Have you wondered how you can put your PR expertise to work in light of the growing Black Lives Matter movement? A group of PR professionals have voluntarily put together the PR Mentoring Network to help young Black and Indigenous people, and any People of Color, who want to get into the PR field connect with a career mentor. 

There is no charge for participation and PR professionals--especially those who are white and are looking for a way to have a positive impact on Black lives--are encouraged to commit to one hour per month for the next two years or more to help their mentees leapfrog into the industry. This volunteer effort is simply a series of online materials, forms, and manual matchmaking emails to help mentors and mentees connect. The rest is up to the pairs to both get value from their tie and mentoring relationship. 

Though mentees will largely be students, you do not need to be a student to request a mentor; being pre-career or early in your PR practice is another good reason to find a mentor through the program. All mentors are vetted through a review of their LinkedIn profiles. White mentors are asked to review anti-racism materials before their first mentoring session. The program provides written expectations for both mentors and mentees and mentoring tips for first-time mentors. 

In addition, the PR Mentoring Network is seeking partners at universities, trade groups, and other non-profit organizations who work with Black and Indigenous youth and young People of Color that are interested in pursuing careers in PR and who would likely want a career mentor. Organizations who would like to partner in this way can find out more here. 

To become a mentor, complete this form. 

To become a mentee, complete this form. 

Background on the PR Mentoring Network

The PR Mentoring Network was spearheaded by a 17-person PR firm called rock paper scissors headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana. 

“For a while now, we noticed that the hiring pool for our open positions included few Black people and People of Color,” explains Dmitri Vietze, rock paper scissors’ CEO and founder. “We’ve wanted to launch a mentoring program like this for a while, but the recent George Floyd murder and public awareness of systemic racism’s continued harm spurred us to stop waiting for a better time. And we thought, if we can do this, we could partner with PR professionals and trade groups nationwide to make a bigger difference in the lives of young professionals whose talents can strengthen the field if given the opportunity.” 

“When it comes to racism, police brutality is the tip of the iceberg,” Vietze says. “Obstacles to education, internships, interviews, jobs, network-building, and access to entrepreneurial knowledge are part of the context that creates unnecessary challenges for Black people. The easiest thing to combat racism is to connect people across cultures, regardless of skin color. Since it is not happening organically as much as it should, the PR Mentoring Network is a framework that makes it easy to initiate these relationships and start tearing down walls.” 

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Press contact: alexa@rockpaperscissors.biz

25,960 trees fight climate change and celebrate success at rock paper scissors.

In most workplaces, everyday victories earn high fives, cheers, maybe a round of applause. Music and tech PR firm rock paper scissors (rps) has added another way to celebrate: the company plants ten trees every time a publicist wins press coverage for a client.

2019 may go down as the year the music business finally confronted climate change: Coldplay suspended touring, citing the carbon footprint of world travel and the environmental costs of live concerts. Reports exposed the impact of the music streaming market on the environment, thanks to the power-hungry data centers that run it. Technologies touted as future solutions are even more resource-intensive (looking at you, Blockchain). 

The climate impact of music biz PR hasn’t yet come under serious scrutiny, but rps didn’t wait for those headlines. In light of a 2019 study showing that planting 1 trillion trees could solve much of the carbon emissions crisis, the firm made a commitment to plant 10 trees for every press hit its publicists earn for clients. 

Every time an rps publicist secures an interview on NPR, a mention in Forbes, a profile in the New York Times, a feature in Billboard, or even a review on a blog, ten more trees are planted. With 2,596 media placements this year (that’s more than 30 hits per publicist every month), rock paper scissors will plant 25,960 trees in 2019. 

“The idea started as a way to offset our company’s emissions, especially our travel,” says Sheryl Woodhouse, rps COO. “We soon realized that translating our press hits into planting trees is even more meaningful. It helps us feel that our work has lasting impact, knowing that our success contributes to a tangible solution.”

Rps selected a partner to plant those 25,960 trees with lasting impact in mind. Trees For the Future addresses both climate change and poverty by helping families plant Forest Gardens. Each garden consists of thousands of trees that provide sustainable food sources, livestock feed, products to sell, fuel wood and a 400% increase in their annual income in four years. 

