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Book Club Recommended Reading

One of the sessions at this year's Spring Conference was a new one, Book Club. The concept was a simple one: four presenters were to choose a business book and discuss it for the participants. Then the whole group would discuss recent reads and share some of the ideas learned through the process.

The session was spearheaded by Elise Mitchell of Mitchell Communications Group, with the panel comprised of Lisa Simon of Simon Public Relations Group, Monty Hagler of RLF, Roy Reid of Consensus Communications and myself of The Cohesion Group.

The books reviewed by the panel included these four titles:

• Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace by Mark Perry
• Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync? by Seth Godin
• Full Frontal PR: Building Buzz About Your Business, Your Product or You by Richard Laermer, and
• The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni

Partners in Command focused on the relationship between and the leadership qualities of George Marshall and Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II, outlining how they made an extraordinarily effective team during the war and in their efforts to bring peace and stability to the world.

Meatball Sundae defines 14 trends no marketer can afford to ignore. It addresses what to do about the increasing power of stories, not just facts; discusses shorter attention spans and how to work within that new framework; and explains the new math that says that five thousand people who want to hear your message are more valuable than five million who don't.

Full Frontal PR is a practical primer (and a refresher) on media relations. It's a tactical "how to" on placing stories in traditional print and broadcast outlets with some surface treatment of new media.

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive provides a model for effective team leadership though a fictitious account of how the process works. The opening line, "if everything is important then nothing is," captures the foundation of the author's premise that leaders must have a system to help their teams effectively deal with the most important issues, including defining them.

Participants also discussed the following books and recommended them as good reads:

• Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton
• Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham
• Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone
• What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter
• The Customer Comes Second by Hal Rosenbluth and Diane Mcferrin Peters, and
• How Not to Come (in) Second by David Kean

All of these titles are available at your favorite bookstore or online book retailer.

If you have a recommendation for a book, article, publication or blog you think other Counselors Academy members would find interesting, please add a comment to this post.

No one mentioned whether or not you'd receive a gold star for choosing a selection from this list this summer. Surely it was an oversight.

Future Counselors Inspired

by Sarah Gatling, College of Charleston

Six students. Three days. One unbelievable opportunity. 

In late February 2008, the College of Charleston Department of Communication Advisory Board, of which Steve Cody is a member, offered students the chance to be the first student volunteers to participate in the Counselors Academy Spring Conference. After the application and interview process, myself and five other students were chosen to be the representatives. On May 17, we piled into a van destined for Naples, excited to meet people who we thought embodied the essence of PR.

On first arrival, after our technical briefing with Jason Anthoine and Abbie Fink, we walked into Sunday night's reception not knowing what to expect. We were grateful for the welcome we received, and left knowing we would work as hard as we could to make our school and the members of the Counselors Academy proud.

Throughout the conference, along with reporting on the various sessions and keynote speakers, we gained invaluable insight into the profession. Tom Amberg opened our millennial eyes to the reverse mentoring relationships we will encounter in our careers. In honor of Lynn Casey, we all plan to carry on the spirit of continuous learning so that the world and profession we work in continues to grow.

Our hard work and learning matched the fun we had. Darryl Salerno's breakout session, English as a First Language, will always cause us to question our spelling and pronunciation. After a great learning experience interviewing our respective SAGE member at lunch, we will continue to debate whether we had key lime pie or cheesecake for dessert.

And to Steve Knipstein: the challenge to the best waterslide ride still stands. 

The Fashionable Counselor

by Neal Osti, College of Charleston

Jason Anthoine, head honcho of The Cohesion Group, has left his mark on the PR industry, and apparently the fashion industry as well. On Sunday night, Anthoine, shown here with Deb Radman, immediately attracted the attention of his esteemed, and well-dressed, fellow Counselors as he proudly paraded into the Starlight Reception, clad in green pants covered in a martini glass and shaker design. Heads turned in awe, and then turned back with looks of sympathy as his brave wife, Jana, followed a few generous steps behind. While the food and conversation was great, nothing quite compared to the striking outfit worn by the confident Georgia communicator. The bar has now been set high, as Counselors will look to dress in a way that merits the worthiness to share a room, and perhaps a drink, with the fashionable Jason Anthoine in conferences to come.

In all seriousness, Jason served as one of the student’s greatest allies and friends throughout the Counselors Academy experience. I believe I speak for everyone from the College of Charleston team when I say, “We couldn’t have done it without you.” So, thank you, Mr. Anthoine. 

View from the Top: Making Brands Stand Out

by Ashley Stokes, Lexi Richards, Genevieve di Leonardo, and Neal Osti, College of Charleston

When putting three of the top minds in marketing together, even the most seasoned of audience members are in for a valuable learning experience.

