I grew up in Fairfield, CT, which is next to a city, Bridgeport, that is always aiming for “revitalization.” They’ve talked about a building a casino for years, and they even built a minor league baseball stadium. It’s hard to say whether that has helped or hurt, but it seems that Bridgeport is at least doing a little better than it was a decade ago. I’d imagine that the real reasons for improvement have come from smaller projects that are more in tune with the city’s communities’ needs. These are the kinds of projects that The Reinvestment Fund invests in in cities in the Mid-Atlantic. They are “a 24 year old nonprofit financial lending institution with a strong social mission” and offices in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. They started out as a small community development organization, and they’ve grown to become something much bigger. Continue reading about The Reinvestment Fund…
Apparently the hot dog is a killer. Who knew? I had heard that the preservatives in hot dogs might cause cancer, but I read yesterday in this Fast Company article that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently “called for the redesign of hot dogs” because of the choking hazard. One of the Academy’s doctors even went so far as to say that, “If you were to take the best engineers in the world and asked them to design a perfect plug for a child’s airway, you couldn’t do better than a hot dog.” The article went on to discuss how RKS, a Thousand Oaks, CA based industrial design firm, was playing with ideas on how to redesign the hot dog. That’s a big task to bite off, but RKS was able to come up with some pretty cool concepts in their brainstorming. It shows why they can claim companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, Nissan, and HP as clients. Continue reading about RKS…
I hope the title of today’s post didn’t make you hungry, because we’re not talking about internships in organic food. Organic is a San Francisco based interactive marketing agency with a brand that has gained a lot of keyword competition over the past 16 years. Yes, people were eating organic back in 1994, but the word wasn’t nearly as common as it is today. Doing research on Organic is tough because the organic search results (excuse my SEO pun) have all kinds of other stuff in them (at least they own Organic.com). Either Google needs to get inside my head to discern my intent, or Organic is going to have to hope that artificial packaged, processed foods go back in vogue. Ok, enough of my ripping on their name—Organic was ranked by AdWeek as the #1 interactive agency in 2007. That fits in perfectly with my impression of Organic from browsing their website and looking at their work. In fact, I’m blown away by how good Organic’s website is. It’s easy to use, it’s full of information, and it’s gorgeously designed. Their corporate mantra is “Exceptional Experience,” and they certainly live up to it. Continue reading about Organic…
For most of us museums are just places to go to visit for a day and to learn something new. We rarely think about what is going on behind the scenes, but we should. At many major museums there is also a significant research function. A perfect examples is the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA, which sounds like a research institution, but it also runs a museum. In fact, The Academy is the “oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World” according to Wikipedia. The Academy has been at the forefront of biological and earth sciences since its inception, and it continues to promote public education in those areas. Just to give you an idea of the scale on which they operate, their collections include more than 17 million specimens. That’s crazy! Continue reading about Academy of Natural Sciences…
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, which means that it’s time to talk about internships in football (we’ve featured NFL internship in addition to a few other cool opportunities). Since it’s our practice to feature non-profits on the weekend, I started browsing around the NFL’s Join the Team site, which features all of the league’s charitable work. One of the things that I came across was the Play It Smart program, which partners “academic coaches with student-athletes in order to, ‘take a student-athlete’s passion for sports and intense dedication to their team and transform it into a force for greater good in their lives.’” It’s a partnership between the NFL Youth Football Fund and the National Football Foundation. I decided to focus on the latter, as they’re exactly what I was looking for—a football related non-profit. The organization’s full name is The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. The Foundation is located in Irving, TX, while the Hall of Fame is located in South Bend Indiana. The organization’s mission is “to promote and develop the power of amateur football in developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academic excellence in America’s young people.” Continue reading about National Football Foundation…
I’m not sure if it’s a trend yet, but it seems that more and more creative/interactive agencies are moving away from client work and spending more time developing products. 37signals used to be a web design agency, and now they develop web-based applications that help people get things done. Brooklyn, NY based AD:60 appears to be taking a similar path. They’re still putting a strong emphasis on their client work, but they also seem to have a lot of interest in developing their own products. The agency’s offerings include Web Design, Website Development, Mobile Technology, Marketing & Advertising, and Consulting, while their current internal projects include MyBankTracker.com and BankTwitter.com. Continue reading about AD:60…
I don’t usually do this, but this is important. I find many of the non-profit internships that I feature on One Day, One Internship on Idealist.org. It’s the best resource for non-profit internships on the web, and it’s a non-profit itself. The organization is in trouble right now, and they need money. If they’ve helped your internship search in any way, go to their home page and make a donation—I just did. Even $5 will help.
