“Public relations cannot be treated as a late-stage marketing function. In this space, it is an approval strategy.” By Brian Chandler, APR – Founder & CEO Surf park projects are not getting voted down because the waves do not work. They are failing because developers wait too long to explain what they are building, why […]
Lost Shore: A PR Case Study
Worth Riding
By Brian Chandler, APR – Founder & CEO At Surf Park Central’s Surf Park Summit in November, I had the opportunity to hear directly from the team behind Lost Shore Surf Park in Scotland. As the “only” PR/marketing agency professional representative in the room, one moment from their presentation stood out more than anything else. […]
Surf Parks: Why PR & Marketing Matters
What Surf Park Developers Need to Know About PR, Community Support and Long-Term Visibility By Brian Chandler, APR – Founder & CEO In August 2025, a local news outlet here in Virginia published my opinion column on a bold new chapter in Virginia Beach’s coastal story: Atlantic Park, a development that represents not just a […]
Navigating Breaking News Cycles
By: Ellie Forkins Some months, it seems everywhere we look there is breaking news. And the past few months have been no different. Recently, the world has turned its attention to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. With heavy hearts, we all watched as the situation unfolded, knowing fully that this breaking news would take […]
Media Interview Preparation (Series): Conducting The Interview
This is the last blog in our media interview preparation series. We hope you’ve read and enjoyed our previous posts on what to do upon initial contact from a reporter and how to develop your messages. For this final installment, we’ll take a look at the media interview itself and offer some tips and advice […]
Public Relations Tips for Legislative Sessions
This year, the Virginia General Assembly was in full swing with a long session – eight weeks instead of six. And a multitude of important bills were being debated throughout the House and Senate, including a few that would directly impact our clients. Working with and securing quality news coverage is already a challenge at […]
Media Interview Preparation (Series): Developing Your Messages
In a previous blog post on media interview preparation, we covered the first step in the media interview process: the initial action you and your organization should take when first contacted by a reporter, blogger, freelance writer, etc. Next, we’ll address how to put your messages together so you can best tell your organization’s story […]
Media Interview Preparation (Series): What to do upon initial contact from a reporter
This is the first blog in a series that aims to help you successfully prepare for a media interview. Media interviews can help your organization reach its communication goals in many ways. Here are just a few benefits: Allows your organization to communicate directly to both your stakeholders and a broad audience Helps inform your […]
Communicating with Empathy
“Thoughts and prayers.” This may be one of the most cliche phrases in modern times. In a 2018 article about this phrase, journalist AJ Willingham referred to its use as “semantic satiation,” a phenomenon in which a phrase is used so often that it loses its meaning. The phrase now even has its own hashtag, […]
Importance of Media Relationships
When something newsworthy happens with your business, you might be inclined to share that with the news media in your area. Earning a placement is a great opportunity to spread the word about your business and its recent achievements. However, oftentimes this is no easy feat. When contacting a newspaper or television station, you are […]










