Green Room, Author at GREENROOM

The Brutal Truths of Fake News

Green Room
May 8, 2017

By Lindsay Gordon, Communications Manager, Green Room Communications

Last week, I had the honor of heading to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Health Academy in Orlando, Florida to learn best practices in the ever-changing world of communications, and network with some of the best and brightest in the PR health care industry.

While the agenda was full of relevant and educational information, it seemed PRSA saved the best for last with a jaw-dropping presentation on fake news and how to spot it. While all of us in communications know the dangers of fake news, Al Tompkins, The Poynter Institute’s senior faculty for broadcast and online, demonstrated just how bad this crisis is and taught everyone the dangers of how easy it is to create your own news.

As health care PR professionals, it is our job to help journalists understand our client’s story and messages which can be complicated at times. It is also now our job to help protect our clients from the easy bait of misleading studies and fake news stories.

Here are three clues to follow to help determine if the news you are reading is fake:

CLUE 1 – CONFIRM THE AUTHOR

Al opened up with an ESPN article about Tom Brady in hot water once again with the NFL. He asked us to look at the article and website to see if it was a credible, real story. The site looked JUST like ESPN.com, and almost everyone in the room (all communicators) agreed, it was real. We were all wrong, it was fake news. The first thing you should look at when determining if news is real or fake, is the name of the author, and ask yourself, who are they? Does their profile picture pop up anywhere else? With an easy reverse image search on Reveye (a Google chrome add on. If you don’t have it, you should!) we learned the journalist was an “Oddel”. What’s an “Oddel”, you ask? Well, a FAKE model, of course. The name of the journalist on this fake ESPN website is, “average white male in suit with pink tie,” You can find him on Shutterstock and you can own his image for 99 cents. You are equipped with the internet, so use it to your advantage. Just like any PR professional or journalist, check the facts. Use your resources like LinkedIn or a basic Google search to find more information about the specific writer.

CLUE 2 – USE COMMON SENSE

Just when you think you can trust certain news websites online, think again. With today’s fake news running rampant, there are also those who are borderline hackers and can easily change content on certain websites within any story. In a matter of seconds, Al Tompkins was able to hack a site and generate 8 acceptance letters from all the Ivy League schools. It was as easy as a right click on the specific website, change the title within the HTML code and there you have it! The scariest part? The public, news outlets, journalists and PR professionals have no way to determine if it is real or fake. The best way to figure out this puzzle is to use your common sense and again, look at the site and the author. Ask yourself, “What is misleading here?”

CLUE 3- UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE, MOTIVES & UNDERLYING MESSAGES

Why are people seemingly wasting time creating this news? There could be a multitude of reasons:

Money: front groups creating fake news to drive growth to specific industries or companies
Politics: trying to sway the reader or viewer in one specific way, or to raise doubt
Troublemakers
Deflection: to hide the true reality and raise doubt or to divert public attention away from an event or situation
- For example: While Pope Francis made his first visit to the U.S. the media was a buzz covering his whereabouts. But what trended right behind the Pope coverage? Pizza Rat, a viral video of a rat carrying a pizza down New York City Subway steps. This video is an example of fake news, where Zardulu, a creator and mastermind behind many viral videos, staged the video of the rat and the pizza and released at a moment when she had a captive online audience. The video caught the attention of people who were seeking out the Pope and quickly escalated into the #2 spot online. Yes, there are people, like Zardulu, who have made a career creating fake news, and are proud of it.

Right now, as fake news threatens the trustworthiness of news outlets, some are going the extra mile to just report the facts plain and simple. For example, ABC News just released a timeline of all of President Trump’s tweets since he was inaugurated to help avoid any questions of what is real and what is fake. Ironically, the second most tweeted phrase by President Trump was “fake news”. We all have a responsibility to ensure our client’s messages and values are effectively delivered through credible media outlets. Al Tompkins summed up this importance at the end of his speech by saying:

“Don’t underestimate your influence. Don’t underestimate your role to get good information out to the public. What you are doing requires you to be very, very good, even in the worst of times.”

