New York Public Relations

In a clever PR move, Express staged a live fashion show on the streets of the Flat Iron District last night. A 70 foot long runway was erected on Broadway and passersby were invited to come watch the show. With noted Fashion models (Erin Heatherton!! Jessica Hart!!) and photographers (Dan Lecca!! Greg Kadel!!), it was the read deal on the streets of New York. So yes, walking home from work and stumbling upon and being invited to a fashion show is cool. Even cooler is the fact that while photographer Dan Lecca was there shooting the runway show, Greg Kadel was there for an entirely other purpose. He was shooting the runway show...AS THE SPRING AD CAMPAIGN FOR EXPRESS...LIVE!!! That's huge, and the first time it's ever been done, an ad campaign, shot live on the runway, with an audience. Clever, clever, clever. Adding a little social media angle, audience members were encouraged to upload pictures of themselves at the show, the first 15 people won a $100 Express gift car

AMP3 PR client and national radio personality Trey Morgan (best known in NYC as the "voice of now" on Z100) has spent the month of September committing himself to volunteering and boy is he tired. It's all part of his 30 Deeds, 30 Days project wherein he is attempting to volunteer each day of September with a different charitable organization (30 total), all while holding down his 'day job' and sustaining his relationship with his wife. Each day, Trey blogs/vlogs on his website www.30Deeds30Days.com about the experience so that he can share with and inspire others to get involved in their communities as well. The idea for 30 Deeds, 30 Days was born out of Trey's own desire to get involved and somehow make a difference. In the past, Trey had thought up getting out there and volunteering before, but like so many of us, he was consumed with his his job, his personal commitments, basically his already full and busy life. It's so easy to get swept up in

The MTA is considering imposing a limit on monthly unlimited MetroCards to 90 rides per month (and 21 rides for weekly cards). For every day commuters this may not be an issue (2 rides a day= 62 rides a month) but for many New Yorkers who are more frequent users (working parents, students, dancers, messengers, etc.) they will be very affected and very unhappy. On top of wanting to cut the number of rides you can take on a monthly card, the MTA is also proposing a fare increase from $89 a month to $99 a month. That's a lot of change for New Yorkers who are already paying a fortune to get around the city. These ideas will be proposed next Monday, July 26th and if passed could go into effect as early as next year. These changes could mean a PR nightmare for the MTA which many New Yorkers already blame for mismanaging finances and the already inept MTA system. This would just be one more slap in the face for already frustrated riders. First of all, there would no longer be an unli

The New York Knicks are breaking out the big guns in a run to sign soon to be free agent LeBron James for the the coming NBA season. By big guns, I mean all of the New York Knicks celebrity fans that they can get their hands on. The recruiting effort/sales pitch for the coming draft pick will include celebrity endorsements from the likes of Donald Trump, Alec Baldwin, Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, and a slew of other well known New Yorkers all speaking about how much they love the city. It's a clever PR move from the Knicks. At 25, LeBron James has his pick of NBA teams, but in the past he has mentioned that he would love to play in NYC. The Knicks could certainly use LeBrons magic as well, as they haven't qualified for the playoffs in over a decade. LeBron would be both very loved in New York (where there would be quite a bit of opportunity here in in business and leisure for him to thrive) and in great company with all of the renowned New Yorkers who reside her f

NYC based singer-songwriter Dion Roy debuted his NEW EP "The Nearest Light" yesterday, June 23rd. The new EP debuted at #16 on the iTunes singer-songwriter album chart yesterday morning and has moved up to #9 today. In celebration of the new EP, a release party was held last night at The Living Room on the lower east side of Manhattan. Dion, with backing from a full band (including Peter Roessler on guitar, Ed Marshall on bass, and special guest Boots Factor of Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers on drums), played a set for the packed house full of friends, family, and adoring fans. Dion and the band took the stage at a little past 7pm and played a full hour of live music including tracks from the new EP. "The Nearest Light" was produced by Dion Roy and Peter Roessler and mixed by Scott Reibling of Weezer, Cobra Starship and Fallout Boy Fame. Dion Roy will be touring the U.S. this summer, for more information visit www.dionroy.com . If you are looking for PR represent

In Consumer Product PR news, Dunkin Donuts unveiled their new Times Square billboard today which took a decidedly "fresh" approach. Dunkin Donuts turned to local street artists to creatte "a unique design inspired by the urban art of the New York City streets." This new billboard may very well be Dunkin Donuts' most prominent advertising to date. To create this billboard, Dunkin' Donuts enlisted renowned street artist Robb Buono and his team of artists including UrbanMedium, TazRoc and Steven Lopez . In another "fresh" move, over the past six weeks while the artists were finalizing the design, Dunkin' Donuts used its billboard space for a secret teaser campaign that featured no brand identification or imagery, inviting passersby to visit www.missionfresh.com to submit a guess as to who was behind the secret campaign. One winner was randomly selected from everyone who submitted a guess to receive $5,000 and an all-expense paid New York Ci

