Offlining: Saving families and lives. Hats off to artist Jay Shells for his creative work.

For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Danielle Nacco
Ericho Communications
(347) 248-1677
danielle@erichopr.com

OFFLINING FOUNDERS LAUNCH CAT’S IN THE CRADLE REBOOT COMPETITON
THIS FATHER’S DAY

Marketing Gurus Mark the One-Year Anniversary of Offlining, Inc.
by Asking Singers and Songwriters to Rewrite the Famed Father-Son Song for Today’s Digital Relationship

NEW YORK (June 7, 2011) – New York City-based dynamic marketing duo and serial entrepreneurs Mark DiMassimo and Eric Yaverbaum, who started the famous Tappening movement, an environmental campaign to “make tap water cool,” and the political and educational ‘Read to Vote’ initiative joined forces for a third time and created Offlining in 2010. This highly talked about and very viral campaign encourages people to go offline, by turning off their mobile devices and computers in order to devote time to the traditional face-to-face conversation that we have all grown to miss in the wake of Blackberries, iPhones and working twenty-four/seven.

The initiative highlights America’s ever-growing addiction to technology and to mark the one-year anniversary since its conception, DiMassimo and Yaverbaum are thinking BIG again. They are calling all singer/songwriters to rewrite the famous Cat’s in the Cradle song – originally sung by Harry Chapin, which shows how a father and son grew up without ever having time for each other, with a modern refresh for the Facebook generation. more after the jump (more…)

NY Metro

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, had a difficult challenge for the students in her honors seminar on the psychology of technology: Go a full day without texting, tweeting, posting on Facebook or otherwise surfing the Web.
Of the 31 people in the class, only 14 made it. One student failed first thing in the morning when he started his day the usual way, checking his e-mail. Another lasted until the afternoon, when she was stuck in a long, slow-moving line (“Angry Birds” was also on the “don’t” list).  To read more click here.

PR guru Eric Yaverbaum was at a Yankees game when he noticed more people were staring at their BlackBerries than were watching        the field. For Yaverbaum, president of Ericho Communications and author of “Public Relations for Dummies ,” it confirmed what he has  noticed around the dinner table: Technology is taking over our lives. Even couples out for a romantic evening are often more interested in their smartphones than in gazing into each other’s eyes.

Offlining.com suggests dedicating 10 device-free days by Feb. 14, 2012. Mark DiMassimo and Eric Yaverbaum, co-founders of Offlining Incorporated, persuade for a living by convincing people to call or click, which has created an addiction to cellular devices. Despite their love for marketing and respect for its power, the duo developed a way of giving back to the community. DiMassimo and Yaverbaum first introduced Tappening, by promoting to make drinking tap water more popular.
Then they followed a similar pattern by encouraging others to have a “No-Device Day” on Sept. 18 in honor of Yom Kippur. The Jewish New Year is a time for Jews to reflect on how they have lived over the past year and seek forgiveness. Advertisements with celebrities were used to influence others to take part in the device-free day, despite their religion. From CNN Belief blog, “If only Mel Gibson had put down the phone. If only Tiger Woods hadn’t had such easy tech access to other women. If only Lindsey Lohan had kept her thoughts, and tweets, to herself.” to read more click here.

DIGO Brands is, in effect, a total growth department, allowing CEOs and other top-level managers at ambitious mid-sized organizations to pull all the levers of growth simultaneously, from product innovation to every facet of promotion. DIGO provides a total growth partner that is driven, market-tested and growth-trained over the past two decades by partnering on many of the legendary brand and business growth stories of our time, including Comcast, Crunch, Citi, McKinsey, thinkorswim, Gateway, MasterCard, and many more. DIGO Brands makes things grow. DiMassimo is also co-founder of Offlining, a movement whose mission is helping people to reestablish islands of offline life in an increasingly device-mediated world. For more of the interview click here.

Amanda Ingram feels the force. It’s her smart phone beckoning with messages. The only way she can keep in touch with her friends is through Facebook, she explains. I don’t think it’s affecting my marriage … yet … but there are times that I feel like I have to check my texts when someone sends one, she wrote, you know, in an e-mail. With society falling further under the spell of iPads, BlackBerries and other digital devices, two New York guys have decided it’s time to put them down and back away. A little, if only for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day. Eric Yaverbaum and Mark DiMassimo, who have made a career of using digital devices, are urging people to go offlining, pledging to release their grip on their phones and other digital devices for 10 dinners. The two Manhattan marketing execs are guilty as anyone of promoting use of such devices, Yaverbaum said for more…..