Quadrify It...

If you are a business in Vermont (or Eastern New York), of any sort, you should immediately go to this site - www.CelebrateChamplain.org. As you hopefully know, 2009 marks Vermont's Quadracentenial Celebration and everyone is getting in on the action. And that is exactly why you should too. In marketing, you don't want to be the one who doesn't play.

If you are in Vermont and your business can somehow be tied to the history of Lake Champlain, the land around Lake Champlain, or the people connected to any of the areas over the past 400 years, than you more than qualify to quadrify!

You can already see how much fun it is going to be to quadricize everything (i.e. fun marketing words), so as a Vermont PR professional, I urge you to find a way to tie in your business...

~ Offer a Quadrific discount
~ Make a Quadspific product
~ Share your history in your marketing materials
~ Tell your quadcentric story
~ If you run events, sign up to quadrify your events and benefit from the mass marketing of the Quadracentenial team
~ Collaborate!!!!!! Find others in your area and see what you can offer as a group for this great celebration!

The Quadracentenial will be going on all of 2009 with a kick-off bash after the clock strikes midnight once 2008 turns to 2009. The key events will be held in the summer of 2009, but folks can celebrate the Quad year 'round!

Interested? You best be! Go check out the Celebrate Champlain website at www.CelebrateChamplain.org and see how you can get involved and how your business can benefit by this widespread, collaborative effort!

End of March Events Worth Checking Out

Progressive Sale at Tootsie's and Progressive Art at Candles & Creations

As my favorite band says, "Break outside of your cathedral." And I share that advice for the coming of Spring!


Break outside of your cathedral and trade in your winter-ick shoes for some fun spring shoe fashions at Tootsie's on College Street in Burlington during their "progressive" sale this March! The sale starts Thursday, March 27th and runs through the weekend. Prices start at 40% off and go down to 70% off on Sunday, March 30th. Best prices at the end, best selection at the beginning. And if you didn't know, they give the best pedicures in town (so I've heard)!

With the money you save on shoes, wrap up your March by heading over to Candles & Creations in the Blue Mall anytime between now and March 30th to get your tickets for the Kimberlee Forney Art Benefit Event being held on the 30th at 5 pm to benefit Prevent Child Abuse Vermont and raise awareness about Traumatic Brain Injury. Tickets enter you to win a bunch of prizes from other artists connected to this community nexus of a store as well as the option to bid on Kimberlee Forney's live auction at the event.

I declare the end of March as Support Your Community Businesses Week (as well as every other time of the year)! Do it!!!

Former Mentee Follows in Footsteps

When I graduated from Marist College back in 1998 with my degree in public relations, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee to spread my wings and prove my independence to whoever cared (um, myself?). My PR experience at that point consisted of the classes I took in college and the internship I had at the Dutchess County Girl Scout Council (site seems to be disabled) in Poughkeepsie, New York.

While I searched and applied for entry level PR jobs, I started to learn of the judgment that is deeply passed on those of us from the North. I didn't really think it existed since I had never been south of Washington DC before and when folks up North think of folks down South, we pretty much think of cool accents and grits. But, while I continued to not get called for first interviews for the many vacant public relations and marketing jobs at the vast array of companies, I naively learned that going to college in New York was a weakness in the Nashville job market. Luckily, Nashville has the 5th largest Girl Scout Council - www.gsmidtn.org - in the country (well, it was then) and with a background in Girl Scouting since the 1st grade as well as the internship, I thought they must be able to find a use for me - and luckily, I was right!

I began running a theater program for high school girls and a high adventure program for middle school girls which then molded into earning the position of Teen Program Manager and I had a ball! What a great first job for a budding young professional. I got to interact with tons of girls, motivate adults, and create programs and ways to market them with my Northern flair! I found the Girl Scouts to be a refreshing source of open-mindness, diversity, and the progressiveness I was accustomed to being a gal from the Northeast. I made many friends and the very best part was my involvement with so many amazing young women. I try to track some of these women from time to time and one of them most recently found me on Linked In. I had volunteered to be her mentor through one of the many programs we had at the Girl Scouts and she also performed in the theater and singing group I started.

Her name is Kia Jarmon and she was one of the most articulate, aspiring, helpful, smart, and pleasant young ladies I have had the privilege of mentoring in all of my time in that role. She emailed me the other day and shared with me her success of starting her own PR agency in Nashville, Miss Ellanious PR. It literally made my day! From what I have found on the internet and know of this young lady from ten years ago, I attest she is truly impressive. Kia has carved a niche for herself in industries and areas she has personal interests and passions, she works on a very grassroots level, and is committed to the relationship element of public relations, three of the basics I hold near and dear to my own heart.

I wanted to share her success with my readers and also ask that you share her PR agency, Miss Ellanious PR at www.kiajarmon.com, with any of your contacts in the Nashville area. And kudos to the concept of six degrees of separation!!!

3 Tips

Think you have news? Do you want to get your news to the press so they can share with your audiences? Good. You are thinking in terms of public relations. Now, you have to determine if your news is newsworthy. Here is how:

1. Does your news solve a problem?

2. Does your news offer useful tips?

3. Does your news identify a trend?

If it does not do one of these three things (and we're talking 100% here, not "it could if you looked at it this way") it is not newsworthy!

Now, I am not talking about small company announcements, etc. that are being included in specific areas of a business publication. I am talking about trying to get a feature story written.

