Aly's Monday Newsletter: Back in NYC!
But for only a few days...so much to do!
Happy Monday!
I'm back in NYC after a whirlwind 48 hours in Vegas for the opening of the new TAO Dayclub at the Venetian.
Day clubs are truly my kind of club. I've never been great at staying up late to go to something that first opens at like 10 or 11 pm. That is, as I told a close friend this weekend, the time of night I’m generally happily in bed with tea watching TV.
But a club that exists in the daytime? That's perfect for me, and when it involves getting to enjoy it from a cabana, which is also home to platters of oysters and sushi? Even better.
Normally when I visit a city, I used to love to do a bit of a pop up happy hour, where I plant myself in a bar or lounge for an hour or two and make myself available to all local friends and contacts that want to stop by and say hello. It's my way of maximizing the people I can see and connect with when I often have very little down time during a brief trip.
It's something of a very casual and low-key friend and media mixer and it's always exciting to see new connections be made among those who show up - plus, of course, see friends and make new friends and take cute selfies! I've done some great ones in LA that some subscribers of this newsletter may have participated in and remember, for instance, and I'm nostalgic for those days. I hope to be able to do that again soon.
Unfortunately limited time (and avoidance of crowds for obvious reasons) didn't make that possible on this trip -- but maybe next time! This time though, I concentrated on reconnecting when I could with just a few of my nearest and dearest local friends, all of whom I have been unable to see for several years now, and it really was a special time. I'm so grateful that was able to happen (check out some photos of the fun and the food on my Instagram!)
Now, lets get back to work…I only have three days before I head to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby and there’s a lot to work to get done in the meantime!
Newly published (or freshly updated) stories
Forbes: Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Celebrity Chef Merchandise For Home Cooks
Forbes: Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Mail-Order Gifts For A Mother’s Day Meal At Home
Forbes: Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Luxury Kitchen Gifts
Forbes: Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Foodie Gifts For The Mom Who Loves To Travel
Clean Plates: The Best Healthy Mother’s Day Gifts You Can Get on Amazon
Clean Plates: The Best Decluttering Advice from Organization Experts
TODAY.com: 19 spicy restaurant freebies and deals for Cinco de Mayo
Clean Plates: 8 Surprisingly Effective Ways to Organize Your Life in 10 Minutes a Day
Her Money: Mother’s Day Gift Ideas Under $100
As always, if you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social shares.
PR Pros:
Receive Affiliate PR training + your Qs answered in real-time in the Affiliate PR Club - a monthly membership dedicated to supporting and training PR pros as they pitch, manage and scale Affiliate PR programs. Membership includes two 60-min live sessions (one training, one Q&A) as well as access to all past training recordings + a private Slack community for ongoing support.
NEXT LIVE TRAINING: May 11 at 3pm CST - will cover how to audit and strategically pitch products (even with minimal brand awareness!) to secure coverage.
RESOURCE HUB: Watch last month's recorded Q&A training with Bryce Gruber.
You can find more details and sign up here! Only $111/month (discounted annual payment option available too).
Here's what I'm working on right now:
Be sure to read the below list carefully. Many are stories I posted about yesterday, but some of yesterday's stories are no longer listed and a few new ones have been added since yesterday. This (below) is everything that is still a currently open opportunity as of today.
Clean Plates
For Clean Plates, I'm working on two more of my favorite topics - Trader Joe's stories! They are:
The Best Trader Joe's Breakfast Items According to Nutritionists
Ways to Make Simple 15-Minute Dinners from Trader Joe's
Forbes
For Forbes, I’m doing a roundup of fun and unique cocktails that restaurants and bars around the country are doing for Mother’s Day. This is something that may or may not exist on their menu generally, but will be on the menu or a be a special for Mother’s Day. If you have anything that fits, please pitch me asap (by Wednesday 5/4 please), with the following info:
1 - Name of cocktail
2 - Where sold (name of bar/restaurant, URL, city, state)
3 - Description of drink (I do not need a recipe!)
4 - Quote from bartender/bar manager about the drink - please don’t forget to include their name and title with the quote…
5 - High res image of the cocktail
Note: Please only pitch me if you have ALL the components I asked for above. Otherwise I cannot consider.
The second one can be a mix of healthy recipes and products that go together in an easy way. For instance, the TJs cauliflower gnocchi + their seriously bomb pesto = great base for a meal. (This one would be great with suggestions of adding, say, their organic green vegetable foursome and some of their frozen shrimp or chickpeas for protein). Would love RDs to comment for both in the next few days — please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com!
HerMoney
I'm working on a roundup of Affordable Father's Day gifts (this would be the dad version of the Mother's Day story I published on HM a few days ago)...I'm looking to roundup 10 or so affordable (so under $100 or thereabouts)
RetailMeNot
For RetailMeNot, I'm rounding up Father's Day gifts for every type of dad. I'm looking for great gifts that's affordable ("affordable" obviously varies by budget, but I'm trying to stay under $200 and have a wide range of prices) for a variety of categories. I'm hoping to include picks for the following categories:
Foodie dad
Techy dad
The dad who has everything
For the fashionable dad
For the outdoorsy dad
For the indoorsy dad
For the bookworm dad
For the handy dad
The Dad who's trying to downsize and doesn't want clutter
For the fitness-obsessed dad
For RetailMeNot, I'm also doing Memorial Day store hours for 2022. This is the Memorial Day version of the Easter store hours story I JUST did for them, so take a look at that one for format, but I'll have 3 sections - Stores Open on Memorial Day + Store Hours, Stores Closed on Memorial Day, Restaurants Open on Memorial Day + Hours. This Memorial Day story is an update of this piece from last year. So if you represent a store or restaurant in that story, it'd be so helpful if you can reach out with your Memorial Day info if you have it handy.
To pitch me for ANY of these stories, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com (and start a new thread, please!).
The season finale of Outlander…
Yeah, we really have to talk about that…wowza…we will in tomorrow’s newsletter! So if you haven’t watched last night’s show yet, please do so I don’t spoil you!
Meanwhile, get ready for another extended period of….*droughtlander*….
Virtual consulting sessions...
Over the last six months or so, I've popped into a fair amount of PR team meetings and made myself available to answer all sorts of questions about pitching, events, and trips from a media perspective. If you are interested in setting anything up for your own team in the coming months, please email me and we'll get something on the books!
Download the Substack App!
Good news! This newsletter is now available via app. That means you can keep up with everything you are reading from your phone. Download the app for iPhone and iPad here. For Android users, sign up for the waiting list here.
<3
aly