Events

Gym class, salon blow outs, “Skittles-sized diamonds,” coffee (no Red Bull). These are just some of the things involved in a day at BrandLink DC.

A couple of weeks ago, BrandLink’s Jayne Sandman and Barbara Martin made an appearance on GQ’s list of powerful people in the nation’s capital. TBD gives us a sneak peek into the lives of the powerful duo and it’s… umm.. interesting.

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Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.

According to nearly two-thirds of  PRNewser poll takers, this year’s Volkswagen ad won’t create more buzz than last year’s “The Force.” Today, many are declaring the car ads the overall winners of last night’s Super Bowl advertising showdown, though it looks like Acura, Honda, and Chrysler, which used Clint Eastwood’s famous rasp to send its emotional message about a strong Detroit, are getting special top honors.

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January was a roller coaster month for the travel business. On the upside, the industry scored a coup when President Obama proposed a plan to boost travel to the U.S. during his January 19 visit to Orlando. As Terry Dale, president of U.S. Tour Operators Association observed, “It’s nice to see the industry recognized at the Presidential level.”

On the downside, the cruise segment of the industry was rocked by the January 13 grounding of the Costa Concordia ship off the Italian coast and the related stream of bad news.

These were among the issues discussed at the Association of Travel Marketing Executives annual forecast forum in New York on Wednesday. The panel, moderated by Henry Harteveldt, co-founder of Atmosphere Research Group, included Dale and one representative each from an airline, a hotel chain, a destination, and a transaction provider. Cruise lines were notable for their absence. Below are four key takeaways.

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If you’re young, interested in communications, and planning on swinging by Dubai at the beginning of March, perhaps you’d be interested in the Wunderman/Y&R Young Marketers School, which will be taking place during the Dubai Advertising Festival.

The Young Marketers School is a 2 1/2 day program taking place from March 4 through March 6. It’s open to comms pros ages 32 and younger who work at an agency, and will focus on topics including branding, digital, and creativity.

The Dubai International Advertising Festival will take place March 4 through March 7, culminating in the Lynx awards, which recognizes everything from PR to film. Entries for that are now open.

For more information about the school, click here.

Yesterday, on subways and metros in cities around the world, people took off their pants. In D.C., it was the “No Pants Metro Ride.” In London, it was the “No Trousers Tube Ride.” In New York, it was just called Sunday. Whatever you called it, it meant there were a lot of people in their skivvies riding public transportation. To be precise, people in 60 cities in more than 27 countries took part. Facebook pages for the event were created for cities around the globe.

It was the 11th annual No Pants Subway Ride, organized by Improv Everywhere, which is getting press everywhere over the stunt. The mission of the organization is simple — make a scene, spread joy. Note: people taking their pants off in public is enough to get press in major publications around the world even when you’ve been doing it for over a decade.

Today is Good Riddance Day, when you can talk all the detritus from 2011 and bid it adieu in preparation for 2012.

Cintas is making the most of the holiday. The company offers, among other office services, cleaning and document management aid. Today, the company has set up a massive shredder in NYC’s Times Square to grind up any bad rubbish that folks are wanting to forget with help from the Times Square Alliance. Head over between noon and 1 p.m. to take part and possibly win an iPad.

And if you swing by, you may have the chance to meet the winner of the company’s Good Riddance Day Contest. Kathleen Selman has traveled from Tampa, FL for the festivities. Her prize also includes five nights in the city, a trip to see the New Year’s Eve ball, and passes to a number of attractions. (A second grand prize winning company was also announced.)

Talk about turning trash into treasure.

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How much do you know about scotch whiskey? Because I know a lot. For instance, if you drink Johnnie Walker Double Black with water, it tastes like you’re licking the forest. This piece of info has been brought to you by Stephen Wilson, Johnnie Walker ambassador and tour guide through the world of Johnnie Walker scotches.

Last night, the Shorty Awards hosted a holiday scotch tasting at the House of Walker, a temporary event space in NYC’s Soho neighborhood. The space features a Pac Man arcade game (which was shut down without warning after I’d just eaten a power pellet), a pool table, bookshelves (with books!), and, lots of scotch. Scotch, scotch, scotch.

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Besides well wishes from the President and First Lady for the Hanukkah season and the lighting of the National Menorah, the White House also posted a video today detailing how they made the White House kitchen kosher.

Culinary treats were on full display on Wednesday evening when PRSA NY held their holiday event at the Food Network in one of their kitchen studios. Although Iron Chef America’s “Battle Fruitcake” episode aired this past week, the show’s kitchen stadium set was temporarily down for the season.

The Food Network, launched nearly twenty years ago, was a pioneer in featuring food as entertainment on TV and highlighting celebrity chefs. Last year their Cooking Channel launched to appeal to more serious food lovers.  Overall their TV audience numbers over one hundred million U.S. households. Since it’s the more established brand, the Food Network is more active in social media. Over two million fans like their Facebook page and over eight hundred thousand follow them on Twitter.

We spoke briefly to Irika Slavin, VP of communications and public relations, about her experience working at the network for the past year.

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Stories about companies and celebrities making major Twitter gaffes have become legendary, but less newsworthy mistakes are made every day, even by established users. A panel of magazine editors and social media managers offered Twitter pitfalls and pointers based on their own media brands’ experiences at the MPA Digital: Social Media conference in New York on Wednesday.

Hashtag obsession: While hashtags help your brand or event to be found on Twitter, their use should be limited. Allison Dempsey, social media editor at Parenting, outlined the downside of using too many hashtags in one tweet. “It’s like bolding every word in a sentence, and then nothing pops.”

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