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How to Conquer Your First Week as a PR Agency Intern

By Kelly Brokaw The Hoffman Agency, San Jose You’ve just heard back from your employer. Congratulations, you got the internship! But not so fast. Before you step through those doors on the first day, there are a few things you’ll need to know in order to succeed during your first week — a few things…

How to Use Constructive Feedback to Your Advantage

By Megan Bauer The Hoffman Agency, Portland-Vancouver As we all know and have come to learn since childhood, feedback is a part of life. Whether it comes in the form of comments on a paper or thoughts from a manager, it is always present. Yet even with reassurance, constructive feedback can be difficult to hear…

Why PR Should Treat Facebook Like a Media Property

Cross-posted from Ishmael’s Corner By Lou Hoffman Several years ago we interviewed 65 sales people at major computer retailers (Best Buy, Fry’s, etc.) asking the key question, “What third-party sources do you depend on for information to help you in your day-to-day job?” They could answer with as many sources as they liked. This way,…

Why (and How) You Should Overcome Your Fear of Calling Reporters

By Kelly Stone The Hoffman Agency, Portland-Vancouver When we spend hours developing what we believe is a unique, relevant story angle, our bosses and clients expect regular pitching updates. When we do not generate many responses from reporters, or the replies are a quick, “No thanks,” we are encouraged to understand why. This is often…

Life as a HA Intern: Cori

By Cori Hays The Hoffman Agency, Portland-Vancouver Let’s face it — most people don’t really know what public relations is. They have some abstract idea of what we do, but when it comes to the specifics, they’re lost. The general public isn’t alone. Confusion persists even among communications students. After several PR and communications internships,…

HR Storytelling: Is It Possible?

By Karuna Tsang The Hoffman Agency, Hong Kong Addressing the Alexander Mann Solutions’ Catalyst event, Hoffman CEO Lou Hoffman explains why HR should be telling stories. When scientists proved that the human brain is wired for stories, they made an important point. While the use of “storytelling” in business communication has been widely discussed and…