(W)right On Communications Best of 2017! #GSD

By Julie Wright —President
Twitter: @juliewright

I’m excited to see what 2018 holds for (W)right On Communications, but when I look back on 2017, I’m awed by all that our growing agency achieved! As we like to say here, we GSD–got “stuff” done! But more than that, we made stuff happen, and that’s how we measure success. Here’s a quick glimpse at the events that made a difference in 2017 from where I sit.

Epic Team Outing to Kick Off the Year

JANUARY: We started 2017 off on the right foot with a trip to Universal Studios to bring our hard-working team together for a fun outing. There was just one little challenge: the torrential rain. Talk about team building. Wearing our ponchos like super heroes, we braved the storm and had a blast. The day left us soaked with memories.

In January, we also celebrated Chance Shay’s promotion to Practice Area Director overseeing the agency’s dedicated B2B & Technology Public Relations practice and Land Development PR & Community Outreach practice. With eight years of strategic communications experience, Chance continues to make significant contributions to (W)right On Communications and 2017 was no exception.

Talking PR Measurement in Miami

FEBRUARY: PR measurement was something we continued to invest in throughout 2017. Attending the Ragan PR Measurement Conference in Miami Feb. 1-2 allowed me to hear from industry veterans, academics and PR leaders from MuckRack, Google, IBM and Spirit Airlines–to name just a few of the great speakers.

Ragan’s 2018 PR Measurement Conference is in San Diego Feb. 20 and 21. If you’re interested in staying on top of the latest in PR measurement trends, tech and best practices, it’s not too late to register here.

Launched “Thoughtful Thursdays”—WOC’s Internal Professional Development Series

MARCH: We launched our “Thoughtful Thursdays” in March. These were one-hour professional development workshops that brought our team together (in-person and via our web-conferencing tech) to learn the latest in PR measurement, media interviewing, social media advertising, integrated strategic campaigns, leading effective meetings and more. Sessions were led by Chance Shay, Kara DeMent and me. I really enjoyed these mornings and now look forward to our 2018 series.

Adding Media Integration Services

APRIL: We added media integration services to our agency public relations services. Unlike traditional publicity, media integration opportunities are paid, not earned, opportunities. They can feature your product or service as part of a national, regional or local news or lifestyle program and will often include a lead generation component. Media integration works extremely well for products that are experiential like a resort or destination, and our hospitality public relations practice and its client partners have made good use of media integration since the service launched.

Opening WOC’s Downtown L.A. Office

MAY: We took a space on the 35th floor of the Gas Tower in the Banker’s Hill area of downtown Los Angeles. Our convenient base in L.A. makes it easier for the team to meet with clients and media plus opens the door to new relationships. Personally, I love my Pacific Surfliner trips up and down the Southern California coast plus exploring all that downtown L.A. offers like the sights and flavors of Grand Central Market.

Taking the PR Measurement Conversation Global

JUNE: Grant and I traveled to Bangkok to attend the AMEC Global Summit on Measurement and annual awards dinner. The conference attracted communicators, media researchers and evaluation experts from across Europe and Southeast Asia. One of the highlights for me was meeting Professor Jim Macnamara in person. Somehow, I had the good fortune to sit next to him throughout the two-day conference. As the author of all the textbooks I studied on PR measurement, I was thrilled to meet him in person and hear about his latest projects firsthand.

A New WOC Strategist as Sweet as She is Swedish

JULY: Sandra Wellhausen joined our team this summer, and it felt like we’d found the missing bolt in an Ikea Billy bookcase box!

Nothing Eclipsed August

AUGUST: Pardon the pun, but a lot of effort went into seeing this major solar event. Being able to enjoy it with friends and family was the result of a great team supporting our (W)right On client partners and operations.

Peak Mindfulness

SEPTEMBER: It was a month of mindfulness for WOC with everyone at the agency focused on major client projects from a video for the City of San Diego’s energy efficiency programs to the grand opening of the University of Redlands’ new San Diego campus. Speaking of universities, our friends at the College of Business Administration at CSUSM had Grant and I in to speak to students during their “In the Executive’s Chair” class. But peak mindfulness (you’re expecting puns, now, I hope?) occurred as Shae Geary and I attended the Yosemite Wellness Retreat Weekend hosted by client partner Tenaya Lodge. We hiked Sentinel Dome stopping for yoga as we started off and once we summited. It was out of this world. Check out the link for their 2018 wellness weekend dates!

