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.

Our Pinterest has gotten much more exciting since its creation this past week, as we’ve been sticking more pins to our boards. However, one of our Account Executives, Stephanie Ignacio wanted to share a way that she and her sister are staying connected via this exciting social media site.

From Stephanie Ignacio

My sister Allison Ignacio (pictured, right) and I are 14 months apart and we have been close all my life. However, after she graduated from UT in 2010, she became a reporter at KWTX in Waco, Texas. We do not see each other as often as I would like and as her reporting schedule is often very different than my 8-5, we miss each other on the phone as well. In lieu of verbal communication, we of course turned to the Internet. Although we used to simply email each other funny pictures and links, with the user-friendly collaboration features of Pinterest, it’s become way easier to share things with each other.

I made a pinboard titled Sisters, and now every time I see something that I know will make Allison crack up laughing, a recipe she has to try, or just an inside joke we have about an old TV show, there is one central place for us to share these things. It’s a lot easier than emailing different clips also, because she can log in to Pinterest from her phone and get the latest funny updates from me.

With the recent death of Whitney Houston, the New York Daily News hosted a similar pinboard in Tribute, titled Whitney Houston, Remembered.

In a similar fashion, they invited different people to pin their favorite pictures of Ms. Houston and they were put onto a community board. However, different music journalists, friends or colleagues of Whitney could have utilized the collaboration element.

So do you have a group of friends that you like to share Internet pictures and jokes with? I encourage you to create a board with your different groups of friends so that you can target your pins to different people – it’s a great way to stay connected!

Connect with us on Pinterest! 

Want to get more of an inside look at the minds of IPR? Come pin with us and see great boards filled with inspiration and fun from each of our team members. We’re also pinning the best things we love, like cool infographics, great examples of guerilla marketing campagins and of course, our favorite spots around Houston. If you’re already a savvy pinner, we’d love to connect, and if you’ve yet to pin, let’s learn some things together!

Battle of the sexes? – Gentlemint

As Pinterest spreads like wildfire throughout the social media community, there has been a lot of discussion about its mostly female audience. With marketers looking to either leverage this large female demographic to their best interests or incorporate more males into the fold, one group decided it was time that men got their own boards too.

Enter the Gentlemint, “a mint of manly things” is similar to Pinterest, yet contains boards that are more tailored to the male perspective. As it is still in beta testing, we don’t have an invite just yet. While similar to Pinterest, pinners on Gentlemint tend to stray away from the popular boards that pin “wedding ideas” and “DIY crafts” instead finding “the best classic colognes” and “Charlie Chaplin’s greatest speech ever.”

While Pinterest has taken off, it remains to be seen if Gentlemint will get off the ground following Beta testing – would you Pin something to Gentlemint?

Much like our football loving friends in the advertising industry enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday, we’re all over ourselves when the fashion and social media worlds collide. It’s always inspiring to see how different entrepreneurs utilize these mediums – see how marketers of late have been doing it big with our favorite social media tools.  

NY Fashion week

Remember the awesomeness that was Burberry’s tweetwalk ? Last September, the classic brand took a social media step forward and posted incoming runway fashions to the Twitterverse seconds before they previewed, giving their followers a stylish scoop. That being said, for this year’s fashion week, most brands have gotten the clue and stepped up their social media game.

• Brands like Rebecca Minkoff, Jill Stuart, Betsy Johnson, Vera Wang and more will be live streaming their shows on the Live from the  Runway channel, sponsored by YouTube.
• @MBFashionWeek – the official New York Fashion Week account – will be using hashtags such as #nyfw and #mbfw to monitor conversations – jump on in!
• Speaking of Twitter, noted fashionistas such as @oscarprgirl will of course be continuing their repertoire of fashion themed tweets, and posts  – As she’s an avid Instagram user, there’s sure to be some great finds within her stream

See a great list of Live streams on Youtube, plus, Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram accounts to follow!

Accessory Auctions – Buy the cutest accessories on Facebook!

While the idea of selling things via Facebook is not completely new, Accessory Auctions caught our eye as we watched their merchandise fly off their shelves last week! With several of our associates being closely connected to Austin, TX, the store’s concept has proven to be an effective tool for the store to move merchandise quickly – here’s how it works.

• “Like” the Accessory Auctions page on Facebook
• Every Monday at 8 pm CST they post pictures of new items – pricing, quantities and descriptions vary
• If you see an item you want, comment on the picture with the following details: SOLD, your email address, and quantity desired
• Bids are first come, first serve. If you win an item you receive a PayPal invoice the next day and then have 24 hours to log in to your PayPal account.

Such a simple, innovative idea – we love it! Be sure to tune in for tonight’s sale!

As PR professionals, we look to social outlets such as Facebook to increase our brand’s value by interaction.  Today however, Facebook’s brand value went for $5 billion as Mark Zuckerberg filed the company’s IPO.

Facebook was forced to go public when it exceeded the legal number of shareholders that held stake in the company last year. Private companies with more than $10 million in assets are required to file detailed financials with the Securities and Exchange Commission once they exceed 500 stockholders.

The graph to the left shows the top 10 Internet IPOs and clearly Facebook has taken the lead of this list. However, what does this mean to PR professionals?

As Internet companies usually trade very successfully, we can expect for many people to buy Facebook shares. While we don’t have the background

to stipulate what each share will be worth, which exchange it will trade on or an exact market forecast, we can expect many people to buy shares in Facebook– which is good news for PR professionals using social media!

There are an estimated 845 million Facebook users worldwide and yet some marketers still do not see its value. Similarly, some companies that have chosen to adopt social media strategies have left out the “strategic” element of their postings and do not use Facebook effectively.

With more people being monetarily invested in any social media channel, professionals that understand how to properly utilize them will be in demand.

Congrats on your IPO, Facebook. At IntegratePR, we toast to the continued development of one of the most influential pieces of technology.