Remember Your Audience: How Evolving Holidays Affect Communications

By: Caitlan McCafferty

Communications and marketing professionals often plan messages and campaigns around holidays. You will always see social media posts wishing you a happy Fourth of July or an ad announcing the President’s Day Sale. But, what if attitudes toward certain holidays are changing? 

If you had off from work or school this past Monday, Oct. 10, you probably called the holiday Columbus Day. But, in many states this is changing. Due to a movement to support Native Americans’ contributions to the United States, many communities have changed the holiday’s name from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day. The movement started in big cities such as Seattle and Albuquerque and, over time, extended to smaller municipalities and school districts. In fact, in the year since 2015, 14 communities have joined a growing list of towns and cities that now use the day to honor the history and voices of indigenous people.

The actual holiday of Columbus Day may not affect you – only 23 states and Washington, D.C. recognize it—but the shift away from celebrating Columbus represents a larger movement to reevaluate American history. The history of Columbus Day is littered with controversy. It is widely accepted that Columbus did not “discover” America, and he was responsible for the death and mistreatment of innocent indigenous people. Native Americans have been protesting the holiday since FDR made it a federal holiday in 1937 , and the conflict came to a head in 1992 with the 500th anniversary celebration that brought protests from around the world. 

Martin Luther King Day similarly remains controversial for some parts of our country. Martin Luther King Day was first observed in 1986, but it wasn’t a federal paid holiday in all 50 states until 2000. The last state to recognize the holiday was South Carolina. However, Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi observe MLK Day (federal holiday) and Robert E. Lee Day (state holiday) both on the third Monday in January. In each of these states, there continues to be a battle over separating the two holidays, as many find it wrong that a Confederate general and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement are celebrated on the same day. 

So what are the implications of such controversies for professional communicators? For one thing, the debate reminds us that different parts of the country approach the history of our country and its culture differently. It makes sense that cities with larger Native American populations, such as Albuquerque, changed the holiday’s name to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It’s a good reminder that what might be a common touchpoint for one market segment of the country may not resonate in the same way with another region.

When the next holiday rolls around, then, remember your audience. Are you posting a Happy Columbus Day tweet? Or a Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day tweet? Understanding the cultural differences at play will help you craft a communications initiative that does not inadvertently offend your target audiences. 

Tips to Keep Your Projects on Schedule

By Karen Preston-Loeb

Being organized in the workplace is an integral component of a company’s productivity and profitability. Missed deadlines irritate clients which can result in loss of business. Late work makes a company appear overwhelmed and incapable. However, keeping a streamlined process in place to deliver projects on time and within budget satisfies both clients and employees. Below are some project management tips to improve efficiency in your company.

Utilize a project management software system:

Various platforms exist that provide companies with job tracking, reporting capabilities, timesheets, and even invoicing, and most are accessible through the internet to allow for remote working. The system best suited for a company varies depending on the functionality desired. At Furia Rubel Communications we use Basecamp for all of our marketing, public relations, crisis communications, graphic design and website development projects. Every project is created and named, and a calendar is generated to schedule the milestones for each job. Milestones for every task that need to be completed are assigned a date and team member. Once each task is finished it is checked off and, as long as each agency representative completes work on time, the project stays on schedule.

Create a project naming system:

Keeping the workplace organized is more than filing cabinets and inboxes. With work being done on the cloud and remotely via the internet, organizing has taken a digital turn and a naming system is essential. Clearly labelling jobs allows every team member to be on the same page and easily access a project in the future. Oftentimes project management software systems will help organize this process by numbering jobs or prompting a job name field. Still, the company needs to determine a naming convention to be used internally. Acronyms for clients work well along with project titles and dates created. For instance, a 300 x 250 web banner created for ABC Corporation’s August website might be labeled: ABC_300x250WebBanner_8_2016. This would then be filed alphabetically by the client on a server. In two years, if the client wanted to re-run that web banner, it could easily be found.

