With Halloween a recent memory, have you positioned your business to deliver the best possible customer experience for the 2012 holiday buying season? Your customer’s experience, all year long — and especially during the busy holiday buying season — is impacted more than ever by mobile computing and social media.
Quality print complements digital
October 13, 2012 By
It all began at the 2012 San Diego Sustainable Brands Conference early in June. TABS, Toshiba Corp.’s managed print and professional branch, announced its latest marketing campaign, declaring Oct. 23 “National No-Print Day.”
Kinney Drugs to host job fair
October 7, 2012 By
GOUVERNEUR — Kinney Drugs will host a job fair from 1 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Elks Club, 1419 Route 11.
Kinney, a pharmacy and retail business with 94 stores, has openings in its administrative accounting departments and its IT departments.
Got an idea? There’s an app for that, too
September 10, 2012 By
Donna Stenoski, associate director at Lewis County Chamber of Commerce, shows off the new mobile site on a smartphone. Photo by Christina Scanlon.
North country catching on with mobile applications
Ordering a pizza and scoring a deal on the ice cold beverages to accompany it has never been easier. No coupon clipping and keeping track of expiration dates to get a bargain, and don’t even get off the couch or pick up the phone to get a pizza hand-delivered.
Just pick up a smartphone.
Mobile applications, more widely known as “apps,” for smartphones and tablet computers are becoming the new norm for retailers and service providers, and are offering a new and innovative outlet for businesses in the north country.
According to a survey released in March, completed by market research firm comScore, more than 100 million people in the U.S. are considered smartphone subscribers, meaning they own and use a smartphone. That number is a 13 percent increase in smartphone subscribers since October 2011.
On the cutting edge of technology
September 10, 2012 By
Employees at Timeless Frames, Watertown, assemble frames behind an informational order screen. Investments in new technology have helped the business grow in recent years. Photo by Justin Sorensen.
Businesses sharpen competitive edge
As technology has evolved in the past decade, with smartphones becoming the preferred mobile device and laptop computers being tossed aside for sleeker tablets, so, too, has the business landscape advanced. To stay competitive, business owners have had to adapt to a changing technological environment. Gone are the days when merely having a unique product meant steady sales. Today, having products that are most visible to the consumer and having the ability to deliver that product to the customer faster — and with better customer service — than ever before can make or break a brand and, simply put, it just what makes good business sense.
Social media requires synergy, plan
September 10, 2012 By
Mandee L. Widrick, owner of ChargedUp Media, is a social media coach. Photo by Norm Johnston.
Navigating online waters can be challenging as more options emerge
When researching social media marketing, the options are seemingly endless, often confusing and social network names can be barely pronounced. With the requisite blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, there’s the added “newbies” of Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, FourSquare and Spotify.
By now, some of these networks have become household names, with users numbering in the billions; but others are emerging and offering new services that could help businesses expand a brand’s reach and garner future customers. However, is having an online presence on every possible social media network necessary? At the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce June speaker series event titled “Social Media and Your Business,” that same question was asked. One answer yelled from the back of the room: “No, it’s all just a waste of time.”
Banks deploy consumer-driven tech: North country banks, credit unions offer plenty for on-the-go access
September 10, 2012 By
SeaComm Federal Credit Union Branch Manager Ryan J. McConnell holds a debit card in front of an instant issue debit card machine on at the Main Office located at 30 Stearns St. in Massena. Customers are able to walk into the bank and leave with a working debit card if their card is lost or stolen, rather than waiting for it to be ordered. Photo by Jason Hunter.
For many consumers, Internet banking via a laptop or iPad is the norm. But for those that still hold a leather savings account book and write checks regularly, online banking is a completely different world – and one that is evolving quickly. For Scott Wilson, president and CEO of SeaComm Federal Credit Union in Massena, having the most up to date technological advances is of utmost importance.
Slic connects rural north country
September 10, 2012 By
796 miles of fiber optic cable will deliver high-speed Internet to 6,582 households, businesses
Ron M. Streeter Jr., right, the installation and repair manager for Slic Network Solutions, and Jeffrey M. Yette, sales engineer for Slic Network Solutions, with spools of fiber optic drop wire used to connect provide individuals with internet and phone service. Photo by Jason Hunter.
When Christopher L. Westbrook wants to check his email or research a topic, he needs to drive to work.
The Wanakena resident chooses not to have Internet access at his home because the dial-up connection would be painfully slow. But thanks to $33 million in federal stimulus funding, Slic Network Solutions Inc. is providing communities in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties with access to high-speed Internet by 2013.
NNY dentists embrace new tech
September 10, 2012 By
From ivory to porcelain, dental technology grows for patient comfort
Dr. Peter M. Virga, a managing partner at Watertown Dental Health Group, operates his practice with the most up-to-date technological advances in dentistry. Photo by Norm Johnston.
George Washington’s teeth were said to be made of wood. But if you dig a bit into the history books, you will find they were actually made of ivory and gold. Created by a prominent American dentist by the name of Dr. John Greenwood, the plates were allegedly connected by springs. This meant our first president had to keep his jaw clenched tight in an effort to keep his teeth together. If he relaxed, the springs would make his mouth pop open. And nobody really wants to see that.
Today, amazing technological advancements have brought dentistry full circle. Dr. Peter M. Virga, a managing partner at Watertown Dental Health Group, operates his practice with the most up-to-date technological advances in dentistry. From digital photography and intraoral USB cameras to large-screen patient monitors and computer-assisted restorations, Dr. Virga is able to provide exceptional, expedient service to his patients, no springs attached.