We’re always excited to hear that Avalon clients are making news. Some recent press items:

• To lighten up this election year a bit, Senator Frank Lautenberg’s campaign recently held a photo caption contest spoofing GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. More than 800 people submitted captions, and the emails about the photo caption contest have some of the highest open rates ever, making it a terrific engagement piece for the Senator's campaign. Check out some of the hilarious captions at www.mittromneyphoto.com and some of the media coverage of the contest here.

In January, Margaret Romig, Bill Tucker, and I attended Creating Change 2012, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 24^thannual conference on LGBT equality, where nearly 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates met to celebrate recent successes, and strategize about the challenges ahead.

One of the highlights of the conference was Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey’s State of the LGBT Movement address (read the address or watch the video here). She highlighted the major steps toward full equality that transpired in 2011 – from the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to marriage equality becoming law in even more states, to the elevated national conversation prompted by the bullying of gay kids and the subsequent new anti-bullying laws. And, the extensive changes made at the federal level urged by the New Beginnings Initiative.

Some of the items I’ve Seen and Heard and found interesting online recently:

Consumers view social marketing as invasive: Online Media Daily’s Mark Walsh reports on a study by Insight Marketing Group. Some highlights: “…nearly two-thirds (64%) of people say they “hate” when a company targets them through their social networking profile.” BUT, “…A majority of those surveyed (55%) believe social networking sites are the best way to give a company feedback and that posting about a product or service on a social site can have a strong impact on a brand.”

Walsh says the bottom line for marketers to keep in mind is that “…people like being able to provide feedback to marketers via social media -- but they don’t necessarily want to be followed by them.” For more insights, see the full report.

Avalon is hiring! If you’re an experienced, hard-working direct marketer who’s committed to progressive causes, we’d love to hear from you.