That’s a wrap!

Rachel

Allie

Rachel having her makeup done

Allie

Behind the scenes

Where's Kate?

Kate Spencer testing out the props

Hanging out with the birds at Washington Park Botanical Gardens

On a freezing cold January afternoon Kate takes her last shot, shouts ‘that’s a wrap’ and applause breaks out in Washington Park’s Botanical Gardens; it’s the end of the fashion shoot for Springfield’s Own Magazine March/April 2016 edition – and our most successful to date.

The 70-plus degree warmth of the enclosed dome, the stunning location, the gorgeous clothes supplied by The Itty Bitty Fashion Truck, the talented Kate Spencer of Kate Spencer Photography, the gorgeous models Allie and Rachel, hair stylists Becky and Stacy, make-up artists Katelyn and Miranda and props from Flea Market to Fabulous made for some of the best fashion photos we’ve been involved in creating – and with zero budget!

It’s a long day, which entails weeks of preparation, but there's no better feeling when the whole thing comes together and you end up with top class images.

We begin with a theme for the shoot, which mimics that of the magazine. Then Chris and I meet with Kate to brainstorm ideas. Once we’ve decided on the salient details we secure our models, location and clothes. I then liaise with our hair and make-up team, which includes Pure Skin and BJ Grand Salon.

Getting almost a dozen people together in one place, for between four-to-six hours, is no mean feat. However, we are lucky to work with the best of the best, the professional and creative … most of all we always have fun.

Kate increasingly makes it harder to select just seven-to-nine images, which will end up in the mag – because the 500-plus I have to choose from are all worthy contenders.

Once I’ve chosen the photos I add all the details so that readers know where they can buy the beautiful clothes, props etc.

A month later the mag goes to print.  Only weeks later it sits on the coffee tables of thousands of homes, hotels and businesses in Springfield and beyond.

Thanks to Chris we also have a great selection of behind the scenes photos, which we are able to share with you now.

What a pleasure it is to work with such talent and share it with everyone else. 

Display ad spending to overtake search in 2016

According to emarketer.com, this year for the first time in advertising history, advertisers in the US are set to spend more on display ads than on search ads.  Search advertising isn’t expected to suffer it will continue to grow just at a slower rate.

Display ads are defined as traditional banners, native ads and video. While video ads are the logical benefactor of TV budgets shifting online, traditional banners and native ads, which imitate editorial content and appear in content feeds on sites as well as the likes of Facebook and Twitter, will continue to bring in more money for the foreseeable future.

We are seeing, with our clients, a growing willingness to invest in display ads, especially on Facebook. What is most appealing for many of our clients is the ability to measure return on investment through analytics. Our aim, of course, is for our clients’ customers to follow through with a visit to their website, office, store or to even pick up the phone and make a call.

What is particularly exciting for us is the opportunity to take our content generating skills online. The opportunity to reach greater numbers of our clients’ target audience and, even better, to interact with them is extremely rewarding.

We still believe print media has its place, but the rate at which we are producing online content for our clients, whether start-ups or established businesses, continues to grow.

What our clients have taught us … so far

When we first meet with a client we often hear ‘I do all these things, but I don’t tell anyone about it because I either don’t know who to tell or I simply don’t have time.’ Like Rockefeller said: ‘Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing, is to let people know you are doing the right thing.’

What we have learnt from our clients is that they don’t just need idea generation, or to build relationships with the media, in order to reach their target audience, but they also need more time. We can give them more time by fulfilling their public relations and marketing needs.

This is especially true when it comes to social media management or online content, whether that be a website, blogs or platforms such as Houzz. There are so many great marketing tools out there, but which ones do you pick for your business and how do you maintain them when you already have a busy schedule? Well, that’s where we come in. We maintain our clients’ social media accounts, write blogs, update content on their websites and manage relationships with the various online platforms. We also provide feedback with analytics so that we can explain what is working best, why and how to move forward with online investment. Return on investment is very important to us. 

We tell the stories our clients forget or don't have time to tell themselves; through their own clients, customers or consumers. We look for the opportunities they do not have time to look for, whether it’s commentary in a magazine or a TV interview.

We negotiate advertising or advertorial, which speaks to their target audience – we do not take a blanket approach, but a strategic and sustained one.

We also work to align our clients’ corporate social responsibility activity with their business' needs. So, they don’t feel they have to say yes to every raffle or silent auction. We work their community involvement into the PR and marketing strategy so they can see they are making a valued impact.

At the end of the day, it’s all about adding value and seeing outcomes, which not only takes knowledge and expertise, but also that all important thing … time. 

A good year

We’ve had a good year at Gem PR & Media; expansion into the USA, quadrupling our clients, gaining print, radio and TV exposure, helping them grow their businesses and meet their goals – as well as win awards.

We’ve worked with clients in the retail, health, technology and banking industries. We write for, proof and edit several publications in the US, UK and around the world including Guernsey’s Chamber of Commerce bi-monthly; Contact, the State Journal Register’s Springfield’s Own bi-monthly magazine and Blue Islands’ inflight mag Blue Skies.

We’ve also enjoyed contributing to a number of organizations and non-profits including Illinois Women in Leadership, the Junior Chamber of Commerce and Big Brothers Big Sisters. We worked on our first political campaign and are glad to say we’re in the midst of yet another.

Our social media offering continues to expand with several businesses, non-profits and organizations seeking our support, knowledge and experience in order to gain a successful online marketing campaign. We’ve also taught classes at Lincoln Land Community College, which we’ll continue to build upon in 2016.

Next year we will continue to grow our client base, provide further teaching in Springfield and beyond, and continue to provide support to non-profits in our much-valued community.  

Open dialogue, opportunities and successful outcomes

In my opinion, gone are the days of lengthy meetings between clients and consultants. Sure, initially, there’ll be the need for a strategy and activity meeting, in which we develop the story, messaging and a timeline, but from that point on we prefer to develop an open, daily even, dialogue with our clients. 

I used to grimace, in my former life as an employee, at the time stacked up thanks to the commute to and from meetings. You could end up charging the client as much as 15% of their monthly fee for something that could be discussed ongoing or entail a 15 to 20-minute conference call. This doesn’t include the prep time ahead of the meeting; writing an agenda, emailing or printing copies of said agenda – and then there’s the follow-up too, which includes the writing of minutes or a report. By this time you’ve racked up 30% of the month’s consultancy allocation, before you’ve actually got to the PR bit. 

I acknowledge the fact that meetings are there to offer the opportunity for discussion, review, and planning, but I believe, unless there’s a dramatic change to the campaign strategy or a crisis has unfolded, if you know your client well enough you should be able to weave your way through their business, identify opportunities and execute successful outcomes without eating into valuable consultancy time stuck in a boardroom. 

In fact, our approach goes even further than this. We often ‘pop in’ on our clients or arrange a catch up once a quarter, rather than a sit-down, itemized, formulaic meeting. And, they love it; especially when it involves lunch, coffee or even (dare I say it) a glass of wine or pint of beer. 

On top of this we see it as our responsibility to introduce our clients to opportunities outside of their office, practice, store or workshop. We often play host to our clients at networking events, luncheons or fundraising galas because we want to help them to grow their network – and ultimately their business. 

I was once told that it was wrong to socialize with my clients (pre Gem PR & Media I’ll add), but this was a misconception – I wasn’t socializing, but building a network of successful opportunities and outcomes with and for my clients - long may we continue to do so.  

IWIL, I do and I can

Illinois Women in Leadership is an organization close to my heart, not just because of the members – their valued professional guidance – but also the activities we organize and participate in together.

There are a number of projects, on which several committees work each year, including, the annual symposium in September, the Athena awards in July and the scholarship program.

As public relations chair for the organization I have chosen to sit on both the symposium and Athena committees to ensure that I remain up to speed with activity, especially when it comes to promoting events and gaining our generous sponsors the recognition they deserve through the media.

Like I’ve said before, at Gem PR & Media we use our strengths to help create opportunities in the areas for which we are known best. So, with the IWIL Holiday Social just days away, I thought I’d tell you a little bit about the scholarship scheme, which is funded by the event and what it means to the recipients.

Each year three female, high school seniors living in Sangamon County are awarded a $1,000 scholarship. In addition, one female adult in Sangamon County, who has been out of high school for five years or more and is enrolling in a college, university or trade school, or is continuing or returning to college and does not yet have an undergraduate degree, is presented with the chrysalis scholarship for $1,000. Since 2008 IWIL has awarded 24 high school scholarships and nine chrysalis scholarships.

The applications open in January 2016, are available at cfll.com, the deadline is March 1 and winners will be presented with their scholarships in May.

But first, we must raise funds to support the program through the sale of raffle tickets for the Holiday Social, which can be purchased at iwil.biz. You do not have to be present at the event to win.

So, please, help us in our efforts to support one of the communities in which we operate.

Further information about IWIL is available on the website; there’s also a Facebook page, Twitter account and LinkedIn group. 

A targeted approach

It’s important to find and do what works best for you. For our clients it’s a strategic, sustained and targeted approach. Like we’ve said, right from the start, one size does not fit all. We also want to provide our clients with value for their hard earned dollars or pounds so we always aim to go above and beyond.

One of our clients, in the health sector, has grown their business over the past two years thanks to a great reputation, referrals and word of mouth. We started working with the client just over eight months ago to increase awareness, develop that reputation and educate the public about the benefits of the services being offered.

We began by getting to grips with the details behind the story of the business and it’s owner. We created a plan to disseminate the information and draw attention to the great work our client is doing. We first told the story behind the business by creating great content and pitching it to editors of health publications and to lifestyle magazines with health features; this is what we mean by a targeted approach.

We then entered our client into a number of professional and business awards, for which they were either shortlisted and/or won: gaining additional exposure through the media partners of these awards.

Most recently we identified an opportunity for our client to appear on a morning TV show. We created talking points for the interviewer, which we knew would lead to opportunities for our client to speak about what they do and why. Following our client’s first appearance we pitched a range of topics, for the next 12 months, which relate to the seasons, trends and our key messages that our client can talk about. We are very excited about this opportunity because our client will be speaking directly to one of their largest target audiences, moms, on TV.

Next, we’re tackling the older generation and our client will be speaking to some of these individuals in person, no gimmicks, no need for technology, just a good old personal approach.

So, it is not about the number of appearances or articles published, but about the timing, audience and publications or programs themselves: in short, a targeted approach. 

Get LinkedIn

Gemma and Chris Long with Chris Carollo of LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has over four hundred million users. These are not my words, but those of LinkedIn global accounts manager Chris Carollo, who gave a presentation to Sangamon CEO students today, hosted by O'Shea Builders in Springfield.

Chris was there to help spur on the young minds in the room, encourage them to build a great profile, to connect with business owners, recruiters and professionals in their field of study, but we learnt some great tips too.

Get on LinkedIn now! 123 million of the 400 million members make up 82% of the US workforce.

• Develop your network and when requesting to connect with someone remind them where you met and explain why you want them to be part of your network.
• Make sure you’re not one-dimensional
• Make an investment in a professional profile picture.
• Remember, whatever you post online will stay online forever.
• 70% of jobs come from networking.
• 25% of recruiters look down on selfies.
• Make sure you’re a resource and asset to the people you connect with.
• Build a diverse range of recommendations.
• Interested in learning? Looking for content? Check out Slideshare.
• Always have your finger on the pulse of the community. Check out Pulse for relevant professional content, which you can also share with your network.
• Connections – the lowdown. 1st is anyone you’re currently connected with, 2nd means any connection of his or hers that’s not a connection of yours and 3rd means someone your 2nd connection is connected with.
• Who gets requests from people they don’t know? The advice from Chris is … if you don’t know who they are then there’s really no value in connecting unless you or they are recruiting.
• We tell clients this all the time, but here’s a good reminder; use your business profile as a hub to share content, branding, marketing and encourage sales.
• Check out Lynda.com … it’s the future.

Last, but not least; you can’t break LinkedIn so use every little piece of it to help you excel.

Paying It Back

We love what we do at Gem PR & Media because, through our consultancy and press service, we have an opportunity to work with a number of non-profits in Springfield, USA, the Channel Islands, UK and across the globe. Either through the work our clients do and the opportunities we provide to highlight these activities or in the articles we write for magazines, newspapers or journals we feel we’re doing our bit to help spread the word.

We believe strongly in using the skills and resources we have to help those from the communities in which we operate, through our widespread media contacts, business connections and PR skills. We advise clients to do the same. If you’re a bank or large corporate perhaps a financial donation or the donation of staff time is appropriate, if you’re a physiotherapist, chiropractor or paramedic maybe you could provide your time and skills during a 5K fundraiser or if you’re in the hospitality or retail industries you could provide a product or service for a raffle or silent auction, for example.

Contact Ministries

Big Brother Big Sister

Central Illinois Foodbank

Sangamon Reclaimed

Sangamon Reclaimed

During the past few years we’ve worked to highlight a number of charitable organizations and our involvement in Springfield’s Own Magazine has certainly helped spur this on. The ‘Positive’ section in the magazine contains features about non-profits in and around the city – all working to better the community. In just a few months we’ve met with or spoken to representatives from Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation, Flags for Heroes, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois, Central Illinois Foodbank, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Bright Star Equestrian Center, Contact Ministries, Young Philanthropists, Girls on the Run and Sojourn Shelter and Services.

So, if you’re involved in a non-profit that you would like highlighted in SO Magazine, or you’re a business in Springfield, Guernsey, Jersey or the UK and require public relations and media support to not only highlight the work you’re doing, but also make the very most of your time and resources through your corporate social responsibility program, please contact us at hello@gemprmedia.com

SO Active

Yesterday, Gem PR & Media undertook our second fashion shoot at the Springfield Racquet & Fitness Center with the unbelievably talented Kate Spencer of Kate Spencer Photography, models Lauren and Brett, hair by Javita Martin of BJ Grand Salon and Spa, make up by Miranda Mogle of Pure Skin and clothes kindly supplied by Scheels. It was an extremely successful shoot full of professionalism and positive energy.

Much goes into the fashion shoot for Springfield’s Own Magazine. There are weeks of preparation, which include meetings between the team to decide on a concept, sourcing models, a location, organizing and selecting clothing, deciding on make up and hair. Work begins between two to three months before the shoot takes place and up to five months before the edition is published. This means we can often end up shooting the fashion pages and front cover in seasonal weather conditions that will have passed by the time the magazine is in the hands of our readers. For example, we shot the November / December edition on a sunny September afternoon and luckily it wasn’t too hot for our models who were dressed in festive party gear. Our models are not paid, but provide their time free of charge and for that we are very grateful. All of our models work and live in or around Springfield. Like we’ve said before, this is a magazine for Springfield by people in Springfield – and we’re proud of it.

We intend to keep our readers on their toes though. Each edition we plan on having a different concept, location and clothing for our fashion shoot. The shoot itself can take between four and six hours, depending upon location, number of outfits and weather conditions (we managed to get our outdoor photos for the January / February edition done just before it started to pour yesterday).