**note: Green Room did not include links to the fake news stories discussed as we do not want to give fake news any additional click-throughs.

Why What Concerts You’ve Been To Matter – and Why They Are Going Viral

Green Room
April 27, 2017

If you’ve scrolled down your Facebook feed over the past 24 hours, you’ve probably been inundated by your friends participating in the latest Facebook trend – “10 Concerts I’ve Been To, One is a Lie.” Users share a list of 10 concerts they’ve been to with one of them being fake and the goal is to see if your Facebook friends can guess which concert you never attended.

With a core, strong group of Jersey women, you can bet that Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen make our list of concerts we’ve been to, but, taking a step back, we ask ourselves, why does a silly trend like this become viral?

The answer is simple – it’s another example of the power of storytelling.

When we reminisce our favorite concerts and share those memories with others, we evoke emotions in ourselves. Cognitively, we don’t just list the name of the entertainer or the band, we are transported back into time to various decades, relationships, friendships and emotions that embody more than just “a concert” but an entire experience. We tap into how the music made us feel.

Storytelling is a science. It alters brain chemistry – creates neural connections, engages emotions, mirrors experience and triggers empathy. As a company with a bandwidth of capabilities, we believe that effective storytelling is a foundational element that needs to be integrated into our clients’ tactics.

The takeaway: in order to be an effective communicator, you need to be a powerful storyteller.

Through our Story Masters Program, we teach our clients how to become strong and effective storytellers, which then allows them to engage further with their audiences. Stories cause increased activity in sensory and emotional centers in the brain and engage listeners. Facts alone do not.

Without a story behind them, facts and data are unmemorable. If our audiences aren’t remembering the data – if we don’t make them care, that data loses almost all of its value.

So, next time you want your message to resonate, connect with your inner Bob Dylan, or Eminem, or Justin Bieber – and find that emotional connection. Hey, you never know, it could go viral.

How Big News “Trumps” ALL Media: What PR Pros Can Learn from Inauguration Day Coverage

Green Room
January 26, 2017

By Kim Angelastro, Senior Media Strategist, Green Room Communications

As a former TV journalist, my News Director would always challenge us to “localize” a story. It could be a national story that seemingly had no impact on our viewers, but it was our job to make it relevant. Today, localizing a story has risen to a new level, with niche media outlets creating new angles in order to cut through the noise and capture new audiences.

Case in point: This is an actual headline from the President’s Inauguration:

“Did Trump, Known ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Fanboy, Channel Bane in His Inauguration Speech?”

The headline appeared on Vice.com, an online media outlet geared at reaching Millennials, which reaches more than 75m viewers a month, didn’t stop there. It posted this story next: “The Fetish Community Is Ready to Whip President Trump: We had six voices from the leather and fetish community pose before our nation’s greatest monuments and tell us their hopes and fears for Trump’s America.”

While these angles might seem drastic and sensationalized, media outlets face fierce competition and look to cover news in a way that resonates and is tailored to catch the attention of their diverse audiences. As PR pros, our responsibility is to provide clients with the best communication strategies to break through clutter to deliver their messages. Part of that strategy is understanding this media environment and the various angles generated from the trickle-down effect of big news on ALL media outlets. When impactful news breaks or is planned, it isn’t just the traditional “news” outlets like the national daily newspapers or affiliate broadcast news channels that bring us headlines anymore, it is ALL types of media outlets, from fashion to sports and everything in between.

With social media channels, online outlets, print, radio, podcasts, TV and Facebook Live, today news is surround sound and a big story can consume all of these outlets. For our clients, this means an announcement can easily get lost if the timing is wrong or the angle isn’t relevant. There is no better example of this than the recent inauguration of President Trump.

On Inauguration Day, everyone covered the facts, but the coverage took dozens of other angles as well.

