USANA Notebook: A Bit of This, a Little of That

My trusty “Stickies” list — the place where I keep track of newsy items — is getting a bit unwieldy, so I thought it time to compile a Notebook. It’s the perfect time to tie up some loose ends as we wrap up 2011 and look toward 2012.

So much has happened in 2011. From mingling with stars at the Sundance Film Festival to hitting the road on The Healthy Home Book Tour to winning several awards to experiencing USANA11 to publishing our 1,000th blog post!

It’s been an incredible year and we’ll be sure to have a “year-in-review” post as we’ve done in the past to relive the excitement of the past 12 months.

But first, something we’re super-excited about on the first floor…

Welcome to ‘The Cave’

Astute blog readers (or at least those who visit the “Authors” page from time to time) will recognize a couple new names/faces associated with What’s Up, USANA?

We welcome Allie Henderson, who joined the team as a Public Relations Specialist in November. It’s safe to say she won’t forget her first week at USANA.

In her first few days, she helped coordinate a visit with the West Valley City SWAT Team (see below), met members of the USA Luge team, shipped products to athletes/influencers, and participated in her first What’s Up, USANA? video.

Here’s Allie’s official What’s Up, USANA? bio:

“Allie thinks USANA is an amazing place to work and she is grateful to have the opportunity to put her degree to proper use. She is a devoted Portland Trail Blazer fan and is confident that when the zombie apocalypse happens, she will, without a doubt, survive.”

The following week, Jessica Whiting joined the team as our newest Social Media Specialist. Her first week wasn’t quite as exciting as Allie’s (my fault).

But she did get to shoot a quick video with Dave Wentz, as well as one with the U.S. Field Development Team (look for those on the Corporate Blog later this month).

Jessica will be interacting with many of you on Facebook and Twitter, I’m sure, and she’s already written her first blog post for What’s Up, USANA!

And here’s Jessica’s official What’s Up, USANA? bio:

“Jessica manages the USANA Corporate Blog and is excited to get to know the corporate team better. A former copy editor, Jessica is trying to get used to Twitterspeak and its interesting ‘interpretation’ of the English language. If you can’t find her at her desk, she’s probably off in a corner doing what she likes best — reading a book.”

We’re excited to welcome both of them to the team!

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Big News at LPI

We received this video from our research partners at the Linus Pauling Institute in October. Take a virtual tour of the new Linus Pauling Science Center on the campus of Oregon State University. It looks like an incredible facility!

“Steve Lawson, administrative officer for the Linus Pauling Institute, gives a tour of the new $62.5 million, 105,000-square-foot center at Oregon State University. The building is named after OSU’s most accomplished alumnus, a two-time Nobel laureate.”

If you’re unable to view the video, please click here.

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Special Visitors

USANA’s welcomed several world-class visitors recently, including members of USA Luge, skeleton racer Kimber Gabryszak and, as mentioned earlier, the West Valley City SWAT Team!

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What’s the Buzz

Here are select topics discussed on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere in the last little while. Are you following?

• The Rev3 Energy® Video Contest is in full swing! Send us a 60-second video and you could win a year’s supply of the cleaner, smarter, stronger energy drink (US/CA only).
• Dr. John Cuomo, USANA’s executive director of Research & Development, talks about upcoming clinical studies and other projects.
• How important is research when producing nutritional supplements?

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In the News

USANA and its immediate family are making headlines. Here is a sampling of the press mentions over the last little while:

• Interested in learning why vitamin D is so important? Dr. John Cuomo, USANA’s executive director of research and development, gives the inside scoop in this Edmonton Sun interview.
• Today’s Diet & Nutrition includes USANA Probiotic “On the Supplement Shelf.”
• Celebrity trainer and USANA spokesperson Kathy Kaehler was interviewed by It’s Your Health radio. She’s also been featured on HuffingtonPost.com recently.
• Dr. Tim Wood appeared on Global TV Edmonton in November ahead of his presentation on healthy aging.
• USANA earlier this month received a couple nice mentions in respected business publications. Check out what MSN says about USANA’s outlook. And Forbes calls USANA “still the picture of health” while including us in some pretty elite corporate company.
• USANA was recognized as one of the “Top Places to Work in PR” by PR News at a November luncheon. Dan Macuga and yours truly also were honored as finalists in the PR News People Awards.
• Dr. Christine Wood, pediatrician, author, and member of USANA’s Scientific Advisory Council, offers excellent advice for parents struggling to get their children to eat healthy in this interview with Kid Pointz.

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And Finally…

Next year is a big one for us at USANA. We’ll be celebrating our 20th anniversary. We encourage you to make plans now to be in Salt Lake City Aug. 15-18 to experience the 2012 USANA International Convention.

Here’s a small taste of what’s in store.

If you’re unable to view the video, please click here.

USANA Notebook is an occasional series of posts in which I compile various tidbits from within the corporate walls or from out in the field. The series will also at times include commentary on what’s happening throughout our industry and in social media. As always, please share this information with your networks and feel free to send along information that could be included in future posts. View previous Notebooks here.