PR in a Post-Covid World

Spring often represents rebirth and renewal, it is a transitional time of year, where the cold and dark disappear, and everything is blooming again in the light. After the craziness that has been 2020 and 2021, a season of reawakening seems much needed. While we are still dealing with COVID-19, the end is on the horizon, and spring 2021 feels more hopeful than spring 2020. Public relations professionals are also feeling relieved and looking forward to the changes COVID-19 has brought to the industry.

One of the biggest changes that the public relations industry has had to adapt to is virtual events. It is one thing adapting to the new work from home environment, but PR professionals also have had to pivot and learn the logistics of virtual events. Not only did PR professionals figure out these online galas, but they thrived and discovered an untapped potential for functions. In the future, many events will still have a virtual component to tap into an even larger audience and be more interactive with consumers.

Another change that COVID-19 has brought to the public relations industry is social listening. During the pandemic, consumers want brands to acknowledge what is happening and read the room; it is about authenticity. With everything that has happened in society over the past year, consumers do not want to see brands trying to sell them items but instead want to see brands put into action. Consumers want to know the brand’s values and that their action to put their values into effect; actions speak louder than words. Companies will need to tap into their voice and not be afraid to stand up for what they believe.

Overall, the most important thing to carry into the post-COVID era of communications is that the only constant is change. PR professionals have dealt with numerous crises throughout the year and have learned to evolve and expect the unexpected. Brands that can adapt and go with the flow of changing trends will fare much better than those stuck in their ways.

This one-in-a-lifetime pandemic (hopefully) has turned everything we used to know on its head, and after a year’s perspective, maybe it was a good thing. PR professionals are now even more quick thinking and constantly thinking of their plan B, knowing they will most likely need it. During this springtime rebirth, PR professionals can finally look ahead to post-COVID but will take what they learned during COVID and apply it to everything moving forward.

Creative Experiences for At-Home Audiences

With the coronavirus pandemic creating instant changes across the world, individuals in the public relations and communications markets have had to learn to adapt, and quickly. We are now almost a full year into this newly found normal, and the past year has been one of transformation and challenges; however, it has also pushed public relations and communications practitioners into creative overdrive to continuously develop exciting online and technological experiences for clients to connect with their customers.

Over the past year, we have seen firsthand how communications professionals have kept consumers engaged from their homes. A huge portion of this has been organizations continuing to hold events but transforming these events to either partially or fully online. In a short time, communications professionals have developed new and exciting models for events that allow for more variety and levels of entertainment and ways to expand the audience for these events.

Some of these new event models include transforming a former fully in-person event to a fully online experience or generating a hybrid event where smaller portions of the event are in person and individuals also have the option to view the event online. The hybrid event models have been particularly interesting, where organizations have identified different versions that work best for their audiences. This could include individuals hosting viewing parties with a small number of individuals social distancing and being able to see everyone on the screen, having the in-person event completely live streamed so individuals may choose to attend or watch from their homes, and more.

No matter the layout, the online event access has allowed for an expanded pool of potential attendees. For instance, if a supporter lives out of state, they can now support their organization online from afar and still make donations and participate in the event. These hybrid and online events have allowed organizations to foster relationships with an expanded audience across the country. Especially with the help of various social media and video platforms, online and hybrid events make attending and supporting organizations more obtainable while maintaining the personable aspect of events.

As these events continue to develop, it is important to find ways to keep the online event fun and to keep the audience engaged, which includes unique entertainment and online activities for event attendees. As mentioned, in some ways reaching individuals to attend an organization’s event is more straightforward than before. Organizations have been able to acquire celebrity talent, who may have been out of reach when events were in-person. Now, with events online or hybrid, it is simpler to encourage virtual celebrity attendance. No matter their location, using video and other tools allows key entertainment to make appearances.

