Social Media Examiner: "How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar for a Year"

Quoting yesterday's post by Leonard Kim:

"The first step in creating a content calendar is to set everything up in a spreadsheet. You can do this with Excel or Google Sheets. On the top line of the sheet, fill in the days of the week..."

Link to the full posting.

Poynter: "Print advertising woes are getting worse"

Quoting, in part, from Poynter's October 21 posting by Rick Edmonds:

"The first half of 2016 was financially bleak for newspaper organizations; the second may be even worse...

...The shift of a share of print budgets to various digital marketing formats continues year to year with new opportunities in video and podcasts emerging in 2016. Some stalwart print advertisers — retail stores and financial institutions — are facing digital disruption in their own industries and squeezing ad budgets...

...Pharmaceutical advertising, still heavy on TV and present in magazines, seems to have disappeared entirely from newspapers. And the political ad wave that boosts local broadcasters again has largely passed newspapers by."

Link to the full posting.

Denverite: Denver's "Globeville and Swansea schools lose funding to gentrification. A city grant tries to make up the difference."

Quoting from yesterday's Denverite Chalkbeat by Melanie Asmar:

"Two elementary schools in working-class north Denver neighborhoods that are feeling the sting of gentrification will share a $120,000 grant to fund a staff member at each school to address some of the challenges facing the changing communities...Garden Place Academy, an elementary school in the adjacent Globeville neighborhood, will use its $60,000 to hire a new family liaison to encourage parents to become involved at the school."

Link to the full article.

Note: My family, including a pair of great-great grandparents made roots in Globeville after immigrating here from the Volga River area of Russia at the turn of the century (1900). The last family to make their home in Globeville died in 1994. I believe her immediate heirs sold the small home, built in 1896, on North Sherman Street for $20,000 or so, back then. The last sale recorded appears to be for $40,000 in November 2006. But...enter Denver's real estate/gentrification boom of late and current estimates ballooned to these estimated levels for the property: Redfin, $149,942; Re/Max, $172,000; Zillow, $187,447; and Trulia, $216,000. Hence, the public school gentrification crisis explained in this article.

PR Week: "Doritos is tying a branded promotion to a presidential election for the first time this year"

Quoting from yesterday's posting:

"Doritos has formed a partnership with Rock the Vote to increase voter registration among eligible young voters and to show the U.S. that 'the boldest choice is to make a choice.'

This marks the first time the brand is tying a promotion to a presidential election."

Link to the full article.

Confluence: "Pedestrian bridge connecting Globeville and Sunnyside opens"

Quoting the August 1 Confluence Denver posting by Margaret Jackson:

"The new pedestrian bridge connecting the Highlands and Sunnyside neighborhoods to Globeville neighborhood near the future 41st and Fox Station along the Regional Transportation District's G Line has opened.

On the Sunnyside end, the bridge is located at West 41st Avenue and Inca Street."

Link to the full posting.

Interesting bit of my own Denver history. My Dad was born in his family home in Globeville on Lincoln Street in 1914. In 1920... they moved to a home in Sunnyside on Alcott St. It took roughly 96 years to "build the bridge."

Fox31 Denver: 'Text to 911 now available in Denver'

Quoting from the July 8th posting on the Fox31/Denver news site:

"Denver is rolling out a new program that lets people text 911 during emergencies.

Denver gets about 1 million 911 calls per year, and that number is growing. Sometimes, dispatch operators are forced to put callers on hold because of volume. So more people are turning to social media to report crimes to police."

Link to the full posting.

The Business Journals: "5 keys to crisis management communication"

Quoting from the May 27th posting by Raoul Davis:

"Crisis isn't a matter of if but of when, and when crisis strikes your company or organization, being a competent spokesperson is a critical component in effective crisis management."

For the full article, link to businessjournals.com now.

Content Marketing Institute: "3 Earned Media Strategies to Incorporate Into Your Content Marketing Plan"

Quoting from yesterday's posting by Brian Kolb for the Content Marketing Institute:

"If you are just hoping that people will publish or share your great content, well, that’s like stepping up to the plate without a bat. Generating earned media today must be the clean-up hitter in your content marketing strategy lineup."

Link to the Institute website to read the full article.

