Fall Jaunts

What's news? Too much to mention! Had I been a good blogger, this would be up-to-date, but alas, you'll have to settle for a brief recap of what this season has offered.

Races, galore!
3 races (my first three, in fact)under my belt: Air Force, Run Like Hell and the Jingle Bell Run, which took place this past weekend. Can't say I'm the best runner, but it sure is fun!

Another foreign foray...
Back to Mexico. Only to return with several hundred more photos of lizards (see below.)




Now, as we look towards the holidays and Brinkmas, I can't help but be excited for what's in store! :)

Happy [2nd] anniversary to me!

Where has the time gone?

Not only this summer, which proved to be a cruel tease of what is typically expected of Ohio summers, but the entire YEAR!

This past week I celebrated my second anniversary with EMG (well, not all week, but intermittently)and, in looking back, I've learned a lot and met a ton of great people. I even had the opportunity to flex my writing muscles with our Chilling Tales book project.

I hope the next year is as challenging, fun and rewarding as this year has been. And I hope there's another book project in the near future ;) that was a blast!

Cheers, friends!

If you haven’t already…

And this [might be] the last I say about the book for a while [MAYBE]…

Don’t forget to submit your entry to Roto-Rooter’s Chilling Tales Sweepstakes. You can win a chance to participate in a real life ghost hunt with the SyFy’s Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson.

Other prizes include a stay at the Spaulding Inn in New Hampshire- a hotel owned and operated by the Ghost Hunters stars, or an autographed copy of the book, Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat.

Visit www.chillytales.com for official rules and entry!
Better hurry, the contest closes at midnight!!

Good Things Happening

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090830/NEWS0105/908300402?GID=qV7RqgedSiv8pEp762z2a8rMljgRS+qNUiz/VAu8cHM%3D

Congrats to the Joyce from the Peppermint Pig Thrift & Gift on Beechmont Ave. for the nice feature in yesterday's Enquirer.

The store (affectionately referred to as 'the pig'), is a not-for-profit thrift store in which all proceeds go towards supporting Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary, a no-kill animal shelter.

It's great to see such dedicated individuals working hard for a great cause. Thanks Joyce and congratulations!

An oldie but goodie...

Earlier this month was the signing/celebration of the launch of our book, "Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat."

Wanted to share a picture of me and Ghost Hunters Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. They did a wonderful job of working the crowd and interacting with their fans. :) So glad they could come out and be a part of this project!

Laughs, a Launch and the Loo

Join the SyFy channel's Ghost Hunters Friday from 3-6pm at the Barnes & Noble on Newport on the Levee as they sign the new book they co-wrote with Roto-Rooter plumbers, "Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat."

Also there will be cover model and porcelain princess Brittany Everitt, a toilet ice sculpture and a signed toilet (that was on the cover) that will be signed by the Ghost Hunters and Brittany and raffled off at the event.

Copies of the book will be for sale at the event. Be sure to grab your copy and we'll see you there!

Amputee Coalition of America Youth Camp

This year, through EMG’s Operation: Outreach program, I’ve had the privilege of assisting the Amputee Coalition of America raise awareness of its Youth Camp- a five-day program provided free of charge to children living with limb loss or limb differences.

Yesterday, we invited members of the media out to experience the camp firsthand, and watch as the campers take on the ropes course. For more information about the camp and other Amputee Coalition of America programs, visit: http://www.amputee-coalition.org

Special thanks to Ryan Cook who came out and did a great piece on the camp, which you can find here:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/children-with-no-arms-legs-tackle-ropes-course-224020.html

Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat

It's here!

The long awaited book and first project of its kind for me has finally been launched. Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat is now available for purchase at www.chillytales.com! Compiled and edited by yours truly, and designed by our awesome team at EMG.
Check it out!


SciFi’s Ghost Hunters, Roto-Rooter Launch New Bathroom Reader Book
Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat Available

Cincinnati, OH – June 25, 2009—Roto-Rooter, America’s largest plumbing and drain cleaning service provider, has unveiled its latest creation to bring joy and relief to bathroom users everywhere. Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat is a vignette-style bathroom reader featuring real life Roto-Rooter plumbers and SciFi channel’s Ghost Hunters Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat features strange but true tales of plumbing horrors and hilarity and is available for purchase at www.chillytales.com.