Break out a project into tasks:

Looking at a large campaign or assignment can be overwhelming, but organizing the job into tasks that can be completed and checked off gives a feeling of accomplishment along the way. A builder who undertakes an addition onto a house doesn’t just dive in. The builder begins with a plan that may begin with blueprints, then demolition and removal of debris, followed by each individual step that needs to occur from adding plumbing to final coats of paint. Whether laid out on paper or in the experienced mind of the builder, a job has a sequence of events that occurs. The same holds true at any company. Every project has a succession of tasks that can be mapped out and completed by one or various team members. In a marketing and public relations firm, for instance, we might break out an e-Newsletter into steps from drafting content, editing, or proofreading, to obtaining client approval, adding web links, and scheduling distribution. These project tasks can also be added to your project management software as templates which leads to greater efficiencies and productivity.

Maintain Schedules:

How happy would a client be if a firm did excellent work but missed its deadlines? A press release announcing an event that gets distributed too late is no good to the client no matter how well-written. Staying on schedule is imperative to the long-term success of a company. Work backwards from the final due date and break the job into tasks. Each task should fill the calendar up to the final due date (and be sure to give your team some leeway whenever possible). Assign these tasks and due dates to appropriate team members, and track any missed deadlines. Once a milestone is overdue, the schedule needs to be adjusted appropriately to ensure the job stays on track.

Organization is essential to project workflow. Keeping jobs on track not only maintains client satisfaction that can lead to referrals and future business, but also promotes a healthy workplace of employees who feel proud to have accomplished goals and be a part of the company’s success.

What Instagram’s Newest Change Means for Communicators

By Sarah Larson

Instagram this week announced a major change that expands its video capabilities and marks another milestone in the continuing shift toward visual communication.

On March 29, the social network said that it would expand the allowed length of videos posted to the site to 60 seconds. That quadruples the time from the app’s current cap of 15 seconds.

The new video capabilities are being tested with small groups of users (New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was one of them) and are expected to be rolled out to all users “in the coming months,” according to Instagram.

The move is driven by one simple factor: popularity.

“In the last six months, the time people spent watching video increased by more than 40 percent,” Instagram said in its announcement.

What does this change mean for professional communicators? Several things.

First, of course, it means more time to tell your story. Whether you’re promoting a fundraising event, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of your company at work, or announcing a new initiative, having more time gives you more opportunity to shine.

Just because your videos can be longer, however, doesn’t mean they should be. Strong editing will remain key to success. Though digital marketers still love to debate the “ideal” average length for online video, nearly all agree that viewership and engagement decrease as running times increase.

It also doesn’t mean that writing is irrelevant. In fact, powerful writing is vital to the creation of a powerful video. Tight voiceover scripts that choose just the right word and thoughtful onscreen text that reinforces key messages are just as important as the wide shots and graphics. (Some argue that writing is actually the most important skill for broadcast.)

If it weren’t already clear to organizations that their communications strategies should include video, this move by the world’s most popular platform for sharing still photography should erase any remaining doubts.

How are you incorporating visual storytelling elements into your marketing and public relations plans? Share your experience in the comments.

5 Simple Tips for Checking the Accuracy of Your Content

By Sarah Larson

If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

So goes an old journalism adage that has guided generations of young reporters, editors and producers along the career path to becoming seasoned, trusted sources of accurate information.

It's a good rule to live by for everyone, not just journalists. Verifying that the information your organization is putting out is accurate should be a top priority for all, whether your organization is a nonprofit, a professional services provider, a consumer-focused business, a major corporation, or a small local business. Too often, however, information is published that clearly never went through a final fact-checking or copy-editing step.

It is particularly important for those working in the communications business to ensure that those two steps are hard-wired into everyday work processes. Mistakes do happen - but they happen a lot less frequently when accuracy and verification are respected parts of the process.

And that doesn't mean just for "big" projects, or for information from certain sources. Go back to that saying again: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." It means that information should be verified regardless of how obvious it seems or how esteemed the source might be.

Here are some tips and tools that should help.

• Get the names right. This is one of the most basic tenets of journalism, and back in the day when I walked uphill to school, both ways, barefoot in the snow, misspelling someone's name was a transgression that could get a young reporter fired. Don't let your organization publish a flyer for an event honoring your largest donor with the donor's name misspelled. Check business cards, v-cards, website biographies and more to verify names. The one time you don't check the spelling of John Smith is the one time it actually will be Jon Smythe.
• Don't assume the client is right. If a client emails you information about an event for use in a press release, don't take for granted that the names, dates or spellings in the email are correct. Look elsewhere to verify that information first. Websites, business cards, directories, event calendars and news coverage are good sources to check, but if there are discrepancies, sometimes a phone call to the source is needed to clear things up.
• Don't rely on spell check. Even when it works properly (and it often doesn't), a spelling check program can't catch instances where a word is spelled correctly but is simply the wrong word. 
• Use the dictionary. Yes, a dictionary. And don't just google or go to dictionary.com. Anyone who calls herself a professional communicator should have an actual hard copy of a dictionary within arm's reach of her desk. Everyone in the organization should use that same one, too, so decide whether you will use the Merriam-Webster or Oxford American or Oxford English, and then stick with it.
• Follow established grammar and usage rules. Whether you are drafting pitches to send to the media or a press release to publish on a newswire, your news will be taken more seriously by professional journalists if it follows expected style guidelines. For most U.S. publications, that means following the Associated Press Stylebook. Violations of AP Style stand out like neon lights to veteran journalists, so mastering the quirks, such as when to abbreviate a month and when to spell it out, will help you establish and maintain a professional reputation. 

If you are a professional communicator, it is your job to help the organization you are supporting look its best. That means taking the time to verify information that clients might not have spared the time to check, themselves. It also means doing everything possible to ensure that that event flyer promoting a forum about "public education" didn't leave out the "l."

What tools or processes does your organization use to ensure the information it is publishing is accurate?

Fostering Inclusion Through Internal Communications

By Laura Powers

As an agency that assists clients with internal and external communications, we believe in practicing what we preach. So when we recently discussed tactics and tools that we use within our own day-to-day operations, we knew that our readers could benefit from these valuable communications ideas, too.

At Furia Rubel, we employ many tactics and practices that enhance our internal office communications. They include:

• Email aliases that allow small groups to communicate quickly about client work.
• The cloud-based team collaboration messaging platform Slack, where we have set up separate channels for discussions regarding each client.
• Regular status meetings every four to six weeks.
• Lunch-and-learn meetings where we present brief educational presentations to our team.
• Daily stand-up meetings to discuss immediate projects and needs.

However, I think the most important thing about our internal communications approach is that it almost always involves all team members, from the most junior to the most senior. Even though most businesses benefit from an internal hierarchy, we have seen the benefits of including the whole team in daily communications:

• It fosters a sense of ownership with regard to the company and our clients.
• It allows every team member to contribute her own perspective and experience.
• It cultivates a work environment of support and trust.
• It provides all team members with the ability to speak intelligently about most of our services, processes and client work.

The regular sharing of information across all positions and responsibilities ensures that all Furia Rubel team members are able to learn from each other and also enables us to provide better service to our clients.

What internal communications processes do you use? Let us know in the comments.

Keeping It S.I.P.S.

By Megan Quinn

What do you do for a living?

If you answered by naming your company or your title or your general field, you just missed out on a golden business opportunity – to create interest in what you do and open the door for further interest.

That was the main takeaway from a recent conference, LMA Metro Philadelphia’s Half-Day Educational Conference, presented by the HUB City View. The July 16 conference was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about legal marketing from local and visiting marketing experts and it was interesting to switch over to the marketing side for a day and shift my mind out of the PR gear.

The breakout session 2 program, “Wildfire: Creating Interest in Your Practice With Everyone You Meet,” really struck a chord with me. It was presented by Steve Hughes, president of Missouri-based company Hit Your Stride, LLC. The main theme was, how can we brainstorm new ways to market our profession or help our clients to do the same when networking?

For example, when asked at a cocktail party or event, “What do you do for a living?” it’s easy to just state your profession or company name outright. “I’m a lawyer,” “I work in public relations,” or “I work at Furia Rubel Communications in Doylestown.”

That’s all well and good, but there’s no hint of mystery to it. If we aren’t proactive about coming up with new ways to explain our jobs in a fun, interesting way, does that make us sound disinterested in what we do?

