Olmstead Williams Communications, Inc.

Tracy Williams, president of Olmstead Williams Communications, will host a table on Wednesday at the Broads Circle event “Women of Silicon Beach” being held at the Luxe Hotel.

Tracy Williams, CEO and president of Olmstead Williams Communications

As part of The Nonprofit Breakfast Series presented by Morgan Stanley, Tracy Williams, president of Olmstead Williams Communications, will serve as a panelist at 7:30 a.m. this Friday at a seminar at the Luxe Sunset Hotel in Los Angeles titled “Driving Revenue: Tuning up Fundraising.”

Nonprofit board members and executives, please join Williams and the other panelists as they address the following questions: Are you using all available tools and methods to reach your community? Do you have a sustainable fundraising strategy? Are you just having events or are you engaging donors?

The seminar is free but requires registration.

Olmstead Williams Communications is No. 18 this month on the Los Angeles Business Journal’s list of the “25 Largest PR agencies in Los Angeles County.”

Marie Ebenezer is an intern at Olmstead Williams Communications and an excellent storyteller.

Marie Ebenezer, an intern at Olmstead Williams Communications, made the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Page 3″ column (scroll to the bottom of the PDF to read) on Monday, Feb. 18, and she was interviewed by Alfred Lee a couple of weeks prior. The profile mentions Marie’s recent blogs, her cultural background and her experience working in PR.

It was a great recognition of Marie’s talents and further validates how bright the future is for one of our best interns. But how — you may ask dear reader — did our intern secure such great press?

The answer is simple: she was just being herself. If you have looked at Marie’s blog posts at The Big Mouth Blog over the last couple of weeks, then you will see that she has started writing about her experiences beyond the office. She has started to write about the experience of living in Los Angeles and how different this experience was from her home in Germany; she has started writing about what she missed most about Germany; and she has started writing about her experience with various forms of social media — Vine, Twitter, Facebook Google+ — from her unique point of view and drawing on her personal experiences. She was just writing posts that reflected who she was — posts that let our readers and our clients into our world over here at OWC.

So one day, Alfred Lee from the business journal calls our office and wants to speak to Marie. He said he had been reading her posts and wanted to know more about her story. He also interviewed our president, Tracy Williams. He wanted to know what writing about beer gardens had to do with PR. Here is what Tracy Williams, our president, had to say in the article: “She gives Olmstead Williams a personality. … Today with social media, part of what is important to do for any company or organization is to establish your personality online so people know who you are and what you stand for.”

One of the most important elements for a business today is to have a social media presence. Well, one way we are trying to create that presence is by introducing ourselves to you, showing you our personalities and presenting to you our voice. We’re trying to say: This is who we are; we are professionals; we work hard to secure media coverage for our clients and build social-media strategies; but we’re real people. This a larger part of what is being called “content public-relations.”

Lee’s questions about how beer gardens relate to PR is a part of a much larger conversation. How do lists — like Marie’s “Five Reasons I miss Germany” — impact a businesses’ bottom line? How do blog posts relate to acquiring media coverage? How does this relate to professionalism and a company’s goals? Well, the answer is quite simple — to create buzz and get you talking. And being a former journalist, I understand that in developing social media and trying to “creating buzz” the most important element is always telling good stories.

The public will always care about stories. And in the end, Marie is an excellent storyteller, and she is an extension of who we are. It’s a shame she’ll be leaving this Friday. Let us know what you think about Marie’s profile.

Tracy Williams, founder and CEO of Olmstead Williams Communications.

Tracy Williams, founder and CEO of Olmstead Williams Communications, hosted a webinar today titled “The Impact of Social Media on Public Relations” for George Washington University’s Alumni Association. Almost 100 people tuned in to hear Williams discuss how social media has changed the practice of public relations.

She assessed the challenges of social media and describes the best way to make use of these new platforms in public relations and business. The full webinar is available online.

Marie Ebenezer, an intern at Olmstead Williams Communications in Los Angeles, is from Freiburg, Germany, where she attends the University of Freiburg, renowned for its humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and English language departments.

As a German in America, I am often asked about the cultural differences between these two countries. I have been in Los Angeles for two-and-a-half months now, and some things are indeed quite different.

Instead of leading the life of a college student in a small German town — where I essentially ride my bike everywhere — I am working a nine-to-five office job in a city where not having a car means you’re not going anywhere fast. Initially, I was quite impressed by the vastness of the greater LA area, and one of the biggest challenges I have faced is getting around in this huge city that has no decent public transportation system.

Coming here, I was expecting that not having a car would be rather daring, but what really surprised me was the food. To Germans, American cuisine conjures up images of extra-large drinks, fried food and cheap franchises, but most of the people I have met here are very conscious about what they eat. Daily workouts and low-carb diets seem almost as popular as driving a Prius. And thus, as part of acclimating to California, I have limited my carbohydrates, and I have been stripped away from my bread friendly German diet — which, on second thought, may not have been that bad (there are worse things than losing 5 pounds and going shopping for new pants).

In general, I must admit that living in Los Angeles, as opposed to the Black Forest, does have its perks. Just yesterday, I wore shorts in January, went to the store on a Sunday, and stood next to Ben Affleck while I was buying persimmons at the farmer’s market.

From a business point of view, I have found networking much easier here. Whereas Germans are often distant with new acquaintances, Americans are extremely friendly and are almost always at a first name basis. The Public Relations world is thriving in the US, and it is thrilling to be a part of what’s happening — news, fashion, entertainment — and not having to get up at 3 a.m. to watch the Golden Globes is great! This experience has proven to be very instructive and exciting, and I am continually impressed by the work ethic of my American colleagues.

Video of Olmstead Williams Communications winning “Best Speech” at the national 2012 PR Daily Awards last month presented by Ragan and Dow Jones in Washington, D.C.

Olmstead Williams Communications won “Best Speech” at the national 2012 PR Daily Awards announced Tuesday at a luncheon presented by Ragan and Dow Jones in Washington, D.C. Tandy Fleckner (pictured) was on hand to accept the award for the firm.

OWC joined three other finalists – the Department of Labor, LIMRA and NETGEAR/Weber Shandwick – in the category for its work with interpretation industry leader Language Line Services. The awards program celebrates talent in the public relations industry, and received hundreds of entries in categories spanning traditional, cause-related, crisis-related, event and social media campaigns.

Olmstead Williams Communications is a business-to-business public relations and social media firm which focuses on technology and professional services.