In the News

BlissPR’s second annual company bakeoff was featured in the notable NYC-food blog, The Lunch Belle, on November 8. The event was judged by blogger and food-writer Lindsay Feinberg, creator of the Lunch Belle and contributor to the New York Post. Feinberg presided over the judging, determining the winner to be a seared beef tenderloin dish submitted by Account Executive Emily Weinman. More information about the winning dish including the recipe and images, along with The Lunch Belle’s complete review of the BlissPR’s bakeoff are available at http://www.thelunchbelle.com.

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BlissPR Managing Director Elizabeth Sosnow was interviewed by Trey Pennington, aka the “Social Media Professor,” a well-known social media consultant and author for his radio program in early October. Elizabeth discussed how PR practitioners can help clients tell good stories, and cut through the clutter and connect with their audience. In his interview with Elizabeth, Trey referenced her blog post—Audit Your Intellectual Capital – 7 ways to find your stories, where she suggested companies explore their existing published works to uncover “intellectual capital” to be leveraged to build stories. Listeners were provided with a worksheet to help them find and narrate their own stories.

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BlissPR Chicago’s Senior Vice President Margy Sweeney made headlines in a Crain’s Chicago Business real estate industry newsletter in mid-September. The newsletter featured Sweeney and the Chicago Tribune’s Stephanie Pater attending a recent CoreNet Global-Chicago Chapter luncheon. Their photo from the luncheon was used as the featured photo in the Crain’s email blast the next day. Sweeney and Pater have served on the Chicago Chapter of CoreNet Global’s board of directors together.

Also as part of our involvement with CoreNet Global, BlissPR organized a recent CoreNet social media event in May entitled Challenging Economy Digital World (click on the link for a video podcast of the BlissPR Twitter training and panel discussion on social media, labeled “Digital World”). The event focused on the use of social media in the corporate real estate context, and both Sweeney and Paige Holden of BlissPR were presenters.

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Managing Director Elizabeth Sosnow and Account Supervisor Dan Brady will conduct an interactive training lab for members of the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF) on September 30 at Watson Wyatt Worldwide in New York . “Social Media’s All the Rage—Now What? Making This Work for Your Firm” will provide a road map for companies to integrate social media into their business and is a follow-up to an “Introduction to social media” session held in June. More information on the event is available on the AMCF Website.

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Originally presented at an AMCF (Association of Management Consulting Firms) social media event in New York City in June, the study was the topic of several articles. The Holmes Report ran an article entitled, “Consulting Firms Need to Do More to Market Thought Leadership,” and quoted BlissPR’s Elizabeth Sosnow sharing some good news for consultants. According to Sosnow, “The good news? Consultants who are willing to pursue a genuine engagement strategy have an immediate opportunity to leapfrog their competitors in social media. But they’ll have to stop and listen first. The dialogue is already going on—they just haven’t been a part of it.” The full article can be found here.

The Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog covered the study twice, coinciding with the release of the original study, and then with the expanded best practices information. The Bulldog Reporter articles covered multiple findings from the study, including the fact that while nearly all consulting firms—across sectors and sizes—already have “content rich” websites, they do not directly promote the thought leaders within the firm. Elizabeth Sosnow, a co-author of the study, is featured in Frank Aeccola’s Thought Leader Spotlight from July 1, entitled “Social Media Sins, Snafus and Solutions: new Research Pokes Holes in Current Web 2.0 Strategies, Outlines Remedies for PR.” The profile can be found here. Sosnow and the study are also quoted in a June 26 Daily Dog article entitled, “New PR Study Finds Consulting Firms Prioritize Thought Leadership vs. Thought Leaders in their Social Media Strategy.” The article can be found here.

The full text of these articles can be found on the websites for the Holmes Report and the Bulldog Reporter.

