Author: Catherine Seeds

A Gold Medal Summer

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds | 1 Comment on A Gold Medal Summer

A Gold Medal Summer

Everyone at KG knows that I’m a huge sports fan, and of course, every two years I cannot wait for the arrival of the Olympics. I love everything about the Olympics, even Bob Costas. Nothing beats watching an underdog team beat the incumbent gold medal winner or an individual athlete overcoming incredible odds to win the race.  In my opinion, the Olympics have provided some of the most historic and inspirational athletic feats in recent history.

In a little over a month, the best athletes from all over the world will descend upon London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. (As an interesting aside, our very own Brittany Johnson and her husband have been lucky enough to score tickets to a few of the events!) As the world prepares to watch more record-breaking races and nail-biting gymnastic routines – I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane on some of the top Olympic moments.  After all, so many of these were great PR stories for their time!

Jesse Owens – Conquering the World Though Racial and Physical Obstacles
During the 1936 Olympics against the back drop of Hitler’s Nazi Germany, Olympic track star Jesse Owens, won four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and the long jump. He broke or equaled nine Olympic records and set three world records. Adolf Hitler hoped that the Berlin Games would prove his theory of Aryan racial superiority; however, Jesse Owen’s achievements led the people of Berlin to hail him as a hero. One of the most memorable moments of the games was when a 19-year old Germany athlete congratulated Owens after a qualifying round, in full view of Hitler.

The Holy Trinity of Gymnastics – Comaneci, Retton, Strug
You can’t call yourself a woman’s gymnastics fan unless you know about these three ladies, who all made historic achievements during three different summer Olympics:

  • Nadia Comaneci – During the 1976 Olympics, Nadia scored what is now known as “The” Perfect Ten.  She was the first gymnast to ever score a perfect “10” – and went on in her career to repeat this feat six times at Olympic competitions.
  • Mary Lou Retton – In the 1984 Olympics, she was the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title. Retton scored perfect 10s on floor exercise and vault to win the all-around title by 0.05 points.
  • Kerri Strug – During the 1996 Olympics, Kerri (a part of the Magnificent Seven U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team) fought through injury and enormous expectations to land a vault on one leg, guaranteeing her team gold.  The Magnificent Seven remain the only U.S. women’s gymnastics team to claim Olympic gold.

Miracle On Ice – A Defining Moment in Olympic History
The “Miracle on Ice” is the name in American popular culture for a medal-round men’s ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, on Friday, February 22. The United States team, made up of amateur and collegiate players and led by coach Herb Brooks, defeated the Soviet team, who had won nearly every world championship and Olympic tournament since 1954. Team USA went on to win the gold medal by winning its last match over Finland. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named the “Miracle on Ice” the Top Sports Moment of the 20th Century.

Tell us your favorite Olympic moments!

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho – It’s Off to Work We Go!

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

Let’s face it, there are some days where we just don’t want to get up and go to work – you are lying if you say otherwise. Other than those few days a year, I will say that I genuinely enjoy coming to work at our funky little offices. Why? I love the people that I work with! We are like a family here. We look out for each other, and support each other at and outside the office.  In fact, compared with the company culture at other small businesses (and corporate organizations) we almost live in a protective bubble.

At Ketner Group, we also have a stellar track-record of employee retention and we are very loyal to the business.  This is not the industry norm.  According to a recent WebProNews article, gone are the days when we started a job after college and worked our way up the ladder until we retire at age 65. According to the article, “Not only do we have more jobs in our lifetime than any other generation before us, but we also plan to not stay in our positions.” A recent MetLife report found that only 44% of employees feel a strong sense of loyalty towards their employers and that over one-third of employees just flat-out want a different job.

If only all companies had the same protective bubble as we do at Ketner Group. Still, after reading these reports, I became intrigued.  How can people “job hop” like that?  I always thought having job after job listed on a resume was a negative thing – but is it really becoming the norm and acceptable? Check out these stats I found from Jobvite.com:

  • Today’s average college graduate will hold 9.8 jobs, working until age 65. In California, that same graduate will hold 14.3 jobs.
  • The median number of years that an average U.S. worker has been at their job – 4.4.
  • Average jobs in a lifetime for men – 11.4.
  • Average jobs in a lifetime for women – 10.7.
  • 61% of employed workers are open to or are looking for a new job. Continue reading →

It’s the Most Wonderful (and Stressful) Time of the Year!

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

Hands down, Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year.  And it is just around the corner – the holiday lights, the Christmas carols, the yummy smells of apple cider, Christmas pine, and peppermint! My 6-year old daughter is already giddy with excitement wondering what Santa will leave for her under the tree (she’s hoping for a surfboard and an Apple iTouch) and I’m teaching my 2-year old how to sing Jingle Bells. This weekend, I will be decorating my house from top to bottom in green, red, and gold, and my husband will be up on the rooftop hanging up the Christmas lights.  I’m so excited!

And then, there is the Christmas shopping. Cue the dramatic sound effect – Dun, dun, dun!!!

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas shopping and I really don’t mind the crowds like my husband does. But sometimes it can be a very overwhelming process because I am, for the most part, the lone shopper for my little family of four. (And before you judge me, I realize my little “problem” qualifies for #firstworldproblems.) This year is proving to be even more stressful – and here’s why:

  • This year we will be celebrating Christmas in Dallas, so my husband and I will need to plan carefully which presents to bring in the car with us and which ones (i.e. Santa’s gifts) to have shipped to Dallas.
  • My 6-year old daughter has already given me her Christmas list of about 30+ items on it, plus all of the items that she has circled in the Toys R Us, Target, and Walmart circulars. I’ve been able to whittle it down to about 10.
  • One more thing about my daughter – she’s discovered the American Girl Dolls.  Lord help me.
  • My budget: My husband is a big-time penny pincher and really “encourages” me to stay within our allotted budget.  The problem is that I’m really bad about sticking to a budget.
  • And finally, as a working mommy of two, my time is limited. Looking at the calendar, I see that I have less than four weekends to complete my holiday shopping. Can I have a glass of spiked apple cider now? Continue reading →

When I Grow Up I Want To Be…

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

I’m not going to lie.  Sometimes my job is hard. In fact, it can be downright frustrating and still causes me to shed a few tears now and then. Twelve years working in public relations has taught me to have thick skin and to keep pushing forward when things get tough, but I still have days when I can’t wait to get home and pour myself a tall glass (or two) of my favorite white wine. And I’m not the only one who feels this way, either. According to The Huffington Post, public relations is ranked one of the top ten most stressful jobs in America, right alongside our friends in advertising, commercial pilots, architects and EMTs. PR executives must consistently prove our worth to clients, for fear if we don’t, we’ll get the boot. (We must also be perfect spokespersons and pitchers for the media, for fear of being “that PR person” – but that is another topic all together!)

We must educate clients who don’t understand that it is not always about how many clips you get, but also includes the importance of developing and nurturing relationships with media, analysts and industry though leaders. We must be all things to our clients: spokespersons, advisors, cheerleaders, editors, trainers, devil’s advocates, educators, writers, lead generators, pitchers, networkers, brand ambassadors, sometimes psychologists, travel companions, and dare I say, friends.

So, imagine my surprise when I read a CNBC report about the Top 10 Hated Jobs in America (as surveyed by CareerBliss). Public relations was nowhere to be found on the list, instead, it was marketing managers and VPs of sales and marketing. According to the survey, directors of sales and marketing (who typically manages the company budget, public relations and employee training) reported the second-highest level of job dissatisfaction due to “lack of direction from upper management and an absence of room for growth.”

I’ve been working in the PR agency world for my entire career, so I am not naïve to think that marketing managers and directors have it easy. I know they don’t.

Continue reading →

North Carolina Bound

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

Howdy friends – please excuse the short post, but it has been a bit hectic around here lately. The past few months have been very busy for all of us here at Ketner Group—in a good way!

The summer months have traditionally been slower for us in years past—mostly because there are very few large industry tradeshows, which means our clients typically won’t make significant announcements or implement large, integrated marketing/PR campaigns.

North Carolina

But that has not been the case for us this year! KG clients have had a very busy summer thus far with significant customer and product announcements, as well as good traction in the social media arena. Most recently, we helped our newest consumer client, Booqoos, with the national PR launch of its new deals site. Since the launch a few weeks ago, Booqoos has been featured on local Austin TV, covered in various retail technology, business, and social commerce publications, and hailed in the blogosphere.

We have also been very fortunate to come across several new business opportunities—always a plus! In fact, KG’er Valerie Kusler and I are heading up to North Carolina tomorrow to meet with a new business prospect. Unless we are pitching a local Austin client, we do not always get the opportunity to meet with potential clients face-to-face, so we are looking forward to the opportunity! Selecting a PR agency is more than making a financial investment, its an investment in a long-term partnership that will ensure the company’s PR/marketing success. So, if you were going to ‘take the plunge’ with a PR agency, wouldn’t you want to meet the team in person to measure their relevant experience and knowledge and, just as important, gauge their chemistry with your team? Could switching to Geico really save you 15 percent or more on car insurance? (Ok, bad joke, but I’m a little punch drunk at the moment!)

I hope that you all have had a fun, healthy and prosperous summer so far. Here’s to cooler temps in the U.S. and of course—football season being than a month away!