Nancy Weber, Chief Marketing Officer, Meredith Corporation, discussed the power shift to consumers who are now acting as co-producers of the media as part of the realities of Web 2.0. One third of all Americans go to the web for news, which is changing the consumer-brand relationship. Meredith Corporation has made $600 million in investments in publishing groups alone. It has a reach of 75 million women and reaches nearly one third of all Hispanic women. Weber entailed five core strengths that guide communication messages. With Meredith having its best year ever in 2007, “meeting the consumer on her terms seems to be working.”

Bruce Himelstein, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, provided insight into the necessity to integrate marketing and PR. Underscoring that “every step we make has to be done in sync,” Himelstein feels that PR has become more important than advertising for his company.

Mark McCleary, Vice President of Marketing, Life Fitness, discussed making his brand stand out in a global market. Speaking from success, McCleary gave advice on how to strengthen a brand’s image. His presentation emphasized global agency coordination as vital, an outsiders point of view as invaluable and research as a necessity. McCleary summed up his speech by asserting that value comes from constantly offering new ideas in the marketplace.

In today’s evolving and highly competitive market, these speakers suggested that the seamless integration of marketing and public relations will be imperative to success, meaning that PR no longer has to look up to its brothers and sisters in marketing, but instead has a seat at the table.

There's a First Time for Everything

by Neal Osti and Katie Varn, College of Charleston

As Counselors arrived in Naples, they were greeted by smiling friends they’ve met at conferences past. However, amidst the sea of familiar faces drifted a number of new members to the Counselors Academy. These members joined a group of the most elite and thought members of the PR industry to experience a sharing of knowledge and opportunity unlike any other.

Matt Tumminello, Target 10, New York, felt the most valuable thing he has taken from the Counselors Academy Spring Conference was the networking opportunity. “The ability to talk to people who do the exact same thing you do is fantastic… rarely are we talking to our peers on this kind of level.”

For Ryan Rex, Rex PR, Tulsa, OK, he learned the most at Counselors Academy from the experience itself and the relationships he developed with the people he met. “I have already established some relationships, I have one business lead, and just from a people perspective, to have a resource in somebody that you can tap into and have a free and open discussion about best practices with is invaluable.”

In speaking with new comers to the conference, one recurring theme was the appreciation for the new relationships that were built.  Chuck Norman, S&A Cherokee, Raleigh-Durham, NC, agrees with this sentiment .

Dana Hughens, Fleishman-Hillard, Raleigh, NC, gained great insight from the New Media Communications Boot Camp seminar on how to implement her basic knowledge of technology into media relations effectively. “I can help my younger employees to use their expertise of digital knowledge strategically.”

For these new members, the experience has been priceless, and they now look forward to flying out to Palm Springs next year.

"Information is Not Knowledge"

by The College of Charleston Team

What better way to learn than from the best? At the SAGE luncheon, while sitting amongst the best and brightest minds in public relations, Counselors Academy members were able to gain insight into current issues in the profession. Everything from reverse mentoring to Wikipedia was discussed. Pictured at right from the left are SAGE Members Art Stevens, Deb Radman, Tom Amberg and Lynn Casey. The following four questions serve as examples of the questions posed to the panelists.

Q: As leaders in the PR industry, what should we be doing to emphasize knowledge over information and relationships over technology? Use the concept of yin and yang to develop your answer.

Tom Amberg: Yins are the millennials, the upcoming generation who are comfortable with technology, but lack the basic skills that the yangs have utilized through their careers. In order for successful growth, yangs must educate the yins to match their knowledge of technology to the solid relationship skills of the yangs; hence yin and yang.

Q: In an era where everyone with a camera is a reporter, do we need to change things?

Deb Radman: Farley Manning said, “A PR person is trained and skilled to tell clients how to think about things.” This has not changed. PR professionals are still able to help clients figure out fact or fiction. The six drivers of credibility are what we have always been about, and these things have not changed. Now, more than ever, they have a stronger role for the future.

Q: In an earlier speech it was mentioned that the spin cycle is broken and that every hour of the 24 hour news cycle must be filled. How must a PR professional act given this phenomenon?

Tom Hoog: The 24 hour news cycle is one of the worst things that has happened to this profession, allowing the media to replace knowledge with incessant chatter. Media cynicism must be removed through direct lines to clients in order to disseminate what’s important. You can’t solve problems with spin.

Q: If we are purveyors of excellence and quality, how do we deal with this new environment of Wikipedia that’s 10 percent accurate, but accepted as truth? How do we get around that?

Eric Morgenstern: The definition of excellence is in the mind of the receiver. Eighty percent of the reasons why customers buy certain products aren’t always for the reasons employees think they are, so maybe Wikipedia holds more credibility than we originally thought. In response to that, it is important for us to find a way to work within these attitudes to our advantage.

Every panelist commented on the value of the Counselors Academy Spring Conference as an opportunity to share knowledge, as well as network in an intimate atmosphere. Michael Herman summed up the occasion best when he said, “Coming to the [Counselors Academy Spring Conference] feels like coming back home.”

