2013 The Abbi Agency Media Placements by The Abbi Agency

The Abbi Agency 2013 Media Placements

The Abbi Agency Table Of Contents

Date 12/16/2013

Publication Northern Nevada Business Weekly

11/15/2013

RGJ

11/3/2013 10/6/2013 10/2/2013 9/23/2013

RGJ Reno Gazette Journal Reno Gazette Journal Bloomberg Businessweek

9/20/2013

Lahontan Valley News

9/19/2013 9/17/2013

Bloomberg Businessweek Reno Gazette Journal

9/16/2013

Northern Nevada Business Weekly

9/16/2013

Northern Nevada Business Weekly

8/31/2013

Business 2 Community

8/29/2013 8/25/2013

Business 2 Community Reno Gazette Journal

8/1/2013

The Good Life

7/31/2013

MarketingProfs

6/20/2013

PR Daily

6/14/2013

Business 2 Community

6/14/2013

Yahoo! Small Business Advisor

6/13/2013

The Chamber

6/13/2013

Tahoe Daily Tribune

6/12/2013

Las Vegas Sun

6/10/2013 6/6/2013 4/30/2013

Northern Nevada Business Weekly Northern Nevada Business Weekly Business 2 Community

4/24/2013

PR Daily

4/8/2013

PR Daily EXTRA

Title Silver Spike Bowling Joins Abbi Agency as Product Manager Social Media Tags Tingle of success: PR pro plays hard Best. Vintage. Nevada. Ever. What I Wear to Work Reno agencies combine to offer fullservice creative solutions What I Wear to Work Abbi Abency Boosts Firm with Merger The Abbi Agency, Boost Creative Services merge firms And you thought The Abbi Agency couldn't get any more amped? How to Keep Your Social Media Pages Fresh How to Hire A Kick-Ass PR Intern The Sharper Image Grassroots Movement Reignites Reno's Commuunity Pride Social Media and the Government

8 sources of Facebook content for brands A Guide For Giving & Receiving Constructive Criticism A Guide For Giving & Receiving Constructive Criticism North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative hires new communications agency to lead its travel and tourism campaigns North Lake Tahoe and Truckee community announcements North Lake Tahoe hires PR firm, The Abbi Agency Abby Agency Retained Business Hour 0800.06.06.13 How to Measure Success Online Most Mom Bloggers Want To Work With PR Professionals: Study The Anatomy Of A Viral Facebook Post

Date

Publication

4/8/2013

PR Daily

4/7/2013

Reno Gazette Journal - Online

4/5/2013

KOLO Cares

4/4/2013 4/3/2013

Reno Type Nevada Business Magazine

4/1/2013

Business 2 Community

3/27/2013

Word Camp

3/22/2013

Fox Reno

3/18/2013

Yahoo! Small Business Advisor

3/18/2013

Business 2 Community

3/18/2013

Northern Nevada Business Weekly

3/15/2013

This Is RENO

3/15/2013

Reno Gazette Journal - Reno Rebirth

3/12/2013

Reno Gazette Journal

3/11/2013

Northern Nevada Business Weekly

3/11/2013

Las Vegas Sun

3/10/2013 3/6/2013 3/5/2013 3/1/2013 2/18/2013 2/18/2013 2/12/2013

Northern Nevada Arts & Entertainment Reno Gazette Journal - Online Reno Gazette Journal - Online Reno Magazine Visual.ly Business 2 Community Scoop.it!

2/12/2013

Reno Gazette Journal - Reno Rebirth

2/10/2013 2/8/2013 2/8/2013 2/8/2013 2/8/2013 2/7/2013 2/7/2013 1/28/2013

The Social CMO The Best Infographics On The Planet Pinterest - Amalik Amriou Pinterest - Mika Douglas Digital News 2000 Yahoo! Small Business Advisor Business 2 Community Business 2 Community

Title The Anatomy Of A Viral Facebook Post Reno Design, Tech Pros Deliver On 'Wired' Promise For Local Charity Reno Wired - Nonprofit Rebranding Challenge Can We Get Some Coffee Over Here? First Abbi Agency Hire In Las Vegas 99Designs: Detrimental To The Design Community Speaker Feature: Nicole Rose Dion Reno Wired Rebrands Committee To Aid Abused Women In 24 Hours SXSW 2013: Television Has Gone Social And It's Not Looking Back SXSW 2013: Television Has Gone Social And It's Not Looking Back Abbi In Vegas Reno Wired Rebrands Committee To Aid Abused Women In 24 Hours Branding-A-Thon Will Help Reno Nonprofit For Abused Women; Volunteers Still Needed People On The Move Connie Anderson, Callie Crawford, Bridget Veltri Joe Downtown: Reno PR Firm Opening Satellite Office Downtown Pink Tie Gala People On The Move People On The Move What's Happening And Who's Who How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] How To Use Google Analytics For PR How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] Reno Wired Will Jumpstart One Lucky Nonprofit (Apply By Feb. 22) How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] How To Be Nimble In PR [Infographic] Don't Abuse The Power Of Instagram

Date

Publication

1/27/2013

Reno Gazette Journal - My Week

1/24/2013

Business 2 Community

1/24/2013

Business 2 Community

1/20/2013 1/17/2013 1/13/2013

Northern Nevada Arts & Entertainment Business 2 Community Northern Nevada Arts & Entertainment

1/10/2013

PR Daily

Title Scene And Be Seen What's The Difference Between CMYK & RGB? What's The Difference Between A Kilobyte And A Megabyte Caught You Looking Good How To Market A Kickstarter Campaign RGJ Twenty Under 40 A Scholarship Contest For The 'Average Student'

Krystal Tingle, 31, is director of public relations at the Abbi Agency in Reno, Nev. Cohen is the author of The Sex Diaries Project: What We're Saying About What We're Doing (John Wiley & Sons).

We, as social media managers, tend to start off on a high-note when beginning to manage a client’s social media pages. Then, around month five or six we start to notice we’re posting the same stuff over and over again. How can you break out of this rut? Here are five tips to get those creative juices flowing and remind you that social media is supposed to be fun, quirky, interesting and free. 1. Brand your own content Nothing says, we’re legit, like images that have your logo on them. Just make sure that you actually own the images before you do it. A personal favorite of mine is branded quotes. Every industry has a set of quotes that are repeated all the time. Why not make them your own instead of just using someone else’s Pinterest content? If you have a graphic designer on hand, have him or her to create some images for sharing purposes. Here’s an example of an image The Abbi Agency created for Davidson’s Organics. How to Keep Your Social Media Pages Fresh image bernard blue 300x300 2. Share other people’s content It’s not all about you! Find out what your colleagues are trying to communicate and help them do it. Not only is this an easy way to discover new content to post, it also shows that you enjoy helping others without any hope of reward. Doing this will almost always make them pay more attention to what you’re posting. It’s a win-win. 3. Share the inside scoop on what’s happening Evergreen content is great. You can queue it up and not worry about what time or day it posts. But, the most often shared content is the spur-of-the-moment, unplanned, this-is-what’s-going-on-right-thisinstant post. Did your coworker just say something funny? Is something interesting going on in the office? Out in the field? Snap a photo and share it. The quality doesn’t matter. Fans enjoy having that inside peek into your world and it helps them feel more connected to you. 4. Say it, don’t write it If it takes your more then a sentence or two to communicate the message, try video-taping yourself or a fellow coworker instead of writing it down. People are far more likely to watch a 20 second video of you explaining what’s going on than read an entire paragraph of text. 5. Be silly, joke around It’s okay to be serious on social media but you definitely want to remember to have fun as well. We’re human, we like to laugh and as social media followers, we want to get a sense of your personality. Find an appropriate way to do this. In some cases, you might be able to push the envelope a little farther than with other orgs/companies, but either way, it will help your engagement go up. A favorite example

of mine is from when the social media manager from Newcastle Brown Ale took a picture of his frowning face and posted that people should feel sorry for him because he has to work on Christmas day. Also notice that the image is branded!

Your public relations career is moving along nicely. Pitches are being sent, press releases are being written and media lists are being organized. There’s just one thing missing….someone to share it all with; a loyal companion who will stay by your side and attend to your every need. A good PR intern. But not just any intern; you want the best around. So how do you go about seeking out your perfect match? Follow these steps and you’ll be in intern bliss in no time. Step 1: Write a job description What is your potential intern going to be doing for you on a day-to-day basis? Be realistic. Write it out with love and care in hopes that the right person will see it and think, “That’s me, that’s exactly what I want to do!” Be detailed in your qualifications and frank in the daily tasks and what you’re looking for. This will weed out the people who aren’t looking for a solid commitment. Then, post it everywhere, send it to trusted colleagues who can spread the word that you’re looking for love. Step 2: Assess your applicants Take a quick look at the applications as they come in. If they aren’t qualified according to the job description you wrote, file it away. If they are qualified and supplied all the information requested, request a call to discuss the position. I find that I have a much easier time weeding candidates out by talking to them on the phone for a few minutes about the position and their experience before they ever come in. And, if they sound good on the phone, it’s the perfect time to set up an in-person interview. Step 3: Set up the interviews Sometimes it takes the pressure off if it’s a group setting instead of a one-on-one interview. I find that it’s helpful to involve the person they will be reporting to in the interview process. This way, you can both ask questions and give information about the position through different points of view, and there are bound to be fewer awkward silences. Step 4: Set expectations Ask all the usual questions pertaining to the job and then tell them about the actual position. Who will they be reporting to, what is expected of them, what the hours are…etc. Often, interviewers make the mistake of not explaining all the details of the position in the interview process. This is an essential time to set expectations.

