BUILDING A BRAND THAT MATTERS - Henderson-based Zappos.com has become a company that others watch.  It made Fortune Magazine’s list of the “Best Companies To Work For” in 2009.  What’s behind the success?  Get tips from Zappos executive Jaime Naughton at the Roundtable held on September 3, 2009 at The Las Vegas Country Club, 3000 Joe W. Brown Drive.  Admission is $35.00 with RSVP, $45.00 at the door.  No shows will be billed.  Check-in and networking: 11:30 am – Program and lunch 12:00 to 1:00.

About Vanguard Media Group
Vanguard Media Group is a full service strategic communications firm with 40 employees across three states and four markets.  The firm offers branding, advertising, marketing, public relations and technology services. Vanguard Media Group’s Las Vegas office is located at 6785 South Eastern Avenue, Suite 5 Las Vegas, NV. For more information, please contact 702.383.4002 or visit www.vanguardmediagrp.com.

Las Vegas — Vanguard Media Group has been retained by Goodwill of Southern Nevada to help promote its Career Connections program. Vanguard will help Goodwill execute a complex media buying strategy over the next few months. Career Connections offers free job placement services to both employers and candidates.

Vanguard Media Group is a full service advertising, marketing and public relations agency with offices in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Boise. The Goodwill account will be handled by Joe Stella, Vanguard’s Senior Account Executive.

[LAS VEGAS, Nev.] – June 1, 2009 – Vanguard Media Group, a full service strategic communications firm, is proud to announce the addition of Joe Stella, Senior Account Executive. Stella joins the Vanguard team with more than 22 years of media and marketing experience. Joe is known within the advertising industry as a “media buying and planning guru.” He most recently served as the Marketing Director at Tower of Jewels. He has handled the media planning and placement for local accounts such as University Medical Center, Lake Las Vegas, The Mirage, Bellagio and The Boulevard Mall. Stella started his career in New York City, working in the media departments at several top 5 international advertising agencies. Stella will be an important asset to Vanguard’s success, offering unique advertising presentations and developing creative marketing strategies for a variety of clients. About Vanguard Media Group Vanguard Media Group is a full service strategic communications firm with 40 employees across three states and four markets.  The firm offers branding, advertising, marketing, public relations and technology services. Vanguard Media Group’s Las Vegas office is located at 6785 South Eastern Avenue, Suite 5 Las Vegas, NV. For more information, please contact 702.383.4002 or visit www.vanguardmediagrp.com. ###

New reports highlight a growing problem with commercial foreclosures. The situation is only expected to get worse. In fact, it may not peak until 2010. We have assembled a panel of experts to talk about commercial foreclosures. Is restructuring a viable option? Find out about the legal and tax ramifications of doing so. It’s estimated that more than 25 percent of the Valley’s commercial properties are in default or foreclosure. One report ranks Las Vegas second only to New York when it comes to troubled commercial properties. It’s a problem that hasn’t received a lot of attention--until now. What does it mean for Las Vegas companies? Find out at our Development Roundtable on June 11, 2009. Presented by Vanguard Media Group with sponsors Las Vegas Business Press and Henderson Chamber of Commerce the June 11 Development Roundtable will bring focus to what’s happening with the Valley’s commercial real estate market. For more information or to RSVP contact Vanguard Media Group at rsvp@vanmedia.com or 702.383.4002

[LAS VEGAS, Nev.] – April 7, 2009 – Vanguard Media Group, a full service strategic communications firm, is proud to announce the addition of Suzanne Dunn as Account Manager.

Dunn joined the Vanguard team bringing with her more than 15 years of media experience. Most recently, she produced health stories for Las Vegas’ NBC affiliate KVBC Channel Three. Before moving to Las Vegas, Suzanne worked at television stations in Chicago; St. Louis and Detroit. She also wrote for a newspaper in Florida. Dunn has previously won two Emmy Awards and an Electronic Media Award.

Dunn graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She will be an integral part of the firm’s success, offering her creativity, expertise, energy and optimistic outlook.

About Vanguard Media Group:
Vanguard Media Group is a full service strategic communications firm with 40 employees across three states and four markets. The firm offers branding, advertising, marketing, public relations and technology services. Vanguard Media Group’s Las Vegas office is located at 6785 South Eastern Avenue, Suite 5 Las Vegas, NV. For more information, please contact 702.383.4002 or visit www.vanguardmediagrp.com.

