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The Big Billboard Buy
What does it take to put up 4 different creatives, on 34 billboards, owned by 8 vendors, requiring contracts from 19 sales representatives, for 16 Touchstone Energy electric cooperatives located all across our state?

Just ask the crack team here at Semaphore. It took patience, dogged determination and impeccable record keeping.

We are proud to say that we have just completed the buy for the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina new billboard campaign. Semaphore staff made this buy smooth sailing for our clients by coordinating and organizing every detail, from pinpointing the exact billboard locations on a map created by our graphics department so that complete coverage would be assured, right down to delivery of one vinyl to Bo Bop's Exxon in Hardeeville, as requested by an outdoor advertising vendor.

Our senior art director, Kathy Shuler Cousson, created fresh, bright designs that highlight the innovative, environmentally conscious service provided by our state's electric cooperatives. These boards will be catching your eye on interstates and highways all over the state later this month.

You Have the Green Power
Who says it's not easy being green? There are many simple things you can do to lessen your impact on the environment.

Newsweek magazine recently offered the following 10 tips.

1. Plant a pollinator garden. Pesticides and pollution are taking a toll on the birds and insects that pollinate nearly 80 percent of the world's food supply.
2. Use more natural cleaners. Or make your own using vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice.
3. Lose your junk mail. Take yourself off the mailing lists of companies you don't do business with.
4. Line dry your laundry. And use your washer on cold whenever possible.
5. Recycle your gadgets. Recycle old computers and cell phones, or give them to charity.
6. Change your bulbs. Switch from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent ones, which use about 70 percent less energy and last 10 times longer.
7. Eat your vegetables. Forego meat one or two days a week. It takes about 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef.
8. Save a tree. Use toilet paper and napkins made from recycled paper.
9. Turn on the tap. Instead of buying bottled water, drink the stuff that comes from your faucet. Most empty water bottles end up as litter or in landfills.
10. Find an eco-date. There are many social networking communities and dating websites for green singles.

Santee Cooper and South Carolina's electric cooperatives are doing their part for the environment by offering Green Power. Green Power is electricity generated by renewable resources like solar, wind, and even decomposing garbage in selected landfills. These resources are replenished naturally and minimize harm to the environment.

Green Power is sold to residential customers in 100 kilowatt-hour blocks (about 10 percent of a typical household's monthly energy use). Purchasing two blocks per month has the same environmental impact as recycling 320 pounds of aluminum.

All revenue from every block of Green Power sold will be reinvested in future development of renewable resources or facilities.

Semaphore is in the midst of a new Green Power branding campaign, which includes newsletters and advertisements. Be on the lookout for Green Power billboards around the state.

For more information, visit the Green Power section of Santee Cooper's website at http://www.santeecooper.com/greenpower/index.html

Semaphore Assists Client with Column
As part of a larger effort to expand its list of partners in their fight against illiteracy, the J. Marion Sims Foundation called upon Semaphore to assist them in the placement of a guest column in The State newspaper. Following the press relations steps recommended by Semaphore, the Foundation was successful in getting the guest column published in a late December edition of The State. The foundation is currently in the process of submitting their column to other major papers in North and South Carolina using the same techniques.

Semaphore's Pro Bono Work
Our tradition of doing pro bono work for worthy organizations continued throughout 2006. We contributed over 130 hours of agency services to create advertising and marketing materials for a diverse group of organizations; The Girl Scouts, Columbia Museum of Art, University of South Carolina Dance Board, Cooperative Ministries and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, to name a few. The SC Chamber hosts a series of regional receptions for their members each year. Creative Director Roc Jackson created a series of invitations, seen here, which are subtly evocative of the different regions of our state.

Pro bono work is defined as work done for the public good without any payment or compensation. But at Semaphore, we are richly compensated by the satisfaction of knowing that we have helped dozens of groups to continue the good work they do to better our community and state.

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We Suggest - The South Carolina Business Review (SCBR). A daily radio broadcast hosted by Mike Switzer, SCBR runs every weekday and features interviews with different business and non-profit representatives from across the state. Interview topics range from business or program descriptions, special events, unique initiatives, government policy and many others. You can enjoy this informative show each morning between 7:45am and 8:00am on any of these radio stations: 89.3, 90.1, 91.3, 88.1, 89.1, 89.9, and 90.1. You can also visit SCBR on the web.

SFX - No, we don't mean the band now known as Astral Projection. SFX is an abbreviation used in the advertising world for sound effects - those special noises (real or artificial) that bring life to any marketing communications or entertainment piece where audio is used. When you are creating your next audiovisual or electronic communications piece with Semaphore, keep us on our toes. Ask your contact about SFXs in your piece.

Semaphore is a premier full-service advertising, marketing, branding, public relations and Internet development firm.

Semaphore Inc.
828 Woodrow St
Columbia, SC, 29205

PH 803.799.6464
FX 803.254.5186