Bender Helper Impact

The phrase “mommy bloggers” has been bandied about in the news for a couple of years now as a highly desirable demographic for consumer product marketing.   Last week, the Konami Digital Entertainment team learned just how much fun it can be when the team put on an event at the Konami headquarters. Parnaz Taheri of the Interactive Entertainment team has more:

After more than five years as a publicist, I'm deeply aware of how much the media changes on a daily basis, but I think the biggest wake-up call came when we put on the first ever “Konami Family Day,” inviting key mommy bloggers, family and parenting writers, and all of their kids for a full day of fun and entertainment at the Konami offices.

With a little over a month left in that critical holiday shopping period, we focused our event on this holiday’s line-up of casual and family friendly Q4 titles and went all out, from the food to the décor. We had a food spread that included chicken fingers, mac-n-cheese and M&Ms for the kids, and of a proper meat and potato lunch with plenty of coffee and sodas for the working moms. As far as “ambiance”, we had disco balls and dance lights for the Karaoke Revolution and DanceDanceRevolution rooms, and an impressive game room packed with Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation games galore. Many children’s dreams of playing video games all day came true last week, while their moms looked on in amusement, studying which games their children enjoyed most and why.

It was also great fun to plan and staff the event. Who wouldn’t want to spend all day in a game room with tons of chocolate, singing Karaoke? While the event was an overall success (we had around 20 top press attend with more than 15 kids throughout the day), it made me think again about how influential these mommy bloggers have become over the past year. Things are definitely evolving in the blogosphere. Moms clearly have an effective platform to voice their opinions and thoughts - and people are clearly listening as evidenced by how many companies are targeting this key media category. 

Like mother, like daughter! 3-year old Caroline singing away to Konami's Storybook while her mom watches in the Konami game room	Konami product manager Grant Matson shows 8-year-old Tucker how to master the classic Frogger in the Konami game room

The B/HI digital team proudly took home the 2009 PRism award in the Entertainment Programs One Time category for Current TV’s “Hack The Debate” initiative. The event was held at the Renaissance Hotel at Hollywood and Highland and honored LA’s top communicators in a range of fields, including agencies, corporate, non-profit and independent practitioners.

Hosted by KTLA’s own Kurt “The Cyber Guy,” the night was lively, the steak and salmon were delectable and the crowd was the most raucous I’ve ever seen.  The announcers did their best to turn the audience’s roar into a polite hum, but there truly is no stopping LA’s foremost communicators at what they do best.

The night’s theme was “PR: The Next Frontier,” and throughout the event, we heard from legendary PR professionals and iconic brands that shared their thoughts on the digital space and the urgency with which communicators need to adopt the tools and practices that the 2.0 world has to offer. 

It seemed only appropriate that the winning B/HI campaign supported “Hack The Debate,” Current TV’s partnership with Twitter to deliver the first-ever broadcast integrating social technologies into TV programming. 

B/HI’s efforts successfully drove audiences to interact (i.e., hack) during the broadcast of the three presidential and vice presidential debates and tune-in on-air and online at Current.com.  The team secured an Associated Press exclusive that was picked up by more than 120 media outlets, as well as 320 additional media hits, including coverage in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, TIME, PC Magazine, Wired, Mashable, NewTeeVee and many others. 

Sometimes insightful, mostly hilarious, the resulting tweets from “Hack the Debate” made me LOL.  Here’s a prime example:

@accalon: “Alrighty, debate drinking game. Drink whenever Obama says “change” and McCain says “my friends”... Let’s get drunk!”

Congratulations to B/HI’s award-winning digital team. Let’s get drunk!

Follow Maria: @oonceoonce

When you think of baseball greats, teams like the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox come to mind. Next to join that list - the B/HI Bat Asses.

Ok, so technically we’re a softball team, not a baseball team; and we’re not a part of the MLB, but the Culver City Adult Softball league; and we may have only won one game, but we still storm the field every Friday night like champions.

At the helm of the team are the dynamic duo of Hunter and 
Melisa Rodriguez (VP of Digital Entertainment), who patiently guide us through the ins-and-outs of the game. In the outfield, we have players including Account Executive Becca Wolfson, Director of Social Media Matt Meeks, Account Executive Robert Santini, Associate Account Executive Jessie Comstock and Senior Account Executive Gabriel del Rio, who aren’t just softball experts, but great publicists too! Rounding out the infield there is Account Executive Frances Kregel at first base, Account Coordinator Whitney Champion on second, 
Melisa Rodriguez at third, 
Hunter Rodriguez as shortstop and our leader, Bender/Helper Impact Partner Dean Bender, who always gives 110% as pitcher, working together to ensure that no balls leave the diamond. Then, there’s me (Account Executive Miranda Gooding), the team’s fearless catcher. While I may not know much about the game, I am learning about the importance of catching a pop fly.

Our record may be 1 – 6, but the softball team has brought my 
co-workers and me closer both inside and outside of the office. We’ve discovered how important teamwork is and found new ways to support each other. We’ve learned things about one another, like how Melisa and Becca played softball in college and Whitney dances to get pumped up before games. With other members of the office giving their support, we now have something new to talk about while at lunch. The B/HI Bat Asses have helped to create a new bond between my co-workers and me, and that’s the most important part. 

Look for us next season….on the kickball field.

[Follow Miranda: @MirandaG1234]

No, this blog post isn’t going to read like a segment from VH1, but I figured “Best Week Ever!” was an appropriate title. Last week, I flew to New York to attend the Mediabistro UGCX conference and meet with some long-time agency friends and clients. In the end, I ended up having a great time discussing business and getting to know some excellent people.

While I have traveled all over the country on business, I had yet to travel to New York in a business capacity (crazy for someone in PR, right?). So, going into this trip, the only memories I had were from a trip with my Dad in the 7th grade and a brief few hours where I was lost in the Bronx in college (don’t ask). Needless to say, I didn’t know much about what to expect outside of what I saw on TV and remembering that the food was really… really good.
The next couple days were a bit of a blur with back-to-back meetings introducing B/HI Buzz to a number of our New York contacts. I met with marketing and PR teams at Nickelodeon, MTV Networks, Lionsgate, Classic Media, HBO, Kuma Games and Virgin Mobile amongst others. Throw into that mix an interview with
 The New York Times on how studios are embracing social media, and I had a very busy few days on my hands.

Based on my conversations, the majority of the companies I met with have a firm grasp of the platforms available to them and appear to have an online presence in the appropriate areas. The challenge that they seem to be facing is coming up with new creative ways to maximize that online presence and track the effectiveness of their outreach. Enter B/HI Buzz!  Over the course of these meetings, I was able to talk them through some of their pain points and brainstorm a number of solutions (the best part of my job). After a string of very successful meetings, I went out to join some friends for Karaoke only to find that I had lost my driver’s license. Luckily FedEx followed through on their priority overnight delivery of my passport.

Apart from losing my driver’s license, the trip was a huge success. I got to meet everyone in the B/HI New York office (now when we talk on Twitter I can rest easy that we have also met in person), I had a number of great meetings, and I learned a thing or two at the UGCX. Thank you New York for the best week ever.

[Follow Matt: @MattMeeks]

Hi! I’m Kelsey, Digital Entertainment’s fall intern. 

Let me start by saying how awesome B/HI is – I’m learning loads from all the brilliant minds here, plus it feels like half the days I’m here there’s cake…birthday cake, employee appreciation cake, leftover cake, delicious cake.

Baked goods aside, the most exciting realization I’ve had so far is discovering the research skills I use in school are really important in the PR world.

Most of my time here is spent looking up different media outlets, past coverage, or information that could be useful to inspire new angles for pitching.  I never realized how essential strong research was to publicity.  You need to know not just the client and their product, but also similar products as well as monitor the client’s competitor’s coverage.  In addition, researching the kinds of publications, journalists or bloggers who may write about what the team is working on, and of course what audience that story would reach. All this research makes me happy the Internet exists!

So next time you read a headline that says, “Physicists Make Groundbreaking Discovery After Years of Research,” remember that a good amount of research went into publicizing this news, too.

This week, our client Shane Satterfield, editor in chief of GameTrailers.com appeared live on Fox Business Network to provide commentary on trends within the game industry. The team (Stacy Miles, Robert Santini and Bradney Blake) has been working hard to establish Shane as an industry expert, so securing Fox Business Network was a major milestone!

On-air Shane did not disappoint as he provided insightful commentary on the top games for the 2009 holiday season, Activision’s music games business strategy, recent sales figures for the industry and the key differences between the three consoles.  After all that, he even managed to tease co-host Tracy Byrnes about her girly gaming tendencies!


Shane laughs with hosts Tracy Byrnes and Chris Cotter as they talk about the expected sales for Madagascar Kartz compared to that of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2


[Follow: Stacy Miles @suprstace6]

The 90s are making its way back into pop culture! With re-makes of television shows like “90210” and “Melrose Place” invading TV screens everywhere, it’s clear that the decade that brought us fluorescent colors and “Clueless” is hot again.

