By Kristan Leedy, Senior Counselor

The comma is king. 

Writing is hard work. Never mind being artful, or changing hearts and minds. Writing what you mean in a way your audience will understand is tough enough. One reason is that writers have lots of choices. There’s a whole language out there, and choosing precisely the right word can be as maddening as choosing your bath soap: Powder Fresh or Flowery? Antibacterial or sensitive? Exfoliating or moisturizing? Original formula — bingo! 

We also make choices about punctuation. If grammar can make us peevish, punctuation can drive us nuts. Consider the comma. 

The organic, friendly looks of this little mark are misleading. The comma is all-powerful when it comes to writing what we mean so that others can understand it. Indeed, an actual debate rages over the fate of the serial comma, which the AP Stylebook is accused of killing with the stroke of its dictum: 

 ”Use commas to separate elements in a series, but do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series: The flag is red, white and blue. He would nominate Tom, Dick or Harry.” 

Read the rest of this entry »

By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

Grammar rules.

I really can’t believe I’m blogging about grammar. I vividly remember sitting in my precision language course at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. I was afraid of grammar. The professor told us, “One day, you’ll be listening to the radio or watching the news and you’ll become frustrated with the bad grammar used.” Seriously? I was used to spelling grammar as grammer. 

But it happened to me. In the nearly 10 years since graduation, I’ve been the annoying guy correcting my friends’ grammar. I find solace knowing that my clients expect it from me. They want their communications to be grammatically correct. Now, if we could just get the lion’s share of the media to feel the same way. 

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

Neil Mortine and Kathy Cupper Obert

Fahlgren, Edward Howard to Join Public Relations Businesses

Alignment Forms Independent Powerhouse:

Largest Firm in Ohio and Top 30 Nationally 

The acquisition, which joins the capabilities of Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations and Edward Howard, is expected to close during the first quarter of 2010 although integration and coordinated new business and marketing efforts will begin immediately.

Check out more details of today’s exciting announcement in the news release.

By Marsha Hall, Senior Counselor

Planning ahead can minimize the impact of  H1N1 on your business. 

With President Obama declaring H1N1 a national emergency, many businesses are preparing for the possibility of a pandemic and thinking about how they will respond. Effective communications will be primary to reducing the impact of an H1N1 outbreak and ensuring business continuity. 

Below are steps businesses may want to consider. 

Appoint a wellness coordinator.
An office manager or staff member in human resources, communications or public relations is ideal for this position. The individual should become familiar with seasonal flu absenteeism rates and recognize when a significant increase in absenteeism occurs. The coordinator will work with local and state health officials and communicate updates to managers and employees.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Kelly Malone, Account Supervisor

Building brand ambassadors through social media

Have you ever worked with independent businesses as a key part of your sales channel? During my recent tenure in the real estate industry, I found social media to be a beacon for our independent agents to carry our brand messages in a unified and consistent manner. Social media was new, inexpensive and an alternative to agents plastering their faces on billboards, park benches and grocery carts.

In order for our social media strategy to be successful, we knew education was important so that the sales channel could become brand champions in a manner that aligned with the brand personality defined at the corporate level.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Melissa Dykstra, Vice President

The fine art of guiding without controlling 

The other morning at breakfast, my daughter was leaning back in her chair on two legs. When I told her to put “four on the floor” (quoting my third grade teacher), she replied, “But you’ve never told me not to do that.” I’m not sure I agree with her, but it brings up a good point.

We’ve talked before on this blog about the many ways to use social media internally and externally to connect with customers, media, employees and other stakeholders. But there’s one thing we haven’t talked about yet. And according to Deloitte, we’re not alone: 55 % of company executives say they do not have a social media policy. Do you?

There are countless resources available to help you craft a social media policy. While many examples are available online, they can’t possibly take into account the many nuances of individual companies and situations. When we counsel clients and help write social media policies for them, we ensure the right people are at the table, including representatives from communications, marketing, legal counsel, human resources, and information technology at a minimum.

Once the right people are at the table, it’s time to consider the tone and type of policy that works for your organization.  Employee/employer trust is key to better engagement, productivity and working toward a common goal. So, when it comes to a social media policy, how do you maintain that mutual trust, while setting guidelines, ensuring the ground rules are in place and avoiding the comment “but you didn’t tell me not to.”

Read the rest of this entry »

By Hartley Mikus, Account Executive

Adapting life lessons from the business world.

I have been fortunate to have worked on a variety of different public relations initiatives since I began my career at Fahlgren Mortine in 2007. Learning more about crisis communications, media relations, social media and several other areas have been great experiences. And as I near my two-year anniversary with the firm, I was recently given a project in a completely different realm, internal communications.

