Poor Al Roker—at least he’s taking this all in stride. After oversleeping for the first time in 39 years, Mr. Roker is enduring a friendly thrashing by his colleagues and across Twitter for failing to show up for “Wake Up With Al,” his (very) early morning show on The Weather Channel.
buchanan public relations
Calculator, Please
It was sometime in elementary school—when calculators were unjustly banned from use during tests—that I decided to break up with long division and started serious relationships with reading, writing, and art (we’re even Facebook-official).
When high school and college rolled around, I decided I didn’t want to starve as an artist later in life, so I began to pursue writing. Seven failed novel attempts later, I discovered public relations and immediately felt at home.
Fast-forward to this past December, when I began seeking a summer internship. Googling “public relations + Philadelphia” produced more results than any human could possibly wade through, so I narrowed it down and applied only to the firms that seemed human, had a great social media presence and whose websites were beautifully designed. Hello, Buchanan PR.
It’s All About the Reunions
Our new Account Supervisor Nicole Lasorda has been a longtime volunteer with the Red Paw Emergency Relief Team, an organization that provides support for animals involved in fires and other disasters. Below is a blog post Nicole wrote for the Red Paw website:
I’ve always loved animals – that’s probably an understatement. Ever since I was a kid, sick, injured, and homeless animals had me on their radar. It was like a beacon on my head that said “FIND ME. I WILL HELP YOU!”
Getting the Hook Can Really Hurt
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.”
6 SEO Rules Every PR Pro Should Live By
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.
Public Relations: The Importance of “Measuring Up”
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?
Raising Funds While Raising Good Corporate Citizens
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.
Will PR’s Use of Social Media Make People Nicer?
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.
Modern Day Mad Men
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.
9 Things I’ve Learned in 9 Years of 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.