Spring cleaning your
communications tools...
Friends,
Spring isn't officially here yet, but we're impatient. Here in the beautiful Charlestown Navy Yard, it's been a blustery, slippery, tough-to-navigate winter. So we're thinking ahead to the springtime, and along with all the good things that implies, it also brings spring cleaning to mind.
Getting rid of old, stale, unused junk; sprucing up a somewhat tired area; turning a fresh eye to something that's been sitting around. We're not just talking about our work areas or homes--we're talking about communications!
Here are 10 communications tools you can refresh with some spring cleaning:
- Crisis communications plan: Do you know where it is? Do you even have one? This is a good reminder to pull out your plan and do a refresh. If your plan was built even a couple of years ago, it's likely out of date due to the fast moving world of social and digital media. Contacts have probably changed. In fact, the world has changed, and your plan must change with it.
- LinkedIn profile: When did you first create your profile? Chances are your business description, job, professional affiliations (even your head shot!) have changed at least slightly. Help your important contacts receive the right messages by putting the right information in there. And LinkedIn is constantly adding and evolving, so take a look at how you're posting content, participating in groups, using your network to your advantage.
- Desk: Well, of course you need to unclutter your work area. Today, when so many of us are working from smart phones, iPads and virtual offices, your "home base" work area can get a bit neglected. We guarantee that if you dig through those papers on your desk, you will rediscover a great idea you put aside, or a business card that you meant to add to your database.
- Unscheduled meetings: We all have them--the appointments we keep meaning to schedule that somehow get postponed and then fall off the radar. Think about the handful of people you meant to have a lunch or coffee with. There was a good reason you wanted to connect. You still can. And should.
- Contracts: Our events clients, in particular, contract with numerous properties and vendors, and we negotiate on their behalf. We've seen contracts that they have used for years, and found ways to better leverage those contracts. Worth blowing off the dust and taking another look.
- Grammar: "Me" vs. "I." That's the one that really gets our goat. In honor of Strunk and White, we can all teach our teams, interns--even our kids--to clean up that grammar.
- Boilerplate: You use it all the time, in every news release. But do you ever look at it to make sure it reflects who you are today? Does it have links in it? Look it over and clean up that boilerplate!
- Website: We know as well as anybody, it is a LOT of work. Our new website is ALMOST done, and cleaning up a website (or in our case building a new one) is a massive task. But times have probably changed since you last took a good, hard look. There are more reasons to update your website than we can list here. But the best one: it is the first place your customers and clients will look, and it should reflect who you are.
- Facebook page: Facebook is constantly changing - maybe a little too much! - but its latest refresh presents a very different page layout that will impact your organization's page. To start, take a look at the photo strip that now sits atop your page and clean it up to reflect your brand.
- Email lists: You send out email blasts and receive those "undeliverable" notices. Take a few moments to scrub your contact lists. And be sure to add new prospects and clients to keep your database up-to-date and fresh.
Now once that's all done, go home and start cleaning out the garage...
Best,   Sandy Lish Wendy Spivak
Principal/Co-founder Principal/Co-founder
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Do college students eat pizza everyday?
By Campus Entertainment
Castle colleagues (and neighbors) Campus Entertainment recently shared some interesting thoughts about reaching the college student market. We thought you would find this interesting as well.
Did you know that college students are a population of 17 million? They are early adopters with disposable incomes. They are smart and savvy. They are trendsetters. When they talk, their peers listen. And peer-to-peer recommendations are the most significant driver of student purchasing decisions.
If you're looking to increase brand awareness, promote a new product or market a service, it may be important for you to educate yourself about today's college students. We spend our days asking questions about college students, thinking like college students, Facebook-chatting with college students...we even order pizza everyday for lunch so we eat like college students.
No, we don't actually eat pizza everyday--and neither do they, by the way--but we do immerse ourselves in understanding campus life. We've learned, first and foremost, that to create buzz among college students, you must communicate in ways that are fun, fresh and honest. And that word of mouth is one of the most effective tools for passing on your message.
A thriving network of college students--brand ambassadors--exists on campuses across the country. These students are influential, involved and enthusiastic. They work their own turf and use their own social networks to interact with peers. These students are inventive. They make presentations in class. They develop creative videos to attract attention. They do what it takes to be a walking, talking, texting, emailing advertisement for today's biggest and best brands.
Campus Entertainment is the official marketing partner for the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) with direct access to its more than 900 member campuses nationwide. If you'd like to learn more about how to reach this vibrant emerging market or to build an effective college marketing campaign, visit us at www.campusentertainment.net--or stop by for pizza!
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Causes we care about...
The Courage Cup Charity Golf Tournament for Snowball Express
The mission of Castle client Snowball Express is to create hope and new memories for children and family members of our fallen military heroes who have lost a loved one in combat since September 11, 2001. Snowball accomplishes this goal by creating events across the country that bring these families together as a community, allowing them to spend time with others like them, share their stories, celebrate their loved ones, create new relationships, and most importantly, realize that they have not been left behind.
 On Monday, April 18, 2011, American Airlines and Fort Worth Air Power Foundation are hosting The Courage Cup, a charity golf tournament to benefit Snowball Express. The tournament will be held at the exclusive Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. The event includes breakfast, 18 holes of spectacular golf, an awards lunch for all players and sponsors, and an exciting silent auction. Please join in and support Snowball Express and all of the incredible work they do for military families throughout the year
At Castle, we're proud to support Snowball Express and its mission to help these families. For more information, contact Callie Ziobro at Castle, (617) 337-9533.
