Blog

Join us in conversation on the topics we believe matter...to our industry, our city and our society.

C'mon Get Happy

By Lisa Lavora-De Beule | Mar 20, 2015

On Friday, March 20th, we celebrate the first day of spring (yay!) and the third annual International Day of Happiness. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012, International Day of Happiness recognizes, “the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and […]

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How do you respond to criticism of your organization? Don't forget about compassion.

By Gretchen Hoffman | Mar 19, 2015

What do you do when your organization is faced with criticism from customers or stakeholders, particularly when that criticism is going viral via social media? I’ll put aside major crises for the sake of this blog post – I could write for days about how to effectively plan for a true crisis and how to […]

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3 PR opportunities on St. Patty's Day

By Jillian Stephens | Mar 17, 2015

St. Patrick’s day is notoriously a whirlwind of green accessories, clovers, occasional pinching, little men with pointy shoes, and ample beer for drinking. Who couldn’t love a holiday that revolves around mirth and merriment? Sure, we’re a whole ocean away from the country who gave birth to this day, but we enjoy it just as […]

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The 5 Key Elements of Outstanding Emails

By Lisa Lavora-De Beule | Mar 5, 2015

Email is widely used today as a form of business communication. While email is considered to be an efficient and reliable communication tool, one needs to exercise care when crafting emails in the workplace. When used appropriately, emails can help garner the results you want. To be safe, use a disposable email address from 10 […]

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Vince Vaughn Cameos in Stock Photos for Movie Promo

By Gretchen Hoffman | Mar 4, 2015

When it comes time to update your website, collateral or even a company PowerPoint presentation, you don’t have a lot of options for visuals: You can take your own photos, hire a professional photographer to build you a library of images or you can shop around for stock photography. If you don’t have the skills […]

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From One Working Mother to Another

By Ann Smith | Mar 4, 2015

A frustrating truth Today a powerful column appeared on Fortune.com. It was written by Katharine Zaleski, a former journalistic powerhouse who held top roles at The Huffington Post and The Washington Post in her mid-20s.  She is open and honest about how she viewed and treated women who were mothers during that time. Honestly recalling […]

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Why Narrative Matters

By Jillian Stephens | Mar 3, 2015

Want to hear a great story? Well, I don’t mean to slight you, but I don’t have one. I got you hooked though, right? Everyone loves a good story – so much so that we’ve preserved our entire human history in one form of narrative or another (even the word history has “story” embedded in […]

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A Handy Flowchart for Exclamation Point Overuse

By Mary Gorretta | Feb 26, 2015

In written communication, particularly emails, one of the hardest challenges can be conveying your tone of voice. How many times have you read an email wondering if the sender is angry, annoyed, snappish or maybe just being brief? I know in many cases, I overcompensate for this by using an exclamation point to show how […]

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6 'House of Cards' Quotes That Apply to PR

By Kelda Rericha | Feb 23, 2015

Because House of Cards debuts next week, and because I was up way too late watching my DVR’d Oscars last night, I would like to take this moment to share this incredible collection of PR best practices an ‘House of Cards’ quotes from Frank Underwood and the rest of the House of Cards crew compiled by […]

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What Does it Mean to be a Thought Leader?

By Jillian Stephens | Feb 17, 2015

  As you may (or may not) have noticed, A.wordsmith has recently changed it’s descriptive title from “a boutique PR and marketing firm” to “a boutique PR and thought leadership firm.” Likewise, you may be thinking, “What exactly does that mean?” Well, I’m here to tell you. Marketing for the sake of sales By definition, marketing involves […]

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