Twitter puts it all out on the Vine

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You may have heard of micro processors, micro blogging and micro machines – but have you heard of micro video? Well if Twitter has its way, their acquisition of a new company called Vine will help them branch out to the next big thing … an app that allows you to share 6-second video clips.

I can hear your eyes rolling from my office. In fact, you may be asking, “Cam, why should I pay attention to yet another app?”

Here’s why:

Debuting on January 24th, this product has already caused quite a stir in the social media world. In two weeks, online Vine users shared 113,897 videos on Twitter on over a single weekend. That’s over 2,000 videos every hour.

Major brands like Urban Outfitters, Lucky Magazine, GAP, Red Vines, Moose Tracks, Coke-a-Cola and Pepsi have already put up videos.

Brands are currently using this format to demonstrate how their products work, to hold contests and to share creative content that they hope will resonate and connect them with their target audience. Still skeptical? Check out three of my favorite videos, and perhaps I can change your mind.

1.


2.


3.

 

4. BONUS – If you want to be endlessly entertained follow James Urbaniak

 

For more information:

Wired Magazine – “Why Vine’s Going to Grow Into Something Huge”

Entrepreneur Magazine – “The Pros and Cons of Using Video App ‘Vine’ for Marketing”

 

Unplug for your kids.

Unplugged Bots on Wired’s “GEEKDAD” Blog – Shared Post

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By Erik Wecks, GEEKDAD

 

At his day job, Gary Hirsch is a business consultant running a company called On Your Feet which uses improvisational theater to help businesses communicate and collaborate. When not working with managers from Nike and other large corporations, you might find Hirsch busy painting robots on the backs of dominoes or out and about Portland, Oregon, leaving his creations all over town for people to find.

BotJoy fan Jeff Probst with artist Gary Hirsch

In early 2012, his “What Brings Portland Joy?” project asked finders of his bots to post pictures of their bot with things which brought them joy. In true Portland style, he soon had pictures of kale, roller derby, and beer. Recently, Hirsch was asked to have his bots included in the swag bags for both the Emmys and the Golden Globes. Joy Bots and other Bot creations by Gary Hirsch have now been showing up with the likes of Downton Abbey‘s Elizabeth McGovern; cast members from Glee, True Blood and Breaking Bad; and Survivor host Jeff Probst, who recently ordered 100 of them to give to the guests on his talk show.

 

Not only are Hirsch’s bots hobnobbing with the rich and famous, but they are also becoming well traveled. Hirsch says that he has received pictures of his bots from all over the world. “There is a part of the website ‘Where in the world is your Bot?,’ and folks love sending in photos of their Bot in exotic places: Bali, Egypt, Nairobi, and the Arctic Circle to name a few.

 

After meeting the art therapist at Randal Children’s hospital in Portland, Hirsch asked if he could make a special “Brave Bot” for kids being admitted to the hospital. Now each child admitted to the day surgery unit gets a special Brave Bot with instructions that read:

  1.  Allow your robot to get to know you by letting him hang out with you in your room, on your windowsill, in your pocket, or wherever you like to spend time.
  2. Listen carefully, when needed, your Brave Bot will use his robot powers to give you a little bit of courage to face the things that feel uncertain and scary.
  3. Keep your Brave Bot with you anywhere you go for a little bit of courage where ever you are.

Gary Hirsch's Brave Bot

“I hear some amazing stories of how the Bots are helping,” says Hirsch, “For instance: Ava, a wonderful 8 year with type 1 diabetes holds on to her Brave Bot every time she gets an injection. Her Mom just told me that now Ava is able to give herself insulin injections with the Brave Bot watching.”

When asked why he thinks these bots seem to have helped, Hirsch answered, “The Bots are small, feel great in your hand, the kids are always bigger then the Bot, they can talk to it, they feel in control. Somehow the Bots help you have conversations with yourself that you might not have otherwise. I have really no idea how they work. I just make them and let the people that have them do the rest.”

I asked Hirsch how he came up with the idea for the bots.

