Mention the name Sandy and most New Yorkers know exactly what you mean and it ain’t pretty, as in Hurricane Sandy. Heck, most of the nation knows what that name means. Mention the name Sandra and most folks think of Sandra Bullock. Not a bad reference. My Sandra is Sandra Fathi, wiz of the PR tech world and founder of Affect, known to me and my fellow PRSA-NY colleagues as a more recent past-president of the chapter. So what does she have to do about Goodnewsforpets (GNFP)? Plenty! When I decided to revamp the site and could not find the time to manage it against client projects, I turned to the colleague I knew could not only get it done, but get it done far better than me with her team. Without her, this GNFP rebirth would not be possible. Several years ago when I was the recipient of the Kansas City Business Journal Kauffman Women Who Mean Business Award I was reminded it was our turn to pay it back to other women leaders, to mentor. There’s no mentoring here. It’s reverse mentoring. Sandra is a PR business woman leader extraordinaire.
They’ll be more thanks to spread around in this celebratory month. While I’ve been front and center, great teams are the key to success. In 2000, GDM News was born with me(G), my special three time hire employee Amy Davis(D) with her University of Missouri School of Magazine Journalism degree, and my special two-time hire employee Shelli Manning(M), solid work ethic bar none. My brother Matthew O’Hare joined us in Las Vegas at Western Veterinary Conference as we launched the site with a virtual newsroom and Steve Dale’s debut column about pet dumps. The late Mordecai Siegal joined us a year later. Julie Lux later joined us as the first editor. There have been so many more partners and wonderful clients along the way and we are grateful to be able to showcase dozens of important topics over a 14 year period. I will be writing more about them here as we celebrate our rebirth this month.
In the meantime, fast forward to today. We are celebrating the rebirth of GNFP at BlogPaws May 8-10 in Las Vegas. We are grateful that the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists is with us with a new Helping People Help Their Pets column, co-editor Steve Dale will be signing Decoding Your Dog books at our BlogPaws Booth #14. Ceva Animal Health has a new campaign, Why Wait for the Bite? and is sponsoring a BlogPaws session with Steve Dale Friday, May 9 3:45-5:15 PM. Finally, we are celebrating the GNFP rebirth at BlogPaws with a special raffle of an Elena Kreigner necklace and sponsorship of Pawject Runway to benefit pet shelters. It’s a rebirth a time for new ideas, new partners, new avenues to explore. Now on to BlogPaws and the Celebration!