Nancy’s Notes

Piper Jaffrey predicts the market for energy storage will be worth $225 billion by 2020.  Largely driving that growth will be the “Holy Grail” of renewable energy: grid scale energy storage in a ‘dispatchable power’ format. Dispatchable power enables utilities to deliver specific amounts of electricity at specific times, making renewables such as wind and solar grid-friendly.  Dispatchable grid scale energy storage appears to finally be within reach; scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy have acknowledged the potential of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRBs) to “potentially increase the use of wind, renewable energy, and other renewable power sources across the grid.”

Meet American Vanadium Corp., www.americanvanadium.com, (TSV.V: AVC), a company developing the only dedicated vanadium mine in the U.S. The company’s Gibellini Project – a world-class vanadium resource in Nevada – is slated to begin production in 2013.

For background on American Vanadium, please read Vorticom’s email newsletter highlighting recent media interviews:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Vanadium-Gets-Ready-for-Close-Up.html?soid=1101326827143&aid=rIjRwegwVhs

Burcon NutraScience Corporation, www.burcon.ca, (TSX:BU) (NASDAQ:BUR), a world leader in the innovation and development of highly functional sustainable plant protein ingredients, visited the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City’s Times Square to celebrate their dual listing on the NASDAQ Global Market. Burcon NutraScience commenced trading on NASDAQ under the symbol “BUR” on October 27, 2011. In honor of the occasion, Johann F. Tergesen, President & COO rang the Opening Bell.

“It’s more environmentally and economically feasible to feed the seven billion people on this planet with plant protein than animal protein,” says Johann Tergesen whose company is a leader in nutrition, health and wellness in the field of functional, renewable plant proteins.

Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing livestock or driving cars? According to a report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the global livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation. We invite you to review broadcast and print interviews featuring Burcon NutraScience Corp. on Vorticom’s email newsletter below:

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs064/1101326827143/archive/1108471115111.html

As of mid-October, natural gas prices were still hovering around the $4 mark. Yet many of the shale basins – the Haynesville, the Marcellus, the Eagle Ford – are bustling with more activity than ever. How are operators making the economics work? For Houston-based Mainland Resources, www.mainlandresources.com, established in 2008, “the answer is simple: get in early,” reports Drilling Contractor magazine.  Mainland is developing the natural gas potential of leases in the northern Louisiana Haynesville Shale play and is exploring the potential for further extensions of the Haynesville shale in Mississippi.

“Everybody can do their best to drill cost-effectively, but what you can’t change is what you paid for the leases. If your cost basis, even before you start to drill a well is high, then really there is nothing you can do other than to wait for product prices to increase,” said Mainland CEO and director Nicholas Atencio. Early entrants, like Mainland with the Haynesville, pay industry-standard prices. Those later to the game will end up paying quite a bit more.

Mainland Resources, along with partner Petrohawk, became a major player in the Haynesville in the East Holly field of Louisiana over the past couple of years before selling that acreage.   We invite you to review this newsletter to see Mainland Resources in the news. 

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Haynesville-Gas-Play-Attracts-Early-Bird.html?soid=1101326827143&aid=no8-Q8V9E0g

In the coming decades, as global agriculture faces the prospect of a changing climate and the challenge of feeding the world’s population, Burcon NutraScience Corporation’s, www.burcon.ca, (TSX: BU), renewable vegetable plant proteins could be part of the solution to delivering food to regions vulnerable to food deficits.

“It’s more environmental and economic to feed the six billion people on this planet with plant protein than animal protein,” says Johann Tergesen, Burcon’s president whose company is a leader in nutrition, health and wellness in the field of functional, renewable plant proteins. We invite you to review recent broadcast and print interviews featuring Burcon NutraScience Corp at the email newsletter link below:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Burcon-s-Protein-Power.html?soid=1101326827143&aid=UtWez4B9tOI

Does your public relations agency management pester their female staff to get collagen injections to thicken their lips?  Do they show up on employees’ dates with romantic prospects to weigh in on their suitability?  Do they purchase sex toys they think will resonate with individual staffers?   This is the “real world” portrayed on reality television about public relations professionals with the newest entrant, “The Spin Crowd” playing this fall on E! Entertainment Television.  While seasoned communications executives understand the “entertainment” value of these programs and can watch them with tongue firmly planted in cheek, young recruits to our world may not be able to differentiate fact from fiction.

As a public relations professional who has held senior positions at three of the top global public relations agencies, I can safely say that before the advent of reality TV’s glimpse into the PR sector, I’ve never seen such blatantly sexist and hostile workplaces in action.  If these types of behaviors ever occurred, there would be tears of joys flowing from workplace discrimination attorneys eager to cash in on litigation.

George Carlin once said that, “the caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity.”  The caterpillars of the public relations world are focused on the tactical work of their craft.  Minus the glamour of reality television, they are drafting by-lined articles for company CEOs, researching and writing case studies, and coming up with novel ways for their clients to be woven into the national media discourse. My fellow PR caterpillars are orchestrating events for clients and toiling away to ensure that media are in attendance and that every detail of an event is effectively managed and produced. They are crafting social media content for their client’s Facebook, Twitter and blog accounts.

My article titled, “Reality TV vs. Real PR Professionals” is running in a number of outlets.  Please click the links below to read the full article.

http://prcgpowerlines.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/reality-tv-vs-real-pr-professionals/

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http://navigator.cision.com/Reality-TV-vs-Real-PR-Professionals.aspx

http://www.prnewsonline.com/prinsiders/14121.html

Check out the October 2010 issue of O’Dwyers Magazine for the longer version of this piece.

“I have seen first-hand the healing benefits of evidence-based design principles with plants, ambient scenting and art in healthcare and other workplace environments,” writes Todd Ferguson, a senior executive from Ambius, www.ambius.com, in the current issues of Occupational Health & Safety and Facility Care magazines. Evidence-based design (EBD) features a holistic review of a building’s physical space including the total sensory environment of sight, sound, touch and smell. EBD is credited with having a healing impact on a person’s well being, mood and safety.” A link to Ferguson’s article, titled, “Creating a Favorable Interior” is available in this email newsletter.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Plants-Create-Curative-Workspace.html?soid=1101326827143&aid=yXqgjD-ziFE

More and more companies are investing in natural gas exploration projects on the US mainland. Nicholas Atencio, CEO of Mainland Resources, www.mainlandresources.com, which has projects in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, tells CNBC why.  Vorticom was proud to present Nick on Squawk Box this morning!  Check out the clip:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1591854899&play=1

Read Vorticom’s email newsletter issued September 20th 2010:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/CNBC-Looks-at-Natural-Gas-Sector.html?soid=1101326827143&aid=HD9I9cKQO3A

Read Vorticom’s email newsletter on workplace violence prevention featuring AlliedBarton Security safety gurus:

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs064/1101326827143/archive/1103626091287.html