Mediaboss Marketing

MICHELLE WRANIK

Getty

MODESTY BATHE: An Iranian woman emerges from the water after riding a jetski at Kish Island.

As the scorching rays of the Middle Eastern sun bore down, I plunged into the sea, desperately happy to feel cool water against my skin.

I had been wrapped in a hijab all day in 45-degree heat. A dip at the beach offered the only respite.

But in the Islamic Republic of Iran, women must not show their hair or skin, let alone wear bikinis in public. A woman caught wearing a miniskirt could be sentenced to 50 lashes. Could wearing a bikini land me in jail?

With its white-sand beaches, tax-free shopping and luxury hotels, Kish Island is the Iranian equivalent of Hawaii or Bali. It's well known for being more relaxed than the mainland and is popular with holidaying Persians.

Iranian women can be a bit more carefree, mingling with the opposite sex, riding jet skis and walking on the beach with their headscarves loosened and trousers rolled up. But this island is no Ibiza. The strict laws of the Islamic regime apply.

Dancing is forbidden, as I discovered while watching a live Farsi band at a restaurant. Iranians make do with clapping their hands to the music.

Though beachside touts offered me bootleg booze in whispered hisses ("Absolut vodka? Johnnie Walker?"), alcohol is otherwise illegal, meaning no pina coladas by the pool. And while the island is surrounded by calm beaches fringed by swaying palm trees, men and women are forbidden to swim together. A bikini in public? It seemed unlikely.

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From hijab to skimpy bikini

KARA NEWMAN

Getty

LOCAL SPIRIT: Holiday makers enjoy a cocktail at Ku De Ta on Bali's Seminyak Beach.

Pastry chef Will Goldfarb is living every stressed-out urbanite's dream.

After several successful years in New York running a dessert-centric restaurant with a cult following, he picked up and moved to the tropical paradise of Bali and is now executive pastry chef at Ku De Ta, a restaurant and beach club with a cult following.

"[Bali's] local drinking culture is very sophisticated these days," Goldfarb says, adding that there's lots of fresh young talent working hard behind the bar to impress the international clientele.

The iconic tipple here is a spirit called arak. "The ultimate local beverage would probably be... an Arak Madu with honey and lime," notes Goldfarb.

(Not to be confused with arrack, an anise-flavoured spirit popular in some Middle Eastern countries, Bali's arak is distilled either from coconut palm sap or a mix of black glutinous rice and coconut milk.)

Although inexpensive, arak can be found at bars catering to locals and budget-minded tourists, Bali's more upscale restaurants and cocktail lounges tend to promote pricier rum and vodka drinks, mixed with tropical fruit such as mango and passionfruit, and Asian-inspired flavourings like ginger and lemongrass.

Fiery arak is usually available for the asking, though. (Stick to reputable bars though - homemade arak has been linked to poisonings of tourists and locals)

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Back to Arak: Bali's cocktail base

INTERNATIONAL DJs, regional DJs, outdoor parties, indoor clubs, guests and residents all making the Klang Valley a heaving arena for club music. Its almost like it was a decade ago.

MARCH 9

ZOUK 113, Jalan Ampang, KL

GLOBAL presents DANNY MARQUEZ (Spn). Its been years since Spannish DJ Danny Marquez graced the decks in KL, and now hes finally returned. Space Ibiza resident Marquez has dedicated his life to music and he is constantly pushing himself forward to develop a successful signature sound.

With a extended musical background built over his many DJs years, Danny held residency in some big clubs in Ibiza where he rocked thousands of clubbers week after week, while establishing himself as one of the most important DJ on the island.

In 2004, Danny started weaving his talent into music production, successfully launching his own imprint: Bubble Soul Music.

Through numerous hit records such as Mumba, Trust in yourself, God is Love and Afrocatalans which became one of the biggest records of the summer 2004, Danny Marquez gained solid recognition in the international house circuit and is now spinning in the best clubs around the world. Danny Marquez started as a Space Ibiza resident in summer 2011 playing at Mondays Calling among other Space events.

Admission: Ticket entry: RM25 Ladies / RM35 Men (inc 1 drink) Reservations*: Please call 03-2171 2075 (12pm - 6pm) or 0163323191 (after 6pm) or email rsvn@zoukclub.com.my

*applicable to 21 yrs old and above.