Another skill organizations have sharpened include online auctions. Not only are the auctions fully digital, but the items themselves have also been chosen to be friendly experiences during the pandemic. Whether that includes isolated beach houses for a family getaway or an at home virtual cooking experience, this continues to show how quickly communications professionals have been able to adapt various portions of the event experience for their clients.

These incredible innovative ideas have opened doors to a new normal for events and, communications professionals will only continue to develop new ideas to make these online events more unique. When the pandemic comes to a close and the world officially reopens its doors, it will be interesting to see which of the needed communications developments stick for the long haul and which will be saved for use during another time. Either way, the communications world as we know it has been changed forever.

New Year, New Us – PR & Marketing Trends We Will See in 2021

Much like every industry, in PR we are still navigating the new world and working hard towards recovery. In a time when we’ve all been asked to social distance, the word “pivot,” was THE word of 2020 as brands have had to change direction in order to fight through the noise and reach their audiences.

That said, there are many trends that we predict will carry well into 2021 and beyond, and companies will want to implement these strategies into their marketing plans. At Hope-Beckham, we will be encouraging our clients to stay on top of these trends to stay competitive and get results in 2021.

Rebranding

The title of this article says it all. Sometimes a year like 2020 calls for a complete revamp and rebrand. I know I’ve done a lot of self-reflection. Similarly, the pandemic has caused a lot of companies to shift gears. Companies have had to add pick-up and delivery options to survive, launched online stores, and shifted to virtual events. No matter what the motivation, rebranding is most likely on the radar for many businesses right now.

Additionally, 2020 was a tumultuous year, and has encouraged many companies to rethink possible social and racial stereotypes. Familiar examples of this happening are the transition from Uncle Ben’s to Ben’s Original and Quaker Oats announcing its removal of Aunt Jemima. There’s no doubt that we have all come out of 2020 much different people and organizations, so it’s important that we take a look at our brand and make sure that represents who we are today.

Corporate Social Responsibility

As mentioned on the previous topic, we are all doing our best to navigate an increasingly polarized social and political climate. Now more than ever, people are going to focus on how companies respond to the global pandemic, presidential politics and racial and social issues. With the rise of these hot button topics, more people are not just supporting activism themselves, but expecting the brands they support to take a stand on important issues too.

In 2020 we saw brands emailing their databases trying to empathize with their audiences, perhaps including a “Black Lives Matter,” sentiment. Many brands have since been shamed for including this in their marketing campaigns without taking any real action on the issues themselves. In 2021, it’s important that brands not only say that they stand with their audiences but are aware that their participation matters most. That being said, it will be crucial that companies incorporate activism into their branding and make sure that their plan produces measurable results over time.

Digital

It is predicted that customers will spend 100 minutes a day watching online videos in 2021. Most everything we do from our work to entertainment is now through Zoom, TV and social media channels. That being said, video content should be a priority for companies this year. Videos are much more effective at capturing audiences than text and are especially useful for evoking an emotional response.

Now, more than ever before, people want and need genuine connections which have boosted popularity among live videos. Livestreaming videos on social media is becoming increasingly popular because it offers viewers the opportunity to ask questions in real-time and engages them. These are anything from live musical performances, podcasts and live chats. Additionally, I’d be lying if I said my inbox wasn’t flooded with upcoming Webinar invitations. Webinars create a great opportunity for companies to broadcast information, attracting large audiences to their business. This helps a company be seen as a thought leader in the industry. They are fairly simple to make, don’t require a lot of video production, and you can capture viewers from around the world.

Hybrid Events

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention events, as this is so much of what we do at Hope-Beckham. I certainly miss doing in-person events, seeing my work come to fruition in a tangible setting, and there’s no virtual event that can replace that. However, we did a fantastic job on NDSC’s virtual fundraiser the Soiree of Stars. That being said, even in a post pandemic world, we will come to see that hybrid events are the future. Hybrid events are events that have both virtual and physical, in-person components. I expect that hybrid events will be a great strategy when it comes to future gatherings by opening the door for thousands more to participate from home. We don’t want to miss out on that opportunity, so event planners will want to continue to accommodate a virtual audience once live events return.

