Podcast

[url=http://www.divshare.com/download/15979623-85b]DivShare File - Frame Dames Podcast.mp3[/url]

Marta Pauer-Tursi: Borealis PR

Marta Pauer-Tursi: Borealis PR

Marta Pauer-Tursi has a BA in Political Science and an MA in Applied

Linguistics/International Studies. After she graduated from college she worked at The New Yorker magazine. She stayed there for ten years and she considered it to be her dream job. She moved to Vermont and had to change her momentum, as there wasn't much in the state for publishing. She stated in an e-mail that, “PR was a seamless transition.”

Marta has been in the PR field for twenty years. She spent ten of those years in corporate communications and focused on crisis media. She also worked for a Fortune 100 company. She found this interesting because they had plenty of crises, so there was never a dull moment.

She runs her own consultancy called Borealis Pr in the Burlington area. It has been in business for five years. She has a team that works with her. Her employees have many sub specialties, which keeps them on top of a lot of different situations. Borealis Pr focuses more on strategic communications and issue advocacy.

Her typical day goes something like this. She wakes up at 5:30. Checks her social media, and catches up on the news. She reads tweets that have value to her clients. Once in a while, she spends the morning writing a speech or a ghostwritten piece. Sometimes, she may work on internal communications for a client. She likes to catch up with other team members on timelines and deliverables. She likes to go out for a walk at least once a day. She says, “stepping out of my environment actually helps to clarify ideas I may be working on.”

I asked Marta what she likes best about being in PR and she responded, “I enjoy what I do because it gives me the opportunity to meet people from very diverse environments. I also enjoy problem solving and creating effective communications for clients.”

Marta says that her tip to a student thinking about going into PR is to “learn what you can about PR, but also develop a specialty in an area of your interest. Many agencies have moved from genelists to specialists. An agency that specializes in health care will more likely hire someone with some knowledge of the physical sciences. If you go to the PRweek website you will see that breakdown. So my advice is do a minor in an area that you might consider working in at an agency or company.”

I asked Marta what she remembers as her most interesting PR assignment, she said, “flying in to a crisis zone by helicopter, getting a quick brief from the folks on the ground and then doing a live interview. This was a chemical explosion at a plant.”

Final Feature News Release

To:                         Chosen Newspaper

Subject:             The Frame Dames Shed Light on Local Artists

Feature News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           

Windows Shed Light Onto Local Artists

“I hope this new space will have a positive impact on the art community,” says Ford. Ann hare and Sarah Ford owners of The Frame Dames in St. Johnsbury are showcasing local artisians work from the surrounding community in their new remodeled space on Railroad Street.

The new location has given the owners the space they need to showcase products and local art in their large storefront windows. Hare and Ford spend a lot of time on their display windows, and feature many Northeast Kingdom artists, such as Matthew Payeur, Kelly Mawson, Phyllis M. Gable, Danelle Noyes, Crystal Lynn and even owner Sarah Ford displays her handcrafted jewelry. 

The larger space and more ideal location has allowed Hare and Ford to expand their product base to offer art supplies and has provided a space for local artists to showcase their work. The Frame Dames store has showcased a variety of art disciplines, from pottery to hand braided rugs and from photography to glassware.

Hare and Ford, previous Uniquity employees, decided to open a business of their own. They spruced up a vacant building in St. Johnsbury, turning their business dreams into a reality. The building was once home to Aqua Realm and before Ann and Sarah moved into the space it sat vacant for one year. “ We opened on June 18th. It took us one week to move in, remodel and open,” says Ford. “We moved around walls, remodeled the bathroom, refinished every surface except the ceiling and installed new lights.”

Hare and Ford previously worked in the frame shop in the back of Uniquity on Railroad Street in St. Johnsbury. “Being in the back of Uniquity made it difficult for window advertising, if you didn’t know we were there you never would,” says Ford. They haven’t moved far, just a few stores down, and have witnessed a great difference the new location has had for business. "Business has just about doubled since we moved, we attribute that to our display windows right on the street," says Hare.

The Frame Dames new location is at 418 Railroad Street in downtown St. Johnsbury. You can visit their remodeled store, Monday-Friday from 9:30-5:30 and Saturday from 9:30-1:30.

