts Center
08:00pm	Andre Rieu @ George Mason University Patriot Center
Sunday, November 20
03:00pm - 05:00pm	Washington Balalaika Society Concert @ Arlington
04:00pm - 06:00pm	Reston Community Orchestra Season Opening Concert - Mood Music @ Reston Community Center Hunters Woods
05:00pm - 06:30pm	The Capitol Steps @ Alexandria

Loudoun's Pickwick Players - Scrooge the Musical Family Holidays 2011 Event!

2011-11-16T13:06:00.003-05:00

The Pickwick Players are bringing holiday cheer to Loudoun County this December with six fun-filled performances of Scrooge, The Musical at Belmont Ridge Middle School in the Lansdowne area of Leesburg, VA.

This heart-warming musical will be performed on Friday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, December 3 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Friday, December 9 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, December 10 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online via Paypal at the Pickwick Players website, or at the door.

There will be a $50 Wegmans gift card given away at every performance to one of the lucky people who brings canned goods for Loudoun Interfaith Relief. In addition, a portion of the proceeds from the performances will be donated to Loudoun Cares.

Featuring over eighty local children, teens, and adults, Scrooge, The Musical is adapted from the classic Charles Dickens ghost story "A Christmas Carol", and set to lively music by Leslie Bricusse. Taking place in London, England in 1843, wealthy yet miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, and the Ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, causing him to realize the error of his ways. Filled with crowd-pleasing songs such as “I Hate Christmas”, “Thank You Very Much”, and “December the Twenty-Fifth”, Scrooge, The Musical is a holiday classic the whole family can enjoy together!

Since their incorporation as a non-profit organization in 2005, The Pickwick Players have provided entertainment and enrichment for the Northern Virginia community with their quality, wholesome, and family-oriented musical productions. The Pickwick Players’ website and Facebook page contain additional information about the organization, including current happenings and photographs.

Loudoun U8 Girls South Riding Soccer - Undefeated!

2011-11-12T17:58:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to the Loudoun South Riding U8 Girls Rec League Tornados (pictured here at the post-season celebration at Cici's) - who, despite losing 1 player to a broken arm and another to a relocation, finished the Fall 2011 season undefeated in regular play - great hard work from a team who frequently fielded only 4 energizer bunnies! UVA, George Mason, VT college women's soccer scouts - watch out for these girls in 2021...

Loudoun BOS Election Candidate Outreach – Social Media Fail for Younger Voters

2011-11-10T19:01:00.002-05:00

We took a brief look among the winners of the recent BOS election in Loudoun County, to look at their outreach activities to prospective voters through 2 popular social media channels – Facebook and Twitter. Some did have limited LinkedIn activity, but we’re focusing on Facebook and Twitter (and Google Plus was just too new) mainly to drive home the point that these candidates effectively neglected huge swaths of potential younger voters – the voters who are more likely to use Facebook and/or Twitter to find local news and possibly interact online.

All campaigns, with the slight exception of Mr. Buona, demonstrated an appalling lack of integrated, personalized and active social media outreach, across the Internet channels available (including the candidates' websites). Especially given the "proof in the pudding" demonstrated by this past presidential campaign - of the value of integrated social media in promoting and amplifying campaign messages, reaching new constituents, and targeting the younger more mobile demographics.

How can we expect to reach, mobilize and engage the younger, rapidly growing and graduating citizens of Loudoun without actively reaching out on their terms, in their medium?

Not one candidate used Twitter effectively at all; across all candidates, a grand total of 30 people (possible voters!) were followed – Mr. Reid's tweets were actually protected from view altogether; Mr. Williams had 0 tweets, and Mr. Letourneau's last tweet was May 20th.

Facebook usage was a little more busy, with several candidates boasting a couple of hundred "likes" on their page, or friends on their profile (seems to be general confusion on profiles vs. pages). Mr. York's personal profile was turned on around 10/19 with only 14 posts (though 740 "friends" already!); Mr. Delgaudio's website doesn't link to his Facebook, and Ms. Clark has a broken link on her profile to a nonexistent "votejanetclarke" page (though her "Friends of Janet Clarke" page was nice, if impersonal).

The only candidate website to boast a full complement of very common online "share" buttons (i.e. YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, Facebook) was Mr. Williams, though all the buttons except Facebook were actually broken.

While these metrics are obviously now OBE (overtaken by events), perhaps the new Board of Supervisors can promote a fresh initiative for 2012: "Whereas, we neglected to properly leverage social media to reach our younger constituents during the campaigns, we'll invest a lot more in County resources and attention to engage, motivate, support and educate both ourselves and this demographic (future voters and taxpayers!) through smart, integrated and current social media and mobile channels".

Thumbs Up or Down - Deck Table, Deck Railing Accessory

2011-11-08T16:07:00.000-05:00

Quipol

Fairfax and Loudoun Mental Health Therapy Provides Social Skills IQ for Children

2011-11-08T11:14:00.002-05:00

In Step, PC's Northern Virginia Stepping Stones program is an extremely unique, successful program offering Loudoun and Fairfax mental health group and individual therapy for children and families.

Positive peer relationships offer a critical buffer against daily stress and psychological difficulties. Rejection by peers is especially devastating to children and can be associated with long-term problems including low self-esteem, poor academic performance, feelings of aloneness and loneliness, and juvenile delinquency.

Without the friendship of peers, children feel alone, confused, and out of sync with the rest of the world, including school and family. These feelings can also have serious repercussions for their growth and future success. Research has found that peer rejection can furthermore lead to problems including depression, failed relationships, poor parenting skills, and troubled careers. Being able to make and keep friends clearly plays a vital role in a child's emotional health and well-being.

Social issues are especially problematic for children with AD/HD, social anxiety, learning disabilities, and Asperger's syndrome. There is good news, however, for children who struggle in social settings with their peers—poor social skills can improve with coaching, and children learn social skills best in the company of other children.

For nearly 20 years, In Step, PC's Northern Virginia Stepping Stones mental health program has been helping children of all ages "raise their social IQ." Stepping Stones is unique in that it follows a step-by-step approach to teaching children of elementary school age how to make and maintain friends, as well as how to increase the child's awareness of the impact of his or her behavior on other children, their friends and family. A strong team approach is emphasized throughout the program by maintaining consistent contact with all professionals (school personnel, physicians, mental health professionals) as appropriate.

In Step, PC is a leading, private, Northern Virginia mental health practice - with offices in Fairfax and Sterling, VA—providing therapy services for children, families, adolescents, adults and couples. Fairfax and Loudoun mental health counseling expertise includes assessment and group therapy for social skills training, AD/HD and Asperger's disorders, depression, anxiety, anger issues, and parenting problems.

2011 Dulles District Board of Supervisor Candidates and Loudoun Economic Development

2011-10-30T10:23:00.010-04:00

Our upcoming elections in Loudoun County are a tremendously important choice in community leadership to shape and cultivate a re-awakening of economic development and opportunity. It's also a chance to reshape and adjust some of the intractability and resistance to coordinated, productive and transparent collaboration between and among the Board of Supervisors (BOS), Board of Education and the local business community.

One of the most persistent issues we face is the difficulty in attracting and retaining large commercial taxpayers – complete with local employment and economic trickle-down, community development and investment, and contribution to local market, transportation and educational amenities.

From one of the many "rampant-population-growth-without-corresponding-large-commercial-development" centers of the County, here in the Dulles District, we asked the Dulles BOS challengers:

"How can the Board of Supervisors help the local business community work together to attract and/or retain new commercial businesses?" Also, "What immediate or very tactical activities will you undertake or consider, if elected, with respect to improving Loudoun County's economic development posture, outreach, activities or other initiatives - with the goal of dramatically improving the commercial investments and resultant tax base in the County?"

Republican challenger Matt Letourneau responded immediately:

"Economic development is a major focus of my campaign for Dulles Supervisor. My experience at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business organization, has given me insight into what the business community needs to be successful in Loudoun. Right now, our county is far too reliant on residential property taxes, resulting in high taxes for homeowners. By bringing in businesses, we'll create new revenue streams to help pay for needed infrastructure, and we'll improve traffic by reducing commutes.

I believe that Loudoun County should create an Economic Development Authority (EDA), like Fairfax County did in 1976. We need a professional sales force that will sell Loudoun to the global business community. With a world class airport that has room to grow, excellent schools, and a highly educated workforce, we can be more successful in attracting businesses, but we must be much more aggressive and make it the next Board's mission from day one.

Both existing businesses and prospects should be assigned an individual at the county level to help navigate the complicated zoning and land use process. In addition, we should explore opening up satellite offices around the nation and the world to help facilitate recruitment. Our sales force should use data metrics to measure success and track progress, just like a business would."

(Regarding the "excellent schools" comment above, we're hopeful that Jeff Morse, Dulles South candidate for the Board of Education, can inject additional substance and support for this increasingly difficult assertion – but that's another discussion.)

As it turns out, this idea for examining various "Industrial Development Authority" models was floated from the Loudoun Economic Development Commission (EDC) to the BOS during the 2009-2010 sessions, with some research into the pros and cons of the various, existing regional models (See the Feb. 5 2009 Meeting Minutes). The initiative "died on the vine", so to speak, with internal committee decisions to discontinue the exploration.

The Fairfax model in particular appears to overcome many of the "cons" of the current model in Loudoun, though might not be able to retain or at least continue the great progress made to date by the DED/EDC model in these areas:

(From the Economic Development Organization (EDO) structure Pros & Cons DRAFT)

"Model I: Department of Local Government. Example(s): Arlington County DED and Loudoun County DED

Pros:

- Ability to forge strong relationships with Board of Supervisors, County Administration
...
- Access/integration with other government agencies & projects"

Would, therefore, the ultimate model be one that reflects the success of the Fairfax EDA, yet incorporates local G2B (Government-to-Business) collaborative achievement made to date by the DED?

Mr. Letourneau explains: "EDA's can vary, but basically it boils down to independence, autonomy and professionalization. As a matter of governance, it would work more like the Planning Commission--Supervisors would appoint a certain number of commissioners--Fairfax has 7--and they would then operate independently and make strategic and funding decisions. It would be a more focused effort, and the EDA would have full time professional staff who would be carrying out the objectives of the commissioners.

The Fairfax EDA has been recognized around the world for its success--I think one of the first things the new Board should do is undertake a formal review of EDA options and use Fairfax as a case study."

At the very least, it's encouraging that several of the BOS candidates understand that additional energy, attention and perhaps updates to the current economic development resources should be explored, if only to find more of the success that our Fairfax neighbors enjoy.

This includes supporting development of the underlying infrastructure, i.e. transportation – as Mr. Letourneau goes on to describe:

"...we must make progress on our missing road links, such as Loudoun County, Tall Cedars and Claiborne Parkways. This will make both corporate and retail development more attractive. The County must work with VDOT to widen 606, and ensure that the Route 50 project stays on track. Dulles South residents lack many amenities found in other parts of the County and have to travel to Fairfax for services. By bringing more retail and dining options to our part of Loudoun, we will generate more sales tax revenue and improve the quality of life for our citizens."

Mr. Roeder, the Democrat challenger for the Dulles District BOS election, offers the following themes and information regarding the issues and questions as posed...

"Our website offers many ideas on the economy, including bringing staff to meet with store owners "Bring Leesburg to Dulles." Store owners don't have time to drive to Leesburg and sterling to seek advice. I'll bring the advice to them and sit in the meetings. There is also a strong multi-modal transportation philosophy that services E-W commuting and our commercial sector. I have also offered ideas to deal with foreclosed homes and help people with lower salaries keep their homes. I developed those ideas by talking with the people for over a year.

So to answer your question of what my top economic priority is, it is to "build a citizen conversation that identifies the people's vision for Loudoun's economy, as well as how to bring that vision to reality." Over the last twelve years in Loudoun, I have found a significant disconnect between Leesburg and the Dulles citizens, regardless of party. People feel ignored; and thus Supervisors have often been ineffective in Dulles. Our leaders must do better asking what we want for an economy before voting..."

"...I have proposed ideas; but the people must be asked before action is taken. We need a stronger business sector to raise capital to pay for services. We need to manage services effectively to reduce waste. We must bolster our schools and public safety sector; but those actions must be in the context of the people's vision. My first priority for building a strong economy is to ask the people what their vision is, to have a true conversation, to bring my background and experts into that conversation, staff, and other stakeholders as well -- always making sure that my economic votes are fully vetted. That is bound to build a stronger, more democratic Loudoun and a sustainable economy and business sector."

(Advertisement) Need to get the word out, about your business or message in Loudoun County, Northern Virginia or DC? KME Internet Marketing offers the #1 Online Digital Interactive Marketing services and channels in Loudoun and Northern Virginia, including a Twitter network reach of over 50,000 followers, and access to the Dulles Corridor's only Mobile Events Apps for iPhone and Android at GoFFX and Loudoun360...

Fairfax Corner Dentist offers free oral cancer screening

2011-10-12T17:20:00.002-04:00

Here's a very important, free service not too far across the border into Fairfax...

Smiles at Fairfax Corner Dentist Office Offering Free Oral Cancer Dental Screenings
Two minutes could save your life!

You may have heard in the news of Michael Douglas' battle with throat cancer - but he isn't alone in this fight: more than 100 new individuals will be diagnosed with oral cancer each day. What may be even more alarming is that it kills one person every hour of every day, a trend that has been consistent for more than 40 years.

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, "at least 25 percent of those diagnosed with oral cancer are non-smokers". Over the last ten years there has been a steady decline of tobacco use and more evidence pointing toward an oral cancer connection to the HPV virus, changing the demographic of those at risk. The quickest growing segment of the oral cancer population is young, healthy, non-smokers due to the connection to this virus.

Oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Steven M. Roser, DMD, MD, and an oral pathologist, Robert O. Greer, DDS, advise that the typical location of cancers within the oral cavity has changed over the past five years, "we are now seeing cancer in the lips, tongue, gingival, floor of the mouth, tonsils, salivary glands, and other oral and pharyngeal areas". They went on to say, "the survival rate for oral cancer is about 50 percent, and survival rates for cancers detected earlier are much better than rates for cancers identified in later stages."

Unfortunately, only about one third of all oral cancers are detected in stage I: the earliest stage. Therefore, early detection of suspicious lesions by dentists, with referral to an oral and maxillofacial surgeon for biopsy and timely treatment, offers patients the best chances of survival from oral cancers.

Regular checkups at your dental office and self-evaluations of both your mouth and throat are both essential. Be aware of any bumps, discoloration of tissue (such as white or red areas) or changes to the mouth, throat, tongue and lips.

Smiles at Fairfax Corner Dentist Office will be providing free oral cancer screenings through the end of December 2011. An oral cancer screening should be conducted every year, so take advantage of this free offer and get screened today. For more information about risk factors and prevention of oral cancer, or to schedule your screening, please contact Smiles at Fairfax Corner via our website, or at 703-222-3245.

For more information about dental services in Fairfax Corner, including sedation dentistry, oral wellness, preventative dentistry and other dental services, visit the Smiles Dental Office at Fairfax Corner in Northern Virginia.

Loudoun Business Marketplace - Chamber Event Fall 2011

2011-10-07T08:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's Loudoun Chamber of Commerce local Business Marketplace was a well-attended event with representation from a wide variety of local and regional businesses, government entities and services.

The marketplace provided an opportunity to showcase locally-produced goods and services, announce new offerings and programs, and share information among Loudoun businesses and with the public. This is one of many outreach and marketing services available to Loudoun businesses; contact KME Internet Marketing of Loudoun for the broadest scope of local and regional digital marketing and advertising options in Loudoun County and the Northern Virginia area.

Gold Sponsors included: Fortessa, Inc., George Mason University, George Washington University Virginia Science & Technology Campus, Loudoun Department of Economic Development, Malvin, Riggins & Company, PC

Loudoun Rt. 50 to be Widened in Dulles South

2011-10-04T19:10:00.003-04:00

Letter sent out today from Jim LeMunyon, your 67th District Delegate to the Virginia House - (and it's about time...!)

Dear Friend,

Construction will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, October 5, to widen Route 50 from four to six lanes between Poland Road in Loudoun County and Route 28 in Fairfax County. The 3.7-mile, $100 million project will take three years to complete.

If you are like me and use Route 50 in this area, you know that the widening is necessary to relieve the backups that occur during much of the day on the existing four-lane segment, especially during morning and evening rush hours. Route 50 narrows from six lanes to four just west of Route 28.

Through next spring, crews will be working only on westbound Route 50, restriping pavement and shifting lanes to make room for construction. I will continue to stay in close contact with VDOT on your behalf to make sure this project stays on schedule and on budget. If you have any questions or concerns about the work, please let me know.

When completed, Route 50 will have three lanes in each direction, improved turn lanes and traffic signals, curb and gutter on the on the outside lanes, crosswalks and pedestrian signals, widened and upgraded bridges, and pathways on both sides of the road. The road will also be more level and provide wider buffers between travel lanes and roadside hazards.

There will be no lane closures on holidays or during rush hours, but motorists can expect lane closures overnight and mid-day. During all other times, all lanes and turn lanes will remain open.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Yours for good government,

Jim LeMunyon

Dulles South Youth Sports - Cross Country Running Season is Here

2011-09-25T09:31:00.012-04:00

The Dulles South Youth Cross Country 2011 Fall season is here - an incredibly well-organized and parent-supported running club for girls and boys grades 3-8 here in Loudoun. The club runs cross country in the Fall, and morphs into a Track and Field club in the Spring - with a very large number of track and field parent alumni helping with practices and race day, training, learning short and long running strategies, exercise and warmup approaches and altogether leveraging what's a surprising volume of track and cross-country experience among the Dulles South communities (South Riding, Stone Ridge, Aldie).

Looking forward to another great season!

5th and 6th grade boys into the 2nd mile...

5th and 6th grade start - downhill rules only!

7th and 8th grade girls finish strong...

3rd and 4th grade - Team Red masters of mayhem!

Dulles MetroRail - On Track for Reston and Fairfax, Unclear for Loudoun

2011-09-24T08:43:00.002-04:00

Early this past week, a Bisnow RE event showcased local experts, administrators and stakeholders in the Commercial Real Estate community discussing the present and future aspect of the Dulles Corridor Metro Rail project. Among the luminaries; John "Til" Hazel, long-time Northern Virginia developer and Robert Simon (97!) visionary developer of Reston.

In a nutshell - things are looking pretty good for the opening of "Phase 1" on December 20th, 2013 - through Tysons Corner to Wiehle Ave. Things are somewhat still up in the air, particularly with respect to funding, for Phase 2 - extending to the airport and possibly to Routes 606 and 772 in Loudoun.

On the note of funding for Phase 2, Til was especially blunt - expressing that the notion that tolls paid by Toll road commuters paying for the construction is "absolute nonsense", and the overall funding realities are simply not being addressed. Far more important to the regional transportation system is the need for additional bridges across the Potomac "ocean" as he calls it, including through the Western Corridor (i.e. Loudoun). Also, there seems not yet enough planning and development progress with respect to the 30,000 extra homes needed to be built per year, to accommodate the regions's growth and support the commercial development underway.

Bob Simon was all about community as you'd expect, focusing on the intersection of residential and business development that's essential for the success of the Dulles Rail corridor, making the astute observation that the "plaza (open public space surrounded by ground-floor retail and attached residences) is a successful concept recognized everywhere in the world BUT the U.S. Eery development should have at its core a plaza driving community success and family fun with its mix of social, artistic and economic impact. He's not a fan of non-communicative art, however, that appeals only to the artist, that the rest of us really don't understand."

Other interesting points:

Pete Otteni of Boston Properties described their development planning for the "connector" area buacting as a pedestrian connector, with elevated urban plazas, to the urban core. Maggie Parker of Comstock Partners described the very successful public-private partnership underway for the large Wiehle Ave. station, with its integrated underground parking facility for Metro buses, commuters (2300 spaces), the public - intended really to become the "6th neighborhood" of Reston. On the subject of Reston vs. Tysons Corner growth models, the consensus seemed to be that Reston Town Center area truly was an "urban" model on par with the pedestrian-friendly advances made in the Ballston/Clarendon area, while Tysons was more of a "suburban" model (i.e. drive, park, leave). Art Fucillo of Lerner Enterprises was especially blunt, advising less access (and less parking) to cross-regional transit from the new population centers, as "creating the bottleneck creates the city".

Former U.S. Representative for Virginia Tom "I left Congress undefeated and unindicted" Davis explained (and was supported by Sharon Bulova, Fairfax County Supervisor) that Phase 2 will indeed happen, though under 3 certainties - higher commercial/residential densities were necessary, higher tolls, and higher operating expenses for the Rail. A lot of negotiation is underway to reduce the cost of the 2nd estimate to date (at $3.8 Billion), and to find the best balance between anticipated toll revenues, bonding and returns from local tax jurisdictions (no Federal funding is available for Phase 2, unlike Phase 1).

Conclusions?

1) The Rail is coming, for sure to Reston, riding the wave of commercial development initiative, funding and partnership initiatives with Fairfax County - not clear yet if all the way to Loudoun.

2) Right now seems to be a good time to think about both commercial and residential investment along the Dulles Corridor, especially near the Reston Town Center.

3) Find a job that doesn't involve driving the Toll Road, preferably in Loudoun or the Reston area.

4) Everyone should download the first and only GoFairfax (GoFFX) Mobile App for Android/iPhone to keep up with the very latest in Fairfax events and entertainment along the Dulles Corridor, from Tysons to Reston. Download Loudoun360 for events in Ashburn, Leesburg and beyond. Will be especially useful riding the Silver Line, or sitting in $10 traffic on Rt. 267 watching the metro flash on by. Dulles corridor businesses - add your events/places for free - or contact GoFFX to highlight/advertise!

The Loudoun Rodeo - Bull Riding at the Loudoun County Fair

2011-07-29T08:34:00.004-04:00

Spent a great evening yesterday at the Loudoun County Fair - especially the Rodeo, featuring bull riding, the hilarious Mutton Bustin', barrel racing and lots of other great entertainment. Thanks so much to the International Bull Riders for running the event, corraling the walking steaks and mutton, and supplying the entertainment for the bulls!

Steve Case at the Arlington Digital Media and Marketing Conference

2011-06-20T15:29:00.003-04:00

Just a quick pic of one of our Loudoun County IT technorati, at last week's Digital Media Conference, in Arlington...some great insight into how Revolution is working hard behind the scenes to help promote and develop the entrepreneurial environment of the entire DC region, inclusive of Northern Virginia, Suburban and Southern Maryland. Encouraging words to an appreciative DC-centric tech and online marketing/advertising crowd.

