Archive | Public Relations

Chicago Ideas Week, an event that brings together hundreds of the world’s brightest thought leaders to inspire, connect and activate the city of Chicago started Monday, October 13 and will continue through Sunday, October 19. Chicago Ideas Week is made up of talks, summits, labs and conversations covering a variety of different topics. Featured speakers throughout the week have included Emmy-nominated & Academy Award–nominated Actress Joan Cusack, “New York Times” Best-selling Author and Founder of The Chopra Foundation, Deepak Chopra, M.D. and Founder and President of National Action Network, Reverend Al Sharpton.

Every year, inspiring entrepreneurs give us insight on the upcoming trends and technology. Farmer’s Fridge, a healthy vending kiosk, provided Chicago Ideas Week attendees fresh salads, full meals and snacks with their two pop-up kiosks at the Thorne Auditorium and the Cadillac Palace Theatre. Farmer’s Fridge epitomizes what Chicago Ideas Week is all about: creativity and innovation melded together to make the world a better place. These pop-up kiosks have been designed in partnership with local up and coming artist Mauricio Ramirez, who is based out of the Lacuna Artist Lofts and an avid fan of Farmer’s Fridge’s salads and mission.

Another upcoming entrepreneur in the food industry is Founder of Mealsharing.com Jay Savsani, who spoke on the “Sharing Economy” panel this past Thursday, October 16. While traveling in Siem Reap, Cambodia founder Jay Savsani decided that he wanted to experience real culture by eating home cooked meals instead of sticking to traditional restaurant establishments, leading him to found MealSharing.com. MealSharing.com is available worldwide, allowing anyone to find a meal or host their own by using MealSharing’s easily formatted website.

Chicago ideas week isn’t over yet! Some upcoming events to look out for are:

Creative Process: The Impulsive, Calculated, Evolving, Joyful, Maddening Journey from Idea to Reality

• What do a ventriloquist, an Academy Award-nominated actress, two globe-trotting entrepreneurs and a self-proclaimed food geek have in common? A creative drive that leads to unique, evolving and evocative art. Get a glimpse into the creative mind as our speakers take you from TV script to hit show, recipe to avant garde meal, canvas shoe to walking work of art and more.

You Are Beautiful

• Meet the artist behind Chicago’s powerful You Are Beautiful campaign: Matthew Hoffman. Join him for a walking field trip through the city and continue the inspirational campaign by placing You Are Beautiful stickers that will brighten others’ days. Arrive with outdoor clothes and good intentions.

Humboldt Park Latin Sandwich Bicycle Crawl with the Hungry Hound

• Discover Humboldt Park, via your stomach. ABC 7’s Hungry Hound, Steve Dolinsky, will lead a bike tour through the neighborhood, stopping for a classic Cuban sandwich at Senor Pan Cafe, a cemita at Cemitas Puebla and Chicago’s own original sandwich, the jibarito, at La Palma Puerto Rican.  Come prepared to do a little riding—and a fair amount of eating.

For a full schedule of upcoming events visit https://www.chicagoideas.com/years/2014/schedule

With every new generation, there is always conflict with the generation that came before. Across the internet there are a number of websites and articles dedicated to discussing stereotypes of millennials. This is no surprise, as they are the youngest generation entering the work place and are under constant criticism. George Drucker, Partner and President at Crenshaw Communications, had heard many of these rumors before deciding to teach a college level PR class. However, what he saw in his students debunked many of the myths he had heard. As seen in his recent article, millennials have quite a lot going for them. Here are some of the lessons he learned from his work with millennials:

They value substance as long as it’s relevant. Once you establish something they believe is of value, they listen.  No closed eyelids, no light snoring.  They’re more than willing to commit time and attention when the knowledge is relevant to their upcoming careers and future, — and not just in the financial sense.

They respect experience. Research shows that the rising Millennials have a narrower generation gap with their parents than the Boomers did. My experience is that the students honor and understand experience as long as it’s placed into a context they can understand.

They’re connected and committed socially. They care far more about social change than my own generation. To these young people, social change is more than a marketing strategy or a reputation management tool. The environment, human rights, racial equality – all are part of who they are and what they value. To me, this has implications for the future of workplace culture and ethical decision-making in our industry.

