Category: Public Relations

Community invited to attend Dec. 14 event

Nashville, Tenn. – (December 13, 2010) – Remington College-Nashville Campus will hold an Open House to introduce prospective students to what the college has to offer.

Open House will be held on Tuesday, December 14 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the Remington College-Nashville Campus.

The public is invited to enjoy the activities and learn more about the educational programs offered by the campus. The Nashville campus is an accredited college, and programs include Associate’s Degrees in Criminal Justice and Dental Hygiene, as well as Diploma Programs in Medical Assisting, Dental Assisting, Medical Billing and Coding and Cosmetology.

Based in Heathrow, Florida, Remington College offers diploma and degree programs at 20 campuses throughout the United States, including a new online campus. Its mission is to provide career-focused education through a variety of programs.

Remington College-Nashville Campus is located at 441 Donelson Pike, Suite 150.

For more information, call 615-889-5520.

About Remington College: Remington College is a common name used by all 20 campuses of a group of affiliated companies of privately-owned, post-secondary educational institutions based in Heathrow, Florida. Through its campuses, Remington College offers diplomas, bachelor’s and associate’s degrees in a variety of fields, including: cosmetology; nursing; healthcare; criminal justice; business; electronics; information technology; and more.  Course offerings vary by campus. Remington College and its predecessor companies have been part of the higher education community since 1985. For more information, please visit http://www.remingtoncollege.edu/. For the latest news about Remington College, visit http://today.remingtoncollege.edu/.

Media contact:

Frank Wolff

Wellons Communications

407-339-0879 office

407-637-6000 cell

Frank@wellonscommunications.com

Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

Creators say others should say “I do” to iPhones for weddings

Orlando, Fla. – (December 9, 2010) – iPhones are trusty tools for taking photos and videos of vacations, holiday celebrations and other special moments, but no bride-to-be has ever trusted her wedding day to an iPhone – until now.

The veteran team of wedding photographer Brian Adams and wedding videographer Rainer Flor believe they are the first ones to shoot an entire wedding on the iPhone 4 – both photos and video.

The two professionals have collaborated on wedding shoots all over the world. What started as a “What if…” turned into a “Wow!” when they were finished.

“At first we just wanted to see if it could be done,” said Adams. “But when we were finished, we realized what we had done was bridge the gap between photo and video and create a professional-looking product that people can easily access and share.”

Flor volunteered his November wedding for the experiment. Adams used two iPhone 4s to shoot pictures. Flor’s associate videographer also used an iPhone 4. Housings were used for the phones that allowed them to change lenses, as well as provided handles and mounts for a light, microphone and tripod. An assistant helped with lighting.

“The phones are so small, it made it easy for us to be unobtrusive,” said Adams. “People were very comfortable around the small cameras. We were not an intrusion into their wedding.”

Common software was used for editing the images and video.

The end result?

“I was amazed at the quality of the photos coming from the iPhone 4, and completely blown away by them after they were edited,” said Adams, who also printed a handful of the photos.

“When you look at the prints, we don’t think you can tell the difference between the SLR photos and the iPhone photos,” Flor said.

Adams and Flor say there are several things that people can take away from their successful iPhone experiment.

“We proved that the iPhone technology is advanced enough to handle an event like a wedding, and simple enough that it doesn’t take a lot of experience or extra equipment to shoot high-quality video and pictures,” said Adams. “The user still has to have some creativity and a good eye, but this gives them a great tool.”

“We want to show the millions of people running around with iPhones in their pocket that the photo and video possibilities are endless,” said Flor.

The two just launched iphoneshooters.com to share the iPhone wedding material, as well as serve as an online community for iPhone users to share images, video and ideas. They may offer iPhone wedding photography as an option for their customers, and see it as a growing trend in wedding photography.

“A wedding shot on an iPhone extends the experience and allows it to be easily shared with others through Facebook and other social media platforms,” said Adams.  “Soon we’ll see people sharing photos and video right from their wedding.”

Downloadable images and embeddable video of the iPhone wedding are available at iphoneshooters.com

Media contact:

Frank Wolff

Wellons Communications

407-339-0879 office

407-637-6000 cell

frank@wellonscommunications.com

iphoneshooters@gmail.com

twitter: @iphoneshooters

Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

Magnificent miniatures, world’s smallest production car, T-Rex foot, animal anomalies among the new unbelievable exhibits

ORLANDO, Fla. – (Dec. 7, 2010) – What do an 8-foot long fish, a 7-legged sheep and a mural made from 8,500 playing cards have in common?

