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Year: 2011

Green Thought Thursday: A Tree-Mendous Challenge

December 15, 2011January 31, 2023 Josephine ButlerBlog, SustainabilityAmerican Tobacco Historic District, Durham, green Christmas tree decorations, green ornaments, natural holiday decorations, The Herald-Sun, Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge, Triangle Family Services

We just can’t seem to stop talking about Triangle Family Services. From the recent media successes of the Ninth Annual Gingerbread Benefit to spending time chatting with CEO Alice Lutz, the Clairemont team is always ready to jump in and help this wonderful organization, which has been serving families in crisis for nearly 75 years. And now…it’s your turn to help. I have a tree-mendous challenge for you.

In the spirit of the holiday season, Durham’s American Tobacco Historic District is sponsoring the Second Annual Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge. The organization invited more than 60 nonprofits to come out and decorate a tree in hopes of winning one of several prizes, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. In addition to the all-star judging ceremony held on Dec. 18, fans have a chance to have their say, too. Be sure to head over to www.triangletreechallenge.com to cast your vote for Triangle Family Services — tree No. 59!

And what does this have to do with Green Thought Thursday? Well, just take a look!

We love Triangle Family Services' naturally decorated tree!

Doro Taylor, an avid TFS supporter and board member, dressed the tree with natural decorations in celebration of the organization’s upcoming 75th anniversary. She wanted to use ornaments that would have been used in 1937, the year the organization was founded. The “no frills” approach, Lutz told The Herald-Sun, models Triangle Family Services’ straight-forward approach to helping families in crisis.

From pinecones to berries, I never considered the fact that a tree could be made so beautiful by simply using materials from your own backyard! Once the holiday season is over, this will certainly save a lot of old decorations from going into the landfills, and the best part? There’s no breakdown involved. It’s a mess-free Christmas tree!

So won’t you please take a moment to vote for TFS and Doro’s creativity? And be sure to share ways that you use nature decorate your home for the holidays. We’re all (elf) ears!

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Whaddaya Think About That?

December 14, 2011January 31, 2023 Josephine ButlerBlog, Clairemont Client News, In Our CommunityABC 11, Cary Citizen, Cary Magazine, Independent Weekly, media coverage, NBC 17, News & Observer, Ninth Annual Gingerbread Benefit, Triangle Family Services, Winston Salem Journal
Coverage by the News & Observer

In lieu of our usual Q&A session, we’d like to dedicate this Whaddaya Think Wednesday to Triangle Family Services’ 9th Annual Gingerbread Benefit. As huge proponents of this wonderful organization that helps more than 7,000 individuals and families in the Triangle each year, we were honored to create a media strategy for the benefit, the agency’s premier fundraising event.

Believe it or not, we began planning our media strategy for this year’s Gingerbread Benefit at last year’s Gingerbread Benefit! After successfully landing coverage with the News & Observer, Triangle Business Journal, Cary Citizen, Garner Citizen, ABC 11 and several local online news sources (and winning an Award of Excellence during the North Carolina Public Relations Society InSpire Awards, as well as a Gold and Best in Division award from the Raleigh Public Relations Society Sir Walter Raleigh Awards), we set even higher goals for 2012.

Through carefully crafted messaging and diligent pitching efforts, all of the hard work paid off! TFS received some really critical coverage before the big Dec. 1 event, making it the most successful Gingerbread Benefit to date! So whaddaya think about that?

Check out some of the coverage by visiting any of the links below:

Articles

The 8th Annual Gingerbread Benefit
Leslie Huffman, Cary Citizen
>>View Article

Gingerbread Benefit
Cary Magazine
>>ViewArticle

Gingerbread Benefit
Zack Smith, Independent Weekly
>>ViewArticle

Gingerbread Gala on tap for Triangle Family Services
Carol Tanzer Miller, The News & Observer, Mouthful
>>ViewArticle

Gingerbread Houses Raise $90,000 in Cary
Lindsey Chester, Cary Citizen
>>View Article

Videos

Coverage by ABC 11

Preparations begin for Triangle Family Services Gingerbread Benefit
ABC 11
>>View

Triangle Family Services
ABC 11, Heart of the Carolinas Perspectives
>>View

Triangle Family Services Gingerbread Benefit
NBC 17
>>View

Triangle Family Services Gingerbread Benefit
Winston Salem Journal
>>View

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Trends Tuesday: Leather Weather

December 13, 2011January 31, 2023 Dana PhelpsBlog, TrendsBloomingdale's, Drexel Heritage, fashion, home decor, InStyle, leather, Traditional Home

Want to know the latest trends? Tune in on Trends Tuesday!

Leather is the word of the day, as we conclude a series of posts inspired by the InStyle article 5 Ways to Wake Up Your Work Wardrobe. And here is InStyle’s advice for workplace wear: Incorporate Leather — Make skins safe for the office by choosing unexpectedly feminine shapes, darker tones (bright shades might be too kooky), and refined textures. Even a single piece of leather jewelry will inject edge. 

Leather bangles available at Bloomingdale's.

