Author: Ketner Group

New KG Intern Sara on Her PR Degree and Internships

Posted on | by Ketner Group

“What’s your major?”
“Public relations.”
Classic response: “Great! …What’s public relations?”

Needless to say, a typical explanatory conversation with fellow students, family members and friendly coffee house employees gets old. But to be honest, I wasn’t even sure what public relations was until I came into my freshman year as a PR major at the University of Texas at Austin. I knew Samantha on “Sex and the City” was in public relations. She seemed to have a cool job. Why not go for it?

As a junior public relations major at UT, I have learned that this business is demanding, fast-paced and a daily challenge. This was definitely the industry for me! The fall semester has just begun, but my Public Relations Techniques course is turning out to be one of my favorite classes. In this group project-based class, we work on analyzing and suggesting ways to enhance a specific non-profit organization in the Austin area. I am so excited to work with Ventana del Soul, a local non-profit that works with socio-economically disadvantaged families and at-risk youth in Austin to provide training services and job coaching in the culinary arts industry. As a firm believer that food (more specifically, chocolate) can fix almost anything, I can’t think of a better organization to provide public relations advice and counsel.

Outside of classes, I’ve gained experience by working with the College of Communication Career Services (CCS), the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center and the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) and I was ready to see what life was like at a public relations firm. During my time at the CCS, I worked on promoting the event to students and faculty of the university and wrote press releases to send out to The Daily Texan and other neighboring university newspapers. At the ACVB, I worked on various sales proposals in order to bring more meetings, conferences and conventions to the city of Austin. From the moment I moved to Austin three years ago I have been hungry to learn more about this city and what makes it tick. Working at the ACVB only encouraged my obsession with the “Live Music Capital of the World” and I gained valuable knowledge of the city and the hardworking people who help to make it the greatest town in Texas.

I am very passionate about environmental conservation and I hope to one day be able to use my PR degree to promote sustainable and ecologically friendly products and organizations. My internship at Ketner Group will allow me to hone my PR skills in a professional setting and I am so excited to be a part of the team!

KG Productivity Tips Series, #1: Minimizing Distractions

Posted on | by Ketner Group

The topic of productivity needs no fancy introduction — everyone who runs or has stake in a business worries about it, and everyone wants to be better at it. At Ketner Group, we take pride in our balance between productivity and play, because, well, you know what they say about all work and no play. Below, a few of the Ketner Groupies have shared our favorite productivity tips. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll cover what works to keep us organized and on-task.

Brittany: Multitasking Doesn’t Work, Sorry
The first step of recovery is to admit you have a problem, and the problem in this case is multitasking. I have learned—the hard way—that I am not much of a multitasker. Sure, the human brain is capable of some multitasking, like listening to the radio while driving or stirring a cooking dinner while talking on the phone. But it turns out that multitasking in the office doesn’t work very well (and it’s not just me!), and there’s a lot of science to prove it. In a Time magazine article, writer Claudia Wallis explains the research: when people try to tackle multiple tasks at once, “or [alternate] rapidly between them, errors go way up and it takes far longer—often double the time or more—to get the jobs done than if they were done sequentially.” Worse still, research from the University of North Texas found that multitaskers actually lose time because “the brain is compelled to restart and refocus” as it switches gears.

Instead of trying to knock out five projects every five or 10 minutes, admit to yourself that multitasking doesn’t improve your game and discipline yourself to dedicate larger blocks of time for each project. Remove environmental distractions such as the Internet, a cluttered workspace or verbal interruptions. Continue reading →

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes

Posted on | by Ketner Group

It’s coming. I can hear the buzz, the distant rumble of excitement from anticipation and preparations. It may be early, but people are already planning for it. It comes every year and the eyes of passersby twinkle at all the sights and sounds that flood the senses…

…at the annual South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, Film and Music festival in Austin, TX. Did I have you thinking about Christmas for a second? I don’t blame you. But today, I’ve got SXSW on my mind.

We Ketner Groupies are just plain excited. We all have special connections with SXSW. I got married this year during the music festival (which hosted an awesome Friday-night outing for our out-of-towners). Another Ketner Groupie’s love story began there. We helped launch a new social media application there. And every year, we learn something new and valuable that we can share with our clients and friends.