They’re all new exhibits in a revamped Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Orlando Odditorium!

Visitors will find dozens of amazing new exhibits, including:

• A Peel Trident car (the smallest production car in the world)
• A portrait of singer Beyonce made entirely from candy
• A “Wall-E” robot replica made from car parts
• A 25-foot high mural of Jimi Hendrix made from more than 8,500 playing cards
• A very rare fossil of a T-Rex foot and lower leg
• Multiple miniatures that visitors can view through a magnifying glass
• A stuffed Alligator Gar that measures more than 8 feet long
• A balloon-powered chair that flew over the Rocky Mountains
• A dog sculpture made entirely of clothes pins
• New optical illusions, word puzzles and brain teasers
• Several new wax figures that visitors can take photos with
• A new shooting gallery for visitors to take aim and fire at different odd targets

In addition to all the new exhibits, there are new flat-panel TVs that broadcast video oddities and behind-the-scenes stories, and new display cards for all the exhibits. New lighting, paint and carpet give the Orlando attraction a whole new feel.

“Our guests will find exciting, new oddities and displays at every turn, as well as our long-time, favorite exhibits, like the rotating tunnel and pool table where balls roll uphill,” said Joe Kasinski, Director of Sales and Marketing for Ripley’s Orlando.

Renovations will continue with additional oddities added in the coming weeks.

For high-res images of the new-look Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Orlando Odditorium, please visit

http://www.ripleysnewsroom.com/.

For more on Ripley’s Orlando, including hours and pricing, please visit http://orlando.ripleys.com/.

Contacts:

Joe Kasinski

Director of Sales & Marketing

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Orlando

407-345-0501

kasinski@ripleys.com

Tim O’Brien

VP Communications

Ripley Entertainment Inc.

Office – 615-646-7465

Cell – 615-496-5949

obrien@ripleys.com

About Ripley Entertainment

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Orlando is part of the Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com) family of worldwide attractions, the global leader in location-based entertainment.  More than 13 million people visit its 85 attractions in 11 countries each year.  In addition to its 31 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.

Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

Electronic Registrar Online offers the district’s 9,700 teachers professional development opportunities—all online

CALGARY, AB. (Dec. 06, 2010) – Calgary Catholic School District has selected Orlando-based eSchool Solutions® to provide a new way for the area’s 9,700 educators to maintain their certification through training and professional development—and it’s all done online.

Starting in January, Calgary Catholic School District will implement eSchool Solutions’ Electronic Registrar Online (ERO) software and services. ERO provides customized professional learning for teachers through a Web-based application. With ERO, busy teachers are given an opportunity to continue their education with convenience and simplicity. Users can log in anywhere to review course catalogs, register for classes and review transcripts.

In addition, employees are able to easily communicate with mentors, track their certification renewal process and update their customized development plan.

“Now more than ever, educators have less time available for in-service days, conferences and continuing education,” said Lisa Welton, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for eSchool Solutions. “By combining best practices with state-of-the-art technology, ERO helps teachers get the most out of continued learning in an efficient and cost-effective manner.”

ERO focuses on professional learning that is strategic and aligned with student achievement. This ensures that staff development is working toward achieving goals established in performance plans for individuals, schools and the whole district.

In addition to ERO, Calgary Catholic School District has updated its absentee management systems to eSchool Solutions’ SmartFindExpress, which automates the process of getting the most qualified substitute teachers into each and every classroom. The two products integrate seamlessly, allowing teachers to create absences in SmartFindExpress while registering for professional development courses in ERO.

To learn more about the company, visit http://www.eschoolsolutions.com/ or call 800-776-8774.

About eSchool Solutions®

eSchool Solutions® is the leading provider of integrated technology solutions for the preK-12 education market. In 1987, the Orlando-based company revolutionized substitute management for school systems, completely changing the way districts managed substitutes and employee absences. Now, as a total solutions provider, eSchool Solutions provides a full suite of products and services designed to improve administrative efficiency and help school districts work smarter. The company serves more than 500 school systems, encompassing 29,000 schools in North America.

Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

In this episode of Ripley Radio: Author and reincarnation authority Richard Salva provides proof that Abraham Lincoln came back as Charles Lindbergh; Judika Illes reports on her  October visit to Witch Country – Salem, Massachusetts; Edward explores many of the Lincoln artifacts in Ripley’s collection and talks about the famous cartoon of Charles Lindbergh, one of Ripley’s most controversial cartoons of all times; we discuss several Lincoln Believe It or Nots!, including why the family quit naming their children Abraham; and in Tim’s Spot the Not! quiz, we learn how much Lindbergh was paid for his famous flight.

