By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

Addition of veteran communicators broadens expertise

As part of its expanded commitment to meeting the needs of clients interacting with all levels of government, Fahlgren Mortine is increasing its public affairs staff as well as continuing to broaden the scope of its full-service offering.

“The interaction between the public and private sectors is growing more and more complex, and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively has never been greater, ” said Neil Mortine, CEO of Fahlgren, Inc. and president of Fahlgren Mortine. “The additions and changes we are making position us as the leading agency in Ohio in helping public and private organizations work together.”

For more details, please view the complete news release.

photo credit: Manicosity

By Marty McDonald, Vice President

Five tips for keeping up with mobile travel technology

As the leader of Fahlgren Mortine’s tourism practice, I read a lot of articles and blog posts about trends shaping the travel industry. Last week I came across an article in USA Today titled “Smart phones have changed the way we travel.” You can say that again.

The article gives a long list of examples of how today’s travelers are using smart phones, and it provides more evidence that the travel industry is leading the way with some of the most innovative applications. As marketers, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by new technologies.

So do you need a mobile Web site? Should you create an app? The answer is almost always “it depends,” and it would take much more than a blog post to explain how to evaluate your specific needs. In today’s world, it’s easy to get “caught up in keeping up,” meaning that there’s a huge temptation to jump into new trends because everyone else is doing it. I would contend that the most important thing you can do is relax and take a step back.

If you’re in the beginning stages of creating your mobile strategy, here’s a list of five basic things you can do to ensure your strategy is on target before you take a costly leap into mobile marketing.

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By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

I think we have to admit that we were a little surprised by all the responses to our recent blog post on grammar pet peeves, which even got coverage in Ragan’s PR Daily. The page views, comments and shared links have inspired us to develop a series dedicated to good grammar. You ask; we deliver.

With 140-character limits, text messaging, and all the other instant forms of communication these days, it’s still as important as ever to be grammatically correct, no matter which style you follow. As PR pros, we’re trained as journalists and mostly write for journalists, so we generally follow the AP Stylebook. But, Fahlgren Mortine is part of a full-service communications agency, and as such we often work with advertising copywriters. We understand creative writing and know there are times to take creative liberties. In addition to news releases and story proposals, we’ve also written marketing collateral, speeches, white papers, Web copy, community reports, and even ad copy.

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By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

“This Best of Show award reminds us that TV continues to be a powerful medium for connecting with target audiences. Traditional advertising is not dead; it’s not an either/or. It’s about the art and science of selecting the right mix of channels to run great, engaging creative that connects and engages your target audience,” said Pete McGinty, President, Fahlgren Advertising.

 ”As a leader in the central Ohio advertising community, we’re reinventing ourselves everyday while staying dedicated to developing unique and insightful campaigns that not only gain recognition from our peers, but most importantly, move the needle for our clients.”

Get more details on the campaign and the other ADDYs we won in the full news release.

By Lara Kretler, Associate Vice President

Before dismissing the Facebook color status meme as pointless, consider the results.

Last week, you may have noticed your Facebook status feed was overtaken by one-word color updates from approximately half of your contacts. The female half, to be precise.

It took most of us the better part of a day to figure out what was going on – and if you’re a guy, it may have taken longer to learn the secret.

The Facebook color status meme spread like wildfire via personal messages sent behind the scenes from one cluster of women or girls to the next. The message was simple: change your status to the color of your bra. Don’t tell any guys what’s up. Do this to raise awareness for breast cancer, and share this with all your women friends.

Quietly and with little fanfare (other than the occasional surprise – amidst generic-sounding status updates of “white,” “beige” and “black” – of startling “hot pink trimmed with maribou feathers” from your mother-in-law or a co-worker), this meme virtually took over Facebook. As more people began to catch on, there were small waves of backlash here and there — some female Facebook users refused to participate and dubbed it exploitative, while other Facebookers mocked the meme (some guys even facetiously played along).

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By Dennis Brown, Vice President

Top 10 personal technologies of this decade

PC Magazine just came out with their best of the decade list. Here are my own favorite personal technology products introduced this decade, in no particular order.

1. Apple iPod. If a fire started in my house and I had to choose between saving my iPod or the dog, I would grab the iPod.
2. Apple iTunes. It made the iPod possible and legitimized digital music.
3. Amazon Kindle. I haven’t sprung for one yet, but every once in a while I go out to Amazon just to ogle it. One more price cut and it’s mine. I expect it will do for my relationship with books what the iPod has done for my relationship with music. 
4. GPS. Having a GPS means never having to ask for directions. For a guy who gets lost easily, that’s big.
5. DVR. Now I watch TV on my schedule, not the networks’. And I can fast forward through those annoying Toyotathon commercials.
6. Guitar Hero/Rock Band. A video game that makes you feel like a rock star and exposes the kids to the music I grew up with. Clearly the best video game ever.
7. YouTube. It seems like everything shot on video over the last 30 years is out there. Unbelievable what you can find.
8. Apple iPhone. Another gadget I don’t yet own because of a contract with Sprint, but whether I get one or not, it will ultimately make my mobile phone experience better because of how high Apple raised the bar.
9. The thumb drive. No doubt this will soon be replaced by some smaller device with ten times the storage, but being able to put four gigs in your pocket and plug it into any computer’s USB is really handy.
10. Electronic bill paying. Fewer trips to the post office, fewer late fees and less time writing checks. All good things.  

Those are the 10 I came up with. What’s on your list?

photo credit: raneko

By Charlotte Halliday, Fahlgren Mortine Intern

The Art of Networking

There are always those individuals who enter a room and everyone stops to stare. They radiate confidence as they move through the room shaking hands and striking up conversations about the power client they recently acquired. 

This individual isn’t me. In fact, I tend to be the one staring. 

Three years ago, as a freshman in college, I frequently contemplated the importance of networking and how to actually do it. How do I talk to these people who have the job I could only hope for in the future? Why should these professionals be interested in me? The truth is, the networking process tends to be extremely intimidating for students. 

Today, as a senior who is approaching graduation, I cannot stress enough the importance of networking as soon as possible. Meeting local professionals can only help students learn about what public relations actually is, the range of careers in our industry, and current internship opportunities. 

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By Ray Hancart, Associate Vice President

Can’t we all just get along?

Next week starts the MomDot.com-contrived National PR Blackout Challenge. I’ve found myself reflecting on the relationship between PR professionals and “mommy bloggers” - particularly the winding road that leads to this type of blackout or boycott.

On a superficial level, the relationship seems too good to be true. PR professionals exist to encourage word-of-mouth conversations and mom bloggers have a platform (and usually willingness) to drive these conversations. However, dig a little below the surface and you see how it can start to go downhill.

Working with bloggers becomes so mainstream that every practitioner thinks it’s a birthright to bombard bloggers with wave after wave of pitches without any strategy behind the outreach. Inboxes get clogged and moms, who already have a ton going on (and I mean a ton), feel unnecessary pressure. At the same time, traditional journalists are leaning back in their chairs thinking “welcome to the party,” as it’s the same situation they’ve worked in for decades.

So, where do we go from here? Is the blackout challenge the start of a prolonged backlash or just a blip on the radar screen? Judging by a lot of the reaction, including this well-written piece by Liz Gumbinner with BlogHer, it seems the latter is closer to reality. Given how big a gift blogs are to our industry, this is a welcome observation for PR pros.

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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 Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

A special holiday greeting from your friends at Fahlgren and Fahlgren Mortine