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Let’s face it. The business world needs interns.

And I’m not just saying that because I was one once (actually three times). As May and graduations approach, it brings me back to all those summers scrambling to get my resume into pristine shape, picking up my suits from the cleaners and hunting for an internship.

But enough reminiscing. Let’s get to the “here and now”. As the seasons change, so often do the faces of interns looking to gain valuable experience outside of the classroom. Here at 360, we recently bid farewell to a rock star group of spring interns, and are now gearing up for the summer talent to arrive (coping with the lack of interns in between semesters can be rough – but we persevere).

The ROI in interns for 360, and any company for that matter, is clear. Media lists get built and perfected, mailers are shipped, event details are buttoned down, all with the help of interns. But what about the interns’ experience? Was it worth giving up hours that could have been spent doing homework, enjoying the college experience with friends, or simply taking a break from papers and exams? According to a Recent Survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the answer is yes. In 2007, nearly 36 percent of new college graduates were hired by the companies where they previously interned.

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Filed under: 360 Public Relations, PR Industry by JohnLeRoy - No Comments →

One of the oldest tricks in the proverbial PR handbook is to leverage a brand’s anniversary. The timely news hook of an anniversary makes this strategy effective and the campaign put in place surrounding it (such as a brand fan event, partnership, or limited edition product release) is what completes the “story.”

We’ve worked with a number of clients on anniversary campaigns. Bear with me as I geek out for a minute…. One year ago today we helped Turbine launch the award-winning massively multiplayer online game (MMO) The Lord of the Rings Online. To celebrate, Turbine has released tons of new game content, new pricing options and in-game events.

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Filed under: Media and Press, PR Industry, Video Games by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

About 10 years ago, when I moved back to Boston from DC, I stumbled upon (literally stumbled) The Women’s Lunch Place on Newbury Street. Sandwiched between the high-end cafes and shoe stores was this humble organization doing incredibly important work – providing a nutritious mid-day meal and day-time gathering place for homeless and poor women, some of whom, though working, can’t afford to buy lunch every day. When the overnight shelters closed each morning, The Women’s Lunch Place opened its doors.

Today, The Women’s Lunch Place gives hundreds of women a place to receive mail, do their laundry, take a shower, receive a range of support services and enjoy a good meal in a congenial, non-threatening environment.

An easy (and fun) way to support The Women’s Lunch Place is to purchase one of their Mother’s Day cards. For a donation of $25, the staff and guests will send a beautifully designed, hand-signed card on your behalf to your mom, grandmother, sister, aunt or other woman in your life. This year’s card features a bright watercolor painting by an artist who was served by The Women’s Lunch Place.

The Women’s Lunch Place Mother’s Day cards are available through May 6. If you know of an organization offering a way to give to mom and give back or have a cause your passionate about, we’d love to hear about it!

Filed under: Cause-Related by LauraTomasetti - 4 Comments →

This is my first official post on the 360 blog and I’ve decided to tackle a hot topic …industry awards! Is it just me or does anyone else feel a mini panic attack coming on when the first Call for Entries is announced? We all dream of plaques and speeches (”I’d like to thank the Academy, my mother and the tech guys who fixed that pesky spam issue…”). Then reality sets in. Wait a minute, who’s going to write these? And, perhaps most important, who the heck is going to compile the binder? Is the first aid kit stocked with Tums? It’s no secret that award submissions take a lot of work. But there’s a great sense of accomplishment when all is said and done. While it’s not my all-time favorite activity, awards are an important vehicle for raising the bar and recognizing best practices in the PR industry.

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Filed under: 360 Public Relations, PR Industry by CarrieKocik - No Comments →

Today some 25,000 runners will travel 26.2 miles from Hopkinton, MA to Boston in the 112th running of the Boston Marathon. Our office in Copley Square happens to be just a couple of blocks from the finish line, so I always try to swing by to check it out (although with 50,000 fans expected along the race route with many in Boston, its hard to get a great view at the finish line unless you show up hours before to park your lawn chair and cooler).

At any sporting event you’ll find BIG brand sponsors and advertisers aplenty. For the first time in 112 years, corporate ads have been permitted on the marathon starting and finishing lines. According to the Boston Athletic Association in a recent AP article, these changes illustrate distance running’s dependence on sponsors - for prize money, publicity, operating expenses, donations to cities and towns along the route to provide public safety and other services, etc.

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Filed under: Boston, Events and Conferences by EliciaBasoli - 1 Comment →

I was going through the mail last weekend when a catalog from Design Within Reach caught my attention.

They ask what seems to be a very simple question, “What Is Green?” But there certainly isn’t a simple answer. Sustainable, eco-friendly, recycled, recyclable, up-cycle, carbon footprint, low VOC, Greenguard, LEED, renewable energy, global warming, carbon emissions, and the list goes on. What does it all mean?

“Green” and “eco-friendly” are part of our everyday vernacular. According to a recent article in PR Week, the number of media covering green products and topics has more than tripled in the last 18 months. I have four magazines at my desk and three of them promote green articles on their covers. Newsweek asks “Who’s the Greenest of Them All?” Woman’s Day offers tips to “Save Money, Go Green.” Wondertime wants to get the kids involved, with “The Green Project Kids Can’t Resist.”

