There was a time in middle school when I went to my dad’s dental office for Bring Your Child to Work Day. Not only did I learn about the art of filling cavities and crafting dentures, but I also realized that the most rewarding part of his job is building patient relationships. That day gave me a better understanding of why he loves going into work every single day.

Fast forward 10 years and the tables turned.

Last week, Hunter Public Relations hosted its first-ever Bring Your Parents to Work Day. Over time, we've found that many of our parents and extended family members have little to no idea about the life of a PR professional. As a result, Hunter PR conducted a survey to see what the staff's family members thought PR executives typically handle. Overall, our survey concluded that 45% of family members believe the job involves creating a print ad or TV commercial, and 85% of people wish they had a better understanding of what PR professionals do for a living.

We organized a jam-packed schedule of activities for our 70+ attendees, with PR 101 courses including brainstorming, media training and social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs). We also offered our family members hands-on electives to introduce them to Hunter PR’s client roster, which included wine tasting, whisky tasting featuring our clients Bushmills and Johnnie Walker, recipe development featuring Campbell's cooking soups, and a gift-wrapping demo featuring Scotch tape and Scotch gift-wrapping supplies. The gift-wrapping course even included a special appearance by 2008 Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper, Alton Dulaney.

We would like to thank all of the family members for attending and making the event a huge success. The day’s activities were informative, inspiring, engaging, and most importantly, fun!

A few words parting words from the parents:

“I learned about the elements of the brainstorming process. I can see why my daughter is always so excited when she talks to me about her job.”

- Jill Fishgold (Nancy’s mom)

“I learned a lot about PR today – especially social media!”

- Karen Bitting (Kaitlin’s mom)

“Today I learned how a company’s culture of fun and professionalism can drive excellence in the PR business. Hunters rock!”

- Bob Palestine (Danny’s dad)

Tracy Hom with her parents, Joe and Emily Hom

This is my first blog post because I am IT challenged.  I am 40% of the accounting department at Hunter Public Relations – the other 60% of which is covered by Sergio Ljubicic who knows a lot more than I do about accounting.  Among other things, I am responsible for keeping the Accounts Payable in order, and that means organizing and paying invoices that come in from vendors who provide services and products used by the account teams and their clients in the course of realizing the production of events, contests and various other PR-type goings–on which are created by the fantastically inventive folks at Hunter PR.

When I first started working at Hunter PR in 1997, things were quite a bit simpler, mainly because there were about 20 employees compared to the 70+ of today.  Sergio and I even used to input the invoices by hand!  As the company started growing, we joined the computer age.  Some things still are done the old fashioned way though, and it seems to work pretty well.

Barbara 

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 

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

It’s been a rough winter across the country.  Temperatures in New York City have been extremely cold recently.  With snow blowing in my face as I walk to and from the subway, I’m just happy to have plenty of warm clothes!  Sadly, not all New Yorkers are as fortunate.

Thankfully, there is an organization in New York City that provides new, never-worn clothing to New Yorkers in need.  It’s called the New York City Clothing Bank and our agency has been helping them by providing pro bono PR services for the past few years.  With recent reports that charitable donations are on the decline, we decided to take our partnership to the next level and host a virtual fundraiser.

We need your help, but it’s free and easy!

From now through March 31^st, Hunter PR will donate $1 to NYC Clothing Bank for every person that becomes a fan of our Facebook page (up to $5,000).  We want to harness the power of social media to spread the word about the great work done by the NYC Clothing Bank – and meet some new friends/fans along the way. 

In addition to distributing warm-weather apparel to the needy, NYC Clothing Bank also provides disaster relief.  It is now responding to the recent crisis in Haiti by donating winter clothing to Haitian refugees who are being relocated to NYC.

Our timeline is short, but our motivation is high!  We need your support throughout our campaign – please, become a fan, and tell your friends and family too!

On behalf of Hunter PR and the NYC Clothing Bank, many thanks!

Danny Palestine

Working in consumer PR, we tend to take a close look at holidays and “holidays" to discover if there is a unique angle to the designated day that will benefit our clients. In the past, we've celebrated gems like National Martial Arts Day, Flag Day  and National Underwear Day. And if a holiday for our particular need doesn’t exist, we're not afraid to start our own...ever heard of Jell-O Week or National Pierogy Day?

Among the national “thises “and “thats” is Thanksgiving - truly one of our favorite traditional holidays. Once the pumpkin carving masters put away their tools and the Halloween candy around the office finally disappears, it’s time to focus on the sides. Yes, sides dishes. Who wants a serving of turkey complemented with just another helping of turkey? Plus, many of the products that we get to work on provide the necessary essentials for Thanksgiving side dishes so we get to think about these delightful dishes year-round.