The Center for Women & Enterprise's Annual Auction & Gala Celebration will be Saturday, April 2 at 5:30 p.m. at the Seaport Hotel and will feature a blockbuster live auction, cocktails, dinner and entertainment.
We encourage you to support CWE and its mission to transform lives by creating opportunities for women to become economically self-sufficient and prosperous through business and entrepreneurship.
This year's goal is to raise $450,000 to help provide classes and services to all women, regardless of their ability to pay. For tickets, more information or to participate as a sponsor, please contact Mickey Riendeau at mriendeau@cweonline.org or (617) 532-0233.
More than 300 girls are hoping for the chance to be matched with a Big Sister. There is also a particular need in Big Sister's school-based program where women mentor girls once a week for 45 minutes during a girl's lunch time. There are girls waiting in South End, Allston, Cambridge and Quincy schools.
If you would like to find out more about becoming a Big Sister or to setup an information session at your company or with other organizations that you may belong to (e.g., churches, sororities and professional groups), please email Sheena Collier.
Congratulations to Big Sister for 60 years of service!
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Client News
Professional & Financial Services...
Welcome New Clients
Castle welcomes law firm Burns & Levinson as a new client. A highly regarded mid-sized law firm with offices in Mass., New York and Rhode Island, Burns & Levinson place a special emphasis on partnership and collaboration with its clients.
Castle is also pleased to announce that Grant Thornton, an international audit, tax and advisory organization specializing in auditing, management consulting, corporate finance, risk management and information technology, joins our list of clients.
"We're honored to have been retained by these prestigious professional services firms," said Castle Principal Sandy Lish. "These relationships allow us to flex all of our marketing muscles--traditional media relations, social media, speaking, awards and networking strategies--and work alongside talented in-house marketers."
Accenture recently put on an employee appreciation event that rewarded employees and their guests with an occasion to have fun and network.
Castle worked with Accenture to create the "Accenture Casino Royale Social" and managed event branding, décor, entertainment, vendor negotiations and on-site logistics. The 500-person, three-hour event at the Boston Marriott Copley featured themed cocktails and hors d'ouevres, casino games, a magic act, DJ, 007 trivia contests and a souvenir photo booth.
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Its homepage is www.accenture.com.
B2B & Miscellaneous...
Castle is proud to be a member of the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN), a global association of leading independent PR firms. We frequently partner with sister PRGN agencies to share expertise and resources, and recently began working with Landis Communications, San Francisco, on their Cartridge World account to develop a national visibility campaign.
Cartridge World is the world's fastest growing ink and toner refilling retailer and franchisor. The company refills and remanufactures inkjet and toner printer cartridges, using state-of-the-art processes and high quality inks and toners. The company provides more affordable ink options, offers a 100 percent satisfaction money-back guarantee, and helps the environment by keeping cartridges out of landfills.
Cartridge World has more than 1700 franchised locations in 61 countries. To learn more, visit www.CartridgeWorld.com.
Edwards, an international global supplier of integrated solutions for the manufacture of semi-conductors, flat panel displays, LEDs and solar cells called upon Castle to organize the company's "2011 Sales and Marketing Meeting for the Americas."
The meeting's purpose was multi-fold: recognize 2010 high achievers, create a high-energy training environment and motivate employees to embrace the company's hard-hitting plans for 2011.
The setting was Cancun, and we built an agenda focused on allowing participants to work hard--and play hard. An all-inclusive package provided attendees with the flexibility and freedom to experience the resort in a non-meeting-like environment. And group events and meetings were intermixed with time to relax and networking with fellow employees from around the world.
Castle created an ROE (return on event) that accomplished senior management's business goals, left attendees feeling valued and inspired, and provided a clear roadmap to collaboratively reach 2011 objectives.
To learn more about Edwards, go to www.edwardsvacuum.com.
Non-profit & Education...
Excel Academy Charter School, a public middle school located in East Boston, received approval from the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on February 28 to establish an additional middle school in Chelsea and a combined middle school/high school in Boston. Excel was one of only three operators to receive approval for more than one new school.
As it grows, Excel will continue to serve communities with large numbers of low-income, minority students and low rates of high school and college graduation. Excel seeks to close the persistent achievement gap between these communities and more affluent areas by setting high expectations, offering excellent individualized instruction and creating a structured, safe learning environment. Click here for article and video about Excel's innovative programs and plans for growth featured in The Boston Globe.
The next Excel school will open in Chelsea in August 2011. Excel's third school, serving grades 5 - 12, is slated to open in Boston in 2012.In preparation for opening the school in Chelsea, Excel has been actively recruiting fifth grade students, grooming a school leader and is close to finalizing a location. For more information, please visit the school's website at www.excelacademy.org.
Dawn Barrett, Dean of the Architecture and Design Division at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, has been selected as president of Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Barrett became Dean of the Architecture and Design Division at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2001. In this role, Barrett oversees seven departments including undergraduate and graduate programs in Apparel Design, Architecture, Furniture Design, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Prior to her appointment as Dean, Barrett was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Graphic Design at RISD and lived and worked in Europe for many years as Head of the Department of Design at the Jan van Eyck Akademie, a post-graduate and research center for Fine Art, Design and Theory in Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Barrett has been tapped to succeed Dr. Kay Sloan, who will retire after fifteen years as president. Dr. Sloan recently launched the largest fundraising campaign in MassArt's history-a $140 million investment that will continue to transform the college both physically and programmatically. A hallmark of her presidency was the creation of The New Partnership for MassArt, a pioneering financial and governance model which leverages strengths of both public and private higher education. Sloan has been named President Emerita by the board of trustees.
The Boston Globe reported this important announcement in a feature story in their March 2nd edition. Click here to read the full story on Boston.com. |
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