By Deborah Fowler, Managing Partner, Green Room Communications

As a former TV journalist, open space is like going home. Newsrooms have embraced the open space model for decades, and as Green Room officially moves into our new office space, we join newsrooms, as well as trendsetters like Google and Facebook, with an open space floor plan.

In an open office, there are no walls, barriers or fully enclosed spaces separating team members. In the newsroom, I developed a new way of working. I tapped into new skillsets where I could actually listen as I was thinking about another thought, with one ear to the police scanner while simultaneously writing news copy for the 6 pm broadcast.

We work with many colleagues who loathe the open space model. Personally, I cherish it.

As communicators who are rooted in journalism, Karen and I designed an office environment that fosters informal and frequent communication. It’s what we do best, and our workplace should reflect and build on our strengths.

Open space layouts have been shown to improve communication and collaboration among co-workers. Taking down walls both physically and figuratively fosters spontaneous teamwork and problem solving. I’ve noticed, and research supports, often these types of informal interactions can be incredibly productive. People can generate and bounce ideas off one another without the constraint of a more structured and scheduled meeting.

In the newsroom environment, open office space cultivates camaraderie and teamwork among colleagues simply because constant exchange is welcome and encouraged. Everyone shares, contributes and gives input. People get first-hand and frequent exposure to different work styles and how colleagues approach tasks. Problem solving can be more efficient when it’s informal, and people just work better together when physical barriers are removed. There’s a greater sense of community and less hierarchy.

Yes, open offices can be noisy and sometimes disruptive for more focused tasks like writing, data analysis or conference calls. However, like a newsroom with edit bays and sound booths, we have places employees can go for private conversations.

Our new office design includes several “huddle rooms” where teams can meet privately, take calls or work undisturbed when more focused concentration is required. Flexible work spaces – where people have the option to work in various places around the office – provide options for a change of scenery or to get into a new mindset. And a nearby Starbucks on the building premises is an added perk.

It’s important that employees feel a connection to their space. Studies show open space offices are successful when people have a greater sense of what psychologists call place identity. When they feel their space is truly collaborative and a reflection of themselves, they take greater pride in their workplace. They’re also more engaged and positive about their work. We’re encouraging people to personalize their space with pictures, plants and other things that help them feel more connected to it.

The new space does come with some rules of common courtesy. We encourage colleagues to be mindful of those around them. If someone looks like they’re trying to focus, don’t holler across the room. If a team member is on a call, keep the volume down. And if you’re the one who needs to focus, don’t be afraid to let your neighbors know, or try headphones to drown out background noise.

It turns out communication really is the key to a productive and successful open office. No wonder it works for us!

Come visit us at 1719 Route 10 East, Suite 318, in Parsippany!

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.

 

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.

GR-Creative_MNK_Training_Social_d1  GR-Creative_m360_homepage_Social_d1  GR-Creative_Calendar_MKT_Social_d1

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

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

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