Loudoun Dulles Youth Sports Track Season Comes to End

2011-05-22T07:59:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was the final internal team meet for the Dulles South Youth Sports Track and Field program, held at South Riding's Freedom High School - a very successful local sports program for grades 3-8, offering instruction, competition and team-building opportunities to future track superstars in sprints (50, 100m), mid-distance (400, 800, 1600m), relays (4x100, 4x400), hurdles, shotput, long jump and high jump. The competitors and families had another fabulous season, with committed, expert assistance by parent, sibling and Freedom High Track Team volunteers. Pics below:

Northern Virginia Business Networking - Fairfax Breakfast Club

2011-05-22T07:37:00.008-04:00

Friday morning's "Fairfax Breakfast Club" at Hoop Magic in Chantilly was a great example of the resurgence in small business activity taking place all around the county, relentlessly driving forward the economy through local business networking, local business relationships and local business entrepreneurialism. Basile Lemba's Fairfax business network mission is summed up as: "The main objective of the Fairfax Breakfast Club is to help all guests and attendees achieve their business goals, whatever they may be. By attending our Breakfast Club events, you will the opportunity to build both your networking skills as well as relationships with potential clients, customers, and business partners".

Many diverse, local businesses, from very small to DC regional, hosted tables with information, offers, marketing and networking opportunities for B2B professionals. The event kicked off with an intro from State Senator Mark Herring (D - District 33), who conveyed a message with words from a "Congratulations" letter sent in by U.S. Mark Warner (video below). In all, a motivating example of local Fairfax, Loudoun and Northern Virginia businesses working very hard in the metropolitan DC area to build business relationships and exposure through in-person, managed networking events. As part of an overall local marketing and advertising strategy, exposure and participation in business networking groups such as this is highly recommended - in addition to significant attention to local digital marketing and social media (contact KME Internet Marketing of Chantilly for more information).

Check out some of the pics below.

Basile Lemba - Founder of the Fairfax Breakfast Club

The Fairfax Breakfast Club gets underway at Hoop Magic, in Chantilly VA

Intelligent Office, Alexandria VA - with Matt Whitaker, President.

JK Moving Services in Sterling, VA, with Dennis Bell, Certified Moving Consultant

Cartvertising Local Franchise - Shopping cart advertising displays, with Dave Fox, Regional Manager

Virginia Senator Mark Herring addresses the Breakfast Club, with words from a "Congratulations" letter sent in by U.S. Mark Warner

March of Dimes for Babies - Loudoun County, Ida Lee Park

2011-05-04T06:53:00.003-04:00

Guest Post - D. Greenberg
A March for Babies walker in the late-1970s saved my son's life. In 2006, Nathan was born prematurely, spending his first month of life in the hospital. While in the hospital, Nate received artificial surfactant therapy, a treatment developed in the 1980s under a March of Dimes grant. I can say with confidence that Nate would not be with us today without the benefit of this treatment. And that work was funded by people like you and me who took time one Saturday morning to participate in the March of Dimes' signature event -- March for Babies. Funds raised by the March for Babies support lifesaving research, community services, education and advocacy aimed at preventing premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality.

On Saturday, May 7, 2011, businesses and families throughout Loudoun County will once again come together at March for Babies to support the mission of the March of Dimes to improve the health of babies in our community. The family friendly, four mile stroll begins and ends on the grounds of Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, Virginia. In addition to supporting a worthy cause, participating in March for Babies also is great fun for the whole family. Roadrunners can leave their timing chips at home. This is a walk, and any level of participation is welcome (both physically and financially). The kids love it. Dogs are welcome. And a picnic lunch and family friendly activities and entertainment will be waiting for you at the finish line.

Register today at marchforbabies.org. For more information, contact Heather Pesch at Hpesch@marchofdimes.com or 703-824-0111 ex 25. Join us if you can. Be a hero for someone else's son or daughter thirty years from now.

Made in Loudoun Businesses - DIY Auto Mechanics, Wholesale Granite & Marble, Shenandoah Custom Wood Furniture

2011-04-27T07:08:00.004-04:00

One of the purposes of this blog and its sister site, Made in Loudoun (where this posting originated), is to highlight and support local, Loudoun businesses with interesting stories, fantastic customer service or other interesting features that elevate the profile of the entire Loudoun business community. Following are a few of these business profiles, be sure to visit their websites or social media channels for more information.

Do It Yourself Mechanics

Do It Yourself Mechanics in Sterling is a unique Loudoun automobile repair shop specifically focused on the do-it-yourselfer – i.e. those with auto mechanics interest or skills who don’t mind getting a little dirty. And that’s hard to do, really, given the extremely clean and well-organized environment of rental bays, lifts and automotive parts supply center. As the only do it yourself auto repair shop in Northern Virginia, short or long-term rental options are available from the casual, amateur oil-changer or weekend mechanic, to long-term, experienced auto mechanics delivering their own business services. Owner Ed Cove and his crew have quickly become thoroughly immersed in the Loudoun and Northern Virginia auto enthusiast community, holding events, training sessions onsite and keeping up with their rapidly-growing Facebook Loudoun auto repair community.

Shenandoah Furniture Gallery

Loudoun’s historic farming and agriculture legacy is preserved in its wooden barns, and Shenandoah Furniture Gallery in Purcellville, VA breathes new life into recovered historic barn wood and timbers, by shaping it into kitchen and dining room farm tables and custom wooden furniture. Honored as a “Small Business Product of the Year Finalist” by the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce, Vickie Kelley and her team transform recycled antique Virginia barn wood into truly beautiful, unique yet durable and functional wood furniture, cabinetry and reclaimed wood flooring. Visit the Shenandoah real wood furniture store online and via the Shenandoah Furniture Gallery community on Facebook.

EleGant Virginia - Wholesale Marble & Granite

Many of Loudoun’s finest homes and businesses include stone accents and centerpieces, for kitchen countertops, flooring, walls and tabletops. EleGant Wholesale Marble & Granite in Sterling carries a huge inventory of granite, marble, soapstone and onyx for use in construction projects for the kitchen, bath or any other stone surface. A division of EleMar USA, “Worldwide Purveyors of Unique Stones”, the EleGant Loudoun business and showroom run by Tony DeAngelo includes professional help for selecting among all the varieties of stone and finishing details that fit into your architectural design and construction plans. New granite slabs with absolutely unique graining and patterns arrive constantly, so the showroom is always active with buyers, architects and designers choosing their custom pieces for installation, surface finishing and edge treatments in home building, kitchen renovation or customization projects.

Reporting from the Dean South Region of Loudoun County

2011-03-26T09:47:00.005-04:00

This week in the Loudoun County political circus (bested only in this region by the Debacle known as the DC District Government), the Loudoun Board of Supervisors changed the name of the “District 4” region of Eastern Loudoun County to the “Jennie Dean” District, from the “Dulles District”. At the core of the proposal are some interesting and well-intentioned proposals for highlighting Jennie Dean, a former slave and famed evangelist who founded the Prosperity Baptist Church in the former African-American community of Conklin, next to South Riding on Braddock Road.

Here in the “why fix what’s not broken, and in fact is heading down the road to recovery” column, this extremely parochial and short-sighted decision has some interesting business and local marketing ramifications. The Dulles region is both a locally and internationally-recognized area of economic activity represented by organizations and companies flying its banner – from the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce, to the Dulles Area Association of Realtors, Dulles World Trade Center and Dulles South Public Safety Center, use of “Dulles” in the names of many local hotels, tourism descriptors and businesses is pervasive, durable and successful. The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority also works to attract new investment to the “Dulles Business Area”, which they describe as “situated to the immediate east of the Washington Dulles International Airport” - obviously therefore only in Fairfax County.

This decision to remove the label “Dulles” from Loudoun County government interests will likely seriously impair the support of this region’s economic development interests by Loudoun County and its business and marketing-related investments. For example, every mention by the County of significant interest to potential investors in the “Dean” District, loses an opportunity to mention the “Dulles” area – building therefore a volume of information tagged with an unknown moniker, unrelated to all the supporting and linked interests. Every time our taxpayer dollars is spent on advertising Loudoun County investments in the “Dean District”, or communicating events and news about the “Dean District”, this dilutes and in fact is competitive to the Return-on-Investment (ROI) we expect from our close business associations with the Dulles Airport and surrounding region.

Therefore, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, every time the word “Dean” replaces the word “Dulles” in official County publications, websites, emails, newspaper and magazine articles – I’d like, say, 5 cents returned to me – the cost of squandered economic opportunity in the form of Loudoun’s withdrawal from participation in and support of regional branding and marketing, especially on the Internet. This means you, incoming Dean District Supervisor. (In fact, incoming Supervisor, please help your Dulles area constituents understand how you propose to extend and enhance the economic vitality of the Dulles region and brand, leveraging the "Dean" label?).

You're welcome, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

Help Wanted/SEO Job Available - DC Digital Marketing Specialist, Telecommuting

2011-03-18T15:26:00.001-04:00

KME is currently interviewing for the following position; target starting date 4/1/2011:

Digital Marketing Specialist

Job Description:

Full-time, salaried position delivers full suite of Interactive Marketing activities including search engine optimization (SEO); search engine marketing and pay-per-click(SEM/PPC); e-newsletter marketing; social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) marketing, campaign development and oversight. The candidate will oversee day-to-day Internet Marketing activities for specific clients, and will oversee KME administrative staff. Clients range from local businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

This is a full-time, salaried position during normal business hours, with significant telecommuting options available; KME and client meetings are in Northern Virginia, Fairfax and Loudoun counties (local candidates are preferred). Salary Range is $35-$45K, commensurate with experience, motivation and best fit. Additional business development bonuses or other benefits are available.

The most qualified candidates will be very comfortable with Microsoft Office (Word & Excel), be professional communicators in speech and written American English, be very comfortable using Internet applications, search engines, websites and social media, and be thorough and organized with superior time management skills. Website design and development skills (HTML/CSS) including graphics design is a definite plus, but not required.

Significant training and experience-building opportunities is available from local industry experts, as well as significant growth and responsibility opportunities commensurate with early addition to a startup-style company.

Core Duties & Responsibilities:

Keyword Analysis & Research
SEO Implementation & Basic Analysis
Online Paid Advertising Management
Client Management & Communication
Social Media Implementation & Oversight
E-Newsletter Development, Review & Optimization

Please send resume (no calls) and/or online portfolio information to:

resumes at(@) kmeinternetmarketing dot(.) com

Odyssey of the Mind in Virginia, Loudoun, Fairfax

2011-03-06T08:12:00.005-05:00

Once again, that extremely competitive and mind-bending experience known as "Odyssey of the Mind" tournament season is upon us - the Virginia Region 13 Tournament was yesterday (Western Fairfax and PWC); the Region 15 Tournament (which includes Loudoun County) is next Saturday.

Very well-known among the academic-focused, "OM" is a school-year long competition among teams of about 8 students in age groups starting from 3rd-grade - this year, we had a 5th-grader and 7th-grader participate. The competition includes a demonstration of "Spontaneous" group engagement and problem-solving skills, presentation of a "Long-Term Problem" (things like building a better mousetrap or constructing balsa-wood structures that support the most weight), and a Skit, where the group performs a very funny but thoughtful short play within some very precise and challenging constraints (complete with required, team-built props and costumes).

Congratulations to the long and challenging hours put in by parents and volunteers, coaches, judges, the "Navigators" and "Odysseers", and of course the student teams - who spent at least 4-6 hours a week since September (and some even more) practicing and preparing for the entirely student-created presentation and competition!

A Nysmith 3-5th grade team (mix of Loudoun and Fairfax area students) takes the stage to accept their award!). See an article and picture from last year's event.

Loudoun Blogs and Bloggers - the List

2011-01-29T08:08:00.028-05:00

Welcome to the 2011 Loudoun County Blog Roundup! (a.k.a. the "Loudoun B-List")Loudoun County residents, businesses and government officials are actively participating in the blogosphere, and 2011 is probably going to be a very busy time for the local digerati – as the County Board of Supervisor’s election heats up and we’re treated to a short-lived deluge of earnest, partisan constituent support online.

We’ve been blogging and critically evaluating local use of blogs and other social media channels like Facebook and Twitter by media, marketing, business and government publishers for quite a while now. We’ve seen the rise and fall of the LoudounExtra and its accompanying bloggers, the rise and fall of political and real-estate driven online chatter (driven by election cycles and the economy), the closure of blog-worthy material generated by past media hounds at the Independent, Observer and Easterner, the LCVA-driven introduction of Loudoun on the national stage of the SoMe destination marketing industry, and lately a rapid influx of hybrid social/syndicated hyperlocal blog/news platforms via the Patch and TBD networks – though each of these, as we speak, continue to struggle with their advertising and revenue models.

A few blogrolls and bloglists were created along the way, but most now reflect aged or inactive listings, and don’t adequately showcase the more popular and active bloggers in and about the County (FYI to our friends at Leesburg Today and the Washington Post). It may be, however, that the definition of “blog” is unclear, with all manner of social media channels, services and widgets infringing upon and taking liberties with the classic definition of a “Web 2.0” site. For simplicity purposes, we’ll define a public blog as demonstrating these characteristics:

It’s written by writers, mostly with original, authentic, non-edited and casually-attributed content
It’s written for people, to read, consider and react to
It gives more than it gets, on a fairly regular basis – mostly a volunteer effort, though many times lightly compensated
It best takes a few paragraphs to get to the point, or finish the thought
It accepts and engages commentary, but doesn’t necessarily solicit it
It doesn’t claim to be journalism, but sometimes it truly is
It’s not about the media types included, but about the message or value they contain
It’s a time-based, reflective record of a social community
It usually exhibits personality, or personalities
It’s actually a website, with the navigation, graphics, scripts and embedded links/content that reveal interactive context and authority
It’s findable, i.e. indexed by Search Engines, and without login requirements

So, a blog is not a discussion board, group or wiki, or an eCommerce website with product feedback, it’s not a daily update of local real estate listings or coupon deals (unless accompanied by witty and useful commentary), it’s not Twitter Tweets or Facebook Posts, it’s not news or newsletters, industry or education articles, it’s not predominantly marketing or conversational content, it’s not press releases and it sure isn’t an auto-syndicated collection of posts-for-hire strictly for generating inbound pagerank and embedding paid contextual links. That’s really what a blog is, it’s honest commentary, opinionated or not, successful or not, stupid or not.

Speaking of social media relatives of the classic blog, here’s a nice list of other Loudoun-centric social media channels from LocoMusings...From the number of older blogs no longer active (at least 20 good ones were deleted from this list, as no longer active, as of last year), yet the fast-growing number of Facebook/Twitter threads, it’s apparent that the short-form blog format is quickly overtaking the more traditional long-form...very apparent in the 2nd half of last year. Also check out Loudoun News Twitter, a hand-curated collection of real-time Loudoun news.

Face it, tweeting or Facebooking from your iPhone is SO much easier, convenient and with more instant gratification (like!) than thinking of, and writing, a big ‘ol blog entry – and then moderating the comments, deleting the spam...Is the art of blogging, like the art of journalism, falling prey to to the "Like" generation?

There are many useful, helpful, interesting and truly blog-worthy blogs in and about Loudoun County – we read and follow a bunch, and we’ve culled more from lists maintained by the newspapers (like the Loudoun Times), the libraries (like LoudounPedia), other Bloggers, Blogging communities (like ActiveRain) and so forth.

Here’s what we consider, at this time, to be a pretty definitely list of Loudoun County blogs. They’re categorized broadly as makes sense to us and reflect the relative maturity of the social media interest groups in the County. A critical factor for inclusion is activity; if the blog hasn’t been updated yet this past Fall or Winter, it’s probably not on the list (there are many, many blogs about Loudoun that were good, but petered out over the years – yet remain indexed by Google).

Another critical factor is whether the blog actually INCLUDES the word and/or concept of “Loudoun”, vs. simply being a blog from someone or some business IN Loudoun (i.e. Loudoun County, VA, vs. Loudon TN/NH or the recently closed Loudoun Castle Theme Park at Loudoun Castle Estate in Scotland).

Please let us know of other blogs that should be on the list – we’ll update and/or correct by Spring.

Loudoun Community Blogs (About an area or community)

Gateway to Loudoun County – a Dulles South business and community original blog, over 6 years and counting!
Living in Loco - one of the original Loudoun bloggers, undergoing some revitalization (looking forward to more, Tammy!)
Brambleton - a local Loudoun Times citizen journalist
River Creek and Lansdowne - really nice detail from this community
South Riding – regular bits n’ pieces from two South Riding moms
Sterling, Cascades, Countryside - Kathie's take at the Times
Every Restaurant in Leesburg – still going strong, up to #106
BrambleDirt – was fun before, seems to be back
Brambleton View - from Brambleton

Loudoun Life and Lifestyle Blogs

Community of Faith – Religious Observations at the Times
Loudoun Essence - Featuring the happenings of Loudoun's African American community ...
Odd Angles - monthly perspectives on life in Loudoun
Equality Loudoun – GLBT community and advocacy in Loudoun
Mommy Life - Montessori megamom serves up smorgasbord of parenting, cultural, political, and spiritual wisdom. And a few affiliate links, for the college fund.
Loudoun County Traffic – regular updates near the #1 worst traffic region in the Nation!
Viva Loudoun - Loudoun’s #1 source for High School/Prep Sports, News, Views
Loudoun Wildlife - "People and wildlife living in harmony – like with owls"
Loudoun Landscapes - Dave Levinson, Loudoun Landscape Photographer extraordinaire
Allergy Life in Loudoun - current, relevant, informative
Loudoun Moms' Network – hmm, 1 post so far, but more to come on this theme? (now that the The MomLink and LoudounMoms have retired)
Dulles District – some sports, some comments from Dulles
The Piedmont Virginian – pure Loudoun country
Sustainable Loudoun - local environmental stewardship, but is it petering out?
Loudoun Voice "Promoting renewable energy and sustainable policies." – Hopefully more active this year, as in the past, Mr. Eaves…
Ashburn Patch and Leesburg Patch - the patch editors and columnists are an interesting bunch, with blog-worthy Loudoun material and personally-flavored news commentary, though somewhat compensated...
Musings over a Pint...of beer
Loudoun Arts Council - really, arts in Loudoun
Bike Loudoun - Better bicycling in Loudoun County (when there's no snow)
Look Good Loudoun - Absolutely!

Loudoun Real Estate Blogs

Gina's Blog - a mix of modern mom and realtor
Loco Musings – Heather's mix of modern mom, realtor and social media award-winner
Loudoun Scene – another award-winning real estate digerati…
The Real Estate Bakery – Ashburn-centric NOVA real estate
Helena's Blog – well, keeps the news current, but the blog’s aging quick
Tanya's blog - on Loudoun living
Sonja's blog - on real estate in eastern Loudoun (it’s aging…!)

Loudoun Political Blogs

Democrats

Leesburg Tomorrow – and today, for the progressives
Loudoun Democrats - well, we’re gonna remove this from the blogroll, unless it starts including posting dates...
Mole's Progressive Democrat – newsletter issue 286, six years and counting
Loudoun County for Obama – "Sorry, the blog you were looking for does not exist. However, the name loudouncountyforobama is available to register!" (it’s not too soon!)
Loudoun Progress, Doorbell Queen and Without Supervision (Without Supervision) - the Millers et. al

Republicans

Too Conservative - absolutely
Not Larry Sabato – at all
NOVA Common Sense - the newest GOP entrant
Novatownhall Blog – "Take it over and shut it down"
Hoodathunk - Mental Wanderings of a Common Man

Others, Unaffiliated, Independent

Big Loudoun - Lisa and Barbara take on the big cause(s)

Official or Government-affiliated Blogs

Visit Loudoun Blog (a.k.a. "DC’s Wine Country") – by far the 2nd best representative of Loudoun in the blogosphere! (well, we said it on THIS blog, after all...) Thanks Jeremy and company!
Our Loudoun Schools – Excellent and semi-official perspectives on Loudoun Schools from John Stevens
Becoming a Firefighter – Leesburg volunteer Fire Company #1, online
Loudoun Career Fire Fighters – IAFF Local 3756
Sterling Volunteer Fire Company – make a donation!
Loudoun Education Association - Loudoun Teachers

Business/Commercial Blogs

Made in Loudoun - highlighting Loudoun businesses and the business scene
Backstory - the #2 social media-connected business journalist/blogger in Loudoun
Loudoun B and B - Loudoun Bed and Breakfast Gild – off to a great start!
The DogDish - up and coming activity from our new Minor-league baseball team.
Briar Patch - Nibbles n’ Bits from the Briar Patch
Patty Schuchman Photography – nice Loudoun photographs!
Chester Records – Winchester’s own version of Tower Records
Families First of Loudoun - birth, children, families, couples, seniors, and health and wellness...all at once
Conference Center Blog - from the National Conference Center, experimenting in social media (you go, Kurt!)
Loudoun LinkedIn Group – because it’s ours, and it’s sortof like a blog...
Notaviva Vineyards News – a truly social Loudoun vineyard and graphic design shop - kudos Steve!
Wine Compass – all the wine fit to print
The Loyal Local - Local deals, specials, finds
Every Restaurant in Leesburg - Like it says...
Chapple Flowers - for weddings, special events, etc. in Loudoun
The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm - from farm, to table, to blog, as LCVA puts it
Corcoran Vineyards - by Lori
Lansdowne Resort - Blogging and golfing
BTI Whitewater - where's the snow tubing blog entry?
Loudoun Dental Smiles - Dental doings in Loudoun

Northern Virginia Commercial Realty Projection for 2011 at the Syndicate - Dulles Area Executive Business Networking

2011-01-22T10:11:00.004-05:00

Yesterday's "Syndicate" inaugural lunch at the Reston Sheraton featured Brady Roman, of Atlantic Realty Companies, discussing commercial leasing considerations for the Northern Virginia area this year. The Dulles-area executive men's group "The Syndicate" describes its mission as follows:

"In an era of splintered networking, The Syndicate is proud to offer a new unique networking group focused on the needs of men in today’s increasingly challenging workspace. We are a motivated, energetic group committed to connecting business owners, partners and managers with each other to support both their peers and the community. We focus each quarter on a major local employer to host our events with an eye on local topics and growth."

Hosted by emcee Marvin "Coach" Powell, the commercial leasing discussion focused on the fact that 2011 remains still a "tenant's market" (vs. a landlord's), and opportunities still abound for great rates on Class B spaces with great locations, exceptional landlord concessions and tenant improvement allowances.

Some interesting points made by Roman:

Commercial leasing activity is getting much busier, every month
Now's the time for a new or renegotiated lease - areas near the Tyson's and Wiehle future Silver Metro line are still in low $20's/sq ft.
Metro construction impact in Tyson's is really pretty low - very well-managed
2011 hiring projections are "astronomical", but 2011 rent/lease rates shouldn't change much from 2010
2012 looks to be a changeover year, leading to a 2013 "landlord's market", with far fewer deals and concession opportunities

Next Syndicate Lunch is in February - watch their facebook page!

