Maggie Holben

DBJ Premium Content: "Working from home? - Be aware of liability issues before they sideline your business"

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:49:00 +0000

Quoting from the July 8th Denver Business Journal section, The Home Office:

“'It’s peace of mind,' Maggie Chamberlin Holben said of why she has liability coverage. Her insurance costs about $250 a year, and the home-based public relations consultant doesn’t have to worry if someone trips over her tripod while she’s recording video for a client...Holben has had clients, often those who receive state or federal funds, who require she carry liability insurance. She’s even gone so far as to get professional liability insurance, or an errors and omissions policy.

Her carrier requires that she indemnify herself in each contract, and the insurance is costly — several thousand dollars a year — but again, she said, it goes back to peace of mind."

Link to the Denver Business Journal article by Amy Bryer

Denver Public Relations Consulting Firm, Absolutely PR: Yearend Review of 2010 Client Milestones & Key Media Placements

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:20:00 +0000

Here's toasting a great 2010, with gratitude to our clients and optimism for business growth and success in 2011.

View more documents from mholben.

Denver Business Journal: "PR pros can help executives enter networking circles"

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:02:00 +0000

PRSA Colorado President Elisabeth Monaghan contributed another bylined article to the Denver Business Journal today: "PR pros can help executives enter networking circles." In the article, Elisabeth kindly quoted me (Maggie Holben, author of this news feed blog):

"While some executives say they lack the time to network, Maggie Holben, owner of Absolutely Public Relations in Lakewood, says they still can establish professional contacts and enhance their company’s community exposure.

'Good networkers are active in community organizations,' she said. 'They aggressively pursue and serve on committees and hold board positions, including officer stints — even if those organizations center on their children’s school or extracurricular activities. If an executive doesn’t have the time to volunteer, he can readily share his company’s management and accounting talents, and he views this as an opportunity, not a chore.'

Holben also recommends that executives encourage others in their organizations to volunteer their time and talents, sit on nonprofit boards or join professional organizations.

'It is much easier for a public relations professional to nominate an executive for an award or promote a company when the organization invites and is recognized for creating a culture of community involvement,' she said."

Read more at: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/05/03/smallb4.html

What a debacle, CU J-School! Please pay attention to your Student Ad Club.

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:53:00 +0000

Note: I first posted this at my "What Were They Thinking?" blog. I felt it belonged here as well.

Yesterday an odd e-mail came through with the subject: “AGENCY CONTEST: design our logo.” It was from the general e-mail adclub@Colorado.EDU, not an individual. There was no message and a pdf attachment. I threw it in the trash without opening the attachment (standard practice of e-mail safety these days).

Then the barrage hit. It turned out to be a spam “reachout” to 188 e-mail addresses (the e-mailer didn’t hide them) in the Denver-Boulder ad and PR professional community. When people are spammed they tend to hit “reply all” and say the “darnest” things. So, in the course of my day I had to back track and see what the heck was going on.

Back track I did and took at look at the pdf. Link here (if you want to save it in your “odd but true” file or read the following):

“we need your skills to design our logo

CUadclub is crowd-sourcing their logo to the best creatives in the front range and we are summoning your professional talent to brand our club. The winners’ design will be screenprinted on the front of our 2010 t-shirt and other schwag. The winners’ agency will be showcased on the back of the shirt and be awarded a shiny trophy.

Submit file of your submission to adclub@colorado.edu by Friday, March 19th for review. Logo should use only 2 colors and work on t-shirts and other branded items. Max of 3 designs submitted per office.”

So in the course of one rude spam attack, I learned:

1) Spamming is now fondly called crowdsourcing. Check that one out in your Wikipedia.

2) Student ad clubs and agencies that started years ago when these current students were being conceived (or before), somehow forgot that universities have Fine Arts departments with competent logo designers.

3) Contests no longer have rules (like who owns the submitted and winning designs or who’s judging the contest, etc.) -- the usual legal particulars.

4) Ad clubbers at CU seem to think that employed Denver area designers should jump at the chance to have their logo design printed on a college club T-shirt. Huh? What a rude disconnect between the university and the professional community.

