March 2007
"Welcome Home" Video Honors Soldiers and Families
Annual Meeting Showcases Brand Leaders, New Resources… and Celebrity Sightings
Brand Champion Deadline Extended to April 2
Kinzer, Bolton Awarded Brand’s Highest Honor
Connect 2007: 47 Days and Counting!
Spring Edition of EXTRA on its way to Co-ops
North Carolina Co-ops Send Student-Athletes to Basketball Camp
Share Your Brand-Building Success Stories
"Welcome Home" Video Honors Soldiers and Families
Continuing its annual tradition of honoring the men and women of America’s military serving overseas, Touchstone Energy has launched Welcome Home, a moving tribute to soldiers and their families back home. Introduced last week at Touchstone Energy’s 2007 Annual Meeting, Welcome Home delivers a message of gratitude to the men and women of America's military, and their families, from the members of their Touchstone Energy cooperatives.
For the first time, the tribute is available as a two-minute video, perfect for co-op annual meetings and community events, and as a 60-second TV spot, perfect for use in local and regional media buys.
The story line in the video and 60-second spot comes to life through the recent homecoming of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force from its one year tour of duty in Iraq. The spot captures the emotional reunions of the soldiers and their families at Camp Pendleton, California. No actors or actresses are employed in the video, which was shot in "real time" as the homecoming event occurred.
Brand Leaders Urged to Help Spread the Word!
In another first, the two-minute Welcome Home video can be viewed on YouTube, the popular video-sharing Web site. Please view the complete video on the Touchstone Energy channel at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbmwPyx7Wrs
Touchstone Energy encourages all brand leaders to view and rate the video on YouTube and share it with as many family and friends as possible.
Through the powerful reach of the cooperative network, the hope is that thousands of consumers all across America will be drawn to the video. The more consumers that view the video at the link above, the greater the chance the video will win "front page" positioning on the YouTube Web site, where millions may see it.
In the coming weeks, all Touchstone Energy cooperatives will receive a DVD copy of Welcome Home, containing both the two-minute video and 60-second TV spot. Touchstone Energy Regional Representatives will receive Beta SP copies. Both the video and the 60-second TV spot are available with blue ending slates, ready for local co-op tagging.
For more information on Touchstone Energy’s Annual Meeting, see below.
Annual Meeting Showcases Brand Leaders, New Resources… and Celebrity Sightings
Touchstone Energy combined the best of the brand and the best of Las Vegas during its 2007 Annual Meeting, held on March 21. With Elvis Presley, Joan Rivers, Tina Turner and Rodney Dangerfield on hand to help spotlight brand resources, the meeting was a can’t-miss event.
Skip Strickland, chair of the Touchstone Energy board of directors, opening the meeting with a brief update on membership. With an all-time high of 640 members in 46 states, the brand is effectively drawing strength from its extensive membership to deliver powerful member benefit programs at a fraction of their actual costs, said Strickland.
Posing as members of the co-op audience, four celebrities (or their Las Vegas equivalents) helped Touchstone Energy COO Jim Bausell open up “Windows on America” video segments and show the audience ways co-ops around the country are utilizing Touchstone Energy resources.
Co-op Connections Card Adds Value with Pharmacy Discount
With a continuously growing roster of participating co-ops and national discounts, the Co-op Connections Card
gets more valuable every day, according to celebrity gossip queen Joan Rivers, and a video segment featuring Oklahoma co-ops and participating businesses.
A partnership with New Benefits, a nationally recognized provider of noninsured healthcare benefits, allows Co-op Connections cardholders to save money on prescription drugs at more than 48,000 pharmacies nationwide that participate with New Benefits. The benefit, while not a substitute for health insurance, helps make prescription drug coverage affordable for those without insurance. Cardholders can compare the discounts offered through the New Benefits/Co-op Connections card on a variety of drugs using a chart that details costs. To take advantage of the benefit, cardholders need only present their Co-op Connections card at participating pharmacies in retail locations such as Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Albertsons and Target.
New Application Helps Members Save on Energy Bills
Elvis Presley helped introduce a brand-new addition to Touchstone Energy’s residential energy efficiency portfolio: an interactive calculator that co-ops can customize and link to their Web site, similar to the online Home Energy Saver. Co-op members can enter the number of light bulbs in their home, click “calculate”, and within seconds, animated bags of gold will appear representing the amount of savings from switching from standard incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent ones. The light bulb calculator is the first of a planned series of interactive energy efficiency applications that co-ops can link to their Web sites. The customized version, which will allow co-ops to incorporate their individual rates, will be available in the coming weeks. Watch for the announcement and the download instructions. In the meantime, check out the standard version on the Touchstone Energy Web site.
