The Perfect Proposal

It is wedding season as many of you may know. This year, surprisingly I have no weddings to attend. However, in I have four very close friends who have just recently gotten engaged and will wed in 2012. My group of friends have all been buzzing about how each was asked, what their rings look like and the details of the coming year. This has gotten me to think - wow what a stressful position the guy has been in. Asking a woman to marry you has a lot of pressure. So for the rest of you single/but dating men, what matters in a proposal? I've done the digging and here are the answers to the perfect proposal.

Great engagements do not need to be expensive - just creative.
If you're not certain what ring to get her, go with a placeholder ring.
Your engagement should reflect you and the unique couple you are.

The Essentials.
First, keep things to yourself. The more people that know - the more likely things will get screwed up.
Second, if you're trying to decide between a square or a round diamond, go with round. It looks larger and is timeless. And for the most bang for your buck choose a setting in either white gold or palladium instead of platinum, so that you'll spend the most money on what matters - the stone.
Third, if you're not sure and can't decide what ring she'd like, go with a placeholder - a ring pop or a toy. Then you can enjoy shopping together.
Fourth, make you sure you document the event - use either a flip cam, smart phone, or whatever it takes. You'll both be glad you did.
Finally, remember that the wedding day is all about the bride. But, that the engagement is the groom's time to shine.

Negative Doesn't Always Mean Negative

PR buzz is not always perfect. As a PR pro, you know that you can do a lot of work, but still need a little bit of luck.

When you work with reporters, you do not have full control of what gets shared; even if YOUR prep work is spotless. You may have created great keywords and statements that can get misdirected, or your product may be poorly reviewed. It's really out of your hands. However, bad news is not ALWAYS bad. It's still news, right?

Currently, I work with a client that is very unique and has gained success with a niche market. They are trying public relations for the first time ever and getting a lot of buzz. However, the mainstream market does not particularly love the product and are willing to say it. My client knows and even says they are not a brand for everyone, but he still gets nervous after reading a negative review or hearing a negative comment. Nonetheless - they are getting ALOT of publicity. One review did come back negative, but they still placed a large photo in the review and said where someone could buy the item. This is what counts.

Again, in a situation when a reporter does give you negative feedback - don't be surprised. This can happen! I was reading about a similar situation where a brand received negative PR after reporters tried the product and didn't enjoy it. The company came out making a statement that said too many went way too far with reviews and said they wouldn't release any more items to be tried until further notice. This is a poor move and never do this. PR works symbolically with media - they need each other. So, if you think something, don't way something. You don't want the reporters on your bad side even more.

Why Woman Don't Get Caught In Sex Scandals

Last week, when yet another male politician/celebrity, Rep. Anthony Wiener, confessed to sexting a young woman among others, the whole situation seemed almost laughable. He confessed his "terrible mistakes" and declared himself "deeply sorry for the pain" he caused. What is with these guys? Do these influential men never think they will get caught? Now we can just put Wiener in the same category as: Mark Sanford, Eliot Spitzer, John Ensign, John Edwards and Bill Clinton to name a few.

It may be easy to simply say this is bad male behavior or to dismiss it as a testosterone-induced, hard-wired connection between sex and power - powerful men attract women, powerful women repel men. And some may say that working women are just too busy to cheat on men.

However, these is substantial evidence that shows there are differences between the women and men who try to get a head in politics. Women tend to join in politics to help a reason they are wanting to change. More of them want to make a difference than men. Men tend to run because they see it as a career path they want to conquer.

Women tend to not want to get involved unless they know it is something they are passionate about. Men tend to just look at other politicians, and say ' I can do that.'

Another reason women may not cheat in politics is that they feel they need to do more to compete with their male colleagues. They feel the pressure to do well is much greater than men do.

I'm not saying that women are immune to sex scandals. I'm just saying that their is a trend with men, and I'm not sure women politicians could overcome these obstacles like some of their male counterparts have.

Whatever the reason for the difference, I think maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask more women to join into politics and that it shouldn't be so off balance. I was inspired to write this post after watching the This Week report. Let me know your thoughts please!

Writing for PR 101

Every week PR pros write thousands of words. We draft and finalize press releases, pitches, fact sheets, client emails, create business proposals and more. With all this information coming from our fingertips, sometimes we forget how to be creative with words. Here's a few new pointers.

Remember to read. When you read, you learn.
When writing, consider the audience and your voice. Think to yourself who will read this, and what will they hear?
Embrace the style guide. (i.e. AP Stylebook)
Do not trust Microsoft Word's spell check and grammar check... always proofread!
Consider your quote structures and remember that the commas and periods are always within the quotes.
Beware of the pronouns. Make them agree!
Lastly, always remember to give your work time to breathe. Step back and take a break from it. Then reread it for edits.