“I had this idea about 5 years ago: What if you had an imaginary robot that followed you around all day and gave you outrageous compliments? It was a fun idea to imagine, so I included it in an illustrated journal that we made for our On Your Feet clients and gave them out when we were running innovation and creativity sessions. The image of a robot following you around giving you compliments kept haunting me… I mean seriously, how cool would that be? It would be invisible, and only you would know it was there, and it would say things to you like “Nice pants” or “That was a smart thing to do” or “You made the right choice.”  So two years ago, I thought, “Let’s make the robot real” and after playing with several surfaces, I stumbled onto the domino. Now instead of an invisible robot, you have a small one that you can take anywhere.”

One of the things I love about each bot is that it is a numbered piece of art. I have bots which Hirsch gave me in the 15,000 range. He told me that recently he passed number 17,000 and has left hundreds of them around cities like Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas. Hirsch is incredibly generous with his bots, giving away thousands of his creations. The rainy night I met him, Hirsch stuffed the pockets of my jacket with several bots for me, and some for my kids as well. He also produces large scale installations of his bots which used hundreds of individually crafted pieces. Hirsch says that he can lose himself for hours while painting bots and is nowhere near bored with the project.

Gary Hirsch original bot.

Hirsch has branched out from the original joy bots. There are now 26 different Bots. “You can see them all on my Etsy site with new ones sprouting up all the time. My favorites are:

The Launch of the Unplugged Bot:

Recently, Hirsch’s brother came up with an idea for a new bot, the Unplugged Bot. The Unplugged Bot assists its owners to unplug once in a while and re-connect with the real world. Like all his bots, they are hand-painted and one-of-a-kind.

“Do you know someone who needs to unplug? Who has to check their electronic devices every 20 seconds?”

 

Read more by Erik Wecks

Follow @erikwecks on Twitter.

Branding, Communications and Public Relations: Questions to Answer Before Working With a PR Firm

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At AM:PM PR we begin each new client relationship with the hope it will lead to a long-term partnership. We believe the more we know about a prospective client’s business, the better we can understand the qualities that differentiate them from their competition, thus allowing us to do a better job helping to communicate each client’s unique story to targeted audiences.

During our information gathering process, we like to ask a lot of questions – a process that is beneficial to both parties. Answering the following questions provides potential clients an opportunity to think about the way they communicate about their business, product or service. If you’re ready to ask us how we may help you, copy and paste the following questions into the body of an email with your answers and email them to: info@ampmpr.com.

As you ponder your answers, are you learning anything new about your business, your brand, or your current need for marketing and PR assistance? Here are some branding, communications and public relations questions to ask yourself before working with a PR firm.

Introductory Questions:

What short-term and long-term goals are you hoping to achieve with PR and marketing services?

Have you worked with a PR firm in the past? What was your experience?

What are you looking for from a PR firm?

What is your budget for PR/Marketing?

What is the PR assignment, as you see it? How will you define success?

Your Brand:

What is your positioning statement? What sets your brand apart from the competition?

What is your brand personality/culture?

What are some examples of your messaging?

Have you tested your messaging?

Communications Focus:

What is the background of your business (your history, your story)?

Who are your target audiences? What is the demographic and psychographic profile of your key customers? What are your key insights into these audiences?

What media does your target audience consume?

How do they currently learn about your business/product?

What is your consumer promise?

Who is your competition?

Do you advertise? If so, where?

Website:

When was the last time you made improvements to your website?

Do you have a budget for improvements to your website?

Do you use and monitor your web analytics? Are you making adjustments based on your analytics reports?

What are the search terms that lead visitors to your site?

Are you blogging?

Social Networking:

Please describe how you are engaged with social media? Which tools are you using and what do you share?

Are there any social media tools you refuse to use? If so, why?

Curious to learn more about our services? Please contact us to learn more by clicking here.

