Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in LEAD San Diego’s EMBARK program – a five-day leadership development program focused on improving the skills of San Diego’s emerging business leaders. A few minutes into the first session, I quickly realized this was more than just a professional development program – it was a personal development program.  Sure, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test confirmed my love of list making – no surprise there for anyone who knows me.

But the self-awareness exercises we participated in also taught me more about who I am, how the things I do affect others, and how I can improve my interpersonal communication and relationships. The rest of the personalized leadership assessment program was just as impactful as it included knowledgeable and interesting speakers, small group breakout sessions, and interactive team-building exercises.

Here are just a couple of my key takeaways from a phenomenal program:

Sometimes you have to follow to become a better leader. 

Jeff Balesh of Jeff Balesh Consulting encouraged us to lead interdependently, “with intention despite uncertainty.” In other words, it’s ok to have a plan, but it’s important to be flexible and willing to let others help when necessary. Akshay Sateesh of Ziksana Consulting, through a number of quick-thinking exercises, re-emphasized this for us by forcing us to get outside of our comfort zones. His on-the-spot improvisation lessons taught us that good leaders “live in the moment and listen.”  Doug Holman of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce stressed that it’s ok, and sometimes better, to refer colleagues to someone else competent when you’re crunched for time.  You don’t always have to do everything yourself and you can position yourself as a resource in the process.

Small actions can have a big impact.

Throughout the EMBARK program, I was reminded great leaders always find ways to say, “thank you” and that those two words can go a long way in enlightening and inspiring someone. Small actions, even if you don’t remember them, can leave a lasting impact. It’s important to take the extra step, make a follow-up call or write a letter – you never know who could be watching or how you may meet again. First impressions are made all the time, whether you know it or not.

San Diego businesses are uniquely connected.

A benefit of the EMBARK program that will have a lasting impact on me is the people I met through the program. Many of San Diego’s largest and most impactful companies, business groups and nonprofit organizations were represented in my cohort, and interacting with such fun-loving, insightful and driven individuals was exciting and energizing for me. Hearing stories about clients NST has worked with throughout the program also made it clear for me San Diego is a big city that feels like a small town, led by a close-knit group of visionaries.

I truly hope I get to work with each of my fellow EMBARKers again one day and look forward to becoming part of the next generation of San Diego visionaries together.

As a senior at San Diego State University, I think often about what has influenced me as an aspiring public relations professional. My professors at SDSU and colleagues in the Public Relations Student Society of America have not only taught me about public relations, but also showed me how to perform my work accurately and efficiently. But above all the positive influences and inspiring figures in my career, there has been no one who has had a greater effect on my education than Dr. Glen M. Broom.

Although I never had the privilege of being his student and only heard him speak at a PRSSA SDSU meeting, I have learned a lot from him over the years.

As the author and co-author of the sixth through 11th editions of “Effective Public Relations” and co-author of “Using Research in Public Relations,” Broom has had a significant impact on public relations students across the globe.

During his 30-year career at SDSU, Broom wrote 50 scholarly articles and papers, and helped create one of the top 10 public relations programs in the country. Broom has been the recipient of several awards including Outstanding Educator from the Public Relations Society of America and the Pathfinder Award from the Institute for Public Relations Research and Education.

Without a doubt, he has achieved a lot in his career. However, Broom is not inspiring because of the awards and recognition he has received, but rather for the impact he has made on his students and the public relations profession.

On Feb. 22, I attended a launch celebration for the Glen M. Broom Center for Professional Development in Public Relations. While there, I was overwhelmed by the devotion and dedication of the attendees, each one taught by or acquainted with Broom.

After the congratulatory speeches, Broom was invited to impart a few words to his family, friends, colleagues and former students. Watching a public relations legend as humble and solemn as he was reminded me that my education would not have been as impactful without his work.

Broom’s efforts influenced the public relations field, changing it to be a more efficient, accurate and ethical profession. I am proud to say that the Glen Broom Center will not only provide faculty, graduate students and working professionals with research support and training programs, but it will also offer a community-based internship program for all public relations students as well as student advising for professional development. This unmatched opportunity for SDSU public relations students will open up many doors, making its creation crucial to current and future public relations professionals.