For tax attorneys, Hughes recommends saying this: “I’m Uncle Sam’s biggest nightmare” or “I help add to the national debt.” For estate planning attorneys, try “I work with dead people” or real estate attorneys can say “I play with dirt all day and get paid for it.”

The point is to make our explanations S.I.P.S. (short, intriguing, pithy and simple). If we can succeed in doing this, we can engage our audience in a way that presents opportunities for follow-up questions. Don’t give it all away at once; leave them guessing!

I often have a hard time explaining my job to friends and family, as I wrote about in a previous blog post, so this is a way to explore how we view our clients and their impact on the world. So, what do I do? For my job, I came up with, “I help law firms and banks look human.”

How would you explain your profession to others?

Who is in Your Tribe of Successful Women?

By Gina F. Rubel

I am very fortunate to have met some really amazing women along my life’s journey. Last week, a client sent me an email (in response to me saying thank you for a referral) which said, "Behind every successful woman should be a tribe of women who have her back! I'm in your tribe."

I am grateful!

This got me thinking about the women who are in my proverbial tribe and what makes up a successful women’s tribe. It’s like the old adage, “It takes a village.” Yes, it does. And I certainly would not be successful without the women (and men) who have had my back along the way.

Here is my attempt to say thank you, in a small way, to just some of the successful women who have helped the village that I live in to prosper and grow.

Family: First and foremost are family and roots. If it wasn't for my mother who is there to look out for me every day, there to help my husband and me to do everything that it takes to keep a household running smoothly, I would not be a successful woman. End of story. Thanks, Ma.

Friends: Then there are my friends, both near and far, who I can talk to about anything and everything. I can let my hair down, be the personal me, shed the suit for sweats, shut off the electronics, walk along the beach for hours on end, eat, drink and be merry, in our own special way. To my friends from Pennsylvania to the Jersey Shore, Annapolis to the Bahamas, and L.A. to Leicestershire (you know who you are), I say thank you!

Colleagues: It is true that you spend more time with your office mates than you do most anyone. And I am blessed to be surrounded by amazing and successful women, each in her own right! The ladies of Furia Rubel, Laura Powers, Sarah Larson, Kim Tarasiewicz, Rose Strong and Megan Quinn, and the consultants who support us, are the eyes, ears, backbones and brains that contribute greatly to our success. And to the other ladies who have passed through our doors, whether it was for a three-month internship or for a several-year stay, I am grateful to each of you.

Clients: Behind every successful woman are other women. Yes indeed. And the women that I have the opportunity to work with are absolutely amazing; the best in their respective fields. Thank you, ladies. I am in your tribe! A special shout out to a few of those ladies, clients both past and present, who have made a special difference in my life professionally and personally.

• Joan Block, Executive Director, Hepatitis B Foundation
• Jeane Coyle, CEO, First Federal of Bucks County
• Krista Harper, Esq., Founder, Harper Business Law
• Jessica R. Hilburn-Holmes, Esq., Executive Director, Philadelphia Bar Foundation
• Neen James, CEO, Neen James Communications
• Florence Kawoczka, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County
• Hillary Moonay, Partner, Williams Family Law (matrimonial law)
• Justice Sandra Newman, Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice, Newman ADR
• Melissa Scartelli, Esq., Managing Partner, Scartelli Olszewski (personal injury law)
• Deborah Willig, Esq., Managing Partner, Willig, Williams & Davidson (labor, employment and workers’ compensation law)
• Sara Woods, Esq., Executive Director, Philadelphia VIP

Women’s Network: There are also those professional women you meet along the way, perhaps at a networking function, professional association or board meeting. You know instantly that you are attracted to their energy and enthusiasm for life and success (however they define it). You also know that you want to see them succeed because of their brilliance, attention to detail, expertise, and sheer love of life and love for what they do. There are just too many amazing women for me to name them individually, so here is a list of some of the organizations within which I have met women who have made a major difference in my life:

• Bucks County Women’s Fund (Now the United Way of Bucks County Women’s Initiative)
• Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce
• Legal Marketing Association 
• Network Now
• Philadelphia Bar Association
• Women’s Business Forum of Bucks County

Women Trailblazers: Sacrifice of self and service of others: these are two traits that I have consistently found in women trailblazers. One such gamechanger is Nikki Johnson Huston, Esq., a tax attorney and antipoverty advocate who was once homeless. Nikki speaks to and writes for communities all over the world, sharing her story of survival and her message of hope. Most recently, Nikki launched DONAFY, a location-based micro-philanthropy iPhone app that will allow people to easily locate, notify and donate to nearby nonprofit organizations that service those in need of housing, food, medical care, mental health or job assistance.