Vanguard Media Group was recently named Best PR-Legal Counsel Team by PRNews. The award was presented to Vanguard Media Group by PR News last week at a special awards ceremony which took place at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.. The award honors the PR activities demonstrated by Vanguard Media Group for its continued public relations efforts with the law firm of Holland & Hart, LLP.

Holland & Hart, LLP, the largest firm based in the Rocky Mountains, joined forces with Hale Lane last summer. Vanguard Media Group has worked diligently with Holland and Hart to make certain any attention the merger was receiving would remain positive. Additionally, since the merger, Vanguard Media Group has worked to put the Holland & Hart name in the forefront of the business community when thinking about Law Firms.

Vanguard Media Group, one of the leading communications and advertising firms in the west, announces that partner Shannon Hiller has been appointed to the Special Olympics Nevada Advisory Board.

The Special Olympics Advisory Board is comprised of community leaders with various personal and professional backgrounds from throughout the valley.  The duties of the Advisory Board include planning, outreach and recruitment for local fundraising efforts and sporting events.

“It’s an honor to be chosen as a member of the Special Olympics Nevada Advisory Board,” said Hiller.  “My experience with publicity and advertising will be put to good use – I want everyone to be aware of the wonderful programs Special Olympics Nevada has to offer this community.”

Hiller is extremely active in the Las Vegas business community and is currently serving on the Board of Advisors for the Las Vegas Boy Scouts, Technology Business Alliance of Nevada, the Las Vegas chapter of PRSA and the Brigham Young University Management Society.

[LAS VEGAS, Nev.] October 7, 2007 – Vanguard Media Group, one of the West’s leading public relations and advertising firms, has recently been appointed the agency of record for The Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Development’s 2009 Governor’s Cup Business Plan Competition and Three Key Years Preschool Program.

For the third year, Vanguard Media Group will be promoting The NCET Governor’s Cup in Nevada. The Collegiate Business Plan competition is open to all Nevada college and university students. Students can compete in groups of one to five people and are comprised of all academic disciplines.  Undergraduate and graduates student have separate competitions and compete for more than $200,000 in cash prizes.  Last year 44 teams, representing virtually every Nevada College and university, entered the competition.

The Three Key Years preschool program provides free half-day preschool education for at-risk children between the ages of three and five years old. Three Key Years is the organization formerly known as Classroom on Wheels, the successful mobile learning centers that served the valley for the last fifteen years. Three Key Years now maintains permanent locations and provides educational resources during the most important period in children’s lives’ because a child’s brain develops most crucially during first three to five years. The programs will help children with personal, social, and emotional development, as well as communication skills, creative and aesthetic development, physical development, and mathematical awareness.

About Vanguard Media Group
Vanguard Media Group is a full service strategic communications firm with 40 employees across four states. The firm offers branding, advertising, marketing, public relations and technology services. Vanguard Media Group’s Las Vegas office is located at 6785 S. Eastern, Suite 5, Las Vegas, NV. For more information, please contact 702.383.4002 or visit www.vanguardmediagrp.com.

Vanguard Media Group is sponsoring Westminster College's MBA Power Lunch Series. This is a series of high-powered talks presented at the Alta Club in Salt Lake City. For more information or to inquire as to how you can attend, please contact Vanguard Media Group at 801-531-0244.

The first speaker is Alan Hall. His topic is Entrepreneurism.

The second speaker will be Andrew Harding, President & CEO of Kennecott Utah Copper. He will speak on the Environment.

The third speaker will be Gary Zimmerman, Chief Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank. He will discuss Issues in Capital Markets.

The MBA Power Lunch Series Sponsored by Vanguard Media Group will then resume after the winter holiday.

Vanguard Media Group hosts Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman at Development Roundtable on September 4, 2008. Read the ad.

Vanguard Media Group is throwing parties this Friday - one in Las Vegas and one in Salt Lake City. The Las Vegas party will celebrate our new and permanent office space. In Salt Lake City, we are raising money for the 4th Street Clinic, a medical center for the city's homeless population. Download the flyers for the Las Vegas and Salt Lake City events:

• Las Vegas
• Salt Lake City 

Update: The Las Vegas office opened successfully and with much joy. In Salt Lake City, we raised $2,000 and garnished television exposure for the 4th Street Clinic.

Vanguard Media Group will be the presenting sponsor of Westminster College's acclaimed MBA Power Lunch Series held at the Alta Club in Salt Lake City. For more information on the MBA Power Lunch Series, contact Vanguard Media Group at 801-531-0244. 