###

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Ann Hare or Sarah Ford

Co-Owners of The Frame Dames

(802) 751-8721

Ann.Hare@hotmail.com

Sarah.ford@gmail.com

Sample MP3

The Frame Dames: Feature News Release

 

To:                         Chosen Newspaper

Subject:             The Frame Dames Restore Vacant Building

Feature News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         

The Frame Dames Restore Old, Vacant Building

The Frame Dames are showcasing local artisians work from the surrounding community in their new remodeled space on Railroad Street. The new location has given the owners the space they need to increase the showcase of products and local art in their large storefront windows. Owners Ann Hare and Sarah Ford spend a lot of time on their display windows, and feature many local and well known artists, such as: Matthew Payeur, Kelly Mawson, Phyllis M. Gable, Danelle Noyes, Crystal Lynn and even owner Sarah Ford displays her handcrafted jewelry.  
“This new space has had a positive impact on the art community,” says Ford. The larger space and more ideal location has allowed Ann and Sarah to expand their product base to offer art supplies and has provided a space for local artists to showcase their work. The Frame Dames store has showcased a variety of art disciplines, from pottery to hand braided rugs and from photography to glassware.

Ann and Sarah, previous Uniquity employees, decided to open a business of their own. They spruced up a vacant building in St. Johnsbury, turning their business dreams into a reality. The building was once home to Aqua Realm and before Ann and Sarah moved into the space it sat vacant for one year. “ We opened on June 18^th. It took us one week to move in, remodel and open,” says owner Ann Sarah Ford. “We moved around walls, remodeled the bathroom, refinished every surface except the ceiling and installed new lights.”

The Frame Dames was previously located behind Uniquity on Railroad Street in St. Johnsbury. “Being in the back of Uniquity made it difficult for window advertising, if you didn’t know we were there you never would,” says Sarah. They haven’t moved far, just a few stores down, and have witnessed a great difference the new location has had for business. "Business has just about doubled since we moved, we attribute that to our display windows right on the street," says Ann.

Since remodeling the building and opening The Frame Dames, Ann Hare and Sarah Ford have added another visually appealing building to St. Johnsbury. The store is a gem of the town, and with it’s new facelift it has a positive future ahead of it. 

            The Frame Dames new location is at 418 Railroad Street in downtown St. Johnsbury. You can visit their remodeled store, Monday-Friday from 9:30-5:30 and Saturday from 9:30-1:30.

###

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Ann Hare or Sarah Ford

Co-Owners of The Frame Dames

(802) 751-8721

Ann.Hare@hotmail.com

Sarah.ford@gmail.com

Gasp Jeans: PR Disaster!

 Gasp Jeans, a retail store located in Melbourne stoked a PR disaster last week. The store failed in their PR relations in two ways: one, through the inappropriate behavior from a staff member and the other from their response to the incident.

Keara O’Neil sent an e-mail complaint to Gasp after a crude encounter with one of the store’s sales assistants. Keara stated in her letter that the sales person was pushing her to purchase a dress that did not fit her, and that she didn’t like. He stated things like: “With your figure I really think you should buy it.” He ended up telling her to leave if she didn’t want to buy anything, and stated as she left, “Have fun finding something at Supre.” This comment was used to insult her fashion sense.

If Gasp was thinking about the customer’s well-being in their response to Keara they would have avoided any public disasters. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The response letter was Gasp’s obituary. The response letter was embellished with viral comments, such as;

“[The person] whom served you is a qualified stylist whom has a sixth sense for fashion, and [his] only problem is that he is too good at what he does, and as I am sure you are aware, people whom are talented, generally do not tolerate having their time wasted, which is the reason you were provoked to leave the store.”

This doesn’t sound like an apology letter. The store owner should have apologized for the unforgivable behavior of his staff member, and should have reassured Keara that her business is always welcome at Gasp. In reality, the staff member should have been fired. However, the owner continued to praise the staff member’s fashion talent and went on to say:

‘‘[He] is a retail superstar, who possess unparalleled ability, and I am sorry you feel upset by him, but he knew you were not going to buy anything before you even left your house.”

‘‘Our range is worn by A-list celebrities to the likes of Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez and Katy Perry to name only a few.”

The letter is basically outlining Keara’s lack of fashion sense, and that “her kind” is not welcome at such a high end retailer. I am not sure if it was just the snooty personality of the store owner that aided in writing such a disastrous response letter, or if he was drunk under the table when he wrote it.