Dulles Redistricting and Freedom High Overcrowding Interim Plan

2011-01-11T09:23:00.005-05:00

Two quick notes to pass along, first from Supervisor Miller regarding redistricting and its impact to the Dulles District, and second from the Dulles South Neighbors for Education (DSNFE) regarding an interim solution for Freedom High overcrowding and next year's class...

Loudoun County Redistricting and Dulles
From Mr. Miller:

"The Board has begun the redistricting process for the County. Using population estimates, staff has generated nine potential scenarios for drawing new district lines to make district populations equal. Final county population figures will not be available until census data is presented in February. Currently, the Dulles district has over twice the population of several other districts.

I have started a post on my blog about this topic to have a conversation about residents’ ideas for new district lines in the Dulles community. Please share your thoughts with me: http://withoutsupervision.com/?p=640.

Residents can find more information about the process and submit their own plans for consideration through the redistricting website.

The Board of Supervisors has set a deadline of 5:00 p.m., Friday, January 28, 2011, for submission of alternative district scenarios/plans.

Freedom High School Plans for Next Year, and Mercer

There had been a rumor that the upcoming Freshman Class at Freedom will be attending Mercer for an additional year due to overcapacity enrollment at Freedom. DSNFE asked Dr. Hatrick to respond, and his email response was as follows:

"The interim problem is that Freedom's enrollment is projected to be well in excess of 2,000 students next year. Since with the opening of J. Michael Lunsford Middle School in August 2011 Mercer Middle School's enrollment will go down significantly, we want to take advantage of Mercer space (one academic wing) for some Freedom classes. Our plan is to have freshmen take some of their classes in space at Mercer Middle School on an every-other-day basis. We have done this in the past twice when Broad Run High School became overcrowded.

All freshmen will be based at Freedom High School, but they will be transported to Mercer Middle School every other day to take some of their classes. All freshmen will begin and end every day at Freedom High School. This plan should allow us to get through the 2011-2012 school year without straining Freedom's facilities beyond their capability and will allow all freshmen to take advantage of the full program at Freedom High School for their freshman year. They will be Freedom students every day, but some of their "Freedom" classrooms will be at Mercer every other day. Mrs. Forester will be scheduling meetings with parents and students to discuss the specific logistics of this plan."

Note also the Loudoun Board of Education annual budgeting process is underway per John Stevens, with the next public input hearings scheduled for January 11th, 13th & 18th.

Fairfax Tutoring and Test Prep - a Local Service Provider

2011-01-11T06:40:00.006-05:00

Quality education for our children provides a foundation for lifelong learning and success. Student coaching, tutoring and test prep services can be an essential component in delivering successful educational programs. Many pupils struggle with organization, time management and study skills, and without proper coaching, they can fall behind. Thankfully it’s never too late to help them find an approach that works, and now is the perfect time to start.

On sidewalks throughout Northern Virginia and the Washington D.C. metro area, shopping bags are being replaced by backpacks as students wrap up their holiday break and return to classrooms for the second half of the school year. The New Year also brings the perfect opportunity for a new start—a new approach—to test prep and studying. In the fiercely competitive systems of Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria and the surrounding areas, it’s particularly important that students have the skills required to excel. Educational Connections Inc. (EC) tutoring helps build those skills and the confidence required to implement them.

EC’s trademarked in-home student coaching, test prep and tutoring services have helped thousands of local students from kindergarten through high school. With over a decade of experience tutoring, EC identifies three key areas that are imperative for student growth—and the tactics to ensure proper development.

Organization: Students who are chronically disorganized tend to feel overwhelmed and thus avoid homework and procrastinate studying. Disorganization also makes it easier to make careless mistakes and harder to retain valuable information. Student coaching helps such pupils create and implement a system that keeps all school materials, binders, bags and lockers organized and clear. Coaching also helps students prioritize daily homework assignments and other tasks so they can better achieve their educational goals. Tutoring enables challenged students to set up routines and build structures that guide them, and to use tools like assignment notebooks for support.
Time Management: Students are incredibly busy. Between extra-curricular activities, complicated social lives and demanding school days, academic demands can easily fall through the cracks. In some cases, looking at bigger projects becomes too overwhelming and students don’t know how to manage the various steps. Student coaching helps pupils complete long-term projects by breaking them down into manageable chunks, and it teaches them to schedule homework time in a realistic manner. Tutoring helps students identify what time of day and environments are ideal for them. Other tactics include tackling difficult subjects first, taking breaks, and studying in several smaller time blocks instead of diving into overwhelmingly long sessions.
Studying & Test Prep: Like it or not, scores matter. A lot. Course and exam grades heavily influence a student’s future, so if he or she struggles with test prep, the consequences can be dire. Student coaching provides valuable studying and test-taking skills, including memory techniques, note-taking that reinforces lessons, and active reading strategies.

Students who struggle are often bright and capable. With tutoring and test prep, their true potential is revealed. Sign up for EC today!

Sponsored Post: Occasionally we’ll post a message with supporting references from a local service provider that’s entirely consistent with this blog’s focus on providing useful, family-centric community, business and education news and information.

For additional assistance and information on helping your child or student achieve their academic goals, check out these additional Northern Virginia tutoring and test prep articles from Fairfax's own Ann Dolin M.ED. and Educational Connections, on "How to Help with Math", "Calming the Homework Rush", and many others.

Does your child need advanced or differentiated full-day instruction in lower and middle school, consistent with recognition of gifted and talented students in many school systems? In addition to coaching and tutoring services from services like EC, the Nysmith School in Herndon offers extremely low student to teacher ratios along with individually-paced educational programs for advanced learner. Contact this popular local private school in Fairfax for more information and to schedule a tour.

Lean, Mean Mouse Hunting Machine

2011-01-02T16:35:00.004-05:00

Today our South Riding owl, named "Huddleston" by the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, was released - when we first found him, he was severely malnourished, and weighed about 1 and a half pounds. The Wildlife Center nourished this first-year juvenile great horned owl back to life, taught him to hunt, and he basically had a rollicking good time at the Center with his other owl and assorted raptor pals - per this video....

Now at 3 pounds, he was released healthy and quickly flew away before an admiring South Riding crowd, into the thick suburban wooded areas for (we hope) a successful first winter mousing season!

Local Business - Some Good, Many Still Failing

2010-12-02T06:53:00.002-05:00

It's a mixed bag in local business recovery here in South Riding...on the one hand, the bottom bounceback is generating opportunities for those obtaining cheap rent for new restaurants, for those offering Internet services (lower cost and quicker results for budget-minded new businesses), and for national franchisees whose companies have survived intact through the cost-cutting and layoffs...

On the other hand, many of our local brick-and-mortar businesses are still teetering on the brink, with months of overdue rent sought by remote landlords interested in recouping losses. Our local postal services store is closing soon - sending scores of small business mailbox owners over to the UPS store...more 24-hour services, support and less likely itself to go out of business (even if the franchise fails, corporate will take over). In casual discussion, it appears many of the local retail are in similar predicament - having invested personal savings and struggling to keep paying the rent - business is simply not picking up quick enough to overcome the pile of outstanding debt and rental payments. So we're likely looking at significant turnover soon, unless the holiday season can provide the boost that persists long enough for recovery in fundamental economics.

Economic recovery around here is a starkly market-driven business - more will definitely lose, while a few will squeak through or emerge from long hibernation.

Loudoun Social Media in Tourism Symposium - #SOMET

2010-11-23T07:09:00.005-05:00

The Social Media in Tourism Symposium’s first annual in-person conference was a fantastic event last week in Ashburn’s Embassy Suites – Dulles North. The event location here in Loudoun County, VA was the result of a tough “virtual” challenge, including online voting through social media (Facebook) over the Summer – out of 27 eligible sites included in the voting, and with finalists including Nashville TN and Portland, OR, Loudoun County came out the winner! Over 100 destination marketing organization employees, supporters, evangelists, industry experts and supporting media are collaborating and learning this week about topics ranging from “What Happens in Loudoun County, VA goes on YouTube and Flickr” to “How to Measure Your Tourism Organization’s ROI”. Our local hosts, the Loudoun Convention and Visitor’s Association, a.k.a. “DC’s Wine Country”, provided lots of guidance and insight, as well as overall fabulous representation of the County to the rest of the country.

The event itself was fully marketed, promoted and organized online, using Facebook, Twitter (search for the #SoMeT hashtag), and other channels.

Here's a great recap on the event - by Jenny Matheny, and here's another - by Bill Geist.

Thanks to all the participants and organizer for making this event a great success, and helping highlight Loudoun County, VA as a premier tourism destination, along with the rapidly-growing Loudoun online marketing and social media scene!

Jeremy Harvey (LCVA) and Dorri Morin (Loudoun DED) - Loudoun Social Media Hosts!

Suburban Wildlife Rescue - What's the 411?

2010-11-21T12:09:00.006-05:00

FYI - the Dulles South Public Safety Center phone number is 571-258-3200...Updated below! Interesting Sunday morning wildlife interaction here in South Riding - a very large horned owl was spotted yesterday by our kids fighting with a large golden-flecked hawk, and this morning was laying very alert and still on the ground at the edge of the forest and our street. A veritable crowd of children gathered to watch the owl, who observed us without seeming concern - but didn't move except to rotate its head and hiss once in a while. The hawk and a contingent of mockingbirds and cardinals intent on joining the party (mostly to harrass the hawk) very loudly continued to swoop and harrass the owl - and eventually retreated from the small throng of 3rd-graders and attendant amateur wildlife observers.

What to do? Call the Loudoun Animal Control Office?

Well, we did - and upon understanding that this was wildlife, they redirected me to the Wildlife Rescue League. Their message, if it wasn't about a deer, essentially directed me to collect the animal and deliver to a local wildlife rescue volunteer or facility...which wasn't something I'm actually trained to do right now. So I tried 411 to get the Dulles South Public Safety Center - they were unable to locate that phone number, even after I explained it was a large police and fire station in South Riding. I was eventually transferred to a Virginia-wide directory, who ended up transferring me to the Metropolitan Washington Transit Agency - the Metro folks.

I wasn't aware the Silver Line had reached Loudoun yet - but, luckily, we've posted the Dulles South Public Safety Center phone number on the front page of Dulles South Online - so I called there - only to have the phone ring about 20 times with no answer.

So, the owl sits bemused by the side of the road, the hawk and attendant pawns await further developments, and the children continue to gawk and hopefully don't get too close. This situation will likely resolve itself overnight, with the loss of a really beautiful owl...but that's our Suburban Wildlife Rescue process in action, evidently.

Updated!
Thanks to the great response from the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center out of Millwod, VA (540-837-9000) for their help this afternoon in retrieving the Great-Horned Owl for care and rehabilitation...They rescue 1500 native wild birds, mammals and reptiles each year - evidently this was the second owl of the day. Pics below of the rescue...once better, our owl may be released back here in South Riding! (Keep your cats inside).

Loudoun U13 Girls SFL Tournament - Congrats South Riding Area Team!

2010-11-14T16:40:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to the Loudoun County, Dulles South/South Riding area U13 Girl's Suburban Friendship League team (SFL), placing 2nd in this weekend's SFL tournament play! Very close game down in Manassas against a tough Herndon opponent; final score was 3-2. Thanks to coach Todd and all the fantastic players from the South Riding and Lenah Run area team, for another fun season!

The Loudoun Is for Business Badge

2010-11-04T09:18:00.006-04:00

At last week's Loudoun Economic Development Commission meeting, MBRC committee members Bob Steere and Ed Zigo updated the group on progress of the new "Loudoun Is for Business" badge, for anyone to use on their websites to help promote Loudoun County as a great place to have a business or conduct business. Drive "heads in beds", as Mr. Krause likes to say. The badge is currently in a "Beta" or "soft-launch" status, as the technical details are tested and completed.

This very unique web-enabled shared marketing asset the County's Department of Economic Development will host enables those with business interests in the County to both help themselves, and help the entire business community, drive interest and ultimately more business to the county. Here at KME Internet Marketing in Loudoun, we first introduced this concept nearly 2 years ago through posts on our Gateway to Loudoun Blog "Loudoun Business Challenge" posts and our "Made in Loudoun" campaign – and it's fantastic to see the idea come to fruition through a lot of hard work and commitment on the part of the Loudoun business community and government support!

The badge itself is carefully designed to achieve a number of objectives. It will be a fairly unobtrusive and easy-to-integrate text-only design and color, suitable to use for most websites. Including the badge (several sizes will be available) on your site, blog, community page, social media profile or email newsletter benefits both your business and the County, if implemented specifically using the included links and tags. While the actual badge code and program details are still being finalized, the ultimate HTML code elements will be carefully constructed to make sure that both views and clicks on the badge are appropriately tracked, and so that search engines can find you and this badge when folks are searching for terms like "Loudoun businesses". The badge code will also ultimately meet ADA Section 508 accessibility guidelines.

See our best-practices driven example HTML code for implementing the badge here in this blog, and on our Loudoun Marketing home page.

The badge itself links to the primary "Doing Business in Loudoun County" page, and a special Loudoun DED "Join the Online Business Community" page further describes the program. This page is being optimized further to help promote the program, its benefits and further distribution of the badge. As the program develops and experience with the badge grows, there will be many more opportunities to highlight examples of the badge in action, actual badge usage and ROI statistics, as well as more advanced versions and use cases to come.

If you have a website, or manage a website page or distributed web content of any kind (like email), and would like to help promote Loudoun's visibility to your customers and the worldwide business community – prepare to try the badge on for size! (And be sure to provide feedback to the Loudoun DED/EDC).

Dulles Chamber of Commerce - Chantilly Community Business Partnership Event

2010-11-02T15:57:00.005-04:00

Last week’s Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce "Town Hall Discussion" was a great opportunity for Chamber members to meet and swap ideas with local community service organizations and leaders. About 75 members showed up at Hoop Magic in Chantilly (fantastic Basketball programs, our kids included!) to an event focused on Community Partnerships, the critical needs around us and ways in which we might – as a local Dulles area business community network - offer assistance.

Speakers included Fairfax (Sully District) Supervisor Mike Frey, Kerrie Wilson of Reston Interfaith, Lynn Gilmore with Northrop Grumman, Patti Stevens of the Fairfax Office of Public Private Partnerships and Jay Garant from the Fairfax County Schools Department of Communications and Community Outreach.

Mr. Frey offered some great feedback regarding how best to ask for and offer assistance to the County and Board of Supervisors, as a business. Ms. Wilson spoke to the critical needs facing our community and all the ways local businesses can make an immediate difference, and Ms. Gilmore detailed the many ways and methods her company works closely through community partnership programs to make a local impact. Mr. Garant introduced the "Partners in Education" Fall program, with its "Give Me Five!" ways to give and get involved with Fairfax County and partner with the school system.

We extend our thanks on behalf of Dulles South's KME Internet Marketing and Arlington's Blackstone Technology Group, to the great lineup of presenters, Chamber members, the Centreville Rotary Club for a great pulled-pork barbecue, and the group of Fairfax/Dulles-area community service organizations and local businesses who manned display tables and shared information with the group...just a few of these included:

ReStore – by Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia – a resale business selling new and used building materials and home improvement items to the general public, donated by local businesses and suppliers.

Ready Virginia - a statewide public education effort to prepare Virginians for all hazards

FACETS - offering a full spectrum of homeless services to build strong families and safe communities by improving the quality of life for impoverished men, women and children. (Check out the "Lend a Hand – Help the Homeless Community Day" Nov. 7, 1:30-4PM, Unitarian Universalist Church of Fairfax in Oakton, VA – includes a fun, outdoor interactive walk with many volunteer opportunities).

ECHOworks - Every Citizen Has Opportunities, providing dependable, motivated work crews staffed by individuals with disabilities.

Volunteer Fairfax - connecting individuals, youth, seniors, families and corporations to volunteer opportunities in the Fairfax County area. Don’t miss the November 14th VolRUNteer 5K & Fun Run at George Mason University!

YouthQuest FundUsNow.com - a mechanism to raise money selling customized coffee, brought to you by the YouthQuest Foundation of Chantilly, providing support for the academic development and life-enriching activities of America’s youth.

Fairfax County Citizen Corps and Office of Emergency Management.

Find these and other Loudoun and Dulles South nonprofit organizations at Dulles South Online - Organizations.

Facebook Friending and LCPS

2010-10-18T18:20:00.004-04:00

An interesting conundrum, to be sure, has surfaced between the Loudoun Times-Mirror and certain Loudoun Public School personnel, brought on by the specter of nasty, bullying statements surfacing in public on a popular website. In this case it appeared to be differences in opinion regarding athletic talent. On the one hand, it’s refreshing to see the journalists push back in the name of 1st Amendment principles and acknowledgement of the new realities of the 21st Century Internet – on the other hand, it is certainly laudable to see our Educators sticking up for the students. Too bad this support for online reputation and child safety monitoring doesn’t seem to be enforced and appropriately extended across all online media channels.

What we’ve seen with too frequent occurrence lately, are LCPS teachers and administrative staff actually “friending” students, past and present, on Facebook (and other channels, but this appears the most widespread and problematic). Maybe it’s a helpful channel for extracurricular guidance counseling; maybe it’s a desperate attempt to monitor the out-of-control behavior of unruly kids; or maybe perhaps it’s simply a lame attempt to be considered among the “in” crowd…who knows.

We’ve seen this at BOTH Public and Private schools in the area, and while most of the chatter and re-friending that results appears harmless, it all seems to truly cross the line with respect to several things. One of these is respect for parent and family privacy – why are teachers friending, and accepting friend requests, with my kids? (Of course, we might ask ourselves why our kids are spending so much time friending their teachers). Another is simple loss of authority and respect – are my kids to believe now they can treat their teachers like their friends, complete with utter ignorance of traditional social boundaries and grammar? There are probably many other lines being crossed from bullying and stupidity, to real creepiness and actual laws or policies being broken – but there seems to be no routinely monitored and enforced actions with respect to LCPS teacher interaction with students via public social media.

What should LCPS do? We’ve got lots of ideas – but it would be great to hear from teachers and administration themselves. It would also be great if this practice simply stopped.

NOVA Brewfest Fall 2010 - Bull Run Park, World Beer Experience - Oct 23-24!

2010-10-11T09:34:00.004-04:00

It's here! The 4th Annual NOVA Fall Brewfest, - the last great regional brewfest of the season, in Northern Virginia's Bull Run Regional Park (Centreville, VA).

This World Beer Experience features more than 40 of the world's best breweries, delicious food to complement the great brews and more than 30 crafters, vendors and exhibitors marketing and selling their products and services.

Saturday & Sunday, October 23 & 24, 2010, 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM daily
at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, Virginia. Beer sampling stops one hour before closing each day (6:00 PM).

Buy Tickets In Advance & Save!

Adults (21+) - $25 at the event
- $20 in advance

Designated Driver - $20 at the event
- $15 in advance

Click here to purchase tickets online

Tickets are also available in advance at the following locations. Click on the name for their website and directions.

Norm's Beer & Wine in Vienna
Rick's Wine & Gourmet in Alexandria
Westover Market in Arlington
Vintage 50 Restaurant & Brew Lounge in Leesburg
Vintage 51 Restaurant & Brew Lounge in South Riding

LIVE Band Entertainment

Saturday, October 23, 2010

1:00 PM - 2:15 PM: Chris Collat
2:45 PM - 4:00 PM: Shag
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM & 5:45 PM – 6:45 PM: Fools & Horses

Sunday, October 25, 2009

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM: Rew Smith
2:15 PM – 3:15 PM: Starryville
3:45 PM - 4:45 PM & 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM: American Giant

FREE Shuttles!

Saturday, October 23, 2010 ONLY - Departs from Vintage 50 Restaurant in Leesburg, 50 Catoctin Circle NE, at 11AM, 1PM, 3PM; Departs from Bull Run Park at 2PM, 4PM and 6:15PM.

Working List of Beers (subject to some change)

Baltimore-Washington Beer Works – The Raven Special Lager (plus a firkin)
Bitburger – Pils (German)
Bell’s Brewery – Best Brown Ale, Hell Hath No Fury, Oarsman & Pale Ale
Capital City Brewing - Oktoberfest Lager & Pale Rider Ale
Carlow Brewing – O’Hara’s Red, O’Hara’s Porter (Ireland)
Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery – Milk Stoudt, Amber Ale, Brown Ale & Wee
Heavy Ale
Einbecker Brauhaus – Mai Ur-Bock (German)
Ettaler Monastery Beers – Kloster Dunkel (German)
Flying Dog Brewery – Raging Bitch Belgian Style Pale Ale & Dogtoberfest Marzen
Harpoon Brewery – IPA & Ofest
Harviestoun Brewery – Bitter & Twisted (UK)
Heavy Seas Brewing – Loose Cannon, Marzen (plus a cask of something)
Hook & Ladder Brewing – Golden Ale & Backdraft Brown Ale
Kostritzer
Legend Brewing – Brown Ale, Golden IPA & Lager
Porterhouse Brewing Company – Oyster Stout, Wrasslers (Ireland)
Reisdorf
Schienkeria Rauchbier – Marzen (German)
Starr Hill Brewery – Festie, Northern Lights, The Love, Double IPA
Thornbridge – Jaipur IPA (UK)
Woodchuck Cider – Amber Cider & 802 Cider

To Volunteer

Volunteer positions for 2nd Shift on Sunday (2:00 PM - 6:00 PM) are still available. Volunteer positions include pouring beer and checking ID and tickets at the gate.

Volunteer Application - se the online application to sign up .

For more information email us at volunteer@novabrewfest.com or visit the Northern Virginia BrewFest website.

NOVA BrewFest is for Beer Lovers!

Loudoun Business Marketplace Underway - Now, Mon Oct 4 11-5PM, Dulles Holiday Inn

2010-10-04T12:45:00.003-04:00

The Loudoun Chamber of Commerce Business Marketplace is underway right now, Monday, Oct. 4, at the Dulles Holiday Inn in Sterling (off Rt. 28) - great businesses, door prizes, entertainment and more! Stop by as soon as you can...

Scott York, Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairman, opens the event!

Dulles South Youth Cross Country Under Way

2010-10-03T08:24:00.004-04:00

The second season of Dulles South's Cross Country league is now well underway, affording kids from 3rd to 8th grade the opportunity to learn cross country tactics and running strategies from local experts, plus getting some great outdoors exercise, experience and fun with other South Riding/Dulles South area families.

The Fall portion of the Dulles South Youth Sports Track and Cross Country program is different than the Spring, which focuses on teaching competition at track and field events, including sprints, hurdles, relays and more. It's a very unique and well-supported event in the community, with great support from the local high schools and many parent cross country/track alumni. The events include varying distance runs for the 3rd-4th, 5th-6th and 7th-8th graders - with plenty of on-field coaching, encouragement and support for the runners.

