PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Chamber of Commerce will offer a workshop designed to help area business owners utilize cutting-edge marketing techniques to generate leads, sales, and overall interest in their business.

"Mobile Marketing 101: Decoding the QR Code" will be held from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 30, at the Beacon Cinema on North Street.

Julie Fruscio, business development and marketing coordinator at Excelsior Printing Co., and Ashley Sulock, director or marketing and communications at the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, will lead the presentation.

The presenters will discuss QR Codes and help attendees understand how to best leverage these tools to bridge the gap between print and electronic marketing. Attendees are encouraged to bring their cell or or smart phones, although these devices are not required for participants to attend or benefit from the program.

The workshop is free to Berkshire Chamber members and $10 for nonmembers. To register: www.berkshirechamber.com, choyt@berkshirechamber.com, or call 413-499-4000, Ext. 10.

Cranwell Resort, Spa and Golf Club has launched a nifty app for iPhone and Android. The Cranwell app offers a guide to the hotel's amenities, recommendations and special offers. Plus it features a map of activities in the Berkshires.

"The way that our customers search for and book their vacation experience is shifting," said Norma Probst, director of marketing for the resort. "This new feature will enable us to connect with our guests and prospective visitors before, during and after their stays."

The app, one of 20 hotel and resort apps developed by DeCare Systems Ireland Ltd., offers quick access to real-time reservations and Cranwell phone and email contacts and images of the historic resort. App users can explore all the facilities of the resort in a few easy taps — from information on wining and dining at the hotel's restaurants and bar, to room and suite accommodations.

Users can access sections on the Spa at Cranwell, golfing or skiing, as well as a profile of their conference and wedding facilities. Then they can shoot off an e-mail to tell their friends all about it.
 
The app also offers an area guide (notably clustered mostly in South County along Route 7) for taverns, dining, shopping, outdoor and cultural activities, hospitals and transportation, along with a Google map to show you how to get there. We're not sure where they're drawing the information, but the North County section is pretty skimpy. The locations do, however, get you not only a location but access to contacts and Web pages.

The "news" section is also sparse, consisting of mainly tweets and retweets from Cranwell. But then it is designed to promote Cranwell and areas of interest to its patrons, not the local or national media.

Cranwell Resort says it partnered with O'Rourke Hospitality's Smart Stay App to provide "a highly specialized service solution for mobile travelers to the Berkshires."

We downloaded the app to try it out and found it very easy to use. If you're coming to the Berkshires and don't know your way around, this is a nice littlemobile concierge. The free app can be downloaded for iPhone, iPad and Android systems.

Looks like Cranwell is out front with offering the area's first mobile application — at least we can't find anyone else who's doing it.

Qualprint's 2010 calendar nabbed a silver award from the 2010 Calendar Marketing Association.

We especially like the calendar full of Berkshire scenes was dedicated to the late Joel Librizzi, a professional photographer who served for 26 years as one of the calendar contest judges for the company. Joel, who died in June 2009, spent his career as a photojournalist at The Berkshire Eagle. He was well known as a talented artist and generous friend.

The National Calendar Award was given in the division of Most Creative Marketing Application for a custom/corporate calendar. The annual full-color calendar is produced, printed and distributed each year by the company. It's printed on FSC certified stock using soy-based inks.

The calendar was designed by Lisa Kirchner, a graphic and digital production artist at Qualprint, and more than 10,000 have been circulated throughout New England.
Winning criteria included the quality of photographs and graphics and complete execution of the calendar subject and theme. The images appearing in the calendar are chosen in an annual photography and art contest sponsored by Qualprint for the past 27 years.

ADAMS, Mass. — If everyone at the South Adams Savings Bank is wearing a promotional T-shirt, it must be the first Monday of the month, when the bank quite visibly takes care of business.

The bank's found a way to help its commercial clients by offering free advertising. The concept's simple: Provide a space for business clients to showcase business cards, brochures and fliers. Then pick one to be featured for a whole month on the South Adams Web site.

The dividend: You can't buy that kind of advertising.

"Oasis Liquors was the first one we featured," said bank President Charles O'Brien. "They were being complimented just about on a daily basis."

Businesses were a bit shy about jumping on board, said O'Brien and Amy Giroux, senior vice president of retail banking, but soon saw the benefits. The promotion's only been going a couple months but the number of businesses participating has doubled with 35 featured during April. "Good buzz goes around," said Giroux.

The idea was hatched by a member of the Taking Care of Business committee, a group of bank employees who discuss ways to aid customers. In addition to space in the bank for advertising, the workers don promotional garb as well.

The promotion not only helps get out the word about businesses doing business with the bank, it also helps other bank patrons connect with its retail customers. The bank also has branches in Williamstown, Cheshire and Lee.

"We're really happy to provide this benefit to our customers," said Giroux. "It's such a spot-on idea and it doesn't cost anything."

This month's featured business on the Web site — and on the bank's Facebook page — is Bedini & St. Pierre Building and Maintenance Contractors. Look for a new business May 3.

If you're interested in becoming a featured business, contact tcb@sasavings.com.