Jelly Bean Theory
Mike Hoyt

Posted on 01.24.12

PR Today: Crisis Communications Shouldn’t Wait for a Crisis

Organizations are fixated on what the news media will do to them when something bad happens. They dutifully write crisis communications plans and tuck them away, awaiting the dreaded phone call from a breathless reporter. But a crisis plan does little more than add a large dose of false security. Sooner or later something bad […]

Social Media’s Role in a 21st Century Crisis: Lessons Learned
Guest Columnist

Posted on 12.05.11

Social Media’s Role in a 21st Century Crisis: Lessons Learned

At the North Carolina Chamber’s Media Relations & Crisis Management Conference in November, our own Albert Eckel moderated a panel on “Social Media’s Role in a 21st Century Crisis.” The panel included three unique perspectives: a news maker (Deborah Johnson, CEO of the North Carolina Pork Council), a news reporter (John Clark, executive producer of the Reese […]

Harris Vaughan

Co-Founder/Partner
Posted on 10.06.11

Two MacBooks

In January of 2008, my good friend Albert Eckel and I launched this company. We filed the necessary paperwork and made a trip to the Apple Store. In one simple retail transaction, we opened our firm’s IT department. Two beautiful, black MacBooks were bought, loaded with a whole lot of software and a whole world […]

Kelsie Murdock

Posted on 08.29.11

Social Media: Singular or Plural?

As a social media specialist here at Eckel & Vaughan, I am constantly reading and writing about social media. Through this, I’ve discovered an issue that I just can’t get over—when writing about “social media,” should the term be plural or singular? My AP Stylebook and old-school professors at UNC Chapel Hill would probably scream […]

Newt Gingrich
Guest Columnist

Posted on 08.03.11

Newt Gingrich Discovers the High Cost of Paying for Followers on Twitter

This week, 2012 Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich learned a valuable lesson about paying for Twitter followers: not only did he put his reputation at risk; he also demonstrated that the strategy simply doesn’t work. It all began with Mr. Gingrich informing the Marietta Daily Journal: “I have six times as many Twitter followers as […]

Social Media Strategy
Guest Columnist

Posted on 05.27.11

Six Guiding Principles for Developing a Successful Social Media Strategy

Earlier this year, Eckel & Vaughan launched a new digital division focused on enabling our partners to more effectively integrate social media into their marketing and public affairs campaigns. We have always defined ourselves as a “conversation agency,” and social media platforms provide unparalleled opportunities to start conversations and get people talking about an idea. […]