11.18.08
Posted in PRSA News, Professional Development at 11:17 am by kathrynwilliford
Tonight marks the third gathering of the PRSA Tar Heel Young Pros group. At 6 p.m. you will find us at Liberty Steakhouse in High Point enjoying drinks, appetizers and networking. We will also be joined by a special guest, Jackie Hirschaut, the VP of PR and Marketing for the American Home Furnishings Alliance. We are thrilled that Jackie is going to speak to our group about her work for the AHFA, and in particular, the work she does during the High Point Furniture Market. As everyone here knows, the Furniture Market in High Point is one of the largest trade shows in the world, bringing thousands of people to the Triad twice a year. Jackie will give us the inside scoop on all the PR, marketing, media relations and event planning that goes into making this show a success.
So if you’re free tonight, come out and join us! There’s no age limit - we welcome all public relations and communications professionals that have been in the field for less than five years - or six ; )
For more information about our group, check out our Facebook page or e-mail us at youngpros@prsatarheel.org.
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10.29.08
Posted in PRSA News at 11:33 am by elizabethmckinney
How many press secretaries has our current president had?
I’m not sure about you, but it feels like it’s been a revolving door up there. I know that many of us are fans of the original press secretary, Ari Fleischer, but I’m continually shocked to see a new press secretary. If my count is right, we’ve had four: Ari, Scott McClellan, Tony Snow and now, Dana Perino.
In contrast, President Clinton had four as well, over 8 years. President Bush’s father had one. President Reagan had two.
So, what’s the point? I guess I just wonder why these changes have been so frequent. We all know that consistency in your message to your audiences is important. Changing spokespeople that often just seems like a challenge that is not be worth the consequences.
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10.23.08
Posted in PRSA News, Spinks Awards and Banquet at 10:43 am by Stephanie Skordas
You may have seen it in your inbox already, but just in case you didn’t … Peter Shankman is the speaker for this year’s Spinks Banquet.
Shankman may be best known for his free email service, Help a Reporter Out or HARO for short. A CEO, entrepreneur, a social media guru, Peter Shankman runs The Geek Factory in New York City with clients worldwide.
If you’re one of the PR pros who’s never heard of HARO, click the link above to learn more. It’s a free three-times daily email filled with queries from top reporters and bloggers, all looking for sources. There are more than 36,000 subscribers now, and it all started with a Facebook page less than a year ago. The group got too big for Facebook quickly and now Shankman does the daily emails instead.
AdWeek offers this article about Shankman. Editor and Publisher says this.
In addition to his HARO emails and PR/Marketing work, Shankman is an author, a skydiver and owner of two big-boned cats. If you’re not following him on Twitter yet, you should be. (http://twitter.com/skydiver)
And you can follow me too if you want: http://twitter.com/stephskordas. Just sayin’.
So now you know who the speaker is! Great news, huh?
On to other stuff … time to get your nominations in! We have reached out to the Raleigh and Charlotte chapters to make up the judging panel, so we need to make sure there’s enough time to get your nominations to them. The deadline is NEXT FRIDAY at 5pm. That’s Halloween folks. Don’t get spooked, but do get your nominations in.
You can mail them, deliver them … heck, you can EMAIL them to me. I’m looking at shiny trophy catalogs. Don’t you want your name on one?
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09.24.08
Posted in PRSA News at 10:47 am by Stephanie Skordas
Fall is not only the season that brings us crisp apples, colorful leaves and frost on the pumpkin, but also the annual Spinks Awards nominations. This year, in addition to the traditional four awards, the Tar Heel chapter has added four new awards. Please check out the nomination packet, which includes descriptions of all the awards and explains the new ones:
Rookie of the Year
For an outstanding young professional with less than three years in the industry who has made a noteworthy contribution to our profession.
Best Web Site
We’re anxious to see your Web sites, launched between November 1, 2007 and October 30, 2008. While cool design and interesting interfaces are great, your results matter as much or more.
Best Event
From company events to produce launches to galas, tell us how your event made a difference.
Best News Release
Sometimes you just sit back and say to yourself, “My release is a work of art!!” or “Holy cow, the media LOVE my release.” So share that with us.
For all the categories, you must be a member of the PRSA Tar Heel chapter in good standing. So if you have questions about your standing, check with Teresa Loughlin to make sure you’re eligible. And all the entries judge work from November 1, 2007 to October 30, 2008.
The deadline for entries? Don’t be spooked, but it’s 5pm on October 31, 2008. You can mail them to me or bring them in person.
