Things That Make You Go hmmm…

How to work with your agency

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on November 10th, 2011

At AHA, we feel fortunate that we get to work with our clients. We have great clients and many of the people that we work with have been with AHA for a long time. Several have changed organizations and brought AHA to work with them in their new role.

At AHA, we are consistently focused on finding the best ways to work with our clients. What makes a client stand out is that they focus on finding the best way to work with us. Working in partnership means that we build a mutually beneficial, respectful relationship. We have a commitment…

When production matters

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on November 04th, 2011

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday video, Ruth talks about when to use a Flip style camera and when to upgrade to using professionals for your video needs.

Know and understand your audience

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on October 31st, 2011

I recently received an email from an organization in the communications field asking for my input. The email offered me the chance to win an iPod Shuffle. I found it surprising that an organization in this field would reach out to communicators and offer that as the prize. The communicators I know either have iPhones or smart phones that hold music or they already have a music player. And a Shuffle is pretty far down the food chain. An iPad would have been a better prize; only about half of the communicators I know have a tablet of some type.…

Social media – how far is too far?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on October 27th, 2011

I saw something on Facebook this morning that really made me sit back and think. I have quite a few “friendly acquaintances” on Facebook. For the purpose of this blog, I will call them “pals.” These are people I have met and like, but that I don’t connect with very much in the real world. Some I met through work, others from my personal life. Many of them I met while travelling.

I don’t hold the same political views as some of them. I have to admit, I have found some of the discussions and ideas put forward by a…

It’s not ALL about the numbers

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on October 25th, 2011

We recently spent time working with a client about social media and how it fits into their overall communications strategy. This organization had “dabbled” in social media (their words) but had never fully committed to it and they wanted to know a) if they should commit and b) if they should, then how.

The CEO is a smart person. He is connected within his industry, he is well-liked and well respected, and there are interesting things going on at this organization. The CEO has his own Twitter account, which has been silent for several months now. There are a few…

What’s your strategy?

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on October 21st, 2011

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday, Ruth talks about needing strategies for your communications initiatives.

Technical difficulties and the importance of planning

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on October 14th, 2011

We had one final Fast Take Friday from Paris to show you. It was at the Arc de Triomphe where it is incredibly busy with traffic (so much traffic), people (so many tourists) and that particular day wind! So much wind that it overpowered our little Flip Cam’s microphone and made the video unusable.

This technical issue brings up a key point in what we do as communicators. Our Fast Take Fridays are important to us. We plan them out carefully, deciding what topics are relevant, why they matter to you and what tips and hints to share. The ones…

Are you ready for social media?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on October 13th, 2011

There is a great article in today’s Globe & Mail: Time to adapt to social media or face the consequences.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

What will be of value to your organization in the future?

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on September 30th, 2011

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday, Ruth is outside the Palace of Versailles talking about understanding what will be of value in your organization in years to come.

Target your media outreach!

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on September 21st, 2011

When I read articles and blog posts that talk about the importance of targeting your media outreach, I often find myself wondering about PR people that don’t identify which news outlets, which journalists and which bloggers they hope to connect with. What’s the point in sending a news release out to a bunch of people that at best are just going to put it in the trash and at worst, are going to ignore your emails in the future?

When I was at Maclean’s, I saw a great deal of “junk” come in from PR people. In fact, I once…