As PR professionals, we ‘heart’ SXSW Interactive (SXSWi), the marketing, digital media and technology hub of the festival. How lucky are we to have the brightest minds and entrepreneurs from all over the globe meet up in one place to share an explosion of ideas and knowledge—right in our own backyard? And we are doubly excited for SXSWi 2012, because three of our clients have submitted their own panels, which are up on the 2012 SXSW PanelPicker now! Check these out and if you like what you see, give ‘em a thumbs up (AKA: vote for their panel)! Continue reading →

Location, Location, Location

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William T. Dillard (1914-2002), founder of the Dillard’s department stores, is the person most often credited with the quotation, “Location, location, location.” Supposedly, one of the things that helped make him so successful was that he took notice of consumer’s shifting preference to indoor shopping malls. Of course, all you have to do is look at The Domain here in Austin for evidence that this preference seems to be shifting yet again.

We got to thinking a lot about location recently, wondering if it is equally important across all industries. With retail stores, restaurants, etc.—of course. Location is absolutely key. (Again—Austinites, if someone gave you $5 million 5 years ago to open a retail store, would Highland Mall be anywhere on your list of possibilities? Well I sure hope not, because it’s about to become the next ACC campus.) But in the age of globalization, Rebecca Black, and Cheezburgers, does location for certain types of business really matter anymore? If it’s not obvious yet, I’m talking about PR firms (though the same question could apply for interactive agencies, web developers, journalists, etc.) Continue reading →

Get to know Erica, one of the new Ketner Group interns!

Posted on | by Ketner Group

Ketner Group has had some pretty awesome interns, and this summer is no different. Meet Erica, one of KG’s two new summer 2011 interns. We asked our AIs (Awesome Interns) to contribute to the blog, and here is the first post in the new series, “The KG Intern Experience.”

It all started at the ripe age of 13 – an age when you’re socially awkward, chubby and snaggle-toothed. From the comfort of my bedroom, I ran the largest and most profitable PR agency in the world. Now, I didn’t know it was a PR agency at the time, so I just called it “Events x Erica.” I thought I was pretty clever using the “x” sign to signify the word “by.” I still do – don’t judge.

Anyway, I independently managed every last detail of my extravagant parties, including booking guests, promotional activities and music selection. I was even my own caterer. What can I say? We independently-owned PR agencies have to stick to our budgets!

Needless to say, I was a PR enthusiast from a young age. Fast forward eight years, and I am now a senior majoring in public relations at The University of Texas at Austin. Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to work with wonderful industry professionals, such as Rogers & Cowan, Film Independent, Giant Noise – and now, Ketner Group!

I’m a self-proclaimed soup-junkie, dog whisperer and film critic. An ideal day would be watching a Ben Stiller movie (why haven’t you gotten an Oscar yet?!), eating tomato basil soup and simultaneously snuggling with my dogs, Gaston and Bree.

I’m so excited to be a part of the team and can’t wait to dive into all that is Ketner Group!

Beat the Blogging Blues in 5 Steps

Posted on | by Ketner Group

It seems like these days that everybody, their dog and their dog’s favorite brand has a blog. Even for those who don’t, it could be argued that they should. For anyone selling products or services, blogs are a great vehicle for customer engagement, thought leadership, and SEO optimization – and they can also be a big pain in the you-know-what.

There are two distinct anti-blog camps: those with blogophobia and those with blog commitment phobia (don’t bother looking these up in the DSM…). The first describes a condition in which a company is hesitant to take on blogging because of security and control concerns: How can I make sure I don’t get disparaging comments? How can I be sure my employees author and post favorable content and/or don’t go rogue? Who will have access to my blog’s administrative back end? These are valid concerns.

The second condition, blog commitment phobia, is a fear of committing to a blog because of concerns that it will be difficult (read: time consuming) to organize and challenging to create and post meaningful content consistently without letting the blog go “stale.” These are also valid concerns.

