Securing live, on-camera interviews has always been regarded as hitting the media relations jackpot. But for some executives, being in the spotlight on live TV pushes them outside their comfort zone. But no worries. Getting more comfortable in front of the camera just takes practice – and patience – and with a little bit of preparation, anyone can master a live interview. Here are three tips that will set yourself, and your spokesperson, up for success during your organization’s next...
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Your 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...
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As I write this, I have to question if you’ll even read anything after this sentence. At best, you may skim the subheads, seeing if there is anything that jumps out at you. But if not, I’ve lost you – maybe for good, most likely because you’ve got to read this and not just watch. Cisco projects that video traffic will account for 82 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2021. Content consumers just aren’t reading anymore and marketers...
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Every 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...
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A few weeks ago, Christmas came early for inbound marketers when Hubspot released its 2017 State of Inbound report. After combing through the wonderfully presented data, here are a few nuggets that grabbed our attention: 70% of respondents said their top marketing priority was converting contacts/leads into customers. However, they’ve got to overcome their biggest challenge before they can get to their top priority; 63% of respondents said their biggest challenge is generating traffic and leads. 46% of folks said...
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There’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,...
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Dominic Toretto may live his life a quarter-mile at a time, but for PR people, we live ours one quarter-hour at a time. One of the most asked questions by prospective interns and students is, “What is a typical day like in an agency?” The short answer: there isn’t a typical day. One day you could be entirely dedicated to one project or client, and the next day you could be working on three or four clients (or five or...
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My affinity for live, streaming videos of baby animals began in 2013. It was a big year for babies. Bao Bao the Giant Panda debuted at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Lana, a cheetah at Richmond Metro Zoo, had a litter of five cubs. These live cams helped generate an awareness for the populations of these endangered species (and the zoos that care for them). Fast-forward to 2017 and the latest live-streamed animal phenomenon is April the Giraffe, the...
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Millennials apparently have the same attention span as a…ooh, look at this cute video of cats dinging bells to get a treat! Adweek talked a bit about the longevity of live video viewing, and it looks like it’s here to stay – for now. In the article, Adweek mentions that Facebook users are 10x more likely to comment on a live video than on a static one. Not only is video important, but live in-the-moment video is what people are...
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I am a blue. I’m a coordinating observer who likes to take in my surroundings then retreat to process them…alone. A data-driven algorithm told me this, and I have faith in that, because I am a blue. Hodges participated in an Insights Discovery workshop, hosted and facilitated by Floricane, a management consultancy firm, which helped us tap into the various workplace personalities that make up the agency. THP invested resources in this day-long activity to give us the opportunity to...
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Cubicles physically wall us off from our surroundings. Headphones help us stay heads down and focused. These physical barriers aren’t bad things, for some of us it’s what helps us generate our best work, but they often hinder our abilities to come together and have an open dialogue as an efficient, effective and cohesive unit. With the natural segmentation that occurs in an office setting, making a concentrated effort to open the lines of communication and taking the time to...
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If there were coupons for social media advertising, I’d be sharpening my scissors ready to clip away. Unfortunately, the world of online advertising doesn’t have the same perks as other sectors of commerce, so being a good steward of your organization’s ad budget is important. That means designing a plan that balances your organization’s budget and goals. To give yourself the best chance at achieving your objectives, lay your advertising plan over your editorial strategy. Doing so will ensure that...
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