My best friend also just so happens to be my sister and our hot sunny Florida beach days, have now turned into cold blustery New York City days. Some of the best moments of living together in the Big Apple include: sharing clothes and cooking our father’s authentic Italian recipes.  Whenever we are out and about, people always mistake us for twins, even though she is four and a half years older! Guess who they think is the older one? Me! That’s how it has been since I was only 16!

My favorite part about living with my best friend is that I get to hear her music, which is so amazing! Ever since I can remember, Lauren was always singing around the house while we were growing up. She had her first big “break” at the age of 16 when she won Ed McMahon’s Star Search. At first I thought that I wanted to follow in her footsteps, but then decided to go a different route, and now my goal is to promote her as a professional singer and entertainer. Since the two of us are best friends, so far this has turned out to be a perfect combination!

I’m extremely proud to say that Lauren has performed at Carnegie Hall three different times and most recently she can be seen on the world tour with Yanni as his featured soloist. She sang at Radio City Music Hall last spring, and will be coming back to New York City for the 2012 spring tour.

You can view tickets here, but in case you’re unable to attend, be sure to check out the PBS special of the concert airing on March 3^rd! Click here to view her Facebook, Twitter, Youtube , Website and Myspace.

-Kellie

As a PR professional, I like to think of myself as a bit of an expert when it comes to event planning.  In the past few years, I’ve attended countless weddings, showers, bachelorette parties and – my favorite - cake tastings.  As I’ve taken my turn as a bridesmaid, I realized I have an arsenal of tricks upof my sleeve that make the planning process a little easier. If you consider that the wedding is just one big editor event, you can figure out all of your bridesmaid duties faster than they’ll say “I do.”

Logistics: There’s a reason we write key contact sheets, run-of-shows, and outline roles and responsibilities before a media event – it works! When my friend and former coworker Sami got married a few months ago, she had a 5-page run of show sent to all of her vendors prior to the big day.  They thought she was crazy, but everything went off without a hitch.  Assigning a fellow bridesmaid’s 4-year-old daughter to help me carry away opened presents during a bridal shower kept her out of her mom’s hair and helped us speed up the clean-up.

Budget: Three gifts, two dresses, and multiple weekends of travel can get expensive.  When you’re a bridesmaid, you’ve got to pony up for little extras, too. Make sure you have an OOP budget in mind, and don’t keep everything til the last minute, or you’ll be stuck with a $300 bill for monogrammed sugar cookies (I’ve done that.)   One of my favorite sites to help with the financial blow of a friend’s upcoming nuptials is Rent The Runway. For about $65, you can rent a designer dress for the weekend, and they’ll deliver it to your apartment in a garment bag, with a pre-addressed envelope to mail it back when you’re done, like Netflix.

Social Media: You can’t always see the bridal crew in person, but it’s easy to stay connected through social media.  Create a Pinterest album to show off ideas and get friends’ opinions. When I didn’t know how to create a ribbon bouquet, a bouquet made from the remnants of bridal shower presents to be used for the rehearsal, a friend sentd me a how-to link from YouTube so I knew what to do. 

Although the responsibility of being a bridesmaid can be a daunting task, PR professionals already have the essentials to put any wedding planner to shame.

- Amy

The Social & Digital Media Team at Hunter PR was so inspired by the Sh!t Girls Say web series and the chord is struck with so many, that we decided to enter the conversation with our own take on the everyday vernacular of PR professionals. Hence, we bring you Stuff PR People Say.

Buoyed by the increase in viewership rates (183 million Americans watched online video content in November 2011 alone), online video has become an integral part of not only the way we market ourselves as an agency, but more importantly, the social media marketing we recommend to clients. Utilizing communication-driving social media channels, such as Facebook and Twitter, further streamlines the distribution of this type of visual communication and allows for additional interaction between a brand and the public.    

- Michael Lamp

Not only did 11-11-11 mark an auspicious day on our calendar, it also celebrated a time-honored fall wardrobe staple, corduroy! You may ask, why 11-11, but if you take closer note you will notice the vertical numbers are nearly identical to the beloved corduroy pattern. For me, a true corduroy fan, there’s nothing like crisp fall weather and reaching into my drawer to pull out my softest corduroy pants. For those that have similar feeling and love for all things corduroy, you may consider joining the over 5,000 fans of the Corduroy Appreciation Club.