As a PR agency, it’s nearly impossible for us not to blog (we are fans of practicing what we preach, after all), so it’s probably pretty obvious where we stand on the issue: In most – but not all – cases, we think business blogging is smart. But we’re not going to tell you that it’s easy. We will be the first to admit that, just like the old saying about the shoemaker’s kids going barefoot, it can be hard for even a public relations and marketing firm to find the time to blog for themselves—but as another saying goes, nothing in life worth doing comes easy.

So if you’re going to take the leap (or you already have a blog and could use a refresher), here are 5 tips to make blogging for your business as painless as possible:

  1. Develop and maintain a blog editorial calendar (or EdCal, as we call it): Half the battle in blogging is coming up with a compelling topic for each post. Brainstorm on a couple of months’ worth of possible topics and plug these into an EdCal. Of course, EdCals are never set in stone. If something newsworthy pops up unexpectedly, be sure to roll with the punches and adjust your topic queue as necessary.
  2. Establish accountability: The other half of the battle is actually sitting down to hammer out your ideas into coherent, publish-button-worthy thoughts. It’s especially easy to let your blog slide as client work piles up. A strong accountability system among bloggers and managers within your company or department can help keep you on track and hold you to your deadlines (Thanks, Caitlin!). If you’re able to get ahead on preparing the posts in your EdCal, all the better, in case one week turns out to be particularly hectic.
  3. Document formal blogging procedure: It’s critical for companies to have a formal process of blog content revision and approval. Putting down on paper exactly who needs to review, who makes final edits, who grants approval and who is trusted with the blog password for posting are the checks and balances of the blogosphere to ensure all content posted is accurate and authorized. Hopefully, this is part of a larger social media policy document or social media playbook – but at the bare minimum, this piece is very important.
  4. Share responsibility and knowledge: While limiting access to blog’s administrative controls protects a blog from rogue posting, it can create a heavy burden on the individual authorized to do so. In some companies, it may be best for several trusted employees to have working knowledge of how to log in, make changes, publish posts, etc. Likewise, a blog with rotating authors (like ours) prevents a single employee from being solely responsible for the success or failure of the blog. One post per blogger each month is a much more manageable task on top of the regular workload than one or more posts a week would be. Of course, if you’re lucky enough to have a dedicated social media person, they’ve got the time – but keep in mind that they’ll still need access to executives and subject matter experts to keep your blog well rounded.
  5. Employ spam prevention: Comment spam is annoying. Sometimes it’s downright gross (I’ll save you from embarrassing examples, but trust me on that one!). And it’s never anything you want your customers or potential customers to see. For a nominal fee, bloggers can implement a spam prevention plug-in like Akismet to identify and block comment and trackback spam with integration to various blogging systems. You’ll never see a comment on your site that wasn’t approved by both a powerful spam filter and your human spam police.

Still struggling with whether or not blogging is right for your company? Drop us a line – the Ketner Group team can help you work through the pros and cons and help you determine if a jump into the blogosphere is the right move for you.

Austin Got a Tattoo, and it spells Social Media

Posted on | by Ketner Group | 2 Comments on Austin Got a Tattoo, and it spells Social Media

Have you heard? Mashable has challenged us to celebrate this year’s Social Media Day by proving why our city is the most social media savvy city in the world. Is it even a contest? When you think of social media’s birth of innovation and its spirit of togetherness while celebrating oppositeness, and find you still have the energy to be enthusiastic about it all, are you from LA? New York? London? No. You’re from Austin, baby.

That’s right. Home to the geek producin’, barbeque lickin’, music lovin’ masses, Austin, TX, is the birthplace of social media acceptance. Austin lifted the concept of social media from its crib and nursed it to maturity, accepting it as a part of its own flesh and blood, because that is what it has become. To Austin, social media is an organic life force, an interwoven fiber of networks that has been braided into nearly every aspect of our daily lives. Social media has tattooed itself upon our city and to prove it, we’ll give you the “A, U and S, the T and I to the N” of why Austin is the most social media savvy city in the world.

A is for Apps. Austin is a playground for social integration app developer companies. Anything from smartphone games for consumers to mobile web integration apps for businesses are created here. Many smartphone app developers call Austin home, including Qrank, Gowalla and Pangea Software, developer of the iPhone game Enigmo, which was one of the most downloaded apps in 2008.


