Vitamin | Press Room » Vitamin Exec to Offer Public Relations Advice to AEC Marketing Pros

Vitamin Exec to Offer Public Relations Advice to AEC Marketing Pros

Baltimore, Md. — October 23, 2008

Amanda Karfakis, vice president of communications for Vitamin, will offer a dose of public relations expertise to AEC professionals in the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) during a members-only mentoring lunch at McDonough Bolyard Peck in Columbia, Maryland on November 20, 2008.

Entitled “Press Releases and Announcements,” the mentoring session aims to familiarize AEC marketing professionals with appropriate strategies and tactics for writing press releases and conducting media relations.

Karfakis, a marketing and PR expert with more than 13 years of industry experience, was selected by SMPS to discuss how marketing professionals can inform regional and AEC trade media of newsworthy events occurring at their firms, including project milestones, new hires, and personnel changes.

Specific topics to be explored include the creation of compelling, media-appropriate press releases and announcements, the do’s and don’ts of press release distribution and follow-up, and how to secure editorial coverage. To reinforce specific PR concepts, Karfakis will walk participants through a number of different approaches to messaging strategies for announcing firm news.

Karfakis, who spearheads Vitamin’s strategic development and manages public relations initiatives for the boutique firm’s growing list of AEC clients, advocates the importance of involving AEC marketing professionals in a firm’s overall PR and branding strategy.

“When a firm’s marketing professionals know the basics of publicizing news, architecture, engineering and construction firms are better equipped to stand out from the crowd and have their voices heard,” says Karfakis.

About Vitamin^®
Vitamin is the “Cure for the Common Brand,” the mid-Atlantic’s first boutique design-web-PR firm focused on nourishing brands through a best practices, all-in-house approach to creating cohesive identity, print, interactive and public relations programs. Vitamin’s diverse client list encompasses regional and national companies including numerous AEC firms, educational institutions, healthcare firms, restaurant/hospitality businesses, non-profit organizations, and specialized search/staffing firms.

About SMPS
The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) was created in 1973 by small group of professional services firm leaders who recognized the need to sharpen skills, pool resources, and work together to create business opportunities. Today, SMPS represents a dynamic network of 6,900+ marketing and business development professionals from architectural, engineering, planning, interior design, construction, and specialty consulting firms located throughout the United States and Canada. The Society and its 55 chapters benefit from the support of 3,250 design and building firms, encompassing 80% of the Engineering News-Record Top 500 Design Firms and Top 400 Contractors. www.smps.org