Month: July 2011

Who are you?

Whether it’s at a dinner party, on a plane or every time I make a trip home to my beloved home state of Florida and my [insert just about any family member here] asks for the ump-teenth time, the most common question I’m asked about my job is, “So, what is public relations? Really? What do you do?”

Call me crazy. Please.

I’d rather be called crazy than boring. Sure, that could be applied to my personal life, but it’s something I’ve always said about client relations.  To me, there is nothing worse than having a client part ways because they felt like they were sold on creativity, only to be managed by a team that was okay with things being “status quo.”

Twitter Love

I have recently realized that without meaning to do it, I have fallen in love with Twitter. I love it for my clients, who use it as a way to get closer to their customers and employees. I love it for me professionally because I can see what my smart clients and reporter friends are interested in/reading/looking at/looking for right now. I love it for me… Read more »

Still Looking Skyward…

You don’t have to be the son of two science teachers (like yours truly) to have an interest in space travel and NASA’s soon to conclude space shuttle program. I clearly remember watching early space shuttle launches on live television at my elementary school, and also recall that semi-frequent liftoffs were front page news (click here for a video showing 30 years of shuttle missions as… Read more »

Fanning the Flames

As anyone who’s ever worked with me (or, frankly, met me) is aware – I take a lot of pride in my hometown of Syracuse, NY and try to keep close tabs on home by including the local newspaper, the Post Standard, as part of my online news-gathering routine.  Earlier this summer, I paused on a headline that involved two favorite subjects: my home neighborhood (Manlius,… Read more »

So this is what it's like over there?

Writing is part of everything we do here at Matter. Pitches, briefing notes, bylined articles, notes from a client call or interview – it all requires us to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards) to get our thoughts out before they flutter away.

THE POWER TO QUESTION

Finding new PR pros is never an easy job, but somehow our recruitment team continues to amaze me. We’re a demanding bunch, the quality of work and the rigorous pace we demand of our staff is often a shock to the system for those new to our offices. Still, they must keep their pick axes sharp over in HR, because we routinely find those diamonds in… Read more »

The Power of Brand

In the great cinematic achievement that was Demolition Man (with Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes in a dystopian near-future) every restaurant, no matter how humble or fancy, was a Taco Bell.  The film explained that The Bell had won the “franchise wars” and so became the only restaurant brand in their society.  By the end of the movie, Stallone had defeated the villains and returned freedom… Read more »

The art of patience

If you’re anything like me, then you wait about 360 days until Christmas. Give or take a day or so.

Below the Fold

I’m showing my age by giving attention to a topic related to content published “above the fold.” While conceptually the fold will always exist, the practicality of such a position isn’t as relevant as it once was. (You can guess where the fold is located when reading from www.nytimes.com but it’s not nearly as impactful, obviously.)

Social Media Management

Here’s a question I hear all the time from prospects, clients, and people who know what I do for a living: “What is the best way to manage our social media presence?”