In early March, VPR received notification from the Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) that the company earned both its Women Business Enterprise (WBE) and its Emerging Small Business (ESB) certifications, as established in OAR 123-200-1000-2300. CEO Mary Louse VanNatta, CAE, APR, Fellow PRSA, said, “It was a long and detailed process to…

VanNatta PR Earns Two Top  Awards from Oregon Public Relations Society VanNatta Public Relations (VPR), a PR, consulting, and event planning firm in Salem, Oregon, was honored by the Public Relations Society of America Oregon Chapter  (PRSA). They received two top Spotlight Awards for their work with the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs and the…

Beaverton, ORー Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon Ministries, in conjunction with Harness Media and VanNatta Public Relations, was awarded the 2023 Hermes Creative Gold Award in the Electronic Media category. The award was granted for their work on the article: “5 Unique Women, 1 Amazing Commitment, 245 Years of Excellence.” The article featured all…

Salem, OR— Mary Louise VanNatta, CEO of VanNatta Public Relations, was awarded Willamette University’s 2023 Distinguished Alumni Citation Professional Achievement Award. As a Willamette Alumni, VanNatta graduated with a triple major in Political Science, International Studies, and Spanish in 1986. VanNatta received her recognition from Willamette President Steve Thorsett during Alumni Weekend on June 16,…

By Mary Louise VanNatta   We’ve all heard the phrase “Rules are meant to be broken,” an expression from 5-star Army General Douglass MacArthur. The rest of the saying goes, “and are too often for the lazy to hide behind.” At any rate, it’s a rule, not a law (which we are required to keep),…

By Mary Louise VanNatta People call it Sunday Scaries, Monday Scaries, Sunday Blues, or Sunday Night Syndrome.  Regardless, if you experience stress or worry at the end of the weekend, you may be suffering from this common anxiety condition that hits before the workweek. What are Sunday Scaries?  They are anticipatory anxiety about the upcoming…

By Mary Louise VanNatta    Engagement, whether positive or negative, is still engagement. Any entity with exposure to the public is likely to attract its share of online fans. People love to follow celebrities, bands, and favorite brands. However, there’s always that group who engage purely to actively express dislike or disdain for a person…

What did you want to be when you grew up? Was it traditional like a doctor, lawyer, firefighter, or police officer? Maybe, but the dreams of today have changed. Young people today crave jobs that didn’t even exist a few years ago. A YouGov.com poll conducted in Dec. 2021 asked 3,670 teenagers (ages 13-17) to…

Salem, OR (Dec. 15, 2021).   The Strategic Economic Development Corporation (SEDCOR) held its annual awards luncheon on Dec. 15.  VanNatta Public Relations (VPR) received the Community Service Award. Rich Duncan, president of Rich Duncan Construction, presented the honor. He said, “We’ve seen this business step up to help with media, public relations, communication, and event…

Language is always changing and evolving.  Every time we have a new technology, product, or discovery we are adding words. The pandemic has changed much of how we see the world and hence added hundreds of words to our lives.   For fun, let’s look at some of the new words that we’ve discovered; the first…