When it comes to discussing my generation, I don’t normally hear much praise for millennials. Other generations view us as lazy, entitled and expecting overwhelming amounts of praise. And in some aspects I understand that we as a generation aren’t the best. We literally don’t understand the definition of the word “literally.” One of our…
Selling to government agencies is all about the RFP. And winning an RFP is a battle that starts way before the RFP is ever written. It is also a process that includes influencers and decision makers comingled from agency purchasers to political leaders, sometimes even the White House. The key is using the integrated approach…
With $237.5 million raised for health-software startups in the first quarter of 2014 alone, this industry segment is on fire. This, coupled with explosive interest in the post-Affordable Care Act world, means the media has an insatiable appetite for new voices and fresh ideas. That’s why we’re having so much fun right now connecting our…
The Affordable Care Act’s impact is being felt in all corners of American society, from patients to physicians, and health plans to political leaders. But it is also being felt in newsrooms, where a legion of journalists have been assigned to translate this new law and offer readers a glimpse of the future. Lucky for…
Throughout my career I have been fortunate to work with companies spanning numerous industries and at various stages of growth, from start-ups to global, publicly-traded companies. Each of these stages of maturity has necessitated different types of PR representations. Early-stage companies seeking investment or acquisition tend to require strong focus on brand recognition and thought…
The other day, I received a phone call from the alumni office at my alma mater. I have received phone calls from the alumni office in the past asking me for donations (and have made donations), so I had no qualms about answering the phone and engaging with the associate on the other end. What…
Product announcements are no doubt an exciting time for a company, its stakeholders, partners and PR team. We recently completed a project for Swan Island Networks and its announcement of TIES for Microsoft CityNext – a partnership built to help local and regional governments “tie” together a wide spectrum of existing information, from both public…
Thought leadership has become a big part of organizations’ communications mix, even for companies like our clients who are selling solutions to government agencies and other businesses, especially here in DC. The idea behind thought leadership is to take the focus away from products and direct it towards the underlying issues that our clients’ solutions…
During a recent interview I was asked to identify the top attributes or skills we seek in our future employees. The easy answer is, “it depends.” But one thing is for certain – while basic public relations skills like media relations, writing, pitching and project management are absolute musts, they don’t come close to capturing…
As PR professionals in DC, it’s our job to monitor the federal marketplace for trends that inform our clients’ communications and marketing strategies. One theme we’ve heard a lot about lately is that in this era of flat or declining government budgets, it’s become almost clichĂ© to talk of agencies “doing more with less.” How…
