InsidEPR

December: Tool of the Month

By Kevin Sugarman

I only read one article in doing “research” for the December tool of the month post.  After reading about a couple being denied a cake for their son’s third birthday party by a ShopRite supermarket in New Jersey, I knew I had my winner.  Now, don’t rush to assume that the supermarket is the target of my distain this month. It is actually the parents that were denied a cake by the store that are the winners of the December tool of the month.

The Engage PR Top Ten

By Kevin Sugarman

As we wind down the year and head into the holiday break, the people at the agency were tasked with determining the top ten moments at Engage PR in 2008.  Everyone sent in their most memorable events for the year, and of course, each list looked completely different. After much bickering and backing and forthing, we were finally able to narrow the list to ten. So, in no particular order, I present you with the top ten moments at Engage PR in 2008 – some are even related to PR.

1. The Company Trip to Monterey – This trip is most memorable for the monsoon-like weather that the team encountered during the trip.  Trees fell, electricity was lost, roads were closed, FEMA was almost called in.  It’s California, and we’re wimps when it comes to weather.

   

2. The Community Service Project – Every year EPR participates in multiple events that benefit the surrounding community.  This year we helped plant vegetation at the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline Park in Oakland. Check out our YouTube video on the event. 

What are you watching?

By Becky Frost

USA Today Tech Reporter Jon Swartz recently blogged about a rising habit of internet users; video watching. It is clear that YouTube has had a huge effect on how we search the web and how we interact with it. Advertisers are also paying attention to this increasing trend.
eMarketer provides these interesting facts and projections about online video viewers.

Year            Online video viewers      Percent of Internet users    
2007            137.5                            73.6                           
2008            154.2                            80                              
2009            167.5                            84.1                           
2010            176                               85.7                           
2011            183                               86.8                           
2012            190                               88

Can the demise of newspapers help PR?

By Stephanie Gallagher
An NPR show recently talked about the latest bad news for the declining U.S. newspaper industry – the publisher of the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune declared bankruptcy (it’s been a rough past week for the Windy City). The segment discussed the ramifications for consumers if newspapers disappear: What will we be missing? Can we trust everything that we read online? Will readers drown in too much online content? While experts gave their different views on how a dying newspaper model would affect journalism, I wondered how this change could be positive for PR as a business.

It’s strange for me to think of a world with no newspapers. I earned my first wages when I was 12 delivering the daily newspaper in my hometown. But now I don’t long for a daily print edition - I have enough trouble controlling junk mail and unnecessary catalogs. I prefer to read news online; it’s convenient and it makes me a more informed PR person because it’s constantly updated. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press (August 2008) survey of 3,615 U.S. adults found that since the early 1990s, the proportion of Americans saying they read a newspaper on a typical day has declined by about 40 percent; the proportion that regularly watches nightly network news has fallen by half.

Holiday Fun... for the Locals

By Allison Kuhn

I’m a local Bay Area girl. I was born and raised in the North Bay, I currently live in San Francisco, and I work in the East Bay here at the Engage PR office. With all my years living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can provide you with a list of holiday activities to enjoy all around the Bay.

Although I know which activities I am planning on doing first, it’s important to note that these activities are in no particular order. Just a top-10 list of seasonal activities that everyone can enjoy during the holidays. Feel free to share your holiday plans with me. I’m always looking for new, exciting events to share with family and friends.

Enjoy the list, and Happy Holidays.

1. Holiday Lights and Sights on the Wharf in San Francisco – Plenty of lights, sights, and tourists.
2. Downtown Walnut Creek on Ice – Bundle up and hit the ice. Don’t worry about bringing your own skates, instead rent them there.
3. The Velveteen Rabbit – A fun event for the younger crowd. Bring the whole family.
4. The San Francisco Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ – And then there’s the traditional approach.
5. Help Out at the Local Food Bank – Food banks are always looking for people to help sort food. Let’s make sure everyone has a healthy and hot meal this holiday.
6. Shop Downtown in Union Square in San Francisco – While I recommend not waiting until the last minute, shopping downtown in the holiday hustle and bustle is exciting.
7. Tell Santa Your Christmas Wish-List – Sit on Santa’s lap at any one of your local malls. He’ll be there, candy cane in hand, ready to hear your wishes.
8. Go to Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon – This show is a wacky musical spoof on pop culture with big costumes and even bigger hats.
9. Serve a Hot Meal to Someone in Need – A good place to search for a local soup kitchen is on the ‘HandsOnBayArea” Web site.
10. Spend Quality Time with Your Family and Friends – There is nothing better than a good time with good company.

Save the Bay: EPR Gives Back

By Chelsea Irwin

The Engage PR community service project took us to an organization called Save the Bay. EPR spent half the day working to weed and restore the bay wetlands at the on-site native plant nursery.

Save the Bay (or Save San Francisco Bay Association) is a wonderful organization, and it is always looking for volunteers. If you live in the area, please feel free to visit the following Web site and learn more about volunteer opportunities: http://www.savebay@savesfbay.org 

Christmas 2.0?

By Stephanie Park

As the holiday spirit is upon us, I’ve been finding that a lot of scrooges like to lament that technology is killing Christmas. As someone immersed in the industry every day, I think this is a ridiculous complaint. While it's true that the presents under the tree are more expensive (i.e., the GPS navigation system I’m dying for) and maybe less personal these days, who’s to blame technology, the hand that feeds us? Yes, the little ones no longer yearn for train sets or dollhouses, e-greetings abound, and Christmas cards are on the decline, but there are a lot of new and innovative ways technology is modernizing Christmas cheer. Here are some great holiday websites that embrace tradition AND technology that are sure to change your mind.

Elfster.com
This site describes itself as the Web 2.0 of Secret Santas, “reviving time honored traditions with new thinking and new technology.” Which is exactly what it does! Elfster manages secret gift exchanges, automatically draws your Secret Santa, lets you anonymously ask the person whose name you’ve drawn what they’d like, and allows you to upload your own wish list. I am currently in three gift exchanges via Elfster, including an EPR Office Holiday exchange!

ElfYourself.com
This site was a big hit last year, and it recently vamped up its 2009 options. ElfYourself allows you to upload your picture (or your friend’s) and superimpose it onto a funky dancing elf. According to a recent TechCrunch blog, ElfYourself peaked at 39 million unique visitors in the U.S. last year! Check out my elf below. 

NORADSanta.org
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) hosts a site every December using “radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets” to follow Santa on his Christmas Eve journey across the world. The site also features the latest updates from the North Pole and uses Google Earth to pinpoint Santa in 3D. Obviously the site is designed for kids who anxiously await Santa’s arrival, but the efforts run purely on volunteers’ time (answering phone calls and e-mails). If that isn’t holiday spirit in the modern world, what is?

Sure, some of our dependence on technology today spoils the wistfulness of Christmases past, but in my opinion - albeit biased - there are great things about the 'Christmas 2.0' we live in today. And as a young professional in the PR world, I'll be glad to tell you all about them.