The Best of 2011

Ah, 2011…how I’ll miss thee! To commemorate the passing of this year, here is a list of my favorites things. While some of these websites, books and artists have been around a while, I really enjoyed them this year.

best music blog (*best in show for the year – i love this site!)
feelnumb.com (here is one of my favorite posts)

best beauty blog
kandee the make-up artist (a favorite post on how to get flawless skin)

best fashion blog
Wendy’s Lookbook (a favorite youtube video on 25 ways to wear a scarf)

best food blog
Two Dancing Buckeyes (a favorite post on use-it-or-lose-it soup)

best girl-provoking blog
style rookie (a favorite post, she’s full of secrets)

best financial blog
Mr. Money Mustache (a favorite post, How much is that bitch costin ya?)

best local blog
What I Wore Today (a favorite post, Before Eight)

favorite novel of the year
The Jazz Bird by Craig Holden

best nonfiction
Her Mother’s Daughter: A Memoir of the Mother I Never Knew and of My Daughter, Courtney Love by Linda Carroll

best biography
Bossypants by Tina Fey

favorite new (to me) music
Betty Blowtorch

Favorite new sad bastard music
Scala & Kolacny Brothers

favorite documentary
Bill Cunningham New York (available on netflix streaming)

favorite music documentary
Foo Fighters: Back and Forth

favorite new tv show
New Girl

favorite obsession (same as last year)
Nirvana

best ‘what’s old is new again’
My So-Called Life

best useful website
Pandora

LOL can actually happen

I lol’ed (for real) reading this post from Peter Shankman, “Five guaranteed ways to get your story placed.” My favorite advice:

3) FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP! You should start phoning the reporter (at home, preferably) no later than FORTY FIVE MINUTES AFTER YOUR INITIAL PITCH. Continue in two-hour increments, handing over the night-time duties to a subordinate – Remember – The squeaky wheel gets the grease – In this case, squeak every two hours until the reporter covers you.

What is scary is there are PR people that actually do this. This is exactly why I belong to both PRSA and SPJ…to make sure that I don’t forget what it’s like being the other guy.

Women’s Equality Day

Booyah! Today marks 90 years of women’s suffrage, and I know people older than my right to vote. Happy Women’s Equality Day!

Check out Iron Jawed Angels. Below is the trailer.

President of League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area

In May, I was elected president of the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area. It’s quite an honor, and I’ve learned a lot about my leadership style since taking the volunteer job. It’s been such a great leadership development opportunity and is much cheaper than the worthwhile  C-Change (bargain!).

Featured Follower!

I am very excited to be the ‘featured follower’ of the Cincinnati PRSA twitter account in their March 2010 newsletter. Woot!

Here is the direct link: http://www.cincinnatiprsa.org/PRVision/index.php#FF

As the months pass, this link will update with upcoming featured followers, so I’ve also pasted the profile below.

Name: Melissa Currence

Position: Public Relations Specialist

Company: Talbert House

Twitter handle: @currencem

What social media outlets do you use?

I use social media for work and for fun. I’m currently on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, GoodReads, Delicious, YouTube and 12seconds.tv.

How long have you been a Cincinnati PRSA member?

5 years.

What do you find the most beneficial about Cincinnati PRSA?

I love the programming Cincinnati PRSA provides and the opportunities we have to meet each other. As PR pros, it is imperative to stay on top of trends, especially in social media. What I’ve learned from PRSA made it much easier for me to develop a social media strategy for my organization.

Whom do you suggest your fellow chapter members follow on Twitter and why?  What is his or her Twitter handle?

The shrinking news media affects our industry in major ways, so I recommend following The Greater Cincinnati Society of Professional Journalists (@cincyspj) and the UC Chapter (@UC_SPJ). Also, I wouldn’t be much of a PR pro if I didn’t give a shout-out to the nonprofit organizations I work for! Talbert House (@talberthouse) and its affiliates, Centerpoint Health (@centerpointohio) and Gateways (@gatewayscincy), help thousands of local men, women and children through programs in mental health, substance abuse, community corrections and welfare-to-work.

You’re in PR which means you’re interesting by default!  Tell us one fun fact about you:

I’ll be serving as president of the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area (which has both men and women as members) starting in May. I joined when I was 18 because I have always valued informed and active participation in government. I am very excited about this opportunity because this year marks the 90th anniversary of women’s suffrage and of the Cincinnati League.

Ohio State Alumni Magazine – Alumni Interview

I had an article published in Ohio State Alumni Magazine’s September – October 2009 edition. Check it out here:

• Ohio State Alumni Spotlight: Judy Gamble Kahrl
• Here is the PDF scan of the magazine.

BlogTalkRadio interview

Hi All–

Thanks to @mikeboehmer57 for having me on his BlogTalkRadio show, PR Mike in Cincy! We talked about using Social Media for Social Services agencies.

Have a listen here!

Review of Equus: The struggle for identity

I just finished reading Equus, the 1975 Tony-award winning play written by Peter Shaffer and recently revived on Broadway with stars Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths.

The play revolves around Alan Strang, a troubled boy of 17 who has been court-ordered to receive care after he blinds six horses with a metal spike. His foil is Dr. Martin Dysart, a psychiatrist who is Strang’s last resort.

It’s in the therapeutic setting that the two go to battle (and is a far cry from the tête-à-tête between Matt Damon and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting). It is revealed that Strang, torn between an atheistic father and a Christian mother, creates his own religious world evolving the sexual and spiritual worship of horses.

The play’s action is focused on Dysart coaxing Strang to reveal his thoughts and motivations. Dysart is able to do so, in part, because he, himself is in crisis. Strang’s inner world is an obsession of which Dysart, a man tired of his profession and marriage, is jealous.

“But that boy has known a passion more ferocious than I have ever felt in any second of my life. And let me tell you something: I envy it.”  (Act II: Scene 25)

Dysart has a professional responsibility to save Strang and society from the consequences of the boy’s obsession. But in doing so, Dysart realizes he must end the boy’s passion—his most raw and truthful part of himself.

I was amazed with the depth of the play, which I only read and never seen performed. The precision of the dialogue reminded me of the meticulousness of poetry. Equus is a remarkable and haunting work.

***************

To my chagrin, I hadn’t heard of the play until Radcliffe joined the London production. But here is Dan Radcliffe’s interview on Inside the Actors Studio that really motivated me to seek out the text.

Ohio State Alumni Magazine – Willie Young

Ohio State Alumni Magazine

I just received my contributor’s copies from Ohio State Alumni Magazine for a story I wrote about Willie Young, Ohio State’s Off-Campus Student Services Director.

I first met Young when I was working on my master’s of Journalism and Communication at OSU, and he let me ride along with him during a weekend night. He was very gracious with his time with this former grad student and really does care about the students. I’m happy he was able to be featured.

The fun part for me is I pitched this story almost five years ago, and it was good Mr. Young remembered me.  Lesson learned: You just never know when queries might get answered.

Here is the PDF of the article

DIY Public Relations: Print outlets in Greater Cincinnati

Here is my second post about DIY nonprofit public relations in Cincinnati:

Now that you’ve sharpened up your writing skills, you’re ready for the pitch—the story idea about your nonprofit that you know the people will want to read and the media will want to cover. To have a successful pitch, you have the right story for the right media outlet.

Good public relations can only happen if you know the media outlet to which you’re submitting your news. If you’re not sure which reporter or section that should receive your news, you need to study the outlet more.

Here is a partial list of print media outlets in Greater Cincinnati you may want to consider submitting your press release. Each hyperlink goes directly to the reporter/editor contacts page of each outlet.

• CIN Weekly
• Cincinnati Business Courier
• Cincinnati Enquirer — Decide which section of the newspaper is most appropriate for your news. Don’t send to every section or every reporter cuz that’s just annoying.
• Cincinnati Magazine — The magazine has a “15 Minutes” Page for nonprofit events, but your photo needs to be an exclusive.
• Cincy Not-For-Profit News
• Cincy Magazine (formerly Cincy Business Magazine)
• CityBeat
• Community Press and Recorder – Remember these newspapers are only interested in news that affects the neighborhood or community they cover.
• Dayton Daily News
• Express Cincinnati

PRSA Cincinnati has a page of media links you may also want to check out.

I use these pages to doublecheck I have the right information. In fact, I find them more useful than keeping an email address list.

Stop back soon for my next post of broadcast and radio outlets in Cincinnati.