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A PR & digital marketing agency representing outdoor, endurance, hunt/fish, and mountain lifestyle companies.

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Darby Communications is a fun-loving, hard-working team of communicators who bring a fresh approach to PR and digital marketing. We combine original ideas with good old elbow grease to deliver extraordinary campaigns and events. Never a one-person show, we incorporate teamwork into every aspect of our work and consider ourselves an extension of your marketing team.

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Strengthening Authority Through Thought Leadership

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Happy 3 Year Darby-versary to Abby! When she's not Happy 3 Year Darby-versary to Abby! When she's not working diligently to strategize and implement impactful PR and digital campaigns for her clients, she's consuming all the latest books and pop culture trivia or cheering courtside for her fave team, the Celtics. Please give her a high five and congratulate her in the comments!
🥳Happy 2-year Darby-versary to Gordon Brown! When 🥳Happy 2-year Darby-versary to Gordon Brown! When not connecting with media and ensuring his clients receive the best PR service in the industry, he's an assistant coach for his college's football team and a seasoned hunter! 

Gordon, we're excited to celebrate your 2nd anniversary and look forward to watching you continue to lead the hunt/fish PR team at Darby Comm with your knowledge and expertise.
The holidays came early this year as we held our a The holidays came early this year as we held our annual Darby EOY retreat and celebration this week! With our NE contingency in AVL, we had a great time planning for the future of Darby, celebrating anniversaries, telling stories, bowling, and having a little friendly backyard game of PIG.
October was a month of travels from Maine to NYC t October was a month of travels from Maine to NYC to CO for our team! You could find a few of us:
🛶 Paddling the Allegash River at a custom Jetboil media event
🏙️ Slinging samples and talking new products at the Rendezvous media event in NYC
🥇 Winning PR Agency of the Year and mingling with some of our favorite media at the Outdoor Media Summit
A true leader in the office and on the trail, toda A true leader in the office and on the trail, today we celebrate Assistant Media Relations Director Katie Richter, who has been with Darby Comm for 7 years!! 

💥Katie is a creative force in work and life and we are so glad she’s on our team! Share your favorite Katie memories in the comments below!
Ryan Chelius grew up hunting and fishing with his Ryan Chelius grew up hunting and fishing with his father in New York, which instilled a passion in him for conservation and public lands. Today, he is an avid waterfowl hunter, fly fisherman, and outdoorsman, as well as the senior editor at Field & Stream. 

We recently interviewed Ryan to learn more about his life as an editor at a leading hunt and fish publication and where he stands in his pursuit of the North American Waterfowl Grand Slam at the age of 27. Find the full interview on our blog in our bio.
September was a month full of incredible coverage! September was a month full of incredible coverage! We highlight a few that made us want to 🕺
We've been eager to share this news, and the day h We've been eager to share this news, and the day has finally arrived! RE:PUBLIC, a new nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering America’s 660 million acres of public land, officially launches this fall. Founded by former Outside Magazine editor-in-chief Christopher Keyes, RE:PUBLIC will educate, inform, and entertain readers by spotlighting important trends and threats to public lands access and ownership

RE:PUBLIC emerges as a robust journalistic resource during a time of unprecedented threats to public lands, including budget and personnel cuts, the gutting of environmental regulations, and proposals for land transfers and selloffs. 

Check out the RE:PUBLIC site at our link in bio to sign up for the newsletter and read a letter from Keyes highlighting why this is needed now more than ever before.
We're excited to welcome Lems to the Darby Comm fa We're excited to welcome Lems to the Darby Comm family! As longtime fans of the brand, our team is thrilled to be working with such an iconic footwear brand in the outdoor industry. As the brand's agency of record, we'll be spearheading strategic media relations, affiliate marketing, and media events. Drop a comment and tell us your favorite Lems style!
The moment we've been working towards for months i The moment we've been working towards for months is HERE! Today marks TRAVOCA USA's official Kickstarter launch of its flagship product: the Rigel DZ eCooler.
 
The Rigel DZ eCooler is perfect for the adventure community who's seeking elegantly rugged gear that's built for the trail but designed for the table. Available in four sizes (25L, 35L, 45L, 60L), this eCooler features dual-zone cooling for customizable temperature control (meaning you can have your Ben and Jerry's and your salad in the same cooler).
 
Go check out their Kickstarter campaign at our link in bio, which runs through August 30 with product delivery expected in September!
Last week was incredible! Here are some stats from Last week was incredible! Here are some stats from our team’s nationwide travel for ICAST, Summer OMA, and NYC Holiday Gift Guide shows:

✅ 3 Media Shows
✅ 3 Awards
✅ 7 Brands
✅ 11 Darby Comm team members
✅ 208 Media Appointments ‼️ 

Thanks to all media personnel we connected with — meeting you in person is one of the best parts of our jobs!
Team Darby is headed all over the country next wee Team Darby is headed all over the country next week to meet with media on behalf of our clients! You can find us at the: 

⛰️ @outdoormarketalliance Media Event where we'll be representing brands KUIU, Farm to Feet, TRAVOCA USA, and HydraPak, LLC,

🎣 the @keepamericafishing @icastshow with Shimano North America Holding, Inc. and Johnson Outdoors, or at

🗽 the annual NYC Holiday Gift Guide Media Event with brands Mountain House and Farm to Feet.