Step 5: Make a decision If a person I’ve interviewed doesn’t follow up with me afterward, they’re automatically disqualified. To me, that’s like saying, “thanks but no thanks.” If you liked an applicant, so did your colleague, they fit the job description AND they followed up with you afterward, hire them! So in summary, when talking with the potential intern, make sure you aren’t vague and generic in your statements about the job. Set them up for success by explaining exactly what your expectations are so that they are able to perform their public relations duties with zeal!

We all knew that one day the government would catch up with this thing called "social media." It was only a matter of time. Advertising as we know it has been around since the 19th century, so it makes sense that the government heavily regulates that industry. For example, any tobacco advertisement must have the "THIS PRODUCT MAY CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS" statement, which has changed over the years and has been much debated. The same with alcohol and drugs. The Internet has been around only since the mid-1900s, and the government has caught up with it in terms of regulating alcohol and tobacco. On the Web, alcoholic beverage and tobacco sites make you "confirm your age" before you enter them. As if that matters: anyone can lie about their age online. Regardless, such sites are required to put in that extra step to deter minors from visiting their websites. What about social media? Social sites have really been around only for the last 10-20 years, depending on what you think is social media and what isn't. Marketers immediately started using social media because, in most cases, it's free and it's where people (marketers' current and potential clientele) are spending their time. But social media is different from traditional advertising in that you don't have to (usually) pay for your space. So it's somewhat surprising that the TTB, FDA, and FTC are starting to consider it a type of advertising. What are the TTB, FDA, and FTC? The TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) The TTB ensures that the "government warning" is on all wine labels and beer bottles. It tells you how large the text must be, where it must be placed, which state and country it originated from, and on what date it was produced. In May 2013, the TTB released an Industry Circular stating that social media for alcoholic beverages will now be considered a form of advertising and therefore must comply with the advertising rules (with some exceptions). For example, a Facebook page will need to have "mandatory statements" in the "about" section, but not necessarily in every single post. If a different social media page is linked in a post and that page is not compliant with the TTB rules, the owner of the Facebook might be held responsible. For more on these new TTB regulations, see the end of this article. The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and FTC (Federal Trade Commission) The FDA makes sure you don't call your product fat-free if it contains more than 0.5 g of fat per serving (for example). The FTC enforces those laws. The FTC sends you those nasty "cease and desist" letters if your Facebook page is not in compliance with the laws.

So if you're running a Facebook page for a dietary supplement or some type of drug, you're not the average Facebook page (just as those for alcohol and tobacco aren't). Other pages, such as a restaurant page or cookie company, are not subject to the same laws. On social media, if you're acting as the page owner, you cannot "like" or "up-vote" or "favorite" any fan statement that is in violation of the rules. For example, if a fan made a claim, such as "your product saved my life!"—you cannot "like" that post because it'd be as if you are endorsing the fan's claim. However, the page owner is not held accountable for things other people post unless the page endorses it. As the page owner, you cannot make claims like "our product will make you healthy or strong or live longer," because technically those are against FDA regulations. So what does all this mean? The TTB and other government agencies are starting to catch on to social media (albeit slowly). How they plan to monitor the social media pages of all companies is still in the air, but as with anything social-media related, it's better to be safe than sorry. Resources: "Because TTB considers industry member fan pages for alcohol beverages to be advertisements, all mandatory statements required by the regulations (in §§ 4.62, 5.63, and 7.52) must be included on them. TTB views the entire fan page (i.e., the "home" page and all sub or tabbed pages directly associated with the "home" page) as one advertisement, so mandatory statements need only appear once on the fan page, either on the "home" page or on any sub or tabbed pages directly associated with the "home" page. The regulations require that mandatory statements on alcohol beverage advertisements be: (1) conspicuous and readily legible; (2) clearly a part of the advertisement; and (3) readily apparent to the persons viewing the advertisement. Thus, mandatory statements may not be hidden or buried in an obscure location on the fan page." § 4.62 Mandatory statements: (a) Responsible advertiser. The advertisement shall state the name and address of the permittee responsible for its publication or broadcast. Street number and name may be omitted in the address. (b) Class, type, and distinctive designation. The advertisement shall contain a conspicuous statement of the class, type, or distinctive designation to which the product belongs, corresponding with the statement of class, type, or distinctive designation which is required to appear on the label of the product. (c) Exception. (1) If an advertisement refers to a general wine line or all of the wine products of one company, whether by the company name or by the brand name common to all the wine in the line, the only mandatory information necessary is the name and address of the responsible advertiser. This exception does not apply where only one type of wine is marketed under the specific brand name advertised. (2) On consumer specialty items, the only information necessary is the company name or brand name of the product. [T.D. 6521, 25 FR 13835, Dec. 29, 1960, as amended by T.D. ATF-180, 49 FR 31672, Aug. 8, 1984]

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8 sources of Facebook content for brands By Constance Aguilar | Posted: June 20, 2013

Many brand managers struggle to find high-quality content to post, spending hours in search of something worth sharing on their pages. It can prove difficult to find something new, creative, and associated with a brand’s industry at least five days per week. Niche brands find this particularly difficult; even so-called universal content doesn’t suit their direction. Page managers can use any of the following places online to assist in finding, storing, and delivering engaging content for even the most obscure or niche brands, and in less than 10 minutes, it’s impossible not to find something interesting and share-worthy. 1. Quora: The thing I love about Quora is that it showcases the curious mind’s pressing questions. Subjects range from simple marketing tactics to hyper-focused inquiries about Beatles albums. Browsing through Quora allows you to “steal” questions and host a Q&A on your Facebook, understand what the public wants to know about a subject that may be associated with your brand, or start conversation as a brand on Quora and encourage your Facebook fans to move over and join in. 2. Post Planner: This app saves page managers a ton of time. (Post Planner says as much as two hours a day.) It searches the Web, including social media content, to deliver article links that you can share on your pages. Post Planner just released a feature that can find content on any topic; I found stuff to post when I search “metal fabricator.” It also has complimentary status update ideas

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that will get your fans commenting on and “liking” posts. The best part is you don’t have to leave Facebook to use it; it’s a built-in app. 3. Digg: Digg is a staple of the Internet, and after years on the market and a fresh interface, it’s looking swank. I love Digg because it gives me what’s popular on the Web—the stories people obviously want to see, read, and respond to. Users can save stories they like and use them later or create a library to store the week’s postings. It enables you to see stories that people like you, or those who conduct similar searches, are interested in. 4. Delicious: The great thing about Delicious is the access to what other people have stored. By searching keywords, you can see who has added similar articles, and with one click you’re suddenly reading collections on specific topics from those most interested in them. Delicious gives you access to everyone else’s library of content and bookmarking work. Then, you share those with your fans. [RELATED: Master the can't-ignore social media tools with Mark Ragan's one-day social media boot camp.]

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5. Reddit: Any Internet troller will know what this is, but for those of you who have yet to think of Reddit as anything other than the birthplace of memes, get ready to think again. Reddit has a vast library of content on a number of subjects. What I find is that articles, YouTube videos, forum-style threads, it delivers the most “quirky” content. You’ll find blog posts and opinion pieces, which (depending on your brand) can strike up conversation when your repost them to your page—if it’s done in an interesting way. It’s also image-heavy, and because posting photos is also highly recommended to dominate Edgerank, this is a great source. 6. NetVibes: With the NetVibes reader, you can make multiple dashboards and add feeds and social media profiles to filter in and gather content. The search option is a standard Google search. It’s an easy place to browse every day, pull content, and post immediately. The “me” account is free as well.

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Related Articles By Category 7. Scoop.it: Scoop.it regularly browses the Web for you and finds you content on the topics you are most interested in. Though it’s a curation tool designed to make a feed-style Web page, its algorithm is robust and very effective in finding high-quality content. It also it has a mobile app. 8. StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Flickr: These are grouped together to round out the list because they all offer the best selections of one thing: photos. Need cool pictures of unusual items to share on Facebook? These are your stops to grab and share. I’ve found each one works well for different industries. Flickr kills it outdoors, Pinterest is heavy on food/DIY/household items, and StumbleUpon brings the unusual to the forefront of the Internet. These are just a handful of resources you can use to find great content to post. A practical way to go about content gathering is to collect up to seven days’ worth, load it into Facebook scheduling, and then just respond to comments from your fans. Be sure to add comments from the brand on the story; personalize them so your audience knows exactly why you are sharing it. Encourage conversation with questions, too. What resources do you use to find high-quality content for your brand pages? Constance Aguilar is a Social Media Strategist and Account Manager at Abbi Public Relations where she oversees client strategy on social media channels and traditional media. You can follow her on Twitter @ConnieAguilar and read her other posts on the agency's blog, where a version of this story originally appeared.

