Tag: Raleigh PR

Clairemont Clients Nab Business Awards

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, In Our Community, , , , ,

Hang the streamers, pop the bubbly and cut the cake! Little else gets us as excited as when we celebrate our clients’ achievements. We’re thrilled to congratulate Shannon McSwiney, marketing director of Newland Communities, and Lindsay Rice, owner of Vita Vite in downtown Raleigh, on their recent 2017 Women in Business awards.

This accolade recognizes accomplished and outstanding leaders in the Triangle renowned for industry innovation, community involvement, thought leadership and dynamic change. The panel of judges, comprised of some of the Triangle’s top business personnel, selected Lindsay and Shannon from approximately 100 other nominees. 

Wanna know a little bit more about our superstars?

Shannon McSwiney

Marketing Director, Newland Communities

As the marketing director for Newland Communities — the nation’s largest privately held developer, Shannon leads real estate growth and development across three master-planned communities in North Carolina. She researches, develops and implements marketing strategies for RiverLights in Wilmington, Wendell Falls in Wendell and Briar Chapel in Chapel Hill — overseeing everything from brand development to team development. Oh, and she’s also a mom of two fantastic kiddos, a former tap dancer and carries the title of Pepper Festival Pepper Queen from 2011.

Lindsay Rice

Owner, Vita Vite

Lindsay Rice, entrepreneur and founder of Vita Vite, is pursuing a lifelong vision to discover, curate and share hidden treasures and cultures from across the globe. In December of 2015, she opened Vita Vite, a wine bar and art gallery in the downtown Raleigh Warehouse District that features southern art, southern flavors and global sips. A mentor for the Boys & Girls Club of Wake County and a member of the Junior League of Raleigh, Lindsay also has a few hidden talents. For example, she’s an accomplished photographer who launched her own notecard line! Next time you stop by Vita Vite, be sure to ask her about her two pups, some of the cutest pooches in the Triangle.

It’s one of the wonderful things we get to do. We love partnering with our clients not only to position them as candidates but also to celebrate their well-deserved success with them.

Want to learn more about what we do as a PR agency? How about a barn raising, the chicken dance or an Instagram game of tag? We’ll stop at nothing to get results for our clients.

Read More

PR People: Roger Friedensen, APR

Sarah HattmanBlog, PR People, Public Relations, , , ,

Roger Friedensen, APR

Job Title and Function: I’m a partner and co-founder of Forge Communications, a research and communication strategy firm with offices in Raleigh and Charlotte. Launched in 2009, we’re a small boutique firm comprised of senior-level consultants, so my work is actually doing the work – which I love. We all have held leadership positions in our past lives at agencies, non-profit associations, health systems and corporations, but this time around we wanted to spend our days helping clients solve real problems and produce measurable value rather than building a big firm again and having to “feed the overhead beast.” Been there, done that. 🙂

Most Rewarding thing about working in PR today: For me, it’s what it’s always been: the challenge that comes from helping create order out of chaos and solve complex problems; the opportunity to collaborate with smart, creative, accomplished individuals from whom I can learn; and the chance to do meaningful work that helps our clients — and, in turn, their employees, customers, communities and sectors — accomplish what they want and need to do better and improve lives. It’s also really cool to be working in the middle of one of [if not the most] transformative times in the industry’s history. As a geek and wanna-be futurist, I love the intersection of communications and technology!

Craziest/most challenging thing you’ve done in PR: After 32 years in this business, that could be a reaaaaaaally long list. A couple of items do stand out, though. First, I took a former U.S. Surgeon General, the past president of the American Medical Association, the president and CEO of the second-largest pharmaceutical company on the face of the planet, and about two dozen senior pharma executives to what turned out to be an overly trendy, Yuppie-filled restaurant/hip-hop dance bar in San Francisco’s financial district.

Second, I was once threatened by a county commissioner while on a client’s advance team informing him and his fellow commissioners that their county and three others in North Carolina were on the short list for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. “Son, if I were you, I’d get out of this county by high noon. It’s time for us to marshal the troops.” We hit I-40 out of the county right after the meeting.

And finally, I helped one of my colleagues, the great Mike Herman, APR, Fellow PRSA of blessed memory, manage a “unique” crisis situation for one of our clients, Austin Nichols. I’ll let the Wikipedia entry speak for itself: “On May 9, 2000, a fire destroyed a seven-story aging warehouse at the company in Anderson County, Kentucky. It contained more than 17,000 wooden barrels of whiskey. Burning whiskey flowed from the warehouse, setting the woods on fire, causing limestone deposits to explode. Firefighters saved Lawrenceburg’s water treatment plant from destruction. However, an estimated 20% of the whiskey flowed into the Kentucky River. The river contamination required the temporary shutdown of the water treatment plant. Officials ordered water usage restrictions. Businesses and schools were closed because of the water shortage. The alcohol spill also depleted the oxygen in the river, killing an estimated 228,000 fish along a 66-mile stretch. The EPA and the Coast Guard’s Gulf Strike Team aerated the river using equipment mounted on barges. The company paid $256,000 to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife in an effort to restore the fish population in the river.”

