Archive for December, 2010

What “Flipped the Script” for Me To Take SoMe Action

December 23rd, 2010 | Posted By admin

At the agency, there’s been discussion lately about how knowledgeable and active our staff should be in social media. It’s a subject I find myself thinking a lot about. As a business leader at the agency, it is absolutely my job to have a high level of knowledge about social media trends and practices to help advise my clients. But personally, I’ve never been an early adopter in the technology space and after trying a lot of the technologies out there, I’ve found myself pretty disengaged in most of them. Twitter has held a special place on my “I don’t see the point” list for a while now because I didn’t feel that I was receiving or had the ability to share content that I cared about in an intuitive way.

But this week, I have posted more than I did in the last year I’ve been on Twitter. It was prompted by Stephanie Smirnov turning me on to an IPad app called Flipboard. This amazing app is not new news, but it made big news when it launched and it gets great reviews. Flipboard takes my social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter and displays them in a “social magazine” format so it’s so much more engaging for me visually. And more importantly, I am able to access other content sources that I care about in the same format – Cool Hunting, Bon Appetit, The Huffington Post, for example. So I’m digesting information I care about, including tweets from those I follow on Twitter, in a way that inspires me, and I have an easy mechanism for passing it along.

As I think about the work we do, what strikes me is that having engaging content is only half the battle when trying to inspire pass-along value among consumers. If our target consumers aren’t digital natives, can we get more creative about where and how we deliver our content to motivate them to share with others? Beyond the blogs, Facebook pages and celebrity twitter feeds, how can we make our message feel more “digestible” to consumer’s particular social media palate? I’m looking forward to discovering more’ and maybe the answer is somewhere in the pages of my FlipBoard feed and I’ll be tweeting it out to you all!

Rebecca Dickson is the Executive Vice President of the Home & Lifestyle division.

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Celebrating 2010′s Fearless, Phenomenal Women

December 20th, 2010 | Posted By Kguthrie

Photo courtesy of In Her Shoes

2010 has been a great year for women. All year, we celebrated phenomenal women who are making history while shaping the world’s future – from the eleven female heads of state featured in Glamour’s “Women of the Year Awards” to the award-winning fashion and music muse Lady Gaga. Yet, under the radar there were millions of other incredible women exhibiting leadership and courage (not to mention a major does of business savvy) all year long – most people call them entrepreneurs, but I call them fearless.

On November 11, 2010, lifestyle blogger and founder of In Her Shoes blog, Renae Bluitt (who also just so happens to be my mentor – lucky me!) celebrated New York’s best and brightest female entrepreneurs at the blog’s first round-table event called “Facing Your Fears: Tales of a Fly Female Entrepreneur.” Being a self-proclaimed “PR girl with an entrepreneurial spirit,” I know the importance of a fearless, inventive and entrepreneurial attitude, so this event was right up my ally! Fortunately, my role as a guest blogger scored me an invitation to help coordinate the event, and with the blessings of my amazing DeVries team, I went hoping for the speakers’ fear-fighting fierceness to rub off on me!

The round-table included Maya Lake, a vibrant designer of the fashion line Boxing Kitten; Jodie Patterson, owner of Soho’s busiest beauty hot spot Georgia; Tracey Ferguson, editor-in-chief of the fashion publication JONES Magazine; Karen Tappin-Saunderson, creator of the beauty line Karen’s Body Beautiful; and famed international deejay, Jakissa “DJ Kiss” Taylor.

Ecstatic that DeVries asked me to cover the conference, I couldn’t wait to report their stimulating perspectives.

“You just have to say your fears out loud to yourself, because sometimes we don’t even know what it is that we are afraid of!” Jodie Patterson noted how fear can often get in the way of a woman’s dream. She believes the key to overcoming fear is to identify it, rationalize it, and face it head on!

“When you work for yourself, it’s a 24/7 job. But it’s worth the investment.” Jakissa “DJ Kiss” Taylor highlighted the scariest part about becoming an entrepreneur – the investment of time, energy and money. Still, she assured everyone that success feels much sweeter when you know the hard work will benefit you directly down the line.

“You have to take baby steps to overcome your fear,” said Karen Tappin-Saunders. She shared that nothing comes overnight, but that each project should be chipped away at delicately. For example, she is currently building a spa-addition to her Brooklyn based beauty shop in small steps!

“Allow mentorship to have a broader definition. That can be invaluable.” Tracey Ferguson’s quick tip: don’t hesitate to seek a mentor with a differing career background – that’s where you’ll learn the things you otherwise would never picked up!

“If you have a dream, go for it…now!” Maya Lake summed up the essence of a power woman and entrepreneur by reinforcing that sometimes, you just have to trust yourself and go for it!

Kamari Guthrie is an Account Executive on the Fabric Care Business at DeVries. A passionate and eager self-proclaimed “PR Girl,” she enjoys writing about her daily musings as she navigates the world of public relations and life in New York City on her blog “The Secret Life of a PR Girl.”

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On Our Radar.

