Author: Josephine Butler

Clairemont Shares Award-Winning Advice with Raleigh PR Group

Josephine ButlerBlog, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, , , , , , , ,
Dana strikes a pose with Eva Hornak, awards chair for RPRS, at the May luncheon.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Raleigh Public Relations Society May luncheon, where a panel of past Sir Walter Raleigh Awards recipients shared advice on how to create award-winning entries. The group of panelists consisted of Raleigh PR agency experts including Clairemont’s very own CEO, Dana Hughens (did you know that last year, Clairemont Communications received 10 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards?).

I was excited to attend not just to hear Dana speak, but also because it was a great opportunity to jot down a few tips and tricks on how to make my own entries stand out. These are a few of my favorites:

1)   Have someone from the outside review your entry. This may mean having your client proof the entry, but someone at your agency who isn’t on the account could also work.

2)   Presentation is important. Impress the judges with your organizational skills and visual aesthetic.

3)   Write your entry early. Even though Sir Walter Raleigh Award entries aren’t due until around June, it’s a great idea to get started early. If you complete a project in February, go ahead and write the entry in February! Continue reading “Clairemont Shares Award-Winning Advice with Raleigh PR Group”

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Join Us Tomorrow for Earth Day at Briar Chapel!

Josephine ButlerBlog, Sustainability
We hope to see you there!

We can’t wait to celebrate Mother Nature and all of her glory tomorrow at Briar Chapel‘s Earth Day celebration. Deemed “A Celebration of All Things Local,” there are a few things that we’re sure you won’t want to miss. For those of you who like to plan ahead, here’s a schedule for the day:

Morning Activities

7:30 a.m. Registration for the Briar Chapel 5K begins.

9:00 a.m. Ready…set…go! It’s time for the Briar Chapel 5K.

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Afternoon Activities

3:00 p.m. Food trucks, including BaguetteAboutIt, Chirba Chirba Dumpling, Will & Pop’s and The Parlour, begin serving!

3:15 p.m. King BMX stunt crew performs.

3:45 p.m. Lizzy Ross Band takes the stage.

4:15 p.m. Linda Watson of Cook for Good and author of Wildly Affordable Organic offers a cooking demonstration.

4:45 p.m. Tom Maxwell plays some tunes.

5:15 p.m. YardSprout demonstrates how to create your own container garden.

5:30 p.m. Another performance from King BMX stunt crew.

6:00 p.m. Afternoon activities conclude and food trucks pack up and go.

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Evening Activities

6:00 p.m. Best Buddy Contest video showcase.

6:30 p.m. Best Buddy Contest winner announced.

7:00 p.m. Disney-Pixar’s “Wall-E” will be screened on the green.

We hope to see you there, everyone! Happy Earth Day!

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Composting Made Easy!

Josephine ButlerBlog, Sustainability, , , ,

We’re looking forward to the Earth Day celebration at Briar Chapel this weekend (Saturday, April 21 from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.). From food trucks to BMX stunt performers, it’s going to be a lot of fun.  Stay tuned as we continue to share posts from the Briar Chapel Blog with more information about the upcoming festivities.

Earth Day is just around a corner, and some of you may be wondering, “What can I do to give back to Mother Nature?” While your options are limitless, we recently received two videos created by Best Buddy participants that we thought we’d share with you. Both are focused on the topic of composting, a relatively simple and effective way to avoid wasting useful natural resources. Simply put, the process of composting involves the combination of garden and yard debris with kitchen scraps and other organic material. Once completely broken down, the result is humus – a dark, nutrient-dense material.  Gardening not your thing? Not a problem. We bet the Green Thumb Committee at Briar Chapel would love for you to donate your composted matter to the community garden!

To make the process of composting easier, www.growinganything.com has broken it down into steps:
  1. Choose an outdoor spot that’s convenient to your kitchen to host your compost.
  2. Purchase or build a compost bin.
  3. Prepare the spot of your compost pile by turning/tilling the soil in order to allow for aeration via earthworms.
  4. The bottom of your pile should consist of a three-inch layer of brown ingredients. These items are rich in carbon and include woody material such as twig cardboard and paper.
  5. Dampen the brown ingredients.
  6. Layer in ½ inch of healthy soil or pre-made compost.
  7. As greens become available, add them in. Greens consist of kitchen food scraps and yard waste.
  8. As greens are added, make sure to keep incorporating brown ingredients, as well.
  9. Check the moisture level of your pile from time to time. If things seem too dry, add in some water.
  10. “Turn” the pile every few months using a pitch fork or something similar.
There you have it! It’s as easy as 1, 2…10! Have any other gardening questions? Yard Sprout is going to have a booth at our Earth Day Celebration. Come out and see them! We’re sure they’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Happy composting!
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Earth Day: Community Gardens

Josephine ButlerBlog, In Our Community, Sustainability, ,

We can’t stop talking about our client, Briar Chapel! In addition to announcing the winners of the Best Buddy Contest, we’re looking forward to the community’s Earth Day celebration, which will be held this Saturday, April 21 from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. Stay tuned as we reshare posts from the Briar Chapel Blog with more information about the upcoming festivities.

Did you catch our recent blog, Harvesting Community, where our Briar Chapel Best Buddy contestant Emmo Pike shared a video (see below) about the Green Thumb Committee? These individuals are dedicated to keeping things up and running in our community garden, the Briar Patch. Like so many others across the country, the residents at Briar Chapel are reaping the benefits of a community garden, and just in time: it’s almost Earth Day!

In honor of our favorite holiday, we’d like to share a few reasons why community gardens are so great for the environment, community and folks just like you! Here’s an excellent list from the American Community Gardening Association:

  • Improves the quality of life for people in the garden
  • Provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
  • Stimulates social interaction
  • Encourages self-reliance
  • Beautifies neighborhoods
  • Produces nutritious food
  • Reduces family food budgets
  • Conserves resources
  • Creates opportunity for recreation, exercise, therapy and education
  • Reduces crime
  • Preserves green space
  • Creates income opportunities and economic development
  • Reduces city heat from streets and parking lots
  • Provides opportunities for intergenerational and cross-cultural connections

Feeling inspired? Be sure to check out the Briar Patch this weekend during our Earth Day celebration. Members of the Green Thumb Committee will be at a booth in Briar Commons to answer any of your questions, including Emmo, who is one of the founding members of our garden. She recently professed her love for Briar Chapel on her blog, greenchathamliving.blogspot.com, and we’re sure she’d love to share even more reasons why she loves Briar Chapel with you.

We can’t wait to see you there!

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Square Your Points with Foursquare!

Josephine ButlerBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

If you’ve been following our blog this week, then you’ve been finding out easy ways to score points for the Best Buddy Contest. Our client Briar Chapel, the Triangle’s largest green community, is hosting the contest in hopes of rewarding fans for their engagement across a variety of social media platforms including Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Foursquare and YouTube. What’s in it for you? A Buddy Scooter!

Are you on Foursquare?

With the emergence of smartphones came the emergence of location-based social networking sites like Foursquare, our very favorite of the bunch. By downloading the Foursquare app on your phone (it’s free) and checking into locations when you’re on site, you have the opportunity to score even more points for Briar Chapel’s Best Buddy Contest! Here’s how:

10 pts: Check in at one of the designated Briar Chapel locations. Examples are:

Remember to keep your eyes peeled. Each week, Briar Chapel will announce additional point opportunities around the community and the surrounding area. Where will they ask you to check in next?

Stay tuned…

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