integratePR blog

It’s time to meet another fabulous member of our team. Jenny started work at Integrate last August and has made an amazing addition to the team. Learn more about Jenny’s passion for non-profits and see who keeps her company at her desk!

What’s your favorite thing about working in social media?

The constant and reliable changes – I thrive on change and work well in an environment where new opportunities are endless.

What is one of your best experiences with social media?

Last year, my entire extended family travelled to Key Largo for a cousin’s wedding.  Being that it was a destination wedding, my two great uncles (one of which was the grandfather of the groom) and my grandparents were not well enough to make the trip.  Fortunately, another family member brought his computer to the ceremony and Skyped my uncles and grandparents in.  They four watched the entire beach-front ceremony from their front row seat in Houston, Texas.  It was extremely moving for our entire family.  

What is your favorite life event/accomplishment to date?

This is tough, but I’d have to say Camp HOPE. AIDS Foundation Houston runs a week long camp for children with HIV/AIDS and I’ve served as a counselor for 9-11 year old girls during 5 different summers.  Working at camp truly puts life into perspective and being around these children tends to reinvigorate my year.  Each summer that I’ve volunteered at Camp HOPE has been irreplaceable and unforgettable.

What are you most looking forward to in the future?

I’m looking forward to being around for big changes!  I can’t wait to see how both iPR expands and how the City of Houston continues to grow and change!

Who is your role model/inspiration?

Easy – my mom. She’s inspired me to find a job that allows me to give back.  I’ve volunteered and worked for and with several non-profit organizations. Working with iPR has been the perfect balance, as many of my clients are non-profits or organizations that really give back.  It’s been extremely rewarding to work with these types of businesses and I certainly owe my passion for both community and communications work to my mom.

What is one thing no one knows about you?

If I could move Houston (and all of my friends and family here) to Colorado (probably Telluride), I would. I absolutely love the time I spend in Colorado, but am far too attached to Houston to ever consider moving.

What’s on your desk?

Photos of loved ones – I’m inspired by photos and when I need a smile, turn to these. And of course, my Dwight Schrute bobble head!

One thing I’d like people to know about me:

I’m pretty much an open book. I’m not sure I can come up with one thing in particular that I’d like for people to know about me. I love meeting new people and building relationships, but I think most people already know this.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a House response to the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) that is under consideration in the Senate. These bills would require internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to websites that infringe on copyrights.

Simply put, anything that you re-post that is not your original content would be considered a copyright infringement. In many countries with internet access, online piracy is a massive problem for the industry, in China alone it costs $250 billion per year. However, this means potentially that anything you Re-Tumble, Re-Tweet or Re-tag could be considered piracy. These publishing laws would affect some of the most well-known and heavily trafficked sites on the web. Virtually everything on Wikipedia, Youtube, and Tumblr would be illegal to publish.

Internet giants who are fighting against the bill have made this an international day of protest by “blacking out” their websites.

Wikipedia

Google

WordPress

What you can do about it – Sign the petition and join the largest online protest in history – tell Congress to stop this bill now!

Last Monday we had a company off-site; a day of team building, discussing what worked and what didn’t in 2011 and strategizing for 2012.  As mentioned in our last post, the past year has been filled with success and we want to keep up the momentum!

With the help of Tom Rath’s Strengths Finder 2.0 we were able to target what each employee’s greater strengths are and how to play them up to be the best you can be. He beieves that “You cannot be anything you want to be; but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”

Everyone likes to have New Year’s resolutions. In keeping focus with knowing how we work best, we decided to take our strengths and apply it to the ways we will be working on ourselves throughout 2012.

Allie- One of my 5 words was “activator.” Apparently, I act quickly, passionately moving from one project to the next without stopping to breathe, appreciate those around me or explain my thought process for a decision. In 2012,I am going to take time to breathe in both my personal and professional life… remembering that it isn’t always healthy or smart to move so quickly, nor fun to be around someone who doesn’t stop to smell the roses and every once in a while.

