The Hodges Partnership

Remember when we orchestrated a Bring Your Kid to Work Day? Well, one of our activities with the kids was practicing interview skills, and we took their recordings and produced a bonus episode of Teaming Up. You're in for a wild 8-minute ride with this one. Take a listen over on the .

🎧 ➡️ https://brnw.ch/21wMqqb

Skibidi. Ohio. Rizz. Demure. Brat. Can you keep up? Sometimes it's necessary to be on the bandwagon, but not every organization needs to get on board. In case you missed the top of the Press Box last week, check out our take on social media trends.

To jump or not to jump on social media trend bandwagons — The Hodges Partnership What's brat summer? Why are people saying demure? Social media trends are fleeting, but when they're hot, they're hot. Should you jump in?

Last week, our Colonial Williamsburg team got updates on the Williamsburg Bray School preservation project. The Williamsburg Bray School is the oldest extant building dedicated to the education of free and enslaved Black children in the U.S., and has been a primary media relations focus for the museum over the past few years.

In case this is a stressful time for you in your role as a PR pro, we have some thoughts on how to approach your work more mindfully for the sake of your mental health and wellbeing.

Mindful Engagement During Difficult Times — The Hodges Partnership Here are three tips for safeguarding your mental health while staying engaged and informed on social media.

Which September events will we see you at?

RVA Industry Events Calendar: September 2024 — The Hodges Partnership Each month, we curate networking and educational events happening across the Richmond region. We welcome fall with many September events from AMA Richmond, PRSA Richmond, ChamberRVA and more. With many networking options, all young professionals can make amazing connections regardless of experience....

Working double-duty is a common occurrence among our team. From personal passions to professional and personal development, you can find us out in our communities in many different ways. Here are JUST A FEW examples of how driven our team is when it comes to our passions.

🏠Lindsay serves on the board of RMHC Richmond and is active with Moms Demand Action RVA.

👨‍🏫Greg is about to ascend into the president role at PRSA Richmond, fresh off his teaching stint at VCU this summer.

🏳️‍🌈 Cameron is serving as the Marketing Chair for Virginia Pridefest 2024, which takes place on Sept. 14 at the Bon Secours Training Center.

⚾ Sean has served as the Benedictine varsity baseball coach for as long as we can remember!

🏢 Paulyn is part of the newest cohort of Leadership Metro Richmond.

🏐 Amanda Ch. serves content at work and volleys with Richmond Volleyball Club as a player and coach.

💜 Casey is going back to college in two ways: she was appointed to East Carolina University's Board of Visitors and is in grad school at ODU.

T-Minus 70 days until Election Day. If you need to advertise between now and then, especially if you're in the advocacy space, pack your patience and be prepared for access, permission and authentication curveballs.

Digital Advocacy and the Parameters for Running Social, Political, or Election Ads on Facebook — The Hodges Partnership Alejandro is here to share some tips on how to navigate the setup process for social, political, and election ads with ease.

We worked hard this month to take our own advice to heart. Even adding a couple of short-form videos into the rotation can make all the difference in your reach and engagement.

Grow your content strategy with short-form video — The Hodges Partnership Short-form video content is worth the investment. Adrienne is here to teach you how to get started the right way.

We had the pleasure of being a sponsor of the BLK RVA Community Awards, a celebration of Black excellence, showcasing the achievements and contributions that continue to shape our vibrant cultural landscape. What a wonderful night!

Between fake news and deep fakes, it's hard to tell what's real anymore online. But here are some pointers for helping to filter through the muck.

Filtering Fake News: How to Manage Social Media Content Responsibly — The Hodges Partnership In the age of AI and manipulated images, misinformation can rapidly spread like wildfire. Here's how to protect against it.

While our kids may think we just do emails all day (which can sometimes be true), Hodgers were on the road over the last few weeks! Here's a quick sampling of what we've been up to.

🎲 Our team hit the boardwalk to help Top Trumps USA announce its latest Monopoly Board: Virginia Beach. Big kudos to our in-house Mr. Monopoly actor (any guesses who)?!

📸 As we've previously teased, we supported UnitedHealthcare at its Terry's Locker media event. Here's WRIC, WTVR and Richmond Mag getting all the good angles.

📹 We traveled to NOVA with our friends at AccessU to capture content for a special project with FastForward and Virginia's Community Colleges.

⭐ Lastly, our Virginia's Community College team helped staff the annual Chancellor's Retreat in Roanoke, where we supported the Office of Strategic Communications on a suite of collateral, presentations and strategic counsel (including the conference logo that appears on the chancellor's monitor).

Award submissions and dessert metaphors? We're so there.

Sometimes an Award is Just the Icing on the Cake — The Hodges Partnership Most people don’t start a project aiming to win an award, but when your work is recognized beyond the client team, it’s like icing on the cake. Jack is here to share some BTS magic from the Virginia Spirit Board's five Awards of Excellence at this year's PRSA awards.

Our email marketing Teaming Up episode is here! Thanks Sweet Talk Strategy for joining us. Head over to the for the show notes, and subscribe on your favorite podcast service so you never miss an episode.

Episode 30: Email Marketing with Megan Wilson — The Hodges Partnership In this episode of Teaming Up, Amanda Christian is joined by Megan Wilson, creative director of Sweet Talk Strategy, to talk about the evolution of email marketing and why it’s a critical channel for communicators. The episode highlights the affordability of email marketing and positions it as a s...

Storytelling is a powerful tool that can help your brand and message resonate on a deeper, personal level. But only if you're looking through the lens of inclusivity as you tell it.

