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Pinterest: Who’s This New Kid on the Block?
02/21/2012

Maybe you’ve heard of the hot new kid on the social block—Pinterest? The online equivalent of an old-school inspiration board, the two-year old site has caught on like wildfire recently. Users can “pin” photos from their favorite websites and blogs to “pinboards” that they can sort by category—such as home, recipes and crafts.

The visual nature of the site appeals predominantly to women, enabling them to pin photos of of home décor, fashion, art, and even wedding-related images in one place, and, as such, women account for 58% of the site’s traffic, according to Experian Hitwise.



[source]

So why should you care? One reason is because users on Pinterest are sticky. They spend a lot of time there, and the amount of time they spend on the site is only growing. In the month of January, users spent an average 97.8 minutes on site, compared to July’s average of 37.8 minutes per user.

Why else should you care? The user base has doubled since November, according to ComScore. In January, more than 11 million unique visitors visited the site; the site had 4.9 unique visitors in November.

And retailers and brands have caught on. High-end retailer Bergdorf Goodman has its own boards on Pinterest to attract a following, and a recent Wall Street Journal piece says that online eyewear retailer Warby Parker’s traffic to its site from Pinterest has quadrupled over the past four months, while retail deal site Ideeli’s traffic from Pinterest has seen a 446 percent increase in traffic from Pinterest—and the sales from those visits have increased 500 percent, according to Entrepreneur.com

For the right brand, Pinterest can help extend the brand story and inspire a brand’s target audience by capturing the essence or lifestyle at the core of a brand’s identity – which in turn creates heightened brand awareness and engagement. Its staggering growth, ability to drive traffic and engagement, and keep users on site makes this a social media platform that’s hard to ignore.

By Theodora Blanchfield, Account Executive

Tags:
Posted in Social media

DKC Public Relations, Marketing & Government Affairs Expands with Offices in Washington DC, Los Angeles and Chicago
02/02/2012

NEW YORK, NY –   New York based DKC Public Relations, Marketing & Government Affairs announced that it has expanded its geographic footprint by opening offices in Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Chicago.

“Our physical expansion into Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Chicago comes at a time of significant growth for DKC, which has transformed from its New York beginnings 20 years ago into a major national communications company,” said Sean Cassidy, President of DKC. “Opening offices in these critical markets enables DKC to better provide communications counsel and programming, government relations and digital media services to a dynamic, diverse and ever-expanding client base.”  

Los Angeles

DKC has officially established a presence in Southern California with the addition of Brittany Hershkowitz in its new Beverly Hills office. DKC’s expansion in the Los Angeles market better positions the agency to service companies whose work is focused in and around the entertainment sector, and will help capitalize on the tremendous national growth opportunities across the luxury, corporate, entertainment, travel, sports and media business categories.  DKC’s Los Angeles office also enhances the agency’s ability to service such existing corporate clients as Delta Air Lines, Moet & Chandon, Jaguar/Land Rover, Yahoo!, Atari, Showtime and Michael Eisner’s portfolio of companies.

Brittany’s background in communications campaigns, entertainment marketing initiatives and events on behalf of luxury brands and entertainment properties makes her a strong addition to the team.  Prior to joining DKC, Brittany was the Director of Public Relations for Hype Creative Agency, and also held positions at the Rose Group and kpr-inc in Los Angeles.

Washington D.C.

To address the growing demand for strategic communications campaigns targeting the policy community in Washington, DKC has hired Megan Pollock to oversee DKC’s new K Street presence and manage media relations campaigns around legislative and regulatory issues and branding initiatives.

 A policy communications specialist with over 10 years’ experience working at the intersection of technology and policy, Megan joins from DKC from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), where has served as Director of Division and Policy Communications.  At CEA, Megan was responsible for public policy communications, five industry member groups and all consumer-facing websites, social media platforms, CEA’s brand and its internal communications initiatives. Previously, Megan served as Project Manager for the Internet Education Foundation (IEF), where she worked to educate the media and policymakers about the potential of a decentralized global Internet to promote democracy, communications and commerce. 

