July 18, 2011 in Media Orchard, Social Media Marketing, Web Design by Orchardo
IDEA GROVE NEWS: Photography and Design Blog Nears 1,000 Posts

We’ve been proud to call New York’s Black Star photographic agency an Idea Grove client for five years as of last month.

Founded in 1935, Black Star is one of American photojournalism’s historic institutions. The list of those who in the early years signed a contract with Black Star reads like a Who’s Who of photography in the following decades: Walter Bosshard, Robert Capa, Ralph Crane, Herbert Gehr, Fritz Goro, Andreas Feininger, Ernst Haas and Philippe Halsmann, to name but a few.

According to photo historian Marianne Fulton, Life magazine brought Black Star 30 to 40 percent of its business. Black Star, in turn, contributed to Life becoming the most popular magazine in America for nearly three decades, with tens of millions of readers.

Since its beginnings, Black Star has been committed to mentoring both its photographers and its clients. This is one reason the agency has been so respected — and so loved — by photographers for so many years.

Black Star Rising, the Idea Grove’s blog collaboration with the agency, is our way of extending Black Star’s ethos of teaching — and caring — to a broader audience. We started it in 2007 and are now close to publishing our 1,000th post.

Black Star and the Idea Grove are always looking for photographers, graphic designers, Web designers and other creative professionals who want to share their first-person experiences, views and advice. The content covers both the creative and business side of things.

If you’d like to contribute to the blog, either with an article or video post, please contact Stephanie Fedler at sfedler (at) ideagrove (dot) com.

 
0
July 15, 2011 in Media Orchard, PR Agencies by Orchardo
IDEA GROVE NEWS: Stephanie Fedler and Jill Diedrich Join the Team

We’d like to welcome Account Executive Stephanie Fedler and Account Coordinator Jill Diedrich to the Idea Grove team.

Stephanie is a media relations and social media professional with experience spanning work with nonprofit, healthcare, finance, fashion and technology clients. Stephanie’s efforts have earned her clients media coverage with an ad value equivalence of more than $1.5 million to date.

Prior to joining the Idea Grove, Stephanie served as an account executive at Nunez PR Group for nearly two years. Among her experiences, she served as product spokesperson for Naya Shoes, appearing on television news programs nationwide to promote the brand. She has bachelor’s degrees in corporate communications and public affairs as well as psychology from SMU.

Jill comes to us from Austin, where she was an account executive at Hackney Communications, specializing in developing PR strategies for financial clients, technology companies and entrepreneurs. She is a graduate of UT-Austin, where she was in the public relations honors program.

Jill’s background includes New York PR agency experience, as well as a demonstrated commitment to philanthropy and women’s empowerment. She is director of operations for Make Charity Cool, a start-up nonprofit with the goal of making “charity work” seem like less of a chore.

 
0
May 18, 2011 in Media Orchard, Public Relations by Orchardo
CLIENT NEWS: RiseSmart, ShopSavvy Rake in the Awards

In a world where thousands of technology companies are sending out press releases touting themselves as the next big thing, one way to separate yourself from the pack is to apply for, and win, industry awards for your company or products. This tells the media, analysts and other influencers — not to mention your customers — that your claims are more than talk.

Our client RiseSmart was recently named to the siTech 10, awarded by SiliconIndia.com to the 10 most promising technology companies. The honor was accompanied by a two-page article in the May issue of SiliconIndia magazine.

It’s not the only award RiseSmart has added to its mantle of late. The company was just named a finalist for the Red Herring Top 100 North America award; has been selected as one of the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal; was honored as a TiE 50 finalist; and was recognized as a Champion of Diversity by the American Association for Affirmative Action.

ShopSavvy, the leading mobile shopping assistant for smartphone users, is another longtime client that has been snapping up the awards for some time.

I was just compiling a list of ShopSavvy’s awards and recognition for a presentation, so I thought I’d share it here as well:

  • 50 Best iPhone Apps 2011, Time Magazine. Time declared the app “a must-have for professional bargain hunters.”
  • 2010 Best App Ever Award. ShopSavvy was cited for “Best Use of iOS Hardware” in the Best App Ever Awards, presented by 148apps.com at the Macworld 2011 Expo.
  • CES 2010 Top 20 Mobile App. ShopSavvy was named one of the top 20 apps in the CES Mobile Apps Showdown by a panel of expert screeners from a variety of influential, independent tech sites.
  • Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator. ShopSavvy won the Entertainment Technology category at the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW Interactive 2010. The two-day event is an annual competition where startups pitch their businesses to a panel of judges, including venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and industry experts, in front of a live audience.
  • Under the Radar, Best App iPhone 2009. Under the Radar brings together CIOs, investors, industry execs, analysts, and media into an entertaining and insightful high-speed short-form blitzkrieg of information and ideas, awarding the best pitches.
  • Netexplorateur of the Year Winner. ShopSavvy was named one of 10 global winners of the 2009 Netexplorateur of the Year award, honoring the year’s most promising digital innovations. ShopSavvy accepted the award in February 2009 at the French Senate in Paris.
  • MobileMonday Mobile Peer Awards Finalist. ShopSavvy was one of three U.S. companies, among 20 companies worldwide, named a finalist in this prestigious mobile-startup competition. As a finalist, ShopSavvy presented on stage at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2009.
  • 2009 Android Network Awards, Best Shopping App. More than 40,000 votes were cast in this contest to determine the most popular Android apps.
  • 2008 Crunchies Finalist. ShopSavvy was one of six finalists for the Best Mobile Application award in this annual competition sponsored by top technology blogs TechCrunch, GigaOm, VentureBeat and Silicon Alley Insider.
  • Google Android Developer Challenge Winner. ShopSavvy was named one of 10 winners among 1,800 entries in this global competition in September 2008. ShopSavvy earned a $275,000 cash prize from Google.

Pretty impressive, huh? These are the kind of achievements that separate the contenders from the pretenders in technology PR.

 
0
April 11, 2011 in Brand Strategy, Branding, Media Orchard by Orchardo
HEADS UP: Does Your Brand Need a Spring Cleaning?

Spring is about renewal — fresh thinking and fresh starts. Does your brand need a spring cleaning?

Research has shown that even internal departments within an organization can rarely articulate their company’s brand position. The Idea Grove’s “Brand in 60 Seconds” methodology helps you to define and differentiate your brand in a way that resonates powerfully with customers, prospects, shareholders and employees.

Let’s talk about your branding needs today!

Come on — we won’t bite. Here’s the team at our most recent photo shoot:

 
0
April 8, 2011 in B2B PR, Media Orchard, Media Relations by Orchardo
CLIENT NEWS: RiseSmart Super Bowl Highlight Reel

Here’s a small sample of the coast-to-coast TV coverage our client, RiseSmart, received for its study comparing the jobless rates of Super Bowl cities. If you think your B2B company can’t get coverage like this, maybe you just need a little help to get your message out.

 
0