Engineering marvel – moving commuter train crosses floating bridge on stationary tracks

More than 30 years ago, I first wrote about plan to bring a light rail system to the Puget Sound region. It wasn’t the first time voters were to have the opportunity to approve a regional light rail system (they stupidly rejected the first and second tries in 1968 and 1970).

The plan that came back to voters in 1995 was ambitious and expensive. And voters – in typical Seattle style – once again rejected it.

Luckily, they approved a scaled down version of it in 1996 – a 22-mile system that would extend from Sea-Tac airport to the University of Washington.

Over the next three decades (!!) the agency known as Sound Transit started checking off transit milestones – from its first heavy rail train service from Tacoma to Seattle in 2000 to light rail that now makes its way along a 55-mile system that extends from south of Sea-Tac airport to Lynnwood in Snohomish County, along with a north-south line connecting Bellevue to Redmond.

But today (March 26, 2026), I got to do something I had dreamed of doing for years! I got to ride a moving train along stationary tracks over a floating bridge that sits on a fresh water lake.

Think about that. An engineering marvel that exists nowhere else in the world! Locals know the story of how difficult it was to achieve this milestone. The rail line that connects Seattle with its Eastside suburbs opened six years behind schedule. It’s over budget. And there’s a lawsuit over who is responsible for the failed 5,500 concrete blocks known as “plinths” that delayed the project by two or three years.

But here we are in 2026. The FIFA World Cup – along with some 750,000 visitors – is coming to Seattle in just over two months. And the engineers and regional leaders are rejoicing.

Residents of suburban Eastside are ecstatic as well. This is a game changer. While buses have always been an option, they’re not the same as a train. Anyone who chooses to leave their car at home will be able to get to a ballgame, restaurant, or other cultural event without having to worry about getting stuck in rush hour traffic, finding a parking space, or paying for it. And once they are downtown, they can easily go further afield to check out other neighborhoods: Columbia City. Beacon Hill. Capitol Hill. University District. Etc. Might this actually help generate a night life in our “wake up early to hike” city?

Sure, there are last-mile questions to be resolved – especially on Mercer Island, which practiced NIMBYism when its residents rejected Sound Transit’s effort to build a larger park and ride near the train stop and instead went for a lot that is already too small. Look for the 1,500-stall South Bellevue Park and Ride to pick up the slack. It will be interesting to see how long it will take to fill.

But for now, I’m just happy to be able to ride the “2 Line” from Bellevue to Seattle. My first ride was so flawless, simple and smooth that it was hard to imagine just what an engineering marvel it really is.

Seattle from a tourist’s eyes

I’ve had the pleasure of working as a local tour guide this summer. As such, I’ve gotten to see my native city with fresh eyes. It’s a city this 29-year resident of Boring Bellevue has never seen before.

I was born in Seattle and have spent all but five years of my life here. I regularly go downtown for sporting events and concerts, the market, Seattle Art Museum, etc. I also have guided tourists on hikes through the historic coal mining area of Bellevue and Newcastle since 2017. And yet, when doing my hiking tours, I never strayed much further than a few miles from home.

This year I’ve spent most of my time in the tourist corridor – picking up many folks in town for an Alaska cruise. I get to enchant them with my favorite haunts in the Pike Place Market, drive a loop that might take us to West Seattle, over one of the floating bridges, to the Ballard Locks, Kerry Park and the Space Needle and Chihuly Museum.

Most tourists, I’ve found, want to visit places on the “Top 10” list, which includes Pike Place market, the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle Art Museum, Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle Aquarium & Waterfront, the Seattle Great Wheel, Seattle Underground Tour, Ballard Locks & Fish Ladder, Discovery Park, and a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island.

Personally, I would skip MOPOP, SAM and Discovery Park, and instead would add West Seattle and a drive by the Amazon Spheres. I’ve found a higher “wow” factor when we add those to the tour.

What have I learned about Seattle as a guide and what have my guests taught me? A lot. Just like Pemco Insurance did in its mid-2000 ads that poked fun at us PNW folks, I got to experience the oddities of our area through the eyes of the tourists I’ve met.

Here are a few of the observations:

• International tourism was way down this year. The vast majority of visitors came from the United States (yes, Canadians definitely ditched us).
• Just like we Northwesterners like to travel to warm climates during the winter, folks from hot places come to Seattle in the summer to escape the heat and humidity back home. I met many Floridians.
• Pier 91 is nutso – especially when there are two cruise ships (totaling 8,000 passengers) disembarking and embarking at the same time. That’s up to 16,000 people all congested in one place – carrying way too much luggage, looking dazed and confused, along with every conceivable motor vehicle available trying to serve them. 
• There are no homeless people in Seattle. At least, there are very few in the main tourist corridor around Pike Place Market. But let’s not kid ourselves, they are still there, just pushed east, north and south.
• People are shocked by the size of our hills. They’ve asked if the brakes on our cars wear out faster because of all the downhill driving. Some were even scared to be in a car driving down the hills.
• We have eye-popping gas prices.
• Our metered freeway onramps are quite unique.
• We actually follow the rules of our HOV lanes? How absurd. Even so, our traffic congestion is legendary. I and other guides are constantly offering disclaimers for why we’re using our navigation systems and going strange routes – to avoid as many traffic jams as possible.
• The Woodinville winery scene is quite impressive with 130 different wineries/tasting rooms, restaurants, breweries, distilleries!
• Seattle isn’t nearly as bad as the media portrays us.
• It’s true. We really don’t dress well here (unless dressing for the ability to go for a hike or walk outside at any break in the weather is considered “dressing well.”)

Your Seattle tour guides work hard to portray our city as the beautiful, natural place that it is. The takeaway? Next time you’re traveling anywhere, treat your guides well. Leave them a 5-star review or – if they don’t deserve 5 stars – let them know how they can improve. And please, tip well.

RIP Regina Barkey Amira, the last Sephardic Jewish Rhodeslie in Seattle

[My aunt Regina passed away on Sept. 4, 2025. I delivered this tribute at her funeral.]

I want to speak today to honor my beloved Aunty Regina. Man oh man, I can’t believe we were making borekas together on July 16! And now we’re here…

It’s common for news reporters to lead a story with what we call a “Zimmerman,” a real-life person who represents the story that’s about to be told.

Today, Regina Barkey Amira is a Zimmerman. She – more than anyone else in our community right now – represents the Jewish community of Rhodes, where she was born, the Seattle Sephardic community, where she came to live in 1946, and our family, where she served as the last living member and became its matriarch.

Regina was the last one standing. If we had some raki right now, we would raise our cups to toast her. She’d really like that. She loved her Raki!

Regina was the last native-born Rhodeslie alive in Seattle’s Sephardic community. And she was the last one left in her generation of our family. Although she lived to the ripe old age of 93 – and really tried to squeeze every last good time out of her long life – her loss is especially hard. Because in addition to losing Regina, we lost the last of her generation here in Seattle.

The rabbi and her children have already spoken eloquently about Regina’s life.  I want to speak to you about the special relationship I got to have with her.

Regina was my aunt – the youngest of the six Barkey children. My mother, Claire, was the oldest. Sadly for me, she died 34 years ago, when I was only 28 years old. Due to her dementia, I never got to enjoy an adult relationship with my mother.

But my relationship Regina – especially over the last 10 or so years – was different. She wasn’t really a second mom to me, although she definitely was like a grandmother to my two boys, who never knew their Sephardic grandma. Rather than a traditional aunty-niece relationship, I would characterize my relationship with Regina as a true friendship. We became especially close when – in 2016 – we embarked on a speaking tour together, appearing at many venues as we spoke about our family book, A Hug From Afar. I spoke about the book, and Regina personified my mother, her older sister, the true author of the guts of this book. She read – sometimes in her native Ladino – excerpts from the letters that my mother wrote when she was trying to save the family from the Nazi invasion of Rhodes during World War II.

Since Regina was only 7 years old at the time that the family fled Rhodes, I believe that participating in this endeavor really continued to ground her in her family’s tragic, yet unique history as Jewish Holocaust refugees from Rhodes. It allowed her to elevate her family heritage beyond the Ladino language and the Sephardic cuisine that she had perfected to a level where she represented the Rhodes Jewish community, a real-life person with a sweet tiny accent who brought to life La Juderia, where the Jews lived as a tightknit community on the Aegean island.

It was fun to watch her rise to the occasion, to represent her native Rhodes. To say Regina was “social” is an under-statement. She really loved this exercise. She loved answering questions from audience members, meeting people after our talks, and asking them questions to see what they had in common – including whether they attended her beloved Garfield High School!

Even on her way to her last visit to the hospital a couple weeks ago, Regina struck up a conversation with her cabulence driver and learned that he had visited Rhodes. He showed her pictures. As her daughter Marcelle said at the time, “Mom can make a new friend anywhere and in any circumstance!”

Regina was fun, friendly, flirty, and always tried to find “a deal.” We would literally spend hours talking on the phone – about nothing. Just practicing the art of Echar Lashon, like they did in the old country. We were only 30 years apart (she actually gave me my first bath because she had experience raising three girls when my mother finally had me at the ripe old age of 41). We mainly talked about things involving the Sephardic community, common acquaintances, family members, and cooking techniques.

With her brothers Vic and Morrie gone, she became the family historian. A few months ago I spent many hours with her going through old, unmarked photos. She could identify nearly every family member in those faded pictures – many from the old country; some who died in Auschwitz, and others who are now spread throughout the world – in Israel, Europe, the US and South America. Not only did she say their names, but their relationships to others and she offered little stories about each of them. I took notes with a goal of preserving these memories.

Regina was also the BEST Sephardic cook and teacher. She taught me how to make borekas – always tasting and adding more salt and cheese! When we made borekas together for the last time less than two months ago, she complimented me on my repulgo, or edging! After being coached on that many times, it made me feel like I had finally arrived at boreka perfection, even though we still argued over the correct size to make them! Her biscochos recipe – with just the right amount of sugar and crunch – was my favorite of all the biscochos I’ve eaten. We made hundreds of filikas together for my sons’ bar mitzvahs and other occasions. We prepared those, plus prasa patties for our Rosh Hashanah yehi ratzones seders, which we were honored to host for many years with her and Vic as honored guests and leaders. I treasured the last few times with them, knowing that they wouldn’t last forever. This year will be the first time we’ll host our special dinner without them. On Hanukkah I would even be willing to have my house smell of oil for days as Regina presided over the stinky but yummy bumuelo making party!!

I wondered years ago what would happen when Regina was no longer around to take my phone calls when I needed Sephardic cooking tips, or advice for the Sephardic way to celebrate the Jewish holidays. As a native Ladino speaker, I also used her as my personal dictionary. Who will I call now with questions about the meaning of a Ladino word or translation?

I knew this day would come because no one lives forever, and Regina was certainly logging the years. But this is plain hard. Regina was the last remaining member of the six Barkey children. The family matriarch. The last native Rhodeslie in Seattle. She was my favorite aunty. And, based on the fact that several of her nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews are here today – even traveling long distances to get here – I know they felt the same about her. Regina – you’ll never know how much I love you and will truly miss you.

Introducing AI Cynthia

This is AI Cynthia

After 20+ years, I finally decided to get a new professional headshot. I have a speaking engagement coming up that requires a bio and photo, which prompted me to take action after all these years. It’s time.

Although I didn’t need the headshot today, I went ahead and got it anyway. But this time I didn’t even shower. I didn’t get dressed up. No makeup. Hair was a mess. Yet that didn’t matter. In less than an hour – with only a few minutes spent going through the photos on my phone – I got a new professional photo.

I’m sure you figured it out before reading what I’m about to disclose. The headshot was generated by AI. And boy am I feeling guilty!!

This comes only a few days after Scarlett Johansson went public with her disdain for a video that contains AI-generated versions of Jewish celebrities all wearing the same white T-shirt featuring a hand and its middle finger extended opposing Kanye West for his most recent antisemitic remarks. In a statement to PEOPLE, Johanssen denounced what she called “the misuse of AI, no matter what its messaging.”

Unlike the video Johansson is talking about, I didn’t generate celebrity AI images without their permission. This is me. I did it on my own.

But should I have done this? It was SO easy. And SO cheap – only $6.99 for 60 pictures!

I worry what this will do to yet another creative profession – the photographers who make a living taking real professional photos, including several friends of mine. I worry that every person – especially young women – will never be happy with a real photo of themselves because AI is often more polished. I worry that this will just add to all the Deep Fakes.

As a journalist who spent time in a photo darkroom (that dates me) and who has worked with many professional photographers, I know that photos have been doctored since the craft was first invented. Originally it involved “dodging and burning” in the darkroom. Next came airbrushing, then Photoshop. This is after all the makeup many people use before having a professional photo taken.

Additionally, the free AI offerings make it fairly easy to manipulate photos. So maybe I could have done this on my own without using the app I paid for.

My kids said to trash the AI me. One said “they look like a weird clone of you” and added that people who know me would immediately be able to tell I am using an AI pic.

He wasn’t alone in that sentiment.

One more thing: The suit I’m wearing in the photo is the SAME ONE as the suit being worn by the friend who first told me about the AI photo app. I wonder how many other people on LinkedIn are wearing the same damn suit!!

I’m torn. I could easily start using the AI-generated professional photo and most people wouldn’t know the difference (as long as they ignored the suit – and this post). It’s a more realistic photo of what I look like now, compared to the 20-year-old photo I have been using.

But I feel so bad about it. Thoughts? Thanks!

For the love of mothers on Mother’s Day

I swear I saw them cut the umbilical cord when my two boys were born. And yet, it often feels like that never happened.

I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. I’ve had this discussion many times with other moms as we feel big feelings when we lament our kids’ challenges, share their successes, and see them into adulthood. There’s never a shortage of topics when talking about the highs and the lows. Everyone has them, right? Some way more than others. That, after all, is part of our job of being a mom.

But I had no idea. I honestly thought that kids would grow up and we wouldn’t be needed as much. They’d grow up. We’d grow apart. The worries and anxieties would stop. Ha. Was I wrong. These days it seems many of our kids are still so attached. Some call or text throughout the day, every day. Others only reach out if they need something or if there’s a problem. We stay attached. The umbilical cord symbolically uncut.

Me and my mom.

I’m thinking about this today, which is Mother’s Day. Because both of my boys are out of town today, I’ve spent more time wishing other mothers Happy Mother’s Day. So many mothers. So many wishes! Words of affirmation. Acknowledgements of struggles. Beautiful pictures posted to social media. To those who get to spend the day with their kids, enjoy this time. To those whose kids aren’t around, I hope you are looking forward to the next time you’ll see each others.

Since we are the sandwich generation, some of my friends and relatives are lucky enough to still have their mothers around to send greetings to or to spend time with. I, sadly, lost my mother when I was only 29 years old. That was a long time ago and I was young (the age my oldest son is now). I was pissed. I know it wasn’t her fault that she got sick and died. But I was still pissed. Even though we had a fraught relationship once I hit my teen years, I just wasn’t ready for it. Once I had children of my own I really started to miss her. There was no one to go to for advice. There was no one to ooh and ahh over the cute babies. My father was great. But he wasn’t my mother. I’m still sad that she never got to enjoy the joy of grandchildren.

Luckily I am blessed to have two other mother figures in my life – my mother-in-law and my mother’s youngest sister. They are both excellent examples of what to do as a mother, and what not to do, which is okay. We all have to learn from each other and I have learned much from them and appreciate having them in my life. They’re not the same as my own mother, but are good surrogates.

I am also very privileged to have so many other mothers to turn to – my good friends who have spent many hours commiserating with me over raising children. I look to them for advice and sometimes even offer some myself. But most importantly, I’m happy to hear them out and so appreciate it when they do that for me as well.

I looked up the history of Mother’s Day, thinking that it was another Hallmark holiday. But it’s much richer than that. Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans and spread throughout Europe. The American Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis later denounced the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. But it’s still there – cards, flowers, brunch and all. I think it’s great. We need to spend some time really appreciating all the mothers in the world – wishing each other a good day – and understanding that the umbilical cord was never cut.

My boys! Always up for an adventure!

How LinkedIn, Airbnb and Seattle Metro reunited $1,100 cash with its Saudi owner

Imagine visiting a foreign country by yourself and losing your wallet. ID card – gone. Credit cards – gone. $1,100 in cash – gone.

That’s what happened to a visitor from Riyadh who joined me last week on one of my Airbnb experiences. We enjoyed a nice little hike together on a Monday morning. He paid me a very generous tip, wrote a positive review and we said so long. As with most of my Airbnb experience guests, I assumed I’d never hear from him again.

That’s how it played out until the next evening. While relaxing in front of the TV around 9 p.m. I received a message from him – first through the Airbnb app, then via text, then on WhatsApp. “Hi Cynthia, how are you doing? I need your help if you can.”

I responded: “What’s up?”

I had no idea those two words would lead me on a three-day quest to help out this foreign traveler, who informed me that he had left his wallet on a Metro bus in Seattle. Luckily, he still had his Saudi passport with him. He called the University of Washington Police Department to see if anyone had found the wallet (he was staying at an Airbnb in the U District). The police offered no advice. He was scheduled to take the train to Portland and decided to cancel his credit cards and head south with $50 in cash.

In an amazing stroke of luck, someone messaged him via LinkedIn to say they had found his wallet and turned it into Lost and Found at King County Metro. Since I was the only person who he had contact information for in the Seattle area, he reached out to ask if I could retrieve the wallet for him. He asked that I mail the wallet via UPS and wire the cash to him via Western Union to Portland  – or to his next destination – San Francisco. He even sent me a photo of his passport with all his personal information.

I put myself in his shoes and agreed to help out.

He thanked me “Seriously I do appreciate what you will do for me. I will not forget it whole my life,” he texted.

Are you thinking that something must be up with this? Could this be a scam? I wondered the same thing. But I thought it through and couldn’t figure out what the scam would be.

He then texted me the lost and found report he filed with Metro and gave me their address and phone number. The next morning I headed to the Metro office in Pioneer Square. They e-mailed my new Saudi friend to get permission to release the wallet to me and I was able to retrieve it – and the full $1,100. I noticed on the log that I signed that it was the most amount of cash anyone had retrieved. My new friend was incredibly lucky. Not only did someone find his wallet, they found him on LinkedIn, reached out to him, he responded, and they didn’t steal a dime. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised about this. But the cynic in me can’t help but be amazed.

I took the wallet to UPS to send to Portland. And I took the $1,100 cash to the Western Union at my local Safeway to wire it to my new friend. He told me to take any fees out of the $1,100 and to send him whatever was left over. And he told me to keep $100 for myself. By 12:15 p.m. I was done.

Or so I thought. I messaged him the receipts for UPS and Western Union and kept waiting to get a notice that he had retrieved his money.

At 8:04 p.m., I got a text message from him telling me to look at WhatsApp. He was unable to retrieve the money from Western Union in Portland. After spending nearly two yours working with him, the Western Union rep in Portland and a Western Union rep I connected with through corporate, it was determined that Western Union had messed up.

The transaction wouldn’t work. I’d have to cancel it in person back at the Safeway where I made the original transaction and would have to try again. It was too late to deal with it that evening, so I’d have to go back in the morning. Meanwhile, my friend had no cash. So I wired him $200 out of my own account to hold him over.

You’re thinking – why would you give him money? I did it because I was confident I’d get a refund from Western Union the next day and I could take the $200 out of the $950 I wired him (the amount left over after paying all the fees to send his wallet and to wire him the funds).

I got up early the next morning to get to Western Union at Safeway before I started my workday. The same clerk who helped me the day before was there but said she couldn’t open the Western Union computer until 9. So I returned around noon to try again. This time I was able to get the $950 refund. But Western Union failed to refund the $90 fee! The Safeway clerk patiently worked with them and even continued to work with Western Union after I left for a previously scheduled appointment. At this point, I heard from my friend that his wallet had arrived – completely intact with all his cancelled credit cards and two forms of ID in it.

I went back a few hours later and got the $90 fee, which Western Union finally reimbursed to for. I deposited all the money in my own bank account, believing it would be easier to make the transfer from my own bank account by calling Western Union, rather than trying to make a cash transfer like I did at the Western Union at Safeway. The previous night I was able to send $200 from my own account over the phone. Ultimately, after another 45 minutes on the phone, which included three debit card and one credit card rejections, that method worked. My friend was able to retrieve his money at a Western Union kiosk at a Safeway in Portland and he was on his way! He sent me a photo of the cash in hand at 6:47 p.m.

