06/04/2002
Local Dot.com Makes Marketing Push
Wichita, KS (June 4, 2002) -- Teachnet.com, a leading education website based in Wichita, is mounting a targeted marketing campaign to find sponsors and advertisers. The dot.com business has hired local marketing firm Moxigen to represent it.

"It's a win-win offer for any local or national organization that shares our goals in serving the needs of our education providers," said Lee Shiney, creator and executive editor of Teachnet.com. "As an advertiser, you can reach a highly desirable target market while making a contribution to the future of education."

The marketing campaign created by Moxigen provides each sponsor or advertiser with customized programs and ad opportunities. Together, Teachnet and Moxigen dissect the website's content and layout to design unique marketing possibilities for each prospective sponsor. For added value, most sponsorship programs are strategically crafted to drive consumer traffic to the sponsor, whether it's a storefront or website.

"The campaign for Teachnet is aggressive and creative in meeting the needs of advertisers," said Sari Schrepferman, vice president of business development at Moxigen. "In today's economy, we have to re-define the advertising relationship. The one-size-fits-all offers don't work. Our approach with business-specific packages is exactly what advertisers want."

Teachnet.com is a cost-free resource for educators in the kindergarten through grade 12 levels. The content-rich website includes lesson plans from a comprehensive list of school subjects, classroom survival tips, and a daily cartoon exclusively hosted by Teachnet. It also distributes daily and weekly e-mails to a growing list of subscribers. While the site is geared toward teachers and student teachers, it provides material for administrators and parents too.

Shiney believes that online marketing is very effective when an advertiser can reach its target audience by partnering with a specialized website. With Teachnet.com, advertisers have the added incentive of supporting education, which Shiney adds is greatly needed now more than ever as school boards across the country face financial woes.

Teachnet.com was founded in 1995 by Lajean Shiney, a fifth-grade teacher with USD 259 in Wichita, Kansas, and husband Lee Shiney, an artist and graphic designer.

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04/07/2002
CANCER PROMPTS CARTOON STRIP CREATION,
PUTS NEW SPIN ON POPULAR TEACHER WEBSITE
email Lee Shiney
Lee Shiney, editor and publisher of Teachnet.com, turned to humor after his cancer diagnosis and created a cartoon strip inspired by and devoted to teachers. Addition of the comics has tripled traffic to the popular education website and added a lighter side to the standard fare of lesson plans and teacher tips.

The High Points:

• Teachnet.Com: founded 1995 by the husband/wife team of Lee Shiney (graphic designer and writer) and Lajean Shiney (4th/5th grade teacher at USD 259) in Wichita, Kan.
• Lee Shiney developed the "The Teachers' Pit" cartoon collaboratively with friend and artist Anson Sanford.
• Cartoon was the result of "getting a new focus on life" and a diversion from the seriousness of cancer.
• Cartoon first went live in Jan. 2002, is updated daily and is published exclusively on the Teachnet.com website.
• Teachers can sign up to receive the cartoon daily by email.
• Archives and printable versions are online at http://www.teachnet.com/teacherspit
• Teachnet.com is a popular education website in its own right, with a variety of free teacher resources.
• Traffic: 3 million pages viewed by almost 200,000 visitors each month, worldwide.
• Lee Shiney was diagnosed with testicular cancer in December 2000. Successfully treated with surgery, Jan. 2001, and radiation treatment, Feb. 2001. Yearly followup in Mar. 2002 showed no signs of cancer.
• Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 35. In 1970 90% of testicular cancer patients with metastatic disease died of their cancer. Now almost 90% of men with metastatic disease are cured of their cancer. For more information, visit http://www.acor.org/TCRC

QUOTES from Lee Shiney:
"There are no sacred cows here, but I try for story lines that frequently cast a sympathic light on teachers as a whole."

"I don't expect a lack of ideas anytime soon; after all, I live with a 4th grade teacher."

"Cancer was my wakeup call to do more things for myself. I feel like I've won the lottery by detecting it early through regular self-exams and by having a cancer that responds well to treatment."

"To say teachers are underappreciated is an understatement. One practically has to be a teacher or be married to one to fully appreciate the pressure these people are under, and to see how much time their profession consumes, yes, even during the summer break."

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