On one rainy evening in November, six friends, including myself, were hanging out, having a grand ole’ time, when one of them suddenly had an epiphany.

Tyler Macklin, a University of Oregon electronic media major, realized that everyone who was hanging out had something in common: they were all involved in the field of media, and not only that, but they all brought different media skills to the table.

To make a long story short, those six individuals now make up Altered Impact Media (AIM), a freelance full service production company based out of Eugene, Oregon.

Currently AIM is in the process of making its Web site, gaining clients, and establishing a presence in the Eugene market.

Now that I’ve talked about how AIM came to be, I will tell you what we “AIM” to do.

Altered Impact Media (AIM) is an innovative, cutting-edge media production company. We AIM to provide our customers with professional media services at competitive prices.

AIM strives to create distinctive, individual, and fresh presentations for our clients. We offer a wide variety of media services for every production demand, including graphic design, professional audio and visual services, public relations, and imaginative conceptualization of ideas through creative collaboration.

AIM comprises a passionate team of media professionals who are dedicated to producing high quality projects. With our experienced and qualified video editors, digital effects artists, audio experts, and strategic public relations professionals, AIM provides you with economical professional excellence.

Most importantly, we love what we do. Our quality projects and the lasting relationships we build along the way are testimonials to the passion and skills we offer.

If you have the vision, we have the ambition and ability to make others see it, and respond to it.

Discover what we can do for you: check our Web site to view our professional portfolios and contact information.

Be remembered, and use AIM for impact.

Check out our demo reel to get a feel for what we can do.

AIM is in the works of finishing our first client’s project, which happens to be making a book trailer for “Glory Rose and the Gloaming,” the book I have been doing PR for. My previous blog post goes into more detail on this project.

Also check out our Web site at www.alteredimpactmedia.com

As I mentioned in a previous post, Eugene filmmakers, Tyler Macklin and Michael Miller, are in the process of producing a video book trailer for the fantasy novel I have been promoting, “Glory Rose and the Gloaming.”

The story follows the adventures of a pink-haired, outcast fairy named Glory Rose, who sets out on a dangerous mission to save her magic world, The Ensorcelled Realm, from the evil sorcerer Bassarab. Along the way she encounters an interesting assortment of creatures, including giants, trolls, leprechauns, kelpies, pixies and even a wise old dragon. The most recent review of “Glory Rose and the Gloaming,” was featured in the Register Guard’s “Book Picks” section on March 2.

Here is the initial story board of the trailer.

Drawn by Tracey Gill

The filming for the trailer was completed on March 11, and is now in the post-production phase. Macklin and Miller will be busy editing and creating the many special effects.

Here’s a sneak peak of what they’ve gotten done so far.

Let us know what you think about it. We would love to hear your feedback.

In public relations, reaching out to the community and getting involved is often an important, common objective for many clients. Whether you’re doing PR for an organization that is active in the community, or you’re a PR student trying to find ways to use your PR skills to help out someone for a resume booster, the community is almost like a member of the family in the field of public relations.

Sharon Brandsma’s story is no different.

In September 2008, Brandsma finished writing, illustrating and co-publishing Glory Rose and the Gloaming. Since then, she has been busy with many book signings, marketing tours, agent meetings, a TV appearance and trying to finish writing Glory Rose’s sequel “Glory Rose and the Book of Shadows,” which is due out next fall.

Glory Rose and the Gloaming has inspired many local citizens to get involved and support Brandsma on her adventure and journey to becoming a nationally recognized author.

Recently University of Oregon electronic media major, Tyler Macklin, produced a news segment featuring how the local community of Eugene is involved with Glory Rose and the Gloaming.

So, here it is! Hope you enjoy, (you might recognize a familiar face).

How do you get involved with your local community? Tell me your story.

I know that I have been on a blogging hiatus for more than three weeks now, but with the holidays, and my last college term plus two internships at The Ulum Group and KEZI starting up, I have been keeping busy to say the least.

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared any news on Glory Rose and the Gloaming, and it’s certainly time to update everyone because I have some very exciting news!

As many of you know, I began doing freelance PR work for Sharon Brandsma, author of Glory Rose and the Gloaming. In the time that I have been working with the book, the local awareness and success of the book has

Sharon Brandsma

substantially increased. Because of all the online archived stories from newspapers, as well as my blog and other social media efforts I’ve used, Glory Rose has a well-paved digital footprint. In fact, because of its “searchability” on the Internet, Brandsma was contacted by an interested, high-profile book agent. To make a long story short, Brandsma now has Sidney Kramer as her official agent. What’s really exciting is that Kramer is not just an any book agent; he is experienced and recognized. In 1945 Kramer helped co-found Bantam Books, which is a major U.S. publishing house owned by Random House. He was also named as having one of the top literary agencies, Mews Books Ltd., for fantasy novels. Bantam Books is part of the Bantam Dell Publishing Group and publishes fiction, nonfiction, mystery and suspense, science fiction and fantasy, romance and erotica and health books. Some of the current Bantam best sellers include “Light of the Moon” by Luanne Rice, and “The Appeal” by John Grisham

While the excitement of all of this is great, the anticipation and mystery is a bit distracting and preoccupying to Brandsma. The book is currently being “shopped” in New York City. The process of “shopping” a book on the market, especially in these economic times, can often take a long time. So as you can imagine, Bransma is optimistic, yet feels a bit stuck as well. When we talked last weekend, we joked about how wonderful all this is; however now, “we wait.”

In the meantime, Brandsma will be keeping busy with books signings, and trying to finish the second novel in the trilogy. Randi Bjornstad, the Register Guard reporter who wrote the first media coverage on Glory Rose, is going to write another feature story on the updates of the book, which is coming out right before Brandsma’s book signing at Tsunami Books on Jan. 24. We’re hoping to draw a large crowd for that signing because there is going to be an “in character” reader, as well as a local dijeridu musician playing background music. The Oregonian is also going to do a book review on Glory Rose in the next few weeks.

There is also a short teaser trailer in the works of production, which is going to be similar to the style of an attention-grabbing movie trailer. Tyler Macklin and Michael Miller, the two filmmakers I blogged about awhile ago, are the videographers that Brandsma has hired to work on this project. Within the next few weeks, the filming will begin.

So there you have it, all the current news on Glory Rose and the Gloaming. I will certainly be keeping you all updated on Glory Rose’s journey to success! Until then, if you haven’t already read Glory Rose, then you should. Look at it this way, if the book goes big, then you will have yourself a first edition (collectors’ item) copy of the book!

Book poster that Tyler Macklin and I created

Merry Christmas from the Pacific Northwest! I want to wish everyone a healthful, cheerful and peaceful holiday season.

Merry Christmas from the top of Spencer's Butte in Eugene, Oregon.

If you have a few minutes to spare, check out these videos. They are from the documentary “Playing for Change: Peace Through Music.”

“Stand By Me”

“One Love”

“I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for oneself, one’s own family or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace.” –The Dalai Lama

During the holiday season, it’s probably safe to assume that most of us will attend at least one holiday party. Whether it is a Christmas work party or an annual family reunion, it’s typical for alcoholic beverages to be on the guest list. For some, it is one of the only times of year where it is acceptable to get “buzzed” in front of your boss or grandma; however, sometimes, people take this too far.

As many of you may know, the holidays can be one of the deadliest and most dangerous times of the year due to impaired driving. In December 2007, 992 people were killed in crashes that involved a drunk driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That’s why every year around this time the NHTSA and www.stopimpaireddriving.org use aggressive marketing strategies to achieve real results.

Starting in 2006, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and NHTSA launched the first-ever December holiday season advertising campaign “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.”

I’m sure that most of you have seen this ad by now.

Although I think this commercial is creative and to-the-point, I find it odd (and a bit misleading) that the USDOT and NHTSA only use one target demographic: 25-30 year old men. While this is a great image booster for teenagers and adult women in their 20s and 30s, it’s not an accurate, complete portrayal of the drunk drivers on the road. According to the NHTSA, “Young, white male drivers account for a large share of the alcohol-crash problem….Research continues to show that young drivers are more often involved in alcohol-related crashes than any other comparable age group….The highest intoxication rates in fatal crashes were recorded for drivers 21-24 years old (27 percent), followed by ages 25- 34 (24 percent) and 35-44 (22 percent).” Sure, men may be the most stereotypical demographic to drive drunk, but that doesn’t mean that women do not.