Ways to engage with a virtual audience are offering perks for those joining remotely (e.g., contests, bonus content). Attendees may also be encouraged to join the conversation, ask questions and keep their webcams on so that in-person attendees can see them too.

In closing…

A lot has changed over the course of one year. The word change often evokes a scary feeling, but it really isn’t something to fear. Change forces us to learn new skills and challenges us to new experiences. I think we will come out of the pandemic realizing we are a lot stronger than we ever thought and are capable of making it through more than we give ourselves credit for. All we can do is our best!

A Look Back

It’s that time of year when everyone writes their own retrospective on the year. I don’t want to do that! I have lived through the year and really, really do not want to recap or rehash all that transpired during 2020. Once was enough.

I want to remember all the fun I’ve had since joining Hope-Beckham in 1999. We have been involved in some of the most exciting projects. When I remember them, I am reminded not only of the hard work that went into them, but the wonderful people I worked with, the exciting people I got to meet and the sense of accomplishment when it was all over.

I came to Hope-Beckham in February 1999, when the agency was closing the books on the Colorado Silver Bullets, the first ever women’s professional baseball team that played men’s teams. This team of elite athletes, given the chance to play a sport they loved, were coached by hall of famer Phil Niekro. The team played all over the world, had a television contract to air games and made a lasting mark on baseball. There is an area in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. about the team. Sponsored by Coors Brewing Company, after four years, the company moved on to other marketing opportunities and the team was disbanded.

We worked with a variety of sports teams and sports legends. I have been honored to be a part of Hank Aaron’s birthday celebrations through the years – which included appearances by renown sports figures, broadcasters and famous people. I was even invited to Mr. Aaron’s house for dinner following one of the very large and successful events. The agency has worked with The Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers, was involved in the successful grassroots efforts to bring a WNBA team to Atlanta, the Atlanta Dream, and worked with Arthur Blank and the Georgia Force, the arena football team. Bob Hope even made a life-sized bobblehead of Markeith Cooper, the smallest arena football team member, and had dinner in Las Vegas with Jon Bon Jovi, an owner of a Philadelphia arena football team. (I am still not over the fact that I didn’t get to meet Bon Jovi!) We have worked with the LPGA, did work for a firm at the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga. and worked with The Coca-Cola Company on events and activities surrounding the Olympics in Atlanta as well as Salt Lake City. When Super Bowl XXXIV was played in Atlanta, Hope-Beckham participated in a variety of events around the city. We worked on an event for Mohammad Ali in support of his charity (I met him!), and helped Michael Jordan, John Elway and Wayne Gretzky introduce their new venture, MVP.com. (I saw them but didn’t meet them.) We even helped Priceline.com put on an Elton John concert … which I got to attend.

Much of our work in those early days was sports and sports related. We worked with Russell Athletic and hosted a “Sweatshirt Ball” to honor the anniversary of the sweatshirt. We held a fundraising event for the Piedmont Park Conservancy, Olde Time Baseball, where leaders of Atlanta’s top organizations played baseball against each other to raise money for the park. Then Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, took a turn at bat. As I recall, she didn’t hit the ball, but she did run the bases … and her bodyguard ran along with her!

Hope-Beckham worked to put on the Friendship Games, a basketball game played in the Middle East between Israeli and Palestinian youth and handled the logistics for the Atlanta Red Bull Soap Box Derby in 2008. Hope-Beckham even invented a game called Pepsi-Ball for PepsiCo Inc. The ball itself was created by students at MIT and the game was played on the beaches during spring break.

Even in the early days of Hope-Beckham, when the agency was probably recognized as a sports PR agency, we did work in many other areas. We worked with Young Harris College to implement a communications program that included designing, writing and publishing a quarterly magazine for the school. And we worked with the First Islamic Bank of Bahrain to help secure its reputation following 9/11. That turned into a more long-term communications relationship. We worked with Feld Entertainment to promote its fledgling, upscale circus – which was fun! We helped Spanx promote its entry into Target stores by touring the “Better Butt Mobile.” (Enough said!) We worked with Star Gems to promote a new cut that made their gems look bigger, and we created a drill choir for The Home Depot – that’s right, we had hand drills, tuned, and played a concert of tunes in an auditorium for an audience. (I played a drill!)

Hope-Beckham has worked with restaurants like Longhorn Steakhouse, McCormick & Schmick’s, Church’s (during the bird flu scare), Caribou Coffee and others.

And there have been the big tours and events. Hope-Beckham toured a 53-foot peanut around the U.S. promoting peanuts and conducted a Joy of Cola mall tour. When client Invista, maker of Stainmaster carpet, planned to introduce a new line of bedding, Hope-Beckham converted a truck into a glass-enclosed “bedroom.” The truck was parked just outside the venue where buyers were attending an event. When they exited the event, they were greeted by the bedroom scene with actors jumping on the bed, grabbing their attention. For the Coca-Cola Company, we helped with the re-launch of Powerade by painting strongmen like Powerade bottles. They pulled trucks through Union Square in NYC!

Hope-Beckham has worked with so many nonprofits to help build awareness and raise funds for the wonderful work they do. We have worked with Operation Smile, MDA, Hosea’s Feed the Hungry, MAP International, National Down Syndrome Association, Partnership Against Domestic Violence, ALS of Georgia, Christian City, Uzima Water Filtering, HAVE Foundation and HOI, Covenant House … I’m sure I’m not remembering them all. Bob Hope has even been involved in an organization called Atlanta Peace. That’s something I’d like to be involved with … World Peace!

These are the things I choose to remember – not 2020. I look forward to all the new adventures and challenges ahead. Yes, I’ll probably stay up until midnight on December 31, but not to welcome in 2021. I want to make sure 2020 leaves!

On Thanksgiving Eve, I Am Filled with Gratitude

My friend Laura Wilfon recently posted about the Gratitude Journals by Callie and Jeff Dauler. In your journal, you can write down one thing you’re grateful for each and every day. Per their website, “when you start your day with gratitude, you start your day thinking about what you have instead of what you don’t have.”

This year has been terrible. Like everyone else, I’m so over the Coronavirus pandemic, and I’m so ready for there to be a widespread vaccine. I can’t believe it’s almost the end of 2020, and I’ve been sitting in my home office for more than 8 months now – but when I reflect back on the year on Thanksgiving Eve, I have a lot to be grateful for. It’s only fitting that I think about all of this now!

I am grateful that I work with such an amazing team. 2020 was so hard for us as a company. I never thought that we’d lose the Beckham part of Hope-Beckham. I genuinely thought Paul would outlive us all! His sudden death was extremely difficult and sometimes still feels like a bad dream. However, I know it’s a blessing that my team gets along as well as we do, since we genuinely care about each other. In spite of the pandemic, we chat more often now than we ever did before, and we’ve gotten through the hardships of 2020 together.

I am grateful for our awesome clients. I genuinely love working in public relations, and we have some of the best clients. Our clients are our friends, and I love that we feel that way about them. Everyone has truly rallied around us the past few months to make sure we’re doing okay, and I am so incredibly appreciative of everyone’s kindness. Our clients are wonderful people, and I’m so thankful for this. We take such pride in our work, and it makes working so much better to know that we’re surrounded by such great people!

I am grateful that I’m safely at home during the global pandemic. We started working from home in the middle of March, and while it has been lonely at times, I’m thankful that I have the option of being at home. Several of my closest friends are essential workers, and I have so much respect for them. They don’t have the option to work from home. I am grateful that working from home allows me to see my parents when I want to since I don’t have to worry about possibly having COVID. While I miss my regular life, I’ve genuinely enjoyed the slow-paced lifestyle. I’ve also definitely enjoyed the company of my office mate!

