Proud to be Part of the Boston Community

Like all business owners in Boston, when I saw news about the explosions yesterday, I instantly began working to make sure everyone was okay. Last night at 6 p.m., I received the last and most anxiously awaited email. The subject line was “I’m safe” and it was from an InkHouse employee who was running the marathon.

As I listen to the reports of the injured and lost today, my heart breaks all over again with each painful detail. And today, I came in to an InkHouse team that was sad, but strong. Seeing the sorrow on their faces has been hard, but being in their company has been a comfort and a privilege on this hard day.

Tweeting Your Way to Media Coverage

I’ve been working in PR for over two decades and, even to this day, nothing makes me happier than when I land a great piece of media coverage for a client. To me, this joyful moment happens when three elements come together in unison: a great pitch, a solid relationship with a reporter, and the right timing.

Once upon a time, great media relationships were built over lunches, press conferences, phone calls and in-person media tours. But times have changed and so has PR. Today, while phone calls still matter a great deal, in-person meetings are rare. The good news is that we now have Twitter and it’s a huge and, I think, untapped, asset for building relationships with reporters.

Your Virtual Guide to SXSW

Not all of us can make it to South by Southwest (SXSW), one of the hippest conferences of the year and a top convergence for original music and independent films, as well as a premier destination for innovation and emerging technologies.

For those of us who want to follow along virtually, we put together the following guide. First, Screen Geek has compiled a list of must-follow folks on Twitter, and a great SXSW Vine list and Spotify Playlist. If you can’t join them, you can certainly listen to mood music while scanning through the photos and videos. Check out Mashable’s “8 Vines to Follow During SXSW” for a sampling. SXSW’s Pinterest page is also full of fun visuals.

Social media tips for your company from a 140-year-old museum. Really.

In PR, case studies are like gold. People love reading about companies or people that did something cool or interesting that they can borrow and do for themselves.

This is the story of an unexpected case study: a 140-year-old museum focused on fishing and art in a coastal Massachusetts town. It’s not a huge, well-funded museum like the Met in New York or the MFA in Boston. It’s the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester, Mass.

Founded in 1873 as the Cape Ann Scientific and Literary Association (catchy name, right?), the Cape Ann Museum has lots of works about the history of Gloucester, the nation’s oldest fishing port, but also an art collection by the surprisingly large number of artists who’ve lived on or been inspired by Cape Ann.

The 12 Days of PR

One of my colleagues likes to say that the euphoria one experiences during a highly successful PR launch, is like being a kid on Christmas morning. There are very few things that make us jump up and down with the same enthusiasm as, say, a child who gets a puppy from Santa. But for public relations professionals, a top-tier media hit that delights a client is one of those things. Launching a successful social media campaign is one of those things. Landing a speaking engagement at a key conference is one of those things. Yet as any elf knows, a whole lot of effort goes in to making the holidays bright. Our office equivalent is the strategic planning that goes in to creating success in the year ahead.

Words to Retire in 2013

I love words. I’ve always been strangely attracted to them. I studied literature and foreign languages, semantics and etymology, drama and media, fascinated by the roots, meanings, power and influence of the spoken and written word. Fast-forward a couple of decades and words are at the very core of my profession in PR. Just as it is for fellow PR and marketing executives, bloggers and journalists, words are the currency of our careers.

One of my pet peeves is laziness in writing: when people select an easy word instead of searching for a more potent, concise or elegant choice. At the same time, I’m also a fan of plain language, saying something as it really is rather than forcing words into impersonal or clumsy corporate speak. After all, we’re just humans talking to humans, right? On that point, can we all promise to try a little harder next year—please?

Lots to Be Thankful for at InkHouse

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday – no hustle and bustle, no fretting over gifts – just the reminder to be thankful for the things we wish we remembered to treasure more often. This year, we had Hurricane Sandy to remind us of the power of even the smallest act of kindness or generosity (take a peek at the tweets from Newark’s mayor @CoryBooker if you’re looking for some inspiration).

Reflecting on 2012, InkHouse’s success continues to exceed my expectations in humbling ways. This year, we were named Small Agency of the Year by Bulldog Reporter and PR News, and again made the Inc. and Boston Business Journal lists of the fastest growing private companies. InkHouse was also included as one of the Top Women Led Businesses in Massachusetts on what turned out to be the 140^th anniversary of Susan B. Anthony’s arrest for voting. It put our achievements in perspective as I took my daughter to the polls the following day and explained what it means to vote.