Great event Friday

I was really impressed with the event this past Friday. If you missed it, you really missed a good one. I have a tendency to get jaded when it comes to PR vendors. As someone at the largest independent agency in New England we hear from a lot of them (just like our corporate members get jaded hearing from PR agencies).

But every once in a while it is really good to take a step back and look at these great companies that are doing so much to both make our jobs easier and open up new opportunities. We had 15 companies exhibit at our Tools of the Trade showcase, and more than 60 people attend. It was great hearing about new measurement tools, some interesting new ways to distribute news releases, Webcasting options, you name it.

I was there from the time it opened until it ended, and I still wish I had more time to spend with our vendors.

PRSA Boston appreciates their support.

What were your thoughts on the event?

This is the first of many new events for the year. Next month we will be hosting a practical panel discussion on dealing with consumer generated media and bloggers....2/26. More details to come.

If you procrastinate, you have almost no shot

Good afternoon.

Just a reminder that the deadline for the Silver Anvil awards is fast approaching! (So are the Bronze Anvils, but you have more time there).

The Silver Anvil are, to my mind, the most prestigious PR Awards. They also require the most effort. This is a great chance to showcase the outstanding work you do over the course of a year and be recognized for the work you do. They keys are simple - solid research, good strategy, great execution and quantifiable results (more than just X clips...show how you moved the needle).

This is not just for large companies!

My teams have won Silver Anvils in the past. Some were for moderately large companies, but another was for a 20 person start up and we beat out some of the largest institutions in our category (hundreds of offices, thousands of people) to win. Now, I think I am a good PR pro, but I know so are the members of PRSA Boston.

The deadlines are:
Silver Anvil
February 16, 2007 Early Bird Deadline
March 2, 2007 Final deadline

You can find more info and the application form at: http://www.prsa.org/awards/

If you want to do these correctly and have a chance of winning, start now if you have not already done so. Why give PRSA more money just so you can have two more weeks? (Well, I guess we could make the argument it would keep our dues down for longer...but still).

The event itself is amazing. More on that, and some photos later.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or email me and I will do my best to answer them.

Upcoming event and other musings

I hope everyone had a good weekend (Go Pats!) and the New Year is going well. Just a brief post reminding people about our upcoming event in a few weeks: The PRSA Boston Fourth Annual "Tools of the Trade" Products & Services Showcase.

It will be held at the Fairmont Copley on Friday morning, 1/26. It is a great place to meet many of vendors that serve the PR community, find out about their upcoming offerings and see if they are a fit for you, without sending hours in meetings in your office!

To register go to: http://www.prsaboston.org/calendardetail.asp?ID=81

On another note, it is good to see someone is reading my blog (grin). I received a call from PRSA National that wanted to let me know that they *do* offer the daily news via RSS feed. Of course, what they push is just a link to make you go back to the main page, so I am not sure it qualifies, since I still need to take additional steps. In this case, getting it via email is the best choice for me, for I can truly be a passive consumer.

Expect the first newsletter soon.

Get more from your PRSA Membership

Good morning,

Like I suspect many of you, I believe PRSA National sends us just a few too many emails. (Yes, I have told them that repeatedly). But it has come to my attention that some of you have not been receiving what I consider to be the best email PRSA National sends.

Every day they send an email containing news of interest to PR Professionals. (Now when they do it via RSS I will be very happy). But until then, it is the one email from them I always open, and most of the time there is at least one or two articles or interest.

If you do not receive it, you should:

Follow this link and log in: http://iweb.prsa.org/iweb/Profile/EditProfile.aspx

Click the Communications Preferences tab and click the box next to where it says Daily news monitoring service on industry trends, advocacy and other issues impacting the profession

You will need to be signed into Membernet in order to change your communication preferences!

If you do not have your Membernet userid or password, please contact our IT department at membernet@prsa.org or follow this

link:https://iweb.prsa.org/iweb/LogIn/RetrievePassword.aspx

Enjoy! As always, feel free to contribute comments- do you find the emails useful? Are there any other hidden gems from National you want to share?

Welcome 2007!

Like many of us, I made a number of New Year's Resolutions about my personal life. (We will see how many I will keep). I also made a few resolutions about public relations (which I intend to keep). I wanted to share some of them with all of you, and encourage you to consider making some PR resolutions:

Following are Mark's 2007 PR resolutions (in no particular order):

1) Simplicity. Keep messaging, campaigns, etc., as simple as possible.

2) Focus on advancing the profession and the professional. If you need something, or are interested in something...let me know.

3) Kill the "slug" listing in news releases whenever possible

4) Continue to explore the make consumer generated media an integral part of PR campaigns.

5) Continue to educate myself on new PR strategies, theories and tactics and apply them to my accounts

6) Have fun

What are your New Year's PR Resolutions?