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For the fourth time, BlissPR has been recognized as one of the Best PR Firms to Work by Holmes Report, a leading national authority on public relations firms, trends and issues. To be considered for the designation, agency employees were invited to respond to a comprehensive survey of 55 questions, which covered all aspects of their firm's culture, from trust in management to compensation to client service. Employees' votes were then tallied to produce an overall satisfaction score, and that score was then weighted for agency size and response rate to identify the leading firms. In addition to BlissPR, three other Worldcom Partners were recognized in this year's Top 30 list: Marina Maher Communications (#4), Padilla Speer Beardsley (#9) and Tech Image (#11).

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Your Career: Be smart when using your smartphone
Technology: Checking messages and attending calls during meetings could cost you a high price.

By Eileen AJ Connelly
The Associated Press

A man checks his BlackBerry smartphone in Washington. While you may not be stripped of your power if you commit a smartphone etiquette gaffe, tapping away at the wrong time can hurt your business relationships, and even your career…

…Abby Gouverneur Carr recalls having lunch with a woman she was considering hiring. The job seeker had placed her phone on the table, and midway through the meal, it started to vibrate. With no apology or explanation, she picked it up.

"I just found it rude," said Carr, managing director of BlissPR in New York. "I really believe that in business, your attention is the most important thing you have. And it's increasingly scarce."…

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Click on each headline to read the full article.

• Top 5 Ways Professional Services Firms Should Use Twitter
• Marketing in a Downturn: Head Down, or Neck Out?
• Adjusting Local PR Programs to the Evolving Media Landscape
• Five Steps to Capitalize on Breaking News

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April 30, 2009

Get comfortable with not having complete control over how clients—and the public—view your firm. Months of market headaches have underlined the benefits of engaging investors rather than hunkering down.

“The days of the fortress corporate mentality are over,” says Abby Gouverneur Carr, managing director with public relations firm BlissPR. “If they weren’t over before, they’re pretty much over now.”

At an executive briefing last week, Carr presented a litany of public relations tips for asset managers that she summarized with one piece of advice: “Stick your neck out.” Over-communicate to the press, analysts and especially clients, she says, and give this audience access to senior executives.”

Make use of experts, she recommends. “You have people in your organization who are well-positioned and smart enough to talk to your audience,” says Carr. “Unleash them. Give them license to do that.”…

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BlissPR/New York
April 24, 2009

Yesterday, executives from Strategic Insight, Dubick & Associates and BlissPR gathered to bring together three points of view on the strategic opportunities presented by the economic downturn for financial institutions.  Two dozen senior managers in the industry shared insights with their peers after presentations from Avi Nachmany, Executive Vice President and Director of Research at Strategic Insight, Libby Dubick, Founder of Dubick & Associates and Abby Gouverneur Carr, Managing Director of BlissPR.

Among the topics discussed:

• What firms are doing and need to be doing to lay the groundwork for recovery
• How firms can emerge from the turmoil with a stronger reputation
• How client needs, segmentation and distribution are likely to change in the future

 “There are real reasons to be optimistic about the fund industry,” said Avi Nachmany, Executive Vice President and Director of Research at Strategic Insight. “Despite redemptions, US funds are still selling $140 to $150 billion a month, and wrap fund sales are actually up over the last year.  In my opinion, the resilience of the mutual fund business has been proven, and it will emerge stronger.” 

Among the event attendees, all firms are taking steps to take advantage of the market crisis—most commonly re-tooling product lines or introducing new products.  And, over half of the attendees reported changing their firm’s organization, distribution and marketing spend in 2009.

Libby Dubick, Founder of Dubick & Associates, remarked “financial services firms need to be thinking ahead and positioning their business based on where they want to be in 2011. It’s imperative to take steps now to ensure that they are well positioned for the eventual recovery.  I expect that as firms look at their opportunities, financial institutions will make marked changes in fee structures, move to more online distribution and less siloed wholesaling, in addition to changing the way risk management is assessed.”

“What many firms overlook during times of crisis, where the impulse is to ‘hide under the desk,’ is the importance of a consistent stream of communications, both in good times and bad,” said Abby Gouverneur Carr, Managing Director of BlissPR.  “Financial institutions are in a business that is incredibly reliant on investor trust and confidence, and those firms that don’t maintain a flow of information to the public will pay a steep price when they try to rebuild their reputation in better times.”