December 17th, 2010 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

In an attempt to mix it up from our regular feature we wanted to find a new and more interesting way to bring you the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing and pop culture. Each week the best findings on the web are contributed by different members of the agency and brought together to create a list of must-see topics. I present you with the many things that are on our radar.

Facebook Founder Named Person of the Year
Mark Zuckerberg founder of Facebook was named person of the year by Time magazine. He is the second youngest person to have received this award.

Top Trends of the Year (social media edition)
Most Contagious Magazine released a list of the top ten most contagious conversations of 2010. Twitter shared their top trends of the year along with their most powerful tweets of 2010. Mashable takes a look at the top Facebook status trends and YouTube released a video highlighting their top ten videos of the year.

Internet Use Continues to Grow
Forrester released a study this week showing that Americans spend as much time using the Internet as watching TV. Fast Company took a peek at the way that different generations are using the online world.

Google is Worried about Teaching Parents Tech
The most interesting techie release this week was the new website Tech Parents Tech. A few Google employees came together creating a website full of step-by-step video tutorials you can send to your parents to help them navigate new technology. They have created videos for tasks as simple as changing the time on your computer to others as complex as starting your own blog.

Check-Ins are Now Required
One group of techies took location-based applications to a whole new level requiring guests to “Check-In” before allowing them into their New Years Eve party. These young entrepreneurs are now discussing a DIY kit to require check-in’s.

In case you need a little inspiration: 100 inspirational ideas

In case you need a little laugh: The Evolution of the blogosphere

In case you need a little holiday cheer: The largest holiday concert on the internet.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing at her personal blog regularly at her personal blog.

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Is Facebook Jumping the Shark?

December 13th, 2010 | Posted By Adrianna Giuliani

My boyfriend asked me why my cousin was getting saucy with him on Facebook. I checked in to a restaurant on Foursquare, my boyfriend commented that it wasn’t his favorite spot and my cousin chimed in asking my boyfriend, “what do you know?” I think she was trying to defend me but really just created a dose of awkwardness. On Facebook as our networks continue to expand, they also collide and sometimes even crash, as is noted by countless stories of your “friends” and their friends and documented on sites like Facebook Fails.

I remember logging on to Facebook 2 years ago and getting what I really wanted – information about what my closest friends and family were thinking about, laughs and the occasional TMI about people’s lives. It was amazing – relevant, timely, and targeted – everything content should be. But as Facebook has enjoyed the profits of its growth to 500 million members, I wonder if the average user is still enjoying the social value that once came from the space.

For me the answer is no. Now when I log on to Facebook it’s a cacophony of noise with little curation and control that kind of feels like going to your hometown bar the night before Thanksgiving. There are some people there you want to see and some things that you just can’t deal with. After all, there is a reason you don’t live there anymore.

Though mini “movements” like National Defriend Day and “digital vacations” are yet to completely take off, their emergence is significant – people are dissatisfied with the content they are facing on Facebook. As brands are beginning to migrate to their own hubs and profiles they are working under the assumption that people are going to stay. And if you’ll excuse my Andy Rooney-like tone, I predict that Facebook will be a home base that people visit, but not a place where they want to live.

Adrianna Giuliani is a Creative & Strategic planner at DeVries. She blogs about how technology and social media can create, crumble and confuse meaning in modern relationships. Read more on her blog Techromance or on the College Crush.

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15 to Watch: Jillian Kwolek

December 1st, 2010 | Posted By admin

We were all bursting with pride here at DVPR when we learned that one of our own had been named “15 to Watch” by PR News. Jillian Kwolek is a VP on my team and is one of a handful of budding PR leaders and creative practitioners under the age of 30 who’ve received this honor.

Jillian is fantastic. From the day she started at DVPR two years ago, she’s made her mark on our clients’ businesses and on the agency. She’s a consummate PR pro who understands how to build programs that deliver results, she’s a great mentor and team leader, and she is a truly sweet and wonderful person who’s lovely to be around every day.

I think the project that best shows off Jillian’s many gifts is her work on the Downy Touch of Comfort cause campaign. The program delivers comfort through handmade quits to hospitalized children across the U.S. and has touched the lives of more than 7,000 children this year. Jillian has been the mastermind behind the program, which has many non-profit partners, a celebrity spokesperson, and a lot of moving parts. She has overcome every obstacle thrown at her to deliver a successful, award-winning campaign that has won the hearts of consumers, retailers and the media. I can say without hesitation that Jillian’s unique mix of determination, patience, compassion and PR-savvy is a crucial factor in Downy Touch of comfort’s success. Congrats, Jill!

Rebecca Dickson is the Executive Vice President, Home & Lifestyle division.

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There are some great beauty tips being shared at our #client #039;s event today, follow the conversation at #PGVisionhouse and via @PGBeauty
2012-10-10
Here's some exciting news! We're crossing the pond: "DeVries creates London office after merging with IPG's @SlamPR" http://t.co/iZGTORRE
2012-10-08

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Archive for December, 2010

Celebrating 2010′s Fearless, Phenomenal Women

15 to Watch: Jillian Kwolek

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