Women’s Lifestyle Outlets: Refinery29.com (16-million viewers per month) “Why the Women’s March is Just a Warm Up” and “Woman Live-Tweets Her #AllLadyPlane To The Women’s March & It Is Everything.” Cosmopolitan.com, ran a first-person essay from a pregnant woman titled, “I Hope I Give Birth at the Women’s March.”

Men’s Lifestyle Outlets: Men’s outlets – including sports media – got involved in covering President Trump in unique ways for their audience as well. Deadspin.com (19 million readers/month) ran several stories about the Tom Brady-President Trump relationship, even taking bets on “Who Will Last Longer?” referring to Tom Brady retiring or President Trump finishing his term. Maxim.com, famous for its often racy content, published a story about how certain “Trump Models” will continue to “make America Sexy again.”

Fashion Outlets: As expected, Melania and Ivanka Trump’s clothing choices were part of the conversation on fashion websites, and even President Trump received some fashion coverage. Women’s Wear Daily interviewed well-known designers posing the question, “Will You Dress Melania Trump?” Fashion is always going to be part of the media conversation, in particular given the First Lady and Ivanka Trump’s strong industry backgrounds.

The bottom line: ALL media outlets cover what people are talking about, and they do it in ways that can be unpredictable, unusual and attention-grabbing for their own particular audience. For public relations professionals, what can we learn from Inauguration Day coverage?

Plan ahead! If you know a big event is happening and your client has absolutely nothing to do with the big news, steer clear. Timing is everything. Waiting a week to garner better results is better than no results.
Offer relevant material – If there is a connection, consider providing an angle, an expert, a visual, or statistics to the big news that is not overly promotional and you can work into organic content?
Early bird gets the worm – Get out there early with your tie-in; media is inundated with pitches related to “big news” stories, as evidenced by the examples above. These stories are planned and curated well in advance to ensure they are visual, thorough and factual. Your story may get lost in the shuffle if you don’t have it ready at the get-go.
Use Good Judgement – When big news is breaking, don’t be “tone deaf” to the situation. Stop efforts when needed. It is mutually beneficial to media relationships and to the announcement, which can get lost with big breaking news. If you decide to move forward regardless, keep in mind that you jeopardize trust with media who assume you aren’t paying attention or care about them.
Glean Key Learnings – When you can’t beat the news, learn from it and analyze it all. Who were the stand-out spokespeople during the announcement, how did they conduct themselves? What was the issue, how was it resolved, what trends did you see on social media? Learning from our industry’s successes and failures can help us be more effective and strategic the next time we evaluate an opportunity around a big news story.

Green Room Creative Wins Three American Graphic Design Awards from GD USA

Green Room
December 19, 2016

Our award-winning Green Room Creative team continues to collect honors for its innovative design work. The team, a division of Green Room Communications, received several American Graphic Design Awards in 2014 and three more accolades in 2016.

Out of a total of 10,000 entries submitted to Graphic Design USA (GD USA) this year, Green Room Creative was honored with three winning pieces: one for website design for Medicines360; a second for a medicine disposal checklist design for the Alliance for Balanced Pain Management; and third, a calendar design for agency self-promotion.

This team of collaborative designers and developers is proving that in this time-tested industry, it has the creative acumen and drive to overcome creative challenges and produce noteworthy work. To see the team’s award-winning projects and/or contact the team to help you with your own initiatives, please visit their portfolio at www.grcreative.us.

Deborah Nettune Sittig Receives Highest Leaf Award from Women’s Venture Fund

Green Room
June 8, 2016

BOONTON, NJ (June 8, 2016) Green Room Communications, a specialty agency focused on healthcare public relations, creative design and media strategy, is proud to announce that one of its founders and Managing Partners, Deborah Nettune Sittig, has been selected by the Women’s Venture Fund to receive the Highest Leaf Award, an annual recognition of women leaders in their industries who are committed to helping other women succeed.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a mentor to other women in business,” said Sittig. “At Green Room, we are very proud to be fostering a community of diverse and innovative female leaders in public relations, and mentorship is a crucial part of that. The Highest Leaf Award builds on our recent certification by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) in March 2016, recognizing our continued growth as a women-led and women-centric company.”

