Introducing the New Faces of BOCA: Briana Coons

BOCA isn’t a traditional communications agency. We have a specialist model to ensure that employees are happy and clients experience the highest results, which is why we first created the PR Analytics and Research Team. We’d like to introduce you to Briana Coons, one of our first additions to the team and our BOCA family.

Originally from Las Vegas, Briana went to college in Reno and has lived in the Bay area over the past seven years. She previously worked as an emergency 911 dispatcher, is a huge SF Giants fan, loves food and spends most of her free time training for triathlons or planning for her upcoming wedding.

What brought you to BOCA?

Believe it or not, fitness brought me to BOCA. I'm part of a local workout group and Brittney Danon, an SAE at BOCA, posted about a job opening at BOCA. I've known Brittney for 3 years and she always spoke highly of the people she worked with. Previously, I never really thought about working in PR, but now I'm happy I took a chance on BOCA. 

How would you describe your position?

I came in as part of the PR Analytics and Research team. Most of my days are spent conducting news sweeps for the agency and clients, tracking and sorting coverage, logging data and keeping my ears peeled and my fingers on the on the pulse of hot, timely news topics for clients to comment on. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve received a crash course on the media side of PR and excited to keep learning more about media relations.

What were you doing before BOCA and how have you been able to transfer your skillsets over to the world of PR?

Over the last seven years, I was a 911 dispatcher for a local police department. Prior to that, I worked as a dispatcher for the real "Reno 911.” My favorite saying at BOCA is, "It’s PR, not ER." Dealing with emergency situations has given me a calm demeanor that translates well into PR. I'm able to think quickly on my feet, remain calm and speak professionally in any situation.  

Outside the BOCA environment, what are you passionate about?

I'm passionate about fitness, specifically long distance triathlons. And food. I love to cook and love to eat. In the past year, I've competed in Ironman 70.3 races -- for those of you unfamiliar with triathlons, that’s a 1.2 mile open water swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run, all on the same day. While it may seem crazy, it gives me a huge sense of accomplishment. I'm also very passionate about health and wellness and am in the process of finishing my bachelor's degree in Healthy Lifestyles Coaching at Arizona State University Online. I'm also taking an online course to become an Ironman certified triathlon coach. Many people in this country lack the resources, time and money that triathlons require. As part of the Women for Tri ambassador group, I hope to get more people involved in the sport. Maybe I'll even convince a few BOCA staffers to join me in a race next year!

Is there anything you're currently training for?

I'm currently training for my first full marathon in December. If you asked me five years ago if I thought I'd ever even train for a 5k, I probably would have laughed at you. After my marathon, I'll start gearing up for another Ironman 70.3 race and possibly a full Ironman in July. I did my first triathlon after a friend dared me to... but as a result, I've never looked back.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

After going through some difficult times a few years ago, I found the girls of Tone It Up, Karena and Katrina. Their energy and message spoke to me in a way no other diet or fitness program had before. They encourage women to be their best self and to lift others up. My inspiration is not one single person, but rather the entire community of strong, beautiful women I've been able to connect with from all over the world. I've met some of my closest friends through Tone It Up and have been inspired to try so many new things and make myself a priority health-wise. If not for this group of women, I doubt I would have gone back to school, changed careers or crossed any finish lines. 

What tip would you give someone looking to balance work, a healthy lifestyle and training for a race?

Balance is hard. I juggle school, work, training, wedding planning and commuting over three hours per day. While it’s not easy, and I certainly miss out on a few social events, I know the struggle and sacrifice is well worth it. Plan, plan some more and be flexible. Some days, I don't get my workouts in. Other days, I have Taco Bell for dinner. And on another day, I eat lean, clean and green, rock it at work and run 10 miles afterwards. Make the healthy choice 90 percent of the time and it will pay off.

Also don’t be afraid to take chances. I was stuck in a career I didn’t love for the last 11 years, working 60 hour weeks and missing holidays with my family. I took a chance on BOCA a few months ago and could not be more thankful for the people and experiences they've given me. BOCA has shown me what it’s like to work for a company that truly cares and gives me the flexibility I need with school. I work hard so I can play hard. And so far, it's paying off. 

What Is Value-Based Healthcare and Why Should You Care?

The transition from fee-for-service to value-based care in healthcare is affecting everyone, from payors to patients to employers. Fee-for-service is now an outdated model of patient care that bases physician payments on the number of office visits or medical procedures that they perform. Value-based care reimburses physicians and healthcare providers for the quality of patient service that they provide.

What’s driving the shift to value-based care? Two things: the rising cost of healthcare and the unequal quality of care between patients.

How much does healthcare cost? The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country – about 18 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). At the current rate that healthcare spending is increasing, the U.S. could be spending 34 percent of GDP on healthcare by 2040.

Why does this matter, and why do we need value-based care? Because everyone deserves equal access to quality, low-cost healthcare, and if we don’t reduce the increasing cost of healthcare we risk reducing the amount of take-home pay for all Americans, which would impact the continued economic viability of the U.S.

Competition under the fee-based service model has unfortunately encouraged U.S. healthcare providers to shift costs, accumulate buying power and restrict services. In their must-read book called Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results published in 2006, Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg argue that new benchmarks in the healthcare industry can be created by shifting to a new model based on competition to deliver the highest quality of care for patients at the lowest cost.

Today, the sea change in healthcare delivery that was recommended by Drs. Porter, Teisberg and many others is well underway. Major changes in U.S. policy have been enacted that are affecting the way payors, providers and physicians are delivering care. This, in turn, is creating new opportunities in the Silicon Valley and beyond for new technology and tech-enabled solutions to solve healthcare problems.

Introducing the New Faces of BOCA: Erik Fowle

Ready to meet another new face at BOCA? Erik Fowle joined BOCA’s writing team this summer! Originally from the SF Bay Area, Erik went to college in upstate New York and has lived in San Francisco the past four years. During the past five years, Erik has worked in tech PR, at a software startup and as a freelance writer. He’s a big Bay Area sports fan – football and hockey being his favorites – and is always up for a Giants game.

What brought you to BOCA?
Short story: Natalie Wolfrom!

Long story: I was writing as a freelancer for about two years. But it's tiresome and often frustrating when work is inconsistent and I spend every day by myself. BOCA was both the end of a long journey looking for a full-time writing position and the beginning of collaborating with a real team of other creative human beings.

What is your favorite part of being a writer?
Writing has always been a passion, an emotional and creative outlet for me. I love that about it more than anything. I think people view writing as something that's totally on the right-brained side of the spectrum. And that's very true of, say, writing a short story or jotting something down before you go to sleep at night. But with projects like press releases and ghostwritten articles, I find that writing often feels much more like putting together a puzzle. How do I turn this research into something interesting that people will want to read? How do I turn a CEO's answers into a poignant story? There's a lot more logic involved in writing assignments than one might imagine.

I enjoy that I can be creative and still solve a puzzle. When a release I've written crosses the wire, a publication posts a byline I worked on or a client says, "This is great," I feel a big sense of accomplishment. Writing is so personal regardless of the topic or assignment, which is why I think it can be hard to accept criticism. There isn’t a better feeling than when you receive positive feedback or when you finally turn something into a finished product.

Who are your favorite authors/writers, and how have they influenced you today?
Oh, man. I love Ernest Hemingway. The fishing scene in The Sun Also Rises made me laugh because I can imagine sitting with a friend, drinking a few beers and having the same type of conversation they had. The Great Gatsby is my favorite book. The last page or so in particular is one of the most beautifully written things I've ever read. It's a reminder that not everyone has to be a minimalist. That there are so many different styles and so many ways to make a story work.

On the Road is a sometimes-unintelligible stream of consciousness. But it's amazing. I enjoy how so much of it is set in San Francisco and Northern California.

Cormac McCarthy is also an awesome author. Hemingway and McCarthy’s prose is a lesson in precision. In accomplishing so much with so little. In focusing on movement and action and dialogue.

Mario Vargas Llosa's The Bad Girl is an incredible love story. Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude is really something else. I wrote a paper in college on The Catcher in the Rye that I'm really proud of. I could go on.

What are some tips that you can suggest to the everyday person who wants to improve his/her writing?
Pay attention to what you read. The next time you read a book, an article or a story, find something that that author does well. Figure out why that style or strategy works. Then focus on that in the next thing you write. I find that writing, like sports, necessitates focus on one small thing at a time. You're not going to just go out there and get better at every aspect of soccer. But if you work on a skill until you've mastered it, then work on another and another, eventually the finished product is greater than the sum of all those individual things you've learned how to do. Writing is the same way. Focus on one thing at a time. Get better at it. Then focus on something else. It will all build on itself. Above everything, practice. Keep yourself writing something every day. Even if it's short or if you’re not happy with the initial draft(s). Write something.

My roommate has a New Yorker subscription so I'll open up to the fiction piece and read the first few paragraphs. If I'm hooked I'll keep reading. If not, I stop. It's helpful to see what makes those writers successful at developing a sense of mystery and suspense.