To read more about the speakers and the companies they represent, go to www.SIonline.com, www.dubickconsulting.com  or www.blisspr.com.

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Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer
April 14, 2009

I'm no genius, but I'm going to assume that most people are not best friends with their bosses. Sure, they might like each other, but they're not going to be included in the wedding party. (They might be lucky to get an invite to the reception.)

Yet, when a woman finds out she's going to have a baby, the shortlist of people to tell inevitably includes the boss. Suddenly someone you don't want anywhere near your bedroom is the first to hear about your pregnancy.

But how do you handle the whole ordeal? From breaking the news to severing ties with the office while you're gone, you have a lot of issues to tackle in the nine months leading up to your leave.

If you're a colleague who's left behind during maternity leave, you've got your own set of issues to consider.

When you're the mother-to-be
First and foremost, you need to work on a timeline that's comfortable for you. If you found out you're pregnant yesterday, don't rush to tell the boss just because you feel obligated to. Have a game plan first. Let the news digest, tell family and friends, and then go to your boss with an idea of how you want to take leave.

Once you've done that, you need to have some conversations, not only with your superior but also with your colleagues and human resources.

Abby Carr, the managing director of BlissPR and also a mother of three, knows what full plates expectant moms have.

"For a lot of women who work, their identities are wrapped up in who they are at work, and so maternity leave brings up a lot of strong feelings around identity, loyalty, commitment [and] importance," Carr explains. "For better or worse, it's a great rehearsal for the realities of being a working mom! As one of my colleagues said, 'Welcome to the world of always letting someone down.'"

As Debbie Downer as that outlook appears, Carr has a point: Once you decide to have a child, you need to keep your focus on what you want because you'll be pulled in several different directions. Carr suggests you do the following:

• Explain when you plan to return "Even if you aren't sure, make a specific plan so that they can know what to expect— and then if you have to change later, you can change. Just don't leave your workplace with a vague 'I will see how I feel,'" Carr says.
• Find out who's stepping in for you
  "With your supervisor, find out whom they plan to transition your work to, and make sure that you start to have hand-off meetings with that person up to a month ahead of time," Carr suggests. "Pregnancies are uncontrollable— you may plan to work up until the last day, but your baby may decide otherwise."
• Set limits of when or if you can be contacted while on leave
  Let everyone know under what circumstances they can or should contact you while on maternity leave.

"Even if you have every intention of staying in close contact with the workplace during your leave, give yourself the luxury of 'unplugging,'" Carr advises. "This is your child's only infancy; on the flip side, the workplace will be there when you return.

• Know your rights and responsibilities
  "Make sure that you work out what your pay will be during your leave, and understand what portion of it will come from disability (state) and what will come from your employer. Plan your personal finances accordingly," Carr suggests.
  
  She also advises expectant mothers to be forthcoming with any development that occurs during the leave. Despite your intentions, if you decide that you'd prefer not to return to work, be considerate and give as much notice as you can. Waiting until the week (or day) before your expected return leaves everyone in a bind.

When your colleague is going on maternity leave
While a boss or co-worker is away on maternity leave, the team left behind often pitches in to help. Or perhaps just one person does. Either way, you're about to inherit new responsibilities.

Sure, you probably don't need one more item on your to-do list. But here's an opportunity to show that you're not only a team player but also someone who is reliable and can perform well under pressure. Once your new role expires and the new mother returns to work, you might return to your previous position, but the bosses will now know what you're capable of handling. That can pay off down the road.

Here are Carr's suggestions for workers handling a new role:

• Know where to find answers
  "Make sure you have another colleague on the job who can answer your questions, especially in the first few weeks," she suggests. "Find out if there are any special circumstances or red flags (such as politics, problems or sensitivities) that you might not otherwise be aware of."
• Know the chain of command
  Carr recommends you find out whom you're reporting to and what they want from you. You want to be sure your standards align with the right person's.

Remember this is a period of transition for everyone
Any shakeup in daily activity affects everyone in a group, so all team members need to realize they're in this together. The new mother needs to keep her focus on her new baby (since this is the only time it's OK not to think about work on a daily basis) and to do this, workers need to step in where needed.

