June 2014
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MEETINGS
Strengthening Brand Loyalty and Customer-centricity
If you know Southwest Airlines, you know it’s serious about having fun. Micah Quillin knows Southwest Airlines, and as manager of rapid rewards strategy and
development, who better to discuss a corporate culture focused on generating
consumer excitement to drive customer loyalty.
In a world where customer loyalty is fragmented and customer service fleeting,
delivering the right message at the right time is key to retaining customers.
Southwest Airlines prides itself on keeping the customer at the center of its
decisions, and Quillin will discuss how the company is evolving to become truly
customer-centric. Attendees should learn ways to strengthen brand loyalty in
their own organizations.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, June 24
Place: Joe T. Garcia’s, 2201 N. Commerce St., Fort Worth
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20; online add $1, walk-ins without a
reservation add $5; lunch included
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How to be Heard: Learning to Use Agility to Win the C-Suite’s Attention
Want to unlock the C-Suite? You need to be nimble. Dr. Suzanne Carter from TCU’s Neeley School of Business will discuss how today’s agile leader strives to move out of silos and into conversations to become a
powerful influencer within the organization. She also will highlight ways
professionals and organizations can develop agile leadership from within and
how agile leadership can be used along a successful career path.
Carter is executive director of the university’s Executive MBA program. She also teaches and conducts research in strategic
leadership and corporate reputation. She has consulted with nonprofit
organizations regarding strategic direction and taught courses on strategy and
innovative social enterprise strategies. She has also been faculty on global
study abroad courses in China, South Africa and South America.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, June 11
Place: Colonial Country Club, 3735 Country Club Circle, Fort Worth
Cost: chapter members $25, national members $30, nonmembers $35, students $20;
walk-ups add $5
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Covering Natural Disasters: What You Need to Know
About Covering Tornadoes, Floods, Hurricanes and Wildfires
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STRAIGHT STUFF
As the 25th anniversary of a bloody populist uprising in China arrives, veteran
Beijing-based National Public Radio reporter Louisa Lim has written an insightful book examining the government's method of handling
that event and its aftermath: “The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited.” The book describes how the Chinese government has suppressed national memories
of the populist uprising in June 1989. Lim will discuss China and the Tiananmen
challenge, as well as the status of women in China, in a luncheon program and
book signing at noon Wednesday, June 18, at Colonial Country Club. Tickets are
$30 for members of the sponsoring Women's Policy Forum of Fort Worth and the
World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, and $45 for nonmembers. More at
dfwworld.org or from Kris Mewherter at 214-965-8413 or kmewherter@dfwworld.org. ...
Keynote speakers David Quammen, a contributing writer for National Geographic, and Pulitzer Prize-winning
authors Lawrence Wright and Sheri Fink will highlight the annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, hosted by UNT’s Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism, July 18-20 at the Hilton
DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center in Grapevine. This year’s focus is on writing about science, technology, medicine and innovation. Info
at themayborn.com. ...
Time once again for the annual WGT member read-in — 7 p.m. Monday, June 16, Richardson Public Library — where Writers’ Guild of Texas members may strut their stuff or share writing that has grabbed
their interest with brief readings (one-minute intro, five minutes of reading).
Contact Virginia Boylan at velkaecs@aol.com to be added to the list of readers.
IABC local update: Nancy Powell Bartlett will discuss “Corporate Communications: a Key Strategic Partner in Organizational Change” at the IABC Dallas luncheon Tuesday, June 10, at Maggiano’s NorthPark. Info here. Bartlett is president of the Bartlett Allliance and works with the
FranklinCovey Leader in Me program to promote leadership culture in elementary
schools in the U.S. and Canada.
PRSA local update: The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce marketing team took the top prize — Best of Show — and Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Walter Dansby was honored as Communicator of the Year at Greater Fort Worth PRSA’s third annual Worthy Awards Gala. The chamber team won for the print collateral
supporting the chamber’s largest event of the year, its annual meeting attended by 730 business
leaders, featuring nationally acclaimed keynote speakers and spotlighting the
region’s critical issues. The chamber team also won three other awards. The marketing
and public relations agency J.O. won four awards, including a Worthy, and the
Fort Worth ISD Communications Department won three awards, including a Worthy.
Senior public relations professionals from the PRSA Arkansas Chapter judged the
entries, choosing winners of 11 Worthy Awards, seven Awards of Excellence and
10 Awards of Achievement.
PRSA local update II: Rhonda Newman, senior partner and leader of Mercer’s Communication and Change Business, will share insights on the competencies she
sees firsthand when working with Fortune 500 organizations at the PRSA Dallas
monthly meeting Thursday, June 12. Info here.
THIS MONTH IN PR/MARKETING HISTORY BY JEFF RODRIGUEZ
An irreverent look at the people and events that keep us up at night
All the News That Gives Them Fits
Unauthorized Release of Classified Government Documents Provoked Controversy and
Lawsuits; Sound Familiar?