All in all, despite this crazy year, I really do have quite a bit to be grateful for. I’m grateful for this daily reminder to take a step back and reflect upon all of the blessings I have in my life.

Leadership is Communication

Will Rodgers once said there were two kinds of people in the world: those who march in the parade and those who sit on the curb and watch as the parade goes by. He concluded that anyone is much better off watching depending on the parade. Those who march see the same thing the entire time. Those who watch are witnessing a long succession of wonders and learning from each one.

I have had the unique experience over the past few decades of being on a curb watching the most notable and acclaimed corporate and civic leaders as well as an array of famous people who excelled at their trades. I became public relations director of the Atlanta Braves at age 24, and mostly because Hank Aaron was in the world spotlight for chasing the home run record held by Babe Ruth, I was in fairly regular meetings with well-known leaders like Ivan Allen Jr. and Robert Woodruff as well as notable leaders who weren’t as well known like Mills B. Lane of C&S Bank or the various owners of Major League Baseball teams. I knew I wasn’t their peer, but I was their friend, privileged with a front-row seat to watch them work. I watched as Hank Aaron navigated the national spotlight and traveled with the hundreds of media who were with him during his journey. Some were somewhat famous themselves like Tom Brokaw, Brent Musberger, Keith Jackson or George Plimpton. I was an observer of fame and greatness.

For years, I worked alongside Ted Turner. He later described the two of us as the “marketing department” saying, “there are hundreds of people now doing what we used to do, and we did a better job than all of them.” Not true, but it gave me a lot of exposure to Ted as well as other unique and great leaders.

Over the years, that spot in the peanut gallery watching the great and famous continued. I sat in the office of Roberto Goizueta, the legendary leader of The Coca-Cola Company as he responded to the national outrage about new Coke, and then I went to dinner with him as an observer while living in New York and working alongside public relations guru Harold Burson. Harold counseled all the top CEOs during a time when high profile corporate leaders were abundant. He would invite me to go along when he met with the likes of Jack Welch of GE and Warren Buffet but also mystical figures like then Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth or the exiled King of Greece or Dennis Connor of America’s Cup fame.

Over the history of Hope-Beckham, I have continued to work alongside, know and observe many very accomplished corporate and civic leaders. If there were such a thing as a doctorate in corporate leadership, I have benefited from being in the classroom for a long, long time. Just through pure exposure, I was bound to learn some lessons from them. This is my chance to pass a few of those lessons along.

1. The CEO is the voice of the organization. Companies can’t speak, only people can speak for a company. The communication buck stops with the CEO. The term chief executive officer was originally chief spokesperson, a designation required by law for public companies to assure transparency. Any CEO who dodges that responsibility has failed. After all, leadership is communication. The voice that leads the company can’t be followed or respected unless that voice communicates clearly what is expected and how those expectations are going to be met.

2. The culture of a company is a reflection of the personality of the leader. There is a saying that culture eats strategy for lunch. Employees as well as the outside world look to the

leader to determine what is expected and allowable, as well as how to act. Nothing can replace charisma and charm at the top. It is step one to success.

3. Keep it simple. I was always fascinated that top CEOs could be very different types of people. A Ted Turner is a much different type of person than a Warren Buffet or a Roberto Goizueta or even a character like Fred Smith of FedEx. I would watch closely trying to figure out the common ground they held. One thing I liked was that they always seemed to understand what I was trying to say, regardless of how awkwardly I said it. One day I was explaining something to Wayne Huizenga who was at the time CEO of Blockbuster Entertainment. I was fumbling through several sentences of explanation when he stopped and said. “What you are saying is….” And he said it in one sentence. He then told me that the primary leadership skill of a CEO is to keep messages very simple. He compared it to the child’s game called telephone, where something is whispered from person to person in a circle, and what comes out at the end is typically nowhere close to the initial message. If you are leading thousands of people, a key is to keep the messaging clear and concise, otherwise, it becomes a game of “telephone” as it moves through the ranks.