Are You Guys Dressing Up for Halloween? Of Course.

OCTOBER: It was another fun Halloween at (W)right On’s San Diego office.

Keeping the Creative Visual Communications Flowing

NOVEMBER: We were grateful that KeAsha Rogers joined our team bringing her graphic and digital design skills and passion to benefit our client partners. She had to hit the ground running as we were full-tilt in a sprint ourselves to launch a rebrand for one of our nonprofit client partners. (KeAsha, 16-hour days aren’t the norm—we swear!)

Making a Difference for a Major Nonprofit Client Partner

DECEMBER: December was the debut of Radiant Health Centers, a rebrand for AIDS Services Foundation Orange County which had been providing HIV testing, prevention and education services and comprehensive social services for 32 years. The nonprofit’s leadership saw the need to offer broader services to Orange County’s most vulnerable LGBT community members. Their launch event was a rousing success, and it was a proud moment for the entire (W)right On team. We have had the good fortune of helping many nonprofit clients over the years, but the courage and vision of Radiant Health Centers’ leadership and supporters have really touched and inspired us.

Not to be overlooked, we celebrated Kara DeMent’s promotion from Communications Coordinator to Communications Strategist in December.

What’s in Store for 2018?

We have so much planned for this year, but at (W)right On Communications, we like to take stock of our achievements and not gloss over the high points we hit in 2017.

2018 will mark a very significant milestone in the agency’s history. And to celebrate it, we’re working on exciting plans that will continue our growth, our ability to produce wins for our client partners and opportunities for our team members to grow and achieve. Stay tuned!

 

(W)right On Communications Promotes One and Hires Two

SAN DIEGO; Dec. 7, 2017–(W)right On Communications, Inc., an integrated strategic communications agency with offices in Solana Beach, Los Angeles and Vancouver, has added Communications Strategist Sandra Wellhausen and Graphic Designer KeAsha Rogers while promoting Kara DeMent to Communications Strategist.

Wellhausen is supporting nonprofit clients Radiant Health Centers of Orange County, Tri-City Hospital Foundation and New Haven Youth and Family Services of Vista as well as energy efficiency communications for the City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department. Wellhausen brings 14 years of public relations experience and started her career with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and local Swedish American chamber. Fluent in four languages, Sandra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications degree (magna cum laude) from San Diego State University, and is recipient of the Communicator Award of Excellence; Bernay’s Award of Excellence; and the American Chamber of Commerce Executive Award.

Rogers brings (W)right On’s client partner brands and stories to life through her print, digital and multimedia design strategies. She has over eight years of brand identity, digital content strategy, SEO and analytics, and motion graphics experience with a background in and passion for cause-related projects. Most recently, she worked in-house for NPHS, a community development non-profit that serves families in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles and San Diego with housing and financial services. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communications from Westwood College. Additionally, she is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army Reserves including deployments to Bosnia.

DeMent supports the agency’s hospitality public relations clients such as Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, San Diego Tourism Marketing District and Visit Oceanside as well as its healthcare public relations practice including WESTliving senior living communities and Tri-City Medical Center. She has over four years of experience and joined (W)right On in 2015 following her experience working in an agency environment as well as in-house for the Orlando Magic. She graduated from California State University, San Bernardino with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an emphasis in PR and mass communications.

“Sandra and KeAsha are great additions to the agency’s roster of creative, strategic leaders making a positive impact for our client partners, and client partners are already benefiting and achieving more wins from their contributions and Kara’s expanded capabilities and responsibilities,” says President and Founder Julie Wright.

About (W)right On Communications, Inc.

Founded in 1998 with client partners coast to coast, public relations and marketing communications agency (W)right On Communications provides award-winning public relations, community outreach, graphic design, social media, employee communications, video production, presentation and media training, and crisis communications services to a diverse client community in the B2B, energy, healthcare, hospitality, infrastructure development, nonprofit, professional services, technology and clean tech sectors. For more, see www.wrightoncomm.com.

 

(W)right On Communications Opens Los Angeles Public Relations Office

 

Los Angeles public relations office
(W)right On Communications Los Angeles public relations office

Downtown Los Angeles public relations office will support the agency’s client partners across Southern California

SAN DIEGO; May 30, 2017 — (W)right On Communications, Inc. has expanded operations with the opening of a new Los Angeles public relations office.

