PKPR News
Social Media Boosts Cinereach Campaign
July 17, 2009
Cinereach, a nonprofit that champions socially relevant films, wanted to boost the number of entries for its Reach Film Fellowship, a prestigious six-month program that pairs young filmmakers with grants, resources, and industry mentors.
The ideal applicant would be a recent film school grad with an interest in social causes. To get the word out to this narrow niche, PKPR developed a finely tuned social media campaign that used Twitter, Facebook, blog, and online outreach to connect with film students, social activists, and influencers in the independent film world. The results: applications for this year’s Fellowship program increased by over 100%.
PKPR’s campaign resulted in tweets from some of the most widely followed independent film voices on Twitter, including Filmmaker Magazine editor Scott Macauley, indie film guru Ted Hope, The Independent Magazine, DocuGirl, and Docs Interactive.
On Facebook, the call for applications was posted by such targeted groups as Emerson College, Future Filmmakers, Student Filmmakers, and Independent Short Filmmaking. Film schools around the country also shared the news via e-blasts and bulletin boards, including NYU, Brown, and UNC.
Meanwhile, PKPR’s blog outreach led to posts on such prominent sites as Documentary.org, the site of the International Documentary Association; Working Films; Social Edge, the Skoll Foundation’s social entrepreneur networking site, and the School of Visual Arts.
Hazelmail Launches iPhone App
July 16, 2009
PKPR developed and implemented a comprehensive media and marketing strategy for the launch of HazelMail’s iPhone app, which instantly turns photos taken on an iPhone into personalized postcards—and then prints, stamps, and mails them for you with just the touch of a keystroke.
The campaign kicked off with outreach to influential app reviewers, including the New York Times’ Phone Smart column (very last item) and CNET, which dubbed it one of the “five must—have iPhone apps for your next trip.” Other key reviewers included Mobile Marketer, GigaOM, MacWorld, dealmac via Twitter, and iPhone Life Magazine.
As positive buzz began to spread, we expanded our outreach to mainstream travel media, securing Tweets by USA Today reporter Laura Bly and coverage in outlets like Budget Travel, NationalGeographic.com, am New York, and Canoe.ca.
And, with summer vacation season kicking into high-gear, PKPR coordinated contests and promotions with family-friendly outlets and blogs including Woman’s Day Magazine, Soap Opera Weekly, Trusty Pony, Nerd’s Eye View, and iSmash Photo.
Happy Fourth of July
July 07, 2009
More than 10,000 people and 60 media outlets and music blogs turned out to cover the River To River Festival’s flagship July 4th concert with Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band and Jenny Lewis. Coverage included: New Yorker, Billboard, Time Out New York, New York Press, Venus Zine, FlavorWire, New York Daily News, BrooklynVegan, and Rockscope
48 Hour Film Project 2009
June 26, 2009
PKPR is managing publicity for the 2009 48 Hour Film Project tour in more than 80 cities around the world.
Check out the terrific KABC-TV segment above on the Los Angeles competition to get a sense of what it’s all about. Other coverage so far includes: WTOP (Washington, D.C.), WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show , New York Post, Washington Express, LAist, Baltimore Sun, Phillyist, and The Onion A.V. Club
Is Housing Works the Most Exciting Venue in Town?
June 24, 2009
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe gets the full-page treatment in this week’s NY Press. We love the headline: “Quiche, Blogs & Rock ‘N’ Roll: Is a small Soho bookstore the most exciting new venue in town?”
Bikel Concert Benefits Juvenile Law Center
June 17, 2009
PKPR managed publicity and marketing for Theodore Bikel: The First 85 Years, a benefit concert for the Juvenile Law Center. To drive ticket sales, PKPR implemented a multi-tiered campaign that included media outreach, marketing campaigns with The Forward, WFUV, WNYC, and WFDU, and grassroots outreach to Jewish cultural organizations. More than 1200 people attended the all-star concert, which also featured Arlo Guthrie, The Klezmatics, and Tom Paxton.
