When pitching around natural disasters, think before you act

As many of us are digging out from under trees, pumping water from basements, dealing with screaming kids chomping at the bit to get back to school (Okay, maybe that last one is wishful thinking on the parents' part), it sometimes takes a disaster for common sense to ring true. Many in the PR community are weighing in now on what is or is not appropriate to be pitching to media about what Hurricane Sandy has done to large parts...

ITXPO: 5 days of observations

Hello Gartner Symposium, so nice to see you. While it has been 10 or 12 years since I last attended Gartner’s biggest showcase event of the year, and arguably the IT world’s most ballyhooed annual event, the lasting impression I have is that the event is much the same (in a good way) as it was in the early 2000s, just bigger. Much bigger! I spoke with several CIOs and IT leaders over the last several days who told me...

"What Were They Thinking?" Awards -- October Edition

Working chronologically, we're suggesting the "Romance and Political Debates Don't Mix" Award goes to President Obama for his ill-advised shout-out to his wife for their anniversary at the start of the first Presidential Debate. "There's a lot of points I want to make tonight but the most important one is that 20 years ago I became the luckiest man on Earth because Michelle Obama agreed to marry me. And so I just want to wish sweetie, you, a happy anniversary...

Gartner Symposium isn't just about IT

While the annual Gartner Symposium/ITXPO 2013 is a great opportunity for CIO’s to network with one another and learn about technology initiatives for the upcoming year, among its 12,000 attendees you will also find a small group of Analyst Relations professionals. The annual event is a perfect time for these AR representatives to congregate with one another and discuss their relationships with one of the largest influencer groups in their space. Embracing this idea, Gartner holds a special AR Forum...

What Makes Austin Perfect for Tech? Austinites Speak Out! #LPPOH

This week is the week! Our LPP Austin Open House is this Thursday, and we're looking forward to seeing LPP alumni, LPP clients, high-tech professionals and Austin-area tech influencers gather under our brand new roof on West 6th Street. Not only is our space more decked out, but we're stepping up our game to make sure our guests get the chance to participate in some fun activities (one of which may or may not involve a bingo-scavenger hunt hybrid), pose...

Sky’s the limit for 2012 Gartner Symposium

Cloud. That would be the one word summing up the main theme at Gartner Symposium/ITXPO 2013 taking place this week in Orlando. Cloud rules the show this year across three areas of focus: mobile, social media and Big Data. The analyst firm’s largest event of the year, and arguably the show that most in the IT ecosystem look to as the most trend setting and informative conference for the year ahead, began Sunday with Monday being the day of keynote...

What Makes Tech PR So Unique? The Pros Speak Out! #LPPOH

Our LPP Austin Open House is next week, but we have been celebrating the high-tech industry and tech PR all week long on the #LPPOH Twitter hashtag. But no one knows the field more than those of us who live and breathe tech 24/7 – at the office, on our mobiles while we wait for the train, on our tablets while we wait for dinner to pop out of the microwave oven, and some of us even in our sleep....

The Busy PR Exec's Guide to LinkedIn Endorsements

It started about a month ago. I would see emails that told me certain individuals endorsed some skill or other that I had listed in my LinkedIn profile. "That's nice," I thought to myself as I scanned the hundreds of other emails I get every day (in my business and personal email boxes) for items I absolutely need to attend to right away. And I let it go at that. Then I saw a few more -- some from current...

Austin’s Tech Scene: A Vintage–wearing Hipster with an Old Soul

There is no denying that startups and hipsters are “so hot” right now. And while Austin is certainly a trendy city, its roots are far deeper than they seem to go when it comes to tech. Austin is home to many of our clients including CleanFUEL USA, LANDesk, Lumension, National Instruments, RADVISION (Avaya), Scuderi Group and Skyonic. Moreover, the city’s tech core (pun intended) is comprised of chip makers like Freescale (client!), Samsung, AMD and 3M. You may have heard...

A Schooling on Social Media and Digital PR

Recently, I was invited to speak on the topic of digital PR and social media at the Babson College MBA Entrepreneur Program, taught by adjunct professor and faculty advisory, Angelo Santinelli. I always look forward to these opportunities, as you can learn so much when you are in a room with 40 individuals who have dreams of creating and leading breakthrough companies. One of the toughest things in preparing for this session was determining the level of information to present...