Vanguard Media Group and XMission have teamed up to support the remote broadcast capabilities of local, community-based Internet radio station, Utah Free Media (utahfm.org). The contribution will go toward the furthering of Utah's artistic community, with the station serving as a means for local musicians, radio playwrights and other artists to have a voice on radio. The station was launched on May 12, 2008, and currently broadcasts live music each day via the Internet, at www.utahfm.org.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Spy Hop Productions 2008 Annual Benefit will be held Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in The Jeanné Wagner Theatre from 6:30–9:30 PM.    The evening’s program begins promptly at 6:30 PM.

As Spy Hop Productions single fundraising event, the Annual Benefit is a unique occasion to support Spy Hop Productions four core programs: Pitch-Nic Young Writer and Director Program; Youth Documentary Arts Program (YDAP); Media Apprenticeship Program (MAP); and, Loud & Clear Youth Radio.  By supporting Spy Hop you are creating opportunities for more than 700 youth each year from all over the Wasatch community to learn, engage and grow with classes in film, music and web/graphic design.  

The evening begins on stage where guests will visit program booths, meet and interact with Spy Hop students and mentors, then take their seats for a live performance and presentation of a collection of Spy Hop’s best work.  Guests are encouraged to enjoy festive food and libations throughout the evening.  Immediately following the presentation is Spy Hop’s one-of-a-kind Auction led by Master of Ceremonies, Doug Fabrizio, Executive Producer and Host of KUER’s RadioWest.

The auction itself is an entirely unconventional experience – line items are all intangibles: a Documentary Arts scholarship for a potential student; “Executive Producer” credits on a Pitch-Nic film; or, underwriting for a radio program, among others.  There is no limit to how much or what a person can bid on, and all of the money raised goes to supporting the programs and services Spy Hop Productions provides our youth and community.  

Founded in 1999, Spy Hop is now recognized as a vital local resource and praised nationally as setting the standard for media learning in the country.  Spy Hop’s unparalleled learning opportunities continue to inspire youth from diverse backgrounds to think creatively, communicate effectively, and work collaboratively on a multitude of media projects. Whether working on a video about drug and alcohol abuse, a promotional reel about environmental conservation, a documentary about youth gang activity, or broadcasting commentary about the preservation of cultural identity, Salt Lake City’s youth are given a safe platform to explore a variety of topics which empowers them to be critical consumers, active producers of media, and engaged citizens.  

Master of Ceremonies and award-winning journalist, Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER 90.9 FM since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. He is host and Executive Producer of RadioWest, and of the television broadcast Utah Now on KUED Channel 7. 

Spy Hop Productions is a not-for-profit youth media arts and education center whose purpose is to empower youth to express their voice and with it create positive change in their lives, their community, and the world.

Our mission is to encourage free expression, self-discovery, critical and inventive thinking, and skilled participation via the big screen, the airwaves, and the world-wide-web.

Spy Hop Productions would like to thank its
Annual Benefit Sponsors

Producing Sponsor
City Weekly

Contributing Sponsors
Zoo, Arts & Parks of Salt Lake County
Bonneville International & KSL TV5
Art Institute of Salt Lake
Infinite Scale
KUER 90.1 FM/HD

Supporting Sponsors
Utah Film Commission
Zions Bank
Jones Waldo
CBIZ
XMission
Vanguard Media Group
adnews
Red Rock Brewery
Xpedx
Fiji Water
 
Special thanks also to
 Lortsher & Vlasic Catering & Events, Molding Box Technologies,
in Utah this week & Patrick Reddish

Join Vanguard Media Group to discuss healthcare in Las Vegas.  Read the ad.

With health care costs rising and obesity rates climbing, promoting healthy lifestyles is becoming an increasingly important part of Utah’s corporate community. With that in mind, Utah Business magazine launched its first annual Fittest Execs program, which put the state’s top business executives in a head-to-head physical fitness competition, sponsored by Gold’s Gym and Intermountain Health and Fitness Institute at LDS Hospital.

Each participating exec was put through a grueling physical fitness exam by experts at the Health and Fitness Institute. The exam tested the exec’s endurance, strength, agility and flexibility.

Proving they’ve got what it takes, the four Fittest Execs are Bill Cutting, director of brand strategy and partner of Vanguard Media Group; Joe Morton, co-founder and president of international and distributor relations at XanGo; Melanie Hamilton, president and CEO of Hamilton Insurance Associates, Inc. and Deborah Eppstein, president and CEO of Q Therapeutics. They, along with 21 other top execs, were recognized during the Salt Lake Chamber’s Business to Business Expo Thursday. In a previous interview, the top four execs were given the opportunity to share what keeps them off the couch.

