It Was Never a Dress: Let your Superhero Fly

By Ann Smith | May 21, 2015

Earlier this month a B2B software development company did something brilliant – and it has almost nothing to do with their offerings.  They launched the “It Was Never a Dress” campaign (https://itwasneveradress.com/).  If you haven’t seen this on social (or mainstream) media yet, you’re missing out. Axosoft, a Scottsdale, Arizona software company that focuses on […]

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Amazon's product visualization through press release

By Kelda Rericha | May 14, 2015

Amazon executives are typically a reclusive bunch. So its was a rare treat when Jeff Wilke, Amazon’s senior vice president of consumer business, took the stage this week at Seattle University as part of the Albers Executive Speaker Series. In an hour-long talk, Wilke laid out the core leadership principles that make up the tech […]

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Anticipatory Design: Robots vs. Relationships

By Kris Travis | Apr 16, 2015

This article in FastCo Design speaks to me; I will always call it “the cereal aisle effect.” I had just returned to the states after being in Nicaragua for two weeks, and stood dumb in the cereal aisle, completely paralyzed by all the choices. Don’t get me wrong—I was eager for a little variety after […]

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A Woman's Touch: Women-led Companies Perform Better

By Kelda Rericha | Mar 24, 2015

There are many reasons to increase the number of women working in leadership for the world’s top companies. With increased diversity comes greater creativity, innovation and consumer reach. But the best reason to put women in positions of leadership is much more black and white: women-led companies perform better, leading a 340% return vs. 122% […]

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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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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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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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With Twitter reach slowing, how do you measure success?

By Gretchen Hoffman | Feb 7, 2015

Twitter came under fire this week for a slowing growth rate, with industry watchers citing concern that lower-than-expected growth numbers released in its earnings report  could put the social networking site  in a vulnerable position a few years down the road. Twitter’s executives, however,  are trying to convince investors that its reach far surpasses the […]

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Super Bowl Commercials through a PR Lens

By Jillian Stephens | Feb 3, 2015

I must admit that, though my love for some good ol’ American football is tried-and-true, at least one third of my enjoyment of the Super Bowl lies in its commercials. One can usually expect to feel all warm and fuzzy, to chuckle here and there and even to heartily laugh at least once as the […]

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How PR Can Save Us from the Anti-vaccination Movement

By Kelda Rericha | Jan 27, 2015

Thanks to a measles outbreak at the happiest place on earth, our news feeds have all been filled with what we already know: vaccines work and are safe, but some people — primarily between 2000 and 2011 — opted to not vaccinate their children, and now we’re paying the price. The “why” has been examined […]

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Girl Scouts Go High Tech

By Gretchen Hoffman | Jan 21, 2015

It’s that time of year: My Facebook feed is slowly but surely starting to fill up with pictures of Girl Scouts and their cookie order forms. But the changes this year go far beyond the addition of a new cookie; for the first time since cookie sales began nearly a century ago, the parent organization […]

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