Founded in 1994, the Women’s Venture Fund (WVF) is a nonprofit organization that offers support and guidance to female entrepreneurs. Each year, the Highest Leaf Award is given to senior-level women executives who exemplify leadership in their fields, commitment to mentoring other women in business, and who demonstrate a balance between outcome and responsibility in their workplaces. Honorees are also selected for their entrepreneurial spirit and for their ability to adroitly leverage resources in service of their industries and communities. Along with the other recipients, Sittig was honored at a breakfast on June 8, 2016.

With a diverse client base in the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries, Green Room Communications builds and supports career growth opportunities for women in communications in STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and math. Its unique, non-hierarchical skill-based agency model ensures support for changing client needs and provides a competitive business edge. The company fosters career opportunities for women through a strong communications internship program.

About Deborah Nettune Sittig

Deborah Nettune Sittig, who grew up in Bernardsville, NJ, began her career as a broadcast journalist, spending more than a decade as a television reporter and news anchor in major markets across the country as well as working in television production. She produced newscasts and acted as a videographer, field producer, editor, writer and associate producer for ABC and FOX News affiliates in Long Island, NY; Burlington, VT; and Chattanooga, TN. She also served as a general assignment reporter and associate producer at KDFW, the FOX affiliate in Dallas, TX. Her PR experience started at DWJ Television where she served as media director and headed up a team of eight Media Placement Specialists. In 2003, Deborah opened Original Media Concepts, a PR firm specializing in media strategies and placement. Deborah is also the founder and current president of the Board of Directors, Soft Bones: The U.S. Hypophosphatasia Foundation, a non-profit organization to raise awareness for the rare bone disease. Deborah was selected as the Boy Scouts “Woman of the Year” in 2014, was named one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs of New Jersey (LWE) in 2014, and is a recent winner of SmartCEO magazine’s New Jersey 2016 Brava Award.

About Green Room Communications

Green Room brings a new approach to classic communications needs. From corporate positioning and PR strategy to media and digital relations to integrated creative design, its unique, skill-based model aims to meet the needs of a new communications landscape requiring communicators to remain strategic and relevant in an evolving marketplace. Green Room customizes fluid, nimble teams with specific skill sets to address individual projects. This flexibility allows for scaling up or down using a global network of public relations experts to ensure support for changing client needs. The company’s unique ability to harness this intellectual capital and infuse it with energy and passion provide a competitive edge. Green Room was named a WBENC-Certified Women’s Business Enterprise in March 2016 by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

Media Contact:
Meghan Sowa
Green Room Communications
Phone: 973-263-8585 x 226
Cell: 862-200-0429
Email: msowa@greenroompr.com

Karen Qualter Carolonza and Deborah Nettune Sittig Win 2016 New Jersey Brava Awards

Green Room
May 16, 2016

BOONTON, N.J. (May 16, 2016) – Green Room Communications, a specialty agency focused on healthcare public relations, creative design and media strategy, is proud to announce that its founders and Managing Partners, Karen Qualter Carolonza and Deborah Nettune Sittig, have received New Jersey SmartCEO’s 2016 Brava Award, an annual recognition for top women business leaders who demonstrate exemplary leadership as evidenced by company growth, community impact and mentoring.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a female leader in the New Jersey business community,” said Carolonza. “This award builds on another recent milestone in Green Room’s history – our certification by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) in March 2016. We are committed to fostering a community of women who deliver results that demonstrate value to our clients and bring ahead-of-the-curve thinking to anticipate and address challenges as well as identify opportunities.”

New Jersey Brava Award winners are selected annually by an independent committee of local business leaders from the following three categories: CEOs, Executive Directors of nonprofits, and C-suite executives. Carolonza and Sittig were recognized for their irrepressible entrepreneurial spirit, passion for giving back to the community, local philanthropy, mentorship of up-and-coming leaders and company growth. Along with the other recipients, Carolonza and Sittig will be featured in the July/August issue of SmartCEO magazine and honored at an awards gala on June 23 in Old Bridge, NJ.