Loudoun Business Marketplace - Chamber Event Mon Oct 4 10-5PM Dulles Holiday Inn

2010-10-01T09:09:00.004-04:00

Make plans today to attend Monday's Loudoun Chamber of Commerce Business Marketplace, Northern Virginia's premier marketing showcase for businesses of every size, industry and customer type - at the Holiday Inn Dulles, Monday, Oct. 4 10AM - 5PM.. This includes Northern Virginia Businesses from the entire Metro Washington DC Region, with particular focus on the Dulles Corridor, Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

With tons of fun activities - The Taste of Loudoun, the Technology Gadget Center, an Oktoberfest-themed networking reception, hourly door prizes and more - the MARKETPLACE will offer the start to finish excitement for business owners, business investors, local consumers and organizations seeking new products, services, networking opportunities, vendor and partner relationships and more.

Door Prize schedule:

Noon An Amazon Kindle, courtesy of GWU Virginia Science & Technology Campus
12:30 p.m. Two tickets to attend a Washington Wizards game, courtesy of PNC Bank
1:30 p.m. $1000 Gift Basket, includes a private wine tasting for 10, courtesy of Talk Loudoun
2:30 p.m. A 24-piece Fortissimo glassware set, valued at $450, courtesy of Fortessa
3:30 p.m. A $100 travel package, courtesy of AAA Mid-Atlantic, Inc.
4:30 p.m. Deluxe Overnight Stay, Dinner for (2), Breakfast for (2) a $355 value, courtesy of Holiday Inn Dulles

Platinum Sponsors: Fortessa, Inc. | Loudoun Times-Mirror (ask about their new online advertising specials!)
Host Sponsor: Holiday Inn Dulles
Gold Sponsors: George Mason University | George Washington University | PNC Bank | The Business Bank | Virginians for Reliable Energy
Badge Sponsor: Inova Loudoun Hospital
Floral Sponsor: Country Way
Media Sponsors: KME Internet Marketing and Talk Loudoun

Event Location:
Holiday Inn Washington Dulles
45425 Holiday Drive
Dulles, VA 20166

Phone:
703-471-7411

Video for a Rainy Thursday in Loudoun

2010-09-30T14:12:00.001-04:00

Simply masterful - enjoy on a rainy Thursday...

Do it Yourself Mechanics and Virginia Auto Repair in Sterling – Your Personal Garage, Professionally Enhanced

2010-09-26T10:23:00.005-04:00

Many years ago, when we first moved to a new apartment in Northern Virginia, I regularly lamented the absence of a garage and workbench for meddling with wood projects or tinkering with personal auto repair. Not that I’d typically do more than fix a headlight, swap the wipers or change the oil, but there certainly were times that I would’ve rather provided my own labor to replace a muffler or perform some more challenging diagnostic and repair activities on a rainy Sunday afternoon listening to the ‘Skins – vs. pay someone else, especially the dealer, some budget-busting labor rates. These days, our home garage still lacks for room, proper tools or expert advice with which to successfully explore the car’s innards, stuffed as it is with a menagerie of children’s toys, bikes and other suburban refuse. I can now, however, take my car to someone else’s garage nearby – a total do-it-yourself oasis complete with modern equipment, tools, online manuals, onsite expertise and all the other trappings needed to cut auto and motorcycle repair expenses in half.

Do It Yourself Mechanics is an absolutely complete Do-It-Yourself vehicle repair center located in Sterling, VA (near Claude Moore Park and Dulles Town Crossing). The safe, fully-licensed ultra-modern facility offers a professional, clean work environment with professional bays, lifts, tools, automotive supplies and shop equipment for rent for the hour, day, week or month. Each rental bay comes with a 210 piece tool set. This very unique, one-of-a-kind concept of auto repair helps save up to 50% or more on auto repair expenses – in addition to offering the regular or weekend auto mechanics enthusiasts a fantastic venue to learn and practice the craft.

The do-it-yourself option is supplemented as needed by onsite, certified mechanics and staff to assist with more complex or challenging projects. All kinds of training classes are in the works, as are special deals including long-term rentals for independent mechanics, late-night fleet vehicle services, and wholesale pricing on tires and remanufactured engines or transmissions.

This kind of service is perfectly suited to our recovering economy, providing self-sustainment options to save money or earn some extra, while taking advantage of Internet-accessible information and wholesale purchasing power. The concept also delivers a great outlet for budding auto mechanics and hobbyists who otherwise might be stymied by lack of the right tools, unsafe or inaccessible working conditions. “We love cars, and want to make a passion for cars affordable” says Rick Poage, VP of Marketing & Sales for the shop. “Everyone that walks in here says the same thing – first, I’ve always thought of doing this myself, and second, this place is so clean!"

Find Do It Yourself Mechanics online, and at 21606 Cedar Lane Ste 100 in Sterling VA – or call them at 703-421-8855 to schedule rental times from 9AM-8PM M-W, 9AM-9PM Th-Sat, and 9AM-6PM on Sundays.

Special Event - On Wednesday- September 29, Do It Yourself Mechanics will host the Pit Crew from 1067 THE FAN 6-9PM as they record their show from the shop! Sign up for an invitation entitling you to a hors d'oeuvre-style buffet dinner provided by Mimi's Cafe (served at our shop from 5:00 to 6:00 PM). Also included is a special photo session with the Pit Crew as they record and stream their radio show for CBS SPORTS- 1067 THE FAN.

Advance Auto Parts, BG Products, Cornwell Tools and Auto Magic Cleaning Supplies will be there for consultation and/or advice on all car and tool needs. Staff from the nearby Allsports Grand Prix (Indoor Karting!) will also be in attendance - "helmet not required". There will also be special drawings and exclusive prizes for guests - RSVP soon (via the Do It Yourself Mechanics Facebook Page or through the website) as space is limited and is sure to fill up fast.

Totally Made in Loudoun - A Loudoun Video Production - Vintage 50 Restaurant

2010-09-05T16:26:00.004-04:00

Enjoy this video of the consummate "Made in Loudoun" restaurant, Vintage 50 of Leesburg, VA and Vintage 51 of South Riding....compliments of KME Internet Marketing and Video Production.

It's Not Illegal to be Homeless in Loudoun

2010-09-04T08:04:00.005-04:00

So, what happens when a child comes up and says something like "there's a huge bow and arrow in the woods over there, where we've seen a teenage girl living for a few weeks"? This local event happened recently in South Riding, and proved to be a revealing set of "lessons learned" - plus an example of how a mature community association can spring into action.

After this "by the way" remark, and a subsequent parent's inspection of the wooded area about 20 yards away from driveways, yards and houses where about 30 young children routinely play - sure enough, a serious compound hunting bow with several medieval-calibre metal-tipped arrows were found, along with a deflated blow-up mattress, backpack, food refuse and other "camping" litter. The mattress was deflated, evidently the target of thrust-and-parry training exercises wrought on it by, after further local questioning, some of the pack of little boys (i.e. the "real" community watch patrol) who had discovered the site 2 weeks earlier.

Further cursory inspection revealed some business cards, with local housing, moving and "family and adolescent counseling" service providers...not the kind of thing you like to see associated with the owner of suburban hunting equipment, right?

The first round of local Dulles South Public Safety Center Sheriff response was prompt, but ended a bit unsatisfactory - along with the comments (paraphrased) that "it's not illegal to be homeless in Loudoun", and "owning hunting equipment isn't illegal", "I can't take the bow, it's simply discarded property", and "I guess I could write down some numbers from the cards, and make a few calls" (after some prompting).

The unfolding story and evidence seemed to clearly point to a young person in trouble, a family in need, a potentially escalating danger to the community, an immediate danger to little kids, and all kinds of community property violations...but the initial law enforcement response was fairly tepid, though probably, technically, accurate (and perhaps correct in terms of relativity to other County or Homeland Security concerns?). Enter the South Riding Proprietary.

They came quickly, complete with clean-up crew and a full, new compliment of Sheriff department representatives - intent on actually making a report, securing the dangerous items, and following through with further investigation. As the Proprietary Manager put it, "we've got a great relationship with the Sheriff's department, and this isn't usually how things are handled - plus we're very concerned about the potential adolescent involved..." Unlike the first encounter, this second was much more consistent with community and parental expectations and pure reason, and hopefully will result in the help somebody needs.

For any of the families involved in the situation, it's comforting to know a community-run and funded organization is ready to help.

Dulles South Hospital Status - StoneSpring Medical Center Update

2010-08-24T16:58:00.004-04:00

We've all here in SoLoCo been patiently waiting (well, not without some ole-fashioned, rancorous debate over the past few years) for modern, substantial Dulles South healthcare facilities to arrive within a 30 minute drive-time radius...The new StoneSpring Medical Center by HCA is now in the detailed planning stages, having cleared the necessary approval phases - or is it? We put some questions to the very busy HCA PR team, and got some good questions answered...

GLC: How do you feel the new hospital will drive economic improvement in the area, and when might this start? (...meaning, can we get going quickly? Would be pretty useful to start driving economic impact right now, even though the hospital isn't slated to open fully until "late 2015"...)

HCA: "Hospitals are strong economic drivers in communities, generating good-paying jobs, tax revenues, and downstream employment. In fact, studies show that every $1 in health care revenue generates an additional $1.30 of revenue in other industries, and every job created in health care creates a corresponding job outside of the field. In addition, the StoneSpring Medical Campus will join Capital Hospice and the Health South Rehabilitation Hospital on Route 50 to create a medical hub that will drive additional health care and commercial growth. During construction on the StoneSpring Campus, HCA Virginia will use many local contractors and purchase goods and services from local companies, stimulating Loudoun’s economy. And as a tax-paying health care system, HCA Virginia and its employees will fund important community services."

GLC: Are you expecting synergies with other local development going on? (i.e., will you drive some nifty new restaurants or help get the Rt. 50 traffic improved?)

HCA: "The StoneSpring Medical Campus, along with Capital Hospice (GLC: ...with offices in Leesburg) and the Health South Rehabilitation Hospital, will create a medical hub that should stimulate additional health care and commercial growth. Some of those growth opportunities are already planned and approved. In addition, commercial and residential developments adjacent to the medical campus will lead to significant road infrastructure additions to the corridor, thereby improving traffic flow for residents as wells as StoneSpring patients and visitors."

GLC: Do you anticipate a significant community outreach/involvement program, and when might we start seeing some of this start? (...beyond social media conversations through nifty blogs like this one! BTW, now's the time to start following @loudoun through the new twitter ID you'll likely set up, hint, hint...)

HCA: "As is HCA Virginia’s custom, we have worked closely with the community since the announcement of our plans for StoneSpring Medical Campus. We have held community information sessions, have met with local homeowner’s associations, and have sponsored local nonprofit community events, among related activities. Many of these activities continue. As StoneSpring enters the architectural and planning phases we will continue to invite stakeholders to review our plans and to help shape the campus and its facilities. Such dialogue will include EMS squads, physicians, and community leaders, as well as others. HCA Virginia facilities and management teams are always closely connected to the communities that we serve, and StoneSpring Medical Campus will follow this important standard."

GLC: What feedback or information would you want to collect, from local businesses and citizens? (i.e. lunch menu suggestions, ambulance route suggestions, soccer team sponsorship opportunities, etc.)

HCA: "It is important that we have a two-way communication with our neighbors along Route 50 throughout the planning, building and operation of the StoneSpring Medical Campus. We made changes to the StoneSpring plan continuously during the approval process with the county based on the feedback we were receiving from the community. As the StoneSpring development process unfolds, we will continue to seek input from many constituents, in much the same way as we did for Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, a 126-bed facility HCA Virginia opened in June. Our website – http://www.stonespringmedical.com/ -- will feature our ongoing progress and provide opportunities for the community to stay involved in the project."

...only 4 more years!

Leesburg VA Restaurants - eGovernment Online Marketing

2010-08-09T11:12:00.006-04:00

Leesburg VA’s website implemented an interesting capability recently, a directory of Leesburg VA restaurants. There are a lot of angles to consider regarding this foray by a local government into direct economic development and marketing, and it’ll certainly be interesting to see the ROI – which should be published after 6 months or so by the town. Are they off to a good start, in terms of providing value to the taxpayers and businesses? It’s a reasonable start, and well-intentioned, and there are several opportunities to improve.

The alphabetized directory of all restaurants within the Leesburg city limits, along with a Google maps-generator for finding directions is executed in a very simple, non-partisan manner. It can be updated in real time, unlike many towns who publish document-centric business directories just a few times a year. In terms of online marketing, there really aren’t included any of the typical promotional indicators you’d find in a commercial directory listing – like highlighting, descriptive meta and alternate text tags, good anchor text used with restaurant website links, text descriptions and reviews, restaurant-supplied imagery or advertisements, etc. In fact, the restaurant pages themselves are a wholly non-search engine optimized implementation. They won’t be indexed very often or helpfully by search engines like Google, especially with the “unfriendly” URL and the very duplicative nature of all the listing pages (aside from the restaurant name).

What this style of implementation delivers, therefore, is straightforward non-competitive “eGovernment” services to traditional constituents of government services, but very little additional online marketing value to the restaurants themselves. Local chambers of commerce tend to operate in the same way, mostly avoiding preferential treatment in their listings and not offering much in the way of truly optimized online exposure. “Traditional constituents” is used to indicate those people who are used to visiting the local government site for information – more current Internet users typically rely on search engines, themed-directories or social media to investigate and plan entertainment outings. So, the content from the Leesburg site won’t necessarily appear in those channels – but marketing of the restaurants via commercial directories and business services (along with their own efforts) will remain competitive.

Even if the intention of this directory implementation is to be as pure eGovernment vanilla as possible, every page of the site does, however, provide opportunities to promote the broader Leesburg visitor and economic development agenda – i.e. promoting the overall Leesburg dining experience on behalf of all restaurants. Using phrases in text, links and meta tags such as “great restaurants in Loudoun” might drive additional visitors to the directory and therefore Leesburg businesses (at the expense, though, of Hamilton restaurants – welcome to the new era of local government online marketing competition!).

This may be both a good and bad thing, depending on your perspective. On the one hand, the marketers, advertisers, owners and investors in sites like “Yelp”, “UrbanSpoon” and the new “TBD.com”, local Loudoun restaurant blogs and media with advertising, and of course restaurants with active marketing campaigns – all of these business owners have a vested interest in the de facto government (i.e. “dot.gov” domains) NOT entering the competition for Internet eyeballs. In Loudoun, there’s already some pretty stiff competition against commercial businesses for online tourism traffic with the emergence of “Visit Loudoun – DC’s Wine Country” (the Loudoun Convention & Visitor’s Association). Many of these business owners providing restaurant information and reviews have local interests, and their success contributes as well to the local economy – so if you’re a local restaurant blogger supported by local advertising, you’d rather the Government wasn’t competing with you.

On the other hand, searching for “Leesburg restaurants” in Google or YouTube is bound to highlight only those offerings with the best online marketing investments (or simply the most publicly popular restaurants) – rather than perfectly good and interesting ones that you’d like to see but that simply don’t market online.

The Leesburg restaurant directory does, however, deliver some third-party advertising that restaurants should understand. In using Google maps to provide directions, this comes with Google’s advertising and marketing techniques, which include reviews of the restaurant, similar ones nearby, and third-party ads which may or may not be competitive (and may not be in Leesburg). All local businesses would be well-advised to solidify their Local Business listing and profile with search engines like Google…

Classification and grouping of restaurants is a standard way to help visitors find or try new restaurants. For their dining directory, Visit Loudoun chooses a more tourism-oriented theming consistent with attracting visitors to both the area and establishments - ranging from “Afternoon Tea” to “Farm-to-Table” and “Market Fresh”. Leesburg sticks with basic directory categories that seem to cater more towards visitors and residents already in town (vs. considering a visit), like “Burgers & Other Fast Food”, “Ice Cream & Smoothies”, “Pizza” etc. Picking on a favorite, Vintage 50 Restaurant & Brew Lounge, it’s categorized as “American” on the Leesburg site, and under “Microbreweries” at Visit Loudoun…Leesburg might consider actually having two classification schemes, one more “government directory” oriented, and the other with some additional marketing panache.

The Leesburg restaurant directory, therefore, is a well-intentioned, reasonably benign implementation of useful online government services – but is also a solid entry into the very competitive online marketing world that the city needs to be intimately familiar with…for both the benefit of its constituents, and to avoid unintended or exclusionary competition with them.

Dulles South Riding Wine Gets Social With Beer

2010-07-30T08:22:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Rob and company at Winestyles in South Riding for yesterday's beer tasting event. That's right, an inaugural craft-brew tasting event at the local Wine store - promoted via local social media (found out about it via Winestyles Facebook Page).

The beers of Avery Brewing were highlighted: Belgian Witbier, Pale Ale, India Pale Ale and Brown Ale. While tasty, my purchase ended up including some titles not found anywhere else in the Dulles South region - Devil Dog and Alpha Dog Imperial IPAs from Laughing Dog Brewery (Pondery, ID) and Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA from Sonoma County Ales (Healdsburg, CA).

Laughing Dog's a particularly impressive set of Ales, given their heritage: "Out of frustration that there weren't enough hoppy beers in stores or pubs, Laughing Dog Brewing was born in 2005 in Ponderay, Idaho. Today, the brewery produces Ales, IPAs, Stouts, and many more, including the hoppiest beer you're going to find anywhere, Alpha Dog."

True to claim, Alpha Dog was an extremely hoppy, bitter offering, worth every swirl, sip and snark and swirl a craft brew connoisseur and member of the Dulles League of Craft Brew Appraisers (quietly rejoicing yet oddly stationed in a DC's Wine Country exurbian wine store) could muster.

Find more great Dulles South beers here at Winestyles, on tap at the South Riding restaurant Vintage 51 Brew Lounge, or at the annual set of Dulles area seasonal brewfests via the NOVA Brewfest crew.

Feel the Sting in the Pool

2010-07-22T08:16:00.010-04:00

Too quickly the major activity of our summer is coming to a close – life with the South Riding Stingrays. This Summer swim team experience helps truly define the community as a whole, drawing in over 300 swimmers each year into three separate league competition series (ODSL, CSL, MiniRays) - yet operating and entertaining itself as one big family. Who needs summer camp? The swim team is a suburban and neighborhood institution that covers all basis of summer family fun and entertainment, plus many other benefits…it’s been this way for decades – I recall my own childhood Summers revolving around swim practice, meets and cookouts, along with the obligatory inner tube water polo, pool movie night, pot-lucks, tie-die night, float night, Swim-o-Ween costumes, pep rallies, midnight swim parties, relay carnivals, swim-a-thons and belly-flop contests (back when most pools had a high dive).

Today is no different – boys and girls 4-18 essentially compete and enjoy team-building activities all on the same team, from the end of school through August (with the best swimmers continuing on to Divisional and All Star meets). On the one hand, it’s a lot easier on parents of multiples; unlike the Fall and Spring soccer seasons, there’s no driving frantically among Ashburn, Sterling, Aldie and South Riding to catch age group games. The swim team is a single, co-ed team – older kids helping younger ones, and opportunities to compete and win ribbons for everyone. On the other hand, swim meets do require a lot of planning, volunteers and good hard work by the parents to succeed – everything from manning the “Mini Ray Café” to timing and judging the swimmers, to setup/breakdown of the pool area and organization of team events. All parents are expected to participate, and most of the older kids end up in volunteer or paid positions as coaching assistants – padding their resumes for college with community service, leadership and teaching experiences. It's an interesting mix on Wednesday nights - kids large and small, parents working and watching, and a steady stream of Clackers (you know them, Federal employees and contractors with ID badges around their necks) filling the pool deck as they escape their DC commutes to catch the early races.

This Summer burst of community participation and inter-age group camaraderie is multiplied across nearly every community in Northern Virginia – hundreds of thousands of children are busy every day practicing and learning new strokes, coming together on Wednesdays and Saturdays for donuts AND very exciting, well-orchestrated team competition. Many continue in year-round competitive swimming programs all over Northern Virginia. Why? Excelling at swimming isn’t simply a route to advanced competition, including high school and college sports participation – and possibly more than that (i.e. Olympics and other International competition).

From an exercise perspective, the non-impact, full body workout (in a cool pool!) the kids get with their friends every day of an otherwise lazy summer is pretty much the perfect diversion from TV and video games in the dark, cool basement at home. It’s also a life-saving and lifelong exercise skill that in my opinion, should be a required public education component. We frequently joke that our kids are on swim team mainly so they can rescue us when we “fall off the party boat” – built in lifeguards. Envision this test with your kids - they're sitting on a dock in a chair by themselves, fall over backwards into the water...are you reasonably confident that they'll surface and swim safely to get out?

South Riding Stingrays – “Eat our Bubbles, Feel our Sting!”.

Getting Social with Loudoun.gov

2010-07-12T18:52:00.006-04:00

Today’s Loudoun Economic Development Commission, Membership and Business Retention Committee (MBRC) meeting officially earned Loudoun, its residents and businesses their “Gov 2.0 street cred” on the Internet. An official Department of Economic Development (DED) strategy, roles and supporting cast are in place, the SEO and website analytics are turned on, the chicklets are published, a “badge” is under development, and the Loudoun online SoMe scene is now fully engaged by its local government. What’s it mean, even down here in SoLoCo?

Some of the beginning goals, per the DED, are to “increase our engagement and influence with our target audiences (initially Loudoun’s existing business community) – to build credibility…to create more advocates for our efforts…tracking the sentiment of our interactions…as we intelligently execute..our organic foray into social media..beyond our traditional communications channels…” Some of the channels that are already reaping rewards include Loudoun’s LinkedIn and Facebook groups, Twitter accounts and YouTube channel – serving up content ranging from DC’s Wine Country productions to Public Information Office announcements and Loudoun Farms discussion. From this catalyst of Internet activity should emerge a much more integrated, collaborative, helpful and ultimately rewarding community network of online Loudoun business stakeholders, driving the ideas, conversations and eventually investment into Loudoun’s shared economic recovery engine.

It’s interesting that “Phase 1” of the LCDED SoMe initiative was launched this April, at about the same time that an equally appealing approach to regional, yet hyperlocal journalism put up its first blog entry, over at TBD.com. This collaborative online news effort under the Albritton flag is harnessing the community reach and brainpower of nearly 100 blogs and a team of SoMe-savvy journalists and community managers who are, as they say, “determined to report news that’s important to our community; determined to develop a prosperous business model; determined to engage the community in our stories..”

