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

Future LA Publicist Congratulates the Most Popular Person on Google+… Mark Zuckerberg

As an intern at an LA Public Relations firm, I know that social media plays a major role in communicating with the public. Knowing that social media is so important, publicists are bound to find out what the latest and greatest site will be.

Well congratulations to Mark Zuckerberg, on being the most popular user on the newest social media site, Google+. He had originally created a profile to keep his eye on the website and as of Wednesday he had 45,000 people following him. AOL Business reported that Zuckerberg has more followers than Google founder Larry Page and other Google executives.

What is this Google+ you may ask? The new social media site is the newest and could potentially be the biggest competitor of Facebook yet. Google+ allows users to share photos, links, status, and video chat with others while separating different people they know into separate circles like family and friends.

Although the site isn’t completely available to the public yet, invitations to join the network are only being sent to big named techies, bloggers and journalists as of right now.

Although there is a lot of buzz about Google+ taking the lead, Facebook doesn’t seem too concerned about it. Facebook spokesman, Jonny Thaw said, “We’re in the early days of making the Web more social, and there are opportunities for innovation everywhere.”

I look forward to seeing if Google+ will give Facebook a run for its money when it’s completely available to the public.
-Sarabess-

How a Los Angeles PR Agency Konnects with the Public

Statistics have shown that 50 percent of Facebook users will check their accounts close to 10 times a day! With school, work, and all the other activities of our busy lives, most people are still making the time to visit their Facebook so often, it would be a crime as a PR agency to not use this to interact with the public.

There are more than 500 million people on Facebook, and close to 150 million users on Twitter. It is no surprise that the number one way to reach the public nowadays is through social media. In past years Facebook or Twitter were  ways to keep in touch with friends or post pic’s of a fun trip you took with some friends. Now the personal side of social media has shifted into the business world. Interning with Konnect Public Relations has taught me to not take this valuable media tool lightly. Whether it means devoting a great amount of time to status updates or detailed research on previous “tweets”, ultimately the time spent will be a key part of a successful PR agency in Los Angeles.

Kaya

A PR agency is where I belong

As I finish up my third week as an intern at Konnect PR, I am able to sit back and reflect on how much I have learned during my time here and imagine how much more is still to come throughout the rest of the summer.  I came all the way across the country from Boston to spend the summer as an aspiring LA publicist, but I could never begin to comprehend the depths to which working in a pr agency would take me.

I have to admit that I was nervous entering the office on my first day.  I was so far from home, didn’t know what to expect, and kept thinking what if public relations isn’t for me? Well now I can tell you for sure, that this industry is where I belong. Everyone in the office couldn’t be more welcoming and eager to teach me the ropes of this pr agency. Seeing everyone’s constant smiles, my nerves quickly slipped away and I was able to get down to work.

What gets me most excited about coming to work is that I know there will always be assignments to keep me busy. There is nothing worse than working at a job with nothing to do except watch the minutes tick away, and I know that will never happen here. So far I have expanded my Photoshop skills and found that I actually really enjoy it when it used to be my worst nightmare and my stalking skills are so up to par at this point that I’m pretty sure I can find contact information for any name given to me.

It is blowing my mind how quickly the summer is flying by and it will be over before I know it, so as I sit in this office, I want to take advantage of every opportunity I have to learn. In the short time I’ve been here, Konnect PR has already given me so much insight to the industry and has proven to me that public relations is where I want to work for the rest of my life.

-Allyson

LA publicist on innovative social media campaigns

Mashable recently wrote an article entitled Behind the Scenes on 8 Innovative Social Media Campaigns and it really piqued my interest. Working for a pr agency in Los Angeles, a number of our clients ask us to monitor and update their social media pages. But running a social media campaign isn’t just about sending tweets and waiting to see what happens. It’s about targeting a specific audience and creating material that caters to your audience’s interests and engaging them. So when I came across this article, it served as inspiration for me as a LA publicist to come up with more creative ideas and tactics.

The one campaign that was most intriguing to me was the write up on The Voice. As the article states, the show was created from a Dutch show that integrated social media. Producers took it a step further by not only integrating aspects of social media, but having an online presence as the main focus, making this one of the most interactive co-viewing experiences.

I think The Voice is the beginning of an entirely new type of viewing experience. Viewers want to fully participate in their favorite shows, which is exemplified by successes like American Idol, and The Voice is an exciting platform that allows viewers to interact with the contestants and hosts. In the future, in order for TV to survive in a realm where online streaming, micro-blogging and the world of Netflix continues to grow, primetime and cable TV shows will have to navigate towards a more up-to-date format. Maybe a show that integrates QR codes in the actual episode that take you to extra scenes or commentary from the actors. Or how about a microblog scrolling below the screen, with real-time viewers commenting as the plot is unfolding. The possibilities are endless.

~**Kendra**~

Twitter Makes the Life of this LA Publicist Easier

For all those who use Twitter, I’m sure you can sympathize with the annoyance of having to go to another site to shorten a URL. Well apparently the people over at Twitter were just as annoyed, because now you can simply paste the link into your “what’s happening” and when you push the “tweet” button, it will ask if you would like to shorten your link.
Yes please!
Then instead you get a 19 character link. And if you are a rambler like this LA publicist staying under 140 characters is not so easy! This will be a huge and very helpful feature.
Go Twitter!
If you get all excited and go to Twitter and it doesn’t happen- don’t get distraught, because it is being rolled out slowly. The ladies at this pr agency are just super special.

Have fun shortening!

xox

Shelby