Counterpart interactive agency rolls with times

Counterpart Communications Design in Memphis discusses with the CA what's it's like being a small agency in an interactive world, during a down economy.

Scripps Interactive execs astonished at pace of Mobile app adoption

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports on the awakening within Scripps Interactive to the rate of adoption of Mobile apps and their need to employ the new tools for Jewelry Television and other products.

Nick, Jax terminate GPS Assassins biz

Nick Holland and Jackson Miller (L-R, at left) pulled the plug on their local effort around GPS Assassins, their location-driven games play, according to NashvillePost. GPS Assassins had been approved by the iPhone Apps Store in June 2009. They sold the property for an undisclosed amount to games startup Worldblender. Holland told the Post they'd reached their limits, given other obligations and the fact there's not much ecosystem here for the games sector. Our earlier story on the Holland-Jackson venture. "Big Cheese" Holland's unwavering focus remains on CentreSource, while Miller, a retail franchisee himself, as well as a Geek, is launching a franchisee-oriented BI platform, which he's incubating in the Entrepreneur Center.

Rockhouse names first clients

Rockhouse Partners, the new interactive agency formed by former Echomusic execs, said in a release today its initial clients include C3 Presents (Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Music Festival); Lance Armstrong and the RadioShack Pro Cycling Team, Next BIG Nashville and Tennessee State Fair, and Nashville interactive agency Redpepper. Rockhouse says its target clients are sponsorship brokers, live entertainment properties, brands and their agencies, sports entities, advertising and marketing firms, and media companies. VNC's earlier story on Rockhouse.

gpsAssassin passes 10K users

gpsAssassin, which as reported earlier by VNC was developed here locally by Nick Holland and Jackson Miller (at left), has passed the 10,000 simultaneous gameplayers mark, according to a release this morning.

Knox newsies get more clout in E.W. Scripps

The E.W. Scripps newspaper chain, which includes the Memphis Commercial Appeal and the Knoxville News Sentinel, announced this morning that several Knoxville execs are getting more clout on both interactive and newspapers within the overall corporation.

Meebo online engagement

TechJournalSouth reports on Meebo, the company that simplifies connecting with buddies via social media, has come up with a way to keep website ads in front of visitors longer, improving likelihood of clickthroughs and sharing with friends. Meebo explains its new model, here.

Radio trend may benefit Debut Broadcasting

Media research BIA Financial Network says the Radio ad spend will drop further this year, but the WSJ reads BIA's prognosis as showing small-market stations are more buffered from competition and downturn. Nashville-based Debut Broadcasting's focus is rolling-up and rep'g small-market stations.

Tombras claims unique SEO certification

Knoxville's Tombras Group says it is the only interactive agency to earn SEMPO certification for its search-engine optimization services. This was in the KNS yesterday, but announced by the agency in March. The agency also links to a recent NBJ article on the firm's work for Nashville's Purity Dairies.