Being a child of the 90s, it’s hard to believe enough time has passed for these shows to be considered “vintage” and recreated for a new generation, but I’m not complaining. The 90s was an era of light-heartedness. With Clinton in the White House and ‘N Sync filling the airwaves, life was good and that energy is just what people need right now.

As new young stars emerge and attempt to fill the shoes of famed characters such as Dylan McKay and Allison Parker, 90s TV stars like Jaleel White (a.k.a., “Family Matters’” Urkel) and Patrick Duffy (“Step By Step”) are moving toward a new avenue--the computer screen.

Whether it’s an effort to re-brand themselves, or they’re just forward-thinking enough to see the growth potential in online video, stars of the 90s are finding a new audience, or the same audience … just on a different platform.

You can find White starring in the web series “Road to the Altar,” a story of one man’s journey to wedded bliss, that is produced by one of B/HI’s digital clients, MWG Entertainment.



"Patrick Duffy and The Crab” is a quirky, deadpan series often found on The Huffington Post’s comedy page, featuring the man who played Frank Lambert and a stuffed crustacean reacting to the world around them.


Other 90s stars hitting the Web include Dennis Haskins (“Saved By The Bell’s” beloved principal, Mr. Belding) in “Acting School Academy.” Also, David Faustino (“Married with Children’s” little brother, Bud Bundy) who co-created and stars in “Star-ving,” and Jason Priestley who made his Internet directorial debut with “The Lake.”

It’s great to see that some of my favorite childhood celebrities have found new homes on the Web and rather than become extinct have opted to jump on the digital bandwagon and branch into a new realm of entertainment. As another era of teenagers gets to know the new “90210,” I’ll continue to follow the stars of decades passed online.

[Follow Lisa: @LisaB55]

As I end my third week as an Account Executive at Bender/Helper Impact, I really can’t believe I’ve been here almost an entire month. Time really flies when you’re learning your way around this place!

My first impression? Everyone here is so organized they could all moonlight as editors at Real Simple. And it makes sense because they all – well, now it’s “we all” – have to juggle a million things at once while keeping in mind a million looming deadlines. So it thrilled me to no end on my first day when I was shown the break room and, within it, an absolutely gorgeous one-shot coffee machine.  You can ask my new office-mate, I think I love that coffee machine (and all the different varieties of flavors to choose from – including hot cocoa!) a little too much. But I digress…

So what’s a new girl, thrown into the mix of deadlines, meetings, projects and even special “Bender lingo,” to do? Ask! Luckily everyone couldn’t be nicer about showing me their binders, their files, their to-do lists, and everything else that’s crucial to keeping yourself both efficient and from going insane when working here. They also help with translating words like “download,” “verticals,” “asks,” and “p/u” when they’re used in ways I’ve never heard before.  I’ve also asked “How on earth do you do this all?” many, many times and always the answer is the same: teamwork.

I’ve learned more about teamwork in these past few weeks than I ever did during my high school P.E. class. I’m still new, so I’m obviously no expert, but I do know one thing – you won’t last long here if you’re not willing to both help out, and also ask others for help when you need it. The word “team” is thrown out here a ton and, unlike those words I mentioned above, it’s used in the same way I’ve always heard it. And it’s nice when you first start somewhere to hear: “That’s so great that we have a full team!” and “I’m so happy you’re on the team.” Yes, that’s right, I’m on a team! As crazy as it gets here, being on team is a great place to be.

[Follow Nicole: @NicoleLAPretty]

Gazing out at the sparkling Pacific Ocean from the beautiful island of Maui, one becomes quite introspective.  All things considered, there is not a better setting for a little self analysis.
Our world as communications professionals is filled with a bevy of emotions and deadlines.  We see and experience all things — mostly coated with a layer of stress (either self inflicted or graciously provided to us).  How do we maintain our maneuverability, our intelligence or our ability to perform when our many worlds seem to be crashing down on us all day long?  We do it for many reasons but one stands out.  There’s a certain sense of accomplishment to be a problem solver. An influencer. An evangelist.  We persuade. We alter perceptions. We activate. We’re all about change.

We move in and out, up and down, side to side, every day of the week. It takes a strong individual to understand and deal with the volatility of our terrain.  However, this endless ocean view reminds me of a world without deadlines — and we all need to visit that world to appreciate the one in which we live.