November 2007
Special Holiday Deals Available With Co-op Connections Card
NET2008 Draws Major Interest from National Energy Managers
New Faces on the Touchstone Energy Staff
Call for Nominations: 2008 Distinguished Service Award
Touchstone Energy Announces Plans for New Patriotic Tribute
Home Energy Savings Guide Offers Limited-Time Customization
Start 2008 With the Co-op Connections Card
Upcoming Events and Web Conferences
Share Your Brand-Building Success Stories
Special Holiday Deals Available With Co-op Connections Card
Look no further than the Co-op Connections website for great gift ideas for colleagues, friends and family members. For a limited time, select national discount vendors will offer special holiday savings on gift items. A holiday banner highlighting the special deals adorns the front page of www.connections.coop and all local co-op landing pages.
Vermont Teddy Bear (see photo at left), PajamaGram and Calyx Flowers are all offering 15 percent off their festive gifts and will ship items directly to recipients. For the cooks out there, Omaha Steaks is offering 55 percent off their Ideal Gift Collection. Anna’s Gourmet Goodies has a holiday gift basket that includes customized packaging, perfect for key accounts, vendors or colleagues. For those into gadgets, XM Satellite Radio and TiVo are both offering deal packages to Co-op Connections participants. Sierra Trading Post has two special offers, including free shipping for orders over $75 or 15 percent off orders over $125. Visit the Co-op Connections website for complete details.
Don’t forget to promote the card to members and remind them of the great savings it
offers during the holiday shopping season. At right, United Cooperative Services (Cleburne, Texas) uses the season as a perfect occasion to launch the card to its membership.
The Co-op Connections website offers special savings year-round. For questions about these or any national discount offerings, contact Scott Bialick at 703.907.5627 or scott.bialick@nreca.coop.
NET2008 Draws Major Interest from National Energy Managers
The ninth annual New and Emerging Technologies (NET) Conference will offer more networking and learning opportunities than ever before, making this a can’t-miss event for co-op employees and their business customers. NET2008 has drawn unprecedented registration numbers from energy managers, including attendees from companies such as PepsiCo, Honda, Best Buy, JC Penney, TJX, Health South, Publix, Manitowoc Beverage, La Quinta, Harris Teeter and many more. Representatives from pipeline companies such as Conoco Phillips, Atlas Pipeline, Koch Pipeline, Kinder Morgan, NuStar Energy, Buckeye Partners and Enterprise are also on the roster of NET2008 registrants.
NET2008 takes place in Hilton Head, S.C., Jan. 30-31, 2008. Pre-conference events, including the Key Accounts Summit and a new Energy Managers Summit take place on Jan. 29. The agenda for the conference includes sessions addressing agribusiness, power supply, and co-op relationships with builders, developers and key accounts. The conference will provide plenty of opportunities for attendees to mingle with peers and customers during an evening reception at Hilton Head’s Harbourtown and post-conference fishing and golf outings.
A complete list of general and breakout sessions and speakers can be found online. Registration is also available through the NET2008 website. Contact Kathryn Momot at kathryn.momot@nreca.coop for more information.
New Faces on the Touchstone Energy Staff
Touchstone Energy is pleased to welcome two new additions to its national staff and to announce the promotion of veteran staff member Scott Bialick.
Alex Rosenberg (left) is a native of Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He recently returned to the D.C. area after spending several years working in Colorado. Alex will serve as a point of contact for Touchstone Energy co-ops and will provide administrative assistance to the entire Touchstone Energy team. Alex can be reached at 703.907.5742 or alex.rosenberg@nreca.coop.
Ryan Schoenike (right) is a native of Wauconda, Ill., and is a recent graduate of American University in Washington, D.C. During his time at AU, he focused his studies on renewable energy and spent a semester in China. Ryan will divide his time between the Touchstone Energy and C & I Business Development teams, providing support on member programs such as SitesAcrossAmerica.com and TouchstoneEnergySavers.com. He will also assist in coordinating the NET Conference and energy efficiency training classes for co-ops. Ryan is available at 703.907.5561 or ryan.schoenike@nreca.coop.