“Downtown L.A. provides easy and centralized access to client partners all over the Los Angeles region,” says Grant Wright, CEO and Managing Partner, and the downtown continues to undergo a vibrant resurgence. We are excited to be in the heart of it all at Bunker Hill’s Gas Tower.”

“A number of our San Diego-based client partners also do business and have operations in the Los Angeles area, so this is a natural progression to ensure the agency best meets their and future partners’ needs,” adds Wright.

The agency is currently seeking new team members for the Los Angeles public relations office.

About (W)right On Communications, Inc.

Founded in 1998 with client partners coast to coast, public relations and marketing communications agency (W)right On Communications provides award-winning public relations, community outreach, graphic design, social media, employee communications, video production, presentation and media training, and crisis communications services to a diverse client community in the B2B, energy, healthcare, hospitality, infrastructure development, nonprofit, professional services, technology, manufacturing and clean tech sectors. For more, see www.wrightoncomm.com.

 

(W)right On Communications adds University of Redlands to its client roster

SOLANA BEACH, Calif.; April 26, 2017—(W)right On Communications, Inc. has partnered with the University of Redlands to share the stories of its remarkable alumni, students and personalized learning programs. The private, nonprofit liberal arts school based in the Inland Empire educates over 5,000 graduate and undergraduate students annually with one in 10 members of its freshmen class last fall drawn from San Diego. In addition to a scenic 160-acre campus in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, the University of Redlands operates seven regional campuses across Southern California offering degrees in business and management to working professionals. Its San Diego campus recently relocated to 2020 Camino Del Rio North in Mission Valley.

UoRSan Diego alumni making a difference include restaurateur and Chef Carl Schroeder (’91) of Market Restaurant + Bar in Del Mar; San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles magazine Publisher Mark McKinnon (‘91) and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego CEO Kathryn Kanjo (’86).

Ninety-five percent of all University of Redlands’ undergraduates receive financial aid. Its students also extend their learning beyond the classroom to complete more than 120,000 hours of community service annually, in the Inland Empire and abroad. Studying abroad is encouraged at University of Redlands, and the school has been ranked 11th nationally for its undergraduate study abroad participation rate estimated to be over 55 percent.

Business students can travel to Leeds and Dublin in the United Kingdom to perform a consulting engagement as part of a capstone class offered twice each year to qualified candidates. Through another program, they can also be paired with a successful local business leader as a mentor to support their studies and career goals.

UoR2

The main campus was founded in 1907 in Redlands. Its satellite campuses for working professionals are in Burbank, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Riverside, San Diego, South Coast Metro and Temecula. The university offers more than 50 undergraduate programs, as well as 20 graduate programs in business, communicative disorders, education, geographic information systems and music—blending liberal arts and professional programs, applied and theoretical study, traditional majors, and self-designed curricula. Its NCAA Division III athletic program contributes to the many extracurricular opportunities available, while its distinctive Johnston Center for Integrative Studies enables self-motivated undergraduates to negotiate their own interdisciplinary course of study with a faculty/peer committee. For more, see www.redlands.edu.

About (W)right On Communications, Inc.

Founded in 1998 with client partners coast to coast, public relations and marketing communications agency (W)right On Communications provides award-winning public relations, community outreach, graphic design, social media, employee communications, video production, presentation and media training, and crisis communications services. The agency supports a diverse community of client partners in the B2B, energy and clean tech, healthcare, hospitality, infrastructure development, nonprofit, professional services and technology sectors. It has offices in Los Angeles, Solana Beach and Vancouver, Canada. For more, see www.wrightoncomm.com.

