The holiday season is here – which means goal setting and planning for 2017, lots of holiday parties and, for many, giving back to others.

In fact, the holidays are the most popular time for companies to harness the spirit of giving. Nearly 34 percent of all charitable giving is done in the last three months of the year, 18 percent in December alone.

It's for this reason that #GivingTuesday was created, a global day dedicated to giving back. This year it fell on Nov. 29. Next year it falls on Nov. 28. 

Here at Garden Media, we celebrate the holiday spirit by giving back at our annual Christmas Wrap. This year we had the pleasure of working with Oxford Church of the Nazarene and the Lighthouse Youth Center, a para-church organization that gives back to youth ages 9-18.

We gather as a team to sing Christmas songs, eat cookies and wrap our gifts. It’s a time of year when thinking about others is easy, fun and makes us feel good.

But enough about us. Let's take a look at what some of our favorite companies do for others:

In this week’s Trending Thursday post, we’re reflecting a decade into the past when people started to recognize – and then alter – "reckless” habits.   

As the country started to embrace holistic, natural options when it came to products and food, people started to pay attention to what was happening below the surface of their garden.

Consumers realized that the path to healthy plants started in the ground.

Reckless gardening was out and safe gardening was in.

Continue reading to learn more about the Safe Gardening trend.

Every good pr professional knows that building solid relationships with the media is key to having a strong list of contacts to can call upon when needed. PR pros can meet new contacts via pitching, conferences and networking.

This Fall, GMG traveled to The Big Apple for a media tour with Costa Farms.

Find out how we made this tour a success.

For this week’s trending Thursday post, we’re looking way back to a simpler time – at least when it came to the garden.

In 2004, we stated that busy was out and classic, simple gardens were in.

Americans were weary of trying to put together mixed containers that ended up looking overdone and tasteless.  They avoided pairing too many plants together the way they avoided “wearing plaids, stripes and big floral prints together.” 

The home gardener gravitated toward the mono-impact container idea. And with that trend came a simple outdoor concept.

Continue reading to learn more about Classic Gardens.

Jargon: special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.

Those who work in PR are all too familiar with this term. How many times a day can someone hear the word “influencer” before they’re completely bored?  

No one – especially journalists and consumers -  likes buzzwords.  So why does our industry love to use and overuse them so often?

The good news is that there’s always time to unlearn the drab words that drag our copy down.    

Read more to unlearn these overused words.

In this week’s Trending Thursday post, we’re looking back nearly a decade to 2005 where the online revolution was in full force.

People were just beginning to use the internet – which was easily accessible nation-wide – as a fountain of knowledge that helped them learn about new products like never before.

This widespread access to new information lead to consumers feeling overwhelmed by choices in garden centers and other stores. In order to combat this feeling, consumers turned to trusted personalities to help make choices for them.

Continue reading to learn more about Curated Consumption.

You know by now that PR firms produce the most effective measurements after listening to their clients goals.

It’s the firm’s job to clearly identify these goals, exceed expectations and produce the proper measurement that highlight the value of the work.

One way to show that you are indispensable to clients to produce measurement reports on a monthly basis. Here’s the easiest way to impress clients with your reports.

Continue reading to learn more about the best PR measurement practices for 2017.

It’s that wonderful time of year when we come together to celebrate the all extraordinary things - and people - in our lives that we give thanks to all-year-round. 

This year has been an exciting one for Garden Media, as we worked with new clients, promoted campaigns that we truly believed in and surrounded ourselves with the best people around. 

Our team is overflowing with thanks and gratitude. To you, our reader, thanks for always checking in and commenting. To our top-of-the-line clients, thank you for striving to be the best in class. And to our families, near and far - thank you – we'd be lost without you!

Continue reading to see who our team is thankful for this year.

PR pros work hard to earn placements and build a brand’s reputation online and across a variety of business channels.

While many results are clear, much of PR is hard to quantify. Goal-setting and measurement are fundamental aspects of any public relations program. 

When it comes to measurement, firms should always take an all-inclusive approach that takes both traditional and non-traditional factors into consideration. Things such as social media, comprehension and changes in awareness among stakeholders should always be included in results.

We're always looking to revamp our practices and have done some deep diving into measurement. 

Continue reading to learn more about the best PR measurement practices for 2017.

For today’s Trending Thursday post, we’re taking a look into the not-so-distant past of 2014 where we
first identified decorating outdoors as a top trend.

Social trends like lawn games, outdoor TV's, glamping and lawn parties inspired the gardening world – and consumers – to decorate the outdoors like any other room. Gardens quickly became an extension of the home.

Continue reading to learn more about the Dress Up Your Yard trend.