One thing the Hunter PR staff loves is a good, healthy dose of competition.  And I’m not talking about work-related competition – I’m talking football!  For the past seven years, Amy Coles has been running the “Hunter PR Gridiron Gurus” NFL football pool.  Sure, the monetary winnings are great, but in this office, it’s all about the bragging rights!

There are few of us veteran players that enter the pool every year and place much like former Miami Dolphins Quarterback Dan Marino in the Super Bowl – never coming out victorious.   Then, of course, there are the rookies who join the pool for the first time and place high up at the top.  We’ll call them the Mark Sanchez’s of the world (editor’s note: I’m a huge New York Jets fan!).  I’m proud to say in my six-year NFL career at Hunter PR, I finally came out on top this year.  But it was close; rookie Dan DeVece and veteran all-star players Amanda Hirschhorn and Amy Coles were right on my heels the entire time.  Check out my cool “Goddess of the Gridiron” trophy that I get to display at my desk year round:

Since I’m now 1-5 in my football pool record, I’m hoping this will mean I’ll actually fair better in upcoming Hunter PR pools like March Madness and the Gigi Russo baby pool.  Either way, I’ve got bragging rights….at least for now!

Mel

Last week, a 7.0 earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, leaving a drastic wave of destruction throughout the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation. Casualty estimates have been difficult to determine, but some are saying up to 100,000 people can be presumed dead, and just as many injured. Watching the aftermath and taking in the devastation in Haiti, many are wondering how they can efficiently and effectively help those in need. Ian Rodgers, a senior emergency adviser for Save the Children, said "It is very possible, that the situation can go from dire to absolutely catastrophic if we don't get enough food, medicine and work with children and their families to help them." The following are a series of excellent options in which to donate to help the earthquake victims of Haiti.

Texting options:

Texting is quick and simple and allows you to immediately donate money to earthquake relief.

·      Text Haiti to 90999 to make a $10 donation or text Yele to 501501 to make a $5 donation. Yele Haiti is a foundation established by Wyclef Jean, a native of Haiti, that helps people in Haiti on a continual basis. However, he established the texting campaign on Tuesday evening to help with the earthquake relief, and it has since gone viral making it the largest disaster relief texting campaign in history.

Larger Monetary Donations:

There are numerous funds that have started or organizations that are reaching out to help Haiti with disaster relief. The following are some great options.

·      Yele Haiti 

·      Feed the Children 

·      The American Red Cross

·      UNICEF

·      Doctors without Borders

·      World Vision

Airlines and Hotels:

Airlines and hotels are letting rewards members donate mileage or points in order to donate money to relief. Many are participating but the following are some examples.

·      For instance Starwood Hotels is letting frequent guests at its Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, W and St. Regis hotels use 4,000 Starpoints to make a $50 donation to the American Red Cross.

·      United Airlines is also letting members of its Mileage Plus program donate miles to the Red Cross. On its "Support Haiti Earthquake Relief" Web site, the airline said as of 3 p.m. that 730,000 miles had been donated through this program.

There are plenty of ways to help so find an organization or method that best suits your preference and reach out to those in need.  Today and in the days to come the people in Haiti will need support from people around the world. Every little bit counts!

Dominic

I recently attended the Herb Lubalin (pronounced Lube-ah-lin; 1918-1981) exhibit at the Cooper Union School of Art & Architecture. He was a prominent American graphic designer of the 20^th century and, in my opinion, was the rock star of graphic designers! This show reminded me of how beautiful and powerful type can be. I’m amazed how Lubalin would tweak every single letter until he got the perfect positive and negative space between each letterform. He would push ascenders and descenders (top and bottom parts of a letter) together to create concrete poetry. I've always known that a simple arrangement of type can change the way you visually communicate. I had forgotten that letterform can be pushed as an art form even in commercial settings.

I went with a graphic designer friend who is as passionate about typography as I am. While looking at his body of work, my friend turned to me and mentioned that as a student she experimented with Lubalin’s signature typeface known as Avant Garde. I told her I had NEVER experimented with the font, and she looked at me as though I’d committed the worst crime a typographer could ever make. Although the font is beautiful in the right hands, in my observation, it is probably the most misused font ever made. The font was created by Lubablin specifically for his work in Avant Garde Magazine. Lubalin was so dedicated to the beauty of his typography that he would ask editors to change the titles of their stories in order to realize the most elegant logograms. Imagine saying to an editor, “excuse me Mr. Editor, will you change the title of this article so that the letter A would never have a round letter next to it?” Unbelievable right? Unbelievable but true! I was thrilled and surprised to be inspired by this exhibit.

Louisa

I get excited each December 31st when I turn on the morning news and the anchors are highlighting celebrations from around the globe.  Video clips from Australia and Japan remind me that no matter where you are from fireworks always mean a party is under way!

And while everyone enjoys a good party, New Year’s Eve also offers a fresh start and hope for the New Year.  As a proud Southerner, I never forget to eat my black-eyed peas, collard greens and hog’s jowl for a healthy and rich year-to-come.  This hearty tradition has been passed down from generation to generation in the south, and my grandmother calls each New Year’s Day to make sure I didn’t forget to cook up a mess.  That annual phone call got me thinking about what others might do to ring in the New Year other than popping bottles of bubbly.

I asked around the office and it turns out that everyone has something special (and totally unique) that they do to bring good luck and good fortune on New Year’s Eve.  For instance, Cubans kick-off the New Year by wearing yellow underwear for good luck and eating 12 grapes at the stroke of Midnight making a wish for each one.  However, my favorite Cuban tradition is walking around the block with an empty suitcase to bring more travel to your New Year.   I can only imagine what the streets of Havana must look like….

For Filipinos, it’s tradition for women to wear polka dots on New Year’s Eve to bring good fortune in the next year.  Each household will also make sure to fill a large bowl with 13 different fruits to bring good luck and prosperity.  And hung like mistletoe, a small bunch of grapes is placed above the door in everyone’s house to usher in even more good luck.

 To me, the most interesting thing about each of these traditions  is no matter where the party may take place everyone is hoping for a better new year than the last.  Whether you hope for good luck, good fortune or good health, I hope you get what you wish for in 2010!

Julie