Props to a Blog

One day I will transition from running my own Vermont public relations business to owning and marketing a property/business of some sort. When that time comes, I most certainly will be checking out the Vermont Lodging Properties Blog before anywhere else. I continue to drool over this blog from time to time at the amazing Vermont inns, homes, lodges, and bed and breakfasts I could potentially run. So as I prepare to embark for another multi-day recharge rocking out to my favorite band, Phish, I encourage folks to dream a little dream and check out www.vermontlodgingproperties.com. The coolest thing about this website is it's a blog - excellent business model and way to use a blog most effectively!

PR is So Exciting with Social Media Integration

While social media is putting PR in its place, it is also revitalizing PR into its new Golden Age! With the fantastic new Burlington Vermont Social Media Breakfast Group (#BTVSMB), PR, marketing, and social media professionals are coming together all over the state and are all realizing PR and social media are one in the same. I have written about the new emerging PR landscape since I started this blog in 2007, and now it is here! The PR landscape IS social media and it has revitalized most PR professionals I know - the sad decay of our previous chosen profession, which started being looked at as just plain slimy, is now forging the way in the new media ecosystem (as Pitch Engine pros call it). Most PR peeps I know (and ALL of the ones in Vermont), never went into the world of public relations because we wanted to be the sluts of corporate marketing. We went into it because we are "people people" - because we love telling stories; because we love helping people and know that the power of the story can be a HUGE help; because we love writing, talking, and overall communicating; because we love analyzing what makes people tick and how we can affect change with that. And social media has allowed us to do what we have been wanting to do all along - it's like we're all doing the PR Ra Ra dance - now is the time to rock out with a Vermont public relations professional!

A group of us recently got together for breakfast at the Charlotte Farmhouse (that's the home of my VT PR firm). This group - the Vermont Public Relations Group (VTPR) - is a Google Group for Vermont public relations industry professionals to share technology, concepts, job openings, and higher learning encompassing both traditional and social media. We meet on a semi-regular basis at member businesses.

The event was sponsored by Three Squares Café in Vergennes and featured workshops by Marketwire – a traditional and social media wire service with offices in Vermont and Great Photographic Art of Vermont – a commercial, advertising, and publicity photography studio located in Burlington.

Pictured here are Vermont PR professionals from the following Vermont companies: Kelliher Samets Volk, Killoran Communications, Smuggler’s Notch, National Life Group, Vermont Ski Areas Association, Filkorn Public Relations, Sona Iyengar Communications, writer Leslie Kilgore, and Rachel Carter PR. Photo credit is Great Photographic Art.

Not in attendance as they were preparing for the #BTVSMB was People Making Good (PMG), but they were there in spirit! Info on the #BTVSMB is available through hash tags on Twitter and kudos to Digalicious for creating this fantastic concept in #VT!

Tips on How I Survive Running a Business By Myself!

I don't know! I figure it out every day. So, here are a few of my latest tips:

~ Realize that things will NEVER slow down and accept it.
~ Make things STOP by shutting off everyone related to work and hang out with your loved ones.
~ Inform people in your personal life (when you are not stressed) that running a business as an entrepreneur is like nothing else and unfortunately sometimes plans have to be broken.
~ Take time to yourself in the morning.
~ SAY NO! Don't work with everyone, don't be everything to everyone, and don't feel bad about it.
~ Collaborate! Once you've got your start-up networking out of the way, actually build relationships and scratch backs when you can - yours will be scratched too. But you can't think about it "as I'll do this for you if you do this for me." It has to be a pay-it-forward concept.

Those are my tips.
Fan with me on Facebook.
Tweet with me on Twitter.
Visit me at the Charlotte Farmhouse:

Active Travels

There are a ton of travel related websites and more of them than not are hard-to-navigate travel directories with corporate money behind them so they are what show up in even the most creative of searches. This is great if you are looking for budget airfare or hotels, but what if you are a bit more adventurous? Are you the kind of person who equates travel to merely getting away or fully experiencing other cultures? Do you like to do what everyone else does or are you more creative in your endeavors? Perhaps you would prefer to know about how to explore and navigate British Columbia without a car as opposed to staying in a fancy hotel (and trying to find that elusive low cost) in Vancouver. Or maybe you'd like to go to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup instead of watching it on an airplane while traveling to Chicago. How about knowing what trails and huts to hike and stay at in Maine instead of just parking it at a campground. Yoga in Nicaragua? Sea kayaking with whales? A family experience in Costa Rica?

Steve Jermanok, a well traveled, well spoken, and long time friend of many Vermont PR folks has launched ActiveTravels.com - a blog dedicated to giving expert advice to travelers, not tourists, on connecting with nature, people, and wildlife around the world while working up a sweat. The site is for anyone in halfway decent shape who yearns for an authentic and memorable travel experience outdoors, far away from the masses.

Steve's travels span the globe in a fun and adventurist manner very in sync with my own personal travel goals and his writing experience bounces from National Geographic Adventure and Budget Travel to The Boston Globe and Robb Report as well as being the author of 11 books. Steve pulls from this fantastic repertoire to share tips, ideas, and details with readers and also offers a Go Play! Forum where you can create your own adventure with Steve's help - such an innovative tool - I plan to use it for my England exploration active honeymoon (I shudder at an all-inclusive resort honeymoon - ick)!


Please check out www.activetravels.com and share with your friends - Rachel Carter PR approved and highly recommended! And kudos Steve - this is an awesome example of what writers are doing in this shifting media economy and it's inspiring to see!

Classical Music & Hard Cider

I have to do it - I have to take a blog moment to promote two of my clients because what they have going on is definitely newsworthy!!! And, I am so proud and want to thank some folks who are helping make it happen!

Brandon Music - Vermont's Classical Music Haven announced the official opening of the Harmony English Tea Room, the opening of their Vermont art gallery with the first exhibit being by Linda Durkee, and launched their new website - www.brandonmusicvt.com - all in the past two weeks!



Surrounded by gracious countryside just outside of the artistic downtown community of Brandon, Vermont, lies Brandon Music – Vermont’s Classical Music Haven. Brandon Music is the North American headquarters of owner Stephen Sutton’s British classical music record company, Divine Art Recordings Group. Located in Warren Kimble’s former historic red barn studio and gallery, Brandon Music hosts the Divine Art CD Store, Harmony English Tea Room, a Vermont art gallery, and a vintage collector’s corner. The Divine Art CD Store showcases a wide collection of contemporary to rare classical music from the Divine Art, Diversions, Metier, Athene, and Move record labels. Harmony English Tea Room – a chic English-style tearoom and music café – sells specialty British teas and coffees, tablewares, and vintage china and linens, and will schedule live music concerts and recorded music appreciation events as well as special themed events such as “tea-dances.” An art gallery showcases work by local artists and a collector’s corner is planned which will offer the sale of vintage and rare historic records while featuring a growing assortment of vintage collectibles and antiques. Brandon Music is open year round and more information is available at www.brandonmusicvt.com or by calling 802-465-4071.

Thanks to Stephanie and Mike Raccine of Off the Page Creations for creating such a fabulous website! Check them out at www.offthepagecreations.com.

Woodchuck Draft Cider is enhancing their Vermont presence starting by partnering with Vermont organizations and events and the next few weeks are getting quite busy - get a taste of the nation's best hard cider at these great Vermont events:

Stoweflake Hot Air Balloon Festival at Stoweflake Resort, July 10-12, 2009

“Veillée” (French Canadian Dinner) at the Vergennes Opera House, Friday, July 17, 2009

5th Annual Taste of Stowe Arts Festival at Stowe's Topnotch Field, July 24-26, 2009

One Glove: A Michael Jackson Tribute at Higher Ground, July 24, 2009 - Woodchuck is the presenter of this fantastic Seven Days event in remembrance of the nation's king of pop.

Woodchuck Draft Cider is a hard cider handcrafted with apples in Green Mountain Beverage’s state-of-the-art facility in Middlebury, Vermont. The original recipe, known as the popular Woodchuck Amber Cider, was created by current cider make, Greg Failing, in 1991 in Proctorsville, Vermont. The Woodchuck Draft Cider family has grown to include Granny Smith, 802 (Dark & Dry), Pear, and a brand new selection of Limited Releases to which Failing adds his personal touch to ensure exceptional quality and premium taste to Vermont’s award-winning hard cider. A naturally gluten-free beverage, Woodchuck Draft Cider is also a favorite in food pairings and a key ingredient in a variety of recipes. More information is available at www.woodchuck.com and you can follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WoodchuckCider.

