Blog
Holiday Blog Special
Jodie (Shpritz) Kaplan, Vice President of Media Relations and Branding Even though I'm Jewish we still celebrated Christmas. I mean what's better than eating candy Christmas morning, getting a Caboodle, a CareBares game and Love Buds (whatever those were). I personally loved my red and white flannel nightgown that I chose special for the occasion.
MAYAN CALENDAR MAYHEM
Jodie (Shpritz) Kaplan, Vice President of Media Relations and Branding My world is ending All good things must come to an end You should have eaten that piece of cake because now you can’t Apocalypse why are you happening now? I still have so many great PR plans to execute Nobody will be left, prepare
MVPR
Julia Schatz, Consultant Last week I picked up a Redeye newspaper with Derrick Rose on the cover. The headline read, “REDEYE POP PERSON OF THE YEAR: D-ROSE, Off the Court and On, He’s Chicago’s Favorite Son.” Later that same morning, Crain’s Chicago Business led me to an article in ChicagoSide dissecting Jay Cutler’s very negative
Holiday Wrapping for Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation
To find out more about Bear Necessities visit: https:///www.bearnecessities.org/HomePage.aspx
Reading Books vs. Reading Tweets
Tracey Mendrek, Senior Consultant Last week I learned that Dick Costolo, CEO at Twitter, and I have something in common. We are both currently reading “The Paris Wife” by Paula McLain. I know this because at the end of the day, instead of reading my book I perused Twitter. I recently heard Mr. Costolo speak
Helping Hands
CeCe Marizu, Account Executive “What do you want from Santa this year?” I said with a big smile on my face to a little boy when I was in high school. He looked at me and simply mumbled under his breath, “Santa doesn’t come to my house.” You never forget moments like those. They make
A Couple Billion Here, A Couple Billion There and What Do We Get? Gridlock.
Patrick Skarr, Account Supervisor Republicans – even that rarer breed, Illinois Republicans, woke up on Nov. 6 with a small sense of optimism. The polls and the underlying statistical assumptions offered a beguiling sense of optimism and hope that there was a viable – albeit convoluted path to victory. Then collectively somewhere between 7:30 and
Speak Up and Speak Often
Ashleigh Johnston, Consultant For all my fellow young professionals out there, this one is for you. I’ve been reflecting on my job performance over the past year and I began to recognize a common theme. There were times when something would come across my desk that I proofed and sent back but really didn’t change
In a Time of Peace, Prepare for War
Julia Schatz, Consultant As 2012 begins to wind down, we begin to look back at the best of this and worst of that for the year. One article that really stood out to me was Mashable’s 11 Biggest Social Media Disasters of 2012. In today’s digital age of media it is just as likely that
Pinning Products With a Purpose
Jodie Kaplan, Vice President of Media Relations and Branding Pinterest is a great tool to not only promote your client and their products, but to give them a shout out for great press as well. Pinterest is a more dynamic option than simply posting the article on a website. Pinterest works extremely well for tangible
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving from the Culloton Strategies team! Dennis Culloton, President & CEO While jumping from crisis to crisis, it is easy to forget I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a great family at home and here at Culloton Strategies. It is a great team. I am even more thankful for our
Alvarez Joins Culloton Strategies
Chicago Tribune Melissa Harris' Chicago Confidential November 18, 2012 Alvarez joins Culloton Public relations firm Culloton Strategies has hired Michael Alvarez, a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, as senior vice president for public affairs. As the Sun-Times reported in January, Alvarez, 32, has worked for Barack Obama, Rod Blagojevich and Richard M. Daley — while he
All That Remains are the Yard Signs
Tracey Mendrek, Senior Consultant After a long, expensive and exhausting campaign, the 2012 election is finally behind us. No matter what your political leaning is, everyone is ready to move on. But alas that is impossible, because yard signs still litter the landscape. Many are beginning to look a little tattered around the edges or
What Business Leaders Can Learn From the Election
Dennis Culloton, President and CEO Billions of dollars were spent on this fall’s presidential election and what do we have to show for it? Well, it depends on whose campaign you backed. But what we have is an important lesson for business leaders and others trying to get their message out. Over more than 18 months
Once in a Lifetime
CeCe Marizu, Account Executive There are moments in life that are simply unforgettable. Nov. 6, 2012 was one of those nights. As the red, white, and blue confetti poured down, I stretched out my arms with my hands wide open and closed my eyes. I couldn’t believe that I was part of history, along with
Social Media Mayhem: When Facebook becomes a trusted news source
Ashleigh Johnston, Consultant My blog will be bit more somber than my usual entries. Over the weekend, a young woman was driving late at night, wrecked her car and died. Unfortunately, this tragedy is all too common but in reading the news coverage something jumped out at me. As details are being withheld, pending an
Spooktacular Blog Day!
In honor of Halloween here at CS we thought a Halloween themed blog was only fitting. Enjoy the spooktacular reading! Patrick Skarr, Account Supervisor We had the option of going to elementary school in costume as a person of interest from history. I chose President Kennedy since I attended CCD classes at a school named
Dissecting Decision 2012
Patrick Skarr, Account Supervisor With early voting underway and the final tally less than two weeks out, we are close to getting this maddening electoral cycle behind us. In the weeks and months after the election, there will be an explosion of analysis and critiques. We’ll hear from every expert in the world about how
Political Bowl 2012
CeCe Marizu, Account Executive This is the point in a season where the hard work, determination, and sacrifice pay off. It’s where the weak crumble and the strong prevail. This is the point in a race where the opponent looks the competition in the eyes and executes the final strategy! This is what sports… I
Review, Refine, Repeat
Tracey Mendrek, Senior Consultant Recently I attended a gathering of successful people celebrating a common cause. As these sorts of events go it was enlightening and informative. There were the usual takeaways – She said what? He must be hitting the gym these days. I’m glad I’m not (fill in the blank). But a very
Keep Your Candy Dish Close and Your Colleagues Even Closer
Jodie (Shpritz) Kaplan, Vice President of Media Relations and Branding Yes, it is true. I am the friendly office candy fiend keeping my colleagues bellies full and robust. I have to admit, a lot of it does wind up being eaten by me. However, I keep this candy dish full to keep my friends and
Three Keys to Unlocking Better Teamwork
Ashleigh Johnston, Consultant As much as we focus on how to prepare a message for the public or focus on how to communicate outside of our business, it is just as important to take great care with communication within your organization. Too often inter-office communication suffers because we are so outwardly focused on pleasing the
Thank You Steve Jobs
CeCe Marizu, Account Executive Growing up in Reno, Nev. you learn to be creative. You learn that a 21 and over town is meant for opportunities that kids in the suburbs or small towns never get to experience. You learn what gambling can do to people by seeing some win big and others lose it
Social Networking…Offline
Julia Schatz, Consultant I consider myself incredibly lucky to have grown up with the technology that is available at my fingertips. Literally. Smartphones, tablets, laptops etc. are seemingly extensions of most people today, especially my cohort of recent college graduates and those beginning their careers. Growing up with this technology leaves us with both a
A Mother’s Love
CeCe Marizu, Account Executive After spending a week with my mom in Chicago I realized how important moms really are. Don’t get me wrong, of course I have valued my mom my whole life (the woman gave birth to me for goodness sake), but having her in the new city I call home was a
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