Other SAGE members include: Lynn Casey, Steve Cody, Tom Gable, Sandra Hermanoff, Gary Myers, Richard Truitt, and this year's inductees Art Stevens and Davis Young.

“Credibility is your space… step up to the plate!”

by Genevieve di Leonardo and Neal Osti, College of Charleston

Scientists. Doctors. Engineers. Each of these professions has achieved credibility and respect as being experts in their fields. How do public relations practitioners gain this same credibility, for themselves and their clients, especially given the pressures inherent with today's Web 2.0 environment?

Peter Blackshaw, the executive vice president of Nielsen Online Strategic Solutions and the keynote speaker at this year’s conference, highlighted the importance of credibility in gaining loyal advocates as customers.

Blackshaw called attention to the deconstructive credibility gap that exists between marketing, PR and customer service: while marketing and PR maintain an open and conversational attitude, customer service often adopts the opposite mentality. This realization is extremely important given Blackshaw’s statement that “customer service is the new marketing.”

This is especially relevant today—in the new media age—when consumers have more control and the ability to create their own media and tell their own story, which may be at odds wit the story being told by the "official" brand outlets. Blackshaw’s new book says it the best: Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000. The internet provides an open forum for consumer feedback, magnifying and multiplying its impact on the brand, both positively and negatively.

“What really drives conversation, at the end of the day, is brand experience,” Blackshaw explained. This powerful influence drives practitioners to assess the value of what they are offering. He offers the example of what PR counselors can do to help companies become better at listening rather than focusing so much on talking.

Blackshaw closed with a synopsis of the six drivers of credibility: trust, authenticity, transparency, affirmation, listening, and responsiveness and encouraged all practitioners to audit their efforts using these drivers to achieve a positive brand reputation.

Gaining a Clearer Vision

by Katie Varn, College of Charleston

What would you do if you weren’t afraid? What would you do if money were no object?

Have you ever asked yourself these questions about what you'd do for your firm? If so, the roundtable discussion led by George Rosenberg, principal of The Rosenberg Group, Inc., would have been valuable for you. Rosenberg’s discussion, "Preparing for and Managing Growth," was punctuated by questions and conversation about issues facing effective organizational growth.

He spoke about three elements that are essential to successful planning and business expansion, with the most important being clarity of vision. Rosenberg emphasized the importance of calendaring time to develop a strategic plan that accomplishes the vision you have for your company. Says Rosenberg, "you have to make a conscious choice to take the time, make the time to determine a vision and a plan in order to turn that vision into reality." This vision serves as a bridge between the past and the future, making it essential for determining the direction of your firm and how you'll prepare for and manage the growth you want to achieve.

So polish your crystal ball, look into your future, and envision the successful growth you could achieve by taking Rosenberg’s advice to "take the time to work not just in your business, but on your business.”

Follow the Leader: Steps to Becoming an Effective Leader

by Ashley Stokes, College of Charleston

Monday began early with an 8 a.m. start on the Sunset Deck. Barri Rafferty, partner/director, Ketchum, discussed “Leadership Skills for Running a PR Firm,” answering a recurring question, “How do I become an effective leader, knowing both what our employees want, as well as our clients?”

Rafferty recommended three great reads by authors James L. Heskett, David H. Maister and Bill George, for tips to strengthen leadership skills. Have you ever wondered how to play the role as a coach while also being a leader? Rafferty answers this question and many more through a quote from Maister’s book The Value Profit Chain: “A leader builds an organization that builds a business.”

Rafferty gave three tools for leaders to use — whether running large or small organizations — when assessing their employees or trying to become a better leader. Whether figuring out where most leaders spend their time, determining the performance style and the potential employees possess, or discovering what leadership brand employees hold, Rafferty had a tool for participants.

This session provided the insight on how to the play the game of follow the leader, offering something for everyone.

Blogging: Risk and Reward

by Lexi Richards, College of Charleston

Monday morning’s Spring Conference roundtables began with a strong breeze, but that did not stop speakers from sharing their wisdom with fellow Counselors Academy members. While audiences enjoyed breakfast, Ted Birkhahn of Peppercom spoke on the basics of blogging in one of the morning's roundtables.

Using personal blogging experiences to exemplify success in blogging, Birkhahn referred to Peppercom’s Repman blog as a model of the risks and rewards of blogging. Primary audience concerns involved the risk blogging may pose to their own companies as well as to their clients: the risk of transparency and the expectations that brings, the commitment involved to keep a blog vital and relevant, and the point of view being from the reader's perspective rather than the firm's.

Birkhahn’s key point throughout the discussion was that “content is KING!” A unique point of view as well as new and edgy content is what it takes for a blog to thrive and grow. Keeping a blog on the cutting edge leads to another concern about time consumption, as blogs will not become successful overnight and take much work and dedication. Assessing your purpose and providing a unique point of view are essential in creating a successful blog.

Clearly, the risks around time, energy, creativity, authenticity, and vulnerability are important issues. However, the rewards that blogging provides for your brand can be priceless.