How to Survive – and Thrive – as a Young PR Professional

(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!) It’s been more than two years and seven months since I started my career in public relations at our high-tech PR firm. After graduating college, I was one of the lucky ones who immediately joined the work force. Being a recent graduate and earning “street cred” […]

EmployeeFeatureFriday: Mike Atkinson

(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!) Mike Atkinson joined W2 Communications in April 2016. As an account executive, he manages media relations, flagging award/speaking opportunities while identifying potential targets for client news for his client teams. Previously, Mike worked in-house as head of the marketing team at New Oasis International Education in […]

How to Tell a Great Brand “Story”

(If you liked this blog, please share it. Thanks!) “Are you a good storyteller?” I and other attendees of the recent 2016 Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit in McLean, Va., discovered why this is such an important question. It underscored a key theme of an address given by David Beebe, Vice President of Global Creative and Content […]

Content Strategy: Avoid Format Blunders

(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!) Are you deploying multimedia content strategically – or are you doing it because “that’s what everyone is doing?” Do you have an effective content strategy? Sure, we’ve seen lots of statistics touting the dominance of video – that video will account for a staggering 80% of […]

How “the Right Voice” Drives Good Content

(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!) In my most recent blog, I presented findings from the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) which convey the extent of challenges tech companies face in trying to produce content: The vast majority do not feel their organizations are effective at content marketing, according to CMI’s “2014 B2B […]

What “The Godfather” Teaches Us about Business — and Content

(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!) Depending upon one’s perspective, they were either a group of enterprising olive-oil importers or the most notorious crime family in the history of cinema. They were the Corleones. And “lessons learned” from the three Godfather movies still convey much relevance today in the business world. After […]

How Bad Infographics “Bury” PR Campaigns

(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!) When I’m in a charitable mood, I like to say that I have a “love/hate” relationship with the infographic. When I’m being less than charitable, I describe the infographic as the “Emperor’s New Clothes” of the 21st Century, a frustratingly contrived and counter-utilitarian device which has […]

Why PR Teams Need In-House Training

(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!) How much money do organizations invest in external trainers and educational seminars a year? Actually, U.S. companies will spend $156 billion a year on employee training alone, according to the American Society for Training and Development. But recently at W2 Communications, it only cost the price […]

Fed Shutdown Can’t Kill a “Geek” Fest

(If you like this blog, please share it. Thanks!) Talk about overcoming challenges: Our high-tech PR firm was determined to keep our sixth annual Run! Geek! Run! 8K going – even when the government shutdown forced us to postpone the original Oct. 5 date. (We’ve always held the event in West Potomac Park, a U.S. […]