In celebration of Women’s History Month (March), reach out to and say thank you to all of the women in your tribe. Let’s make history by honoring one another and remembering that none of us can survive alone. Use the hashtags: #WomensHistoryMonth #Women #LeanIn #ChangeTheRatio

5 Ways to Take Advantage of Blogging Opportunities on Snow Days

By Megan Quinn

At Furia Rubel, we have learned to adjust to all kinds of wacky Northeastern weather. Our most recent snowstorm got me thinking...how can professionals make the most of their workday while snowed in at home?

One project that is custom-made for a snow day is working on a company or firm blog.

We recommend to many clients that they establish a company blog. Blogging helps you and your business to:

• Gain exposure
• Demonstrate expertise
• Establish thought leadership
• Support search engine optimization (SEO) 
• Reinforce the company’s brand 
• Manage your reputation 
• Raise awareness of your company's services
• Drive traffic to your company's website

But we also know that for many of our clients, blogging is just one more thing they have to do in a day that is already jam-packed with work.

While blogging efforts can and should be sustained through daily or weekly effort, the cancellation of day-to-day business by bad weather can offer a brief reprieve from daily pressures. Here are five productive ways to put that bad weather to good use.

• Take photos to use for future blog posts. Today's content is highly visual; blog posts get more attention and more shares when they are illustrated with photos. But you can't just grab any old photo from a Google Images search. If you're a decent photographer, use your down time to take generic photos - a stack of law books, a close-up of the dictionary definition of your major practice area, etc. - that you can use as visual content on your company's blog.
• Brainstorm topics for your next blog post. Millions of blog topics are waiting to be explored. Do a quick search of trending topics online at Google Trends to see what the world is talking about. Tie the issue in to your own industry or niche and provide your own unique perspective on current events.
• Research potential industry blogs to which you can contribute. If you haven't already, identify the leading blogs and influencers in your industry. Email the editor to see if they accept guest blog posts and find out what kind of content they want most. Guest blogging in your niche industry is an opportunity to promote your company and showcase how well-versed you are in the subject area.
• Reach out to your contacts and ask them to collaborate. Networking is vital at every stage of business development, but established companies especially sometimes let relationship building fall to the wayside. Getting back in touch with contacts and asking them to work with you on a blog post is a great way to enhance your relationships with professionals in your industry. By collaborating on a blog post, you can learn more from one another about your niche industry area and can showcase your work to more people.
• Review existing material to see if it can be re-purposed. We encourage clients to maximize their time by re-purposing information whenever they can. Did you recently write a legal brief? Turn some of that information into a blog post. Did you recently speak at an industry event? Use some of the information from your talk for a blog post. 

Thoughts on My First Week as MarCom Director

Photo by Allure West Studios

Posted by Jonathan Morein

They say that when you start a new position, you should take plenty of notes.

Well, on this, my first week at Furia Rubel Communications in Bucks County, I’ve taken pages. Books even. So, for my first blog post, I thought I’d boil down my thoughts and share what I’ve learned so far. First, I have to say, this is going to be a great job! I’m amazed by my colleagues. They are organized and detailed and will challenge me to perform at my very best.

Second, I felt I knew the company, its philosophy and its team before I even got started. For a boutique integrated marketing agency, Furia Rubel has a powerhouse presence. Their posts about marketing have influenced my thinking for years. This speaks well for a company that practices what it preaches when it comes to the power of thought leadership.

Third, Furia Rubel is extremely well organized in its thinking and its programs. I’m amazed at the sophistication of our strategic planning processes. My first assignment is to prepare an assessment for a strategic marketing plan for a new client. I’ve conducted brand assessments many times before – or at least I thought I had. This one is like nothing I had ever seen. Comprehensive is an understatement, with dozens of questions on everything from their business model to their work style.