LA Times: "YouTube now bigger than TV among advertisers' target audience"

Quoting writer Stephen Battaglio's May 5th posting:

"YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki kept it simple Thursday in the digital video company’s annual pitch to advertisers.

'I’m happy to announce that on mobile alone YouTube now reaches more 18- to 49-year-olds than any network -- broadcast or cable,” she told a crowd of 2,700 gathered at the Javits Center in Manhattan. "In fact, we reach more 18- to 49-year-olds [in the U.S.] during prime time than the top 10 TV shows combined.'"

Link to the full article on LATimes.com

Fast Company: "Tips On Getting The Coveted Moms of Instagram To Love You, From A Brand That Did It"

Quoting from the May 5th Fast Company posting by Elizabeth Segran:

"Instagram recently conducted research that found that 93% of mothers in the U.S. use Instagram at least once a week, and 68% use it daily, checking it up to six times throughout the day. And given that one in four women over the age of 18 in the United States is a mom, that is a very large demographic. Women also tend to control the purse strings at home. Researchers predict that two-thirds of all consumer spending over the next decade will be driven by women."

Link to the full 6 Minute Read/Technology posting at FastCompany.com

Fast Company: "Three Ways Google Predicts Your Smartphone Will Change The Future Of Work'

Quoting from yesterday's posting on Fast Company by Google's Rich Rao:

"When people imagine machine learning, they tend to think about talking cars or humanoid robots—the stuff of sci-fi fantasy, or else dystopian fiction. But machine learning is neither, and it's already changing what computers can do. In the near future anyway, it's going to transform the way we work—starting with that smartphone in your pocket."

Link to read the full posting (Five Minute Read/The Future of Work)

Media Relations Case Study: Community Build Day/Denver

From the Saturday, August 5, 2006, Media Advisory for this Countrywide Home Loans, Financial Services Roundtable and Rebuilding Together Metro Denver community project:

What: Repair and fix-up of the home of a disabled resident in Metro Denver occurs 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. by volunteers from Countrywide Home Loans (a national co-sponsor of Community Build Day); Congressman Bob Beauprez will be on site at 10 a.m. to celebrate Community Build Day’s 5th anniversary year and thank local volunteers. Since inception, the national CBD effort has brought 6,300 volunteers in 61 cities together to help more than 275 families. On the August 5 Community Build Day, there will be 64 builds going on in 45 states concurrently.

When: Saturday, August 5, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Where: 520 South Clarkson Denver, Colorado 80209

Schedule: Two house captains arrive at 7:30 am, volunteers at 8am, lunch at 12 noon and day to end around 5pm (media coverage best before 3 p.m.)

Volunteer Appreciation: 10 a.m. Congressman Bob Beauprez Family/Project Profile: The homeowner is disabled and lives alone. He is unable to lift, bend, or twist due to a back injury from his work as a machinist. The scope of work includes: weatherizing windows, tile replacement in bath, replacement of rear entry door, painting, installation of smoke detectors, and repairs to 2 exterior porch pillars. 

Number of Volunteers: 30, supplied by Countrywide Home Loans, Metro Denver team

Media Response: We had media coverage from La Voz Nueva, Denver Post YourHub (Denver section), Denver Business Journal Good Works, 850 KOA (phone interview with the volunteer captain) and KCNC CBS4 6 pm news. Photos by Steve Groer.

Link to the Facebook Album

HubSpot Blog/Excellent Information: "When Do People Unsubscribe From Email Marketing Campaigns? [Infographic]"

Quoting from HubSpot's March 25th posting:

"...an unsubscribe isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it can actually serve as a helpful signal. For example, if you notice that your unsubscribe rate is starting to climb, it might mean that you're overloading your audience or failing to target them with sufficiently relevant content."

Link to the full HubSpot posting by Mike Donnelly

USA Today: "Hospitals texting to calm nerves' [video]

Quoting from the March 8th USA Today posting:

"Some hospitals are now using texts to communicate with patients and families before, during and after some surgeries to help alleviate anxiety."

