Invited to a lunchtime briefing for the corporate communications team at Levi Strauss about how brand journalism and content marketing can support earned media strategies.
Here is a link to the slideshare of the presentation:
June 9, 2014: Golden Gate University, San Francisco CA –
Spoke with students in the graduate-level introduction to PR class about the intersections of paid, earned and owned media. Outlined how social media, brand journalism and content marketing can drive engagement.
Here is a link to the presentation:
June 9, 2014: Leadership America, Oakland CA –
Shared how Kaiser Permanente used broad-scale public education efforts to raise awareness and influence health behaviors.
June 3, 2014: The Conference Board Council on Corporate Communications Strategy, Oakland CA
Joined Jason Willet to share best practices for traditional, digital and social media measurement and evaluation.
In recent years, I steadfastly have avoided talking about politics on this blog or any social media platform. However, anyone who bothers to read my bio or resume will see that my first step into health care communications was at Planned Parenthood. It should be pretty obvious how I feel about reproductive rights.
Tonight, I am in a random hotel room enjoying The Rachel Maddow Show. Tonight, she had a segment that showed footage from the 1994 clinic shootings in Brookline MA. It honestly had been a long time since I thought about those days of fear and terror. The month before those shootings, I had left my job at Planned Parenthood in Fresno CA to move to the Bay Area. I remember watching the news as it unfolded in MA, being sad, but not surprised.
The years leading up to those shooting were tense. Violent rhetoric was the norm. Every person working in reproductive health clinics knew the risks, but showed up each day to ensure women got the care and service they deserve.
So, tonight, on this 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade, I send my thanks and gratitude to the women and men who have literally risked their lives to protect the right to choose.
December 9-11, 2013: SocialMedia.org Brands Only Summit, Orlando FL –
Spoke about the launch, development, and operation of their new online platform, share.kp.org.
Discussing how brand journalism and content marketing to increase brand awareness among consumers and thought leaders.
Case Study: Brand Journalism and Content Marketing
October 11, 2013: University of California, Berkeley
Invited by Scott Young, MD (@scottyoungmd) to speak to students in the Cal School of Information about brand management in a digital environment
Health Care Communications: Engaging Audiences in a Rapidly Changing World
The most disturbing part of our time in Morocco has been seeing the proliferation of trash littered everywhere. In city streets, country roads and even in the remotest parts of the Sahara. I keep wondering whether any groups organize “clean up days” the way we do at local beaches and such. If so, they may get added to my favorite charity list.
As we sat on the train racing from Marrakech to Casablanca, I pulled open my curtain to look out on open fields. As my eyes adjusted to the sunlight, I was saddened as I realize the landscape is dotted with plastic bags.
When we were in the Sahara, we stopped in a small palm grove for a picnic. We were disappointed that within a campfire site people had left their trash. Cans, bottles, etc. Even as we visited Erg Chegga, one of the remotest dunes in Morocco, our guide found (and thankfully picked up) a plastic bag.
In the states, particularly in California, we teach our kids the “leave no trace” ethic when in the wilderness — what we carry in, we carry out. We’re pretty obsessive about recycling (I have not seen a single recycling bin in Morocco). And more and more, we’ve stopped buying water in plastic bottles — drinking from the tap and even making our own sparkling water. That, of course, has not been possible in Morocco, but even in Europe it was hard to get plain old tap water in a restaurant (only one restaurant in France offered it).
Not sure whether it’s a sense of guilt over my own contribution to the problem, or worry about the impact of all plastic that I’m seeing everywhere, but it’s weighing on me. As we were packing up our tent and getting ready to leave the desert, I picked up two empty water bottles. I looked at Jeff and asked what we should do with them. He voiced what I had been feeling: “I’d like to take them all the way back home to make sure their recycled.”
So, yesterday after arriving at our camp after the sandstorm, we hoped that the wind would die down enough to allow us to take a camel trek out to view the sunset. No such luck. There was enough wind and sand kicking up to obscure any view.
In fact, we learned over dinner that another guide had gotten lost in the sandstorm. Our guide and some others went out to try to locate them. We got a report this morning that they were finally able to locate them at about 3am. I can only imagine how panicked the tourists in the lost car were!
I know I’m grateful that we got safely settled into our camp, even if we didn’t get to see the sunset. fortunately, later in the evening, the sky cleared and we were treated to an amazingly starry sky. There were only six guests total at the camp and after the others (including Jeff) went to bed, I went out and did a little meditation and yoga under the stars. It was so quiet and peaceful — something I’ll always remember.
Then, this morning, to make up for our missing the sunset on the dunes, we were escorted by camel out to the dunes to watch an amazing sunrise. Pictures don’t do it justice, but it will give you a taste of what we saw.
No, we haven’t added Disneyland to our trip.
Throughout our trip, it’s been hard to miss how much Western culture, particularly American commerce, has infiltrated life at every stop. In some locations, it’s been the prevalence of American brands — from Nike to McDonald’s. But even in this remote part of the world, it seems like no corner of the world is immune from the influences of other cultures.
Today, one moment in particular made me laugh to myself.
As we drove through a small Anti-Atlas village, our Bedouin guide pointed out the local cemetery. As he explained Muslim burial practices and the practice of praying for all buried in the cemetery (not just your loved ones) when you visit, I suddenly became distracted by the fact that he was doing this while driving a Toyota 4×4 and listening to the Gipsy Kings rendition of Hotel California.
It all came together as a strangely appropriate combination.
Holly Potter 