There’s still plenty of work to do once the shoot has taken place. Kate, Chris and I usually wade through between three and five hundred images to pick out between 10 and 12 of our favorites, which also allows for a selection of different outfits, poses, expressions etc. When it all comes together it’s a brilliant feeling. We are so lucky that we have the opportunity to work with great people in this awesome city. We hope you have enjoyed the shoot in the current edition and don’t forget to look out for the January / February issue next year! 

Meeting objectives through professionalism and innovation

As a PR and media consultancy we rely on the professionalism of others to uphold the standards set by our clients. We are responsible for their reputation in public and in the media, on and offline, but we rely on others to provide support in other areas and that is why we choose to work with individuals or organizations that are experienced, knowledgeable and innovative.

We work with small, medium and large businesses, so it’s only right that we collaborate with professionals that offer a range of services and price points. For example, if you’re a start-up you may not have the capital available to invest in a $5,000 - $10,000 (£3,500 - £6,500) website right away, but if you speak to the right person he or she may be able to work with you to provide the $3,000 website now, which can be developed, built upon and invested into in the future.

It’s hard to find good people, but when you do it’s important to champion them, support them and remind them how fantastic they are.

Kate Spencer is a photographer in Springfield, Illinois she is professional, hardworking and continues to improve her own work and the industry. Kate Spencer Photography is our go to in the US. We would ask Kate to work with any of our clients and know they would be impressed with the end result. Kate is the fashion photographer for SO magazine; she works with us to conceptualize the story we want to tell through the clothes, make up, location and models. And she nails it every time. Try choosing seven to nine of the best Kate Spencer photos from a selection of 300 to 500 … it’s tough. The best thing about Kate is that she doesn’t know how good she is.

Jon Thomas is more than a web developer; he helps businesses deliver designs that please users and meet their business’ goals. He takes a modern, collaborative approach, which involves meaningful iterations and user feedback. He does all of this for one reason; to ensure the success of your business objectives.

See what we mean about working with great people.

Another area of our business that continues to grow is our events services. Tony Boston of Superior Sound Entertainment is a technical wiz when it comes to uplighting and sound. He takes an idea and turns it into reality, what we love most about working with Tony is he likes a challenge; he’s willing to innovate, but yet never compromise on quality.

So, if you find good people who push the boundaries, are professional and continue to challenge what has come before, hold onto them because they will help your business grow in the way you want it to. 

Social Media for Non-Profits

At Gem PR & Media we’re always eager to share our knowledge and experience with those who need it most, but cannot afford consultancy fees, such as non-profits and charitable organizations.

One of the ways we are able to do this is through teaching classes at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Illinois. Our next class is Social Media for Non-Profits – and it’s only $15 for two hours. We’ll be teaching some of the tricks and tools we’ve learnt over the years whilst managing numerous social media accounts.

Social media can be a minefield for anyone, not least non-profits that are already under-staffed and have little resources or time, for that matter. But social media is a great tool to get your message out there to the masses. Whether promoting a fundraiser or requesting donations for raffle prizes, the way in which you approach posting, such as the inclusion of an interesting photo or the times at which you engage with your audience, all make a difference.

We support a number of clients in the US, Channel Islands and UK that have the capacity to engage in advertising, but we also work with a number of non-profits that do not have the finances available for social media advertising. So, we have developed a toolkit for those organizations that want to engage with their audience online, but need to be thrifty about it. Our next class is on November 10th between 11am and 1pm at Lincoln Land Community College.

We will also be teaching classes next spring, which will provide non-profits and businesses an opportunity to learn about PR and marketing planning, crowdfunding and how to develop media relations. If you are interested in any of the above please visit http://www.llcc.edu or ping us an email at hello@gemprmedia.com and we’ll point you in the right direction.

Budgets, PR and planning

What I love most about what we do at Gem PR & Media is the variety of services and clients we offer and work with. We have had an awesome week, which has included putting to bed our first edition of SO magazine (one last proof and it’s off to the printers), working with our new client McKenzie Smith of INorupt and the launch of her new website, daily management of 30 social media accounts, finalizing plans for the Springfield Jaycees Beerfest, networking, business developing and contributing, where we can using our skills, knowledge and expertise, to the non-profits, such as IWIL and Rotary, in which we’re involved.

