Need a Quick Laugh? Twitter Now Supports GIFs

By Ann Smith | Jun 19, 2014

You can celebrate! Twitter announced yesterday that it will support animated GIFs on Twitter as well as on its Iphone and Android mobile apps. To be technical, the letters “GIF” actually stand for “Graphics Interchange Format,” which is a compressed image file format that can be quickly transmitted over a network or the Internet. In […]

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8 Most Misunderstood Words

By Mary Gorretta | May 28, 2014

I was browsing the articles on Ragan’s PR Daily the other day, and came across this article, 8 words that may not mean what you think they mean. Now, I tend to feel confident about my writing ability after being in the PR profession for more than 10 years and think I have wide vocabulary. […]

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Which Words Made the Cut?

By Ann Smith | May 28, 2014

The influence of technology and social networking in our world couldn’t be more obvious with these  150 new definitions recently added to the dictionary by Merriam Webster, including “hashtag,” “selfie” and “tweep.” hashtag n (2008): a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text, such as a tweet selfie […]

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A Side of Literature With Your Burrito?

By Kris Travis | May 19, 2014

Food for thought: had lunch at Chipotle, lately? Apparently you’ve got some reading material to digest along with your chips and salsa. The fast food chain has introduced the Chipotle Cultivating Thought series, a project that, as Chipotle states, aims to present “the words and whimsy of thought-leaders, authors and comedians through unique, you’ll-only-find-them-here essays, each […]

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#StealthyFreedom for Iranian Women

By Ann Smith | May 14, 2014

Facebook is full of clutter, most of it noisy opinions and chatty gossip but then something comes along that matters. Women in Iran are taking to social media to peacefully defy the hijab law in Iran, posting photos of themselves hijab-less for a brief moment out in public. At the beach, in the countryside, in […]

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First Impressions

By Kris Travis | May 1, 2014

Look into creative business card designs What does your business card look like? Is it memorable? Interactive? I’m sad to say that even as a designer, my business card is pretty boring compared to these creative examples. DeMilked pulled together “30 of the Most Creative Business Card Designs” (full post here) and they’re a mix of […]

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Twitter Mistakes Gone Viral

By Ann Smith | Apr 15, 2014

Although the latest US Airways Twitter blunder may be one of the most disturbing for Twitter followers, it is not the first made by a corporate giant. Other companies like Chrysler and Kenneth Cole have made slight errors in judgement on Twitter and users are quick to find the mistake and it often spreads like wildfire. Even though in most […]

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Who Knew? Choice in Font Could Save the US Govt. Millions

By Ann Smith | Apr 2, 2014

The unexpected impact of switching fonts Middle school student Suvir Mirchandani, discovered the US government could save a combined $400 million just by switching fonts used in printed documents. It all started as a school science fair project. Suvir was looking for ways to reduce waste and save money in the Pittsburgh School District. Fourteen-year-old […]

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Disney's "Frozen" Breaking Records and Expectations

By Ann Smith | Mar 19, 2014

With its DVD release in US stores and debut in Japanese theaters this weekend, the Oscar-winning movie “Frozen” is expected to surpass Disney Pixar’s “Toy Story 3” as the highest grossing animated film in the world. Generating $1 billion at the worldwide box office, the same day it won two Academy Awards for Best Animated […]

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Lessons Learned in the Art of Pitching

By Ann Smith | Mar 14, 2014

Sometimes we have to learn firsthand that our pitches aren’t working –or even worse, outright stink. I have been in the public relations industry for almost a decade now, so I have had my share of successes and failures. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned that I want to share with you: You’re not […]

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ChickTech

By Kris Travis | Mar 5, 2014

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to check out ChickTech’s High School Science Fair, held at PSU. ChickTech is a very cool organization whose mission “is dedicated to retaining women in the technology workforce and increasing the number of women and girls pursuing technology-based careers.” The high schoolers participated in a weekend-long set of […]

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DeGeneres' Oscar Selfie is a Record Breaker

By Ann Smith | Mar 3, 2014

Did you watch the Oscars? The highlights are making the internet rounds—from Matthew McConaughey thanking himself to Lupita’s tear-jerker of an acceptance speech to the pizza delivery guy and his pizza, but the biggest news may be Ellen DeGeneres’ record-breaking Oscar selfie. Currently at 2.5 million retweets and counting, the shot contains a staggering amount of […]

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