When planning your next event, or communication campaign, you might thing of innovative, creative ways of reaching your public, and making an impact. Creative ideas are infinite. Every marketing campaign, event, internal communication campaign, etc must bring something new and exciting for the public you address. And the satisfaction of finding that unique, invigorating idea to make…
Here’s a thought: #reading #marathon #teambuilding . Anyone interested? — evryc
Seattle is the most well-read city in America, based on a study by Amazon that ranked purchases of all books, magazines and newspapers in both Kindle and print formats.
via Here’s a thought: #reading #marathon #teambuilding . Anyone interested? — evryc
The pressure grows
#Seattle is no 6 in the nation’s fittest cities. Combining sports with work is one of the reasons why. What #activities do you have planned for your next #teambuilding ?
Seriously enjoy yourself
I really enjoyed De Niro’s most recent movie, “Dirty Grandpa”. I believe it might be the best comedy made since the first Hangover.
What I mostly liked about the movie were the hilarious situations which a retired, widower grandpa, puts his very serious, stiff nephew in. I never imagined De Niro going quite so far in a comedy, but there you are! He just did. And it was awesome.
Even though the movie exceeds in vulgar language and, in my opinion, unnecessary male nudity, it also transcends in humor, positive attitude and fun as a way of life. By the way, have you noticed how in recent movies, the trend is to increase exposure of male body parts, and decrease the exposure of female nudity? What’s up with that? Does this really add to the box office success of a movie?
So, making fun of your worst life experiences, and trying to enjoy yourself even in the most challenging and complicated situations, could be the solution to a happier, less stressful life.
I believe this could be a good resolution for this year. What do you think?
An event is as big as you make it
The success of any event is as big as the importance you give it. The more you prepare, tease, promote, invite, describe, and test, the bigger the impact your event will have. And yes, this applies to any type of event: preschool graduation, birthday party, product launch, or partner meeting.
My 5 year old kids graduated this week from preschool. I am sure that for many this will seem like a cute, but not so important event. And it could have been a boring, unimportant event, if neither the teachers, or our family would have made a big deal out of it. Teachers and kids prepared songs, self-portraits, and even baked a strawberry shortcake to celebrate graduation. We, as parents, went shopping with the kids for the graduation outfit, talked several times about what graduation means, and told our kids how very proud we are.
It’s the same with any corporate event. No matter how small, and historically speaking, of very little importance to your company it might be, preparing it properly, and most of all talking about it, can transform it into a great success. I believe that from the communications point of view, letting any event go by without making a big deal out of it is a waste of opportunity.
And just to give you an example, my kids’ graduation from preschool could be compared to a minor office relocation of your company, or the wedding of one of your team members. Both events have little importance businesswise, but huge potential in terms of PR.
Do you have an example of such a “small” event in your company, that you managed to transform into a PR story? Let’s talk about it.
Rihanna’s sheer outfit – Love it!
For the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards Rihanna wore one of the most amazing outfits ever seen in public, showing almost all her natural, fresh, wild beauty. Off course this made the headlines today, and I believe it was well worth it.
I haven’t yet seen such a controversial appearance making such a positive publicity buzz. We’ve seen Lady Gaga dressed in meat, Madonna kissing Britney, all got huge publicity, but none were so positive. Off course, Rihanna’s previous activity, with her Twitter page having her topless picture as header, and Rihanna’s lack of inhibition in the past, helped switch the attention from her transparent outfit, to the overall look. Great strategy, great press coverage, GREAT!
I honestly admire Rihanna for her image, way of talking to the press, and to the public. She manages to be hugely successful, without being negatively controversial.
If in the past I used to say that “Bad PR is still PR”, in the future I will say “It’s time for Rihanna type of PR. With a good strategy, you can go naked and have people publicly applaud you for it”. She definitely makes it look very easy!
Whisper in thunderstorms…REALLY???
Good, positive read.