Link to USAToday.com to view the video

Adweek Great Read: "Inside the Relentless Marketing Push Behind Every Oscar Winner"

Quoting from the Feb. 21 Adweek.com posting by Terry Stanley:

"In this eventful and entertaining election year, the campaigning is not limited to Hillary and Bernie and Marco and Trump. Also out there stumping—for another high-profile and much-coveted albeit very different kind of prize—were Leo and Brie and Saoirse and Sly. And Spielberg and Pitt. And Paramount and Fox and Disney."

Link to the full article

Good Read From PRNews: "The 4 C’s of an Insightful PR Dashboard"

Quoting Mark Renfree in the PRNews online posting from February 1:

"But the PR dashboard should not be thought of as just another reporting document to be shuffled out during meetings. Instead, this valuable tool should be used as a crucial learning device that senior leaders want to see early and often so it can be used to inform business decisions."

Link to read the article at PRNewsonline.com

Observer: '5 Big Changes Coming to Social Media in 2016'

Quoting the January 20th Observer.com opinion piece by Ryan Holmes:

"Expect to see new technologies fundamentally change how we interact with social media, opening up new options like shopping and enabling us to share ever-more vivid, real-time experiences. But new functionality and the widening universe of social options also threaten to leave some users in the dust."

Link to Observer.com read the full article.

Social Savvy from Digiday: "How Tiffany found its Twitter voice"

Quoting Digiday's Jan. 7th posting:

"According to a December Engagement Labs ranking, Tiffany’s Twitter game has made it the top luxury brand on the platform. The study, which used Engagement Labs’ eValue social metrics system to compare competitors, found that Tiffany’s Twitter sees high engagement from followers, and the account is the most responsive, replying to customers’ questions and complaints. The ranking also cited Tiffany’s #WillYou hashtag, used in reference to its engagement rings, as representative of the brand’s most engaging tweets."

Link to Digiday.com

Pew Research Features Denver Data: "Around half of newspaper readers rely only on print edition"

Quoting the January 6th overview, which includes Denver statistics:

"Data from Pew Research Center and other sources show that around half of newspaper readers consume newspapers only in their printed form. In our study of the local news environments in three markedly different U.S. metropolitan areas, nearly or about half of readers of the local daily paper in Denver (46%), Macon, Ga. (48%), and Sioux City, Iowa (53%) did not access the paper online."

Further, the data shows that print readers are "news enthusiasts," and are also more likely to watch television news broadcasts.
 
Link to PewResearch.org

Heather Allen Named Executive Director of Cat Care Society Effective January 5, 2016

The Cat Care Society (CCS) Board of Directors selected CCS Shelter Manager Heather Allen as Executive Director of the Society, effective January 5, 2016. The announcement is made by Board President Gail Tinianow, who says Allen will be in charge of the entire organization, including the shelter, adoption center and clinic, as well as financial and administrative operations, fundraising, marketing and communications, and the CCS volunteer program.

Allen joined CCS as Shelter Manager in June 2015, and quickly oversaw an expansion of the rescue capabilities of the shelter's receiving and isolation rooms after successfully launching a crowdfunding campaign. In addition she has revamped and expanded the Society's Kitten Foster program to help save more cats through the CCS volunteer network.

Allen has been involved in the animal rescue and shelter industry for more than 20 years. She started her career as a volunteer in adoptions, fundraising, and foster care. She then worked in full-time staff positions in the shelter community, rising through the ranks as a kennel technician, veterinary technician, intake manager, and executive director. Throughout her animal welfare career, Allen has had a particular passion for cats.

Prior to joining CCS, Allen was the Resort Manager at the Paradise 4 Paws, the luxury pet boarding facility located near DIA. Previously she served as Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue and Intake Manager at Angels with Paws. Allen has also worked in the sporting goods industry and with the General Services Administration. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from University of Phoenix.

Cat Care Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for homeless, injured and abused cats in the Denver metropolitan area. In an effort to prevent animal neglect and abuse, CCS offers educational programs that promote responsible pet ownership and humane treatment of all animals; provides shelter for cats in a healthy, cage-free environment; and works to find compatible families for every feline that comes into the facility. The shelter provides a loving, temporary refuge for more than 50 cats at any given time, affordable veterinary services to the general public and a free food and litter bank for cat owners experiencing temporary financial challenges. For more information, please visit www.catcaresociety.org.