The Corduroy Appreciation Club, with chapters in cities across the world, brings together people who not only love corduroy but have an interest in meeting others who share a similar love for the fabric. They gather twice a year, eat linear themed foods such as ruffled potato chips, and cite oaths to wear corduroy as much as possible. Beware, if you attend the bi-annual meetings wearing less than three items of corduroy you will sadly be dismissed. If corduroy is your thing, take careful notice of those on the street since they might pass an invite to join this elite club. I’m hoping that one day I will be bestowed this special honor.

So while some may have spent the day celebrating 11-11-11 with “press-worthy” stunts I hope that you enjoyed your day with a nice plush corduroy pant or blazer. Until next year fine corduroy fans…

-Dominic

Autumn is my favorite season for three reasons: the amazing weather and foliage that hits the Northeast region, the start of professional football season, and, most importantly, the onslaught of great pumpkin beer. Every year, around this time, stores and bars begin celebrating the colder weather with grand displays featuring brews embracing the season’s favorite flavor. And since my personal attempt to create my very own pumpkin beer was thwarted by a siphoning incident, I’d like to take the blog post to share my favorite options for you to indulge in the awesomeness that is Autumn beer:

1. Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat, the category’s newest addition, is one of the best pumpkin beers of the season. The unfiltered wheat ale features crisp flavor of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove that could only be delivered from a Shock Top cask. It has easily become my personal “must-have” beer of the season.

2. Smutty Nose Pumpkin Ale is more relaxed in flavor but not in quality. The smooth taste and thick texture makes this ale the perfect compliment to your annual Thanksgiving dinner. Start planning your sides around it.

3. Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale is a spicy and sweet autumn beer inspired by one of the top Belgian Whites beers. It is the great addition to the traditional citrus flavor of the Blue Moon family but brewed with the bounty of fall spices making it a necessary addition to your weekly Sunday tailgate.

- Dan

It’s no secret that the folks at Hunter PR work hard and play hard.  Truthfully, we don’t even need an excuse to celebrate – we are always up for showing our creativity and we hunger for a bit of friendly-competition and bite-size Snickers.  The halls at Hunter PR were no different on Halloween. 

The entertainment committee (Donetta Allen, representing a “Flash Mob,” Alex Conway, representing Fred’s Team as a marathon runner, Daniel Mazier, dressed as a hunky skeleton and Danny Palestine, showed his appreciation for expectant mother-to-be and colleague Jamie Castaldo) kicked up the competition this year challenging the staff with a pumpkin decorating contest.  The award for Best Pumpkin went to super-star intern Nick Schweers for his rendition of the Jersey Shore’s Snooki.  A little taste of Jersey earned him $100.  Score!

As for the costumes, Christine Bilms, who came to work as a zombie bride, unanimously took home the award for Scariest costume. 

The Best in Pop Culture category went to Chad Pearson, Cassie Galasetti, Samantha Chapman and Sandy Bustamante for their interpretation of the popular TLC reality show Toddlers & Tiaras. 

The Most Creative bunch went to Lisa Jablon, Rose Finnerty and Nihara Gonsalves who not only dressed the part of the characters in the animated film “Up” but shamed the rest of us by even going as far as decorating their cubicles, they got extra credit for their set design skills. 

The category that got the most entries was, of course, the Best in Hunter PR Culture.  Vanessa Polk, Dan Devece, and Wayne Westerlind dressed up as their beloved colleague Stacey Druker, who accessorizes daily with her jewelry, iPod and an ice-cold Diet Coke.

The Best Group award went to the Digital & Design Department with their Plants vs. Zombies theme, inspired by this year’s #1 game on iTunes. 

We are all looking forward to the surprises that Donetta, Alex, Daniel and Danny have planned for our annual holiday party.  They really set the bar high this time!

- Gigi

I was lucky enough to tag along with Chad, our office manager, to a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman this past week. He scored tickets due to his love for the band, The Joy Formidable. Having attended multiple concerts with Chad, I knew this would be a great experience. And I was right! Even though we were in a slight car accident on the cab ride over, it was quickly forgotten when we realized we were among the VIP. After we were ushered into our prime seats, Dave came out and thanked everyone for coming. It made me realize why everyone should attend a taping.

So, in typical Late Show fashion, here are my Top 10 reasons to attend a taping of the Late Night Show with David Letterman …

10. It’s free!

9. The warm up comedian and house band are awesome

8.  Dave makes you feel like you’re a part of the show

7. The behind the scene action. There are producers, sound guys and even someone to buff the floors between guests!

6. “Even if the jokes not funny, it’s hilarious tonight!”