I love fall in the US (that’s Autumn for the folks back home) and there’s no sense of slowing down ahead of Thanksgiving and Christmas, in fact September was our busiest month this year, after June.

What this time of year does though is provide an  opportunity to reflect and plan. We’re evaluating the past nine months, reviewing our own business, budget and PR for the year ahead and many of our clients will be doing the same. We work closely with our clients on their PR and marketing plans to align with their business development and growth goals, which is so important when it comes to evaluation and results. We pride ourselves on providing sustained and strategic advice and we’re also always working to improve standards for the PR and media industry as a whole. 

A great brew

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The 2015 Springfield Jaycees Beerfest designed by Colby Jennings.

While Gemma has been working on SO Magazine I’ve been organizing the 2015 Springfield Jaycees Beerfest.

Craft beer is booming in the US; both micro and regional brewers are having to meet demand for great beer.

One of our key objectives for the Beerfest was to feature as many local breweries as possible. Timotheus Brothers Brewery is new to Springfield and has already gained popularity. Hand of Fate Brewing Company from Petersburg, Illinois is about to open its brewery – we even headed down to the Petersburg Harvest Festival at the weekend to take in an early sampling. Gemma’s favorite was their milk chocolate stout … go figure!  Makraft Brewing Co. from Centralia, Illinois is also going to be making its first appearance at Beerfest. Working with the local breweries has been particularly rewarding.

We’ve also got samples on offer that we know are going to be popular having spent the past months sourcing beers, wines and spirits from across the country. I’m particularly excited about Forbidden Root, Chicago's first botanic brewery. Kentucky Ale is another at the top of my list; its beers are aged in decanted Kentucky bourbon barrels.  Don’t worry, we’ve got their bourbon too.  In fact, we have over 40 brewers and around 140 beers at the festival.

A good media partner can go a long way in helping create a successful event. We’re working with the Illinois Times because its team, not only understands beer, but also has recently diversified its services by introducing an online ticketing service operated locally, which we’re using for Beerfest. 

Finding the right location for a beerfestival can be a challenge, but we decided to stick with last year’s venue as it gives us a chance to grow. The Exposition Building at the Illinois State Fairgrounds offers plenty of covered space and parking. 

For every event we are involved in we want to create a wow factor. At this year’s Beerfest we’re bringing the outdoors indoors with a beer garden inside the Expo Building, designed by Pleasant Nursery. We also have Superior Sound Entertainment’s DJ and master of ceremony services and live music from Brooke Thomas and Mark Burnett.

A good beerfest also needs awards and this year we'll be introducing several. Look out for celebrity guest judges and don’t forget to vote for the People’s Choice award. 

Another aim of the festival is to create a fund for the Springfield Jaycees Capital City Celebration on the 4th of July so we have relied heavily on donations, sponsorship and volunteers. We are lucky enough to have developed a great network of contacts that have committed their support to the event.

The Springfield Jaycees Beerfest takes place on Saturday 24 October tickets are available to purchase online now. 

For more information and updates visit the Springfield Jaycees Beerfest event page .

SO exciting!

One of our latest projects at Gem PR & Media is Gemma’s new role as editor of Springfield’s Own Magazine, which is the State Journal Register’s bi-monthly lifestyle publication with a circulation of about 40,000. Our first is the holiday edition for November / December and we are currently busy developing new editorial and advertorial features. On Friday we shot our holiday fashion shoot at Sangamon Reclaimed with photographer Kate Spencer.

New features will also include interviews with local entrepreneurs, Springfield celebrities and the SO positive section, which will champion individuals and organizations that give back to the community. Of course we’ll still have On The Town pages where people in the area are invited to send us photos from their events to feature in the magazine.  