Over the course of 20 years in the PR business, CEO Dmitri Vietze has grown rock paper scissors from a one-man show to a team of nineteen who provide publicity, event planning, and many other communications services to musicians and innovative technology companies. “Our team chose to partner with Trees for The Future because we wanted the trees we plant to contribute to climate justice as well as capture carbon,” explains Vietze. “As our industry clout continues to grow, our environmental impact grows as well. We’re already planning how to increase our capacity, earn more press hits, and plant more trees in 2020.”

Agency to Help RegattaVR Promote Ability to Train “Soft Skills” Such as Empathy and Harassment Prevention Using the Latest Virtual Reality Technology

RegattaVR, a rapidly growing talent development company focused on creating elearning experiences using advanced virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, has awarded its national public relations account to rock paper scissors strategic communications agency.

Virtual and augmented reality is a rapidly expanding market. Shipment of standalone VR headsets grew 417 percent during the last quarter of 2018, and the VR/AR market overall is expected to top $20 billion globally this year. Rock paper scissors will develop and implement both traditional and social media campaigns to position RegattaVR as an innovator and market leader in enterprise talent development, e-learning, and other VR/AR training applications.

“Rock paper scissors displayed a strong understanding of our technology and our business strategy,” said RegattaVR Founder and President William V. West.  “They bring both nuanced insights and creative energy to our marketing communications efforts, and we’re excited to partner with them as we position ourselves for domestic and international growth.”

“The immersive experience inside a VR headset is truly amazing, and bringing that immersive experience to talent development is an exciting opportunity for our firm.  As VR content libraries like RegattaVR’s reach critical mass, people will be able to learn a wide range of skills and train on workplace skills such as empathy, diversity, and inclusion,” said Jade Prieboy, new business manager at the agency.

“Rock paper scissors continues to expand our client roster in 2019, adding RegattaVR to our list of technology clients that already includes several in advanced and artificial intelligence serving the art, music, and business-to-business sectors,” added agency founder and president Dmitri Vietze.  “I’m also proud of how we serve clients headquartered as close as our home town, and as far away as across the US and into Europe and Asia.”

About REGATTA VR

RegattaVR is the premier provider of advanced virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) development services. We apply proven instructional design (ID), user experience (UX), and data management frameworks to produce highly effective solutions. We also have mastered the full learning ecosystem to produce masterfully blended solutions that are fully integrated into our clients’ LMS/LRS environments.

About rock paper scissors inc.

Founded in 1999, rock paper scissors, inc. (rps) is a strategic communications agency comprised of a diverse team of sixteen communicators, creatives, and business minds.  We have represented over 1,000 projects from six continents, providing services from publicity, social media, strategic communications, written and video content creation, and crisis management.  Our growing roster includes international and domestic clients in music technology, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, sports tech, and more. That growth has also allowed rps to expand services into event planning, custom content creation, and founding its own music technology conference. We’re dedicated to deep storytelling by uncovering the most compelling aspects of clients’ work and connecting them to current trends. We consistently place feature stories in the New York Times, Wired, TechCrunch, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., Billboard, Rolling Stone, and on NPR, as well as develop social media campaigns across a range of digital platforms.

October 29, 2019, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA

Technological innovations continue to create an exciting new landscape in the music industry.

PR firm rock paper scissors is launching the first annual Music Tectonics Conference, the intersection of music, technology, and business, on October 29, 2019, at the stunning Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA. Participants can register now at MusicTectonics.com/conference. Early adopters will receive a coupon code for $50 off registration when they sign up for the Music Tectonics mailing list. The first twenty-five registrants to use the code will receive $100 off. The conference is sponsored by CD Baby and AdRev, along with LyricFind.

Music Tectonics is about the big picture: how the minor tremors that ripple through the daily news add up to seismic shifts that shape the business of music now and in the future. The Music Tectonics conference welcomes thinkers, doers, and investors who recognize that in the increasingly interconnected worlds of music and technology, innovators can’t afford to remain siloed in narrow specializations—or to disregard the technical requirements of the existing music industry, from licensing and royalty payouts to metadata and attribution.

Meet and mingle at a welcome reception on October 28 (venue TBA), then gather at the centrally located Skirball (2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049; free parking) for a full conference day on October 29, including an evening reception finale.

Music Tectonics brings thought leaders together with industry insiders—and outsiders of note—who work at the epicenter of music and technology. Confirmed speakers include Cherie Hu, the award-winning music tech journalist (Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, and Forbes), industry darling researcher Mark Mulligan of MIDiA, thoughtful leader Ken Umezaki of Dot Blockchain, and tech innovator Arabian Prince, founding member of N.W.A. Many more speakers will be confirmed in the coming weeks. Breakout sessions will map the shifting terrain in areas like these (and any new directions the industry takes):

• The Blockchain Cage Match

• Music Tech is a Global Market

• Living in a Voice Activated World

• The Battle for Independence

• A.I.: Competition or Augmentation?

• New Music Licensing Opportunities

With years of expertise representing music technology clients and providing event planning services, PR firm rock paper scissors has built a network of experts across the music and technology spectrum who are planning to speak, attend, and sponsor the conference. “If this is a standard music industry conference, shoot me now,” says RPS founder and host of the Music Tectonics podcast Dmitri Vietze. “Imagine a place where decision-makers and innovators get down to the real issues over drinks and laughter. That’s where we are headed with our first year’s conference.”

Industry reaction to the L.A. event is strong. "The rock paper scissors team puts incredible thought into programming compelling conference sessions and building an amazing attendee and sponsor experience,” says Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby and the annual DIY Musician Conference. “We can't wait for the inaugural Music Tectonics and believe it is an important gathering for everyone in music technology." Visit MusicTectonics.com for more information.

New tech companies get a lot of media attention–along with the incubators, investment, and tax structures that let them make the leap from elevator pitch to start-up. A tech-friendly business climate needs another ingredient, often overlooked: infrastructure services that help tech companies build their business from start-up to success. Rock paper scissors (rps) is an Indiana-based public relations firm that hasn’t waited for Indiana’s tech sector to mature–they’ve already grown an international roster of technology clients from Tokyo to Toronto.

Rps got its start representing artists on the world music scene. Founded by Dmitri Vietze in 1999, the company has grown from a one-man show to a team of 16 in Bloomington, Indiana. They have built a reputation for capturing what makes clients’ stories most compelling and delivering quality media hits. Rps remains active in the eclectic global music community; recent music clients range from funk legend George Clinton to label Waxploitation Records.

In 2013, rps made the astute side-step into the rapidly expanding music technology space. Global music and technology aren’t such an odd match in an age when nearly 4 billion of the world’s 5.5 billion adults have smartphones with which to discover local and international music. One of rps’s recent clients, Boomplay, is a music streaming and download service that dominates the market in Africa.

Rps has quickly built expertise in representing technology clients who are innovating the music industry and beyond. 2018 marked a watershed moment, when a critical mass of “pure” tech companies—unrelated to the music industry—also tapped into the power of rps’s deep storytelling.

The verticals on rps’s 2018 client roster read like a year-end “Tech Trends” list. In the much hyped artificial intelligence (AI) space, rps worked with Amadeus Code, an AI-powered songwriting assistant developed by Japanese researchers, and Ople, a platform that offers AI solutions to business leaders. Augmented reality (AR) is one of the biggest buzzwords in the gaming and entertainment industries. Rps was there representing Virtex Arena: a mobile app enabling fans at sporting events and concerts to compete in stadium-wide AR experiences. In the fast-growing wearable marketplace, RPS represented Hurdl, whose patented LED wristband technology allows new modes of direct-to-consumer marketing and interactive fan experiences at live music events.

The expanding experience of rps’s tech publicity team has caught the attention of Indiana tech start-ups like Platformatics, the innovative IoT company that provides lighting as a service (on the SaaS model) and Cheddar, the usage-based billing provider.  “It’s funny,” says rps CEO Dmitri Vietze, “after working with clients around the world, we find ourselves diversifying by working locally. The team at rps has taken all this in stride, promoting cutting-edge tech with the same zeal for telling compelling stories as we have always brought to promoting psychedelic Peruvian organ players and Tuvan rock bands.”

A key factor that contributes to rps’s success reaching new verticals in recent years is the gusto with which they have expanded into new service types. They added event planning to their menu in recent years, organizing conferences with music tech clients CDBaby and global music client globalFEST. In 2018, they stayed on top of trends by conducting an influencer promotion campaign, content marketing, tech website re-design, and video production.

“Thanks to our stellar team, we are regularly reaching new media outlets and breaking our own records for sales and revenue,” remarks Sheryl Woodhouse, rps COO, “Rps publicists are averaging over 7 hits per client per month, the highest number we’ve ever seen. As revenues grow, we build our staff in order to pave the way for future gains. We just made three new hires that will significantly add to our capacity for event planning, client writing, and fostering continued growth for the music side of our business.” With rps’s proven track record of building on their victories, 2019 looks even brighter.