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The biggest thing to remember when giving and receiving constructive criticism is that we are all on the same team. Everyone is trying to achieve the same goal. If I succeed, you succeed, we all succeed. Tips for giving constructive criticism: Don’t react immediately When you are looking at the work for the first time, you may be surprised at the choices the creative person made. You may instantly hate it and start to get angry with the person who created it for making something you don’t like. Breathe. Take a look at it for about 10 minutes and put it away. The next day (if you’re able to wait that long) revisit the piece and write down your criticisms. Make sure you are completely calm and have distanced yourself from the subject matter as much as possible before discussing it with the person who made it. Be specific about the things you don’t like This is key, and something that every art student has to learn in school during “critiques.” If there is something you like or don’t like about a painting, you have to explain why. Right down to the nitty gritty details. If a professor called on you and asked you what you thought of another student’s work and you said, “it’s nice,” instant ‘F’ on that critique day. What you want to say is things like “I think this piece is successful because the light draws the eye straight to the woman’s hand and then down to her shoulder to focus on the birthmark.” And if you don’t like something, why don’t you like it? Ask yourself, burrow down to the source of it: “I’m concerned that this logo is very complex, if we were to scale it down, we’d lose some of that rich detail.” Take your feelings out of it. Try to make them realize the error on their own They will be much more interested in having a discussion with you about the piece than you just spouting off what you don’t like about it and what they need to fix. Remember, they’ve thought about this a lot before coming to you; they did not just throw something together willy nilly with no regard to how it will come out. That being said, creative people tend to get very close to their work and are sometimes unable to see the big picture. That’s where you come in. Take a step back with them and look at it together, say things like: “What if we did this?” “How can we make this stand out more?” “Do you think adding an element here would be distracting?” Asking questions like this will be a much more FRIENDLY way to bring about the issues of the piece. Most likely the creative person will see what you are feeling if the two of you discuss it. Be prepared for them to try to talk their way out of it. If this happens, suggest that they make a version with that change and you guys can come back to it later, before it’s put into production. It may also be helpful to bring in a third-party at that stage. Bring up a new idea that makes their work obsolete

If they are really gung-ho about this idea, but you see flaws in it, instead of tearing their idea down, suggest a new idea that’s better. This is a very non-confrontational way of getting them to reroute. “What if we did this instead?” Example, “We should make this horse pink.” You: “Or … what if we made them brown?” Example, “We should go take a picture of horses.” You: “Or … we could use a stock photo of horses and then we wouldn’t have to go all the way out there.” Example: “We should go buy margaritas” “Or … I could go get the margarita mix I have in the pantry and we can make our own.” Don’t insult them, don’t give orders You can get your point across without making the person feel bad for the work they did. After all, they are only trying to please you. Example: “Gee, you must not know anything about color theory.” A better approach would be to say: “These colors look a little off, can we try a different palette?” Also, Suggest edits, new versions, continued efforts but don’t order anything. Don’t say things like “go change this, do this, fix this … etc.” The creative person will be more willing to do what you’re asking if it doesn’t sound like an order. Orders make a creative person feel like you don’t care what they think. If you have a hard time saying critical things, use the sandwich effect Positive criticism / negative criticism / positive criticism. Example: “You really understood the creative brief, however I think we’re missing the _________, but everything else is definitely in there, good job.” Take “you” out of it Never say “you.” Instead of saying, “You did this wrong,” focus on what is wrong. Example: “I believe that this won’t appeal to the target audience.” Tips for receiving constructive criticism: Listen to them completely, don’t interrupt Usually, people just want to be heard. They want to know that their opinions matter. Sometimes, you will take what they say into consideration and other times you won’t, depending on who they are and what your company structure is like. However, you should always listen to what they have to say, even if it’s heinous. DO NOT INTERRUPT THEM with things like “well I only did that because…X Y Z” Do not justify your choices for the things they are criticizing. This will just frustrate them and make them feel like you’re not listening. Hear them out, and when they are done, ONLY THEN you can provide your take, your input, your reasoning and attempt to come to an agreement on the next steps. Ask questions, but only to find out more information Not passive aggressive questions like “well what do you want from me?” A lot of people don’t know how to give constructive criticism, so you’ll hear feedback that doesn’t make any sense and isn’t specific enough ALL THE TIME. For example: “I just … don’t like it” or “I think it’s too … blah.” This is such a joke in the design/advertising community that there are entire websites devoted to “visualizing” bad client and/or coworker feedback. So if you run into this situation, and the person giving the criticism is being vague, ask questions to get to the bottom of what they want to see changed. Do they really hate the whole thing or is it really just that font that was used for the headline? Do they really think it’s blah? Or was it the wording choice in the first paragraph, second sentence? Don’t take things personally If they are saying hurtful things like “well you’re an idiot for picking that photo,” know that it’s not about you, it’s about them and their inability to communicate effectively. What they really want to say is: “To me that photo isn’t very appealing, perhaps we could try a couple different versions and see how they test?”

Sometimes, just nod, say OK and walk away If you have a client/boss/coworker who tends to get heated sometimes, it might be best to just agree to make the changes, and let it be. That being said, if you know that those changes are wrong or will damage the work, come back the next day with a well thought out reasoning for going in a different direction. Remember, it’s not about who is right and who is wrong; it’s about coming to the best solution for the work. Another tactic is to do what the client/coworker/boss is asking for and compare it to the original work as well as a third, hybrid piece and have people in the office give their feedback on which is best. Seeing them side-by-side might help the person giving the criticism to see things differently. EXAMPLE CONVERSATION: Nicole: “Hey Person X, what do you think of this blog post I just wrote?” Person X: “Great approach! I thought it was nice that you took the frame of “a guide” instead of “ways to give constructive criticism” which is the norm. Nicole: “Thanks! I didn’t want it to come off as preachy.” Person X: “After reading through it, the last paragraph comes off as a little preachy. What do you think?” Nicole: “I can definitely see that, let me try reworking it and I’ll send it back to you.” *note: whether or not I felt the last paragraph was preachy, I am going to rework it and see if that problem can’t be solved. If one person thought it, others might. And besides, the person I asked is just trying to be helpful, not start a war. Listen, work, show, listen, work show. And repeat.

North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative hires new communications agency to lead its travel and tourism campaigns The North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative has hired Nevada-based digital engagement firm The Abbi Agency to conduct its destination travel and tourism public relations campaigns. The agency began work on the account in May of this year. North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative is a coordinated marketing effort between the North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association, and the Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau. The co-op promotes the North Lake Tahoe area as a regional, national and international tourism destination. The Abbi Agency has the experience, talent and energy to drive the North Lake Tahoe brand forward by telling travelers about the exceptional experiences they can have in North Lake Tahoe throughout all seasons. The Abbi Agency, a digital engagement firm based in Reno, NV, with satellite offices in Las Vegas, has extensive experience working in destination travel and ski resort public relations. The company will lead all of North Lake Tahoe's public relations campaigns for summer activities, special events, winter recreation and destination travel. They will also implement strategy designed to increase shoulder season tourism. Abbi Whitaker, president and owner of The Abbi Agency, said her company looks forward to showcasing North Lake Tahoe for both the regional and national media. The Abbi Agency has begun its campaigns for the North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative by focusing on summer events, meetings and conventions, outdoor recreation and food and wine offerings in the region. Over the summer, the firm will implement strategic communications plans for the fall and winter seasons. For more information about North Lake Tahoe, visit www.gotahoenorth.com. And for the best bargains, including lodging, check out the Cool Deals tab, which is updated daily.

June 13, 2013

North Lake Tahoe and Truckee community announcements TAHOE/TRUCKEE, Calif. — Content for briefs is selected from e-mail submissions to Community Editor Amy Edgett at aedgett@sierrasun.com. E-mail for print submissions may be 150 words. Items published in the print edition news space permitting. Weston recieves recognition On Tuesday, June 4 Rob Weston owner of West Shore Sports in Homewood was recognized for his exemplary volunteer support to the California State Parks. Rob donates 140 hours annually to the parks and sponsors the Full Moon Snowshoe Hikes and Full Moon Kayak Tours at Sugar Pine Point State Park. Since 2003 these hikes and tours have generated $27,000 in revenue for the Sierra State Parks Foundation, which are used to support the State Park’s Interpretive Programs. Rob was also involved in the restoration of the 1960 Olympic Cross Country Ski Trails at Sugar Pine Point State Park. He was instrumental in raising funds and in 2010 coordinated the purchase of a new grooming machine for the Cross Country Ski trails. Visit https://sierrastateparks.org. North Lake Tahoe Hires The Abbi Agency The North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative has hired Nevada-based digital engagement firm The Abbi Agency to conduct its destination travel and tourism public relations campaigns. The agency began work on the account in May of this year. North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative is a coordinated marketing effort between the North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association, and the Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau. The decision to hire The Abbi Agency was determined by the firm’s extensive travel PR experience and strategic, creative approach to tourism communications.

The Abbi Agency, a digital engagement firm based in Reno, Nev., with satellite offices in Las Vegas, has extensive experience working in destination travel and ski resort public relations. The Abbi Agency has begun its campaigns for the North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative by focusing on summer events, meetings and conventions, outdoor recreation and food and wine offerings in the region. Over the summer, the firm will implement strategic communications plans for the fall and winter seasons. UC Davis Tahoe City Field Station Open House Join UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) for an Open House at the Tahoe City Field Station (Historic Hatchery) at 2400 Lake Forest Road, Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tour the historic building, talk to TERC scientists about their work, and learn something new about Lake Tahoe. Local garden clubs will be on hand to give plant selection and gardening advice, and Red Truck of Truckee will sell food and beverages. The UC Davis Tahoe City Field Station has evolved from its origins as a state fish hatchery to its current function as a field station for UC Davis researchers at Lake Tahoe. The Field Station houses the Eriksson Education Center, native plant demonstration garden, a small laboratory facility, and the equipment necessary for researchers to boat on, dive in, and scientifically examine Lake Tahoe. For more information about the Open House, Green Thumb Gardening Series or volunteer opportunities, contact Kelsey Poole at 775-881-7560 ext. 7402 or klpoole@ucdavis.edu, or visit http://terc.ucdavis.edu/calendar/. Bear Brunch at Sugar Pine Point State Park Celebrate Dad June 16 and treat him to a day at the park to learn about our Lake Tahoe Bears while enjoying brunch on the beautiful grounds of the Helman-Ehrman Estate. Chief Ranger Brian Barton will share his knowledge of the California black bear in a fun and entertaining event suitable for the family, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Cost is $20 adults and $10 kids 12 and under. Space is limited. Make a reservation at 530-583-9911. Workshop on the Draft Squaw Creek Restoration Plan Tuesday, June 18, 6-9 p.m., Squaw Valley Public Service District Community Meeting Room, 305 Squaw Valley Road (same building as the SV Fire Station). Squaw Valley Real Estate, LLC will co-host a workshop with the Friends of Squaw Creek to preview a draft conceptual plan of the Squaw Creek Restoration Plan, and to collect feedback from stakeholders. Experts on the topic have been invited to participate. It is anticipated Phase 1 of the proposed Village at Squaw Valley project will break ground in the summer of 2015. As a component of Phase 1 of the four-phase project, Squaw Valley Real Estate will restore Squaw Creek along the project boundaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s north reach. Balance Hydrologics, Inc., will present details for improving elements of Squaw Creek.