AM:PM PR hosts an evening with author Bill Carter

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Next week we have a special guest coming to our office, author Bill Carter. 20 years ago he helped to end the Bosnian war when he teamed up with Bono & U2 during their Zoo TV tour, bringing concert goers face to face with the normal, everyday people trying to survive the conflict, and inspiring the famous Pavarotti/U2 collaboration “Miss Sarajevo” in the process.

BBB-Small
Carter has written a new book titled “Boom, Bust, Boom” that is a thorough exploration of the worldwide copper industry, and puts the spotlight on a proposed copper mine near Bristol Bay, Alaska that affects thousands of commercial fishing families in the Pacific Northwest.  Sebastian Junger (“The Perfect Storm”, “War” and the film Restrepo) says “Boom, Bust Boom” is “the best sort of journalism: beautifully written, rich in detail and impossible to ignore.”

If you’d like to join us for the exclusive event next Thursday, please comment below with your contact information to RSVP.  Space is limited.

In the event you can’t make it, we asked Bill to discuss his work and why he’s talking about this proposed mining development.

* * *

Bill, first off, what did you do to bring world attention to the Bosnian War, and how did you do it?

My first jolt of harnessing some world attention to the Bosnian War was when I arranged satellite link-ups between Sarajevo and U2 concerts. These link-ups were live and unedited and could have gone horribly wrong. A true risk when beaming live into a show of 75,000 fans out for a night of music. But, in the end, all the link-ups were successful. I would credit that to the people I found to speak live. They could have started yelling in anger at the European audiences that were watching them on 90 foot screens, but instead they were always polite, respectful and fully understanding that the kids at the show were their potential allies in getting politicians in Europe to do something.

Then I made Miss Sarajevo, a documentary that vividly shows the alternative life in the besieged capital of Sarajevo. The life of the artist, teenagers, school kids. It is a story of the spirit of survival in the face of utter death and humiliation.

I also helped organize the U2 concert held in Sarajevo in 1997, a promise kept by U2 from the day I first met them. A promise I suspect not many others would keep. They spent their own money and got 50,000 people to come to a rock show, with 4,000 NATO troops guarding the event. It was the craziest single event I have ever been a part of.

And finally I wrote “Fools Rush In“, which tells an epic story of love, grief and redemption. It offers up a great deal of hope in a sea of hopelessness. And why this is true for any situation in our personal lives. There is always a way to see out of something, even if it looks incredibly dark at the moment.

There were many international media agencies present in Sarajevo during the war, how is what you did different, and why did it seem to have a deeper impact?

Quite simply, I didn’t know what I was doing! This is important. Professional journalists and newscasters have a formula they are required to crank out everyday, in a war or working the sports beat at the local college. It really doesn’t matter. They hit their marks, like actors on a stage. The only thing to look forward to is the possibility of the unexpected. So, they fail to actually connect to the human side of us, the side that reflects. Worse yet, as news sources continue to expand, the news now tends to be not even that good at giving us the “news.” I think what I was doing was completely based in the human aspect of the war. My motto was not to inform you to the “facts” of the war, but to make you actually care about the person on the film, the screen, the satellite enough to stop and listen. If empathy can be conjured up in a person, we are very powerful creatures. This is when we are able to actually make differences in our world.

Have new technologies like Twitter, Facebook, Kickstarter and YouTube made it easier or harder to make the same kind of social impact?

In some ways easier, and in some ways harder. Easier if you think of the Arab spring or Wikileaks. Impact can be dramatic and instant. At the same time there is no filter and we have quickly become overwhelmed with too much information about every thing on earth. This sensory overload can make it difficult to ascertain which cause to focus on, or who to believe. There is just so much information.

Do you have any advice for young social activists? 

First and foremost, you must be a curious person – a naturally curious person. This will help a lot. Then, follow your gut and your heart to get to what you care about.  Then add some strong dashes of common sense and a pinch of perspective.  Now, go for it. I have found blind heartfelt activism usually leads to a bleeding heart, which leads to activism dead on arrival. On the flipside, too many facts and no heart leads to the same empty grave. The key is a mixture. Or in the language of writers, the key is a unique voice. Hit them from an angle they didn’t see coming.