So, there’s quite the perfect storm developing for local businesses, organizations and residents, for successfully leveraging their energy, assets or simply tax dollars into real-time ROI that matters. How might it work? Let’s say you’re a growing Dulles South area business, like the mainstay family restaurant in South Riding, the local Insurance Representative or Spas and Game Tables merchant in Chantilly, or a favorite Roofing Contractor, HVAC services provider in Sterling or Ashburn handyman. You want not only to promote your business online, but find new customers and get more involved in the local community – benefiting both your business and the residents nearby. Contribute something interesting, useful into the SoMe community, and it’ll spread quickly, with both intended and unintended benefit. Tell a story – for example, your last expert job or special event was particularly satisfying and well-received, with testimonials, and “it just so happens that this success will soon be parlayed into expansion plans in terms of community support, new employees or enhanced products and services”…it’s called “contextual advertising”.

The important part is to self-publish into these developing and synergistic “nodes” of the government-business-media network, through comments, wall postings, tweets, whatever – your YouTube posting link and Visit Loudoun Facebook comment may get retweeted by @loudoun, discussed by members of the Loudoun EDC LinkedIn group and noticed by a future supplier, employee or alert hyperlocal journalist. The result? More credible word-of-mouth referrals, actual business and overall positive sentiment about a Loudoun-centric, socially-active business and its clientele. Maybe the Donald could live-tweet a golf round at his newly-designed Loudoun golf course.

Loudoun Chamber + EDC + CEOs + BOS + BOE = Evidence of an Enlightened Business Community

2010-06-26T14:27:00.006-04:00

A unique Loudoun County business leadership meeting took place on Tuesday (at the brand new , Doubletree Hotel Dulles Airport-Sterling) among key leaders and representatives of the Loudoun CEO Cabinet, the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce (LCCC) and the Loudoun Economic Development Commission (EDC). This was billed as an exchange of ideas, goals and strategies for 2010, and introduced the realignment of the Loudoun CEO Cabinet officially now under the LCCC. Notable government reps included Supervisors York, Water, McGimsey; Board of Education reps Hatrick and Stevens; VA State Delegates Greason, May and Herring.
Here’s some of the newsbytes that resonated across the group and panel.

Some pics over at Loudoun Times - BizLoudoun, June 22..

Ralph Buona, SVP for Business Development of Telos Corporation delivered the LCCC message, including:

The Chamber is large, healthy and growing, with a recent survey indicating that 96% of members thought the Chamber was very relevant to their business – though room for improvement included a retention rate of 77% and 81% satisfaction with marketing efforts. The recently approved merger of the Greater Manassas/Prince William County Chambers will displace Loudoun as the DC region’s largest Chamber. 2010 initiatives underway include a “Political Process Committee” to help groom business leaders for political office, improved LCCC brand development and a number of new non-profit support initiatives.

Scott Hamberger, CEO of Sterling-based Fortessa Inc. (a Tableware Company), followed with the Loudoun CEO Cabinet overview:

“We’re experiencing an awakening of the Loudoun business community, like lights going on in a previously dark house. Loudoun is at an inflection point…and we can either learn from other areas with similar growth patterns (like Charlotte/Mecklenburg and Austin) or continue as a DC bedroom community”. The affiliation of the CEO Cabinet under the LCCC helps consolidate activity, focus and align outreach and information-sharing between the business community and the Loudoun County government (i.e. ostensibly taking the “shadow government” issue off the table). The CEO Cabinet helps drive professional education and outreach, foster an informal “neural network” of professional information sharing, raise funds for actions taken on behalf of the overall business community and alignment with neighboring jurisdictions, but has no desire in advancing purely parochial interests.

John Wood, Chairman and CEO of Telos followed with the EDC comments:

“We’re at a stage of enlightened self-interest in terms of the business community, with much more focus on children and education, employee needs, congestion issues (both physical and virtual, online), and infrastructure needs. He laid out the simple math of “unpacking the commercial tax base”, comparing the fact that every dollar of commercial tax revenue generates 93 cents profit to the County, while for every dollar of residential real estate property tax raised, the County actually spends $2 to support. So with the forecast growth in residential properties and school cots, we’re looking at over $400 million in near term incremental expenses that aren’t covered by projected tax revenues…this is a clear indicator of the need for the County to drive commercial location/relocation here to Loudoun. He also included some remarks regarding how the EDC, supporting the Department of Economic Development (DED), is a reasonably effective voice to the BoS – though he supports the concept of more “at large” Supervisors, since the concept of “District Supervisors” is an inherent conflict of interest.

Discussion followed - by far the best exchange was with Lori Waters asking the panel how the BoS was actually doing, in supporting the shared strategies of the Economic Development Commission, CEO Cabinet and LCCC - the fundamental answer revolved around "too many 5 to 4 BOS votes", as John Wood put it, and other evidence of an extremely unpredictable and partisan BOS with respect to the issues that current and future County business investors care about.

An historic meeting, for sure, but hopefully the first of many more, and with many more businesses represented...

Team USA Soccer and an American Brewfest in Loudoun!

2010-06-24T21:36:00.002-04:00

What's better than the finest American craft beers, the best DC area live bands, the Loudoun countryside in the Summer, and World Cup USA? All in one day?

Through the combined efforts of Vintage 50 Restaurant & Brew Lounge, OnPoint Digital Solutions and the quick action of Capital Party Rentals, we are able to provide the Vintage 50 and On Point Sports Lounge at the Loudoun Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest in Leesburg this weekend. YES, that means the USA vs. Ghana Soccer match will be viewable on two 50” tv’s under a 900 square foot tent. In fact, all of the soccer matches will be available as well as other weekend sports.

Thanks to Anthony Cavallo at Vintage 50, John Dwyer at OnPoint Digital Solutions and the fine folks at Capital Party Rental!

After all this is a Celebration of American Beer, and a nice hot summer day! GO USA!!

Northern Virginia Summer Brewfest and Live Music Concert Event - Morven Park, Leesburg VA

2010-06-10T08:13:00.006-04:00

DC and Northern Virginia's 2010 premiere outdoor live music festival centered on craft beer and breweries is preparing for its 3rd annual incarnation, Saturday to Sunday June 26-27. The Northern Virginia Summer Brewfest and its "Celebration of American Beer" will feature over 50 of America's best breweries and beer sampling in Loudoun County at Leesburg's Morven Park, along with a wide variety of interesting food, a family fun area for the kids, local artisans, a cigar stand and a spectacular collection of DC, Maryland and Virginia regional bands performing live, outdoor music. A lone, but exemplary representative of DC's Wine Country joins the fun as well.

For craft beer, microbrew and local beer lovers here in DC's Beer Country, this festival is marking a resurgance of local breweries and brewpubs, including the Vintage 50 Brewery in Leesburg, the new 28 North Brewhouse (soon to be producing versions of their Rhinochasers beers onsite), the Holybrew gang producing and distributing from Leesburg, and other great local restaurants like Leesburg's Fireworks Pizza that sell oodles of fantastic regional variations on "the good brew".

(Follow the latest local brew news @NovaBrewFest on Twitter!)

New this year are extended hours (11-9 PM Saturday, 11-7PM Sunday) plus several shuttle options for offsite parking (check the site for updates), including from the Vintage 50 Brewery in Leesburg and possibly (to be announced) from the Vintage 51 Brew Lounge in South Riding.

Saturday Northern Virginia Live Music

1:00 - White Ford Bronco

2:45 - Gypsy Sons

Wrong Side Of The Tracks

The Gypsy Sons | MySpace Music Videos

4:30 - Miguel Aubertin

6:15 - What Mama Said - two sets!

Sunday

12:45 - Big Mouth

2:30 - American Giant

4:15 - Monster Band - two sets!

TMB at Seacrets

The Monster Band | MySpace Music Videos

...And here are the breweries and beers! (list subject to some change)

Abita Brewing Co.
Allagash Brewing Co.
Anheuser Busch
Baltimore-Washington Beer Works
Bear Republic
Bells Brewing Inc.
Boston Beer Co.
Brooklyn Brewing Co
Callys
Clipper City Brewing Co./ Oxford B.C.
Dogfish Head Brewing Company
Fordham Brewing Company
Harpoon Brewing Company
Hook and Ladder Brewing Company
Lagunitas Brewing Company
Lancaster Malt Brewing Company
Mad River Brewing Company
Magic Hat brewing Company
Mendocino Brewing Company
New Holland Brewing Co.
Old Dominion Brewing Co.
Otter Creek Brewing Co./ Wolavers
St. George Brewing Co.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Stone Brewing Company
Stoudt Brewing Co.
Starr Hill Brewing Company
Victory Brewing Co.
Vintage 50 Restaurant and Brew Lounge
Wild Goose
Flying Dog
Williamsburg Ale Works
Yuengling Brewing Company
North Coast Brewing Company
Kona Brewery
Lexington Brewing Company<
Smuttynose Brewing Co.
Oskar Blues Brewing Co.
Fisherman Brewing Co.
Coors Brewing Co.
Blue Moon Brewing Co.
Miller Brewing Co.
Leinenkuegals Brewing Co.
Pyramid Brewing Co.
Mad Fox Brewing Co.
Anchor Brewing Co.
Spoetzl Brewing Co.

South Riding Festival and Vintage 51 Ushers in the Northern Virginia Brewfest Season

2010-06-02T07:44:00.002-04:00

Celebrate South Riding is here - 15 years of community growth (25,000 residents and counting) celebrated over two days of Summer fun, Friday and Saturday June 4-5th! We've seen this event grow very quickly and professionally, and this year looks to be amazing. It's relocated, however, now to the Dulles Multipurpose Center grounds at 24950 Riding Center Drive. Here you'll find a farm-themed children's area, "Extreme Scene" rides and games for the older kids, four live bands on the main stage, and the very special "15 Year Tribute" Friday night light and laser show - capped off Saturday with the traditional South Riding fireworks finale.

Also new this year is a greatly expanded cafe' area called "Corks, Kegs and Crafters", hosted in cooperation with the Vintage 50 Restaurant Group and Vintage 51 restaurant in South Riding. Enjoy 20 different microbrews from local and regional breweries, and learn some tips from the Vintage 50 Master Chef and Brew Master. Keep the summer fun rolling over at Vintage51 in Market Square this weekend - the pet-friendly outdoor patio's open, free wireless Internet (it's our new favorite business lunch location), plasma TV's and projectors, plus of course over 14 micro/craft brews and LIVE entertainment Fridays and Saturdays (John Kaplan this Friday, 6/4).

This is a great way to kick off the Summer brewfest and craft fair season here in DC's beer country; next stop is the extremely popular Northern Virginia Summer BrewFest series, on Saturday and Sunday June 26-27 - tickets are on sale now, for seven (!) live bands, very local and interesting food options, over 70 microbrewery options to try, and even a lone, local loudoun winery to sample.

Loudoun Economic Development VIP Reception 2010

2010-05-28T08:53:00.003-04:00

Last night's VIP reception at the Belmont Country Club was very well attended,well organized and overall a very successful event, bringing together the business and government leadership engaged in promoting Loudoun County's economic development. The German economic development contingent from Main-Taunus-Kreis (MTK - Loudoun's "sister county") was in attendance to help enjoy Loudoun wines, a fife-and-drum performance, a brief rain shower and Supervisor Susan Klimek-Buckley's address to the crowd and BOS/BOE and other County notables present. Buckley's remarks focused first on the successful unfreeze by Governor McDonnell of the Local Composite Index (LCI), led in part by rigorous opposition from the County government, business and education communities, that resulted in $34M restored funding for Loudoun education. We had an especially engaging discussion with VA State Senator Mark Herring regarding Loudoun Internet Marketing and Social Media, encouraging he and his staff to jump on board the kind of Internet economic development initiatives Loudoun County is rolling out, and participating more in government/citizen online social media forums like GovLoop. All-in-all, a great event!

Pictured below is Supervisor Klimek-Buckley's address

Northern Virginia Private Schools - Fairfax, Loudoun - Nysmith School for the Gifted

2010-05-23T11:37:00.003-04:00

Discovering that your child needs accelerated learning opportunities here in Northern Virginia, Fairfax, Arlington or Loudoun is a slow surprise for many of us, and one that’s not easily accommodated or fostered by typical school systems – public or private. Certainly it might be evident to you as a parent that by preschool, you’re finding your child is very bright, has unusual potential, quickly picks up new skills and is beginning to outpace many peers and the instructional resource available. It’s much tougher to convince most schools and teachers, however, of what you intrinsically feel and know as a 24 hour parent – when the school system only has a limited perspective of your child’s accomplishments, and are also measuring your child’s needs against the many demands and realities of educating hundreds of students from all kinds of backgrounds - especially in Virginia under both a difficult economy and the institutional pressures of the “Standards of Learning” (SOL) program.

An advanced learner or gifted student in Northern Virginia is, however, pretty easy to recognize as early as Kindergarten and 1st grade, when they’re rapidly learning early reading, writing and math techniques. It’s even more evident that your child needs a differentiated or accelerated curriculum by mid-late elementary school, when the realities of say Loudoun or Fairfax gifted school offerings are beginning to fall dramatically below those necessary to sustain an educational trajectory that leads to successful placement in competitive high schools and academic programs, success in advanced “AP” or “IB” classes and ultimately matriculation at the best country’s best universities. In the public school systems (i.e. Fairfax and Loudoun), true “gifted and talented” programs do become available by middle school, but these basic “enrichment programs” may be too little, too late to truly offer your advanced child the challenges they need and deserve.

In Loudoun County, the “SEARCH”, “SPECTRUM” and “FUTURA” programs are enrichment programs that are provided to those that meet minimum criteria including a student profile, teacher rating, ability test scores and achievement test scores. The modest differentiation offered through these programs, however, is limited to the simple additional pool of students thus identified, and not to individual learning needs nor are they fully immersive (i.e. full-day). Fairfax does offer a more targeted and flexible Continuum of Gifted Services in grades K-12 with more options for individualized attention, yet still suffers from very high class sizes (up to 32) and corresponding high student-to-teacher ratios (and therefore much less individualized attention) across all programs.

Northern Virginia private schools are an option to seriously consider to successful fulfill your child’s differentiated learning needs. Most DC metro private schools in the area, however, are simply more controlled, exclusive settings with additional enrichment opportunities and smaller class sizes, along with somewhat more independence on the part of the faculty to be flexible about class assignments and adding or removing extracurricular programs. Only one school in this area is exclusively and successfully focused on the individual academic needs of truly academically gifted students. This includes a teaching environment that’s caring and attentive, respectfully acknowledging of parental input, is led by true “Master” teachers and is utterly responsive to each individual child across the entire spectrum of their whole-school experience - the Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, VA.

The Nysmith School for gifted and talented learning in Fairfax, Loudoun and surrounding areas is a truly unique, award-winning, fully accredited and nationally recognized coeducational K-8 school with a myriad of benefits over and above other Northern Virginia public, private or religious schools. Fairfax full-day school, preschool and after-school programs are available under an admissions process that carefully identifies the need for accelerated instruction and individualized academic attention. The classes include a very diverse yet warm and loving group of children and teachers at ratios ranging from 1 teacher per 7-10 students, with 2 teachers in every class.

Nysmith School for the Gifted provides an academic environment that is thoroughly advanced and specifically designed to meet the unique educational, social, and emotional needs of gifted learners in Fairfax, Loudoun and surrounding Northern Virginia and DC metro area (bus service is available). The school boasts many academic honors and awards each year, in internationally-recognized programs ranging from Odyssey of the Mind, Wordmaster and MathCounts, to a recent Top 10 listing on the very prestigious Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth “2009 CTY Talent Search”.

Many successful student alumni are currently attending the very prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, along with other nationally-recognized high schools in area including Episcopal, Madeira, Foxcroft, National Cathedral School, Landon, St. Pauls, Lawrenceville, Phillips Exeter, Durham Academy, Bullis, Sidwell Friends, Flint Hill, Emma Willard, the George School, and Wakefield. Many others are in Fairfax, Falls Church, Loudoun County, and Prince William County Schools taking AP courses or following the IB or Cambridge Programs for advanced students. After high school, Nysmith graduates have attended top universities around the country, including UVA, Virginia Tech, MIT, USC, SUNY, Brandeis, Dartmouth, Brown, Mary Washington, George Mason, the Air Force Academy, University of Saint Louis, and Rensselaer.

If you are discovering, or already know, your child’s unusual and limitless academic potential is being underserved by your local school offerings, visit the Nysmith School for the Gifted private day school and full-day preschool in Northern Virginia. As current Loudoun parents of a bunch of very happy, motivated and inquisitive children at Nysmith, we highly recommend this Northern Virginia private school as the most challenging, experienced and yet successful, individually-flexible and wonderfully attentive school and teaching staff available in the area.

Dulles Greenway Drive for Loudoun Charities May 20th, and New Loudoun Hospital!

2010-05-14T15:20:00.002-04:00

Great news this week for long-suffering Dulles South residents, concerning final approvals after 8 years of wrangling for the new HCA Loudoun Dulles South StoneSpring Medical Center 164-bed hospital on Rt. 50 in Loudoun County – set to open late 2015. The hospital should provide a much-need local economic recovery boost to this Gateway to Loudoun region, as well as much-need alternatives to those of us living in places like South Riding, with nothing but traffic-bogged alternatives for critical medical care beyond that which the local Dulles Urgent Care Centers can provide.

Set your calendars on May 20th (Thursday) for the Dulles Greenway Drive for Charity – your opportunity to cruise up to 65 mph through the scenic Loudoun spring vistas and support great local charities at the same time. The Dulles Greenway is donating all tolls raised on this day to charitable organizations supporting Loudoun, including the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter, and the Dulles Greenway Citizenship Award & Scholarship. The very next day you can ditch the car, yet continue to support the environment – it’s National Bike to Work Day, Friday, May 21st (but not on the Greenway!)

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2010-04-26T20:28:00.001-04:00

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Loudoun Family Now Accepting Northrop-Style Financial Incentive Bids for Headquarters Relocation

2010-04-10T09:05:00.005-04:00

We’re pleased to announce at this time that our family will be accepting Family and Small Business Headquarters Relocation Financial Incentive Bids from DC Metro, Northern Virginia and Suburban/Southern Maryland jurisdictions. Tax subsidies, grants and other benefits may reflect those now being offered to Northrop Grumman to relocate its headquarters to the area, though are expected to be comparatively greater, due mainly to the much higher relative value gained by relocating (or retaining with improvements) our family members, associates and stakeholders, rapidly-growing small business, and associated relationship and community assets.

Our family and small business corporate leadership is seeking bids at this time, due to many factors - including rapidly aging headquarters facilities and fully-depreciated assets, the need to reduce corporate leadership risk, negative health profiles and commute expenses (due to daily inbound DC commute), the need for extensive improvement in continuing and accelerated Primary education and team recreation opportunities, the need for better access to “offline” social collaborative obligations, venues and amenities directly related to our small business development activities, the need to reduce our tax burdens not directly reflected in productive benefits to our organization, the need for more stable and reliable telecommunications and power grid services, the need for a more small business-friendly political representation at both a local and regional level, the need to reduce our overall carbon footprint and contribute more directly to satisfying environmental preservation initiatives, the need for improved variety and quality in family-oriented dining and entertainment venues, and the need for physical proximity to a real German deli and bakery.

Benefits to the successful bidder range from significant enhancement of location-specific Internet business and community profiles and associated online commerce, to solid contributions to the quality of educational, athletic and community service/nonprofit initiatives in the form of family member participation, leadership and investment. “Long-tail” benefits include heavy marketing and active professional and social “pull” of similarly-inclined and valuable family/small-business units into the same jurisdiction. Benefits also include very significant contributions to local employment (in the woman-owned, local small business category), local economic development/recovery assistance and taxable income generation, and dramatic reduction in local energy and utilities consumption (we are a "Green" company). Introduction of additional methane-producing livestock is not anticipated, and direct advertising support for the successful bidder and their political representation is negotiable (prominently displayed on personal attire, yard signs, websites, bumper stickers, etc.).

Successful bids will include an aggressive, timely and comprehensive package containing real property tax abatement applied to either a lease or purchase, a grant covering a wide range of relocation costs, including those for predevelopment services (such as architecture and engineering for a build-out), tenant improvements, furniture, equipment (both residential and business), leased transportation (should include water-based), facility, laundering and grounds maintenance, technological upgrades, relevant local business leads and partnership opportunities, construction and any other relocation costs required by this expected mixed-use property. Locations considered will fall outside the generally-accepted eastward-oriented radioactive and biologic contamination fallout zones. Successful bidders will also offer location-based amenities, including proximity to premiere academic institutions (i.e. nationally-recognized), a location that doesn’t require utilization of Rt. 66 or the Beltway for any business-hours reason, ever, and of course walking or rapid-delivery service from a great German (or otherwise tasty European-style) deli/bakery.

Bidding is now open, please provide references. Incumbents are encouraged to apply (this means you, Dulles South); U.S. or WHTI jurisdictions outside the DC Metro area with local, outdoor flora that includes native palm trees are also most welcome to apply.

Loudoun Economic Recovery Ready to Pop Online and Offline

2010-04-05T07:49:00.001-04:00

At yesterday's Loudoun Economic Development Commission (EDC) meeting, as reported by Hannah Hager, most discussion revolved around the opportunity for Loudoun to really "pop", coming out of the economic slump. This mainly comes from Loudoun’s unique opportunity at the moment to set its own destination (in terms of property types and styles) for undeveloped land in the primary commercial districts (nearly 90 million sq. ft.). “Close in” jurisdictions like Arlington and Fairfax don’t have any more “new” real estate to develop in zoned business districts; they’re faced mostly with more expensive and constrained redevelopment. Add to this the pending Loudoun Metrorail, a new Rt. 50 Dulles South Hospital, a potential GMU campus and Kincora Loudoun Baseball stadium, and a perfect storm seems to be developing for sustained "offline" economic recovery.

In terms of Loudoun Internet/online real estate (i.e. websites) – this is still pretty much undiscovered country, for Loudoun businesses. It’s like 1892, right before the Oklahoma Land Rush, after the worst American economic depression to date; domain-squatters and online website marketers have already set their stakes, professional “shingles” hung out on the Internet are simple and uninspired, the gap between local and urban media technical sophistication is widening quickly, and 1990’s era communications or membership fiefdoms doggedly persist among government entities and associations. Sure some bright spots exist, like a few high-tech companies with significant online presence; but the taxable, in-county revenues driven by these anomalies seem slim, compared to the potential.

Read more of this Loudoun Business Blog from Loudoun Times...

Loudoun Economic Development Social Media Poll

2010-03-20T09:03:00.004-04:00

Here's a quick Poll regarding what's the best social media/new media forum to leverage for supporting Loudoun County Economic Development...see current discussion on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Note this Poll's results will be aggregated across a number of different sites; results to be posted in a few weeks!

Take the Poll

Loudoun Rt. 28 Corridor Stakeholders Workshops - Land Use Policies

2010-03-13T10:56:00.005-05:00

(From Kurt Krause, LinkedIn "Loudoun" Group)

This is a great opportunity to express our need for a Class A gateway into our county.