Maybe I’m being nitpicky, but I feel that USDOT and NHTSA could have produced a more accurate drunk driving advertisement. In my opinion, there are two places in this ad where a woman could have been used instead of a man: the car with the martini or the car with the cosmopolitan. I mean haven’t they watched Sex and the City? The ad also could have improved if all the men were not clearly around the same age. By adding one woman and one younger man, this ad could have become more realistic in my eyes ; however at the same time, I understand that the USDOT and NHTSA were presumably targeting the “prime suspects” for impaired driving.

Although it may seem like I’m criticizing the USDOT and NHTSA, I’m not. I am simply a detail-oriented PR student who sees room for improvement in a national advertisement. I think it’s imperative that both these government agencies continue to be proactive about the serious national issue with drunk driving.

By following these easy steps from www.stopimpaireddriving.com, a driver can enjoy a safe and festive holiday without jeopardizing their life and the lives of the others who may be on the road:

• Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin;
• Before drinking, please designate a sober driver and give that person your keys;
• If you’re impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation so you are sure to get home safely;
• If you happen to see a drunk driver on the road, don’t hesitate to contact your local law enforcement;
• And remember, if you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.

If there’s one thing you take away from this blog post let it be that no amount of good cheer will be able to save you from the consequences of drunk driving. If law enforcement officials catch you, they will arrest you. No exceptions. No excuses.

Don’t let this guy be you.

The end of fall term has quickly stumbled upon me, and I am thrilled to say that this has been the most successful, and rewarding term of my college career! For the first time ever, I feel enthusiastic and confident about where my future in public relations will take me.

Brandsma and I at the 2008 Author and Artists' Fair

I am so grateful to have gotten to work with Sharon Brandsma and “Glory Rose and the Gloaming.” As you know, I’ve been busy pitching and promoting her book, and so far the results of my work have been beyond successful.

Getting involved with Glory Rose was definitely a new experience for me; I became passionate about something I was working on and because of that, I did everything in my power to support Brandsma in accomplishing her goals. Even though I am talking in the past tense, I am still very much committed to continuing to help Brandsma next term.

Besides being ignited by Glory Rose, I have to give a major thanks to my professor Tiffany Derville. She made this term productive and worthwhile (i.e. she challenged me). This could be seen as a negative thing for some students, but I tend to do better when I am challenged. Thanks to her, I am now a part of the blogosphere. I have sharpened my social media and Web navigational skills. I have created a professional resume and portfolio. I have a digital footprint: when you Google my name stuff actually comes up. I better understand common grammar errors PR professionals tend to make. And most important, I have a sense of confidence in my work.

Enough about the past, let’s talk about the future.

My winter term is going to be significantly different than this term. I will be working as a public relations intern at The Ulum Group, which is a full-service public relations firm in Eugene. I am also going to be working as the creative production/promotions intern at KEZI-TV. Both of the supervisors who hired me on seem really excited to have me joining their team, which makes me even more excited and motivated to prove my worth! I am looking forward to all the opportunities and challenges that will emerge from these internships. Having these two internships will hopefully make my soon-to-be transition of college (kid) life to career (adult) life a bit smoother as well. I will be working Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m, as well as taking my last four college credits. So I will be busy! But who isn’t these days?

So there’s a recap of fall term and highlights of what’s to come for next. I will probably be taking a hiatus from blogging for a bit to rightfully celebrate the holidays with friends and family; however, I totally intend to keep blogging it up next term so stay tuned!

Everyone by now has heard of “Twilight.” You have either read it yourself (meaning you are probably a woman); you’ve heard about it from your girlfriend, wife, or daughter; or you’ve seen it publicized on TV or the Internet. I admit, I am a die hard “Twilight” fan. I have almost completed the entire saga; I only have 300 pages left of “Breaking Dawn,” which I’m absolutely loving so far!

