Ease In or Jump?

Brittany Bales

 Whether I am relaxing by the pool or lying out on the beach, I always find it interesting to sit back and watch what method people choose to take the plunge into the freezing cold water ahead. Are you a jump-right-in/no-strings-attached type, or do you take the ease-right-in-until-completely-comfortable approach?

Personally, I go for the jump-right-in approach. I want to spend the least amount of time suffering and shivering through the uncomfortable cold as I can.

As a recent graduate of Mississippi State University, my intention was to stick with the same philosophy I have always had. But this time, it was not cold water I was delving into, it was the new, and sometimes cold, corporate world. By jumping right into a marketing/public relations internship directly after graduation in my hometown of Jackson, Miss., my head-first approach seemed to be panning out perfectly. However, three months of non-stop learning and preparation seemed like enough time for me, and I was ready for the “real world.” I wanted to launch into a full-time public relations position and that is exactly what I planned for. A few weeks later, I was fortunate enough to be offered the public relations director position at a well-known company in Jackson. Again, I was a little nervous but ready to jump right in to my new role.

Although this story may seem pretty predictable beyond this point, what you do not know is that in the middle of the interview process for my big job I got engaged to be married. As thrilled as I was to take the next step in my personal life, I knew this meant making a sacrifice in the career I was about to embark on. I now had a choice to make: jump into a full-time career in Jackson until marriage or ease into the public relations world once again in Memphis, Tenn., where my fiancé was in school and where we would soon settle down. After much prayer and support from friends and family, I decided to turn down the corporate world in Jackson for a public relations internship in Memphis.

As it turns out, easing into the Memphis corporate world through this internship was the best decision I could have made. Yes, beginning a second internship after college may seem like more of the ease-in approach but, the new city, state, company and friends that have come along with it has just enough of the jump-in factor I need. So, whatever your method of madness is, do not be afraid to try a different approach sometimes. You might just be surprised at the result.

Springtime took its time, but it’s finally here! (Unless Mother Nature decides she wants one more dose of winter at some point this week.)

Kim Morrison

When Ned Stark proclaimed that “Winter’s coming,” he sure wasn’t kidding! Memphians were treated to a colder, icier and snowier winter than normal this year, so I think everyone is glad for the warmer temperatures and opportunities to get out and about and enjoy the city. In case you find yourself wondering about what to do first, here are 20 quick tips to get you out of the house and enjoying some of the great outdoor activities the city has to offer!

A photographer buddy of mine, Ariel Antonío of AleksWorks Photography, is having a photo scavenger hunt, with new clues every Monday over the next few weeks. The prize is bragging rights for getting your photos on his blog, but more importantly, you can get out there and get some fabulous shots of this awesome city we live in! (Before it gets to be 200 degrees Fahrenheit with 500 percent humidity. Ick.) 

Get out and walk, run or bike any of the wonderful local parks we have. (Riverwalk, Tom Lee, Overton, the Greenline, Shelby Farms, etc.)

Yes, warmer weather means patio time, and there’s no shortage of them around town, so grab some buds and enjoy their company at your outdoor patio of choice!

Check out a show at Live at the Garden…

Or at the Levitt Shell…

Or at the Snowden Grove Amphitheater… 

Or at the Mud Island Amphitheater. (Yes, we have LOTS of outdoor venues, so use them!)

Go take a ride on a riverboat.

Take a historical walking tour with local historian Jimmy Ogle. 

Visit the world-class Memphis Zoo.

Check out Trolley Night on South Main. 

Check out the array of events in the Broad Avenue Arts District. 

Go to Thursday Nights Out in Cooper-Young.

Did you know we have an outdoor skate park? Check it out by Tobey Park. 

Check out the art and view from the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Downtown Memphis. 

Get the kids out of the house and check out My Big Backyard at the Memphis Botanic Gardens.

May means Memphis in May and weekends full of music, food and fun galore! Check out the Memphis in May International Festival website for all the details on the festivities surrounding the International Salute to Panama, Beale Street Music Festival, World Champion Barbecue Cooking Contest and AutoZone Sunset Symphony.

If Panamanian culture isn’t for you, what about Greek? You can get a taste of it at the Memphis Greek Festival hosted by Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.

If that doesn’t do it for you, you can get a taste of Italy during the Memphis Italian Festival.

Think you missed all your chances for crawfish? Not quite, go check out the South Branch Lions Club second annual Crawfish Music Festival in Olive Branch, Miss.

Oh, these aren’t enough? No worries, go check out the event calendars at the Memphis CVB, Memphis Flyer, GetDown Memphis, Memphis Magazine, Memphis Parent, Go Memphis, I Love Memphis blog and tons of other outlets!

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy our town! Got some other good ideas? Feel free to share them with everyone in the comments below!

I have a confession to make…

Kim Morrison

Not so long ago, I was one of those Memphians. You know the type. They have nothing good to say about the Bluff City, but they will go to blows if an outsider dare say a word about our hometown. They can’t stand Memphis for X, Y and Z reasons, BUT “it’ll always be home” due to A, B and C reasons.

I grew up in what started out as the boonies, transitioned into the suburbs and eventually became the wrong side of the tracks. Many times growing up, friends or dates would come out to my dad’s house and wonder if they were going to make it out of there without getting shot. It took roughly 30 minutes to get anywhere, and with nothing to go do in the general neighborhood around my home, it was very easy to develop a “there’s nothing to do here” mindset. With little knowledge of any of the goings-on in town and the plethora of bad news on the nightly news, I had always held an “I can’t wait to get out of here and move on to somewhere better” frame of mind. That is until roughly the past few years or so.

With a new mayor in office, I moved into Midtown on Dec. 29, 2010, just in time for a brand-new year. I always held fond memories of Midtown since I was a teenager, and it truly was the only area of town where I really felt at home.  In August 2012, I began my first internship, which would become my first and best job with Obsidian PR. Through my final semester at The University of Memphis and my work at Obsidian, I became more aware of the various professional and civic organizations in town. I became more aware of all the various events, shows and festivals that go on in town over the course of the year. I became more aware of the small businesses and nonprofits that are hard at work to help make Memphis and our people better. I became more aware, more engaged and more knowledgeable about all the amazing things my hometown has to offer. I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but somehow my tune changed to “This is my town, this is my pretty awesome town, and I want to be part of making it more awesome!”

So why exactly is Memphis awesome in my book? Here are just a few good reasons:

Courtesy of Ron Cogswell

• We are grit and grind.
  For years, even decades, Memphis has been the proverbial underdog, whether you’re talking about the sporting world, professional world, etc. Memphis has been looked to for Elvis, barbecue and very little else, but for Memphians, we’ve always wanted more, and we’re finally starting to see it. Whether it’s local businesses receiving accolades from national publications, the Grizzlies being name THE No. 1 team in sports by ESPN or Memphis being named one of the best cities in the country for artists, the hustle is finally starting to pay off.
• We are worth being respected.
  With higher education institutions the caliber of UT’s med school, Rhodes College, Southern College of Optometry, Christian Brothers University, and of course my alma mater, The University of Memphis, we are a center of higher learning. With hospitals like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The Regional Medical Center at Memphis, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, and the Baptist, Methodist and St. Francis systems, we have some of the most highly trained medical professionals in the world right here in our hometown. And with Fortune 500 companies based here in Memphis such as FedEx, AutoZone and International Paper, we have some of the greatest professional minds in business that call themselves Memphians.
• There is so much to do here!
  From Broadway shows to operas, ballets, art shows, street festivals, music festivals, food festivals, free music and events in Overton Park, concerts featuring every genre of music, sporting events, book signings, fairs, networking events, museums, parks, 5Ks, block parties, pop-up events, outdoor activities and more, you really have to avoid encountering any local print, TV or digital media to think that there is nothing to do in this city. Grab a Go Memphis, Memphis Flyer, look at I Love Memphis blog or even Get Down Memphis, and see all that this city has to offer.

Doesn’t all of that sound pretty darn awesome? Yes, there’s still crime and poverty and other social issues, but you’re going to find those to an extent anywhere. “Yeah, but they’re not as bad as Memphis.” Really? Most every moderate to large city out there has areas of town you wouldn’t want to be caught walking around in alone at 10 at night. Other towns are filing bankruptcy and dealing with economic issues. Other towns have bad news. Memphis isn’t unique in any of these aspects, so quit harping on about them. If a reformed hater can learn to love this underdog of a town, can’t you? ^_^

Festival season kicks off in Memphis

Lauren Hannaford

To me, nothing says springtime more than the festivals that take place around Memphis beginning in March. We now have a few different crawfish festivals, culminating with the big daddy, Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival, which is organized by and supports our client Porter-Leath. There’s Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, which we like to call BBQ fest. Throughout the year, we also have the Southern Hot Wing Fest, RiverArtsFest, Cooper-Young Festival, Gonerfest, the Down to Earth Festival, Memphis Italian Fest, plus many more art, music, film and food festivals. 

There are so many festivals in this area. When it comes to sponsorship dollars and PR, the market is competitive. Let me address sponsorship dollars first. Sometimes our clients ask for guidance on sponsorships and whether they should or shouldn’t sponsor something. Sometimes sponsorship levels are out of reach for our clients, but when they are not, we think it’s a great thing to consider. It’s important to show how much you support the community, whether that’s by supporting a festival that contributes to a nonprofit or another event for a good cause. Sometimes, sponsoring something is not all about getting the recognition for it. We do help clients maximize their sponsorships when appropriate.

When it comes to PR around big festivals and events, how do you manage to spread the word among a plethora of other events around the city? There are tons of sites where you can post and submit information about your event, including all the local media websites. Are you using social media to promote your event? Target lifestyle and trade publications that fit your audience a few months in advance. We also like to set up TV segments for our clients to talk about their event and why it’s important for the community. If you have an email database, utilize an email marketing service like Constant Contact to invite guests to the event. If you are a nonprofit, send a PSA to local radio networks. Make sure to send information about your event no later than three weeks before, and that’s cutting it close. Four to 6 weeks is preferable.

There are so many ways to spread the word and promote your festival or event. Finding the right mix and the right method to reach your specific audience makes all the difference.

Office poll: What is your favorite festival?

Kelli: Mardi Gras (she’s from Louisiana) and Cooper-Young Beer Festival

Lauren: Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival

Erinn: RiverArtsFest

Kim: Cooper-Young Festival

Thomas: JazzFest in New Orleans, La.

Crissy: RiverArtsFest

Kerri: Gumtree Arts Festival in Tupelo, Miss.

Kristen: State Fair of Texas, y’all.

Courtney: RiverArtsFest

Ilovememphisblog.com compiles a great festival guide each year. Here’s the 2013 list of spring festivals. Which ones are you planning to attend?
http://ilovememphisblog.com/2013/03/memphis-spring-festivals/

Step One: Plan

Kelli Eason

I used to think life was all about spontaneity. I still do, on some level. It always seems like the great stories are the ones that result from that time you intended to have a lazy movie night with friends in college, but on a whim, drove to New Orleans and had a powdered sugar fight at Café du Monde at 1 a.m. Is that just me?

OK, spontaneity is not a bad thing. But I’ve come to appreciate a good plan too. Since I’ve been working in PR, my friends and family have become almost annoyed with my need to map things out, know what’s going on and to answer the “news advisory questions” of who, what, when and where. It’s such a common theme that my fiancé now won’t even tell me where we’re going on our honeymoon – and it’s slowly driving me crazy.

Sometimes spontaneity looks like this. 

At Obsidian, planning is a great thing. Preparation for anything is even better. When we begin a relationship with a new client, we spend a lot of time on the front end getting to know them so that we can properly plan.  Our planning is extensive, but it also leads to preparation. Here are the steps I usually take with new clients:

Communication analysis

The communication analysis is sometimes fondly known as the “information transfer” around here. It consists of two to three hours of getting to know the new client. This includes learning things about their business that may be helpful for reporters to know, any news items they have coming up or how their business works. It also includes learning what they’re happy to talk about or not and leads back to the preparation. For example, some companies are willing to talk about how legislation could affect their business, but others prefer to shy away from anything of the sort. Knowing this on the front end allows us to properly communicate with reporters and be more efficient with our retainer hours.

PR timeline

The PR timeline is a process. You start out really excited about a new client and all the information you’ve just gathered from the communication analysis. Then you lay out the spreadsheet, identifying ideas for every month in what is generally a yearlong relationship. After you lay out what seems like a million of them…it turns into “Hello, my name is brick wall. I’m here to hold up your process.” That’s when the rest of the team comes in for a brainstorm. I love brainstorms because it always seems to turn the brick wall into a floodgate for new and creative ideas. At the end, the timeline is fantastic and pretty useful when you’re thinking about several clients.

Brand and message development

After building a PR timeline, you generally feel like you know the client inside and out. That is very helpful for the next step: identifying key messages and the company’s brand. When we’re lucky, a new client comes in with a pretty solid marketing arsenal. They may have internal communications support, a functional website and decent brand recognition. Of course, if they don’t have those things, it can also be lucky – because that allows us to be even more creative in helping them develop it. Regardless, having the brand ready to share with the public is an integral part of the planning process. In some cases, this step – including the research often associated with it – needs to come before the timeline.

All the plans change

It’s inevitable. It usually doesn’t even take six months for a timeline to completely change. But that’s the beauty of a complete plan. If you’ve planned well, your messages are in order and your work is solid, you’re ready for anything. Oftentimes, the best opportunities to present your company as an expert or as a solution come with the unexpected. For example, a hospital, pharmacy or other health care business can’t plan for an outbreak of a certain virus. But they can be prepared to talk about treatment and prevention if it does happen.

It took me a few years to learn to use and love the plan. If I’d loved the plan back in college, I might not have taken a weeklong road trip to seven cities in four states that involved four people and a two-door sports car. (We switched cars with my friend’s dad two cities in…or we surely would have died of being cramped on a back road in Arkansas.) Now that I do love the plan, life seems much less stressful and yet, oddly spontaneous and always enjoyable. 

Happy 7th Anniversary, Obsidian Public Relations!

Katie Pemberton

Today marks a milestone for Obsidian Public Relations—our seventh anniversary! 2012 was a whirlwind year for our firm, with an expansion into another market, new clients and our first full year in our new office in South Main. Let’s recap:

We moved into our digs at 493 S. Main in late 2011, and by this time last year, we were all settled in and loving the South Main life! For a cup of coffee or a bite of lunch, we just walk right next door to Bluff City Coffee or down the street and across the trolley tracks to Arcade. We can just about see the National Civil Rights Museum from our front window. We’re walking distance to great spots like Frank’s Deli, South of Beale, Muse and Hoot + Louise. We love it here, and we’d love you to come visit us sometime! 

We also kicked off serving our very first pro-bono clients from our PR 180° Project initiative—On Our Own for the first half of the year and Memphis Roller Derby in the second half. Our account reps had an amazing time getting to know these organizations and helping them meet their communications needs.

Early in 2012, we announced plans to expand the Obsidian PR name into another market—Dallas, Texas! Our managing director, Crissy Lintner, left the Bluff City and headed west with her family to put down roots in Dallas. She spent 2012 building our Dallas presence, networking and gaining clients, like the Humane Society of North Texas, TopMD Skin Care, Coquerel Family Wine Estates and Cockerell Dermatopathology. She was joined in the summer by another of our Memphis folks, Kerri Guyton, whose family moved to Tyler. Kerri expanded the Obsidian reach outside of Dallas into Smith County, where she completed some great communications projects for various clients, like the Renovation Conference and Holt Creative.

Here in Memphis, we landed some terrific new clients, as well. They included The Cupboard, Kroger’s Delta Division, Calvary Episcopal Church, Advanced Dermatology and Next Day Access.

Another big event from the past year was the completion and announcement of our 2012 social media survey. As in 2011, we partnered with Research Dynamics Inc. to conduct a quantitative survey on Mid-Southerners’ use of social media platforms. The findings showed a 15 percent increase in social media usage among Shelby County residents from last year.

We continued our tradition of monthly professional development initiatives, with each account rep organizing a different month’s training, including topics such as AP style, analysis of local television programming changes and the overhaul of our local media list. But don’t worry—we balanced all that and our client workloads with some fun team outings, like when we took a cooking class at the Church Health Center, chowed down at a Court Square Food Truck Rodeo and got our local shopping on at MemShop. We even let our four-legged friends get in on the fun when we invited our pets to the office for Take Your Dog to Work Day benefiting the Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County in June!

Before we knew it, it was time again to open up nominations and voting for our 2013 PR 180° Project competition in Memphis. With more than 6,200 Facebook votes for 25 different local nonprofit organizations, The Blues Foundation and the Fire Museum of Memphis emerged as our winners, and they will each receive six months of pro-bono PR services in 2013.

All of us at Obsidian PR are thankful for a wonderful 2012 and look forward to many more years of meeting our clients’ communications needs and enjoying everything that Memphis and Dallas has to offer!

Pinterest: It's about inspiration.

Lauren Hannaford

2012 was the year of Pinterest. Many are wondering if the social media platform will stand the test of time or turn into another Foursquare. One thing is certain. Businesses have already jumped on board. 

I came across some interesting facts from the CEO and founder of PinLeague on this PR Newswire story:

• Less than 1 percent negative sentiment on the platform
• Contributing 20 percent of social commerce
• The half-life of a pin is one week or more, compared to 80 minutes for a Facebook post and five to 25 minutes for a tweet.
• It’s not about conversation. It’s about quality content. The ratio of “repins” to comments is 175 to one.
• The average order value on Twitter is $69, Facebook $80 and Pinterest $179. PinLeague estimates that 90 percent of the top 1,500 brands will have Pinterest accounts within 12 months.
  

Wow! Those are strong figures. With that said, it is important for businesses to be aware of the proper use of Pinterest. I already get ridiculously annoyed when I see pins from companies’ boards that shout, “Buy our awesome product!” No, thanks. I want tips, recipes, health information, photos, ideas, hilarious sayings and products presented to me in a fun, useful manner. Then I will buy your product.

A great example of a Pinterest account that I think is well-managed is Southern Living. One look through their boards, and I was following almost all of them. Then I thought, “Why do I not get this magazine in the mail?” I immediately went to the website to sign up for a subscription. Cha-ching! Southern Living, you just made money from your Pinterest account.

Consumers on Pinterest are doers! Not to copy The University of Memphis’ tagline, but Pinterest is full of dreamers, thinkers and doers! If you can plan and execute your business’s Pinterest account with that in mind, it is sure to be worth the time even if you can’t quantify revenue just yet.

Coming Together – The Benefit and Importance of Professional Organizations

Kelli Eason

I graduated college in May of 2009. I worried, of course, about finding a job in the recession. I thought I had a pretty good shot at getting hired from a previous internship, but by the time I graduated and the market had sufficiently tanked, most of my previous supervisors were in no place to hire new communications staff. That’s where the Public Relations Society of America came in.

In college, I joined the Public Relations Student Society of America, which led to my involvement in its parent organization, PRSA. In the past five years, I have served in seven leadership positions, traveled to four national events, made too many close friends to count and, last but not least, been hired for two internships and two full-time jobs as a result of my involvement.

How did PRSA come to support my job hunt in the worst part of a recession? That’s easy – it’s all about who you know. In one of my last projects at LSU, I participated in a student campaign competition through PRSSA. During that project, I met a local PR spokesperson who hired me for my first post-graduate job just a few months later. When I was ready to move to Memphis, PRSA once again supported my search. After posting my resume to the PRSA Memphis website, I received an email from Courtney Liebenrood Ellett, who I now work with at Obsidian Public Relations.

So what if you’re not looking for a job? That’s great. PRSA or any other professional organization can still serve as a good resource. In the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to learn firsthand about Duncan-Williams’ popular Live at the Garden YouTube videos, how Anthony Siracusa transformed Memphis’ bicycling culture and the role communications plays in corporate culture from the CEO of First Horizon. The regular luncheons are a great way to get an inside look into the industry, as well as an opportunity to meet other PR pros in town.

Looking for more information on PRSA? Check out the Memphis Chapter’s website by clicking here and the Dallas Chapter by clicking here.

Happy New Year! Now what?

Crissy Lintner

Happy New Year! It’s 2013, and I’m sure we all have our New Year’s resolutions in hand and are making great progress. But does your business have its New Year’s resolutions nailed down? If not, I have a few to get you started – PR resolutions for 2013.

Be active in social media!
So, you had a couple of months last year during which you were active on Facebook and built up a significant following. Then, crickets were chirping… Things got busy and you weren’t able to keep up with it. Resolve for 2013 to get active again, because if you’re not in the conversation, you’re not relevant. Assign someone internally (or hire a PR firm) to manage your social media interactions and monitor them daily. There’s nothing worse than non-response and inactivity on a business’s social media page.

Build relationships with the news media.
It’s important to remember that behind every newspaper is a person. And building relationships with the individual reporters who write about your industry is a key to getting media coverage in the future. Be sure that you’re reaching out to introduce yourself, your expertise and your business before you have news. And when you do have news, ensure that it’s timely and newsworthy. 

No more last-minute PR campaigns!
Remember: timely and newsworthy. Haphazard PR is never effective. Take time to think through any important news items for the year and lay out on a timeline. Then, incorporate at least four to six weeks for PR efforts related to an event and up to three months for major announcements, such as expansions, acquisitions or leadership changes. This is where a great PR partner can be an advantage.

Communicate with your front-line employees to ensure message alignment.
Your customer service and point-of-sales employees do need to be “in the know” when it comes to major business decisions affecting their job focus. Is the marketing department planning a Groupon campaign? Are you running a special for social media only? What about a major acquisition of a competitor? It’s important that the people who interact with your customers daily know about these before being caught off guard by a question or comment. Or media phone call. Regular internal communication is important, and an annual ambassador training to reinforce customer service tactics and discuss overall goals for the year is always a good idea to add to the mix.

These will help get you on the road to PR success for 2013! 

There’s no “I” in team

Katie Pemberton

“No man is an island…and therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

In John Donne’s Meditation 17, he emphasizes the interconnectedness of mankind. It’s also a pretty accurate metaphor for our culture here at Obsidian PR. You see, although each client is officially represented by ONE Obsidian staffer, that client also has the ideas, expertise and experience of the entire agency in its corner. That’s because no account rep is “an island.”

As you may have read about in a previous “From the Rock” post, group brainstorming is a pretty major part of what we do here at Obsidian. There are many times that brainstorming among the entire Obsidian staff might be used for a client:

• When the relationship starts, to get everyone’s input on broad things, like overarching goals, or more specific things, like story pitching ideas or social media tactics
• When the client is starting a new initiative or event and the account rep wants to consider ALL ideas for promoting, helping plan and execution
• When the client has a problem or issue and needs our help overcoming the challenge
• When the client wants some ideas for a tagline or new company or product name

I can tell you as an account rep who has handled several of these types of projects, it is a major asset to the work I do to have our team providing input, guidance and feedback.
 
In addition to the formal brainstorming, there are many other ways that Obsidian functions as a unit, preventing any account rep from ever being the sole person servicing a client. 
Both the Dallas and Memphis locations have a manager of the team who keeps an eye on all client work from an aerial view, providing guidance and ideas to the account rep that she might not have seen from where she is “on the ground” executing tactical work.
 
Yet another example of how Obsidian fosters a great community and group dynamic is how we are all able to fill in for each other when needed. For example, if an account rep is going to be out of town during an important client event, he will transition all of the materials, from the publicity timeline to the contact list and the event planning notes, to another account rep, and that account rep will execute the last-minute promotional tactics, attend the event to field media, coordinate timing as needed, etc. Each account rep will ensure that client work is taken care of (by other staffers, if needed) while out of the office.
 
But sometimes things come up for a client, such as a media crisis, that can’t be predicted, which has actually happened with a client while the account rep was out of town. Fortunately, Obsidian’s culture is such that the team manager was totally up to speed on the client’s issue, and the other account executives had a solid foundation of information about the client from all the collaborative activities we had done. The team manager and the other account executive tag-teamed the crisis and handled it seamlessly while the original account rep was 1,500 miles away.
 
I also like Donne’s advice not to “send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” He was talking about death, but I look at it in a more abstract and therefore positive way. I equate a bell tolling to when we have had a great success for a client, such as a front-page news story. Even if it wasn’t one of MY personal clients, I am still excited for the success of one of OUR clients, and one of OUR account reps. So that bell…it still tolls for me.

Getting to know our main man -- Thomas!

The only man among the women of Obsidian, Thomas Whitehead is an integral part of our team, offering valuable insight for our clients and the firm as a whole. He leverages his interests for the good, and you should take time to get to know him!

Thomas Whitehead

Birthday: June 29, 1976  
 

Hometown: Brandon, Miss.
 

College: Mississippi State University

All-time favorite restaurant: Bari Ristorante

Favorite thing to do in Memphis:
Going to Grizzlies games and Barbecue Fest

What is your favorite cause?
Mentoring

Favorite Twitter account:
I like following @seriouseats.

How old were you when you got your first cell phone?
Probably older than the rest of the office - 22.

Favorite book:
"The Tender Bar" by J. P. Moeringer

Favorite pastime:
Cooking, running

First car:
Plymouth Reliant

If you could go back in time and live during a different era, which would you choose?
I would be very curious to go back to the 1960s to see how society adjusted to itself, as well as how it was handled in the media back then.

What was your first paying job?
Sandwich Artist at Subway

If you life had a soundtrack, what song would you pick for it?
"Via Chicago" by Wilco

What TV show are you embarrassed about watching?
Greek

What was the first concert you went to see?
The Monkees

If you were an Olympic athlete, in what sport would you compete?
Half-marathon – setting the world record for slowest time.

What is the most disgusting thing you have ever eaten?
Sea urchin. I had a bad experience with it once even though I love sushi.

If you could have a drink with someone from history, who would it be?
Bill Clinton

If you could live in any other country for two years, where would you go?
Italy
 

Get to know our Texas gals!

Part of Obsidian's new Dallas operation, Crissy Lintner and Kerri Guyton headed to the great state of Texas to launch the new office earlier this year. Get to know them now!

 

Kerri Guyton

Kerri with her three children, Hannah, Myles and Parks

Birthday: Oct. 20

Hometown: I don’t really have a hometown. I was born in San Antonio, Texas, and have lived in multiple places throughout Mississippi most of my life. I’m back in Texas now, living in Tyler.

College: Mississippi State University

All-time favorite restaurant: Ruth’s Chris

Favorite thing to do in Tyler/Dallas:
Take my kids to experience the “cool” things where we live – be it museums, parks, attractions, festivals, etc. 

What is your favorite cause?
I don’t really have a cause that I am all about, but I certainly have a heart for children.

How old were you when you got your first cell phone?
15

Favorite book:
Sad to say that I don’t have a specific favorite that sticks out.
 
Favorite pastime:
Spending time together as a family (with my husband and kids).

First car:
Nissan Sentra

If you could go back in time and live during a different era, which would you choose?
The Roaring '20s (although, I wouldn’t want to stay through the '30s)


What was your first paying job? 

Bus girl at a seafood restaurant

What TV show are you embarrassed about watching?
Anytime I find myself watching an MTV show.

What was the first concert you went to see?
New Kids on the Block

If you were an Olympic athlete, in what sport would you compete?
I’m too tired to think about competing in a sport of any kind!
 
What is the most disgusting thing you have ever eaten?
Chocolate-covered crickets at the Children’s Museum of Memphis

If you could live in any other country for two years, where would you go?
Somewhere beautiful like the Netherlands

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Crissy Lintner

Sarah, Max and Jackson

Birthday: 11/11/79

Hometown: Laurel, Miss.

College: Mississippi State University

All-time favorite restaurant:

It's a toss-up between two in my hometown: Phillip's Drive-In (PDI) and Watermill Fish Camp.

Favorite thing to do in Dallas:

We love riding our bikes on the White Rock Creek Trail to White Rock Lake! And we actually spend a lot of time plotting tours and learning about Dallas for Dallas Running Tours.

What is your favorite cause?

I like to support causes that help children, the homeless and the hungry.

Favorite Facebook page and Twitter account: and

Facebook: White Rock Running Co-Op and Dallas Running Project

Twitter: @runtourdallas and @nprnews

Crissy and husband, John

How old were you when you got your first cell phone?

Well, our family had one of those bag phones that could only be used in the car. We got that when I was in high school. I got my first real cell phone around 18 or 19.

Favorite book:

“Where the Wild Things Are” – who doesn't love a wild rumpus every now and then?

Favorite pastime:
Reading, running and spending time with my husband and kids

First car:

Oldsmobile Delta 88! A big ol' tank of a car.

If you could go back in time and live during a different era, which would you choose?
The '60s – love the music, the styles, and I probably would've gone to Woodstock.

What was your first paying job?

I worked in a pediatric clinic one summer helping organize patient files and get them updated. This is pre-EMR, people! We had hundreds of manila folders to sort through.

What TV show are you embarrassed about watching?

I don't really have one that I'm embarrassed to watch since we don't have cable. But I love to watch the sci-fi type shows – like “Grimm”! But...I did give in to the “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” hype and watched one episode online. I was instantly reminded why we don’t have cable.

What was the first concert you went to see?

New Kids on the Block, baby! I even made a sign professing my love for Joey McIntyre.

If you were an Olympic athlete, in what sport would you compete?

Track & field. Or soccer.

What is the most disgusting thing you have ever eaten?

Raw oysters

If you could have a drink with someone from history, who would it be?

Johnny and June Carter Cash

If you could live in any other country for two years, where would you go?

Somewhere in the Caribbean