Media coverage included The Forward, Jewish Week, Village Voice, The New York Times, Time Out New York, am New York, Playbill, Broadway World, Sing Out! Magazine, Theatermania, Klezmer Shack, Short and Sweet NYC,
Elmore Magazine, and WFDU-FM’s Sunday Simcha and Traditions.
Hudson River Pilings Project Announced
June 15, 2009
PKPR helped organize a launch party to announce the Hudson River Piling Project, a temporary art installation by sculptor Joan Benefiel. To help spread the word on how the public can support this exciting public art event, PKPR placed preview stories in such NYC culture outlets as Flavorwire, Cool Hunting, and Brooklyn Modern. Visit Joan’s site to learn how you can be a part of this historic project..
Webby Awards on CNN
June 10, 2009
You can follow the Wall Street Journal’s live-tweeting of the ceremony here or watch all of the winners’ five-word speeches at The Official Webby Awards YouTube Channel. And Huffington Post readers pick their favorite speeches—including a “best of” speeches slideshow - here.
Our favorite:
Fortune: ‘Net Takes Manhattan
June 08, 2009
We couldn’t have written a better headline for Fortune’s wrap-up piece on the Internet Week New York 2009.
PKPR once again handled publicity for the weeklong festival celebrating New York’s Internet industry. An estimated 15,000 people, including such industry movers and shakers as Al Gore, Barry Diller, Rupert Murdoch, Martha Stewart, and Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone, attended over 110 conferences, panels, exhibits, screenings, and networking events hosted by the likes of YouTube, Microsoft, Digg, Time Warner, Mediabistro, Digitas, and College Humor. Highlights ranged from NY Tech Meetup Showcase to the first-ever Webutant Ball.
More than 100 reporters and bloggers were credentialed to cover Internet Week. Coverage included Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, New York Post, New York Observer, All Things D, Crain’s New York Business, CNET, and Huffington Post.
Enviro Doc Takes Top Honor at Media That Matters
June 08, 2009
The Ninth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival, which premiered June 4th, once again showcased short films that inspire audiences to think, laugh and take action on pressing social issues. Highlights of this year’s festival included Jury Award winner NEXT WAVE, Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzer’s alarming documentary about the world’s first climate change refugees from the Carteret Islands, and WILL I BE NEXT, about gun violence in Chicago. Festival coverage included: Chicago Sun-Times, IndieWire, Austin American Statesman, In These Times, TreeHugger, Green Life, Grist Magazine, WorldChanging, About.com, Tilzy, Big Red Apple, Austinist, and The Indypendent.
River To River Festival Kicks Off Summer in NYC
May 31, 2009
PKPR is proud to be handling publicity for River To River Festival, New York’s largest free summer arts festival.
The 2009 Festival line-up, which the New York Times hailed as “one of the City’s most compelling summer series,” ranges from big names like Richie Havens, New York City Opera, and Merce Cunningham Dance Company to hotly tipped artists like Conor Oberst, Jenny Lewis, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Anthony Gonzelez of M83.
Preview coverage of this year’s festival has included the New York Times, New York Post (and this one, too), New York Daily News, New York Magazine, Miami Herald, NME, and Philadelphia Inquirer.
Check out WCBS-AM’s piece on River To River Festival with the Bang on a Can Marathon:
Jimmy Fallon and Twitter Among Webby Honorees
May 12, 2009
Jimmy Fallon, Trent Reznor, Sarah Silverman, Twitter, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Lisa Kudrow, and Seth MacFarlane are among the Internet superstars who will be honored with Webby Special Achievement Awards at the 13th Annual Webby Awards on June 8th.
Check out AP, Reuters, People, and AFP to find out why.
Tune in to the official Webby Awards YouTube channel on June 9th to hear all of the winners’ famous five-word speeches.