Ripley Radio – an On-Demand Oddcast

Ripley Radio is a journey through the weird, wacky, whimsical, wild, and totally unbelievable world of the odd, strange and unusual. Each show provides listeners with amazing and absolutely true tales of today as well as unbelievable facts culled from the extensive archives of the company that has been freaking out families for more than 90 years!

The broadcast is an unpredictable and fun-filled show that proves beyond all      dimensions that Ripley’s is indeed, the global authority on the weird, strange, bizarre and the UNBELIEVABLE!

You can enjoy Ripley Radio – An On-Demand Oddcast at the dedicated Ripley Radio website and in the Podcast section of iTunes.

Meet Ripley Radio’s Ensemble:

• · Tim O’Brien, executive producer
  Vice President, Communications, Ripley Entertainment Inc.

• “Ralf with an F” (Ralf Ingwersen)
  Director of Ghost Tours
  Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, St. Augustine, Fla.

• Edward Meyer
  Vice President, Exhibits and Archives, Ripley Entertainment Inc.

• · Marci Pikel
  Manager of Marketing & Production Services, Ripley Entertainment Inc.

For detailed information on each host, please visit the Ripley Radio website.

About Ripley Radio
Ripley Radio is owned by Ripley Entertainment Inc., keepers of the venerable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand and is a global leader in location-based entertainment. More than 13 million guests visit its 80-plus world-wide attractions annually. The Orlando-based company also has divisions that oversee publishing, licensing and broadcast operations.  Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.

Contact:
Tim O’Brien
Ripley Radio Executive Producer
VP Communications
Ripley Entertainment Inc.
obrien@ripleys.com
Office – 615-646-7465
Cell – 615-496-5949

P0sted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

Syndication opportunities for lifestyle, travel, nature, cooking, children’s and international programming

ATLANTA, Ga. (Dec. 2, 2010) – Whether you produce an original lifestyle show for the Web, broadcast children’s television programs or distribute international films, Endavo Media is holding a casting call for content.

Endavo Media is seeking niche and international programming for telcos entering the digital media business. After a busy November that took the Endavo team to Dubai for IP&TV MEA, Las Vegas for TelcoTV 2010 and Budapest for the NGT Europe Summit, interest in syndicated content and Endavo’s OTT Video Services Platform is expanding among the global telco market.

“We have an increasing demand for English-language lifestyle, travel, nature, cooking, and children’s programming to support telcos use of our Platform for global OTT distribution of premium video services,” said Peter Contardo, EVP and chief marketing officer for Endavo Media. “In addition, there is an immediate need for Filipino and Hindi movies and TV shows.”

Endavo makes it easy for producers and broadcasters to shop and syndicate their content through Endavo’s Screening Room, where content providers get their own media management system account to upload, publish and promote their specific programming to global telco TV partners.

Global OTT video services are forecasted by MRG, Inc. to exceed $1 billion in 2010 and grow to $20 billion in 2014. So, whether it’s helping telcos deliver new OTT video services to multiple screens, integrating OTT content into a telco’s existing IPTV service, or both, Endavo provides the digital media and video services management solution for telcos to capitalize on this revenue opportunity.

About Endavo Media:

Endavo Media is an OTT Video Services Platform provider enabling quality delivery of enhanced video services for telecommunications companies, and planet-wide syndication for content producers and broadcasters. Endavo’s Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution provides acquisition, management, monetization and multi-screen distribution of digital media, including live and on-demand video, audio and pictures. Endavo provides more control to connect and engage directly with audiences, build brands, generate revenue and improve the customer experience. Founded in 2004, Endavo works with multiple international technology development partners in the EMEA region. Endavo Media is a privately held company headquartered in Atlanta, with offices across the U.S., Latin America and Europe. For more information visit http://endavomedia.com.

Media Contact

Will Wellons

Office: (407) 339-0879

Cell: (407) 462-2718

will@wellonscommunications.com

Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

Class will focus on Japanese traditions, culture, language

CHESTNUT RIDGE, NY – (November 30, 2010) – Green Meadow Waldorf School is now enrolling students for the spring semester for a Saturday Japanese kindergarten class. The class is open for students three to six years of age.

This is a full immersion class, designed to build foundational skills in the Japanese language during early childhood. Many Japanese families are attracted to the class because children can fully experience their traditions and culture in their native language.  In addition, students develop a strong foundation for future academic success.

