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« January 2008 |
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You guys ROCK!!
I can't recall the last day I woke and wasn't fired up about coming into work. Seriously, our clients challenge us in so many positive ways it puts a smile on my face even as I type. The coolest part of my job is working with so many talented and passionate people here at BLAST. Every day I am amazed at the quality of work being generated in both our offices. -It blows me away. As the public relations field morphs and as people are consuming news in different ways, it is amazing to me the ability of the people here at BLAST to find new and different ways to help our clients sell more of the products/services. Our clients our proud of your work, and I am just in awe of your ability consistently deliver amazing results for our clients.
.....What a cool job!
The month of January is always a bit crazy for everyone at BLASTmedia / BLASToutdoors as we are flying across the country to go to industry trade shows. Trade shows are a lot of hard work....writing press materials, setting up press appointments, working our client's booths, etc., but there are a few perks here and there.
Last month we visited Las Vegas twice for CES and SIA, San Francisco for MacWorld, Orlando for Surf Expo and then Salt Lake City for Outdoor Retailer. Along the way we went to several industry parties where we saw Chuck D, DMC and the Wu Tang Clan perform, but the highlight came in Utah when our client, Skullcandy, gave us tickets to ChefDance!
ChefDance has been going on for the last four years during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. For 10 nights, an all-star line up of guest and celebrity chefs fly in for their designated evening to prepare dinner for 250 people. Jessica and I were lucky enough to not only attend, but to sit at the table of the host, Bethenny Frankel. We dined on a meal prepared by Matt Bencivengna - a Wolfgang Puck Chef - of Lobster, Pumpkin Squash Ravioli, Waygu Beef and a wonderful dessert as we sipped on champagne and a variety of wines.
Needless to say we had a great time....what perks does your job have?
If you have not been hiding in a cave on a secluded island somewhere for the last few years, you probably know - or at least have heard about - the prevalence of steroid use in Major League Baseball (MLB). For a quick recap for those hermits out there, over a decade ago government officials caught wind of steroid use in professional baseball. The response by baseball was slow to develop and was initially ineffective, but it gained momentum after the adoption of a mandatory random drug testing program in 2002. Appointed to head the government investigation was United States Senator George J. Mitchell, who was appointed after several members of the U.S. Congress made negative comments about the effectiveness and honesty of MLB's drug policies. Mitchell began a 20-month investigation into the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) in MLB. When Mitchell released his findings in December 2007, numerous players and potential hall of famers were named in the report as having taking banned substances. One of the most well-known and biggest stars named was Roger Clemens, seven-time Cy Young Award winner, with his long-time trainer, Brian McNamee, pointing the finger at him. The report states Brian McNamee injected Roger Clemens with steroids and HGH at least 16 times from 1998 through 2001, when Mr. Clemens pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Whoooo. I am winded, and this isn't even a quarter of the story. Dallas Morning News gives a good timeline of the events since the release of the Mitchell report.
The point to my ramblings is this - reputation is everything. Do not believe me? Check out this article from Forbes.com. Roger Clemens is arguably one of the best pitchers to ever play the game of baseball, yet his reputation will be forever tarnished. "The Rocket," as he is so often called, was a shoe-in for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, and maybe still is, but with all of the controversy surrounding him, doubts have began to circulate. Even with his sworn testimony at Wednesday's 4 ½ hour grilling by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in congress, where he vehemently denied all allegations that he ever used steroids or HGH, Clemens will always have it attached to his legacy. Whether he took steroids or not (I am not sure if this can ever be proven one way or another), the American people have voted - Roger Clemens cheated.
We all go through life, at every stage, from high school, to college, to our careers, trying to build up our reputations just like Clemens has done. But we must always remember, with every slipup or misstep, our reputation and legacy can come toppling down. That is why it is important to surround yourself with good people - people who are honest, hard working and who have a sincere interest in your well being. At times this might not always be easy, as is the case with MLB, where a large percent of players use performance enhancing drugs, but even then, players need to choose to stay above that. I truly feel bad for Roger. As a former baseball player myself, he has always been someone I admired. It is too bad that all of his hard work and dedication to the sport may be forever tarnished and in question.