SitesAcrossAmerica Helps Build Business
“How does SitesAcrossAmerica translate into economic development for Touchstone Energy co-ops around the country?” That was the question posed by Tina Turner from the audience. Bausell responded by opening another “Window on America,” which took attendees to North Carolina and various co-op sites that have been sold or leased on www.SitesAcrossAmerica.com.
Power & Hope Award Brings ‘Respect’ to Employees
Although Rodney Dangerfield famously gets “no respect,” he turned up to help show how Touchstone
Energy’s Power & Hope Employee Recognition program recognizes deserving co-op employees. The final “Window on America” opened on Swisher Electric in Tulia, Texas, and told the story of two linemen who came to the aid of a woman badly injured in a car accident. The two linemen, Santos Basaldua and Joe McDowell, who were present in the audience and recognized during the meeting, received the first-ever local Power & Hope Award.
Although the meeting was lively and drew laughter and applause, it concluded on an emotional and patriotic note, as Sergeant Travis Fitzgerald, U.S. Army, stepped forward to introduce the Welcome Home video (see above for details). Fitzgerald, whose father is an employee of Peace River Electric Cooperative in Florida, recently served with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. Fitzgerald received a stirring standing ovation from an audience of thousands.
Pictured above are Fitzgerald, the four celebrity guests, and Power & Hope Award winners Basaldua and McDowell and their wives.
For those who did not attend the event, video of the meeting can be found here on Cooperative.com.
Board Incumbents Reelected
The results of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives board election were announced March 21 at the Touchstone Energy Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. All incumbent candidates were returned for another three-year term. Re-elected to the board were:
- Whit Hollowell, CEO, Coastal Electric Cooperatve (Midway, Ga.)
- Max Meek, General Manger, Oklahoma Electric Cooperative (Norman, Okla.)
- Mike Sims, General Manager, Butler REC (Oxford, Ohio)
- Charles Castlebery, General Manager, Swisher Electric (Tulia, Texas)
- Doug Pryce, Director, United Power (Brighton, Colo.)
Congratulations!
Brand Champion Deadline Extended to April 2
Nominations for the 2007 Touchstone Energy Brand Champion Awards will now be accepted through April 2, 2007.
Created by the Touchstone Energy board of directors, the Brand Champion Award recognizes outstanding contributions and effectiveness by electric co-op CEOs, employees and directors in promoting the Touchstone Energy brand.
Nominees will be judged on:
- Leadership
- Effectiveness
- Innovation
- Consistency
The 2007 Brand Champions will be selected by the Touchstone Energy Cooperative Relations Advisory Committee, made up of representatives from member cooperatives across the country.
Up to 10 awards will be presented Thursday, May 17, at the Connect 2007 Conference in Miami. The attached nomination form should be submitted by April 2, 2007, to Erin Keogh at erin.keogh@nreca.coop.
For more information, contact either Erin or Ann Maggard at ann.maggard@nreca.coop or 703.907.5986.
Kinzer, Bolton Awarded Brand’s Highest Honor
The 2007 Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Distinguished Service Award, the brand’s highest honor, was presented March 21 to Char Kinzer, public relations manager at Crow Wing Power (Brainerd, Minn.), and Mark Bolton, vice president of marketing and member services of Coastal Electric Cooperative (Midway, Ga.) at the 2007 Touchstone Energy Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.
"I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to work with so many wonderful Touchstone Energy brand leaders throughout the country. Their inspiration is stimulating and contagious,” said Kinzer in receiving her award. “The power we've been able to harness under the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives umbrella is awesome.”
Bolton added during his acceptance, "Being a part of launching and building the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives brand has truly been the experience of a lifetime for me. I am humbled to have been selected for the award, but very grateful to have been able to serve."
The Distinguished Service Award is the most significant honor given by Touchstone Energy and is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the development, growth, and success of the Touchstone Energy brand.
Kinzer was instrumental to a local and then national launch of the Co-op Connections card, a retail discount card for members and employees offering local and national discounts. In 2002, Bolton’s ongoing efforts to build the brand captured national media attention with Coastal EC’s “Godspeed” advertising campaign, which honored soldiers deploying to Afghanistan.