Of the 5 trends InStyle wrote about, as a business owner, I have the hardest time seeing this one as office friendly. I’m not saying it can’t be done, I would just say to proceed with caution. The safe way to go is with accessories… leather shoes, handbags andbelts are a given. Think about how to expand your leather accessories by changing from a gold or silver watch band to an updated leather one or, as InStyle suggests, try leather jewelry which can look quite sophisticated. I like this House of Harlow leather drop necklace and crystal and leather bangle bracelets.

In home decor, leather seems to be making a comeback. As we blogged about a few months ago for our client, Drexel Heritage, leather in bold greens and mustards are hot in decor. See Traditional Home‘s leather faves in our post called Fashion Forward.

Am I being narrow-minded about the office attire? What do you think? Leather pants for a client meeting? How about a fitted leather jacket for a client event? Workplace fashionistas, let’s hear what you have to say!

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More Monday: To Delete or Not to Delete…

December 12, 2011January 31, 2023 Josephine ButlerBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagementdelete comments, delete fans, Facebook, negative Facebook comments, when to delete
To delete or not to delete....That is the question.

We’ve all faced this dilemma. Realizing that it’s generally good practice to leave negative comments up on a company’s Facebook page (ChapStick definitely learned this lesson the hard way), we’ve also come to the conclusion that there’s a lot of gray area.

According to Russell Working of Ragan.com, it’s OK to delete fans and/or comments under several circumstances. First off, and definitely the most obvious, is that it’s OK to delete fans’ comments that make hurtful, derogatory or defamatory personal statements about other fans on the page, including brand administrators. Second off, he writes, it’s OK to kill trolls, or anyone who posts inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages on your page. But what about when the answer’s not so obvious?

Building social media strategies as well as managing day-to-day interactions for our clients makes us no stranger to dealing with questions, complaints and issues. However, one particular fan of a client’s Facebook page recently tested our dislike for deleting and blocking.  Because we so commonly advise to let negative comments live (typically along with appropriate responses), we went through several weeks of back and forth, in attempts to be helpful.

This included our timely responses saying we were sorry to hear of the issue and thank you for contacting us, along with the information the customer needed to correct her issues – as determined by our client’s customer service process. We also worked closely with our client’s customer service team, and we knew they were making every attempt possible to help her. Still, she continued to post her initial complaints on the page, again and again. Additionally, she created a Facebook page “boycotting” our client and made posts to the wall from this account, in addition to her personal page.

Despite what we tried to do to help, she persisted in posting the same information multiple times, and furthermore, was misrepresenting the situation. She was hijacking the page! While a few other fans cried uncle, we also noticed that our normal level of positive interactions was declining. Our loyal fans were being robbed of what they loved about and expected from the page.

After careful (and painful) consideration, we decided to ban the fan. We have never had to do this before (and hope to never have to do it again), but ultimately, her excessive posts were taking away from other fans’ enjoyment of the page. In total transparency, we simultaneously blocked her and posted about why we did it on the wall.  In response, we received only positive comments (some said thank you!) from other people who like the page.

It was a difficult decision to make. Do you think we did the right thing? Have you ever encountered something similar? How do you handle negative comments? As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on this More Monday!

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Green Thought Thursday: Green with Envy

December 8, 2011January 31, 2023 Josephine ButlerBlog, SustainabilityGoodwill, Green fashion, recycling clothes, thrift store
This is the shirt Dana gave me -- don't you dig its pom-pom fringe?

Can you guess which pieces of my wardrobe get the most compliments and make my friends go green with envy (pun definitely intended)? All of my thrifty finds and hand-me-downs, of course!

If you read my previous Green Thought Thursday, Feeling Thrifty?, then you know that I am a big-time thrift store shopper — I just love the thrill of the hunt! You would also know that by shopping at thrift stores and recycling clothes, you’re keeping millions of pounds of textile clothing out of landfills each year. Goodwill Industries alone reported saving roughly 33,136,946 pounds of clothing from going into landfills in 2010!

Recently, I was the recipient of yet another awesome hand-me-down when Dana gave me a shirt that she found at a thrift store many years ago. What’s cool about it? It’s handmade out of an old sheet! Sound weird? I think not. It’s actually quite stylish.

Blake Lively is InStyle!

We recently stumbled upon this little gem in InStyle — it’s a Tory Burch scarf with pom-pom fringe sported by none other than Blake Lively. The shirt Dana gave me also has pom-pom fringe, and when cinched in the middle with a cute belt, this piece also makes quite a statement.

Found something worth bragging about at a thrift store? I’d love to hear your stories (and be green with envy, too)! Do share!

