It’s graduation season, which means a number of students are stepping out into the world with PR degrees either hunting for a job or looking to make the most of a first opportunity. I remember how much I benefited from the advice of others when I was just getting started, so I asked my colleagues what advice they would share with this year’s graduating class of PR students. On finding a PR job: Don’t be afraid to fail. The hiring landscape is a competitive one…
Read MoreJosh Dare is always about five years ahead of the times. He is also the “kinder, gentler” of the two founders of this agency. Ok, some background. As an agency The Hodges Partnership has always had nonprofit clients on its roster. Working with nonprofits is part of our DNA not only as an agency but as volunteers and board members. Josh has always led that charge. It was about six years ago that THP expanded it capabilities into content marketing. One successful project was the creating…
Read MoreI proudly serve as the president of the Richmond Public Relations Foundation. Every year, we give out three $1,500 scholarships to public relations students in Virginia. The deadline to apply is this Monday, Oct. 12 at 11:59 EST. If you’re a junior or senior, I hope you’ll consider submitting materials. Get all the details here. Applying is easy. You’ll need to submit a one-page essay focused on “why you want to work in PR and how you have prepared yourself for a career in communications,”…
Read MoreWhen I was a PR student, I always valued conversations with PR professionals. Their insights and advice helped me navigate the beginnings of my communications career. During my first internship at CarMax, I remember Trina Lee, APR telling me about her career switch from TV news to public relations as we drove back from a store grand opening in Fredericksburg. When I attended VCU PRSSA meetings, Taya Jarman, APR visited often as PRSA Richmond’s student relations chair and offered important guidance and luncheon networking tips….
Read MoreWe use Slack as a messaging tool in our office. It’s where we keep projects moving, send files and share information. Not a workday goes by when someone doesn’t share a news article in our main channel about something happening locally. Local journalism – especially news about transportation, restaurants and our clients – drives a lot of our conversations at Hodges. We have our local paper of record the Richmond Times-Dispatch to thank for that. When Hodges launched more than 15 years ago, we were…
Read MoreIf you’re like many marketing and communications departments, there comes a time when you get tasked with a new project or hit a saturation point in your current workload where you can struggle to efficiently manage your workload. Then comes the inevitable conversation, part financial, part philosophical, mostly to answer this question: is it time to bring on more staff or outsource to a freelancer or agency. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind as you mull this over: Budget + Timing –…
Read MoreYour employees come into work every day, and they work hard for your organization and clients. Getting into that routine can be productive, but those comfortable rhythms also can suppress that all-important curiosity. In other words, it can lose your yearning for learning. Encouraging and supporting your employees’ professional development efforts shouldn’t just be an employee benefit – it should be engrained in your company culture. According to Gallup, 87 percent of Millennials say professional development or career growth opportunities are very important to them….
Read MoreEvery semester, bright-eyed, eager, ready to take on the world students join the ranks of the Hodges Partnership’s internship program. Over the last decade, we’ve seen dozens of interns come and go, and while we only spend a few short months with them, we still feel like proud parents whenever we get a new notification on Linkedin of one getting a new job. We may be biased, but we think our interns get a lot out of our agency internship and we’re always looking for…
Read MoreWe recently had the opportunity to meet with channel 8’s new Vice President and General Manager, Larry Cottrill. We welcomed him in Hodges fashion (with food) during our monthly “pizza storm” where we brainstorm topics over a pizza lunch. Since arriving to Richmond, Larry has really taken the time to get to know the city and local industry, meeting with other agencies, executives, nonprofits and more. Hodges had the honor of being his 78th meeting. Larry and the Hodges team got to know each other…
Read MoreThere’s nothing more exciting and exhilarating than hearing your name called when a fancy crystal trophy is involved. This year’s Virginia PR Awards, hosted by PRSA Richmond, were held at the Jefferson Hotel – and around 300 of the Commonwealth’s finest public relations and communications professionals celebrated their successes over libations and the obligatory chicken entrée and with Cheryl Miller (who has emceed the event nine years and counting). The Hodges Partnership was part of eight of the evening’s awards, but the one that we’re…
Read MoreWe’ve talked a lot lately about the Owned part of the equation of the EOP model, but the E (earned) is still very much a part of our day-to-day here at Hodges, and we wanted to take a second to reflect on some of the recent media relations work happening at THP. For seven years, The Hodges Partnership has been Kroger Mid-Atlantic’s public relations agency for the Richmond and Hampton Roads markets. Hodges works with Kroger to tell its many stories, maintain its tone of…
Read MoreFor those of you who know me well, at some point you may have heard me talk about my childhood dream — to become the next Katie Couric. It seemed very realistic when I was in middle school. After all, she did have Virginia connections. I sincerely pursued the idea through college. I interned at Henrico County School’s TV station (and if you can find the tape, I seriously abused the term “excellent” during my interviews), attended the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism and…
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