This is the second year that Green Meadow has offered the Japanese kindergarten class.

“For many Japanese families, it is important that their children experience their cultural heritage and integrate into the Japanese community,” said kindergarten teacher, Lisa Miccio. “This class provides a gateway between a traditional Japanese curriculum and US culture and traditions.”

Instruction focuses on Japanese poetry, storytelling and songs through a play-based curriculum.

Green Meadow Waldorf School is an independent school that offers nursery through grade 12 education, with an emphasis on creative and independent thought, as well as the discernment to act in a free and morally responsible way. Graduates go on to top colleges, and the school prides itself on its multicultural community; students come from a wide range of socio-economic, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds.

Waldorf education is the fastest-growing independent school movement worldwide, with 300 schools in the US and nearly 1,000 around the world. The curriculum is based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, who founded the first Waldorf School in Germany in 1919. Green Meadow offers developmentally based, challenging academic coursework infused with the arts.  The school also limits the use of technology and media for younger students, which is now understood by researchers as essential to the developing brain.

To apply, parents can go to the enrollment office on campus. The spring semester begins in January and ends March 19^th. The cost for tuition is $450, plus a $50 registration fee and a $200 entrance fee for new students.

For more information, contact Patricia Owens, Admissions Coordinator, powens@gmws.org or 845-356-2514 extension 302, or visit the school website at http://www.gmws.org/. begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
About Green Meadow School and the Waldorf education: Founded in Germany in 1919 by Dr. Rudolf Steiner, Waldorf Education now includes schools on every continent. Green Meadow Waldorf School is an accredited full member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), an association that strengthens and supports Waldorf schools and informs the public of the benefits of Waldorf education.  Green Meadow is also an accredited member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS), a voluntary association of more than 140 independent schools in the state of New York.

Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

Bloggers, editors earn 20% commission on website sales

ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 23, 2010) – Baby Goes Pro, a company founded by tennis great Gigi Fernandez, has launched a new affiliate program. The company is offering a 20% commission on each sale of its new DVD, Baby Goes Pro – Discover Sports.

Discover Sports is the first in a DVD series that provides children and their parents with technically correct, fun and instructional products to:

• Teach the fundamentals of sports
• Encourage kids to play
• Inspire a generation to move

The DVD uses original music, sing-a-long songs, instructional flashcards and vivid 3-D animation to captivate and entertain children as they learn about the fundamentals of five sports: baseball, tennis, basketball, golf and soccer. The star of the DVDs is Emkei, an animated monkey. His name is an acronym for the building blocks of sports – E.M.K.E.I. stands for Equipment, Movement, Know-how, Elements and Instruction.

Baby Goes Pro is the brainchild of Gigi Fernandez, winner of 17 Grand Slam tennis titles and the mother of twins under the age of two. Baby Goes Pro provides children and parents with technically correct, fun, instructional products that introduce sports into the lives of children and instill healthy habits for a lifetime. The company is looking for websites and bloggers who focus on parenting, motherhood, child development, consumer products and fitness to become affiliates and expand their existing online distribution network.

“Our goal is to help parents utilize sports to raise healthy, happy and confident children,” said Fernandez. “Our products should be a perfect fit for mom bloggers and others who focus on children’s health, wellness, parenting tips and early childhood development.”

People can register for the affiliate program through the Baby Goes Pro company website. When followers buy Baby Goes Pro products through an affiliate link, the referring site will receive a 20% commission on each sale. Funds are deposited directly to the affiliate’s Pay Pal account, and all sales can be easily tracked.

Baby Goes Pro Discover Sports has a suggested retail price of $11.95.

For more information, please visit http://www.babygoespro.com/.

About Baby Goes Pro; Baby Goes Pro provides children and their parents with technically correct, fun and instructional products that teach the fundamentals of sports, encourage kids to play and inspire them to move. Created by champion tennis player Gigi Fernandez, Baby Goes Pro’s first product launch is a sports-themed DVD series developed for infants, toddlers and young children. The DVDs are entertaining, fun tools for parents to teach children about sports in order for them to grow up happy, healthy and confident. The Baby Goes Pro goal is to help children develop high self-esteem and self-confidence and instill healthy habits that last a lifetime. For more information, visit http://www.babygoespro.com.

Media contact:

Frank Wolff

Office: 407.339.0879

Cell: 407.637.6000

frank@wellonscommunications.com

Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

One regional agency to implement an online professional learning community for the area’s teachers

Huntington, W.V. (Nov. 23, 2010) – One of West Virginia’s Regional Education Service Agencies (RESA) has selected Orlando-based eSchool Solutions® to provide technology that infuses professional learning with online collaboration tools to improve the overall support and development of educators at all levels.

