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Last night, the 360 crew headed to the Boston Common for “Shakespeare on the Common.”  This year’s production is As You Like It it’s the 13th annual production of Shakespeare on the Common.  We had the nose-bleed seats and it was a little hard to hear, so it was mainly a social event and just a beautiful night in the park.  Boston summers almost make you forget Boston winters.  Almost.

Watching Shakespeare together was a first for our group.  But unlike an episode of The Office, where things inevitably turn painfully awkward, we just had a lot of fun.

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Boston by EliciaBasoli - 1 Comment →

Rowe Hessler can, and did, this past weekend in Atlanta at the U.S. National Rubik’s Cube Championship, setting a new U.S. “speed cubing” record.

During the first day of the event, 75 individuals attempted to set the Guinness World Record for the “Most Rubik’s Cubes Solved in One Hour in One Place.”  Each participating was able to successfully solve the puzzle in the allotted one hour time period, and Guinness is preparing to validate the attempt.

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Filed under: Events and Conferences by JohnLeRoy - 1 Comment →

Last night I attended the “How to Build a Killer Social Network” panel discussion hosted by the American Marketing Association.  The event, held at the Boston Exchange Center, was keynoted by John Moore, Director of Ideas and Innovation at Mullen Media Hub.

In his presentation about “The State of Social Networking,” Moore delved into the major players in the social network space and discussed their accomplishments and outlooks. Ning.com is one site that was mentioned and which caught my attention, in particular.  Through the Ning platform, users can actually create their OWN social networks.  Companies are using it to create internal networks for their employees, as well as brand-centric networks where fans can rally around a brand, cause, person, or product. [Read more →]

Filed under: Digital PR, Events and Conferences by JohnLeRoy - No Comments →

Politicians are always looking for an angle and when a charity stands to benefit I say bring it on!  If the hometown team’s in the finals, you can bet (and these are betting words) that someone’s going to get in on the action.  Last month, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick placed a bet with The Governator, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, that paid off nicely for The Women’s Lunch Place as a result of the Celtics’ NBA Championship.

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Filed under: Boston, Cause-Related by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

Deskside tours and “preview” events are among the tried and true PR tactics for getting a product into the hands of top editors.  While we’ve seen (and hosted) some glitzy press events over the years, context, not glamour, is the key to media success.

Context, however, extends beyond relevant product positioning. The editors themselves are often looking to be placed in context, which means ensuring every detail is in context - from the venue to the menu to, most important, the story. [Read more →]

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Events and Conferences, Media and Press by MikeRush - No Comments →

Did Jesse Jackson really say that?  The Rev. Jackson’s comments about Sen. Barack Obama on Fox News last week are astonishing, but for more than the obvious reasons.   Okay, let’s get the obvious out of the way.  Jackson came across as both crude - I mean really, who talks like that?  - and having some major sour grapes about Barack Obama’s candidacy.  Clearly.

What surprised me, however, was not Jackson’s feelings about Obama, but that Jackson, an experienced public speaker and frequent talk show guest, made such a PR 101 blunder:  assuming he was off-air.  First rule in the most basic of media training:  the mic is always on and, in the presence of any media, I don’t care if it’s the high school newspaper, you are always on the record.  Forget about commercial breaks - there are no breaks on set.  Jesse Jackson has been in the media spotlight since the 1960s.  He knows better.

Remember the stir Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan caused when, thinking her mic was off, she mumbled some disparaging words about having to appear in a parade for her sponsor, Walt Disney World?  I’m not sure she’s ever really come back from that gaff.  Will Jackson?   

Filed under: Media and Press, Politics by LauraTomasetti - 2 Comments →

Increasingly consumers are “living” online in social networks, online communities, and virtual worlds. We exist on the web as either A) accurate representations of ourselves (i.e. posting resumes on LinkedIn or picking a hair and eye color for our avatar that matches our own) or B) as the fantastical personas of our dreams (i.e. the one with purple hair, super powers and being 5 or 10 lbs lighter than we are in real life). The appeal? Making connections, and having fun while doing it.

Virtual Worlds Management, a virtual worlds trade media company, just announced this week the findings of its latest investment research. Apparently VC and media firms have invested more than $161 million dollars in 16 virtual worlds-related companies during the second quarter of 2008. Add that to the $184 million dollars invested in 23 virtual worlds in Q1, and that makes a total of $345 million invested in the first 6 months of this year.

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Filed under: Video Games, Virtual Worlds by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

One of the reasons I love vacation is it gives me time to catch up on all those articles I’ve been flagging and filing, as well as dig into a new book or two. When I was a kid, I looked forward to the book mobile’s monthly visits to my school, especially at the end of the year when I received a chart and stickers to record how many books I could read over the summer (stickers really motivate - or used to anyway). For a time, around age 8, I was a big Encyclopedia Brown fan.

A day into our vacation we made our way to Edgartown Books. I picked up a book I’d been meaning to read for a while, Big Russ & Me by Tim Russert. The book was published in 2004, and I had somehow forgotten about it until Tim Russert’s recent and sudden death. It reads like a conversation – like Tim Russert is sitting in your living room sharing childhood memories.

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Filed under: Books by LauraTomasetti - 7 Comments →

We are working with Stop & Shop and Giant Food on a program they recently launched called the “Real Deal,” which offers consumers special savings on summer essentials (think everything from sunscreen to hot dogs) through Labor Day.

As part of our plan to spread the word about the initiative we are working with Mary Nolan of the new Food Network show “Chic & Easy.” We are offering Mary to local morning shows to share her tips on how to throw “Summer Parties on a Shoestring Budget.” Last week I traveled to Baltimore and Washington D.C. to help execute two segments… and “Onion Girl” was born.

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Filed under: Food Industry, Media and Press by CarolinePierce - 1 Comment →

As the nation gears up for Independence Day, drivers in California and Washington are beginning to declare independence from their hand-held cellphones (at least while they are behind the wheel, according to new legislation that goes into effect today). California and Washington join a growing list of states nationwide that are cracking down on drivers who take their hands off the wheel to hold a cell by enacting “hands-free” laws. With these new laws, drivers must weigh their options. They can a) continue using mobile phones at the risk of getting a ticket, b) stop talking on the phone altogether while driving, or c) purchase a Bluetooth headset that allows them to talk and have both hands on the wheel.

For our client, Jabra, which makes Bluetooth headsets, option C has presented a clear opportunity. In preparation for the new legislation, we have been diligently reaching out to media in these markets to inform them of the legal and safety issues at hand, and also to let them know what Bluetooth options are available to drivers. According to a study, discussed in this MSNBC Article, 300 lives will be saved in California alone with the hands-free driving laws, indicating the switch to headsets in the car may make driving safer. [Read more →]

Filed under: Cause-Related, Mobile Industry by JohnLeRoy - No Comments →