Your new book “Boom, Bust, Boom” is about copper.  Why did you decide to write this book?

Like all my books, it is the topic in which I suddenly realized I was actually living. I lived in a copper town, in a copper state, in one of the largest copper belts in the world. Then I was poisoned by my own soil and realized I don’t know a thing about the place where I live. This triggered a curiosity in me, which led to a book.

What are some of the bigger copper-related issues facing America today?

The biggest issue is getting the message across to people that we are massive consumers of copper, and thus directly responsible for the highly toxic open pit copper mines throughout the Southwest and beyond. We are dependent on copper to maintain our current civilization and yet copper mining is highly destructive and has real damaging effects on our lives and water.

What should ordinary Americans know about the proposed Pebble Mine project near Bristol Bay, Alaska? 

They should know that this mine, if built, will sit 14 miles from Lake Iliamna, the single largest natural hatchery of sockeye salmon on earth. The headwaters that flow from Iliamna carry up to 50 percent of the total sockeye salmon run of Bristol Bay, which is the world’s largest salmon run. There are no large-scale copper mines that don’t somehow pollute or ruin the surrounding groundwater. The scale they operate at is too large.

How will it affect people living outside of Alaska?

If built this mine will adversely effect the water and thus seriously threaten or kill the fishery. To threaten this fishery in any way should alarm anyone, in Alaska the lower 48 or the world. No one is making the argument that the mine will destroy a beautiful landscape, which it would. They are specially saying this mine will destroy one of the last great sustainable fisheries. A fishery that provides thousands of jobs, feeds millions and has been at the heart of a native culture for 8,000 years. And for what? Copper. For me this battle is not just about this mine, or this fishery. This fight to stop this mine addresses a question we must ask ourselves going forward for the next 50 years: what is more important to us as humans, minerals to sustain our civilization, or water and food we need to actually live. This will become the heart of a battle fought around the world for the next 100 years. When do we say no to mining when it threatens a vital source of water or food. Pebble is this fight. And it is now.

What are people doing to fight this development? 

There are many organizations joined at the hip in the battle against the mine. Many bed partners that normally don’t speak to one another. Fishermen joined with environmentalist, Republicans joined with Democrats. This is one of those issues that unites those wanting to salvage a great resource against those that see our natural resources as something can be forever extracted for our consumer driven society and maximize shareholder profits. Enough is enough and it is time to say no to big business and keep the fishery alive and well.

Bill Carter will be speaking at the 16th Annual FisherPoets Gathering in Astoria, Oregon Feb. 22, 23.  Friday he will read at Clemente’s Restaurant during a fundraiser to support Trout Unlimited’s efforts to spread awareness about the proposed Pebble Mine.  For a full schedule of events, visit:  http://www.fisherpoets.org/fisherpoets-gathering-2013.html

To learn more:

Trout Unlimited/Save Bristol Bay

Alaska Conservation Fund

The Natural Resources Defense Council

The Wild Salmon Center

 

 

My hat is off to Powell’s City of Books

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Hats are often cited by men’s fashion magazines as the most important accessory in the male wardrobe, and for good reason. You can tell a lot about a guy by the type of hat he wears.

Priorities

If you look to the world of animation for guidance, most cartoon characters seem to place more value on their hat than their pants, often putting a lot of thought into a sharp-looking headpiece while skimping on their legwear and shoes. It’s not uncommon to see a barefooted ‘toon with cheap tights, underwear, short pants, or most curiously, no pants at all. This tells us all we need to know about hats. They are important. A fine hat carries many symbolic references to personality, taste, musical preferences, favored cities, professions, hygiene and even social status.

Social Status

If you’re not careful, a hat may stimulate battles for dominance among rival alpha males with allegiances to different teams, cities, causes or groups. When I was 17 I went to my girlfriend’s house for the first time wearing my latest purchase – a “Greenpeace” hat made from 100% organic hemp – a real political statement for a 17-year-old hippie boy. Upon entering the garage, where her father was busy at work repairing components to a carburetor, I was immediately accosted by a snarling old man. He yanked the hat from my head and proceeded to stomp his muddy boots all over it until it was utterly destroyed. I received his non-verbal message loud and clear, which may have been harder to obtain had I not been wearing a hat.

Fashion

For a singular fashion item, there’s a lot of thought that goes into a hat. In 2012, after many years donning the retro Seattle Mariners cap with the yellow trident, I made the decision to stop wearing baseball caps that demonstrated an allegiance to an area I no longer lived in, and a baseball team that regularly lost twice as many games as they won. “Surely I can make a grander statement, I thought.” So when I walked into Powell’s City of Books and saw they had a trucker-style Powell’s branded baseball cap I knew I’d met my match. You can imagine the joy I experienced when I received the Powell’s trucker hat as a birthday gift later that year.

Mike Amsterdam

Jet-lagged, and running through the canals of Amsterdam.

Travel

Time passed and I grew to adore how this hat represented my chosen career path, my adopted city, and I liked that it represented a treasured Portland institutional icon and a respectable past-time activity: reading. When I went to Europe in 2012 I was sure to bring my hat to alleviate bedhead, but also to communicate to Europeans that I am not like other Americans. My hat said, “I am from Portland, Oregon and I am an educated American who likes to read books.” I have great photos wearing the hat in Amsterdam, Paris and even Bosnia. Yet it was upon my return trip to Paris that one day it was suddenly lost. Without explanation.

Personal Taste

My travel partner for weeks had lamented the fact that I was wearing a trucker-style hat as we toured fabulous landmarks in Amsterdam, and dined through the finest cafes of Paris. It was embarrassing to her and I’d often catch her leering hawkish eyes peering over the rim of her espresso cup as she viewed me in disgust. I tried to explain that my Powell’s cap wasn’t just any trucker hat, that it represented our beloved city, culture and the act of reading, but she was having none of it.

Hat History

I first learned of her disdain for such a fashion item on a day when I paid a visit to her home sporting a trucker hat with the hand-painted message “I Love Hot Wet Rio.” I didn’t know what it meant, she didn’t know what it meant, nobody knew what it meant – but it was a cool hat.

“What are you doing wearing that trashy hat?” she inquired.

Regrets

I should have caught the red flags when I made the mistake of wearing the “I Love Hot Wet Rio” hat to her house a second time, missing similarly worded verbal cues, for it was subsequently lost. She later admitted to accidentally throwing it away, but when I acquired a second “I Love Hot Wet Rio” hat and it was also lost under mysterious circumstances, I should have realized that something was not right in trucker-town.

 

Vedran Smailović, the famed "Cellist of Sarajevo"

With Vedran Smailović, the famed “Cellist of Sarajevo” at the Holiday Inn in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Paris, France 

One day last spring my favored Powell’s hat went missing from our little hotel in the Rue Cler neighborhood of Paris, and I grew awfully suspicious of the afore mentioned person. I had just arrived two days earlier from Sarajevo, Bosnia where I had proudly worn the hat from end to end of the city, and I wore it back to Paris. I know that for a fact, because you cannot pack a hat. The sheer force of the other items in the suitcase would certainly crush it. I began my inquiry like Inspector Poirot.

“Did you hide my favorite Powell’s hat,” I asked?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said with a smirk and a sly knowing eye aimed towards my sister’s general direction. “I don’t think you came back from Bosnia with that hat,” she said. They both giggled and I nearly lost my s***. I immediately calmed myself down in a desperate attempt to appear reasonable.

“Come on, you have to tell me where that hat is,” I begged. “It’s my favorite hat.”

“You never brought it back from Bosnia,” she said, lacking any empathy whatsoever.  More giggles.

I recognized it was a losing battle and I was utterly destroyed inside. So the next day, while they were off sampling pastries at Ladurée, I set to task tearing the hotel room apart, heckling any snobby hotel staff I encountered. I waited in the dark shadows like a predator for housekeeping, but they never came. I spent the rest of the trip with messy windblown hair, relentlessly battered, beaded and tossed about by the rains of the British Isles.