It’s an online community called TeacherStudio®, and its primary function is to connect teachers from across an entire region—anytime and anywhere—so that they can share ideas, receive mentoring and keep up-to-date on global best practices.

West Virginia’s RESA 2 is comprised of eight regional agencies that are governed under the West Virginia Board of Education. eSchool Solutions has signed with RESA 2, the agency that covers Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo and Wayne counties. The goal of RESA is to initiate and implement programs in order to provide high quality, cost effective education services to students, schools, school systems and communities.

RESA 2 started using TeacherStudio® on Nov. 15.

“TeacherStudio offers schools across the country a unique and cost-effective way to expand upon the professional development of their teachers,” said Lisa Welton, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for eSchool Solutions. “We’re pleased that this service will now be available to the educators in the RESA 2 region, who will now be able to easily collaborate beyond their school walls.”

eSchool Solutions, a leading provider of preK-12 education technology, partnered with IDEAS to create this first comprehensive Web-based, professional community of educators.

TeacherStudio® offers:

• A professional network of educators who want to collaborate and interact with each other on a much broader scale (instead of just within a school—teachers can now collaborate across a region, state or nation).
• Multi-media professional development opportunities, including videos and interactive connections
• A cost-saving tool for administrators to manage training, mentoring and induction
• The ability to see teachers in action, including instructional strategies, lesson plans, classroom management techniques and technology how-to’s.

To learn more about eSchool Solutions and its suite of education technology products, visit http://www.eschoolsolutions.com/ or call 800-776-8774.

About eSchool Solutions

eSchool Solutions is the leading provider of integrated technology solutions for the preK-12 education market. In 1987, the Orlando-based company revolutionized substitute management for school systems, completely changing the way districts managed substitutes and employee absences. Now, as a total solutions provider, eSchool Solutions provides a full suite of products and services designed to improve administrative efficiency and help school districts work smarter. The company serves more than 500 school systems, encompassing 29,000 schools in North America.

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Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.

Performance artist who has transformed his body
into that of a lizard is immortalized in wax by Ripley artists

ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 22, 2010) – Look out world, there are now two Lizardmans! Erik Sprague, the green scaly entertainer who goes by the name of The Lizardman, unveiled a stunningly realistic wax figure of himself during the Attractions Expo of the International Assn. of Amusement Parks & Attractions.

A large crowd gathered around the Ripley Entertainment Inc. booth here to watch the proceedings.  “It was an amazing moment when I first saw myself,” Sprague pointed out. “These guys really nailed it. It was pretty cool to unveil myself.”
The life size figure took four Ripley artists nearly 200 hours to create. “The most time consuming part of creating this figure was the painting of all those tiny green scales,” said Ripley Art Department chief Barry Anderson, who headed up the creation of the figure. “More than 60 hours were spent on painting of the scales alone, making sure the shading and the proportions were right on each one.”

The process started in late August when Sprague spent two days in the Ripley wax studios sitting for full body castings, a tedious and time-consuming process. “We have created hundreds of wax figures of celebrities through the years, but The Lizardman presented certain challenges that we had never faced before,” noted Anderson.

The Lizardman makes his living as a performance artist and is known for his extreme body modifications including a body full of green scale tattoos, sharpened and pointy teeth, forked tongue, piercings, and subdermal implants.  According to Sprague, the tattoos on his body have already taken more than 700 hours to craft, and while most of the scales have been outlined, the process of filling in all the color continues. He says his body-based performance art has been to explore what it means to be human and differentiate himself from other humans.

Sprague joked that he should get another statue for himself and give it to his wife to keep her company while he travels the world, noting that “I can now be in two places at the same time.” Ripley officials added tongue in cheek that they “can now just throw him in the trunk and take him everywhere.”

The prototype wax figure will be on display starting Nov. 22 at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Orlando, and the second, now in the works, is slated for Ripley’s Times Square Odditorium in New York City.

Click here for high resolution photos shown in this release.

Click here for high resolution downloadable photos and videos of the creation of the wax figure.

Contact:
Tim O’Brien
VP Communications
615-646-7465
Obrien@ripleys.com

About Ripley Entertainment

Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com), keepers of the venerable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand, is a global leader in location-based entertainment, entertaining more than 13 million annually at its 85 attractions in 11 countries.  In addition to its 31 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.

Posted by Wellons Communications, an Orlando public relations firm.