REQ, An Agital Company

The REQ team spent yesterday afternoon with Carahsoft and partners at the Carahsoft Conference & Collaboration Center in Reston for the 2027 Big Bets Launch Party! Events like these remind us why relationships are at the heart of what we do. We enjoyed connecting with Carahsoft’s marketing team, fellow vendors and media partners to exchange ideas, explore new opportunities and share how REQ helps organizations across the public and private sectors stand out. A big thank you to Carahsoft for bringing this community together! We’re looking forward to the partnerships, opportunities and big ideas ahead. Want to learn how REQ can help your team? Let's connect: https://req.co/contact-us/

🚨 REQ is hiring an Account Manager to join our Public Relations team! We’re an energized, fun and scrappy team looking for an experienced communications professional who can lead client relationships, shape strategic programs, drive media results and help teams do their best work. Candidates with 6–10 years of PR or communications experience, particularly in technology-focused agency environments, are encouraged to apply. Know someone who would be a great fit? Tag them in the comments or share this post with your network. Apply today: https://lnkd.in/gCWNWkQf

An axolotl helped turn a cold pitch into one of Keely Quinlan’s most memorable stories of the year.   During our “What Makes a Public Sector Story Worth Telling?” webinar, the StateScoop reporter shared a pitch from a two-person startup building a generative AI platform for law enforcement.   What caught her attention was an unusual feature: the AI-generated reports contained hidden “Easter eggs,” including words like “axolotl.” It gave her something unexpected to investigate, verify and build a story around.   The PR lesson? Sometimes the strongest pitch isn’t the biggest claim. It’s the specific, surprising detail that makes a reporter want to know more.   Hear Keely tell the story in the full roundtable: https://lnkd.in/g3dCsX5t

Big ideas for 2027 are already taking shape, and we’re excited to be part of the action!   REQ is exhibiting at Carahsoft’s 2027 Big Bets Launch Party on October 8 at the Carahsoft Conference & Collaboration Center in Reston. We’re looking forward to an evening of fresh ideas, smart conversations and new connections with marketers and industry partners.   Heading to the event? Stop by and say hello to the REQ team! We’d love to hear what’s on your radar for the year ahead. Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/e3vZzY9A

The REQ Phoenix team celebrated Lighthouse For Hope and the more than $275,000 raised to support families navigating childhood cancer and blood disorders on Saturday. Congratulations to everyone who made the Black Tie Bingo Bash a success! Learn more about Lighthouse For Hope: https://lnkd.in/g_CeTF5

Volume will get you somewhere. It might even get you noticed. But it won’t necessarily make you memorable.   That's the closing thought from Peter Larmey on our webinar "Narrative Wins: Building Visibility, Trust, and Influence in the Age of AI." His take: what sticks isn't how much content you put out, it's the thought behind it and how an idea is expressed in a way only your organization can own.   If your content strategy right now is "publish more and hope something lands," it may be worth asking a different question: what are we saying that people will actually remember?

Great pitches don't start with the pitch. During our "What Makes a Public Sector Story Worth Telling?" webinar, we asked three reporters what PR pros could do better. Their answers pointed to a common theme: relationships and relevance matter more than volume. Focus on the relationship, not just the ask. Know what the outlet actually covers before you pitch it. Make sure it fits their beat, not just your client's news. A thoughtful, relevant pitch is far more likely to stand out than another email sent just to hit a media list. Watch the full roundtable: https://lnkd.in/e4YHQBvr

The REQ team was out and about last week attending the Service to the Citizen Awards celebration! Congratulations to this year’s honorees, and thank you to everyone behind a program that recognizes meaningful service and impact. Learn more about the awards: https://lnkd.in/ev4EKeJ

It’s been a busy week for our clients at SpyCloud…and it’s only Tuesday! Today, SpyCloud’s intelligence and research helped inform two major cybersecurity stories making BIG headlines: The disruption of EvilTokens: SpyCloud supported the broader effort led by Microsoft to disrupt the AI-enabled phishing-as-a-service platform, which used device code phishing to compromise Microsoft accounts at scale. The story is gaining traction from outlets including BleepingComputer, The Hacker News, Axios, Ars Technica and across the cybersecurity press. Hidden identity exposure across U.S. water utilities and their vendors: New SpyCloud research examined the identity exposure surrounding the water sector, uncovering stolen credentials, compromised sessions, and third-party exposures that create a separate attack surface alongside the OT vulnerabilities already making headlines. The findings landed today in CyberScoop and TechCrunch. For us at REQ, this is what great cybersecurity communications looks like – pairing genuinely differentiated research and intelligence with the right stories, reporters and moments to bring that expertise into the conversations that matter. Huge kudos to Kayla Rice Kretzer, Trevor Hilligoss, Jason Lancaster and the SpyCloud team – and to our team behind the scenes helping turn deep technical expertise into top-tier coverage! Read more here: CyberScoop (exclusive): https://lnkd.in/egkGdpfa Bleeping Computer: https://lnkd.in/g4SS9pt5 Emily (Brown) Theado Katie Hanusik Philip Tortora Scott Lynch

Here's a quick exercise worth doing today: go into ChatGPT and Claude, search your own brand, and see what comes up.   That's the habit Hannah Peacock (Workato) shared on our webinar, Narrative Wins: Building Visibility, Trust, and Influence in the Age of AI. Her team does this regularly, not just searching the brand name, but related questions too, then uses what surfaces to prioritize which content gets refreshed or updated next.   It's simple, but most brands aren't doing it consistently. And what you find might surprise you.   Try it, then tell us what came up 👇   Want the full conversation? Check out our Narrative Wins recording: https://lnkd.in/et62JhP6