Where do federal employees get their news — and how can marketers targeting government agencies reach them?
That will be the topic at an event in Tysons next Thursday (Nov. 8), as marketing execs gather to discuss the latest Federal Media and Marketing Study.
The event — which will look at both current and future trends — will run from 8:30-11:30 a.m. in VALO Park Conference Center (7950 Jones Branch Dr.).
For the past ten years, the study has surveyed the media habits of nearly 3,000 respondents in defense and civilian agencies throughout the region. The survey looks at the social, mobile, print and broadcast media that government employees receive their news from to help federal marketers develop their strategies.
Panel discussions are scheduled to examine the confidence among those surveyed about their sources of information, their sources for breaking news, and concerns over data privacy.
Tickets to the breakfast and briefing are $99, with only 12 remaining as of 2 p.m. Friday.
Photo via Marketing Connections, Inc.
The following article excerpt is from our content sharing partner, FairfaxNews.com.
Something new and colorful and about 200 feet long is coming to Vienna: A mural will soon be created on the back wall of the Vienna Shopping Center, visible as you travel down Cottage Street.
Artists Eleanor Doughty, a Vienna native who now lives in Seattle, and Emily Herr, who lives in Richmond, plan to start work on the mural, an overview of Town buildings and area landmarks, beginning November 5 and expect that the project will take up to two weeks, depending on weather, to complete.
Student-volunteers from James Madison High School will work alongside the artists from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2:30-6 p.m. the weekend of November 9-11. Students interested in helping out with the mural, even if only available for an hour or two, should contact Doughty at [email protected].
The town’s newest public art project is being funded by Rappaport, owners of the shopping center at 180 Maple Avenue.
“We love the mural,” says Tiffany Jones, marketing representative for the Vienna Shopping Center. “We love the brightness and color that it’s going to add to the shopping center.”
Read more at FairfaxNews.com
Photo via Google Maps
Sundance, an apparel-home decor retail chain owned by actor-director Robert Redford, opened yesterday (Thursday) in the Mosaic District at 2910 District Ave.
The store sells a mix of higher-end men’s and women’s clothing, as well as home accessories from furniture to coasters. The store specializes in maintaining a rotating seasonal inventory.
A portion of the proceeds raised during the opening weekend will go to the McLean Project for the Arts, a non-profit that promotes local artists.
The Mosaic District location is the 15th store for the national chain. Though the business began in 1983, the number of retail locations remained small until the chain opened ten new locations in 2015.
A D.C. man was arrested Wednesday morning after an altercation at the Tysons Corner Metro station and a brief police chase.
Fairfax County Police say 31-year-old Jaron Ulmer was getting off a train at the station just before 7 a.m. when he turned around and accused a man of following him. Ulmer then punched the man several times, according to police.
“Ulmer ran away but was arrested after a short foot pursuit by responding police officers,” said an FCPD crime report. “Ulmer was charged with malicious wounding, public intoxication and obstruction of justice.”
A malicious wounding charge suggests the victim’s injuries were serious enough to make the crime a felony, as opposed to a less severe assault charge.
Reminder: Change Your Clocks and Smoke Alarm Batteries — “We move our clocks back one hour early Sunday morning. You also need to remember that when you change your clock, our firefighters and paramedics want you to check your smoke alarms to ensure they are working.” [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue]
Rainy Weather Prevented Paving in Vienna — The Town of Vienna “was unable to complete about $100,000 worth of paving and pavement marking work earlier this year because of poor weather, said Finance Director Marion Serfass.” [InsideNova]
100th Birthday Party in McLean — “Ann Ames Groves Gurman, formerly of Arlington and now living at Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean, celebrated her 100th birthday last weekend. Born on Oct. 26, 1918, Ann Ames grew up in Arlington. She was Miss Arlington in 1936 before going off to college. ” [McLean Connection]
There’s activity in the shuttered Rite Aid at 215 Maple Ave. in Vienna as workers transform the former pharmacy space into a Dollar Tree.
Dollar Tree is a discount store that has been thriving and expanding despite e-commerce outlets like Amazon devastating other retail chains. When the new Vienna store will open is unclear, but today workers were busy renovating the building’s interior.
A pair of folders were taped to the front door for those seeking employment to pick up and drop off applications.
The new store will fill a vacancy at an end of Maple Avenue badly in need of more commercial activity. A few feet west of the new Dollar Tree is the charred husk of the Marco Polo restaurant, which was destroyed in a fire last month, and the A.J.’s Sports Stop, which is likely to be closed within a year.
There are other signs of new life and development at the west end of Maple Avenue. Just two blocks away is the Wolf Trap Hotel, which earlier this week was authorized by the Vienna Town Council to be converted into a new four-story mixed-use development.
Hat tip to Laura Schwartz
It’s one day after Halloween and Tysons is already getting into the Christmas season.
Santa will be coming to both Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria this fall. “Santa HQ” will be located on level 1 of the Tysons Corner Center near the Nordstrom, where guests are invited to take pictures with Santa and participate in an augmented-reality “Magic Mirror”.
Santa HQ, which is sponsored by cable channel HGTV, will run from Sunday, Nov. 11 to Christmas Eve (Dec. 24). Reservations for a photo with Santa can be made online (warning for those at work: the site auto-plays a loud video).
The Santa events kick off next Thursday, Nov. 8 with Snappy Hour With Santa. The event is a networking opportunity for professionals around Tysons (and the North Pole), running from 5-7 p.m. at Santa HQ before it officially opens.
