This is our public relations blog.
On a whim, I performed in my very first Story Slam about a year ago. The way it works is that, if your name is called at random, you stand up on stage and tell a 5-minute story related to the given theme in front of an audience of 50 to 100 people. I was shaking in my flip flops the first time, but braved my way through the entire thing. And I wasn’t bad.
Over the past year, participating in the slams got me thinking — “This is a lot like what we do in PR.”
Search engine optimization (SEO) determines where and how businesses rank on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. As the competition for online real estate continues to heat up, B2B and B2C marketers have planned to increase their SEO budgets by 43 percent and 45 percent, respectively.
With marketing departments increasingly seeing more value in digital services, PR professionals must understand how to best incorporate SEO tactics into their service offerings.
By Emily DiTomo & Emily Geesaman
Last week, representatives from Buchanan PR had the opportunity to attend a PRSA Philadelphia seminar on “The Principles of Measurement: Best Practices and Real-Life Case Studies.” Presented by Ketchum Global Research & Analytics’ Caroline Eichman and Mary Elizabeth Germaine, the event focused on the seminal question for all PR pros: How can we successfully apply the principles of measurement to public relations, and in turn demonstrate quantifiable ROI for what we do?
For the past six weeks, I have had the honor of participating in the annual Nancy Bacher Long PR Institute, PRSA Philly’s intensive training program for junior-level public relations practitioners. Participants are split into mock agency teams that compete to create a comprehensive communications plan for a local nonprofit.
If you’re responsible for raising money for your nonprofit organization, you might be thinking of approaching corporations for support. And it might make sense. But there are a few things you should consider before starting out.
I am not a good flyer. But when your daughter is spending a semester abroad in London, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the city with a personal travel guide, so my husband and I recently bit the bullet and climbed on an airplane to fly over the pond. We had a great time for five days, and then it was time to come home.
As an avid viewer of Mad Men, I have an ongoing love-hate relationship with the hit series’ main character, Don Draper. One episode I’m critical of his womanizing, demoralizing behavior and the next I’m in admiration of his creativity and uncanny ability to command a situation. 
This intended roller-coaster effect has left me drawing parallels between back-in-the-day and modern-day techniques of advertising and PR.
Last weekend, I ran the 10-mile Broad Street Run here in Philadelphia. This was the first year that I did not yearn to be trampled by the masses so that I could peacefully succumb to an overwhelming exhaustion. Where I’m typically ready to give up at mile 9, I actually felt ready to tackle mile 10 with vigor. With college graduations in full swing this time of year, the run got me thinking of my nine years post-undergrad and the things I’ve learned that have prepared me for this 10th year of my public relations career, my mile 10.
When family members and friends asked me what I would be doing after graduating from Franklin & Marshall College in December, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I shared my plans: “I have an internship.” The title “intern” often conjures up images of coffee runs, copy duty and menial work in general. 
But, luckily, my internship at Buchanan Public Relations shattered all previously held notions about the insignificance of interns, and it is with pride that I look back on my past four months here.
Last weekend, I traveled to the Waldorf Astoria Orlando for the wedding of one of my closest childhood friends. I had booked round-trip transportation to and from the airport and, when my return shuttle never arrived, I immediately assumed I’d be on my own. After briefly explaining my situation to the hotel concierge, she stepped out from behind the desk, whispered something to a bellhop and – in a matter of minutes – something amazing 
happened.
