This past weekend, my husband, faithful mutt and I participated in the K9-3K, a fundraiser for the Wake County SPCA. Something like 1,500 dogs and 3,200 people were on hand in Moore Square to raise money and awareness for homeless pets. In a word, insanity, but for a good cause — the event raised over $214,000!
Farmers with smart phones? Tweeting cows? Agriculture often gets a bad rep for being slow to adapt, but today’s farmers are quickly embracing social media, and ag communicators should as well.
This topic was addressed at the most recent CV-NAMA program, held March 23 at Bogart’s in downtown Raleigh. Approximately 25 people showed up to listen to a panel of their peers discuss the whys and hows of social media. The panel was moderated by yours truly and consisted of our own Karlie Justus; Jen Nixon, public information officer for the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services and the N.C. State Fair; and Dave Smith, N.C. Farm Bureau public relations director (pictured below from left to right).
Some key takeaways from the evening:
Thanks to both panelists and attendees for a great conversation!
Howard, Merrell & Partners recently picked up two awards at the Carolinas/Virginia Best of NAMA (National Agri-Marketing Association) program for a blog developed for BASF Plant Science’s NutriDense brand. The NutriDense blog won first place in the chapter and regional categories of the Interactive Marketing Tools division and will advance to the National Best of NAMA competition. The Best of NAMA awards program honors the best work in agricultural communications.
Read the announcement here.
Howard, Merrell & Partners received four awards Tuesday at the Carolinas-Virginia Best of NAMA (National AgriMarketing Association) program for its advertising and public relations work for BASF Plant Science. Courtney Beck and Karlie Justus attended the event and accepted the awards on behalf of BASF Plant Science.
HM&P received a chapter merit and regional merit in the Single Page Ads, Series division for the “Starry Night,” “Maze” and “Rainbow” ads created for NutriDense®. In the public relations category, HM&P won chapter and regional top honors in the Interactive Marketing Tools division for the NutriDense blog. The blog will go on for judging in the National Best of NAMA competition.
Folks from all HM&P departments contributed to the success of these campaigns, so congrats all around!
P.T. Barnum once said,” Any publicity is good publicity.” This article, however, begs to differ. Enjoy a laugh at someone else’s expense, just don’t get any bright ideas!
It’s that time of year! Sinuses are clogging, Duke is choking and the intern resumes are flowing. Faithful interns, we salute your willingness to work hard and sacrifice for (little to) no money, but unfortunately your youthful enthusiasm and vigor will only get you so far. Here are a few tips to help you move past the resume screening and into our office for an interview:
DO:
• Proofread, proofread, proofread! Proof it yourself, give it to your roommate if he’s sober, give it to your mom, proof it again yourself. For the love of all that is sacred, proofread.
• Tell me what you can do. Just starting out in your degree program and don’t have much PR experience? That’s OK, it’s just an internship and you’ve got to start somewhere. But give me something to work with – classes you’ve taken, retail jobs worked, leadership positions held.
• Write a cover letter that tells me why you want to intern at this agency. Not just any agency – this agency.
• Exploit the hell out of your school’s Career Service people. They’re there, everyday, playing solitaire and just waiting for someone to make use of their skills. Think of them as the holy grail of your internship search.
DON’T:
• Exaggerate. Instead of trying to overinflate your crappy summer job, briefly tell what you did and why it matters. Gold star if you can do it from a PR-perspective.
• List your mom as a reference.
• Misspell the name of the agency or the name of the cover letter recipient. Please. Also, be sure that the name of your cover letter recipient is correct – when in doubt, “to whom it may concern” works just fine.
• Pull a Joan Jett and not care about your reputation. We will search for you on Facebook and MySpace, so be careful what you’re posting. We’re looking for someone to work with, not party with, so pictures of you doing belly shots are not going to impress us.
• Ask me to e-mail you at HotMama@yahoo.com. It won’t happen.
Take heart, young PR padawan! Sure, internships are a lot of work to get and even more work once you’ve landed one, but do it well and there’s a light at the end of the tunnel – a paycheck! Not from us, but you know, from someone.
