A couple of valued acknowledgements just came our way. Eastwick was once again named to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal Top 50 Women-Owned Businesses list, and this year we made it into the top 20 (at #19). This is great recognition because the list is compiled based on company revenue, number of employees in Silicon Valley, and percentage of employees in Silicon Valley who are female.

We were also nominated for a Silver SABRE Award in the Internet category for our work on the beta launch of Coghead’s DIY online application development platform. The Silver SABRE Awards, sponsored by The Holmes Report, recognize the best client programs in specific industry sectors, and for Coghead our goal was to register 3,000 beta members. But for outreach, instead of focusing on mainstream media, we focused on the blogosphere, and ended up exceeding the target number prior to the beta launch, reaching 8,000 within two weeks of the launch, and hitting 12,000 a week later. We’ll find out if we’ve won on May 8th.

While it’s true agencies vie for these awards for their PR value, the real pleasure in getting them is the acknowledgment that we’ve been successful at delivering on the promise to our clients and creating a culture that promotes success for both clients and our employees. And that feels good.

Coghead, Pr Agencies, Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Silver SABRE Award, Social Media, The Holmes Report, women owned businesses

If you’re anything like me, you ignored those pesky LinkedIn requests for years before actually jumping in on this social media network phenomenon.  I say it’s a phenomenon because when you receive four of them in a day coming from as diverse an audience as a staff accountant, a former client, former employee and long lost college buddy, you start to get the picture that something’s happened and that LinkedIn is here to stay.  No longer do I let those requests sit in my inbox forever before responding to them…or as was the case in the beginning just immediately deleting them because it was just too scary to deal with and a personal attack on my privacy.  It was like if I pushed that “Accept” button…then all of a sudden I was giving someone permission to contact me anytime…maybe too many times.  And what if it was someone I didn’t know well? What I’ve since come to value is that it’s not as scary as I first thought, or as intrusive…and yet it’s really a great way to stay connected to all kinds of people.  It’s helped us with recruiting, new business, partnerships, etc.  And the part I like best is connecting with long lost friends, former colleagues, even childhood acquaintances.  So if you’re one of those who freeze up when a LinkedIn request appears in your inbox.  Don’t freak out…press accept…it’s not as scary as you think.

recruiting, Social Media, social media. personal networking, social network, social networking, staying connected

What could be more appropriate for my first post on my Connected Agency blog but a report from our first blogathon. Today and tomorrow our fearless social media guru Joel Postman is leading an agencywide blogathon to underscore our commitment to the blog being one of the most important forms of communication in our business these days. And while we don’t require all Eastwickers to blog, it is highly encouraged. Not only is it good visibility for the agency and highlights how wicked smart our folks are but by encouraging our staff to blog, they have a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges our clients will face as they embark on their own social media journey. We highly believe in the learn, do, teach model! To see first hand the results of our work by visiting some of our agency blogs.

Connected Agency, Eastwick Communications, Pr Agencies, Social Media