You just can't understand your audience by staying hidden. It takes some perseverance and good solid networking to build strong business relationships and understand your audience. You have to get out there and make some noise! My creative and marketing efforts have probably been so rewarding up to this point because of the quality organizations that I have worked with. The following are some examples and testimonials.

	Naval Station Rota, Spain - Letters of Appreciation 2007-8 From Naval Hospital Commanding Officer for regionally recognized Tri-care Conference Poster Designs. From NAVSTA Rota base Commanding Officer Captain Earl Hampton for work at the USO Senior Leadership Tour Show with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen and headline entertainers Robin Williams and Kid Rock. Recognized on weekly radio “CO SHOW “ as guest "rockstar" for coordinating the 4th of July Community Event 2007 which attracted over 5,000 local US and Spanish community members.
	Morale Welfare and Recreation - MWR Above and Beyond Award 2005 Providing quality of life programs for Navy Sailors and their families. Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) covers a wide scope of worldwide operations that provides service members and their families with the finest facilities, programs and activities to meet their recreational and social needs. The Single-Sailor program, Fitness, tours, motion pictures ashore and at sea, and much more encourage positive individual values, aid in recruitment and retention, and provide for the physical, cultural, and social needs of a mobile Navy.
	California Olive Industry - Silver Addy Award 2004 for Website Design The California Olive Industry supports the development of good nutritional habits. To help achieve that goal, the website has an education section with a web-based nutrition game for school and home. As Creative Director at Stratum, our team devised a new look for the site, which included a cutting-edge interactive "Recipe Box" application, written in Java using the WebObjects application server. Recipe Box allows visitors to find, input, and share recipes that use olives, request brochures and other merchandise, and enter contests.
	Hope House Foundation - received recognition plaque 2004 One of the pro bono organizations supported by Stratum. Hope House Foundation provides individualized supported living services for and with adults with developmental disabilities in their own homes or apartments. Hope House is known as an innovator and leader in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. As Creative Director for Stratum, I worked with the organization to redesign their website which was an tremendous opportunity to work with a group of people that had their heart in the right place.
	Bruce Rader Charities - received recognition plaque 2004 Working with Bruce Rader, a local news celebrity for Hampton Roads community, I gained insight to the power that one person can have to change lives. Bruce's work with various charitable organizations such as St. Jude Children's Hospital, as well as his own Bruce Rader Charities Foundation, has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Hampton Roads area. I did pro bono work with Bruce for Stratum to develop corporate branding materials and to launch his first on-line website. The logo is still being used today.
	SuperClubs All-Inclusive Resorts SuperClubs introduced the "all-inclusive" concept in Jamaica in 1976 and has since created three distinct brands, Breezes, Grand Lido and Hedonism with resorts world-wide. As Creative Director at Stratum, the challenge was to create their first on-line presence with multiple brand websites that used cutting-edge technologies for on-line booking and interactive maps. Some of these interactive map and music modules are still being used today. The success of design and database structure lead to branding two new travel companies called Caribbean Tours and Rockwell Tours which designs are still used today.

Correspondence as Marketing Manager and Public Affairs Specialist (MWR)

Email Correspondence:

From today's Stripes.  BZ to the entire James, Erica and the entire
MWR staff for throwing their effort behind Nashville Star!  We had three
times the amount of aspiring stars (17!) than the next closest base (Sig
with 6).  And the fact they packed the theater with audience members is
another success

V/r, Mike

> LT Mike Morley
> Public Affairs Officer
> Commander, U.S. Naval Activities, Spain

After CNIC announced all Navy .com websites should be shut down...

-----Original Message-----
> From: CGX [mailto:chrimax_00(at)yahoo.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 6:57 PM
> To: marketing(at)rotamwr.com
> Subject: Please add to Rota MWR mailing list
>
> I am a single sailor recently stationed in Rota,
> Spain. I would like to be added to the e-mail
> newsletter so I can keep on top of all the great
> events. It is a shame rotamwr.com wasn't allowed to
> continue to run, I used that source to scout
> prospective places to see before I got here (heck,
> I'm here in the computer lab section typing this e-mail
> lol) Are questions on events only handled via the
> office/phone extensions or through email as well?

Summer after Survivor Rota I Contest...