Anyone interested in the future of the Route 28 Corridor in Loudoun County VA is invited to attend one of two upcoming Route 28 Stakeholders Workshops. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is evaluating land use policies within the Route 28 Corridor and would like to hear from members of the public. The workshops will be held Friday, March 19, 2010, 8:30-11:00 a.m. or Saturday, March 20, 2010, 9:00-11:30 a.m. at Claude Moore Park Recreation Center, 46105 Loudoun Park Lane in Sterling.

RSVPs are appreciated. Please contact the Loudoun County Department of Planning, 703-777-0246 or e-mail: dop at loudoun.gov.

Please note that these meetings are identical in format and have been offered at different times to accommodate as many people as possible. Additional information, including the agenda will be available online at www.loudoun.gov/route28 the week of March 15.

Future workshops are planned for April 26 and May 24. Details will be announced later.

Nysmith Students Take Odyssey of the Mind Honors - District 13

2010-03-08T09:45:00.003-05:00

This week's Odyssey of the Mind competition for District 13 (Western NOVA) featured some pretty incredible displays of teamwork, ingenuity and downright hard work on the part of the students, coaches, and supportive families. Nysmith School in Herndon sent 3 teams to the State Finals, and 2 teams received 3rd place finishing honors. The teams ranged from Elementary to High School students, from very experienced to first-timers - like the Nysmith 6th grade team pictured below (comprised of students from both Loudoun and Fairfax Counties). This team, coached by Jen Hogan and Kelly McLaughlan, truly reflected the spirit of comaraderie and inventiveness of the program, and all the children thoroughly enjoyed working together - and are looking forward to next year!

Loudoun Bloggers for Good Meetup March 10 Buffalo Wild Wings in Ashburn

2010-03-08T07:06:00.002-05:00

Loudoun area Bloggers for Good - Next Meetup March 10!

From Bloggers for Good:

Greetings Bloggers!

Our next meetup and benefit will be Wednesday, March 10 at the new Buffalo Wild Wings in Ashburn near Wegmans.

Our event will benefit the Loudoun Museum, a great local resource that has suffered lately due to budget cuts and a mold issue. They will be reopening this spring in their repaired historic Leesburg location.

Buffalo Wild Wings will generously donate a percentage of all food sales to the Loudoun Museum all day March 10. Just mention Bloggers for Good or the Loudoun Museum.

Please spread the word and join us on March 10! See you there!

Loudoun Social Media - Business Community Channels

2010-03-06T08:12:00.003-05:00

As the Loudoun New Media experiment grows, I'll point out that there is actually strategy in play, one that's taking shape and getting executing rapidly as a result of the "Open Government Directive". I'll start laying out the strategy through some upcoming blog postings, but suffice it to say, the strategy includes utilization of ANY and ALL social/new media channels that may be relevant. Different channels and social media tools are more or less useful for different purposes. Basically, we should use what we have, that works, as it's intended to be used.

(By the way, as this EDC activity is business-focused, similar initiative can and is starting for other interests...who'd like to start a Dulles-Loudoun Social Media Club? In the same manner as the DC Social Media Club...)

For example, tweeting is very different than blogging, which isn't really the purpose of LinkedIn.

Note that I'm writing this as a blog, vs. a discussion item, though the content automatically ends up in many other social media channels and search engines (by design). Try it now - search for "made in loudoun" in Google...

So, there are several new media channels available now that can reflect this Loudoun New Media Group's initiative - and that will be increasingly integrated and cross-referenced over time. Below is the list, with some guidance for use:

* Warning - some technical content and terms ahead; all part of the learning experience :) *

LinkedIn - "Loudoun" group - for brief discussions, relationship management, news and information updates; very professionally-oriented - this is the "Master Contact List" so to speak, of our core group, and most EDC/MBRC Social Media Subcommittee news will start here. Note that group updates and discussions aren't easily (nothing's really private on the Internet) publicly accessible or indexable by Google - but "Status updates" are.

Facebook - "Loudoun" Fan Page - for social interaction and brief status updates; a bit more entertainment-oriented, casual and personal, can grow quickly, and will likely include a lot more "accidental tourists"

Twitter - "Loudoun" account, "Loudounbusiness" Twitter List - this is set up to automatically relay tweets from members who provide me their Twitter ID. (There are several other Twitter accounts that will relay information and news about this initiative, to other microblog formats (like Google Buzz); all to spread the word!). If you post about our Loudoun Social Media experiment, be sure to use the hashtag #madeinloudoun or #loudounbusiness!

Wikia - "Loudoun" page - this is a "Wiki", which is a great place to collaborate on building "encyclopedia-style" information pages; anyone can edit/update, and there's lots of good collaboration and some document management. This is a good place to start (it's brand new) a repository of information, documents and links (so long as you don't mind learning "Wiki" editing skills), and is a "industry-neutral" site. Some material here might actually be better stored over at "Loudounpedia", a wiki started under the auspices of the Loudoun librarians.

GovLoop - "Loudoun" group - this is a Ning-powered Social Media collaboration site intended to bring government employees together with the public, for purposes of collaboration on government services and initiatives. At the end of the day, this may be truly the right "home" for most collaboration, relationship-building, and information sharing - though the current theme of our experiment is more business than government-focused, and therefore a future public/private initiative for the purpose of supporting Loudoun general government activities might be better suited....time will tell.

Blogs - most significant, user-generated content that are in narrative, research or article format really should be published on a blog (as a blog entry, or as comments to someone else's), or at least on a website that auto-generates RSS feeds of the content. Several local blogs are available I can post your article to (if you don't have your own blog); including "Gateway to Loudoun" and "Made in Loudoun", and "Northern Virginia Business News, Loudoun". Some of these are being automatically populated with streams and content from other sources, including this group. In any case, if you post a blog entry, be sure to let me know the RSS feed, so that I can make sure entries on this topic are automatically pulled into our other social media channels, and shared with everyone.

Email - do you simply want to email info to the group? Two ways to do it, such that it spreads through our channels....One is to post a discussion item in LinkedIn; that gets sent out in email updates to those who subscribe. Second is to let me know you'd like to - and I'll hook you up with access to Loudoun.Posterous.Com - it automatically accepts emails (with multimedia!) and publishes as a blog. Since this is a "New Media" initiative, I believe we'll try to avoid traditional email lists.

Myspace - you know, I'm just not going there for this particular initiative...

Multi-media - Just use the tag "Made In Loudoun" or perhaps "Loudoun Business Community" in photo-sharing sites like Flickr or Photobucket, and if you find you've got video to upload, tag it in the same manner.

There are lots of other possible choices, tools and forums, and probably lots of other places you may personally communicate with others, using new or social media. Just let me know the RSS feed of these places, along with some direction regarding how the right material can be identified, and we'll get this content pumped into the Loudoun new media machine!

Some Last Minute Loudoun Valentine's Day Treats

2010-02-14T10:21:00.005-05:00

Valentine's Day gifts and last minute ideas, from local Dulles, Chantilly or Loudoun businesses:

Buy your hubby, love(s), significant other, etc. a:

Vintage 51 South Riding Restaurant Valentine's Day Dinner (and ice-warming beer!)

A new Loudoun Hot Tub or Pool Table (nice in the snow!)

A Loudoun Home Repair/Handyman Visit (to fix those gutter leaks!)

A Coupon for Loudoun replacement vinyl windows this Spring (now that we've seen what a blizzard can do!)

An appointment for some early spring cleaning and Loudoun junk removal, of that garage (still can't find all the old shovels and sleds?)

The Internet, Online Chamber of Commerce - in the New Media Economy

2010-02-13T10:02:00.005-05:00

The thought struck us last year, and again lately (with the rapid uptick in social media-driven local business economic development advocacy activities) - that a new (or extended) breed of "Chamber of Commerce" may be developing - the "Online Chamber of Commerce" or "New/Social Media Chamber of Commerce".

Sure, many traditional Chamber of Commerce institutions around the country are beginning to leverage social/new media to help attract, retain and empower their membership...but there exists a "business divide" in this model, in the form of paid membership requirements.

Most Chambers of Commerce require an annual membership fee for businesses and their representatives to participate - this covers in-person meeting venue costs, organization operating expenses, etc. Many Chambers offer "sliding scale" membership fees, i.e. reduced rates for smaller businesses; however, this fee hurdle in many cases is simply one that a lot of small businesses (in particular) can't afford or choose not to invest in. Therefore, such a Chamber may not truly and fully represent the interests of the entire business community, and its stakeholders.

There are, however, facets and benefits of typical Chamber membership that are more and more often able to be achieved through the use of online, public, free (or much lower cost) Internet new media - open to all. Online business networking, fund raising and information-sharing, for example. This sort of activity also may bring with it far more useful online promotion and marketing benefits than typical Chambers are able to deliver. (In our research, most Chambers in the DC region, for example, do not offer members the advantages of optimizing their online directory listings for search visibility, nor do they offer members opportunities for free promotion via contributory discussions, for example hosting a membership-generated "business articles" forum ).

Online, public, self-regulated groups have also proven adept in many ways, at achieving collective mass for purchase power, government advocacy and political influence - much like any Chamber of Commerce.

What does the future Chamber of Commerce look like, in this era of New Media and grass roots civil AND business advocacy? Does it evolve to embrace New Media, in a way that reduces expenses and opens the "tent", or does it focus, and establish a "business liaison network" with other grassroots (and free) off/online business advocacy groups?

Competing for Buyers Starts Online - DC and Loudoun County Real Estate News

2010-02-11T10:17:00.003-05:00

(Summary from the Washington Times):

"With so much information at buyers' fingertips, Realtors and homeowners are not only competing for buyers with the folks selling the house down the street, but also with hundreds of other sellers with similar homes. The process of narrowing the list of prospective homes used to consist of endless drive-bys but now can be accomplished with the click of a computer mouse.

...Kelly McLaughlan, chief executive of KME Internet Marketing in Northern Virginia, says, "It is absolutely essential for Realtors to maintain an active, integrated, multimedia online presence in order to attract new customers, engage current or potential clients, and establish themselves as reputable community leaders and local real estate experts."

She says it's all about professionally engaging clients in the online context with which they're comfortable, whether it's through their own Web sites, third-party Web sites or advertising venues or using social media.

"Maintaining your brand and reputation across all these channels is as important as distributing effective and appropriate listing advertising," she says.

Ms. McLaughlan adds that online buyers and sellers typically will review an agent's profile, community presence, knowledge and their listing inventory in less than 10 minutes and suggests that Realtors be "findable" across all outlets. She offers real estate agents and others a checklist on getting started promoting their business online (www.kmeinternetmarketing.com/internetchecklist.html). "

Read more about DC and Northern Virginia Real Estate Online Marketing and Social Media....

Explore more Northern Virginia, Maryland, Prince William and Loudoun Real Estate opportunities, and Northern Virginia Real Estate information and news.

The Loudoun Gold Line - Social Media-driven Economic Recovery

2010-02-09T05:08:00.005-05:00

It's taken about a week for the energy and enthusiasm of the first "Big Ideas Big Action" (#BIBA) new media forum to sink into the sausage-making cavities of my unconscious, resulting in a far-too-typical 3 AM wake-up call to blog...but the ideas are percolating now as quickly as the coffee at this pre-snowpocalyptic-3 hour, and I'm thinking pink mixed with silver to make gold.

As you may know, the Dulles Metro "Silver Line" is finally now under construction, extending heavy rail service from East Falls Church out to Tysons Corner, Dulles Airport and eventually into Ashburn VA (Loudoun County) by 2016 or so. This significant investment in the region's economy is sure to sustain any long-lasting economic recovery trend that may be developing now, but it's still a ways off (though you might think it was coming a lot sooner from the proliferation of speculative real estate investment already visible along the Toll Road).

As you probably don't know, but should soon, the "Pink Line Project" is the wholesale revitalization of the DC art scene, a "catalyst for the culturally curious" - started by a BIBA guest speaker Philippa P.B. Hughes. Started as a series of local art "salons", the effort is now the trend-setting source of information and events for emerging art collectors, art enthusiasts and artists. What's also relevant here is the extensive use of DC social media channels to collect, relay and discuss Pink Line happenings.

This emerging theme of regional business and cultural revitalization on the heels of a lousy economy and global-warming induced weather patterns, lubricated by a rapidly-maturing social media ecology, is taking shape even here in Loudoun - at the very ends of the Silver and Pink Lines, and far afield from the "H Street Project". I'll borrow apologetically but thoughtfully from Philippa, and call this the "Gold Line Project".

What's happening is the awakening and convergence of business and cultural leaders in person and online to collectively share and leverage new media assets, in a long-overdue effort to seriously promote Loudoun County as prime investment material...in other words, bring your business, your organization, your family and your dollars (i.e. "heads in beds") here to the end of the Silver Line, but no need to wait for the train. This is taking shape (informally in concert with our grass roots "Made in Loudoun" online awareness campaign) as the Economic Development Commission's new "Loudoun Social Media Subcommittee".

Created in 1995 by Loudoun’s Board of Supervisors, the Economic Development Commission (EDC) is a public/private partnership responsible for promoting the county’s economic development. Its membership includes a wide range of local business and community leaders, volunteering their time on committees such as the "Marketing and Business Retention Committee" (MBRC) to, among other things, help "coordinate economic development and marketing activities among groups in the county". Its association with the Loudoun government, through the Department of Economic Development, is a different structure than that of the comparable institution to our east, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (i.e. EDA, which is a fully non-governmental institution).

Lately there's been a lot of discussion regarding whether Loudoun should move from the EDC to EDA structure to help attract businesses to the County, enabling infusion of private-sector funds and operation with an incentive-based pay-structure, outside of the control of the BOS. Regardless of the outcome, it's apparent that some change is necessary in these entities, and closer coordination with the parallel activities of the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce and Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association.

Change in fact, is evolving quickly beyond the Silver Line - to the Gold Line - with the EDA's submersion of its constituents and stakeholders into the local and regional social media ecology. If you'd like to participate in this "project", helping bring investment and economic recovery to our pre-Silver Line Loudoun (and eventually perhaps an exurbia extension of the Pink Line) - get involved. Join the LinkedIn "Loudoun" group. Follow and support Loudoun DED-related activities and initiatives. Use your own new media assets and online business networking skills to promote the County and its wealth of cultural and community assets.

Phew - it's over - 2010 Loudoun Snowpocalypse2

2010-02-06T19:46:00.002-05:00

Being thankful that our power stayed on, it was pretty fun (and sobering) monitoring the tweet-streams (http://www.twitter.com/loudoun) for real-time updates on hashtags #snowpocalypse, #snowmageddon, #snowtoriousBIG, #snOMG, etc.

We got just about 30 inches here in our South Riding, Loudoun County backyard...now the big dig begins, as does many more days of children with cabin-fever...

Game On! Loudoun EDC Social Media Subcommittee #loudounsm

2010-01-26T10:54:00.003-05:00

The initial planning session was held today at the Loudoun National Conference Center for the new Loudoun-centric "Social Media Subcommittee", an initiative of the Loudoun Economic Development Commission's "Marketing and Business Retention" Committee.

This public/private grassroots initiative will focus on engaging the Loudoun economic development stakeholders on the Internet, using social media and other new media collaboration and marketing techniques, to help promote the County as a great place to live, work and invest. Expected contributors and participants will include businesses, nonprofits, associations, residents and government input.

Much more information to come: initial discussion and information-sharing will take place via a LinkedIn.com group named, simply, "Loudoun".

Game On!

Loudoun Dulles District Update - January 2010

2010-01-21T17:23:00.003-05:00

Here's the latest Dulles District Update from Stevens Miller...

Planning Commission

I want to welcome Cliff Keirce as the new Planning Commissioner for the Dulles District. Cliff has a history of long-standing involvement in our community. He is president of the Broadlands Homeowners Association and has served Loudoun County for the last two years as a member of the Facilities Standards Manual Public Review Committee. Cliff is well known and respected throughout the Dulles District and I am sure his appointment will meet with widespread approval.

I am grateful to Sandra Chaloux for all her hard work and long hours on the Planning Commission. She worked diligently for two years for the residents of the Dulles District and Loudoun County and I wish her all the best.

(DSO - why can't we vote for this position?)

Dulles South Public Safety Meeting Sponsored by LCSO

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office will hold a public safety meeting for Dulles South on Monday, January 25, 2010. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Dulles South Station Community Room located at 25216 Loudoun County Parkway.

The Loudoun Sheriff's Office hosts quarterly public safety meetings in each of the four service areas of the county. All residents, homeowners associations, community groups, and town representatives are invited to attend. Items to be discussed are recent crime and crime trends in the area, traffic safety concerns and other public safety related issues. The meetings will be led by a Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Captain who represents the Dulles South area. Also in attendance will be supervisors from the Criminal Investigations Division, the Special Operations Division, Community Police Officers, and Crime Prevention Deputies.

(DSO - this is a must-see event)

New Traffic Light in Operation

The new traffic signal installed at the intersection of Gum Spring Road (Route 659) and Braddock Road (Route 620) went into operation last month. The response has been all positive as traffic seems to be flowing better through that intersection.

(DSO - Hallelujah!)

Budget for FY 2011

Public Hearings on the FY2011 budget will be held at 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm on Wednesday, February 24th and at 9:30 am on Saturday, February 27th. An additional hearing on Thursday, February 25th will be added if needed. It is important, especially with the challenging economy, that citizens participate in the budget process. I want to continue to hear your thoughts, suggestions and ideas on how you would like to see the budget balanced.

(DSO - Mr. Miller - what are your strategies and actions to assist the DED/EDC in attracting business investment to the County?)

New Park and Ride Lot Beginning January 25th

Loudoun County signed an agreement with the Christian Fellowship Church at 21673 Beaumeade Circle in Ashburn for use of 123 existing parking spaces to be designated commuter parking. Service at this new lot will begin January 25, 2010. Commuter parking will be permitted only in the clearly identified spaces that are designated with signs and gold striping, Monday through Friday. Some of the operations of this lot will be combined with the Ashburn North lot. The County hopes this new lot will help alleviate some of the overcrowding that is continuing to occur at Dulles North. More information and bus schedules can be found at http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=785 .

(DSO - Good Move!)

H1N1 Vacine (sic)

Loudoun County Health Department is now offering free H1N1 vaccinations on a walk-in basis every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the upper level of Dulles Town Center by Nordstrom. H1N1 vaccinations will also be available Saturday, January 23, 2010, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the same location. The free vaccinations are also available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Health Department’s Leesburg Clinic, at 102 Heritage Way, NE. For more information, visit www.loudoun.gov/flu.

(DSO - keep up with all Loudoun Health news on Twitter @loudounhealth)

Stay Connected

I want to hear from residents regarding ideas and thoughts on how the Board is doing. I am on Twitter, so you can easily provide me with your thoughts and comments. Send me a Tweet @DullesSuper and I’ll try to read your messages in real time while the Board of Supervisors is meeting.

(DSO - "on twitter" is a relative statement, though a sign of hopeful things to come - look for much more here on this topic in the near future!)

10 Tips for Promoting Your Employer Online via Personal Social Media - A Template for Businesses

2010-01-21T08:25:00.005-05:00

We’ve been asked from time to time by businesses about how to educate employees on using Social Media – from two perspectives. One perspective is simply as part of a broader Internet use policy, to help employees stay safe and protect information assets. Another perspective is to encourage employees to support their business in their daily online activities, should they choose to do so. This is essentially giving employees as “social media enthusiasts” the tools and guidance they should get, to help them positively contribute to the overall online marketing efforts of their employer.

Check out this Template for Employee Social Media Use, by KME Internet Marketing. It can be tailored for individual businesses or organizations, and should be shared with employees. It provides 10 tips as straightforward guidance regarding promotion of an employer using online bookmarking, social media sharing, email, links, and other Internet techniques and tools.

January 2010 Loudoun Department of Economic Development LoCo Motion Newsletter

2010-01-10T10:56:00.004-05:00

Here's the newest Loudoun County Department of Economic Development Newsletter...

Inside you'll find:

- Guernsey Office Products Moves National Headquarters to Loudoun
- Digital Bridge Completes Equity Round
- Another Loudoun Acquisition for Digital Realty Trust
- Rural Economic Development Council (REDC) Gears Up for 2010 Initiatives
- Five New Commissioners Join EDC in 2010
- Pegasus Logistics Group Opts for Beaumeade
- French Client for Brainware, Inc.
- DED's Warren Howell Retires
- Russian Embassy Selects Loudoun-Grown Tree in Annual Tradition
- Loudoun Places upcoming events.

The Loudoun DED is at http://biz.loudoun.gov/

DC and Loudoun Business Marketing in 2010 - 6 Steps to This Year's Recovery

2010-01-04T20:43:00.004-05:00

Although the last decade here in Loudoun County hasn’t officially ended (we’re in the 10th year, after all), 2009’s economy and a double-digit change in years is enough for us to officially declare an end to the first decade of the 21st century. We entered the decade helping businesses and government agencies design websites and portals for maximum “user experience”, application performance and browser compatibility, all in the name of attracting and converting visitors. We end the decade designing for the same, albeit with a lot of change in the definitions of “users”, “experience”, “applications”, “performance” and “browsers”. Business marketing and systems engineering objectives remain the same for this new year, like every year - but the tools, methods, costs and audience are dramatically different.

Businesses like yours and ours use information technology to help manage and deliver many elements of our trade, from performance reporting and financial management, to data security and storage. “What” we need to do, to support our underlying sales and service processes, hasn’t changed – but the tools we can use sure have. For example, many more options will crowd the market this year for “cloud computing” services; basically made-to-order, flexible computing capabilities accessed over the Internet. Many more devices will enter the mainstream consumer market pre-wired for Internet access, from cellphone/PDA variants to personal game consoles and entertainment devices.

There’s simply a tremendous shift in attention and expertise required for successful business marketing from the platform or technology with which it’s delivered, to the channel and circumstances when and where it’s absorbed or delivered – more often than not in geosynchronous real-time.

While the fundamental methodology for online Loudoun business marketing won’t change (appropriate content through the right channels to the right audience, backed by analytics and right time customer service) – new methods are required to deal with new contexts.

Read more from KME Internet Marketing...

Vintage 51 South Riding Restaurant - Holiday and New Years Eve Specials

2009-12-23T13:41:00.003-05:00

Join Vintage 51 in South Riding in their Holiday and New Year's Eve specials....

Vintage 51 Family Restaurant in South Riding is the "sister" restaurant of Vintage 50 in Leesburg, and serves uniquely traditional American entrees with local, organic ingredients, along with a spectacular selection of craft beers, wines from Loudoun and around the country, and live Dulles area music.

Here's some of their specials, from their website:

Holiday Gift Cards are now available!

New Years Eve '09, Vintage 51 Style -
Vintage 51 Menu

Vintage 50 New Years Eve Charity Masquerade Ball - Loudoun Community Health Center Presents "A Night in Venice" New Years Eve 2010 -
Event information; Order Tickets

Vintage 50 Growler Amnesty - Bring them to V50 or V51

Vintage 50 Has a New Signature Growler going on Sale in Time for the Holiday Season - click here to see it and place your order

Happy Holidays from the Redskins!

2009-12-21T11:36:00.003-05:00

Here's to some holiday luck against the Cowboys!

2009 KME Made in Loudoun County Awards

2009-12-19T09:29:00.008-05:00

Some light home reading under DC blizzard conditions today...Happy Holidays and New Year!

When we started our “2009 KME Online Loudoun County Promotion Business Challenge” this year, the economic downfall was in full swing, and it was apparent that the County could use some help from its resident businesses and citizens to attract new economic investment – especially on the Internet.

While the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development (biz.loudoun.gov), the Economic Development Commission (EDC) and the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce are only just beginning to evolve their online marketing strategies, the Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association (LCVA - at visitloudoun.org), as an independent but government-supported entity, appears has actually made an inspired “Web 2.0” online impact in highlighting the value and attractiveness of investing for business in Loudoun. Outside of this activity and those of our own (as subject-matter experts in Loudoun County Internet Marketing and Media), there clearly existed very little substantial online activity on the part of the Loudoun business community in promoting the County.

Therefore, we challenged the Loudoun business community to use their own online assets and reach to help market the County as a great place to invest in business. That’s the core tenet of what’s now our 2009 KME Made in Loudoun County Online Business Leadership Award. "Award" winners will receive some free public recognition and online marketing exposure of their business (a purely voluntary and non-monetary recognition by us), in Loudoun County and the Northern Virginia/Metropolitan DC region.

After a year, it’s become evident that the only local industry (besides Online Marketers like us) most actively, aggressively and successfully promoting the core economic values of Loudoun County is the Residential Real Estate industry. This is probably to be expected, for by promoting Loudoun and its work/life values, real estate property is therefore more valuable. It was, however, interesting to discover that the Loudoun business community, aside from Real Estate, simply does not actively and voluntarily help to promote Loudoun online to the outside world – rather, it relies on the local EDC and Chamber of Commerce. Not only are real estate agents and brokerages most actively using the Internet and Social Media to cover and distribute Loudoun-centric hyperlocal news and information, but they’re also the only businesses who specifically call out Loudoun advantages to home owners and investors on their websites.

Note that the Commercial Real Estate industry did recently get a boost from the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce in late October, with their “Virtual Realty Tour” under the catch-phrase “Loudoun – Land of Opportunity”; but aside from a single Washington Post article and a few local media announcements, this marketing message was no further distributed or promoted online. A great comment from this forum came from a panelist who said “I still feel Loudoun doesn’t have a corporate image”. We’d point out that successful corporate and government images these days absolutely require a well-formed and actively maintained Internet presence, across ALL online media channels.

An excellent example of this can be found right to the east...the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority has made a lot of recent investment in its online presence and advertising. Add to this a recent announcement by Prince William County to form a public/private Economic Development Task Force to “rethink” the county’s current economic development strategy; Northern Virginia’s government-driven online business promotion and marketing competition is likely to get very competitive, very fast.

The recent Loudoun Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards ceremony was another great opportunity to promote Loudoun businesses and market the economic vitality of the county – but unfortunately, no online or offline marketing of the event and winners was actually executed until many days after the awards – in fact, it was impossible to actually learn of the winners online until Leesburg Today’s video news update the Saturday afterwards.

The “Search Engine Optimized” (SEO) phrase we initially selected through marketing techniques was “Loudoun Virginia business DC location great community invest”. This keyword phrase was designed to catch most online instances of Loudoun businesses promoting the County. We searched the Internet using this phrase and many variations, using Google, Bing, Yahoo, SocialMention, Twitter, YouTube, etc. After monitoring this phrase and related ones for the past year, and filtering out all results that are either not relevant (for many reasons) or are directly attributable to our own efforts (or those of our clients who already promote Loudoun County, like Ingrid Myers, Northern Virginia Realtor), we can name this inaugural year’s Made in Loudoun award winners – note the winners are as reflected in online search results for the Loudoun business investment terms and topics we covered. For this first year of our initiative, there’s no absolute clear winner – so we’ll promote the single group of winners – the “KME Made in Loudoun Business Leaders”.

The “KME Made in Loudoun Business Leaders” are, in no particular order:

Danilo Bogdanovic and Tony Arko (Market Advantage Real Estate)
Heather Elias (Century 21 Redwood Realty)
Kelly Gaitten (Prudential Carruthers Realtors)
Marilee Murphy (Long & Foster Real Estate)

Profiles and comments from two of our winners...

Danilo Bogdanovic (http://LoudounScene.com - http://LoudounForeclosures.com - two of the originial Loudoun real estate blog sites.) Real Estate Consultant and REALTOR with Market Advantage Real Estate, specializing in real estate consulting and sales in Loudoun County/Northern Virginia. Focused on staying on top of today's housing market conditions and the latest technologies and tools in order to properly serve the best interests of buyer, seller and investor clients. Currently serving on various committees at the local and state REALTOR association level.

“Loudoun is an attractive place to relocate your existing business or to start your new business for a number of reasons. (1) The proximity and accessibility to the rest of Northern Virginia, Washington, DC and Maryland; (2) lower cost of real estate/rent (residential and commercial) than Fairfax County, Washington, DC and many other neighboring areas; (3) short and long term future growth within the county (residential and commercial sector; (4) demographics of county residents including median income; and (5) the strong need for more businesses in the county to serve the growing needs of local residents.”

Heather Elias (http://www.locomusings.com - “It's not just crazy talk!”) LoCo resident, wife, mother, and full time real estate professional and blogger with Century 21 Redwood Realty in Ashburn.

“Aside from LoCo's obvious close proximity to Washington DC and all of the benefits that entails, the people of Loudoun County are tremendously supportive to local businesses and extremely loyal. I love how Loudoun flows from an urban hub of activity in the east to beautiful vistas in the foothills of the western part of the county; there is something for everyone here”.

Note that no businesses we could find on the Internet, other than ourselves and these Realtors, significantly and explicitly promoted Loudoun County online as a great place to invest in, and move a business to – using online marketing techniques. We did find a few very appealing accounts of life and business in Loudoun on various other sites, but these were either too far down in the rankings to matter, or simply not optimized appropriately to reflect the intentions we were seeking. A notable cadre of local bloggers, Loudoun tweeters and social media experts are actively representing and highlighting Loudoun news and life online, but not necessarily with consistent, explicit or implicit Loudoun County business marketing messages.

What does this all mean? It’s essentially a 2010 New Year’s wake-up call to Loudoun’s business community, and the media, associations and government departments that cover or represent them. It’s also a great pat-on-the-back to all Realtors and Brokers who tirelessly promote (online and offline) the advantages of their local communities to incoming residents and businesses. It’s time to start promoting not only our own businesses, but those of our neighbors and the overall Loudoun County business environment.

For local and regional media, start evolving your hyperlocal news coverage by partnering with those who already know what’s going on around the county, and report about it online – i.e. the Real Estate community and those that market or represent them. It’s actually pretty easy – simply write, online, about how great investing in Loudoun County is, and how the community and business climate is working for us. Write this not on glossy printed brochures, full page color newspaper advertisements, in graphic-only banner advertisements (i.e. “banner ads”), buried in emails or on roadside signs – but write this on our collective high-traffic websites, blogs, twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other Internet Media assets.

Ask your Loudoun Realtor, or Loudoun Internet Marketing and Media Firm, what you can do to promote your business and the community it represents. Search your website for the term “Loudoun” – hopefully something positive pops up, or will, soon – and your business will be the winner of the next valuable and prestigious “2010 KME Made in Loudoun County” award!

Made in Loudoun ™ is a marketing trademark of KME Internet Marketing, Loudoun County, VA.

Jumpstart Your 2010 DC and Northern Virginia Business Goals - KME Internet Marketing and Media Workshop - Jan 29th

2009-12-13T12:00:00.003-05:00

Learn Integrated Online Marketing/Advertising, Branding, Web Design, SEO, Social Media, Analytics and Internet Video - in Northern Virginia, DC metro area.

As 2009 draws to a close, it’s become very apparent that 2010 will continue to be an extremely challenging year for businesses seeking new customers, and new ways to market and advertise their brand and services. As well, the ability of Northern Virginia and DC-area professionals to effectively learn and leverage new Online Marketing and Internet New Media/Web 2.0 skills is hampered by the current lack of expert yet cost-effective, local and hands-on Internet Marketing/SEO training. Add to this the dizzying proliferation of Social Media publishing and analytic tools, the rapid change in the search engine technologies and video media industries, and the quickly-growing competition for eyeballs and click-throughs from the web – it’s about time for some local solutions.

Local Internet Marketing and Media Workshops

KME Internet Marketing (KME) in the DC metro area is holding the first of an upcoming series of professional Internet Marketing and Media Workshops on January 29th, 2010 – from 9AM to 2PM, at Trivision Studios in Chantilly, VA.

KME is the region’s industry leader in providing cost-effective yet engineering-grade solutions for online marketing, social media optimization and analytics-driven Internet marketing management. Trivision Studios is a full service global creative design, branding and media production group, operating a 12,000 square foot, state-of-the-art studio facility complete with staging, lights, cameras, two-story loading dock, meeting space, media room, and omnimedia edit suites.

Our special guest Workshop lead is Melanie Alnwick, an instantly-recognizable local DC TV anchor, reporter and journalist. Melanie will be providing significant insider-knowledge and guidance regarding attracting broadcast media attention to your business and story, preparing for interviews, producing and submitting highly-effective video for broadcast or online business purposes. Kelly McLaughlan, CEO of KME Internet Marketing, will lead sessions on SEO, PPC and Google Analytics. Trivision Studios will provide corporate branding and web video production and distribution expertise. Ted McLaughlan - Enterprise Information Management and Media Architect - will provide professional insight into Digital Asset Management and Internet Media Distribution.

What You Get

This packed 5 hour hands-on Internet Marketing and Media workshop will deliver a package of information and guidance you can immediately use, including:

Online Branding and Creative Design
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Website Reporting (Google Analytics)
Digital Asset Management, Optimization and Distribution (RSS) – for Advertising and Marketing
Pay-per-Click (PPC) Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – Local and Regional
Social Media Optimization and Reputation Management – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube
Online Web Video Production and Optimization
Harnessing and attracting Broadcast Media Exposure

There simply doesn’t exist a more comprehensive, experts-led, cost effective or personally-tailored workshop event in this area for business owners, marketing and communications managers, journalists, new SEO/SEM professionals or other technology and new media practitioners. Don’t bother with online, out of state webinars or academies, online or offline degrees costing thousands of dollars from questionable sources, community-center seminars by industry amateurs, or other less-than-professional sources for a rapid, intense and ultimately valuable infusion of truly local Internet Marketing and New Media knowledge.

Where should I post my advertisements online?
What are the short and long term priorities for better search result rankings, for my website?
What are the keys to successful PPC investments?
Is my marketing budget being spent wisely, integrated and balanced across relevant channels?
How can I make sure my brand supports my marketing goals?
How do I use reports and analytics to support my marketing objectives?
How much time should I spend on Social Media, and why? Can or should I do this myself?
Can my web designer deliver SEO services?
What should I do to get free, effective exposure for my business in the press or news?
What should be in my marketing videos?

We’ll explore these questions and collaborate in the workshop sessions to arrive at the best answers for you and your business in the Northern Virginia, DC or Suburban Maryland region. You’ll get some immediate answers, some strategies to follow and resources to help.

Who Will Benefit the Most?

Local and regional business owners whose websites haven't demonstrated success in drawing highly targeted traffic for more sales
Affiliate marketers who want to increase conversion rates by getting their product pages to come up higher in search results
Webmasters, graphic designers or photo/video experts who want to offer their employer or clients more comprehensive services – not just website building, creative design or basic media products
Bloggers, writers and journalists who need their content distributed and ranked high in search engine results
Anyone who wants to make a career change – to work in-house as an SEO/SEM specialist or begin SEO consulting by learning the latest SEO techniques
Marketers, Advertisers, Communications and PR professionals in a highly competitive industry who are under pressure to increase their brand’s visibility to reach the correct audience, while keeping costs under control

Take charge of your business marketing and advertising budget, get involved in the Web 2.0/Social Media evolution, promote and protect your brand on the Internet!

For more information about the KME Internet Marketing and Media workshop, including upcoming dates, times, location and registration, visit KME Internet Marketing – SEO Training and Education.

Loudoun, Dulles District Budget Community Meeting

2009-12-09T11:56:00.004-05:00

Announcement from Stevens Miller, Dulles District Supervisor, Loudoun County

FY 2011 Budget Community Meeting Tomorrow Night

Don’t forget! 12/09/2009 (Wednesday night) is the first district community meeting about the budget at Legacy Elementary School. It will be an interactive, town hall type meeting. I hope you are able to attend and share your opinion about funding priorities.

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 7pm
Legacy Elementary School - Cafeteria
22995 Minerva Drive
Ashburn, VA 20148

If you are unable to attend tomorrow evening, please consider coming to one of the other Dulles District community meetings:

Tuesday, December 15th at 7:00 pm, the Nature Preserve in Broadlands
Wednesday, December 16th at 7:00 pm, Mercer Middle School in Dulles South

Vintage 51 South Riding - Loudoun/Dulles South's Premier Brewpub and Local Music Scene

2009-11-26T10:41:00.005-05:00

Vintage 51 Restaurant, Brew Lounge and Live Local Music

The past 12 years here in the Rt. 50 Corridor/Dulles South exurbia area of Northern Virginia's Loudoun County have been an exercise in waiting - waiting for a real local music scene, waiting for decent restaurants, waiting for more upscale martini bars and brewpubs, waiting for the traffic, schools and economy to improve....Basically, waiting for the Dulles South region (Eastern Loudoun, Western Fairfax and Western Prince William counties) to evolve its entertainment, retail and cultural offerings in the same manner as the Dulles North area already has (i.e. Ashburn).

The wait's over, finally - at least for those in the Chantilly/South Riding area who enjoy professional and local live music, handcrafted and locally-sourced classic American meals in an "urban lounge" setting, and a spectacular selection of custom martinis, Loudoun wines and regional craft beers not seen to date this side of Rt. 15 and the Dulles Toll Road.

Vintage 51 Restaurant and Brew Lounge fully opened recently in South Riding's Market Square, at the intersection of Rt. 50 and the Loudoun County parkway. Vintage 51 is an extension of the very popular Vintage 50 Brew Lounge in Leesburg, already voted one of "Loudoun's hottest new restaurants".

Loudoun's Best Beer
While Vintage 51 in South Riding is currently unable to serve handcrafted brews created over at its own Leesburg microbrewery, it does serve an inspired selection of wines, custom martinis and cocktails, and a huge selection of great beers (in the spirit of the Northern Virginia Brewfest series) from breweries including Clipper City, Flying Dog, and Dogfish Head. We purchased our own custom "Vintage Growler" with Bell's Two-Hearted Ale for some Thanksgiving cheer...

Loudoun's Finest Wines
For the Loudoun wine lovers, the Vintage 50/51 restaurant wine bars offer over 200 wines by the glass or bottle - ranging from international to very local Loudoun winery selections including Chrysalis and Fabbioli Cellars.

Loudoun's Best Live Music
The live music scene in Loudoun County and Dulles South is dramatically improved with the addition of Vintage 51 live performers and local music events weekdays and weekends. We'll provide a lot more information on this Dulles South/Loudoun music scene shortly - last night at Vintage 51, for example, we thoroughly enjoyed the smooth, reggae-infused, heavily-improvised acoustic rock classics by Purcellville's own Miguel Aubertin, a popular favorite and regular around the Loudoun vineyard and Vintage 50 music venues. Sample his music at http://www.myspace.com/miguelandros09.

Loudoun's Hottest New Restaurant
The Vintage 50 and Vintage 51 menus are a savory collection of locally-raised beef, lamb, pork and wild fowl dinners, fresh seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruits and cheeses, creative seafood appetizers, and classically modern, innovative New American comfort food. The "Made in Loudoun" initiative is clearly in play here - from the delicious lunch sandwiches with local ingredients and handmade sauerkraut, to organic meat entrees made with local ingredients from Loudoun's own organic farm at the Fields of Athenry.

Check out the new Loudoun and Dulles South restaurant, brew lounge and live music scene now on a regular basis - in South Riding.

Northern Virginia Business News, and a Thanksgiving Carpet/Upholstery Cleaning Special

2009-11-22T15:27:00.005-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving 2009! Hopefully your travels, entertaining and family events are safe and healthy this year. We're looking forward to a little downtime and giving thanks for the highlights of what's otherwise been a difficult year for many businesses. While hiring and long-term business investing hasn't exactly picked up yet, there are many signs of pickup among Loudoun and Northern Virginia small and home businesses, as consumers and other small businesses begin to pick up buying activity or at least begin planning to do so.

New this Thanksgiving - keep track of all the growing business news in Loudoun County and Northern Virginia, at Northern Virginia Business News online. A new online business and marketing publication service of KME Internet Marketing, Northern Virginia Business News (or "NOVABizNews") provides fully search-optimized and free exposure of all Northern Virginia Business News events, press releases and social media announcements. Follow us also on twitter, @novabiznews.

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Loudoun Dulles District Update from Stevens Miller - Plus Commentary

2009-11-11T06:39:00.003-05:00

November 10, 2009 Dulles District Newsletter‏

Proposed Site for HS-7
There is good news for everyone who has been waiting anxiously for information concerning the location of a new high school in Dulles South. On Tuesday, October 27th, the School Board voted to approve the purchase of 101 acres of land for construction of HS-7 and a future elementary school. The land is located on Goshen Road on the western edge of the Stone Ridge community. The School Board has worked closely with the Board of Supervisors these past months to find a site that is located near the population that it will serve. HS-7 is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012.

There will be a community information meeting about HS-7 and a future elementary school on November 18th at 6:30pm in the Mercer Middle School auditorium (42149 Greenstone Drive, Aldie). The design plan for the high school is 1800 students and 875 for the elementary school. The meeting will provide the community with an excellent opportunity to receive more information about the proposed school site and plans. I hope you are able to attend.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Sam Adamo, Director
Department of Planning and Legislative Services
Loudoun County Public Schools
21000 Education Court
Ashburn, VA 20148
Phone: 571-252-1050 Fax: 571-252-1101
Email: lcpsplan@loudoun.k12.va.us

Commentary - this is indeed good news, albeit a year delayed

Letter to Governor Kaine
In 2006, Governor Kaine set a goal to preserve 400,000 acres of land before his administration leaves office in 2010. The benefits of this goal include preserving water quality, providing additional opportunities for recreation and preserving wildlife habitat and historic landscapes. As of September 15, 2009 the state has permanently protected 352,623 acres.

Recently four large, multi-parcel properties located in the Dulles District went into foreclosure. These four properties, Greenfields, Broad Run, Lenah and Arcola, comprise 4,154 acres. Three years ago, a proposal to allow 15,000 homes on these properties was narrowly defeated.

I believe the foreclosure of these four properties in Loudoun presents a unique opportunity to help meet Governor Kaine’s preservation goals as well as the increasing demand for a state park in the Northern Virginia region. At my request, the Board unanimously voted to send a letter to Governor Kaine requesting the Commonwealth purchase one or all of these properties for a state park in Loudoun.

Commentary - we believe this is also a unique opportunity to bring much-needed revenue, community services and opportunity to Loudoun and the Dulles South area, were this land set aside for things like a University Campus, Recreational fields/sports park, Environmental Educaation/Research facilities, an Arts/Entertainment Center, etc...let's be a little more visionary and serious about this?

Budget for FY 2011

As the budget process begins, the Board of Supervisors would like to hear residents’ opinions about budget priorities. There are two public input meetings about the budget scheduled in early December. I am also planning to host a few community meetings in Dulles regarding the budget. More information soon!

Budget Public Input Sessions:
- Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 6:30pm in the County Government Center in Leesburg
- Thursday, Dec. 10 at 6:30pm in the School Administration Building in Ashburn

Residents can begin signing up for either session beginning Tuesday, Dec. 1 by calling 703-777-0200.

Commentary - one area we'd like immediate, serious budget improvement and focus on, is Economic Development and Loudoun County Marketing, to attract and retain businesses, assist small businesses, attract research/educational centers, etc...hand-in-hand with this would be significant improvement in the quality of education, including teacher recruitment and salaries, research programs, advanced and continuing education in science/technology/business, etc.

Gum Spring Regional Library
The long awaited groundbreaking for the Gum Spring Regional Library was held Saturday, November 7th. The ceremony was an exciting beginning to what will be a great asset to the Rt. 50 corridor. The library is scheduled to open in 2011. http://www.leesburgtoday.com/articles/2009/11/09/news/9997library110909.txt

Veterans Day
Please remember that November 11th, is Veterans Day. This day is set aside to honor the brave men and women who have served in the armed services. Many have given a lot to keep us safe and free. Please take a moment to thank a veteran for their service and recognize their honor, bravery and service to our country.

Loudoun County Marketing and Business Retention - Awash in Unrealized Opportunity

2009-11-05T06:52:00.006-05:00

This week's Loudoun County Marketing and Business Retention Committee meeting (the MBRC is a part of the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, or DED) was quite interesting, with many discussions revolving around the status of Loudoun's marketing efforts to attract "heads in beds" as well as new business investors.

What was missing, from our perspective as a Loudoun-based professional Internet Marketing firm, was a concrete marketing plan and progress report with measurable performance indicators and objectives, that most businesses typically use to gauge the effectiveness of their integrated online and offline marketing and communications efforts. While the Loudoun County Visitor's Association (LCVA, a non-profit association mostly funded by the DED, as "primary programmatic element of Loudoun's travel and tourism promotion") is doing a fantastic job of creating online web-based marketing material and beginning to leverage social media/Web 2.0 tools (follow @visitloudoun), there's quite literally no similar effort or investment (in our opinion) for doing the same online to promote Loudoun's non-tourism related business community.

Here's the interesting tidbits we learned:

- The MBRC has recommended that the DED fully fund the LCVA for the upcoming fiscal cycle - this is a good thing, and frankly funding should be increased - though making sure that the LCVA capabilities and programs are executed in a way that they can be integrated and reused for other DED programs, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the Chamber of Commerce.

- The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce 2010 Public Policy Positions paper, regarding Economic Development, was discussed and generally received approving remarks - though we'd suggest the word "Internet" or "Online" be used once or twice. The paper does recommend twice that "measurable performance goals and metrics" should be developed and implemented, and that Loudoun leverage in its marketing the "County's strongest economic assets, including industry sectors where Loudoun possesses a clear competitive advantage". Absolutely correct.

