Archive for January, 2009

The 2009 Green Inaugural Ball

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

“Behind-the-scenes” at the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball: One of the most anticipated inauguration events.

The celebrity packed 2009 Green Inaugural Ball, chaired by Al Gore showcased the “big green tent” -“ a broad movement by more than 75 environmental, conservation, labor, civil justice, youth, and business groups celebrating the new green economy.

I was able to attend as my firm produced and distributed three media B-Roll feeds of the evening’s events and created and syndicated the web video content.

Denise Bode of the American Wind Energy Association, Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association, Carl Pope of the Sierra Club, Larry Schweiger of the National Wildlife Federation were among the environmental leaders I spoke to. What struck me is there is “green” in green. For perhaps the first time the need to create jobs, business objectives and protecting the environment are in sync.

On the celebrity side will.i.am., John Legend, Blair Underwood, Lisa Ling, Michael Franti and Paul Reiser were especially cooperative and thoughtful–though Paul attempted to take responsibility for the rise of the environmental movement (watch video). I think he was kidding.

I was surprised that Al Gore wasn’t available to media even though he was the honorary chair. While Tipper was warm and engaging, Al didn’t seem to be in a festive mood with the exception of a brief handshake for my on site video editor.

Good Morning America covers the Green Ball

The Green Ball Blog

The 2009 Green Inaugural Ball Homepage

Search Terms: 2009 Green Inaugural Ball, Al Gore, will.i.am., John Legend, Blair Underwood, Lisa Ling, Michael Franti, Denise Bode, American Wind Energy Association, Rhone Resch, Solar Energy Industries Association, Carl Pope, Sierra Club, Nancy Pelosi

Posted in Celebrities, D S Simon, Politics | No Comments »

Peter Himler, Flatiron Communications

Friday, January 16th, 2009

Peter Himler, Principal/Founder of Flatiron Communications, discusses the growth of social media in the current economic climate. Recorded at Business Development Institute’s Real Time Communications Conference.

Some of Peter’s VlogViews:

“I don’t think traditional PR is going away anytime soon. What I do think is that more and more traditional companies are going to see the value in social media and they’re going to begin to acquire companies that do it or hire individuals that understand it. They’re going to make a greater investment in spite of the economy.”

“PR people need to be savvy on how to create digital video, how to create content and optimize it so it’s findable on google. Understanding search and what search means to the PR person and to the PR person’s clients and to their brand.”

“There are skills that are needed to work through traditional media to get your message across. There is media training, message development and all that stuff. But now you can go directly to your end audiences and you can find your niche audiences as they migrate online. You have a giant migration of consumers onto the internet.”

Flatiron Communications

Search Terms: Peter Himler, Business Development Institute, PR, Communications

Posted in Communications, Digital Media, Public Relations | No Comments »

Sandra Fathi, Affect Strategies

Friday, January 16th, 2009

Sandra Fathi, President, Affect Strategies discusses microblogging and its role in communications. Recorded at Business Development Institute’s Real Time Communications Conference.

Some of Sandra’s VlogViews:

“For microblogging, a lot of people are just afraid to start. First thing is just listen, all of these tools are free. Join and start following other people and start listening to conversations and see how other people are using twitter.”

“I don’t think that there is a wrong way to use twitter. You need to understand what you want to get out of it. If you want this to be a vehicle for you to communicate with your customers, well what do your customers really want to know?”

Affect Strategies

Search Terms: Affect Strategies, Sandra Fathi, Business Development Institute, PR, Communications

Posted in Blogs, Social Media | No Comments »

2009 Predictions on Politics, the Economy, Communications, PR and More

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

Some of Doug’s 2009 Predictions:

Politics:

Obama will have a successful first year with an approval rating of over 50%. He’ll also break his promise about paying for his plan by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens.


Economy:

Unemployment will continue to rise, but the Dow will close the year up over 1000 points.


Just want Communications and PR predictions? Click the image below.

Industry growth will slow as advertising, marketing and PR compete for the same dollars. There will be opportunities for PR and communications in public policy, earning media online by developing content and placing it with Web reporters, and oddly enough for infomercial producers.

Search Terms: Blagojevich, Communications, Earned Media, Economics, Mike Cherenson, Obama, Politics, PR, PRSA

Posted in Commentary, D S Simon | 1 Comment »

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