MARCH 9

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Music fests help spice up the club scene

On March 21, Matt Silvers from seo4anyone.com will be a guest lecturer at the University of Miami. The lecture will focus on internet marketing case studies involving Google Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns as well as additional case studies on social media marketing. Local South Florida companies will be featured in the case studies.

Miami, FL (PRWEB) March 01, 2012

Seo4anyones previous speaking engagement was focused on search engine optimization (SEO) for the local Miami market. seo4anyone, Inc. is well known as a top SEO expert in Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas. Due to the ongoing expansion of the internet marketing marketplace, they have expanded their expertise into growing online marketing segments including social media marketing and website conversion testing. These core competencies will be discussed during the University of Miami lecture.

The case studies that will be analyzed at the University of Miami lecture will focus on both internet marketing campaigns and social media marketing projects. Several of the case studies will be from local South Florida companies who are leaders in their respective industries.

By showing what other local South Florida companies have achieved in their internet marketing and social media marketing campaigns, we hope the students will relate better to the information we present, says Matt Silvers, who will be giving the lecture. Several leading edge internet marketing clients located here in the Miami, Aventura, and Ft. Lauderdale areas have experienced exponential growth in their businesses due to these types of internet marketing projects.

During the second portion of the lecture, the students will be shown live social media marketing campaigns that are running for several Miami based clients. Topics will include social media management strategies for Facebook ,Twitter, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Additional discussions will be centered around viral marketing campaigns and social media outreach tactics. These social media platforms are important since most leading companies are now utilizing their Facebook Fan pages as their primary customer service tool. Flash sales and daily promotions are being announced through these channels, allowing the viral nature of social media do the work for the marketing teams.

About seo4anyone:

Seo4anyone is a Miami, Florida based search engine marketing agency. With offices located in Aventura, they service clients in both the South Florida area as well as national markets. Their primary area of expertise is search engine optimization, but they also are experts in social media marketing, website conversion testing, landing page optimization, and pay per click management. Seo4anyone has been located in Miami since 1997. They can be reached at: 20900 NE 30TH AVE STE 730 Aventura, FL 33180.

954-446-0070

Matt(at)seo4anyone(dot)com

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Seo4anyone, Inc. Selected as Guest Speaker at University of Miami to Teach Social Media Marketing and Internet ...

SAN FRANCISCO, March 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- VerticalResponse, a leading provider of self-service marketing solutions for small businesses including email marketing, social media marketing, online surveys, event marketing and direct mail marketing, today released the first in a series of findings that examine email and social media marketing user data among small and mid-sized businesses.

VerticalResponse found companies that use its email marketing service and also engage in social media marketing for their business (defined by activity on Roost by VerticalResponse, the company's social media marketing platform) experience a 28 percent higher open rate on their email marketing campaigns versus those that don't use Roost by VerticalResponse.

"This is really compelling evidence showing those who combine email marketing and social media obtain greater results from their campaigns, especially among small and mid-sized businesses that represent the majority ofour customer base," said Janine Popick, VerticalResponse CEO. "The numbers clearly show that those who broadcast content across multiple online touch points are getting a lot more engagement than those who don't."

What types of businesses do the best in leveraging email marketing and social media? The data analysis uncovered the following:

Roost by VerticalResponse enables small businesses to easily and quickly create, schedule, manage and measure their social media marketing campaigns from one convenient dashboard. Earlier this month, the company released a free iOS mobile app, giving customers access to the platform's most popular features no matter where they are.

Methodology: VerticalResponse analyzed a sample set of 3,116 active customers who use both the company's email marketing service and Roost by VerticalResponse. Their open rates were compared to those had by customers who only use VerticalResponse email marketing.

ABOUT VERTICALRESPONSEVerticalResponse Inc. provides a full suite of self-service marketing solutions for small businesses including email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, direct mail marketing and online surveys. Its mission is to empower small businesses and non-profit organizations to easily and affordably create, manage and analyze their own marketing campaigns. Users can benefit from a wide variety of features including more than 700 free email marketing templates; tools to create, schedule and publish content over social media networks; and robust reporting so that they can understand overall marketing success. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. For more information visit http://www.verticalresponse.com, and connect on Twitter at @VR4SmallBiz and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/verticalresponse. Learn more about Roost's social media marketing tools for small business here and by following @Roost.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Janine Popick https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=92010

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Businesses Who Use Email Marketing and Social Media Achieve 28% Higher Email Open Rates, According to VerticalResponse ...