By Kenneth Justice
~ On a recent trip to the East Coast I was sitting at coffee and noticed a late 20ish young woman sitting nearby who was raining a torrential downpour of tears. She was sitting with an older woman that I presumed was her mother and for the better part of an hour bits and pieces of their conversation kept flowing over towards my table,
—) “I thought we were gonna be together forever”
—) “How could he do this to me?”
—) “He’s such a damn self-centered pig”
—) “I’ll never trust another man in my life”
I’ve had my share of disappointments in life and I can totally relate to someone who is in the midst of a major life thunderstorm. At times it has felt that every time I turn around another massive catastrophe is right around…
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17. Why preparing makes every experience better
This fall my kids will be entering kindergarten, and today we all went to meet the teachers and visit the classrooms. It was a great experience both for them, and for me. And this is only the first visit. Several others will follow until they actually start school in September.
I remember my first day of school in Bucharest almost 30 years ago. I am sure my kids will have a completely different experience three months from now. I wasn’t exactly the shy kind of kid, seeing how I was raised in embassies, always meeting new people, and being exposed to new environments. Even so, I got lost the first day, as nobody told me where to go, or what to do. I can still remember the feeling of being helpless and abandoned, and I will probably remember it for the rest of my life. Off course, that was back then, in a communist country, where individual identity, or even respect for a kid’s feelings and needs were nonexistent.
Preparing a kid, and even an adult for a new, challenging experience is a good way to get the most of that experience. Talking about it, showing how it works, rehearsing several times will help make that experience an enjoyable and successful one.
I believe this rule works for any type of activity, especially when you want everything to go smoothly. Whether it’s a phone call, a speech, or even a party, making a check list, checking out the venue, testing the equipment, etc., will make you feel more confident, plan better, and enjoy your experience.
I am looking forward to the next meetings in preparation for the next school year.
16. The pursuit of greatness
I just finished reading Z, a novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, a vibrant novel describing two soul mates in pursuit of greatness. The novel talks about the life and love story of F Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. Both the author of “The Great Gatsby”, and his wife were extraordinary personalities, incapable to settle for mediocre, and always willing to find the next big challenge, that will bring them the next big success. In the end, this was precisely what took them apart, but their ambition, shared support, and complete dedication is what made their accomplishments great.
Even though the novel is fiction, it is based on a true story, and it makes you thing about the mysteries of talent, friendship, love, partnership, loyalty, and family.
In the end, all our experiences translate into who we are, and what we do. If we want to be great, we have to do great things, and don’t settle for comfortable, or safe. In order to earn more, you need to spend more. If you want to get a chance, you need to take a chance.
Certainly, this is not the only inspirational example of greatness, but the novel offers a complex dose of ambition, great writing, and amazing life story.
What is your next step towards “The pursuit of greatness”?
15. Divergent – or not?
Last week-end’s number one at box office was Sci-fi adventure ‘Divergent’, based on the best selling debut novel of American author Veronica Roth, published in 2011.
DIVERGENT is about human virtues and being different. The movie has action, romance, originality, and thrill.
About the movie I will only add that it kept me intrigued for two and a half hours. As I am not planning on joining the Film Critics Society, I will share with you a very documented article on Forbes. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I suggest you don’t read it until you see the movie. Then you can make your own opinion.
The plot of the movie kept people talking for these past days, about which category would fit them best. You can even take an aptitude test on the movie’s official website: http://divergentthemovie.com/aptitudetest
In my opinion, the plot is not as sci-fi as it may seem. I believe we already live in a society where we need to fit in a certain category, and where if you choose to test the limits of your category, or even join a different one, you are considered divergent. It’s true that decisions are not yet enforced by law, and you don’t necessarily have to permanently leave your family if you are different, but in the end, you might as well do just that.
I also believe that from time to time it’s good to be divergent, and to read a book, or watch a movie that may encourage you to test your limitations, and see the big picture of who you are, and where you want to get.
As PR professionals we always tend to advise our clients to have that special something that makes them unique. A good PR story has always something extraordinaire, new, intriguing. Yet, in our daily lives we set our goals and values based on the society’s pressure, and we always make sure to behave in line with these expectations.
What are your thoughts on the subject?
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