For information on how you can make the Glen M. Broom Center a reality, please visit giveonline.sdsu.edu/giving.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve written a press release, pitched a story to media, wrote a newsletter, or drafted tweets and Facebook posts for a client account. These are common tasks for public relations practitioners and after a few years on the job, it’s easy to lose track. But over the past month, one of NST’s newest clients, 2-1-1 San Diego, has given our team the opportunity to apply our communications skills to unique projects – a custom “Challenge Coin” and animated video.

February 11 is known as National 2-1-1 Day, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the free, 24-hour call line and searchable online database connecting people to community, health and disaster support services. 2-1-1 San Diego makes 400,000 connections each year to more than 6,000 local programs and services. NST was tasked with helping to raise local awareness through the creation of a 60-second video answering the question “what is 2-1-1?” and a one-of-a-kind token to be handed out at the annual 2-1-1 Connections Luncheon. Here are some things we learned along the way:

Brevity is Key
There’s not much space to explain an organization on a coin with a 1.75-inch diameter, so you need to think long and hard about what you want to communicate. Similarly, 60 seconds goes quickly when developing a video aimed at explaining 2-1-1 San Diego in a nutshell. For both occasions, we opted to clearly state the organization’s logo, tagline and website, and communicate its key areas of expertise: housing assistance, food assistance, military and veterans services, disaster response information, financial assistance, general information and health services.

It’s all in the Details
How thick should the lines in a stick figure’s legs be? Should the logo move a centimeter to the left? Should that blue be just a touch darker? It’s surprising how tiny details can have such an effect on the end project. These projects are going to have a long shelf life for 2-1-1 San Diego and it is important to get things right, even if it means asking yourself a million questions along the way. Be specific when outlining your vision. Ask how many rounds of revisions are allowed. Be sure to allot time and budget to ensure you get the project just right.

Share, Share, Share
The 2-1-1 Challenge Coin and animated video weren’t created to sit on an office shelf and acquire dust. They were designed to raise awareness of an essential community service and to do that, they must be shared with as many people as possible. An estimated 700 attendees walked away from the 2-1-1 Connections Luncheon with a Challenge Coin in their hands, and 2-1-1 San Diego has earmarked hundreds more to be handed out to elected officials, funders, volunteers and more. The animated video was posted to YouTube, shared on Facebook and included in Twitter outreach, and luncheon attendees were encouraged to connect with the organization online and share the video with others. Developing captivating and meaningful communication materials is the first step, sharing it with the world is what makes for a lasting connection.

It’s always good to put a fresh perspective on communications projects, and I’m happy to have worked on these unique projects and learned new ways to effectively publicize an organization. To learn more about 2-1-1 San Diego, visit www.211sandiego.org.

If you’re interested in exploring unique communication vehicles that may be appropriate for your company, drop us a line and we’ll get our creative juices flowing.

The holidays are upon us and so is the age-old question most people struggle with this time of year — real or fake? A Christmas tree that is!

Here at NST, we have a longstanding tradition of displaying a real Christmas tree each year. Our team gathers together to string the lights, decorate and take an annual office photo in front of the glowing tree. It’s a nice opportunity to unwind with each other and welcome the season.

But, we’re also a bit biased …

For the last six years, our agency has worked with the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, a group of more than 1,000 individual Christmas tree farms throughout Oregon and Washington. The association supplies more than 90 percent of the real trees purchased throughout the Southwest, and, as many of us in the public relations world know, you tend to become well versed in your client’s industry. We’re not the “official” real Christmas tree experts, but after spending a significant amount of time promoting real trees, we’ve learned a tip or two!

The NST Christmas tree is up, and our beautiful Douglas Fir is welcoming visitors in our lobby. We put together a short video recapping 2012 NST Christmas Tree Selection and decoration party, and also highlighted a few tips to help you select a fresh tree on the lot. Enjoy!

Nuffer, Smith, Tucker’s 2012 Christmas Tree from NSTPR on Vimeo.

We also asked the team to share photos of their personal real Christmas trees (and, in turn, received photos including adorable children and pets!).

