The Finale Celebration and check presentation of the Kangaroo Express "Salute Our Troops" campaign was held last week at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., It was a memorable event, and the $2.5 million donation provided a vital measurement in analyzing the success the campaign. But to go beyond quantifiable analytics, to look past the numbers, is to paint a picture that tells a qualitative story - a story of corporate and community unity.

So, as I look back at the "Salute Our Troops" summer, and reflect on what made this campaign the most unique I've ever worked on, I hope you'll not only enjoy the photos from the check presentation, but also recognize an element of consumer engagement that went far beyond wallets and into the hearts and minds of communities around the nation.

Read More

Having joined Largemouth Communications as their newest intern, I am beyond thrilled about the knowledge and experience this position will allow me to gain throughout the fall semester. With one successful week under my belt, Largemouth seems like a great fit for me. Provided that it is my dream to become a public relations professional at a high-energy PR agency, I am already confident Largemouth will help prepare me for my future.

Read More

At the close of an infamous week marked by both an earthquake and a hurricane, I'm relieved to have missed the biggest disaster of all; the Twitter fail whale that arises from too many tweets and prevents users from viewing the site. Lately, every major event has further proven of the importance of Twitter as an instantaneous news source and an arena for completely unfiltered commentary and interaction. But as social media's role shifts to further evolve into a news platform and society's reliance on social media for disaster preparedness and awareness continues to grow, can popular platforms' systems keep up with the flow of information?

Read More

You might know your local market like the back of your hand and have relationships with a reporter at every outlet, but what do you when your client announces local news in a market you've never been to and are not familiar with? After a summer-long promotion filled with pitching distant local markets, here are my top five tips for pitching "outside your backyard."

Read More

I wasn't around when public relations relied on compiling and mailing press kits, faxing releases or banking on relationships with one or two local newsroom buddies, and I'm glad.  Why? Because there has never been a better time to be in PR than right now.

The game has changed.  PR pros are currently in a transformative stage, evolving, but not just to survive as the fittest among communication experts, but also to rule the tangled infrastructure of emerging media channels and technological trends.  We are evolving to take full advantage of the resources that have been put in front of us, and as a result of society's changing needs, PR skill sets are growing into something a lot bigger than any press release or fact-sheet could ever describe. Yet, we will always remain behind the scenes, speaking through the talking heads and illuminated screens that you rely on.

Read More

Wednesday afternoon, Kangaroo Express and the ‘Salute Our Troops USO Jeep Tour' held a unique recognition ceremony in Morrisville, N.C., honoring serving members of the armed forces, veterans and their families.

Duke University basketball radio announcer and local icon, Bob Harris, "The Voice of The Blue Devils," was present and provided powerful commentary on the campaign, in which a fully restored 1952 Willys CJ-3 Jeep has traveled to more than75 cities over 13,000 miles, amassing more than $1.35 million in donations thanks to awe-inspiring community support at each stop.

Read More

While following the debt ceiling debate via social media, I've not only been informed and entertained, but I have also developed an extreme case of curiosity.  Not in regard to any specific proposed figure, tax rate or legislative topic, but I began to wonder... how does the government's social media influence compare to that of other global brands?

Read More

Growing up in north Raleigh, near Durant Road, I would pass Eaton Corporation's Capital Boulevard manufacturing plant a handful of times a week and I always assumed it was some sort of food distributer -"Eat-on," I don't know exactly why I made the assumption, I was imaginative and more concerned with the soccer fields down the street, and ice cream.

Fast-forward more than a decade - while applying for internships, I did my research, noticed that Largemouth worked with Eaton, recognized the logo, and visited their website, finally. Much to my surprise, I didn't see any information about restaurant delivery, and for as much as I knew about power quality and distribution products, the site might as well have been in German -I'm far from fluent.

The point is, for the beginning PR professional, working on behalf of a highly-technological company whose products you hardly understand can be intimidating, especially while pitching -when you really need to be an expert. But, if you do your research, clearly define a purpose, and engage as much as possible with people who are relevant to that purpose, you will provide a valuable service, project professionalism, and open up valuable relationships for future collaboration. So, from my personal experience, here are a few words of advice:

Read More

Read More

Anthony recently wrote about how Plug-In 2011, a national electric vehicle conference and exposition, is taking place at the Raleigh Convention Center this week. Well, we both attended last night's public event, and witnessed an impressive turnout! Here are a few of my Plug-In 2011 highlights:

Read More