"The worst thing a new mom can do is start worrying about the return to work in such a way that she does not fully bond with her baby. The best advice I can give is to focus completely on the baby while you are on leave," Carr says. "When you return, in my experience, you will be pleasantly surprised by two things: The world did not stop turning while you were gone, and the people you left in charge will have done a great job," Carr says.

And, as always, a little gratitude can go a long way.

"If you can, express—before you leave—that you are grateful to your co-workers for their help. They are going to have to work extra hard to allow you to enjoy a precious experience."

Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

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BlissPR/New York

On April 17^th and 18^th, BlissPR launched Life University’s first-ever live Twitter feed from an academic conference. Life University is nationally recognized for its innovative chiropractic program and high-quality undergraduate and graduate education. The feed was launched to promote Life University’s Vitalism Conference, which featured leading philosophers and alternative healthcare practitioners from around the world in order to begin a discussion on modern vitalism and its potential implications on healthcare reform. For two months, BlissPR worked to engage Life University’s students, faculty and administration on Twitter in order to build an audience in time for the conference. BlissPR then launched #vitalhealth, a hashtag for conference twitterers to use, which funneled the conference tweets into one conversation. By the end of the conference, a search on search.twitter.com for #vitalhealth uncovered 51 pages of tweets from various university constituents and the general public. The feed was also featured on PlanetChiropractic.com, which hailed Life University as “making history in Chiropractic and on the Web,” and “the leading school in chiropractic when it comes to innovation, use of technology, and social media.”

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BlissPR/New York

On April 2, 2009 BlissPR hosted an open house wine tasting for select media in the NYC area. As the media works to sift through the economic gloom, while at the same time undergoing staff cuts, we thought it would be nice to give back to the many reporters, producers, editors and freelancers we’ve gotten to know so well over the years, but perhaps haven’t had the chance to formally meet. The open wine bar was available from 6:00 – 8:30, featuring four red and four white Spanish wines, and the turnout was a big success. The room was packed with approximately 15 guests joining us, ranging from national media outlets such as CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, BusinessWeek, and Reuters, as well as many from the trade press such as M&A Journal, Commercial Property News, Standard & Poors and several freelancers. Since all seemed to enjoy the night we plan to organize a second wine tasting for the media toward the end of the summer.

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BlissPR/New York

The Association of Management Consulting Firms, the leading global association for the management consulting industry, has selected BlissPR as its public relations agency of record. Founded in 1929, AMCF’s mission is to promote an environment which fosters the success of management consulting firms and the value they deliver to their clients. Based in New York, AMCF is comprised of top consulting firms from around the globe including Deloitte, Hay Group, IBM, Kurt Salmon Associates, RHR International, The Saint Consulting Group, Towers Perrin, and many others.

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BlissPR/New York
February 20, 2009

nD Insight, a Toronto-based consultancy firm, has selected BlissPR as their public relations agency of record. nD Insight develops and implements strategies to support clients who work to improve human, public, environmental and social health. The company’s clients include major state and local government healthcare organizations, not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations, and select private-sector companies. 

BlissPR will engage in a branding program for nD Insight aimed at creating a new sophisticated approach and strategic positioning platform for their brand. The branding program will be followed by a full service media relations program.

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Ragan Communications
February 11, 2009
By Christine Kent
chrisk@ckeditorial.com

What the financial sector needs to do to stop the bad PR

When the President of the United States says publicly that your industry’s behavior is “shameful” and shows “irresponsibility,” you know you’ve got a big fat PR nightmare on your hands…

…Become see-through: “Banks should focus on being transparent about what they’re doing with their bailout money,” says Abigail Gouverneur Carr, managing director of BlissPR in New York. “The public is craving information on what these banks are doing with their money.”

Carr’s firm is currently working with a bank that’s getting some bailout money, and has taken pains to produce data showing that the bank has loaned 10 times the amount of funding that it has received. “It’s not easy to get these numbers,” Carr acknowledges, given the complexities of financial reporting. But better that you crunch the numbers before the media does.