Being a former university ad instructor and student ad agency advisor, I found this situation unusually interesting, so I tracked down an individual who claimed responsibility for the project (the club president). We e-mailed directly and I, of course, had to personally share some unsolicited "sage advice" last evening. I also found out, according to the club president, there's no faculty advisor/adult on duty for their club, and apparently CU lets these independent “clubs” run rouge these days (I guess in the spirit of Sarah Palin).

You’ll find “Advertising Club” on this list at the CU website labeled as an independent: http://castle.colorado.edu/guide/Groups_Journalism.asp

Then with further investigation, I found the University of Colorado ad club on Facebook and Twitter with yet another disconnect. Right now, given this could change with a photo upload, both have skylines of Seattle as their profile pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/CUadclub/181747056295

http://twitter.com/CUadclub

Hey Denver ad people, good news, there’s definitely job security, with what we saw displayed yesterday at the university level.

What a debacle, CU J-School! Certainly not something to be proud of in my opinion.

APR's Maggie Holben Shares PR Perspective with ArgusLeader on YouTube Protests

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:58:00 +0000

Absolutely PR's Maggie Holben shared PR perspective yesterday with Thom Gabrukiewicz of the Sioux Falls ArgusLeader. Thoughts from Holben:

"And viral efforts such as this one can be disastrous for companies, especially in the age of instant information, said Maggie Holben, a public relations expert from Lakewood, Colo.

'That's what we fondly call a crisis,' she said of YouTube protests such as Hadrick's. 'You have to circle the wagons, you have to respond and you have to tell people who you are. Is there a trick remedy? No. It's honesty.'"

The YouTube protest involves a South Dakota rancher who takes issue with a Yellow Tail wine PR campaign that raises funds for the Humane Society of the United States. Details from Gabrukiewicz' report:

"My concern is with the Humane Society of the United States, which isn't connected at all with the dog and cat shelters in our local communities," the fifth-generation Vale rancher said Thursday. "This is an organization that's pushing a vegan agenda in this country, and that concerns me. That donation is going to go to efforts to try and put me out of business, and I'm just not going to support a company that does that."

Link to the ArgusLeader

Take a look at the YouTube protest:

'Tis the week at Absolutely PR for reflecting with gratitude on all the "Good Stuff" in 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Absolutely Public Relations celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2009 and achieved key media placement results for clients in both the traditional and social media spaces. The yearend review is shared by Absolutely PR Owner/Founder Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, who says she represented Colorado Cleantech Industry Association, Bell Aquaculture, Colorado BioScience Association, Baxa Corporation, Dr. Martha Lucas/Cosmetic Acupuncture Seminars, and Holben Building Corporation in 2009.

Link to yearend review on PR Web

Absolutely PR adds social media offerings

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:37:00 +0000

"DENVER, CO: Absolutely PR added social media PR strategy and tactics to its product offerings. After having worked with current clients the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) and the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) on social media outreach, the agency now offers consulting on embracing tools including news feed blogs, SEO PR, podcasting, Wikipedia, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and video channels."

Link to the PRWeek post

Link to the related PR Web newswire

Denver’s Absolutely Public Relations Adds Social Media PR Strategy & Tactics To Product Line

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Denver-based Absolutely Public Relations has added social media PR strategy and tactics to its product line. The 10-year-old consulting firm actively embraces all the Web 2.0/social media tools -- including news feed blogs, SEO PR, Podcasting, Wikipedia, Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter, and video channels such as YouTube -- to help clients turn up the volume on their brands in both traditional and online media messaging.

“The single most important thing we do for clients in the social media realm is to retain brand integrity and consistency of message as we make use of social media opportunities,” Holben says. “A couple of excellent resources in understanding social media PR include the Social Media Revolution video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8 (view below) and the 2009 Digital Readiness Report http://www.ipressroom.com/pr/corporate/social-media-communications-skills-survey.aspx?a=form&rid=117348&id=97330#prform sponsored in part by the Public Relations Society of America.