How you can be more inclusive in your storytelling — The Hodges Partnership Enhance the impact of your content by understanding and addressing your biases, enabling you to connect with a more diverse audience.

We're so proud of our Virginia Spirits Work! 🥃

Earlier this summer, the team worked with Virginia ABC to build content supporting the Virginia Spirits Passport program, which was included in ABC’s digital Spirited newsletter. The placement resulted in over 1,100 new passport sign-ups, doubling the number of passholders in the program overnight! Additionally, the team orchestrated The Virginia Cocktail Games, which resulted in more than 8,200 votes and 2,500 new email subscribers. The digital voting period ended on Aug. 11, and the five finalists will compete in person on Sept. 14 for the title "Virginia Cocktail of the Year."

Maybe it's just us, but we think Gen Z could help save the world. Let's make sure we're getting the right messages to them at the right time.

What you need to know to successfully market to Gen Z on social media — The Hodges Partnership Generation Z is a powerhouse of a demographic that all marketers should be paying attention to. Gen Z, for reference, are currently between the ages of 12 and 27 years old. They’re bridging from education into their early workforce years, but what makes them unique in relation to other generations...

PR is an essential part of a tourism strategy. From small towns to major metropolitan destinations, PR is your BFF.

Why PR is an essential part of any tourism marketing plan — The Hodges Partnership Tune in while Erin (our tourism guru) reveals why PR is the secret ingredient to a winning tourism marketing plan.

These two lovely ladies are dropping a can't-miss episode of Teaming Up next week. If you touch email marketing in your role - or, if that's a tactic you've been considering - subscribe so you won't miss their chat about the value of email marketing and why it's an important piece of the strategy puzzle.

Thanks for joining us, Sweet Talk Strategy!

How does your AI philosophy align with ours? We can summarize our approach in four words...but we're going to make you click the link.

What Does AI Mean for PR Agencies? Where Hodges has Landed on this Much-Discussed Topic — The Hodges Partnership AI is a topic of conversation virtually everywhere. The public relations and marketing field is no exception, in fact, quite the opposite.

Y'all, it took us a week to recover from the cute chaos that was our inaugural Bring Your Kid to Work Day. Our Lil' Hodgers had the chance to practice storytelling by interviewing each other, and they also had a chance to do a little content creation before our agency fika. If you swipe to the end, you'll also see some of their content efforts...we'll work on that.

In case you missed our announcement, we have added a new full-time Hodger to our roster! Take a minute and read our latest post about Madelyn.

Meet a Hodger: Madelyn Balser — The Hodges Partnership Meet Madelyn Bl**er: social media whiz, thrifting queen and the newest member of our growing roster of former interns-turned-Hodgers.

Do you know what is actually happening when you accept all those cookie pop-ups? Well, it can be confusing, which is why we sat down with Lilie Malaeb from Lewis Media Partners for a Teaming Up episode. Check out the show notes and the episode on the : https://hodgespart.com/gong/archives/episode-27-cookies-and-cookies-with-lilie-malaeb/

We recently had the opportunity to support our client, One Small Step Richmond, on-site for a CBS Eye on America feature about the program. The initiative is simple: encourage meaningful conversations that lead to understanding and respect, one conversation at a time.

Nonprofit seeks to bridge the political divide through meaningful conversation An initiative from the nonprofit group StoryCorps seeks to find common ground through shared stories.

Our event box usually has Tide pens and zip ties, but Amanda Christian packed a whole dang toolbox to support a media event for Terry's Locker, an initiative by Washington Commanders' Terry McLaurin and our client UnitedHealthcare. The program puts personal hygiene supplies and laundry facilities in schools for students and families in need. Check out the full story on WTVR ➡️ https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/terrys-locker-july-23-2024

Looking for an August networking event in RVA? We've got you.

RVA Industry Events Calendar: August 2024 — The Hodges Partnership Each month, we curate networking and educational events happening across the Richmond region. Events in August include networking opportunities for young professionals and an exciting kickoff to Richmond race weekend featuring NASCAR’s Chief Branding Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, among many...

Youth sports continues to knock it out of the park in our region. Our latest creative project will help welcome new teams to the area.

The Hodges team was proud to work alongside Chesterfield County to rebrand and provide design support for The Diamonds at Ironbridge, a first-class complex with six-field baseball and softball fields the at Harry G. Daniel Park at Iron Bridge.

Sure, a PR firm can provide extra arms and legs, but we can also provide wraparound services to give you comprehensive strategy and support.

Why Your Company Needs a PR Agency — The Hodges Partnership Julia is here to explain why hiring a PR agency is worth it in a world where a company's image and reputation are vital to its success.

Today's post is taking it back to basics. If you're looking for media relations success, do yourself a favor and read this.

Don’t forget these three tools to strengthen media relations outreach — The Hodges Partnership We’re going back to the basics with these media relations tips. Fact sheets, imagery and key messages can improve your earned media efforts.

Have you ever considered being an intern at Hodges? We invited our spring cohort behind the Teaming Up mic to pick their brains about what PR means to them (because only one intern from spring was a true "PR" major). Listen to the full episode and show notes on the : https://hodgespart.com/gong/archives/episode-26-what-is-pr-with-the-hodges-interns/

Our delegation to the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership's celebration of Virginia Intern Day included one of our current internship program managers (Julia), a current intern (El), and a former intern/current contractor (Breyana). We pride ourselves on a well-rounded, comprehensive internship experience and it was an honor to be one of Virginia's top employers for interns. 🎉