 In addition to serving as a platform for agency growth, DKC’s expansion into Washington, DC will enable the company to better service a diverse array of clients with national public policy requirements, ranging from Yahoo! to The Children’s Health Fund.

 Chicago

Additionally, DKC has taken office space in Chicago to better service new and existing clients in the Midwest.   DKC’s current roster of Midwestern U.S. clients includes: Jim Beam Brands, BMO: Harris Bank, Kraft, The James Hotel and the national beauty retailer ULTA.   DKC is in the process of appointing an executive to lead the Chicago office.   

About DKC Public Relations Marketing & Government Affairs

Established in 1991, DKC is one of the top 10 independent firms in the United States by fee revenue. Our diverse client list means that we customize public relations solutions for Fortune 100 companies, entrepreneurs, non-profits and creative individuals across a broad range of industries. The breadth of our expertise and our daily engagement with leaders in the media, politics, industry and academia keeps us ahead of the latest trends in public opinion. At DKC, creative strategy and positioning leads to smart media coverage and digital media connections that energize brands and meet our clients’ business goals.

Posted in Uncategorized

From Building Block to 30 Rock: A Lifelong Lego Hobby
01/05/2012

Some people collect baseball cards and comic books.  Others, like Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld, collect cars.   Still, others collect Civil War memorabilia, autographs, and stamps.

I collect Lego.

The famous plastic bricks, which can be used to build everything from homes to spaceships (and pieces of which probably have been stepped on by parents worldwide) were invented more than 50 years ago by Ole Kirk Christiansen, who actually started out making wooden toys.  The company’s name is an amalgam of two Danish words, leg and godt, which, when combined, translate to “play well.”  In my mind, there’s not a better product out there today – one that is durable, well-made, and that allows for the creative mind to flourish.

The first Lego sets were quite simple, combining basic bricks and “plates.”  Windows, trees wheels and cars arrived soon after.  Believe it or not, the Lego figurine, popularly known as the “minifigure,” didn’t arrive until 1978.  Themes also took hold: “Space” and “Town” were among the first, and beginning in the 1990’s and the 2000’s the company branched out into franchises including Star Wars, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones. Look on store shelves today and you’ll find a “SuperHeroes” line featuring characters from the DC and Marvel universes.  Superman as a minifigure?  Whould’ve thought?

One of the first Lego sets I ever owned was a Basic set, complete with instructions to build houses, automobiles and airplanes, but not the Millennium Falcon.  I grew up in northern Manhattan, and my Lego pieces got stuck in every nook and cranny of my family’s old apartment.  In fact, I distinctly recall leaving behind a yellow brick in a space between our hardwood floor and a hallway wall when we finally moved out in 1979.  The rest of my Lego collection went with me to the Philippines, and on the plane ride there, my parents let me build from a selection of bricks from a small travel bag I carried (and unlike my old apartment, I don’t think I left any pieces on the plane.)

Lego toys were few and far between in my new home country, with the bigger sets only available in the capital city of Manila.  At some point, with a lack of supply and other distractions abound, I lost interest in my hobby.  My Lego blocks went unplayed with, and a cousin of mine even took to fashioning jewelry out of the neglected pieces.  Lego left my life.

In 1982, I caught a showing of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the first time I can recall ever watching Trek. I became enamored with the U.S.S. Enterprise, with its flying-saucer-shaped primary hull and its streamlined nacelles, leaving behind a beautiful trail of stretched starlight when the ship jumped to warp speed.

I had to build one for myself.  But with what?

I rushed home from the theatre and found my old bag of Lego, in the same travel bag my parents let me have on the plane ride to the Philippines.  With a collection of very basic bricks – not much more, and not including the pieces my cousin made into jewelry – I built my own starship Enterprise using only what I’d remembered from watching the film.  The final model was yellow and green and blocky and absolutely nothing like the ship they’d shown on the silver screen.

But it was my own, and apart from becoming a Star Trek fan, I also reconnected with Lego again.  During the few times my parents would go to Manila, I’d be sure to ask them to bring back whatever Lego they could.  And once my family returned to the United States in 1983, I started collecting the toys again, and I haven’t stopped since.