If Aspen is known for anything, it’s known for skiing and affluence. In 1945 Walter Paepcke, a Chicago businessman, was so inspired by the town’s natural beauty that he wanted it to be known for something else—”as an ideal gathering place for thinkers, leaders, artists, and musicians from all over the world to step away from their daily routines and reflect on the underlying values of society and culture.” He started by organizing events in Aspen like “a celebration of the 200th birthday of German poet and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,” and then he founded The Aspen Institute. It started as a “forum based on the writings of great thinkers of the past and present,” but now it’s evolved into something more. It is now a non-profit organization that fosters “values-based leadership” and provides “a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues.” It’s certainly an ideas-focused organization, and it is now headquartered in Washington, DC with offices in Aspen, CO and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Continue reading about The Aspen Institute…
Design matters. It’s the reason that Apple can sell devices that essentially do the same thing as those of their competitors for a significant premium. It’s the reason that you choose to trust one website over another. It’s the reason that you buy brands. Yes, functionality matters too, but that’s a given. Grafik gets it. They’re an Alexandria, VA based integrated marketing agency that appears to put a heavy focus on visual design. Their main service offerings are brand strategy, integrated communications, and interactive marketing, but it’s very obvious from looking at their website (and their name) that graphic design is a key part of what makes Grafik successful. Browsing through a gallery of their work only confirms this. Continue reading about Grafik…
I’m sure that many of you use Craigslist to find internships. As much as it can be a great resource for college students, I have to say that I find it weird that people looking for internships and people looking for “casual encounters” are using the same website. There’s just something sketchy about Craigslist. That probably explains why many people are reluctant to use the site to find local service providers. Can you trust a plumber, tutor, masseuse, or pool guy if you find him or her on Craigslist. Maybe. But how will you know for sure? That’s where Thumbtack comes in. They’re a San Francisco based startup that is taking a page out of Angie’s List’s book (maybe they should have “list” in their name) by providing an online marketplace for local service providers, but they’re doing it for free. Free is great, but the real key feature on Thumbtack is the fact that they provide “twelve ways to verify the identity and reputation of every provider.” That way you don’t have to worry about your plumber getting his house calls and his casual encounters mixed up. Continue reading about Thumbtack…
Yesterday I mentioned that I hopped on a plane on Saturday. My destination was Aruba. I’m here now, and I’m enjoying 90 degree temperatures, lots of sunshine, beach volleyball, and hopefully some excellent fishing opportunities. It’s not hard to be convinced to head for a tropical destination in December, but choosing the right place can be a tough decision. That’s why it’s no big surprise that resorts and tourism boards invest a lot in public relations. Competition for tourist dollars is fierce, so firms like New York City based MMG Mardiks are often in high demand. They work with names like the Colorado Tourism Office, Sarasota and Her Islands, Hertz, Regent Hotels & Resorts, and The Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino (not where I’m staying). MMG Mardiks also has locations in Kansas City, Ft. Collins, St Louis, and South Florida, which probably allows them to better serve clients in various locations. Continue reading about MMG Mardiks…
I was traveling yesterday, so I scheduled yesterday’s post and hopped on a plane. Little did I know that my server would somehow forget to do what I told it. Sorry! If you’re looking for yesterday’s post, you can find it here. (Or if you’re reading by e-mail, just scroll down.)