What is your tip for someone looking for a content position at a PR agency?
That's a good question. I really don't know. I got lucky with BOCA. When you're out there looking for a position, look for something that will allow you to focus on writing as much as possible. Once you've spent some time in a content-oriented role, it will be easier to move into other similar positions. Hopefully.

What do you do outside of work?
I play in a men's lacrosse league in the spring. We have games in Sausalito every Saturday and go to a big tournament at Lake Tahoe every summer - that's been a highlight of my summer for years. I play soccer in a few leagues in the city and try to play sports as often as possible. I don't like running for the sake of running - someone's got to be nipping at my heels if I'm going to get my legs moving.

I hike (Point Reyes is one of my favorite places for that) and sit in Golden Gate Park (or just the Panhandle) and go to the farmer's market at the Ferry Building. I like food. I like dive bars. I like Yosemite and I like kayaking. I like crossword puzzles (Mondays and Tuesdays, anyway). I love going to sports games. Hockey games are so much fun in person. It mixes the physicality of football with the fluid movement of soccer and, oh, yeah – they do it all on ice skates.

Do you have any current writing projects outside of work? If so, what are they?
I want to get a short story to a point where I'd consider submitting it for a contest. It would be fun to see what people actually thought of my writing.

Are you into spoken words or poem reciting? If so, what are some things you enjoy writing about?
Nope. I'm a terrible poet and don't enjoy the spotlight (unless it's playing sports under the lights). As far as writing in general, I write about whatever's on my mind. I write about things that keep popping up in my head over and over. I write about things I've done and seen. I write things I think I'd enjoy reading.

Here, There, Everywhere. BOCA on the Rise

This week, BOCA took the time to relax, have fun, reflect on the previous year’s successes and discuss what lies ahead.

To kick things off, we headed to the Mission District for some team bonding over a food tour hosted by Edible Excusions. Our lovely guides, Lisa Rogovin and Sophia Lorenzi, led us through a series of locations for tasty treats including Hawker Fare, Craftsman & Wolves, Bi-Rite, Duc Loi and Tacolicious. In typical BOCA fashion, the evening ended with dancing in the Castro. 

Reconvening at 9:00am the next day, the party-weary BOCAteers gathered to take family photos and “candid” shots for our new website (coming soon). After we filled up on breakfast from Specialty’s, our fearless leader Kathleen kicked off her presentation.

So where are we now? GROWING! Check out BOCA’s growth in both size and reach.

BOCA by the numbers:


BOCA by location:


Stay tuned for more posts about our exciting growth. But for now… here are photos from this week’s adventures:

BOCA loves its canine friends. Our dogs constantly invigorate our workdays with comforting hand licks and the sound of furry paws scampering across the floor.

The food tour kicks off! After chicken wings, mango salad and sticky rice at Hawker’s Fare, the BOCA team split into groups to enjoy the incredible edibles of the Mission, San Francisco’s most gastronomically inclined neighborhood.


Tour groups say a brief farewell to one another before venturing off into the San Francisco sunset for sumptuous bites and scrumptious beverages.

Ah yes, Craftsman & Wolves’ famed egg-filled muffins. The perfect meal after a long week of hard work.


Smiles abound as BOCAteers enjoy the best eats The City by the Bay has to offer


Banh mi sandwiches fill the belly with savory pork and the soul with dreams of far-off places


Bi-Rite ice cream cools our stomachs on a warm afternoon traipsing around the city’s hottest neighborhood.


Finally, Tacolicious graciously hosted the travel-weary team in their back room. Tacos and margaritas are a wonderful way to finish any evening. Until next time!

Still Dreaming of Dreamforce

They’ve done it again. Salesforce has pulled off another year of Dreamforce – four days of networking, innovation, education, parties and giving back.

Marching onto the pavement of Howard St., we saw more than just the Dreamforce Plaza… It was a Dream Park! It was as if we were walking past the gates of California Adventures or the spectacle of a State Fair. The streets were filled with chatter, business cards, bright lights and smart devices.

Months in advance, rumors spread like wildfire about what Salesforce would announce, who would be performing at Dreamfest and what would be the most interesting stunt. Salesforce delivered on all fronts.

In case you missed it, here are our top 10 highlights from Dreamforce 2015:

1. This year, Salesforce collected and donated 1,006,225 books. Talk about the largest book drive in the history of book drives.

2. Among one of the major announcements was Salesforce’s follow-up of 2014’s RelatedIQ with SalesforceIQ CRM solution—both for Small Business and Sales Cloud. Although Salesforce already has a CRM called Sales Cloud that integrates with over a thousand third-party software applications, SalesforceIQ for Small Business is an “out-of-the-box” CRM that automatically tracks and analyzes day-to-day business interactions with potential and existing customers.