The Friends of Squaw Creek (FoSC) is a grassroots organization formed in 2002. FoSC works collaboratively with Squaw Valley Real Estate, regulatory agencies, riparian landowners, and the local community to seek opportunities to enhance the watershed. IRIE Rafting Company to present “Boating for Benefit” On selected days June through September, IRIE Rafting Company will donate 100 percent of profits of rafting trips on the Lower Truckee River Gorge to selected nonprofits. IRIE Rafting believes in supporting nonprofits who work to create community, provide service to those in need, open opportunities, and give individuals a hand up, not a hand out. Join them in supporting the incredible work of their beneficiaries, book now at www.raftirie.com or e-mail info@raftirie.com. June 20, Adventure Risk Challenge, www.arcprogram.org; July 16, The Zawadisha Fund, www.zawadisha.org; Aug. 9, CR Johnson Foundation, www.crjohnson.org; Sept. 7, Project GO, www.projectgo.org. Golf Pro Shop remodeled A ribbon-cutting event at Tahoe Donner Association’s Golf Pro Shop was held Friday, June 7, to celebrate the opening of the newly remodeled and expanded pro shop. Joining Tahoe Donner’s general manager Robb Etnyre, board members Tom Johns, Jim Stang and former board member Jay Lempinen participated in the ribbon-cutting. Other Tahoe Donner representatives such as Forrest Huisman, director of capital projects, and Ed Leinenkugel, director of golf, along with Truckee representatives including Truckee Mayor Carolyn Wallace Dee were present as well. The new pro shop is now approximately 500 square-feet larger and the T-9 Grill also doubled in sized as part of the remodel.

North Lake Tahoe hires PR firm, The Abbi Agency — Las Vegas Sun News

6/19/13

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This is a press release submitted to the Las Vegas Sun. It has not been verified or edited by the Sun. PRESS RELEASE

North Lake Tahoe hires PR firm, The Abbi Agency Published on Wed, Jun 12, 2013 (11:47 a.m.)

Submitted by North Lake Tahoe

NORTH LAKE TAHOE, California, Nevada — The North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative has hired Nevada-based digital engagement firm The Abbi Agency to conduct its destination travel and tourism public relations campaigns. The agency began work on the account in May of this year. North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative is a coordinated marketing effort between the North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association, and the Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau. The co-op promotes the North Lake Tahoe area as a regional, national and international tourism destination. Andy Chapman, Chief Marketing Officer of the North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association and program administrator for the North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative, and Bill Hoffman, Executive Director of Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau, say the decision to hire The Abbi Agency was determined by the firm’s extensive travel PR experience and strategic, creative approach to tourism communications. “The Abbi Agency has the experience, talent and energy to drive the North Lake Tahoe brand forward by telling travelers about the exceptional experiences they can have in North www.lasvegassun.com/community/press-releases/2808/#axzz2Wg8XbRXB

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North Lake Tahoe hires PR firm, The Abbi Agency — Las Vegas Sun News

Lake Tahoe throughout all seasons,” said Chapman. “There is a common misconception that North Lake Tahoe is a two-season destination, but we are confident The Abbi Agency can alter that perception among the traveling public,” adds Hoffman. The Abbi Agency, a digital engagement firm based in Reno, Nev., with satellite offices in Las Vegas, has extensive experience working in destination travel and ski resort public relations. The company will lead all of North Lake Tahoe’s public relations campaigns for summer activities, special events, winter recreation and destination travel. They will also implement strategy designed to increase shoulder season tourism. Abbi Whitaker, president and owner of The Abbi Agency, said her company looks forward to showcasing North Lake Tahoe for both the regional and national media. “The Abbi Agency is thrilled to represent and promote one of the world’s most iconic outdoor recreation, lodging and travel destinations,” said Whitaker. “We look forward to telling the stories of a truly unique travel destination — a place with immense natural beauty, limitless recreation possibilities and exceptional accommodations.” The Abbi Agency has begun its campaigns for the North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative by focusing on summer events, meetings and conventions, outdoor recreation and food and wine offerings in the region. Over the summer, the firm will implement strategic communications plans for the fall and winter seasons.

About The Abbi Agency The Abbi Agency is a full-service public relations firm specializing in traditional public relations, social media campaigns, event production, expert positioning and content creation. Based in Reno, Nev., with offices in Las Vegas, The Abbi Agency works with national brands in the tourism, technology, sports marketing, business-to-business and business-toconsumer markets. Learn more about The Abbi Agency at theabbiagency.com.

About North Lake Tahoe For more information about North Lake Tahoe, visit www.gotahoenorth.com. And for the best bargains, including lodging, check out the “Cool Deals,” tab, which is updated daily. www.lasvegassun.com/community/press-releases/2808/#axzz2Wg8XbRXB

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North Lake Tahoe hires PR firm, The Abbi Agency â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Las Vegas Sun News

North Lake Tahoe is a 45-minute drive from the Reno Tahoe International Airport, two hours from Sacramento International Airport and just over three hours from San Francisco International Airport. Visitor information centers are located at 100 North Lake Boulevard in Tahoe City and 969 Tahoe Boulevard in Incline Village.

www.lasvegassun.com/community/press-releases/2808/#axzz2Wg8XbRXB

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June 6, 2013

0800.06.06.13 The Abbi Agency of Reno has been retained by the North Lake Tahoe Marketing Cooperative to conduct its destination travel and tourism public relations campaigns. The Geothermal Energy Association and the City of Reno will sponsor the third annual National Geothermal Summit June 26-27 at the Grand Sierra Resort. Nevadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gross domestic product increased by 1.5 percent during 2012, ranking the state 31st in economic growth, says the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.

ÂŠ2005 - 2013 Swift Communications, Inc.

So you’re managing a client’s online presence or reputation. Everything is going well … or at least you think? How do you measure all of your efforts and prove ROI to your client? Measuring eCommerce If your client’s end goal is ecommerce, whatever efforts you’re doing on your website should be geared toward getting people to make purchases. So how do you measure this? Through the use of Google Analytics you can determine: 

How much money was made online



Where those people who purchased things came from



Where customers dropped off and decided not to buy anything

Measuring a blog If you’re running a blog on a platform that allows for email subscription, do it. RSS feeds are great and all, but email subscription is better. You’ll be provided with a list of all your email subscribers and they will get email notifications every time you blog. This is your audience. The more blog subscribers, the better. These are people who enjoy your content so much, they have decided to be notified every time you push out new content. That is way more valuable than a page view or site visit. An easy way to measure the success of a blog is how many people come to the site (you can use Google Analytics for this) versus how many people decided to subscribe (conversion!) within a month’s time. Measuring a newsletter Many people measure the success of a newsletter by open rate, thinking that as long as their email is being opened, it’s being read. True? Not necessarily. For example, I will often group a bunch of new messages together, mark them as read and never come back to them (usually emails from online stores that I’ve signed up to be on their mailing lists). So I’m completely skewing their numbers and never even looking at the email. You could also open it and close it immediately. A better judge of email newsletter success is whether or not your content is being clicked. For example, you send out a newsletter that says 20 percent off bagels, click here. Then measure how many people click that button. Most email programs will list number of clicks for a campaign and you can also use Google Analytics for this. Or, if you’re promoting an event,

include a link to the event RSVP page and track how many people RSVP after you send out your campaign. Measuring social media Engagement is just a fancy word that means whether or not people care about what you’re posting. Just because you have 10,000 fans on Facebook doesn’t mean you have a successful Facebook page. Just because you have 2,000 followers on Twitter, doesn’t mean people actually read the tweets you’re sending out. A better way to measure success on social media is how much and how often people are interacting with your content. This means liking, forwarding, sharing, commenting, Retweeting … etc. This can be found using third-party applications like Radian6 or the platform’s internal analytics.

Traditional PR and Digital intersect at a road we refer to as Blogger Ave. Blogger relations prove to be valuable for PR companies and their clients, creating real-life product advocates that consumers trust in their endorsements. Among the hundreds of various blogger niches, one of the most popular remains the almighty “mom blog.” Introducing a brand campaign to these influential bloggers requires research, respect, communications, and in some cases, cash. The Abbi Agency compiled a list of questions commonly asked to perfect media communications and sent them via SurveyMonkey to 100 participants with optional anonymity. The responses helped us determine best practices when coordinating efforts with mom bloggers and how to best go about creating mutually beneficial relationships. Do they even like PR people? Overall, the response was positive: 93 percent are willing to work with PR people, and they all accept samples. Before you outline send-outs and pitches, please note that 79 percent of the respondents want you to pony up the cash in exchange for a post. That doesn’t mean they disregard honesty and integrity; many provided explanations that we expanded upon in the report . Product, product, product

Bloggers are real people, communicating with an audience on a very personal and relatable level. Their authenticity means they have to speak the truth; press releases and pitches can’t be pasted and published. Of the surveyed, almost 78 percent want product for review every time to provide honest and transparent coverage. More than 67 percent want it to give away to their audience, which we’ve found to be highly beneficial. Giveaways often translate into multiple posts, social media interactions and mentions, and increased engagement with your brand. On the other hand, branded content wasn’t high on the wish list. Image galleries are a must, but bylined columns and top 10 lists often hurt their Google rankings if on multiple blogs and don’t provide a unique experience for them and the brand. The golden rule applies Most of the bloggers we surveyed have worked with multiple PR professionals—or at least, multiple PR professionals have tried to work with them. Mom blogger emphasized that need for respect when approaching them. Their blogs are very important to them, but they are not full-time writers. They do not exist to provide another placement for the log. A few key takeaways: • Address them by name: No one likes to be called “Dear Blogger.” • Read their blogs: If you’re pitching cinnamon bread to a gluten-free blogger, you are wasting everyone’s time. • They have lives: They are not at your beck-and-call and their posts take time just as traditional media placements do. Keep your requests minimal and focused to respect their time. • Provide a news hook: Mom bloggers are smart. They like to write on trends, so providing a source for them to do so is beneficial. • Call-to-action: If they don’t know what you want them to do, you are simply wasting their time. The big lesson Most mom bloggers are willing to work with PR people. But there are ground rules, and as long as you are mindful of them, you can create a meaningful endeavor and deliver great results to your client. Each responder was given a comment box to freely contribute tips, insights, and requests for PR people. Here are some of the most common tips, and additional ones are included in the final report : 1. Don't treat them like a number. They all unique and have something to offer from the communities they "represent,” and it’s best to send them pitches with ideas or products that suit those communities. 2. Respond to emails in a timely manner.

