February happens to be one of our favorite months here at Goodnewsforpets.com. It sure is mine. February was the month I launched “Pets Need Dental Care, Too!” prior to launched Germinder + Associates, Inc. The campaign was created on behalf of Hill’s Pet Nutrition and partnered them with the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Veterinary Dental College. It launched the oral care category for pets, but to me it launched decades long friendships with treasured veterinary colleagues. It has been my honor to help educate the public about proper veterinary care.
The Official Announcement of Goodnewsforpets.com
Of course, February is the month of love – Valentine’s Day and Love Your Pet Day. It’s also been the traditional month of Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show – now scheduled for June this year due to the Omicron surge. The Dog Writers Association of America dinner was always held the Sunday evening before the start of Westminster. I also met many wonderful dog-writing friends from DWAA over the years – and often during a New York City snowstorm.
It was in February 2000 I met the legendary Mordecai Siegal in the press room at Westminster for the very first time. He was then president of the Dog Writers Association (DWAA) and it was a big deal. We had just set up our first media partner agreement with Amy Shojai, then president of the Cat Writers Association (CWA). Mordecai agreed that DWAA would be our second media partner.
Later that month Goodnewsforpets.com was officially launched – February 20, 2000 to be exact at the Western Veterinary Conference media room. Germinder + Associates, Inc. was handling the traditional press room and we posted news releases to the virtual newsroom on Goodnewsforpets.com. Dr. Steve Crane, Executive Director at the time had created a special hall for .com’s called the Discovery Zone. I like to say pets.com failed but Goodnewsforpets.com is still here.
We still have much to celebrate this February. Just as the pandemic hit a few years ago we celebrated our 20th anniversary with a fantastic contest – albeit shortened a bit due to the pandemic. We’ll have more. We made it through the challenges of the last couple of years and hopefully provided some good information to our community. Our Chewy affiliate partnership has been great. Soon we will have another wonderful interview and more exciting new plans to unveil.
Maintaining a presence for decades with this platform and adjusting to evolving social media has been work. But the work has been a labor of love – and that’s why it is so meaningful that the Goodnewsforpets.com anniversary occurs this month. Thank you for remaining with us — we love our community too!
Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Love Your Pet Day!
Lea-Ann Germinder
Editor + Publisher