Category: Anecdotes

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A Few Closing Thoughts on 2022

Is it just me or does it feel like there’s been an acceleration of time since the pandemic slammed the world in early 2020? I can’t believe we’re already counting down the days to the year’s end. In a year that marked the Agency’s 35th anniversary, we had our best year ever. Typically, when you …more

Celebrating the Agency’s 35-Year Anniversary

How is that possible? No, please don’t answer that question. I’d rather not know. The image you see above was the official announcement in 1987 which starred my Mom proclaiming that The Hoffman Agency was open for business. The vision of becoming a marketing communications consultancy — in today’s words integrated communications — has only …more

Q&A on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Storytelling

I respect people who can keep the scent of the trail. Fellow storytelling evangelist Brad Marley approached me back in April 2019 to answer a handful of questions on my second-favorite topic. The plot took some twists and turns (naturally), but I answered Brad’s questions a couple of months ago. For those who don’t subscribe …more

In Honor of Mother’s Day, Let’s Check My Mom’s Knowledge of the PR Biz

With Mother’s Day around the corner, I’m reminded of learning the basics of interviewing from my Mom. She perfected what I came to term the where-what-who method of questioning: Where you were last night? What did you do? Who were you with? Fast forwarding to today, I’ve conducted well over 500 interviews. I love the …more

Airing Dirty Laundry Reveals Storytelling Wisdom

Is there a task more mundane than doing laundry? It is the ultimate in dullsville. Yet, a podcast by Malcolm Gladwell called “Laundry Done Right” shows that indeed . I first wrote about Gladwell in 2009 when he told a David vs. Goliath type story that used a 12-year-old girls basketball team as the frame. …more

A Random Act of Kindness at Trader Joe’s

This has nothing to do with communications. Then again, it has everything to do with communications. The demands on my time these days has made it tough to squeeze in time to write for my blog; hence, the dusting off of this Trade Joe’s post. Let me set the stage. My wife and I decided …more

Not Exactly 60 Minutes Grilling My Mom on the PR Biz

By my back-on-the-envelop math, I’ve conducted over 500 interviews. It’s one of my favorite parts of the job. The cajoling and probing of a source to get to the good stuff offers a sense of discovery. With Mother’s Day around the corner, I get to dust off an interview that makes my top-five list. But …more

Let’s Hope TMZ Doesn’t Get Their Hands on This Mother’s Day Video

I’ve avoided clickbait for nearly nine years and 1,096 posts … until now.     The headline for this post definitely qualifies as clickbait. You’re not going to find a video on Kim Kardashian dissing her mom. With that said, watching my mom share her unfiltered insights on the business of public relations does offer …more