360PR Blog

8 days and counting until I take off for the last hurrah of the summer – Penny Arcade Expo!  I can’t think of a better way to wrap up the summer than with a trip to Seattle next weekend.

You see, as the kiddies (and kiddies at heart) let loose each year for summer vacation, the game industry steps into exhibition overdrive. Between conferences like LOGIN, E3, Comic-Con, China Joy, and the Edinburgh Interactive Festival – summer is a time for the business of play (not just play itself). Participating in these events is key to a game’s PR program, whether as an exhibitor, as a speaker, or in some other form. Activities as simple as booking media appointments to elaborate PR stunts are all in a day’s work during the summer (check out EA’s staging of religious protests at E3 in June as a way to promote their new game Dante’s Inferno – clever!)

These events are my favorite part of PR. I love the gradual build up to the big day/s and (nerd alert) the logistics. And, if I’m lucky, I get a few minutes to roam the show floor to check out the latest games for myself.

Our clients have been at all of these shows in some form or another, but I’m particularly excited for PAX. Why? It’s a consumer show, which allows you to interact directly with customers. Plus, this year’s Seattle show will be particularly important for the organizes, as it segues into the first-ever PAX East in March (in Boston)!

So, as the summer draws to a close with PAX, the game industry will soon enter another important time of year for the games PR machine – the fall/holiday release season. I’ve got goosebumps.

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

If you asked us what’s new in Boston, you’d likely get a variety of responses. The Yankees are in town, the humidity is oppressive and the Obamas just arrived for a week-long reprieve on Martha’s Vineyard. All in all, it’s a typical week in the New England summer. There is, however, a lot to share in terms of digital media. Catch up on your summer reading with the below.

Los Angeles Times “RT@Twitter: Finally a standard Retweet Function Coming” – For most tweeps, it’s been a long time coming. Twitter wants to make retweeting easier, and that day has almost arrived. Soon, instead of copying and pasting tweets you find interesting, you’ll be able to spread the Twitter love with a single click.

AllFacebook “The 7 Most Important Facebook Stories From Last Week” – In addition to Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed which I mentioned in last week’s post, the popular networking site made waves in more ways than one over the past week. Learn about a possible iPhone application, how Facebook is outpacing Twitter, and more with this piece.

MSN Tech “Digital Manners: New Etiquette for Web-Speed Life” – Don’t talk with your mouth full, don’t snap your gum, don’t text during church? Modern technology calls for a new set of etiquette rules. From being cautious about who you ‘friend’ on Facebook, to being judicious about using the ‘reply all’ function in email, MSN has compiled a round-up of the must-knows for digital manners.

Filed under: Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - No Comments →

Though there is no official definition of a heat wave, a reliable local news station told me Boston is currently in the middle of one. It’s been 90 plus degrees here for the past three days, and in honor of the sweat-inducing trifecta, this week’s three digital stories all come from Mashable, one of our favorite social media sites. Before you roll your eyes and crank your mini-fan to full-blast, however, all three articles touch on different topics – Twitter, FriendFeed and LinkedIn. The heat may blur our thinking, but we haven’t forgotten that variety is the spice of life!

Mashable “Twitter Analysis: 40% of Tweets are Pointless Babble” – In past posts, I’ve told you why teens don’t tweet, how to use Twitter to build your business and even how to put out a press release in 140 characters or less. But what are the majority of your tweeple using Twitter for?  Turns out, you’re probably learning way more about tweeps than you ever cared to.

Mashable “How To Take Advantage of FriendFeed’s Unique Features” – Last week, Facebook acquired FriendFeed. The news was big, getting ink in some of the most notable outlets, including the Wall Street Journal. What is FriendFeed, you might ask? If you’ve ever given a thumbs-up to a friends’ Facebook status, you’ve used the social activity aggregator. Check out this piece to learn more and make the most of this relatively unknown service.

Mashable “How To Build Your Company’s Profile on LinkedIn” – LinkedIn is a fantastic tool for networking between individuals, but did you know it’s also a great way to put your company’s name out there? It’s time to get acquainted (or re-acquainted) with the many features LinkedIn has to offer.

Filed under: Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - 2 Comments →

Keeping a secret in an office full of hyper-communicators is never easy (is a secret ever safe with Twitter these days?!). And when it comes to keeping the activities of the annual 360PR summer outing under wraps, well, the stakes are even higher.

For the better part of the summer, our team members have tried trickery, bribery and all out guessing to try and uncover the itinerary of one of our favorite days of the year. Luckily, our planning team channeled their inner Cloak & Dagger and we kept them in the dark until the big unveiling this past Friday. Over ‘ritas and lunch at Cottonwood, each 360 team member finally received their “case briefing.”

As part of the clever game produced by Urban Interactive, our team was being sent on a mission throughout downtown Boston working for one of our most unique clients ever – The Society of the Commons. As “urban sleuths,” our mission was to uncover a Colonial relic lost somewhere in Boston.

Armed with a tricked out iTouch, a (limited) map of Boston and four envelopes marked top secret (to be opened along the course of the hunt), our six teams tooks to the streets in search of the relic. Along the way, we met up with rival spies from the SmartMax-86 organization and had to fool them into revealing their secrets to us. Since we’re in PR, we had no touble smooth talking them into that one! Some teams chased down the operatives across Boston Common much to the amusement of sane businesspeople on their lunch breaks, while others wooed them with some on-the-spot musical improv. If our blog had audio, I’d ask Skye to record her fantastic tune which is best accompanied by a ukulele!

Bad Tip: Clearly this donkey didn’t give us the clues we needed: My team came in last, but we had a great time doing it! (l-r) The donkey in front of Ruth’s Chris steakhouse, Skye, Elicia and Mike

By the time 5:00 rolled around, we’d traversed the city, met lots of helpful strangers and were ready for some celebrarory cocktails at Jury’s pub. Some of us arrived faster than others (apparently John has a competitive nature we just never really knew about), and while the relic never was actually located (we’re more Spies Like Us rather than Indiana Jones truth be told!), we had lots of laughs discovering hidden parts of Boston and our team members’ many hidden talents.  Here are some of the superlatives we awarded our colleagues:

• Best Musical Improv (for her SmartMax-86 rap) – Skye
• Best Spy Lingo – Mike
• Best Hula Dance & Cartwheel – Caitlin D.
• Sharpest Eye  - Lindsay
• Sneakiest  – India
• Best Pick-up Line to a SmartMax-86 Agent – Caitlin M.
• Most Competitive – John

The Winning Team (l-r): Stacey, Caroline, Lindsay and Caitlin

Now, if only we can keep the holiday party under wraps until December!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Boston by Admin - 4 Comments →

The Summer issue of our MomSquad Trendletter is out and I keep meaning to post the link here in case you’re not a Trendletter subscriber.  It’s a particularly good issue if I may say so, with a great line up of content and contributors, including:

• What’s happening with Dad Blogs, a piece contributed by Christy Matte of About.com’s Family Computing blog and her own blog, More Than Mommy;
• Boston Mamas’ Christine Koh’s report from BlogHer with tips for brands interacting with bloggers;
• Going beyond blogs to forums such as the Mom Bloggers Club to reach powerful networks of influencers, by Clarissa Nassar, a.k.a. The Posh Parent; and
• A look at what’s on the mind of PTA moms as back-to-school time approaches, written by PTA Mom Anisa Raoof, editor at Rhode Island-based Kidoinfo.

We’d love your feedback if you get a chance to link over and read the current issue!

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Consumer Marketing, Digital PR, Marketing to Moms, Parenting by LauraTomasetti - 1 Comment →

If you’re casually perusing this week’s digital news as part of your leisurely Friday afternoon, think of us – the team at 360PR. Because as you’re glued to your chair, impatiently waiting for 5 o’ clock to roll around, we’re doing anything but sitting still. Or are we? Today marks 360PR’s annual summer outing. The day’s events have been shrouded in mystery, with only an elite few in on the knowledge of what (predictably crazy) team building activities we’re slated to participate in. We were told to wear comfortable shoes and sunscreen, should we feel inclined. But exactly where we’re going and what we’re doing? Your guess is as good as mine.

So this week, I’m dedicating our digital news stories to group-togetherness. As the old saying goes, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Check back next week for a full recap of today’s adventure – complete with photos of the 360PR staff doing, well, I have absolutely no idea what.

Mashable “Why Teens Don’t Tweet” – You might find it surprising to learn that the majority of the Twittersphere is composed of people between 45 and 54-years-old. Teens, who we typically think of as being tech-savvy and on the brink of new technology aren’t tweeting at nearly the rate their parents and even grandparents, are. Why aren’t teens tweeting? According to Nielsen, they’re too occupied with managing a frantic stream of friend requests and scoping out music on Myspace.

WebWorkerDaily “32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business” – Last week, I touched on the relationship between small businesses and Twitter. But what about the big dogs? This piece educates businesses of all sizes on Facebook best practices.

Mashable “Top 15 Social Media Resources for Foodies” – Foodies unite! Whether you enjoy cooking, party-planning, grocery shopping, or just plain chowing down, Mashable has pulled together the best online resources for foodies, all in one place. Make sure to catch part 2 of this piece here.

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - 1 Comment →

New social media tools, apps, and sites crop up every week. And the most well-established ones, like Twitter, set the bar higher by adding new features, bells and whistles. Over the past couple weeks the much-buzzed about Twitter.com, as well as the sometimes forgotten Delicious.com both launched new homepages. And both revamps seem to focus mostly on search – doing whatever it takes to make spotting the latest news and topics easier for consumers.

So how exactly have these sites changed and what should brands and PR know?  Read more….after the break. [Read more →]

Filed under: Digital PR, Social Media by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

In a past post, I touched on Social Media by the Numbers, and hey, since it’s not always easy to come up with clever titles for these weekly round-ups, please forgive me that I’m now narrowing from numbers to odds. In an unintentional homage to the teen clothing store 5-7-9, we’re looking at 5 things you can do to amp up sales via Twitter, 7 ways to tweet through corporate hum-drum and 9 rules small businesses should be sure to follow on Facebook. If this week’s digital news stories inspire you to shop, or perhaps, count with The Count, I apologize in advance.

TwiTip “5 More Things You Can Do to Get Business on Twitter” – You likely tweet to stay current, for camaraderie, and, let’s be honest, for self-promotion. But if you aim to generate cash from your 140-character updates, TwiTip thinks there are 5 essentials you need to know.

Mashable “7 Secrets to Tweeting Your Corporate Culture” – The most successful corporate Twitter accounts are those that allow their personality to shine through in their tweets. This piece lets us in on 7 tips for how you can maintain a professional Twitter tone, while not coming off like a working stiff.

AllFacebook “9 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know” – The prospect of building a Facebook page for your business may seem simple, but looking before you leap into such a venture could cause a less than stellar outcome. Let AllFacebook guide you through the process with 9, easy to execute tips for successfully building your brand.

Filed under: Internet, Social Media by SkyeMcIntyre - 3 Comments →