So, if your news doesn't do one of the three items above - don't despair! Do some background work and research and find a way for your news to do one of those three things - then you'll have something editors want to know about!

New Media News and Plugs

Happy Leap Year Friday all! It's been a busy bee month of Vermont PR work at Rachel Carter PR. Lots of exciting things in the works for my clients and lots of positivity floating around which is refreshing and invigorating. I thought I'd take a moment to plug a few folks on the new media, multimedia, and media tools front. So, for those of you needing to design or enhance a website and actually want the web developers to help you market it, or for those of you looking to enhance your multimedia visibility through blogging, podcasts, video, and other fun and interactive web stuff, here are come folks you need to be in the 411 with!

As Seen In VT - TV: Down in the Mad River Valley, these video guru folks are doing it right and if you have something worth video capture (which most people do), you should check out this site - www.AsSeenInVT.tv. Jump on the video bandwagon before it becomes the new hit means on transportation after the hybrid.
Note: I also just learned from these folks about a new program that ties in web site creation, content management, RSS feeds, and just about everything else that's hip with multimedia - www.joomla.org.

Off the Page Creations: Are you starting a business and need to get a website up and running and want it marketed as well? Stephanie at Off the Page Creations - www.OffThePageCreations.com is one of the first people you should talk to. And she isn't just Rachel Carter PR approved, she is Rachel approved!

Shadow Productions: Voiceovers, web multimedia that combines talent, and other odd projects you have created in your mind but aren't sure how to put them together? Then you need to chat with Shadow Productions - www.ShadowProd.com. They aren't just a talented provider of multimedia, they have access to the talent too!

Vermont Duplication: So, now you have some neat multimedia pieces in your hand, but you need them mass produced to send to clients, prospective clients, media, investors, your class reunion organizer, or for your family reunion - whoever! Niel at Vermont Duplications makes digital copies of almost everything. Check out the dupe services at www.VermontDuplication.com.

Shark Communication: Do you want it all? Are you a larger company and you want to integrate new media and multimedia components with your website and other marketing vehicles? The folks at Shark keep the fin in all of the above swimming merrily alongside the multimedia bandwagon. Check them out at www.SharkInteractive.com and look - they even have a blog! http://newsblog.sharkcomm.com/

Rachel Carter PR: I can't help to plug myself here! While I am a public relations guru, my multimedia mixtures in the batter are blogs, social networking and online community relations research, and press room content for your website and I hope you know where to find me - www.RachelCarterPR.com.

Happy Expanding Your Horizons!

A Young Careerist Goes Red

I would like to start by saying "Thank You" you to Caisil Weldon for nominating me as a Business and Professional Women Young Careerist candidate. I would also like to acknowledge Caisil myself for the amazing work she has been conducting in regards to women's health, in particular heart disease.

Caisil is the woman behind the Vermont Chapter of the American Heart Association's 2nd Annual Go Red For Women Luncheon - a fundraising event featuring a silent auction, educational activities, and survivor stories to raise awareness and funds for heart disease - a disease that leads the charts on America's top killer list - and one that can be very much prevented if one takes precautions and understands and acts upon warning signs.

The luncheon is this coming Thursday, February 21st at the Sheraton in Burlington and will be attended by almost 400 women, all who are asked to dress in red to help bring color and attention to this deadly disease. I will most certainly be attending and deeply applaud Caisil and all who worked with her to organize such an important event. For those who don't make it this year, make a note for next year's and get on the list!!

This past week Caisil (during her bustle of getting ready for this signature event) nominated yours truly to be a candidate for the Burlington Chapter of the Business and Professional Women's Young Careerist program. I submitted my application and attended the organization's monthly meeting at the Sirloin Saloon where I gave a speech on the attributes of the organization which is the leading women's issues advocate to both the state and national legislature (it is a national organization). I was most honored to be named Burlington's 2008 Young Careerist and greatly look forward to attending the Vermont Conference in June where I will again speak for the title of 2008 Vermont Young Careerist. I look forward to my continued participation in this program and helping share the story of the organization with other Vermont business and professional women!

PR = Patient Rendezvousing

Well, by definition it means public relations, but I think public relations is a long term rendezvous with patience. Patience while you wait for someone to agree to move ahead with public relations strategy. Patience while you get press materials together so you can actually reach out to the press. Patience while you try and try again to make contact with members of the press. Patience while you wait to hear back from them. Patience while you wait to watch the fruit of your efforts finally reap the benefits. And they do, and when they do it is magnificent. And they will continue to do so long after the work is complete.

I understand this, but unless a client has had experience with full blown public relations efforts before, they do not grasp the concept of public relations being a rendezvous with patience. This is seriously the biggest stress in being a public relations professional, or at least in my experience. And, I wouldn't even consider patience to be one of my personal strengths. I guess that's because I practice it in all aspects of my career every day.

I must give this example before I close this entry to help clarify the long term fact of PR: When I worked at an agency I handled PR for the Woodstock Inn & Resort from 2002-2004. Just two weeks ago, in the start of 2008 - FOUR years after I stopped communicating with the press about the Woodstock Inn & Resort, I received a clipping in the mail of a four page romantic winter getaway article I worked with a writer on that just got picked up by several daily newspapers and ran in their travel sections. This exemplifies the meaning of patient rendezvousing.