| Winter 2009 |
|
In This Issue |
by Chris Schroder
Each member of the Schroder PR team has a different set of skills we offer to clients. Me … sure, I can write, but I think I'm really an idea person. I try to dream up one really truly good idea a year. One I had in 2004 is a good example. We were representing both Hines and King & Spalding when they were negotiating the primary lease on the soon-to-be-built 1180 Peachtree building at 14th and Peachtree. Negotiations went on for months and months – including wife-aggravating hours of time spent by Bob Voyles, who was supposed to be on a family vacation on a cruise ship in the Pacific. Only he spent most of his time in his cabin on the expensive satellite phone.
Bob and Hines had first hired us to help frame a positive angle on their need to cut down two huge 120-year-old bass trees that had graced the corner of 14th and Peachtree since 1892. These two trees had more than roots … they had a story. Just the kind of thing we look for at Schroder PR.
|
|
by Chris Schroder
"Hey, do you think you can interview a kid who lives across the street?" my client asked. Always looking to please clients, I said I'd be happy to interview the recent Washington & Lee graduate. So I asked Reid Childers, an economics major, if he could write. "Yes, but I'd prefer to be a photographer," he said. "How about video?," I asked. Although he had never shot video professionally, he said, "I'm in." Fast-forward three years. Reid is now an award-winning videographer, having won several national awards for videos he produced for our clients. These include the 2008 Videographer Awards "Award of Excellence" for "201 Seventeenth Street" video, a 2008 "Gold" Hermes Award and a 2008 "Silver" W3 Award for the agency's production of Perkins+Will's "Blythewood High School" video. To see other awards, CLICK HERE. To watch Reid's winning videos, CLICK HERE. Does your company need a video? They are surprisingly affordable and can easily be added to your website, eNewsletter or next presentation. Why don't you give Reid a call? I'm glad I did. To learn more about the benefits of using video in your communication strategy, check out our Video White Paper.
|
Patience Pays Off, So Do Rainy Days
by Amber Rigsby "If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent." [Isaac Newton] We had been working on placing an op-ed for HGOR, planners and landscape architects, since December 2007. The drought-focused piece was well-written and timely, but turnover at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial desk kept putting it on the back-burner with editors. On October 6, 2008, Chris Schroder decided to have a fresh set of eyes look it over. I read the article once and set it on my desk, and left it there for three days. By October 10, I had an idea. Our firm tells stories. It’s what we have a passion for. Why not start this op-ed with a story? In less than three minutes, a new headline and the addition of a two-sentence lead transformed a drought story into something bigger. It connected the reader with the writer, and for us that meant everything. The copy was simple and to the point:
On October 20, our patience and persistence paid off. Because our lead pulled in other national news stories and capitalized on the recent and rare rainfall, the new editor finally jumped on the op-ed and it ran on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial page. Sometimes we can get stories placed in a day or two. Sometimes they take a long time. But my job at Schroder PR is media relations and I don't give up – ever.
|
|
by Jan Schroder
Schroder Media is pleased to announce the publication of Souper Jenny Cooks, the first cookbook from Atlanta's soup diva, Souper Jenny. Jennifer Levison, whose beloved soup restaurant in Buckhead just celebrated its 10th anniversary, realized a lifetime goal of writing her first book and asked Schroder Media, a division of Schroder PR, to publish it. The book, delivered December 11th, has sold several thousand copies already and we've already ordered a second printing. Jenny also appeared on The Today Show on Jan. 16. To order the book or for other releases from Schroder Media, please visit www.schrodermedia.com. Schroder Media will also publish a new book next month for Robin Hensley, called Raising the Bar: Legendary Rainmakers Share their Business Development Secrets. It is based on a series of interviews with 10 attorneys, including Bobby Lee Cook, former Governor Carl Sanders, the late Judge Griffin Bell and others. More about this next month. Have you ever considered publishing a book? We can do a turn-key job for you: writing, photography, design, publishing and promotion. Give us a call. In fact, Schroder Public Relations is pleased to announce that we have spun off Schroder Media as a new separate company – to be run by yours truly, Jan Butsch Schroder. Contact me at jan@schroderpr.com to find out about publishing your book.
|
|
News |
|
|
by Jennifer Sheran
It's not often you get to say you highly recommend someone because of the time you spent getting to know them in prison. But I am happy to say I have seen the best of Rob Forrester in action inside some of the most notorious prisons in America when he and I worked together doing media relations for a national prison ministry. Fortunately for both of us, our time behind bars was temporary. I am now happy to announce the addition of Rob Forrester to the Schroder PR Team. Rob will serve as an account director helping to develop and implement communications strategies for our clients.
|
|
Did you miss our last eNewsletter? Click the following link to view the Fall 2008 Clear Messages eNewsletter.
|
|
About Schroder PR Located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta, Schroder PR "Clear Messages in a Cluttered World" (www.SchroderPR.com) is a multi-discipline communications firm that focuses primarily on commercial and residential real estate, architecture/design/construction, and professional service firms. Founded in December 2002 by former publisher, editor and newspaper reporter Chris Schroder, the firm's work is based on the philosophy that effective communication boils down to the art and ability to tell and share a good story.
|
|
|