Blago Uses Drew Peterson's PR Firm for Media Blitz

At this point, I suggest he spend his money on lawyers. My gut is telling me he can't "spin" his way out of an impeachment trial. I'll guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.
The Tampa-based Publicity Agency, the same public relations firm that represents former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson will help Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich defend himself in the court of public opinion.

After comparing his plight to the unfair persecution of rogue cowboys, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is rounding up the horses for a media blitz that'll include TV appearances Monday on CNN's "Larry King Live," and ABC's "The View " and "Good Morning, America."

Helping Blagojevich circle the wagons is the Tampa-based Publicity Agency, which is the same public relations firm that represents Drew Peterson, the former suburban Chicago police office who is a suspect in his wife's disappearance.

Blagojevich's impeachment trial in the state Senate is also set to start Monday, though the governor has said he won't show up or mount a defense, complaining the trial rules are unfair.

"The governor has decided that he wants to speak and tell his side of the story, and he enlisted us to help," Glenn Selig, the PR firm's founder, said on Saturday.

FULL STORY

WILL.I.AM: IT'S A NEW DAY!

NUFF SAID!

Will.I.Am - New Music - More Music Videos

I Love This Photo & You Should Too!

Beyonce Sings America the Beautiful at Inaugural Concert

Introducing the 'Best' Sales Team in America:Do you love your job this much?

Best Buy needs to give these folks an award. I have officially seen it ALL. These employees are rapping about how good their Best Buy sales team is. Bless their hearts. Apparently, if you need a new kitchen set, Best Buy's Store 558 is where you need to go. I'm sure these folks know how to have fun on the sales floor! "Come to Best Buy and let me show you some fun!" LOL I wonder if all these employees were on the clock when they made this video...*scratches head* ENJOY!

Source

VH1's New Show: For the Love of Ray J

I think this might be my new guilty pleasure now that Real Chance of Love is over. I really don't understand what women see in Ray J? Oh, and I'm betting on this girl to win. To see the rest of the cast visit VH1's website. Let the circus begin! The premiere airs February 2.

Jada Pinkett's New TV Series Set in Charlotte

TNT Gives Green Light to New Medical Drama Produced by Jada Pinkett Smith


(Taylor Media Services) The television network TNT has good news for you if you are interested in a new TV medical drama set in a Charlotte, North Carolina hospital. Last week TNT ordered 10 episodes of “Time Heals” - a series produced by and starring Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith is the wife of top Hollywood actor Will Smith.
She will play the role of a head of nursing who battles hospital administrators, doctors and “don’t care” staff. The series is produced in association with Sony Picture Television. Insiders expect the series to hit the television screen later this year.

Agency Spotlight: Bella PR

So I had this idea to start doing a regular post called "Agency Spotlight." As an owner of a boutique PR agency, I'm always interested in learning about other agencies, large and small.

Bella PR is the first agency being featured in my Agency Spotlight blog. Marla Russo, the owner and President of Bella Public Relations, founded the company in 2002.



Contact information:

Bella Public Relations, Inc.
545 8th Ave., Suite 670
New York, NY, 10018

Marla Russo, President
m.russo@bellapr.com
www.bellapr.com

p. 212.868.8183
f. 212.868.8187

Ann Taylor Announces New Agency of Record

This article is simply confirmation that this business is all about relationships. Kate Foster worked with Shadow before and has now brought them on board with her at her new gig. Congrats to Shadow PR!

Ann Taylor selects Shadow PR

Alexandra Bruell
January 09, 2009

NEW YORK: Ann Taylor Stores Corporation has named Shadow PR its AOR for the Ann Taylor brand.

The company will work with Shadow on building buzz for the unveiling next fall of the first collection by head designer Lisa Axelson.

“Shadow is a young agency that can bring a fresh perspective,” said Kate Foster, VP of PR and media at Ann Taylor Stores Corporation.