Contrary to what some critics said about the movie, I thought it was very well done and stayed true to the book. I had very high expectations for the film and especially of Edward Cullen in particular. Sure the screen writing could have been a bit stronger, but overall, the on screen passion between Edward and Bella felt real, and the beautiful, Northwest filmed cinematography was spectacular. Even my boyfriend, who is a film major, thought the movie contained some stunning outdoor cinematic shots. My favorite scene of the movie is when Edward is climbing (or more like running) up a 200ft tree with Bella on his back. At one point the camera pulls from a close up to a panoramic view and reveals them standing near the top of the 200ft tree. It’s remarkable camera work that you can tell was not green screened!

Since I am a PR major, my mind is often naturally thinking about public relations things, such as how I could creatively promote something, or how a company could promote something better. While I was in the theater thoroughly enjoying “Twilight,” I noticed some definite intended product placement. Can anyone guess what I’m referring to?

Well, I can tell you that it’s not Bella’s 1953 Chevy truck, or Edward’s Volvo S60 R, or even Rosalie’s BMW M3 convertible. I’m actually talking about Charlie’s and Billy’s drink of choice: Rainier Beer.

If you don’t know already, Rainier beer is a Northwest born and brewed beer. Stroh Brewing company has slacked local thirsts in the Georgetown area of Seattle for more than a century now! Once prohibition ended, the owners of the brewery installed a giant, red “R” neon sign (visible from I-5) that later became a local landmark. In the 80s, the climax of Rainier Beer’s popularity, the brand produced some of the region’s quirkiest and popular advertising, such as the running of the RainBeers (a herd of bottles with legs sticking out of them) and a motorcycle whose gears shifted to the whine of the product’s name. The brewery became the fourth largest in the world. In 1999, Rainier Beer was sold to Pabst brewing Company and soon after the famous “R” sign was taken down.

I thought it was very clever and refreshing to see the movie use a locally brewed and nationally recognized old-time beer favorite. Charlie, the protagonist’s dad, referred to Rainier Beer as “Vitamin R.” There were at least three scenes that showed Charlie getting back from the store with two, 6-packs of Rainier “tall boys,” or slugging down a can of Rainier Beer while listening to Bella talk. There’s even one scene where Bella says something like, “Here dad, have another one of your favorites,” referring to the beer. I found the product placement to be very appropriate. Obviously Pabst Brewing Co. had to give Summit Entertainment permission to use the beer in the film. You would also have to assume that they probably agreed on some financial arrangements for the beer to be used, because I can assure you that Rainer Beer was not incorporated into the “Twilight” books, written by Stephenie Meyer.

It’s interesting because Pabst Brewing Co. has not really invested in advertising in over 20 years. It’s also interesting that it is hard to find Rainier Beer these days. Many stores and restaurants do not even stock it anymore. I worked at a restaurant this summer, and we sold Rainier Beer… let’s just say on more than one occasion I made guys’ days because of that.

I would categorize this type of PR promoting as “guerrilla PR.” I don’t think the intention of Pabst Brewing Co. or director, Catherine Hardwicke, was to revamp the brand name of Rainier Beer, as so much as to honor the Northwest region by using one of its own products as a prop.

I wonder how the product placement of Rainier Beer in “Twilight” will affect (or not affect) sales. What do you think?

Even at a vampire movie my mind is still thinking PR. Is that strange?

If you have a minute you should definitely check out this old-school Rainier Beer commercial. It’s pretty darn funny.

Over the holiday weekend “Glory Rose the Gloaming” was given the gift of being featured in three more regional newspapers! It is amazing to watch the progress since Glory Rose’s release in September 2008. Since her initial media coverage on Nov. 16, Brandsma has continued to receive fan mail and inquires about the book through e-mails. She is hoping that people will continue to follow their interests and curiosities by buying the book and spreading the word.

The Gazette Times entertainment reporter, Theresa Hogue, wrote an excellent review of the book that portrayed Glory Rose and Brandsma’s writing in high regards. This is the first published book review of Glory Rose, and I’m happy to announce that it was a success! The article that ran in the Gazette Times, also ran in the Albany Democrat Herald on November 28, 2008.

