DVPR’s president Stephanie Smirnov (a.k.a. PRMama ) provides us with some of the highlights of her trip to the EVO Conference .

As well as a great audio synced presentation for your enjoyment.

A few months back DVPR’s Social Media Guru, Cassie Boorn started a project on her blog asking women in their thirties and forties to submit letters to their “20-something self.”- What started as a small project has grown incredibly large. Last week Cassies’ project received attention from the Motherload on New York Times.com. Tuesday, Cassie was interviewed on NPR - All Things Considered

You can even check out DVPR’s President Stephanie Smirnov’s Letter here

On Wednesday, June 23, the Sam Adams team launched the Boston Lager Cut, an all-new cut of beef designed to be the perfect pairing for Sam Adams’ flagship beer, Boston Lager.  The Sam Adams brewers partnered with artisanal meat producer Jake Dickson to develop the cut, and Jake invited the media to his Chelsea Market shop along with Sam Adams brewer Grant Wood to kick it off.  The two instructed everyone on the cut selection, pairing and preparation in anticipation of summer grilling and fall entertaining coverage in the coming months.

The launch of the Boston Lager Cut garnered lots of interest and with a Boston Lager in hand, each guest was given a behind-the-counter tour of Jake’s shop.

On June 21st at NYC’s South Street Seaport, Wella Professionals celebrated 130 years of superior haircolor innovation by kicking off the highly anticipated Wella Professionals Color Discovery Tour. The Color Discovery Tour educates consumers on the importance of professional haircolor and inspires them to discover their best hair hue. Color Discovery Tour spokesperson and TV host Brooke Burke hosted the kick off and encouraged women to visit Wella’s mobile salon for inside access to NYC’s top colorists from Arrojo Studio, Mark Garrison Salon, Patrick Melville Salon & Spa, Pipino Salon, and Pepper Pastor Salon.  Tour participants received free color consultations and a 25% coupon toward a Wella service.

Brooke gave a special presentation and declared, “Wella consistently delivers beautiful, healthy color that keeps my hair looking gorgeous every day!  I may be surrounded by a lot of blondes in LA, but I’m not entirely convinced blondes have more fun!  I love being a brunette — Wella Professionals always delivers my shade of rich brown that’s shiny and vibrant.“ Media came to the tour site in droves to interview Brooke Burke and Wella’s newest Lead Color Ambassador, Aura Friedman.
The Color Discovery Tour has since visited Philadelphia and will travel to Washington DC, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles the rest of the summer, providing women everywhere the opportunity to explore their best haircolor with Wella Professionals.

On Tuesday, June 15, the New Amsterdam Gin “Next GINeration Cocktail Challenge” hit the road to Chicago. Hosted by Master Mixologist Alex Ott at popular Chicago bar, Old Town Social, guests included some of Chicago’s top cocktail and spirit bloggers who were challenged with the task of creating their best New Amsterdam Gin cocktail that embodies the spirit of Chicago’s cocktail culture.

As guests arrived, they were treated to two of Alex Ott’s Chicago-inspired New Amsterdam Gin cocktails—The Windy City and The Loop, as well as a variety of hors d’ouevres to complement the flavors of each cocktail. New Amsterdam Brand Manager, Justin Lew and Alex Ott welcomed the bloggers with an introduction to the brand, a quick Cocktail 101 lesson and a formal tasting of the gin.

For the challenge, each participant was assigned a “bar essentials” prep station with all the tools needed to prepare the perfect cocktail including branded shakers, muddlers, cutting boards, etc. An ingredients station was also set up allowing them to select from a variety of Chicago-inspired ingredients to use for their cocktail recipes. The bloggers had been given hints about the challenge during the weeks leading up to the event via a special “Next GINeration Chicago” Twitter page and came ready with their original cocktail recipes in mind.

The excitement built as the participants were given just 10 minutes to create their cocktails.  From Stanley Cup inspired libations to low calorie Chicagoland sippers, the participants delivered a variety of delicious and unique creations.  Each presented their cocktail to the judges, and were evaluated on three criteria: Taste, Presentation and Creativity. After much deliberation, the judges selected Jennifer Contraveos of The Crafted Cocktail for her “North Shore Sour” cocktail. Contraveos was presented with a special Next GINeration award plaque and will have her winning cocktail featured on the New Amsterdam Gin Facebook page. In addition, the winner will be treated to a private catered cocktail party for 10 guests at her home sponsored by New Amsterdam Gin.

Next stop for the “Next GINeration Cocktail Challenge”? The New Orleans Tales of the Cocktail Festival where bloggers from around the country will show off their mixology skills with New Amsterdam Gin!

On Tuesday, June 15, people gathered in the streets of New York at Hollywood’s Paramount Studios to celebrate the  25th anniversary of Sebastian Professional’s beloved Shaper hairspray collection. The blow-out event toasted this milestone and celebrated the launch of the limited-edition Shaper can, with design inspired by Sebastian Shaper’s Visionary and ad campaign star, Pamela Love.  The bash featured a hair show of over 30 models with shape-defying ‘dos crafted by Sebastian stylists.  The power of Shaper was evident as Sebastian Stylist Design Team Member, and Hollywood Hairroin Salon owner, Janine Jarman created high-height hair on models who strutted their stuff with Pamela Love on the runway to the spinning tracks of DJ Z-Trip.  The extravaganza was made complete with an electrifying performance by the alt-new-wave rockers, The Sounds.  Always pushing boundaries and looking to exemplify creativity, the party embodied Sebastian’s motto, “what’s next.”

The P&G Fabric Care team invited 18 influential mom bloggers out to Cincinnati for an event at Procter & Gamble headquarters, called “Fabric Care University.”  This event gave influencers a behind-the-scenes look at the science that goes into making Tide and Downy leaders in the laundry category.

The event kicked off on Monday afternoon with a trip to the P&G archives, where the bloggers were taken on an exclusive tour to learn about the history of the company and see fascinating artifacts such as old Tide bottles and even a lock of John Wayne’s hair! After the tour, everyone was invited to the Weston Art Gallery for an exciting night of style and innovation hosted by Tide spokesperson Tim Gunn!  Although the bloggers knew in advance that they would be receiving the opportunity to spend the night socializing with Tim, they were surprised with a Project Runway-esque activity in which they had to split up into groups and turn a plain white t-shirt into a runway-ready piece!  Everyone had a fantastic time using their creativity to come up with a design that would impress Tim, but in the end only one group won the title of “Most Innovative.”  Katie from Domestic Debacle, Daniel from Consumer Queen, Lori from Tip Junkie, and Nirasha from Mommy Niri took home coveted the prize.  As this challenge concluded, Tim invited the bloggers to an intimate cocktail reception perfect for relationship building with Brand, ER and DVPR.

While Monday night’s activities provided the opportunity to have a good time and form new friendships, Tuesday was where the learning at Fabric Care University really began.  The bloggers spent the day at P&G’s Ivorydale Technical Center’s Millennium Building, where attendees participated in R&D led classes, demonstrations, and lab tours all designed to educate the influencer about the best in class science behind Tide & Downy.  In addition, influencers were given a “first look” at the new Tide and Downy products that would hit shelves in July.