The holidays are a stressful time of year, especially if you have to run around doing last minute gift buying.  C3/CustomerContactChannels recently offered great tips for reducing holiday shopping stress.  These tips were picked up by publications around the country, proving that holiday shopping stresses out more than just Floridians!

Here are their secrets:

Do your homework and ask questions.  Learn the store’s return and exchange policies before you buy something; know which coupons a store will accept and ask about promotional deals before you get to payment.  Read product reviews to maximize the valuable time you have with a busy employee.

Be prepared. Lines may be a mile long, so be courteous to other shoppers.  The cash register is not the place to realize you don’t have your wallet.  If you’re buying over the phone, be prepared with the recipient’s shipping information and your payment details.

Communicate clearly. If you have a problem or complaint, get to the root of the situation immediately and state what went wrong without raising your voice.  Tell a salesperson what you expect to be resolved and what you’d like them to do.  Bring up your brand loyalty as appropriate, but don’t overstate your store experience.

Be solution oriented. Focus on what can be done to resolve a situation.  If a product is out of stock, find out when the store will receive new inventory.  Find productive solutions and recognize that the ideal resolution may not be possible in all cases.  Customer service is a two-way street.

Take a deep breath. Take a moment to think clearly before you escalate a situation. Don’t use profanity at other shoppers or customer service agents.  Be the type of person you would want your grandma to speak with – anger and frustration will get you nowhere.

For more of C3’s shopping tips, click here.

On Sunday, November 6, 2011, Margaux Grossman’s family and friends will lace up their sneakers to participate in the Margaux’s Miracle Foundation Third Annual “Walk In The Park” at Pine Trails Park in Parkland.

Boardroom Communications is proud to sponsor Margaux’s Miracle Foundation—President Julie Talenfeld is on the Board of Directors and Account Director Jennifer Clarin serves as the Board’s secretary.

The Margaux’s Miracle Foundation Third Annual “Walk In The Park” will be held from 11 a.m.– 2p.m., and tickets cost $25 for adults and $15 for students ages 5-18. Community service hours are available for student volunteers. For more information, please contact Sharon Sheinbaum at 561-213-4639 or visit www.margauxsmiracle.org.

Last week’s “Hollywood Welcomes the Stars” event marked another huge success for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County. More than 400 people gathered at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hallandale Beach to raise money for after-school programs. In addition to a cocktail party, dinner, and silent and live auction items, attendees also had a chance to mingle with local celebs and enjoy an unpugged performance by Grammy Award Winner, Jon Secada.

Boardroom Account Executives also attended the event after months of preparing. We were able to secure pre- and  post event media coverage while putting the spotlight on the importance of The Boys & Girls Clubs in our communities.

Legal Aid Service of Broward County and Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida will host its 10^th Annual For The Public Good Gala on Friday, October 14 at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. The event is Legal Aid’s annual fundraiser with proceeds benefiting families and individuals in gaining access to equal justice.  Our very own Account Executive Michelle Friedman was named as Publicity Chair this year and has secured outstanding media placements.

Boardroom Communications is a proud sponsor and looks forward to seeing everyone there! For more information call 954-736-2429.

We would like to congratulate the Fort Lauderdale law and governmental consulting firm Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A., for being named the “Law Firm of the Year” by Broward Lawyers Care, the pro bono project of Legal Aid Service of Broward County (LAS) and Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida (CCLA).

Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate was recognized for its leadership in advocating for the less fortunate in Broward County.  Members of this firm participate in many community and service activities, including organizations designed for the protection of the interests and needs of the public, particularly the most vulnerable members of our society: children and the elderly.

This year Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, together with Broward County Bar Association, Legal Aid Service of Broward County and the 17th Judicial Pro Bono Committee, will launch the Tracey McPharlin Initiative named for Tracey McPharlin, a member of their firm, who passed away last year. The goal of the initiative is to recruit, train and support attorneys who will carry on Tracey’s work by representing at-risk children at all proceedings affecting their safety, permanency, health and well-being.

Larry Marin, a partner with Izquierdo & Marin, was also named the Broward Lawyers Care Attorney of the Year.  The official awards will be presented at the 10th Annual for the Public Good gala on October 14, 2011, at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina.

Boardroom Communications’ publicists recently participated in the 2011Mercedes-Benz Corporate Run, an annual event that aims to boost individual and company morale. Six Boardroom members walked and ran in the 5K race throughout downtown Fort Lauderdale: COO Don Silver, Executive VP Todd Templin, Senior VP Caren Berg, Account Executives Lauren Simo and Michelle Friedman, and Digital Media Specialist Estee Pinzon.

This year’s event beneficiary was the American Red Cross, a non-profit organization that offers health and safety programs, disaster relief, international services and service to the armed forces and to the residents of Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. Boardroom’s Corporate Run Team Leader, Todd Templin, also serves on the board for this organization.

