Text 100 has been short-listed in the following categories:

Best of Use Digital

Client – Cisco Consumer Products

Campaign – Flip Your Profile

Company – Text 100 Singapore

Technology Campaign of the Year

Client – IBM Australia

Campaign – Creating a Smarter Transport Agenda for Australia

Company – Text 100 Australia

PR Consultancy of the Year

Text 100 Australia

Mid-Size Network of the Year

Text 100 Asia Pacific

Fingers crossed for a successful awards ceremony on March 30!

What is it about this rapidly expanding microblogging tool, oft-referenced as the blog counterpart of Twitter? More and more, brands are hopping on this platform to appeal to audiences in a different way. There are other large blog communities, but on Tumblr the instilled follow, like, and reblog create greater opportunities for good content to spread. And interestingly, rather than the standard blog post thriving on Tumblr, the jewels of its operation lie in photos, videos, quotes and questions – text snippets with a bit of edginess or inspiration also prove to be popular.

The strategy appears to be working. Since our last stats check in 2010, Tumblr has grown to see roughly 51 million new posts daily, hosts more than 41 million unique blogs, and grew a staggering 900% (!) over the past year (check out this super interesting Tumblr infographic that Mashable whipped up recently). Not to mention, it operates in eight different languages.  In four short years, Tumblr has grown from relatively “underground” to international microblogging network, mostly due to its informal appeal and brand-building potential.

Here’s an update on how several different organizations have taken to Tumblrhood lately, and maximized their brand presence:

• Popular soft drink maker Coca Cola launched a Tumblr to share happy content with teenage bloggers, referencing everyday opportunities to recognize life’s simple pleasures—even featuring some older Coke graphics and advertisements. The effort is part of Coke’s goal to connect with teens and other Coke fans on new platforms and through more visual, aesthetic experiences.
• The Standard Hotel, a popular hotel located in New York, Los Angeles and Miami, launched its Standard Culture Tumblr. It serves as a pop-culture forum, featuring content from guest bloggers, downloadable music, and videos. It also promotes a calendar of pop-culture attractions for each of the hotel’s cities.
• Fashion brands—seemingly built for Tumblr with their highly visual cultures—cover the site with looks from their collections, even disclosing links to sales. (See Bergdorf Goodman, Kate Spade, and Oscar de la Renta’s PR director).
• News sources are by far the leading brand category on Tumblr, from Newsweek to Rolling Stone and NPR. Many of them have fun with their posts, whether it be for teasing content, pulling memorable quotes or sharing compelling imagery.
• Activists and political organizations are increasingly using the platform to share views, political cartoons and videos supporting their beliefs. (See  the Rainforest Activist Network’s recently launched Tumblr dedicated to tracking Bank of America’s criticisms and shortcomings, the Republican National Committee’s blog devoted to examining President Obama’s presidential record over the past three years, and the President’s own campaign Tumblr, in support of his re-election for 2012.)
• Celebrities have hopped on the platform to share some of their favorite content and near-and-dear causes with fans (see Alicia Keys, Glee’s Dianna Agron, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt – even Lady Gaga played with it for a second). Sometimes, even faux-celebrity Tumblelogs arise, to maximize the fandom of certain well-known Hollywood figures, or poke fun at them (See Suri’s Burn Book, a funny blog positioned as written by Katie Holmes’ and Tom Cruises’ adorably rich and famous toddler, and celebrity-fun-poking webcomic But You’re Like Really Pretty).

For fun, here’s a snapshot of some Tumblr engagement on Text 100 NA’s end, engaging you with the people behind our brand and work culture:

• Textual Harassment (Text 100 NYC’s Tumblr): A catalyst for my crush on this place.
• Text Appeal (Text 100 Rochester’s Tumblr): Texties of northwest NY.
• Text Messages (Text 100 Boston): Text 100 in Beantown.
• Text in the City (Text 100 San Francisco): Silicon Valley’s finest.

What about the rest of you out there in the Interwebs—are you finding Tumblr as a useful tool? If you used it early on, how has your usage changed? How are you using Tumblr to support your brand, whether personal or professional, or what are some examples of usage you’ve seen that support or question our observations? Let us know in the comments below.

It’s hard to believe SXSW is just less than two months away, but sure enough, today schedules for SXSW 2012 went live. At first glance, the online schedule functionality seems easier to use than in years past, which is important when you’re sorting your agenda  and weeding through 5,000+ events for Interactive alone! You can use the schedule to browse events and add events to your customized SXSW schedule using your SXsocial username and password. This ain’t Text 100’s first rodeo at the annual show!

We’re getting excited for the trip to Austin, to join clients speaking at SXSW such as Food Network, Gartner, Macheen, MTV, Nokia, NXP, Xerox, attend insightful sessions, and of course network as much as possible!

