Winter Clothing Drive for the Homeless

The cold weather in the Bay Area is more than just a matter of unpleasantness for many people: for the homeless, this drop in temperatures can be a life-threatening issue. We were extremely saddened to find out that in the past two weeks at least four people have died due to cold exposure in the area – this is something that we just cannot accept.

To help make a difference, BOCA Communications has started a collection drive for winter coats and blankets for the homeless. We’re encouraging donations of spare coats, blankets, socks, and any other winter clothing from our team members, our clients, and anyone else we can get the news to. If you have any extra winter clothes around the house that you can supply, we’ll be collecting them at the BOCA office in San Francisco for the next two weeks.

After we’ve finished with our collection drive, we’ll be sending BOCA team members to hand out these items at homeless shelters and soup kitchens around San Francisco on December 19, before our annual holiday party. We hope you’ll join us over the next two weeks to help make sure that everyone has a safe and warm holiday season this year.

The Season of Humility

Reading the Bateman Group’s recent Fall 2013 newsletter, we were struck by the wonderful opening message about the importance of humility, and what it means to recognize the ways that others have helped contribute to your success. We also couldn’t help but notice how well it went with our blog post yesterday about celebrating professional as well as personal relationships during the holidays.

Maybe it’s the spirit of the season, or the artic cold that’s visiting San Francisco, but there’s definitely something in the air that makes us want to recognize how much we value the warmth and goodness of others. With that in mind, we’d like to reiterate how wonderful it is to work alongside our peers in the industry: superb firms like Bateman Group, Highwire PR, Kulesa Faul, LaunchSquad … the list goes on.

We’re thankful for your partnerships, the lessons you’ve taught us, and your achievements that continue to inspire us. We hope that we’ve been able to offer something valuable too – or at least to keep our Karma balance positive. So, to quote Fred Bateman on humility, let us “never, ever forget where we came from or the people who helped us along the way.” Thank you all for your generosity and goodwill; we’ll be thinking of you this holiday season.

A Holiday Toast to Our Clients and Partners

With the holiday season in full swing, we’re reminded to take time to reconnect with friends and family from near and far. At BOCA Communications, we think of our clients and partners in the industry as friends and family, and we cherish every opportunity to celebrate with them during this festive time.

That’s why we’re so excited to meet up with our friends at the Silicon Valley public relations firm Kulesa Faul for their annual holiday party this evening. Kulesa Faul has been doing excellent work in the field of tech PR (they were named one of the Top Tech Communicators by PRSourceCode), and we value the chance to exchange best practices along with holiday cheers at their event.

We believe that so much of our value at BOCA comes from the relationships we’ve made, and during this season of celebration, we want to take special time out to toast our professional relationships as well as our familial ones. Our bonds with our clients, both past and present, with our partners, and even with our competitors, are all part of what allows us to thrive in the thrilling world of tech PR.

So, as we take time out to be with the people that we value most in our lives, let’s not forget the partners and clients who are responsible for so much of our personal and professional success. We’re especially thankful this holiday season to be part of such a wonderful family.

BOCA Blog - Bringing it Back (And, Austin - Here we Come)

Wow...after many years of going dark on the BOCA Blog - I've decided to bring it back...yay!

I can't believe how much my company has changed...as I always say...I started out on the living room floor with a couple of contractors. One day I decided to hire my first W2 and offer medical plus dental. We got an office in North Beach. And, this year we are rolling out 401K.

We are also going on our first-ever "Work Away," meaning the entire SF team (those that want to go) will be heading to Austin, Texas. The BOCA group - now 15 of us -  will be working away and enjoying the technology community of Austin, Texas.

Why Austin? We formally opened an Austin office about six months ago. We have a few clients with aspirations for more. The team is so excited. I am so excited. Go Austin. (And, we are hiring in Austin.)

Yay for Blog and Yay for Austin...more blogging to come.