The idea behind the book stems from all the strange, odd, unexplained and simply weird experiences both the Ghost Hunters and other Roto-Rooter plumbers have witnessed over the years involving pipes, drains, sinks and toilets. “Many of the locations alleged to have poltergeists simply turn out to be plumbing issues, clanging pipes and DIY projects gone wrong,” Hawes said.

“Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat highlights the odd experiences that many plumbers encounter on a daily basis,” Hawes added. “Readers will be shocked to learn about some of the things we’ve experienced on the job and we’ve even had folks from all across the country send in their own plumbing stories for the book. There are tales that will curl your hair, and others that are just so funny you can’t help but belly laugh. It’s a great way to spend some quality time on the throne.”

The book is also filled with practical tips, advice and what not to do’s for do it yourselfers who may be looking to tackle a plumbing problem, although Hawes wryly admits that his best do it yourself plumbing advice is to call an experienced plumber. Chilling Tales features toilet trivia and even a special foreword by the Porcelain God himself.

Visitors to www.chillytales.com or www.rotorooter.com can also enter Roto-Rooter’s Chilling Tales Sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to Colorado where the winner will join Jason and Grant on a ghost hunt at the famous Stanley Hotel in Colorado, the location for the filming of the movie The Shining, or the chance to stay at the haunted Spaulding Inn of New Hampshire, owned and operated by the Ghost Hunters stars. Other prizes will also be available.

Media Contact: Allison Brinkman
Eisen Marketing Group
859-291-4302
Allison@eisenmarketinggroup.com
Twitter: @EMGMediaAccess

Introducing...

Chilling Tales from the Porcelain Seat

If my friends and family know anything about me, it's that I've always wanted to write a book. Who would've thought that the first book project I'd be involved with would be a Bathroom Reader?!

Details to come next week, but here's the cover :) It's been a wonderful project to which the each member of the EMG team has been able to lend their special abilities. I can't wait to share it with you!

Classmates to Colleagues

Last Wednesday I was invited to participate in a panel discussion for the Arts & Sciences career services department at Ohio State. It was wonderful to be back on campus (especially during springtime) and have the opportunity to represent my company and the journey that’s taken me to the good ship EMG.

The one piece of advice I found myself dolling over and over throughout the seminar, Q&A and networking session was one simple thing: network. Something that isn’t emphasized enough, and hyped to mythical proportions as awkwardly forced conversation in an uncomfortable professional setting.

Truth is, we’ve been doing it since we were kids, and even in college, only substitute beer for coffee (in some cases…although I’d much prefer to network over beer). Networking is an intimidating word for making friends, for, if you think about it, without that personal connection, you’ll be a pretty forgettable individual- someone people wouldn’t want to call to hang out with again.

Forget the hype, just go out and see what other people have to offer. Everyone brings a perspective to the table and it’s fun to discover their passions.

This was the first year for the Classmates to Colleagues program, and I wish everyone who was in attendance the best of luck. Getting started in any career out of college is difficult, stressful and all around overwhelming. It’s a character defining process in which confidence is key. Hey, you might not get a job right out the gate, but you don’t have to look too far to find the tools you need to get where you need to be.

Humbled

It’s truly an honor and a pleasure to help out non-profits within the community through our Operation:Outreach program.

Last year I served as the PR/media relations arm for the Peppermint Pig thrift & Gift, a volunteer-run non-profit thrift store that uses all proceeds to support Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary, a no-kill animal shelter.

This morning I received a letter from another supporter of the Peppermint Pig regarding the work we’ve done with them.

“Keep up the good work helping the abandoned animals! We bring donations into the PP at least once a month. We hope that in a small way we are helping out. We have seven stray cats that now make their home with us too.

Thanks again for involving yourself with the PP.”

Hope for a homeless pet can come in the smallest of gestures. If you’re looking for a new best friend, or have some gently used clothing that you’d like to donate, please go to the Peppermint Pig. More information about the store and Safe Haven can be found here: http://www.safehavenohio.org.

Weathering the Storm

This is a really exciting development in my life as a budding amateur photographer...One of my pictures of a recent ice storm was selected to accompany an article in Turf Magazine.

I've included the picture below, but check out the full article, "Weathering the Storm" here: http://www.turfmagazine.com/article.php?id=2249

New Project!