So update your Facebook status, queue up your tweets with #SXSWi, ensure you have your Instagram and/or Path apps, and get ready to check in on Foursquare. And be sure to leave us a comment here if you’ll be attending, so we can add you to our list of friends on SXsocial. See you there!

You can check out the interview here.

Be sure to also check out the localized versions of this infographic from our friends in APAC and EMEA (Sydney, Madrid, Paris, India and London) – and this special holiday greeting from Italy.

What’s been your favorite news story of the year?

Let’s start our virtual tour around the world in Munich. The office is decorated and employees enjoy the always popular sweets and treats for the season. However, come a particular day in December, the team goes by bus to a secret destination in the Alps, tours through a canyon with fire torches, only to arrive at their final destination; a cozy tavern where they drink “Glühwein,” eat Fondue and, well, party!  I don’t know about you, but I now have lofty plans of somehow visiting the Munich office around December in the future.

If fire torches and cheese aren’t your thing, head down south and stop by the Johannesburg office for a game of Secret Santa. Secret Santa has long been a popular holiday event, but participation can prove to be a challenge during busy times. Don’t worry, our friends in the Malaysia office figured out the secret to success. There is a deadline to place gifts under the tree, and whoever is late must do something embarrassing, such as the chicken dance (I challenge the Malaysia office to share a video on the Text Facebook page this year of any delinquents!).

Feeling fashion forward? The Delhi office has their annual “Mr. And Ms. Text” fashion show, along with each team cooking regional cuisine every week in December to keep the teams motivated and nourished. The Paris office also promises a full belly and smiles, but changes it up each year. Picture an event such as a “Raquelette” party: a French meal where you melt a specific type of cheese with special toasters, alongside oven-roasted potatoes, deli meats, and of course, endless wine. The result? A full-fledged dance party, complete with speciality moves like the “caterpillar.”

Text 100 Sydney's Christmas in August

Let’s skip around the globe to the only continent that is also a country – our dear friends in Australia. Australian Christmas falls in the middle of their summer, more aptly known as “party season,” where schools and businesses close down for weeks at a time. While the Text office isn’t closed (and is busy with client and media lunches), they opt for a unique approach. It happens in August. You read correctly. The Text 100 Sydney office does Christmas in August, hosting a large event packed with clients, PR industry and journalists, eager to examine the latest and greatest gadgets for the upcoming Christmas season. This, to me, shows the immense creativity of our employees. Good on ya, mates!

Circling back home to North America, the air is filled with holiday parties and gift exchange games such as Secret Snowflake and Hush-Hush Hanukkah Harry. The fun continues with festive cocktails, Christmas movies, and a night on the town for Holiday parties. Each office also sponsors a donation cause, helping gather toys, winter coats and other goods to be distributed to those in need in their local communities.

While the exact celebrations may differ, our digital age allows us to connect and share our holiday cheer with our global Text family. I encourage you all to tweet, share, post videos, photos and more of your Text office happenings this holiday season!

*Thanks to all of the Office Managers who helped educate me on your regions festivities!

New York

Let me paint you a picture of how this came to be, and the work involved with Text 100 becoming one of the Best Places to Work.  Firstly, kudos to Jennifer Yu, a former NYC intern, who is coincidentally rejoining Text 100 as an Account Coordinator on December 19^th.  Jennifer brought the opportunity to Jeff Cleveland, who took the lead working with Katie Kelley, and others, to complete the intensive 80-question employer survey.  Let’s pause.  This was no easy feat, and I want to thank you both for your taking this on and putting in the time to make it the best.

Partnering with the Best Companies Group, an independent research firm, Crain’s sent out a confidential 72 question survey that NYC employees completed, asking questions on our benefits, policies, corporate culture, career advancement, and more. The results from the employee survey counted for 75% of the total score, and helped us land our top spot in the rankings.  Thank you to everyone in NYC who participated in this survey!

The honor grew further once Aedhmar was asked to speak at the December 2^nd Crain’s luncheon, where the rankings for the Best Places to Work were revealed.  Text 100 bought a table at the event, allowing for a handful of Texties to be a part of the luncheon.  To select the attendants, Jeff, with the help of Ava Lawler, created a fantastic and challenging quiz about Text 100.  Could you answer, “Which ELT member interviewed Bill Clinton just months before Clinton declared his intention to run for president?”*  The top winners received a seat at the table, and a front row seat to see Text 100 take home top honors of truly being one of the “Best Places to Work in NYC.”

At the end of the day, what does it mean to win these types of awards?  It’s a true reinforcement of our employer brand and collateral demonstrating the type of organization candidates seek.  It’s one thing to say we are a great place to work, but another to be recognized amongst hundreds of NYC employers for being one of the best places to work in the most populous city in the United States.

