Client Update - World Premiere Ballet "Braving the New World"

Nearing the end of our contract period, PRowl Public Relations' clients have a lot of great things coming up! One of which being the Rebecca Davis Dance Company's world premiere of its contemporary ballet Braving the New World on Friday, May 7 and Saturday, May 8 at 8 p.m. at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 South Broad Street.

Braving the New World explores issues of societal control versus individual freedom. Through passion and force, founder Rebecca Davis' new ballet brings a totalitarian future to the stage. This original dance piece was inspired by the fictitious worlds created in literary classics such as George Orwell's 1984, and is set to the tone of alternative music and modern dance performance. Admission to the performance is $25 for adults and $20 for students.

To purchase tickets, call the box office at 215-985-0420 or online at www.rebeccadavisdance.com.

Check out exclusive behind the scenes footage below!

Braving the New World Promo from Carmen Emmi on Vimeo.

Connect with the Rebecca Davis Dance Company -

Visit the Facebook fan page here

Follow RDDC on Twitter: @rddanceco

Philly's Newspaper Update

Philadelphia daily newspapers, the Inquirer and the Daily News are now in the hands of creditors. After some delay, an auction was scheduled for this past Tuesday, April 27th, but did not take place until a day later. The auction resulted in a winning bid of about $140 million from lenders, including Credit Suisse, Alden Global Capital, and Angelo, Gordon & Company. The newspapers were bought by Brian Tierney in 2006 for more than $560 million, but later faced bankruptcy in 2009 owing creditors more than $300 million. As profits declined and the debt gap increased, Tierney would eventually continue to fight for control along with local investors as one of the three parties (the third being a Candadian investment company, Stern Partners), in the bidding war which took place in midtown Manhattan.

After the battle of ownership ended, philly.com quoted Tierney who said, "It's been a heck of a fight. We didn't make it. I think I'll go home tonight and sleep like a baby, which means I'll wake up every hour crying."



Read more from philly.com here or this article by nytimes.com.

What do you think about this new ownership of our daily newspapers in Philadelphia? What sort of changes might you predict for the Inquirer, the Daily News and philly.com?

Second HAPPO Twitter Networking Event to Happen Friday

HAPPO, or Help a PR Pro Out, is holding another networking event this Friday, April 30, 2010 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Twitter. In case you missed my first post about HAPPO back in February, check it out here for more background on the origin of the event. Friday's networking event is especially exciting for college grads because it is completely dedicated to entry-level employment.

A few of my friends and I participated in HAPPO and quickly realized the hiring employers and the people searching for employment were slightly out of sync. The majority of HAPPO participants were seeking entry level jobs and most of the jobs being posted required three or more years of experience. This prompted HAPPO creators Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon to dedicate the next HAPPO event solely to entry-level opportunities.

Participate in HAPPO by following the hashtag #HAPPO on Twitter. Write a blog post or produce a video pitching yourself to potential employers; the more creative the better. Then use the link to that pitch in tweets also marked with the #HAPPO hashtag so that employers can find you. Use organizational sites like Hootsuite to schedule your tweets if you'll be busy during the two our window.

Good luck, and happy HAPPO-ing!

Auction Time

The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Daily News will be auctioned off to new owners today. There are three parties interested in the publications so far.

"Pending negotiations with the newspaper company's 4,000 unionized workers are already casting a long shadow over the auction, which will take place in the private offices of a law firm in Manhattan," the Inquirer reported. "All three of the investor groups bidding for the newspapers have put labor contingencies into their bidding proposals, the company's top financial adviser disclosed yesterday at an auction-eve hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court."

*Information taken from this article by Joe Strupp.

What do you think this means for Philadelphia media? I've never experienced something like this before in a big city, so I have no idea what to expect!

PR More Important Now Than Ever?

In her article "Publicity and Social Media: A Match Made in Heaven," Fauzia Burke explains that it is the job of a publicist to "develop a strategy, shape a consistent message, work with the media, and create exposure."

Importantly, according to Burke, "this job has never been more important or multifaceted than right now." She uses five reasons to back up her claim, but I found one of them to be particularly interesting. Here is what she had to say about "timing," her second reason:

Social media has changed the timing of marketing campaigns. Instead of creating a blitz campaign of shock and awe (advertising driven), today we need a sustained campaign of community building and long-term exposure. Publicists are best suited for this kind of work.

Do you agree with Burke that we are seeing a shift away from advertising in favor of PR in today's market? Do you feel that the advent of social media has made PR increasingly relevant today? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Be sure to read the full article.

Wall Street's #1 Rule: Always Disclose!

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit against Goldman Sachs, one of the leading investment firms on Wall Street, and one of its former employees, claiming the bank defrauded investors by creating a mortgage scheme designed to collapse and eventually fail. The SEC says Goldman enabled John Paulson, a hedge fund manager who made a large income based on purposely betting against certain markets and choosing several mortgages that would eventually default.

Goldman supposedly marketed those mortgages, converted them into a bond that it then sold it to investors, who were unaware of the arrangement between Goldman and Mr. Paulson. Whether or not Goldman disclosed the information to investors, which is ultimately the Golden Rule of Wall Street firms, a public relations campaign and 'image overhaul' is needed to reassure current shareholders, ensure the trust of forthcoming investors and fight for the reputation they previously built.

In a statement released earlier this week, Goldman Sachs said the charges are "completely unfounded in law and fact" and the company said it would "vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation."

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member, Stephanie Loiero.

New Gmail Feature Combines Google Calendar with E-mails

Within the past week, you may or may not have noticed a subtle change when writing e-mails on your Gmail account. I had been sending and receiving e-mails on my Gmail account the day the change was launched, but didn’t notice it until I read about it on Mashable that evening. For those of you who may not have noticed the change, Google has added an “Insert: Invitation” option next to the “Attach a File” option in the message composition window.

When this option is selected, an invitation window pops up on the screen, allowing users to fill out the details of their event and send it to their contacts in the body of an e-mail. The event is added to the user’s Google Calendar once they send the invitation and to their contacts’ Google Calendars once they respond to the invitation. This new feature is a convenient way for Gmail users to schedule events and keep track of them on their Google Calendars.

One of my teaching assistants used the feature to schedule conferences with the students in my class last week. All I had to do was RSVP to her invitation right in the e-mail and it was added to both her calendar and mine. Professionals who use Gmail may find this new feature to save time and help keep them organized.

To read Mashable’s article and see a screen-shot of the invitation, click here.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member, Michelle Voli.