Offer a healthy dose of reality: Well-paid execs who fly around in private planes aren’t exactly new, says Carr. Some of the activity that has so inflamed the public “is business as usual—we’re coming off several years of a bull market,” she explains. “But the external world changed quickly, and the institutions didn’t change quickly enough.”…

…Talk up the good stuff: “There’s a real appetite now for good news,” says Carr. Where they can, banks should tell stories about what they’re doing to help businesses and individuals get through tough times.

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The Firm Voice
January 28, 2009
By Abigail Gouverneur Carr, Managing Director, BlissPR

If you are in senior management of an independent, privately-held PR firm, you should tell your employees how the firm is doing financially. And I don't mean vague generalities, as in, "We're holding our own, but it's going to be tough." I mean more like, "We did $649,000 in revenue in November. In December, we were down 5% to $616,500, but we will likely still hit our profit targets."

If you are already making this information known to your employees—congratulations, and you can stop reading. In fact, take the rest of the day off, because you are running your firm in an open and transparent way, which you probably know provides substantial benefits and overall reassurance—to management and employees—and it actually makes your life easier.

If, on the other hand, reading the first paragraph makes your stomach tighten and your head pound, keep reading. Here are nine reasons why you should consider changing courses:

1. They don't care how much money you make. I have a funny feeling that this is the number one reason why owners do not share financials. It has been my experience that your people do want to know that you take home a decent salary (if you aren't, what do they have to shoot for?), but don't care what it is exactly, or how much of the profits you keep. This is America, and our people are smart enough to know how capitalism works—owners get the profits. If you are squeezing your staff to wring out more profits than you should, well stop already!

2. You can keep salary information confidential. There's no more disruptive information than salary information, because there are always a few abnormalities. Don't divulge salary information, and keep it confidential to a very small number of those who need to know. Salary is a contract between the firm and the individual, and you can be clear that sharing this information is against firm policy.

3. They want to know. In good times and bad, people want to know if their firm is doing well and if so, how well. They work hard and want to be proud of the success of the enterprise. In bad times, in particular, an absence of information fuels anxiety, which is non-productive. That's what we counsel our clients, and we should keep our own counsel.

4. It helps you set bonuses. At our firm, bonuses are based 50-50 on company performance and individual performance, up to a cap of 10% of salary. If we hit the numbers, then employees know that half their bonus is "in the bag." What a good feeling.

5. It will help them think like owners—which is what you want, right? We want people who can manage a budget, think about utilization, efficiency, client profitability and other management metrics. If you expose staff to the top-line data about the firm, they will be more engaged. They will also want to show you how well they can manage those portions of the business that are within their control.

6. They will respect you. If you have to make tough decisions—and many of us will this year—they will understand why. It doesn't mean that layoffs and cutbacks aren't difficult and sad, but people want to work for managers they trust. Being open about the truth of a situation inspires trust.

7. You will respect yourself. While you may be a PR person, first and foremost, you are also a business manager. You need to run your firm as a business, and that means knowing and being able to report out clean numbers on a regular basis.

8. It will cut off the blood supply to company rumors. Several years ago, one of our media relations staff received a less-than-stellar review and then decided the company must be doing badly. He told his co-workers. Since they all knew how the company was doing—and profits were solid—his comments fell on deaf ears. And yes, he then left.

9. PR needs to be a profession that's transparent. This is a profession that lives and breathes through clear information, direct communication and an overall posture to and on behalf of our clients of "Yes, you can trust what I say." That's also the purpose of the Council of PR Firm's "Code of Ethics" and "Statement of Principles," and an important part of being a true professional. Firm financials are just one more way to model transparency for each other and to the next generation of PR leaders.

Of course, you don't have to tell them everything, nor should you. Financial management (or management decision-making of any kind) should not be conducted as a democratic process. In fact, you don't have to say a word about how you make expenditure decisions, because running the firm and making those decisions is your job, not theirs. But in general, it's helpful to them and to you if they know:

• Annual revenue targets;
• Monthly revenue actuals;
• Quarterly comparisons year over year; and
• Directional information about profitability.