Today, an article in the Bend Bulletin came out, which featured a more detailed look into Brandsma’s background and how she began writing Glory Rose.

It has been refreshing that all three articles have had different angles to them. Each reporter has personally told Bransma how much they enjoyed the book, which they have all clearly shown in their writing.

One PR concept that I have learned from doing this project is that reporters usually need (or highly prefer) an event or special occasion to tie in with a story, especially for something like promoting an author and book. It was much easier to pitch the story idea to reporters after Branssma landed a book signing or reading somewhere.

The next steps for Glory Rose are to continue to promote and market the book to even more areas of Oregon, including Salem and the Portland. I will keep you all posted on Glory’s Rose’s escalating journey to success!!

Since I am Brandma’s publicist, it would only be appropriate for me to remind you that Glory Rose is available on Amazon.com and Target.com for only $14.99. Books are great gifts to buy for friends and family. I’m sure many of you gave the “Twilight” books a chance, so why not give an Oregon author a chance?

Here are even more reasons why you should give a book as a gift:

• “A Book. Longer-lasting than a fruitcake, cheaper than a flat screen, more fun than a partridge in a pear tree.”
• “Books return dividends for life.”
• “Why a book? Because a new tie never changed anyone’s life.”
• “Affordable. Portable. Memorable. Books are a gift beyond measure.”
• “Give love. Give time. Give joy. Give books.”
• “A Book: The perfect gift for someone who has everything. The perfect gift for someone who has nothing.”

A few of my friends and I recently had a conversation about how the video store industry has got to be on the verge of collapse. In all honestly, how many of you still make the trip to the go to video store? My guess is, is that most people do not. There are so many other options for video renters today that are so much cheaper than Hollywood Video or Blockbuster. Anyone heard of Netflicks or better yet, Redbox?

I’ll sum up some of the reasons why I think people turn to these two choices more frequently as opposed to video stores: They are profoundly cheaper, much more quick and efficient, no extra gas expenses, no waiting in lines, and no driving all the way there to find that the video you want is gone.

All this got me thinking about how the video store industry should try and revive and revamp itself.

Well, I think the answer lies in changing some of the ways they are doing business, and most importantly, developing a strong public relations promoting campaign.

I was never a frequent visitor of Blockbuster so I’m going to use Hollywood Video as the example store.

After brainstorming a bit, I thought of some of PR tactics that I think Hollywood Video could have success with. Keep in mind that this is all hypothetical, and I’m’ pretending to have a decent budget.

It would be ideal if Hollywood Video could slash its prices, but I’m thinking that it might be a little unrealistic with the brewing economic troubles. So, I would suggest Hollywood Video to get inside the head of its consumers and think and understand why people are choosing other renters over them. You could probably narrow the reasons to: cost of movie, cost of gas it takes to drive to video store (and back to return), and pure inconvenience. Here are the tactics I came up with.

1. Start a daily “happy hour” during certain hours of the day where people could come in and either receive a $1 off coupon, a free soda, candy, or popcorn bucket, or an old movie rental for $1.

2. Create and pitch a strong proposal aimed at partnering with a national gas company. Ideally, Hollywood would like to giveaway gas coupons to all customers, which would then “drive” the customer to that particular gas station, where a free rental coupon would be given away with any fill up. A mututally benefical strategy.

3. Develop a sweepstakes contest for customers who spend a certain amount of money or come in many times a month, to enter to win a trip to Hollywood, CA where the winner would receive passes to tour Universal Studios.

4. Give away free movie coupons to local schools, libraries, museums, art studios, restaurants, boutiques and other places where people would use and appreciate the coupon. This would help broaden awareness that Hollywood Video is trying to stay “In tuned” and up-to-date with the changing technology.

5. Raise awareness about Hollywood Video’s Community Spotlight project called “Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation.”

Although these are just a few hypothetical ideas about what the suffering video store rental industry could do to improve their faltering business endeavors, I think that many of the tactics I mentioned could generate positive media coverage, which is exactly what Hollywood Video would want.

Unfortunately, it may be only a matter of technological advances (or time) before video stores are completely taken out. Realistically, I envision being able to download any new or old movie instantaneously on your own computer within the next three to five years, don’t you?