Whatever Suits...

Walking the Walk

Spring Conference roundtable presenter Steve Cody is featured today on the PRSA ComPRehension blog. An excerpt from his posting, "Walking the Walk" follows:

Blogging is so much more than just an important tool in the overall public relations counselor’s arsenal. Rather, it represents that rare opportunity in which we can not only provide counsel, but “live the experience” as well.

It was that intention to live the experience that first drove me to launch my own blog, Repman, two years ago. As is the case with any client I counsel, I was intent on first discovering what the “competition” was doing, what I could uniquely own and, critically, what fresh content I could generate to reinforce my desired positioning and point of view (POV) ...

Click here to read the full post and comments.

If you haven't registered for the 2008 Counselors Academy Spring Conference Survival of the Fleetest: Anticipate. Adapt. Act., time is running out! Advance registration ends May 9. Visit this page for all schedule and registration information.

Why Small Is the New Big

Spring Conference breakout presenter Jason Anthoine, APR is featured today on the PRSA ComPRehension blog. An excerpt from his posting, "Small Is the New Big" follows:

Several years ago, an “intergalactic” firm approached me about them wanting to purchase my firm. Their firm was and is a very reputable firm, with offices all over the globe and an impressive client list. So we went through the typical awkward dance firms go through while entertaining an acquisition...

Click here to read the full post and comments.

Registration is still open for the 2008 Counselors Academy Spring Conference Survival of the Fleetest: Anticipate. Adapt. Act. Visit this page for all schedule and registration information.

CA Podcast 2: A Few Minutes with Pete Blackshaw

Below is the second in a series of podcasts highlighting the upcoming Counselors Academy Spring Conference. The conference is scheduled for May 18-20 in Naples, Florida. You can register online at this link.

This episode of the podcast features Pete Blackshaw, who is executive vice president of Nielsen Online Strategic Services and a co-founder of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Blackshaw is the scheduled keynote presenter for the conference and he'll talk about the evolving power of consumer-generated media and its impact on branding, reputation management and public relations. In this podcast, he shares some of his insights and gives a sneak peak of what he'll cover during his keynote.

Download the podcast at the link below. It arrives as an MP3 file, which you can play in your favorite media player.
Download CA Spring Conference Podcast 2.mp3

Enjoy.

CA Podcast 1: What To Expect at the Spring Conference

We're trying out a new format to share information about the upcoming CA Spring Conference. We've put together a podcast with conference co-chairs Sydney Ayers and Rob Amberg, who discuss topics ranging from keynote presentation and roundtables to the beauty of the venue itself.

Take a listen and let us know what you think by adding a comment at the bottom of this post.

Listen by downloading the file and playing it through your favorite media player.

Download CA Podcast 1.

Spring Conference Registration Opens

Ready, set, register!

Plan now to attend the Counselors Academy 2008 Spring Conference, May 18-20, in beautiful Naples, Florida. And if you register by April 15, you save $100.

Why register? Check out this lineup of keynotes and breakout sessions:

Featured Speakers:
Monday Keynote: Peter Blackshaw, executive vice president, Nielsen Online Strategic Solutions and co-founder of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. A former interactive marketer for Proctor & Gamble, Blackshaw is also the founder of PlanetFeedback.com and author of the www.consumergeneratedmedia.com blog. His book, "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000,"€ is due for publication by Random House in Summer 2008.
Tuesday Keynote Panel: "€œMarketing Challenges in Changing Times: Making Brands Stand Out."  Moderated by Peter Krivkovich, president and chief executive officer of Cramer-Krasselt, with panelists Bruce Himelstein, senior vice president of sales and marketing, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC; Mark McCleary, vice president of marketing, Life Fitness; and Nancy Weber, chief marketing officer, Meredith Corporation.
Pre-Conference Seminar: "€œNew Media Communications Boot Camp"€ with Eric Schwartzman, founder and chairman of iPressroom, managing director of Schwartzman & Associates and executive producer of the award-winning PR Podcast "€œOn the Record...Online."

Select Breakout Sessions and Networking Roundtables:
Increase the Value of Client Relationship Through Measurement
Are You Running the Business or Is the Business Running You?
Small Is the New Big: Turning Your Firm's Size Into a Competitive Advantage
Developing Loyal Employees
Managing Client Expectations
Don't Leave Money on the Table

Conference Accommodations: Rooms are available at the Naples Grande Beach Resort at the reduced rate of $229 plus taxes and gratuities/night (includes $20 resort fee). Call 800-247-9810 and ask for the Counselors Academy reduced rate. Reservations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and must be made by April 15, 2008 to qualify for the reduced rate.

For full details, check out the Counselors Academy website. Questions? Email Carolyn Marr or call 212-460-1420.

The Counselors Academy 2008 Spring Conference is presented by BurrellesLuce.

CA ExCom Meets in La Quinta, CA

This past weekend, your Counselors Academy Executive Committee met to discuss new and old business for the year, as well as to put final plans in place for this year's Spring Conference in Naples, FL.

The normal format for these meetings is to meet at the facility which will host the Spring Conference the following year. In 2009, our conference will be at the La Quinta Inn and Resort in La Quinta, CA. By staying at the facility, we get a chance to experience first-hand what the resort and the host town have to offer, which, admittedly, isn't a bad way to spend a weekend. But despite the distractions of the golf course, the tennis courts, restaurants, beautiful scenery and the spa, we accomplished much and put some great plans and final touches in place for this year's conference.