Brooke Thomas posing with Kate Spencer

Brooke posing with Kate Spencer of Kate Spencer photography

Kate Spencer Photography

Kate working with the models 

Models at Sangamon Reclaimed

Behind the scenes with the models at Sangamon Reclaimed

Sangamon Reclaimed behind the scenes

Behind the scenes at the photo shoot

Sangamon Reclaimed

We have been working closely with the sales team to develop opportunities for businesses in the city to market their products and services in a targeted way. Themes for 2016 include Love, Family and Celebration. Our aim is to help produce a publication by and for people in Springfield, Illinois. We want you to be a part of it, which is why the magazine will also feature guest writers and artists.

If you are interested in finding out more about opportunities for editorial and advertorial in SO Magazine please email gemma.long@sj-r.com

Evaluation

I had a conversation with a professional acquaintance of mine, not so long ago, about media cuttings. What we mean by this is the recording of client coverage in the media. Traditionally consultancies present the cuttings to demonstrate the success of the PR team. We don’t do this at Gem PR & Media. We don’t believe that showing our clients a book of cuttings at the end of the month, a project or campaign, proves anything - other than what you already know. 

When we first sit down with a potential client we always ask the question ‘what are your business objectives for the next 12 months, three years and five years?’ If we know what they want to achieve then we can help them achieve it. 

What we do at GPR&M is align campaigns with business objectives through a strategic and sustained approach. How we gauge success is by measuring the growth of the client’s business in the areas that we’ve focussed on. For example, we have a client in the US who sells healthy readymade meals. The business is five years old and we started working with the client in June 2015. In July, they had their best month of the year, a month in which they usually struggle, and in August they had to take on extra staff to keep up with demand. The client puts much of this growth down to the targeted online campaign that we have created and continue to manage. We didn’t need to show cuttings, the proof was in the pudding. 

We ask all of our clients, if they don’t already, to keep a record of leads so that we can continue to improve on strategy and tactics to help them grow, build brand awareness and position them as ‘go-to’ sources in their industry. We don’t do cuttings, we do results. 

PechaKucha!

On Thursday evening I took part in Springfield’s 20th volume of PechaKucha 20 x 20. PechaKucha involves a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. 

It was created by two architects in Tokyo in 2003 because architects (according to the organizers) talk too much. The idea is, that if you give someone just 20 slides and 20 seconds to talk about each slide they will be forced to present in a comprehensive, but succinct fashion.

So, I had a go. My topics was, of course, Guernsey. In the US the easiest way to explain Guernsey’s location is ‘a British island, near France’ so that was the title of my presentation. 

Castle Cornet and a cruise Ship

I want to say a massive thank you to Guernsey photographer Chris George who supplied us with high resolution images and to my pal Zoe Ash of Visit Guernsey. I talked about our beautiful island, its rich history and the part it plays in the finance world. 

I’m telling you all this because wouldn't it be something to have a PechaKucha night in Guernsey or Jersey? It’s a great opportunity to promote your business or interests in front of a group of people from all walks of life. At Gem PR & Media we’re always looking for PR opportunities for our clients and we aim to lead by example. So, Guernsey, Jersey let us know if you would like more information about PechaKucha. 

Gemma discussing Guernsey Cows

Social Media Top Tips

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• Post at five minutes to and five minutes after the hour. This is when people are checking their phones for emails and updates on their way to and from meetings, the office, lunch or home. 
• If you are having trouble tagging a person or business in a Facebook post use the @ symbol and a capital letter at the beginning of the name. 
• Use hashtags to increase the profile of your social media activity; especially when you’re mentioning trending topics. 
• Add videos, photos and links to your posts to increase their visibility.
• Post regularly, but make sure you’re posting material that is relevant to your target audience. 
• If you’re pursuing an aggressive campaign post four-to-five times a day on Facebook. 
• If you want all of your followers to read your tweet make sure you place a character ahead of a @username otherwise the post will go to the @username only. 
• Make sure you regularly update your profile on Linkedin and make new connections. 
• Support your fellow followers on Twitter by participating in #FollowFriday/#FF. This will also encourage others to include you in #FFs and attract new followers. 
• Engage with Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram users; social media is about two-way interaction. 
• If you receive a complaint on social media deal with it promptly by acknowledging and, if necessary, taking the conversation offline in order to resolve the matter. 

