After more than two years as a witch, I will be leaving the Eastwick fold on Friday, September 21, for The Conversation Group. A few people may know that I first met Barbara and Giovanni (former EW principal) at a PRSA Counselor’s Academy conference. The conference is geared toward very senior PR folks – VPs and principals – and I was the most junior person there with less than two years under my belt. Needless to say, I held my own, and won Barb and G over with the now infamous Black Martini, also known as a chocolate espresso martini.

The past 2+ years have seen some big changes for Eastwick – office moves and office additions – and for me – move to Silicon Valley and promotion to Senior Associate. Four years ago, I never would have thought that I’d have passionate discussions about the 802.11n standard (still not ratified), or become intimately familiar with wikis. I’ve had some incredible clients during my time here – Ruckus Wireless, Vyatta, and BroadLogic to name a few. The entire Eastwick team has really become a family to me, and I’ve learned so much. I’ve made some really great friends that I’ve had some great times with – G, thanks again for bailing us out of the SJ jail – and I know I will continue to into the future.

Living here in Silicon Valley, we are right in the middle of daily innovation, disruption, and evolution. Being in PR, we see how communications are changing, and how people want to participate in the conversation, not just be spoken to. On October 1, I’ll be joining The Conversation Group which was recently launched by partners Giovanni Rodriguez, Ted Shelton, and Chris Heuer. As the Director of Integrated Media Campaigns, I’ll be working with the team to help global brands that are seeking better ways to participate in the new communications landscape. It will be an exciting, new adventure!

I’ll miss working with my colleagues and clients on a daily basis, but I believe that once a witch, always a witch. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming Black & Orange Bash! Cheers!

Barbara Bates, BroadLogic, Chris Heuer, Eastwick, Eastwick Communications, Giovanni Rodriguez, Networking, PR, Ruckus Wireless, Ted Shelton, The Conversation Group, Vyatta, Wireless

It’s been just over a year since Eastwick shacked up with our client, Coghead. As a predominantly female agency, the move was similar to a sorority sharing a house with a fraternity. We weren’t quite sure what to expect from the mysterious Cogheaders, and I know they were not quite sure about a bunch of witches moving in. Luckily, we all got along. And, I don’t think there was any funny business in the co-ed shower…

Although we’re excited to be moving into our new digs in Mountain View (in Googleland), we’re going to miss our roommates. It was interesting to see some of the inner workings of a hot start-up. Of course, it was fun to hang with the execs afterhours too.

My partner in crime snatched the “Top 10 Things We’ll Miss About Coghead.” The past year has been great, so here are the top 5 things we won’t miss about shacking up with Coghead:

#5: Reminding visitors which watercooler is Eastwick’s
#4: Missing out on the leftover pizza from Coghead’s Friday meetings
#3: Dealing with the “effects” of Quentin’s miscellaneous “snacks” throughout the day
#2: Having to come in 20 minutes early so I can get a parking spot

And the number one thing I won’t miss about shacking up with Coghead is…
hearing Greg’s story about bleu cheese dressing. It was so gross; I will never eat bleu cheese dressing again.

If you are in the Mountain View area, stop by our new digs and check it out!

Coghead, Eastwick Communications, Off Topic, Offline, PR, Quentin

A friend of mine and I were comparing stories about the increased number of dropped calls we’ve experienced lately, on the new AT&T (formerly Cingular) network. As tech-savvy Valley residents, we had to wonder “what could be causing this?” And then it hit us…the iPhone.

Rumors are swirling about what AT&T had to give up ($$$, its soul, etc) to be the exclusive provider of the ultra-hot/over-hyped, but quite beautifully designed multi-play phone. Last week, more rumors swirled that AT&T’s network upgrade, a.k.a. “Fine EDGE” is a result of the need for additional bandwidth to accommodate the expected load on the 2G network.

There is no doubt that Apple designs beautiful devices. But, I guess AT&T subscribers who know better than to get a first generation Apple device will have to put up with less than stellar network coverage, until things get smoothed out.

Networking

Apparently the Loch Ness Monster, also affectionately known as “Nessie” by the Scottish locals, made a rare public appearance this week. The appearance was caught on video, and is causing a lot of discussion (again) about the possible origins of the mythical, and somewhat camera-shy beastie.

Is Nessie just a “really big eel,” a hoax, or an intelligent and long-living creature related to dinosaurs? The world may never know…but people will continue to be interested and try to find out.

Loch Ness Monster, Nessie, Off Topic, Scottish

I was catching up on some industry reading this afternoon, and came across a great top 10 list over at eWeek.

Check out the slide show to see all 10. My vote for the worst if the DigiScent iSmell product. Do I really want a strong wiff of bull when I’m checking out the latest at Valleywag? Not so much.

