Vote for Rock to the Future in Pepsi Refresh Project

Non-profit Recipient of PPRA Pro Bono Assistance a Finalist for 25K Through Pepsi Refresh Project

 

PPRA members have another way to help make a difference this December! Vote for Rock to the Future, a Philadelphia non-profit organization that PPRA supported through the PRoactive program to win a 25K prize from Pepsi Refresh campaign. Voting closes at the end of the December.

You can vote once online daily and once with a text message daily! Rock to the Future received pro bono PR support through PPRA's PRoactive committee last year and is a cause close to many members hearts.

With $25,000 the Rock to the Future will be able to give the gift of musical education to more students in Philadelphia as part of a free after school program. 

Rock to the Future's Mission – 

Rock to the Future is a 501(c)3 youth development organization that provides free music education and tutoring to lower-income Philadelphia students who would otherwise never experience the benefits of music education.

A Healthy Future Within Reach

Along with being the principal of Brownstone PR, I am also the VP of Development for Stars Within Reach – a nonprofit organization that takes individuals in the entertainment, sports, and political sector, corporations, and organizations and partners them with charitable causes, to provide tangible solutions to some of our most prevalent societal issues.  Annually, the organization embraces 12 causes – one for each month – and implements a multimedia effort to raise awareness and dollars for support.

The organization’s platform is a PR dream, as each campaign is comprised of a community relations effort, but also allows for creative social media implementation, strategic marketing, and unique partnership opportunities that allow for increased (and ongoing) media results. 

Take the organization’s ‘A Healthy Future Within Reach’ initiative.

Mayor Michael Nutter, Congressman Chaka Fattah, Senator Larry Farnese, 76er Lou Williams, Eagles tight end Cornelius Ingram, Girard College president Autumn Adkins Graves, Health Partners, The Food Trust, and more joined Stars Within Reach and the Point Breeze Performing Arts Center to launch ‘A Healthy Future Within Reach’ – an interactive, multimedia campaign to raise awareness for childhood obesity and the lack of healthy eating options in the Philadelphia community of Point Breeze, and to turn the vacant lot at 1622-1648 Point Breeze Avenue into a healthy food source for 100+ families living in the area.

Via weekly PSAs and blogs on the Stars Within Reach website, ‘A Healthy Future Within Reach’ featured such footage as Mayor Nutter discussing the importance of eating healthy, Congressman Fattah and Eagles tight end Ingram promoting regular exercise and activity, Senator Farnese speaking on the lasting effects of an unhealthy lifestyle, and Point Breeze resident Abdul Brown, 13, talking about life with Type I Diabetes.

When crafting the campaign, we understood the importance of getting notable figures on board to assist us in communicating the effort’s message. In order to draw individuals to the Stars Within Reach website to view the videos – and in turn, donate to the effort – we had to get individuals who folks knew and who they were interested in hearing speak.  What’s more, as part of their participation, we knew the notables would post the video they were featured in on their highly trafficked websites, along with including the video on their social media networks.

Media interest was instant, primarily for two reasons: (1) the issue of childhood obesity and lack of healthy eating options in urban areas being such a hot topic (thanks in part to our first lady, Michelle Obama!) and (2) Point Breeze being the location for the initiative, as the community has experienced ongoing revitalization efforts over the last 2-3 years.  Having the notable figures on board for the initiative provided a little more ‘shine’, as the average viewer or reader will listen to just about anything if it’s coming from someone like the Mayor or a 76er star player!

Broadcast, print and online media placements resulted in immediate hits on the Stars Within Reach website, and 25% of fundraising secured.

When it came to incorporating social media, Facebook was used by our notable participants to promote their PSAs, while Stars Within Reach focused primarily on Twitter and YouTube. Each video was able to go viral as we utilized the Stars Within Reach YouTube channel to assist in promotion.  On Twitter, we developed the hashtag #AHealthyFuture, and had each of our notable participants tweeting on the day that their video was posted on the Stars Within Reach site, and for the remainder of the month. Between the 7 notables on Twitter – and some of our media/marketing partners - there are 139,572 unique followers in total. 

Social media efforts resulted in a 110% increase of daily visitors to the Stars Within Reach site, and 30% of fundraising secured.

The uniqueness of the effort attracted the support of Walmart. The company has come on board as the Title Sponsor for the initiative, having committed to matching each donation, dollar for dollar, up to $40,000. What’s more, thanks to media and social media efforts, The Lomax Foundation has come on board as a Major Sponsor, and Whole Foods on South Street will host a 5% day for the ‘A Healthy Future Initiative’ on Tuesday, June 28 – with 5% of the day’s sales going to support the effort.

Public relations is not just securing media placements; rather, it’s a strategic and cohesive effort that encompasses a multitude of platforms to creatively communicate one message and yield positive results. I believe ‘A Healthy Future Within Reach’ does just that, and more!

This blog post was written by Megan R. Smith. Megan R. Smith is the founder and president of Brownstone PR, a Philadelphia-based media and public relations agency serving individuals and companies in the areas of technology, finance, hospitality, lifestyle/entertainment, and sports.

Spreadin’ the Love through Social Media

Every year, Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization, sees a spike in donations, volunteers and overall interest in the organization around the holidays, end of October through the end of December. And every year, like clockwork, donations, volunteers and interest drop significantly once January hits.

In an effort to keep Philabundance and hunger top of mind for supporters during the ‘after holiday slump’, Philabundance needed a way to increase food donations and overall awareness. Hence, Spread the Love was born, a two week virtual food drive securing peanut butter & jelly from a local grocer for every “like” Philabundance received on Facebook.  The concept of Spread the Love was inspired by both the viral nature of the campaign and the Valentine’s Day time frame.

The Goal

Spread the Love was designed as a Valentine’s themed social media campaign. The goal was to grow our Facebook fan page “likes” while engaging current and new supporters as well as growing our eNewsletter subscription base.

The Incentive

Our first step was to find incentives for potential supporters. We decided to hold a virtual food drive through Facebook to increase our “likes” and offered a chance at winning a $500 travel voucher from US Air for signing up for FreshNews, our eNewsletter or forwarding FreshNews to a friend.

Partners

In order to hold a virtual food drive, Philabundance needed to secure a food industry partner that was willing to donate. ShopRite agreed to partner with Philabundance for Spread the Love and would donate a jar of peanut butter or jelly for every new “like” Philabundance received on Facebook.

US Airways, the official airline of Philabundance, offered Philabundance a $500 travel voucher to raffle off through a social media push- Spread the Love was a perfect opportunity.

Mix 106 partnered as the media sponsor and aired PSA’s promoting the two week long food drive and hosted a charity badge on their website where monetary donations could be made for purchase of pb&j.

Suburban Square partnered with Philabundance for the Spread the Love event held near the end of the campaign.

Execution

Philabundance pushed this opportunity out through our eNewsletter, Facebook and Twitter. Strategically targeted tweets and Facebook posts encouraged current supporters to invite members of their network to join Philabundance’s network in order to provide a jar or peanut butter or jelly to neighbors in need.

Local papers and blogs were alerted of the virtual food drive and encouraged their readers to participate. We secured coverage from Action News, Examiner.com, WHYY’s News Works and KYW.

The Spread the Love event was held at a local farmers market to help close out the campaign. Supporters could drop off PB&J donations in person and sign up for our eNewsletter for chances at the $500 travel voucher.

Results

This campaign was extremely successful for Philabundance. In two weeks, Philabundance gained more than 4800 news fans. As a result, more than 4800 jars of peanut butter and jelly were delivered to Philabundance from ShopRite. We also gained more than 230 new eNewsletter subscriptions and Philabundance saw an increase of nearly 95% in web traffic. We were able to track all of these statistics through Facebook analytics and our own website statistics.

With a little creativity and some TLC, executing a successful social media campaign can be very rewarding and your results have the potential to grow each year the campaign is conducted. Check out Mashable for a breakdown of what others have done in the past. Have you ever helped drive a social media campaign for your company or client? How did it work out?  

Lindsay Bues currently serves as Public Relations Coordinator at Philabundance, the Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief organization. As PR Coordinator, Lindsay is responsible for expanding relationships with regional media and increasing Philabundance’s visibility throughout the region. She recently graduated from Temple University with a degree in Strategic and Organizational Communication in 2009. While at Temple, Lindsay served as chapter president of Temple’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).

PIFA Created an Army of Bloggers

An army of bloggers took the city by storm to promote PIFA

Photo Credit , George Widman    

How do you get the word out about 135 events over a three-week time period? Create an army of bloggers. That’s what Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) did.

PIFA is inspired by the Kimmel Center and they incorporated partnerships and collaborations with hundreds of artists, organizations and individuals from around the globe. It was nearly impossible to ignore the presence that the inaugural PIFA had in our city recently (4/7/11-5/1/11). No, I am not referring to the giant Ferris wheel or aerial dancers on Broad Street last Saturday for the PIFA Street Fair, I am referring to the non-stop social media presence that PIFA had on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and approximately 30 blogs!
 
Nina Zucker Associates, local boutique public relations firm, represents PIFA and worked closely with Dafni Comerota of the Kimmel Center on the PIFA campaign.They were given the challenge of reaching a broad audience to include a younger crowd that doesn’t typically get involved in the arts and cultural community.

“Out of that challenge, we tapped Ed Salvato, a journalist and social media specialist who was brought on board to oversee social media strategy and create the campaign. As a result, the blogger army was born,” Nina Zucker, President of Nina Zucker Associates and member of PPRA’s Hall of Fame, said.

Reaching a broad diverse audience, many types of bloggers were included: mommy bloggers such as Frugal Philly Mom, arts bloggers, gossip bloggers such as Philly Chit Chat, as well as other local Philadelphia popular blogs including my own independent blog, Always a Brunette. Bloggers from Canada, France and the UK were also part of PIFA’s army of bloggers.

PIFA created its own Twitter handle, Facebook page and YouTube channel so that the bloggers could post their links onto the different platforms. The hashtag #PIFAphilly was trending on Twitter several times prior to the festival as well as during the festival.

PIFA’s army of bloggers certainly helped draw in the crowds with over 100,000 people visiting the Kimmel Center Plaza for the Eiffel Tower light shows two times each night and 150,000 attendees to the Street Fair on Broad Street.

The tremendous success, “Was a result of the fact that we merged traditional media and PR/marketing tactics with new and social media efforts,” said Zucker.

When Salvato was asked if he would include an army of blogger again if he had the opportunity to work with PIFA in the future, he simply answered, “Absolutely.”
 
This blog post was written by Nina Scimenes. She has been an active PPRA member since 2005 and is currently a part of the Hall of Fame Luncheon committee. After graduating from Cabrini College with a Communications degree in 2006 Nina went on to do PR at various organizations and now she is the temporary Marketing Manager of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. This year Nina has also been a PR Consultant for Rock to the Future, a local non-profit that is benefiting from pro-bono PR from PPRA members. When she is not immersed in PR work she is blogging on her new blog, Always a Brunette, and training for her next triathlon. Last year she completed her first triathlon in Philadelphia and is brave enough to go back from more including a swim in the Schuylkill River.

The Rewarding Life at Philabundance

After almost three years of college and public relations courses, I still am not positive on what I want to do with the rest of my life. It was only recently that I became interested in non-profit organizations, like Philabundance.