I’ve built the Chrysler Building, or something like it.

I’ve created mosaics and even got to visit Lego’s U.S. headquarters in Enfield, CT – where I got to study, up close, a brick-and-plate model of the U.S.S. Enterprise built by the Lego professionals themselves.

And finally, in November 2011, a lifelong dream came true: I was invited by I LUG NY, a Lego fan group (“LUG,” a common acronym amongst fans of the brick, stands for “Lego Users Group”), to install an original creation at the Lego Store at Rockefeller Plaza, smack dab in the middle of their busy holiday season, when the display would be potentially seen by hundreds of thousands of people. Truth be told, the display isn’t all that grand: a small, windowed cube measuring perhaps two feet in each direction.  But like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location, and landing a Lego creation at 30 Rock is nothing short of spectacular.

You can probably guess which model I chose for the display.

The Enterprise could make other stops at Lego stores elsewhere – Queens, Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey, to be exact – so if you miss it at Rockefeller Center, don’t worry.  And there’s always my personal blog, where I plan to document my hobby down to the last brick.

My kids have recently taken to Lego: Ian (8 years old) likes to build miniature baseball stadiums, and Mallory (age 6) builds everything from houses to amusement parks. My wife’s not a big fan – sigh! – but as it turns out, this hobby of mine, which has gone from the nooks and crannies of an apartment in Manhattan all the way to the Philippines and straight into a display case in Rockefeller Center, will continue on into the next generation.

Leg godt, indeed.

By Sid Dinsay, Account Supervisor

Posted in Uncategorized

DKCE’s Fashion Challenge
11/29/2011

A few weeks ago, I was forced to wear leopard, red, an oxford shirt and loads of denim. Thankfully it was not all at once, and as much as this sounds like a weird fashion mashup experiment for the sartorially challenged, it was an interesting look inside the mind of a new breed of influencers: fashion bloggers.

You see, recently DKC began working with fashion bloggers in a big way on behalf of various brands and publications and collectively we had developed a major case of job envy. For weeks, all you heard was, “how hard can this be?” percolating around the desks as we pitched client after client to our new blogger friends. Simply put, our impression was that as a group, fashion bloggers put on cute clothes to do cute things and then chronicle said cuteness for other girls – and it is mostly girls – who read their missives and want to do the same. And now some of them were getting paid big bucks. These fashionistas were appearing in advertising campaigns! Sitting front row at highly-esteemed fashion shows! My god, this has got to be the easiest way to make a buck ever, right?!

Not so much, as it turns out.

We decided to walk a mile, er, week in their Jimmy Choos and realized that this blogger thing isn’t all cupcakes and cashmere (a widely read cacophony of cuteness, incidentally). So, the DKC entertainment department held its first ever (and possibly only) four-day “fashion challenge.” The rules were simple enough: together, we agreed on a theme for each day that we would all have to interpret using our own wardrobes. Since we started the challenge right after Columbus Day, we had a 24-hour reprieve. Everyone came to work on Tuesday decked out in the allocated leopard theme. We sported animal print shoes, scarves, and dresses. People who walked by were perplexed by what they thought was a coincidental matching plan or some weird department hazing ritual. We laughed, emboldened by our ingenuity and apparent abundance of leopard print in our closets! Who knew?

On Wednesday, the team was required to wear something red. This too wasn’t such a stretch. It ranged from blinding red pants to the ease of red lips, albeit that was cheating a bit. By Thursday though, just two days in, my competitive streak was wearing thin as were my outfit choices. We were supposed to wear an oxford shirt (extra points if you incorporated a bowtie, don’t ask), but I didn’t even own a button-down. The morning of, I found a ratty shirt that barely passed muster for the theme and called it a day. I suppose you need a well-stocked closet to do this fashion blogger thing, or the ability to raid someone else’s at the very least, before you make it big and start swimming in all those freebie duds!

