
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Showing off Trex in a Show Home

Friday, September 26, 2014
Favorite Finds
Here are my favorite finds from a busy internet this week:
- #FreeSimmons: More fun sports news. After sounding off against the NFL commissioner in a profanity-laced outburst during his own podcast, ESPN sportswriter Bill Simmons was suspended for three weeks – a week longer than Ray Rice’s original punishment (!). The public viewed this suspension as yet another major screw up in the sports world and #FreeSimmons was a top trending hashtag this week.
- How “suite” it is. Popular social media managing site Hootsuite gathered another $60 million in venture funding. In the wide world of mostly useless startups, this one is gold (mainly because we at LCWA use it).
- Black-what? Yep, Blackberry still exists. The newest model, BlackBerry Passport, is supposedly something that people will actually use somewhere. Is there still a line at the Apple store?
- How to not do PR. As we know, the NFL did and mostly continues to do everything wrong in its multiple crisis PR situations. What a great teaching moment.
- More is less for text. If we could use a graphic for this we would: it’s now super important for social media content to have a visual focus. Here’s how.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Life Fitness Announces The Top 10 Personal Trainers To Watch Finalists!

Friday, September 19, 2014
Favorite Finds
Fall is approaching and
as the leaves start to fall, we raked in some of this week’s top communications
news! Below, I rounded up some of my favorite finds from the week.
- Scots Vote on Independence from
the UK – It has been building for
months, and this week Scotland is finally voting on independence from the
UK. While it has been an intense campaign effort on many fronts throughout
Scotland, social media also played its part over the past few weeks – in fact, the debate over
Scottish independence spurred 10 million Facebook interactions in the past
month and a half alone!
- Dancing Traffic Light
Entertains for Safety – The
company behind the original smart car, Smart, recently unveiled its latest
innovation in Lisbon, Portugal – the dancing traffic light. The ad
is part of Smart's #WhatAreYouFor campaign, which emphasizes the company's
dedication to safety. Learn more about this creative
campaign and if a dancing light could be coming to an
intersection near you!
- Apple’s iPhone 6 Sets New
Pre-sale Record – While
it was no surprise when Apple unveiled its latest iPhone last week, the
company was overwhelmed with a record number of pre-orders –more than
four million in the first 24 hours. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that “[Apple]
will likely sell more iPhones this weekend, when retail sales begin, than
on any previous weekend.” Check out the graph of historical
iPhone pre-sales to see how this latest version compares.
- Nine Tricks to Ease Public
Speaking Fears – Speaking
in public isn’t natural for everyone, but with a few simple tips, getting
in front of an audience can become easier – and possibly even fun. Review
this cool list of "tricks for
you" and "for them"
to start practicing today.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Favorite Finds
The week
is ending on a chilly note in Chicago, but communications news has been heating
up this week! Take a look at some of my favorite finds from the week.
- DiGiorno Messes Up and Apologizes on Twitter – The scandal swirling around former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice has been unavoidable this week, and some brands have (unwisely) joined the conversation. DiGiorno’s misstep on Twitter taught two important lessons: ALWAYS research Twitter handles before joining conversations, and be upfront with apologies if you mess up.
- Fighting Facebook’s Organic
Reach Algorithm – Anyone
who manages a Facebook page for our clients know that Facebook recently
made it much harder for organic posts to reach fans. Check out these tips
on how to succeed in the face of changing algorithms.
- iPhone Release Surprises and
Delights – This week, Apple
trotted out the newest iteration of iPhone. The iPhone 6 is larger,
thinner and boasts an amazing camera and features to make it easier for
users to navigate between their apps. Check out all the details!
- Revive Press Release Endings – It’s easy to get stuck in a release-writing
rut, wrapping up releases with the standard “for more information, visit…”
Use these
tips to help craft strong endings to all of your press releases!
Monday, September 8, 2014
Contigo profiled in the Chicago Tribune’s “Blue Sky Innovation” Series
A leading producer of travel mugs, water bottles and kids’ bottles, Contigo has a passion for engineering great products right here in Chicago. To share Contigo’s story of innovation and Chicago-roots, LCWA teamed up with the Chicago Tribune’s “Blue Sky Innovation” series, a new business section of the publication that reports on Chicago-area technology companies, ground-breaking products and services and innovative entrepreneurial best practices.
The segment featured an interview with Contigo CEO Sami Elsaden, who discussed how they cultivate a culture that is always focused continuous, meaningful innovation – taking the best Contigo products and making them even better, as well as finding new solutions for common problems. Additionally, the segment featured shots of Contigo’s brand new office space and some entrepreneurial tips from Sami. Check out the coverage here.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Favorite Finds
Twitter was the
first to tell the world about many breaking stories this week and the trending
hashtags alerted me to some of my favorite finds – enjoy!
- PR Plan Musts – It’s planning season for many businesses right now and I found this list to be a good foundation for a strategic approach.
- Everyday Ethics – Although we live by this Public Relations Society of America code, it’s important to take a step back for Ethics Month this September and remember our professional values. Join the conversation at #PRSSAEthics.
- Auto-Play Automatically Eats Data – As PR practitioners, we rely heavily on our phones for day to day work – so I was glad to learn that Facebook automatically enables videos to play automatically in the feed and by turning it off, data will be spared. Thanks Twitterverse! Our data bills thank you.
- Success In and Out of the Office – Reader’s Digest shared 10 things that successful people do after work to create work/life balance and help make the most of each day.
- RIP Ms. Rivers – Yesterday tweets came in from all around the world to share in solace and gratitude for Joan Rivers and her legendary career. Talk about an influencer!
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