It's about time- the SNOWPOCALYPSE of 2010 is behind New York City and hopefully we can look forward to bright sunny days on the horizon. This past winter has been brutal, but thanks to New York City Clothing Bank, hundreds of individuals across the five boroughs of NYC have been clothed with new, never-worn clothing. Since February, Hunter Public Relations has been fundraising for the New York City Clothing Bank via Facebook- for every fan that Hunter PR gets on Facebook through March 31, we are donating $1 to this worthy organization.

To continue raising funds, our staffers hit the pavement last Friday to give away 800 spring flowers throughout Manhattan. Attached to the flowers were tags describing our Facebook fundraising efforts, with a special announcement of a double donation ($2) for every new fan through March 31. From Madison Avenue to Union Square, Herald Square and Grand Central Station, Hunter PR staffers handed out flowers to celebrate the first day of spring and continue to raise awareness for the New York City Clothing Bank.

Please take this time to become a Hunter PR Facebook fan and help us help others. Our Facebook page provides insights into the ever-changing world of PR & social media, our company culture as well as job opportunities. We thank you for your continued support of NYC Clothing Bank, and hopefully together we can really make a difference.

Best,

Danny

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to visit our offices on a Wednesday, you know that Wednesday is the official day for Cupcakes & Cocktails at Hunter Public Relations. I have the exciting task of organizing the cart, which includes everything from deciding a theme, picking a bakery/cupcake flavor and choosing one of our spirits brands to create the cocktail.

Since there’s always something exciting happening in the office, themes are never hard to come by. One of my favorites was when we celebrated Hasbro’s Family Game Night. I was able to raffle off a Connect 4x4 Game!

Another one of my favorite themes is celebrating birthdays. If your birthday lands on a Wednesday, the cart is dedicated to you. Here’s a photo of Michael Lamp’s birthday cart with his favorite flavor cupcake, Red Velvet, paired with an Electric Lemonade Cocktail made with Ketel One. 

Since the one-year anniversary of Cupcakes & Cocktails is approaching next month, I decided to survey the staff to find out their top picks.  Here are the results:

1)    Favorite bakery in NYC: Baked By Melissa

2)    Favorite cupcake overall: Billy’s Banana Cupcake

3)    Most unique flavor: Kumquat Cupcakery’s Maple Bacon Cupcake

4)    Best Cupcakes & Cocktails theme: Michael Lamp’s Birthday

I think it’s safe to say that here at Hunter PR, we’re experts when it comes to cupcakes. We’ve tasted over 48 different flavors of cupcakes, from 21 different bakeries. We’ve had cupcakes served off a truck, cupcakes infused with alcohol and cupcakes topped with bacon. Still, bakeries keep coming up with creative ways to keep the cupcake craze going, and we love to try them all!

Cassie

(P.S. Hunter PR reminds you to drink responsibly with your cupcakes!)

I had a PR professor in college that once told my class that spelling to a PR practitioner is the same as math to an accountant.  If you mess up the math, you deserve to be fired.  If you misspell a word, the same should hold true for a PR practitioner.  So, as an honorary Irishwoman on St. Patrick’s Day, I thought that I would honor my adopted brethren of Ireland and correct one of the more common spelling mistakes on this side of the Atlantic.  The correct spelling for the abbreviated name of St. Patrick’s Day is St. Paddy’s Day.  Patty is a nickname for Patricia and Paddy is short for for Padraig, the Gaelic form of Patrick.  And, if anyone tells you differently, tell them they are full of blarney.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Joanne 

When it comes to coupons, many people think of those inserts in the Sunday paper with discounts on everything from cleaning supplies to frozen meals.  Recently (thanks to my colleague Tracy Hom!) I discovered an entirely different kind of coupon, which I have to admit I’m slightly obsessed with.  Groupon “features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in a variety of cities across the United States.”  Recent NYC deals (which you can check out on their website or through their e-newsletter) have offered discounts for restaurant meals, spa services and dance classes.  I’ve already used Groupons for a facial (53% discount), a haircut (50% discount) and two different dinners (50% discount each).  I’m most excited to try out my Groupon for the intro class at New York Circus Arts, which sounds amazing and scary at the same time (44% discount)! 

A few other great deal sites are Lifebooker (health and beauty-related deals), Spa Sally ($25 and up spa deals) and Restaurant.com (discounts at over 13,000 restaurants nationwide). 

So when you have a chance, take a moment to sign up for all of their e-newsletters.  I promise you won’t be disappointed – and who knows what adventures you may find yourself on (trapeze lessons anyone?!).

Madhu 

I recently took a trip to the MoMA and was pleasantly surprised that there was a Claude Monet Water Liles exhibit going on. Before making the switch to Graphic Design in college, my first 2 years as a liberal arts major were filled with painting and art history classes, which both fueled my love of Claude Monet and the Impressionist movement.

Recently, I’ve been bitten by the travel bug and have been thinking about taking a trip to Europe, but have been unsure of exactly where to go. After seeing the exhibit, I was reminded of a trip I took to Europe a few years ago and how amazing it would be to experience it again. During my trip, I immersed myself in art, spending days at the Louvre and The Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. However, the highlight of my trip was visiting Claude Monet’s House and Gardens in Giverny, France.

Monet’s home is a beautiful and inspiring museum in itself. It is surrounded by the lush gardens, flowers and lily ponds he so beautifully painted.  I was lucky to have visited the site on such a beautiful and sunny spring day and was amazed to see in person what I’ve seen so many times on canvas.  While many people are familiar with Monet’s brushstrokes, especially his famous water lilies, a visit to his house and garden will show the inspiration behind his paintings.  This was the most inspiring trip I’ve been on, and hopefully my travels will take there again soon.

Laura

Today, Hunter PR reaches “legal age” as the agency turns 21.  With all the great wine  and spirits brands we represent, it’s easy for us to toast the occasion.  We could even honor our heritage by serving Bloody Marys, using a splash of Tabasco pepper sauce, which was our first client when we opened the doors on March 1, 1989 and remains one of our most cherished clients today.  Of course, the Bloody Marys wouldn’t be as massive as the Millennium Mary we created on Jan. 1, 2000 in New Orleans.

Maybe we should celebrate by serving everyone a slice of America’s Grandest Flag Cake, similar to the ones we made on Flag Day in 1995, 1996 and 1997 in front of national landmarks.

Some additional memorable moments from our first 21 years:

- Annually kicking off the holiday season by staging the Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Contest, sponsored by 3M

- Getting Jell-O declared the official snack of Utah

- Making America’s beaches “barefoot-friendly” via beach clean-up parties for Gallo’s Barefoot Wine

- Carving iconic American images out of cheese for Cheez-It crackers

- Curating a “curiously strong” art collection for Altoids

- Celebrating Johnnie Walker Black Label’s 100th Anniversary with a national web cast demonstrating the subtle craft of blending the world’s number premium blended Scotch whisky

- Rolling the dice and participating as members of the game design team for a Monopoly edition based on U.S. cities and landmarks

Of course, we wouldn’t have made it 21 days as an agency if it wasn’t for the more than 200 employees who have called Hunter PR home at some point in their career.  And as we embark on our ‘adult years’, we’re grateful to our current staff of 68 members who continue to make Hunter PR such a great place to work!

Mark