Link to the PRWeb Newswire

Absolutely Public Relations Named PR Agency of Record for the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:23:00 +0000

Colorado public relations consulting firm, Absolutely Public Relations, is the PR agency of record (AOR) for the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA). The announcement is made by Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, owner/founder of Absolutely PR, who says the contract began earlier this year and two successful media relations campaigns are already yielding key media placements for the CCIA – both in traditional media outlets, as well as in the social media.

During recent launch festivities at the Governor’s Mansion, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter announced formation of the CCIA. The announcement was made together with Christine Shapard, founding Executive Director of the CCIA who said, “The CCIA is the only industry-led, industry-focused cleantech group in the state created to solidify Colorado’s position as the nation’s cleantech leader, new energy economy driver and technology innovator and we are one of only four cleantech business associations in the country.”

“Over the past few years, Colorado has become a national leader in the New Energy Economy, and one key reason is the thriving community of 300 cleantech companies and 20,000 employees based here,” Gov. Ritter said. “Even in this difficult economy, cleantech remains a vital part of our forward-looking economic-development strategy. The Colorado Cleantech Industry Association will help harness the power and the potential of this important economic sector as we lead Colorado forward and establish this state as the cleantech capital of the world.”

Link to the PR Newswire

"Effectively Using PR To Turn Up The Volume On Your Brand" Now Posted At Experts.com

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:01:00 +0000

My "Effectively Using PR To Turn Up The Volume On Your Brand" article is now posted at the Experts.com resources center.

Link to the article

Link to my Experts.com profile page

Effectively Using PR: Maggie Chamberlin Holben Guest Interviews On VoiceAmerica™ Talk Radio’s “Essential Marketing Secrets," Hosted By Casey Demchak

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Lakewood, CO, April 28, 2009 -- Absolutely Public Relation’s Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, will guest interview on Casey Demchak’s VoiceAmerica™ Talk Radio Show, “Essential Marketing Secrets,” Wednesday, April 29, 11 a.m. MTN. The interview focuses on Holben’s article, “Effectively Using PR To Turn Up The Volume On Your Brand,” which includes 15 tips to jump start a company’s PR engine. The show is broadcast live on the network’s business channel live, the direct link is:

Link to Casey Demchak's VoiceAmerica Business PR Episode

Listeners can call in with questions during the live broadcast to (866) 472-5789. Following the broadcast, the interview will be available for download in MP3 podcast format. In addition, the text of the “Effectively Using PR. . .” article is posted online at the following link:

Link to Holben's "Effectively Using PR" article (download option available)

Link to the PRWeb newswire

Absolutely PR's Maggie Holben Shares Expert PR Perspective with Boulder Daily Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:04:00 +0000

Maggie Holben provided expert PR perspective to Reporter Heath Urie in the March 19th article in the Boulder Daily Camera, "Feds: BCH wasn't told to withhold information about dirty needles."

In part she said: "Obviously there is a huge amount of liability in a situation like this, so PR people -- who are really the voice of the top management -- they are going to be very careful about what they say and what they do," said Holben, who is not involved in the Boulder case..."It would be common sense if something that serious was going on that you would get with your CEO and your legal person and say, 'woo hoo, this is potentially publicly embarrassing or a public health concern and we better figure out a response that is both in good conscience and legal.'"

Link to the article

Absolutely PR's Maggie Holben To Speak on CBSA BioBreakfast Panel Wed., Feb. 18

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:12:00 +0000

Do you want to get publicity and media attention for your business? Are you not getting the attention you deserve? When you get the right media coverage, your sales can double, investors begin to take notice, and you gain new customers. Find out from the experts how to garner media attention and to effectively use public relations at this BioBreakfast.

Panelists include:

Dee Rambeau is the co-founder and Managing Partner of The Fuel Team and also works with PR Newswire. He has over 25 years of experience in marketing, promotions, television and communications. An award-winning writer and producer, Dee has produced over 200 hours of documentary and sports television for cable and broadcast. Additionally he has scripted and produced more than 50 corporate videos for branding, marketing or internal communications. Dee primarily focuses on online aspects of media relations and stakeholder relations. His specialty is media websites, social media, and search engine optimization.