Let’s raise a glass and cheers to Text 100 and to everyone in New York who helped us rank #7 in Crain’s top 50 Best Places to Work.

*Oh, and it was our very own Scott Friedman, who had good fortune of that Clinton interview!

Way back in 2001, IBM’s agency review process was heralded as one of the most significant global events in the industry. The urgency, transparency and integrity of the selection committee was well publicized at the time. IBM was keen to consolidate the global roster of its PR suppliers down to a core team of no more than a select few. And with a virtual who’s who of the industry determined to participate, stories -– both fact and fiction — were told and retold of the various pitches and the efforts made to secure the IBM mandate.

Now with 10 years under our belt, I recently spent a little time with Jon Iwata, SVP of marketing and communications at IBM, and Rob Flaherty, president of Ketchum, reflecting less on how the relationship began and more on what has allowed it to continue and thrive over the past decade. We were able to boil it down to five main themes:

Elevating the Communications Function
Jon’s vision to rethink and remake the role of communications and marketing as a whole helped to cement the strategic value and influence these functions play in supporting the business and building for the future. Leading his internal resources and us as agency partners to continually stretch our view of this remit has led to developing best practices across a range of disciplines — from influencer relations and social media to SEO. Equally important, it has also succeeded in developing a truly integrated and aligned marketing and communications team.

A common purpose
We all understood very early on that our shared vision was to undertake the work of making a great company ever greater and therefore, a great brand even more valuable. Our teams worldwide regardless of location or employer believe they are part of an integrated team with a vision to make the IBM brand one of the most powerful in the world.

A sense of partnership
While core to the success of our relationship has been this commitment to a common purpose, there has also been recognition that in delivering against this, all our companies can be successful. This commitment to the well being of each organization has led to open and transparent dialogue when dealing with issues and complexities along the way.

A shared work ethic
Hiring talented people, who share IBM values across the world, has underscored the work ethic that prevails within our teams today. A dedication to smart work in order to produce great results and a willingness to celebrate together has been the hallmark of the IBMer both inside and outside of IBM.

Trust and personal responsibility
While there have been hundreds of people on our teams who have delivered extraordinary work over the years, we should probably also acknowledge the importance that we three are still here today. Older, grayer and hopefully wiser for sure, but what started as a strong business relationship between three leaders has evolved to become a trusted and personal relationship that also prevails across all our teams today.

It’s been a tremendous experience for all of us who have been involved over the last decade. And I think it’s safe to say that as a new era dawns at IBM with the New Year the journey will start afresh.

Editor’s note: This post originally posted on the Council of PR Firms’ blog, Firm Voice.

New York City

Texties Erin Lehr, Colby Jones, Dinah Alobeid and Robyn Douglass at the Light the Night Walk

Text 100’s Month of Service kicked off with the Light the Night Walk in New York City, a fundraising initiative to raise awareness and money for blood disease research, and to educate and help families who have been affected by diseases such as Leukemia and Lymphoma. Texties from the NYC office took to the city’s Seaport district and the Brooklyn Bridge to participate in annual walk sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is the most curable form of cancer. The team had a great time walking with survivors and their supporting friends and families and all together raised $591 to go toward research and patient care/education.

(L to R) Brittany Kotary, Lesley Stephen, Barbara Ruane, Jaimen Sfetko, Kevin Turner, Allie MacPherson, Sarah Hudson, Colby Jones and Jeff Cleveland

Text 100 New York also partnered with GMHC, the world’s first provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy. Their mission is to fight to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected. In 1981, six men united against fear and death from a disease then known as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. The group set up an answering machine in the home of Rodger McFarlane and the first AIDS hotline was born — receiving more than 100 calls the first night. Today, GMHC continues to pioneer HIV prevention, care and advocacy.

Texties visited the GMHC’s offices to learn more about the programs GMHC runs, such as youth events, House of Latex Ball and Fashion Forward, and spent three hours helping to build safe sex kits for men and women, a very important part of AIDS prevention. On the walk back to the office, the general consensus was that GMHC is a great organization with great cause and dedicated people behind it! There’s already talk of partnering with them for next year’s Text 100 Day of Service.

Rochester

In Rochester, the Text team partnered up with local non-profit Dimitri House, an organization dedicated to supporting Rochester’s poor and homeless through a number of programs including a winter shelter, a food cupboard, drop-in program and holiday basket program. Founded in the mid-80’s, Dimitri House was named in memory of a well-known local homeless man named Dimitri Mamczur, known for his good spirit and charitable nature, despite his hard situation. One night, on the way back to his shelter (two taped-together cardboard boxes under an expressway bridge), Dimitri was struck by a car and passed away a few days later. Since then, Dimitri House’s two full-time employees and dedicated volunteers have dedicated themselves to providing support to individuals in the local community who suffer from poverty and homelessness.