Stephanie Skordas
RLF Communications
301 North Elm Street, Suite 102
Greensboro, NC 27401
If you’re familiar with downtown Greensboro, RLF Communications is on the first floor of the U.S. Trust Building at the intersection of Elm and Bellemeade. There’s handy parking in a city deck right across Bellemeade.
If you have questions about nominations or the awards, please email me at pr@prsatarheel.org or call me at 336-553-1803. You can also contact my colleagues Alana Allen, aallen@rlfcommunications.com and 336-553-1806 and Jennifer Seeley, jseeley@rlfcommunications.com and 336-553-1708.
Stay tuned for more information about the Banquet, which will be held on January 15th, 2009. We’ve got an interesting keynote speaker lined up!
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08.25.08
Posted in PRSA News at 9:28 pm by Aaron Wall, APR
I am pleased to report that the Tar Heel Chapter was recently recognized as the PRSA chapter with the second highest growth in National members for a medium chapter. The recognition will result in one, all-expense-paid trip to PRSA’s 2008 International Conference, which will be attended by Teresa Loflin, who has led the Tar Heel Chapter’s membership efforts this year. The achievement marks a milestone in the chapter’s 27 year history with membership at an all time high of 118.
While the board had set goals for increased membership at its planning retreat back in October 2007, the results for 2008 have exceeded expectations. Welcome to all of our new members and congratulations to Teresa on a job well done.
Stay tuned for details on a special luncheon for new members to be scheduled this fall.
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08.20.08
Posted in Professional Development at 4:59 pm by kathrynwilliford
Flowing wine, engaging conversation and delicious crab dip! These are some of the words that can be used to sum up the first PRSA Tar Heel Young Pros event, held last night at The Village Tavern in Greensboro. Nearly two dozen 20-somethings were in attendance representing PR agencies and in-house PR departments from across the Triad. Guests chatted about everything from jobs to apartments to the latest bestsellers.
There were several announcements made by members about the chapter’s upcoming professional development seminar at Elon University and the first annual “Free to Breathe” 5K in November. A drawing was held for a Starbucks gift card and Bouvier Kelly’s Allison White took home the $25 prize (hey Allison, I like skinny French vanilla lattes!)
Overall, it’s safe to say that our kickoff event was a big success. Thank you to the PRSA Tar Heel Chapter for supporting our efforts to launch this group and to everyone who came out last night. We look forward to seeing you all again at our next event, Tuesday, Sept. 16!
For more information, check out our Facebook group or e-mail us at youngpros@prsatarheel.org
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Posted in PRSA News at 1:27 pm by Leslie Brooks
… in the hope that some of you will offer me some really helpful advice. I confess - when it comes to blogging about anything my mind goes blank. It’s like all the good ideas, thoughts, opinions and anything of value I ever have or could have written about go completely out of my head, leaving me with nothing there but dust bunnies. And believe, me, they don’t translate well to blogs. I want to become a blogger - there, I said it. And not just any sort of blogger but a good one at that. Yep, that’s what I want. Am I over thinking this whole blogging thing? I know it’s not a like I’m writing a dissertation that’s going to be graded or judged. Yet when I sit down at my keyboard, fingers poised to type - poof - nothing. Does anyone have any advice for me? Please tell me I’m not the only person in the PR world who feels brain dead when it comes to blogging. Help?
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Posted in Professional Development at 12:58 pm by elizabethmckinney
Crises happen everyday and all around us. Need evidence? Here is a smattering of the crises represented in today’s headlines. Of course, this list does not highlight those crises that are “kept quiet.”
- At least 45 killed as plane skids off runway in Madrid
- Russian Military Trucks Leave Georgia, But No Major Pullout
- Ohio Congresswoman Hospitalized
- French President Visits Kabul After 10 Troops Killed
- US Stocks Drop as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Plunge; UAL Falls
- Apple updates iPhone software to fix glitches
- Dave Matthews Band’s saxophone player dies
- Bombings in Algeria Kill 11
- Arsenic in Drinking Water Raises Diabetes Risk
- Tropical Storm Fay hugs Florida’s Atlantic coast
- Media frustration builds during Olympic Games
As the leader of the organizing group of our upcoming Professional Development Seminar on Crisis Communications, I’ve heard a number of comments from those inside and outside the chapter about relevance of crisis to their positions. Those comments have ranged from, “Do you think the topic applies to young professionals?” to “Oh, I’ve done crisis all my life. I know all I ever need to know.”