Maggie Chamberlin Holben, owner of Denver's Absolutely Public Relations, is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America and is a member of the PRSA Counselors Academy. In addition, she is certified as an industry analyst relations practitioner. Holben's consultancy offers several online newsrooms to assist clients, including PublicRelationsNewsroom.com, Expert411.com and DenverPRNewsroom.com. Frequently interviewed as a Public Relations Expert by the media, Holben holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and has taught both advertising and PR courses at the university level. Most recently, Holben’s “Seven Ways To Get The Media Attention You Deserve” article was published in the PRNews’ Media Training Guidebook, 2009 Edition. She blogs pitches and placements at http://denverpr.blogspot.com/ and tweets from http://www.twitter.com/DenverPR.

Rachel Brand has more than 16 years of experience in writing and communications. As a wire reporter, she wrote breaking stories on commodities and Chicago-area news. As an award-winning newspaper reporter at the Rocky Mountain News, she covered general business, the health care industry, health policy, health legislation, and the retail, natural foods, beer, marketing and public relations industries. As a freelance writer for AARP Bulletin and State Legislatures magazines, she covers health care policy and legislation.

Baxa Corporation is sponsoring this event and and VP/Marketing Marian Robinson will serve as moderator.

For more information go to: http://www.cobioscience.com/programsandevents.php

“Seven Ways to Get the Media Attention You Deserve,” by Absolutely PR Owner/Founder Maggie Holben Included in Media Training Guidebook Vol. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:35:00 +0000

Lakewood, CO – February 12, 2009 – The article, “Seven Ways to Get the Media Attention You Deserve” by Maggie Chamberlin Holben, owner/founder of Denver public relations consulting firm, Absolutely Public Relations, has been included in the Media Training Guidebook Vol. 2, recently published by PR News. The announcement made by Holben who says the book is now available for purchase online from the PR News organization.

Link to the PR Web newswire

Maggie Holben Places Denver Acupuncturist in National Women's Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:45:00 +0000

Maggie Holben, with the help of a Profnet lead, successfully placed Dr. Martha Lucas, a Denver acupuncturist, in an article in the January 26th First magazine for women, on sale nationally on newsstands through Jan 25th. The article, by Brenda Kearns, explains how acupuncture cuts allergic reactions by 76%.

"We've been assisting Martha with PR -- plus enjoying helpful weekly acupuncture treatments -- since 2001," says Maggie Holben, Absolutely PR owner/founder. "First has a 1.3 million circulation and gives Martha excellent exposure both locally and nationally. On the national front, Martha conducts seminars for cosmetic acupuncture and pulse analysis."

Link to the Dr. Martha Lucas website

Absolutely PR Owner/Founder Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, Appointed to Second Three-Year Term on The Colorado BioScience Association Board

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:20:00 +0000

Maggie Chamberlin Holben, owner/founder of Denver public relations consulting firm Absolutely Public Relations, has been appointed to a second three-year term on the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) Board of Directors. As a board member of the CBSA since 2005, Holben serves as chair of the association’s Communications Committee and assists with media relations efforts for the organization.

In 2008, Absolutely PR's CBSA Colorado Rankings campaign was featured in Medical Device Daily; Externship campaign in BioOptics World, Nature Biotechnology and BioWorld Perspectives; and a CBSA bylined article for Drug Discovery & Development. Further, in the Denver market, CBSA enjoy numerous placements this year, including most recently the Denver Post feature on the CBSA/BioWest Venture Showcase competition and new executive director Q&A, and the Denver Business Journal exclusive of the John Collar Executive Director announcement in late November. Colorado Public Radio in Denver and Boulder both ran features about CBSA and its BioWest Venture Showcase competition, plus 9News/My20's Kyle Dyer aired a live interview about the new CBSA Career Fair debuting at the 2008 BioWest Conference & Expo.

