Boomerang

What goes around comes around. This time it’s coming to you via podcast featuring EVP/managing director Annie Longsworth, and Jessica Jones, research associate, in a lively and impassioned discussion around Cohn & Wolfe’s San Francisco office and the agency’s new green practice. Annie and Jessica touch on the dangers of “green washing” and the overall challenges faced by companies that are trying to “go green.” If you’re interested in how to build a green communications strategy, and like to be entertained along the way, this podcast is for you.

 Intro to Cohn & Wolfe San Francisco [11:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

For me, Easter weekend will forever be associated with one of the most traumautic, yet ultimately inspiring, events in my adult working life. It was five years ago in April 2002 that Wilson McHenry Co. (WMC), a very well-respected tech PR firm in Silicon Valley, closed up shop following the Bay Area tech collapse. I called in from Palm Springs for an all-hands staff meeting on Easter Sunday to learn that negotiations to be acquired by another larger firm had ultimately fallen through. There was no longer a WMC to return to after my holiday road trip.

In 1999, I moved from a smaller sports marketing agency to WMC during the height of the tech boom, and my first technology client was Maxtor Corp., which, at the time, was the world’s largest hard drive company. After learning the ropes of technology PR from colleague Erin Hartin during my first weeks at WMC, our expanding agency team eventually grew Maxtor into our largest account. Back then, one of our biggest wins for Maxtor was launching the first-ever external storage drive, which became the Maxtor OneTouch family of products. The brainchild of Mike Cordano, EVP, and his Maxtor Branded Products Group team, it became the #1 brand of external storage devices for consumers in the world.

Eight years down the pike, I’m still working with Erin Hartin, now my Fabrik client, and Mike Cordano, Fabrik CEO. In fact, I’ve done so at three different agencies over the last five years; we keep following each other wherever we go. Two of my Cohn & Wolfe colleagues who also work on Fabrik, Annie Longsworth and Tony Obregon, are also former WMC-ers who worked on the Maxtor team. We’re one big happy family.

It’s incredibly satisfying to work with this dedicated and talented team - and the depth of industry knowledge I’ve gained after eight years working the same “beat” is probably the closest I’ll ever come to working an in-house PR gig.

This year’s Easter was filled with anticipation and excitement leading up to today’s launch of the first wave of new offerings coming from Mike and his innovative R&D team following the recent SimpleTech acquisition. The Fabrik team is building out a personal media web of software, services and devices that will make managing, sharing and publishing content more simple than any of us can imagine.

You can hear more about that in Mike’s vision for Fabrik, and the latest offerings hitting the market this week, in recently recorded podcasts for today’s launch.

It’s been a great eight years. Here’s to many more. Cheers!

This February, during London Fashion Week, designer Anya Hindmarch unveiled her newest handbag.  Immediately after its catwalk debut, the bag was featured in fashion magazines and photographed in the hands of celebrities all over the world.  Inspired by the movement to reduce waste, the carrier is made out of lightweight white cotton, and only costs £5, or $10.   

The most remarkable part, however, is that the eco-chic tote sold out on Hindmarch’s Web site within hours, and reappeared shortly thereafter on eBay for prices up to £200, or $400!  I have a cotton shopping bag from Albertsons that cost me a whole 10 cents, and I thought that was a bit steep. Novelties aside, San Francisco has become the first city in the U.S. to ban the plastic bag.  Personally, I think it will be interesting to see what sort of solutions people come up with.  I predict shoppers in Chinatown will soon be rolling around mini-wheelie carts like they do in Europe. 

Mission hipsters on the other hand, will develop some sort of cooler, crunchier type of transport; baskets on the front of their fixies, perhaps? The SOMA crowd will enlarge the already popular messenger-style tote, that’s an obvious one.  But what about Richmonders? 

I see the end of the plastic bag as the beginning of a new form of self-expression.  Only having one expansive purse myself, I manage to carry an extra outfit, lunch, wallet, book and extra shoes around every day.  Throwing a few groceries in there will only complement my Mary Poppins strategy.  Looking at how people choose to carry their essential possessions will be like looking into their soul.  My “soul” takes the shape of a black leather satchel.  What about yours?