Bjork Concert Raises $40,000 For Housing Works
May 09, 2009
Last night, 300 lucky guests crowded into Housing Works Bookstore for a special installment of the bookstore’s LIVE FROM HOME concert series: A collaboration between musical legend Björk and the up-and-coming Brooklyn band The Dirty Projectors. The intimate show raised $40,000 for for Housing Works Inc., which provides direct services for homeless New Yorkers with HIV and AIDS.
Jon Pareles wrote in The New York Times “Bjork sings like a force of nature” and Time Out New York called it “the event of the year so far.” For a great overview of what the bookstore is all about, check out this feature in the New York Post.
Live Out Loud Profiled in Time Out New York
April 23, 2009
PKPR secured a full-page profile of Live Out Loud in this week’s Time Out New York.
2009 Webby Awards Nominees Announced
April 14, 2009
PKPR today announced the nominations for the 13th Annual Webby Awards. Coverage included CNN, Reuters, E! Online, People, Los Angeles Times, Wired.com, Adweek, San Francisco Chronicle, Access Hollywood, and CNET
Check out Webby Awards executive director David-Michel Davies on The Loop on G4TV.
Housing Works Executive Director on Gothamist
April 14, 2009
Check out Housing Works executive director Susie Lupert in today’s Gothamist Q&A.
Autism DVD Spotlighted for Autism Awareness Month
April 14, 2009
PKPR is continuing to raise the profile of The Transporters, a groundbreaking cartoon series proven to help children with autism understand emotions. To coincide with Autism Awareness Month this April, PKPR has secured in depth coverage of the series in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and U.S. News and World Report.
New York Magazine Screens Cinereach Short
April 10, 2009
To mark the culmination of Cinereach’s 2009 Reach Film Fellowship Program, PKPR worked with New York Magazine to exclusively screen this year’s winning short film by filmmaker Brendan McQueen.
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe Taps PKPR
February 09, 2009
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe has tapped PKPR to help raise its profile as a downtown cultural hotspot.
In the coming months, PKPR will be focusing on highlighting the bookstore’s eclectic mix of events that celebrate the written word and cleverly bridge the worlds of music and literature. Case in point: the photo above is of author Augusten Burroughs and singer Tegan Quinn appearing together at the bookstore last year. PKPR will also be promoting special series and events like the New York City Spelling Bee, the Live from Home Series, and the Moth StorySlam, as well as showcasing its unique business model: the bookstore is run almost entirely by volunteers and 100% of its profits go to Housing Works, Inc., the nation’s largest minority-controlled AIDS service provider. Recent coverage has included the New York Times, New York Post, PAPER, Village Voice, and Shecky’s.
NPR, AP Cover Launch of The Transporters
February 04, 2009
The Transporters is a groundbreaking new cartoon series which has been proven to help children with autism recognize and understand emotions.
Following its successful debut in the United Kingdom, PKPR was hired to manage the January 2009 launch of the series in North America.
To reach the widest possible audience, PKPR focused its initial outreach on national media, securing an in-depth feature in the Associated Press, which was syndicated to hundreds of outlets, including the Yahoo! home page, USA Today, AOL Health, and MSNBC.
PKPR also generated major broadcast coverage, including a segment on NPR’s All Things Considered (the third most popular radio program in the U.S. with 12 million listeners), Associated Press Television, and CBC-TV (Canada). The fascinating science behind the series also received analysis in Discover Magazine and Popular Science.
To drive sales of the DVD, PKPR also implemented a comprehensive program targeting autism, parenting, and special education organizations, blogs, and trade publications. Coverage has ranged from the Autism Society of America and AutismHangOut.com to About.com Special Needs Children and Bon Bon Gazette.
PKPR is currently outreaching to monthly magazines to secure coverage for the DVD in April issues since April is Autism Awareness Month. Confirmed coverage includes Parents, ParentGuide, and Canadian Living.