By Paul Vetter, Vice President

Simplicity vs. Skepticism

As a parent — and a professional communicator — I highly recommend the children’s book Simple Pictures Are Best. It tells the tale of a couple having a portrait made for their wedding anniversary who, despite the photographer’s advice that “simple pictures are the best,” insist on adding more and more to the setting until, well… you can imagine the rest.

As a parent, I liked it because it was always got my kids giggling (up to a certain age…) And as a communicator, I keep it always in the back of my mind, reminding me to keep it simple.

Lately, I’ve been trying to figure out some simple ways to explain the benefits of social media to a typical skeptical client — a results-oriented, 40-something executive on a tight schedule who doesn’t see the value of investing time in LinkedIn, Twitter, and others.

Like me, they didn’t come of age scouting for dates on Facebook or connecting with friends through Tweetups. They’ve heard that social media might be helpful in their professional lives. But they seriously doubt it…

So here’s my best pitch.

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By Meredith Quinn,

Flashback to childhood.

When McDonald’s is your client, and you want to build hype about a kid’s promotion, what do you come up with? Well, quite simply, a celebratory tour with Ronald McDonald. After all, he is the essential icon of the brand, and beloved by children worldwide.

Last week, Fahlgren Mortine embarked on a week-long adventure, taking Ronald McDonald and a giant 12-foot Happy Meal all over the Greater Cincinnati area to build awareness and word-of-mouth buzz about the 30^th Anniversary of the Happy Meal.  Yes, it really has been around since 1979.  The first Happy Meal was themed as a Circus Wagon, and for the first time included toys for kids with their food.

The goal of the tour was to build awareness and spread happiness throughout the city. We created the Happy Crew (a.k.a. Fahlgren Mortine staff) to help Ronald execute the tour. We even wore Happy Crew T-shirts.  As planning began, we tried to think of unique ways to get customers involved in our excitement, and we came up with the idea to throw surprise birthday parties at every stop on the tour. We built our stop list and then decided to add in media visits, a stop at the Ronald McDonald House and a day at the Cincinnati Zoo. 

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By Bryan Haviland, Executive Vice President

Holding steady.

Signs of the drawn-out recession have hit my inbox all year long.  A wide range of resumes and cover notes abound, some from professionals I’d love to recommend as hires, but most from those not so polished or qualified.  Among the more interesting: an impressive resume from a Criminology major (did she really think we needed her skill set?), and my creative favorite - a right shoe in a box with a note that said “Just wanted to get my foot in the door. Interview me and I’ll send you the left one.”

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal entitled “Only The Employed Need Apply” makes some interesting points about the buyer’s market mentality of employers.  The article points out that many employers look at the employed who have survived the recession as “first string” - the most valuable candidates for any openings they may have.  So, instead of plowing through dozens of resumes from would-be applicants, they are conducting “guerrilla recruiting” tactics and finding those strong performers who are working for competitors or similar organizations.

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By Carol Merry, Vice President

Lightening up the business world.

Do you like Stanley Bing? I do. I look forward to his column in Fortune and have enjoyed some of his books. Like most businesspeople, I read a lot of business news written by business reporters with varying degrees of business savvy.

I think Bing’s work is endearing because there’s so very little levity in business reporting. It’s all so heavy… so serious… so important. Today, with 24/7 business news and an ever-expanding universe of business blogs, being tuned in has become a requirement. We’re afraid we’ll miss something and not be able to hold up our end of random conversations based on repeating news more often than on thoughtful comments. I’m as guilty as the next person of what could in other circumstances be described as gossip. But we call it business news.

Once in a while you find some tongue-in-cheek comments. Mostly what you find is trying-too-hard-to-be-cute headlines that are not nearly as cute as their caffeine-crazed copy desk staffers wanted them to be.

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By Paul Vetter, Vice President

Behind the Scenes in Silicon Valley PR

You know something really big is happening in our industry when the tables are turned and the media is covering us for a change. Sunday’s The New York Times featured Claire Cain Miller’s inside scoop on how social media is transforming PR for Silicon Valley startups.

It’s an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at how PR pros are bypassing traditional media via Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and other social media outlets.

Gone are the days when snaring attention for start-ups in the Valley meant mentions in print and on television, or even spotlights on technology Web sites and blogs. Now P.R. gurus court influential voices on the social Web to endorse new companies, Web sites or gadgets — a transformation that analysts and practitioners say is likely to permanently change the role of P.R. in the business world, and particularly in Silicon Valley.

There’s even more insight if you follow the response from one of the PR pros interviewed for the story who didn’t feel the Times got it right. Brian Solis, social media thought leader at PR 2.0, issued a lengthy rebuttal.

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By Hartley Mikus, Account Executive

Midwest-based, internationally connected.

I’ve lived in Ohio my entire life, so I am used to all the ridiculous questions from out-of-towners about my geographic location. Some people truly believe there is nothing in the entire state of Ohio but farms and grazing cattle, that we are actually shut off from the entire outside world. That couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Though Fahlgren Mortine is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, we are experiencing good geographic growth. We have expanded to offices located in Dayton, Ohio, and Denver, Colo., and our client roster is growing too. In addition to our national clients, we are also working for clients with a presence on five of the seven continents.

With this rapid international explosion comes excitement as well as added professional challenges. The importance of global knowledge is elevated, and must be, to practice strategic and effective international public relations.

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