She declined to say whether the company had issued an RFP, but said it used a "rigorous vetting process" and considered a variety of firms before choosing Shadow. Foster also noted she had worked with the New York-based firm when she was with Victoria Secret.

“We plan to leverage Ann Taylor's rich heritage, which dates back to 1954, while highlighting the brand's modern image and messaging amongst key influential media outlets and the fashion set - in turn generating overall buzz that reaches the consumer directly,” said Brad Zeifman, principal at Shadow.

Ann Taylor Stores also plans to announce an AOR for its Loft brand soon, Foster added. The Ann Taylor Corporation includes the Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft, and Ann Taylor Factory brands.

Source

Golden Globe Fashion

Some celebs got it right and others got it wrong this year. Worst Dressed Award goes to Renee Zellweger. What was she thinking?


















MORE IMAGES

PR Exec Appeals Jail Time for Overbilling...

Fleishman-Hillard's clients should all take a close look at their monthly invoices. That's just my two cents...
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PR executive cites new evidence in bid for retrial

John Stodder, sentenced to 15 months in prison for Fleishman-Hillard's overbilling of DWP, says a government witness wanted to protect her father from prosecution.

By Ted Rohrlich

A public relations executive convicted of fraud for overbilling the city of Los Angeles is seeking a retrial, citing newly discovered evidence that he says shows the star witness against him had an undisclosed motive to lie.

The executive, John Stodder, was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2006 for overcharging the city's Department of Water and Power for work done by his firm, Fleishman-Hillard. He was convicted of conspiring with his boss, Douglas Dowie. Both men are free on appeal.

FULL STORY

Firms wait out retainer freeze from clients

Here's an article that was posted on PR Week's website. As an agency owner, I can definitely relate to this.

With an expected 2-million-plus US jobs lost in '08, some clients are putting PR firms on hold

A number of PR firms are reporting that clients are asking them to take a hiatus from full-time work as the country enters 2009 with a sense of trepidation.

The effect appears to be spread across verticals given the global impact of the financial slowdown that produced results like an expected 2-million-plus shedding of US jobs in 2008, and an 11-day work stop order in Japan at Toyota.

“You hear the same thing: ‘We still want you to be our agency of record. We don't want you to go anywhere. We just need you to hang on for a little while,” explains Aaron Kwittken, CEO and managing partner at Kwittken & Co. Two clients recently requested that the agency take a temporary hiatus from their retainer, he says.

In California, Morgan/Dorado Public Relations' founder and principal Josh Morgan says that within a six-week period, three clients put marketing programs on hold.

“It's been unprecedented, from what I've seen, that type of immediate reaction from so many people,” he adds.

Agencies are responding to the requests in different ways. New York-based Kwittken began handling project work for both clients during this time.
FULL STORY

Confessions of a Shopaholic Comes Out Next Month!

Do you speak Prada? Declined...REALLY Declined! LOL
Click the bag to watch the trailer.

French/West/Vaughan Wins WaterBrick International Account

French/West/Vaughan (FWV), one of the nation’s largest independent public relations, public affairs and brand communications agencies, today announced that it has been named agency-of-record by WaterBrick International, Inc. FWV will provide public relations counsel and support to raise awareness of WaterBrick’s unique first-response product serving the needs of humanity in times of crisis and dire need. FWV will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive public relations and marketing program that will include proactive media relations, governmental communications and event coordination. The agency will work to raise WaterBrick International’s brand recognition in the domestic and worldwide markets, further establishing the organization as a logical solution to help victims in disaster zones, the poor in developing countries and for use in military applications.

SOURCE

My Letter to the Editor

One more thing...I recently wrote a Letter to the Editor to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in response to an article that touched my heart. The letter was published in the newspaper on Christmas Day. Well, my Google search (see the previous post) also showed me that a woman wrote a letter in response to my letter and hers was published as well. Pretty cool! Both letters are below: My letter is on top and hers is on the bottom.

