Zvents’ network of partners continues to grow at an exponential rate and we can barely keep up with all of the excitement!

We’re now powering several NBC local television stations, which include:

• NBC Connecticut
• NBC Dallas-Fort Worth
• NBC Los Angeles
• NBC New York
• NBC Philadelphia
• NBC San Diego
• NBC San Francisco Bay Area
• NBC Washington D.C.

In a recent article published by MediaPost, John Wallace, president of NBC Local Media, explains:

“These sites are a departure from what we’ve done in the past and the next step in our mission to provide truly relevant local content to consumers on the media platform of their choice.”

We are proud that NBC has selected Zvents to provide the local search experience for events, promotions, and things to do in NBC’s key metro areas across the U.S. Now, advertisers can reach consumers at an even greater local-level, given these highly targeted and dynamic marketing channels.

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Online Market World is the leading summit for online sellers, merchants, and marketers and innovative minds who want to understand how to better leverage the internet to market products.  For those of you selling online, from products to tickets, the show is an opportunity to hear how to capitalize on the ongoing list of online markets including Amazon, Google, MSN, Facebook, and Shopping.com with multi-channel sales and service strategies.

Taking place at Moscone Center West October 1-3, Online Market World brings together industry notables including:

• Marsha Collier
• Tony Hsieh
• John Squire
• Matt Franklin

Keynote speaker Kathy Ireland, now CEO & Chief Designers of Kathy Ireland Worldwide, will share her thoughts on growing a brand in these times of media change.  We’re also excited to learn the secrets of effective blogging with Karen O’Brien, a “tightwad’s” opportunity to usability test (a key component of designing your site) with Jack Aaronson, and, led by Digital Axle’s Bruce Carlisle, how to navigate the online advertising maze!

Register now to attend this exceptional event or find other great resources and benefits at onlinemarketworld.com

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We’ve come across a fun study from Alloy Marketing revealing that the college class of 2112 is increasingly, well, green.  In more ways than one.  According to Allow, the 2112 class, now the largest in history with 13.6 million college students (18-30), has at its disposal a record $237 billion in consumer spending.   What’s fun about the dollars and cents you might ask?  Well, it seems an overwhelming proportion of those budgets are socially conscience, with a growing 41% (net) of respondents preferring socially responsible brands and opportunities.

Still missing the fun?  Perhaps ‘excitement’ is a better word; I don’t mean to imply we’re personally excited by the data, rather, that as college students settle into classes and prepare for the new school year, we’re pleased to have mtvU bringing local events and promotions to those college students with Zvents.  mtvU, which owns and operates the College Media Network, the largest interactive network of online college newspapers in the US (itself owned by MTV Networks and Viacom), has joined the Zvents network, adding 25 college Campus Daily Guides to the network of sites through which your events and local businesses can be promoted with a single listing.  The partnership makes it easy for students to discover what’s going on, where to go, and where to spend those disposable dollars around campus, connecting local and national merchants with those college consumers.

Coincidentally, Alloy Marketing specializes in marketing to college students through events, targeted placements, and specialized research.  The similarity between the study and our partnership was too great to ignore so we took a moment to find a few local businesses promoting socially conscience events to college students:

• Budding, Tempe, AZ ASU k-12 teachers can visit EarthFest Educator’s Night at the Phoenix Zoo
• Ann Arbor U of M students can catch a nearby Solar Presentation as a part of an environmental lecture series
• The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology hosts countless special events regarding the community and world in which we live
• We’ve even discovered commercial success with students’ most socially responsible apparel brand hosting runs at NikeWomen near Northwestern

Local merchants and event marketers can submit listings to the network from any Campus Daily Guide, benefiting from highly targeted, relevant marketing to this appealing demographic.

By the end of the year, mtvU will launch 50 campuses. For the initial phase, 25 universities across the country have joined the network:

• Ohio State University
• Arizona State University Main
• University of Maryland College Park
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Central Florida
• University of South Florida
• University of Washington
• University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
• Florida State University
• University of Arizona
• University of Cincinnati Main Campus
• University of Houston
• North Carolina State University
• University of Colorado at Boulder
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• University of South Carolina
• Columbia University of Pittsburgh
• University of Kentucky
• University of New Mexico Main Campus
• George Washington University
• Northeastern University
• University of Nebraska – Lincoln
• University of Pennsylvania
• Northwestern University
• Emory University

To advertise on the Campus Daily Guides, contact mtvU directly or simply add an event!

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Ethan Stock, Zvents CEO and Founder, was recently captured at The Kelsey Group’s “Drilling Down On Local ‘08: Marketplaces” Conference. In his presentation, Ethan discusses Zvents’ business model and how time-based promotions are an essential online marketing tool for all local merchants to get consumers in through their doors.

With the overwhelming and startling growth of local advertising revenue, Ethan Stock explores how Zvents is leading the evolution of local search - showing its impact on the advertising industry and what trends to expect in the future.

Check out the video below!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

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We’ve been cooking up new ways to promote local businesses and events, and we’re thrilled (exhausted and relieved!) to announce that the Enhanced Listings beta period is officially open.

What are Enhanced Listings?
A new way to make your event or venue listings stand out from basic listings, and benefit from enhanced features and design options.

By upgrading your Basic Listing to an Enhanced Listing, you can:

• Tailor your marketing messages with special offers, news and announcements and promo codes
• Appear prominently in search results with a colorful, highlighted listing
• Increase brand awareness by adding your company logo
• Upload a video ad, commercial, or virtual tour
• Stylize your listing with colorful custom graphics
• Enhance your brand experience by removing advertisements or user reviews

We offer two packages - and Enhanced Detail Page package and a Search Results package. You can also add additional upgrades, such as removing ads and user reviews, or adding custom graphics to the border on your listing.

Here’s an example of an Enhanced Detail Page Package for Sibby’s Cupcakery in San Mateo:

The Search Results Package highlights your listing in search results:

For a limited time (a few weeks, most likely), you can create Enhanced Listings for your business, venue or events - for free! Join the beta now.

And remember…every listing created on Zvents is shared with our growing 250+ Zvents Media Network partners too.

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Chuck is an industry guy we’re anxious to meet, not the event marketing industry, internet marketing. Not only can he add some appeal to the (to some) dry topic of online marketing but he is so talented as a musician and rap artist that he has our recommendation as a performer at one of your events. Let’s let him take the stage first while sharing some tips on how to leverage paid search marketing:

Working 9 to 5 with Houston, TX interactive marketing services provider Pop Labs, Chuck moonlights as founder of Mo Serious Entertainment. While he is more likely to appeal to those of you looking for online marketing speakers, his talent seems to shine on stage; he’s worth a look whatever your need.

Chuck, if you are ever in San Mateo, give us a call, we’d love to help.

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Southern California Media Partners In Zvents Network

Yesterday we posted about how Zvents syndicates its listings to over 200 media partners. Following up on our promise to share more regional information (while we update our Media Publishers page!), below is a list of our current media partners in southern California and the greater Los Angeles metro area:

• Orange County Register
• LA.com
• Daily Breeze (Gardena)
• High Desert (Victorville)
• Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario)
• Los Angeles Daily News
• Pasadena Star-News
• Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA)
• San Bernadino Sun
• San Gabriel Valley Tribune
• Squeeze OC
• Whittier Daily News

If you have a SoCal business or want to promote events happening in southern California, listing on Zvents (or a Zvents’ media partner site) will automatically share your listing with all the media partners in the Zvents network, including the local media outlets listed above.

Ready to list your business or events? Sign up for a free account today!

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