We came across an interesting project being offered by the NEPA Alliance and its ACTION (Access, Connections,Technologies, Innovations, Opportunities & Networking) Committee called the InnoCentive Challenge.

InnoCentive is a web-based marketplace where “Seeker” clients post technical problems or “Challenges” when trying to develop new ideas or solutions to grow or start a business.Registered “Solvers” from around the world will then help solve the problem.

Companies are currently being invited, as part of the InnoCentive Challenge, to fill out an entry application describing the major challenge faced by their business. If your challenge is chosen by the NEPA Alliance ACTION Selection Committee, you will be notified to submit your free Electronic Request for Partnership (ERFP) posting worth $15,000 on the InnoCentive website.

The alliance and its partners will help create a YouTube video to alert a worldwide network of “Solvers” that a new technology challenge posting has been added. This will generate proposals from potential worldwide solvers that can offer you a pre-defined solution.

Applications must be submitted by September 30, 2008, to:
Karen Ostroskie
Government Procurement Manager
Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance
1151 Oak Street
Pittston, PA 18640

Wired has an interesting article on the ridiculously high readership of an online newspaper which you can catch here.

An online paper covering news in a fictitious world populated by penguins has become more widely read than New York’s Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, or the Dallas Morning News, reports the L.A. Times.

The Club Penguin Times is a weekly online-only publication with a readership of about 6.7 million monthly users of a Disney-owned social network and virtual, Club Penguin.

Although the numbers are interesting, and the comparison to the traditional newspaper industry is  obvious the piece that gets me is that we are seeing a real shift in behavior at a young age. We are talking about a percentage of 6.7 million that are learning to get their news online rather than off. For 6 - 14 year olds they are learning to get their news online.

BlackOut President Jack Reager was recently elected to the Board of Directors of MetroAction Inc.

MetroAction is a non-profit community development organization dedicated to providing financial and business development assistance to small businesses in Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wyoming and Wayne counties.

As a member of the Board of Directors, Reager will help further MetroAction’s mission of promoting small business growth and community development in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

BlackOut Design President Jack Reager was a panelist recently for the final session of the eight-week Small Business Institute series sponsored by MetroAction and the University of Scranton Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

Along with Reager, the panel included representatives from local business development agencies like the Scranton Business Alliance, SCORE, MetroAction and the SBDC, as well as bankers from Community Bank & Trust. Reager provided institute attendees with insights and lessons learned as an entrepreneur and business owner in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Small Business Institute is organized through a collaboration between the SBDC and MetroAction and offers a one-stop entrepreneurial educational program for successful business development in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Over the past two years, the SBI has graduated nearly 70 new entrepreneurs, owners of expanding businesses and business managers.

BlackOut Design, Inc., Northeastern Pennsylvania’s leading provider of integrated marketing and design solutions, has expanded its professional staff recently with the addition of two new hires: Graphic Designer Jessica Confer and New Media Editor Nathan Milner.

Confer has already proven a valuable asset to the BlackOut team producing high quality work for BlackOut partners Independent Graphics Inc. and developing postcards to promote the new exhibit at the Melberger Arts Center Gallery, Philip A. Dente’s “Line Items.”

Milner will be responsible for managing new media efforts for BlackOut and its clients. His work will dovetail with the efforts of BlackOut’s team of award-winning designers to ensure a consistent and dynamic communication of our client’s marketing message.

Confer is a student at Marywood University. Milner resides in Lake Winola, PA, with his wife, Lori, and two daughters, Hannah and Cora.

BlackOut Design, Inc. recently helped build a comprehensive marketing message for Sandone Tire, one of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s largest carriers of passenger, light truck, and high performance tires.

BlackOut developed advertising materials for postcards, newspaper inserts and billboards that highlight the full range of services offered at Sandone Car Care Centers – from nitrogen tire inflation and wheel balancing to computerized alignment and 24-hour emergency service — as well as the more than 50,000 tires Sandone stocks.

Showing its flair for traditional design components, BlackOut created in-store signage for Sandone, in addition to generating a new corporate logo, Sammy, an example of BlackOut’s unique branding work.

For more information on the services available at Sandone Car Care Centers, visit the Sandone site.

BlackOut Design, Inc.’s Matt Artz is among the just 200 young professionals worldwide selected to participate in the third annual World Bank and Alliance Toward Harnessing Global Opportunities (ATHGO) Global Forum.

Titled “Miracles of Development: The Effects of Good Governance and Capacity Building on Economic Development,” the forum will be held July 9-11 at World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.

At the forum, Artz will meet with forum ambassadors, including high-ranking World Bank officials, and private sector executives, who will share their expertise on the challenges associated with achieving economic growth through good governance and capacity building.

Following successful completion of all assigned projects during the forum, Artz will be entered into the ATHGO’s Alumni Network, which entitles members to receive priority consideration for fellowships, internships and the Associates Program.

It is a prestigious honor for Artz and we’re glad to have him as a member of the BlackOut team.

A recent article in “The Economist” highlights an important issue for anyone working in internet advertising.

The landscape of search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine results page (SERP) services changes on a more-than-daily basis and we’re keeping up with each new development in an effort to ensure our clients’ web presence is optimally position and reaches its target audience.

Here’s an interesting article regarding the quite natural reluctance of some to fully buy into the idea of Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 tools and services have yet to prove their resilience in the ever-changing tech marketplace and the full scope of their utility has yet to be explored.

At BlackOut, we utilize Web 2.0 technologies as one more component in our portfolio of services. Like any other technology we constantly evaluate its practicality, and when it suits our client’s business goals, we’ll use Web 2.0 to create a more effective campaign.

Jack Reager, MBA, President of BlackOut Design, Inc., was recently selected to receive the Award of Excellence in Creative Arts and Management from the Marywood University Alumni Association.

Reager, a Woodbridge, N.J., native, completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Marywood University, earning his undergraduate degree in Computer Information Systems and his MBA in Management Information Systems.

The Award of Excellence in Creative Arts and Management recognizes excellence in achievement in professional life, service to the local and national community and leadership qualities, serving as a role model for current and future students and alumni of Marywood.

Along with this most recent award, Reager is a member of the Workforce Investment Board for Lackawanna County.

Reager will be officially recognized during Marywood’s Reunion Weekend ’08 scheduled for May 16-18.