3. Recognize bloggers don't exist just to give you free advertising. 4. Promote the blogsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; social networks, share the posting, subscribe to their feeds, etc. 5. Send two samples of items, so they can try one and photograph the other. 6. Send visually pleasing emails and have immediate access to lots of images. 7. Track the different interests and communication styles of individual bloggers. You can download and read the full report at www.theabbiagency.com/ebook. Abbi Whitaker is the President of The Abbi Agency, a PR and digital communications firm in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada. She has executed mom blogger campaigns for numerous lifestyle, food + beverage, and consumer products. Follow her on Twitter @abbijayne or @theabbiagency.

4/8/2013

Last month, a giant mug of root beer went viral on Facebook, giving one Facebook page its 15 minutes of fame. It was a picture on the Visit Fallon page of an old Bob’s Root Beer sign—from a restaurant in Fallon, Nev., that closed seven years ago. More than 20,000 people saw the post, from a page that (originally) had a little over 650 “likes.” So what happened? Why did it work? One word: nostalgia.

What response did it get? At the time of the post, the Visit Fallon page had a little more than 650 fans, with a pretty decent response rate from those fans. After the Bob’s image was posted, 1,244 people “liked” it, 105 people shared it, and 161 people commented on it.

It went viral, and more than 21,000 people saw the post. “Likes” on the page increased by 15 percent. These numbers continue to increase as the post continues to surface on new pages and walls. General comments such as, “I miss this place,” and, “They had the best root beer floats,” were common. A majority of the comments were people reminiscing about times they spent at Bob’s Root Beer. It’s the type of viral post we all want to make in social media—the type that does all the work for us when it comes to increasing exposure and interactions. It was successful because it reached the audience at a level they could relate to and emotionally connect with. Why did it work? When nostalgic moments are implemented in a plan, you get a response from your audience that’s stronger than any other—an emotional response. Everybody enjoys reminiscing, whether you’re old enough to remember when TV shows were black-and-white, or if you’re young enough to remember your obsession with *NSYNC. You take them back to simpler times—times before iPhones and DVRs and the ever-changing Facebook. We live in such a fast-paced world now, always looking for the next best thing. Sometimes we forget that maybe the “best things” have already been had. So what happens now? Run with it. Start a nostalgic social media campaign. You can link moments of the past to current times. Get creative with it. You’ve got a new following you need to keep entertained so they don’t run off. Here are a few dos and don’ts if you want to try this route for your campaign: Do: Relate to the audience. Don’t start reminiscing about *NSYNC if your demographic grew up in the 1970s. That won’t help. Be creative. It depends on what kind of business you have, but there are many different ways you can relate past moments to today. Ask questions about that certain moment, or event, or period of time to gain interaction. Be funny. Have fun with it. Humor will always win. Your audience will remember something that makes them smile. Listen, listen, listen. Chances are, the audience will start bringing up other things they remember and like to reminisce about, and you can run with those. They’ll tell you what they want to see; all you have to do is listen. Don’t: Get too serious. No religious or political posts, nor anything that could be offensive in any way.

Just sit there and watch it unfold. Be involved. Take notes. Respond to comments. It’s called “social” media for a reason. Taking this route solidifies a place in their heart. They’ll remember you the next time they need you. If you increase the interaction, you increase the amount of people who have the potential to see your posts. You can throw in a few more ads and sales here and there and still keep them entertained. Win their hearts and win their trust, and that will cement your brand. Amanda Shepherd is social media coordinator at The Abbi Agency. A version of this story first appeared on the agency’s blog.

More than a dozen Reno-area designers and developers worked overnight Friday, emerging after a long night of work with a branding makeover for a Reno womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nonprofit. Participants in the Reno Wired event delivered the new campaign Saturday morning at the Reno Coworking Collective. It provides a new website, printed material and other design elements for the Committee to Aid Abused Women. The event was founded by Kevin Jones, co-founder at Cloudsnap; Jenna Hubert, designer at KPS3 Marketing; and Julia Kruper, account manager at KPS3. Design and development professionals with Reno Wired included the Abbi Agency, Arborglyph, Calvert Photography, Innerwest Advertising, KPS3, Noble Studios, Stan Can and Trinity AI. Reno Type, a local fullservice printer, worked through the night to print and deliver stationery, business cards and other materials by 8 a.m. Saturday. The Reno event is based on a similar 24-hour rebranding event called Zurbwired. The Committee to Aid Abused Women offers aid, including a shelter, to domestic abuse victims and their families. Details: www.caaw.org.

Friday, April 5, 9:30 am: Follow the progress at http://blog.renowired.com/ When we learned that a group of talented local designers, writers, photographers and developers were going to completely rebrand a non-profit organization overnight, we said “Hey! How can we help?” It’s one thing to have a brand. It’s another to put it on paper, and one of the challenges all non-profit organizations face is getting that part paid for. Printing, though necessary, can be pretty expensive! We always give significant discounts to legitimate non-profit agencies (especially small local ones doing work that aligns with our values). In a situation like this though, our usual discount is not enough. If 15 or more people are staying up all night and donating tens of thousands of dollars in billable time, we’ll donate our time too. And if those people are gonna stay up all night to do it… well… COUNT US IN! So we’ll have a team here at Reno Type Friday night at 5pm until all the printing they need is done. That means free brochures. Letterhead. Envelopes. Business cards. Pop-up Banners. And anything else they can come up with. The Committee to Aid Abused Women was selected from 20 applicants to be the recipient of Reno Wired’s first go-around. Check back after the weekend to see what the team came up with. Looking at the talented people who have donated their time and services, it is going to be spectacular. ————————On April 5, some of Reno’s most talented designers, writers, and developers will come together to rebrand Committee to Aid Abused Women (CAAW) in 24 hours. The event, called Reno Wired, was founded by Kevin Jones, co-founder at Cloudsnap; Jenna Hubert, designer at KPS3 Marketing; and Julia Kruper, account manager at KPS3 Marketing. “We’re very excited to work with CAAW,” said Kevin Jones. “Within a 24 hour period, we’re going to try to build CAAW a brand that will last them years. The team is passionate about this event, and, if all goes well, we’re hoping to make it happen annually. ” Reno Wired is currently looking for volunteers and donors to help the day of the event. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can find more information at renowired.com. The event will be held at the Reno Collective on April 5. “We were so happy to hear that CAAW was selected for Reno Wired,” said Denise Yoxsimer, Executive Director of CAAW. “We are more than ready for a new brand, and believe that this project will help propel us forward as we continue to help families deal with domestic violence.” Reno Wired reviewed more than 20 applications from a variety of nonprofit organizations. After interviewing the finalists, the Reno Wired team selected CAAW as the lucky recipient of the branding project. “So many great organizations applied, so it was hard to narrow it down,” said Jenna Hubert. “We took a lot into consideration during the application process, and in the end we decided CAAW could benefit the most from our event.”

The Reno Wired team is made up of 15 professionals representing a variety of local businesses, including The Abbi Agency, Arborglyph, Calvert Photography, Innerwest Advertising, KPS3, Noble Studios, Stan Can and Trinity AI. Reno Type, a local full-service printer, will also be working throughout the night to print and deliver printed materials by 8am on April 6. Visit renowired.com to donate or learn how to get involved. Reno Wired was inspired by ZURBWired, an annual 24-hour design marathon based in Campbell, Cal. About Committee to Aid Abused Women (CAAW) The Committee to Aid Abused Women, an Organization for Families, provides free, confidential, bilingual services to families in Washoe County as they seek to end the abuse in their lives. CAAW’s mission – Changing Lives, Ending Family Violence – guides the organization. In addition to emergency shelter, transitional housing, and protection orders, CAAW also operates a 24-hour crisis hotline for victims of domestic abuse and their families. For more on CAAW, visit caaw.org.