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Filed under: Green Marketing, Media and Press by CarolinePierce - 2 Comments →

One of our main practice areas at 360 is video games and virtual worlds. I’m a bit of a gamer myself and happen to be in very good company. According to NPD, US video game sales hit $17.9 billion in 2007 (which is up 43% year-over-year). With such growth, it makes sense that there is a video game conference dedicated solely to the marketing of games. In its third year, the MI6 Conference was held last week in San Francisco. We’ve been following the game marketing and conference coverage over the past week and one headline in particular caught my attention yesterday - Blake Snow of Next-Gen.biz posted a list of the Top 10 Game Industry Taglines.

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Filed under: Events and Conferences, Video Games by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

It’s hard to escape the buzz about marketing to moms these days. At 360, we’re entrenched in the mom market, and conferences dedicated exclusively to the mom market have sprung up in recent years (M2Moms is a prime example). But let’s not forget the dads - who, pardon the pun, offer fertile ground for marketers too. I’m not talking about the sliver segment of stay-at-home dads. More important than how much time dad spends at home is his level of participation in the parenting partnership. If you’re interested in more on this “dad factor,” the following 360PR article, published in The Council of PR Firms’ Firm Voice earlier this month, may be of interest.

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Filed under: PR Industry, Parenting by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

Laura, Carrie and I hopped on the Acela last week and headed for NYC. We joined a mix of PR pros, brand managers, bloggers, and social media execs at the 2008 BlogHer Business Conference.

Over the course of two days, we took part in a number of panels and sessions all about blogs (and other social media) and the opportunities for brands today. For those who couldn’t attend, here are some take-aways:

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Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Events and Conferences by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

When the taxi pulled up to the Las Vegas Convention Center, the first thing I noticed was a sign that said “International Pizza Pavilion” right out side of the convention center food court. Score! After a longer than usual flight to Vegas, I was so hungry I had nearly forgotten why I was back at this convention center only two short months since I was last there - oh right, CTIA, the annual wireless convention (and, proving that there is a convention for absolutely everything, apparently the annual pizza makers convention! READ: no actual “pizza pavilion” - apparently just booths upon booths of cheesy slices for those registered for the event. I had to settle for turkey on white).

Our newest client, GN US and its Jabra brand, was showing off their full product line in a great looking booth that really stood out. With their bright yellow Jabra logo raised high above all of the other signage, it popped against the sea of black, white and gray booths. I was schooled on the latest headsets and added some fun new acronyms to my PR toolbox ($5 to anyone reading this that knows what A2DP and DSP stand for). GN unveiled the new Jabra BT4010 Bluetooth Headset that has a “smart display” LCD screen that shows you the battery level, connection status and call status. Very cool!

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Filed under: Events and Conferences, Mobile Industry by StaceyClement - No Comments →

The personal nature of blogs was a recurring theme at BlogHer Business in New York this week. The conference opened with results of the 2008 Compass/BlogHer Social Media Study, presented by Susan Wright, Managing Director, Compass Partners.

According to research presented, more than 36 million women (Millennials, GenY, GenX, Boomers and Matures) in the US are involved in the blogosphere weekly - either as readers, reading blogs at least 2x weekly, or as publishers, publishing their own blog or posting. They’re looking for “advice, reviews and recommendations,” Wright said.

But if you can’t guarantee a positive review, why should companies venture in? “Getting bloggers to talk about your product or brand has a huge value and a balanced review is a win,” BlogHer’s Jory Des Jardins said.

So how do you join the conversation? First you have to find it, said Des Jardins. “Look at who’s out there doing what. Find the conversations already happening. The conversations are happening with or without you - you have the opportunity to participate.”

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Filed under: Blogger Relations by LauraTomasetti - 2 Comments →

Last weekend, I spoke to a great group of students about blogs and blogger relations at the PRSSA 2.0 conference. It was held at the Boston University Photonics Center - a beautiful building - and was organized by members of various local college chapters of PRSSA including a couple of our own super-star interns here at 360! I was in great company - some of the other speakers were Rick Murray, David Meerman Scott, Dusty Rhodes, Greg Peverill-Conti, and Jason Glashow, among others.

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Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Industry Organizations by EliciaBasoli - 1 Comment →

Welcome to the 360 Days Blog! It took a trip to BlogHer Business to light a fire under our collective 360PR tails and finally get our blog up! Not that we haven’t been thinking about blogging for a while now. I personally struggled with the decision though. #1: It didn’t seem to fit our “team” style to have a traditional blog, with one (my) voice. But we solved that, with a team of contributors. #2: Does the world really need another PR blog? There are already some good ones (such as the PR Week editors’ blog).

In the end, given that our many clients and other friends of 360 are spread across the country and we’re all spending so much time online, it made a lot of sense to have a place where we can connect with you, beyond the emails, IM and conference calls. We’ll be sharing PR best (and yes, worst) practices, as well as industry and other events we hope you’ll find of interest. Speaking of which…

This week, Carrie, Elicia and I are in New York at BlogHer Business, where no doubt Johnson & Johnson’s Camp Baby, or as it’s being dubbed in blogging circles “Baby Gate,” will be a hot topic (there’s a good synopsis here about bloggers who were invited, uninvited). 360 is sponsoring the Social Media Outreach session with speakers from Method, General Motors, Graco, Microsoft and HP. It should be great – we’ll blog about key learnings on 360 Days later this week!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Blogger Relations by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →