North Bay Business Journal

Business News: Week of Jan. 30, 2012

Public Relations Jay and Janet Silverberg, long-time Petaluma residents, have established Silverberg Communications, a public policy, media and crisis communications response firm. Mr. Silverberg served 11 years as a senior vice president for Xenophon Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, during which he managed multiple projects for clients such as The Salvation Army, Airbus, Rolls Royce, [...]

Santa Rosa YPN sets May 17 development day

NORTH BAY – The Santa Rosa Young Professionals Network is hosting its first Professional Development Day on May 17 at the Finley Community Center.

Wine Industry Conference 2011: Questions for the Direct Sales and Social Media panel

The Business Journal asked the four members of the Direct Sales and Social Media panel for the upcoming Wine Industry Conference 2011 about trends in sales of wine directly to consumers and use of social media in that endeavor.

Mill Valley website startup a model Marin company

MILL VALLEY – Marin County is new home to another interesting Internet company, joining Glassdoor, ImageSpan and many others in Sausalito.

Wine marketers share tips on using social media

In conjunction with the story “Wineries increase use of smartphone, social media technologies,” the Business Journal is collecting ideas wine marketers submitted about how their experiences.

Wineries increase use of smartphone, social media technology

Smartphones and social media are being employed in new ways as many wineries increase their use of the latest technology to reach consumers and maintain control of branding — all across the U.S. To add your experience, comment on this story.

Personal News Network startup closes

ROHNERT PARK — PNN (Personal News Network), the first company to join the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster, closed its doors on Jan. 1, according to founder Lauren Elliott.

Dilithium acquired by India telecom

PETALUMA — Dilithium Networks, a venture-backed mobile video solutions maker, was acquired by India telecom OnMobile Global Ltd., the company announced today.

Sales Moves: Social media: Creating a total strategy requires all channels

Of all the business social media options, LinkedIn is the most valid and the most valuable. But it is not the only.

Wineries use new media to reach customers

NORTH BAY – Wineries are starting to make extensive use of the Internet and social networks to keep in touch with customers.

Just being on Facebook isn’t social marketing

NORTH BAY — Most companies today feel like they just have to have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn group and any other of the latest social networking sites out there.

Social Media: Companies shape policies on social sites

A new survey by Robert Half Technology in Menlo Park said that employees who want to share news via social networking sites will need to be careful about violating company policies.

Marin chamber expands Leadership Institute

SAN RAFAEL — The San Rafael Chamber of Commerce is expanding its Leadership Institute to include optional opportunities for international travel and business meetings with chambers and industry leaders abroad offered to SRLI alumni and guests.

Cork’d, VinoVisit partner

NAPA – Online social network Cork’d and winery search engine VinoVisit.com have partnered to offer expanded services to users.

Tourism bureau efforts in ’09 helped salvage year

SONOMA — While the tourism and hospitality industry in Sonoma took a sharp hit in 2009 amid steep economic decline, the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau announced at its annual meeting last week that the year was salvaged. It compared relatively well against some of its main competitors, and 2010 looks to be a much better year.

For glimpse of future, look in these classrooms

SANTA ROSA — Schools serving students from kindergarten to college are making use of the constant forward movement of technology to better instruct students both inside and out of the classroom.

Facebook does an about-face on dairy ban

NORTH BAY — Clover Stornetta Farms and Straus Family Creamery, which have nearly 2,000 and 1,000 Facebook page fans, respectively, were surprised to hear early last week of a recent change in the giant Internet social network’s promotions policy banning dairy products.

UPDATE, Dec. 22, 2009: Facebook revised its promotions policy to remove the ban on mentioning dairy but still prohibits the offering of dairy products as prizes.

Risks lurk in social networking

NORTH BAY — In addition to lost productivity, employers can add legal risk to the list of annoyances related to employee use of social networking at work, according to North Bay legal experts who sounded off on trends for 2010.

Residential Real Estate: Agents, brokers venture into social networking

Realtors have long searched out new ways of marketing themselves and the homes they sell. And it is particularly important in this harsh economic climate to be innovative about how clients are searched for and kept around.