What are your personal or professional real Christmas tree traditions? We’d love to hear them!

NST Trees:

Jessica Vasquez, her boyfriend Cody and their cat Bib are all smiles in front of their Noble Fir. “Bib loves it when we bring the tree in each year because she hides underneath and tries to grab you when you walk past,” says Jessica. 

The Trumpfheller family’s 9-foot Noble Fir follows tradition. Bill says that each ornament on the family tree has a story and “when we decorate we rehash the story of each to remind us of where we got it.” 

Bryan Spevak’s daughter Emme stands next to the real tree the Spevak family decorated this year along Loop 360 in Austin, Texas. It’s an annual tradition in Austin to decorate the “Christmas” trees, which are visible to drivers along the busy highway.

For Teresa Siles, selecting her real Christmas tree is an annual tradition. With her birthday in early December, Teresa heads to the tree lot with her parents in what has become an annual Christmas/birthday tradition to select the perfect Noble Fir. 

Rebecca Schmidt added some greenery to her home this year with a wreath made out of Nobile Fir branches. Santa Miggy approves!

Price Adams and her husband Brad selected a 6-foot Noble Fir tree this year, which is perfectly placed and waiting for admiration from Santa as he comes down the chimney.

Mark Olson’s dog Hank steals the show in front of the family Christmas tree. Bonus points for wrapped presents already under the tree!

Natalie Haack’s “Wee Tree” (as she says). It’s a tabletop Noble Fir and is the perfect size for her apartment.

At NST, we value each other’s unique backgrounds, interests and ideas, and one of the traits we all share is a passion for learning. In fact, learning and exploring is a core value at NST, and we continually push ourselves, our clients and our profession to explore. In support of this value, it is common practice for our team to share the industry-related articles we are reading in meetings, via email and in conversation, to stay on top of the latest news and trends impacting our clients and their industries.

The information we share comes from numerous publications covering a wide range of topics, including public relations, marketing, business, social media, digital, agriculture/food, and other news making local and national headlines.

So what news is making the rounds this week at NST?  Check out the articles below. After all, “[R]eading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”  -Sir Richard Steele

• Amazon is launching brand pages. Registration is free and this Facebook-type page is more product-focused: http://bit.ly/S8lUN8 (PR Daily)
• Did you upload a picture of your Thanksgiving meal to Instagram? Congratulations – you helped the photo sharing site break all its records with more than 200 photos being uploaded every second during some hours: http://lat.ms/V8SKSB (Los Angeles Times)
• Meet your newest management headache: the co-branded employee. A growing number of professionals are using social media to build a personal, public identity—a brand of their own—based on their work, and employers need to start preparing for the ever-greater challenges they pose for managers, co-workers and companies: http://on.wsj.com/S8m3Aa (Wall Street Journal)
• Thought leadership is more than having a point of view. If done properly, it can be the foundation for an entire, multi-channel communications campaign, and provide the opportunity for a company to set the industry agenda and showcase its depth of knowledge: http://bit.ly/TfJENL (PR Week)
• Facebook is rolling out HTTPS to users in North America. While this is a more secure connection, HTTPS tends to load at slower speeds: http://on.mash.to/WSHrOE (Mashable)
• A new location-based augmented reality app developed by a San Diego startup hopes to gain traction with marketers. CacheTown seeks to marry an augmented reality scavenger hunt game with a daily-deal style platform for marketers to enhance their campaigns: http://bit.ly/Sp6ggk (U-T San Diego)
• Just in time for holiday shopping, Google Maps provides indoor floor plans for more than 10,000 locations around the world, including retail stores: http://lat.ms/U7X5AU (Los Angeles Times)
• Shoppers beware: More and more mannequins are equipped with spy tech that’s helping retailers relieve you of your hard-earned money: http://nbcnews.to/Sp6lk0 (NBC News)
• Digital shopping predictions for Black Friday and Cyber Monday shared via a detailed Infographic: http://bit.ly/U7X8g6 (Social Times)
• Pumpkin Pie is the hot flavor of the season for everything from coffee and ice cream to marshmallows and beer: http://nyti.ms/TqxZP4 (New York Times)
• Don’t fall for the fake privacy notice spreading on Facebook. It won’t protect your personal data from unauthorized copyrighting: http://on.mash.to/S8muuh (Mashable)

Social media has made an indelible mark on how brands communicate with their customers – no one can deny that. Over the past five or so years, we’ve seen social media rise to new heights and now the question for brands isn’t “should we get involved in social media” but “how best can we use social media to our advantage?”