MENTAL ILLNESS
Prison not a solution
LINK
Have prisons become the asylum of last resort for those with mental illness? The Dec. 19 article "Woman who killed baby gets 5 years" saddened me. According to the article, Arkisha Johnson is a suicidal woman who suffers from bipolar disorder and attempted suicide after drowning her 5-month-old son. She's only 30 years old, yet she has attempted suicide numerous times and has had 30 contacts with the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex since she was 12. Her mental health issues were so severe that the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare ordered caseworkers not to leave her alone with her son unless she was taking all of her prescribed medications.

Despite her mental health issues, now she will sit in prison for five years, where corrections officers will be responsible for her mental health and safety. It's as if prisons have become the asylum of last resort for those with mental illness, and that is very unfortunate. The reality is that Wisconsin prisons are understaffed, underfunded and have a dangerously dysfunctional health care system.

A recent study by the American Civil Liberties Union found that women at Wisconsin's Taycheedah Correctional Institution suffer medical neglect and receive worse mental health care than men. Furthermore, the ACLU said the lapses in mental health care occur against the backdrop of a prison system that has a suicide rate twice the national average.

I lost a loved one to suicide in 2007, and that is why my heart goes out to Johnson - and yours should, too. I pray that she receives the mental health services she so desperately needs while she is in prison. But the odds are clearly stacked against her.

Nepherterra Estrada
Milwaukee

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MENTAL ILLNESS
Society needs to do a better job of helping
LINK

This is in response to the Dec. 25 letter by Nepherterra Estrada, "Prison not a solution" about mental illness. I agree with all she said. Why can't we build more special facilities to house those with mental illness who have committed crimes?
Now, they are all thrown in together with little or no treatment. The jails are overcrowded, and we need more housing for inmates. Why not build more institutions for people with mental illness? Illness is the operative word here. These people are ill. Most would have not committed the offenses had they been in their right minds. Too many people ignore the needs of those with mental illness while going out of their way to treat those with physical illness.
It's just not right. We're not in the dark ages anymore. We need decent treatment facilities for people with mental illness, not like the "snake pits" of yesterday.
Please, let's work on it, people in power. We need a leader to get the ball rolling

Maureen Quin
Greendale

Have You Googled Yourself Lately?

I am always amazed when people tell me they have never Googled themselves. Maybe that's because I've been Googling myself on a regular basis for years now. If you have never done it, or haven't done it in a while, I strongly suggest you do. So, I Googled myself tonight and learned that I am on Youtube. I gave a marketing presentation back in October at the Ways to Work Annual Meeting and they recently uploaded it on Youtube (I am so proud of them!). Ways to Work,one of my favorite clients, is doing great things in the community by providing low interest loans to working families with challenging credit histories. I thought I'd share the video with the blogosphere...

Apple Founder Steve Jobs Reveals His Hormonal Imbalance

This is a good first step for Apple. He should have addressed this a while ago in my opinion.

After a year of concerns about his gaunt appearance, months of rumours about his declining health and a flurry of speculation a week ago that he may even be at death's door, Apple founder Steve Jobs has broken his silence to insist he remains firmly at the helm of the consumer gadgets giant.


He is suffering a "hormone imbalance", he said in a letter to the Apple faithful gathering at the annual Macworld conference in San Francisco yesterday. That is causing him to lose weight, he said, but he has already begun treatment.

SOURCE

Charlotte PR Agency Retained by Case Handyman & Remodeling

CHARLOTTE – My Team of Experts, Inc. has been retained as public relations agency of record by the Charlotte-area franchise Case Handyman & Remodeling, which specializes in home remodeling and repair services.

My Team of Experts, Inc. has been helping small businesses to establish and promote their expertise through effective public relations since 2001.
SOURCE

Are You On Twitter Yet?

