Life after college can be scary, and in an economy that seems to only get more volatile, the post-grad job search can easily begin to feel like a bunch of futile attempts at adulthood. However, there’s no need to lament over untapped potential just yet. Internships offer an excellent opportunity to establish industry experience, granting you a head start over your peers by the time you graduate. As an intern, you have the opportunity to expand your network, enhance your resume with valuable experiences and…
Adrienne Band stays busy. When she’s not sampling international cuisine at Blue Atlas or sending a new route on the face of Peak Experience’s bouldering walls, you’ll find our newest Hodger right where she belongs – with us! Adrienne was hired to be our account executive for the Virginia Spirits team. Before joining our team, she was a freelance creative consultant helping small businesses and nonprofits develop a range of brand identities and marketing collateral. She’s a Roanoke native and a graduate of JMU where…
The pandemic completely changed the way we live, play and work. And while COVID-19 brought countless negatives, the virus also encouraged the world to rethink, revamp and revitalize age-old systems – like putting on real pants and going into an office five days a week. As the growing number of remote internships and career opportunities increase, it’s important to learn how to communicate effectively with members of your team in a new way. Here are five tips I’ve learned for staying connected during a virtual…
Jack Gorman is no stranger to change. In fact, you might even say he thrives on it. Originally from South Lake Tahoe, California, Jack has spent his life moving from coast to coast. After receiving a degree in political science with a public service emphasis from the University of California, Davis, Jack began his professional career as a federal lobbyist in Washington, D.C., where he spent five years before moving to Seattle, Washington. Following this, Jack moved between California and D.C. three more times before…
With an aptitude for making connections and an instinct for digital marketing, VCU graduate Alejandro Leon is the latest former-intern-turned-Hodger to be welcomed back to the team. After interning with The Hodges Partnership and graduating from VCU in 2022 with a degree in public relations, Alejandro found himself back at Hodges after working with Velocity Marketing in Northern Virginia for the last year. Call him a “triple threat” with talents for branding, public speaking and writing, Alejandro brings great passion to Hodges, not to mention…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few months, you’ve probably seen an influx of AI-generated social media posts and news stories by software like DALL-E and ChatGPT. We have a feeling that this is going to be a big topic in our industry in the months to come, so we thought it was fitting to go right to the source to find out more about the potential impact. Below is ChatGPT’s take on what AI will mean to the PR…
Blogging is a two-way street. As much as you can busy yourself with plans for new, yet-to-be-written blogs and fill editorial calendars with content ideas, it’s just as useful to take a look in the rear-view mirror at some of your past blogs to see which ones are engaging your audiences most. In that spirit, here are some excerpts from our top five most-read Gong Blogs from 2022: 1. Five Examples of Media Interviews Gone Wrong. Our most popular blog of the year actually was…
Whether she is coaching travel volleyball or seeing her favorite alternative bands in concert, Amanda Christian has her finger on RVA’s pulse. After graduating from JMU in 2020 with a degree in communications, she joined The Hodges Partnership as an intern, then came back to join the ranks of former-interns-turned-Hodgers this fall. With unwavering ambition, joining our team most recently from Virginia’s Wine Board, she has already propelled herself into a successful career in public relations. Without further ado, if you haven’t already, please meet…
He’s baa-aack. Faithful readers of these pages may remember Andrew Knight. He interned with Hodges back in 2020. At the time, he was simultaneously pursuing his M.A in Communication at Virginia Tech and teaching public speaking. A couple years later, we are excited to welcome him back to the team. Through his upbeat personality and optimistic perspective, Andrew brings great energy to the office. To balance the fast-paced nature of agency life, he enjoys spending time on the river. He loves to fish, and values unwinding…
By the time you are reading this, Gil Hodges – our agency namesake – will have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The old saying “good things come to those who wait” seems especially appropriate. Gil’s 18-season playing career ended on May 5, 1963 at the Polo Grounds. Gil trotted out to his familiar territory at first base, starting the second game of a Sunday doubleheader against the Giants. He would go 1-4 in his valedictory game, driving in what turned…
Editor’s Note: As part of the 20th anniversary of The Hodges Partnership, we are taking a more intimate look at the agency’s namesake and why co-founders Jon Newman and Josh Dare chose to honor Gil Hodges with the company’s name. Here is the latest installment. You can catch up on the previous piece here. Among the varied objectives for hiring a public relations agency, reputation management ranks among the foremost. Sure, clients want greater visibility and added exposure, and they want to turn the volume…
The Hodges Partnership marks the 20th year since our founding this year. I need a moment to let that sink in. The time has gone by almost as fast as a Tom Seaver fastball, and the world has changed so much over that time. We share a launch year with LinkedIn, and I recall back then thinking it would be a handy birthday reminder service. Google was just four years old in 2002, before long making Ask Jeeves a distant memory. It’d be another two…