My favorite reason was articulated by an account executive in our Chicago office, Dave Miranda. When I mentioned in the staff meeting Monday that I planned to write this column, he sent me the following email, verbatim:

"Regarding your request this morning for reactions to working for a company with transparent finances, I would say that it's especially valuable during a recession. As PR professionals focused on financial services, we are keenly aware of the negative economic items permeating the news. Knowing that BlissPR is financially stable frees us up to do our jobs instead of worry that we'll lose them. Hope that helps. Have a good day!"

Thank you, Dave. It does help. And you have a good day, too!

Abigail Gouverneur Carr is a managing director at BlissPR in New York, a B2B firm with practices in financial services, professional services and healthcare. She is former chair of the Council of PR Firms' Agency Management Committee, and currently chairs the Council's Leadership & Governance Committee.

The Council refers readers to its own Code of Ethics and its Statement of Principles for additional insight on this topic.

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In the first weeks of 2009, BlissPR’s main office has continued to gain new business. Nth Degree, based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a tradeshow and event management company that offers exhibit project planning and management, installation and dismantle, and event management. BlissPR has been hired as agency of record to provide a full marketing communications and public relations program.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 16, 2009
By Joyce Rosenberg

Millions of workers at small businesses across the country will take time Tuesday to watch Barack Obama be sworn in as president -- and will do so with their bosses' blessings…

…At BlissPR, a New York-based public relations agency, many employees will be in the conference room watching Obama's inauguration on TV. Abby Carr, the firm's managing director, said the company recognizes the historical significance of the day, and that "in moments like this, people want to be in a community."

BlissPR isn't doing anything to mark the day other than making the TV available, in part because there's still work to be done. Also, the company is aware that not everyone might be an Obama supporter.

"That was our strategy, to welcome people but not obligate anyone" to take part, Carr said…

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On Thursday, January 22, 2009, BlissPR hosted a panel discussion in Midtown Manhattan that brought together five experts from finance, retail, consulting, real estate and executive compensation to address the current business and financial environment. They individually discussed lessons learned from the 3Q08 meltdown, as well as what their respective industries can expect in the coming year. So that you, too, can hear what the experts have to say, embedded below are select videos of the event organized by speaker.

Some of the video files are large and may take a minute to load.

Bruce McCain
Chief Investment Strategist with Key Private Bank
Bruce discussed the current economic climate, what investors can expect in and how to prepare for 2009. Included here is Bruce’s PowerPoint presentation in order to view the charts and graphs he referenced in his speech:
Bruce McCain 2009 Economic Outlook Presentation

Michael Newman
President and CEO of Golub & Company
Michael addressed real estate: a sector that, both rightly and wrongly, has developed a bad reputation in today’s business world. Newman discussed the potential and peril of real estate as a business during this downturn, and how this cycle is both like and unlike recessions of years past.

Craig Rowley
VP and National Practice Leader for Retail at Hay Group
Craig addressed retail during the ’87 recession and compared it to today’s crisis. Rowley outlined how fear/uncertainty will cause a fundamental shift in consumers – and how that will, in turn, impact the economy and what retailers must do to survive the downturn.

Ralph Fatigate
BDO Consulting, former Director of Investigations at the New York State Banking Department
Ralph, leader of his firm’s Mortgage Lending Investigative Unit, discussed the implications of the financial crisis on corporate fraud investigations.

We regret that this video is unavailable, but for more information on Ralph Fatigate’s presentation, please contact Dan Brady dan@blisspr.com or (212) 840-1661. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Dale Winston
CEO of Battalia Winston
Dale discussed the challenges that senior level executives face in the wake of the financial crisis and how the crisis will impact compensation and the search for top talent in the new environment.