Somber Homecoming

Upon returning to our fair Rose City my first item of business was to find a replacement cap. I started at the Powell’s on Hawthorne but my hat was out of stock.  I took the bus to the Powell’s downtown and they were also out of stock. An employee logged into the computerized merchandise system and discovered that one hat was available at the technical bookstore. I tore across the street and into the bookstore but the staff couldn’t find any record of a trucker hat in their system. “It must have been a glitch,” said the employee.

Social Media to the Rescue

I don’t remember how I got home that day, but I recall the defeated feeling in my heart when I plopped upon the couch. I remember that desperate moment when I clutched my iPhone and tweeted a last ditch agony-fueled effort to Powell’s Books Twitter account:

Powell's Twitter

I then set about rebuilding my new life.

* * *

But wouldn’t you know it, 42 minutes later I received the following message:

Powell's Twitter
To which I replied:

Powell's Twitter

I can’t tell you what an amazing experience it is to have that kind of attention and care from a business. Powell’s was always an important place for the pre-21 year old version of myself who prowled the city looking for late night adventures. When I tried to make it in rock’n’roll during my early 20’s I went to Powell’s to buy books to learn about the music industry. When I got my first “real job” and had to learn what PR was, and quickly, I ran to Powell’s Books. When I decided to start my own business and needed some advice to get me started, I went to Powell’s Books. When I have an out of town visitor and I want to show them something really cool, I take them to Powell’s Books.

Powell’s is such a valued cultural institution in this town for all of the reasons above, but they are also staffed by super caring and thoughtful people too. I received the following message a couple weeks ago:

Powell's Twitter

Powell’s staff sent me a hat, which arrived last week and I am wearing it at this very moment because of our office’s loose dress code. They have also provided quite the interesting case study in the power and value of social media.

Michael Phillips, Lion Tamer, wears many hats at AM:PM PR.

 

90% of the building’s power comes from the solar panels on the roof. The building also uses a geothermal heat pump (GHP). GHPs use the ground as a heat reservoir for high efficiency heating and cooling. The temperature of the earth is the exchange medium instead of the outside temperature.

It’s easy being green

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We like green. We’re Irish. But, now we’re a whole new shade of green – building green.

solar panels portland oregon

90% of the building’s power comes from the solar panels on the roof. The building also uses a geothermal heat pump (GHP). GHPs use the ground as a heat reservoir for high efficiency heating and cooling. The temperature of the earth is the exchange medium instead of the outside temperature.

Passionate about sustainability, our landlords built the Cyrk to be the greenest of green buildings – LEED Platinum.

 

Ipe wood siding

The Ipe wood siding and sunscreens aren’t just reclaimed, they have history. They originally existed as decking in a Northern Californian steam driven sawmill. Before there was a movement to protect the old growth forests and establishing Redwoods State & National Parks, gold miners and lumberjacks walked across the boards in the largest and oldest redwood log mill in the world. This same wood will be used inside AM:PM PR and 7/Apps offices as barn doors to our conference room.

 

 

Green patio

The patio features native plants and reclaims storm-water runoff.

 

 

All of the materials and paint used are non-toxic

All of the materials and paint used are non-toxic and 21% of the construction materials came from recycled sources. During the construction phase 95% of the waste was diverted from landfills.

 

Erin is our own in-house Green Police and we will be trained to respect this building by being good stewards ourselves. Our next project – making our own paper out of our shreds. Not really. That’s too hard. I think we’ll just communicate electronically. Look for your invite to our office warming party on March 15th in your email soon and come check this all out for yourself.

Come one, come all! AM:PM PR arrives at The Cyrk

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This week we finally get to move into our new office at 2006 SE Clinton St. in Portland. We have been stalking this place (not so conspicuously) for the last month, hanging out at the Press Club, St. Jack’s, New Seasons and the Clinton Street Coffeehouse – neighborhood haunts with great treats and free wi-fi. We’re planning to stick around this one for a while.

