Last week at Kontera’s Israel office, we celebrated Purim; a holiday observed in Israel with customs somewhat similar to those of Halloween in America.  We celebrated with a party at the office, that included a costume contest, food, music, and lots of laughs.

Take a look at our Purim Photo Album on Facebook, to see some of the people behind Kontera in their best (and strangest) attire.

We are endorsing UNICEF and the American Red Cross which are two organizations central to worldwide efforts matching resources with need.  Both organizations are active at the epicenter of the recent disaster that has left a mass of destruction and a country unfathomably changed forever.

We are running a focused campaign across our network of more than 15,000 publishers. The Haiti assistance campaign will be shown on pages that relate and discuss the Haiti disaster, and will target phrases and concepts having to do with aid, assistance, and relief for the people of Haiti.

If you’d like, you can make a direct donation right now:

In the words and spirit of Harace Mann, a 19th century US educator, “To pity distress is but human; [but] to relieve it is angelic.”

Mèsi (thank you in Haitian-Creole) for your support and we’ll be sure to keep you posted on our efforts.

It’s no secret that the holidays were in full force, with words like recipe, meal plan, menu, filling our dinner tables, bellies, and manifesting themselves right on our computer monitors.  With Rachel Ray, surpassing all other big names, it seems we even like our celebs to be all about the food.

Fitness, running , and workout plans are on the top of the list to try to cancel out the excessive eating.  And as we all know, drinking water and watching your nutrition intake will help jump start your diet.

In addition to eating and exercising, we can clearly see that people were traveling in style this holiday season with our travel segment of keywords getting quite a bit of attention.  Looks like chartered yachts, planes, trains, and trails were popular means to arrive at your dream destination–anything from the beach, national parks, campgrounds, hotels, hiking, and luxury cruises.

We will keep you posted on 2010’s top keywords, but with everyone back to their full productivity, be sure to focus on blackberry, iphone, and applications as these are winner keywords from what we’ve seen so far this month.

1) Pursue a higher education: Ok while we aren’t actually signing up for college courses, we want to continue to educate ourselves on the needs of our publishers, and advertisers alike.  We know that through continued development of relationships, we can become better aligned with market trends as well as what you are looking for from us.

2) Diversify and expand: As your rich uncle may advise you, diversify, diversify, diversify.  This is exactly our thinking as we are constantly expanding our network of publishers,  ad offerings, while continuing to provide remarkable user experience.

3) Reduce life stress: Stress can contribute to poor health, and other negative effects on the body and mind.  At Kontera, we think that making money from your websites can be a breeze.  In 2010, let’s relax, feel good, and let your site work for you.

4) Keeping in touch with family and friends:  So while we probably aren’t immediate family or even long lost cousins, we want to continue to work towards keeping our partners and users completely informed about our latest news and developments.

5) Retain our edge:  A new look can always help spice things up.  In 2010, we will strive to enhance our products and services continue bringing you fresh and engaging content.

What kind of web-based resolutions are you planning to work towards this year?  From all of us at Kontera, we wish you a happy, healthy, and successful 2010.

We are gearing up for 2010 with exciting new projects and developments in store.  We hope that you enjoy a beautiful and peaceful holiday season together with close family and friends, however you may choose to celebrate.

We hope that if you haven’t already, you’ll check out our latest publisher promotion and of course follow our social networking profiles to stay up to date on the latest.

From all of us at Kontera, we wish you the best.

TechCrunch and Kontera bring Holiday Spirit to the Bay Area with a Private Screening of Avatar.

The popcorn is on us!

Kontera has partnered with TechCrunch to bring a little Holiday joy to the local startup community and to help raise funds for two great causes, the UCSF Foundation and Malaria No More. TechCrunch has organized a private screening of one of the most anticipated films of the year, Avatar.

Local TechCrunch readers have the opportunity to be among the first to see James Cameron’s latest creation compliments of TechCrunch. On your way into the theater, stop by the concession stand for a complimentary bag of popcorn and a cold drink on Kontera, then put on your 3D glasses, sit back and enjoy the show.

For more information on ticket availability check out TechCrunch.  In the spirit of the holidays, TechCrunch is requesting a $5 donation per ticket to help support either the UCSF Foundation or Malaria No More (your choice).

Happy Holidays and we look forward to seeing you at the Metreon.

Whether you’re ready or not, the holiday season has officially arrived. We wanted to take a second to wish you and your families a happy Thanksgiving and an enjoyable holiday weekend.

As you’re enjoying spending time with your families and the warmth of the holiday spirit, we’ll be working hard to plan some exciting things including special bonuses for our newest publishers. All the news will be posted here, but it’s a great time to be sure you are in the know and connected with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Again, from all of us at Kontera, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving.

Michael was first introduced to Kontera in 2007 while working with them at SmartMoney. In October, he became the newest member of the Strategic team where his focus will be on developing partnerships with premium publishers.

Michael grew up in northern New Jersey and attended the University of Maryland (he’s the third MD alum to work at Kontera).  Outside of the office Michael enjoys traveling, surfing, and spending time with family and friends.

What was your role at SmartMoney?

I first joined SmartMoney as their Director of Digital Advertising on the west coast before moving to New York in 2008 to become their Director of Digital Strategy.  In that role I worked as a liaison between ad sales, editorial, and marketing and was responsible for identifying new partnership opportunities with outside vendors.

What was the publication trying to do in terms of monetization and user value? What are the main factors that premium publishers take into account when choosing which monetization strategies to employ?