I recently attended Social Fresh, a conference dedicated to shining light on all things social media, much like Nuffer, Smith, Tucker’s own San Diego Social Media Symposium. Here, I heard from San Diego-based Intuit’s Adrian Parker regarding how the company handles social media, an approach Adrian likens to cooking.

People approach cooking in different ways. You can open a recipe book, make a list of ingredients, go to the grocery store and purchase ingredients, prepare your cooking space, follow directions, and finally serve the meal. This technique is full of calculated moves and would often result in a delicious dinner, but it lacks spontaneity.

Another approach would be to open the pantry, look for interesting ingredients, brainstorm combinations, develop your own recipe, improvise cooking techniques and finally serve the meal. There is a lot of room for error in this methodology, but it also opens the door for innovation and learning.

Adrian’s insight served as a fresh reminder to not rely on cookie-cutter social media techniques. While it may seem scary to take risks, it can give your brand the voice or reach it needs to make a splash in the social media landscape. Next time you log in to Twitter or Facebook on behalf of your brand, remember to blend tried-and-true tactics with new ideas to develop your own recipe for success.

According to The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism report, how people get their news has changed. The State of the News Media 2012: An Annual Report on American Journalism states:

[T]he majority of Americans now get news through at least one digital, web-based device. While the desktop or laptop computer remains the primary digital platform for news (54% of Americans get news there), the number of consumers who get news on multiple digital devices is growing. Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults, 23%, now get news on at least two devices.

As people get more of their news online, news organizations are also making adjustments. Twenty percent of U.S. newspapers require a paying subscription for full digital access – a number that has doubled since last year. For those going online to get news, what better way to bring readers to the heart of the action as it happens than video?

The Wall Street Journal created a hub called WSJ WorldStream, on the video-sharing site Tout, for mobile video shot via smartphone by more than 2,000 journalists around the world. According to the Wall Street Journal, their video viewership has more than doubled in the past six months so it makes sense for the paper to expand video creation.

Video storytelling was also used during New York Fashion Week by ”… several fashion reporters … turning to Viddy and other forms of mobile video distribution to compliment their coverage.” Many felt video brought the clothing to life in a way still images couldn’t, and the format was perfect for short interviews with designers and fashion show attendees.

What can brands learn from these examples? Share the latest news about your brand, details about events as they happen, and provide how-to videos. When Apple released iOS 6, Mashable shared a hands-on how-to video about the new features, which brought the information to life and made the changes easier to understand.

Creating videos to share information with customers is not a new concept for many brands. However, with the advent of video sharing sites like Viddy and Tout, brands don’t need to – and are not expected to – create long, edited, fancy videos. Instead, information can be shared quickly and in easily digestible, 15-second clips. Bring brand stories to life with video, make your blog posts and social media updates more interactive, and give customers an authentic feel for what your company is doing. Social media has created platforms for closer connections between brands and customers, and video can only help strengthen this connection.

One of our clients, Markon Cooperative – a produce provider to the foodservice industry – does a nice job of providing timely produce updates to their customers and buyers via a weekly “Live From the Fields” video series. Markon’s Aug. 30, 2012 episode focused on the elevated insect pressure in the Salinas Valley at the time and what harvesters were doing to address the issue.

What do you think about companies integrating video into their communications? How could your company use video? What are the benefits?

It’s no secret public relations professionals aim to create content that elicits an action, especially through social media channels. It’s called “social media” for a reason – we want people talking about, engaging with and sharing our client’s content and messages.

Nuffer, Smith, Tucker co-hosted the “Content Marketing Insider Secrets” webinar last Tuesday with Social Fresh, a social media education company, that discussed content creation in-depth. The webinar gave attendees a glimpse of the dialogue that will take place at the Social Fresh WEST conference in San Diego on September 27-28, and featured conference presenters Anna Lingeris of Hershey’s and Zena Weist of Expion along with NST President Bill Trumpfheller.