Yep. That’s right. More than 180,000 gallons of prime Wild Turkey bourbon made its way into the Kentucky River in the middle of the night, forming a mile-long plume of whiskey that wiped the river clean. The plume didn’t dissipate until it reached the Ohio River.You just can’t make this stuff up.

Advice for new PR pros:

Tip #1: Stay unquenchably inquisitive.
Tip #2: Recognize that “PR” does not mean the same to folks outside of the profession as inside. Understand that to remain relevant (i.e., employable) your perspective and skill set — not to mention your reading and professional development — must be broader than “traditional” public relations practice (media relations, special events and the like). Our business is about clarifying and strengthening communication between individuals. Public relations, marketing, advertising, content management, etc. — those are just different colored lenses we can use to evaluate a problem and figure out a solution.
Tip #3: Learn and practice good manners. They make a difference.
Tip #4: Don’t be lazy, greedy, rude, stupid or unethical. I really shouldn’t have to say this.
Tip #5: Don’t be lazy, greedy, rude, stupid or unethical. I really shouldn’t have to repeat this.
Tip #6: Learn to read the tea leaves and connect the dots. This business is not simply about connecting people; it’s about seeing the linkages among ideas, trends, issues, opportunities, people and organizations and making meaningful connections.
Tip #7: Get out of your own head and your own world regularly so you can be better able to put yourself in others’ shoes.
Tip #8: Learn to ask questions.
Tip #9: Learn to ask smart questions.
Tip #10: Learn to ask smarter questions.

Bonus Tip: Learn how to write, speak and, the most important, listen successfully. But then again, that’s good advice for pretty much everybody.

Are you interested in being featured in “PR People?” Send us a message on Facebook to share your story!

Sarah Hattman, APR is president-elect for the North Carolina chapter of Public Relations Society of America and has been working in PR since she left television news. She grew up in North Carolina and was excited to move back to her home state in 2012 and then join Clairemont Communications, a Raleigh PR agency. 

 

 

Read More

Triangle Talent Takes Charleston

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR, , , , ,

Beers and bites, sips and snacks, cocktails and culinary creations. We’re heading off again to this year’s Charleston Wine and Food Festival celebrating some of the South’s finest and most creative cuisine. From special events like the “What the Pho” dinner to the bustling Culinary Village, chefs and artisans from around the country unite to share their passion for food and drink.

And the Triangle is showing up in a big way this year! We’re excited that the festival is featuring a wide variety of top culinary talent from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill region, including these rockstars:

Congratulations and good luck to all the talented chefs and artisans showcasing this weekend!

See anybody that should be on this list? Let us know so we can give them a shout!

Read More

Clairemont Selected for Talbots/Oprah Magazine Campaign

Cherith AndesBlog, Clairemont Client News, Fashion, , , , , ,

Polka dots, panache and pinning a new job!

This spring, Talbots teamed up with Oprah Magazine to launch a special capsule collection of clothes benefitting Dress for Success – and the fashionable couture is debuting right here in the Triangle!

Recently featured by Women’s Wear Daily as well as in the March issue of O Magazine, the Talbots line sports sunny spring colors and layered patterns designed for both leisure and workwear.

Want to help? Here are four ways you can get involved!

– Purchase a snazzy piece of the Talbots collection, and 30 percent of the proceeds benefit the Triangle Dress for Success.

– Donate gently worn work attire March 2 – 5, 2017 at any local Talbots. Or you make a monetary donation in store or online.

– Stop by the Spring Shopping Party on Saturday, March 4, 2017 to purchase your own pieces and make a donation.

Last year O Mag and Talbots launched their first capsule collection that benefitted Dress for Success. Raising $1 million and collecting more than 4,000 boxes of clothing to help more than 20,000 women, the partnership was such a success that the two teamed up again this year. Dress for Success is non-profit international organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Be sure to check out the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine features influencers including Hilaria Baldwin (Wellness Expert & Author), Sara Haines (Journalist & Cohost of The View), Jill Martin (Today Contributor), Denée Benton (Broadway Actor), Sas Goldberg (Writer, Producer, Actor), and Katie Sturino (Founder of the 12ishstyle.com) wearing pieces from the collection.

Happy shopping!