“I’ve got 99 problems but a design ain’t one…” Recently my boss came to me and asked about 99designs. The question was, should we use this service? I had heard of the site before but never interacted with it. I didn’t know too much regarding how it works. So I decided to do a little digging. I read a few articles and immediately realized how controversial it is. I understand why it’s attractive to business owners; you get to see a ton of designs from designers all of the world (tailored specifically to your needs), pick your favorite one and only pay the person whose design you chose. But on the other side, as a designer, I understand why this is detrimental to the design industry. I asked a few designers in town about this matter. Below are a few quotes from them on their feelings about it: “I went through the site and passed it along to a couple other designers that I respect and overwhelming everyone says it devalues graphic design. I would never use it or be a part of it.” “It’s incredibly degrading and kills design. It cheapens your business and makes you look less credible as an agency.” There are websites devoted to stopping sites like 99designs, like no-spec. AIGA, the professional association for design is vehemently against companies and designers using sites like this. So how does it work? Someone internally at The Abbi Agency tested it out. They signed up for the service and posted a logo inquiry. Here’s how it works on the client side: You sign-up as a client (FREE) and then create a project that you need design work done for. You provide the details about the project (you can provide as much or as little as you want) and then set a date for how long the “contest” will run. Basically the designers compete against each other for your monetary prize. Once you select the winning design, the designer will send the final design file for the client to use. Here’s how it works on the designer side: Basically, you sign-up as a designer (FREE) and then start browsing the site for work that clients need done. The client offers a monetary prize for the winning design; so you can imagine when the client offers more money, more people submit designs. Also, the more money you offer, the higher the quality of designs expected. Why is it detrimental? It becomes quickly apparent to the designer that the chance of your designs being picked is rather slim. And even if they are chosen, the monetary reward is usually pretty low, much lower than you would be paid in the industry for the same work. So you end up doing all of this custom work (completed

products) for absolutely no money (most of the time). The client gets to see all of the work that is submitted, so even if they don’t choose your design, they still get to see it and could decide to replicate it in house or on their own. Also, many designers could submit stolen work or stock work and the client wouldn’t know the better. There is no integrity in 99designs because it’s anonymous. You don’t know whom you’re working with and you can’t verify the design work. If you use services like 99designs and other people in your industry find out about it, you become worth less to the clients.

RENO -- On April 5, some of Reno’s most talented designers, writers, and developers will come together to rebrand Committee to Aid Abused Women (CAAW) in 24 hours. The event, called Reno Wired, was founded by Kevin Jones, co-founder at Cloudsnap; Jenna Hubert, designer at KPS3 Marketing; and Julia Kruper, account manager at KPS3 Marketing. “We’re very excited to work with CAAW,” said Kevin Jones. “Within a 24 hour period, we’re going to try to build CAAW a brand that will last them years. The team is passionate about this event, and, if all goes well, we’re hoping to make it happen annually. ” Reno Wired is currently looking for volunteers and donors to help the day of the event. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can find more information at renowired.com. The event will be held at the Reno Collective on April 5. “We were so happy to hear that CAAW was selected for Reno Wired,” said Denise Yoxsimer, Executive Director of CAAW. “We are more than ready for a new brand, and believe that this project will help propel us forward as we continue to help families deal with domestic violence.” Reno Wired reviewed more than 20 applications from a variety of nonprofit organizations. After interviewing the finalists, the Reno Wired team selected CAAW as the lucky recipient of the branding project. “So many great organizations applied, so it was hard to narrow it down,” said Jenna Hubert. “We took a lot into consideration during the application process, and in the end we decided CAAW could benefit the most from our event.” The Reno Wired team is made up of 15 professionals representing a variety of local businesses, including The Abbi Agency, Arborglyph, Calvert Photography, Innerwest Advertising, KPS3, Noble Studios, Stan Can and Trinity AI. Reno Type, a local full-service printer, will also be working throughout the night to print and deliver printed materials by 8am on April 6. Visit renowired.com to donate or learn how to get involved. Reno Wired was inspired by ZURBWired, an annual 24-hour design marathon based in Campbell, Cal.

What I most enjoyed about college was making connections between my classes. For example, say I’m taking a sociology class and we are discussing gender roles and how that affects society, and then in my media ethics class we are discussing a controversial Benetton advertising campaign that many people found sexist. BAM! Connection across disciplines made. I experienced the same joy in attending South by Southwest Interactive 2013 by happy accident. The second day I was there I attended a session called “How Twitter Has Changed How We Watch TV” by Jenn Deering Davis @jdeeringdavis (check out the conversation from the session via the hashtag: #tweetTV). Davis discussed how Twitter conversation can help predict whether or not a show is going to be (or is) successful. Also, I just barely made it into this session, check out this vine, it’s the people waiting to get into the session that is already full. According to amount of tweets, here is a comparison of different types of programming: Ongoing: A show that has many “shocking” things happen throughout the series (like Pretty Little Liars or The Walking Dead) Finale: A show that saves the “shocking” moments for the finale Event: A big, one time event like the Grammys or the Super Bowl Streaming: Something like when Netflix released “House of Cards” season 1 all at once. So basically what is happening is people are watching these shows live (ideally) and tweeting/facebooking about what is happening as it happens. In fact, 88 percent of people are now multi-tasking while watch TV. Why do they do it? To feel like they are part of something: 51 percent of people tweet about shows to feel more connected to other viewers. But all of this is happening live right? So what about when people are watching popular TV shows the next day, or the next week on Hulu or online? They won’t want to check social media for fear of spoilers. So now what?

So then the next day I happen to end up at this panel discussion called “Death of the couch potato: the future of social TV.” Perfect right? The panelists were from USA Network, Univision and The Next Web @Jesseredniss @dbecktweets @hermioneway @starexplorer (check out conversation from the session via the hashtag: #socialTV). So the question going into this session was: But what if they aren’t watching live? Everything the networks are doing is encouraging live viewing. But I know that many people in my generation don’t even bother purchasing cable because we know we can watch whatever we want online (hbo go, hulu, Netflix, network websites … etc). So I was elated when David Beck from Univision answered my question. I discuss his answer in this video below:

We can learn a lot from what TV is doing. They are listening to their viewers and they are responding in real time. Some shows even provide alternate endings depending on how their fans vote. Networks of course want viewers to watch live because it builds hype and ultimately makes their shows more popular. But now what do we do about these people who aren’t watching TV live? We can look at the release of “House of Cards” on Netflix and how much conversation that drove even though it wasn’t live viewing. And what do we do about non-live viewers avoiding spoilers? Simulate the “live” experience by watching online and viewing the social interactions in pace with the programming. That’s not the only solution but it’s definitely a start. The future of television viewing is capturing the fans, no matter where they are and inviting them to be a part of this overall phenomenon. USA Network is giving their fans special access online with bonus content and getting behind the scenes looks. The more you engage, the more you get out of it. And the fans will want to dive deeper into their favorite shows to get to know their favorite characters better. The takeaway is that if fans are passionate about a show they will show up no matter what, no matter when and participate in the social conversation, which will drive their friends to want to find out what that show is about. But TV aside, we can apply this to any industry and how important it is to listen to your audience or customers for feedback and adjust accordingly.

Ongoing: A show that has many “shocking” things happen throughout the series (like Pretty Little Liars or The Walking Dead) Finale: A show that saves the “shocking” moments for the finale Event: A big, one time event like the Grammys or the Super Bowl

Streaming: Something like when Netflix released “House of Cards” season 1 all at once. So basically what is happening is people are watching these shows live (ideally) and tweeting/facebooking about what is happening as it happens. In fact, 88 percent of people are now multi-tasking while watch TV. Why do they do it? To feel like they are part of something: 51 percent of people tweet about shows to feel more connected to other viewers. But all of this is happening live right? So what about when people are watching popular TV shows the next day, or the next week on Hulu or online? They won’t want to check social media for fear of spoilers. So now what?

On April 5, some of Reno’s most talented designers, writers, and developers will come together to rebrand Committee to Aid Abused Women (CAAW) in 24 hours. The event, called Reno Wired, was founded by Kevin Jones, co-founder at Cloudsnap; Jenna Hubert, designer at KPS3 Marketing; and Julia Kruper, account manager at KPS3 Marketing. “We’re very excited to work with CAAW,” said Kevin Jones. “Within a 24 hour period, we’re going to try to build CAAW a brand that will last them years. The team is passionate about this event, and, if all goes well, we’re hoping to make it happen annually. ” Reno Wired is currently looking for volunteers and donors to help the day of the event. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can find more information at renowired.com. The event will be held at the Reno Collective on April 5. “We were so happy to hear that CAAW was selected for Reno Wired,” said Denise Yoxsimer, Executive Director of CAAW. “We are more than ready for a new brand, and believe that this project will help propel us forward as we continue to help families deal with domestic violence.” Reno Wired reviewed more than 20 applications from a variety of nonprofit organizations. After interviewing the finalists, the Reno Wired team selected CAAW as the lucky recipient of the branding project. “So many great organizations applied, so it was hard to narrow it down,” said Jenna Hubert. “We took a lot into consideration during the application process, and in the end we decided CAAW could benefit the most from our event.” The Reno Wired team is made up of 15 professionals representing a variety of local businesses, including The Abbi Agency, Arborglyph, Calvert Photography, Innerwest Advertising, KPS3, Noble Studios, Stan Can and Trinity AI. Reno Type, a local full-service printer, will also be working throughout the night to print and deliver printed materials by 8am on April 6. Visit renowired.com to donate or learn how to get involved. Reno Wired was inspired by ZURBWired, an annual 24-hour design marathon based in Campbell, Cal. About Committee to Aid Abused Women (CAAW) The Committee to Aid Abused Women, an Organization for Families, provides free, confidential, bilingual services to families in Washoe County as they seek to end the abuse in their lives. CAAW’s mission – Changing Lives, Ending Family Violence – guides the organization. In addition to emergency shelter, transitional housing, and protection orders, CAAW also operates a 24-hour crisis hotline for victims of domestic abuse and their families. For more on CAAW, visit caaw.org.