Friday was the most difficult test as we saved the best for last: denim on denim. The only person I’ve seen pull off this look is Sienna Miller, and I don’t even consider her a real person. Luckily, my roommate works in fashion PR and he let me rummage through his closet for a solid ten minutes until I found an apropos top half for my outfit (see the aforementioned closet raid reference). Clad in denim on denim riding the subway, I felt like an idiot. I can’t say my colleagues fared much better, with a few exceptions. Together, we resembled a stylish rodeo team, and not the insouciant fashion bloggers we were trying to emulate. It was the perfect way to end the week, and for me to realize some things are better left to the stylish professionals.

By Emily Bender, Publicity Assistant

Posted in Fashion

THQ Re-launches Wrestling Franchise “Straight-edged” Style
11/21/2011

Whether you’re a fan or not, it is hard to deny that professional wrestling is a multi-million dollar business. While to some, it’s more sports entertainment than actual sport, it still boasts one of the most loyal worldwide fan-bases of any media property. After more than a decade of producing the only authentic WWE videogame on the market, videogame developer (and DKC client) THQ decided it was once again time to shake up its traditional formula and turned to DKC for help. This year THQ started from scratch and rebuilt the game using a new engine and new computer models of the WWE stable of talent. Now re-named simply “WWE ’12,” the game will street on Tuesday, just days after the company’s popular “Survivor Series” pay-per-view invades Madison Square Garden to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

CM Punk’s media tour took him to
DKC’s Fifth Avenue offices.

To help us re-launch the now more “mature” franchise, DKC was given access to CM Punk, one of the WWE’s top stars and also one of its most vocal. As a result of his real-life contract dispute being played out across the show’s storylines this summer, Punk’s popularity has never been higher with the WWE fans; a fact not un-noticed by us.

DKC leveraged Punk’s “straight-edged” no holds barred style to book him on a local morning show (WPIX), a top satellite radio show (“Opie & Anthony”), Sports Illustrated.com’s “Hot Clicks” podcast and on a number of major mainstream entertainment, video game and sport-centric outlets (with many taking place here at our offices).

CM Punk is interviewed at DKC.

Having CM Punk at DKC’s disposal was invaluable to the success of our media day as reporter after reporter told us how much they enjoyed talking with him and how they could have gone on well beyond their allotted time. In many cases, the reporters also shared those sentiments over Twitter, on Facebook and across the social media landscape.

It’s no wonder Punk comes out to the ring with Living Colours’s “Cult Of Personality” blaring in the background as his charismatic appeal is almost cult-like to the WWE universe; and for good reason.

By Brett Gold, Senior Account Executive

Posted in Media, Sports marketing

DKC Habla Español
11/07/2011

Last February, I announced at Promoción Madrid that I would be leaving the office and moving to New York. At the time, I led International Media Relations at the press office of the municipal agency for tourism promotion and economic development for the City of Madrid. I knew I was headed for the “land of opportunity,” especially at a time when the economic crisis had left almost 5 million people unemployed in Spain, over 20% of the country’s population.

Thus, I left my hometown and moved to New York City, proudly becoming a part of the nation’s largest minority group: Hispanics.

According to the 2010 Census, the Hispanic population is the fastest-growing demographic in the United States. There are 50.5 million Latinos in the US, making up 16.3% of the total population; one in every six people is of Hispanic origin. The nation’s Latino population, which was 35.3 million in 2000, has grown 43% over the last decade. The Hispanic population also accounts for most of the nation’s growth – 56% -from 2000 to 2010. It is expected that by 2016 Latinos will number 17.8% of US residents, furthering the group’s impact on the country’s economy and culture.

Over the next five years, the nation’s purchasing power is projected to grow 27.5%, to $14.7 trillion, while that of the Hispanic population is forecasted to grow 48.1%, to $1.6 trillion.

The findings from the 2010 Report by the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies suggest that there is a clear connection between a consistent and significant investment allocation to the Hispanic market and high levels of revenue growth.  With the economic downturn and the Hispanic population surge, brands need to rethink their strategies and really start considering the Latino audience.

At DKC, we understand the importance of developing a Spanish-language strategy and reaching out to the Latino community. Our agency works extensively with consumer brands and non-profit organizations in defining and implementing Hispanic marketing initiatives.  While this has long been important to consumer brands, it is no less important for public affairs and issues work, given the expanding Hispanic community in markets across the country.