Britney – According to Rath, I’m a Maximizer, which means I’m really good at identifying and creating best practices. I’m not interested in focusing on weaknesses, but instead, honing in on a particular strength, refining those skills, and becoming an expert in that specific area. It’s more fun to work on your strengths, rather than be upset at what you’re lacking. 

Jenny - One of my strengths was WOO, or “winning others over.”  No surprise here, this means I love to shmooze and work a room.  While I love meeting new people and making new friends, those who exhibit WOO typically move on from conversations quickly, always looking for the person to network with or meet.  This year, I’d like to make an effort to really engage with people, instead of rushing around. I’d like to slow down and enjoy thought-provoking, non-rushed conversations with those around me.

Jessie – Through reading Strengths Finder 2.0, I learned that I have the qualities of an “achiever”. While this does have many positive connotations, it can also cause me to quickly check things off my daily to do list without taking a step back and seeing the big picture of what really needs to be accomplished. One of my goals for 2012 is to take more time to thoroughly review each and every action item, never compromising quality for quantity. 

Stephanie – One of my words was Focus. My focus strength shows that I like projects that have exact deadlines. Having recently signed on with Integrate full time I want to challenge myself to focus and ensure that any deadline, big or small is fulfilled.

2011 has been an amazing year for integratePR–we have nearly tripled our business, working our butts off to get there. Between…

• Launching Imperial Sugar’s new product, Steviacane in January…
• Hosting Manny’s Uptown Kitchen’s first Austin Restaurant Throwdown in February…
• Relaunching the integratePR website and brand in March…
• And attending SXSW 2011….
• Bringing on Jessie Boone to the integratePR team and moving to a new space at Vine Street Studios in April…
• Launching Cricket’s MUVE product line in May…
• Allie receiving the top 40 under 40 Houston Business Journal honor in June…
• Hiring Jenny Selber and Britney Munguia in July…
• Raising over $250K for Easter Seals Greater Houston through Care2Spin™ in September…
• Allie speaking at PR Day and teaching a class at Allie’s alma mater (the University of Texas) in October…
• Moving to our new schnazzy office in November…
• Driving traffic to Goode Company’s restaurants and website (and amazingly selling more pecan pies than sampling for ourselves!) this November…
• Strategizing for the official launch of the Children’s Assessment Center’s 2012 capital campaign throughout December…
• Hosting the first official PJ Day for Easter Seals Greater Houston on December 9^th
• And hiring intern Stephanie Ignacio as a full-timer this week!

This has been quite a whirlwind and we are ready to celebrate our hard work and gear up for 2012.

The iPR holiday festivities started with a potluck lunch in the office yesterday – with a Secret Santa gift exchange!

We ended the day with our first annual holiday party – we had a blast – check out some of the pictures below. (13 bottles of wine later, only some pictures are appropriate for our blog).

Everyone has really been beyond exceptional this year – I couldn’t be happier working alongside such incredible women and look forward to a successful 2012.  

Last week was an especially comfortable one in the office with the celebration of the official Easter Seals Greater Houston City-Wide Pajama Day. The whole event came to be when client, John Eagle Honda, found out that Easter Seals Greater Houston clients and families were in need of PJ’s this winter and agreed to sponsor the day. Easter Seals Greater Houston provides services to children and adults in the community living with autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs.

The day was an officially-proclaimed celebration in both Houston and Katy – businesses and schools came together and raised over $2,500 and 200 pairs of pajamas!

Easter Seals Greater Houston CEO, Elise Hough, was thrilled with the results saying “Thanks to all of the generous contributions we received on Pajama Day, we will be able to provide warm, cozy pajamas to children who would otherwise not have anything to sleep in. We would like to thank John Eagle Honda Houston, Blinds.com, SnapStream, and the amazing schools and businesses who have pitched in to make this day such a success. We can’t wait to do it again next year!”

Below are a couple of photos from around the city: