This past Wednesday I altered my normal Caster Communications office hours to take a field trip to EH Publishing in Framingham, MA. EH Publishing is responsible for producing content for several magazines including CEPro, Commercial Integrator, and Electronic House, bound together by a demand for technology news and trend coverage. The sun was shining, the weather was spring like, and electronics were in the air…well maybe just in the magazines.

I rode up with Account Manager Kelly and Director Nick. The parking lot has reserved prime parking for any cars that were hybrids or electric. That was super awesome in my view. The spot has signs that said “You’re your car here.” Upon walking up an elegant staircase and through two glass doors we were greeted by a welcoming sign and a friendly office manager.

Shortly after, we were introduced to Senior Editor Bob Archer and Managing Editor Arlen Schweiger. They gave a quick tour of the various editorial stations and allowed us to meet some of the people behind the scenes. When compared to the pre-Internet age, it’s really quite amazing how publishing has changed. People remotely work all around the country and there are multiple positions for digital design, communications and more, none of which existed a decade ago. I also noticed a good amount of the cubicles were decorated with Boston sports memorabilia. Needless to say I was cozy in that environment.

After the tour, Editor-in-chief Jason Knott joined us in a conference room, and I must say, all three guys were very down to earth and welcoming. They were happy to answer our questions and hear what we had to say. Knott and Archer told us straight up how they look through their pitches and what the best way to go about sending them information about our client’s. As a young PR intern this was great, I was getting information straight from the decision-makers mouth.  It was explained to us how EH goes about getting their articles and how their editorial calendar works. Knowing the EH inner workings certainly helps me with how, what, and when I pitch products to them. EH also has metrics like web page views, most read articles, editorial goals and more on a mounted TV screen in front for all employees to see, a very cool snapshot for the magazines at any given moment.

Besides CE talk we were also enlightened on how the publishing business is handled today. Because of new technologies people can be employed remotely. Not everyone needs to be jammed in the same office. We are seeing this more and more across all types of businesses. I found out most distribution facilities are located in the central U.S. See, magazines are charged by USPS for how many postal zones they cross. It makes sense to pay as little money as possible when distributing issues nationwide so any good competitive distribution company will likely setup shop in say Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and the like.

After conferring on the consumer electronics and publishing industries, we lived dangerously and crossed two six-lane intersections for a table at a Mexican spot called Margaritas. The discussion focused on past experiences and interviews with famous celebrities such as Eli Manning (awesome guy) and Roger Clemens (surly and prickish), the most read articles of all time, but also on the topic of social media.

I found it interesting that well-established businesses are still figuring out how to optimize their use of social media. The masses dictate that we all must be on the social web, and to ignore it means missing out on endless opportunities. While this may be true to some extent, there is still no magic formula to achieve financial ROI through social media, for publishers or anyone else, so the conversation continues.

In summary, it’s easy to see how digital technology is changing the publishing industry. Instead of getting hard copies of the magazine, people may view the articles online. In fact, sometimes an article can be so big that more people look at that one article via the internet than subscribe to the entire magazine. With tools such as Twitter and Facebook and other news sites also seeking to fill a 24-hour cycle, links to articles can be blasted all over to generate more traffic.

Perhaps my biggest take-away (besides how nice the team at EH is) would be how the web has opened up a whole new way for publishing companies to do business. Digital technology has changed the shape of almost every industry; and whether it’s selling ads, driving traffic or creating new positions, the publishing business is no exception.

Special thanks to Bob, Arlen, Jason and the entire EH team for taking some time to welcome Caster to their headquarters. The knowledge is appreciated.

“There is nothing in life that does not require PR.” – Where I first heard that statement, I can’t recall. However, what I do know is that nearly everywhere I went, I continued to be greeted with that phrase. And, little did I know, I’d soon be living that ideal each and every day.

As a fairly recent graduate from Roger Williams University, living on my own in the heart of downtown Bristol, Rhode Island, I’ve learned a lot about myself. For one – I’ve always loved to write. There’s something about the written word, complex vocabulary and the notion of stringing well thought-out ideas into sentences that has always appealed to me. From my early days on the Hawks campus I pushed myself to communicate beyond paper; that’s when I began to discover my obsession with PR. It all began with a very outspoken and ingenious professor who, when told I wanted to pursue journalism, kindly corrected me; explaining that in fact it was her Public Relations class I was interested in. With minimal persuasion, I signed up for PR: Principles and Practices and within 1 hour of having the textbook in hand, knew that I had found my calling.

From there I dabbled in various forms of marketing and strategic promotions – I tried my hand at some advertising courses, creative writing and eventually garnered some Internet and HTML knowledge through e-Business and graphic design electives. I wanted to understand all aspects of strategic communications, both the business side and the creative, before setting down some PR roots. I interned in radio, participated in national consumer- PR competitions and even established myself as a freelance blogger; leveraging my love for writing to dig a little deeper into the world of social media and integrated-marketing trends.

At first glance, my early post-grad career has been a collection of experiences which has shaped my work ethic and professional goals today. Beginning as an Event Assistant at local non-profit, The American Cancer Society, I got my first real taste of the intricacies of event promotion and dynamic nature of fundraising. I later found my niche in the web content realm, developing my writing further and deciphering effective SEO strategies as the Blog & Content Manager at the Warwick-based Astonish Results. At Astonish, I helped to grow a one-man (yup, just me!) content team into a 6-employee content management division; helping to establish a results-centered keyword strategy for all onsite copy, blogs, press releases and link building articles for the company’s 350+ independent insurance agency clients. My work at Astonish Results helped to shape my current marketing and branding philosophy because it enabled me to help these independent agents establish their own, authentic voice. To me – you are your own best weapon—it’s all about being genuine and real.

Which brings me to Caster.

Caster embodies just that – authenticity. It’s an atmosphere where I know that I can learn and grow as a PR professional, while also remaining me. I’m a Type A, that’s a fact. I love organization (I’ve been known to color code) and I live for setting high standards for myself. I love a good challenge – be it creating a catchy blog title or pitching a new consumer product to a leading, tech trade journal. I am an avid newspaper-reader (yes, the real stuff, where the ink rubs off on your hands) and grew up watching the nightly newscasts with my father. I believe in the power of social media and the new wave of word-of-mouth marketing. I’ll always stop to read a new Brian Solis post or respond to a Chris Brogan tweet; and furthermore, I’ll always believe Content is King.

I am an avid blogger and lover of good, high-quality caffeine (hazelnut mocha with soy, has been my recent favorite). I long for lazy beach days and outdoor dining; well really any dining – I can’t get enough of local, foodie fare. But most of all, I love thy vibrant nature of communications.

Public Relations can be seen and felt everywhere. The world relies on PR. Our businesses partnerships, decisions and relationships all, to some degree, depend on strategic marketing and communications. That’s what makes Public Relations so intriguing – and that’s what drives me. I couldn’t be more excited to join the Caster Communications Team!

So I guess this is the part where I introduce myself. Hi, I’m Cassidy Swanson, and I’m the new girl here at Caster. Pleased to meet you all. Where to begin…

I’m 22 years old, turning 23 in June, and was born and raised right here in Caster’s home town of Wakefield, RI, just about five minutes away from the office actually. I graduated from Rivier College in May 2010, a small, Catholic liberal arts school in Nashua, NH, that I absolutely fell in love with. I made amazing friends and had a lot of great times—can you tell I miss college already? Anyway, I went into Rivier dead set on wanting to be a journalist. I love to write and I thought it was something I could really see myself doing forever. When I declared my major as communications, students in the program were asked to pick two concentrations they’d like to focus on. I put down journalism right away but still had one more to choose. It was sort of a happy accident that I chose public relations as my second concentration: I went down the list of the ones offered, and that sounded like the most interesting option.  As my college career went on, I became less and less enchanted with journalism as it dawned on me that I would never want to lose my love of writing by making it my everyday job. (The rise in closing magazines and newspapers as a result of the recession didn’t help either, but I digress.) At the same time, I was becoming more interested in the PR aspect of my studies and thought it might be a good career path for me.

The moment I really fell in love with PR came in the form of a guest lecture in my Intro to PR class during my junior year. Located about twenty minutes away from my college in Manchester, NH,  is the corporate offices of Stonyfield Farm—you know, the organic yogurt brand? Their communications manager at the time, Carmelle Druchniak (who also used to be the director of college relations at Rivier), came in and talked to my class about what a typical week at Stonyfield was like in terms of in-house PR. As Carmelle told us all about working with major media outlets, bloggers, writing press releases, and everything else, I knew that was what I wanted to do. I became determined to land an internship at Stonyfield when the time came to pick internships for last semester senior year. Fast forward a year later, and I was lucky enough to be chosen for the internship at Stonyfield!

I interned at Stonyfield from January to August of 2010, and it was a fabulous experience. First off, I couldn’t have asked for a better team to be working with in PR: they were always eager to help me and answer my (many) questions. As far as the work experience, I was able to apply much of what I’d learned in school, while picking up a few new skills too. Everything was fun and exciting, even the “intern work” (I can package and ship T-shirts and yogurt with cooler packs via UPS like no one’s business), but the real fun part for me was getting to write press releases and product pitches, and communicating with writers for different magazines and bloggers who would be reviewing our product. Nothing made me prouder than seeing a press release I had written in a grocery trade publication, or a review of a new yogurt flavor in a magazine or blog that I had sent product to. I also loved working for an organic company because I knew we were making a difference in terms of bettering the health and wellness of the earth and our consumers. And, of course, the yogurt. Delicious, delicious yogurt. I ate tons of it. I won’t eat any other brand than Stonyfield now.

Which brings me to Caster! I moved back home to RI after my internship ended and was working in a temp job for six months when I realized it was time to start getting serious about finding a job that was more in line with what I went to school for. I was very lucky to find a posting online for the PR Account Coordinator opening at Caster and applied. I had an interview that week and got a really great feeling about the company right away—everything from my great conversation with Kim and Becca, to the beautiful office space, to their client list, and their laid-back, fun approach (a company that names its love of chocolate and Glee right on their website is the kind of place I want to work at). Naturally, I was thrilled to learn a week later that I got the job!!! So much so that I asked Kim if she was serious when she offered me the position, and brought in a tray of brownies for everyone the next day to say thank you. I can be a bit excitable.

A few other things you should know about me: I love to bake (those brownies were just a taste of the goodies to come, Caster people). I’m obsessed with pretty much every show on E!. As a rule, I do not touch ice with my bare hands out of sheer terror that it will stick to my skin. I like to eat healthy and work out, but I’m no stranger to lazy days of doing nothing and eating too much (hence where the watching E!/baking comes in). I love all music, except metal and most country. I’m constantly linking articles I find interesting on Facebook. I make a mean guacamole. And I’m wicked excited to get to know you all and be a part of the Caster Communications team.