INK PUBLIC RELATIONS

Our more diligent readers may have noticed some new faces at Fresh INK that have yet to be formally introduced. Many apologies for my tardiness and no, your eyes do not deceive you – INK is growing! And they said it couldn’t be done, not in “this” economy. Well folks, apparently if you have the right stuff – the stuff your clients want, the stuff that keeps them coming back for more – then yes, you can.

The Power of Five is now the Power of Seven – Adrienne Huebner, Julie Zellman and Jennifer Lopez (yes, we call her JLo on occasion – no, you cannot) – have added to the INK team in innumerable ways:

Adrienne is fast becoming the glue that holds us all together – or is it the glue that holds Kari and my heads in place? Either one, it’s important and we love her for it. While she’s not pictured here, her handiwork is – it’s super cool and convenient to have a part-time office manager whose real job is photographer. To see more of her very cool style, check out her website and blog (and say hi to Georgia while you’re there!).

Julie Zellman joined us fresh out of the University of Texas’ PR Honors program, but not without tons of prior and relevant internship experience. Julie is the real deal, a PR go-getter with the know-how and enthusiasm to get the job done. She’s brought a fresh perspective to how we do things around here (and since we haven’t hired in 4 years, that’s a good thing!) by reaffirming our belief that there’s always a better way; and also confirmed, through one internship experience at a large PR agency – that many of the things we do at INK are absolutely the best way to do them (I’m talking to you LARGE PR AGENCY and your ridiculous practice of having interns cold call reporters!).

Jennifer Lopez could not be more different from that “other” JLo. Sure, she’s cute and a (ballet) dancer, but a diva – no. Joining us from the Environmental Defense Fund where she helped shape public opinion about the pressing environmental issues of the day, Jennifer’s bubbly personality and clean energy know-how have been a perfect fit with the INK team. Her leadership in this area will be counted on greatly as we move towards expanding our clean energy practice.

So please say a warm welcome to our new INKers the next time you have the opportunity. We’re excited to have them here and see where INK goes next!

I recently plunged into the waters of social media with the launch of a Facebook page for long time client, magicJack. A few weeks in and all is going well. We are rapidly growing our fan base and have a heavy amount of interaction on the page week over week. Looking back, I can’t believe I ever questioned the value such a tactic would provide for magicJack. We are reaching a key audience of the company’s, the young professional and college student demographic, in the most powerful and direct way to date and having a lot of fun (from an internal perspective) in the process. It just goes to show that you never know what you will find when you start testing these resources out for yourself. This reflection reminded me of how reticent I was to use Facebook for personal use, initially.

I am from a very small town. I became convinced that I would not want to revisit my past for the world to see on Facebook. Afterall, I would surely receive requests from old flames (can they use Facebook in prison?), old friends (armed with evidence of why I should be in prison) and tagged photos (I didn’t know they made ropers and Wranglers for clowns). Of course, the requests did come and I accepted and ohhhhh…how the hunted became the hunter. My old friends’ status updates are so much better than those of my newer peers. Instead of “I am at Starbuck’s …YUM GUYS!” I get updates that read, “I am sitting out in the yard waiting to SHOOT THAT SQUIRELL!…%*^&^**!” Instead of vacation pictures from Cancun, my old school Facebook friends post pictures of their family vacation at Walt Disney World posing with Mickey whom they have holding the hometown paper with headline reading “Another Meth Bust!” I gotta say…that kind of originality has me coming back for more and just reaffirms that originality and transparency spell success in the social media world.

And just to show you don’t have to be from a small town to be original (or haunted by your past), here is  a picture of my husband in his youth. This proves you can be from London, listen to the coolest most underground music and still wind up regretting fashion sense and haircut choices many years later. But one thing remains true – people appreciate originality and a little something different.  When you are out there competing for attention in the social media world, don’t be afraid to let your freak flag fly.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:

After working with ACCIONA Energy over the last year, I was thrilled to be able to visit my first wind farm.  Of course, I’ve seen turbines spinning in the distance in Texas and I’ve written descriptions of how they work and sent pictures of other ACCIONA wind farms like Tatanka to trade and local media.  But I’d never walked right up underneath one and I’d certainly never been inside a turbine.  I’d also never been to Oklahoma, even after living my whole life in a neighboring state and talking a lot of smack about OU.

INKer Blair Poloskey (Oklahoma-born I might add) and I flew up to Oklahoma City and drove the nearly two hours out to Elk City in the Western part of the state where the wind blows strong and the oil and gas culture is welcoming this new and plentiful energy resource with open arms. ACCIONA’s Red Hills Wind Farm – which would be formally dedicated the next day — is located in Roger Mills and Custer Counties on nearly 5,000 acres.  The 82 turbines that make up the farm create enough clean energy to power 40,000 homes and offset 294K tons of C02 emissions annually.  ACCIONA’s VP of Development in the Central Region Tom Hiester, who spoke later in the week at Oklahoma’s Wind Commerce conference (note: we are doing a series of excerpts from this speech on the new ACCIONA NA – Take Action! Facebook fan page, called Oklahoma the “mother lode” of wind energy.  If DOE estimates are correct, Oklahoma has the potential to produce 725 billion kWh/year from wind which would surpass the oil and natural gas production of Oklahoma (oil is 60 million barrels per year; natural gas is 275 million barrels of oil equivalent per year).  This is more energy than Oklahoma can consume, creating a new export product for the state and one that may be in high demand by the Southeast US if a national RES (renewable energy standard) is passed.  How do they reach that potential? Tom says supporting national legislation to enforce an RES and significant investment in transmission lines are critical.

The Red Hills dedication festivities included an address from speakers like ACCIONA CEO Peter Duprey and  Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Tourism Natalie Shirley, an annual scholarship award of $5000 to the local school district, a great BBQ lunch and an open house for the public that involved bus tours of the wind farm and games and crafts for kids on wind energy from a great organization called KidWind.  After local media had completed interviews and left the event, Blair and I hopped one of the first buses and explored the truly beautiful wind farm. We went inside the turbine which includes control equipment and a lift to take employees (unfortunately not us) to the top of the turbine. As you can see from this picture, the turbines are truly magnificent, especially when you look straight up at them.  I felt the same kind of awe that I experienced when visiting the Redwoods in California.  These are beautiful, but huge structures.

The weather certainly could have been better but all in all it was a great day.  In the midst of snatching chairs out of the rain and stomping around in puddles, the Red Hills dedication event did just what it needed to do: thank the landowners, state and local government and overall community for their support and enthusiasm, and motivate the people of Oklahoma to continue to embrace wind energy in the state.  The dedication ceremony was followed by an impromptu duet of “Oklahoma,” the state song from the well-known musical, performed by none other than the local state representative Purcy Walker.  Go Oklahoma!  I never thought I’d say that.