Don’t hate me for being a terrible blogger, I’ve been working on a fantastic project for a client that’s challenging and wacky and all around awesome... and best of all, I need your help.

Do you have a crazy, funny or downright frightening plumbing story you’d like to share? I want to hear it! Anything from tips to DIY disasters and everything in between. You may be selected to be featured in a book (which is being compiled by yours truly).

Head over to www.chillytales.com to find out more about the project and share your experience!

The Peekaru

A product that needs little to no explanation...a baby snuggie, right?
A shirt/pouch combination that turns babies into little aliens.

http://i.gizmodo.com/5191510/peekaru-is-a-baby-snuggie

Well...good luck to them with their sales and marketing efforts. Not having a child, I wanted to see how I would look in a Peekaru with what I consider to be my child, my dog Oscar. Please see the results below.



What do you think?

Something PR people don't often hear...

Today I received probably one of the nicest, most sincerely flattering emails that I’ve ever received during my tenure as PR gal.

This person, an editor for a highly respected workplace/HR publication, expressed how impressed she was by a client’s resources and website capabilities, and even more flattering, said, “If you’re responsible for that section [news section], congratulations. That is some amazing press you’ve gotten for your client in a short time.”

THANK YOU!!!!! I am honored, flattered and fulfilled. While we always work to make our clients happy, we never hear that type of feedback from the ‘other’ side of the table.

:)

Freebies

So let’s say you’re out to get a bite to eat...

You go to McDonald’s, ask for a coke, and then stand there dumbfounded because you didn’t get a free Big Mac.

Sure, you’d like that free Big Mac with your coke, but you paid for a coke, so you don’t receive it. Unless, of course, it’s “Free Big Mac with the purchase of a Coke” day, which, presumably it isn’t.

If you’d asked for a Big Mac to go with your Coke, you would, of course, be expected to pay for it. They don’t make Big Macs for their health (or come to think of it, yours either,) but for your [paying] enjoyment.

If you request an added product or service of a company, whether it be hamburgers, plumbing or PR, it should be expected that said request is going to raise the price of your bill, not expected to be free.

Bad. Pitch.

Lately I’ve been a bad blogger. I haven’t had the time to keep my thoughts together, much less post the interesting happenings in our world of integrated marketing madness. We’re all entitled to moments of being ‘off our game’ even sometimes downright ‘bad.’

Today I experienced what can only be described as someone else having an incredibly ‘off ‘day…and that’s putting it nicely, because, well…this pitch was downright bad.

I had the unique opportunity to be on the other side of the table last week, and play journalist. So, as many do, I sent out a query through the appropriate channels and was suddenly inundated by pitches, stories and sometimes what could be construed as a short novel.

I’ve changed the guy’s name because I’m embarrassed for him.

“I have a great story for you
-Dave”

No contact info provided. No tease of a story. Nothing. Not even a subject in the subject line of the email! I sure hope this guy doesn’t do PR for a living.
Out of sheer curiosity, I responded (something no journalist is ever likely to do to such a query)…

“Hi Dave,
My deadline is Friday, I would love to hear your story if you could just type something up and send it over to me by then.”

His response [paraphrased]:

“I’m only able to tell the story by phone I’m [enter important job title/organization here] and simply can’t send you an email. You’ll love this story though. Send me your number, I’ll give you a call.”

Wow. Typically I have a pretty low tolerance for people with such toxic levels of self-importance, and this guy was all around baffling. He was too busy to pitch, but he pitched me anyway, sans contact info, subject or even a story for that matter, and then proceeds to try and impress me with his credentials after such a lackluster offering.

It’s because of people like that with [pardon my French] half-assed pitches that make PR people look bad.

The Super Bowl Dilemma: To Give a Day Off Or Not

Around these parts, football is practically a religious experience... why not take the extra step and make it an official holiday? Please find some humor about the fateful day after the superbowl by Barbara Poole, founder of www.employaid.com.


The Super Bowl Dilemma: To Give a Day Off Or Not

By Barbara Poole
www.Employaid.com

Few events during the year give us reason to wildly celebrate and let out our inner cave man (or cave gal) than the Super Bowl. Where else can you find hedonistic amounts of food and beer? When else do we go berserk over giant men getting the #%@& beat out of them on the field for the sake of control of a football? Yes, the Super Bowl has become a national obsession, and one of the biggest social occasions of the year. Unfortunately, the Super Bowl airs on Sunday evenings, leaving many bloated, burping, and hung over the next morning.