“Char and Mark are shining examples of why the brand is as strong and successful as it is today,” said Jim Bausell, COO of Touchstone Energy. “Their leadership and tireless efforts on behalf of the Touchstone Energy brand have had an impact both in their local communities and on a national level.”
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives congratulate Char and Mark for demonstrating the brand’s four core values through their leadership.
Connect 2007: 47 Days and Counting!
The countdown is on for Connect 2007, scheduled for May 15-18 in Miami. Online registration is available through the conference Web site. The location and headquarters hotel for the conference, the Hyatt Regency Miami, is filling up fast. The cutoff date to receive the group rate ($169) is April 16, so don’t delay! Call 305.358.1234 for reservations. Because the Hyatt is close to being sold out, additional discounted rooms are available at the Courtyard Marriott Miami Downtown, which is across the street and around the corner from the Hyatt. The discounted room rate is $149, and the cutoff date is April 16. Call 305.374.3000 for reservations.
Touchstone Energy's Brand Leadership Summit will be held on May 15 as a Connect pre-conference. There is no charge to attend this event.
New Keynote Speaker Announced
Touchstone Energy is pleased to announce that Scott McKain will now serve as the keynote speaker during the Connect 2007 general session on Thursday, May 17. McKain is a highly successful business professional, broadcaster and author. He is a co-owner and vice chairman of Obsidian Enterprises, Inc.--a company he helped found just a few years ago that is now publicly traded and generates almost $100 million in annual revenue. He is also the co-founder and principal of The Value Added Institute, a think-tank that explores the role of the customer experience in creating lifelong client loyalty.
Scott has made multiple appearances as a commentator on FOX News Channel as well as other national, regional and local newscasts that seek his insights on business, politics and the American culture. In his earlier career as a broadcast journalist, two million people saw Scott’s commentaries each week on 80 television stations in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Scott's presentation wil delve into topics discussed in his newest book, What Customers REALLY Want: Bridging the Gap Between What Your Organization Offers and Your Customers Crave was released this year. In the book, McKain explores the six disconnections between companies and customers.
Spring Edition of EXTRA on its way to Co-ops
Brand managers at Touchstone Energy co-ops will soon receive a shipment of the spring edition of the
Touchstone Energy EXTRA, with enough copies for each co-op employee. The EXTRA is a great way to keep employees engaged and informed about the latest Touchstone Energy news. The EXTRA features stories about some of the brand’s newest initiatives, many of which were introduced during Touchstone Energy’s recent Annual Meeting. The current edition also contains a helpful 4-page pullout that details all of the resources available through the brand.
Additional copies of the EXTRA can be requested through Erin Keogh at 703.907.5572 or erin.keogh@nreca.coop.
North Carolina Co-ops Send Student-Athletes to Basketball Camp
The Touchstone Energy Sports Camps Scholarships, sponsored by North Carolina's Touchstone Energy cooperatives, are being offered to the Kay Yow Basketball Camp for female students in grades 6-8 and to the Roy Williams Basketball Camp for students grades 6-8.
These scholarships will send 27 deserving young women to the Kay Yow Basketball Camp at North Carolina State University and 27 deserving young men to the Roy Williams Basketball Camp at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This is the fourth year North Carolina's Touchstone Energy cooperatives have partnered with the Kay Yow camp and the second year of partnership with the Roy Williams camp.
Both camps will work closely with each camper to foster the development of fundamental skills and the Touchstone Energy core values of accountability, integrity, innovation and commitment to community that will help the young athletes perform and excel both on and off the court.
Quotable Quotes
“..Touchstone Energy is not just something you join, it’s something you and your team become. Every survey available shows us that this brand is working. And it’s working because you bring to it the best of everything.”
-Jim Bausell, COO of Touchstone Energy, at the Touchstone Energy Annual Meeting in Las Vegas
“You know with these energy efficiency programs from Touchstone Energy, I believe this whole city could save hunk ‘o hunk ‘o burning energy bills.”
--Elvis Presley, at the Touchstone Energy Annual Meeting
“I am so touched by how this card brings a sense of belonging to people. Really, the only club I belong to is the Desperate Housewives Club... I want to be a Co-op Connections Card holder! I want to belong! I’m going to go out and find a card right now!”
--Joan Rivers, at the Touchstone Energy Annual Meeting
Editor, Erin Keogh
erin.keogh@nreca.coop
703.907.5572