5. Sitting in Ed Sullivan Theater, the site of the first U.S. performance by the Beatles

4. For New Yorkers, it’s a nice break from the craziness of the city or a fun place to take your out of town guests

3. “Laugh now, think later!”

2. You get to be up close to some of your favorite celebrities

And the number one reason to attend a David Letterman taping…

1. You might get the chance to meet your favorite band!

-Cassie

I’m always looking for new music.  But who has the time to ask all your friends for suggestions, search the web or iTunes for the top artists in a genre, or really hear everything the radio has to offer? 

Fear not, music junkies!  Spotify has landed in the U.S and taken the free music streaming competition by storm upon experiencing great success in Europe (I was introduced to the service by my co-worker Brittany.) Spotify allows you stream from their portal of music of over 15 millions songs.  All music saves to your account, which you can access anywhere as long as you’re logged in.  I’ve become addicted to artists including Foster the People and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Spotify lets me listen instantly (over and over again!)

Curious as to what your friends are listening to?  You can link your Spotify profile to Facebook to see their playlists, then click the playlist and drag into your own library. 

If you want to avoid commercials every 10 songs (this service is ad-based), upgrade to an Unlimited account for $4.99 a month.  If you can’t go anywhere without your Spotify playlists, you can also upgrade to a Premium account.  For $9.99 a month, you can access your music from any computer, your mobile device or offline. Everyone from Mark Zuckerberg to Demi Moore to the LA Times and TIME Magazine are raving about this service, so check it out to see what you’re missing!

Spotify lets me check out new artists that without spending the money first.  You can sign up for an invite on Spotify.com, and check out more about the service here.  Have fun with it!  As Spotify says, “it’s how music was meant to be shared!”

-Stephanie

Well, San Diego Comic-Con 2011 (SDCC) has come and gone, and what a whirlwind it was! In case you don’t know, SDCC is the biggest, the baddest, and the most awesome comic convention in the whole wide world. Over the years, what once started as a small gathering of comic book fans, has now transformed into arguably the biggest entertainment news event of the calendar year. A Mecca for media, SDCC is the place where the stars shine, secrets are revealed, and hundreds of parties rage.

Between the cosplay ("costume play" - check out Darth Mario!), exclusive toys (I’m partial to Hasbro’s Marvel Mini Muggs Avengers Pack, obviously - see above) and panels upon panels upon panels, there is a never-ending amount of super-sweet nerdery to check out. When my team got back, they said Hall H is just about the size of four football fields, filled with anything and everything related to your favorite TV shows, movies, comics, toys, games and everything in between. Basically, if you can’t find it at SDCC, well, then you’re out of luck my friend. Not really – I guess that’s why they invented the Internet.

Although I didn’t make it out to San Diego this year, I am really looking forward to the not-to-be-neglected New York Comic Con (NYCC), hitting the Big Apple this October. Firstly, I can take a subway home (#winning). Secondly, it’s exciting to see the progress NYCC will have made from last year. NYCC is the smaller and not-as-popular-but-still-kind-of-popular cousin of SDCC. Please don't misinterpret - NYCC has most certainly blossomed into a robust and recognized event as well, and is going to be PACKED with geeky goodies, literally, for days. Who knows what lies in store for NYCC, and I cannot wait to find out!

Let your geek flag fly!

-Danny

No electricity, no water, no plumbing and minimal cell phone reception. For some people, this sounds like a horrific nightmare. For me, this was my summer vacation. Luckily, there were thirteen of country music’s biggest names to distract me from the lack of every day luxuries.

Two weeks ago, I left the Big Apple and traveled to the “booming” metropolis of Fort Loramie, Ohio to attend Country Concert 2011. Country Concert is an annual three-day country music festival. This year’s lineup included: Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Montgomery Gentry, Josh Thompson, Justin Moore, the list goes on and on. For country music fans, I’m sure you can imagine that my heart almost flew out of my chest when I caught wind of this year’s lineup. This marked my first Country Concert experience. I had heard nothing but great reviews about this annual extravaganza. My expectations were high; my expectations were met.

Aside from the phenomenal music, Country Concert 2011 had the social atmosphere that a public relations personality craves: thousands of people with giant smiles on their faces, enjoying great music with their friends and families. I shared a campsite next to the concert arena with seven of my closest friends. I can confidently say that Country Concert 2011 was one of the greatest experiences of my college career. Camping was interesting, the music was amazing and spending time with my best friends made the entire trip worthwhile.

Country Concert 2012 anyone?

-Joe