12.28.07
Posted in PRSA News at 2:42 pm by Eric Fletcher, APR
Recently, I had the unfortunate task of handling media inquiries related to the death of a physician who was employed by my hospital. Working to assist the media tell the story of this doctor, while remaining sensitive to his family, loved ones and co-workers was a challenge. Thankfully, most media members locally are willing to show respect and restraint in these situations.
This post is less about the media aspects of this particular situation and more about some lessons the situation made me recall. You know, the kind of life lessons you try to pass on to your kids between their infatuation with video games, extracurricular activities, movies and friends. At some points I wonder if these “profound” lessons will ever be remembered by my children, but such is the life of any parent. So, since I’m not sure if any of my flesh and blood will ever recall these lessons, I figured I’d put some of them in this blog, perhaps more as proof of their existence than any desire to impart knowledge. So, with no pretense or desire to condescend, here are two:
1. Reputation management is as much an individual activity as a corporate one.
I often find myself engaged in the activity of “managing” the reputation of my organization. ”Reputation management,” of course, is a misnomer, as even the best trained, most experienced members of our profession will remind you that reputation is built upon works. In other words, it’s impossible for an organization to have a good reputation if it does the wrong things. Similarly, it’s impossible for an individual to have a good reputation if they do not engage in honest, fair and positive activities and spoken words. Each day we manage our own reputation, whether we’re trying to or not.
2. Consider what your hyphen will mean.
In the situation with the physician who died, his friends, family and co-workers spent hours recounting the good this man had done for many, many people. I was reminded that the hypen on your tombstone (you know, the dash between the years of your birth and death) represents a life’s work and the reputation you’ve earned because of that work. If we undertake our work and life asking what our hyphen will mean, we give ourselves the opportunity to apply our talents to building a life with meaning – and perhaps that’s the best reputation we can possibly have.
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12.13.07
Posted in PRSA News at 8:45 pm by Teresa Loflin
Membership is defined as belonging such as with a group, family or peers. For me as a relatively new chapter member and the incoming Vice President of Membership wanting to belong is what lead to joining PRSA. Other reasons I became a member included wanting to learn more about the public relations profession; being exposed to experienced, knowledgeable and skilled professionals; and most selfishly making personal contacts – ultimately friends. And that’s just what has happened. The people I’ve met have been wonderful, accepting, encouraging and welcoming. I belonged instantly and as human beings that’s what we all crave. I look forward to meeting and making more friends and as a member of the board let me know how I can help you get the most out of your PRSA membership.
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Posted in PRSA News at 2:59 pm by Donnie Turlington
When PRSA Tar Heel sets out to schedule speakers for monthly events, it does so hoping to accomplish several purposes. High atop the list is bringing in speakers who are influential decision makers in the profession of public relations. Well, when Tar Heel President Elect Aaron Wall announced to the board in October that Rhoda Weiss had been secured as the Spinks Banquet speaker, I knew immediately we had the kind of “heavy hitter” we were seeking.
For those of you unfamiliar with Rhoda, she’s the current president of PRSA. Which PRSA you ask? The PRSA… as in national. Instead of highlighting her ever-growing list of accomplishments (see prsa.org for more), I’ll tell you a little more about what she’s been up to lately.
For those of you who remember the wildfires that ravaged Southern California a few weeks back, you might have heard about the disaster triggered by our favorite bumbling government agency, FEMA. Seems the external affairs gang over at FEMA wanted to have an officially unofficial news conference. Without going into details, which I’m sure you’re very familiar, it was a colossal screw-up.
FEMA’s latest step has been a smart one however, as it employed the services of Rhoda and other high-ranking members of PRSA to conduct a communications workshop. Good move on two counts, FEMA needed it to help improve its image, and… it really needed help! What’s monumental about the workshop is not the fact that FEMA really needed to brush up on a few subjects, like ethics and crisis management, but that it marks the first time in the 60-year PRSA history that a federal agency has formally engaged and consulted with the Society.
So, there you have it, when a government agency really screws up, it goes and gets one of the best in the biz to help manage its internal crises. When PRSA Tar Heel really wants to provide quality programming for its membership, it uses the same tactic and reaches out to Rhoda Weiss.
Spinks Banquet, January 10, starring Rhoda Weiss. Sign up now!
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12.03.07
Posted in Newsletter at 2:32 pm by A.-C. McGraw
Did 2007 make a difference in your life on any level? It did for me. I had the fortune of teaming up with some of the hardest working and talented folks I know — your Tar Heel chapter board — to meet our goals and objectives for the year. Our focus was growing membership and improving the chapter programming. A lot of hard work went into this. I hope you’ll let us know how you think we fared.
It’s been a pleasure working with this team of volunteers who have your best interests at heart! Month after month they deliver benefitial programming, lead APR sessions, work to keep the membership functioning smoothly and ethically, and truly care that it is a solid and productive chapter.
One step better than working with such an effective group is knowing that we’re friends. These are friendships forged as we worked hard together on something that was important to us. One of our keys to building these relationships and helping the chapter, is that we had an unwritten rule: check your egos at the door, but bring in your talents and skills. Here’s some of what I saw. Outgoing president Rick Hodson’s voice promoting objectivity, president-elect Aaron Wall asking “what if” questions exploring outside the box, Secretary Deanna Holt Miller always seeking ways to connect constituencies, and Treasurer Kris Kriofske habitually tapping into his creative vantage. Our VPs are the core workers: Outgoing membership VP Amy Utt’s work was constant and demanding, and she always brought enthusiasm; interim VP Teresa Loflin is picking up Utt’s reins and following in her footsteps; Professional Development VP Donnie Turlington is a bear of a force but always diplomatic, and VP of Ethics Ken Smith is decisive, yet fair in play. Outgoing VP of PR Kevin Ellwood pitch hit where needed, and Tamara McLendon, our interim VP of PR, routinely sets up for the grand slam for all of the chapter’s PR needs. And we all benefit from our assembly delegate, Eric Fletcher, whose voice of reason is loud enough to be heard. So, thanks to you, board, for your commitment and excellence!
You always hear people say, “thanks for the opportunity to serve,” and it really is true. Serving as your president has been a tremendous and positive experience and one I’ll never forget.
We, the board, look forward to serving you in 2008! We send our best and most joyous holiday wishes to you, your family and friends! Sincerely, A.-C. McGraw, President,
Tar Heel PRSA Chapter
president@tarheel.org
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Posted in PRSA News at 1:08 pm by John Mims, APR
Google is tired of obnoxiously long headlines in media releases. According to the Bad Pitch Blog, Google has advised Business Wire that media release headlines that are longer than 22 words will be ignored by the search engine’s spiders. That means that your news release might be left off of Google.
As you might guess, this is important to those of us who rely on search engines to carry our messages even further than was possible a few years ago. So keep those headlines short! Here are some tips from the Bad Pitch Blog:
Consider these tips when crafting news release headlines.
Skip the News Release: Does this news require a release? Does this release need to be bounced off satellites so even remote Zambian villagers can pick it up on their cell phones? Not all news needs a widely-distributed news release to get the word out.
Information Hierarchy: Every line in a news release has a specific job to do. No one line can do it all. Uh Oh, I’m channeling my grade school basketball coach. You get the idea. Boil the news down to one concise, headline.
Cut the Crap: Buzzwords and puffy adjectives get executives all excited. This excitement fuels long-winded headlines that get past legal because they don’t say anything. And these headlines are a red flag to journalists sifting through hundreds of releases a day.
Practice Makes Perfect: Using messaging services like Twitter gets you into the habit of writing in smaller snippets. The end result is more effective and efficient writing.
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12.01.07
Posted in Newsletter at 12:46 pm by Tamara McLendon
I’m a history buff, specifically American 19th century history. I recently picked up a classic that I hadn’t made time to read in the past, A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. While other historians tend to look at the past through the lens of the winners – the ruling class and elite – Zinn looks at history from the perspective of the losers – the laborers, native peoples, women and people of color. He talks about the painful truth of the American Revolution; it was a ploy by the Colonial elite to remove the British from rule, only to insert themselves. He shows that other historians have glossed over the horrors of the voyages of Columbus (like the torture and extinction of native peoples on what was to become the island of Haiti) in favor of discussing the benefits of conquest to the conquerors.
So what does this have to do with PR? Clearly, the winners get to write their own PR and have it unquestioningly inserted into the annals of history. They had the ability to write their own stories and have them accepted at face value by the masses, untruths which thrive even today. The power of PR comes with a requirement of responsibility. Just because we can convince the public of our point of view doesn’t mean we have carte blanche to do it willy nilly. Our desire to win must be strongly tempered by our desire to do the right thing.
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Posted in PRSA News at 1:13 am by Caroline Matthews
Hello Tar Heel Chapter! I am so proud to represent Elon PRSSA and contribute to your blog as well as aid Tamara with your Web site!
Let me begin by introducing myself: my name is Caroline Matthews, I am a sophomore at Elon University double majoring in Corporate Communications and Journalism. I am my chapter’s Public Relations Director and Editor-in-Chief of our monthly publication, The Student Professional. I am so passionate about PRSSA. I enjoy working with other executive board members, supporting my chapter, and networking with others to help grow and improve our chapter.
As our chapter grew to over 120 members this year, so has our ambition. We received five awards at the national conference in Philadelphia, including 2007 Outstanding Regional Activity, two National President’s Citations, Gold Key Award, 3rd place in the Bateman National Case Study Competition and Presidential Service awards for our presentation on social media at the conference. We presented information to representatives from roughly 285 chapters across the nation on the influence of the blogosphere as well as the innovative cyber world, SecondLife.
Our next endeavour is to host a successful Regional Activity on March 1 of next year. Entitled “The PR Amazing Race,” our activity will focus on international communications with speakers from international agencies across The Triad as well as Elon professors and board of trustee members. We encourage any professionals who are interested in contributing to our activity to contact Kat Dodson at kdodson@elon.edu. You may have seen her last month at the Tar Heel Luncheon speaking about our Regional Activity!
Keep checking the blog at the beginning of each month to read more information about our chapter as well as helpful insights from a future PR professional!
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