On November 28, 1972, I scored two baskets in a hard-fought varsity basketball game against the Key School. I know this because the next morning, my picture was in the paper making one of them, my Pete Maravich-like hair flopping in black and white. (Admittedly, my haircut was pretty much the only part of my game that resembled Pistol Pete’s.) My mom cut that sophomore-year photo and the accompanying article out of the paper. And so did some of my neighbors. And some parents of classmates. And…
Read MoreWe had a client a couple years back that was launching a new product. It was a boot-strapped enterprise, funded mostly by family money and propelled by the kind of energy that fuels early-stage companies and that we PR folks love to feed on. We also did a lot of feeding on the product itself. I won’t reveal what it actually was, but suffice to say it was yummy. REALLY yummy. Because the founder didn’t have much of a marketing budget, he threw what he…
Read MoreLet’s take stock in 2014 — the highs and lows, the gong-able and wrong-able moments of the year. The Gong Show. That yard-wide brass gong in our lobby is not there for some staff production of The Mikado; it’s for celebrating client success — loudly and with enough reverberation to affect the drive-thru window at McDonald’s across the street. Among 2014 media hits still ringing in our ears: Reginald’s Homemade peanut butter made a star turn on the TODAY Show and in the pages of Cooking with…
Read MoreIn the summer of 2002, Jon Newman and I decided to tie our fortunes together by severing our umbilical cord to The Martin Agency and finding a place to hang a shingle of our own. Our first question: what would we put on that shingle? We bandied about some ideas, quickly determining that we didn’t want to name our inchoate agency after ourselves – thereby forestalling any discussion about top billing. Nor were we inclined to come up with some catchy name that we might…
Read MoreA few years back, on a balmy summer evening, I looked out one of the small windows flanking our front door, and alit on the glass pane in front of me was a giant moth – bright green, an almost fluorescent creature, glowing in the August moonlight. It was probably the size of those bars of soap you get at a hotel, big enough for me to emit an audible gasp. Not that I was afraid or anything but I was glad it was on…
Read MoreSo, you want to work in PR. I can’t blame you. I’ve got more than 30 years and 200 pounds of communications experience under my belt, and as I look back on it, it’s been an interesting and sometimes exhilarating ride. If you are a quick study, pay attention and can write your way out of a paper bag, you’ll learn a ton about a lot of different professions and products, and you’ll likely never be at a loss for cocktail party conversation. (Ask me…
Read MoreLet me start by saying I am totally fascinated that you found this blog post. And I’m befuddled how or why you decided to click on the link to it that brought you here. Perhaps you are a regular follower of the Gong Blog, as we call our regular blog here at Hodges. If you’re a friend of ours on Facebook or follow a Hodger on Twitter, this post would be hard to miss. We’re pretty good at blogging regularly and sharing some of our…
Read MoreThinking about the Carnival Cruise Line floating disaster, I am trying to put myself in the place of those that endured days of insufferable hot air, of ubiquitous stench and of that panicky sense of confinement when you know there are no options for escape. Yes, I’m talking about Carnival’s PR team. You have to feel for them, a group that likely spends most of its time arranging “fam” tours for reporters and devising fun social media promotions to keep its image modern and fresh,…
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