“There is no cramming for an Ironman,” said Morton. “I am driven to do my best. I cannot put my head down on my pillow at night without having worked out.”

Cutting, who is a competitive cyclist, said that he thinks physical challenge is a metaphor for personal challenge. “If you can push yourself through physical discomfort, you can push yourself through life and all its stresses.”

Hamilton said that staying fit has helped keep her body and mind in shape. “Working out helps me stay centered and present…It helps me be the best I can be.”

Eppstein enjoys competing in triathlons and keeps in shape by swimming, jogging and lifting weights. “I never feel as energetic during the day if I don’t exercise, and knowing this motivates me to get out of bed and do something active.”

Mark Fuller, four-time Olympian and area manager of Gold’s Gym said that he hopes to see more executives hitting the gym. “More than 60 percent of males in Utah are overweight or obese and more than 50 percent of women fall into that same category,” said Fuller. “Businesses need to change their environment and challenge their employees to get moving.”

Utah’s 25 top fittest execs are:

Bill Cutting
Melanie Hamilton
Joe Morton
Lon Jenkins
Brent Bingham
Logan Harris
Scott Rice
Doug White
Paul Shoemaker
Matthew Godfrey
Robert Parker
Jamie Scherer
Dan Cookson
Howard Hanneman
Keith Norris
David Colling
Kurt Bishop
Matthew Neve
Deborah Eppstein
Martin Frey
Pete Ashdown
Scott Ogden
Michael Bills
Michael Dunn
Jared Pollister

The top four Fittest Execs will be profiled in Utah Business magazine’s May issue.

Read more...

Join Vanguard Media Group to discuss transportation trends in Southern Nevada. Read the ad.

The MBA Power Lunch Series
Presented by Vanguard Media Group

Featured Speaker:
Mimi Silbert, PhD
President & Founder
Delancey Street Foundation

Tuesday, February 5 th , 2008
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Lunch served
The Alta Club

Please join us in a rare opportunity to host world renowned social entrepreneur, Dr. Mimi Silbert, who has made appearances on Oprah, Good Morning America and 20/20 Dr. Mimi Silbert serves as the President, Chairman of the Board, and CEO of the Delancey Street Foundation. Although Delancey Street is her primary work, Silbert is also a recognized national expert in criminal justice. As a result of her pioneering work, Silbert has received numerous awards including 9 honorary doctorate degrees. She has also been honored by police, professional, and community groups with many national awards accompanying her career. The Delancey Street Foundation was founded in 1971 as a residential education center where drug addicts, criminals and the homeless learn to lead productive, crime-free lives. It has been called the most successful rehabilitation project in the world. The foundation runs 20 businesses, including the Delancey Street Restaurant and Café and the Delancey Street Moving Company. The Delancey Street Foundation has empowered more than 14,000 people to lead crime-free, drug-free lives in mainstream society.

Parking : Please park across the street in the Alta Club parking lot on South Temple. Park by 11:20 am.
Dress Attire: Business formal
RSVP : Please RSVP to Cindy Kindred. Register quickly,
seating is limited.

Please be on time. Lunch is served promptly at 11:30 am
Seating is very limited. An RSVP is required to secure your seat.

Vanguard Media Group announced its sponsorship for eWeek 2008 and the Entrepreneur Expo hosted by the Nevada Commission on Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET).

Vanguard Media Group is a full service public relations firm committed to improving and strengthening our clients’ businesses and organizations through brand strategy, marketing, public relations, advertising, and interactive services.  Shannon Hiller, Partner in the Las Vegas office, will be participating as a speaker at the expo providing insight and advice for entrepreneurs and business owners about the powerful effect of PR and the role that publicity plays in the startup of any business venture.

“Public relations is a key element of any successful business plan and I am excited to be a part of this great expo that will provide valuable advice and information to aspiring entrepreneurs,” said Hiller.  “The communities we live and thrive in depend on economic prosperity and NCET’s Entrepreneur Expo helps support and foster that mission.”

The Nevada Commission on Entrepreneurship and Technology is hosting eWeek in both northern and southern Nevada as a way to celebrate Nevada’s entrepreneurial spirit by offering help, and advice to entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs.   The expo will welcome exhibitors, speakers and discussion panels designed to provide attendees with information about starting or growing a small business.  The expo is expected to host between 50 and 75 exhibitors who mainly provide services to small businesses, and draw approximately 1,000 expo attendees.

