I recently presented at a summit in Hartford with my colleague Danielle. Our breakout session was focused on educating small to mid-sized businesses about social media and which platform(s) might be right for their organizations. At the end of our presentation, we opened it up to questions.
One question that sticks in my mind was from a gentleman who worked at a large health insurance company. He asked (I’m paraphrasing), “From a Human Resources standpoint, what do we do to control or monitor our employees’ use of Social Media?” Continue reading →
For 90% of us, writing is the bedrock of our business. Having a good vocabulary, being able to structure a sentence properly and persuasively, and adding that special je ne sais quoito a piece we’re working on is invaluable. It’s not about using big words—it’s about using the right word. Some of the most evocative pieces of literature use very few “big words.” Orwell’s 1984 and Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass instantly come to mind. Continue reading →
The concept of public figures getting caught up in racist scandals isn’t exactly brand new – many a good reputation has been permanently tarnished thanks to misspoken words and overheard conversations. Even though their careers are getting back on track, people won’t be forgetting the ignorant words of Don Imus or Mel Gibson anytime soon and their brands now have entirely different connotations. However, the entertainment world was still rocked a few weeks ago when John Mayer’s offensive and way-too-honest interview with Playboy Magazine was released. Continue reading →
Recently, fellow PRBCer Keith Trivitt raised an interesting question about PR folks’ background. Essentially, he said, you don’t need to be trained in communications or PR to be successful in our field:
It takes all types to be a successful communicator. Some are bold and brash. Others are quiet and reflective. And still some are a mix of the two. Each can be successful in their own way. And as long as you have a bit of wisdom, a lot of patience and a major drive, a lot of different people from various backgrounds can be successful communicators. Continue reading →
In recent days, the poor sportsmanship of a select few Olympic athletes has garnered significant media attention. For those following the games, it has been difficult to ignore pointed accusations of misconduct directed at Apolo Anton Ohno by South Korean speed skaters. Not to mention the recent additions to Evgeni Plushenko’s website which credit him as a platinum medal winner in the 2010 games – last I checked the accolades stopped at gold.
While one can feel a twinge of compassion for those who train their entire lives for the chance to compete for a gold medal and miss the mark, it’s difficult to dig deep and root for the troublemakers, poor sports and those looking to start a fight. Continue reading →
You know that song by Nelly Furtado, Man Eater? She’s brutal, ain’t she (in a good way)? Perhaps I can go all PR-geek here and suggest we do a spoof called Firm Eater…
They’re a firm eater
Make you sweat hard, make you work hard, make you ruin relationships
Work for a month
Makes sense in my head…(Feel free to laugh at me here.) Continue reading →
Since the majority of us PR professionals work for agencies where we have a variety of different companies as clients (maybe I’m just imagining this, but that’s definitely the way it seems), there’s a sector of communicators that we all tend to forget about- the straight up publicist. More specially, celebrity representation. However, somewhere off in the great, big state of California (pardon me for my generalization), there lives a whole lot of people who work incredibly hard to keep the reputations of their clients squeaky clean, or at least a little bit less awful than they already are. Continue reading →
Positioning a company effectively to pursue and win government business is one of the most interesting and sometimes the most challenging initiatives a communications professional can undertake.
This is not a post on how to get on a GSA schedule or how to navigate the government contracting process. This is a post on five things to consider to effectively position a company in front of government agencies to win business:
1.The government market is highly segmented. Some companies approach marketing and communicating to the government as if “the government” is a single entity. The reality of it is that each government agency has its own challenges and mission requirements that need to be addressed. A one-sized fits all approach in the federal sector will not get you very far. Instead, it is better to target a specific agency or agencies for your products and services, presenting a customized solution for their needs. Continue reading →
In a recent post from blogger Complicated Mama, she talked about a few encounters she had at last week’s Toy Fair. In a surprising turn of events, she was confronted with rude company reps that wanted nothing to do with bloggers. What was even more interesting is that in addition to writing for her own blog, she was also writing for a toy industry trade publication. Oops!
I know from personal experience that trade shows, especially ones as large as Toy Fair, can be incredibly hectic and exhausting. Camera crews, journalists, reporters – there are hundreds of companies all vying for the attention of the media. PR reps go to great lengths to set up appointments beforehand, create attention-getting stunts and more. Continue reading →
A daily thought to be said each and every day for PR pros.
Almighty gods of PR,
May my day today be a success, with happiness and joy;
Let my pitches be newsworthy and perfect, being loved by all;
Help me create that amazing stunt, that will make someone go WOW;
Please photograph Beyonce with my product, with the label facing out;
Almighty gods of PR,
May my day stay on target, and promise me some lunch;
Let my server make it all day, without shutting down;
Help me double check my subject lines, spell check doesn’t work;
Please cut back on the hate mail today, sometimes it hurts my feelings;
Almighty gods of PR,
May my day go by smoothly, regardless of what comes up;
Let my segments go unbothered, breaking news isn’t that important;
Help my clients just understand, and get it without a fuss;
Please have the Wall Street Journal* call me back today, because I was so nice.
I recently presented at a summit in Hartford with my colleague Danielle. Our breakout session was focused on educating small to mid-sized businesses about social media and which platform(s) might be right for their organizations. At the end of our presentation, we opened it up to questions.
