Eberly Public Relations Awarded 2007 GWA Silver Award for Media Kit Development

Eberly Public Relations Honored with Garden Writer’s Association Media Award

June 29, 2007 – Atlanta – Eberly Public Relations, a public relations and advertising firm specializing in the home, garden, horticulture, agribusiness and design industries, was awarded a 2007 Silver Award of Achievement by the Garden Writer’s Association (G.W.A.) for the firm’s development of a hardcopy and electronic media kit. The media kit was created for Novalis®, a national grower consortium specializing in breeding, cultivation, and distribution of perennials, trees, shrubs, and annuals under the brand auspices of Plants that Work®.

The G.W.A. Silver Award for “Best Trade Press Kit” will be presented to Don Eberly, president and chief operating officer of Eberly Public Relations, during G.W.A.’s annual awards banquet on Oct. 1, 2007. Eberly Public Relations utilized the media kit as Novalis®’ primary communicative means for interfacing with garden writers, radio program hosts / producers, and other members of the media during the first half of 2007, an effort that has resulted in hundreds of published articles, online plant profiles and radio interviews.

The winning Novalis® Plants that Work® media kit consists of marketing and Associated Press-ready materials collaborated on by both Novalis® and Eberly Public Relations. Contents include various outdoor living, plant trend and garden solution articles that feature Novalis® and its Plants that Work® brand as well as a press release and biographical story on the history and founding of the grower consortium. Plant profile information coupled with high-resolution and captioned photos were also included for all plant programs.

The award was granted to the firm by a panel of G.W.A. judges based upon the accuracy, content, organization, style and originality of the media kit, which was selected from an assemblage of over 250 others.

The G.W.A. media awards are given annually to recognize excellence in gardening-related communications and have been a tradition in the gardening media community for over two decades.

- Sally

Web 2.0

I recently attended a great seminar conducted by Michael Pranikoff, director of emerging media with PR Newswire, called Public Relations in a Web 2.0 World. Now, for someone who is a novice when it comes to the Web 2.0 revolution, I thought the seminar was not only highly engaging and interesting, but that it provided (I'd be willing to bet) almost all in attendance with some new information and Web 2.0 tools to take back and apply at our respective agencies and to our client accounts. It was well worth it and well put on. Thanks to PR Newswire and staff for a wonderful seminar.

A few things I picked up...

1. A quote that perfect describes the new media landscape:

“If you think what is driving demand —we think of it as four C's. It's Collaboration. It's Content. It's Converged Services—doing multiple things. And it's Community. The opportunity for those who get ahead and develop a set of services that are more personalized, customized, location-based and presence-based in this next generation is going to help define who can win.”--Patricia Russo, CEO, Alcatel-Lucent

Michael likes to add a 5th C: Conversation... I couldn't agree more.

2. The Tools for Web 2.0:

•Personalization of Web Pages
•RSS Feeds/Readers
•Blogs
•Tagging Sites / Social Bookmarking
•Search Engines Optimization (SEO)
•Podcasts/Vodcasts

3. This a powerful video... but, it basically says it all.

The Machine is Us/ing Us

4. Some of the most popular "tools" of Web 2.0:

MySpace
Facebook
Del.icio.us
Digg
PR Newswire
Net Vibes
Technorati
You Tube
iVillage

And many more...

I'm still waiting to hear about a "Part II" to this seminar...

- Sally

The Future of Gardening - Don Eberly Quoted in Washington Post

As many already know, addressing the future of gardening is a widely discussed industry topic. At Eberly Public Relations, we understand the value of having the latest information on industry trends and changes, and we're glad to share it with consumers and other industry leaders/ educators.

Today's Washington Post features garden editor Adrian Higgins' column entitled, "Dear Adrian, Where Do I Start When I Know Nothing at All?" Don Eberly, president / ceo of Eberly Public Relations, was quoted in the column regarding focus groups conducted by the company which show an increase in the number of younger homeowners who are buying and using plants and other gardening/ home products as part of a lifestyle practice.

In the article, Adrian advises a young WP assistant on the trials of novice landscaping and how to begin her first garden with her husband. Adrian also addresses the changes in today's trends regarding DIY and DIFM (Do It For Me) gardening by saying, "...younger homeowners have neither the time nor the interest in the types of domestic pursuits enjoyed by earlier generations, gardening among them. It seems that the current mantra is, pay somebody else to do it. But that is expensive, and not nearly as satisfying or enriching. So the conventional wisdom about the demise of gardening may not be so wise."

Check Out Our Other Blog: Mulch Ado About Nothing!

Hey Everyone,
When you get the chance, check out our other blog - Mulch Ado About Nothing - at http://mulchadoaboutnothing.blogspot.com/. It's a blog for those interested in topics like conservation, environmental protection, gardening, the home & garden industry, the horticulture industry, growers, breeders and wholesalers of plants, the news media: consumer and trade - for these industries, and more!

We'd love any feedback on the blog, and any comments you may have on any of the discussed subject matter.

Thanks!

-Eberly PR Team

Eberly PR Blog, The Beginnings

Wow, we're new at this Blogging thing, but we like it a lot... more to come.