A year ago when we set out on our search for new office space, we were looking for a special place that would continue the kind of iconic presence we enjoyed in historic Firehouse 7. We wanted to be in a neighborhood on the Eastside where we’d found such great welcome and a strong presence of other creative influences.

We identified this building early in our process, but it didn’t seem realistic that we could use that large of space at the time. Our business grew in 2012 and a remarkable coincidence presented itself. One of our new clients happened to be the owners of the building we coveted.

Cyrk building daytime

We were captured by the building’s looks. We were even more impressed when we learned it is LEED Platinum rated by the Green Building Council. Ninety percent of the building is powered by the rooftop solar array (more on that this week).

cyrk-poster-lionWhat we didn’t foresee was how much we’d fall in love with our neighbors (clients and landlords) and how their name for the building would shape our branding.

The building was named after the Polish word for circus (Cyrk). Bonnie Serkin’s Father was nicknamed “Serk.” She came upon the infamous Cyrk posters in college and had to have them. When Bonnie and Will Emery built this building, Will let her name it. Not only was the name familial, she felt it represented her life as a three-ring circus.

At the firehouse we were naturally inclined to take job titles that referenced that theme or, were just fun. Moving to the Cyrk we needed new titles and decided to acknowledge the creative inspiration Bonnie had in naming it. Let’s just say circus-related job titles were remarkably easy to come up with.

We’re going to have fun with this.

Introducing Mike Phillips, Lion Tamer.

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Mike P AM:PM PR

Mike visiting Bey Mosque in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Legend says if you drink the water, you will have to return someday. He was doing research for a book project.

With the bittersweet news this week that Jake Ten Pas, our beloved Minister of Propaganda, is leaving us, comes one rosy reason to recognize that we have the luck of the Irish.

Longtime AM:PM PR friend, Mike Phillips will be joining our merry band of characters as we move in to our new space on February 1. He’s been a regular fixture at PR 3.0 gatherings, but he also worked with us at our previous firm. We’ve always hoped to be able to talk him into joining our circus.

Since his internship with the McCormicks five years ago, Mike’s explored the ins and outs of public relations working with regional wineries, restaurants, travel and tourism bureaus, and a national food client.

More recently, Mike’s built a healthy practice in book marketing and publicity through work with several publishing companies. His book marketing specialty work, known as The Neo Com Group, will continue in addition to his AM:PM PR practice.

Mike’s Irish ancestry alone would make him a great match for us. Among his many talents, Mike is an accomplished musician, long leading a local band, the Fenbi International Superstars. His Irish music prowess will add more energy to our annual St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, this year (March 15) celebrating the opening of our new space on SE 20th and Clinton.

Mike will join AM:PM PR in an account manager, client development role we like to call “Lion Tamer.” We look forward to working with him again and know you’ll appreciate his creativity and warm personality as much as we do.

Jake Ten Pas Signing Off

Good night, and good luck from Jake Ten Pas

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 This is Jake Ten Pas, signing off…

We all knew this day would come. Nobody can be a Minister of Propaganda forever. All things considered, I’ve survived longer than most. Come Monday, I take the bittersweet step of leaving my faithful comrades at AM:PM PR for an amazing new position with the Children’s Cancer Association. I’ll take the reins of the nonprofit’s MyMusicRX program, which uses music as therapy for the kids and their families dealing with life-threatening illness.

My Music RX logoAnybody who’s had a close relationship with AM:PM PR knows that we’re as tight as a family, and so you can imagine that it was tough for me to tell Pat and Allison about my decision. Despite the great job offer, it was a hard decision to make. Without AM and PM’s assistance and encouragement over the years, I might never have made the jump from journalism to public relations, and hence never been in a position to apply for this next step in my professional life.

It felt like a breakup, and I’ve never been good at breakups. In fact, as one person observed, I’d rather be broken up with than do the breaking. My own pain I can handle, but somebody else’s? I turn to jelly.

