Who is Danielle BZ?-Creative specialist-Mover shaker list maker

PR’s & social media – Who is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:45:29 +0000

This is a good little read from Ragan’s PR Daily about why PR’s should handle social media. Was always one of my favorite parts of the job personally! http://bit.ly/wawYYq

4 reasons the PR team should handle social media

By Andrew Cross | Posted: January 12, 2012

Social media use among Fortune 500 companies has plateaued, according to

recent data.This hardly means these organizations have adopted social media en masse (62 percent have an active corporate Twitter account, while only 58 percent maintain a Facebook page), and it presents an opportunity for those without a social presence or those who remain inactive in those channels. This

prompts an important question for the laggards: Who should be in charge of running these things, anyway? If the headline didn’t already tip you off, the

answer is the PR team. Here’s why:

The PR agency or team is best equipped to respond to inbound media requests

When a reporter reaches out to the brand via social media, your organization must be prepared to respond promptly. If the reporter doesn’t get a quick response, he or she will move on to find another source.

The PR team already handles inbound media requests, so they are prepared to coordinate interviews and provide the journalist with any background information for the story.

The PR team also has a better grasp on which journalists have already been in communication with the organization or have written previous stories, and social media provides additional channels through which the PR practitioner and journalist can communicate.

PR understands the organization’s messaging

Whether it’s the typical “say this, not that” that stems from the corporate legal department or subtle messaging tied to the product or service, the PR team is already adept at communicating in the organization’s style.

Social media accounts are often run in a particular voice (think of Twitter accounts or Facebook brand pages that refer to the organization in the collective “we”), and the PR department is best equipped to incorporate the unique tone of social media into the organization’s many other communications channels.

The PR team is trained in reputation management

It’s no secret that customers use Twitter as a sounding board for issues they encounter in dealing with your brand. The PR team knows that an organization’s many audiences— consumers, partners, investors, stockholders, media—should be treated differently, but all with an eye on the big picture.

That said, the PR department should have close ties to other departments with a horse in the race (read: everyone). If complaints come flooding in about a landing page on the site crashing, the Web team would certainly like to know.

Similarly, the PR team should alert customer service or sales if people mention difficulty redeeming coupons or processing a transaction.

PR strategy, in part, dictates social media strategy

You have a comprehensive public relations plan for your organization (if you don’t, you should probably get on that). Use it. A social media strategy that’s in lockstep with a PR strategy amplifies results on both fronts.

What did I miss? Do you disagree?

Andrew Cross is a Chicago-based public relations professional with Walker Sands Communicationsand a contributing writer for PR Daily. Follow him on Twitter at @Andrew_R_Cross.

Visualize me – Who is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:38:13 +0000

My crafty digital husband Dominic sent me this fancy data visualization today and I thought I’d give it a go.

Pretty fun actually and oh so easy to achieve results quickly, just they way I like it!

http://vizualize.me/daniellebz#

Baby Journal – Who is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 08:01:53 +0000

A good friend of mine told me to continue my writing while I was at home. We decided I should keep a journal of Sol’s life for the first year and no matter how small the detail, write an acknowledgement each day for the full year. It could be something he did, how I felt anything about our relationship as mother and child.

I have always kept a journal anyway and I knew Sol would be the focus of my writing anyway – easy right?

Wrong! I never realized how amazingly difficult every little thing is with a newborn, but somedays it is borderline impossible to remember to brush my teeth let alone write a sentence, but I have been doing it. My only hope is that the material isn’t too raw for Sol to read when he is older. Mommy needs to work on her potty mouth.

Go the Fok to Sleep

Desperate housewife or Wonder woman- Who is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:15:47 +0000

Wonder Woman

Now that I am a stay at home mom (for the time being) I have to come up with different ways to keep myself busy, amused, sane…

Don’t get me wrong, having a baby is wonderful and I love the role I get to play as Sol’s mother. I gave him life, I feed him, soothe him, stimulate his mind, you name it. I have also discovered I can tolerate hours of endless crying, go through the motions of a day with only four hours sleep and I can practically change a nappy in total darkness. Still, I am only human and there are bound to be moments where my mind drifts off to a different time in my life – before Sol (b.S.).

I think about the holidays, the nights out dancing and listening to a band and simple pleasures like movies with friends, dates with my husband, even the dreaded 9-5 monotony of an office job that all my single friends complain about.

Yes, it’s true. I sometimes dream about going back to work full time, but I know that’s crazy. My baby needs me right now and the feeling is mutual. Besides I get anxiety being away from him for an hour, I’d like to think he feels the same way.

I could be one of those career women who goes back to her job four months after the birth of her child (6 weeks if I lived in the States), but I know that’s not me. I had him for a reason and that reason is to be with him as often as I can for as long as I can. I know everyone doesn’t have that luxury and I am grateful to my husband Dom for working for the two of us so I can be with our baby.

We’ll see how long it takes before I crack and decide to go back to work.

In the meantime I am making good use of my time tapping back into my creativity, making stuff and working as events staff for the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).