Erica,
The mass's are asking about the next survivor competition.
When are you guys going to bring it back.

Dean "Zee" Zuniga,
ESO Supervisor, PSD Rota Spain,
PSC 819, BOX 48
FPO AE 09645 

Naval Hospital Award for Mighty Kids Fitness Program...

Cynthia.Millard(at)med.navy.mil
marketing@rotamwr.com
Surprises!/Award

I am sooo PROUD of you!!    Surprises are very special!
You have been great to work with. Let's keep in touch, and if you ever
make it to New England---Newport, Rhode Island....we will get together.
I leave Spain on 1 March.

I will forward you the award write up!
You, Laurie and I are a great team!!

Project Management

marketing@rotamwr.com
Action Plan

Erica,

First off, let me say I think we had a very productive meeting last Tuesday.
I believe I have a firmer grasp of where the project is going and what the
expectations are. Like I said before, I'm sad to see you go as it has been a
pleasure working with you on this. I truly believe we would not have gotten
this far if it wasn't for you pushing this project along.

I have been working on the production plan and thinking about the additions
we discussed all last week and should have this to you by this Wednesday.

As for the movie schedule, I think it would work if we set it up in a
different page in the login and give create/edit/delete rights to a new
security level (Movie Theater Manager). Naturally this would also extend to
the MWR Director Level as well (for the specific base only). The movie
schedule page would be viewable from all security levels. I am hesitant in
including the movie schedule in the event calendar as it may be confusing to
users.

Cheers,

Michael Van Dorth
Email: info(at)vandorth.com

Customer Service

marketing(at)rotamwr.com
Rotamwr.com
Suggestion Box Submission

Wow!  Thanks for your response and the passes.  I really appreciate 
that you cared enough to respond - people like you are what make the 
world a better place.  Its the little things like this that make a 
difference.  Thank you again,  Lynn

Erica Klinger wrote:

> Hello,
> Thank you for your comment. The website will be the most accurate 
> since our publicity department needs to submit the Coastline ad two 
> weeks in advance. In the time, movie times are subject to change. I 
> am sorry to hear about your experience. I know movies aren't 
> enjoyable if you've missed the beginning. We try our best to get 
> the word out to the community when a movie has changed.
>
> I have requested some free movie passes that you can pick up in the 
> front desk of the MWR Administrative Building #1 at your 
> convenience. I hope your next movie experience is a better one! 
> Please email me a name to hold the certificates in.
>
> Regards,
>
> Erica Klinger
> MWR Publicity & Marketing Manager
> Naval Base Rota, Spain

Articles

Some bases 'more country' than others
By Lisa M. Novak Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, March 10, 2008

"One dream. One country. One Nashville Star!" reads the Web site of the
country-music reality TV show.
And in Souda Bay, Crete, there was just one applicant for tryouts for
the show. Naples, Italy, produced two.
Other bases were "a little more country" when it came to the American
Idol-esque auditions in Europe, which were held the last week February.
In Rota, Spain, 17 individuals vied for the top three spots. Joint
Maritime Forces in England had five individuals audition, and in
Sigonella, Sicily, six.
The good news for the Crete and Naples applicants is that individuals
per base are guaranteed a spot in the next round of competition, so all
of them have that chance.
Auditions were sponsored by Morale, Welfare and Recreation at Navy
installations and ships around the world.
"All bases and ships will send videos of their top three auditions to
Commander, Navy Installations Command in Millington, Tenn.," said Taeko
Yoshino, MWR entertainment specialist in Naples. "The best 10 will be
chosen to fly to Norfolk, Va., for an all-military casting program."
Those 10 will join the top 40 performers from the all-military casting
call on April 11, held in Norfolk, Va. All 50 will participate in a
performance onboard a Navy ship - yet be determined - on April 12.
In the onboard audience will be "Nashville Star" producers scouting for
possible contestants for the television show.
The April 12 program will be videotaped, and segments will air on
"Nashville Star" later this year.
Although turnout for auditions was low in some locations, the country
music hopefuls were quite enthusiastic.
"As soon as I could talk, I could sing," said contestant Kelly Lee Baze,
a lieutenant commander assigned to Submarine Group 8 in Naples, Italy.
"Country music is all about my life, and I'm about as grounded as they come,
which makes me the perfect choice to win this competition."