Kaplow

by Mandy Hjellming

Kaplow was thrilled to be invited to participate in PRWeek’s Digital Roundtable on January 14.  Stephanie Schwab, Senior Vice President of K:drive, represented Kaplow at the invitation-only event, which will be covered in the March issue of PRWeek and on their website.

The morning kicked off with a casual keynote from Bill Evans of Fleishman Hillard, which was followed by a Q&A with Adam Brown from Coca-Cola, led by PRWeek’s Erica Iacono. The intimate roundtable conversation then dove deep into the emerging trends of digital PR, with perspectives shared from brands and agencies.  Look for the March issue of PRWeek for more details!

By Mandy Hjellming

Kaplow has been selected as a finalist for the 2010 PRWeek Awards in the Best Use of  Audio/Visual category for its work with Skype.

Over 70 of the most-respected PR professionals in the industry gathered in December to judge hundreds of entries and named Kaplow’s project entitled Skype on TV: The Biggest News in A/V since the Satellite Truck as a top entry.

Not long ago, if a television news program wanted to show video of a reporter or guest on location, they sent out a satellite truck, paid up to $10,000 and waited for the truck to arrive, set up, and try to hit the satellite. Kaplow and Skype realized that Skype’s free broadcast-quality video calling was a perfect audio/video solution for broadcasters. Skype’s face-to-face video calling allows producers to show video and talk with reporters and guests from wherever they are in the world. In addition to the hundreds of local network news affiliates now utilizing Skype, other well-known TV programs that are using Skype include “Good Morning America,” “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here,” “Miss Universe Pageant,” “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?,” “CNN’s Larry King Live,” “E! News,” and “Fox and Friends.” Many programs have weekly and even daily Skype reports. “The TODAY Show” airs a half hour segment entitled “Money 911” every Wednesday, where viewers sit in their kitchens and living rooms and ask NBC’s financial experts for advice via Skype.

“A PRWeek Award is not easy to win, nor should it be. It is the highest accolade in the public relations industry, given each year to the best corporate, nonprofit, agency, and education teams, and the work that they produce. A PRWeek Award is a unique symbol of achievement and leadership, and immediately sets the winner apart from others” – Julia Hood, Publishing Director, PRWeek

This most recent accolade will join the list with Kaplow’s past PRWeek honors:

- 2009 PRWeek Award Finalist: Promotional Event of the Year, Target’s Bullseye Bodegas

- 2009 PRWeek Award Finalist: Best Use of Broadcast Program, Spin Master Bugsville Butterfly Treehouse

- 2008 PRWeek Award Winner: Global Campaign of the Year, Blue Planet Run Foundation

Winners will be announced at the PRWeek Awards dinner in March.

Liz Kaplow, President and CEO Kaplow Communications, received a 2009 Women of Distinction award from the Girl Scouts of America this week. The Girl Scout Council of Greater New York hosted the 17th Annual Women of Distinction breakfast where they honored several remarkable women and gathered to celebrate Girl Scouting. At the awards ceremony, Liz Kaplow announced that Kaplow will host an exciting summer internship program entitled “Lessons BY Living.” The program will give qualified Girl Scouts opportunity to experience Public Relations and Communications first-hand and will offer life lessons on how changing conversations can often mean changing lives.

The Woman of Distinction title was bestowed upon eight distinguished women who have made outstanding accomplishments to their fields and exemplify the values of the Girl Scout Promise and Law. A Future Woman of Distinction award was given to an outstanding Girl Scout from Troop 2665 in Brooklyn, New York. Ambassador Girl Scout Nitiya Walker was honored at the event and named a Future Woman of Distinction for her contributions to her community through the Girl Scouting program. Nitiya, a senior at Edward R. Murrow High School, earned a Girl Scout Gold Award – the highest honor in Girl Scouting achieved by only 6% of girl Scouts nationwide. She arranged an empowerment weekend, entitled “One Star Lets Another Shine,” where 23 adolescent girls aged 13 to 18 gathered together to discuss self-esteem, personal care, teen dating and lifestyle decisions. After completing the project, she remarked: “I feel truly humbled because I went into the project trying to help others, but I learned the greatest lessons of all.”

Several of the Women of Distinction shared the great lessons they learned through the Girl Scouting program. Liz was honored along side other remarkable women including: Kathy Brand, Community Leader; Vita M. Harris, Chief Strategy Officer, Draftfcb; Nancy Hill, President 4A’s; Meredith Moore, Directo of Global Diversity Weil, Gotshal 7 Manges LLP; Myrtle Potter, President and CEO Myrtle Potter and Company, LLC and Myrtle Potter Media; Valerie Salembier, Senior VP/Publisher, Harper’s Bazaar Magazine and Susan M. Schor, Ph.D, Facilitating Leader and Chief Culture Officer, Eileen Fisher. Each of these women approaches their careers and lives with a confidence, gumption and gusto instilled in them through their years in the Girl Scouts.

When accepting her award, Liz shared some words of wisdom with the amazing women present, “Just do the best you can – but be present. Be 100 percent present, for the people in your life. And most importantly, like the values of the Girl Scouts, approach life with courage, confidence and character.”

We applaud you, Liz.

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Kaplow has added a significant new force to its already robust group of practices with the introduction of the Technology and Emerging Media group. Kaplow’s own Chaim Haas, an industry expert in technology and social media, will lead this new division for Kaplow. As Senior Vice President of Kaplow’s Technology and Emerging Media practice group, Chaim will continue his work with Skype, and will lead a team working with a digital media company and a digital news service covering stories vital to local communities.

His deep understanding of social media has already been noticed by other industry experts. A new book by Emmy Award-winning former CBS News reporter David E Henderson “Making News in the Digital Era,” features some of Chaim’s thoughts on the changing media landscape and the practice of public relations. He remarks, “the ways of communication – be they traditional journalists, online journalists, bloggers or direct to consumer – are converging, and we must be able to do each one of these things exceptionally well.” He stresses the importance of the online space, noting that “reporters follow bloggers for story ideas just as consumers follow bloggers for information. Everyone is actively in the conversation.” (A full excerpt from the book can be found here.)

Congratulations, Chaim, on these two major achievements.