Jackson-Dawson Marketing Solutions, South Carolina's second largest marketing communications agency, took home a total of seven awards, more than any other agency/group, at the South Carolina Public Relations Society of America's (SCPRSA) annual Mercury Awards ceremony Thursday night at The Hall in Columbia, S.C. The Greenville-based agency won four Silver Wing Awards and three Mercury Awards. In addition, two agency Associates were honored with individual awards.

Working in public relations, and more recently putting together social media recommendations, I have realized business executives are skittish about putting anything risky out for public viewing, and understandably so.  When doing any sort of public campaign, whether it is PR or social media, the fear is that the consumer will pick apart your efforts and declare it to be bad.

I had the privilege of spending some time interviewing one of my idols in the PR world—Richard Laermer.

Have you ever wondered if there is anything more to life than being really, really ridiculously good-looking?

Of course, there is!

Sorry, had to do that.

PR professionals are so often the victim of the vicious label “spin doctor.” The common thought is PR pros make people believe in your products or services, no matter how unimportant they may be in the lives of others.

When PRNewser interviewed social media innovator, Guy Kawasaki, at the South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) this week, Kawasaki made no apologies for still clinging to his PR firm.