Every February, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Aventura magazine puts out an issue devoted to love. This year the magazine interviewed eight couples who manage to balance a busy lifestyle and find harmony at home. Among them was Boardroom’s president, Julie Talenfeld, and husband, Howard Talenfeld. Check out their article below.

Boardroom Communications’ COO Don Silver longtime Boardroom client Field of Flowers CEO Donn Flipse were featured

in a recent Reuters article about ghost blogging.

Silver commented on the increase in demand for ghost blogging.

“You’ve got to find new platforms to convey your news and messaging,” said Silver, whose South Florida-based public relations firm develops and manages blogs for clients ranging from insurance companies to law and accounting firms to retailers.

Donn Flipse, owner of Field of Flowers, a chain of South Florida floral super stores with locations in Boca Raton, Davie and Kendall, relies on Boardroom to supplement internal posts released under authorship of its fictional nom de plume, Dr. Phil O. Dendron. The character writes about special events taking place at the stores and alerts customers whenever company executives appear in local news.
Silver attributed the rising interest in blogging in part to a decline in opportunities for traditional media coverage and the need to take advantage of the power of social media and search engine marketing.

Why ghost bloggers? Busy executives do not have the time to manage and write frequent blog posts and promote them on social media. Many Florida PR agencies have filled the vacuum and taken over their client’s blogs. How often do you hear, “Where do you find the time to do all of that blogging and social media posts?” Guess who is really doing it?

The article also described a ghost blogger’s job as including a mix of strategic and editorial tasks including: keeping abreast of hot-button issues, developing editorial calendars, penning original posts, as well as enlisting raw copy from a company’s insiders and transforming it into readable text.

visit Reuters.com for full story

Just prior to Lebron James making his decision to go to the Miami Heat, the media constantly asked Where will he go, where will Dwyane Wade go, where will Chris Bosh go?   News outlets coast to coast pondered the question.   

Just prior to that, many news outlets (not the sports writers!) were reporting on the Jake and Vienna split.  For those who never read it or clicked on it, it was nothing more than a break-up Jake, a “Bachelor” on the ABC show, and his fiancée, whom he met during the process.

How do two people without any news value generate so much interest?  Magazine covers, daily papers, radio and tv shows tapped into this split between two people who were hardly together.  The reason is simple.  The media made them a couple – and the media continued its role in making their split newsworthy.  With the right public relations, they stayed top of mind.

So when three of the most talented athletes on the planet dominated the media thereafter, yes, it was overkill – but at least they earned their right to be in the public eye. 

But really, it doesn’t matter.  Because the media has the power to make people newsworthy who met on a TV show and then broke up.  That’s it. 

With Lebron, Dwayne and Chris, the talent came first – then the media frenzy.  With Jake and Vienna, the media frenzy came first – and we’re still waiting for the talent. If you think these things all happen by accident, think again.  Behind both sets of characters were skilled public relations experts.

Below is a post from Verbatim written by Joyce K. Smiley of JKS & Company  that discusses the basics of what it takes for law firms and lawyers to build their books of business.

Basically, gaining market share is dependent on satisfying your existing clients.  In Florida, attorneys and firms are finding it more and more challenging to find new clients with the back-drop of one of the worst recessions in Florida’s history.  There is no question that Florida had a one-year head start on the rest of the country with the summer, 2007 residential real estate meltdown.

I was speaking with a Miami lawyer last week at the Florida Bar Convention and he concurred that he is now seeing more and more competitors at business and charitable events.  “What are we going to do, sell life insurance to one another,” he asked?

That’s the point, 80% of new client referrals will come from existing clients and contacts.  Therefore, wouldn’t it be advisable to get an accurate fix on how you and your law firm are perceived by current clients first?    

  What You Need to Know to Gain Market Share 

“When they want our work, we have their complete attention,” said Elliott Miller, director of legal affairs of Denver-based Pendum LLC (www.pendum.com). “Once they have our work, they tend to rest on their laurels. Don’t take advantage,” Miller said of law firms, when he was on a panel of in-house counsel speaking to the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association in May.Most marketing and business development professionals will spend time this summer exploring potential strategies to grow their firms’ market share next year, to prepare their 2011 budget requests. To grow market share, your clients must view your firm as the best value compared to your competitors, certainly not as one that has lost interest in them.  

Strategic Client Interviews are a cost-effective way to give your firm the advantage it needs to grasp onto more market share. These interviews reveal:  

• what clients want from your firm
• what problems you must address to strengthen and expand your client relationships
• how to enhance your relationships to keep clients loyal to your firm
• clients’ perceptions of your firm in the legal marketplace
• the opportunities that could increase your firm’s business with its clients  

In response to the question “What do general counsel want from outside counsel?” Miller summed up: “It’s very simple. Legal expertise is the bare minimum. We want outside counsel who also respect our budgets, deadlines and communication styles. We want outside counsel who know our businesses. We want outside counsel, in short, who define their success as our success.”