For the powerful documentary The Harvest/La Cosecha, DKC worked hand-in-hand with production company Shine Global to publicize screenings of the film in New York and Los Angeles, and the DVD release. DKC also worked to generate issue-related press, both in English and in Spanish, surrounding migrant workers and child labor. DKC was instrumental in creating awareness for the cause behind the film as the primary partner in the national outreach to the Latino community. As a result, we were able to arrange an interview for the AP Spanish Bureau with executive producer Eva Longoria which ran on every major online Spanish-language outlet and was then translated into English, reaching the general population nationwide through Yahoo! News, MSNBC, Forbes or The Washington Post, among others.

On the local level, DKC has been working with different groups that provide important services to the community, including Safe Horizon and the Levin Institute. New York-based Safe Horizon, the nation’s leading victim assistance organization and whose clients are largely Latino, has seen significant impact from implementing a Spanish-language strategy. SUNY’s Levin Institute has seen positive results from Spanish-language outreach, with emphasis on Latino entrepreneurship and the importance of immigration on New York’s economy.

Overall, through established and ongoing relationships with Spanish-language media at both regional and national levels, DKC is able to raise awareness and give a voice to Latino issues that are particularly important to the Hispanic community. Furthermore, Latino consumers are an integral part of the marketplace and brands can benefit immensely from marketing effectively to the Hispanic audience.

At DKC, we have the workforce and capabilities to help clients discover their Hispanic audience, develop strategies to best reach Latino targets and expand within this powerful market.

The future of communications is written in Spanish.

Bienvenidos a DKC. Aquí hablamos español.

By Gabriela Martinez de Ubago, Senior Account Executive

Tags:
Posted in Media

Advertising Week and the “New” Storytelling
10/24/2011

As someone new to DKC and relatively new to New York City, I was excited to experience my first Advertising Week this fall. For those unfamiliar, Advertising Week is an annual event bringing together marketing and communications leaders in New York City for panels, workshops, thought leadership seminars and networking opportunities. Over the years, it has also become a major opportunity for companies to break news.

One might think, “Why is Advertising Week relevant for a PR practitioner?” Those of us in PR are frequently asked to explain the difference between advertising and public relations. But in my case, since I represent an online advertising business, and in the case of many others at DKC who work with advertising companies – Advertising Week is a great opportunity to showcase our clients. Beyond that, as the lines between traditional PR, advertising, marketing and social media continue to blur, it has become increasingly important for PR professionals to take a holistic approach to communications, which means keeping an eye on the news throughout the entire industry.

With that goal in mind, I attended a session, co-presented by Lauren Weinberg, Vice President of Strategic Research and Insights at Yahoo!, and Simon Bond, CMO, BBDO, entitled “What’s Your Story?”.

The presentation focused on the results of a research study designed to establish best practices for brand storytelling in the new era of paid, owned and earned media. Similar to how crucial it is for public relations professionals to be aware of the ways in which new media impacts the ways we tell stories on behalf of clients, brand marketers must acclimate to the ever-changing media landscape, and the needs and wants of increasingly engaged consumers. The presentation likened the ways in which brands interact with consumers to the three stages of a relationship:

Stage One: Paid media is akin to a first date. In the field of advertising, and the same holds true with personal relationships, first impressions are key. A successful brand must be attractive and intriguing via the initial interaction – a display ad, paid search ad or sponsorship – which will establish a connection with the consumer that will make him or her want to learn more about the brand and actively engage other channels to do so.

Stage Two: Owned media is where you start to fall in love. Once a brand has established an initial connection in a consumer’s mind, it must then differentiate itself from other brands in the marketplace. In this phase, a consumer would seek out ways to more deeply understand the brand, including visiting the website or Twitter feed, and begin to form an emotional connection.