Thirty-three years ago this month The New York Times published an article titled
"Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces Three Decades of Growing US
Involvement." It was the first installment in a nine-part series, and what a
series it would be: On the Richter Scale of political embarrassments, this one
was double digits. But publishing the Pentagon Papers was never a certainty. It
also created a firestorm about national security vs. the public’s right to know that rages still.
The man behind the study, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, supposedly wanted to help future presidents avoid the mistakes made by the Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy administrations. While that may seem noble, it’s instructive that McNamara was rather secretive about his initiative. He did
not involve the Defense Department’s historians or even tell President Johnson about it. Perhaps he intended it as
a surprise gift for LBJ’s re-election.
But Johnson didn’t have a next term, and McNamara left the department in 1968. The study was
finished in January 1969, a few days before Richard Nixon’s inauguration. “United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense” at roughly 7,000 pages should have included the warning, “Do not lift without proper back support.” It also was marked “Top Secret – Sensitive,” and for good reason.
Among the disclosures: The U.S. had helped orchestrate the coup of the former
South Vietnamese president. The U.S. had secretly conducted bombing raids in
Cambodia and Laos, and conducted activities intended to provoke North Vietnam
into war. The real purpose of the war was not to aid South Vietnam but to
contain Communist China. Perhaps most significant, the government knew early on
that the war probably could not be won and that the primary reason for
continuing it was to avoid a humiliating defeat.
As bad as all this was, it still might have taken years for the Pentagon Papers
to come to light if not for a military analyst who worked for the Rand Corp. Daniel Ellsberg contributed to the report but also had grown disillusioned with the war and had
begun attending anti-war protests. Eventually, he concluded that the war must
be stopped, and with the Pentagon Papers he had a very big speed bump. The only
question was how to get the documents distributed.
Ellsberg and a Rand colleague made copies of the study, which must have been en
epic undertaking in itself. He approached a couple of senators and scholars
without success and eventually shared the material with Times reporter Neil Sheehan, who promised to keep the study confidential, then — imagine this — broke his promise.
The Times began publishing excerpts Sunday, June 13, 1971. Nixon’s initial reaction was mostly a shrug; it was not his administration that was
being embarrassed. However, Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s national security adviser and later secretary of state, thought that if they
did not oppose the publication, it would set a precedent for future breaches of
national secrets. What’s more, he thought Ellsberg had violated the Espionage Act, which would be a
felony.
Attorney General John Mitchell asked the Times to voluntarily cease publication. The paper said no, so bring in
the lawyers. Mitchell got a federal injunction to block the Times, which by
then had published three articles. Notably, the injunction was the first time
since the Civil War that the government was able to restrain the publication of
a major newspaper.
But just two days later, The Washington Post published an article based on the
papers. The administration again requested an injunction, but this time the
district court judge declined. Meanwhile, more than a dozen papers were now
publishing excerpts. Ellsberg, it seemed, favored a whack-a-mole strategy.
The judge who refused the injunction shared some words that should inspire
everyone involved in public relations: “A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by
those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of
expression and the right of the people to know.” June 30, just 17 days after the first article appeared, the Supreme Court
weighed in, ruling in favor of the Times and the Post, and publication resumed.
Ah, those were the days.
Stymied by the courts, the Nixon administration took the logical next step and
began planning character assassination against Ellsberg. The administration
authorized wiretapping his phone, and a team of men broke into the office of
Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, perhaps hoping to find incriminating Rorschach results.
Ellsberg would later be indicted, but the judge declared a mistrial. Besides the
government actions against him, it was disclosed that Nixon considered having
him beat up. Also, prior to the trial, an administration representative had met
with the judge to discuss a future job opportunity. Since the Pentagon Papers
did not embarrass Nixon, apparently he decided to do it on his own.
As publication of the papers resumed, the anti-war movement continued to divide
the nation. But was Ellsberg a hero or a traitor? That question continues to
stir debate. Certainly in his mind, the answer was clear: “I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer
cooperate in concealing this information from the American public.”
Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind., agreed, saying, “The existence of these documents, and the fact that they said one thing and the
people were led to believe something else, is a reason we have a credibility
gap today, the reason people don't believe the government.”
Perhaps the most telling perspective came from H.R. Haldeman, the Nixon aide who was involved in discrediting Ellsberg. “To the ordinary guy, all this is a bunch of gobbledygook,” he told Nixon. “But out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing. ... It shows that people
do things the president wants to do, even though it's wrong, and the president
can be wrong.”
Proof yet again that the PR pro’s work is never done — and never easy.