Let me address both of these comments. First, yes and emphatically yes, I do believe that crisis communications applies to young professionals. You never know when a crisis is going to affect your company or your clients and you need to be prepared. Learning something about crisis, especially that you need to have a plan in place, that you need top-level support for that plan, and that crises are completely unpredictable are the three most important lessons. To learn those lessons from senior practitioners and those who have managed some of the most difficult and renowned crises in the world—veritably, those who wrote the book on crisis management—is an opportunity that will likely not present itself again in your lifetime.
Secondly, do you? Let’s consider that statement in relation to some of the audiences affected by three of the headlines above:
1) Media frustration builds during Olympic Games
What would you do if you were:
a. the United States Olympic Committee?
b. the International Olympic Committee?
c. the media contact for the Beijing Olympics?
d. the United Nations?
e. the Associated Press?
f. an athlete representative whose story is censored?
2) Arsenic in Drinking Water Raises Diabetes Risk
What would you do if you were:
a. The company leaching the arsenic into the groundwater?
b. The diabetes association?
c. The local hospital?
d. The Environmental Protection Agency?
e. A patient diagnosed with diabetes after drinking contaminated water?
f. The city or state government?
g. The water authority for your local community?
3) Dave Matthews Band’s saxophone player dies
What would you do if you were:
a. The band’s publicist?
b. The band?
c. The Dave Matthews Band fan club president?
d. The record label?
e. The upcoming performance venues?
f. The hospitals where he was treated?
g. The ATV Safety Institute?
h. The Charlottesville, VA, government board in charge of regulations about ATV use?
From this evaluation, it becomes painfully obvious that just because your organization or your client did not generate the crisis, it does not mean that you will not be affected. It means that you should be aware of what could affect your clients or your company’s industry and that you need to have a plan in place for dealing with such unexpected occurrences.
This is a golden opportunity. Register for the September 12 Professional Development Seminar at Elon. Come learn from the masters. Return to your job and feel better prepared for your next impending crisis.
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08.12.08
Posted in PRSA News at 11:31 am by kensmith
Crisis management is about more than long documents and crisis teams or being in the middle of a disaster and figuring out what to do. Sometimes it’s simply about corporate responsibility and doing the right thing in order to avoid a crisis. And recent experience has proven to me that sometimes doing the right thing can be fraught with its own perils.
Recently I worked with a company genuinely interested in doing the right thing. At 5 p.m. the evening before we made a major national announcement, we made a minor change (3 words) to an already-approved news release. It seemed simple enough, but that one change was the first in a bizarre series of events:
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A computer crash caused a delay in video revisions, making for a long evening and a late night approval
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The client’s husband was carried to the emergency room via ambulance (thankfully he is fine) the night before our announcement
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A team member set-off our burglar alarm the morning of our announcement
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The news release distribution service choked on our video, so we had to manually upload it at the last minute
Yes, even the best laid plans can go awry even when you’re doing the right things and situations can go from calm to chaotic in minutes. Our professional development seminar, Communicating Through the Flames: Crisis Communications From the Pros Who Invented It, will help you find your way. I hope that you will join me on September 12 at Elon University to hear the inside stories and wisdom from the experts who created modern crisis management.
Now it’s your turn to share. What’s one of the strangest things you’ve encountered when dealing with a crisis or simply trying to avert one?
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08.05.08
Posted in Professional Development at 4:16 pm by elizabethmckinney
(Blog post written by PRSA PD Committee Member, Bob Conn)
A major disaster is enveloping your company. People are dead.
Your adrenalin starts rising and your heart begins racing. What do you do?
You need to quickly implement your crisis communication plan. Would you be ready?
Veterans of a number of major disasters – poisoned Tylenol, the Three Mile Island nuclear power station, the spreading of deadly chemicals from a plant in Bhopal, India, the shootings at Columbine High School – will be speaking at the PRSA Tar Heel Chapter’s 2008 Professional Development Seminar: “Surviving the Flames: Crisis Communications from the Pros Who Invented It.”
The all-day seminar is at Elon University on September 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration is now open for chapter members.
The speakers include:
Al Tortorella, Ogilvy PR, Tylenol Crisis
Steven Fink, Lexicon Communications, Three Mile Island Crisis
Mike Herman, Catevo Group, Union Carbide (Bhopal, India) Crisis
Nora Carr, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Columbine Crisis
Rick Amme, Amme & Associates
Register today and join us for this once-in-a-lifetime event.
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