The Reno Wired project has chosen its nonprofit, which will get an online makeover at the group's April 5-6 hackathon. A team of local, volunteer designers and developers promises to design a branding campaign for The Committee to Aid Abused Women (CAAW) in a 24-hour marathon work session. "'Branding' basically just means giving a company/organization a unified identity. Often, with nonprofits (who don't have large budgets), a lot of their designed materials are donated from different people and end up looking different," said Reno's Nicole Rose Dion earlier this year. She is on the Reno Wired team. The event was founded by Kevin Jones, co-founder at Cloudsnap; Jenna Hubert, designer at KPS3 Marketing; and Julia Kruper, account manager at KPS3 Marketing. Reno Wired is looking for volunteers and donors to help the day of the event. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can find more information at renowired.com. The event will be held at the Reno Collective on April 5. The Reno Wired team is made up of 15 professionals representing a variety of local businesses, including The Abbi Agency, Arborglyph, Calvert Photography, Innerwest Advertising, KPS3, Noble Studios, Stan Can and Trinity AI. Reno Type, a local full-service printer, will also be working throughout the night to print and deliver printed materials by 8am on April 6. The Reno event is based on a similar 24-hour rebranding event called Zurbwired. About Committee to Aid Abused Women (CAAW) The Committee to Aid Abused Women, an Organization for Families, provides free, confidential, bilingual services to families in Washoe County as they seek to end the abuse in their lives. CAAW’s mission – Changing Lives, Ending Family Violence – guides the organization. In addition to emergency shelter, transitional housing, and protection orders, CAAW also operates a 24-hour crisis hotline for victims of domestic abuse and their families. For more on CAAW, visit caaw.org.

A Reno public relations firm is adding an office in the Emergency Arts building on Fremont Street, aiming its focus on the growing tech startup business environment in Las Vegas. Leah Scherschel, account executive at The Abbi Agency, said the firm had been looking at San Francisco to open a satellite office. Instead, the company chose Las Vegas because of the improved business climate downtown, especially with tech startups spurred by the upcoming move of Zappos into the old City Hall on Stewart Avenue. “When Vegas came on the radar, we knew it’s where we are supposed to be,” Scherschel said. “It fits with our goal of helping Nevada.” The Abbi Agency also handled public relations for Project Vesto, a $100,000 business contest promoted by the state. With money provided by private investors and venture capitalists, Project Vesto is offering the money to one entrepreneur who comes up with the best plan for a new business. Winners are required to become “Nevada-based entities and hold a state business license.” The competition was open to all startups with less than $1 million in revenue and less than $100,000 in external equity investment. Scherschel said the contest drew 232 entries by the Dec. 31 deadline. Finalists will be announced at 5 p.m. Thursday; aspiring entrepreneurs made their pitches to a panel of judges in February. After the announcement, people will be able to vote online for their preferred business model. A winner will be announced, contest rules say, this spring. About 50 percent of the prize money will be awarded upfront, with the remaining money awarded after the business achieves certain milestones. Joe Schoenmann doesn’t just cover downtown, he lives and works there. Schoenmann is Greenspun Media Group’s embedded downtown journalist, working from an office in the Emergency Arts building.

The Abbi Agency is proud to welcome Social Media Coordinator Callie Crawford to the team. Crawford is on the Digital Communications team, coordinating social media outreach for several accounts including Natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bakery, Whitehall Lane Winery and Davidsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Organics. Her efforts have increased the engagement levels of each account on social media platform as much as 50%.

The Abbi Agency is proud to welcome Account Coordinator Connie Anderson to their expanding team. Anderson assists the Director of Public Relations and Account Executives with local and business-to-business research and media relations campaigns.

2/18/2013

I recently attended a Google Analytics training class, in San Francisco, put on by Cardinal Path. And now I’m here to share with the world how Google Analytics can benefit and complement your PR efforts. A constant obstacle in PR is measuring value. How do you prove to your client that an expert column on Entrepreneur.com is valuable to them? One easy way is via traffic to their website. The client should value traffic to their website (even if they don’t have ecommerce) because visits to a website translates into customers. Once they’ve landed on your website, it’s much easier to get them to do something. It’s like inviting someone into your home, once they smell the delicious muffins you are baking, they are going to want to try one. But before they are even in the house, how are you going to get them to try a muffin? So, how can you prove to your client that what you’re doing is bringing them web traffic? There are 2 ways this can be done with Google Analytics: # 1 Referral Traffic This is definitely the easiest way to show a client that your article generated traffic to their website. To do this, make sure your client either gives you log in access to their Google Analytics or makes your Google account an admin/user on their account. Once they do this, go into their Google Analytics profile and navigate to the “Traffic Sources” report. Then go to Overview < Sources < Referrals. This new page will show you the percentage of overall visits that referrals account for (at the top).

At the bottom of the page you will see a table with the referral sources listed. An example of a referral source would be “nytimes.com.” You can see on the right hand side of each source the number of visits resulted from that link on that website as well as average visit duration, bounce rate…etc. You can filter by date (up at the top) in order to report to your client weekly (or however often) how many visits their website received based on that article you placed on nytimes.com. But what about tracking referrals from stories that are set to appear in print, you ask? In that case, you would use campaign tracking: # 2 Campaign Tracking Let’s say you know that you’re pitching a certain reporter a special Valentine’s Day story that’s going to be featured in the print edition. This is how you would set up the campaign: If this story is placing on their websites, then you don’t need to worry about this, but if you know the story is going to appear in print and the reporter has graciously agreed to put a URL in the printed story to your client’s website, this is what you want to do: generate a specific tagged link for that reporter. To create a special link, use the Google Analytics URL builder tool:

Input the actual website url: [yourclientswebsite.com] Campaign source: new york times Campaign medium: placement Campaign term: (N/A) Campaign content: (N/A) Campaign Name: valentine’s day Then generate your URL. It’s going to be a big bad ugly mess (example): http://www.theabbiagency.com/?utm_source=new%2Byork%2Btimes&utm_medium=placement&utm_ campaign=valentine’s%2Bday You definitely don’t want to send that to the reporter (plus, what human being is going to spend the time typing that into their browser?). What you want to do is create a vanity URL which would be something like: theabbiagency.com/valentinesday that redirects (301 redirect, not 302!) to the super long campaign link (above). Now you’ll be able to track on Google Analytics how many people came to your website as a result of that placement in the New York Times print edition. Whether you go the simple route (referral traffic) or the slightly more complicated route (campaign tracking), you’ll be able to tell the client exactly how much traffic that placement in the New York Times web & print editions generated to their website. Ta da!

2/10/2013

2/8/2013

A picture is worth ten thousands likes. There’s no question that Instagram is the “underdog” social network that proves there is still room for social networks to be successful…and acquired by Facebook. Instagram offers a brilliant platform, particularly for brands and marketers. But the network can be ruined in the time it takes to choose a filter by taking away what makes it so cool and clogging it up with self-serving spam. Here are a few insights on how to not make Instagram a brand’s “on-the-go billboard”. Because there IS room for companies, and there are plenty doing it right! 1. Post actual photos: Don’t populate your feed with photos of text telling people about promotions and giving them facts. Instagram brings words to life through photos, but they still should be photos. Plus, you’ve got room for a caption. Take and share real photos. If you need to add text, consider using Overgram to add text subtlety. It’s free! 2. Take it slow: Nothing is worse than following an account that decides to post 30 photos in 2 minutes. I realize you may just get service or have A LOT to share, but remember that my Instagram experience is important to me, and I’d rather not have to scroll past your flood of photos to see content I like. Keep it limited and work to share only your best photos. It enriches your followers experience AND benefits you. If you’d like to combine photos, apps like Diptic and Fuzel can create a collage and export straight to Instagram to make the most out of one photo. 3. Pump the stock brakes: I don’t go on Instagram to see stock images. I don’t need to see your billboard, the really expensive shots of your menu items and hotel rooms, or some irrelevant image you found using the Flickr commons. If you’re going to represent a brand on Instagram, give it flavor. Give me the backstage pass, the chef’s hat, or the passenger seat to where your brand is, where it’s going, and what it likes to do. Instagram is about gritty, on-the-go images that take us behind closed doors (you know, the place we all secretly want to go with Justin Bieber). One of my favorite music blogs, Brooklyn Vegan, fills me with jealously on a regular basis, allowing me to catch glimpses of bands that please my little hipster soul. I’d rather see that than a stream of Googled band images and show dates. 4. Involve your followers: Brands such as Red Bull, Southwest Air, and Audi have mastered creating communities on Instagram using hashtags and contests that get users to interact with their products and brand by connecting to their lifestyle and emotions. Southwest gave away a series of gift cards over the holidays to people who posted photos of their holiday “photo of the day” and used a special hashtag (also had to include their account handle) to enter. The entries flooded in, and during a time when people have traveling on their minds, Southwest caught their attention in all the right ways. Smart digital communications right there! 5. Comment back: Depending on the brand size, it can get difficult to answer response to photos, but it’s important to interact with people in Instagram. It’s a network largely based on the intimacy that a photo provides, and that intimacy includes conversation (in the form of comments) made regarding the photos. Try to make communication a two way street and people will be excited not just to follow you, but to interact with you. The most important thing to remember is that people use Instagram as a new scope to see the world around them. Make your content real- if your followers want to go to a certain place or do a certain thing as a result of you, then you can bet they’re going to your brand/products right there with them.

