Next-Mark, LLC, a Sarasota marketing, communication and business strategy solutions company, has announced its expansion and opening of a new office facility. The newly built, two-story loft space at 32 South Osprey in downtown Sarasota will “serve as the hub for the next era of growth and innovation” for the firm, according to Joseph Grano, its founder and president. “This eclectic space,” he explained, “is reflective of both our breaking away from the constraints of traditional ad agencies and PR firms and our practice of taking an intuitive marketing approach.”

“At Next-Mark,” he continued, “we apply our core strengths of strategic marketing, targeted communication and business strategy through a network of highly talented professionals, whose experience, analytical skills and creativity can be uniquely combined to meet each client’s individual challenges.”

Grano believes Next-Mark differentiates itself from advertising agencies and public relations firms by this unique tailoring of services to the demands of the client. Through a series of discoveries and various in-depth analyses, Next-Mark is able to provide the best marketing and communications solutions to assist the organization, he stated. “This way, the client doesn’t just get what we have; they get what they need,” Grano said.

The five-year-old company, he explained, will continue to focus its work on nationally or internationally recognized brands and growing companies across a broad spectrum of categories, including healthcare, technology, marine products and tourism. With clients from Alaska to The Netherlands, its roster also includes a number of Sarasota companies such as The Rivolta Group (www.rivolta.com), a leading boat manufacturer and residential and commercial developer, peerVue (www.peervue.com), the nation’s leading healthcare quality improvement and communication system provider; and IPitomy (www.ipitomy.com), which designs and manufacturers IP telephony equipment for businesses.

Grano said the new location was designed to “create an innovative workspace for clients to meet and develop strategic direction and ideas.” The offices, he added, include a conference facility that will be equipped for focus groups and strategic-planning sessions, with closed-circuit technology to link experts from around the country to join in work sessions.

“Our ultimate goal,” he said, “is to create a welcoming environment that is less like an office and more like a retreat. We think that’s appropriate for both our geographical area
and the way people work today.”

Next-Mark LLC, a Sarasota marketing firm that has been in business since 2005, recently expanded its operations with a new office in downtown Sarasota, on Osprey Avenue.

Next-Mark is led by Joseph Grano, the company’s president and founder. Its client list includes several other Sarasota-based companies, including The Rivolta Group, peerVue, and IPitomy.

http://www.review.net/section/detail/next-mark-opens-new-office/

Shannon Cornwell will head media relations.
Next-Mark, LLC, a Sarasota marketing, communications and business strategy solutions company announces the appointment of Shannon Cornwell Welling as Communications Associate
focusing on media relations, video production and communications strategy.

Cornwell is a communications professional with expertise in all aspects of media. A graduate of the University of South Florida with a B.A. in Communication, she joins the Next-Mark from WWSB ABC-7 in Sarasota, where she was a reporter, photojournalist and on-air personality. Previously, Cornwell was an Emmy Award nominated associate producer in the Consumer Unit for WTVT Fox 13 in Tampa.

“Shannon will focus on all aspects of media relations, video production and communications strategy development,” said Joseph Grano, Next-Mark’s president and founder. “Shannon brings the expertise and experience our clients expect. She will be working with both trade and mass media throughout the US,” Grano added.

The Sarasota Young Professionals Group (YPG) and The HuB are co-hosting the YPG Annual Conference and SUM+ Conference, a creative, collaborative event that brings leading creative thinkers together to discuss Sarasota’s economic, social and political future. The event takes place Friday, June 17, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota, and is open to local professionals. A select group of area leaders will be invited to participate as collaborators in special break-out sessions to develop innovative solutions to some of the area’s most pressing issues. “SUM+ is a totally unique concept,” says Frank Maggio, Chair Elect for the YPG. “Instead of simply discussing the challenges that face Sarasota, we’re coming together with some of the best and brightest minds in the community to generate out-of-the-box solutions.” Community leaders and young professionals from different backgrounds, industries and perspectives will go through a series of creative exercises that stimulate new ideas and solutions. At the end of the day, each group will deliver a presentation on their respective topics and the results of their discussion. The goal of SUM+ is to prove that the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts. SUM+ Topics will include downtown economic development, homelessness and its impact on the community, the role of area colleges, local festivals to drive tourism and improving voter turnout. The event’s keynote speakers are Steve Shenbaum, Head of Communications Training at IMG Academies, and Joe Grano, President of Next-Mark, who will cover topics such as communication, teamwork, marketing, presentation skills and leadership – all the tools necessary to succeed in today’s business and social environment. Ticket prices are as follows: • $90 Full-Day SUM+ Collaborator • Conference Only: $40 with YPG Member Discount, $55 Non-Member Event sponsors include: Michael Saunders & Company, The HuB, Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota Young Professionals Group, Grapevine Communications Advertising Agency, Ludwig-Walpole Insurance, Mattison’s, Hyatt Regency Sarasota, and G.Wiz- The Science Museum. About the Sarasota Young Professionals Group The Young Professionals Group is committed to fostering economic development and the revitalization of the Sarasota area. Its members include up-and-coming leaders in real estate, banking, law, education, tourism, healthcare, finance and marketing. The YPG’s mission is to create a platform for its members to build relationships, develop professionally, become politically and philanthropically active, and contribute to the economic development and high quality living of the community. About The HuB The HuB is a creative incubator based in Sarasota’s Rosemary District and co-founded by Matt Orr and Rich Swier, Jr. The group connects with entrepreneurs, artists, professionals and government leaders in the community to find new solutions to current challenges. Its mission is to bring a new energy to the creative class in Sarasota.

