Livemercial Gives the Rush of Adventure to Survivors
Livemercial CEO Johnny Mathis, Jr. and wife Lisa hosted a very successful Holiday Digital Cocktail Hour, focusing on charity and building on the inspiration of a small Colorado organization at the Venue in Valparaiso last Friday.
Livemercial was compelled to promote the cancer support charity First Descents, based in Vail, Colorado, when Lisa Mathis met First Descents founder and professional kayaker, Brad Ludden, on a family trip out west. Inspired by First Descents and Ludden’s work, Lisa said, “I think people all over the country need to know about it, not just in the west.â€
The Mathis family is very thankful that they were able to attract big names from across the country to the Red Carpet Event. Arriving with almost 200 other guests were Miss America’s Outstanding Teen 2010 Jeanette Morelan, U.S. Congressman Pete Visclosky, Indiana State Senator Ed Charbonneau and Valparaiso Ivy Tech Chancellor J. Guadalupe Valtierra.
Many guest speakers stepped up to tell a personal story, however, none captured hearts quite like that of First Descent’s participant and advocate Beth Silverman, nicknamed “Stiletto†by her fellow campers. “I can tell you in advance that my story has a happy ending all because of a paddle, a kayak and an organization called First Descents,†began Silverman, captivating every guest in the building.
She went on to describe how she went from running a 25 million dollar business to battling a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer, in the end beating it, but going through more gruesome and unnerving trials than most people endure their entire lives. She owes her emotional recovery and triumphs to First Descents and the people she met along the way. As Stiletto wrapped up her speech, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
Another key point in the evening was the unveiling of the new South Shore poster by John Cain, Executive Director of South Shore Arts, John Davies and Johnny Mathis.   Specially designed by artist John Rush for Livemercial and Johnny Mathis, the new poster showcased Livemercial’s committment to innovation and technology in Northwest Indiana.
John Davies, who is credited with re-invigorating the 1920’s South Shore posters, described the unveiling warmly by saying, “The poster you’re about to see is a story of a legend in the making, an inspiration to all of us, a young man that said I’m going to make a difference in the world. I’m going to make a difference in Northwest Indiana. â€Â Davies then introduced Mathis as “A young man of genius and innovation.â€
Livemercial’s holiday charity event was a huge success and thousands of dollars were raised for First Descents. Many Livemercial employees came out to show their giving nature and support. Some of Northwest Indiana’s most gracious sponsors included Bistro 157, Opportunity Enterprises, Dish Restaurant, Designer Desserts, Holiday Inn, Bella Capelli Salon each donating items such as food, drinks, cakes and valuable silent auction pieces.
The evening was filled with great food, refreshments, conversation and even a raffle for a trip to Vail, Colorado, fully benefiting First Descents. RG Skadberg, the lucky winner, will have a nice weekend trip to enjoy the benefits of his donation and maybe even get a chance to check out First Descents headquarters while he’s there!
First Descents has changed the lives of hundreds of cancer survivors and will continue to do so with the help and support of the Livemercial team and the Valparaiso community this holiday season.
Livemercial’s ‘Digital Cocktail’ Is Back!
Livemercial Personally Invites You to…Celebrate the Season of Giving
Open Your Hearts…Help Livemercial Support First Descents
With the 2009 holiday season underway, what better way to spread happiness and cheer than to attend the Livemercial Holiday Digital Cocktail Hour at the Venue, in Valparaiso, IN. The celebration of the year begins on Friday, December 4th, 2009, from 5:00pm – 8:00pm. Spend time with family, mingle with friends and network with associates while giving back to those who need it the most. Come one, come all and hurry to RSVP because this invitation is only open to the first 100 guests. You won’t want to miss this action-packed event!
In addition supporting First Descents, event highlights will include:
Red Carpet Meet & Greet with Miss America’s Outstanding Teen
Keynote Speech by First Descents Founder Brad Ludden
Silent Auction from 5:00pm – 7:30pm
Testimonials and Stories from First Descents’ Campers
Vail, Colorado Weekend Travel Package Raffle
Unveiling of the Newest South Shore Poster
and much, much more!
Livemercial CEO Johnny Mathis, Jr., will provide hors d’oeuvres and refreshments for all to enjoy.
Join us for the Hollywood Scene in NWI
This might be one of your only chances to walk a Red Carpet in style – right here in NWI! Join Jeanette Morelan, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen, for a Red Carpet Meet & Greet. Later in the evening, Jeanette will speak on her personal platform, “The Power of One.â€Â Since walking the runway on August 22nd, Jeanette has been traveling across the country in support of The Children’s Miracle Network and will be promoting community involvement and healthy living for our nation’s youth.
Give the Rush of Adventure to Young Survivors
Learn more about and help Livemercial support the First Descents organization by attending and donating. Dedicated to curing adults of the emotional effects of cancer, First Descents empowers survivors to regain control of their lives by experiencing adventure sports in a fun, safe environment. Donations will keep First Descents programs free to those young adults with cancer who need them.
RSVP for this memorable event now! This invitation is only open to the first 100 guests. If you are unable to attend, please visit www.firstdescents.org/donate to submit your contribution today!