Stage Three: Earned media is like being in a relationship. This is the phase in the brand relationship where consumers play the most important role, as they participate in the brand narrative and engage in storytelling themselves by contributing to social channels, including Twitter, Facebook and personal blogs. While earned media is the result of genuine consumer engagement, once consumers get to this phase in the “relationship”, they also have higher expectations from brands. In order to fully capitalize on the earned media opportunity, it is essential for brands to continue to respond to what is happening in the moment and reflect their “human” side.

While many findings from this research apply specifically to the advertising industry, the overarching insights translate in to solid public relations counsel. To be successful in the public relations sphere, practitioners must be aware of the evolution in the ways audiences are consuming, as well as influencing, media and what their expectations are from each channel. It is also imperative to advise clients that interactions between their company and key constituents must truly be approached as a relationship – focused on genuine and authentic engagement in ways that empower consumers to become loyal, brand advocates.

By Mary Salvaggio, Account Supervisor

Posted in Media

Heinz Ketchup Has Nothing on David Granger
10/04/2011

David Granger, the editor of Esquire, dropped by DKC the other day. There are a number of takeaways from his appearance. One: He’s a man of style. Two: He’s quite funny. Three: he can work a PowerPoint presentation like no other.

But perhaps the most important thing I walked away with is this: You can still be defined by something, as long as you don’t allow yourself to be confined by that something.

Esquire is a magazine, and magazines are clearly David Granger’s passion. As he told our group, there is a reason why people refer to print media as “old media,” and that is because it’s been around for a very long time. And it’s been around for a very long time because it’s “f*cking good.”

But in the last few years the magazine industry has faced hard times, particularly with the fast and furious emergence of digital. While many in publishing declared it the beginning of the end, and others chose cognitive dissonance as the appropriate response, a select few – David Granger among them – had the foresight to realize that in order to actually prosper as a magazine, he needed to embrace digital, or as he said… “make digital [his] bitch and not the other way around”

During the discussion, David told us that his greatest moment of despair came when he compared the first-ever issue of Esquire with a recent one and thought to himself, “It’s still just a magazine.” He realized that in order to save Esquire the magazine, he must build out Esquire the brand; make it more, expand its audience, and make digital work for him. He was searching for his ketchup bottle moment.

David was one of the first editors to think literally and figuratively about getting off the page. For example, he doesn’t just photograph his cover subjects. He shoots videos of them that can be activated through QR codes. Or in the case of Justin Timberlake, he shoots flames out of their ass and films it for a complimentary web piece (ok, not really but download the app and you’ll see what I mean). And in his most recent venture, an e-commerce site called CLAD, he is again thinking off the pages – where for roughly 80 years they have told men what to wear –not just making suggestions, but telling you where to buy them.

Esquire remains, first and foremost, a magazine. A damn good magazine. But it is the first magazine to have an electronic cover. It is also a thriving website, a mobile app, an iPad app, a producer of web videos, and a partner in e-commerce. Thanks to David Granger’s ability to think creatively and not live within the confines of traditional print – which will always be the defining cornerstone of Esquire’s brand – he’s been able to secure a future for his beloved “old media” and successfully use “new media” in the most innovative ways. Ketchup bottle or not, David Granger has turned the publishing world upside down and there’s a bright future ahead because of him.

Written by: Caitlin O’Neill

Posted in Media

Internet Week Offers Lesson for Advertisers… and Publicists
07/07/2011

During last month’s Internet Week, creative minds and prominent voices in the digital world descended upon New York, and with it, I had the opportunity to hear the perspectives of a number of individuals who are helping to shape the way we use the Web. One of those people was Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) President Randall Rothenberg, who, in his opening remarks during the two-day Innovation Days conference, made a point about the structure of creative teams at advertising agencies that seemed to be as applicable to the field of public relations as it was to digital advertising.

One of the slides he presented (pictured) emphasized how advertising agencies’ creative teams ought to now include technologists alongside writers and designers. It’s a regularly debated issue in that industry, but it’s an important point equally applicable to account teams in public relations.

Publicists focused on digital and traditional media need to coordinate their efforts – not work in silos – for similar reasons:

– The influence of mainstream media extends to Twitter: While a reporter might not decide to cover a client in the print or online edition of their publication, they may decide to tweet about it to their followers. A tweet by an influential journalist could just as easily ricochet around the Web and generate interest in a client.