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Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas update: Rick Perry’s office refuses to release any information about the $40 million it’s offering Toyota to relocate to Texas, despite providing The Texas Observer
with similar information last year for a $12 million grant to Chevron. The
Observer and the Houston Chronicle both filed open records requests with the
governor’s office after Perry announced in April the $40 million incentive grant to
Toyota from the Texas Enterprise Fund. Perry promotes the Enterprise Fund as a “deal-closing” program that helps bring jobs to Texas. But in some cases evidence suggests
that the fund does little but line the pockets of companies planning to move to
Texas anyway. Details
here. ... University of Texas officials must hand over the personnel records of
Longhorn offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, a state district judge has ruled. The move is a leap forward in the $1 million
discrimination lawsuit filed against the university by former track coach Bev Kearney. Kearney says the university discriminated against her and ultimately fired her
for a consensual relationship she had with a student athlete in 2002. She
resigned Dec. 28 2012, according to court records, instead of being fired. The
suit asserts that Kearney’s former white male colleagues who also had inappropriate relationships are
still working at the school. Details here. ... At the start of the 2013 school year, students at Hoover High School in
California’s Glendale Unified School District were surprised to discover that the district
had been paying a social media monitoring company to keep tabs on their online
activity for more than a year. Increasingly, schools are turning to third
parties for help monitoring students’ public social media posts. Cyberbullying researchers and First Amendment
experts around the country say such services could lead to unnecessary and
unconstitutional restrictions on students’ freedom of speech. Details
here.
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GET A JOB
UT Dallas seeks a qualified communications specialist – periodicals. ... Application deadline is June 15 for a communications strategist position with SPJ national in Indiana. ... The Dallas Morning News seeks a reporter/team leader to head its state government and politics coverage as Austin Bureau chief. ...
The Rockport (Texas) Pilot is looking for an individual who can write stories,
report news, cover meetings, typeset copy and perform assorted other
journalistic duties. Experience preferred. Knowledge of sports writing a plus.
Apply in person (1002 Wharf St., Rockport) or e-mail résumé to managingeditor@rockportpilot.com. ... The Duncan (Okla.) Banner has openings for two reporters who can also take
pictures. News editor Steve Olafson: “We plan to focus much more attention on our web product in the coming year,
which would provide a good avenue for a new graduate to make his or her mark.
We also publish a quarterly magazine.” Pay is negotiable. Full health benefits after 60 days. Duncan is 75 miles south
of Oklahoma City. Contact Olafson at steve.olafson@duncanbanner.com or 580-255-5354
ext. 127.
ext. 127.
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NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS
PRSA ... Jessamy Brown, JPS Health Network/John Peter Smith Hospital
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Richie Escovedo, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
Turn out the lights, the party's over. The 3rd annual Worthy Awards gala is in
the books, and we had a great time. We were thrilled to celebrate another year
with colleagues, guests, clients and friends at this wonderful event.
I'd like to thank co-chairs Holly Ellman and Joe Stout, who met the challenge of putting on an awards program and hosting a major
event. Also, a special thanks to the exceptional committee members — Lisa Albert, Kyndall Burroughs, Megan Force, Liz Heck, Beth Lamb, Megan Murphey and Jahnae Stout. Muchísimas gracias!
We had fantastic entries, and the caliber of programs, campaigns and projects is
something of which we should all be proud. Congratulations to all of our
winners, especially the 2014 Best of Show recipient, the Fort Worth Chamber of
Commerce marketing team, for its publication Annual Meeting Creative: Methods
of Mass Instruction.
I'd also like to thank our judging partners for the 2014 Worthys, the Arkansas
Chapter from Little Rock. I sincerely appreciate the time that team of
professionals took to judge our entries. Let me encourage our members to
volunteer when it's our chapter's turn to judge. Reviewing communication award
entries is a great way to learn from other professionals' campaigns and
projects while sharpening those strategic PR skills.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
What happens when journalists band together to fight unjust FOI demands from the
government? They produce results. SPJers last month produced an internet storm
after Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens demanded SPJ Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information intern David Schick remove public documents from his personal blog. The next day, Olens rescinded
his request. As always, SPJ will continue to fight for your rights. Links here and here and here and here and here. ...
SPJ is accepting applications for the Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award and the Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing through June 22. The $10,000 First Amendment Award recognizes accomplishments
on behalf of First Amendment freedoms by an individual, group of individuals or
an organization. The $75,000 editorial writing fellowship helps an editorial
writer broaden his or her journalistic horizons and knowledge of the world.
Questions? E- awards coordinator Chad Hosier at awards@spj.org.
Closing words: "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you
did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." — poet, novelist and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, who died May 28 at the age of 86
Closing words II, fundamentalists all up in a four-foot hover: “You have to be deaf, dumb and blind to think that this Earth that we live in
only has 6,000 years of existence.” — Pat Robertson on young Earth creationism ... "Pat Robertson illustrates one of the biggest
problems we have today in the church — people like Robertson compromise the word of God with the pagan ideas of
fallible men!" — young Earth creationist Ken Ham in response