The long awaited BLACK mat from Yantra Way is finally here. The new black mat launches today and can be purchased at www.yantraway.com . Though the mat's are all fundamentally the same, the new color is aimed specifically at a male audience who was finding the original purple and green mat's too feminine looking. The new black Yantra Mat is $49 + an additional 20% off when you use the code "RELAX". The Yantra Mat , a gentler version of the ancient Indian nail bed, is studded with 8,800 non-toxic ABS plastic spikes. The spikes feel sharp, but with your body's weight distributed evenly over the mat, an intense sensation quickly gives way to a comforting rush of heat. This natural response to acupressure comes from increased circulation, which lowers blood pressure and soothes aches and pains. Within minutes, this improved blood flow triggers a deep sense of relaxation. If you have any questions or are interested in finding out more about Public Relations , please co

There was a broad recall of J&J products last Friday after the FDA found thick dust, grime and contaminated ingredients as well as a slew of other problems at a Pennsylvania J&J plant that produces Children's Tylenol and other products. T hey are urging consumers to stop using liquid Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Children's Tylenol and Zyrtec for children and infants and instead to use private label products. According to FDA reports, t here were 46 consumer complaints about dark material in the liquid products between June 2009 and April 2010 , and J&J chose not to take action. On top of that this is not the first recall of the year, J&J has actually issued four major product recalls in the last year . What it comes down to is that J&J has a potential Consumer PR nightmare on their hands. J&J stated that the quality problems at the plant "are unacceptable to us" and that it would continue to work closely with the FDA to fix them. The compan

Los Angeles based electro-pop duo 6th Street will be performing LIVE tonight at Kenny's Castaways. There is no cover and the show starts at 8pm. Kenny's Castaways , a piece of New York rock & roll history and well known as the place where Bruce Springsteen played his first NYC show, is located at 157 Bleecker Street. If you can't catch them tonight, you'll have another chance. 6th Street will be performing again on Saturday night at Arlene's Grocery . The show starts at 8pm and there is a $10 cover at the door. Arlene's Grocery is located at 95 Stanton Street. 6th Street, a duo who have known each other since childhood, were recently showcased at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Their sound is most often compared to Owl City and Postal Service with hints of Matt Nathanson and they offer both catchy melodies and moving ballads. To win 2 free tickets to Saturday night's show at Arlene's Grocery, check out this post on You Sing, I Write

AMP3 Public Relations has recently added 6th Street to their growing music pr roster. 6th Street, a Los Angeles based group, is made up of band members Grant Cook and Mike Miller. Just back from a 2 night appearance performing at Bob Woody’s Shakespeare’s on Sixth Street at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX, it was much like a home coming for the University of Texas graduates. The local crowd was delighted to hear a set list that included new EP material like " Try and Stop Love ", a song with a young electronica pop vibe, and the soulful " Angels Falling ." A recent blog post described their sound this way, "So let's say if The Postal Service and Owl City consumated and had a baby with Chris Martin's voice, then they made the baby eat violins for breakfast and it only spoke in lyrics in the caliber of say, John Mayer, then that is what 6th Street would sound like." I don't know about you, but I love The Postal Service and Owl City.

If there has been one hot topic in crisis communications of late, it's golfer Tiger Woods. Now there's no need to rehash the aspects of what got Tiger into his predicament, but there has been a lot of water cooler talk regarding how his PR team handled the fallout from the very start. Public Relations Society of America's most recent post came yesterday with an excerpt from a Newsweek article by Matthew Phillips. The article discussed Tiger's press conference this past Monday at Augusta National for his first major appearance at the 2010 Masters. PRSA called the press conference his best attempt yet at damage control and then went on to state what Phillips considers Tigers 6 biggest mistakes over the last few months. 1. Deafening silence - The first rule in any crisis is to get out in front of the story early, but for four months, Tiger was mute — and the longer he went without speaking, the more people wanted to know why. Surely, not all of the gossip is true,

This week, AMP3 PR adds the newly opened West 3rd Common gastro pub to their roster! Combining the physical comfort of a trendy lounge with the atmospheric comfort of a casual neighborhood pub, West 3rd Common stands out as a unique destination in the NoHo section of Greenwich Village. Delicious takes on American comfort foods ranging from burgers and crawfish to seared duck is not all you can expect, West 3rd Common has the best happy hour in the area: Monday thru Sunday, 4 - 8PM. $3 drafts, $4 well drinks, and $5 Cosmos and Apple Martinis. And if that's not enough, when you visit you can catch the game on one of the eight HD TV's or entertain yourself with one of the many board games on hand. More than a sports bar, Metromix New York calls it, "a neighborhood bar with unbelievable food." For media inquiries, email Termeh Mazhari at Termeh@AMP3pr.com

With the blogosphere becoming increasingly influential and a lot of the big blogs a major media source, its easy to see why publicists are starting to reach out to more and more bloggers (especially since bloggers are more likely to respond to pitches). But ladies and gents of the PR world, you know better than to pay off bloggers for coverage of you or your client's brand. Let me grab my megahorn and say this loud and clear: IT'S UNETHICAL. Apparently Ann Taylor and their PR crew didn't get the message. Last week, Ann Taylor's LOFT line held a preview exclusively for bloggers and basically bribed them with gift cards in exchange for coverage of their line and the event. Their invite read: Come take a sneak peak at LOFT's summer 2010 collection before anyone else! Bloggers who attend will receive a special gift, and those who post coverage from the event will be entered in a mystery gift card drawing where you can win up to $500 at LOFT! But wait, it doesn't