Millennials are different from previous generations, but is that really a bad thing? Sometimes, people are resistant to change regardless of the direction the change is moving towards—even if it is for the better.

Read Drucker’s article about his experience in the classroom here: http://crenshawcomm.com/millennials-know-pr-life/#.VDhAz_nF8l0

Apple unveiled their two newest iPhones this week, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. Both phones feature new enhancements such as an improved camera, better Wi-Fi connection, faster chips, a thinner body, slightly improved battery life, new video tools, and the ability to make mobile payments. The iPhone 6 Plus differs even more from the typical iPhone. With its larger screen, crossing a phone and a tablet makes it more comparable to an android phone.

Fans desperate to get their hands on the latest device crashed the Apple website last night and there is now a backorder of three to four weeks. As seen in The Huffington Post , after years of selling iPhones, why wasn’t Apple prepared for the preorders? Some say the lack of availability of iPhones is a public relations maneuver by Apple to make their product seem even more in demand.

Customers who are not yet eligible for an update can get stuck paying up to $950 for one of the new phones. Some people might not mind paying that much for a device they use every day, but Apple will come out with a bigger and better iPhone next year or possibly sooner.

For all the Apple fans out there, we recommend heading to your nearest Apple store ASAP! 🙂

Yesterday the world lost comedian, talk-show host, author and actress Joan Rivers. Rivers’ sharp wit and humor made her an entertainment legend – she was the first woman to host her own show on late night television. Rivers broke the gender barrier in an industry previously dominated by men and pioneered a path for future women. With hard work and determination, she built her career into an empire. Today, Rivers’ countless achievements as well as her unique brand of humor are being remembered across America. Richard Brownell’s article in PR News demonstrates how Rivers’ life can be an example of what it takes to succeed outside of show business, especially in the field of PR. Below are our favorite lessons Brownell outlined:

• Revel in hard work. Rivers kept a pace that would put many people decades younger than her to shame, performing on stage and appearing on television with regular frequency. Whether it was her red carpet fashion commentary, her popular stage act, books or talk show appearances, Rivers was a machine when it came to show business.
• Go where others fear to tread. Receiving virtually no support from her parents, Rivers pursued her show business ambitions while making ends meet with jobs in advertising and fashion. She started in standup comedy in the 1950s when the industry was almost exclusively male. She eventually became a popular and frequent guest host of The Tonight Show, and later became the first woman with her own late-night program, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers.
• Don’t be hobbled by failure. Rivers had a lot of doors slammed in her face in show business before catching the attention of Johnny Carson in 1965. But she never quit. Her personal and professional life plunged after her husband committed suicide in 1987. She regrouped, though, and started another TV show in 1989 that earned her a Daytime Emmy.

Read the full article here: http://www.prnewsonline.com/water-cooler/2014/09/05/5-lessons-pr-people-can-learn-from-joan-rivers/

It’s that time of the year again: back-to-school for college students. CampusBooks.com, a leading textbook price comparison website, recently announced the results of a survey that reveal some fascinating habits of college students across the country. The survey shed light on five different areas of focus:  textbook purchasing habits, note-taking methods, eBooks, technology use and social media preferences.

Here are some survey highlights:

Textbooks

• Nearly three in five students (57%) report paying for textbooks themselves
• More than three in four students (77%) prefer to purchase used textbooks
• 85% percent of students purchase textbooks online
• Half prefer to rent and one in four (25%) prefer to purchase new

Purchasing textbooks is a pricy, yet essential, part of going back-to-school. This survey revealed that students are choosing to buy used textbooks online to save money. Using price comparison websites like CampusBooks.com is the perfect way for students to get the best bang for their buck.

Social Media

• Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, and Gmail are the most popular websites among college students with a majority of students maintaining Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest accounts
• 92% of college students have a Facebook account and more than four in five (82%) have a YouTube account
• College students spend an average of 7.6 hours on Facebook every week, nearly five hours on YouTube and almost three hours per week on Instagram  and Twitter

Millennials grew up with social media, so it is no surprise that college students spend excessive amounts of time using these networks. The social media phenomenon has grown extremely fast and is showing no signs of slowing down. For example, when the Class of 2015 began college three years ago, social media sites like Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, Vine and more were relatively undiscovered or completely nonexistent.