“We’re honored to be in the company of other talented New Jersey women who have been recognized for their business leadership and for paving the way for others,” said Sittig. “Companies today need innovative business models and a diverse talent base to respond to the financial and technological changes in today’s economy. At Green Room Communications, we are fortunate to be surrounded by women who strive to make an entrepreneurial and philanthropic impact every day.”

With a diverse client base in the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries, Green Room builds and supports career growth opportunities for women in communications in STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and math. Its unique, non-hierarchical skill-based agency model ensures support for changing client needs and provides a competitive business edge. The company fosters career opportunities for women through a strong communications internship program.

About Karen Qualter Carolonza

A Short Hills, NJ, native, Karen Qualter Carolonza is a proven strategic public relations and communications professional with global experience in the healthcare, chemical and television news industries. Before founding Green Room in 2008, Karen was the global director of worldwide public relations at BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, and was responsible for the creation of the first-ever global public relations department for the company. Karen has served in communications roles at corporations and agencies, including the Pharmacia Corporation, DuPont Pharmaceuticals, Exxon Chemical Company, and Ruder Finn Public Relations. Karen spent the first part of her career as an NBC affiliate television news reporter in the Midwest and East Coast. Currently, Karen serves committees of the Lakeland Hills YMCA. She also serves on the board of Soft Bones: The U.S. Hypophosphatasia Foundation as well as the local chapter of the Progeria Foundation. She is a member of the ExLPharma Steering Committee and has chaired its annual PR & Communications Summit for a decade. She was named one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs of New Jersey (LWE) in 2014. Karen is the mother of three children and currently resides in Mountain Lakes, NJ.

About Deborah Nettune Sittig

Deborah Nettune Sittig, who grew up in Bernardsville, NJ, began her career as a broadcast journalist, spending more than a decade as a television reporter and news anchor in major markets across the country as well as working in television production. She produced newscasts and acted as a videographer, field producer, editor, writer and associate producer for ABC and FOX News affiliates in Long Island, NY; Burlington, VT; and Chattanooga, TN. She also served as a general assignment reporter and associate producer at KDFW, the FOX affiliate in Dallas, TX. Her PR experience started at DWJ Television where she served as media director and headed up a team of eight Media Placement Specialists. In 2003, Deborah opened Original Media Concepts, a PR firm specializing in media strategies and placement. Deborah is also the founder and current president of the Board of Directors, Soft Bones: The U.S. Hypophosphatasia Foundation, a non-profit organization to raise awareness for the rare bone disease. Deborah was selected as the Boy Scouts “Woman of the Year” in 2014 and was named one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs of New Jersey (LWE) in 2014.

About Green Room Communications

Media Contact:

Candace Disler
Green Room Communications
Phone: 973-263-8585 x228
Cell: 973-650-7975
candace@greenroompr.com

Green Room Communications Receives WBENC National Women’s Business Enterprise Certification

Green Room
March 29, 2016

BOONTON, NJ (March 29, 2016) – Green Room Communications, a specialty agency focused on healthcare public relations, creative design and media strategy, is proud to announce that the company has received national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). The certification recognizes women-owned businesses that demonstrate entrepreneurial excellence, service and leadership.

The WBENC national standard of certification is a meticulous process including an in-depth financial, administrative and organizational review of the business and a site inspection. The certification process is designed to ensure the business is at least 51 percent owned, operated and controlled by a woman or women.

By including women-owned businesses among their vendors, corporations and government agencies demonstrate their commitment to fostering diversity and the continued development of their supplier and vendor diversity programs.

“Green Room is honored to receive certification as a women-owned business,” said Karen Qualter Carolonza, Managing Partner, Green Room Communications. “The certification is a wonderful milestone in our company’s history and will allow us to better serve our existing and prospective clients by helping them meet their vendor diversity requirements.”

