NOWA will have a table at the Somerset County Business Partnership at the Bridgewater Marriott on June 17th. Come by and visit us.

Frank Peluso was interviewed on the Real Life Adventures Show on WDVR 89.7 FM hosted by Chris Phelan, of the Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce, who was filling in for Rita Cleary. The topic was Photography Past, Present and Future and how Frank has managed to stay successfully self employed for 40 years in a field that has gone through difficult and evolutionary changes.

J.R. Bale of Balefire Communications LLC is writing a business plan, catalog and brochure for a new nursing school that is scheduled to open later this year.

Melanie Davis helped launch myclothingcalendar.com, an online wardrobe management by writing the website copy and testing site functionality.

Marketing materials recently designed by Harvey Barry of VisionWorks Unlimited have won Jersey Awards from the New Jersey Ad Club. Projects include the 100th anniversary logo for the NJ League of Community Bankers, as well as a train station poster for Millington Savings Bank.

For the second year in a row, Melanie Davis wrote a series of flyers posted during contract negotiations for an upscale New Jersey hotel. The management used the flyers to balance union updates regarding the corporation's contract offers and willingness to negotiate.

J.R. Bale was invited to teach a course in Intercultural Communications at Middlesex County College.

Melanie Davis gave three presentations this year on branding and marketingskills:

• "Professional Opportunities in Sexuality in Mid and Later Life: How to Expand Your Repertoire" at the 40th annual conference of the American Association of Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists. Melanie provided advice on how to market a new specialty.
• "Branding 101: Getting Your Name on Everyone's Lips," for the 2008 Careers in Sexuality: Widener University Professional Skills Conference.
• "Building Your Brand: How to Get Noticed and Grow Your Practice," for the 40th annual conference of the American Association of Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists.

Melanie Davis delivered a lecture titled, "This Will Only Hurt a Little: Taking the Pain out of Talking about Sex" for the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's highly regarded Human Sexuality Program.

Melanie Davis wrote an 8-part series of full-page newspaper ads for Ocean Medical Center. Each ad featured the chief of a different medical specialty.

Melanie Davis wrote an economic development piece titled, "New Jersey: Where Business Moves" for PSE&G's Area Development LLC.

Three NOWA members assisted author Steve Vogel with his new self-help book, Take Control of Your Life. Vivian Fransen and Peggy Gallos helped with editing and proofreading, while J.R. Bale designed the book cover.

Melanie Davis has been retained by a New Jersey education foundation to develop and implement a three-year, $1 million fund drive that will create a self-sustaining endowment for educational grants. She is also using her marketing communications skills to raise $1.25 million within 14 months to fund a community's synthetic turf field.

NOWA members Harvey Barry and Melanie Davis were two of the five presenters at a day-long seminar titled, "Revelations, Resources & Results: Increasing Profitability through Targeted, Integrated Marketing."

J.R. Bale was asked to do on-camera interviews for the Merck-United Negro College Fund Science Intiative. J.R. interviewed African-American Science Fellows about the their views on science, the UNCF and opportunities for American-American scientists in the pharmaceutical industry.

JASPRAA (Jersey Shore Public Relations and Advertising Association) has awarded the coveted gold medal for direct mail to Frank Peluso's company Team One Guerrilla Marketing. The winning piece was their new business development mailer dubbed "Marketing is Like War."

Field segments of Martha Stewart Living produced by Judy Minot air in September and October:

• Sept 17 - Martha Stewart Living Company Barbeque
• Oct 6 - Wedding Dress Preservation with Jonathan Scheer
• Oct 13 - Baseball Exhibit at American Folk Art Museum

Bob Baker has been asked to write a series of columns for the Courier News.

Jody Jacobus was one of only 35 artisans selected to participate in the "2003 Mansion In May". The popular designer showcase is held every two to three years in a Bernardsville area estate. "Mansion in May" is the largest fund raising vehicle of the Women's Association of Morristown Memorial Hospital. This year's proceeds will benefit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.

In December, Peggy Gallos began working with a firm that provides marketing communications expertise for medical products companies. Thus far, Peg has provided service to the firm in the naming of a new medical device, writing copy for an institutional print ad and developing tag lines for an overall marketing campaign. Meanwhile, for a New Jersey professional organization, Peg is writing an article about hydrographic surveying. And, in an entirely different realm, Peg is assisting the Roger Atkinson Ballet Center of Frenchtown publicize its summer dance camps for children.

J.R. Bale completed a series of three advertorials for the SMA Foundation, which ran in Roll Call, Congress Daily and The Hill. These ads triggered calls of support for the SMA Foundation from key Washington lawmakers, including the White House Office of Domestic Policy.

Robert Baker wrote a trade magazine article about high-moisture vapor transmission medical adhesives, which National Starch and Chemical Company has invented. "This sounds esoteric, but it actually impacts pretty much everyone who might ever need a wound care bandage. If the bandage material doesn't transmit moisture, it can build up underneath and prevent the wound from healing. If the bandage material transmits moisture, but the adhesive used to adhere it to the skin doesn't, you have a problem," explains Bob.

Bob Seeley just had an article published in P-O-P Design on lenticular technology. Some amazing things are happening in the Point-of-Purchase world today. Displays that used to just sit there and look attractive are now changing their appearance as consumers walk past them. And that photograph of the clerk behind the counter? Now it's in 3D and the counter actually appears to be physically out in front of her. In some cases, 3D images actually appear to move! Want to know how this works? Find out by reading Bob's recent article in P-O-P Design.

Peggy Gallos has just completed a 1200-word article about the new generation of electronic lighting controls available for homes. The article will be published in Electronic House magazine later this year.

November 2002

Copywriter Melanie Davis has been retained by a prominent East Coast communications firm to write website copy for Treasury Direct, a new program offered by the U.S. Dept. of Treasury.

October 2002

Peggy Gallos is currently working on an article about lighting controls for the home that will appear in This Old House magazine.

Melanie Davis was brought in by an ad agency to write copy promoting a radiopharmaceutical drug used to treat bone cancer pain. In addition, she has written several articles for New Jersey Savvy Living magazine's fall 2002 and winter 2003 issues.

August 2002

Photographer Frank Peluso and copywriter Melanie Davis were judges for the 2002 JASPER Awards, sponsored by the Jersey Shore Public Relations and Advertising Association. They both judged several Print Material categories, and Frank also judged Branding & Stationery, Magazine Advertising and the Stroke of Genius Category. Melanie also judged Excellence in Writing, Media Relations, Public Relations Effort and Electronic Communications.

June 2002

J.R.Bale created the IVOMEC "Think Again" campaign for Merial, who feel the advertising contributed to a 5% increase in sales.

May 2002

Tracy Ecclesine Ivie presented the May program for the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners—Hunterdon & Somerset Chapters. Her topic was "How to Get Your Name in the Paper Before You Die.

January 2002

Merial named J.R. Bale's Balefire Communications LLC as their agency-of-record for the IVOMEC® brand products. Merial is the world's largest animal health company.