According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, the U.S. is a big producer of Thanksgiving sides: 709 million pounds of cranberries, 1.8 billion pounds of sweet potatoes, and 794,777 tons of snap green beans. That’s quite a bit of green bean casserole!  And don’t even get me started about potatoes.

To celebrate the sensational sides of Thanksgiving, here are my picks for the top five most important sides for the holiday feast.

1.    Rolls: I’m a firm believer in home made rolls…made with yeast. Scary, but so worth the time investment and stress.

2.    Stuffing. Do I really have to elaborate? Here’s my favorite.

3.    Mashed potatoes & gravy: Usually the debate comes down to lumps or no lumps. I prefer whipped with homemade gravy made from the turkey drippings. Yum.

4.    Black olives: I might not eat olives any other time of the year, but when it comes to Thanksgiving, I’m like a little kid and I have to have at least 5 on my plate – one for each finger on my right hand.

5.    Green Stuff: This is one side that baffles most, but it’s a family tradition. In some circles, this dish is known as “Pistachio Fluff” (I suppose a more friendly name for the test kitchens). But, this sweet “salad” has been a staple at all major family meals since I was a wee one with the very technical name of “green stuff.” If it’s an important meal chez nous, we have home made rolls (see #1) and green stuff. You can check out the recipe here (but I would omit the nuts). Try it. You’ll like it.

Ok – now that my tastebuds are ready for the sensational sides of Thanksgiving, it’s time to do a little shopping! Happy Thanksgiving!

Donetta

No, not an evolution throughout the centuries. I’m talking about the evolution of Halloween costumes through the different stages of life.  It seems like Halloween means a little something different to everyone depending on what age you are…

Babies
Clearly you have no say in your costume. Parents will basically dress you in whatever will look cutest when they show off photos to friends. Like this poor little stinker…
 

Kids
This is when Halloween dressing starts to get a little competitive because you want to have the coolest or scariest costume in school that day. It’s also when you discover the gloriousness that is Trick or Treating. 

Teens
Teenagers usually have a falling out with Halloween.  You are too cool to wear a costume, unless of course someone’s parents are out of town in which case there may be an exception.

College kids
Halloween makes a comeback, in a very ridiculous, often shall we say risqué way. And there’s always the celebrity costume trend of the year: 2007 was the year of Amy Winehouse and 2008 was all about sexy Sarah Palin. I’m going to take a wild guess that this year will be a toss-up between Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson.

Adults
Although costumes may not be the wildest, they are definitely the most unique. Plus, you can finally splurge!  I personally am a big fan of the Kate Gosselin wig…

Here at Hunter PR, we’re having a little celebration of our own, complete with a costume contest, treats, and a pizza party. Feels like I’m back to being a kid again…

Last night, I attended a Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) seminar with a panel of notable food bloggers that included editors from AOL Food, The Nibble, The Food Section and Apartment Therapy. One of the hot discussion topics was whether or not the abundance of food blogs caused Gourmet Magazine to fold.  The general consensus was that it was strictly a business decision based on lost advertising revenue, falling readership and the cost of paper. In my opinion, falling magazine readership could be a result of the wide variety of high-end “foodie” content, including recipes, now available for free online.

The panel of bloggers also gave their view on the current at-home cooking trends, which included:

- Quality, healthy eating

- Celebrity Chefs

- Gluten-free cooking

- Using bacon in unique recipes (Example: Chocolate Chip cookies with Bacon)

- Slow cookers and slow cooked recipes

- DIY Ingredients (Example: Salad Dressing)

- Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes

A question was raised over how the recent FTC Disclosure Policy would affect food bloggers.  All of the bloggers talked about adding a tagline to their blogs with a disclaimer about where many products came from.  While these bloggers do receive and review products from marketers, they also write about products that they find at their local grocery stores. One blogger, for example, said that she goes to the store to buy the products that she’s writing about, to ensure that her readers will be able to purchase them.

The panel also discussed how unfair they thought it was that the new FTC Disclosure Policy does not extend to newspapers. The bloggers claimed that their traditional media counterparts often receive free products, just like they do, yet they are not regulated.

Overall, the seminar provided useful insight into the world of a food blogger. As social media continues to gain momentum, it is important that we adapt our traditional public relations methods when communicating to social media content providers. Just like journalists working at traditional media outlets, bloggers are media content providers. Thus, PR should lead the way in establishing meaningful relationships with bloggers, as well as those providing content on Twitter, Facebook and other social media vehicles.

Megan