Livemercial, Mathis Each Pick Up an Award
(Promotional Video for Inc. 500 || 5000)
Winning an award is always exciting. But when you collect two awards in two days from two completely different organizations, it’s hard to be anything but humble and thankful.
“Humble” and “Thankful” is how Livemercial CEO Johnny Mathis is feeling.
On Thursday, September 24th, 2009, in the prestigious Innsbrook Country Club in Merrillville, IN, Mathis was honored at the Times of Northwest Indiana’s 20 under 40†reception. An event hosted this year by The Times publisher Bill Masterson Jr., the 20 under 40 recognize individuals under the age of 40 who not only have become successful in their respective fields but who have also helped make Northwest Indiana a better place to live.
Then the following morning Mathis and his wife Lisa boarded the Livemercial jet for Washington D.C. where they were invited to attend Inc. magazine’s 5000 Gala dinner, a capstone event to the 2009 Inc. 500 || 5,000 Conference and Awards Ceremony.
A list which began in 1982 and whose elite honorees have included Microsoft and Oracle, the Inc. 500I5000 list celebrates the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in the U.S. It is no suprise that livemercial was added to the list.
Congratulation goes out to Johnny, the staff at Livemercial, and the city of Valparaiso, IN for having such distinctions brought to The Region.
And a big, heart-felt “thank you†goes out to our clients past, present, and future for allowing us to be a part of your growth and development.
Celebrate the Holidays at Livemercial’s Christmas Digital Cocktail Hour
VALPARAISO, Ind. – (Dec. 9, 2008) – Livemercial™ gets into the holiday spirit with its monthly Digital Cocktail Hour, featuring keynote speaker Cresta Pillsbury, an update on plans for the alliance of digital companies in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago region and a surprise visit from our favorite jolly friend—Santa Claus.
This month’s event will take place Thursday, Dec. 11 from 5-7 p.m. at the Livemercial Technology Center, 3400 Mariposa Dr., Valparaiso (the former Natural Ovens bakery dome). In addition to networking, festive live entertainment and refreshments, the Digital Cocktail Hour will host our keynote speaker, Cresta Pillsbury, Managing Partner of eCommerce Merchants.
Cresta will discuss the benefits of joining the Association and she will present attendees with a special membership offer. With over 10 years of experience in online retail, Cresta has first-hand experience starting and growing many online retail companies.
Livemercial CEO Johnny Mathis, Jr., will provide attendees with an update on the progress being made toward the Digital Alliance, which is an non-profit organization that unites both start-up and established companies and provides networking and educational opportunities. The goal of this alliance is to encourage economic development by creating technological powerhouses.
The Digital Cocktail Hour is open to any interested member of the Northwest Indiana/Chicago business community. To RSVP, email events@livemercial.com or call (219) 477-3900 ext. 2320.
A Thank You for a Successful Online Job Fair
A thank you goes out to all those who registered and attended livemercial’s first virtual online job fair. Everybody who participated contributed to the event’s rousing success.
Another big “Thank You,” goes out to RecruiTV and its dutiful Director of New Business Development, Rachele Konja, for organizing and moderating the event. According to Mrs. Konja, over 120 candidates registered for the event.
“We had our expectations, but we still weren’t certain how many candidates would register and participate.” affirmed Mrs. Konja, “Online job fairs are a growing but not a common avenue to many job seekers. Our results were overwhelming.
“This only spurs our endeavors to host more online job fairs not only for livemercial, but for our other clients as well.”
Mrs. Konja went on to explain that the event uncovered numerous potential candidates for livemercial.
All in all, a prosperous day. Check blog.livemercial.com as well as blog.recruitv.com for upcoming career events.
The Official Billy Mays “The Office” ERA Vegas Video
The Billy Mays / The Office parody video that first aired at ERA Vegas has, as expected, made its way on to YouTube.com. Relive every side-splitting moment, told in the style of NBC’s “The Office”, as Billy Mays jokes, cajoles and pitches his way through an inspiring day at livemercial. For your viewing pleasure, below is the memorable clip.
The Billy Mays parody video was shot at livemercial’s corporate offices in Valparaiso, IN on September 4th, 2008 during Mays’ visit to livemercial. In addition to sharing stories and dining with Billy Mays during lunch, several members of the livemercial team actually composed the supporting cast for the Billy Mays video (including Director of Search, Matt O’Brien, who indeed drank the liquid after Billy wrung out the ZorbEEZ cloth into Matt’s cup). And, while we’re name-dropping, a loud shout out goes to Associate Vice President Jim Barnthouse for the video’s writing and directing genius as well as to Directors of Photography, Corey Morrison and Kevin Miller. Not to be overlooked, a shout out also goes to Production Assistant Nick Greiger for his endurance and dedication.
A great time had by all, complete with hopes of a similar event in the near future.
From the staff at livemercial to Billy Mays: “Thank you, Billy.”
livemercial Purchases Monolithic Dome
Livemercialâ„¢ has purchased a landmark building to help facilitate expansion. The internet marketing company has won a sealed-bid auction for the former Natural Ovens Monolithic Dome.
