Event planning role takes center stage during first quarter of 2012

Once again I have been remiss in updating my blog. I guess I've just been waiting to post until I had something worthwhile to tell you about!

One area in which I am trying to diversify my agency's offering is with event planning. I've worked on several corporate and non-profit events in the last two years as well as earlier in my career. I enjoy taking care of all the details for my clients - from finding the right venue and selecting a cocktail reception or dinner menu, to hiring the audio-visual agency and working with the graphic design agency on invitations. Here's a recap of two events I coordinated in the past month:

LVEDC Annual Meeting

I worked with my client, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, to plan their Annual Meeting event in February, same as I have done for them for the past three years. This time when selecting a venue we decided to think outside the box and held it at the Mack Customer Center in south Allentown near Queen City Airport.

The event was attended by over 300 guests who were impressed by the facility and the many Mack Trucks on display as well as the presentation by the keynote speaker. The event featured audio visual services by Technicom and a cocktail reception by Sodexo with beer from Weyerbacher Brewing in Easton and wines from Vynecrest Winery in Breinigsville.

2012 ADDY Awards

One way I give back to the community and the region's advertising and marketing industry is as a volunteer on the board of the non-profit Greater Lehigh Valley Ad Club. My position on the board for the past two years is as the co-chair of the ADDY Awards committee.

My co-chair Amanda Dickson and I have been planning this year's event along with the rest of the committee since last summer. We decided to return the annual awards event to Hotel Bethlehem and to change the format from a short cocktail reception and long sit-down dinner, to a longer cocktail reception with freestyle dining at stations followed by the awards ceremony and then a dessert reception. We knew this would allow for more time to mingle and network, while also being fun and formal. The new format was well received by the 215 attendees, and some even got into the event's fun "Go for Baroque" theme by donning feathery masks.

Audio visual services were provided by First Generation in Allentown which was also the title sponsor of the event. And the hotel did a great job once again of hosting the event and accommodating our group in both the Mural and the Grand Ballrooms.

Looking back on 2011 while looking ahead to 2012

As I look back on 2011, it comes to mind what a challenging year it was in its own way. Just when I thought my first full year of the agency in 2010 was difficult, 2011 proved me wrong. In many ways it was harder.

The challenges of 2010 were getting the agency established, promoting it, finding clients, and getting and keeping the work. While the agency was already well established by 2011, the other items on that list still remained a factor coupled with a continued down economy and less work overall than 2010. There were some months in 2011 that were downright scary for the old pocketbook, but somehow I managed to scrape by.

I guess in some ways I consider the freelance life a trade off of sorts. I trade a steady salary and job with benefits for being my own boss, deciding which clients I do and don't want to work with, and setting my own flexible schedule. And in a lot of ways, that trade off is overrated! The least fun part of being self employed is the making ends meet part. Some days I really miss having a salary I could rely on. You tend to take it for granted when you have one, but let me tell you that when you don't have it any more, you value it a lot!

I'm grateful for the existing clients that enjoy working with me enough to give me new pieces of business to work on with them. I'm also appreciative of colleagues who send business leads my way. It's nice to know that they think of me and my agency when the topic of marketing comes up in conversation. I'm happy for new clients that decide to take a chance on the high-strung redhead with all of the energy and ideas. And I'm especially appreciative that my little gamble two years ago paid off and that I've been able to make a go of this agency thing for another year.

So, for 2012 my wish is a return to 2010 levels of activity with good clients who pay on time who have interesting projects from which I can learn and grow. Here's to year three of Blabbermouth Communications and whatever may lay ahead!

Happy New Year everyone!

Biting the hand that feeds?

I've noticed a bit of a trend lately amongst my PR colleagues in which they very publicly bash the very same media outlets they try to get coverage from for their clients. I'm confused by this and decided to write a blog post on it which I suppose could be controversial depending on how you feel about it.

With more and more media outlets and their staff members joining Facebook and Twitter with very public profiles, we PR professionals now have the ability to connect with the media in ways we couldn't before. Many of us follow these journalists in the hopes of getting to know them and hopefully making a connection that will be beneficial when it comes time to pitch said reporter on a story idea for a client.

Sure, in a perfect world a journalist or editor would be objective and not allow what he or she thinks of you, the PR person, to come into play when deciding whether or not to cover your client's press conference or write about your client's new product or service.

But we all have egos and feelings, so I have trouble believing it's that easy to separate the personal from the professional. I can't help but think the journalist who saw your tweet or Facebook post dissing their latest article might conveniently ignore your follow-up phone call, or act like they didn't receive your recent press release sent on behalf of your client.

So does it make sense for a professional PR person to keep their opinions to themselves where media outlets are concerned, or should they stick to their First Amendment right and say whatever they wish whenever they wish to do so? Certainly we are all entitled to our opinions, but I have to wonder about the wisdom in biting the hand that feeds, so to speak.

The way I was taught PR in college and in practice in the workforce was that we PR people want to be the journalist's colleague, their resource for all things related to our clients and their respective areas of expertise. That means being friendly, approachable and accommodating, especially of last minute requests. That said, I can't imagine openly, and in some cases repeatedly, bashing a particular reporter, editor or media outlet. It just goes against the grain to me.

The goal of the PR person is, after all, to get their clients media coverage. That is what we get paid to do. So why would you jeopardize that if you could avoid doing so?

I'd like to hear other professional PR people's thoughts on this matter. Let me know where you stand.