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GlobeSt.com
January 22, 2009
By Paul Bubny

NEW YORK CITY-Although titled "Preparing for the Recovery," the cross-sector panel convened here Thursday morning made it clear that the timetable for an economic upturn was open-ended. "The next few years are going to feel tough," warned Bruce McCain of Key Private Bank…

…McCain’s view that the economy is still looking for the bottom was shared from a real estate perspective by panelist Michael Newman. "What we’re seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg," said Newman, president and CEO of Golub & Co., based in Chicago…

…In the meantime, the retail sector is feeling the pinch, noted Craig Rowley, VP and national practice leader of retail at the Dallas-based Hay Group…

…BDO Consulting’s Ralph Fatigate said the downturn will likely result in stricter regulation of the securities industry and more oversight of mortgage lenders…

…Executive recruiter Dale Winston, CEO of Battalia Winston, said the downturn will cause many to leave the financial sector and look for other avenues…

…The Thursday morning panel was convened by BlissPR, a locally based public relations firm.

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BlissPR is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a measurable amount of new business in the second half of 2008. In industries ranging from social networks to real estate developers to foreign government agencies, the 33-year old business-to-business public relations agency has retained six new clients in the last few months.

BlissPR has also been successfully expanding its existing business. BDO Seidman has added a new program for its natural resources division as well as continued PR service options for each of its local programs. KeyBank, a client of BlissPR for eight years, has also awarded the agency with an assignment to promote its private banking operations.

BlissPR is proud to call itself the agency of record for two new digital companies IG Markets and Hedgestreet, both owned by IG Group Holdings. For IG Markets, an online Forex trading platform, BlissPR is developing outreach around new futures products and conducting analyst relations for their Senior Market Analyst, Dan Cook. Hedgestreet, a unique online commodities and currency exchange, has hired BlissPR to engage average consumers to participate in the global market.

BlissPR has also begun a program to promote QuickWaters Software.  Launched by former Wall Street CIO Trent Gavazzi in 2007, Quickwaters is dedicated to creating products that protect financial institutions from governance, compliance and operations risk.  The company’s software allows C-level financial services executives to monitor and respond to enterprise risk via real-time alerts and platforms that enable collaboration and data verification.  Its exclusive focus on risk is a timely solution to major issues of counterparty solvency and trading breaches.  

Three more new clients have emerged from the real estate sector. Golub & Company, Chicago-based developer, has hired BlissPR to promote their work on the infamous Block 37. For DeStefano Partners, an internationally acclaimed architecture and interior design firm, BlissPR will be conducting full service media relations to promote the firm’s cutting-edge high rise and public sector building designs in the U.S. and internationally in locations such as Korea, Mexico and Dubai. To round out the real estate group, TICA, the Tenant-In-Common Association (TICA) is a non-profit organization focused on the success of the fractional ownership industry that has engaged BlissPR to increase its high profile media coverage.

MITI, the Ontario Ministry of International Trade and Investment, has retained BlissPR on a project basis. This government agency hired Bliss to aid in the promotion of Ontario’s innovative economic environment and encourage corporations to take advantage of the province’s educated workforce and funding opportunities.

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Ten months into its media relations program, BlissPR has put together an action-packed media tour in New York in November for TransCorp. TransCorp (Transnational Corporation of Nigeria) is a growing industrial investment company based in Nigeria, with interests in infrastructure, energy and commodities.  The aim of the tour was to establish relationships for TransCorp with key journalists at national and trade publications, as well as to present reporters with new ideas about the role of Africa in the global economy.  BlissPR secured meetings with the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Institutional Investor and Bloomberg TV, as well as garnering a speaking opportunity at the Chief Executive Conference in New York the day prior.  Additionally, BlissPR coordinated a meeting with TransCorp and MBS Value Partners, a WorldCom partner firm, to discuss a potential investor relations program for the company; at the end of the meeting, the CEO requested a proposal from the firm.

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SynaHealth has elected BlissPR to coordinate the public relations surrounding its new health-focused social network. Since 2000, SynaHealth has been serving hundreds of thousands of patients and medical professionals. Their place in the healthcare industry gives them special insight into the needs of consumers, advocates, organizations, and patients alike. Created with an eye to the health enthusiast looking for personalized health information, the patient in need of support, the advocate spreading a message, and the organization communicating with its members, SynaHealth is a place where ideas and knowledge on health come together in a unified medium.

