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Announcing the Smart Chart 4.0, featuring expanded analysis of frames, narrative, audience research and messaging
The first thing I tell people about the Smart Chart is that it is at the core of everything we do at Spitfire. The concepts and questions included in it are the foundation to how we plan for, write and implement communication campaigns. The tool itself is also central to Spitfire...
Spitfire pro-bono fund kicks off its second year
Spitfire is committed to supporting movements that advance racial, economic and social justice across the country. We believe it’s critical to center the voices of people who are most impacted by systemic injustice, which is what led the firm to create a $100,000 pro bono fund to...
Building a world beyond binaries
This July 14th marks the ninth annual International Non-Binary People’s day, and it serves as a salient reminder of the need to celebrate the non-binary people in our lives and continue working to build a world beyond binaries. Gender is a core part of our identities and it...
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Communication Is Power: Use It Well
Communication is power and like all power, how you use it matters. Communication can shine a spotlight on problems, making them easier to see and offering a stage to popularize solutions. It can call people to the streets, and it can bring people together. Silence is...
A reflection on masks and messaging
Has anything been more polarizing than the wearing of masks? Instead of a simple and effective public health tool, it is a political statement, a social badge, a point of solidarity or conflict. During the past year, I became interested in how the request (or requirement) to wear...
How to talk about Pride without missing the point
After more than a year of quarantine, fear and anxiety, people across the country are clamoring for the excitement brought by the parades, marches, parties and events celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in the post-vaccine era. While joy is important to Pride, celebrated every June...
It starts with a map: How to understand your communications ecosystem
I am often asked to run strategic communications planning sessions. Anyone who works with me knows I am disciplined about starting with strategy and not tactics. The author of and evangelist for the Smart Chart, I always design agendas to spend much more time on goals and...
People-First On and Offline: How Advocates Build Lasting Change
Over the past year, advocates across the country have cried out for bold progressive change. Advocates working for gender equity, racial justice, fair wages, climate justice and voting rights swept the nation with a progressive agenda. Driven by dedicated community organizers...
Make the most of your social media strategy this National Grilled Cheese Day
Today is National Grilled Cheese Day, an annual celebration that honors one of the most popular sandwiches in the United States. Americans eat approximately 2.2 billion grilled cheeses per year. In 2012, one man set a new world record for eating 13 grilled cheese sandwiches in...
This Women’s History Month, Let’s Change the Narrative to Support Working Moms
As we come to the close of Women’s History Month, we must acknowledge the pivotal elongated moment in women’s history we are currently living through: the unbelievable challenge working moms are collectively facing to keep our children and our country afloat. When the threat of...
Harnessing the power of influencers to create social change
You’ve seen it before. You’re scrolling through your Instagram feed and you see a celebrity you follow sharing a testimony about a product you’ve never heard of, or maybe they’re advocating for a cause that’s close to your heart. In recent years, influencers have risen as key...
Keep Me Posted - Episode 4: Tech Policy and Cultural Translation
“You should care about what Facebook is doing, regardless of whether you're on the platform or not,” Brandi Collins-Dexter, Visiting Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, told me on the newest episode of Spitfire’s tech and society podcast, Keep...