“It is an honor to receive the WBENC certification and to be recognized in our industry as women business owners and leaders,” said Deborah Nettune Sittig, Managing Partner, Green Room Communications. “This award not only recognizes the contributions women make in terms of building businesses and supporting commerce across the country, but also acknowledges the important role women play in sustaining a diverse workforce.”

With a diverse client base in pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries, Green Room creates and supports career growth opportunities for women in communications in STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and math. Its unique, non-hierarchical skill-based agency model ensures support for changing client needs and provides a competitive business edge. The company fosters career opportunities for women through a strong communications internship program.

In 2014, Carolonza and Sittig were selected among the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs of New Jersey (LWE).

About WBENC

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council is the nation’s largest third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States. WBENC is a resource for the more than 700 US companies and government agencies that rely on WBENC’s certification as an integral part of their supplier diversity programs.

About Green Room Communications

Green Room takes traditional communications in a new direction. Our five divisions – Green Room Public Relations, Green Room Solutions, Bridges Advocacy, Green Room Creative and our dedicated team of media specialists at Q Communications – cover the complete span of communications needs. We are passionate about our work. From public relations and social media strategy through stakeholder engagement and creative design, Green Room’s new school approach puts clients’ programs in a class of their own. Our philosophy is simple. We build nimble teams with the specific skills and chemistry to match the individual needs of our clients, and deliver smart, efficient solutions to drive business and produce results that exceed expectations.

Media Contact:
Candace Disler
Green Room Communications
candace@greenroompr.com
973-263-8585 x228

Green Room Communications Announces Certification as a Women Business Enterprise

Green Room
July 27, 2015

BOONTON, NJ (July 27, 2015) – Green Room Communications, a specialty agency focused on healthcare public relations and media strategy, has been certified by the State of New Jersey as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) effective July 9, 2015. As part of the certification, Green Room is listed in the state’s Selective Assistance Vendor Information (NJSAVI) database composed of small, minority- and women-owned businesses. The certification can increase visibility of the company among corporate decision makers seeking to diversify their pool of business partners and contractors.

“Becoming WBE certified is an important part of Green Room’s growth strategy,” said Karen Carolonza, principal of Green Room Communications. “Many corporations and state agencies have programs that encourage working with women-owned businesses. When companies choose to do business with a WBE certified company, they demonstrate their commitment to supporting diversity in the marketplace.”

Founded in 2008 by Karen Carolonza and Deborah Sittig, Green Room submitted a state application and documentation that proves the company meets the state’s requirement that a WBE be at least 51% owned and controlled by women. The certification is valid for three years with the option to renew.

“WBE certification further differentiates Green Room in a competitive marketplace,” said Deborah Sittig, principal of Green Room Communications. “We created Green Room in response to growing need among clients for a more flexible business model that taps into the right resources and skill sets. Since 2008, Green Room has experienced extraordinary growth and we expect WBE certification will continue our success.”

About Green Room Communications

Media Contact:
Candace Disler
Green Room Communications
candace@greenroompr.com
973-263-8585 x228

Author: Green Room

The Brutal Truths of Fake News

Why What Concerts You’ve Been To Matter – and Why They Are Going Viral

How Big News “Trumps” ALL Media: What PR Pros Can Learn from Inauguration Day Coverage

Green Room Creative Wins Three American Graphic Design Awards from GD USA

Deborah Nettune Sittig Receives Highest Leaf Award from Women’s Venture Fund

About Deborah Nettune Sittig

About Green Room Communications

Karen Qualter Carolonza and Deborah Nettune Sittig Win 2016 New Jersey Brava Awards

About Karen Qualter Carolonza

About Deborah Nettune Sittig

About Green Room Communications

Green Room Communications Receives WBENC National Women’s Business Enterprise Certification

About WBENC

About Green Room Communications

Green Room Communications Announces Certification as a Women Business Enterprise

About Green Room Communications

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