Sweet! SweetSeat Scores A Top Spot As A Finalist In the Red Tricycle Awards

This year Red Tricycle, a website dedicated to helping parents have more fun with their kids, launched its ‘Totally Awesome Awards’ in search of the best local parenting resources along with readers’ favorite online resources. Categories range from Best Schools and Places to Shop, to Best Mom Forums, Nursery Gear, Meals and Snacks and more..

SweetSeat has been selected for the Most Awesome Feeding Supplies category, as colorful, comfortable and easy-to-clean booster seats that make mealtime and playtime fun.

Learn more about SweetSeat, and then head on over to Red Tricycle to cast your vote on why it’s so unique, adorable and TOTALLY AWESOME!

All winners will be announced next month on October 15^th!

~Shonte

The Fashion Industry Promotes Itself In An Annual After-Hours Extravaganza

From Manhattan to Milan, Atlanta to Australia, boutiques, department stores and even neighborhood pop-up shops across the globe will stay open after hours TONIGHT to help celebrate what many call the single biggest shopping event of the year (yes, even larger than ‘Black Friday’)- Fashion’s Night Out!

Having started in 2009 as a way to encourage consumers to shop ‘til they drop all in the name of supporting the fashion industry, this is an event filled with celebrities who want to be seen, designers who want to be known, and of course die hard shoppers (I included) who want those exclusive items that were virtually unknown and/or unattainable up until this very moment. Since its inception, Fashion’s Night Out has expanded to more than 15 countries, with each year becoming more popular than the previous. How you ask? Promotion of course, with a team of people behind FNO publicizing the heck out of it! And this year, they made sure to get the public’s attention in one of the top ways we’re communicating today- through technology and social media.

A special (and FREE) Fashion’s Night Out cell phone app was released earlier this month (for iPhone and Android) which allows users to receive real time event information with “around me” options that help them navigate throughout the night.  You can even communicate plans with friends via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter, making a meeting at Jimmy Choo as simple as a few taps.

It’s a brilliant idea if you ask me, way to think like a publicist FNO.

~Shonte

Hot Out Of The Oven, Konnect PR Welcomes A New Client!

It’s pretty safe to say there are three things the Konnect PR team is all about- food, function, and fun. And with the recent signing of our newest client Mastrad, we get all that and a bag of chips- literally! (see photos below for further proof). Mastrad is an amazing French kitchenware company that specializes in unique cooking utensils, tools and accessories. Not only are they totally functional (think silicon oven mitts and bakewear) but also quite pretty (everything comes in a variety of bright colors that make kitchenware a fashion statement).  

Today we had the opportunity to try one of their newest products, a potato chip maker. And yes, it really is just as amazing as it sounds! Using a grader and special ‘cooking’ tray, we were able to perfectly slice our potatoes (which we ran out and bought just for this), sprinkle on a few seasonings and place them in the microwave for just a few minutes. And then voilà , we had a perfect potato chip! It was crisp, crunchy and so delicious. Take a look at a few of our most notable moments during preparation:

Our hardworking interns happily peeling potatoes…

Kendra slicing….

Shelby ‘cooking’…

And the final product- slightly burnt the first time around but yummy nonetheless

Oh, and Sabina showing off her battle wound from her fight with the potato slicer

We’re thrilled to welcome the French brand aboard, and proudly say bonjour!

Feel free to learn more about Mastrad here- www.mastrad.us.

-Shonte

The Party’s Over…

Last week (yes I’m late on this posting) marked the end of our time with two very fabulous interns. Courtney and Chris started with Konnect PR back in January, and from day one were total rock stars!

Courtney came to Konnect all the way from Brigham Young University in Utah where she is finishing up her final semester and on her way to receiving a bachelor’s degree in Communications. Confident, poised and a true professional, she impressed us from the start with her immense knowledge of the PR industry, ability to go above and beyond on all assignments, and essentially become an overall right hand assistant to each person in our office. Her sparkling personality made her a pleasure to have around and allowed her to blend seamlessly as a part of our team. We know Courtney will be an incredible asset to the next company who is so lucky to get her.

As a graduate student at USC getting his master’s degree in Communications Management, Chris brought incredible skills in writing and research having expertly wrote an array of solid press releases and media alerts for clients, and confidently pitched and reached out to top level editors and media in securing valuable information for our publicists. This knowledge, combined with his larger than life personality makes me both confident and proud in saying Chris will undoubtedly go on to achieve a wonderful career in any field he pursues. Whether it be in public relations, the entertainment industry (because he is a character), or another field of his choice, his hard work and dedication is both valuable and admirable, and will carry him on to great things.

With their motivation and drive came two very genuinely good people, making Courtney and Chris so easy to welcome and quite difficult to say good bye to. We will always have gratitude for their hard work and dedication, and wish them much success in their future endeavors.

~Shonte

Hip Hop Loses A Legend

Today the city of Los Angeles mourned the death of one the greatest musical rappers the west coast has ever known. Nathaniel D. Hale, known to hip-hop and G-funk lovers as Nate Dogg, passed away Tuesday evening at the age of 41. Although unbeknownst to many fans, friends and even family, Nate suffered subsequent strokes within a ten month period (the most recent occurring in 2008), causing multiple complications and his health to steadily decline.

Hailing from Long Beach, CA, Nate rose to fame as the smooth-voiced hook singer alongside popular rap artists and label mates Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Warren G during the explosion of West Coast hip-hop and gangster rap in the early 1990s, and helped gain tremendous notoriety for Death Row Records. He collaborated with some of the music industry’s biggest names including Tupac, Eminem, and 50 Cent, and also released 3 solo albums of his own. As a “living legend” who had such an incredible impact not only on this side of the nation, but in hip hop communities all over the world, Nate Dogg’s distinct crooning and trademark style will forever live on. With an immense outpouring of love and support already spreading (Snoop Dogg tweeted ‘I will see you again in heaven because you know all doggs to heaven’), we celebrate the life of Nate Dogg and his significant contributions to the ‘G Funk Era.’

Working here in the city that gave birth to the hip hop icon, I respectfully pay tribute and thank Nate Dogg for his incredible, stylistic influence on west coast music, shaping the genre as we know it today.

~Shonte

Expo West Success!

This past weekend Shonte, Sabina and I had the privilege of assisting our clients Sweet Leaf Tea and Rhythm Superfoods as they exhibited at the Natural Products Expo West trade show. A gathering of the best the natural products world has to offer (everything from food to beauty, lifestyle items and more) we feel so honored as a pr agency to be able to work with two such amazing companies and to be able to actually see them and take part in such a crucial part of their business.

As Sweet Leaf Tea sampled their tasty drinks and showcased their new packaging (along with the delicious Tradewinds brand of drinks), Rhythm Superfoods showcased their newly designed packaging and sampled their new Kale Chip flavors and brand new Sweet Potato Chips. We are happy to report that both brands were a hit at the show! With products just as lovely as the team behind them, this is anything but a surprise for us here at Konnect PR

Below take a peek at a couple of cool photos from the show courtesy of Rama Images.


x Monica