Just as there is an art to woodworking, there is also a science to it. Likewise with communicating - a specific craft with tools and techniques. And now, thanks to the web, a science.

When you apply the craft and skills of communicating, to the subject of professional woodworking, you get Woodworking Network. As we spend our time, day in and out, exploring wood manufacturing and communicating about it - we are also seeing the rising sophistication of woodworking companies in using the newest platforms to get their message across - and to drive business.

Halloween puts this idea in relief. One aspect of communicating is tapping into the "zeitgeist" of the moment, the trending interest of the world and the market's attention. While these momentary bursts of interest in one thing or another - the World Series, holiday shopping, election day, the Super Bowl, or whatever taps the currency of the moment -

Second Life, a virtual community of online developer Linden Labs, manages to find a connection to the holiday - and woodworking - with the sale in its related marketplace of Halloween signs done on reclaimed wood. There are 16 different signs, printed on both sides with the same message the same.

Closer to home, we've been admiring the communications strategy of M. Bohlke & Co. Veneer, which is making its classic wood veneer offerings fresh and trendy. For Halloween, Bohlke is using its Constant Contact e-mail campaign to promote iZombe species. It's serious business, as the specs on iZombe showed - but attention is paid because it's both bookmatching, and matching the moment (with some liberties taken on the capitalization).

Name: Izombe Qtr Figured  Botanical: Testulea gabonensis   Characteristics: Heartwood is golden yellowish/brown with darker streaks of brown grain. Texture very fine and even; grain is straight. Of all woods with similar color, Izombe changes color the least over time and is generally darker and richer in color   Application: Interior millwork, furniture, doors, etc.  Size: Logs are typically between 35,000 to 50,000 sq ft. with nice sequencing and good dimension

With this article, we've done much the same thing: connected to the moment, connected to the woodworking industry, and drawn what is hopefully some useful information from what we see in following the woodworking industry.