We changed the look and feel of our website’s interface, transferred the website to a more powerful server and incorporated greater performance and security technologies to improve your experience with our site. Ongoing maintenance represents about 70 percent of a website’s quality. We practice TWQM—Total Website Quality Management. TWQM consists of: (1) Automated site monitoring; (2) Continuous security testing; (3) Browser download speed optimization; (4) Ongoing content and feature updates; (5) Website analytics; (6) SEO / SEM; (7) Server statistics evaluation; (8) Daily broken link testing; (9) Image / video file maintenance and (10) Comprehensive navigation system improvement. We believe US International Media is one of the best media management companies in the business and its website should also be top notch.
Our enhancements should enable us to institute a more relevant production schedule for your The USIM Gazette, by including more late-breaking content. In keeping with this theme, we are pleased to weigh in on the recent news regarding networks and integration fee elimination and to announce the formation of a new political marketing department - Slates - to respond to political placement opportunities. Also, we are including information on the voting results for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign; an important USIM division provided the overall telecommunications, call center and Internet donation processing support for the event. The Stand Up To Cancer public service announcement is currently on the homepage for your review.
The second issue of the company’s flagship communication tool—The USIM Gazette—includes an updated, comprehensive article profiling Dennis Holt, founder and CEO of both Western International Media Corporation and US International Media. Given the substantial increase recently in the number of new USIM and Patriot Communications employees, it seemed to be a timely decision to provide an easy way for interested individuals to learn more about the history of the companies and Dennis Holt.
The May 2008 inaugural issue of The USIM Gazette featured an article that gave a timeline detailing when USIM, and its predecessor (Western International Media Corporation), began and the many milestones they reached. The word milestone (from the Latin milliarium) merits a bit more exploration as it is an especially useful metaphor to illustrate the nearly 40 years of progress Western International Media Corporation and its successor, USIM, achieved under Dennis’ leadership. In ancient Rome, milestones were important components of the roadway infrastructure, as these granite markers enabled travelers to splice trips together based on predictable, manageable distances. The “Golden Milestone” was reputed to be a solid gold milestone located at the exact center of Rome, and all roads originated from this milestone. The phrase “all roads lead to Rome” is a reference to the Golden Milestone—ground zero—the specific point to which all roads were said to lead.
It is easy to see how Dennis Holt is the Golden Milestone for an entire industry—media planning and buying—and all roads in advertising lead back to him. Dennis revolutionized media management. Dennis is at the epicenter of today's $400 billion global advertising business. I am sure you will enjoy reading how special “Uncle Dennis” really is, and it only makes sense that we follow up our previous article on the genesis of the companies with one about the companies’ founder and guiding light.
You may not be overly familiar with the integrated circuit, but without it none of the media we use today would be possible. The monolithic integrated circuit (also known as the microchip or just chip) is now ubiquitous in industrialized societies. Without the microchip modern television and radio transmission, televisions, radios, telephones, computers, communications, manufacturing, banking and finance, transportation systems and the Internet would not exist. Scholars have dubbed the integrated circuit as one of the most important inventions in human history. September 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of the integrated circuit and The USIM Gazette is pleased to honor the inventor of the integrated circuit, the late Jack Kilby,* who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for his role in the invention of the integrated circuit, with Part 1 of a multi-part article which examines some of the “tech-trends” expected to shape media technology over the next 50 years.
We conclude our look at media pioneers and emerging media technology with an excellent article by Jody Slater on the impact digital media is having in the media market today and how US Interactive is poised to respond to a wealth of business opportunities.
Future issues of the Gazette will include reviews of current books and films about media, artwork, personnel profiles, etc. Keep sending your articles and article ideas to your The USIM Gazette. To review submission guidelines, see the article titled, "How To Submit Articles to The USIM Gazette," in the May 2008 inaugural issue.
Darrell Woody
Editor-Digital Communications
*You can learn more interesting facts about Jack Kilby and his inventions from Texas Instrument's website (Kilby was an electrical engineer at Texas Instruments when he invented the integrated circuit), at http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/jackstclair.shtml