I think what we can learn from these flops is to remember who your audience or target customers are. If the only people really excited about your product are you and your grandmother (because she’s so proud of you), or it’s only going to appeal to a small demographic in Barrow, Alaska, you might want to go back to the drawing board.

As a PR pro, I’m constantly thinking of ways to make my clients’ product appeal to the bigger trends happening, not just in their specific industry, but also in the business world and everyday life.

Sometimes we get so tangled up in the weeds, in work and life, that we forget to look up every once in a while. But, it’s a good thing to do…

Emerging Technology, eWeek, Flops, Off Topic, PR, Technology, Transparency

Big cable operators, such as Comcast and Time Warner, are a traditionally conservative bunch, especially when it comes to technology. But, the winds appear to be changing. Today, China Martens writes that open-source messaging app company, Zimbra, announced they’ve entered into a “strategic partnership” with Comcast to deliver a unified communications dashboard to subscribers, for free.

Last month, our open-source networking client Vyatta announced that Comcast’s investment arm, Comcast Interactive Capital, led their Series B round of funding. This was the first open source investment by the company.

All of this activity helps to support the fact that open source can be an effective and legitimate alternative to proprietary technologies, in spaces other than operating systems where Linux has a solid position. The open source story continues to unfold, and will be an interesting one to watch throughout the year.

cable, Comcast, Networking, open source, Video, Vyatta

The media and blogosphere have been going off about it, and just about everyone in Silicon Valley has been talking about the RIM BlackBerry outage across the ENTIRE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. Maggie Reardon of CNET reports that the outage was caused by RIM’s testing of a “system routine” that produced unintended consequences - database failure, back-up system failure, mandatory detox, etc.

Granted this wasn’t a small, regional outage, like limited to the outskirts of Modesto, but the email service was down for a matter of hours, not days. I don’t think a few hours without mobile email connection is such a bad thing. Is it really so terrible to eat an ENTIRE meal without checking your latest Google alert? Or getting the status on the tomorrow’s TPS reports? But, I’ve known several people who CANNOT live without their CrackBerry. And, I’m sure they sleep with it under their pillows at night; you know who you are…

My point is that we, especially here in the Valley, spend our days and nights being overly connected. Landline, cell phone, email, Skype, IM, etc. At almost any given time in the day or night, you can reach someone through one of these methods. If you know me, you’ve heard me say that a balance is definitely needed between being connected and living offline.

Despite the fact that some people went a little crazy without their service, maybe incorporating one day a week without the CrackBerry each month (or year, depending on your level of addiction) would be a good thing.

What do you think? Is this possible in today’s connected world, or do I need to lay off the crack(berry)?

Networking, Offline, Wireless

It took a few years, but Sarah Jane Tribble of the Merc writes today that sales for the Valley’s networking and telecom companies are up. What’s driving the 21.3% growth in sales and a whopping 29.7% growth in the workforce? Video!

Over the past few years, consumers’ have shown an almost insatiable appetite for video – online, mobile, high def, etc. – and there are no signs of that slowing down. During a webinar last week, Om Malik said this is just the beginning of video. From what I’ve seen and heard lately, I tend to agree with him; there are a lot of exciting developments in the space. But, I guess we’ll have to see how video and consumption will evolve over the next few years.

Networking

Back in February, my colleague and sometimes partner-in-crime (thanks for bailing us out Giovanni!), Mimi Harris, caught me in a little online game of Tag. Thankfully this isn’t the elementary school version with scraped knees and hair pulling… (Girls can be very competitive).

Five things people probably don’t know about me, or were afraid to ask… Let’s get to it:
1. Before turning to the dark side (j/k) and getting into PR, I wanted to be an equine veterinarian. I had logged about 1,000 hours of field work before the end of my freshman year of college.
2. My favorite band of all time is Sublime.
3. My favorite wine of all time is an 2003 Arista Zinfandel. Fruit-forward with a bit of pepper, just fantastic! I think you can get the last few bottles on eBay
4. I took 4 years of French in high school, and another 2 years in college.
5. I’ve been riding horses (mainly show jumpers) for 20 years. It’s challenging, but so much fun.

Next up is: Allan Leinwand, Marissa Root, Katie Hallen, Rachel L, and our blogmaster extraordinaire, Joel Postman.

Networking

Being in high-tech PR and a part of the Eastwick coven, I’m almost ashamed to say that this is my very, first blog post…ever.  But, the time has come to jump into the blogosphere with at least one foot, and maybe a few toes…

Since coming to Silicon Valley, almost two long years ago, I’ve made a little niche for myself, working with some great companies in home and enterprise networking - Ruckus Wireless, BroadLogic, and Vyatta - just to name a few…

Along the way, I started meeting some really interesting folks at Valley events and within agency client companies, and found that it’s “all about networking.” 

So, with that, this is the beginning of my non-linear “adventures in networking.”  Enjoy!

Networking