Who says Sweet Sixteens are just for people?
HJMT Communications in Westbury is celebrating its 16th year in business by throwing a Sweet Sixteen party on Thursday at the Bridgeview Yacht Club in Island Park.
Hilary Topper, who founded the public relations agency, started in a one-bedroom apartment in Long Beach with herself as the only employee.
Today she has 18 employees and locations in Westbury and Manhattan.
Those aren’t the only big changes. How the firm goes about business has also changed through the years.
In the early years, Topper would use snail mail to distribute pitch letters and announcements. Today, her firm e-mails those materials. And it has increasingly posted information on social networking sites like Facebook.
“I think it opens doors for our clients because it gives them more exposure,” she said Friday during a call from a social networking convention in Las Vegas.
The company recently targeted automotive and gadget blogs to publicize a client’s new
screwdriver with a light. The client received 30 orders in one day, she said.
“With traditional media you have to wait six months to get a mention,” she said.
--Carrie Mason-Draffen