What do I love most about public relations? People work hard to play hard. PR people are a special breed – including us “agency-folk” working with several clients at once. As Sam Fletcher recently pointed out, PR execs are listed as having the seventh most stressful job out there according to this year’s CareerCast survey. That said, we here at Matter have endeavored to find the balance between work and play, with a special emphasis on social good.

Take, for example, our holiday party this year. Before we departed for a long break, we gathered for a celebration of the great year we had. Because we were fortunate enough to have family and friends join us for a night of food, drink and dance, we wanted to make sure we were still productive with our time – as PR professionals often do. In the fast-changing world of PR, we don’t have a minute to spare so we have to make them all count. With that in mind, we collected Toys for Tots donations at the door and delivered all leftovers from our meal to the Salvation Army for lunch the next day.

I feel grateful to work at a company that has such a strong belief in giving back. Too often do we get sucked into the craziness of work, and forget to come up for air. I hope that 2012 will bring even more charitable activities here at Matter, but in the meantime, these were my favorite highlights of 2011:

Care Packages for Marines: My amazing coworkers put together 11 boxes of goodies for my brother and his platoon who were deployed in Afghanistan.

Jeanne Geiger Walk Against Violence: Matter made a financial donation for this cause and participated in a 5k walk around Newburyport to raise awareness of domestic violence.

What do you do to balance out work? Any cool social-good opportunities you think we should look in to?

The Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, the highly-respected (and now nationally-known) Newburyport-based organization that developed a ground-breaking program toward ending domestic violence in local communities, is one of the many local charitable entities supported by Matter. We have contributed to this organization in a number of ways over the past few years and just yesterday more than 30 of us (including friends and some family) participated in its Annual Walk Against Violence.

The work that takes place daily at the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center is nothing shy of tremendous and it puts in perspective so much that we prioritize in our respective days. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the selfless dedicated staff of the JGCC who work so hard to help others, and I am consistently in awe of their commitment to success. Supporting this organization has been a significant source of pride for me.

However, an equally great source of pride continues to be the wonderful, committed and supportive people who work at Matter every day. In addition to being outstanding PR professionals, we have so many “good” people who understand that the success we experience in work is only one piece of a complex puzzle that makes daily life positive. With regularity, Matter employees sacrifice their personal time and energy for the benefit of others. During yesterday’s walk, I was reminded by a friend of how significant it is to have so many employees, friends and family spend a good portion of a beautiful Sunday in October for this cause. While not necessary, it was another nice reminder of how fortunate I am to work side-by-side with such a wonderful team.

My college roommate, Monya, had two particularly enviable traits: an indelible eye for whatever nightlife spots/new designers/under-the-radar bands/dining options were cool and the ability to talk to – and become  fast friends with – anyone. Even in an otherwise anonymous, large university, Monya couldn’t strut two steps without running into someone she knew by name, complete with colorful back story on how or why they met. People constantly sought her out for recommendations on everything from what parties to attend that weekend to which professor to avoid when filling out classes schedules. In short, she was a natural born social influencer. I’d post a back-in-the-day photo of us here, but that would A.) mean finding a scanner (pre-Facebook) and B.) reveal an unfortunate, late 90′s proclivity to long hair.

While I’d agree that you can improve your own social skills by learning how to make better small-to-medium talk and putting yourself into varied settings for practice, you can’t teach someone to be a social influencer. People like Monya are born that way - possessing a rare combination of charisma and genuine interest in the people around them – and they have tremendous power to sway their social circles.

Tastemakers with large networks don’t just walk our college campuses, they’re everywhere – especially online. Bloggers, Twitterati superstars and Facebook fiends (and those who are all of the above) affect consumer preferences whether it be on the most reliable diaper or the best cloud service for SMBs.

At Matter, we’ve recognized how the “Monyas” have gone digital and are wielding their influence throughout the social space. To harness the power of these individuals, we’ve created what we call a TIP (Targeted Influencer Program) offering for our clients. TIP is a formalized way to strengthen relationships with those key people who shape buying decisions of their readers, followers and friends. Of course, these programs are customized to each client and depend on a thorough research and measurement process to identify the players in our clients’ spaces and quantify the impact of their social sway both before and during a TIP campaign.

We’ve seen great success for consumer and technology clients already, from positive shifts in overall conversation about their brands across social platforms to changing perceptions of individual influencers, and, if I can use another college reference/term, we’re psyched to help more brands do the same.

This week Matter announced the strengthening of our management team via new hiring and promotions. Congratulations to:

-        Kristin Amico, account manager.

-        Zachary Heath, account manager.

-        Anne Lines, account director.

-        Samantha Racki, account manager.

-        Greg Wind, account manager.

-        Tobi Young, account director.

We’re proud to work alongside these skilled PR practitioners. But they’re more than just PR pros. Each of them is a little, um, colorful, too. See if you can guess who’s who.

1-     At age 10, this person took apart a radio to find where all the instrument sounds and voices were coming from.

2-     This person has a puggle – a mix of a beagle and a pug – named “Lemon” after Liz Lemon, the character on 30 Rock.

3-     This person once shared a Capitol Hill elevator with Strom Thurmond, the U.S. Senator from South Carolina.

4-     This person lives in a 19^th-century house in the city where the U.S. Coast Guard was born.

5-     This person once drove across country writing about food and later started a cupcake truck.

6-     This person’s cats “Benson” and “Stabler” are named after characters in the TV show Law & Order SVU.

Think you can match the numbers with the names? The answers are in the Comment section below.

This is an exciting day at Matter (and not just because tonight is our weekly staff basketball game.)

Today we’re officially announcing the addition of professional video capabilities to the PR services we offer our clients.

If you’re online, chances are you watch video, too. (Nearly 85 percent of U.S. Internet users viewed online video last  month.) So you know how important video has become as a way of getting messages across.

Our consumer and high-tech clients know it, too. That’s why we’re excited to begin offering tons of video content – news releases, newsletters, product demonstrations, customer testimonials, newsroom-ready B-roll, viral videos.

We’ve already got several video projects under way. Something tells me we’ll be keeping the new video team awfully busy.

Full disclosure: I am a flag-waving Matter Communications fan. I’ve put in time at a few agencies, ranging from a small PR division of a primarily ad shop to  playing the “cog in the machine” role at a global agency, and nowhere have I felt more confident in company leadership than at Matter.  And this week, I’m thrilled to see public recognition of our CEO, Scott Signore, by our public relations peers: Scott has been named to PRWeek’s famed “40 Under 40” list.

Scott’s an avid sailor – next time you visit our Newburyport offices, be sure to check out the gorgeous photo of the Skylge, a classic schooner, by famed photographer (and part of Matter client Lexar’s team) Onne van de Wal– and the steady hand and cool head that has served him so well in that sport has been invaluable to guiding Matter through economic turbulence and smooth waters alike.  He sets the standard for the agency, uniting disparate individuals in a company culture that encourages a winning combination of fresh ideas, diligent research and dogged determination to achieve business-driving results for our clients.  Public relations is by nature a stressful field, but by providing a secure home base, Scott and his executive team at Matter have created a team-oriented environment that provides employees and clients alike with a sense of reassurance, of knowing that each of us has the resources we need to produce extraordinary work.

In addition to leading the Matter team from a business perspective, Scott has led by example in his work with community causes. He’s provided employees with the opportunity to put our PR skills to work for non- and not-for-profit causes including Camp Sunshine (Casco, ME) and the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center (Newburyport, MA).

Hats off to Scott for the well-deserved kudos!

At Matter we were honored this week to receive a Bell Ringer award from the Publicity Club of New England for business press coverage for our client Altman Vilandrie & Company. It’s always nice to receive a pat on the back from the experts in your own industry.

The award event, held at a nice hotel outside Boston, was an amusing snapshot of the PR industry – 300 people who talk for a living gathered in one room. If there was a single moment’s pause in conversation all night, I didn’t hear it!

In large PR gatherings I’m always reminded of the predominance of women in our industry – more than 70 percent by some estimates. It wasn’t always this way. In 1981, as this New York Times article points out, female membership in the Public Relations Society of America had risen sharply – to 33 percent!

PR events are always a good excuse to step back from the fast pace of the day-to-day and think about the work we do. One speaker mentioned a Facebook page that had the whole place laughing: “I work in PR and my family and friends have no idea what I do.” I can definitely relate – after years in PR my family still thinks I work in advertising.

“You must love that show ‘Mad Men,’” they say.

Today’s edition of The Boston Globe features the article “Jobless rate falls, a first since ’07,” It takes a look how the Commonwealth’s jobless rate falling for the first time since 2007. The article highlights Matter as a company that is seeing growth and expansion.

Here is the full text of the article:

The state unemployment rate fell last month for the first time in nearly three years as Massachusetts employers added thousands of jobs, the clearest sign yet that the economic recovery is gaining strength, the state reported yesterday. 

The job gains were broad based, spreading across sectors from retail to technology to financial services, and apparently strong enough to bring down the unemployment rate even as thousands more residents entered the labor market in search of work.

“It is hard to see anything bad in this,’’ Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economics professor at Northeastern University, said of the report.

Massachusetts employers expanded payrolls by 7,600 jobs in March, the largest monthly gain since May 2007, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported. The jobless rate slipped to 9.3 percent from 9.5 percent in February, the first decline since April 2007.

In addition, revised data showed that employers added 4,000 jobs in February, 2,500 more than first estimated.

The hiring rebound is the latest evidence the state economy is turning the corner, following the worst national recession in nearly 70 years.

On Wednesday, a Federal Reserve survey found that economic conditions were improving in New England as businesses reported rising demand, increasing sales, and even some hiring. Last month, Moody’s Economy.com, a respected forecasting firm in West Chester, Pa., estimated that Massachusetts began a recovery in January, based on its analysis of employment, industrial production, and other data.

“We are very encouraged and hope that this trend will move forward,’’ said Joanne Goldstein, the secretary of labor and workforce development.

Matter Communications Inc., a Newburyport public relations firm, is among the businesses that began to rebound at the end of last year. Its clients, which range from technology firms to consumer products companies, began to spend again, said Scott Signore, Matter’s chief executive, and over the past few months, revenues have grown at double-digit rates compared with the previous year. Now, he said, the firm is looking to expand its workforce of 36 by four positions.

“We’re back on our growth trajectory,’’ said Signore. “We’re going to have the need for additional bodies between now and the end of the year.’’

The rebound in Massachusetts labor markets follows solid job gains nationally, and the US unemployment rate appears to have peaked, holding at 9.7 percent for the past three months, after rising to 10.1 percent in October.

In Massachusetts, key sectors posted gains. Financial services added 1,800 jobs, the first monthly increase since October 2008, when stock and credit markets plunged following the collapse of Wall Street investment firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Professional and business services, which include a variety of technology, scientific, and research firms, added 1,600 jobs. Retailers, in a sign of rebounding consumer spending, added more than 2,000 jobs in March.

Tammy Sullivan, 28, of Roxbury, was out of work for nearly a year after getting laid off from a Dedham restaurant. She applied for retail and customer service jobs at more places than she could count, including a new supermarket at which more than 3,000 people applied for some 200 jobs. But two weeks ago, she was hired to work in the copy center of a Staples store in Dedham.

 “I was so happy,’’ Sullivan said. “I was applying constantly. It was pretty hard.’’

The recovery has a long way to go to repair the damage of the recession. The state still has 155,000 fewer jobs than when the recession began here in March 2008, and more than 300,000 residents remain unemployed. Nationally, the Labor Department reported that first-time claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week to 484,000 from 460,000 the previous week.

Still, analysts said, the recovery appears to be gaining momentum.

“We’re not looking at spectacular growth, but we’re seeing new jobs being created,’’ said Andre Mayer, senior vice president for research at Associated Industries of Massachusetts. “This is what we needed to see.’’

Meanwhile, competition for skilled workers in fields such as technology appears to be increasing.

VistaPrint NV, the Internet printing services firm that employs more than 500 in Lexington, has hired about 125 workers over the past nine months, said Kevin Murray, director of recruiting. But recently, VistaPrint candidates have begun to get offers from other firms. VistaPrint has responded by hiring recruiters to compete more aggressively for the skilled workers it needs.

“We are not in a war for talent,’’ said Murray. “But it is tightening up.’’

Rachel Yaroschuk, 23, of Needham, who graduated from the University of Maryland last May, spent more than six months looking for a job. “I kept pressing, send, send, send,’’ she said, referring to the countless number of resumes she sent online.

Then, earlier this year, she was hired as a corporate communications associate at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Cambridge.

“I was so excited, I actually jumped up and down,’’ she said. “I felt really fortunate that it was a job that I really wanted.’’

Our hometown newspaper, the Newburyport Daily News, was kind enough to include information about our continued growth and success in yesterday’s edition, pointing to our recent announcement that we’ve doubled our office space in Newburyport and Providence and are looking to add more incredible PR professionals to our team.

Of course, as Matter continues to grow, our client roster has diversified quite a bit, allowing us to work with a truly remarkable and varied list of businesses and organizations. This week, we’re happy to confirm, as reported in the Gloucester Daily Times, the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce has enlisted us to help raise Gloucester’s profile as a premier tourist and business destination. The Innkeepers of Cape Ann have a nice write-up about our new relationship and, as they note, we’re just as excited as they are to get the word out about this amazing New England community.

Here’s the full text of the Daily Times piece:

Chamber hires PR firm to raise Gloucester’s profile
The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce has hired Matter Communications, a Newburyport-based award-winning North Shore public relations firm, to boost Gloucester’s profile as a premier tourist and business destination.

Gloucester residents John Mcelhenny and Ariane Doud will lead Matter’s PR campaign for Gloucester. “Gloucester is the most authentic seaport in America,” said Mcelhenny, “and those of us who live here know there is no shortage of fascinating, positive Gloucester stories to tell. There’s an untapped, nationwide market for Gloucester’s entrepreneurial businesses, scenic beauty, cultural richness and maritime identity. PR will give Gloucester a megaphone to tell its stories, attract new visitors and power the local economy.”

 ”Attracting more leisure and business travelers will strengthen all of our businesses,” said Bob Hastings, executive director of Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, “from tourist-based along the Back Shore and harbor to the city shops and restaurants.”

The PR effort was launched by Gloucester hotel owners Tracey Muller of Bass Rocks Ocean Inn, Mona Faherty of the Sea Lion Motel and Jan Bordinaro of the Atlantis Oceanfront Inn, and may expand to include other Cape Ann communities.

Whether teaming up with local, New England-based organizations or national businesses based elsewhere, we consider ourselves an extension of our clients’ internal PR and marketing teams. Their success is our success, and as we add new names to our client list and bring new team members on board, this mantra will continue to play a big part in how we all conduct business on a day-to-day basis. It’s an exhilerating time, and we’re thankful to all who have helped us get to where we are, and who will help us get to where we’re going.

And with that…cheers! Lots to celebrate. And by the way…have you visited Gloucester yet?