In this regard, I’m doubly fortunate. First, because you couldn’t ask for two more gracious people when it comes to having this kind of conversation. Both Pat and Allison were not only happy for me, but I think proud, as well, that our work together had prepared me for this bold new direction. Second, because, well, this isn’t a breakup. We’re family, and familial feeling doesn’t dissipate, even when stretched by distance. I suspect you’ll continue to see me at the occasional PR 3.0, and you’ll definitely see me at AM:PM PR’s office-warming party for its straight-up space-age new headquarters.

Plus, one of Portland’s best young communicators will be stepping up to fill my shoes. Mike Phillips, who will introduce himself to you tomorrow, is a warm, articulate, passionate PR man, and I expect great things from him as AM:PM PR’s new word slinger. One quick piece of advice, though: Wear shoulder pads, Mike. Alexis has got a mean jab.

children's cancer association logo
To stretch the relationship metaphor just a bit further, my wife made a keen observation in regards to my success in nailing down this new position. You’re always more attractive when you’re in a relationship, she said. It’s because other women can smell the lack of desperation. Similarly, the wonderful job I already had with AM:PM PR couldn’t have hurt my chances with CCA.

I’m ultra jazzed about the opportunity to make a very real difference in the lives of people suffering under the weight of debilitating sickness. That I get to use music, which has gotten me through nearly every rough patch in my own life, and which continues to be my number one inspiration on a daily basis, to do so is pretty much blowing my mind. At the same time, I’m going to miss the incredible clients I’ve worked with here, and the family with whom I’ve shared my work. Here’s to the future, both of AM:PM PR and to all the high-flying trajectories it launches.

The Cyrk

Movin’ on up, to (a new part of) the East Side & Joining The Cyrk

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As much as we’ve loved our time in the Buckman Neighborhood – rubbing shoulders with the mad scientists of Distillery Row, descending like locusts upon local eateries such as Robo Taco and Vivo, and working with neighbors Bremik, Tapalaya, Po’Boy Art and more – it’s the dawn of a new year and a new era for AM:PM PR.

We survived an overinflated panic surrounding a misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar, and we figured why not treat ourselves to a new space. Not to toot our own horns (TOOT!), but it’s a doozie.

At the beginning of February, we’ll take up residence in the Cyrk Building on southeast 20th and Clinton. For those of you who’ve yet to cast your eyes on this miracle of modern building techniques, feel free to drive by and check it out. It’s a gorgeous space that we’ll share both with our brothers in arms at 7/Apps and our clients EE Northwest. The latter owns the building and was kind enough to approve our tenant application. We’ll try to keep the noise level down.

AM:PM PR joins the Cyrk-us

For those of you who understand how calendars work and are wondering about the omission of a little thing called January, well done. That was a test, and it’s nice to see that you were paying attention. As construction is finished up on our new space, we’ll be going back to our roots.

Just as in the early days of AM:PM, we’ll be a bit like the French Resistance, except with public relations instead of freedom fighting, and minus the Gauloises. We’ll meet at a variety of our favorite coffee shops, restaurants and watering holes, keeping the client work that’s our bread and butter firmly intact. You likely won’t notice much difference unless you meet us face-to-face, in which case the password is “Le Coq Sportif.” Also, feel free to give us suggestions for great coffee shops that can accommodate large groups of mostly serious professionals.

During the next month, we’ll keep you updated on our activities and the construction’s progress via the usual channels: our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. We’ll also be getting to know our new neighbors. We’ve already visited St. Jacks, Compote, The Night Light Lounge and more, and look forward to getting to know them and their tasty offerings even better.

When we get moved into the new space, we don’t expect you’ll miss it. We’ll have a hard time not crowing from pride about our new digs, and of course there will be office-warming festivities to attend to. Keep an eye out for something occurring around St. Patrick’s Day.

We’ll also be working on new job titles and a high-flying new concept for the website that will highlight the subtle circus theme of our new digs. Prepare yourself for the greatest communications show on Earth, or at least in Portland. In the meantime, Happy New Year. We hope you’ve got as much to look forward as we do.