Copywriting

Social startup Metter Media helps Cambridge companies build their brands
Appeared on Cambridge Community Television’s website, March 2016


While the team behind Metter Media might spend their days tucked inside a cozy Central Square office, their reach extends all over the city – and around the world. The startup organization, which is staffed entirely by women under the age of 30, specializes in social media management for brands that want to build out their online marketing strategies.

Metter Media was founded in 2013 by its president and namesake Lauren Metter, who began her career as a writer for Dig Boston. Working at the magazine sparked her passion for advertising and social media, two areas of interest that she realized were closely linked – and largely underutilized in connection with each other.

According to Metter, the idea for her business came when she saw the possibilities surrounding social media marketing that were lacking in other types of branding.

“Print [advertising] is less interactive. I started thinking, ‘Why don’t we do social media?’ There was just an instant connection,” explained the Boston University alum.

Although the company’s impressive staff of social media gurus has the ability to spread messages across the globe, they prioritize businesses and consumers in the Cambridge area, which Head Account Manager Sarah Ribeiro affectionately dubbed “the center of everything.”

“We love Cambridge. We have a lot of clients based here, and we support a lot of people in the neighborhood,” stated Ribeiro, an Emmanuel College graduate whose preferred social channel is Twitter.

Although Metter Media’s 40+ clients hail from a large spectrum of industries, the agency has established itself as a go-to for local eateries looking to gain exposure online. The Metter team has been influential in spreading the word about restaurants like Cambridge Common, The Lizard Lounge, Thelonius Monkfish and Brick & Mortar.

When the social media team isn’t tweeting about Cambridge watering holes, they can often be found hanging out in them. Whether they’re grabbing iced mochas from Darwin’s to start the day or closing out the night at the Middlesex Lounge, they’re fully immersed in the Cambridge community.

“Central Square is so close – we always interact online with local businesses, many that aren’t our clients, and we love searching the #CambMA tag to discover what’s going on throughout the city. It’s a great community to be a part of, both on the ground and online,” agreed Metter and Ribeiro.

So what’s next for Mass Ave’s resident social media aficionados? They’re helping to spread the word about Together Boston, a festival coming to Central Square in May. They’re also looking for socially-savvy interns to round out their creative team.

For information, visit mettermedia.com.

Robin Hood grant helps the Institute for Family Health connect high-risk patients with COVID-19 vaccines 
Appeared in Robin Hood’s May 2021 Newsletter 

Since the COVID-19 vaccine became available to New Yorkers, it has been instrumental in rebuilding our city and getting people back on their feet, back to school, and back to work. But the initial scarcity of doses, paired with time-consuming registration processes and widespread misinformation, has resulted in many of New York City’s hardest-hit neighborhoods (and highest-risk patients) being undervaccinated. When The Institute for Family Health, a long-time Robin Hood community partner, started distributing vaccines across three sites in the Bronx and Harlem, they experienced this problem firsthand. 

“When we first got the vaccine, it was a bit chaotic – we had both open scheduling to the community at large as well as to our patients. What we were finding was that people were traveling from far and wide...these were not people from our community, but they were coming in to access the vaccines,” said Michaela Frazier, the Institute’s Vice President of Social Support Services. “We realized we need to do a more concerted effort to reach our communities that we were operating [within].” 

With over 100,000 eligible patients in its system, the team at the Institute turned to data to help create a predictive model to identify highest-risk patients and guide equitable, proactive outreach. Using information from electronic medical records (including age, pregnancy status, comorbidities, and immunocompromised status) they assigned patients COVID Risk Scores between one and ten – then got to work contacting the 6,500 people with scores of five or above. When new shipments of vaccines arrived, the Institute prioritized signing up its high-risk community members before releasing appointments to all eligible New Yorkers after 48 hours.

The result? Through this data-driven combination of cold calls, MyChart patient portal messaging, myth-busting, personalized conversations, and strategic follow-up, the Institute has been able to bring the number of high-risk, unvaccinated community members down by almost 50% to 3,398. In total, the Institute has provided over 15,000 vaccinations to New Yorkers since December. 

Robin Hood is proud to fuel this work, which is making a (new) New York possible, through a Relief Fund grant. 

Supporting the mental health of children and caregivers during COVID-19
Appeared in Robin Hood’s March 2021 Newsletter 

Mental health is key to a child’s cognitive, emotional, and social development. Unfortunately, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has created stress and trauma for many New York City kids and their caregivers: Nearly 2,400 children who live in the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19, and 130,000 children have been pushed into or near poverty due to the pandemic. With nearly 70% of students still learning remotely, young children are forced to learn in non-developmentally appropriate settings, isolated from peers. At the same time, childcare providers are struggling both financially and mentally: 82% of home-based childcare providers reported using credit cards or personal savings to purchase supplies, and 30-40% of early childhood educators have reported dealing with anxiety and depression. 

In response to this crisis, Robin Hood issued a relief grant to Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) to support home-based licensed child care providers. This new grant will provide these childcare professionals with cash assistance for rent and utilities, and technical assistance in applying for additional funds like PPP loans. This is the second of two relief grants totaling $600,000 from Robin Hood for LIIF: In Spring 2020, Robin Hood funded LIIF’s New York City Child Care Emergency Grant Assistance Program. Because home-based childcare providers are ineligible for New York State rent relief and have experienced massive drops in enrollment, the majority of these emergency funds were put toward rent and utilities. When childcare providers are able to maintain high quality home-based care programs, families have more access to return to work, and children can continue to learn and socialize in safe, healthy environments.

Robin Hood also helps fuel the work of Children of Promise NYC, an organization thatseeks to promote the mental health of children with an incarcerated parent. Our grant helpsChildren of Promise NYC to age down their services to include children zero to five yearsold, and to embed a dynamic mental health promotion intervention – the MOMS Partnershipat Yale University. MOMS is shown to be effective in lowering symptoms of maternaldepression and in increasing employment by 50% relative to those who received standardcognitive behavior therapy.

Brooklyn Navy Yard produces 25% of locally produced NYC PPE; Creates opportunity for local workers 
Appeared in Robin Hood’s April 2021 Newsletter 

The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (the nonprofit organization that operates and manages the Brooklyn Navy Yard) faced numerous challenges when COVID-19 hit New York City. By staying resilient and responding to the needs of New Yorkers, the Navy Yard has been able to remain a resource for local workers and job-seekers – and is playing a pivotal role in helping to get our communities back to work and back on their feet. 

Robin Hood is fueling local economic development by partnering with the Navy Yard, home to more than 350 businesses with over 11,000 workers. Its Employment Center connects local job seekers (including public housing residents) with Navy Yard-based job opportunities in a range of industries, from transportation to manufacturing to media production. 

When New York City went into lockdown, the Navy Yard responded quickly by making the Employment Center – previously a walk-in hub – completely remote, offering regular virtual information sessions, interview prep, and resume webinars. Despite facing economic challenges, several members of the Navy Yard community quickly pivoted and partnered to produce masks, gloves, gowns, and hand sanitizer – creating jobs and delivering more than 10 million units of locally produced personal protective equipment to New York City. This past fall, the Navy Yard piloted two successful training programs for incumbent workers as part of its broader vision to bring together economic and workforce development for local residents.