(W)right On Communications Adds Four Team Members

SAN DIEGO, Calif.; Oct. 20, 2016 – San Diego public relations agency (W)right On Communications has added four new team members. Aisha Belagam joins the agency as Communications Strategist, Collin Chappelle as Video Producer, Phelan Riessen as Lead headshot_aishaDeveloper and Teronda Williams as Marketing and Administrative Coordinator. With a multi-cultural background, Belagam brings experience in public relations, marketing, social media and advertising most recently with Vitality Medical and ViTRO Agency. She graduated magna cum laude from San Diego State University. Chappelle has been shooting both video and stills since 2004 and specializes in community journalism, business to business storytelling and commercial advertising.
Using the latest digital cinema equipment, including 6K-capable headshot_colincameras and aerial drones, Chappelle has collaborated with client partners such as Coca-Cola, the United States Marine Corps, AMWAY, Milk Life, NASCAR and many others. Chappelle holds a Master of Art in Commercial Photography degree from Savannah College of Art and Design. Riessen is a well-established web developer and known locally for his support of various technology and business events around town including RefreshSD, March Mingle and Startup Week. Williams’ experience in marketing and administration includes positions with La Vida Del Mar, CW6 Channelheadshot_phelan and the Rock Church, and she is a Cal State University San Marcos graduate.

“Our new team members bring excellent practice area knowledge and technical skill to help us provide the full spectrum of communications expertise to our client partners,” says Grant Wright, CEO of (W)right On Communications.

About (W)right On Communications

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Founded in 1998 in Vancouver, British Columbia, (W)right On Communications is among California’s largest communications and public relations agencies. Supporting the hospitality, healthcare, energy, technology, professional services, government agencies, land development and other industries, San Diego-based (W)right On has produced results-driven media relations, social media, crisis communication, graphic design, videography, branding and marketing campaigns for client partners including hotels, hospitals, major utilities, startups, clean tech and renewable energy providers, land developers, city governments and universities among many others. To learn more about (W)right On, visit wrightoncomm.com.

Hospitality PR 101: How to Nail that TV Interview

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By Shae Geary, Senior Communications Strategist

Working with local TV stations is a great way to promote hospitality client partners. From special events to staycation specials, hotels and destinations often produce interesting fodder for morning news programs that want to share unique local personalities and fun activities with their viewers. Getting the attention of TV producers and reporters requires the right pitch, and there’s more than one way to do it. For a chance at an on-camera spotlight, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Visuals! Movement!

One of my most memorable segments involved a reporter broadcasting from a plush hotel bed on the deck of a newly opened ocean view hotel pool. It was not only quirky and fun, but also succeeded in showing off both the hotel pool and its world-famous bedding in a way that was more visually interesting than a bed in a hotel room. TV is a visual medium, so anything that plays to the camera, whether interesting, unexpected, unusual or just bright and colorful, has a better chance of nabbing a reporter’s interest. It’s equally important for segments to have movement and activity, such as a chef cooking up a signature dish or guests playing in the pool. In your pitch, offer some ideas for the types of activities that can be featured on camera. The more likely a reporter is to visualize the segment, the better your chances of securing coverage.

Bring The Hotel to The Studio

In-studio TV appearances are a great alternative when a TV station can’t come to you. In your pitch, offer ideas for bringing a destination experience to the studio. We recently had success working with a local TV station to promote a romantic sunset beach picnic program. The picnic scene was recreated on the studio’s back lot and paired with a live chef’s demonstration of making an easy, aphrodisiac inspired salad. It was a pretty close second to actually doing the segment on the beach and succeeded in conveying the program’s dreamy, coastal vibe.

Exclusive Access

Viewers love to go behind the scenes, so seize the day when the opportunity arises. To generate excitement and positive community buzz for a new TV show filmed in Oceanside, (one of our destination client partners), we invited a local reporter to spend a day on-set with special access to wardrobe, props, cast trailers and show producers. The segments were a hit because the audience was able to experience the show from a perspective usually limited to cast and crew. For a hotel client, ideas for segments could include access to an exclusive Presidential Suite or over-the-top guest experience.

Partnerships

If a hospitality client partner doesn’t have a particularly compelling story to tell, all is not lost! Linking up with complementary non-profits or local businesses can be just the ticket for nabbing some airtime. A good example is the recent partnership between Cape Rey Carlsbad resort and Project Mermaid. The ocean view hotel pool was the perfect backdrop for a live TV remote that highlighted special mermaid photo sessions, where a local TV personality joined in on the fun. The project helps raise money for ocean conservation, a cause also supported by the hotel. In each segment, the hotel was identified by beautiful shots of the pool and surrounding coastal view. The TV segments drew huge interest, as did social media posts from the shoot.

If you are looking to get your business on TV, let us help! We’d love to chat, so give us a call or visit us here.