July 2006
Home Energy Saver Extends Benefits to Co-op Members
Web Conference to Target Site Selection Success
Popular Get Charged! Kits Promote Education, Tell Co-op Story
Touchstone Energy Triathlon is an Annual Success
Co-op Connections Card Order Deadline is Oct. 13
Share Your Brand-Building Success Stories
Home Energy Saver Extends Benefits to Co-op Members
Touchstone Energy’s new residential energy management tool, the online Home Energy Saver, has generated a buzz among member cooperatives, recording more than 2,600 hits since its launch in May. The Home Energy Saver is a comprehensive, user-friendly online energy audit that helps consumers pinpoint ways to control their home energy use based on a detailed description of a home, its appliances and geographic location.
The online tool is offered in cooperation with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the national ENERGY STAR Program for improving energy efficiency in homes. As part of the collaboration, Touchstone Energy has customized a frame for the site to ensure that members know this resource is offered by a Touchstone Energy cooperative.
Co-ops can present this free resource to their members by linking from their own Web sites to the customized Home Energy Saver using the following link:
https://touchstoneenergy.cooperative.com/public/programs/energyefficiency/lblfiles/launch.htm
To create a graphic button link, co-ops can apply the logo included above.
Web Conference to Target Site Selection Success
In the competitive arena of corporate real estate site selection, cooperatives have valuable tools available to them through the Touchstone Energy brand and NRECA that can help them gain an edge.
Co-ops can learn how to leverage these tools in an upcoming Web conference, Site Selection Success: NEW Tools to Help You Land the Next Big Business. Attendees will learn how to enhance their co-op's chances of landing a major new business and get insights on what site selection pros are after when they go shopping for new locations. They’ll also hear about a new, premium capability on SitesAcrossAmerica.com that will aggressively market top-notch co-op sites.
Date: Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006
Time: 11:30 a.m. Eastern
Speakers:
- Tim Sullivan – director, C&I Business Development, NRECA and Touchstone Energy Cooperatives
- Robert Pittman, senior principal, Lockwood Greene/CH2M Hill, professional site selector, Atlanta, Ga.
- Kristine Jackson-DeJarnette, senior competitive intelligence representative, NRECA and Touchstone Energy Cooperatives
- Mark Woodson, manager of economic development, Associated Electric Cooperative, Springfield, Mo.
Cost: FREE for Touchstone Energy and NRECA Members
Registration: Please register by close of business on Friday, Aug. 18, 2006. Call-in and Web access details for participants to follow.
Questions?
Registration-related, contact Nancy Runge at 703.907.5742 or at Nancy.Runge@nreca.coop. Content-related, contact Tim Sullivan at 651.686.7477 or at Tim.Sullivan@nreca.coop.
NET2007 Set for Feb. 6-8
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The 2007 NET (New and Emerging Technologies) Conference will be held Feb. 6-8 in Orlando, Fla., at the Double Tree Hotel near Universal Studios. The eighth annual NET conference will take on a new dimension in 2007, presenting sessions and information geared toward residential energy technologies and energy efficiency, in addition to the standard focus on commercial and industrial key accounts and co-op relationships with business customers.
The conference coincides with the International Builders’ Show, the largest light construction show in the world. The show boasts 1.5 million square feet of cutting-edge building products and services. Attendees will be encouraged to attend the show as part of their NET experience.
Stay tuned for more details and online registration!
Popular Get Charged! Kits Promote Education, Tell Co-op Story
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives’ Get Charged! program continues to successfully educate middle school students across the country about electricity and electric cooperatives. Since the program’s launch, more than 7,700 kits have been distributed to classrooms nationwide and continue to be a popular resource among co-ops and their local schools.
Developed in 2003 through a strategic partnership with Discovery Channel School, the kits contain
educational materials that meet National Science Education Standards for electricity. The materials—an interactive CD-Rom, teacher lesson plan, classroom poster, workbooks for students and two videos—are all branded with the Touchstone Energy logo. The Touchstone Energy “Our Story” video, which details the history of electric cooperatives and the Touchstone Energy brand, is included in the kit.
Co-ops across the country have used the distribution of the kits as an occasion to involve local media, inviting reporters along as they visit the schools. The coverage helps to demonstrate that co-ops are different and look out for the people they serve.
Get Charged! kits can be ordered online or by contacting Scott Bialick at 703.907.5627 or scott.bialick@nreca.coop.
Touchstone Energy Triathlon is an Annual Success
The third annual Got Energy? La Crosse Area YMCA Touchstone Energy Triathlon, sponsored by Dairyland Power Cooperative (La Crosse, Wis.), was held June 11 in West Salem, Wis. Nearly 250 registered individuals and teams from five different states competed as individuals or part of a relay team. More than 230 volunteers donated their time to help make the event a success.
Proceeds from the event support the La Crosse Area Family YMCA Strong Kids Campaign, which provides assistance to over 12,000 children in the community every year.
"As a Touchstone Energy cooperative, Dairyland is committed to supporting our local communities in many ways, and the triathlon is an important and fun event in our region," said Deb Mirasola, communications manager for Dairyland. "Through the event partnership between Touchstone Energy and our local YMCA, proceeds from the triathlon help fund the YMCA Strong Kids campaign. Thousands of kids benefit every year from that campaign, which helps to build a healthy community," she added.
Co-op Connections Card Order Deadline is Oct. 13
A growing tally of national discount deals makes this a perfect time to join the 79 Touchstone Energy co-ops building member loyalty and demonstrating the cooperative difference with the Co-op Connections member benefit card. With more than 5 million cards and key fobs in circulation, Co-op Connections is delivering savings to co-ops and members nationwide.
To participate in the next print run, register by Oct. 13 on www.advancingthebrand.coop. For more information on the next print run and Co-op Connections, contact Cynthia Henthorn at cynthia.henthorn@nreca.coop, 703.907.5575, or Scott Bialick at scott.bialick@nreca.coop, 703.907.5627.
Quotable Quote
“Fully engaged customers have a clear and discernible personal connection with the brands they’re passionate about. These special brands no longer exist in a ‘sea of sameness.’ They’ve moved out of the realm of interchangeable alternatives into a new world where consumers talk about them as ‘their’ brands—as an integral part of their lives. That’s because they’re convinced that there is something special about the brand… .”
-from Married to the Brand by William J. McEwen
Editor, Erin Keogh
erin.keogh@nreca.coop
703.907.5572