Why am I writing about this? First off, it’s a pretty crazy story. Secondly, it proves that sometimes people do the right thing. Many people did the right thing to help out this foreign traveler – everyone from the person who found the wallet and contacted him via LinkedIn to all the clerks along the way to the nice Airbnb experience host (that’s me).

That said, I will never use Western Union again. It so saddened me to see the unbanked who were behind me in line who had to waste so much time and spend so much in exorbitant fees to transfer money.

Ironically, during the midst of this, a memory popped up on my Facebook page from July 22, 2014, where I wrote a post about a stranger in New Jersey who found my son’s cell phone at the airport and turned it in to Verizon. Verizon checked the serial number, called me, and mailed it back.

It’s true. Humans can be … well, human! I told my new friend that the next time I’m in Riyadh he’d owe me dinner. He told me to call. And he left me with this message with a photo of a Starbucks drink he bought with a gift card I tucked into his wallet: “I am heading home, I just want to say thank you again for what you did for me. U safe my trip and make it great. Thank you for the last coffee in state.”

The inside secret of how to get out of jury duty

Several years ago, my elderly father was called to jury duty. We decided to write this letter on his behalf.

King County Superior Court
516 3rd Ave.
Juror Assembly Room, 1st Floor
Seattle, WA 98104

July 29, 2014

Dear Jury Clerk.

Thank you for not automatically discriminating against me because of my age or address. I’m sure you checked the voter registration rolls before sending the jury summons to me and know that since I was born on Sept. 19, 1918, that I am nearly 96 years old. In fact, I will be 11 days away from my 96th birthday when my jury service is set to begin. I’m sure you also checked the address and noted that I live in a nursing home. Of course, to qualify to live in a nursing home I need help with my ADLs – those are Activities of Daily Living, which include at least some of the following: Dressing, Bathing, Eating, Toileting, Transferring (walking) and Continence. I need help with some of those, but I don’t feel that I need to tell you which ones ;-).

Although I have honed my opinion and happily and vocally shared it over the course of my 95 years of life, I have now reached the point in my life where I believe I should be allowed to step aside and let someone younger serve jury duty. However, if you do not think that is a good enough reason to excuse me from jury duty, I hope you will provide the following accommodations so that I can properly serve:

1) I assume you’ll be sending an escort and car. I can no longer get anywhere on my own and the nursing home requires that I have 24-hour care.
2) Please wait for me. I walk very slowly with my walker and am usually late. In fact, can we start after 11 a.m.? Getting anywhere before then is really hard for me.
3) Please make sure an ADA-approved bathroom is no more than a 2-minute shuffle from the courtroom. It must be accessible at all times because for someone my age, when you gotta go, you really gotta go. I would hate for an accident in the juror’s box to be grounds for an appeal.
4) The court shall assume all risk of injury. Old people like me are affected by gravity more that the rest of you youngins.
5) Will the court mind if I ask questions? After all these years, I have a lot of questions to ask and time is running out for me to get the answers.
6) It will be best if all the parties speaking would be male. No women or high talkers, as they are out of my limited hearing range. Males must speak very loudly, slowly and distinctly.
7) Can I give a closing remark? I love to make speeches and usually volunteer to speak at all weddings and funerals. Why should court be any different?
8) Don’t let the scraggly beard scare you off. It’s part of my old guy image – along with the hearing aids and glasses (that I sometimes forget to wear). Along those same lines, can I have a really big Juror badge? I have to be able to read it and I don’t want anyone to mistake me for a homeless person.
9) Is napping a problem? How about drooling, burping, farting or coughing?
10) Can you guarantee that someone in the courtroom will be in his or her 90s? After all, aren’t they supposed to have a “jury of their peers?”
11) Will it be a problem if we issue a news release to let the media know that there is going to be a 95-year-old juror? I think I’m pretty newsworthy. Google me to confirm that.

If you are unable to make appropriate accommodations then I respectfully request to be excused from jury duty at this time. If you think I need more explanation to be excused then maybe I should appear in court because there is obviously a lack of common sense there and I still have plenty to spare.

Sincerely,

Philip N. Flash

P.S. Have a super, super, super wonderful wonderful day. Good things all the time. I hope something good happens today that makes you smile.