A day in the life of Gem PR & Media

Part of what we do at the consultancy is write for and on behalf of our clients from columns to Q&As and features to news stories. A feature that often crops up amongst the business media is a version of ‘my 9 to 5’ or ‘all in a day’s work’. So, I thought I’d write my version in this week’s blog. 

What’s the first thing you do when you arrive at work? 

Well, I start work at 5am so the first thing I do is boil the kettle! While I’m waiting I logon to my computer and open my email, Facebook page and time sheets. More often than not I’ve already checked my emails and social media accounts on my cell, before I get to the computer. Once I’ve got my coffee I proceed with my tasks for the day, making my UK clients a priority, before those in the US reach their desks. 

Suit or casual?

Casual until I liaise with a client on Skype or I have a meeting, then it’s smart. 

Clear desk policy or scattered papers?

To be honest, we try to stay paperless, other than printing documents for clients, we stick to our white board, emails, Skype and the good old phone. My desk normally needs a tidy every so often though as I do have a weakness for post-its! 

Coffee or tea?

Always coffee, but I am trying to drink more water (my health industry clients would be proud)! 

Packed lunch, restaurant or gym? 

I tend to skip lunch because I ordinarily have a late breakfast between 9am and 11am

When are you at your most productive? 

I am definitely a morning person; I get the majority of my work done between 5am and 12noon. I try to arrange meetings on a single day or after 10am or 11am when my UK and Channel Islands clients have finished for the day. 

How many emails do you have in your inbox? 

 I don’t tend to file emails so I literally have 1,000s which have accumulated since day one on August 29 2013! 

What’s the last thing you do before you leave the office? 

I never really leave the office as I work from my laptop and phone often. In fact I think it’s important that my clients know they can get hold of me 365 days a year 24/7, I’d want that if I was entrusting my business’ reputation in someone else's hands.

Coffee, Cocktails and Christmas

This week I got back to basics and wrote an article for a business magazine in the UK/CI about the affect of coffee in the workplace. The article called for research, interviews and - well, of course - a few cups of coffee.

I also wrote an article for a European inflight magazine about a family holiday at Christmas in Disneyland Paris. This one was fun to research, not too much coffee, but a few YouTube videos of previous Christmas parades - and lots of magic.

Last week I wrote an article for a bank in the Channel Islands, which wanted to get across the expansion of its business and private client offering through dedicated customer service. It was great to have the opportunity to write a piece for the corporate world having spent time as a journalist and public relations consultant in the offshore finance centers of Guernsey and Jersey, Channel Islands.

Finally, at the weekend I drafted a column for a client about corporate hospitality. He is actually the owner of a luxury mobile cocktail bar and drinks service, but we wanted to provide readers with an overview of his experience, knowledge and professionalism. We want his business to be the go-to for corporates entertaining staff, suppliers or clients this Christmas and beyond.

So, in the heat of the Midwest sun, in the past several days I’ve written two articles about Christmas, one about coffee and a feature about the finance industry. What this demonstrates is Gem PR & Media’s ability to be flexible, innovative and most importantly, when it comes to deadlines, timely.

We plan articles, commentary and column contributions for our clients months in advance. At the same time, we speak to current trends and global activity to provide relevance.

We are able to provide content for ad-hoc clients and editors within 24-hours. Our proofreading service can turn around copy in minutes. It’s great to be at the heart of a fast-paced consultancy offering good quality, current and creative copy around the world.