What is an employer to do about the newest holiday to confront our economy – The Morning after the Super Bowl? Let’s face it. There’s not going to be a lot of productivity that day anyhow. Here are the top ten reasons why bosses need to tell their employees to stay home on this new national holiday, simply known as “The Day After.”

10. Need time off to appropriately give thanks for a 6 month vacation from John Madden

9. Gives the guy in accounting a day to practice performing 1-man versions of all of his favorite beer commercials

8. So the entire nation, together, can find out what Regis thought of the game

7. Beer + chili + close cubicles. Do the math

6. It would be another sign that the terrorists aren't winning

5. Use the day off to reflect upon the moving halftime performance

4. Gives employees a chance to test-drive this "unemployment" thing

3. The After Super Bowl sale at Macy's!

2. Isn't it already a holiday?

And the number one reason…..

1. Two words: “guacamole detox”


Barbara Poole is the CEO and founder of Employaid and www.Employaid.com, the largest workforce and employee relations resource on the web.

Winter Wonderland

We've had quite some interesting weather here lately. Here's a picture of the ice that accumulated on the trees in my backyard over the past few hours.

Hope everyone is being safe!

The Truman Show

This weekend I caught the tail end of one of my favorite movies on TV: The Truman Show.

At the very end Truman (Jim Carey) makes a final life altering decision- that entering into the ‘real world’ and all its unknown variables would ultimately be less frightening than living in a fictional universe under a microscope. Fair enough.

But this got me to thinking, what would await Truman after he passes through the threshold of his encapsulated world to face reality?

It’s not so much adjusting to the senseless and often frustrating quirks of the ‘real world’ that I’m referring to, but rather the media frenzy that would have surely ensued.

In the movie, Truman’s onetime love who had attempted to warn him that his life was a staged TV show rushed out the door to meet him as he bid adieu to his millions of viewers with his trademark, “Good afternoon Good Evening and Good night.”

Provided she knew where to find him, would she even be able to navigate her way through the hundreds of cameras and reporters that were surely waiting to pounce on him upon his grand exit? What would he have to say to them? There’s no such thing as media training for unwitting reality television stars.

What then? He’d need money of course. What comes easier than celebrity, product endorsements and publicity for someone who already has brand equity?

It seems Truman would be doomed to face a life of celebrity either way he would have chosen.

The World’s Worst Marketing Strategy

Strip away all the fluff and hype, and let’s examine the essence of marketing. Really, it should boil down to three things:

-Brand awareness
-Lead Generation
-Sales

I’m forced to admit that it absolutely blows my mind when I encounter people who think that refusing to implement any marketing strategy at all is the best course of action.

Yes, marketing can be expensive. But, do you know what is more expensive than that? The money you will be hemorrhaging on overhead and payroll when you have no clients.

We’ve all heard it—a slow economy is the best time to gain market share..and they’re right! While your competitors are stupidly pruning their marketing budgets and thus not bringing in new businesses, their loss can become your gain.

And no, I’m not talking about a one-off coupon (that’s a whole other rant which I will save for another day), or a flier or a single ad. I’m talking cohesive, integrated and comprehensive marketing strategy with a brand to match.

There, I’ve said it. Now go and do.

It's Electric

...well, the talk will be anyway.

I've neglected my blogging in order to plan for the 2009 Greater Cincinnati Energy Summit, sponsored by Northern Kentucky Electric Service.

The event will discuss ways area businesses can save money on energy bills through energy efficient upgrades and rebate/incentive programs, and best practice advice for making the switch without sacrificing productivity.

This event is open to the public, and encouraged for all area business owners and facility managers.

Experts will be on hand from Today's Facility Manager magazine, Northern Kentucky Electric, Duke Energy, Leesman Lighting and Kentner Sellers to discuss 2009 issues in-depth.

RSVP today at: www.nkyelectric.com/energysummit

One last game...

...Well certainly not the last game EVER, but it certainly will seem like an eternity until the Ohio State Buckeyes will play football again.




Here's a picture for all the other Buckeye fans out there...and for more of the O-H-I-O cheer in interesting places, check out: http://www.osu.edu/O-H-I-O/

Let's go Bucks!!!