We know these are trying times for local businesses, and we want to do our part to keep business flowing. We put our heads together and thought about a few of the local businesses we frequent as a team, from our go-to coffee shop to the places we’re calling in lunch orders for meetings. Since our team is working from home to do our part to #flattenthecurve, we might not be patronizing these businesses like we regularly would – but we want them to feel…
Read MoreAidan Guilfoyle is all about storytelling. Whether it’s her writing or photography, her creative skills are always front and center at Hodges. Here’s her story. A Roanoke native, Aidan left Virginia to attend Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, graduating with a double major in Psychology and Art. Knowing she wanted to do something creative with her career, she hoped her dual studies would lead her to a job in marketing. And so now, here she is. A standout volleyball star in high school where she…
Read MoreJournalists and public relations professionals write under the guiding light of the Associated Press. Every year, the AP publishes its style guide, and practitioners and future PR pros and journalism students are drilled with rules and editing exercises. There are many rules in the guide that don’t sit well with writers and editors alike, but if I had to guess what the most polarizing rule is in the entire book (all 656 pages in this year’s edition) is the use – or lack thereof –…
Read MoreEditor’s Note: Jordan Hogge is a Virginia Tech graduate. She spent her fall of 2019 commuting back and forth between her gig at Hodges and her seasonal job with Busch Gardens. She’s now an intern at CarMax. Her parting gift to us was this blog post. If you’d like to be our next intern, fill out an application here. My time at Hodges is coming to an end and as I wrap up my internship, I wanted to put together a guide for future public…
Read MoreWith a blended love for the arts and business, Tony Scida is the perfect fit as our director of creative services. He’s a Virginia native from Stafford, and he began his career working for the Arts Council of Fairfax County. After relocating to Richmond, Tony found himself “accidentally” falling into a career at The Hodges Partnership. He noticeably enjoys it, because he’s been with us for more than 10 years. Before his career began, Tony attended Shenandoah University, obtaining an Arts Management degree. It was…
Read MoreI talk to a lot of young people who are interested in finding a job in public relations. They typically fall into two buckets. There are the recent graduates, wide-eyed and earnest, who really just need to catch a break and find that entry-level opening. If they’re lucky, they have some PR-related internships under their belt, and I have a personal prejudice toward those who wrote for their college newspapers, although, sad to say, that is a rarity these days. But between their degree in…
Read MoreWe like to think of Lindsay O’Bar as our resident employee and community expert. This Hodger has a way with words and is a well-known face in the Richmond PR world. A Philadelphia native, Lindsay moved to the Richmond area at the age of 16 with her family and attended Virginia Commonwealth University. Her interests in writing led her to VCU’s communications school where she found herself at a crossroads about which track to pursue. At the time, she didn’t know much about public relations,…
Read MoreRelationships, reading and rejection – these were all important components in my public relations job search. No two people have the same path when it comes to their career – some land their dream job right out of college, while others end up working in a field that has little to do with their major. I’m one of the lucky ones who works a job that aligns with the field I studied in college. But getting there took patience, persistence and dealing with a bit…
Read MoreMeg Irvin is all about making connections, both for clients and in the community. She spends her days doing community relations and media relations for her clients, both on a local and national level. Clients like Mercy Chefs, Kroger Mid-Atlantic and Virginia Distillery Company look to her for her instincts and guidance on newsworthy and compelling stories. Her work has been featured in outlets including TODAY, Esquire, Forbes, Southern Living and The New York Times. A Pennsylvania native, Meg now lives in Charlottesville with her…
Read MoreInterviews are hard, no matter what level you find yourself in your career. And I swear, phone interviews are the worst. You have a million and two things swirling around in your brain, you’re trying not to sweat through your jacket and you’re grasping at straws to remember every single fact you can about the person and company you’re interviewing with. When Kelsey and I hang up the phone, or regroup after an intern interview, the candidates that make a good impression always leave a…
Read MoreWe know the ins and outs of public relations, content marketing and social media. But when our Creative Services team needs additional arms and legs, or if we’re assigned a major branding project, we call on one of our partners. To help us with our creative needs, we call on DCH Design and its founder, Dana Hoeck. Dana is no stranger to branding and design. Before starting her own creative business last summer, she worked for a small design firm in Washington D.C. for three…
Read MoreEvery semester, the internship committee reviews a couple dozen applications, cover letters and resumes. When we look at a pool of candidates, the stellar applicants very quickly rise to the top, mostly by virtue of their attention to detail. For too many others, the smallest mistakes can look like major blemishes, especially in comparison. Here are five frequent mistakes we see on application materials that come across our desks, and truth be told, they that make us feel sad inside. Mistake #1: Misspelled (or improperly…
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