4. The CEO is not an operator. CEOs typically get their jobs because they have been excellent operators, and it is initially very hard for them to realize that their job is to hire the heads of the operating units, set direction and get out of the way. Anything else is meddling, getting in the way of the people responsible for running business units. That sounds easy, but it somehow isn’t.

5. The CEO got the job in most cases because of making good decisions along the way. Good decisions come from thoughtful analysis. However, some CEOs go from making the right decisions to thinking decisions are right because they make them. Harold Burson used to call this the “infallibility syndrome.” They feel they know all the answers, even if many of those answers are wrong.

6. The boss is either the smartest person in the entire company and everyone looks to the boss for answers or the boss is just the boss and has the final decision-making authority but everyone in the company is smart and can make decisions well. If the boss is viewed as having the answers, the clog in the drain of efficiency stops up in a hurry. Delegating the right to be smart and make decisions seems difficult for some CEOs.

7. The ivory tower is very wobbly. The air is very thin at the top, and those who report directly to the CEO tend to want to paint a rosy picture. Once Ted Turner told me I was important to him because I always told him what I thought, even if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He noted that most people who worked with him smiled and agreed with everything he said. But then he added, “I like it when people agree with me.” A CEO is wise to have outside observers who are true to the truth of reporting what is being said in the ranks of the company, in the industry, in the media, and generally, in the community the company serves.

8. There is no such thing as an inconsequential comment. Words said by the leader are often repeated and sometimes lead to strange things. When a CEO says good morning on an elevator, it brightens the day of those who are there. If the CEO says nothing, observers feel slighted. If the CEO says there is a spot on the carpet, the carpet will likely be changed overnight. There is a unique power in the words of the leader, and sometimes a few well-chosen words can become a legend.

9. Heritage is the history and brand of a company. A good CEO tends to add folklore to that heritage and that folklore keeps it alive and well. Some CEOs are folklore on steroids, like Fred Smith of FedEx – his C-minus term paper in college on the hub-and-spoke

approach that became FedEx, his gambling to make payroll, his vanishing to Beirut to come up with the big idea of 10 a. m. next day delivery, his “red memos.” Those were extreme legend builders, but James Quincey wearing jeans to work or Ed Bastian running a marathon to raise money to fight cancer, those are the things that build the heritage of corporate culture and also humanize the leaders.

10. Finally, be the darling of the media and Wall Street. Friends tend to treat friends well. It is smart to be friends with key media as well as key analysts. Friendship transcends and strengthens business relationships.

CEOs sometimes avoid stepping up to lead through communications by saying they don’t want to be viewed as self-promoting. “Self-promoter” is a personality, not related to the leader being seen and known. The general public knows a lot about the personal life of Warren Buffet. We know he eats at Dairy Queen, that he lives in the same house he always has in Omaha, that he was Daddy Warbucks in the local theater production of “Annie.” We know more about him than almost anyone in the business world, and yet he is not regarded as a self-promoter.

I’ve enjoyed being friends and observing these great leaders. They are good people, often no smarter than the rest of us, but they have been driven to be high achievers, and they are the ones who set the pace to keep the economy strong and moving forward.

Tips For Working At Home

Here at Hope-Beckham, we have been working from home since March due to the coronavirus, and it looks like there is no end in sight. Companies like Google have recently announced they are keeping employees working from home until summer 2021. It is great to see companies putting the overall health of their employees as such a priority. Extending working from home longer allows employees more time to focus on their work and their wellbeing instead of feeling forced back into the office, paranoid about their health. Below are some tips to help manage your work-life balance while staying out of the office for the foreseeable future.