http://www.review.net/events/detail/sum-conference/

This weekend Sarasota businessman Joe Grano will be watching Florida State University students using a new mobile phone app he hopes will catch on and be the next technology success.

Yoddle, a GPS-based social networking app, will be introduced on the college campus by college reps who will work with groups like fraternities and sororities to demonstrate how to create “scenes” and “meetups” with their friends and acquaintances. University of Florida students will test out the app in a few weeks, Grano said.

Two developers of the software app approached Grano, president and founder of Next-Mark, a marketing solutions company, about investing and promoting the product.

“We were able to do all the branding and communications around it,” Grano said.

Part of the promotion were viral film projects, where a winning filmmaker would receive $5,000 by creating a video buzz for Yoddle.

Ironically, the winner was a Sarasota company, Mars Vision Production, that crafted a 90-second film showing off the social networking aspect of Yoddle via an alpine-looking character partying at the World of Beer on University Parkway.

“I was the director and I nailed it,” said Mark Palmer, owner of the independent film company. “We created a character that was bizarre and memorable. He’s the coolest yoddler ever.”

The yoddler was played by Dylan Jones, a freelance actor from Bradenton.

Private investors — including some from Bradenton — are supplying the six-figure funding for Yoddle along with Grano.

He is hoping the innovative approach to social networking will boost Yoddle’s use.

“This is real-time communication,” Grano said, explaining that the popular networking foursquare app is more of a “snapshot of one point in time.

“Ours is about a community conversation that is going on,” he said.

The mobile app is now available for free downloads on the Apple app store. There also is a vernacular associated with Yoddle, that was part of its marketability, Grano said.

“That was critical,” he said.

GPS-social networking apps have been popular for the past few years, said Mark Zeitler, chief technology officer and partner of Accrisoft Corp. in Sarasota.

He wasn’t familiar with Yoddle but said “there are so many competing applications, there has to be a compelling reason to use it.”

People, particularly the young, enjoy having a mobile social component either for dating purposes or meeting up with people who have similar interests, he said.

“The whole idea of social networking is the future,” Zeitler said. “There are still millions to be made in it.”

Yoddle is expected to be available for Android phones in the near future and eventually even PCs, Grano said.

http://www.bradenton.com/2011/10/20/3580430/sarasota-company-yoddle-hopes.html

The burgeoning iPhone and smartphone application industry generates roughly 600 new offerings a day, some estimate. That’s more than 217,000 a year.

The frenzied competition, though, doesn’t daunt Joe Grano and his team at Sarasota-based Next-Mark, a marketing and business strategy firm that recently entered the app market. “You have to have something that people will integrate into their daily life,” says Grano.

For Grano, integration lies in Yoddle. Pronounced like “yodel,” it’s a new social networking app that uses GPS-based location mapping to create real-time scenes for users, both strangers and friends, to connect.

The “scenes” could be college fraternity parties, high school football games or lunch at a busy restaurant. Once a user is on the Yoddle network, he can communicate in real-time with other users, via texts and pictures. For example, people at a concert can check in with each other on Yoddle and chat online about the music, or where they will meet up after the show. Scenes can be public or private.

But Grano and Next-Mark Marketing Associate Ross McLeod insist Yoddle isn’t Foursquare, the popular app that lets users check in at their location. Foursquare, says Grano, doesn’t have the layers of communication options Yoddle has.

The Yoddle app, which launched in October, is free. The business model is to eventually sell ads to businesses that want to get in the scene, say bars or nightclubs. “We’re not in a rush,” to make money, says Grano. “We have to get our users down first. This isn’t a quick buck.”

http://www.review.net/special-sections/detail/creative-destructors/#top