Meet Sid (also known as Work Cat)and Friday Cat (who likes to show his cute little face mostly on Fridays, thus his namesake). These two furry guys are our adoptive kitty cats at Obsidian. In an effort to make them more comfortable being around people, our colleagues have…
PR is a constantly evolving practice. How we did our jobs five years ago is quite different from how we do them now. It can seem frustrating at times to have to keep up with all the new developments, but aren’t we glad that other professions evolve: like…
Happy New Year! It’s 2013, and I’m sure we all have our New Year’s resolutions in hand and are making great progress. But does your business have its New Year’s resolutions nailed down? If not, I have a few to get you started – PR resolutions for 2013.…
How many of us have half jokingly declared, “On my last day at work, I’m going to…” and proceeded to describe how we would give our managers a piece of our minds, tell off those rude customers, do nothing all day or do any number of devious deeds,…
At Obsidian, one way that we really bring value to clients is through crisis management. In a time of crisis – large or small, internal or external – we work with the client to determine what should be said to key stakeholders (including media), how it should be…
If you’re a PR professional, you know that strategic media relations is one of the most well-known aspects of our discipline. What some clients may not know is the process we go through to help garner those news stories, radio interviews, blog mentions and TV segments. Well, it…
Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora, emailed me the other day. Yep, that’s right. And today, just 30 minutes ago, I got a message from him on my cell phone. The above statements are absolutely true, but they might not mean exactly what you think they mean. No,…
Please read this sentence aloud: “You know, the restaurant we ate at on Friday was super luxurious, and the staff was wonderful. However, the dining area was outdated, and the tables were sort of tiny. We had a good meal though.” Now – and don’t cheat by glancing…
“No man is an island…and therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." In John Donne’s Meditation 17, he emphasizes the interconnectedness of mankind. It’s also a pretty accurate metaphor for our culture here at Obsidian PR. You see, although each client…
OK, so while this may be what’s coming to mind as you open your mouth to diffuse an emotional customer, good communication skills will filter this statement into something pleasantly soothing and magically transformative. Some may claim that performing magic would be easier than pleasantly responding to an…