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What do employers look for on your social media?
I do a fair amount of informational interviews. These conversations with recent or soon-to-be college graduates are a great way for them to meet with potential employers without the pressure of a job interview. There are some common questions that are always asked – What is a typical day look like? Why did you choose […]
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Taking It To The Street
Public relations programming is essential to the tourism and hospitality industry. “Build it and they will come” just doesn’t work all by itself. A destination is nothing more than an accidental stop-over if nobody knows about it. With that said, we in the PR industry still often find it difficult to explain to lay people […]
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It’s not about the numbers
When social media first started to become an important part of a communications strategy, we spent a lot of time figuring out how to increase the number of followers our various social media accounts had. We strived to hit certain milestones (help us reach 1,000 followers). We created incentives for people to like our page […]
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A Million Egos
HMA Public Relations has been involved with dozens of successful restaurant openings over the years. Projects like that are often short-term and high-energy and typically involve a healthy serving of media relations, community relations and special event planning. They definitely get an agency’s adrenaline pumping. I was watching a recent episode of “A Million Little […]
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Podcasting – the art of story
I’m teaching an intro to social media class at Phoenix College. My students included re-careering adults, returning students and typical college-age kids. Throughout the class, we are discussing a variety of different social media platforms and how they apply to small business. By the end of the semester, each student will have prepared a social […]
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Tour Guides Are Ambassadors
Whenever one of our HMA team makes a speech or we give a presentation, we usually practice it before we do it for real. We counsel our clients to do the same, sometimes serving as coaches. Practice can make perfect – or at least really good. On a recent trip, I had the opportunity to […]
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What is Crisis Communications at Sea?
HMA Public Relations has worked on some major crisis communication projects over the years. Sometimes we are a part of them even when we’re on vacation. This time, it was as the target audience. While on a recent cruise to Central America, I had the opportunity to watch a cruise ship’s leadership team spring into […]
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The Sky is Not the Limit
How does a less than stellar high school student find his way to college and eventually in space? By reading a book. Captain Scott Kelly, the most recent presenter at the Arizona Speaker Series, readily admits that he was not the best student and had it not been for the appealing cover of the book, […]
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Arizona: America's Valentine!
Whether you love it, like it or want to run away and hide from it… it’s Valentine’s Day! And we in the Arizona desert have another special reason to celebrate this lovely day—it’s our official statehood day! In honor of the occasion, we have compiled some fun facts about the Grand Canyon state– On February […]
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Lessons I am Learning While Buying My First House
Guess who is getting herself out of the rental game and into her first, real home? Yep, this martian millennial. As any home buyer will tell you, this is no doubt a painful experience. However, it is also very exciting and strangely satisfying. Here are some things I have learned from this very strenuous but […]
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I am a martian millennial
As much as I hate to admit it, I fall right into the “millennial” category — albeit, only by a few years. According to assumptions, this means I am dangerously addicted to my phone, I don’t know a world without the internet and I have an unhealthy need for instant gratification. Some of this is […]
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#Book Club — The Later Years
Imagine having such a profound impact on an industry that your teachings were still relevant nearly a quarter-century after you had died. That’s the case for Edward Bernays, the Austrian-American known as “the father of public relations.” At a recent gathering of PR pros, a fellow PRSA Fellow of mine, Paula Pedene, gave me a […]
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