The lively discussion focused on the importance of knowing your brand’s voice, prepping your content with appropriate research, and being an engaging participant and curator. Here’s a recap of some key points:

• Content shouldn’t repeat your traditional ad copy. Figure out what voice will resonate with your target audiences and tailor it accordingly per social media platform.
• Identifying a focused brand voice helps all employees within your company understand social media goals and activity. It also makes it easier for people to participate.
• Listen and respond to the needs of your audience.
• Create content, but also let others’ (your audience) voices and opinions come through.
• Metrics and data are available – use statistics and data to create a plan, and see what’s resonating with your audience.
• Cross-pollenating content per platform can increase the shelf life of your campaign.
• You want people to trust your brand – engagement helps build trust.
• Listen first; talk later.
• Create content that your audience can easily share on and offline.
• Engaging content must have a personal relevance. Find out what matters to your audience and create content that sparks a discussion around those topics.
• The top three types of engaging content are: personal questions, loyalty questions and call-to-actions with photos or links.
• Figure out how to make a local tie to your audience for increased interaction.
• Content marketing research is critically important and should be a large part of the resource pie.
• What experience are you trying to deliver? Use this to drive content creation, but realize in the end it, your content may not be all brand focused.
• Don’t succumb to “shiny object syndrome” each time a new platform emerges. Do your research before diving in.

Did you join “Content Marketing Insider Secrets?” What were your takeaways?

Digital engagement, in particular social media, has given marketers an unprecedented new way to participate in a two-way dialog with consumers. As we often coach our clients, with earned media channels such as PR and social media, a company needs to be comfortable giving up a certain amount of control of its message to be able to have authentic conversations online.

Recently, our newsfeeds have been rife with a number of examples of companies relinquishing control of their brands’ message and the outcomes have been somewhat mixed.

Performer Pitbull and retail behemoth Walmart recently earned kudos for rolling with the punches when a contest didn’t go quite as planned. The promotion offered a visit from Pitbull to the store location that received the most new Facebook likes, but Facebook users rallied to send the artist to perform in Kodiak, Ala., the most remote Walmart in America. The company and performer responded with enthusiasm and made good on their promise.

Mountain Dew recently asked consumers to select a name for its newest soft drink flavor. Instead of clever, feasible options, the top trending name suggestions were at worst disgustingly inappropriate and at best simply unusable, with entries such as “Diabeetus.” An online hacking group also established inappropriate banner messages throughout the brand’s microsite, which was later taken down.

The branding/PR world has erupted into debate on how to view these types of situations. Some warn against performing any crowd-sourcing campaigns, saying they put too much control in the hands of the public. Others say marketers should loosen their controls on such sites to encourage tinkering with the hope these antics could potentially provide the campaign with more media exposure.

While it certainly depends on the clients’ overall goals, I think with a solid understanding of the public perception of your brand, a good grasp on current issues/challenges facing the industry, the right technological safeguards in place, and a plan for if/when things change course, crowd-sourcing is still an opportunity worth pursuing.

What are your thoughts on the future of crowd-sourcing? Will brands see this as an opportunity to extend their reach or as a canary in the coalmine for digital campaigns gone awry?

We at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker believe it’s important to give back – it not only helps those in need and sets an example for other organizations, but it also encourages us a team.  Last Thursday, several NST’ers spent the morning downtown waving signs and collecting money in big red shoes in support of the third-annual Red Shoe Day.  Our team represented a few of the more than 1,200 volunteers who took to the streets to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego (an NST client) and the great work they do to provide a “home away from home” for families with critically ill or injured children in local hospitals.

It was inspiring to watch the creativity of some of the volunteers, some donning wigs, costumes and hula hoops to get attention, and it was even more special to see firsthand the generosity of those choosing to give back on their daily commute.  All in all, Red Shoe Day raised an estimated $150,000 for the charity, so thanks to all who donated!

What’s a creative way you or your professional team have helped make your community a better place to live, work and play?