A client with whom we are currently working has charged us with managing all aspects of their new company unveiling. As the launch date quickly approaches, my team and I have been arranging video programs, coordinating on-site activities and corresponding with contacts across several continents and numerous time zones. (Creating a work plan is difficult when you can’t figure out if it is today or tomorrow for the responsible party.)

Start talking!

This project has taught me several important key strategies that must be employed when unveiling a new brand to internal and external audiences alike. Coincidentally, they all involve communication. Shocking, I know.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Paul Vetter, Vice President

How well do you deliver in high stress situations?

As PR pros, we’re familiar with pressure-packed situations. The headline’s not working, but the deadline looms. The reporter who sounded interested in the big story stops responding. Out of nowhere, a couple of people are Tweeting nasty things about your client. Probably better get on that…

It’s just part of the day-to-day routine. If we had a theme song for our profession, it would probably go something like this.

The interesting thing is that some people and teams seem to perform better under pressure. Under attack, with the account on the line, the solutions sometimes seem to come out of nowhere. We find the right words to get the meeting back on track, fix the flow of the white paper, and persuade the client to see our point of view.

Because performance under pressure is so important in our profession, I typically invest a great deal of time every Spring watching the NBA playoffs. While I’ve never been able to convince my wife and kids that this is an important career-development activity, that’s how I see it. The playoffs are a crucible for understanding how people are motivated and deliver results when it’s win-or-go-home time.

Since I’ve had no luck in convincing my family, I’ll try my argument on you.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ellen Van Etten, Account Director

Remote working…mobile teleworking…telecommuting…e-lancing.

No matter how you slice or dice it, we all know that working remotely has become a major trend in the U.S. work force.  According to a Yankee Group survey of 178 U.S. businesses with 20 - 99 employees, 79% had mobile workers, with an average of 11 mobile workers per company.

This trend is growing…and fast.

In 2003, there were 4.4 million U.S. employees working at home with broadband.  By 2004, the number soared to 8.1 million, an 84% increase (Source: 2004 American Interactive Consumer Survey conducted by The Dieringer Research Group).  In fact, there is even a Telework Advisory Group for World at Work, who attributes the rising trend to a combination of factors, including the proliferation of high speed/broadband (which has made it both less expensive and more productive to work remotely) and the willingness of more employers to embrace both flexibility and work-life balance.

So, what are the pros and cons?  As a public relations professional who has worked remotely for more than five years, I can tell you there are plenty of both.  The benefits include the most convenient commute available (walking across the hall), being able to do a job that you love with the conveniences of your own home surrounding you, and basically having the freedom to live wherever you desire.  

Read the rest of this entry »

By Amanda Bibbee, Senior Account Executive

Winning isn’t everything, but we enjoy it.

Last month, we had the pleasure of attending the Central Ohio PRSA PRism Award luncheon. The annual awards ceremony recognizes the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the crème de la crème among central Ohio public relations firms and professionals. (Think of it as the Academy Awards, only without the red carpet, paparazzi or Brad and Angelina.)

Overall, it was a record breaking year for the chapter, with 171 entries from 33 central Ohio companies and organizations, which goes to show that even in a recession, award programs are important. Not only do these awards showcase the best and the brightest programs (awards are great PR for your company!), they’re an opportunity for the staff as a whole to reflect on a year of hard work and success. As our fearless leader noted in an earlier post, the pressure to develop and implement programs that are on-time, on-budget and achieve award-winning, measurable results can be intense at times, so it’s important to have a little fun once in a while. At Fahlgren Mortine, PRism Award day is a day for the agency to let loose and celebrate with an ice cream social and annual kickball game. (Trash talking has already begun for 2010’s match.)

This year, we were honored to win 17 PRisms and 21 Awards of Excellence on behalf of 18 different clients. Our awards ran the gamut across 26 different public relations and social media categories, including PRisms for Emerson Network Power’s YouTube channel, the Ohio Tourism Division media relations program and even our own blog.

Also, major props are due to one of our own young professionals - Amanda DeCastro - who received the chapter’s Rising Star award. The award recognizes an individual with three or fewer years of experience who has demonstrated commitment to the public relations profession and community involvement. Amanda is our eighth Rising Star winner in the past 10 years. Congrats Amanda!

Last but certainly not least, a huge thanks to all of our clients who continue to believe in the value of PR and allow us to develop award-winning campaigns and programs on your behalf. We couldn’t do it without you.