“It takes a lot of careful planning and research to get a business off the ground,” says NCET CEO Dave Archer. “Entrepreneur Expo is our way of saying, ‘bring your ideas, your enthusiasm and your drive, and we’ll help take care of all the other details.”

NCET’s Las Vegas eWeek is planned for the week of February 23 - March 2.  The week will be filled with various events targeted towards small business and culminate with the Entrepreneur Expo on Saturday, March 1 at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino.  There is no cost for the events, so whether attendees are thinking about starting a business or looking for ways to improve their current business, eWeek events and the Entrepreneur Expo will provide everyone with invaluable professional advice and resources.  For more information visit the eWeek website at http://www.eweeknevada.com/.

LAS VEGAS--With a constant eye toward improving downtown, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman gave his usual unfiltered assessment of the state of the city to a group of business leaders at a recent luncheon.

"You're going to be so impressed with Las Vegas," the flamboyant Goodman said about recent development announcements, including a sports stadium, a music hall and multiple condominium projects. "Your friends will say they never thought Las Vegas could get to this level. It's going to be iconic. World-class performing."

With a twinkle in his eye, the former mob lawyer came out swinging as he shot down detractors during his address to more than 100 people at Lawry's The Prime Rib. The event was part of Vanguard Media Group's quarterly Development Roundtable. The Las Vegas Business Press co-sponsors the events.

Goodman jabbed at elderly residents whom he described as unreasonably demanding -- many desire improved city services but are unwilling to pay extra for them.

"They're older," he said. "They figure they've already paid all they need to. But you can't have it both ways -- you can't have great things for the city without paying for them."

The mayor said he backs a broad-based tax on businesses to pay for future expansion of government services, and that continuing to rely on increasing taxes on casinos is akin to killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

Goodman also took the local housing industry to task for the subprime mortgage crisis. He said the industry is "in the toilet."

However, Goodman believes the subprime troubles will eventually pass.

"We did it to ourselves," he said. "We were greedy and selfish and giving it away and we created our own problem."

The mayor, who lately is credited with helping acquire 61 acres of urban real estate for the city without invoking eminent domain, said he sees a day when all the different local municipalities that make up the Las Vegas area can be combined into one mega metropolis.

If that doesn't happen, he warned, citywide communication will be as confusing as the "Tower of Babel" when downtown expands. All the different leaders and fire chiefs will be tripping over one another to communicate in a crisis, he said.

"It needs to be centralized, to be one of the most powerful megalopolises in the world," Goodman said.

A truly successful downtown, Goodman has said in numerous public comments, has to include thousands of units of new housing and have supermarkets within walking distance.

The development that is in the works will change Las Vegas so much it will seem like a different city, he said.

Developed on those acres will be Union Park, which will include the Lou Ruvo

Brain Institute, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. Gehry is noted for his work on Bass Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, among other projects.

Also in Union Park will be a 350,000 square-foot Smith Center for the Performing Arts, multiple high-rise residential units, and, as the mayor says in his literature, "business and retail opportunities."

Perhaps the biggest plan is to bring a professional sports team to Las Vegas and build them a stadium to play in. Goodman said a local casino owner has pledged to bring the team to town if the city provides the stadium. The operator, through a spokesperson, denied making the pledge. Either way, Goodman said the first entity to break ground on a stadium would likely get a sports team.

Vanguard Media Group is comprised of employees who are experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning. Jason Carlton, senior account executive and Candace Jones, account executive were both nominated for Young Professional of the Year as part of the 2007 Golden Spike Awards in Utah. Carlton was recently awarded the title of Young Professional of the Year in Utah, and was also selected as one of five national finalists in PR News’ 2007 PR People Awards for Account Executive of the Year.

“I am really honored to be selected from among so many great professionals here in Utah, and nationally,” said Carlton. “I am very passionate about what I do for my clients and it is great to see that the passion I have for the profession shows through my work.”

Vanguard Media Group is an integrated marketing communications firm, including consulting, account and design services. The creative department has earned numerous awards during the past decade for the high level of work they produce. As a collective group, the company’s mission of “bringing strategy to life” is evident in their work and conveyed through their continued growth locally and regionally, with offices in Nevada, Idaho and Oregon.

“We are successful because we believe in the messages we are developing for our clients; whether it is advertising, public relations, direct or interactive, all of us support the strategies of our clients,” said John Kindred, managing partner. “I am proud of Jason’s ability to consistently deliver results for our clients, and his recent recognition on a local and national level. His accomplishments provide our clients an insight into what Vanguard Media Group is all about: quality professionals and admirable service.”

View photo.