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clairemontcommunications

Have you heard about Meta’s newest social media Have you heard about Meta’s newest social media platform? It’s called Threads, and it’s being referred to as “the new Twitter.” Read everything you need to know about Threads in our latest blog post - link in bio!
SNEAK PEEK! @dellthepig landed at @wendellfallsnc SNEAK PEEK! @dellthepig landed at @wendellfallsnc (client) today, and rumor has it that @blah2voila has already been hamming it up with Dell! We know you want a selfie with Dell to post on Pigstagram, too!
We are proud to represent Raleigh as a member of P We are proud to represent Raleigh as a member of Public Relations Consultants Group, allowing us to offer clients expertise and support across the country! Clairemont founder, Dana Phelps aka @blah2voila, recently attended the PRCG conference in Oklahoma City.
2022 has been a fantastic year for Clairemont Comm 2022 has been a fantastic year for Clairemont Communications! Visit our blog for the full 2022 year in review!
As communications professionals, we wear a variety As communications professionals, we wear a variety of hats to meet our clients’ needs.
 
We’re writers, social media managers, photographers, marketers, editors, content creators- the list goes on and on.
 
Check out our recent blog post to learn what @olivia.noles , account coordinator here at Clairemont, does on a weekly and monthly basis.
#communicationsagency #communicationsmajor #pragencylife #pragency #raleighpr
This Friday, Clairemont’s Dana Phelps, @blah2voi This Friday, Clairemont’s Dana Phelps, @blah2voila , will be speaking at the 2022 @nc_prsa Strategic Communication & MarCom Conference! Phelps is a repeat presenter at this annual conference, and this year she is leading a session called Growing from Communication Technician to Strategic Counselor during which she will share three of her coined concepts: knowcasting, morecasting and collabolighthing. Visit our blog for the link to register for the conference!
@clairemontcommunications and @yellowdogcreative g @clairemontcommunications and @yellowdogcreative go together like the bacon and eggs! And speaking of bacon and eggs, have you been to @therainbowluncheonette yet? YUM!
Later this year, Clairemont client @wendellfallsnc Later this year, Clairemont client @wendellfallsnc, a master-planned community just 15 miles from downtown Raleigh, will welcome @parksideraleigh, a Raleigh-favorite restaurant known for its fresh, made-from-scratch dishes, to the community!
 
Visit our blog to see the @trianglebizjrnl coverage and read the full feature in the TBJ to learn more about Parkside.
“What exactly does a PR Agency do?” Because we “What exactly does a PR Agency do?” Because we get this question often, we have a series on our blog where we dive into our recent projects to give you a look at what a PR Agency really does.
 
For example, a statewide resource for small businesses recently hired Clairemont to devise an executive visibility campaign to help position the organization and its director as the leading small business resource in North Carolina.
 
Head to our blog to read what exactly an executive visibility campaign entails and to learn more about our services!
So you say it’s National Coffee Day? We say let So you say it’s National Coffee Day? We say let us tell you about our new favorite @drink321coffee ! If you are in Raleigh, go see Paul, the other Paul, Emma  or whichever smiling faces are working today. We LOVE this place and the coffee! ❤️❤️❤️
Our client @wendellfallsnc, one of the largest mas Our client @wendellfallsnc, one of the largest master-planned communities in the Triangle, closed on its first age-eligible rental community plan, Arden at Wendell Falls, that will offer 140 open-concept units and exclusive onsite amenities!
 
Visit our blog to see the @trianglebizjrnl coverage and read the full feature in the TBJ to learn more about Arden at Wendell Falls.
Staying in Raleigh this Labor Day weekend? Stop by Staying in Raleigh this Labor Day weekend? Stop by client @vitaviteraleigh for good snacks and great wine!🍷 Both locations are open normal hours Friday-Sunday and closed on Monday.
You never know who might be hanging out at The Cla You never know who might be hanging out at The Clairemont House. Thanks to @yellowdogcreative for helping save this buddy. Notice that we speak lizard. Or skink. Or gecko or whatever he is. Or maybe it’s the extra caffeine before our client presentation.
Yep, our town is pretty cool. #raleigh Yep, our town is pretty cool. #raleigh
Who wants to have a Friday afternoon porch meeting Who wants to have a Friday afternoon porch meeting?
Congrats to our new neighbor on Bloodworth Street Congrats to our new neighbor on Bloodworth Street South @raleighwineshop ! @blah2voila was there today representing Clairemont at the grand opening festivities and enjoying the @grandchamphospitality sandwich pop up. Yum! 🍷🥪
It’s National Volunteer Month, and volunteers ar It’s National Volunteer Month, and volunteers are needed more than ever! Many organizations with scarce resources rely on volunteers and would not exist without them. Visit our recent blog post to read about the organizations Clairemont has supported and how you can make a difference in your community!
Authenticity is trending, and research shows that Authenticity is trending, and research shows that consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic. Read our recent blog post to learn about UGC, how it can benefit your brand and how to use it in your marketing strategy.
From social values to behavior patterns, COVID-19 From social values to behavior patterns, COVID-19 has left an impact on every sector of life, including marketing. Read our blog on marketing in a post-COVID world to learn how things have changed and how that should impact your business strategy.
We are so excited to share that Clairemont earned We are so excited to share that Clairemont earned eight awards, five gold🥇and three silver🥈, at this year's Sir Walter Raleigh Awards hosted by the Raleigh Public Relations Society!🎉 We are beyond grateful to work with so many amazing partners, clients and industry friends!
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