Scott Bialick, who has been a valued member of the Touchstone Energy team since Jan. 2006, was recently promoted to Program Specialist, Touchstone Energy Advertising & Partnership Marketing. In his new role, Scott will continue working on the Co-op Connections member benefit program but will begin overseeing card production and fulfillment processing. He will continue to support the advertising efforts of Touchstone Energy cooperatives by communicating the media placement strategy and devising a plan for TV, radio and print materials dissemination. Scott will also assist with the creation of new partnerships and development of supporting collateral.
Welcome Ryan and Alex, and congratulations Scott!
Call for Nominations: 2008 Distinguished Service Award
Nominations are being accepted for Touchstone Energy Cooperatives' highest honor, the Touchstone Energy Distinguished Service Award. The award is presented annually to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Touchstone Energy brand on a national level.
Nominations for the 2008 Distinguished Service Award must be submitted to Erin Keogh, Touchstone Energy communications and PR Advisor, by Jan. 11, 2008. Up to two awards will be presented at the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif., which will be held in conjunction with the NRECA Annual Meeting Feb. 25-27, 2008.
Please use the attached Nomination Form and Award Criteria. For more information, please contact Erin Keogh at 703.907.5572 or erin.keogh@nreca.coop.
Touchstone Energy Announces Plans for New Patriotic Tribute
In keeping with its annual tradition, Touchstone Energy will honor America's military with a patriotic video tribute, which will be made available to all cooperatives in early 2008 and debut at the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Annual Meeting in February. The video will feature a photo collage of co-op members, employees, family and friends, serving in uniform overseas.
Touchstone Energy national staff needs assistance from brand leaders in collecting these photos. Please contribute photos by e-mailing them to Erin Keogh at erin.keogh@nreca.coop.
The preferred file formats for photographs are .tif, .jpg, or .eps at a resolution of 300dpi. All photos should be saved with the name(s) of the person(s) in the photograph and which co-op they represent in the file name (example: TomSmith_IrwinEMC.tif).
Home Energy Savings Guide Offers Limited-Time Customization
The popular Home Energy Savings Guide—a handy brochure with easy tips for residential energy efficiency--is scheduled for a reprint in December. The new version will include updated photography as well as information about the new Touchstone Energy Savers (www.touchstoneenergysavers.com) and Touchstone Energy Kids Zone www.touchstoneenergykids.com websites.
The reprint offers co-ops an opportunity to have Home Energy Savings Guides custom-printed with their logos. Contact Kristine Jackson-DeJarnette, kristine.jackson@nreca.coop, 703.907.5633, for information on quantity and pricing.
Start 2008 With the Co-op Connections Card
Looking for a great way to deliver savings to members while building your co-op’s brand and identity at the same time? Plan to join the 138 Touchstone Energy co-ops already taking advantage of the Co-op Connections member benefit program during the upcoming card and key fob production run.
With tremendous participation from local businesses in co-op communities and over 50 national discount deals, nearly 10,000 businesses currently offer discounts to members of Touchstone Energy co-ops. With the recently added pharmacy benefit, co-ops are saving their members thousands of dollars per month on prescription drugs at more than 48,000 retail locations.
Orders for the first production run of the year are due January 25, 2008, and cards and key fobs are set to deliver in early May. The proposed pricing is available to help with the budgeting for your co-op’s launch. The order form for the production run will be made available in the next few weeks.
Learn more about this program by visiting the Co-op Connections section of the Touchstone Energy website. Contact Scott Bialick with questions about the program and production run at 703.907.5627 or scott.bialick@nreca.coop.
Upcoming Events and Web Conferences
2008 New and Emerging Technologies Conference (NET2008)
Jan. 30-31, 2008 Westin Hilton Head Island Resort, South Carolina
Pre-Conference events: Jan. 28-29
NRECA and Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Annual Meetings
Feb. 25-27, 2008
Anaheim Convention Center--Anaheim, California
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Annual Meeting: Feb. 26
Tech Advantage Expo: Feb. 22-25
2008 Connect Conference and Touchstone Energy Brand Leadership Summit
May 13-16, 2008
Hilton Portland and Executive Tower Hotel, Portland, Oregon
Brand Leadership Summit: May 12
National SitesAcrossAmerica.com Challenge
Sept. 4-Dec.4, 2007
In the Pipeline: Be in the Know About Your Top Oil and Gas Pipeline Customers (Web Conference)
December 5, 2007 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET (rescheduled from October 2)
Editor, Erin Keogh
erin.keogh@nreca.coop
703.907.5572