We’ve moved

Find us at www.tangyslice.com

Based on the criteria from my previous post, we made the following short list of candidates:

• PerkettPR (referral from friend at ConstantContact)
• KEL and Partners (found them Googling)
• Topaz (Limeduck worked with them before and raved about working with @DougH)
• Version 2 Communications (Got recent LinkedIn connection from old colleague Rob Halpin who is working for Maura FitzGerald’s new agency)
• Waggener Edstrom (family friend Jon Bornstein just landed there)

Here are some of the other well known Boston PR firms that we knew about but didn’t consider:

• Schwartz Communications
• PAN Communications
• Shift Communications

These were under the category of “old school firms I have worked with in the past or knew their reputation”.

Stay tuned for more info about how we evaluated each firm.

We’ve moved

Find us at www.tangyslice.com

It has been over two years since I last searched for a PR agency in Boston and a lot has changed since then. With all the new social media channels exploding we needed to find an organization with proven Web 2.0 chops to support Firstgiving (an online community that connects people with the causes important to them).

Before I started building my Web 2.0 PR agency short list, I put together a plan for outreach:

1. They must possess tangible Web 2.0 experience. This is more than understanding how to optimize a press release for organic search. This means current clients in the Web 2.0 space with funny sounding names and real success stories.

2. They need to be active in multiple online communities. How many Twitter followers do they have? How many Facebook Friends or LinkedIn Links do they have? How active are they in these communities?

3. How connected are they with me? I have over 200 Linked contacts in Boston so I wanted to find someone with mutual friends for vetting purposes.

4. Talk with my CMO friends for recommendations.

5. Remove “old school” firms I have worked with in the past or I know their “reputation”.

My process started with some simple research by Googling things like “Web 2.0 PR in Boston”. After that I reached out to each of them through a social media channel. Bonus points for quick replies through site to set-up initial calls.

So, who made the short list? Stay tuned…