Networking: The First Step to Getting Into an Industry and Succeeding

Whether you are a first-year graduate or the founder of a growing business, networking should be one of your favorite pastimes. We have all heard the saying, “It is not what you know, but whom you know” and if this saying stands true, then taking yourself out of your comfort zone and mastering networking is a must.

For graduates, landing a full-time job can be long and tiresome, with every extensive application sent, you can only hope your resume is being seen. It is time for you to get from behind your computer and show your face at events where the professionals of your industry of interest will be. Face-to-face interaction can go a lot farther that the keywords on your resume that may or may not stand out to a hiring manager. I am not saying these short chats will automatically land you your dream job, but here is what it will do:

1.     Give you more insight about the industry.

2.     Start a relationship with someone who has his or her foot already in the door, who can possibly pass your resume on to other contacts he/she may know.

3.     Give you practice talking to professionals about your desired career path

Networking should not stop once you have landed the job or have been in the business for years. Clients, media contacts, and any other driving forces of a business do not just pop out of thin air! Networking can allow you to make great relationships with people, whom in the long run (not necessarily right when you meet them) may help you when you are in need of assistance, such as a key introduction.  A growing list of contacts has never been a negative for a company!

Written by Mimi Rosenberg of Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Snapchat Announces Custom Geofilters!

It’s safe to say most Snapchat users all get a little bummed out when visiting somewhere that doesn’t have a geofilter. With the app’s new feature, this won’t be a problem for much longer!

Snapchat has officially introduced on-demand geofilters, which allows users to create their own custom filters, which will temporarily appear within the app. 

The idea for this feature is to give users the opportunity to create a custom geofilter for any event, from a house party to graduation to a wedding! Though a similar feature has been available for quite some time, the on-demand feature is much more cost efficient and customizable, starting at just $5. Who wouldn’t want to create their own geofilter for their next event?  

The process is pretty simple, too. Users can submit their custom filter on their new online portal in three simple steps: 

1. Design – Users can create their custom filter on their preferred image editor. Snapchat has also provided users with templates compatible with Photoshop and Illustrator to aid in the creative process. 

2.  Map – In this step, users pick a date and time they want the geofilter to be available. 

3. Buy – Finally, users submit their final geofilter and checkout. Once submitted, the Snapchat team will quickly review the design and get it up and running.

Users can choose spaces that are a minimum of 20,000 square feet to a maximum of 5,000,000 square feet – to put into perspective, that’s roughly the size of a business’ office to a few blocks around a city. As far as the run time, the custom filters can stay live from an hour to thirty days. 

On-demand filters are now available to users across the U.S., UK and Canada, and will be available in more countries soon. Be sure to create a geofilter for your next event! 

 Written by Samantha Velotta of Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Pinterest Adds Recipe Rich Data to Pins

Good news for the millions of users of Pinterest that search for recipes! Pinterest has now added recipe rich data to recipe pins that allows you to see the ingredients, cooking times and servings directly under the photo without having to go to an external website. We all know how much of a pain it was to be at the grocery store clicking through links to find exactly what you need for that last minute dinner recipe.

This addition has doubled the number of recipe pins to nearly 4 billion! Pinterest is also in the works of doubling their number of movie pins, as they have added rich data for these as well. Movie pins will now provide ratings, cast information and reviews. They have had previous updates in both these categories to make their site more user friendly, but this one was a push for the upcoming Oscars. Appetizer pinning for the Oscars has increased 15% in February alone and has tripled since last year!

The majority of Pinterest users, they noted 90%, are pinning food and drink recipes on mobile, therefor this addition of rich data was vital for the continuing success of Pinterest.

To add these rich pins to your website, follow these 3 simples steps that Pinterest lays out for you on their website: https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/enable-rich-pins-your-site.

Written by Casie Varacelli from Rebecca Adele PR & Events