Crystal Patriarche is an accomplished public relations professional, book publicist and freelance writer. She has ten years experience providing strategic communications, public relations, marketing, publicity support and writing for various clients including corporate America, book authors, publishers, magazines and websites.

Crystal has spent time on both the agency and corporate sides, doing PR, corporate communications, corporate philanthropy as well as social media marketing and content for a variety of companies and media outlets. She runs her own virtual PR agency, CPVA, supporting companies across the nation by providing client facing or behind the scenes PR support and freelance writing on topics from books and authors to career women, motherhood, health, lifestyle and more.

Book Publicist
Through BookSparksPR, a branch of her PR business, she also works with authors to promote themselves, their books and their online presence. Crystal teams up with publishers to supplement their publicity efforts and works directly with the authors on social media, book blog tours, book signings, reviews, media coverage and more. Past and present clients include independent publisher Five Star Publishing and its roster of authors; women’s fiction and Chick Lit authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke (co-authors of I’ll Have Who She’s Having and the popular Chick Lit is Not Dead blog); debut author Sarah Pekkanen whose novel The Opposite of Me is being published by Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) in early 2010; women’s fiction author Irene Zutell whose third novel Pieces of Happily Ever After was released in September 2009 (St. Martin’s Press); and author and entreprenuer Beth Feldman who founded Role Mommy and has written three books, including her November 2009 book See Mom Run: Side-splitting Essays from the World’s Most Harried Blogging Moms (Plain White Press).

Corporate and Online Media Clients & Experience
Her other clients and corporate experience includes AtomicOnline, LLC, and its web communities for women, SheKnows and Mott’s Apple Juice RealMomsGuide; Arizona State University, Avnet, Exxon-Mobil, Honeywell, Honda, Microsoft and Ford Motor Company (she helped launched the Microsoft Sync Technology in Ford vehicles), LSI Logic, Cypress Semiconductor, General Dynamics, Pulte Homes and its Del Webb brand, Palladeo Environmental Design and its retailer clients including Starbucks, The Shave in Hollywood and Bristol Farms.

Freelance Writing
Crystal is a published freelance writer. She currently writes articles, book reviews, author profiles, feature stories and more for SheKnows – a top website for women – and its entertainment section, including the SheKnows Books and SheKnows Chick Lit sections and for the Indianapolis Star. Crystal is also a contributing editor and writer for RealMomsGuide where she writes daily content on motherhood, parenting, pregnancy, family, lifestyle, health and fitness, moms juggling careers, recipes and more.

She was a contributing writer for iParenting Media, writing frequently for such magazines as Women’s Heath & Fitness, Pregnancy, Baby Talk, European Homes & Gardens and the iParenting community of award-winning family web sites. She has also contributed stories to East Valley Tribune, The State Press and BabyZone.

Social Media Experience
In addition to providing editorial content, Crystal runs the social media marketing campaigns for RealMomsGuide and helps with the SheKnows social media and publicity. As part of a larger social media strategy, Crystal helps these companies expand their digital marketing footprint by managing and growing their Twitter and Facebook accounts, establishing  content on video sites like Tube Mogul, Vimeo and YouTube, and utilizing social media bookmarking like Stumbled Upon, Digg and more. She also helps promote and runs social media for an online Web reality show called RealMomsGuide’s RealMoms Arizona.

For her author clients, she runs social media campaigns and supplements their efforts including debut authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke (authors of I’ll Have Who She’s Having and their popular Chick Lit is not Dead blog) and debut author Sarah Pekkanen whose book The Opposite of Me will be published by Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) in March 2010.

Past PR Experience
As an account supervisor with Brodeur Worldwide, Crystal managed several technology-based accounts ranging from the agency’s largest microelectronics clients, LSI Logic, to Cypress Semiconductor and various start-up companies. She also attracted new business and facilitated organic growth opportunities for the agency.

In her role for LSI Logic, Crystal helped LSI Logic maintain the highest level of visibility with key trade press, business press, consumer press and industry analysts and drove several successful product launches for consumer electronics, wireless and storage products. Crystal also secured speaking engagements, contributed articles and editorial opportunities for key spokespeople.

Prior to joining Brodeur, Crystal worked with the Weber Shandwick Worldwide in Seattle where she serviced Microsoft’s Digital Media Division, launching consumer products like MSN Messenger and Windows Media Player and more.

Non-Profit Experience
Crystal has worked with non-profit organizations including Arizona Women’s Education & Employment, Boys Hope, Girls Hope, Special Olympics of Arizona, The Wellness Community of Arizona, The Arizona Chapter of the American Diabetes Associations, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and a Phoenix women’s shelter. For Pulte Homes, she managed the entire charitable giving program for the Southwest Area including Las Vegas, Phoenix, California and New Mexico. She helped plan and support fundraisers for several small and large non-profit organizations and community outreach programs.

Education, Awards & Personal
Crystal graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in journalism and emphasis in public relations. Prior to that, Crystal studied chemical engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where she was one of 30 students selected for their prestigious co-operative education program.  She was also a member of the Society of Women in Engineering.