Who the heck cares? Well this new advance in technology means making quicker connections and eliminating the pain salespeople endure while going back and forth analyzing emails.

3. Female executives hit the stage! Speakers Jessica Alba, founder of The Honest Company and Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, joined Gayle King for a candid discussion on women in the workplace and in leadership roles.

4. One of the keynotes quickly became a trending topic on social networks. Led by Parker Harris, co-founder of Salesforce, better known as the “Lightning Man,” and dozens of others came onto the stage in blue with stunning leotards and stage props that symbolized the mighty “Lighting” and “Thunder” platforms Salesforce now offers.

Parker demoed the ladder platforms and, more specifically, the new IoT cloud service, which augments the existing partnership with Microsoft. For the industry, this news was demonstrative of Microsoft and Salesforce, two former-CRM archrivals, putting their differences aside to integrate Microsoft’s Office Delve, Office Graph, Skype for Business and OneNote products directly into Salesforce.

5. Right next door to our office at Pier 70 on Wednesday evening was none other than the annual Dreamfest. This year featured performances from Gary Clark Jr., The Killers and the Foo Fighters.

6. Stevie Wonder opened for Marc Benioff, and it doesn’t get much better than that! The singer/song writer put on quite the show, playing his classics from the 70’s, and even changing the lyrics of his famous hit, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” to “Dreamforce is the sunshine of my life.”

7. Dreamboat was the newest Celebrity (Infinity) to reside in our cold San Francisco Bay waters; it housed over 1,100 Dreamforce attendees and guests. Towering over the buildings, the extravagant cruise ship was easy to spot along the Embarcadero.

8. Salesforce announced a significant partnership with AthenaHealth. Together, the companies are working together to create the WISDOM study, a new approach that will completely revolutionize breast cancer research and treatment. According to Laura Esserman, a world-renowned breast cancer surgeon and oncologist, the WISDOM study will use Salesforce to assist in analyzing whether annual mammograms or a more personalized approach to breast cancer screening is more effective.

9. As an SF-based company, we love seeing our sports teams represented! Bob Myers, general manager, and Rick Welts, president and CEO, of the Golden State Warriors (#DubNation) discussed their Strength in Numbers strategy and what they look for in building a championship-caliber team. Larry Baer, president and CEO of the San Francisco Giants (#SFGiants), discussed the team’s culture of success that led to three World Series titles in the past five years. NBD.

10. The Cloud Expo was not only a highlight because of the 400+ exhibitors drawing attendees to their booths to sit in on demos and sessions, have their badges scanned and to receive company swag (though exciting), but because of the 11 BOCA clients that were part of that number! Highlights include Birst, Clarizen, Druva, Hoopla, Jitterbit, Livefyre, NewVoiceMedia, Seismic, The TAS Group, Velocify and Vlocity.

There may not have been actual clouds, thunder or lightning during this year’s Dreamforce, but there was plenty in the digital and virtual atmosphere. Check out our photos below and thank you Salesforce for throwing yet another amazing event. We can’t wait for next year!

Perspective: From the Valley Fire to Silicon Valley

Everyone stop for a second and consider what’s happening around us. In the San Francisco Bay Area alone, Dreamforce is underway, Oracle and Adobe had their earnings calls and the anticipated iPhone 6s is projected to beat sales records.

While we’re in the Silicon Valley hustling and bustling…looking for the next tech unicorn, what’s happening with the rest of the world…with the rest of California…or even just two hours away?

The Valley fire, joining the Butte fire, is taking Northern California by storm. The source, to be confirmed, started in Cobb on Saturday afternoon. The smoke quickly expanded and hovered like clouds before a large downpour of rain, confusing many residents. Quickly, the dry grassland (thank you climate change and global warming) was engulfed by the flames. Steered by heavy winds, the flames were directed straight toward Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake.

Then, the evacuation process began. In a rural area with limited cell service, alerts were not triggered. Notifications were issued publicly online, people were rushing the streets shouting and calling loved ones, telling family, friends and neighbors to evacuate.

With construction on Mt. St. Helena (one of two routes to exit the mountain), it was clear traffic was going to be a nightmare. Many turned around in an effort to recollect additional belongings and find their pets, while others sat in panic and waited out the traffic.

Residents escaped to evacuation shelters across Calistoga, Clearlake and Kelseyville. Others stayed with close friends or family members.

The hardest part of the entire process is the waiting game. Waiting to find out if your house fell victim to the flames, or if by some miracle, it was missed. Of course the waiting game reignites each morning, in the case the flames took a new course overnight. Those with cable and Internet access scan the web, social networks and television networks for updates. Scrolling through photos and videos available for any sign their home is still there.