So go out...take on the world. Just be cautious of your actions and the people with whom you surround yourself. Are they people who want to see you succeed through any of the tough times or would they sell you out as soon as the heat is on? We all have to worry about our reputations, especially here in the PR industry. Can you think of some reputation disasters such as this?
We like to go the extra mile here at BLAST - whether it's for our clients, editors or our colleagues. One recent example is with our client, Tannoy, who had a suite at the Hilton for CES this year. The room was jam-packed with Tannoy residential speakers, digital speaker systems, signage and A4T accessories. A4T (Accessories 4 Technology Limited) is a company in the UK that has partnered with Tannoy to bring their digital speaker line to US consumers.
A4T had some of their Simpsons accessories for the DS Lite on display in the suite, which are only currently available in the UK. One of our scheduled editor meetings came in and mentioned how much his son loves The Simpsons. Since the accessories aren't available in the U.S., we quickly moved on to other products that the editor could cover.
At the end of the show, instead of shipping The Simpsons accessories back to the UK, our client sent the Simpsons products to our office along with some other product they did not want to ship back. Tannoy had remembered how much the editor loved the Simpsons products, so we shipped The Simpsons accessories to the editor to give to his son. As you can see from the photo, he's quite thrilled with his new DS Lite carrying case and accessories. The editor responded with his thanks, "Please pass this on with my thanks...as you can see you both made one little boy very happy!"
We know a few other editors that are big fans of The Simpsons - be on the lookout, you may be receiving a surprise gift as well!
Despite the falling snow, we are knee-deep in the summer intern candidate interview season here at BLAST. The March issue of Radar, one of my top picks for news with a twist of satire and humor, offers tips for interviewees. From their list of 100 things not to say in a job interview, here are a few favorites, plus my two cents' worth.
1. "Sorry I'm late. I could've sworn you said San Francisco." Nope. If you want an interview at BLAST outdoors, talk to Mendy.
9. "What in the h*ll is this Microsoft Word everyone keeps talking about?"
19. "Think of me as the Hamburger Helper to your skillet of ground workload."
38. "Allow me to answer that with a tambourine solo." Sure... you can shake it with our newest hire, pictured here.
40. "Wow. The Valium just kicked in."
43. "Is that sore on my forehead still running?"
58. "So... what sort of company is Apple?" We might not be right up there with Steve Jobs & Co., but please do not blindly ask us what our basic business is. Do some research on our site first.
70. "No, I'm not pregnant. It's a benign 16-pound tumor. How's your insurance?"
81. "I can't wait to blog about this job." Great! Blog away about it right here on our BLASTmedia Blog!
99. "Not to show off, but I'm fluent in Spanglish." Perfect! You can help us pitch south-of-the-border media!
There are 90 other hilarious quotes that made Radar's list... but most of them are not blog-appropriate. Go pick up a copy if you want a few other job-seeking tips!
The Super Bowl is this weekend, and unfortunately for the city of Indianapolis, the Colts are absent this year. What makes it even worse is that the New England Patriots, the Colts current biggest rival, will be representing the AFC this year. I will be honest, if the Colts are not in it, I am really only interested in the commercials and the half-time performances (Paula Abdul is making a comeback!?!?)
The Super Bowl has long been considered selling season; a time which corporations put their best foot forward and spend the most money to come up with a commercial that people will remember. I came across an article today discussing whether or not these Super Bowl ads actually get consumers to spend money, which I thought was a good question. After spending months coming up with the perfect commercial and millions of dollars to get air time for that ad, is it actually worth it? The article goes on to state that success also depends on the buzz beyond the bowl, which is where I think a little bit of PR comes into play. The day after the Super Bowl, there seem to be more articles and blog postings written about which commercials were the funniest rather than articles written about the actual game. This editorial coverage often leads to links to watch the commercials and discussions in the comments sections and forums. After all is said and done, I think the advertisers are aiming to get people talking about their product after the commercial airs, which is exactly what we in the PR industry do. We get people talking about a product, generating interest and hopefully ending in the sale of that product. In the end, I think the corporations that benefit the most from a Super Bowl commercial are the ones that get people talking about it the next day (or week).
So, in a world saturated with advertising, PR goes hand in hand. So, which advertisements are getting the most play on Monday, February 4? There is your real winner.
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