There are a lot of people who aren’t very thrilled with healthcare in the United States. Yes, it can be atrociously expensive, but at least we have access to pretty much any medical procedure out there. Whether it’s something very basic or something that has never been tried before, the US certainly has the medical infrastructure to get the job done. There are plenty of countries in the world where even the most basic medical care is out of reach, and there are other countries where basic medical care becomes out of reach due to a crisis. That’s where New York City based Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) comes in. They provide “aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters.” Doctors Without Borders does this by recruiting both medical and non-medical personnel to travel abroad to offer a level of medical assistance that is well beyond what is typically available. Continue reading about Doctors Without Borders…
Although it may seem bad that millions of trees are cut down every year for Christmas, the truth is that most of the trees are farmed and are a completely renewable resource. Most. It was not the case with the tree that some frat boys that I went to school picked out. Their foyer had extremely high ceilings, so they picked out a very tall tree from the front of someone’s yard. They cut it down, loaded it up in their truck, and sped off. Unfortunately for them, someone spotted their plates and called the police. The cops saw the tree through the fraternity house’s windows, and they nailed the culprits. Whoops. What’s the point of this story? Trees are important, and they face lots of risks. In forests trees are often left to do their own thing, but in urban environments they need a little help. That’s what Casey Trees does. They are “a Washington, DC based not-for-profit dedicated to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the Nation’s Capital.” Whether they’re planting trees, protecting against development, or fixing damage done by idiot frat boys, they’re doing their best to reverse the “trend of tree cover loss in the District of Columbia.” Continue reading about Casey Trees…
When did Brooklyn become the cool place to live? It’s definitely trendy, and I think a big part of that has to be the borough’s unique culture. It’s pretty artsy, which is why it makes sense that it’s the home of “America’s oldest continuously operating performing arts center,” Brooklyn Academy of Music. BAM was founded in 1861 and is still going strong—they had an attendance of more than half a million people last year. Although they have the word academy in their name, BAM’s mission is “to be the preeminent progressive performing and cinema arts center of the twenty-first century, engaging both global and local communities.” That’s not exactly what I think of when I hear academy, but maybe that’s why they usually go by BAM. Continue reading about Brooklyn Academy of Music…
It’s pretty common for non-profit organizations to go through name changes as they expand their scope. While it’s often a sign of failure to change your name for a restaurant, I think it’s usually a sign of success with non-profits. It means that they’ve been so effective at achieving their goals that they’ve taken on an expanded mission. It’s not always the case, but it seems to be the case with Washington, DC based Thrive DC, which was originally founded in 1979 as Dinner Program for Homeless Women. I’d imagine that they found having gender specificity in their name became too limiting, as Thrive DC aims to provide “the last available safety net for people facing economic crisis and housing instability while also providing the first step towards independence for people experiencing extended periods of homelessness.” Continue reading about Thrive DC…
As a Yankees fan I am obliged to hate anything and everything related to the Red Sox—and even Boston sports in general. That’s why it pains me to cover NESN (New England Sports Network) today. They’re one of the most successful regional sports networks (RSNs) in the country ratings-wise (#1 for 6 straight years), and they do it in the 7th biggest media market. NESN is jointly owned by the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, whom they cover along with the Celtics, Patriots, and plenty of local college teams. They were launched in 1984, which makes Watertown, MA based NESN one of the oldest RSNs in the country, and they now reach more than 4 million homes. I still don’t understand why anyone would want to watch Boston sports on tv. Continue reading about NESN…
We’re officially in the Christmas season, and that means lots of good things. One thing that isn’t so good is all of the spending that comes with buying people gifts (whether you enjoy the consumerist aspects of the holidays or not). It feels great to be generous, but only until you look at your credit card statement at the end of the month. Cutting back on gifts or making your own is one idea, but it’s a lot easier said than done. Your best bet is probably to find some other ways to save money so that you can buy everyone what you want to buy them. A great way to do that is BillShrink. They’re a Redwood City, CA based startup that offers “a free, personalized savings tool that helps you save money on your everyday bills.” If you can cut your cell phone, credit card, and gas bills, then you’ll be able to buy me (or someone you actually know) more gifts. Continue reading about BillShrink…
This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association and entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com.