Text 100 ROC at Dimitri House - Alyssa Weir, Amber Rinehard, Nicole Pavlas, Jamie Palmeroni, Sara LaFauci, Brian Carnevale, Sean Donnelly, Nicole LeBlanc, Jessica Sanderson, Elizabeth Cronin, Erin Humphrey, Bethany Latta, Lauren Ianuzi and Jen Stevens.

The Rochester team spent the month supporting Dimitri House in a few different ways: through an online fundraiser, which brought in $850 of donations (170% of the team’s $500 goal!); conducting local media outreach, which secured opportunities for Dimitri House spokespeople to appear in a handful of local broadcast segments and in the non-profit profile section of the Rochester Business Journal; and finally, by spending a day at Dimitri House volunteering time to re-paint their community kitchen and assisting in setting up the beds for the winter shelter. The team at Dimitri House was incredibly grateful for the extra sets of hands and for the local exposure they received in working with the Text team – their phone was ringing off the hook with volunteer requests following their first TV interview! The Text office is continuing its partnership with Dimitri House through the holiday season, adopting a local family through their Thanksgiving basket program, for whom they’ll be providing all of the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner – yum!

San Francisco

The San Francisco office made the most of its month with three different volunteer events to make sure everyone who wanted to participate had a chance amidst busy schedules. One rockstar Textie team conducted an in-house social media session for the Oakland non-profit, Cantare Con Vivo. Cantare Con Vivo is a unique multigenerational musical arts organization devoted to using the beauty and power of music to build community and to invest in young people as the future leaders of the Bay Area. Through their adult and children choir events, they’ve been able to fund choir programs in many of Oakland’s schools for more than 2,000 kids per week. This provides low income children with exposure to music and the arts, as well as a safe place to develop and grow as leaders in their community. The Text 100 team focused on teaching the group how to utilize the latest social media tools to help continue their growth and attract further attention to their worthy cause.

The other group of Texties volunteered at two locations of The Boys and Girls Club in San Francisco. After initial arrival and free play, the teams jumped right into “power hour,” assisting kids from first to sixth grade with homework. These children, especially those from the infamous Tenderloin district, need all the support, confidence and positive role models they can get. “It gives life a whole new meaning when you consider what these little guys probably have to encounter on a daily basis,” said Gareth Williams, Text 100 Account Director. The kids (for the most part!) were genuinely excited to do their homework and get attention from the volunteers. With seemingly never-ending cuts to our education system, helping out the kids who need it the most was a rewarding experience for all.  Check out their website at www.kidsclub.org.

Boston

Text 100 Boston also focused on giving back to the youth in their community, rolling up their sleeves and for a two-hour volunteering session at Cradles to Crayons (C2C), a non-profit organization based in Boston and Philadelphia, that provides children up to age 12 in homeless and low-income situations with the essential supplies they need, free of charge. More than 305,000 Massachusetts children up to age 12 live in poor or low-income households while 100,000 Massachusetts children are homeless each year. In Philadelphia 130,000 children reside in poverty.

The whole Text 100 Boston crew at Cradles to Crayons - Yumi Bilic, Ilena Ryan, Kate Mather, Virginia Romero, Rachel Round, Steph Kanaan, Molly Loughman, Steve Collins, Michele Moore, Sean Audet, Alison Thompson and Ken Peters.

Everything from donated clothes to shoes, toys, books, and school supplies are collected and sorted at the two Cradles to Crayons (C2C) ‘Giving Factory’ locations in Boston and Philadelphia. Started in 2002, the Giving Factory aspires to not only accommodate children with donations, but to make them feel valued by accepting only high-quality used and new materials.

Texties joined organizers at C2C’s Brighton Giving Factory for a morning of organizing donations. The organization’s mission, ‘To make kids feel safe, warm, valued, and ready to learn,’ which the team learned about during their volunteer orientation, was kept top-of-mind while the team got to work.

The Text team was split in two groups – one in charge of inspecting and the other to sort through donated items. To say the least, the team had their hands full! We were up to our necks in bags of donated items, and it was up to us to judge whether the donations met C2C’s valuable standards and then sort the clothing into appropriate compartments. Before we knew it our volunteer time was up and so were our spirits.

To see more photos from Text 100 NA’s Month of Service, check out our Facebook album.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Colby Jones and Erin Lehr (NYC), Katie Kelley (San Francisco), Molly Loughman (Boston) and Amber Rinehard (Rochester) for pulling this blog post together!