And then there were nine...

The pr shop has added two new consultants to it's growing family. Alisa Keall-Grant (lower image), a recent PR graduate from the BCS at AUT has joined the Auckland office as an Account Executive and Rebecca Parr (an Account Executive with a year's experience), has joined the Sydney office, which recently celebrated it's one year anniversary.

Real Women

Proving that we have lives outside of work, Sally was recently interviewed for a cool new website, www.realwomenreallives.co.nz. Have a read: http://realwomenreallives.co.nz/real-quick-with-sally-frewin/

Top O’ The Mornin’ to Ya!

There’s only one day of the year when being a green-eyed monster ain’t such a bad thing. As that day rolled around on Thursday March 17th, the pr shop girls merrily cried Irish greetings to those who passed by, in the name of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

Shelley and Lysh started the day bright and early with a trip to the nice folk at TVNZ, to sort them out with some Irish cheer. Five young Irish dancers, in full costume, met them there to perform live on Breakfast, while Petra and Corin tried out some yummy Guinness goodies in the studio. Decked out our green four-leafed clover sunglasses, and blowing mini Guinness horn-whistles, Petra ate a hole in the brown Guinness bread and they both devoured the Guinness chocolate truffles. Big thumbs up on that one! The day’s Guinness girls also made their way around Auckland’s radio stations to let them have a chat with the Guinness team and to drop off cans of cold Guinness, pint glasses and the St.Paddy’s Day-themed Guinness tasties. One just can’t go through St. Paddy’s Day without such things, and Shels and Lysh were pleased to be able to spread the goodness.

Be Irish, or not-so-Irish, any excuse for celebrations come warmly welcomed at the pr shop, and St. Paddy’s was no exception. There was nothing for it, but to head across the road for a pint of Guinness and a few platefuls of good, thick, chips (because, as we all agreed, you had to eat potatoes to celebrate the Irish).
Lunch featured foam moustaches, as Alisa rather inelegantly tried her first Guinness, and a few minor spills, as we tried to drink our pints the ‘proper’ way (tilting the head, and not the glass, that is). Somewhat unsuccessful in this particular endeavour, we hastily retreated to an easier method – careful sipping of the very-full glass from above.

Bellies filled with good ol’ hearty potato, and salt and pepper squid (which isn’t exactly Irish, but couldn’t be turned down because it tastes so good) we returned to the office cheerful and a just a wee bit red-faced.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

So long 'Number 1'

One of our clients left recently - as they do from time to time. This client was our self proclaimed number one. It was his confidence in this positioning that meant we always had a soft spot for him and deemed him worthy enough to receive the trophy pictured below. We will miss you Seano. Who will be our next number one?

A busy weekend

Renee and Shelley spent the weekend in Canterbury hosting media at the annual epic Speight's Coast to Coast. Facing 4am wake-up calls and driving media from Greymouth through to Klondyke Corner, picturesque Arthur's Pass and onto Sumner Beach in Christchurch. The conditions were perfect, which allowed Ussher to complete the race way ahead of schedule, only narrowly missing out on achieving the record for the fastest ever race. Our pr challenge for the event is to help leverage the Speight's sponsorship and ensure that the media refer to the race by it's full name. Happily the NZ Herald played ball with three branded pieces of coverage. Happy clients, happy days, tired PR consultants.

While the dynamic duo were working their magic on the media, most of the rest of us were getting stung by Sting at Mission Estate in Napier. The Hawkes Bay turned on some stunning weather and the team were treated to a ride in local Labour MP Stuart Nash's fire engine. Huge accolades to the NZSO...you did us proud.

Sulky Sally

You know when you volunteer to do something and then you forget and then you remember and you wonder what you were thinking? Well that's exactly what Sally was thinking when she found herself riding in a horse race at Alexandra Park last Friday. Measuring 5ft 2 and wrapped head to toe in jockey gear, including helmet, goggles, vest and a snazzy silky blue number, Sal certainly looked the part, but that's the extent of her equestrian experience. She braved the rain, wind, a few nerves and the risk of getting horse-poo in the mouth, to raise some cash for Make-A-Wish, a charity that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. We're glad to say that Sal did us proud. Her horse came first and the charity made $2k. Not a bad effort for a rainy Friday night.

Miaowww!

We've had a cat in residence at the pr shop lately. Found abandoned in Otara at just 3-days of age, "Bob" has found his feet in the love and care of the pr shop team (well, the cat-lovers amongst us anyway). Sally, our saviour of all things furry, took pity and took the wee fella in during one of her monthly SPCA days, and bottle-fed him through the night. Now, 8 weeks on, he's a strapping lad that can no longer visit the shop for fear of him chewing through cables and peeing in shoes (yes, he did that once and definitely lost a few cute points in the process). Be friends with Bob on facebook!