Toyota's Use of Public Relations and Social Media to Preserve Trust and its Brand

It is interesting to watch the Toyota story unfold. But, as a marketing professional it is very interesting to watch its use of marketing—commercials, YouTube and etc.
Toyota used public relations, social media, and YouTube to deliver a message by Jim Lentz, president of Toyota’s US marketing, to reassure consumers over concerns surrounding the safety of its cars. They used the video-sharing website in an attempt to restore trust in the brand and avoid damage to its reputation, which reports estimated could cost the brand as much as £4bn worldwide. On the YouTube video, Lentz says, “I hope you will give us a chance to win back your trust.” Trust is a key value the company is also really pushing forward. We are the company you have trusted and you can continue to trust.

Effectively the company is using YouTube and traditional commercials in an attempt to restore trust in the brand and avoid damage to its reputation. While commercials are a great vehicle, a key YouTube element is that unlike television this clip will be around for public consumption for quite a long time and it can be embedded on blogs like this or Facebook, subscribed to on Youtube, and generally pushed around online so there is extra power in the message.

3 of the Most Incredible Things Public Relations can do for Your Organization

I want to share with you some of the incredible benefits of public relations, below are three of the most incredible. Public relations is the start of a relationship with a customer, and to get that ball rolling, you have to know why having that relationship is important. Customers trust someone they know, and using PR, you can gain that trust.Here are a few things PR can do for your company:

"Build your brand." I believe a good mix of public relations, not advertising, builds a brand. A brand cannot be built on advertising alone since PR is more credible and trustworthy than advertising. Advertising hopes to relay information, but a press release, social media, marketing, newspaper article, or trade show appearance can help to share information and have a meaningful conversation and connection with a customer.

"Create trust for your company and its products." This adds to the first bullet point: "Because public relations is viewed as more credible than advertising, it's a great tool for helping customers understand that they can trust your product." While trust is not gained overnight, PR can greatly increase your chances of generating that trust from customers.

"Shift the perception of your product.""PR is also a useful tool for changing the way customers view your product." Your product, depending on its stage in the life cycle, may already have a perception customers associate it with. These perceptions are sort of like stereotypes about a product that are very hard to change or shift. To change this perception, a company would need to use some major PR tactics. They would need to utilize the media and customers to help that perception change.

Thank you for reading. I hope to have shown you that with the right mix, Public Relations can be an invaluable asset to any organization.

The power of humanity through Social Media

It’s hard not to feel for the people of Haiti.

The recent earthquake has left Port au Prince devastated and resources to aid in the aftermath scarce or used up. According to The New York Times:

United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told NBC’s “Today” program that 3 million people – about a third of Haiti’s population – had been affected by the quake, and that “there will be tens of thousands of casualties – we don’t have any exact numbers.”

I’ve noticed something as this disaster has unfolded – more than ever before, people are using social media to spread the word and help the relief efforts. People are posting Facebook statuses with their thoughts, prayers and personal connections. Twitter is especially abuzz about Haiti, with such trending topics as#HelpHaiti and #Haitirelief. Scores of non-profit agencies are also using Twitter to raise awareness – and money. The Red Cross and other groups are also accepting donations via text messages.

According to some accounts, a few online con artists are using the Haitian disaster as an opportunity to swindle generous people out of their money. But Twitter is facing up to that challenge as well, with people sharing links to helpful websites like Charity Navigator, which lets you analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of more than 5,400 charities. Another article making the rounds: Ten Tips to Help Haiti, Not Scammers from PCMag.com.

My point is this: social media has proven before and continues to prove itself to be more than just a frivolous time-waster – it can add real value and sense of community, especially in times of tragedy.

My thoughts and prayers are with those in Haiti.

Social Media comes of age in 2010

New technologies changed the way businesses communicate with customers, friends and families throughout the last decade. For public relations and marketing professionals, the emergence of social media created new opportunities to build relationships never dreamed possible.

Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, LinkedIn…Where are these social media platforms taking us? Will there come a day when information is somehow beamed directly into the cortex of our desired audience? While that seems unlikely, so did the concept of a social networking site like Facebook ten years ago.

Today, one can update customers through a company’s social media account through a cell phone or notebook. Restaurants and businesses have free wireless Internet services to plug into. The news doesn’t wait for the evening broadcast or morning newspaper; rather, news reaches us instantaneously on our mobile devices through the latest post or tweet. Even traditional news sources allow for public comments after each story on their Web sites.

Remember the days of dial-up Internet service or sending faxes to communicate 10 years ago? The times are certainly changing.