This little baby is off to kindergarten! December marks five (FIVE) years of PR Couture – and like all previous years, I like to take a moment and wax nostalgic on the amazing things that happened this year, including the posts I am most proud of!

The Amazing

In 2011, I was invited to attend the WWDMagic Tradeshow as part of the Teen Vogue blogger lounge and spoke on a panel with Jane Aldridge (Sea of Shoes), and Erika Domasek (PS I made this) that streamed live on TeenVogue.com. I was  featured in 944 Magazine and later did a video interview from my living room for The Look. I  wrote an article for Apparel Insiders on 5 Things PR Often Gets Wrong About Social Media, and my love affair with Pinterest was cemented when they asked to interview me on their blog! I was also invited to be honored for my “contributions to the industry” ooh la la  – at the inaugural Women in PR Summit. Alas, the stars did not align on my ability to attend, but the request meant a very lot to me! I also brought on an amazing intern, Kalinda Panzholer, who has been handling the weekly Fashion PR Fridays and Getting In posts.

Professionally, I was promoted to Director of Social Media at Red Door and continued to work with brand like Quiksilver, Charlotte Russe and Eagle Creek. In September, we helped everybody’s favorite Shellac brand CND with their fashion week activities!

Personally, I traveled a bunch – to Big Sur for my birthday (amazing!), to San Francisco (of course!), Colorado, and Kauai. I danced at Balboa Park’s December Nights, went in many a photo booth with my favorite people, met Zandra Rhodes and discovered my more outdoorsy side!

I also wrote a book! More on that in early 2012!

This year I was struck by the great posts written by our regular contributors as well as guest writers. I’m so grateful to be able to share their insights and expertise, to learn from them and be inspired!

Here are my favorite guest posts 2011

4 Steps to Better Fashion PR Storytelling

• The fashion industry is full of stories and part of the creative element of public relations is telling those stories to the right people with the right media at the right time. Nancy did a wonderful job reminding us of the importance of a well-told story.

10 Pitch Tips for Holiday Gift Guide Success

• There’s no denying the importance of landing gift guide inclusion for fashion & beauty clients. Connie provided some great tips on how to make it happen.

5 Fashion PR Tips to Get Into Vogue’s September Issue

• Polina shares top-notch media relations tips for the holy grail of fashion PR.

What Fashion Editor’s Want you to Know about PR

• Taryn has been on both sides of the fence – for television and print media, as well as in fashion PR. In this article she shares some of fashion editor’s pet peeves and crucial tips for pitching success.

Getting IN with Zack Weiss

• Kalinda’s interview with Zack undoubtedly inspired countless of us to dream big, take risks, and make things happen. Zack scored his first fashion PR internship while still in high school and now has his own PR company, all while going to school full-time.

How to drive clicks and retweets on Twitter

• With many PR pro’s also responsible for client social accounts, Sarah’s “Ultimate Social Search” series shares key information about the integration of PR, SEO and social media.

5 Ways to get the Most from your PR Agency

• It’s surprising how many brands aren’t quite sure what to expect, or ask, of their PR agency. In this article,  Liz shares great tips on how to make the most of this relationship.

Find Fashion PR Heaven In The Cloud: 8 Virtual Business Tools

• Technology to make things smoother, make agencies run better? Yes please! Tatiana’s Knot PR has it down.

Twitter Royalty: How To Land an Internship at Glamour and Fashion Week Tickets to Herve Leger (or Something Like That)

• If you’ve ever felt like throwing in the old Twitter towel, Elizabeth’s examples of just what it can bring with immediately change your mind!

Fashion PR Guide to Celebrity Gifting Suites

• The world of gifting suites is it’s own beast to tame! Luckily, Janna shares a wealth of great information in this post.

And thanks to you, dear readers, social media share-ers and supporters. I wish you all the very best as we look forward to 2012.

xo!

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