Philabunance is a non-profit organization in Philadelphia whose mission is ending hunger and helping the less fortunate in the Delaware Valley. I was given the opportunity to interview Marlo DelSordo, the Director of Communications and Marketing at Philabundance. Since this is an area I am interested in, I was eager to hear what Ms. DelSordo had to say about her work at Philabundance.

For me, the idea of a non-profit organization is intriguing because you are working for a cause that impacts real lives. Ms. DelSordo agreed, saying that she was drawn to Philabundance because of its mission of ending hunger and the positive impact they make across the Delaware Valley. The work is more meaningful and fulfilling when you know that your role has allowed families to have food on their table.

As with any job, there will always be challenges. For Ms. DelSordo, there are fewer resources in the non-profit sector, so messages must be constructed creatively and with a smaller budget. Just from these two questions, it appears that non-profit work, like Philabundance is both extremely rewarding and challenging.

As a young professional, I have seen that school and an internship can be a tricky balancing act. I was curious as to what a professional’s opinion on this idea was. Ms. DelSordo said this was something she still struggles with. She is technically on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but during family time she does not answer any emails. She is committed to her job and the Philabundance cause, but realizes that her family life is a priority too. Her passion for her job is what drives her dedication to the position and organization.

When a PR student has the opportunity to talk with a current PR professional, he or she is always curious about how to find a job in today’s competitive market. Ms. DelSordo had helpful tips for job searching while still in college. She recommended identifying organizations you’d like to work for and completing informational interviews with them. It is great practice and can foster new relationships. Additionally, she said to get involved in organizations like PRSA and PPRA. Her advice has proven true, considering I was given the opportunity to interview her through PPRA and PRSA's event, Careers 101. My interview with Ms. DelSordo has reaffirmed the idea of working in a non-profit environment and has helped me better understand the skills necessary for success.


This blog post was written by Temple University student, Alex Crispino. Alex is a junior Strategic Communications major at Temple University, with minors in Spanish and Psychology. She is a member of PRowl Public Relations, Temple's student-run PR firm, PRSSA and is a Resistant Assistant at Temple. In her free time, Alex likes to blog and is an avid baseball and football fan. Connect with Alex on Twitter.

PR Experts Assist New Non-Profit, Rock to the Future

Rock to the Future is one of the local non-profits selected to receive pro-bono public relations consulting from PPRA’s PRoactive committee. They are helping Rock to the Future develop a strong image in the community as well as in the media through writing and distributing press releases, promoting local concerts and re-designing their brochure.

Rock to the Future, founded just last year, is the only program of its kind in the city, which combines an afterschool music education and youth development program, at no cost to students. The participants of the program are Philadelphia students between the ages 9-14. Students learn to play an instrument – their choice of guitar, bass guitar, drums, vocals or keyboards – and also receive homework help. Students attend the program every day after school at the Atonement Lutheran Church in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. During the course of the school year, the students will work together to write new, original music.

PRoactive is promoting a benefit concert on April 30th at Danger Danger Gallery where four local bands will play in to support Rock to the Future. Jessica McKay, Founding Director of Rock to the Future, performs in one of the local bands putting on the concert, Conversations with Enemies. Tickets are available at the door for $10. The benefit will take place in West Philadelphia at the Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, Pa., on April 30 at 8:00 p.m. Come out and support this important organization while enjoying a variety of music!

For more information about Rock to the Future visit www.phillyrock.org.

This blog post was written by Nina Scimenes. Nina Scimenes has been an active PPRA member since 2005. After graduating from Cabrini College with a Communications degree in 2006 she went on to do PR and fundraising at Laurel House, then most recently she was the marketing coordinator at Crowne Plaza Philadelphia Hotel, now she is a freelancer at Brides Philadelphia Magazine. This year Nina has also been a PR Consultant for Rock to the Future, a local non-profit that is benefiting from pro-bono PR from PPRA members. When she is not immersed in PR work she is most likely training for her next triathlon. Last year she completed her first triathlon in Philadelphia and is brave enough to go back from more including a swim in the Schuylkill River.