On Dec. 2, the Tysons Corner Center will host its 2018 Santa Breakfast. The event will run from 8-10 a.m. outside the AMC theaters. Guests are encouraged to arrive early.
Admission to the events is free with an unwrapped toy to donate to the Holiday Giving Toy Drive. This year the drive will be benefiting Second Story, a local youth shelter.
Santa Claus is also scheduled to make an appearance at the mall’s Thursday, Nov. 15 tree lighting ceremony, which will be emceed Lance Bass from *NSYNC. More on that from the Tysons Corner Center website:
Come celebrate Wash-FM’s Kick off To Christmas and the annual lighting of Tysons Corner Center’s signature 51 foot Christmas Tree on The Plaza emceed by Lance Bass from *NSYNC!
Join Tysons Corner Center, Lance Bass from *NSYNC, 97.1- WASH-FM’s Chili & Toby, Chief Meteorologist Bill Kelly, and Tysons very own Santa Claus as they light the tree, followed by a very special holiday performances by the The Kintz-Mejia Academy of Ballet, The District, The Shiloh Baptist Church Choir, and Mahi Gudi.
Pre-event, guests also are invited to make a reservation to explore the immersive, engaging Santa HQ, the digitally enhanced visit with Santa presented by HGTV. Post-Event, have a warm beverage at Earls Kitchen & Bar, Shake Shack, or Barrel & Bushel, all located on The Plaza.
Meanwhile, the Tysons Galleria, the Santa’s Workshop will open on Friday, Nov. 16 for professional photoshoots with Santa.
Maggiano’s Little Italy in the Galleria will also be hosting its annual Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 15. Tickets are $25 for adults and $35 for children.
Photo via Facebook
A few good volunteers are needed to roll up their sleeves and help clean up Vienna.
This Saturday (Nov. 3), the Town of Vienna will host its biannual Town Clean-Up Day. Volunteers will help pick up trash, remove invasive plants, and spruce up areas near the Town Green and several local creeks.
“Community service is alive and well in Vienna,” said John King, Vienna’s parks maintenance superintendent, in a press release. “It brings a closeness — volunteers get to know our staff, and we get to know them. There’s a lot of bonding when you’re expending elbow grease together.”
Organizations, business, families and individuals are all encouraged to come out and help clean the town.
Volunteers are requested to wear full-length pants and long sleeve shirts no matter the weather conditions, as some of the cleanings could take place in underbrush near the creeks. Those with trash pickers are encouraged to bring them, while the Town of Vienna will supply gloves, trash bags and other necessary equipment.
Volunteers will meet at 9 a.m. at the Town Green, rain or shine.
Those interested in volunteering should email King at [email protected].
Photo via Facebook
(Updated at 12:45 p.m.) A new five-house cluster subdivision is set to be built at 7327 Georgetown Pike, just south of Scott’s Run Nature Preserve, after the project’s approval at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors yesterday (Wednesday).
Whether a new trail planned for the site will go forward is still up in the air.
The project includes 1.45 acres of open space along Georgetown Pike, providing a buffer between the homes and the busy street. But what had many at the meeting concerned was a six-foot-wide paved trail planned through this open space.
Attorney Keith Martin, representing applicant Peter Fitzgerald Jr., said neighbors feared the addition of a trail would add to the problem of people parking along Georgetown Pike to access Scott’s Run.
Dranesville Supervisor John Foust confirmed that residents he met with had shared those concerns. Foust said construction of the trail would be postponed until either the parking problem could be worked out or the trail could be connected to a broader network.
“This is a community inundated with parking,” said Foust. “It’s become a parking lot for Scott’s Run. The community is very concerned that this will be even more of an invitation to come in… It’s very unsafe and not something we want to encourage.”
But the postponing of the trail spurred a brief but tense standoff between Martin and Foust.
“If the trail never gets built, does my client get the money back?” Martin asked.
According to Foust, the agreement between Fairfax County and the developer was that up-front funding would be obtained for the trail, but Martin said he has seen proposals like this before that never went anywhere and the money for the project was “sucked into a black hole.”
“Not according to the proffer,” Foust answered. “This is not the time to be talking about this, to tell you the truth… Wow.”
The development was unanimously approved, but not before Chairman Sharon Bulova double checked with Martin that the proffer terms were agreed to.
With the new Capital One headquarters as a central spine, a panel next week will examine how the Tysons East neighborhood will evolve over the next few years.
The panel will be hosted by the Tysons Partnership next Thursday (Nov. 15) from 7:30-10 a.m. at 1600 Capital One Tower Drive.
Tickets to the panel are $55 for Partnership members and $65 for non-members if ordered before Nov. 5, after which the price increases by $10.
Representatives from companies like Capital One and public organizations like the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning will discuss the latest projects underway in the area.
Tysons East is the neighborhood of Tysons bordering the Beltway to the west and the Dulles Toll Road to the east. The completion of the Capital One Tower earlier this year has kick-started development in the area. Professor Stephen Fuller, Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, said the still-growing Capital One complex is going to become an anchor for new development.
There are projects in development on every side of the McLean Metro station at the heart of Tysons East. The Highland District is planned to be a residential and retail hub just southwest, while to the east Scotts Run North and South are a planned pair of mixed-use developments to include offices and a 200-room hotel.
In addition to private development, a new Fairfax County Fire and Rescue station is scheduled to be built in Tysons East sometime over the next few years to relieve the overburdened Station 29.
