We’re Growing the Family (Tree)

TreeOver the last five months the PRBC founding members and contributing bloggers have had the absolute joy of bringing you nearly 250 posts on the things that impact all our lives — PR, Social Media and everything else that touches on the various communications arts we all get to call our day (and sometimes night) jobs.

After some thought, we’ve come to the realization that you, our devoted readers need more — more variety of specialty, experience, geographic diversity, and everything else that makes each of us, as a person and professional, unique. Continue reading

Christina’s Coffee Talk: Jay Keith (Part 2)

When I conducted my Coffee Talk with Jay Keith, there was one question/answer that I believed deserved it’s own post. Everyday we read articles and blog posts about personal branding. Jay and I have discussed this on numerous occasions. He comes from a journalist background which I believe brings a whole new perspective to the subject. So I asked him, “Are people too serious about personal branding within the SM world? Is it overrated/overused? What would you consider your personal brand?” And here is what Jay had to say: Continue reading

Your Copy Sucks: Ironically True

Diving board in rural landscape (digital composite)Let’s cut to the chase: you don’t understand irony. You think you do, because you’re A) a hipster or B) a cynic. Don’t beat yourself up; it’s a common mistake. So let’s break down what’s ironic, what’s unfortunate, and what’s just plain hilarious.

Irony sounds really complicated when you try to research it on Wikipedia. There are lots of different kinds: verbal irony (when you say something that’s the opposite of what you really mean) and dramatic irony (when one person is not aware of something that everyone else is). Continue reading

Insightful Thoughts from Andy Rooney

Katie Couric Hosts 18th Annual Broadcasting & Cable Hall Of Fame Awards

It’s 2010, yep, a new decade, new life. I’ll be the first to admit it, I hate Andy Rooney. There are two people who I hate more than anything one of them is Andy Rooney (no, I won’t tell you the other). The ancient man is 91 and I think it’s about time for him to retire, say goodbye to journalism, and just get a house on the beach in Mexico where no one can find him again. The old guy should just resign.

Anyone in PR should be watching “60 Minutes” every week. The show is a league apart from any other news program out there, and it gets tainted by ending each week with that man that just complains about life. Andy Rooney is the perfect example of why there are such misunderstandings between generations — because they refuse to adapt to the times. Continue reading

Christina’s Coffee Talk with Jay Keith

Coffee Talk is back and I couldn’t be more excited to kick off the year with my guest, Jay Keith, senior public relations manager of Vistaprint. A prominent member of the #prbc community, Jay is always sharing his knowledge and making us laugh daily. Jay is a jack of all trades, smart, and funny to boot. Who knew that a former donut maker for Dunkin’ Donuts would become a successful PR professional? Like the rest of PRBC Jay’s an avid coffee drinker, loyal to his Dunkin Donuts brand but says it’s nothing compared to the coffee in France. He’s an amateur golfer, sports nut, die-hard Boston fan and a passionate Candlepin bowler. Continue reading

Can You be a Success in SM and Still Have a Real Life?

Broken heart shaped biscuit on dish by cup of coffeeThe innumerable articles and blog posts that have spawned from the Vanity Fair “tweetheart”article have been well…innumerable. Here’s another one.

Stefanie Michaels’s (1.4 million followers) husband considers himself a “twidower.” He says his wife found Twitter and dropped him. Ouch. I’ve received some of my own backlash from friends and family. It’s more like mockery, but I’ve gotten less than stellar feedback from my non-Twitter friends on my commitment to this social medium. I’ve even had to create BlackBerry rules for myself (…which I sometimes follow) so I don’t dismiss the company I’m in for the ambient glow of UberTwitter. Continue reading

Say Hello to the Media Dependent Generation

Girls watching television

To say the results of the new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation floored me would be an understatement. Learning that young people across the nation are spending an average of about 7.5 hours a day with entertainment media was simply jarring. As if spending more than 53 hours each week with entertainment media weren’t bad enough, the study found that these youth have mastered an art form —  ‘media multitasking.’  By using more than one entertainment medium at a time, they are able to cram 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into those same 7.5 hrs.

While my own youth may have fallen well before the advent of social media, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t adapt latter in life. Continue reading

Social Media and Friendship: Ain’t too Proud to Beg

Dog Standing on Hind Legs to Receive Treat

Just the other day, a friend suggested I become a fan of a Denver Yoga Group on Facebook. First, the one and only time I tried yoga, I spent the whole time trying not to laugh as those around me meditated – yeah, relaxation isn’t really my thing. Secondly, I don’t live in Denver, so why would this group be relevant to me at all?

Every day it seems that someone is suggesting I become a fan of something or inviting me to an event on the opposite coast. Maybe they assume that because I’m their pal, I’ll do whatever they want. Then I’ll pop onto Twitter and witness people begging for more followers. From fans to followers, it appears there are those in social media land that are obsessed with the numbers game. Continue reading

From Sports to Tech PR: Finding New Career Passions

Football players in press conference

As a former sports PR guy, a career I immensely loved and was extremely passionate about, but also grew out of for many reasons (to understand a majority of those reasons, check out my friend Jeff Esposito’s excellent PRBC post about working in sports PR from Friday here), I have both fond memories of that profession, and a sense of understanding now that moving on from it nine months ago was the right thing for me to do.

Jeff gave an excellent rundown of what it is like to work in PR in the sports world. Yes, it can be incredibly exciting, and yes, you do get to work around some amazing athletes. And there are many other benefits and fantastic qualities to working in that profession. But it has its downsides— Continue reading

The Social Media Lessons I’ve Learned

Classroom Concepts

A similar version of this post can also be found at Legends of Aerocles.

As I get ready to leave the job that I’m currently at and embark on a new and incredibly exciting opportunity, I’ve decided to do a little bit of reflection at the suggestion of David, one of my social media mentors. When I took a position as an “intern” at the small NJ agency that I worked at during my senior year of college, I had no idea how much I would learn.  Since it was my responsibility to teach the rest of the company about it, I had no choice but to throw myself head-first into the world of social media. Continue reading