Category: Blog

A dedicated group of women tackles a tremendous task year after year for a cause they adore. Along the way they have made the Orlando Museum of Art the place to go to kick off the holiday season.

The Council of 101, a volunteer fundraising arm of the museum, hosts the Festival of Trees annually each November.  For nearly three decades, the group has decked the halls of the art museum with lavishly trimmed trees, exquisite gingerbread homes and fanciful holiday wreaths. It is sight to behold!

The hard work of the council – as well as countless number of designers that make the trees and holiday goodies – have raised millions to support the operation of the museum and help the Loch Haven Park cultural center thrive.

The Festival runs through Sunday, November 24. Youngsters can visit Santa, while mom and dad can get inspiration for their holiday decorating.  Better yet, you can buy a tree and have it delivered right to your home!

The Festival got off to a rousing start with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer lighting the signature tree.  See the fun for yourself and know you are doing your part to support the arts in Orlando here: http://youtu.be/OZm9XOsOaaI

For more information about Festival of Trees, please visit: http://www.omart.org/events/festival-trees-glitters

 

The popularity of social media sites for younger demographics are as fickle as a teenage romance. The USA Today reported that teens are now looking beyond Facebook. They are looking for cooler sites, perhaps where parents are not monitoring their every move or off-color comment.

Facebook, which is under increasing scrutiny after its disappointing IPO, is seeing its growth rate slow. Facebook’s unique visitors are up a mere 5 percent over the previous year, according to researcher Comscore.

What does all this mean for businesses that are just starting to dip their toes into social media? If your core audience is a younger demographic, you need to constantly monitoring the ups and downs of social media, so you can best reach your audience.

For other businesses, the best approach is to have a marketing plan, review it regularly and stick to your plan.

Business owners should always keep their eye on the bottom-line, and consistently ask themselves, “What do all these twists and turns mean for my sales opportunities?” It is likely that by the time businesses have ramped up to meet a social media trend the younger demo has already moved on to the next hot thing.

Even some of the biggest heads in the business will find themselves out of a job if they don’t help sales.

Just ask the Burger King.

The King was dethroned recently, after his wacky, teen-targeting commercials weren’t pulling in customers. Sales for Burger King are down 6 percent in the first quarter. These ads were replaced with the California Whopper, a serious image twist touting fresh and favor-full ingredients.

It’s all about the change in the market. You can see the “Whole Foods effect” in all the top advertising campaigns; McDonald’s, Subway and even 7-eleven.

Sorry King, we like your commercials full of silly antics, but they certainly did not have us in the drive thru.

We would like to welcome Cori Pope to the Wellons Communications team.

Cori is a veteran TV broadcaster from Texas who moved to Florida to pursue new career opportunities.  As a PR Specialist, she will manage accounts for the hospitality, health, education and technology industries.

Prior to coming to Wellons Communications, Cori worked at the NBC affiliate in Midland, Texas.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Texas Tech University.

Cori continues our commitment to hire former journalists to provide PR, media relations and content support for our nationwide clients.  Her strong broadcast background and her work on the station’s website were key elements in bringing Cori onboard.

Welcome, Cori!

–by Sarah Harmon, Account Executive at Wellons Communications

As an over-eager 20-something working in public relations—and with several exciting clients at Wellons Communications—I thought I knew it all. My axiom: The better the story; the better the media coverage.

Enter “silly bandz.”

The generation gap must cut off at 27 because I just don’t get it. These are multi-colored rubber bands shaped like animals, food, musical instruments and anything else not resembling a circle. And at nearly 4 bucks a pop and up, they’re the hottest accessories (worn around the wrist, I’m told) since slap bracelets and biker shorts.

On the surface, there’s no story. I mean, seriously, we’re talking rubber bands here. Yet these silicone squigglies take up entire feature stories in The New York Times, CBS News and the Orlando Sentinel (with a focus on the Disney bandz, of course).

While the better stories are still going to get the most attention, this goes to show you—with enough hype—almost anything can sell.

Jump on the Wellons Communications “bandz” wagon by joining us on Facebook and Twitter.

Forget about the “official start.” For us in Central Florida, the love bugs, humidity and heat say it all. Summer is here. And for us at Wellons Communications, that means the summer interns have arrived.

This past week, Alex, Joel, Megan and Rene joined our team. They’re top-notch students from some of the state’s best universities, and they’re already fitting right into our team.

But they weren’t the only ones to apply. In fact, we had quite a stack of resumes and met with several qualified candidates. Earlier this year, we headed to internship fairs at the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida. While many of the students were articulate, intelligent and affable, some were immediate cross-outs.

So to help future job and internship seekers, we’ve compiled a list of what NOT to do at an internship fair (and yes, all these things really did happen).

1. Committed Relationships & Fido. Always have your “elevator speech” ready. This is a brief explanation of who you are professionally and why you are qualified. Many interviewers will ask: “so tell me about yourself.” This is not an opportunity to talk extensively about your committed relationship, your lovable pet dog, or that you really enjoy sushi.

2. Dress for Success Not the Club. Overly tight clothes, short skirts, low blouses and jeans are not the best interview attire. Bottom line.

3. The “Nope” Answer. When asked if you have any questions for the interviewer, avoid saying, “no.” Always follow up with a question. This shows you’re eager, and if you’ve done your research, can put you on top of the resume stack.

4. You’re not a failure. Never bring up a weakness if you can’t follow up with how you overcame it or how you learned from it. Saying you switched from journalism to PR because you couldn’t pass the reporting class is never a winning answer.

5. What to do: Thank You Notes. Out of everyone we interviewed, we only received one handwritten thank you note. That person got an immediate call and offer.

If you’re interested in interning with Wellons Communications for the Fall, check us out online: https://wellonscommunications.com/, on Facebook or send an e-mail to Sara at sara@wellonscommunications.com.

One of my favorite shows – Law & Order – could be bidding adieu later this month.  The Wall Street Journal reported in its weekend edition that the longest running drama in the history of TV will have its final show May 24.

Law & Order has been a mainstay on NBC for a generation. The show, in its 20^th year, has spawned multiple spinoffs. The most popular, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is set to return for another season, the Journal reported.

Show producer Dick Wolf and NBC have been in talks to extend the original series. But NBC reportedly has said, “No.’’

The Journal speculated that the death of Law & Order could be a “casualty of changing tastes.” NBC’s decision about Wolf’s show highlights that no one can control the media or a powerful medium. Wolf’s  Law & Order series and its spinoffs have generated billions in advertising and syndication rights for NBC and its cable networks. Yet Wolf still lost his show spot.

What does all this mean for public relations? Especially for small businesses? When a business is lucky enough to get its positive story told on national broadcast – it should celebrate and never take anything for granted. Nobody knows when a good story might abruptly end. Just ask Dick Wolf.

Wolf noted through a spokesperson, “Never complain. Never explain.’’

Learn more about Wellons Communications and our PR services.