Attached are a few photos from our executive session as we were discussing plans for the Naples conference, the organization's overall strategic plan and other business, both old and new.

Carolyn Marr (left) with PRSA and ExCom members Sydney Ayers and Ben Wheatley

ExCom members Elise Mitchell and Eric Morgenstern

The next meeting of the executive committee, apart from the monthly conference calls and daily contact for projects, will be in Naples at the Spring Conference. Go here for more information about the 2008 Spring Conference, including early-bird registration specials.

Individual Insurance Market Beginning to Emerge

No two ways about it. Either you have medical insurance and it costs too much or you don't have medical insurance because it costs too much. Its become a double-edged sword.

For those of us with medical coverage -- be we independent counselors or heads of small, medium or large firms -- medical insurance costs rank right up there with payroll and facilities costs as one of the top operating expenses. Add a handful of employees and their dependents into the mix and things can get downright scary.

For those without medical coverage, which is a growing percentage among entrepreneurs and managers of small firms, you find yourself ever-so-slightly tip-toeing through life hoping to avoid accidents, injuries and any unplanned hospital stay. One wrong move and you've got yourself a $100,000 expense.

Either way, you feel caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to something as basic as health coverage. With each election cycle come promises to overhaul a broken system, with both parties floating ideas that, given some tweaking, could work. Ultimately, though, these plans never seem to come to fruition.

Short of encasing yourself in bulletproof glass or winning the lottery, isn't there a better way?

Greenwashing

A colleague recently passed along an announcement from a well-known paint company.  Appears said company is launching its new line of eco-friendly paints.  Wow!  I was excited to think that someone had finally cracked the code and made a more environmentally sound paint product.  Not so fast.  You see, these paints just have eco-friendly sounding names like Rainforest Green and Lakewater Blue.  Shut up!  It would seem this company thinks that by calling its products eco-friendly -- presto, chango -- they are.  That, my friends, is greenwashing at its best.  And not only is it bad for the environment, it doesn't paint PR professionals in a very good light either.

You can't buy front page coverage... or can you?

So it comes down to this. Advertising on the front page, top of the fold. It’s been on the bottom of the front page for awhile now, but the inky real estate at the top has now been invaded. I didn’t think newspapers would stoop to that level to make a buck, but in Arizona, they have. Today’s edition of the Arizona Republic, owned by Gannett Newspapers, ran an ad for a pay-day loan company right where you’d expect the day’s most important news. Right under the masthead, left side. A pay-day loan company! The nerve! I stared in amazement and then tried to peel it off, thinking it was one of the pesky sticker ads that plagues the paper almost daily. But no, it couldn’t be lifted; it was printed on newsprint in bright red ink.

For an already tattered industry, this ad was symbolic in many ways. For one, it not only showed that Gannett will run anything, anywhere, for a price (and likely a very high one), but it confirmed that the “you can’t buy the front page” adage is no longer true. Think about it like this. If your client or company is being barraged in the press for bad luck, unethical acts or other wrongdoings, you now can buy the front page corner section and attempt to counteract the damage being done elsewhere in the paper. Or if you’re struggling to get the attention of the paper for a good news story and you’ve got the budget to support it, buy an ad and tease the story there. Either way, you’re capturing the reader before he even opens the paper.

I suppose it was only a matter of time before this happened. Newspapers are struggling to stay relevant in an age of real-time quick hit news on the Internet.  And so are TV stations. I heard just the other day that a local network affiliate in Phoenix is selling segments on the evening news. They’re not called out as advertising, nor are they identified with “this news brought to you by Acme Widgets.” They’re segments that are included in the evening news reel and to the common viewer could be perceived as real news. I have a problem with that. Just as I’m not a fan of selling the front page. In this world of instantaneous news, micro-dissecting audiences and hitting them with paid messaging where ever they are, we need to know what’s authentic journalism and what’s marketing. This could very well cement my place in the old school category of PR, but I’m happy to reside there for the time being. I’m all for progress and a huge proponent of the Internet, social media and guerrilla marketing. I just think some things should stay pure. The top of the fold is one of them.

Who needs a Tony Snow?

The White House has a new, number one cheerleader in the person of CBS Nightly News Anchor Katie Couric.

'On assignment' in Iraq this week, Katie has filed one flattering, pro-administration, pro-surge report after another. In one, she's busy touring an airy, laugh-filled Baghdad marketplace. In another, she's tooling around an oh-so-sedate Fallujah with General David H. Petraeus. As they stretch out in the back of a Humvee, Katie asks the top Army kick how things are going...

Petraeus: “Very well, Katie.”

Katie: "Yes, it's clear that things here are under control. How important was the recent 30,000 troop surge to this success?"

Petraeus: "Huge. The extra troops have allowed us to really keep things in line. We're now spiraling up instead of spiraling down."

Katie smiles contentedly, adjusts her sunglasses and, no doubt, goes on to ask the general if his Humvee comes equipped with a lighted vanity mirror she can use to touch-up her face. One would think Iraq's heat and desert winds must wreak absolute havoc on a top journalist's hairdo.

And, what was up with the timing of Katie's 'frontlines' assignment and W's 'surprise' visit to war-torn Iraq. Is there any doubt conversations were held between the White House and CBS to negotiate a dramatic, on-the-ground interview between the two embattled figureheads?

Katie's recent reportage indicates her having come full circle in her career. She started out as a high school cheerleader and has now gone back to the future on 43's behalf. Who needs Tony Snow when Katie's available?