At SmartMoney’s core, the goal of the site is to be an empowerment tool that enables its users to make intelligent investing decisions.  In that same light, SmartMoney looks to attract and partner with advertisers that can deliver additional value to its audience through the products and services they offer.  These same principles carried over to the decision-making process when determining which vendors to partner with.  Of course, revenue potential was always heavily weighed, but keeping true to user intent was equally as important.  On some level there had to be a benefit to the users as well.  I would say most publishers fall into that same line of thinking when evaluating which vendors to work with.

Why did you look at In-Text Advertising?

We first considered In-Text Advertising after seeing that more publishers (large and small) began adopting the technology.  We also felt that we could have been doing more in terms of working with additional technology providers that could help to further monetize the site – be it with rich media, mobile, behavioral or In-Text advertising.  Ultimately, we decided that In-Text advertising was something we could test without dedicating a lot of time and internal resources.

Why did you choose Kontera?  What separated Kontera’s In-Text solution from other offerings on the market?

The decision to work with Kontera boiled down to a couple of key solutions that we didn’t find were offered from their competitors.  While the revenue was certainly an important motivating factor, we were more so impressed with Kontera’s hybrid unit and its ability to both deliver related content to our users and keep them engaged.  When we first evaluated in-text advertising we did not realize it was something that could actually add to the user experience.  We also were excited about Kontera’s white label solution as it allowed our sales team to go to market with an additional product to sell to advertisers.

From your experience, what “words of wisdom” or recommendations do you have for publishers as they set out on their journey to grow their websites?

I believe the key to growing and sustaining a successful website lies first and foremost with audience engagement.  Does the site keep a constant dialogue going with its users and truly understand their intent?  More importantly, do they provide them with a reason to come back to the site on a daily or weekly basis?  If the answer is no, I don’t think it’s possible to succeed in the long run.  From a monetization standpoint, ad integration that is appropriate and introduced to an audience naturally is not only a good thing for the advertiser and publisher, but something that can end up being useful to the user as well.  At the end of the day, relevancy seems to be the key to keeping both users and advertisers happy (and publishers wealthier).

How did Kontera deliver for you over the years?

While I was with SmartMoney, Kontera provided us with a consistent revenue stream that we could count on month-to-month, as well as top-notch customer support.  We were always impressed with the proactive nature of Kontera’s Publisher Services Team.  Good customer service was not something you could automatically expect from all vendors.

Why did you join Kontera and what is your role with the company?

As a former client and someone who understands and believes in the technology I felt that working at Kontera would be an exciting opportunity for me.  I also felt that I would be joining a great team and a company that was committed to success, while also having fun in the process.  As a part of the strategic team I am looking forward to establishing additional partnerships within the premium vertical and extending Kontera’s contextual advertising technology to the top properties on the web.

At Kontera, I’m usually out meeting with publishers, but when I’m in San Francisco, I donate my time to a non-profit called Shanti. I got involved when my friend, Maria, became the Director of Shanti’s LifeLines Breast Cancer Program. Maria was matched with a client, and I was moved to tears every time she told me about their weekly meetings, and how she was the only interaction her client had with anyone other than her doctors.

The client did not speak English, and her family lived out of state, so if it were not for Maria, this woman would have had no one to support her during her battle with breast cancer.

In February, I joined the Board of Directors of Shanti – right after a friend was diagnosed with Triple Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer at the age of 32.  Denise just moved to Hawaii to be with her family, as she goes through a second round of chemotherapy.  Gee Gee, another friend’s mother, was also diagnosed with breast cancer this Summer.  Gee Gee’s daughter relocated to Arizona almost immediately to be with her mom.  Whenever I reflect on what these women are going through, with friends and family rallying beside them, I cannot help but also think about Shanti’s clients, many of whom would be absolutely alone if it weren’t for LifeLines.  According to the statistics, 1 in 8 U.S. women (12.5%) will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.  It’s gut-wrenching.

Shanti enhances the quality of life, health and well being of people living with life-threatening illnesses.  Each year, they work with over 2,000 men and women facing the challenges of breast cancer or HIV/AIDS.  In many cases, Shanti is the one compassionate, loving presence for their clients during their greatest time of need.  Shanti’s 35th anniversary is this year, so please visit our website (www.shanti.org) to learn more!

Plus, other Kontera employees are also working with local non-profits.  Bryan Everett, EVP Strategic Development, was a table host at a breakfast for The Arc, which helps people with developmental disabilities lead a self-sufficient lifestyle.  Leilani Sanchez is a Board Member of Streetside Stories, which is focused on literacy and arts programs for Bay Area schools.  As a company, Kontera sponsored a family for Christmas last year through Compass Community Services, and earlier this year, we volunteered at the San Francisco Food Bank.
As the world debates the merits of President Obama winning this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, I am reminded of someone who was nominated for the award five times, but never selected.  In the inspirational words of Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

This was a great opportunity to step away from the desk and enjoy each other’s company – and believe me we sure did enjoy!  However it wasn’t all fun and games, everyone’s competitive spirit was in full gear on the race track as there were U2 tickets, helicopter tours, fine dining, and limo rides to be won.  Who knew this group could turn on the velocity so quickly?  It may be common industry protocol to enjoy post-work activities together, but rarely do the creative and competitive juices mix so well at such an event.

And now for the winners…..

First place winner Kara Carpentier, Sr. Account Executive for Garnier Fructis, took home two floor seat tickets to the upcoming U2 concert in October.

Kelli Travis, Sr. Media Planner for Verizon SMB, won a luxurious limo tour of Atlanta.

While Kara and Kelli may have been higher in the standings, Chris Sherrer, Media Coordinator for Verizon, was the big winner of the night. Chris’ business card was drawn and he walked away with a helicopter tour of Atlanta AND also snuck away with a 3rd place finish and dinner for two at a local five- star restaurant.

Congratulations to Kara, Kelli and Chris!

It is safe to say that when Moxie and Kontera get together for their next event, it may be hard to beat.