Since 2005 when the CBSA’s formal media relations program launched by Absolutely PR for CBSA, there have been 523 recorded print editorial media placements, which is the equivalent of at least $433,076.59 if the same amount of space was purchased as advertising. These print placements total 34,715,218 in circulation exposure (metrics updated as of December 12, 2008).
In addition to traditional mainstream media targets Absolutely PR has also made extensive use of the new media information pipelines for CBSA, including the Colorado BioScience Association LinkedIn group, managed by Holben -- http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=98468&trk=anet_ug_grppro; a blogosphere newsfeed -- http://coloradobio.blogspot.com/; and ongoing Twitter posts for CBSA pitches and placements, plus announcement tweets throughout the 2008 BioWest conference, Nov. 13 and 14.

Absolutely PR offers DenverPRNewsroom.com - PublicRelationsNewsroom.com and Expert411.com to help clients achieve media awareness success. The company blogs placements and postings here at http://denverpr.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/DenverPR

Read the PRWeb Release

Fun stuff in 2008 for @DenverPR aka Maggie Holben, APR

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:02:00 +0000

Absolutely PR Owner/Founder Maggie Holben (@DenverPR on Twitter) got the special opportunity to meet megaTwitter person @GuyKawasaki -- even sit by him at the Innovation Luncheon he keynoted at the Colorado BioScience Association's BioWest 2008, November 13 in Denver. Guy Kawasaki (seen with Maggie in the photo) is the accomplished author, Apple Fellow and Business Innovator who is the creator of the amazing new Blog Magazine site called AllTop.com. Maggie has served on the CBSA's board of directors since 2005 (she was appointed to a second three-year term in 2008) and has provided media relations consulting to the association the entire time. She was introduced to CBSA by medical device manufacturer Baxa Corporation, an Absolutely PR client since 2003. "I'm so very glad I said yes to both Denise Brown, founding CBSA executive director, and Marian Robinson, Baxa Corp Marketing VP, when they asked me to participate in CBSA," Maggie says.

Other good news in 2008 -- Absolutely PR welcomed Bell Aquaculture, Albany, IN, to its client list.

Twitter Can Be Lucrative - I Know Firsthand

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:12:00 +0000

We all know Twitter is fun, informative and can become very addictive. Now, it's starting to become lucrative, at least for me. Just last week, I was checking out Tweeples, clicked to follow @greggfraley and wahlah, like a lucky pull on a slot machine, I became his 1,000 follower. Now, he's up to 1,109, but the point is "1000th follower" earned me a free copy of his new book "Jack's Notebook," a business novel about creative problem solving. What a deal, it came in the mail a few days later signed by the author. I'm in the midst of reading it now -- a great read by the way. And, as Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way) says in her cover endorsement: "Like James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy, Gregg Fraley uses story to convey principles that deserve a wide audience." Thank you Julia, I couldn't have said it better. And, thank you, Gregg, for your book.

Link to Gregg Fraley's Website

Link to Gregg's Blog -- Where He's Reviewing Guy Kawasaki's New Book, Reality Check (I wonder if Guy K. is thinking about sending his 28,000th Twitter Follower a copy of Reality Check?)

Link to Gregg's Twitter Profile

And, while you're at it, go ahead and link to my Twitter Profile (@DenverPR) and give me a follow. I'm up to 983, so I guess I could think about sending Gregg's book on to my 1,000th follow after I finish the book. I'd better pay attention since I'm getting close.

Jennifer (Holben) Petit -- my stepdaughter -- Is a Winner! Of course, we always knew that.

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:53:00 +0000

Now she's a Betsy Bernard Emerging Leader of 2008: Jennifer Petit, Staff Project Manager – Product & Technology Integration, Qwest. Jennifer was a key leader in keeping Qwest Women viable through the Qwest merger and led the development of specific programs and events that helped to re-energized and stabilize the organization.

Link to Women's Vision Foundation Success Forum Tribute Awards

Stuck Under The Dresser

noreply@blogger.com (Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:03:00 +0000

We've got one of the cutest and curious grandsons on the planet! Take a look at one of his recent explorations: