Seaonal and Holidays

5 simple breakfast hacks

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(BPT) – Weekday mornings can be rough, trying to get yourself and your family up and dressed, fed, then out the door in time for school and work. It’s tough to make sure everyone gets something healthy to eat before dashing out to start the day. What i…

Why dads are radder than ever

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(BPT) – Dads today are dramatically changing what it means to be a dad. According to Pew Research Center, not only are millennial dads spending more time with their kids than any previous generation, but they are more engaged. These highly skilled ‘rad dads’ are going beyond changing diapers and pickup duty, and getting on their kids’ levels through play and genuine involvement. They get that in a hyper-connected, over-scheduled world, connecting with their kids is just as important as providing for them.

Adding spontaneous joy to daily life. Rad dads have evolved beyond classic maneuvers like ‘Hey, pull my finger.’ They’ll do the floss in aisle nine and join a tiny tea party anywhere, anytime. Whether it’s transforming a staircase into an epic slide, doing an impromptu couch-side manicure, or having a sing-along dance party, these dads are inspiring kids to laugh and find joy in being themselves. Although millennial dads are still career-driven, modern families are more likely to share financial responsibilities, which allows rad dads to have more memorable bonding time with their kids and the flexibility to be there for the moments that count.

Being part of something bigger. Rad dads are unabashedly proud of their families and serve as their biggest cheerleaders in person, sharing kids’ life milestones on social media. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk is proud to be one of them – he recently posted a now-viral video of helping his 10-year-old daughter overcome her fears and skate down a ramp for the first time.

‘Being there for your kids is most important … not just cheering them on, but actually participating with them. Dads these days are inspiring future generations and leading by example,’ said Hawk. ‘Being a dad is my proudest accomplishment.’

It’s been almost two decades since Hawk endorsed Bagel Bites and he has gone on to be one of the most influential skateboarders of all time. But his greatest achievement was going from legendary rad skateboarder to legendary rad dad of six. And now Bagel Bites and Tony Hawk are teaming up to see what makes you or the dads in your life proud members of the Rad Dad Squad.

Three lucky dads and their kids will win the opportunity to get a private skate demo from Hawk at his ramp in San Diego and enjoy a pizza party with the sports legend himself. Winners will be announced throughout the month of June, starting on Father’s Day. Tag your video or photo #raddadsquad and #sweepstakes through June 23, 2019, for your chance to be selected. Click here for sweepstakes rules.

Throughout the summer, the Rad Dad Squad will also surprise dads on social media with custom Rad Dad swag, including hoodies, nail polish, hats, and a limited-edition skate deck signed by Tony.

Pittsburgh: Pull up a chair. You are welcomed here

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(BPT) – Feel welcome. See the beauty. Explore the culture. Pittsburgh truly has it all.

VisitPITTSBURGH launched a new national marketing campaign, and it is nothing like past campaigns from the destination marketing organization. Sure, the accompanying video and images have some of the beautiful iconic shots of the city’s skyline and neighborhoods, but this campaign is intended to promote something more than just the city’s stunning beauty. It highlights the welcoming spirit of the city and Pittsburghers.

Pull Up a Chair. You are Welcomed Here … is the name of the campaign, and it is built around the gesture of offering a visitor a chair, which is a universal sign of hospitality and respect. It also takes one step further the messaging of its public officials and residents who have long promoted that Pittsburgh is an inclusive and welcoming destination.

‘We hear it all the time from our visitors that our residents are so friendly and welcoming and that instead of just giving directions they will walk a visitor to the destination,” said Tom Loftus, chief marketing officer for VisitPITTSBURGH. ‘We hear the same comments from visiting journalists and tour operators, so we wanted to capture that inclusive spirit of our city in this campaign.”

Loftus said the goal of the campaign was also to break away from the typical tourism campaign and video components. ‘We, like other DMOs, have been successful at raising awareness of our cities with videos that showcase beautiful scenery, attractions that can only be found in your city, and all of the great accolades you have earned. For this campaign, however, I challenged my staff to not overthink what makes Pittsburgh different but to find it and then find a way to capture it. And we feel we did.’

The campaign will mostly be digital and will target the city’s drive and fly markets, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Tampa and New York City. It will also use public relations domestically and internationally and will be incorporated throughout its sales, sports development and marketing efforts. In addition, the campaign will include activations in some of the targeted cities as well as activations throughout the summer in the Pittsburgh region.

‘We want to get Pittsburghers throughout the world involved in spreading the message of the campaign,’ said Loftus. ‘They are our best ambassadors and it will give them a glimpse of what VisitPITTSBURGH does, since more than 98 percent of our marketing is done outside the region.’

Craig Davis, president and CEO of VisitPITTSBURGH, said the new campaign showcases the talents of the marketing staff. ‘I challenged them to become one of the best marketing departments in the country and they readily accepted that challenge,’ he said. ‘We don’t have an agency of record and I am proud to say that most of our creative is done in-house, including the creative for this campaign. I am really proud of the team.’

Loftus returns the compliment by saying that Davis has built a culture at VisitPITTSBURGH that encourages staff to think way outside the box and not be afraid to make mistakes.

‘Even with that encouragement, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t use a brand tag that had been used before. Pull Up a Chair – You Are Welcomed Here seemed so appropriate for this campaign that we thought some other city must have used it before,’ said Loftus. ‘But a trademark and copyright search proved otherwise, so we quickly applied to trademark it.’

VisitPITTSBURGH is encouraging its partners to get involved with the campaign by posting photos of iconic chairs at their attractions, and it will be doing the same with residents through some fun social media contests.

For more information about Pull Up a Chair. You are Welcomed Here! visit www.visitpittsburgh.com.