If you're at one of these shows, be sure to stop by and say hello! We look forward to seeing old friends and making new connections.

In this pic: just a few of the friendly Darby faces you'll see on the road next week.
In Matthew Kadey's latest Outside RUN article, he In Matthew Kadey's latest Outside RUN article, he does a great job of distilling the data around high carb fueling. He characterizes the nuances, and outlines fueling guidelines for athletes at every level.

Kadey highlights the Skratch Labs Super High Carb Drink Mix stating "With Skrach Labs Super High-Carb, you can easily adjust the amount of mix you use to hit the carb numbers you want. That’s ideal if you are working up to handling a greater carb load." 

Read about why this is important and learn how high carb fueling can enhance your training at the link in our bio.
No praying necessary! By executing a strategic pro No praying necessary! By executing a strategic product launch campaign with custom media events, we help our clients build better brand-media relationships and ensure a pipeline of in-depth product coverage during launch week. You can learn more in our recent case study that highlights our successful PR campaign for Jetboil's product launch of the Flash 1.0L Fast Boil System at the link in our bio.
🥇 Runner's World selected BRANWYN's Essential Comp 🥇 Runner's World selected BRANWYN's Essential Compressive Short as the Best Compression Short for Running in their recent "Best Running Shorts of 2025" list. Editors said "If you need a pair of running shorts that hug you in all the right ways, look to the Essential Compressive Shorts from Branwyn." 

The Essential Compressive Short is made from merino wool and offers a body-sculpting, second-skin feel with natural fiber comfort and sustainability.
What started as a small effort by HydraPak to redu What started as a small effort by HydraPak to reduce plastic waste in the hydration space with the Re_Pak program is now expanding to 100+ retail and event locations in 2025. The goal for this year is to collect 4x more bottles than the program’s inaugural year and continue giving used bottles a second life through HydraPak’s partnership with a CHaRM (Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials) facility in Boulder, CO. 

Re_Pak is an innovative recycling initiative that gives used sport bottles a second life by transforming them into durable composite construction materials through a partnership with a CHaRM facility in Boulder, Colorado. During its pilot year, the program collected approximately 900 bottles, diverting 170 pounds of plastic from landfills. The results demonstrated that outdoor consumers are eager to participate in more circular systems, especially when offered easy access and a clear impact. 

Want to learn more about HydraPak's sustainability efforts or know a retailer that wants to participate in the program? Visit HydraPak's site by going to the link in our bio.
We were moved when we first read Maggie Slepian's We were moved when we first read Maggie Slepian's Substack piece titled "An Honest Reflection of the Media Landscape, Plus the Rate Chasm Between SEO and Essays.” Maggie’s piece hit home. Our initial reaction was a head-shaking damn, it’s hard out there for freelancers. Then a second wave of realization hit us. This is a must-read for our team AND clients.

It’s our job to educate our brands on what is happening in the media world. If they don’t have at least a basic understanding of the landscape, our PR efforts and results might not make much sense. 

On the flip side, it’s also our job to make connections, ideate story angles, and share products that make getting placements easier for media. So we’re sharing our thoughts in response to Maggie’s piece (and a link to Maggie's original piece) in a recent blog at our link in bio. 

After you read it, come back here and share your thoughts with us in the comments.
🗳️ Calling for votes!! Wildwater, the Southeast's 🗳️ Calling for votes!! Wildwater, the Southeast's original professional outfitter, is a finalist in the USA Today 10 Best, and they need your votes! As one of the oldest outfitters in the area, Wildwater's guides are the perfect balance of professional and fun, and they take folks down some of the most rugged rivers in the Southeast, including the Chattooga. Please head over to the link in our bio and give them a vote! We'd love to see them take home the #1 spot in 2025!
Darby Comm Acct Exec, Gordon Brown, and Ally Spaig Darby Comm Acct Exec, Gordon Brown, and Ally Spaight, Senior Marketing Manager at Johnson Outdoors, hit NYC this week for an outdoor industry media event, where they gave over 25 media walkthroughs of the new Ocean Kayak Sonata 106 MK. It was a fresh audience for a brand that’s been building boats since 1898...and the interest was real. 

After the event, Gordon strapped the Sonata to the roof of his ’97 Jeep and hit the road to Vermont. Legacy Gear, modern momentum.

Thanks @aspaight for the great shot of Gordon's parallel parking job in Broadway.
Welcome Kaleb Brown to the Darby Comm team! Kaleb Welcome Kaleb Brown to the Darby Comm team! Kaleb joins us from MA and grows our New England contingency to 3 team members. Kaleb's an experienced angler and hunter (rumor has it he started this week with a 3:30 a.m. turkey hunt and brought one home all before the Monday morning meeting)! Kaleb will be an Account Coordinator on our hunt/fish accounts, and we're thrilled to welcome him to our team.
 
Learn more about Kaleb, including his background of being a collegiate and pro tournament angler, at the blog linked in our bio. 🎣
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