What began as an exercise in learning to podcast evolves into a PR variety show

Washington Media Group—a full-service public affairs firm—began the Flack Pack podcast as a way for team members to practice their podcasting skills. Over time, the show has become a fast-paced variety show with multiple segments, ranging from person-on-the-street interviews to game shows, with contributions from the entire staff. For its entertaining and engaging podcast, Washington Media Group is the first-place winner in the “Podcast” category of PR Daily’s 2019 Digital Marketing & Social Media Awards.

The weekly show is posted each Friday across all podcast channels. The 45–50-minute podcast allows Washington Media Group’s staff to put their personalities on display while being helpful to its audience, discussing issues like the ethics behind firms taking fees from Saudi Arabia, best practices around managing influencers and the arrival of the new AP Stylebook. The show even shares PR history.

Through 27 episodes in its second season (the first season featured 40 episodes), Flack Pack continues to increase its audience—which simultaneously grows its contact base, mainly through social media connections, by half a dozen new relationships each week; others added to the contact list come from the interviews conducted for the show. At the same time, Washington Media Group’s podcast capabilities on clients’ behalf have been bolstered by the experience of producing a weekly show.

Congratulations to Robert Johnson, Brian Boeckman, Summer Johnson, Crystal Zhao, Jessica Cahill and Sarah Shelson.