On Tuesday, May 22, the South Florida City Group of the Legal Marketing Association, Southeast Chapter will be hosting a meeting on an important topic affecting law firms and legal marketers, 11 ways to improve business development. The meeting, graciously hosted by Hunton & Williams, is being held at 1111 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2500.

William J. Flannery, J.D. with The WJF Institute,  will cover topics ranging from face-to-face business development to the implementation of worldwide global client-focused teams. This presentation is unique and focuses on best practices  from corporate sales, marketing and global account management to show what law firms can learn from their clients.

Bill’s presentation is the collective knowledge of 40 years in business development, sales, marketing and global account management. This presentation is designed for firms of all sizes, geographic locations and  practice areas. Bill has worked with 136 of the AMLAW 200 and law practices ranging from boutiques to sole practitioners to the very largest.

For more information on the event or to RSVP, please contact Jennifer Clarin at jclarin@boardroompr.com or (954) 370-8999, via SurveyMonkey, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BMD3826. The event is $20 for LMA members and $40 for non-members.

We look forward to seeing you on May 22!

It takes more than communication skills to be a successful public relations practitioner. There are a number of skills that are equally as important, if not more, than just the ability to communicate well.

PR Daily recently put together a list of nine non-obvious skills that all PR practitioners should have. Here is our list of top three.

Teamwork experience
PR pros should know how to work with their team members in order to get the best results for their clients. Everyone is different, but the ability to work well in a group is a huge part of the job. You may not agree or like everyone you come into contact with, but it’s important to be able to work well together.

Multitasking
To be successful in PR, you need to be able to handle more than one task, or client, at a time. Different clients will require different things from you, and a PR pro should be able to juggle several things at a time. Even for a single account, you may be working on multiple projects or opportunities at a time.

Creativity
When you think you’ve hit a lull, it’s important to find new ways to promote your clients. That’s where some creativity kicks in. If you can find an interesting, new way to look at your client and client news, there’s a chance that a journalist or a producer might see your viewpoint. However, don’t go overboard with creativity, try to be reasonable and use your common sense.

Boardroom Communications’ is a proud recipient of a SILVER ADDY®, from the Advertising Federation of Greater Fort Lauderdale, was for Boardroom’s “This is My Federation” campaign. The ad showcased different families throughout Broward County with testimonials of how the federation has impacted their lives.

Boardroom is proud to be the winner two years in a row of this honorable award!

The ad ran in South Florida publications, including the Lifestyle magazines, which displayed  four family photos with their personal statements about the Jewish Federation.

“Boardroom Communications is proud to handle the public relations, marketing and advertising for The Jewish Federation,” said Julie Talenfeld, President of Boardroom Communications. ” We are honored to receive this award and know our work has helped make a difference in the community.”

In the March issue of Estate, Parkland, and Weston Lifestyle Magazines, Boardroom Communications‘ Vice President Jennifer Clarin offers advice on how to select marketing companies to fit your needs.

“The process needs to be thorough and detailed. A team of executives draft a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a list of requirements, then pore over the responses.”

Jennifer explains that culture is often overlooked and it can be a key difference-maker in how a relationship bodes for the long haul. Whether they’ll get along often can be determined in the review process.

Check out Jennifer’s article for more tips.

Lon Tabatchnick believes in revamping the  South Florida residential marketplace.

“Longtime residents of the western suburbs – many of whom have raised their families and are looking not to downsize their homes, but to rightsize their lives – are looking east.”

To continue reading more about this story, click here.

Here at Boardroom Communications, we encourage everyone to get involved in professional organizations and not-for-profit organizations.

Just recently, our very own Don Silver was reelected to the Board of Directors of the South Florida Chapter of NAIOP as Vice President of Media and Public Relations. Don has been involved with the organization for more than a decade and chairs the Public Relations committee.

Don was also reelected to the 2012 Executive Council for Legal Aid Services of Broward County and Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida. The council promotes and acts as ambassadors in the community for the organization. Legal Aid assists more than 150 not-for-profits and 10,000 individuals in need each year.

As a South Florida public relations firm, we’ve seen the damage that the absence of a crisis communications plan can cause to any organization. The most recent example on the national stage came earlier this month when Susan G. Komen for the Cure cut funding from Planned Parenthood. Now, Komen — the largest national breast cancer non-profit — has a new mandate: To reel in the pink ribbions it’s been threading all over the media and take corrective action.

Reversing its plans to deny funding to Planned Parenthood on Friday, Komen has some serious damage control ahead to combat the 72-hour media storm it created.

Komen found itself inundated with criticism when it publically announced it would no longer provide funding for Planned Parenthood’s breast exam and educational activities geared toward low-income women. The premise for the cut: Komen would not support organizations under “investigation.” Planned Parenthood was facing a questionable inquiry by Republican lawmakers. It didn’t help Komen that a vice president was an ardent and vocal right-to-life supporter.

It’s no surprise that the move resulted in a national backlash against an otherwise highly respected organization. People withdrew support. Some women’s advocates cried foul. Even its California offices issued a statement decrying the decision.

Huffington Post described the move as “one of the most boneheaded political miscalculations that will have serious ramifications for Komen: supporters won’t forget this for years to come.”

First, Komen president Nancy Goodman Brinker hit the web with a video supporting its decision. Then days later and facing the backlash from supporters and women’s groups, Komen amended its statements to only cut funding to groups under investigations that are “criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.”

This is no way to fight a national P.R. fiasco.

Komen needs to enact a simple but effective crisis communications plan to clarify that it’s an organization that helps women. Like any organization, it must consider the potential publicity and negative ramifications of its actions before making moves or statements.

If it seeks to cut funding to various organizations it has supported in the past – a move that’s completely within its right – it must make sure the cuts don’t reek of politics or frivolous, agenda-motivated policy.

We give Komen kudos for recognizing its egregious error and taking action to right its course. But it now needs to stress that its mission as an organization is in tandem with that of Planned Parenthood – two organizations striving to better women’s health.

Then, it should get a crisis communications plan in place.

The holidays are here! Not only does that mean ’tis the season to be jolly with family and friends, but in the workplace as well.

By peppering your business with a little holiday spirit, you can revamp your brand image and inspire some holiday cheer in your customers.

Take Starbucks.

Its holiday marketing campaign, which debuted in November, features seasonal beverages like the “Peppermint Mocha” and “Gingerbread Latte” served up in special edition holiday cups.  This year, Starbucks has gone one step further with the Starbucks Cup Magic App, which allows coffee-drinkers to animate the action on their coffee cups on their smartphone screens.  The object, says VP-Global Digital Marketing for Starbucks, Alexandra Wheeler, is to both “surprise and delight” customers during this holiday season.

So get in the spirit! Here are some things you can do to make the holiday season a catalyst for your business:

-Deck the halls with boughs of holly! But seriously, some easy, simple decorations can go a long way.  By creating a fun, holiday atmosphere, your employees and customers alike will relish in the spirit of the season.

-Learn the holiday news cycle. To avoid missing out on an opportunity for your product or service in a publication, make sure you’re up to date on the editorial calendars well in advance to see what specific topics the media outlets will focus on during this holiday cycle.

-Wish your social media following a happy holidays. A simple tweet or Facebook post spreading the spirit will bring you back into sight and into mind.  Keeping up a rapport with those in the digital world (and continuing to maintain your online presence) is extremely important, especially now!

So enjoy this holiday season, and take advantage of the opportunity to enact some timely marketing strategies. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Bal Harbour Shops was recently featured in the Miami Herald business section. Highlighted for their luxury retailers and exclusive shopping experience, Bal Harbour Shops is one of the country’s top shopping centers.

Bal Harbour operating partner, Matthew Wintman Lanzenby, took this excellent opportunity to speak about the recent changes and expansions Bal Harbour Shops is making. Visitors from around the world will find several new tenants opening their stores at Bal Harbour, including Balenciaga, Breguet, CH Carolina Herrera, Panerai, La Perla and Stella McCartney. And more are on the way including Moncler, Canali and Alexander McQueen.

“Invariably it will be our best year of all time,” Lazenby said. “Some tenants are up as much as 100 percent.”

Since its opening in 1965, Bal Harbour’s sales per square foot have increased every year – only exceptions were in 2001 after the 9-11 attacks and during the recession in 2009.