There’s something to be said for the classics. Classic movies, here’s looking at you. Classic slogans, are forever. Classic cars, novels, songs – all worth sticking around for. But the world of online marketing, public relations and social media is always changing. Along Company B’s classic strategies, we use some simple, yet elegant tech solutions. Maybe we’re not born and bred engineers, but we watch live streams of CES and test every app we can fit on our phones and covet ridiculously awesome things like the Stir Desk. So perhaps we’re only wanna-be tech nerds, but here’s a list of what makes our offices function smoothly. Thank you, internet.

Google Drive

• Whether it’s press release or a sheet of data, we make a lot of revisions on our day-to-day work. Editing in shared docs saves everyone valuable time, and inbox space. I personally LOVE the revision history feature. Because sometimes people edit my stuff. And they’re wrong. Mwahaha. Plus I can work offline, should I ever find myself in an awful moment without WiFi. *shudders*

Dropbox

• For files that are DONE. We store everything we work on – RFPs, idea decks, headshots, client data. You never know when you’re going to want to refer back to a really fantastic idea, but our hardrives are only so big. So Dropbox is a great storage facility with useful sharing capabilities.

Skype / Google Hangouts

• These two are together because they provide the same great service with only a few different features. Instantaneous communication is essential when your team is so spread out. But it’s also helpful when they’re just a room away. Sort of like, prioritized interruptions. “Please answer me in the next spare 30 seconds of your time.” If you don’t already use it, Google Hangouts is just a better version of Facebook’s messaging system, for Google+ with way better video options.

Calendar Invites / Shared Calendars

• Luckily enough, iCal and Google calendars are not that hard to blend together. Keeping track of our own schedules is hard enough, so seamless calendar features make it easy to be on the same page with your team.

Uber Conference

•  Uber Conference,  is a great service we use to schedule those meetings, both in house and with clients that don’t already have their own preference. With Uber Conference, we don’t need to burden clients with a pin code or force them to wait on the line without us to make small talk with each other, because the meeting starts when our personalized line dials in. Plus they have a cool web component that lets you see who has dialed in from where, who is speaking or just observing, and an excellent screen share option which is super useful. AND, their hold music is really funny.

Vocus / Cision

• Every PR agency has a media database it uses. It’s just impossible to do this job without it. We use it to find journalists, editors, and contact info for just the right person to suit our stories. Pro tip: no matter how confident you are in your system, be sure to check out the subject in real life before contacting them . Their social profiles can usually tell you right away if their is listing in your database needs a little updating. Vocus also keeps tabs on our clients’ news, producing reports that let us plan strategically.

Webinars

• I’m a webinar addict. Any day that passes where I don’t learn something new is a wasted opportunity and free webinars are EVERYWHERE. So when I work from home, I like having a webinar on in the background. If the topic is compelling enough it can pull me away from my work, and if it’s not, well, I just learn a little bit about how other people are doing things I already practice. Background noise helps me focus, so while I love Spotify’s New Music Tuesday, free webinars are a great option for multi-tasking.