Hi, I’m Allyson. Or, Ally. Around Mortar, I’m known as Stinchfield, the new resident PR and social media guru. I met Mortar folks years ago on LinkedIn. We recently found each other again there.

I am happy to be here. I’m excited to help Mortar’s diverse set of clients create PR and social media conversations that harness the power of a Mortar360 branding workshop.

There are a few things that have stood out for me during my first official days at Mortar:

• Everyone is having fun and talking out loud, in a good-getting-great-stuff-done kind of way.
• The resident monkey is nowhere to be found.
• Mortar’s clients are diverse. Already, I’ve written a blog about a company lifting farmers out of poverty in Burma (Proximity Designs), sat in a room with a leading SaaS company forever changing the way marketing and sales teams score leads (Marketo), and talked in-depth with some execs about how to better serve Americans in debt (Financial Freedom Network).
• We get to work with smart professors from all walks of life at Golden Gate University (GGU), one of Mortar’s many long-term clients. The media call upon them regularly these days (great job former Mortar PR gurus!).
• The branding conversation with clients is much more direct than the PR ones I’ve been privy to over the last decade. There’s more focus on getting real rich insights upfront from all stakeholders (customers, partners, critics, competitors, people online and on the street, the media, etc.), and less on creating B.S. out of thin air.
• It’s a truthful 360-leadership conversation where everyone contributes. I’ve watched Mortar share information that clients may not want to hear, but need to. For instance, “Your messaging makes no sense to anyone but you and we fell asleep reading all of those atrocious acronyms.”
• The Mortar Foundation is doing good work in the world. Work I care about too. Like helping less fortunate people who need voices to shout out to them every once in awhile, “Hey, we’ve got your back!”

I look forward to my journey as Mortar’s resident, provisional PR and social media guru. Drop me a line anytime. I’d love to hear from you.

Stinchfield

P.S. Using the power of social media and PR, I’ve learned how to speed up help for AFCECO orphans and once for a miraculous little boy named Oliver. I look forward to contributing my skills to The Mortar Foundation and client causes, too.

Why can we not stand talking babies, yet not resist talking animals? Whatever. It’s Friday. Have fun in whatever sandbox you like to play in this weekend.

Bellyrubs to our pal Jen P. for the tip.

Avinger debuts at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in San Francisco this week with a little Mortar magic and pro cyclist Christian Vande Valde.

Mortar’s design team is helping Avinger bust into the world-famous TCT conference with a magnificent booth (Booth #1536) and some pretty sweet jackets to match.

Avinger will host a TCT Breakfast Meeting on Friday November 11 at 6:30 AM transmitting a case live from Germany highlighting a Chronic Total Occlusion Crossing using the Direction OCT Guided CTO Catheter, Ocelot.

Hosting the case live will be Dr. Arne Schwindt and Avinger CEO John B. Simpson, PhD, MD. Our own Todd Ransick will be eating bratwurst while streaming the feed from Munster, Germany to the event here in San Francisco.

Pro cyclist Christian Vande Valde will also be a guest speaker at the breakfast, drawing the connection between the spinning wheels of pro bikes and the spinning tip of the Ocelot catheter.

On Saturday, November 11, 2011, Christian will join Avinger and all attendees of the TCT Breakfast Meeting who wish to participate in a bike ride in Woodside, CA to promote PAD awareness through physical activity.

Avinger is excited to be a part of TCT, an event that pays homage to industry leaders who are dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education.

And Mortar is excited, well, that Todd’s eating bratwurst.

The Mortar team presented creative concepts to Carondelet Health Network last week in Tucson, Arizona. To celebrate the beginning of our new relationship, we gave each member of Carondelet’s marketing team a potted plant to water and care for, a living symbol of the compassion they show each other and the community in their daily work. After a few days, Cindy Jordan’s plant was the first to start budding, a testament to her nurturing spirit. Congratulations, Cindy! Here’s to being well.