Flash Media Services adds new services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT: 

Cynthia Flash

425-603-9520

cynthia@flashmediaservices.com

Flash Media Services adds marketing to public relations, writing and editing services

Consolidation of traditional media and diversification of new media leads to change

BELLEVUE, Wash. (March 6, 2018) – Flash Media Services, a boutique public relations agency that has served clients since 2000, is adding marketing to its array of services to better meet the growing needs of clients.

The firm, which specializes in public relations, media relations, writing, editing and reputation management, will now offer an array of integrated marketing services to help clients grow their businesses, revenues and charitable campaigns.

“The media landscape has changed dramatically in the nearly 18 years since Flash Media Services has been in business,” said owner and founder Cynthia Flash. “Businesses that don’t grow and change stagnate and die. I tell my clients that all the time. With this move I’m putting my money where my mouth is.”

In the past, clients with amazing stories could reach potential customers by having those stories told in the traditional media – newspapers, radio and television. But with the growth of the Internet and the proliferation of online news, clients should also hit potential customers directly through integrated marketing efforts that include e-mail marketing, paid online search, social media and online ads. With the amazing array of analytics available, companies and non-profits must no longer guess about what works. They can peer into their customers’ and donors’ habits and react accordingly.

“It’s no longer enough to issue a press release and expect the news to get out. It’s important for companies to create an integrated marketing plan that harnesses today’s technology to reach clients in new ways,” Flash said. “So many new tools exist that anyone interested in growing their business should hire an expert to help implement and manage these tools. Flash Media Services is excited and prepared to help.”

Flash Media Services provides corporate and non-profit clients with media consulting, public relations, project management, online reputation management, writing, editing and integrated marketing services. The company represents clients in a positive light before the public and their constituents through all forms of communication. Learn more at www.flashmediaservices.com.

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$100 cheesesteaks, iPhone smoothies and sexy Puerto Rican videos: The secrets of contagious marketing revealed

You’ve seen those crazy videos – the ones that quickly rise to millions of  views. Ever wonder what makes them go viral? Ever wonder why things catch on?

U Penn Wharton School marketing Prof. Jonah Berger answers this question in an entertaining, quick fashion in his book “Contagious – Why things catch on.” It’s a must-read for any marketing professional interested in spreading the word to the masses.

I recently read “Contagious” for an Integrated Marketing Communications continuing education class I’m taking at my alma mater the University of Washington. I spent the first half of my career working as a journalist and the second have as a public relations consultant. With the traditional media landscape shrinking and new media exploding and fragmenting the way we communicate I determined it’s time for me to add marketing to my skillset. This class has opened my eyes to many new ways to communicate and get my clients’ messages to the right people.

The book comes to life with the examples of catchy and memorable marketing campaigns. Some involved huge marketing teams for Fortune 500 companies. Others were created by an individual with virtually no budget. All are noteworthy and offer lessons in brilliant ways to bring in customers and sell products. Here are two of my favorites:

1. The $100 cheesesteak created by Barclay Prime in Philadelphia – Barclay Prime created this crazy concoction to draw new patrons to its high-end steak house.
2. Blendtec’s “Will it Blend?” campaign shows off the amazing powers of the company’s blender by blending everything from golf balls to iPhones.

Interestingly, Berger notes that despite so much focus on social media, online conversations reach only 7 percent of people. Word of mouth and real conversations are way better ways to spread the word.

He  outlines his six “STEPP” principles to drive things to catch on.  Here are the steps and some examples of when, how and why they work:

1. Social Currency – We share things that make us look good

Example: The secret “Please Don’t Tell” bar in New York only for those in the know.

2. Triggers – Top of mind, tip of tongue

Example: Sales of Mars candy bars increased when NASA’s Pathfinder was on its way to Mars.

Example: Votes in favor of school levies are higher when people vote at a school.

3. Emotion – When we care, we share

Example: What is the one emotion that creates the most viral videos? Berger’s own research, based on most shared New York Times articles and viral videos, is the emotion of awe – “the sense of wonder and amazement that occurs when someone is inspired by great knowledge, beauty, sublimity or might…It encompasses admiration and inspiration and can be evoked by everything from great works of art or music to religious transformations, from breathtaking natural landscapes to human feats of daring and discovery.”  Check out these popular viral videos and see if you agree:

Decpacito, featuring music, scenery and sex

Charlie Bit Me, featuring adorable, hilarious kids

4. Public – Built to show, built to grow

Example: In 2003 a group of friends from Melbourne, Australia, decided to grow mustaches during November to raise awareness of men’s cancer. The idea caught on and now men all over the world grow facial hair in “Movember” and raise money and support for men’s health.

