best lesson learned in PR Nobody is above blowing up balloons. Shortly after joining Ketchum in
Pittsburgh, I was engaged to conduct media and crisis training with corporate
leaders. We stayed in nice places, ate at fine restaurants and rubbed elbows
with CEOs. Right on the heels of that trip was a grand opening for a client’s retail location. I grabbed a broom and swept up, blew up the balloons and ran
for the coffee. The PR person is the one who does whatever needs doing. It is
all in our job description, which is why I love it.
advice to a new PR pro Make a commitment to be a lifelong learner because it is the only way to succeed
in this field. Being intellectually curious is second only to being a good
writer.
trade secrets Accept that you don’t know it all. Embracing the fact that you might not have every answer is
liberating creatively.
things I’m passionate about Getting people to understand that there is no turning back the forces that have
globalized the economies of the world. In PR that means doing everything
possible to leverage the worldwide labor pool. I am using an excellent writer
who lives in a tiny Appalachian town and graphic designers in Denmark and
Malaysia. Success in the future will depend on finding the best and most
cost-effective talent to execute the strategy from wherever they are.
favorite book “The Great Gatsby” and “The World According to Garp” will always be my two favorites. Recently finished reading “Boomsday,” a satirical look at PR from the author of “Thank You for Smoking.”
movie I’d recommend “Ironman” was lots of fun, and if you haven’t seen the IMAX version of “Batman,” do spend the extra bucks and experience it up close and personal!
hobbies Big fan of microbreweries, and I always make it a point to visit the local craft
breweries in the towns I visit.
this much I know Change needs to be embraced and celebrated. Leaders lead, they don’t hunker down and wait out challenging times.
anything else? I don’t understand using a phone to text someone. Isn’t it easier to just talk?
To be featured in the PRSA Member Spotlight, e-mail your responses and a photo
to lauravanhoosier@msn.com. You can choose not to answer any question or add in some.
OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Here’s that reason to pull the trigger on an eChaser ad. Sign up now and get the rest
of ’08 and all of ’09 for the regular 12-month price. E- me, we’ll talk. ... Fort Worth SPJ’s new year kicks off with an update on the Trinity River Vision at Joe T. Garcia’s ecclesiastical annex, La Puertita. Bring questions and a friend. ...
Right or wrong, good or bad, once it’s on the internet, it may stay there a loooong time. The AP referred Aug. 18 to “Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential prick in 2000,” and at 9 a.m. the next day the phrase yielded 452 Google hits. By 2 p.m. Aug.
31 the number had ballooned to 26,300. Presumably it was a typo. ...
The Center for Responsive Politics, the group behind OpenSecrets.org, reports in a study that members of the military are giving more donations to Barack Obama than John McCain, and when you just examine those troops who are deployed, Obama attracts more donations by 6 to 1. Anti-war Libertarian Ron Paul is outdrawing McCain in contributions 4 to 1. ...
The gaffes of George W. Bush long ago ceased to induce mirth, yet when Peter Maer of CBS News Radio in February asked, “What’s your advice to the average American who is hurting now, facing the prospect of
$4-a-gallon gasoline?” and Bush replied, “Wait, what did you just say? You’re predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?” and Maer said, “A number of analysts are predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline,” and Bush said, “Oh, yeah? That’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that,” we are reminded that systemic, intransigent buffoonity knows no statute of
limitations. While we’re on the subject, JPS Health Network volunteer extraordinaire
Amy Chambers has a GWB quote generator on her Google home page and was greeted the other day
with this. Bush’s July 2000 presidential campaign web site gave a priority ranking to issues of
concern to him. “Putting Education First” was No. 3 on the list. ...
Former TCU Daily Skiff editor and Star-Telegram intern Brandon Ortiz, now with the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, has been honored as president of the Lexington Newspaper Guild for “revitalizing and mobilizing” the local. How’s this for rallying the troops?
“McClatchy Corp. CEO Gary Pruitt promised McClatchy employees in April that any future cuts would be made ‘sensibly, humanely and with an eye toward the future.’
“Today McClatchy, which owns dozens of newspapers, including the Lexington
Herald-Leader, announced corporatewide layoffs of 1,400 employees that are
neither sensible, humane nor with an eye toward the future. This amounts to
approximately 10 percent of McClatchy’s workforce.
“The Guild does not believe it is humane when employees who have put in a
lifetime of service to McClatchy and Knight-Ridder are thrown to the curb,
while McClatchy’s excessive corporate bureaucracy remains untouched. In fact, just last week
McClatchy added a new corporate vice president.
“The Guild does not believe it is sensible that Mr. Pruitt is allowed to keep his
$800,000 performance bonus from last year, even though McClatchy stock has lost
71 percent of its value.
“The Guild does not believe downsizing is the best approach to our future and
believes McClatchy and the Herald-Leader would be more successful by
strengthening core departments and improving web sites, while seeking
additional venues for its quality products.
“The Lexington Newspaper Guild understands that in these challenging times change
and sacrifice are necessary. But sacrifices should be made in an equitable
manner and not as a short-term response to long-term financial concerns.
“The Lexington Newspaper Guild, CWA Local 33229, represents 100 newsroom workers
at the Herald-Leader.” (June 16, 2008, statement of the Lexington Newspaper Guild on the Lexington
Herald-Leader’s layoffs)
E-mail young Brandon; tell him he’s a stud. Tell him you reread the piece and everywhere you see “the Guild” you substituted the name of your favorite discarded journalist sitting across
the grapefruit from you every morning and that just maybe he, Ortiz, writes for us all.
Speaking of the laids-off, Diana Andro, Sarah Bahari, Wendell Barnhouse, Terry Bigham, Christopher Blay, Khampha Bouaphanh, Paul Bourgeois, Bill Bowen, Ruthanne Brockway, Todd Camp, Andy Clay, Sally Claunch, Alan Cochrum, Katherine Cromer Brock, Rick Diekmann, Joy Donovan, Jack Douglas, Jake Dyer, Dean Eubank, Jim Frisinger, Gary Hardee, John Henry, Kathie Hinnen, Bob Hood, David House, Theresa Humphrey, Jeena Jacobs, Jill Johnson , Richard Kessler, Michelle Martinez, Marcia Melton, John Miller, Karalee Miller, Monique Miller, Jesse Milligan, Constanza Morales, Carol Nuckols, Deborah Overton, Heidi Pederson, Jim Peipert, Amy Peterson, Gary Piña, Felicia Pinkney, Matt Pinkney, Jack Plunkett, Carolyn Poirot, Tara Ransom, Danny Robbins, Mark Rogers, Mary Rogers, Alex Russ, Jodie Sanders, Dusty Schwab, Rex Seline, Dave Seymour, Stephen Simonds, Angie Summers, Christopher Stone, Phyllis Stone, Scott Streater, Richard Stubbe, John Sturbin, Terry Webster, Melissa Wethe, Judy Wiley and Sarah Yoest Pederson — likely not a complete roster — all are believed to have lost their jobs in the Star-T big purge, not to be
confused with earlier buyout binges or the follow-up mini-purge that may be
going on now. Meda Kessler, who helped compile the list, initially didn’t want to be linked to it, then wrote back, “Do what you want with that list. ... You can add me, too! I turned in my notice.
... ”
Closing words: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” — George Orwell ... “If I could live all over again, I would buy every square inch of Manhattan.” — John Jacob Astor, the nation’s first multimillionaire
Closing words II, lunging for the disgruntled feminist vote/any (Republican)
woman will do division: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the
VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We
want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position,
especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even
start addressing that question.” —
Sarah Palin on CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” a month before becoming the Republican vice presidential candidate ... “It’s an insult. You have to be qualified for the job.” — Jan Roller, a Hillary Clinton delegate from Cleveland, as she arrived home from the Democratic National
Convention. ... “You know, the experience that she comes from is, what she has done in government
— and remember that Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia.” — Cindy McCain, responding to George Stephanopolous’ question about Palin’s national security experience ... “I’m not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she’s a woman and a conservative.” — mother-in-law Faye Palin ... “McCain’s supporters argue that he is more serious about national security than Barack Obama. But the selection of Sarah Palin invites the question: How serious can he be
if he would place such a neophyte second in line to the presidency? So this is
the future of the Republican Party you are looking at: a future in which
national security has bumped down the list of priorities behind abortion
politics, gender politics and energy politics. Ms. Palin is a bold pick, and
probably a shrewd one. It’s not nearly so clear that she is a responsible pick, or a wise one.” —
David Frum, columnist and former George W. Bush speechwriter
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