The former Natural Ovens Bakery, located next to Indiana 49 and Route 2 in Valparaiso, IN, has been mostly unoccupied since Wisconsin-based Natural Ovens closed operations at the facility nearly 5 years ago. The monolithic dome is one of a kind and its unique architecture is very environmentally friendly; the building uses 50% less energy than that a comparatively-sized building.
“It’s a very unusual building, but we’re a very unusual company,” said CEO Johnny Mathis, Jr.
Livemercialâ„¢ plans to turn the dome into an information technology hub and put Valparaiso, Indiana on the map as an information technology center.
“Valparaiso is already a center of learning with 3 major universities based there,†said a company spokesman, “it’s only natural that businesses would want to tap into the highly educated population.â€
Valparaiso, Indiana is considered a suburb of Chicago and attracts visitors and workers from throughout the Chicago metropolitan region.
“This acquisition will ensure that we can continue expanding, innovating and developing technology in this very unique place.â€
The monolithic dome has nearly 60,000 square feet of space and has two levels; an open floor plan where the bakery’s production once took place and a mezzanine office level that looks out on the former production area. The building features solid concrete construction that has been designed to withstand a category 5 tornado.
Thanks for a fantastic party!
Thanks go out to everyone who was involved in organizing and planning the livemercialâ„¢ Party by the Pond last Friday. It was a huge success and all who attended had a great time.
The company would also like to thank its employees for another great year and it hopes that they had a fantastic time! Till next year guys!
Check out the pictures from the party below!
And a special “Thank you!” goes out the the band Between the Trees for giving an energetic, inspiring performance at Party by the Pond. Watch their video blog chronicling their experience flying aboard LM 2.
livemercial Goes International
livemercial™ has expanded its U.S. holdings and gone international by opening offices in both the United Kingdom and in Portland, Maine. The company also announced the appointment of Glenn Morgan to Executive Vice President of Sales-Europe, overseeing the company’s European operations, and Todd Flaherty to Executive Vice President of Sales based out of Portland.
“Our national and international expansion is the direct result of the increased demand for the innovative direct response marketing and virtual recruitment technologies offered by livemercialâ„¢ and RecruiTV,†said Johnny Mathis, Jr., CEO, livemercialâ„¢. “The significant experience that Glenn and Todd bring to livemercialâ„¢ and their respective markets will enhance that demand by introducing livemercial’s cutting edge approach to direct response and recruitment to entirely new audiences.â€
The office in England will serve as the European sales office for livemercialâ„¢ and RecruiTV, which provides virtual recruiting technology and services to corporations and recruitment firms worldwide. RecruiTV was acquired by livemercialâ„¢ in May 2008.
Prior to joining livemercialâ„¢, Morgan drove sales activities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region for several telecommunications companies including ANDA Networks, an Ethernet equipment manufacturer. He also held executive positions with Newport Networks, Clear Communications and Orchestream, and was a sales leader for Xerox.
The Portland office will handle sales activities for the United States and provide sales support for Europe and Canada. In particular, the Portland location will benefit from the growing number of local companies providing such critical direct response support services as shipping and fulfillment, media buying, creative production, credit card processing, call centers and product manufacturing.
Flaherty brings a proven entrepreneurial track record to livemercialâ„¢, having co-founded successful ventures including Acadia Credit Card Processing, an authorized re-seller of merchant processing services, Pinnacle Marketing, a direct response marketing company, and Ship-Right Solutions, a third-party order fulfillment company specializing in e-commerce, direct response and retail clients. His background includes work in financial analysis with Digital Equipment Corporation and in global sales with DHL Worldwide Express.
Livemercial History Featured in the Northwest Indiana Times
Recently, Livemercialâ„¢ CEO Johnny Mathis, Jr. was profiled in the Business Features section of The Times of Northwest Indiana newspaper.
The article gives a good summary of the history of livemercialâ„¢, which highlights livemercial’s rise from the ashes of the dot-com bubble burst of the late 1990s. Determined to come up with a new idea, Johnny Mathis developed a new streaming video technology, called the livemercial Player that would later become part of the company’s Virtual Call Center. He presented the video technology at a trade show and Livemercialâ„¢ was born along with a revolution in direct response marketing.
What makes livemerical’sâ„¢ Virtual Call Center platform different from other e-commerce sites?
As quoted in May 11th, 2008 Times article, Mathis described the Virtual Call Center as “… a ’micro site’ built around a single product. At the time, the industry relied on a ’shopping cart’ for a buyer to purchase different products. Instead, the call center encourages the buyer to increase the dollar value of a single purchase through additional purchases. We call this an ‘upsell tree.’â€
The Times article also featured an insight into the company’s future plans. Livemercialâ„¢ hopes to turn Valparaiso into a tech center by incubating new and innovative ideas.
Livemercialâ„¢ has grown steadily to the point where it now employs 100 people nationwide, a large majority in the Valparaiso area at its corporate headquarters located near the Porter County Municipal Airport. Mathis also wants to give back to the tech community: “I didn’t have any support for my ideas,” he said in the article. “I want to help others with their ideas and grow our business as well.”