My Take on Technology Innovation – Then vs. Now

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

I’ve been in the PR business, specifically working for high tech PR agencies, since the beginning of my career. If you’ll allow me to reminisce, the year was 1999 and, oh, how different things were! PR agencies were recruiting new college graduates left and right to support their booming businesses. At that time, high tech companies were willing to pay PR agencies very large monthly retainers to get ahead of the competition. Each team member had their place on account teams – even on down to the low man/woman on the totem pole who was in charge of cutting hard copies of every single media clip for the client, gluing the article to a brand new white sheet of paper (with a sticker of the agency logo at the top left hand corner, of course) and put all of them in large clip books for the client.

Technology-wise, in 1999, I got my very first cell phone to go along with my new “grown-up job” working as an account coordinator for a large PR firm in Dallas. I believe it was one of those cute Nokia 5100s – probably a red one. I’m fairly certain that I was using AOL as my Internet provider, e-Commerce was the next big thing, and Google was on its way to becoming a household name. I was single, childless and living in a world where technology innovation was at an all-time high.

The year is now 2011, and our world is so completely different. Technology is cooler, faster, and smaller! No longer do you need a desktop or a laptop – tablets and smart phones are all the rage. Anything you need to know you can practically access it from your iPhone, iPad, or Android. Social media has become a way of life, and now, consumers can actually purchase products and services right from their smart phones. The majority of my co-workers are of Generation Y, or Millennials, a generation who grew up in the age of technology innovation. Over the past four years, I have had to adapt to the *new* way of doing my job at Ketner Group – starting with ditching those large clip books! I now work half of the time via my smart phone and have learned how to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn so that I can help my clients implement the best social media strategies. There are a lot of things that I don’t know, but I’m learning, with the help and encouragement of my Millennial co-workers.

Things are also different in 2011, compared to 1999, because I’m a different person. I am now a wife, a homeowner and a mother raising the next generation – Generation Z or the Net Generation. This generation was not only born during the most recent technology boom, but they are learning how to use those technologies at a younger age compared to previous generations. My six-year-old daughter learned how to use a laptop when she was two. My two-year old son can play games on my Android phone. When I take a picture of my kids with my smart phone, my daughter always asks me if I’m going to post it on Facebook. I often wonder what new technologies my children will be using (or perhaps creating!) as they get older. What will social media look like in 10 years? Will we all be working via a 3D tablet device while the desktop and laptop find homes in junkyards and museums? When we go shopping, will the shopping experience be something like the Tom Cruise movie “The Minority Report” where hologram employees greet us with personal welcomes and promotions as we walk in the store?

Ragan’s PR Daily recently did a study which concluded that most young people would give up their sense of smell before technology. According to the report, social media has already impacted the way younger generations relate to the world around them:

“Social media is having a powerful (and somewhat paradoxical) role in the quest for doing the right thing. On a personal level young people believe they have a strong notion of the difference between right and wrong…but this is increasingly informed by the values of the Internet. Their new moral framework will continue to transform everything around us from the laws that govern our lives to our workplaces.”

Since the beginning of time, man has always found a way to do things better, faster, stronger. It’s just the natural progression of things – and the report by Ragan’s PR Daily is a true mirror to the fact that the younger generations depend greatly on technology, enough so that they would (in theory) give up their sense of smell. I for one don’t need my technology that much – but for Gen Y and Gen Z – it has become (and will become) a large part of who they are and how they live. Old school video stores (a la Blockbuster Video and the like) are on their way out – now we have Redbox and Netflix. We no longer make trips to the record store, but rather buy our favorite songs and albums at the click of a button. The old way of doing things is just too slow and just not as efficient.

But I wonder, is it possible that the old way of doing things can sometimes be just as good, too? I think it can be, and that’s what I’m trying to teach my kids, who are a part of Gen Z. I hope that their moral framework is based on the values of what my husband and I have taught them and not reality TV or what their friends are saying on Facebook and Twitter. I hope that my children will always appreciate the meaning and tradition behind writing hand-written thank you notes instead of an email, or that they will always make time to call or visit their parents instead of sending text messages. I know that I have a large challenge in front of me, raising children who will probably be 10 times smarter than me – but I’m pretty sure that we can find a way to make the new and old live under the same roof. Do you agree?

Cowgirls Don’t Cry

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

Cowgirls (and PR Professionals) Don’t Cry: A True Story about a Weekend in Bandera, Texas That I Will Never Forget

As we speak, my rear end and thighs are still smarting from my weekend trip to a local Cowboy Ranch located right in the heart of the beautiful and vast Texas Hill Country. My husband, Darrell, and I had been long overdue for a weekend getaway to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. Darrell was determined to plan the entire trip but being the thoughtful person he is, asked for my opinion on what I’d like to do. Thinking outside of the box, I said that it would be fun to go somewhere “where we could ride horses.” Famous last words!