I’m also trying to figure out this child rearing thing one day at a time. I don’t think people ever really tell you how hard it is because they don’t want to scare you and be responsible for the shrinking population of the human race. It’s really that hard! You have to truly love yourself, your partner (if you’re lucky enough to have one) and the child you brought into your world in order for it to work. Yep.

Meet baby Sol – Who is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 10:41:20 +0000

Who is Danielle BZ? Well, a large part of who I am now involves a new man in my life, my baby boy Sol. Born the 7th of June via emergency c-section he, along with his dad, is the love of my life or shall I say my sunshine!

Motherhood is an awesome new adventure.

Love at first sight

Baby Sol

Sweet Sol

Maternity Leave – Who Is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Sun, 22 May 2011 20:30:12 +0000

Our baby is due this Tuesday so I will be taking a hiatus from blogging as birth is imminent. In celebration of that, below is what I am calling my maternity leave post.

As with all major life changing events people tend to offer you advice. Family, friends and even strangers off the street want to pass along their well wishes and advice whether you are graduating university, starting a new career, getting married or more recently for me having a baby.

I have received a lot of advice these past nine months and have somehow unknowingly joined a not so secret society of parents.

It seems like overnight I entered a world of adulthood without really knowing it. Taxi drivers would see my belly and show me photos of their children on their mobile phones, strangers on buses would ask my due date and what gender the baby was. I was told birth horror stories, received tips on alternative pain relief, birthing courses and recommended books to read.

There were a lot of good pieces of advice out there and some that I chose to ignore completely as I knew they weren’t for me.

One of the best recommendations I have received has come in the form of a book. No, it is not ‘What to expect when you’re expecting…” A yoga classmate who is also a healer told me to get a copy of ‘Ina Mays guide to childbirth.’

I have been devouring this book over the past week and I am so happy to have this amazing piece of literature in my possession. It has taken any remaining specks of fear I had of childbirth away completely and I am making both my birthing partners read it too so they can get on my wavelength for the birth.

So as a badge wearing member of the parents club (soon enough) here is my one piece of advice, get a copy of this book.

Straw Bale Gardening- Who Is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Mon, 02 May 2011 06:09:51 +0000

Oh I just love gardening and adding a creative element to it makes it all the more fun!

Straw bale gardening

There is something to be said for container gardening and when I came across this little gem I just had to share it.

The concept is simple, you take a bale of conditioned hay and treat it just as you would a plot of dirt.

These low maintenance bales allow you to do all the things a regular plot would allow with minimal strain and an element of fun!

Seems like a great idea for city dwellers with minimal gardening space and time.

Who should plant a Straw Bale Garden?

According to Joel Karston of Straw Bale Gardening anyone can.

Can’t do heavy lifting? If you are less capable or less interested in doing the heavy work of traditional gardening, such as tilling the soil, constant weeding, unending insect battles and persistent disease spraying, Straw Bale Gardening virtually eliminates these challenges.
Can’t bend over? If you have a physical limitation or handicap that restricts you from getting down on the ground, you will appreciate the easier access to the higher surface of a straw bale, which eliminates the bending to plant and harvest.
Poor soil or limited space? If your have a low soil quality, or if you have limited space that you can devote to a garden, you will love Straw Bale Gardening with its low cost, flexibility in garden placement, and great performance of the straw once it’s properly conditioned.
Interested in broadening your gardening horizons? If you are a seasoned gardener looking for a fun new method, you will be amazed at the results!

I will definitely be trying this!

Out of crisis comes inspiration- Who is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:51:57 +0000

The LA Times printed this amazing story last week that I think shows how fearless and resilient the human spirit truly is.

The man pictured, Hideaki Akaiwa, decided he couldn’t wait for rescue workers to help his nearest and dearest escape their flooded homes after the Tsunami, so he shimmied into a wetsuit, strapped on a scuba tank and rescued them himself.

This amazing man, whose dress style is being compared to the likes of Rambo continues to navigate through flooded streets, dodging wreckage and hazards to rescue more survivors in his neighborhood. Amazing, this guy is my hero!

Sneakers that Bloom – Who is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:37:41 +0000

Came across this interesting little snippet this week on PSFK.com:

At Amsterdam’s International Fashion Week, OAT shoes presented its “Virgin Collection,” a line of bio-degradable shoes that can be planted in the ground to sprout trees. Its materials break down easily and the seeds are embedded somewhere inside the design. The concept was well-received and won second prize at the Green Fashion competition.

OAT Shoes was founded by designer Christiaan Maats. One of its goals is to help people connect with the environment in imaginative ways.

Right on!

Where did 2010 go? – Who is Danielle BZ?

Danielle BZ — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:22:06 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already 2011! This year has flown by and so has my month long vacation abroad.

Just got back from a holiday of feasting and fraternizing with family and friends in Oregon, USA followed by a week of yoga, surf and lounging on the warm sunny beaches of Sayulita, Mexico. Life is rough like that sometimes.

I can’t help but be filled with optimism for the coming year, there is just so much to look forward to.

Not feeling the love? Here is a photo of a grannie in a snuggie to sweeten the deal.

If this doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy you have no soul.