Nicole here, Digital Communications at The Abbi Agency. Unlike my coworkers, I spend my days buried in style sheets, not emails. It’s no wonder that I’m more familiar with the intricacies of colors than they are. The only time they think about color is when they are deciding what color to paint their walls. But they should think about color more and here’s why: Often I will be asked from my coworkers to design a flier or something along those lines. I always ask, “Is it for print or web?” They always say print thinking they plan to print it out and hang it on walls. So I will design the flier in CMYK mode (color mode used for printing). Then, I’ll see that they saved the flier as a JPEG and uploaded it to Facebook and now all the colors are weird. What happened? The difference between CMYK & RGB: CMYK CMYK stands for “Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black,” the colors that your printer pulls from when printing out things. Printers typically print using dots, so if I had a green graphic, the printer would print lots of tiny yellow dots on top of lots of tiny cyan dots to make the image look green. When I’m designing something for print, I tell my program to format the document in CMYK. This basically just means when I select colors, I’m telling the document to remember these colors in percentages of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black. For example, this color is:

95 % Cyan 69 % Magenta 4 % Yellow 0 % Black RGB RGB stands for “Red, Green, & Blue.” This is how your computer screen reads colors. The reason there needs to be a difference between the two is because of the way light works. Light is coming out of your computer so you are viewing the colors differently than you would if you were looking at a piece of paper with color on it and light was hitting that color, reflecting off it. Computer screens read colors in amounts of Red, Green & Blue. Unlike print colors, when you mix all the screen colors together you get white. Print colors, when mixed together, look dark brown or black. This color is:

16 Red 92 Green 165 Blue In order to make THE SAME colors appear the same whether they are printed or used online, they must be formatted accordingly. I would save two different files: one for web, formatted with RGB and one formatted for print with CMYK. I would then give these two files to my coworker with the instructions on how to use them. The print one is only to be printed, the web one can be thrown up on Facebook. When you save a PDF thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been formatted for print as a JPEG and then upload it to Facebook, the colors are going to look funny because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trying to read the color values as RGB but they are really formatted in CMYK. Avoid all this drama and make sure you tell your designer what you plan on using the documents for. Also, if a reporter asks for photos to go along with a story, ask will they be printed or used for web or both? If they say both, you know you need to send two versions of the same photograph. If they say just web, send a photo in RGB. If they say just print, send the photo in CMYK mode. Now go forth in knowledge and excellence. Read more at http://www.business2community.com/marketing/whats-the-difference-between-cmykrgb-0387890#GTfD53eRewyJSop5.99

Today we will be discussing the way your computer processes information. Let’s look at this capital letter A for starters: A Look at that A. Really look at it…..how does it make you feel? No I’m just kidding. The reason I’m showing you a capital letter A is to convey how much it takes for your computer to store that amount of information. A capital letter A is expressed as01000001 in binary code (computer speak). Okay let’s back up. The smallest amount of information your computer processes is called a bit (just a wee bit!) and it is either expressed as a 1 or a 0. Bit stands for “Binary Unit” or “Binary Digit.” Your computer doesn’t actually see the letter ‘A’ it sees a series of 1s and 0s. You would think that the letter A would be only a bit but it’s actually more than that! The letter ‘A’ takes 8 bits to store (01000001) and we would refer to this as a “Byte.” Think of it in terms of measurement, a liter is 1000 milliliters, just like a byte is 8 bits. Now what happens when you get a BUNCH of Bytes together? 1 Kilobyte = 1,024 Bytes 1 Megabyte = 1,048,576 Bytes 1 Gigabyte = 1,073,741,824 Bytes That’s a lot of capital letter A’s! Okay so why should you care about all of this? Have you ever had an email not send? Outlook refused the message? Most likely your attachments were too large to send over email. A good rule of thumb for sending email is no more than 10 Megabytes. The person who you are trying to email the files to might not be able to receive anything more than that. Gmail allows its users to send up to 25 Megabytes! So next time you’re sending an email, add up the amount of Megabytes you are trying to send and make sure they are less than 10. If everything you are sending is measured in kilobytes, you’re probably fine! Go ahead and send that puppy. If you have files to send that are larger than 10 MB, try using file sharing, a cloud system or something like “yousendit” —and then there’s always the trusty CD or thumb-drive method. Now go forth in excellence!

Many of today’s entrepreneurs are looking to Kickstarter to give them the boost they need to get their product off the ground and to market, but Kickstarter is all or nothing. You either reach the goal you set in 60 days or less (and you are happily on your way) or you walk away empty handed. The promise of much needed funds is luring more and more projects to Kickstarter everyday and the competition is stiff. Creating conversation around your Kickstarter campaign means the difference between success and failure. The Power of the Kickstarter Video A compelling video is key to a successful Kickstarter campaign. Don’t rush into making your Kickstarter video, look at 50 Kickstarter videos before you even begin writing your script. Keep your video between two to three minutes long and don’t spend too much time talking about yourself—rather, talk about the product and emphasize its attributes. Your video should be useable for media as well; many media outlets will often include a link to your video in their story. I’m confident that you know a link in stories translates to more awareness, and more views on your video is key to moving up the Kickstarter ladder. Pitching the Media The media are not sitting around waiting for you to call them and write about your product. You need to have a plan and start talking to the media well before your product launches on Kickstarter. Media won’t run things the very second you send them, they wait until it fits in with a topic they are covering, BUT the media doesn’t want old news either. You have a small window to get their attention and you need a very solid plan to do this. Start by creating a media list of potential targets. Think about the top 10-20 blogs or online outlets that would have interest in your product. Also research which reporters are likely to write about Kickstarter campaigns by creating Google News alerts for certain keywords. Once you have a list of your targets separate them into different industry segments (such as industry, technology, consumer and business to business targets) and write individual and personalized e-mails to each person. Let them know you read their blog and understand what they write about. Don’t send reporters a blanket email (they hate this and it will guarantee your pitch ends up getting deleted). Ensure you have photos of your product for the press, they need to be web and print ready and should be professionally done. A story with a photo is worth a thousand words. If your product is not something that photographs well think about another tool, such as an infographic, that you can use to tell your story. Getting an image in a story as well as a mention is worth much more.

Once you have your media list, photos and video you need to develop your press kit. The three items you should have in addition to video and photography are: an overview release of your product, a Q & A document outlining the most commonly asked questions and bios on the company founders. Start your press release with the problem you are trying to solve; tie it into something that is trending nationally, use numbers and stats. Make the reporter’s job easy. Also, remember reporters love a good story. Tie the story into the press release or have it as a supporting document. Sell the emotion of your product. Highlight the history of the partners involved. There are a lot of people launching on kickstarter and the ones that receive the most attention highlight the capabilities of the team. This can be done QUICKLY in the beginning of your video or in the press releases. It’s also good to have bio’s on the member of your team ready for the press so they can highlight your background and expertise, this will help separate you from the 1,000 other start-ups launching that day. Upload all of your media contacts and other contacts into a free newsletter service such as Mail Chimp. That way you can easily keep track of who is opening what and when they are opening it. This will help you manage all the elements of your communications campaign in one place. You can create separate lists for “Friends & Family,” etc. It’s free for fewer than 2,000 contacts. Create a media or press room on your website and make it easy for reporters to access all the tools they will need. Make your images, press releases and video downloadable and easy to access. Mobilizing Your Network A well thought out and executed social media campaign can get you the attention you need. Who are the influencers on social media that you are trying to target? Set alerts for these people, follow them, separate them into your list, follow their blogs, connect with them on LinkedIn, etc. Make sure you share your page with everyone you can. Make it easy for your friends/family to share by offering them suggested Tweets, FB posts, blog contact, etc. Although they want to help you share your project sometimes they are really busy, and suggestions will make them more apt to spread your message. Include links back to your Kickstarter page and relevant search terms. Getting the “kickstarter” junkies on board is imperative. If they back it, they will send an email to their network that they did and the pledges will start coming in. Take away: Don’t jump into your Kickstarter campaign without a plan.

Time and time and time again, I write about companies seeking college students to serve as office slaves interns. Whether paid or for school credit, these internships aim to help the budding professionals attain valuable, real world experience to set their otherwise green résumés apart from the candidate pool. Could you be anymore of an overachiever? Those internships might provide an upper hand one day, but for undergrads focused more on paying for school than that provisional paycheck, CollegeHumor has just the scholarship. Introducing the Average Student Scholarship Contest, strictly for mediocre pupils who strive just enough to coast to graduation day. Before any public relations student graduates, there are several things they need to know prior to joining the workforce, writes Nicole Rose Dion of The Abbi Agency. First up: the difference between a kilobyte and a megabyte. English and journalism majors are destined to spend a lifetime arguing proper writing etiquette—a battle that left four copy editors dead after a street war raged between proponents of AP Style and The Chicago Manual. The Onion recounts the (made up) story. Speaking of made up, PR Daily reported this week on 12 fantabulous made-up words that we dared readers to use in their next client meetings. Meanwhile, Inc. lists 11 words it contends one should never use in sales or marketing.

Using the wrong words could send a bad message on behalf of a brand. However, new research suggests that a brand’s favorability among the public will determine the way its customers react during a PR crisis. Marketing professor Angela Y. Lee explains: "If Starbucks is part of you, and you read something negative about Starbucks, you feel attacked.” Meanwhile, OPEN Forum shares five brand trends that will affect them in 2013. As it so happens, one of those trends looks at the importance of packaging, with the idea of “on-the-go” playing a major factor in design. Perhaps that’s good news for Jackie Gendloff, who crafted a new energy drink concept called “1 Up,” based on “Super Mario Bros.” Check it out on Nerdalicious. While we’re on the subject, look at this heavy metal cover of the theme music to “Super Mario Bros.” played by Los Angeles guitarist Eric Calderone (a.k.a. Erock):

Mario isn’t the only cartoon character grabbing headlines. Reports Business Insider, Fred Flintstone just got Bedrock’d off the Fruity Pebbles cereal box, where he has been temporarily replaced by WWE star John Cena. Whose yabba dabba dumb idea was that? The famous partnership between “The Simpsons” and Butterfinger surprised the show’s creator, Matt Groening, who doubted the commercial interest of the show during its nascent stage. To mark the candy bar’s 90th birthday, Creativity rewinds with a look back at some of Butterfinger’s advertising highlights. Butterfinger might be just as spritely at 90 as it ever was, but for others, bilingualism could hold the key to keeping the brain sharp. LiveScience explains. Is there something you think we should include in our next edition of #TheDailySpin? Tweet me @iquotesometimes with your suggestions. Thanks in advance.