– Blogs are a catalyst for conversations in mainstream media: Good reporters are always on the lookout for story ideas, and it’s important to know what they’re reading online. Often, these outlets are niche blogs published via Blogger, Tumblr, or Wordpress. And while they may have a smaller audience, they can also drive conversations among influencers in that particular space, and that might also include members of the media. A mention on such a site could lead to tweets by an influential journalist (see above) or depending on how quickly word catches on, coverage in a more widely-read (or viewed), general-interest outlet.

– Online video drives the news cycle: When the trailer for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo surfaced online this spring, it drove conversations and buzz for the film (and questions about the source of the leak), which is not due out until December. Understanding how video might be used to generate attention for your client is an important part of PR, especially given the number of outlets that now seek to supplement their coverage with it.

While these are only a few examples, you can see in them how the skills of traditional PR blended with the opportunities presented by digital can benefit a client. And, with the pace of technological change only increasing, having your traditional and digital teams working hand-in-hand on a complementary strategy will help a client take advantage of the best means out there to generate attention for them.

Posted by: Matt Caldecutt, Account Supervisor

Posted in Media, Social media, Technology

Provence for a Week…In a New York Minute
06/02/2011

I just came back from a week in France with my family, celebrating a milestone birthday for my mom. Spending a week in the serenity of southern France does something amazing to a New Yorker’s way of life – it slows it to an almost unrecognizable leisurely pace.

The day before I left for France, I found myself acting more impatient than ever, a trait I’m not proud of. I was silently annoyed with the woman on line in front of me at Starbucks who couldn’t decide what drink to order. New Yorkers are often blamed for this on-edge attitude and there I was, in the flesh, exemplifying the negative stereotype of agitation New Yorkers get a bad rep for. A vacation couldn’t have come at a better time.

As expected, while in Provence, I was in sensory overload; the smells, tastes and sights were all incredible. I took a cooking class at a French chef’s private mansion that dated back to the 17th century. I sampled wines at a local vineyard. I wandered, sans map, around small, mountainous villages just for the sake of exploring. I ate fresh breads and cheeses, and held back from calorie counting. I lost myself in a local marketplace amidst spices and handmade bars of soap. I found a skinny, stray cat and brought it sliced meat. I sat down for a two-hour lunch in the town of Cassis, a gorgeous waterfront village, and absorbed the scenery of passersby and anchored boats bobbling along the sea’s surface. I fell asleep every night to the sounds of frogs croaking in the lily pond outside my window. I hiked 10 miles between two villages, not because I had to (there was a shorter bus route) but just because I could. In the heart of Provence, I found myself losing track of time, even losing track of what day of the week it was. I was in a complete state of relaxation, unrestricted by scheduled meetings or project deadlines.

Life is too short not to enjoy it to the fullest. Too often we get wrapped up in the chaos of professional commitments and we lose sight of how to maintain a healthy balance of work and play. This vacation reminded me of the importance of finding that balance – that once in a while we all need to take a moment to stop and smell the roses, or the lavender, as the case may be.

Traveling in France not only made me reconsider my outlook on life, but as a painter, the trip was so artistically fulfilling. I have been oil painting since I was eight years old. Oil is a complicated medium for someone that young to pick up, but even at that age I knew what the “real artists” painted with and I wanted to produce works of art just like theirs. I took oil painting classes for seven years, painting scenic views and portraits that would soon decorate my entire home. In college, I transitioned to watercolors, which is an easier medium to work with and take from place to place. Post-college, I unfortunately hadn’t made it a high priority to paint — not by choice, but because work and personal obligations had kept me busy. While in France, I felt inspired to pick the paintbrush back up again.

So now I am back from my vacation, trying to fall asleep in the city that never does sleep. I wake up earlier and walk twice as purposefully to get to work on time. And no, the frogs don’t sing me lullabies and the scenery isn’t nearly as captivating, but the artist in me has learned to appreciate the colors and the beauty of New York City.

Written by: Missy Krowne

Posted in Travel

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