High-tech companies seem to be beating the recession better than most, so if you’re interested in a public relations career, why not choose a firm that specializes in this sector? DPR Group, which has offices in Germantown, MD and Cary, NC, is a full-service agency that is approaching its 13th year in business. In North Carolina, the Triangle Business Journal recently ranked DPR Group as a Top 10 PR Firm for the fifth consecutive year. Although DPR Group doesn’t include a client list on their Web site, it does mention that their high-tech clients include “software firms, system integrators, electronics manufacturers, telecommunications companies, consulting firms, as well as a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles and other high-tech devices.” Continue reading about DPR Group…
I guess it makes sense that people are more giving during the holidays. When you’re filling up on delicious food and getting lots of gifts, you can’t help but want to spread around the good fortune. Unfortunately for many food banks that spirit of giving isn’t distributed evenly throughout the year, while hunger is. Food banks and soup kitchens need food and volunteers year round, and sometimes they even have employment opportunities. One of those organizations that does is Food Bank for New York City. Their mission is to “end hunger by organizing food, information and support for community survival and dignity” throughout New York City’s five borough. While you’re still in that Thanksgiving mindset, you should take a look at Food Bank for New York City and see if you can add a helping hand as an intern. Continue reading about Food Bank for New York City…
One of the coolest things about big cities is that they have unique neighborhoods and districts. Small towns are lucky to have one theatre, but New York City has an entire theatre district, which is called 42nd Street. It’s kind of a misnomer, because the whole street isn’t filled with theatrers, but around the area where it intersects with Broadway at Times Square they get pretty dense. Unfortunately, in the 1980s a large swath of 42nd Street became neglected and blighted. With so much great theatrical history there, New York City and New York State got together to found a non-profit organization to revitalize the area. This organization is now known as The New 42nd Street. The organization “oversees the redevelopment of seven historic theaters on 42nd” and operates these three projects: New 42nd Street Studios, The Duke on 42nd Street, and The New Victory Theater. Continue reading about The New 42nd Street…
I love Ivy League sports. I really do. Although I think the league gets less respect than it deserves, I know that they’ll never be the Big Ten—even if a powerhouse like Cornell (hey, I’m biased) continues to excel at the national level in sports like Hockey, Lacrosse, Wrestling, and even Basketball. I didn’t realize how big Big Ten sports were until I walked around Chicago on a Saturday afternoon in the fall. The Ohio State bar is packed with Ohio State fans, and the Michigan bar is packed with Michigan fans. Everyone is dressed in their school’s colors—and these are people hundreds of miles away from their schools and many years away from graduation. I guess that’s why there’s the Chicago based Big Ten Network, a television station devoted to everything Big Ten. While I’m watching grainy online streaming video of Cornell Hockey with my laptop hooked up to my tv, Big Ten fans can watch their favorite team—often in HD. Continue reading about Big Ten Network…
This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association and entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com.
Text 100 is a global, high tech public relations agency. They call themselves the world’s only “global boutique PR consultancy” or “big agency 2.0.” Like the public relations industry as a whole, Text 100 prides itself in constantly evolving to meet its clients’ needs. Speaking of clients, I recognize nearly every name on their client list, which includes PayPal, MTV, IBM, Adobe, eBay and more. This year, Text 100 took home two awards, including the 2009 Holmes Report “Best Agencies to Work For” where it ranked #6. The other award, also from Holmes Report, was “Best Campaign” for its work with Cisco. Continue reading about Text 100…
I have to admit that I pretty much stopped watching local news after going to school and living in Central New York for four years. I swear that every night the news would come on at 11 PM, and there would be a new crew reporting live from a barn that caught on fire. Here in Chicago it’s more likely to be a shooting or possibly some government corruption. I’m sure that your area has its own regular story. Usually I like to talk about how the Internet is kicking traditional media’s butt, but that hasn’t been true when it comes to local stuff. TV and newspapers still own the local market, which is why NBC Chicago and Telemundo Chicago would be pretty cool places to intern. (Telemundo is a local network much like NBC 5 Chicago, but it’s tailored to a Spanish speaking audience.)They’re still the place to go for local news (whether it’s on the web or on the tube). Continue reading about NBC and Telemundo Chicago…
This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association and entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com.
Cohn & Wolfe, a global public relations agency, recently won the 2009 Holmes Report “Best Agency to Work For.” That’s not the only award they took home this year, however. In 2009 alone, they won eight other awards, ranging from the 2009 PRSA Bronze Anvil Awards for Commendation: Press Kits/Media Kits – Digital to the 2009 Gold Sabre Award for Social Marketing. It’s always so exciting to work at an agency that’s being recognized by the industry for excellence. With 10 wide-ranging practice areas, there’s likely to be a fit for nearly everyone. As a huge baseball fan, sports marketing would probably be my favorite! Continue reading about Cohn & Wolfe…
Social networking is a new thing, right? Not at all. Social networks have been around almost as long as the Internet. They’ve just become way more mainstream in recent years. Take Redwood City, CA based Care2 for example. They’re an online social network that aims “to help people make the world a better place,” and they’ve been doing it since 1998. That’s impressive, not only because it means that they were early to social networking, but also because it means that they survived the dot com bust of the early 2000s. “Making the world a better place” used to be strictly the territory of non-profits, but now we’re seeing more and more companies like Care2 that are choosing to be B Corporations. That means that they can do good and build a profitable businesses at the same time. That’s exactly what Care2 is doing with their “more than 50 employees, 11 million members, 400 nonprofit partners and hundreds of responsible advertisers making a difference.” Continue reading about Care2…
This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association and entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com.