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Golub & Company, an international real estate investment and development company based in Chicago, has selected BlissPR as their public relations agency of record. Golub has been providing commercial and residential real estate services throughout the United States and across Central and Eastern Europe for nearly 50 years. The company has developed, owned or managed more than 30 million square feet of commercial space and 50,000 multifamily units in their domestic and global footprint.

BlissPR will be performing full service media relations for Golub & Company, with the objective of raising awareness of the firm’s commercial and residential properties in the United States and Central and Eastern Europe.

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The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) honored BlissPR, in partnership with MetLife, with a 2008 Silver Anvil Award of Excellence at the awards ceremony on June 5th. The campaign selected was for MetLife’s Institutional Business program, entitled “Employee Benefits for 'People Like Me'—An Integrated Open Enrollment Campaign.” The program launched in 2007 as an integrated employer education campaign, coinciding with the fall Open Enrollment season for employee benefits.

The campaign was grounded by extensive proprietary research, commissioned by MetLife, to learn how workers feel about benefits selection: a qualitative ethnographic research project, the “Big Envelope,” of 34 employees, and a quantitative survey, the 2007 Open Enrollment Trends Survey, of 1,203 employees. The findings of both surveys were used to develop all public relations and marketing vehicles during Open Enrollment—“rules of thumb” for employees during benefits selection, a white paper, press release, webinar, two Audio News Releases, a NAPS article and the company’s website. Overall, there were 62 mentions or features in top-tier national and regional publications, and the announcement of the survey results was covered in the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, MarketWatch Radio and PlanSponsor, among others.

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To foster innovation and the sharing of ideas, BlissPR has revamped its robust training program which aims to expose employees to different facets of the public relations business. BlissPR polled its staff at the beginning of the year to better understand topics that are top of mind to individuals at every professional level. Currently the firm offers monthly training sessions on topics such as business ethics, advanced writing, media pitching, research, business development and new media. Sessions are taught by internal talent, as well as professional affiliates, and team members at all levels are encouraged to attend training sessions and share their own “best practices.” The company asks for trainee feedback on each session to ensure that employees are getting the most out of BlissPR’s own continuing education program.

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BDO Consulting, LLP, a division of BDO Seidman, has selected BlissPR to handle its public relations needs for the coming year. BDO Consulting provides litigation, investigation, restructuring and risk advisory services to major corporations, law firms, insurance companies, financial services entitles and government organizations.
 
BlissPR will be performing full service media relations for BDO Consulting, with the objective to promote the firm’s practice groups including Litigation and Fraud Investigation, BDO Consulting Corporate Advisors, LLP, Business Restructuring Services and the Risk and Advisory Services practice. www.BDOConsulting.com

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CODA Resources, a third generation manufacturer based in New York City, has elected BlissPR to handle its public relations. CODA provides full-service customized contract manufacturing and supply chain support to global businesses who are seeking to take advantage of lower cost production in China via a U.S.-based organization that will provide typical American quality control.

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Bliss, Gouverneur & Associates was pleased to announce on February 1 that they changed their name to BlissPR. BlissPR is a B2B firm that has focused on professional and financial services clients for decades and recently entered the healthcare arena in partnership with advertising agencies owned by its parent company, CommCor. The firm has 30 employees at offices in New York and Chicago.

“We believe the new name is more descriptive of what we do, and reflects the consolidation of our operations with those of Walsh Communications, an acquisition that we made in 2003,” said Abby Gouverneur Carr, one of the firm’s managing directors. “The name change is underscored by a new logo and refreshed website.”

“This is an exciting time as we approach our 33rd anniversary,” said John Bliss, founding principal of the firm. “While our outside look is changing, we’re still the same service- and results-oriented firm we have always been. Our people and core values won’t change a bit.”

Founded in 1975, BlissPR provides a full range of communications services to professional and financial services firms, corporations and associations. John Bliss is the current chairman of the Americas Region for WORLDCOM. The firm is also a founding member of the Council of Public Relations Firms.

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