The work Clairemont Communications conducted in partnership with Talbots earned the Award of Excellence by North Carolina Public Relations Society of America (NCPRSA). We are proud that this campaign represents one of the 190 awards we’ve received since starting Clairemont in 2010.

The Clairemont team was thrilled to work with Talbots on this wonderful project. And we may or may not have added that lovely scarf inspired by Oprah’s rose gardens to our own wardrobes!

Images courtesy of Talbots.

Read More

Clairemont’s Hughens Joins NCPRSA Panel

Clairemont InternBlog, In Our Community, PR People, , , ,

From NCPRSA…

Understanding Industry Awards From Industry Experts: Learn How To Construct Award-Winning Entries in Preparation for the NCPRSA InSpire Awards!

The NCPRSA InSpire awards recognize the most outstanding public relations campaigns, programs and tactics, and the dedication and contributions of public relations and communications professionals. Whether you are part of an agency, a non-profit organization or a corporation, being recognized with an InSpire Award can help elevate your career, help improve your business and put your personal stamp on the public relations profession.

Join us Wednesday, February 15 for a panel discussion to learn pro tips from these previous award participants and winners representing a variety of industry perspectives.

Panelist Bios:

Dana Phelps Hughens
CEO, Clairemont Communications
As chief executive officer of Clairemont Communications, Dana is living her dream, backed by 20 years of experience in public relations and marketing. She leads the Clairemont team in building communications strategies that include traditional media relations, marketing communications, and social media promotions for national and international brands.

Dana’s focus on creating magical client experiences began the year she interned in guest relations at Walt Disney World and was the co-founder of a student-run public relations agency on her college campus. Prior to launching Clairemont Communications, she served as a senior vice president and global practice group co-chair of Fleishman-Hillard. In addition to her agency work, Dana has held corporate communications positions, including the role of key lieutenant to Nortel’s chief marketing officer. She was responsible for global planning and integration of all marketing functions including corporate communications, branding and advertising, employee communications, tradeshows and events.

Throughout her career, Dana has led her teams to win several industry awards including: a Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Silver Anvil, a PRSA Silver Anvil Award of Excellence, Inspire Best in Show awards by the North Carolina PRSA chapter and several other Inspire and Raleigh Public Relations Society Sir Walter Raleigh awards.

Eva R. Hornak, APR
Communications Manager, S.T. Wooten Corporation
Eva is the first and only communications pro at S.T. Wooten, a 65-year-old construction company. She focuses on employee communications for nearly 1,000 co-workers, writing the award-winning employee magazine and several internal newsletters. She also works with the management team on a variety of corporate and executive communications, including the website, videos and presentations. After contracting with a local PR firm in 2016, Evie now oversees the company’s social media and trade media outreach as well.

Eva started her career in 2004, spending six years with Raleigh public relations agency Epley Associates, which later became The Catevo Group. Clients she served included John Deere, BB&T, Lawn Doctor, Novozymes Biologicals, Misys, MediClick and Raytheon. She next served as communications manager for the Irrigation Association, where she managed member publications and reports, media relations and member committees.

Eva earned her accreditation from the Public Relations Society of America in 2013 and is a past president of the North Carolina chapter of PRSA. She served two years as secretary of the PRSA Southeast District board and has held various board roles for the Raleigh Public Relations Society. She is a past awards chair of both NCPRSA and RPRS.

Kim Strazisar
Kim Strazisar Communications, LLC
With more than a decade of experience, Kim is dedicated to giving her clients personal, practical, and professional public relations and communications services. She specializes in working with small business and non-profit organizations, because a limited budget, full schedule, or small staff shouldn’t keep quality communication out of reach. Her passion is teaching and speaking on communications topics. Most recently she has taught branding workshops at Meredith College and started hosting communication workshops for small businesses.

Before launching Kim Strazisar Communications, LLC in September 2014, she spent six years as Communications Director of the North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association (NCNLA); responsible for developing, coordinating, marketing and publishing all NCNLA publications and advertising, along with grant writing, and event planning and management. She also worked as an account executive at The Rossman Group (now Truscott Rossman) in Lansing, Michigan, providing public relations services for multiple clients including The Michigan Oil & Gas Association (promoting Michigan Trust Fund Sites), DTE Energy (fighting energy deregulation), and Children’s Trust Fund of Michigan (raising awareness and funds for child abuse prevention). Her work won the agency several PACE Awards from the PRSA Central Michigan Chapter, including “Best in Show” for her work for The Michigan Oil & Gas Association. She has also volunteered for previous NCPRSA Award committees.

Her communication experience all started at The Phoenix Group (now Minacs Analytics) providing market research support for automotive clients like Daimler Chrysler.

Click here to register for the event.

Read More