A full-service firm rooted in traditional public relations, MMI Public Relations integrates “emerging” public relations technologies such as social media, when appropriate, to achieve the best results for their clients. This small agency is located in Raleigh, NC and headed by highly sought-after speaker Patty Briguglio. It’s not surprising to me that she speaks both on public relations and business in general. Half the fun of being at a small agency is the entrepreneurial environment! However, the small agency/entrepreneurial environment may cause you to question stability during these tough economic times. Well, MMI-PR has won the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce’s Pinnacle Award for Steady Growth and Profitability in 2007, 2008 and 2009—and been named to the Triangle Business Journal’s Best Places To Work list. No need to worry! Continue reading about MMI Public Relations…
I think that I’ve mentioned before that my first experience with video chat was was with CU-SeeMe in an Internet cafe in the mid 90s. Back then the potential for social interaction over online video seemed pretty promising, but the potential for business uses (not that I thought about that when I was 13) was even greater. Real-time video has been slower to take hold on both the social and business fronts than I expected, but now that the quality is so good, we’re seeing more and more businesses embrace video conferencing. Tandberg is a company that is at the forefront of this movement. They have dual headquarters in Oslo, Norway and New York City, and they are both “the market share leader and the fastest growing company in the video conferencing industry.” Their 30% annualized revenue growth for the past 10 years may not be Inc. 5000 material, but it’s still hugely impressive. Continue reading about Tandberg…
This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association and entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com.
When public relations agency Weber Shandwick won a gold medal during PRWeek’s 2009 Global Agency Report Card, Global Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report, and Large Agency of the Year by PR News, I was certainly not surprised. It’s always exciting to be at a “cutting edge” agency that’s making headlines not only for its clients but also itself. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but working at a global PR agency provides an opportunity you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere—the ability to collaborate with individuals from and possibly travel to other countries. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a big traveler, but that doesn’t mean culture—and PR—in other countries doesn’t fascinate me! Continue reading about Weber Shandwick…
I love our oceans—everything about them. I love swimming in them, eating the food that they provide, fishing in them, watching sunsets over them, and all of the other wonderful things that they offer. However, our oceans are both blessed and cursed by the same thing—they seem infinite. That’s what makes them so great, but it’s also what has led us to abusing them nearly to the point of no return. A little pollution will disappear in the vastness of an ocean. Overfishing doesn’t matter because there are always more fish. Scraping up the bottom isn’t a big deal because we can’t see the bottom. I wish that oceans were that resilient, but they’re not. Oceana is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they were in our grandparents’ youth.” They recognize the value of their oceans, and they’re doing something to protect them. Continue reading about Oceana…
We all need someone to call us out when we step over the line. Maybe it’s a parent, sibling, significant other, teacher, friend, or random guy on the street. For corporations it’s Corporate Accountability International, although I’m not sure there’s a lot of love going between the two parties. I don’t know when corporations became such a bad thing, and to be honest I still think that corporations do a lot more good than bad, but a great part of living in such a free society is that there’s always someone out there looking to hold you accountable. Boston based Corporate Accountability International demands “direct corporate accountability to public interests.” That means that when a corporation puts the food that we eat, the water that we drink, or the air that we breathe at risk, Corporate Accountability International will be causing a stir about it. Continue reading about Corporate Accountability International…
It’s funny how well respected brands that have been around forever will get swept up in a fad. Some, like Abercrombie & Fitch, will make it part of a new identity, while others like Burberry will enjoy the popularity but maintain their core image. Burberry is a British company that has been making quality garments since 1856, but they became especially trendy in the early 2000s, if I remember correctly. While most brands are recognized for their logo or a specific product, Burberry is known for their plaid. In fact, unless you’re a tartan freak, “Burberry Check” is probably the only plaid that you recognize by name. Over their 150 years Burberry has moved more towards luxury goods than outdoor garments, which is best evidenced by their new ad campaigns with Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame. Continue reading about Burberry…