One by one, Facebook status updates and GoFundMe pages have been popping up left and right, supporting families that had lost their homes and everything in it. While the essentials are replaceable, many things are not. Those impacted are now haunted by the happy memories that were so easily burned away.

As of Wednesday evening, 70,200 acres were burned with only 35 percent contained, 585 homes destroyed, four firefighters had second-degree burns and one civilian fatality.

At BOCA, this reminds us to take a step back and to think about how lucky we are to have what we have, be where we are and to give when we can. This post was written, because the fire impacted not only our fellow California residents, but our very own friends and families. We do not take it lightly and want to do everything we can to help.

Please stand with us and give back to those who need us. Let’s unite as a city, county, state and country to donate what we can and rebuild when this is all over, whether it’s through awareness or physical donations.

All types of donations are being accepted and volunteer opportunities are available for disaster recovery efforts through American Red Cross. Families impacted are accepting monetary donations at their individual GoFundMe pages.

BOCA Is in Great Shape to Serve Health and Wellness Clients

I always had a soft spot for what I call “health and wellness.” That written, when starting my career at Blanc & Otus (B&O), I was trained in business-to-business (B2B) corporate communications – truly deep tech such as application servers, databases, embedded systems and programming languages to business applications such as CRM, marketing solutions and the like. For BOCA to expand in the health and wellness arena, I realized I needed to bring in a health and wellness professional that would be 100-percent dedicated to that sector. 

Today I’m proud to announce the addition of Karin Bauer, our newest vice president that has a 100-percent healthcare background. Karin has handled PR for big brands such as Roche Molecular Systems and established agencies within the health sector like MSL Group. During her career, Karin has worked closely with a broad range of companies within the overall healthcare umbrella – including biotech, health tech and pharmaceuticals. We are very excited she joined our team.

We are also happy to announce that we hired several new employees with deep health and wellness experience. Specifically, I would also like to call out Jim Barillo, our new senior director, working out of Austin, Texas.

More than ever, BOCA is armed and ready to work with new and established leaders in this exciting market.

To better learn about Karin, I personally interviewed her so she could tell her story and share why she joined the BOCA family.

Kathleen Shanahan

Founder, BOCA

Karin Bauer, Vice President, Client Service
Healthcare

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background in Healthcare PR?

I’ve worked in healthcare PR for more than 15 years because of the opportunity it offers to help people make better choices about how to live healthier lives, and because I love geeking out over new, breakthrough medical treatments, technologies and services that have the potential to improve healthcare for everyone.

If there is one constant in healthcare, it is that healthcare is constantly changing. This is as true now as it was back in the 90’s when I was doing medical research and discovered two drugs to treat cancer. As those discoveries progressed through clinical testing, new and better treatments for colon and breast cancer were introduced that prolonged countless lives and set new treatment standards.

Watching the healthcare landscape change then, as an in-house PR executive and as a PR agency VP, was no less significant or interesting than the rapid, groundbreaking changes we are all experiencing now due the advancement of health technology, the Affordable Care Act in the U.S. and similar influences on a global scale.

As medicine continues to migrate from being paper-based to tablet- and accessory-based and powered by the cloud, the “point-of-care moment” (the moment that a patient actually receives care from a health professional), will continue to evolve and rapidly change.

This is exciting, because we will get to see better technology, research and development solutions that can improve healthcare for us all. It’s gratifying to help people understand the value of these new developments so they can make better choices about improving their wellbeing and that of their families and friends.

What are your plans with BOCA and Healthcare PR?

BOCA’s strong cadre of clients, incredibly talented team and deeply ingrained ethical culture, make it the perfect communications partner for healthcare companies. Looking to advance awareness and appreciation for solutions that are making people’s lives better and healthier is at the root of this unique moment in time for us.

It’s also refreshing to be part of a company that lives its own values by encouraging healthy lifestyles among its employees. I love that our staff values healthcare highly enough to engage in friendly competition among one another to get on new healthcare accounts!

Have you worked in crisis communications with your past healthcare clients?

I’ve seen my fair share of crises and thankfully managed through them with positive outcomes. These included manufacturing plant chemical spills, fires, product recalls, layoffs and traditional and social media backlashes about new medical solutions. Those solutions required medical and consumer re-education to balance appreciation for how and when new healthcare technologies should be used.

Why did you come to BOCA?

I joined BOCA to work with its incredible team of people. Public Relations is a highly competitive industry. Everyone wants top mind and market share, and it’s our job to deliver that for our clients. With our closely-knit, intelligent and friendly team BOCA makes delivering those wins more meaningful and more fun.