The Guzman Family

In less than a week, another group of volunteers will head to the Dominican Republic to build Cambiando Vidas’ 22nd home.  The group, lead by Mark Grossman, is comprised of families, friends and several former volunteers. The team will be building a house for soon to be first time homeowners Denny  and Elizabeth Guzman.

Family Profile

Denny Alberto Fernandez (known in the community as Neno), his wife Elizabeth and their two-year-old son, Frangeliz, will be the proud homeowners of Cambiando Vidas’ 22nd home.  Neno works as a farmer on has family’s land and is studying at the university to become a computer engineer. Elizabeth takes care of the family and is also studying at the unviersity to become a teacher.

The family currently lives in a borrowed house that they share with Neno’s brother, Wascar, and his family.  The 250 square foot house has two small bedrooms, one for each family, an outoor kitchen and a common family room.  Although the house has electricity it has no indoor plumbing.  The latrine outside serves as a bathroom. The house is made of concrete, palm wood and corrugated aluminum.

The Guzman's current, shared home.

The Guzman family has lived in the community for their entire life, but they have always dreamed of having a house of their own.  When they heard about Cambiando Vidas they immediately applied and have volunteered their time to help build several other families’ homes.

You can help the Guzman family’s dream come true. Donations alone will help cover the cost of the house ($10,000 USD).  If you would like to contribute monetarily or are interested in volunteering in the future, please visit:www.cambiandovidas.info or contact us at cambiandovidasdr@gmail.com

Coal Fire Pizza Comes to the Triangle

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Coal Fire Pizza Comes to the Triangle

This post was written by my dear friend and co-worker Sarah Findle.  Check it out!

I was excited to hear that the PR department at my agency (Howard Merrell & Partners) had taken on another local client, but was even more excited to find out it had to do with food…specifically a personal favorite - pizza!

Bella Mia, the Triangle-area’s first coal-fired pizza restaurant, is now open in the Arboretum at Weston in Cary.

A few lucky members of the PR team, including myself were invited to try out the food at a friends and family event held Monday night.  I was looking forward to a good slice of pizza but had no idea about the delicious feast that would ensue. 

The atmosphere is intimate, yet modern with dark wood furniture and a beautiful tiled coal fired oven on display in the kitchen area.  The restaurant specializes in its traditional 12” Neapolitan-inspired pizzas with fresh, locally grown and raised ingredients. 

This is no stuffed crust Pizza Hut pizza – the crispy flatbread crust bears the marks of a coal fire and the light sauce and fresh sliced mozzarella is delectable on its own (for you adventurous folks, there are plenty of fresh toppings to try!). 

We were able to sample specialty meatballs (a recipe 3 years in the making) and rosemary roasted chicken wings as appetizers and were treated to our choice of fresh salads (I highly recommend the Pera for you walnut, gorgonzola and pear lovers!) 

After attempting to conquer our custom made pizzas (a whole pie each!) we were tempted once again by the coal-fired flatbread, this time filled with Nutella and dusted with powdered sugar as a final course – dessert!

Overall it was a great night full of food and flavor.  We even got to meet the owner, Rick Guerra and his wife Jeanne while their two sons, Louis and Anthony (both spent time in Italy to learning the art of Neapolitan pizza first-hand) worked the kitchen and mastered the coal-burning oven.

Needless to say I am pleased to add them to our client list – and my own list of favorite restaurants in the Triangle! 

Follow Melea's blog. It rocks. And will make you hungry!

Playing to Social Media Success

Jun10 2010

Sarah Findle

Yesterday, despite being tempted by the giant Chess and Connect Four games, I was able to make my way to the Triangle Interactive Marketing Association (TIMA) Lunch and Learn, “The Dollars and Sense of Social Media”, at the Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh.

I soon realized that those classic games were a great segue to the panel discussion that was to ensue. The topic addressed the way different players in the business world seek and document social media success.  Each player in a game may have a different strategy or skill set to use, yet collectively everyone involved has an end goal – to win. Similarly, players in business approach strategy in their own way, but strive for achieving a common goal – success for the company, client or consumer.

Jeff Cohen, our social media marketing manager, moderated a diverse panel of professionals representing the agency, brand and platform service provider sides of business (Morgan Siem of Media Two Interactive, Phil Buckley of Sinclair Institute, and Adam Covati of Argyle Social, respectively).

After discussing and answering audience questions on everything from budgets, to time commitment, to what measurements actually matter, the panelists were asked to wrap-up with one piece of solid advice for social media from their business perspective (for an in depth summary of the full conversation Karl Sakas provides a great recap).

Like a game, Adam addressed the fact that you need to know how you want to achieve your goals. What, in your eyes, would be the win or the ‘happily ever after’ to your story?

Morgan mentioned that you need to have lots of data and knowledge in your back pocket, but keep it simple when presenting to the client.  Similarly, in a game you want to have all your cards on hand, but know when to play them at just the right moment.

Finally, Phil emphasized that you have to have a way to show your winnings and gain the credibility, and budget you need to continue success.

So maybe those oversized Alice in Wonderland style games were a little juvenile, but it seems to me the more complex game of business success follows a lot of the same rules.

Click here for a video clip from the panel.