Why so much detail? I think it’s because Furia Rubel leaves nothing to chance. We’re building a blueprint for communications success. From great plans spring successful marketing and public relations campaigns. I’ve read through hundreds of strategic plans and these are the most detailed and well-integrated that I’ve seen in a long time.

Furia Rubel defines its process as “Communications Made Simple.” Achieving simplicity is hard work. It’s like being the proverbial duck gliding across the water. The smaller the ripples on the surface, the more furiously it’s paddling below.

Looking forward to paddling with you in the months ahead.

All the Best,
Jonathan Morein

By the way, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanmorein or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/JonMor to share your thoughts.

Understanding Message Channels and Target Audience Preferences for Marketing

I was thinking about all of the things we didn't have as kids (“we” meaning those of us who were born pre-1970s). The world has changed so much in the last four decades. In fact, the speed with which technology evolves seems to grow exponentially faster each year.

When I was a girl growing up in Philadelphia and spending my summers at the New Jersey shore, I had to pick up the corded telephone to call my friends and make plans. If I was making a long-distance call from the shore house, I even had to tell the operator the telephone number from where I was calling. Today, that sounds like such a strange concept with things like email (which is passé among our youngest generation), text messaging, Skype, ooVoo, Google Chat, IM and the myriad of other ways people can be instantly contacted. 

During the winter months, my friends and I wrote letters (on paper) to one another and addressed envelopes. We had to purchase stamps at the post office and then mail our letters and wait for days and sometimes weeks for a response. I remember checking the mail every day when I’d get home from school hoping for a letter from one of my friends who lived in New Jersey, Florida, Maryland or a host of other places.

For the traditionalists, baby boomers and gen-Xers reading this blog, think back. We didn’t have cell phones, PDAs, apps, satellite radios, cable TV, DVRs, GPSs, social media, reality TV, DVDs, mobile transit messages, electronic games (not until Atari anyway), digital photo sharing, and the many other things available for sending and receiving messages today.

And for the millennials out there, it’s also important to remember that while all of these different means of communication exist, there are three generations ahead of you who may prefer more traditional means of communicating. 

In the age of electronic communications there a nearly limitless ways people send and receive messages, it is important to understand all of the channels to reach your intended target audiences based on where and how they are communicating.  Before you assume that your blog, website, brochure, billboard, direct mail piece, advertisement, text, etc. – all tactics used for marketing and public relations – are reaching their intended audience, do your homework. Find out how your target audiences want to be reached. Then deliver your targeted messages in ways they can’t ignore.

Grammar Issues in the Workplace

Posted by Amanda Walsh

I’ve noticed a lot of grammar posts and articles in the blogosphere lately. I’m not really sure why it’s become a point of focus, but we ladies here at Furia Rubel are certainly glad that more business-minded people are paying closer attention to the importance of proper grammar.

In the age of text messages, tweets and social media posts, it seems that everyone is trying to find the quickest way to communicate a message. Unfortunately, grammar has taken a back seat in our fast-paced world.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an interesting article with an interactive quiz to test your grammar skills. The article discusses ways hiring managers and business people are working to combat bad writing and grammar usage in the workplace. The author spoke to generational and human resources experts who noted that the grammar gaffes are being blamed on the 20- and 30-something employees at an organization. I tend to think that anyone can commit grammar mistakes regardless of their age.

One controversial grammar rule is “the Oxford comma.” It is the extra comma put before “and” or “or” in a series of nouns. Many argue that without it, the meaning of a sentence is completely altered. Those of us that adhere to AP Stylebook guidelines generally tend not to use it in the majority of our business writing. The author highlights another typical grammar mistake with this example: “He expected Helen and I to help him," instead of “Helen and me.” To test if you're using the rule correctly, you should be able to delete the other subject from the sentence and still have it make sense. To read more about this rule, go to The Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Perhaps the more we discuss grammar and encourage good writing and communicating skills, we can overcome the commonly-used grammar faux pas. To read more about some typical grammar gaffes, check out the article on WSJ.com.

Photo courtesy of SomeEcards.com.