We’re big news buffs at The Hodges Partnership and we’re particularly fond of public radio. Our curiosity was officially piqued when the Community Idea Stations started promoting its new Virginia Currents radio program on WCVE-FM a few weeks ago. For years, the television version of Virginia Currents has been broadcasting intelligent, compelling stories about Virginia and its citizens, so we were thrilled to hear a radio version was in the works. We caught up with Catherine Komp, the producer of the new radio series to…
Read MoreWhen we sit down with a new client to plan out a social media strategy, the first question that always comes up is “what kind of content should we post?” Over the past few years, we’ve developed a process for helping clients identify content types and sources, and we’ve shared pieces of that process on this blog before. Last week, I had the opportunity to do a presentation at ConnectVA’s Social Media for Non-Profits Conference. The talk was called “Enchanting Your Audience” and was aimed…
Read MoreRemember: Daylight savings is also the time to check your smoke detectors Last year, around this time, my husband and I had a house fire. It was pretty big, pretty serious. I was seven months pregnant and made it out (along with my husband and two dogs, safely) just as black smoke started pouring into our bedroom and just before the roof leapt into flames. What undoubtedly saved our lives was a smoke alarm. And so I read Wired’s article on the new Nest smoke alarm…
Read MoreHappy birthday, Benedict Cumberbatch! When’s the new season of Sherlock? Anyway, as a present, here’s some interesting stories we’ve seen or heard this week. I guess they don’t have mail-carrier unions in Wisconsin This might just be the ultimate summer job. Teens in Lake Geneva, Wis. deliver mail to the waterfront community by boat. It would take too long for the boat to stop at each dock, so the teens must jump, deliver mail into mailboxes and then jump back on board … at least…
Read MoreFor the past few years, University of Richmond President Edward L. Ayers has been leading conversations about the Civil War and Emancipation in Richmond and beyond. And his books, research and discussions on the “War between the States” have shaped him as one of the preeminent Civil War scholars in the country. On Wednesday, Dr. Ayers was awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Obama at the White House. We offer our congratulations to a leader whose vision has made a tremendous impact on Richmond…
Read MoreIt’s always nice when you can add “award-winning” in front of words like ‘agency’ and ‘campaign.’ And last night at the Virginia Public Relations Awards, put on by PRSA Richmond, we were honored to be able to add some more award-winning work to our portfolio. Kudos to all of our PRSA friends who took home top awards this week. We may not have taken home Best in Show this year but we’re grateful to our clients who brought us these interesting and fun projects. Below…
Read MoreIt’s time to emphasize the CHALLENGE of the Big Idea Challenge. Our two teams at Hodges challenge you to out-wit us at this year’s Big Idea Challenge. We came in second last year and are determined to win it all this year. (Watch out, CarMax!) It’s great fun and great way to support the Community Idea Stations in Richmond! If you think you can take us, sign up at www.BigIdeaChallenge.org.
Read MoreLesson one from TILTED, when John Sarvay calls and offers lunch say “yes.” Because if a couple of slices of pepperoni leads to what happened on Saturday, I’ll be the one paying for the pizza from now on. That lunch with John and Aaron Dotson from Elevation Advertising turned into exactly what I hoped it would—a frank, honest, open and sometimes emotional learning experience for dozens of local and regional small business owners. Like Aaron, our partner in crime, I’m not a big fan of…
Read MoreHaving lunch with John Sarvay is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. And I mean that in a truly good way. The by-product of one recent lunch is TILTED: An RVA Small Business Unconference on Saturday, February 23 at the Times-Dispatch. Here’s the story about the lunch… Recently the fearless leader of Floricane invited me and Aaron Dotson to his new digs at the Times-Dispatch for pizza and conversation about life, liberty and the current status of our businesses….
Read MoreAfter reading John Reid Blackwell’s article about Millennials struggling to get their ideal job after graduating college, it got me thinking about the job hunt and wondering what students are doing correctly but more importantly, what they are doing wrong (or not doing at all) as they search. I’m fortunate to work at a company where not only do my bosses regularly give their time to students and recent grads but encourage the rest of us to do the same. Additionally, for the last few years…
Read More(Editor's note: BTW, I always refer to it as news release. The old TV guy in me. -JN) Late last month the intersection of technology, journalism and public relations was sent into a tizzy when a number of news sites fell for a phony press release posted to PRWeb in an apparent attempt to game the stock market. While other postulate whether this is a nail in the coffin of PR, journalism, Google News or all of the above (and what’s next), I wanted to…
Read MoreI really love Richmond. I’ve called it home for the past 27 years. As a Fan-dweller, I enjoy being able to walk to restaurants, parks and the ultimate Richmond destination: my friends’ porches. The 8-minute drive to The Hodges Partnership is also a perk. How people survive 45 minute commutes, I will never know. As a young professional, our agency has some great perks: flexible schedules, a fun environment, collaborative culture and other things like agency-wide pizza (and beer) brainstorms and an annual baseball outing….
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