I deleted my Myspace page back in October in honor of my 31st birthday. When I clicked the delete button the message "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DELETE YOUR PAGE" instantly popped up on the screen. I hesitated for a moment because I had so many pictures, connected with so many people and enjoyed my time on Crackspace, I mean Myspace. LOL. But when I clicked "YES!" and deleted my page, at that moment, I decided it was time to do something new. So I decided to join Linked In (boring), start blogging again (yippee!) and to join Twitter (different).

So that leads me to my next question, are you on Twitter yet? If not, I highly recommend you consider it. Or at least visit my Twitter page. For those of you who may be considering Twitter or wondering what all the buzz is about, I thought I'd share this article. According to this Wall Street Journal story, some people are Twittering themselves into jobs...

Twitter Yourself a Job

By JONNELLE MARTE
Looking for a new job, Alexa Scordato didn't email or call her contacts about possible openings. Instead, she messaged them via the social-networking Web site Twitter.com.

Her brief message: "Hey there! Looking for a Social Media job up in Boston. Are you guys doing any entry level hires?"

Within a week, she had an interview. Within two weeks, she had a job.

The site, which lets users publish supershort updates of what they're doing, is a virtual meeting ground where a range of communities -- from moms to media professionals -- come to converse informally.

It's been criticized as a site for sharing mundane details about everyday activities. But people like 22-year-old Ms. Scordato, who used Twitter to privately message some people she'd met at a conference, show the site can be more than that.

"I would guess that if I had just sent them a long email with my résumé, I might not have gotten a response as fast as I did," says Ms. Scordato, who was hired by Mzinga, a Boston-area company that helps businesses use social technology.

The Basics
Users, known as Twitterers, post short updates that appear in their online profiles. They can choose to follow each other's updates, called tweets, and respond either publicly through posts or privately via direct message. All entries must be 140 characters or less.

Twitter doesn't release user numbers, but most public estimates put the user base at around four million to five million, with about 30% or more being very new or limited users.

To get started, build a profile that shows your interests and start Twittering. Because you have no more than 140 characters to describe yourself in your bio, use key words that reveal your goals. Make more information accessible by linking to your Web site, blog or profile on a professional networking site like LinkedIn.

Amy Ziari, a 24-year-old looking for a public-relations job in San Francisco, links to her blog on her Twitter profile and lists her Twitter alias on her résumé to show recruiters she is "not a faceless résumé -- there's somebody behind it."

You'll find major companies and recruiters on the site, and should follow the big names in your industry.

Most users get emails alerting them about new followers, and may choose to follow you as well if your biography and tweets get their attention.

Initiate conversations with other users by responding to their tweets. You can share updates you find useful by reposting them on your profile.

Stay Focused
Never twitter about anything you wouldn't want your boss or mother to see, and tell your friends to keep their tweets to you appropriate.

Be careful about publicizing your job hunt on Twitter if you don't want your boss reading about it. But if you're unemployed, sending an occasional tweet that explains the kind of job you're looking for could yield responses from recruiters. You can also seek jobs being promoted on the site by searching for phrases like "job opening."

Twittering about your personal life is fine, to an extent -- it's something most Twitterers do. But keep it to a minimum.

"I would rather see someone who posts good-quality information than what they had for lunch," said Lindsay Olson, who uses Twitter to recruit for Paradigm Staffing, a staffing agency that focuses on public relations and marketing.

SOURCE

Recession stealing PR and ad agency jobs

Recession steals PR and ad agency jobs, But some firms are still hiring as downturn strikes uneven blows

David Ranii - Staff Writer
Published: Fri, Jan. 02, 2009

The recession is hitting Triangle public relations and advertising agencies, which have been cutting jobs as clients reduce their spending.

In the past month, Raleigh's Capstrat laid off six workers, and Durham's McKinney, the Triangle's largest ad agency, let go of eight. "The economy is affecting everybody, and we have to adjust for that," said David Chatham, senior vice president at Capstrat. The firm now has 87 employees.

Chatham said 2008 was Capstrat's "best year ever" in terms of revenue, but business slowed during the past three months as the economy soured and clients cut their spending budgets.

SOURCE