Author: Dana Phelps

Community Relations Spotlight: Chatham County Chef Challenge

Dana PhelpsBlog, Clairemont Client News, In Our Community

One of the things I love the most about Clairemont is that we get to work with such smart, creative and community-focused people! Our clients at Briar Chapel are absolute pros at community support and involvement. The key? A philanthropic mindset from the top — Bob McCleod, CEO of parent company Newland Communities, has a long history of humanitarian efforts — coupled with people throughout the company who have a personal passion for making a difference.

The Chatham County Chef Challenge is the perfect example. Passionate about health and wellness, education and the environment, the Briar Chapel team partnered with the Abundance Foundation to conceptualize the Chatham County Chef Challenge. Designed to increase fresh vegetables and fruits in the student lunches, educate the students and parents on the importance of a healthy lunch and increase participation in the school lunch program, the initiative was an easy sell to local celebrity chefs who are familiar with types of events and organizations Briar Chapel commonly supports.

An important part of the program was a training session where our celebrity chefs worked with the school cafeteria staffs to show them how to make their special dishes using ingredients available to the school lunchrooms. Below is a brief snippet of a Briar Chapel blog post on the training day, and to meet the chefs and sample their dishes that will become regular Chatham County school cafeteria menus, come out to Briar Chapel’s Earth Day event Saturday.

Summarized from the Briar Chapel blog…

After spending weeks creating the dishes, our chefs gathered last week to teach the 17 Chatham County School Cafeteria lunch managers the recipes. The managers went back to their kitchens and cook these dishes this week for all of the county school children.

The managers are of course the experts in feeding hundreds of children in a short period of time. They know what kids will and will not eat. Participating chefs included Chef Colin Bedford of Fearrington House, Chef Kelly Taylor and Chef Gregg Hamm of the Natural Chef Culinary Program at Central Carolina Community College (the first of it’s kind in the country) and Chef Jimmy Reale of Crossroads Restaurant located in the historical and beautiful Carolina Inn.

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Engaging Audiences

Dana PhelpsBlog, Furniture PR

I love social media, and at Clairemont, we love to effectively blend traditional communications with social media as part of a cohesive communications strategy. In recent years, “viral” and “engagement” have become social media buzzwords. Maybe that’s why I love when they exist in a live environment.

Check out these photos of what our smart clients at Drexel Heritage did last week during High Point Market. Something as simple as inviting guests to write on the showroom walls turned visitors into co-designers and created a who’s who of market visitors. See if you can spot the signature of a U.S. senator and what editors of top shelter magazines wrote.

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High Point Furniture Market

Dana PhelpsBlog, Clairemont Client News, The Clairemont Team

It is our favorite thing about spring — High Point Market. We love being onsite with our clients and helping them introduce new collections to media. So far we’ve met with editors of top magazines including Traditional Home, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Coastal Living, Good Housekeeping, Garden & Gun and Architectural Digest with appointments scheduled tomorrow with Southern Living, Country Living, Lonny Mag, Luxe and Real Simple.

Friday was a special day as U.S. Senator Kay Hagan stopped by our clients’ showrooms in support of North Carolina-based furniture manufacturers. We were pleased to host many regional and furniture trade news crews interested in covering Senator Hagan’s visit. In addition to crafting messaging, pitching media and coordinating logistics, we put the Clairemont touch on the tour by working with our clients to name a chair after Senator Hagan that was unveiled at the beginning of the media Q&A.

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Job Application Tips

Dana PhelpsBlog, Free Advice3 Comments on Job Application Tips

I’ll bet it would be difficult to calculate how many job application tips are available in books, news articles and blog posts. As I review resumes that have been submitted for our open positions, a few come to mind as the most important. Three things so simple they can be jotted on a napkin (with room left to doodle)…which is exactly what I did earlier today.

Follow instructions. For example, along with a resume and salary requirements, we ask candidates to write “a paragraph or two about why you would make an outstanding addition to the Clairemont team.” If it takes you six paragraphs, I will think you lack the ability to follow instructions and to be a succinct writer.

At the same time, if you apply for a job without the stated minimum experience, your ability to follow instructions can be in question. Instead of trying to convince me that as a student you can do the job of someone with five years of agency experience, consider admitting that you know you are not qualified and offer your resume for future entry level positions.

Take your time. When you respond to a job post and are corresponding with the hiring manager via email, take your time. Pay attention to details. Proof your work. Read what you’ve written again. Think about your tone. I wonder if social media might be making people more causal in other forms of communications. Conversational and professional can — and should — live together.

Resist the urge to cyberstalk. Since Clairemont blends traditional communications with social media as part of client strategies, it is essential that candidates are social media literate. If you meet the job requirements and get invited to an interview, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you’ve read this blog before, you might know that @ok2hooray sealed the deal at Clairemont by using social media. She did it the right way. Is there just one right way? Absolutely not, but whatever you do, be sincere and don’t show up unannounced on my virtual doorstep. Let me explain. If we’ve never had a live conversation when you have emailed your resume to me, followed me on Twitter, commented on multiple blog posts I’ve written, attempted to friend me on Facebook and have asked to link to me on LinkedIn, it is likely too much.

Okay now, I need to say why I’m writing this post in the first place. I remember what it was like graduating in a down economy. Whether it was entry level or an executive position, I know what it is like to really want a job. I truly hope that these tips are helpful if you are interested in applying for a position with Clairemont or for any job. Nothing is better than finding a perfect opportunity, landing an interview, nailing that interview and being offered a dream position. That is my wish for all job seekers reading this. Good luck!

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