On days like this I love what I do!! Thanks to Brandon Music and Woodchuck Draft Cider for being such exceptional clients!

Good Writers Pave the Way

The current media situation is baffling businesses, changing the scope of PR, stressing out PR clients, and transforming journalism. I think of everyone dealing with the influx of social media and the death of many forms of traditional media has been most challenging for journalists. As someone who has worked in public relations in Vermont for over ten years, I have made a great many friends with journalists, writers, and editors, and while I feel their pain, I am also amazed at the resilience many of them show in fighting back and foraging their own way. I feel in some regard, this has helped boost the respect levels between the two professions, especially for those of us who are entrepreneurs.

I have done some super cliche writing lately, but seriously, the only thing I can think of in regards to the economic situation and the evolving media landscape is something I have learned is true in every aspect of my life - if you want something done you have to do it yourself. And that is what several journalists I hold volumes of respect for are doing. I am going to be sharing their endeavors with you over the next few posts...

B.J. Roche, a talented writer whose work has included recent features in The Boston Globe and Yankee Magazine, also teaches journalism at UMass Amherst (my parent's and brother's alma mater) and provides a variety of career and entrepreneurial counseling for enterprising journalists. Most recently she launched the website FiftyShift.com - a deep yet humorous foray into the lives, livelihoods, areas of concern and interest to the modern midlife woman.

I think one of the most exceptional concepts of this website is since it is written by a career writer and teacher, it is so easy to follow and everything seems pertinent and relevant. The site is well organized, it is easy to navigate, has a great mixture of photos, links, and headlines, and subjects span everything from being a cougar to how to tackle Facebook; from how to talk about aging issues with parents to how to plan a midlife sabbatical. Of course there is the usual tax info, retirement info, travel info, and gardening and cooking tips, but it's very clear this website isn't managed by a company trying to sell some of these products/services - it's managed by a woman shifting into her fifties as well and who really knows what's up with this demographic - and how to deliver it.

Well done and for all my pals out there in this demographic - you have got to check it out - www.FiftyShift.com!

Lessons from the Road

Wow, I have been a bad, bad blogger lately! I apologize. June has been an intense month of ups and downs. The elation of the music that has shaped my life returning coupled with judgments in the professional world which have been hurtful and downright wrong. I have built a professional persona that is true to my personal being. This was something that was fundamentally important to me in starting my own business. I have also found that being true to myself, being real, and being honest about who I am has had far more benefits than I could ever imagine. I have developed much stronger media relationships since managing my own Vermont public relations business solely based on the fact that I am not a "typical PR person." That results in press coverage for my clients and that is one of the things I love most about what I do.

Unfortunately I continue to learn that people have judgments, and while they are more often than not related to jealousy and their own insecurities, it doesn't stop the fact that they are painful and ugly.

Luckily while I learned some difficult lessons this month, I was also blessed with the culmination of my love affair with Phish and went to four shows in the beginning of June. It made me think a great deal about where I was when I first started listening to them, where I was when they broke up, and where I am now. Returning to Phish as an adult with a bunch of other adults has been inspirational and the lessons I learned then, most certainly do apply now. These lessons are an integral part of what I hold dear to my personal and professional lives - lives which have been intertwined with Rachel Carter PR and living a life that is honest and true in everything I do!

Life Lessons from Phish and the Road:

1.) DON'T JUDGE!!!! The crazy guy dancing next to you with the green wig and sparkle sunglasses is actually a high power, well respected DC lawyer.
2.) CHILL OUT! Sometimes you need to stop it all, completely engage in something else, let you mind not think, and release all that pent up energy.
3.) YOU DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO HAVE YOUR WAY! If someone's dancing too close next to you, don't fight back, move and create a new space.
4.) SMILE! Everyone is, don't worry about why, just smile back - it feels good.
5.) LISTEN FOR ONCE! Actually listening to the music - it does wonders.
6.) CONVERSE AWAY FROM THE MUNDANE! No one asks you what you do - that stuff just doesn't matter. Build friendships based on common interests and loves and you'll be connected for life.

I came back from Phish feeling more confident about who I am, more satisfied with my life, and more relaxed about the fact that I really do have to stop sweating the small stuff. Sometimes the small stuff is blogging, so I took a break. Good to be back and can't wait to go see Phish again in August - I mean, isn't this why I started a business in the first place?