5. Practical Value – News you can use

Example: Sharing usable content builds brand. I’m offering usable content in this blog post and I hope you’ll share it to help build my “Flash Media Services” brand.

6. Stories – Information travels under the guise of idle chatter

Example: Stories are wonderful ways to deliver messages. The most successful message sharing of any of my clients, Providence Mount St. Vincent, came in the form of a story around a nursing home that shared space with a daycare center. A video trailer of a movie about this nursing home has been seen by millions of people and generated hundreds of news stories.

One of the keys to selling products and getting clients involves marketing to the masses. Lessons learned in Berger’s book “Contagious” offer research and examples to help marketers attain success.

Facing the holidays after losing a loved one

Two short months after my father-in-law Dale passed away our family faced the very difficult challenge of celebrating Christmas in his house – without this patriarch we loved so much. Dale was a man you couldn’t help but love. He was quirky and jolly and quite chatty – for an engineer. He pulled his large and growing family together at family events – with memorable adult Easter egg hunts, Thanksgivings that started with a speech and crazy Christmas celebrations where he put up with the antics of all the grand kids that were encouraged by his wife Hellen. The kids bounced on a mini trampoline, dressed in grandma’s clothes, and slid down the steep carpeted stairs in sleeping bags. Good times!

Then Dale died. Cancer ravaged his body, rendering him unable to swallow. The feeding tube helped for several months, but ultimately failed. There was nothing more to do. With Dale only 73, the family gathered around his hospital bed on a sunny Labor Day and said good bye.

But time marches on. Summer turned to fall. Fall to winter. Christmas was upon us. We faced it with dread. What would Christmas be like without Dale? Everyone grieves differently. Some cry. Some talk. Some turn inward. Leon, married to Dale’s oldest daughter Heidi, harnessed his artistic talents. Lovingly – he painted Dale’s face on an angel. Then used it to top the tree. Okay, it was a bit weird. And creepy. But it was also comforting to know that Dale was looking down on the family that first Christmas without him.

The next year angel Dale stayed away. And before long the house was sold and many of the Dale-centric holiday traditions went away as well. The family was quickly growing with new spouses, significant others, additional children. The Dale Christmas years were just a happy memory for all of us who had the privilege to participate in them.

With all the joyous rituals, decorations and memories that surround the winter holidays, the death of a loved one can cause stress and turmoil for those who are grieving.

Having worked with Providence Hospice of Seattle for the past dozen years, I’ve written several stories about grief and the holidays. Here’s some advice from Rex Allen, manager of Providence Hospice grief support services:

Those who are grieving shouldn’t be afraid to take the time and space needed to work through that grief.

“Going back to our roots is really important and everything on the table is up to be reconsidered,” Allen says. “What may have made sense at one point may not make sense today. The closer you are to when the death occurred, the more challenging it will be.”

It’s okay to turn down invitations to holiday events if you’re not feeling up to it. “Take out your calendar and just write `NO’ on it. When someone says, `come do this,’ check your calendar, say your calendar says `No.’ It takes a lot of courage to say `this is how I’m going to do it right now because this is what I can do.'”

The death of a loved one brings change, and change is often hard to deal with. But in reality, we are constantly changing. Instead of fearing this change, embrace it and grow from it. “The wonderful thing about the holidays – all the traditions are about remembering and renewing. They give us another chance to step back at the end of the year and say, `here is where I have grown, here is what I’m having trouble with, and I can determine what that means for me in the future,” Allen says.

While it’s important to be in the moment and reflect on the past, Allen tells grieving families to look forward as well. “Eventually as we move through this season and the days get warmer and the leaves change and come back, what we feel today will have shifted in ways that hopefully we have had the opportunity to learn and that is one of the most magnificent things about grief – it’s a teacher if we open ourselves to it,” he says.

Happy Holidays. Enjoy your traditions. Make memories.