U is for User-Friendly. For years, the City of Austin and other community groups, like the Austin Wireless City Project, have been campaigning for free wireless throughout the city. In 2006, the City of Austin partnered with the World Congress on Information Technology and Cisco Systems to provide high-speed, outdoor Internet wireless access to select areas in town. Austin’s emphasis on the importance of providing complimentary wireless access to citizens highlights its commitment to fostering an online, social and sharing community.


S is for SXSW. “South by Southwest” is probably the largest contributing factor to our argument that Austin is the most social media savvy city in the world. In fact, people from all over the world travel to Austin to spend one week of every year at the SXSW Interactive (SXSWi), Film and Music festival. According to SXSWi, attendees get “five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology…showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer.” In fact, one of the most successful social media debuts at SXSWi was Twitter. That’s right, Twitter introduced its recently launched concept in Austin, TX, in 2007 to a very receptive crowd and has since grown so successful that the term, “Tweet,” has a place in the Merriam-Webster dictionary (as a noun AND a verb). Foursquare, which actually launched its location-based service at SXSWi in 2009, is another SXSWi success story. There is a reason that SXSWi in Austin is the go-to show for innovative technology companies to teach, learn and share ideas. Continue reading →

Austin Movie Theater Creates a Viral Sensation With “Don’t Text” PSA

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Iconic Austin theater Alamo Drafthouse is making a big splash online and in national media this week with a recently debuted PSA about texting during movies. In the video, we hear an unlettered, swear-filled voicemail the Alamo received from an angry customer who was ejected from the theater (without a refund) after ignoring repeated warnings about using her phone during a film.

The video and its corresponding blog post have generated thousands of comments and racked in a couple of million views on YouTube (uncensored and censored versions combined). The two-minute clip is well on its way to viral video fame, fueled by mainstream mentions everywhere from CNET to CNN, where Anderson Cooper said Alamo Drafthouse founder and CEO Tim League deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for his crusade against rude moviegoers.

What can brands learn from Alamo Drafthouse’s viral sensation, and what are the pros and cons of such a campaign? We had a brief roundtable to discuss.

Eric: Tim League’s Austin-born combo of beer, food, film and creative events is a popular one — Entertainment Weekly, Wired and Fandango call it one of the best theaters in the world — particularly with film fanatics, no doubt in part thanks to League’s zero tolerance policy on talking and texting. But, even if this customer acted like a jerk, does the PSA go too far by having a laugh at her expense?

Brittany: Girlfriend probably should have saved the drunk dial for an ex-boyfriend, but it’s within Alamo’s legal rights to use it. This is not the first provocative or explicit no-talking warning Alamo has put together, and I think it’s perfectly in line with its edgy, anti-corporate brand.

Eric: The way I see it is that League is a bit of hero to many film buffs. And not just for his outspokenness or his theaters’ Austin attitude. Besides creating the Alamo, he also heads a nonprofit called the American Genre Film Archive that preserves and exhibits the largest genre film archive in the world. The man obviously loves film and has a reverence for the movie-going experience that much of the general public doesn’t share. His stance is simple: If you don’t feel this way, don’t come to the Alamo.

As for the woman in the voicemail, she remains anonymous unless she decides to try to raise a stink about the video, so I don’t feel too bad for her. Besides, anyone who has ever worked a day in their life has dealt with a nightmare customer like this and can take some satisfaction in seeing her get publicly taken to task. Just because you give someone your money doesn’t mean you have the right to behave like a foul-mouthed brat. The Alamo makes it very clear before every movie that if you talk you’ll be kicked out — without a refund.

Catherine (our resident goody two-shoes): Let me first say that, as a longtime Austinite, I am a huge fan of Alamo Drafthouse and their “Keep Austin Weird” attitude. However, while I completely understand that Alamo has every right to use the caller’s voice message for their most recent PSA, does it really mean that they should have? My opinion is no, they shouldn’t have. Don’t get me wrong — I think the PSA is funny, and I laughed (like when you laugh at someone falling down or tripping). But, the goody two-shoes in me thinks it was a little mean spirited.

Eric: So we’ve got some differing opinions here about the video, but what should one consider before attempting to launch a potentially divisive campaign like this?