Set a routine and stick to it
One of the best tips for working from home is to set a schedule and stick to it. Now that so many people are constantly at home with their technology and ability to work, work hours get muddled and may drag on much later than if you were in the office. Setting your schedule will help create a work-life balance that is very hard to establish if you do not set boundaries early on. Part of my routine that I love now is my commute time. Instead of waking up, getting ready, and then driving 30 to 45 minutes to the office, I use what my commute time used to be to begin my day and walk my dog. I used to love my commute in the morning because it was a time to drink my coffee and organize my thoughts for the day, now I organize my thoughts on my walk and get some fresh air before the office day.

Don’t forget to communicate and socialize
The most important tip for working from home is to over-communicate. In the office it was so easy to call a team member to your office and talk about a client, now these conversations are mostly through email, and it is tough to keep track of numerous conversations with one client. Our team has become more connected communicative since working from home to keep everyone in the loop! One of the hardest parts about working from home is the loneliness. I am a people person, so not going into the office and seeing everyone has been hard and has felt a little isolated. Thankfully, Hope-Beckham also has weekly Zoom calls to catch up on our work and look ahead at our work. These Zoom calls are a great way to reconnect with everyone, and it helps to see everyone’s face once a week.

Practice self-care
Being home all day can be draining and very distracting! One easy way to combat this is to have a designated work zone in your home and plan out breaks. Having a designated spot for your new “office” helps put your mind into the work zone and has proven to keep me focused. If I don’t work in my designated office, I find myself snacking and becoming much more distracted throughout the day! Another essential part of self-care is to schedule your breaks and have healthy food around the house. It is easy to munch on food all day, and if you stock up on healthy snacks and prepare full meals, it will make your days much brighter.

Overall, these times are confusing and new for everyone. Give yourself a break and a learning curve! I would never have thought that within my first year of being in the office, I would be working from my apartment, but here we are. The best advice I can offer is to keep on keeping on and adjusting to the new normal and embracing the new environment. One day we will return to the office when it is safe, but who really knows.

Chelsea Rosen Wollerson named PR NEWS PR Professional of the Year in the Nonprofit Category

Anyone who has had the privilege to know or work with Chelsea Rosen knows her bubbly personality, easy-going spirit and her passion for her work. When handling events, Chelsea exemplifies leadership. Day to day in the office, Chelsea is a bright light on our Hope-Beckham Inc. (HBI) team. She is a public relations professional with the utmost respect for her team and her clients.

Chelsea graduated from the University of Georgia in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a minor in Communications. Like many of the others on our Hope-Beckham team, she is a proud Georgia Bulldog!

In 2017, Chelsea joined the HBI team as an account executive where she worked on various accounts including Legacy Ventures, MAP International (MAP) and Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation. After seeing her hard work, dedication and talent for planning events, Chelsea was promoted to Senior Account Executive in 2018.

During her time at HBI, Chelsea has had extensive experience creating first-year fundraising events for nonprofits. In 2017, Chelsea helped MAP establish an annual fundraising initiative for their ongoing work around the world to raise awareness of MAP’s humanitarian efforts in the medical and corporate communities. In addition to creating the event, Chelsea developed the messaging and award for MAP’s inaugural Bill Foege Global Health Awards.

Chelsea has been recognized with numerous awards for her work with MAP and the Bill Foege Global Health Awards including the PR NEWS’ Platinum Awards in 2018 and both the PR Daily Nonprofit Awards and MARCOM Awards in 2019.

In 2019, Chelsea helped Christian City create a fundraising event, the Community Champion Awards. Amongst other first-year event needs, Chelsea helped the nonprofit create the event name, logo, branding and all messaging for the event. These awards supported Christian City’s Safe Place program for runaway and homeless youth. The inaugural event raised over $130,000 for Christian City and their Safe Place Runaway and Homeless Youth program.

These are just a few of Chelsea’s successes and exemplify the justification of her being recognized as this year’s PRNEWS PR People Awards winner in the Nonprofit/Association Category. We are so proud to have Chelsea as part of our team. Her hard work and dedication is more than deserving of this award. We are excited to see her continue to grow and thrive in the years to come. Congratulations Chelsea!