- "Rural Tourism" initiatives should be moved to the LCVA program - this is also a good idea, as LCVA is in name a "whole county initiative".

- Loudoun's got over 4 and 1/2 years worth of vacant buildings, and it evidently costs more to provide residents with Government services than businesses - this "upside down" and otherwise bleak indicator of the economy is actually an marketing opportunity waiting to be leveraged, i.e. Loudoun's competitiveness in the DC region in terms of low-cost, accessible and environmentally-attractive places to work and recruit employees.

- One of the MBRC/DED's biggest priorities is to do a better job recruiting new businesses to the county, overcoming the persistent perception that Loudoun's incredibly difficult to do business with...what was particularly interesting about this discussion, was that despite this perception, there really are very good examples of business investment success, and very real methods and routes to successfully purchasing and operating properties in the County - these examples and information, however, are simply not marketed.

- The initial foray by LCVA into online marketing and social media is well-received and is evidently generating positive economic impact, but can be much more aggressive and infused with professional Internet Marketing and Social Media ROI tracking methodology...for example, there were "0" new subscribers to the Industry eNewsletter in September; sales numbers were significantly down this quarter because (in part) of the absence of a sales person (an online sales campaign can be much more self-propagating); there appeared to be no online paid advertising at all; overall "IT Marketing Economic Impact" was down nearly 10% since last year; and there was "no data" by which to judge economic impact of the social media activity.

- There was discussion regarding the many events recently held or being planned, including a "Teacher's Internship Project", a "Vendor Opportunity Fair", the "Breakfast of Leaders", etc...but these events simply aren't marketing or published effectively using available online tools and outlets (just try to find them using Google; one meeting attendee remarked that the Local and Regional Media outlets simply don't provide as much coverage of Loudoun/DED-related news as they should).

- There was much other discussion about "print-based" marketing and signage associated with existing or planned rest stops (to be re-opened, according to our new Governor!), visitor's centers and other community centers - all good things, but with low ROI compared to online methods.

In all, we'd classify the road ahead for the DED and MBRC as "awash with overwhelming and real opportunities for professionally-managed success, use of Internet New Media, and immediate tactical collaboration with the local business and technology community".

Loudoun H1N1 Update and Pediatric Advice...

2009-10-26T08:35:00.004-04:00

Here's some good H1N1 advice from the Pediatrics at Nite folks (at Dulles Town Center):

(edited for readability)

"Dear Friends:

We closed the week with yet another very busy week. We keep trying to keep working with you and for you.

This weekend we heard that Loudoun Emergency Department was on an 8 hour wait. That people could not find Feverall or Motrin on the shelves. There has been no Tamiflu suspension for a couple of weeks now.

The Influenza H1N1 vaccine program is delayed. We anticipate only 45% of the vaccine allotment for the coming week and 50% for the following week. We have yet to receive any vaccinations. Please see the updated info at CDC : http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/vaccination/top10_faq.htm

Please keep calm. If there is a question about H1N1 read our web site or email - PHIC@vdh.virginia.gov Please do not call your pediatrician's or school nurses at this time for routine question on H1N1, or if your child is mildly ill, is not under 2 years of age, asthmatic, diabetic or otherwise at risk. We need to keep the phone lines open to the parents that need help with sick children.

Avoid the Emergency Departments, Retail Nurse Clinics or Adult Urgent Cares. You are going to experience long wait times and the adult retail clinic and urgent cares are not experienced to take care of young or sick children.

We are moving to open at 2 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of this week, and at 3 pm on Monday and Friday. We will continue to see patients from 10 am to 10 pm Saturday and Sunday, and we are working to add physicians to both shifts.

We are suspending all non-clinical functions, shifting all of our staff to taking care of patients and have gone to paper forms to speed up our ability to see and take care of patients.

If you need to go to the Emergency Department we highly recommend that you use the INOVA Fairfax Hospital For Children. It is staffed by pediatricians with special training in Emergency Medicine.

Best

The Pediatrics@nite Team"
Twitter

Loudoun County HyperLocal News Online – What’s Next in Loudoun Social Media and Blogs in Suburban Washington DC

2009-10-25T21:10:00.023-04:00

Quite a lot of news, analysis and conferencing has been going on lately about the challenges of the traditional news community, both online and in print. The advances of “citizen journalism” catalyzed by Internet social media tools like Twitter and real-time search are contributing to far-reaching outcomes - from the demise of long-lived newspapers like Colorado’s Rocky Mountain News and the shuttering of the Washington Post’s hyperlocal LoudounExtra.com experiment, to interesting conversations at the recent REBlogWorld and DC Twitter Conference regarding both opportunities and competitive animosities between journalists and bloggers competing for online “eyeballs”.

When we first moved to Loudoun County in the late 90’s, comprehensive local news was an afterthought to the large newspapers and regional broadcast media, and seemed mostly relegated to the entrenched local papers like Leesburg Today and the Loudoun Times. Of course, the citizen and business population was quite lower, too. Actual or “near real time” news was only gained via local radio and special TV reports, perhaps a radio-shack emergency band scanner, and the growing proliferation of neighborhood online chat, discussion and email groups. Very few non-personal blogs existed, but picking up the phone was still useful to contact local authorities and reporters.

Today, our “situational awareness” of local and regional events is multi-channel and immediate, and can be filtered to precise interests, sources or level of abstraction. This past Friday night, for example, large explosions permeated our neighborhood – a bit odd for this time of year, but immediately provoking both memories of a deadly natural gas explosion in 1998 and our latent, persistent homeland-security uneasiness. Finding out what was happening was pretty efficient – a few searches on Twitter, a look at the local events calendars, a call or two to the neighbors…a homecoming football game fireworks display was the culprit. “Traditional media” coverage was to be found the next day, in game reviews and search engine results…but event-to-analysis lag was at least 12 hours.

Where then, and why, should we be going to find the best “hyperlocal” news as a Loudoun County resident? Is “hyperlocal” truly relevant, particularly in this area of interstitial communities, long-ranging commuters and multi-county politic, economic and government service dependencies? Can traditional publishers of general interest news and the journalists they support coexist with or ultimately become the “Internet Media” Geoff Livingston alluded to in his prognostications for the future of social media?

This particular blog is an example of a constantly evolving solution to our Loudoun County and regional news interests. While started many years ago in response to a hyperlocal “Comprehensive Planning Amendment” (CPAM) issue in the Braddock Road/Dulles South area, it’s grown to include and syndicate information about mostly business, education and community interest items not only in the Loudoun County/Dulles South region, but in Western Prince William, Western Fairfax, and other Northern Virginia areas. We broadcast information through most online social media channels (such as @loudoun on Twitter), aggregate and curate great material from Loudoun-centric news sources, citizens, businesses and nonprofits (for example via @loudoun_news), and syndicate this material as necessary to regional and national channels (for example through BlogNetNews.com, our Loudoun Times blog, @northernva_news, and many social media sites including Mixx and LinkedIn.).

We asked other prominent local bloggers and journalists who’ve routinely covered Loudoun County local and regional news what their perspectives were to these questions. For example, Dan Sousa, a self-described “old newspaper guy who has worked for newspapers for more than 30 years” relates; “When I speak to high school journalism classes and ask how many kids read a paper daily and not a single student raises their hand - then the writing is indeed on the wall! What will replace the newspaper as the "hyperlocal" news deliverer? Probably not 1,000 competing blogs, but the future may lie in a collaboration or network of these new journalists into portals that present their niche offerings to the public as part of an overall patchwork of Loudoun coverage.”

Sousa’s broad and detailed coverage of local Loudoun sports (prep/high school and youth) at http://www.vivaloudoun.com and LoudounPrepSports reflects his opinion that “even though Loudoun is home to far-flung commutes and a wide array of interests and cultures, "hyperlocal" news still matters especially in those areas closest to home such as education and high school and youth sports. Where is the next high school going to be built? What about recent crime in my neighborhood? How did the local football team do Friday night? What time is the local book fair Saturday? These are all questions that tie a community together, whether the neighbors are transplants from New Jersey, lifelong Loudoun residents or a family that recently emigrated from India.”

A very similar perspective comes from Erin Rice at http://www.suburbanfizz.com (and the organizer of the very successful Loudoun “Bloggers for Good” charity support events), who says “I've found hyperlocal news to be incredibly helpful in ad hoc but frequent and repeatable situations. I use local sources to learn about community events, opportunities, and news events. When there was a violent crime in my neighborhood, local news was extremely important. I relied on it to find out what happened, the status of the investigation, and how it affected me. As rumors circulated and panic mounted, it was local -- and reliable -- news websites that kept me informed and even influenced my behavior, suggesting ways to get involved and stay safe. The importance of local news grows as community ties grow stronger. The more skin we have in the local "game," in areas like schools, public safety, access to health care, traffic, government, taxes, real estate values all increase the dependence we have on hyperlocal news. National news is critical, but access to local information is equally important. Frankly, on any given day, construction on Route 7 or a new school lunch policy can affect my world more than any bill before congress.”

Here at Gateway to Loudoun, we’re not journalists in the formal professional definition. We are, however, recognized subject-matter experts in many areas (mostly enterprise systems engineering and architecture, social media, internet marketing and business management), and we know many other SMEs who have much to add to the intellectual conversation and analysis of Loudoun-related material. The timely and relevant insight available from these SMEs ranges from widely-covered technology issues to very local Loudoun politics, sports, education, real estate, business services and wine making. This network of SMEs and contributors is a hugely valuable source of information, and does include trained journalists. Much of our own analysis and research for use in publishing (whether for business, marketing or community use) certainly leverages the work of journalists, and much of it doesn’t – especially the more “real-time” material, or very subject vs. event-specific topics. I’ll point out that information posted by SMEs, journalists, media, bloggers and everyone else on the Internet is equivalently classified as “unverified open source” by the government when it comes to authoritative sources of information for real-time incident management operations – it’s all scanned, it’s all considered and much very quickly does become “verified” in context, on merits of trustworthiness and substantiated relevance.

Therefore, we’ve created a citizen-sourced “Loudoun Internet Media” hub of sorts - that while somewhat subjective to our interests, is published, personalized, accessible and syndicated in a manner that it can quickly, in near real-time provide a broad cross-section of Loudoun news and information from citizen and business perspectives, and routes to find more. It’s also helpful to include some advertising – this ensures the capability to keep the hub operating and brings local businesses and nonprofits to the table to communicate their own events in an equitably recognized manner. We’d expect other blog-centric Internet Media hubs to develop, and the network of blog hubs with attending links of relationship-vetted contributors and SME-vetted material to become a truly verifiable source of news as you need it in Loudoun.

While Internet search will continue to be a primary channel find a lot of this, as Google and Bing move towards more “real-time indexing” of sites like Twitter, the need for a constant destination site or “dashboard” will remain (as will, we predict, the need for the armchair dashboard – i.e. printed newscopy). Some local news sites are evolving this way, for example the Loudoun Times with its local and well-known blogger corps mix of employed and citizen journalists, its balanced use of multi-media and granular RSS feeds, its not-too-intrusive advertiser promotion, and its quickly growing and conversational Twitter presence.

Keep up with Loudoun County Internet Media AND Traditional Media sources here at Gateway to Loudoun County, through the sources and web channels of those mentioned in this article (we’ve conveniently assembled a list of notable Loudoun-news tweeters here; all media sources are aggregated under @loudoun_news), and through subscriptions to other Internet Media services who cover or syndicate what our hyperlocal knowledge community produces.

The Loudoun News BlogRoll

Here’s The List of notable, active, general Loudoun news-centric blogs to follow – not just from Loudoun, but about Loudoun.

Gateway to Loudoun County (http://www.dullessouthonline.com/loudoun_county_gateway/)
Loudoun Stats (http://loudounstats.com/) – by Tony Arko, Realtor
Our Loudoun Schools (http://blog.loudounschools.org/) – by John Stevens, Loudoun School Board
Loco Musings (http://www.locomusings.com/) – by Heather Flynn, Realtor
Suburban Fizz (http://www.suburbanfizz.com) – by Erin Rice
Viva Loudoun (http://www.vivaloudoun.com) – by Dan Sousa
Living in Loco (not the old LoudounExtra one) – (http://livinginloco.blogspot.com/) – by Vicky Chrisner, Realtor
Loudoun Times (A whole gaggle of great Blogs) – (http://www.loudountimes.com/blogs/)
Loudoun Education Alliance of Parents (LEAP) (http://leapforloudoun.blogspot.com/)
Every Restaurant in Leesburg (http://every-restaurant-in-leesburg.blogspot.com/)
DC's Wine Country/Visit Loudoun (Loudoun Convention and Visitor's Association) (http://dcwinecountry.blogspot.com/)
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy (http://www.loudounwildlife.org/blog/)
Loudoun Landscapes (http://www.loudounlandscapes.com/pastoral/)
Realtor Ramblings (http://ginatufano.blogspot.com/) - by Gina Tufano
Loudoun Scene (Real Estate) (http://loudounscene.com/) - by Danilo Bogdanovich

There do exist other blogs, directories and websites associated with Loudoun in one way or another, though not as focused on actually delivering news and information about Loudoun - or simply not very well-maintained or delivered. KME Internet Marketing has the entire list of Loudoun-centric online traditional and social media websites, blogs and directories, along with the return-on-investment estimates (ROIs) for local advertisers to use them (if they accept advertising)...contact us if you'd like to take advantage of this.

- Ted & Kelly

Real-time Loudoun County News, Business and Information on Twitter

2009-10-24T09:54:00.004-04:00

Are you using Twitter? Think of it as another channel on your TV - turn it on every once in a while (or simply stare at the feed all day long on your blackberry, as we do!), and scan what's happening. Follow your favorite "tweeple", meet some new ones, and check these handcrafted, knowledgeable sources out for more info about Loudoun...

@loudoun - our primary Twitter
@loudoun_news - a hand-curated, metered aggregation of Loudoun-centric media and tweeters
@northernva_news - another aggregation, but covering all of Northern Virginia
@fairfax_county - another aggregation, covering Fairfax to the east

(Note these are not "official" government channels - though most gov't sources are included in these aggregated feeds.) For example:

@loudouncountyva - official Loudoun County
@fairfaxcounty - official Fairfax County

There's also now a new Twitter @loudounhealth we've set up to monitor Loudoun health/H1N1 media, and to monitor various physician/health center page updates on the subject. Not much info is readily available in social media from Loudoun providers at the moment, without going directly to particular websites or news outlets.

Find some other notables at this "Loudoun News/Info Twitter List"

Send us more suggestions of the very best Loudoun-Centric news, business, education, community information blogs!

Northern Virginia Sedation Dentistry - Remove the Bleah, Stoke the Happy

2009-10-14T20:28:00.002-04:00

Most of us have memories extending to childhood of visits to the dentist. They’re not always very happy memories, though your regular early dental care went far towards the great smile you’ve got today (especially if you lived through the agony of braces and retainers). Visits to the dentist today are quite a bit more comfortable and efficient, for typical cleansing and routine oral care. The fluoride treatments taste better, the drills aren’t quite as loud, and some offices even provide ceiling mounted TV or Internet access to take your mind off the proceedings (if you’re not texting or dentweeting away).

Many dental procedures, however, still provoke anxiety, fear and legitimate discomfort no matter how comfortable the dentist’s chair is, how reassuring your dentist is, or how ergonomically advanced the oral care or surgical instruments and tools are. After all, your teeth and gums are very sensitive, most significant procedures require a lot of intrusive, painful activity in your mouth, and it’s really hard to ignore the high-pitched drills and associated sounds of uncomfortable, invasive foreign machinery in your head. Suction, please – now rinse and spit. Bleah.

No wonder “sedation dentistry” is now quickly building a popular following among the legions of us who truly fear and loathe the dental visit, regardless of the extent of work to be done. Sedation dentistry in DC and Northern Virginia is used to provide a relaxing and anxiety-free experience for certain people receiving dental treatment, enabling those who may be too afraid to go to the dentist to receive the dental care they need, while avoiding a common apprehension called “dental phobia”. You’re actually happy to be there – and certainly feel good about the results.

Sedation is a process used to establish a relaxed, easy and calm state through the use of sedatives. Sedative drugs (tranquilizers, depressants, anti-anxiety medications, nitrous oxide, etc.) can be administered in a variety of ways. Patients do have alternatives to the traditional methods of inhalation (nitrous oxide or “laughing gas”) and IVs – a "no needle” (meaning, no injection) approach very commonly used for oral sedation tends to appeal to most people. The medications create such a comfortable experience that most patients don’t remember the visit; it’s as if they slept through the whole treatment (this is very helpful for longer and more complicated procedures, and can reduce the number of successive procedures required – i.e. the “Teeth in a Day” concept, a real time-saver). However, oral sedation dentistry does require an appropriate level of consciousness in the patient for proper medical safety and cooperation.

As one of the pioneers of sedation dentistry in Northern Virginia, Dr. Winkler with our friends over at the Winkler Centers for Sedation Dentistry in Burke have helped thousands of people overcome their fears and create many new, healthy smiles :). Dr. Winkler’s passion for helping people has revolutionized the art and science of sedation dentistry and greatly contributed to the evolution of the overall anesthesia dentistry field. Dr. Winkler is on the cutting edge of implant dentistry in the DC area, and has been placing dental implants for 20 years. He has also utilizes the concept of “Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques (MIST),” utilizing lasers and micro-surgical techniques to reduce healing time and provide optimal results with minimal discomfort – a “Total Dental Solutions” outcome.

Find out more about the leading methods, practices and advantages of sedation and anesthesia dentistry in Northern Virginia, by contacting the Winkler Centers for Sedation Dentistry or visiting their website, at http://www.winklersedation.com.

#fail Washingtonian - Why You Should Love This School - Thomas Jefferson

2009-10-10T08:35:00.003-04:00

Our blog title is actually a carefully chosen phrase, since we're prone to using Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization techniques around here in Northern Virginia. This latest issue of The Washingtonian features a really good, insightful and factual writeup of the very best high school in America, Thomas Jefferson. But the magazine's front cover is a horrid, nasty and insulting dig at the greatness of the school and its hard-working, motivated students - for which the editor quite literally should be fired (or at least counseled on the impact of search engine marketing).

While the reviews of fascinating, very likeable students and the world-class opportunities made available to them are motivating reading for all those parents in this area striving to offer their children educational opportunity, this stupid attempt at politically-tainted humor simply squashes the hard work and sacrifice these students and parents have made to rise above the sludge that is our local and US public educational system and politics. The magazine content is an incredible dichotomy of the inane and vapid vs. intellectual, with the TJ article immediately following some pure DC fluff and flotsam about "the most stylish people"....something we sincerely hope none of our children or those in great schools around the region ever aspire to.

From a Northern Virginia online advertising, marketing and reputation management perspective, this is a pure slam-dunk for the Washingtonian, and pure horror for TJ and its students....the article has generated plenty of controversy and reader reaction, probably selling many more copies and generating increasing traffic to its site (we're guilty of supporting this, simply by posting this blog...though we'll not include any page-rank enhancing backlinks). The online marketing inanity comes from the search engines....simply search in Google for "Northern Virginia Most H$%ed High School" - you'll see what we mean (again, we're not going to actually post these despicable phrases).

As the tweeters say, #fail Washingtonian.

JMU Alumni MetroDukes Celebration - 2009 Family Crab Feast in Centreville!

2009-10-04T11:50:00.003-04:00

What a perfect way to spend a beautiful Saturday Fall afternoon in Bull Run Park, Centreville - chowing fresh Chesapeake Blue Crabs, tasty selections from Starr Hill Brewery of Charlottesville (find them next at Northern Virginia's spectacular Fall Brewfest, Oct. 24-25!), the kids having fun in huge moonbounces from GoJumps of Northern Virginia, and hanging out with JMU "Metrodukes" alumni... an absolute solid part of our Fall schedule now for years to come.

Alumni to come!

Go Jumps!

Little Dawgz!

Middleburg Seven Loaves Charity Concert - SGGL Kicks off VA Fall Races and Polo in Upperville

2009-10-03T08:27:00.005-04:00

We spent a fantastic evening last night at the historic Blackthorne Inn & Restaurant in Upperville VA, a hunt-country getaway at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains and historic Ashby Gap once owned by George Washington, reliving UVA Charlottesville concerts in the ampitheatre by (various combinations of) Speidel, Goodrich, Goggin and Lille.

The concert and silent auction benefited the Seven Loaves Services Food Bank of Middleburg - an ecumenical volunteer organization dedicated to providing food, personal supplies, and other assistance to those in the Middleburg community and the surrounding area that are in need of assistance. Sponsors included the Blackthorne Inn, Salamander Hospitality and Fields of Athenry Farm (organic meats).

SGG&L hit the first of 3 sets with many of their older, original work - and amped it up progressively as the jeans, boots and jackets dancing got under way - all under a spectacular moonlit tent setting by the Inn courtyard. (It was a bit disconcerting to hear a full drum set and keyboards with the acoustic foursome; but it certainly made for a more lively party...) The Inn put on a great show, with Fields of Athenry Hors d'œuvres - with full menu fare available in the very cozy, hunt country themed Wolfe Tone's Pub.

We met a bunch of great people - several of whom were in town for the upcoming "5th Annual Ride to Thrive Polo Classic" event, Oct. 10th at the Merriweather Manor Polo fields in Leesburg. This event supports the very popular and successful Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program of Clifton. The Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program provides equine assisted activities for children and adults with disabilities, youth-at-risk, veterans, and their families in an inclusive, community setting. The program was originally chartered, in 1980, as the Fairfax 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program, under the Virginia 4-H extension program.

This program is very much like the Leesburg-based Loudoun Therapeutic Riding Foundation (LTRF), which also provides opportunities for horseback riding and other related activities for therapeutic purposes for children and adults with disabilities. Swing by their 35th anniversary celebration and family fun fair Oct. 24 at Morven Park in Leesburg!

Another great Fall event in horse & hunt country coming up - Brad and Elaine Boland and the Vintage 50 Restaurant Group cordially invite you to join them on Saturday, October 17th at 3pm at the Fields of Athenry Farm...Elaine Boland and Chef Aaron McCloud will be pit roasting and BBQ-ing locally organic-raised Lamb, Beef, Chicken and Pork. Wine pairings, pony rides, face painting, and more are included...10% of all product sales benefit Leesburg's Faith and Family Therapy Dog Program. This program is evolving to place specially trained, GCC certified companion therapy dogs with specially identified, disabled children - much like the very popular and successful Paws4People program out of Round Hill, VA.

Vintage 50 (in Leesburg) and Vintage 51 (in South Riding) Restaurants and Brew Lounges support many Northern Virginia and Loudoun charities and events - including the extremely popular Northern Virginia BrewFest series in the Summer and Fall. This Fall's 3rd annual brewfest/beer festival, a "World Beer Experience", is at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, Oct. 24-25th.