Tag: Observations

Matter Communications Green Lights Broadcast Video Production

Date: Categories: Company Culture

Last night, Matter Communications held an open house to celebrate our tremendous growth and show off our new broadcast production studio. With an energetic turnout, business colleagues walked our expanded halls, decorated with client successes and accolades, and chatted up Matter execs on why this agency is so special. My take? It’s a special agency because Matter is listening. We haven’t expanded into graphic design, video… Read more »

Reacting in Real Time: Social Media and the Boston Marathon Bombings

Date: Categories: Press Releases, Public Relations

Anyone who has turned on a television, radio, or computer in the last few weeks is painfully aware of the tragedy that occurred at this year’s Boston Marathon. Those of us who spend significant amounts of our days trolling the web, checking social media, and are rarely found without a screen in our face, have been inundated with news stories since the minute the attack happened…on… Read more »

Content Creators: “Nobody knows anything.”

Date: Categories: Press Releases

Whenever I tend to get philosophical about the current media landscape (in my case, mainly as it pertains to video content), I’m reminded of perhaps the most oft-quoted, yet undeniably true, maxim that I’ve ever heard regarding media creation:  “Nobody knows anything.”  This quote is from multi-Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman, speaking in particular about the business of Hollywood (if you have a chance, watch this fascinating… Read more »

Seeing Red on Boston’s Red Line: Social Media PR Combats Proposition 8

Date: Categories: Press Releases, Public Relations

    I rode the Red Line into our Boston office yesterday morning and was greeted as usual with the glow of smart phones in the hands of commuters. The difference this time was the repeated flicker of red squares skimming past on people’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds. I pulled out my own phone to check up on the club I hadn’t been invited to.  As a… Read more »

A Farmer's Instinct to Crisis

Date: Categories: Public Relations

Here at the Matter Chatter blog, we talk about all things public relations, marketing, and communications, so I’m going to talk about baby ducks and apple pie. I grew up on a farm in Vermont. As any farmer will tell you, it’s a place of great wonder and great tragedy — and of course, the realities of what you do as a farmer. (Let’s just say… Read more »

NYC dinner parties, joggling and PR

Date: Categories: Press Releases, Public Relations

An article by New York Times writer Nick Bilton hit home, (well, PR home) recently.  Bilton’s Oct. 14 piece, “Disruptions: Seeking Privacy in a Networked Age” referenced a dinner party he hosted at which many of his guests (including Om Malik) were posting to social media sites, all while noshing on pulled pork tacos and clinking glasses filled with red wine. And what ended up happening?… Read more »

A Career in Public Relations 101

Date: Categories: Public Relations

Last week I received an email from a former professor and head of the public relations program at my university. He was reaching out to his former PR students looking for us to share any wisdom we’ve acquired with his current seniors. Having only graduated in May, I find it a little bizarre to be giving advice to students when I feel like I’ve only just… Read more »

The Subtleties of a Good Job

Date: Categories: Company Culture

Now that we’ve turned the calendar into the month of October, we also are kicking off the fall season. It’s somewhat bittersweet to open the fall, as it signals the end to summer here in Newburyport, but on the plus side there isn’t much that beats a walk through the town center as the leaves are changing.

Running for a goal

Date: Categories: Public Relations

There are so many worthy (and non-worthy-but-still-interesting) topics I could cover in my post today:  from the Grammys to Egypt, the iPhone on Verizon to Donald Trump’s run for the Oval Office in 2012. And these are but a few.

What is a mentor?

Date: Categories: Company Culture

I’ve had my share of mentors over the years and although each were unique in their own way, they all fell into one of three categories: Casual, Formal and Indirect.

Down to the Wire

Date: Categories: Company Culture

Thoughtful preparation months in advance. Planning phone calls with the client. Carefully crafted press releases and pitches. Emails filled with logistics. No matter how much preparation – whether it’s for a two hour media event, two day media tour or week long trade show – events always seems to come down to the last minute. Events are a crucial part of what we do in the… Read more »

Take note: Rehab is not the best solution for crisis PR

Date: Categories: Public Relations

I was in the checkout line at the grocery store last night and, as I was throwing my purchases onto the conveyor belt, I noticed that almost every tabloid and entertainment magazine had a cover story about Jesse James’ marital affair and the word “monster” somehow worked into the headline. My first thought was, “How sad.” My second thought was, “What’s his PR team doing about… Read more »

New Year's resolutions, Self-editing and Twitter

Date: Categories: Press Releases, Public Relations

I’ve always been a strong writer; growing up, my mother was very strict when it came to school work, especially written reports. I remember countless hours spent at the kitchen table, writing and re-writing book reports, history papers and science projects while she coached me: