Category Archives: Media Relations

Boost ‘Calendar Awareness’ & Bolster Your Marketing and Public Relations Efforts

Did you know that yesterday was National Child Health Day? And, at the risk of having you worry why March and May were not designated instead, did you realize that April is Stress Awareness Month? Growing up, for yours truly, every day was Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. On a broader scale, however, that comfort […]

NOVO’s ‘Trick or Treatment’ & Other Forms of Seizing Seasonal PR Opportunities

When we learn how to drive a car, we are taught the “three-second rule,” a safe following distance guide to ensure that we leave enough space between our car and the one in front of us to avoid a collision. Or perhaps you know it as the “two-second rule,” which is considered a minimum separation […]

PR Restraint For George Hood’s Next Guinness World Record Bid in Plank

George Hood on Dec. 3, 2011, shortly after he set the Guinness World Record in the abdominal plank. George Hood, the ultra-endurance athlete extraordinaire from Aurora, Ill., isn’t slowing down at 55 (years of age). The five-time Guinness World Record holder on Saturday is supporting HeartChase, an American Heart Association fundraiser in Newport, Ky., as […]

When Re-Tooling Isn’t Enough to Get it Done, Then It’s Time To Report

There are certain sensitive, “adult” things that I will share with my wife, outside my 9-year-old children’s earshot. If that news contains some elements that my son and daughter should know, then I will tease out those details that I believe are most appropriate for them. Likewise, when taking a story that has national scope […]

‘Could Be’ Column in Bulldog Reporter

For the third time in two weeks, I had a column appear in Bulldog Reporter–this time about the art of getting media coverage on speculative topics. Bearing the headline ‘Could Be’ Publicity: Picking Your Spots With Media Trial Balloons, the column yesterday flowed from seeing occasional client Tom & Eddie’s secure mention in Crain’s Chicago […]

‘Bulldog Reporter’ Publishes My Latest Column on Effective Media Relations

The NFL playoffs are in high gear, but when Bulldog Reporter this past Thursday published a column that I wrote, it was baseball that formed the backdrop for my metaphorical tips on building strong relationships with the media. The column, In Media Relations, ‘Fastball’ Pitches Go Nowhere Fast, marks my latest piece on the website that is […]

Melissa Stockwell: Paralympian, Prosthetist, Model of Perseverance

Working with Plunkett & Associates over the last six years, one of my most rewarding experiences has been helping tell stories about those served by Scheck & Siress, an orthotic and prosthetic company with a variety of locations throughout the Chicago area. And among those stories has been the developing one about Melissa Stockwell. She is […]

Even After He’s Done, Mickey Straub’s ’50 Capitols’ PR Journey Continues

About three months ago, I blogged about my public relations effort for Mickey Straub and his ambitious and unprecedented plan to visit all 50 state capitols in 50 days. Turns out, he couldn’t do it…he only needed 44 days. It’s a remarkable, and really cool, story that’s only getting better, as I just related in my […]

`Flail & Email’ Makes Its Turn-of-Phrase Debut

Do you ever wonder who coined certain turns of phrase? Take “smile and dial,” for example, which refers to the practice of cranking out phone calls in some sales-frenzy fashion. I’ve got to believe that expression emerged some time in the last century, most likely in the last 50 years and certainly post-1876, when Alexander […]