Catherine on horse

This brings us to Friday night and our arrival at the ranch. After check-in, we made our way up to our cabin which, gasp, didn’t have a TV! I also quickly realized that we had zero cell phone reception. No biggie, I can handle being away from civilization (aka my work email) for a day or two. Heck, I’m a born and raised Texas girl, being adaptable is in my blood. Let’s do this.

We woke up Saturday morning, ate a fantastic country breakfast of biscuits and eggs at the ranch’s dining hall, and met our fellow ranch-goers – Jersey, Maverick and the Minnesota Twins*. We were ready to start our day at the ranch! While sipping the last of our coffee, in walks our ranch hand, Dish*. Dish was stuck somewhere between Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove and reality. He was dressed in all the necessary cowboy gear (hat, spurs, scarf around the neck) and completed his ranch hand look with a classic handlebar/horseshoe-styled mustache. We soon learned that Dish was not very good at telling jokes, and by that I mean made several inappropriate comments to me, Jersey and one of the Minnesota Twins. For example, and I take the liberty of EXTREME paraphrasing, “Ma’am, the saddle horn is not your husband’s……so don’t grab on to it like it is.” You get the idea. But, again, I’m a Texas girl and can deal with this so-called cowboy.

Fast forward to roping lessons, where Cowboy Curly*, the owner of the ranch, taught us the proper way to rope a pretend cow and a barrel – yours truly was having a hard time with the concept and I ended up only roping myself. Cowboy Curly clearly knows the concept of the weakest link, aka me, and proceeded to single me out and constantly yelled at me for doing it incorrectly. But, I’m a true-blue Texas girl and kept saying, “No sir, those aren’t tears welling up in my eyes. Those are my allergies.” That was my story, anyway. I eventually learned how to flip my wrists correctly and even got a chance to rope the pretend cow on my horse. Yee haw! Continue reading →

Nightmare and Dream PR Clients

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

Ever since I started my career in public relations, friends and family members will often ask me, “Wouldn’t it be neat to do PR for XYZ company or person?”  Heck, I even choose the path of PR when I was a sophomore in college because of a dream job – PR for Sea World.

As PR representatives, we are tasked with working with all sorts of clients.  It is our job to make the best out of every situation, to deal with the good as well as the bad, and to never back away from a challenge. But there is also that fine line of whether or not to keep your own morals and beliefs on the “DL” at the risk of offending or losing your job or client.  During my eight-year tenure at Ketner Group, we’ve only had to officially “let go” of two clients.  The first was due to a lack of budget coming our way and because their competitor had actually offered to hire us and pay us more. Not exactly a bad situation. The second, well, let’s just say that we flat out kicked these guys to the curb due to very unprofessional, uncalled for behavior and treatment toward the agency team  — AKA a nightmare client.

So, who would you or wouldn’t you add to your client roster?  Of course, this is all in fun and jest, but nonetheless, very interesting to think about. So goes my list of the top three “nightmare” companies or persons that I would never do PR for, and my list of top three “dream” companies and persons that I would jump at the chance to represent. Drum roll, please!

Continue reading →

The Heart of the Proactive Volunteer: We need YOU!

Posted on | by Catherine Seeds

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands . You need to be able to throw something back. ~ Maya Angelou

While thinking about the topic for this blog entry, I was inspired, in a strange way, by the recent tragic events in Haiti. More than 150,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands more injured, during the violent 7.0 earthquake that rocked Port-au-Prince to its core. The global response, however, to the plight of the people of Haiti has been a beautiful sight to behold. Millions of dollars have been pledged and given by citizens, rich and poor, from all over the world. Donated food, water and medical supplies are now flown in on a daily basis. Thousands of doctors, nurses and rescue workers have put their daily lives on hold to travel to Haiti to help feed and care for the millions of Haitians struggling to put their country back together.

The earthquake in Haiti reminded me of another horrible tragedy that happened in recent years on our own soil: Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath that devastated the Gulf Coast. We were all in shock to see the images of angry citizens in need of water and dead bodies outside the New Orleans Superdome. In response, citizens of the world rallied around those in need, and welcomed with open arms those who were forced to leave their homes. And again, many volunteered their services to help put our Gulf Coast cities back on the map again.

While these are wonderful examples of people of all types and skill sets stepping up to the plate in response to a cry for help, I have been thinking about the notion of proactive volunteering. Now, I am the first to admit that I am one of those who really only thinks about “giving back” when natural disasters occur, or during the holidays when my family and I participate in the Salvation Army Angel Tree program, or if a friend or family member is in need of a little financial help. This is all good and well, but couldn’t I do better than being “reactive” or “seasonal” when it comes to helping out those in need in my city, country and world? Is this the example that I want to set for my two children? Continue reading →