Caitlin: You have to weigh the positive and negative aspects to your message to make the best decision.

First, what was the Alamo Drafthouse’s message? That they’re the best movie theater to patron because not only do they promote a unique, “Keep Austin Weird” atmosphere, but they’re also serious about eliminating inconsiderate behavior during films.

Second, how can they prove that they’re serious? By using real world examples. The drunken voicemail was like a pot of gold landing in their lap. How could they not use it? Not only does the inebriated caller sound incredibly uneducated — “the Magnited States of America” takes offense — but she also severs any shred of sympathy we could feel for her with a rude, expletive-filled rant against a beloved local business.

Next, you have to weigh the positives and negatives. We’ll start with the negative. Some people might still feel sorry for her. It isn’t easy watching everyone turn on someone else, even if they deserve it (e.g., Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Anthony Weiner). Now, the positive. As I said before, most people can’t identify with her voicemail and have most likely lost respect for her, so using it is a comedic way to drive home the point that you are serious about your message.

As for the outcome? I’d say this anti-theater-texting PSA was quite successful due to the national media coverage and its viral web presence. If the Alamo Drafthouse weighed the positive and negative, I’m sure they decided that way more people would find it hilarious than mean. Though, we’re glad to have people on our team who are too kind-hearted to find the voicemail’s use appropriate. (We love you, Catherine!)

Valerie: I thought the video was funny, but I’m seeing something from looking at the comments on the Alamo’s blog post that we’ve not touched on yet. Tim League took a bold move opening the company up to criticism — not only from folks who don’t agree with the theater’s policy or think this is bad customer service or unnecessarily shaming of the girl, but also from folks who haven’t had this experience at Alamo theaters. Many commenters on the Alamo’s site complain of being bothered by noisy patrons and telling management only to have management not respond as promised. It was gutsy from that perspective too because they had to be ready to go into crisis response PR mode.

Eric: Well, no matter your opinion on the video, it’s hard to deny it’s a hit. The Alamo Drafthouse posted the video online last week and began showing it before screenings last weekend, and its view count is skyrocketing. For a video that probably took 30 minutes to make, that’s some great exposure.

5 Rookie Mistakes to Avoid in Social Media

Posted on | by Ketner Group

We recently came across a blog post on 5 Rookie Mistakes in Press Releases, and turns out, the author was not exaggerating about the “rookie” part. Use a headline that makes sense. Include an “about” section and contact info. Still, it’s always helpful even for seasoned PR pros to get a reminder that sometimes the most basic things are the things we screw up, because we take for granted that we won’t screw them up. The post also inspired us to write our list of tips to help businesses avoid making rookie mistakes in social media. Without further ado…

1) Don’t dive in without a game plan. You know what makes me cringe? When companies get excited by the sparkly social media trend and tell their staff to go gangbusters on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, a company blog, etc. – all without having a strategy in place. What is your goal? Who are you trying to engage with? Do you need to engage with different audiences on different platforms, and perhaps share one type of information with your Twitter followers and a different type with your Facebook followers? What’s your policy on employees blogging or guest blogging for your company? Your plan for dealing with negative Yelp or App Store reviews? I know it’s tempting to want to just dive in – but trust me, you’ll be glad later that you had a strategy in place first.

2) That said, be wary of social media ninjas/experts/superstars. It can be incredibly valuable having people on your side with specific experience developing and executing social media initiatives. However, be careful about who you trust with your social media strategy; 90% of the self-professed social media ninjas/gurus/superstars/experts out there are full of it. Just because someone has 1,000+ Twitter followers and calls himself a guru doesn’t make it true – and typically, the people who are the gurus don’t need to use such audacious self-promotion to prove it. Since the beginning of time (or at least the beginning of capitalism?) people have looked for the next get-rich-quick scheme to make a buck off the latest hot new thing, and right now in marketing, that thing is social media. Don’t get suckered. Still, there are people out there who genuinely have great experience and a track record of success in working with businesses to help them do social media right. And if you’re already working with a PR or marketing agency, they may very well have the know-how to work with you on those initiatives, and it helps that the relationships and knowledge about your company are already established. Continue reading →