Here’s a brief look at some interesting stories we’ve read this week, delivered a couple days early because of Independence Day. We call it HodgePodge. Social Landscaping Just when you were thinking perhaps social marketing was maybe getting simpler, Mashable has the details on the latest “Conversation Prism” (or, as Jon calls it, the social media peacock chart) from industry analyst Brian Solis. That’s a lot of logos. Make Money. Live Better. For the second year, Walmart is holding a contest that offers entrepreneurs a…
While this time of year has everyone else thinking grilling, fireworks and sunblock, for us PR pros ’tis the season for holiday gift guide pitching. Yes, it may only be July but for the editorial world they’re busy making their list and checking it twice. Exactly what is a holiday gift guide? Each year leading up to the holidays, media outlets from your major national monthlies, local dailies to online and broadcast put together their picks for what should be on everyone’s wish list. It…
If you're a mom who has little time but likes her children to be well dressed, let our friends at Gandzee.com do the shopping for you. This placement in Mom.me explains this new concept in online shopping for kid's clothes.
It's not too late to have a patriotic neck, care of our buds at Collared Greens.
A big part of our jobs as diligent and dedicated PR people is to read a lot of news, from pop culture to politics and everything in-between. We thought it would be fun to share some of those stories here on the blog. Here’s a sampling of what we’ve been reading this week: SCOTUS Run If you thought your internship was tough, let’s take a moment to think about the broadcast interns up in D.C. on days like Wednesday. Following major Supreme Court rulings, interns…
As Jon Newman has pointed out, some of us are rather fond of Star Trek references here at The Hodges Partnership. Personally, I’ve been known to watch a little Star Trek Voyager. In one of the worst episodes of that series, titled “Threshold,” Tom Paris successfully breaks the Warp 10 barrier and soon thereafter realizes he’s transforming into a pink salamander. I thought of this episode as I considered the speed at which organizations must make communications decisions when faced with fast-escalating scandals. Things can…
At Hodges we break for brainstorming, breaking news, good news, beers, gong-able moments, birthdays, laughs and, well, just about any reason we can find. Today, Cameron wanted to test Instagram’s new video feature. So, you guessed it, disruption accepted! We had some fun. Made a video or two. Tried a few filters. Debated Vine vs Instagram. (Note: Results are still inconclusive.) One thing’s for sure and Instagram’s CEO said it best: “It’s everything we know and love about Instagram, but it moves.” Take a look…
Last month, I spent two weeks traveling through China to complete my final class as a graduate student at VCU. The course, Public Relations & Journalism in China, was a cultural and educational experience that I will never forget. Before the trip I tried to prepare myself for culture shock by attempting to brush up on some Mandarin—total fail, I entered the country knowing how to say “hello,” “thank you,” and “I love you panda bear”—but one of the things I was most unsure about was what…
Once again, Mary Meeker’s latest Internet Trends report has tons of interesting nuggets on worldwide Internet usage. Overall, there are now 2.4 billion Internet users across the world. And that number is growing, fast. The report includes 117 pages of data and insights, but what does it mean for the PR industry? Here are nine takeaways and their implications for PR professionals: TV and Internet top media consumption: 42 percent of America’s media diet is dedicated to television; another 26 percent goes to the Internet….
Recently, I’ve gone back to the classroom. This classroom wasn’t at a university, but in a training center for a client of Hodges, but nonetheless, being in the environment got me thinking. My mother was a teacher and I HATED summer vacation. I loved school. Not because I was a sacrilegious student, but I loved learning and I was bored at home. I lived for the challenge of learning new material, getting lost in an assignment and competing with myself (ok, and with others) to…
We just had a baby. Three of them in fact. Before we start debating the biological impossibilities, THP is coming off three maternity leaves that overlapped involving three valuable account leads. How bad is that scenario at least on paper? It was so bad, the third mom delayed telling us that she was pregnant because she was afraid of our reaction. But after seven months of adjusting, juggling and stretching the truth is it wasn’t bad after all. In fact it was an extremely good…
Many restaurant owners have a love-hate relationship with sites like Yelp, which allow (encourage?) customers to air their grievances online, rather than asking servers to fix problems in the moment. Restaurant owners and managers are rightly frustrated by customers who don’t tell their server about their overdone steak and then log onto Yelp and post a negative review. But no matter how good the restaurant, it will have negative reviews—all restaurants have off nights and, let’s face it, some people just cannot be pleased. As…