It’s almost time for PRSA! I’m going to Orlando just in time for Chicago’s sub-40 degree temps.

I actually love sub-40 degree temps, but I guess I can do with sitting by the pool on Sunday afternoon with Abbie Fink (right, Abbie?!?).

Don’t forget, if you’re going to be there, look me up! I’ll be the one with the two Canadians and large microphones.

And, we’re hosting a TweetUp on Monday night. If you RSVP ahead of time (invite here), Martin Waxman and Joe Thornley will buy your first drink.

Me? I’m just going to going to be eating bon-bons and people watching.

If you’re not going to be there, well…here is Gin and Topics to tide you over. Continue Reading »

I met Abbie Fink in Naples (Florida, not Italy), gosh, four years ago?

We were there for Counselors Academy and I had flown down a day early to help my co-chair Ben Wheatley with whatever committee we were working on at the time. But, that first night, he had an executive committee dinner and I was stuck, alone, in the hotel.

He suggested I call Abbie to see if she wanted to have dinner with me.

Now, for those of you who know me, you know I’m an introvert. So for me to call a stranger, in her hotel room, and ask her to dinner was HUGE for me.

I am so glad I did. Continue Reading »

It’s Facebook question of the week time (clap, clap, clap)!

This week’s question comes from Alex Wood.

He asks:

“Hey Gini, happy Friday from Australia! I have a blog Q for you (and anyone else who feels like chiming in) Q: Are there any truly successful blogger ‘partnerships’ out there? I mean, two ppl working together on the one blog with the one vision. Sure, more hands, more contacts, more content = great! But I’m I just realized I’m about to start a blog with a colleague/friend and… well… I can’t think of an example of a similar blog or the potential issues they’d face. Am I missing something?? Alex” Continue Reading »

This first ran on HMA Time, the blog for the agency where my dear friend, Abbie Fink, is a partner. If you saw it there first, you can skip to the comments today. That’s the good stuff anyway!

I remember being a young whippersnapper in the big agency world (come on; it wasn’t THAT long ago!). I could not wait until someone gave me a chance to manage others. I just knew that would be my big break!

The chance came a lot sooner that I expected…or probably deserved. I was all of maybe 25 and a young woman a couple of years older than me was on probation. My supervisor really wanted to give her one more shot at turning things around and she figured it was a good way for me to cut my teeth on management.

I failed. Miserably.

The young woman on probation wasn’t going to make it, but no one told me that. I met with her once a day to review the goals she’d be given and to provide feedback on where to improve. The first couple of meetings were hard – she did NOT want to be there (and, really, who can blame her?). And then she just stopped showing up. She was gone about two weeks after they’d “given” her to me to manage. Continue Reading »

Last May, Roger Friedensen and I were sitting on the porch of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C. talking about how nice it would be to write a book together.

At the time I told him I had an idea and to let me get some things organized and get back to him.

Well, it was nearly a year in the making and the book includes more than the two of us – 32 people, in fact. But it’s here! It’s finally here! Continue Reading »

Although she meant it for Facebook question of the week, Abbie Fink asked us about Quora and I thought I’d answer it today AND do a video question of the week, from another Facebook friend, tomorrow.

She asked, “Quora: Do or do not. Why or why not? Figured I’d rather ask you than ask Quora.”

My response?

Do not.

At first I was really pleased with Quora. Want to know which parts of The Social Network are true? Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook co-founder) is there to tell you. Continue Reading »

Guest post by Abbie S. Fink, vice president/general manager of HMA Public Relations. The recent New York Times article written about the problem with public relations, which was explored on Spin Sucks this morning, makes Abbie’s guest post even more relevant.

Late last month, Gini Dietrich wrote about what to consider when hiring a public relations firm.  She included a great checklist but talked mostly about evaluating expertise of the firm – the skill set and strategies they would bring to your organization.

If only having a checklist made the process easier.

I’ve been in the agency business a long time – reasons clients want to hire agencies vary. Their understanding of what we do and how we do it varies as well. And as those responsible for new business development and responding to the initial client requests, we need to ask some tough questions, too. Continue Reading »

Dang. It’s time to chose a Top Five contest winner. And I don’t know what to do. There are SO MANY great ideas…and some that won’t work, but really made me laugh. In retrospect, we should have narrowed it down and let you guys choose your favorite. But we promised to choose, and announce, today so that ship has sailed.

We really love Gin and Topics from Barry Silver, Pure Ginious from Brandon Emkes, Thank Blog It’s Friday from Vince Roberts, SpinCycle from Jennifer DeVitt, Gini’s Mind Mined from Paul McConaughy, Spin Sucks, But Friday Rocks from Ken Mueller, The Friday Afternoon Wine Flight from Lisa Gerber (though she can’t compete!), and We Did All the Hard Work for You, You Just Have to Read from J.D. Kimple. And so totally inappropriate ones (but VERY funny) such as: Abbie Fink’s Nooner and Danny Brown’s Premature Factulation

And then, Barry’s and Lisa’s ideas made me consider our own wine:thirty, which is every Friday at 4:30 in our offices. So you see, we have a dilemma.

We really love Gin and Topics. But what if someone from my team eventually takes over the top five post? Then that name won’t work. So Thank Blog It’s Friday and Spin Sucks, But Fridays Rock work for more strategic reasons. And, after the first few, you can begin to abbreviate Thank Blog It’s Friday to TBIF and include a subhead for the week. But Gin and Topics is really good.  Crap.

I think we have a winner (that took you seconds to read but about an hour for me to write)! Barry, it’s yours! Even though it may not fit strategically, we’ll cross the bridge when (if?) we come to it. We’ll send you a copy of Branding Yourself by Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy. Gin and Topics it is.

And with that…the top five stories of the week. Continue Reading »

I have quite a few friends whose blogs I read that are regional (or very targeted to a specific industry) so a recommendation wouldn’t make sense for most of you. Because of that, I’ve been trying to figure out how to highlight their great work and have it apply to everyone. And then I figured it out! I’ll do them all in one #FollowFriday called Regional Blogs.

Allow me to introduce you to Abbie Fink, Patrick Reyes, Marijean Jaggers, and Elizabeth Sosnow. Continue Reading »

It’s Arment Dietrich Facebook question of the week time! Abbie Fink asks, “Which business and leadership blogs should I read?” Along with a plea to donate $10 to help end malaria-related deaths in Africa. I give Abbie some blog suggestions that are NOT marketing, communication, or social media related. What would you add?

(If you can’t see the video in your Reader, click here and it will magically appear!)