BALTIMORE, Md. (March 8, 2010) – Greater Baltimore AHC, Inc., (GBAHC) has selected Baltimore PR firm Sawmill Marketing Public Relations for a public relations campaign to increase awareness of the firm’s development and property management expertise in affordable housing in the greater Baltimore area.
The Baltimore-based PR and social media company is implementing a comprehensive public relations campaign that includes media and community relations programs including the upcoming grand opening of the newly renovated, MonteVerde, a 301-unit affordable apartment home community for seniors and non-elderly people with disabilities in the lower Park Heights neighborhood of Baltimore.
About Greater Baltimore AHC, Inc.
GBAHC is part of AHC Inc., headquartered in Arlington, VA. It is a private, non-profit developer of affordable housing in the mid-Atlantic region that has been providing quality homes for low- and moderate-income families since 1975. GBAHC, located at 1501 St. Paul Street, has been in the greater Baltimore region since 2002. It currently has developed five properties offering approximately 1,000 affordable apartments. For more information, visit http://www GBAHC.org.
About Sawmill Marketing Public Relations
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations is a Baltimore PR firm and social media marketing communications agency established in 1995 specializing in the development and execution of marketing public relations programs as business development strategies for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and professional services clients. The Maryland public relations company specializes in social media, traditional media relations, media training, and crisis communications. For additional information, visit www.sawmillmarketing.com
2010 Winter Games Recall Our PR Work at Salt Lake
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Ok, it’s corny but conducting media relations during any Olympic Games is unlike any other professional experience we’ve undertaken and being glued to the tube these past two weeks brings much of it back into sharp focus.
Sawmill handled media relations for a luxury inn and resort that was also home to many of the cross country and biathlon teams competing in the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. The intensity began to build two months before the start of the games and continued to the end of the closing ceremony. The only time we left the property during the three weeks we were on site was to drive into a nearby town to do laundry.
We spent our days and nights servicing the needs and requests of the who’s who of international major media — from The Today Show that arrived on site @ 1 a.m. to be ready for Al Roker to do his weather segments from the property 6-1/2 hours later to The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, Ski Magazine, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune and countless international media outlets doing live remotes throughout each night.
Our job, of course, was to get every media outlet possible to the property and to then assist them in every way once they arrived. A steady dose of adrenalin was a constant and important companion.
There was a consistent and, in many ways, unparalleled level of professionalism between us and every reporter, producer, 
camera crew, sound truck driver that we worked with.
During these past two weeks, as we’ve reminisced about the good old days of the 2002 Winter Games, we’ve wondered how the impact of social media — as well the dramatic change in the number, size and financial health of traditional media outlets in the past eight years — has affected, if at all, the professionalism among media outlets and the PR community at the 2010 Winter Games.
We welcome your comments and anecdotes.
Blogger’s Notebook is the newest feature on the PR Buzzsaw, a compilation of bits and pieces that don’t warrant an entire blog post, but shouldn’t get swept away with all the wood chips on the Sawmill floors. Here goes:
BFD? – Followers of @contactjeff on Twitter may have noticed my occasional tweets announcing where I am. Nothing glamorous, with places like Pei Wei, Free State Indoor Sports and the Maryland State House. Am I bragging? No, but here’s the story: When I read the post on Mashable titled “Foursquare: Why it May Be the Next Twitter,” I decided it was worth checking out and seeing how it might apply to Sawmill clients (I did the same thing when I heard about Twitter a few years ago…try it before you trash it!). I already see a number of marketing possibilities with Foursquare, such as becoming the tool that causes people to look up from their iPhones and Droids and actually connect with others in real life. Wow.
‘My Bad’ – The Tiger Woods “apology” grabbed so much media attention and follow-up analysis by PR pundits that there’s no need to rehash it all here, other than to say it was a highly scripted stunt that only Tiger and his team could attempt to pull off. No questions allowed or asked? Media housed in a hotel ballroom a mile away? Just Tiger reading a statement written by his advisors and attorneys? Come on.
Split Personalities – One of the PR podcasts I’ve been listening to lately is Inside PR by Canadian PR pros Terry Fallis and David Jones. In a recent episode and in response to a listener comment, they talked about the use of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and how/when to use each one. Here’s what they said: look at Facebook as your home, where you’d likely welcome friends and people you know well; consider LinkedIn as your office, where you’ll conduct yourself more professionally and keep it more business-like; while Twitter is more like a bar, with a bunch of people you may or may not know popping in and out; some informative and worth getting to know, while others are more random yet still entertaining. Makes sense.
In the January 25 edition of The New Yorker, Ken Auletta’s Annals of Communications column provides a fascinating glimpse into the role the Internet (the author refers to it as the “third party”) is playing in how the White House press corps covers the President and, in turn, how the White House works with the media.
He reminds us that only six years ago, when George W. Bush was finishing his first term, there was no Facebook, Twitter or YouTube and that regional newspapers as well as television stations were profitable enterprises.
To whet your appetite for reading the column, Auletta describes a typical working day for NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd who, when his day is over, will have done eight to sixteen interviews for NBC and MSNBC (grassy area where he stands with the White House in the background is nicknamed Pebble Beach) PLUS eight to 10 tweets or Facebook pos
tings and three to five blog entries. Whew! Todd says he is “compelled to do more reporting on my Blackberry.”
The column also describes that Politico.com “is the most prominent face of new media at the White House.” In existence since 2006, the site draws more than three million unique visitors each month, making it the ninth-largest newspaper online. While traditional media have curtailed their travel budgets, Politico.com has had a reporter on nearly every one of the President’s domestic and overseas trips.
Finally, the column also details the relationship the President and his Administration have with the media and 
the impact Obama believes the Internet has on its coverage. He told Bob Schieffer on a recent CBS “Face the Nation” show that “…what is different today is that the twenty-four hour news cycle and cable television and blogs and all this, they focus on the most extreme elements on both sides. They can’t get enough of conflict. It’s catnip for the media right now.”
Regardless of your politics, or if you are a journalist, PR professional or some other occupation, the article is a good read and offers glimpses into a world most of us will never be a part of firsthand.
Facebook Friday: Dealing with Trademark Issues
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Some companies new to the Facebook scene are finding that an overzealous employee or well-meaning fan has already established a Page for a brand or business. (Kind of like the mid-90s when the IT Department and others were claiming URLs well before the C-suite started to realize that a presence on the Wide World Web might be a good idea.)
Fortunately, Facebook has a process for dealing with that pesky issue of trademark infringement. If you – or your client – believe that Facebook is indeed catching on but discover that someone already established a Page, there’s somewhere you can turn to claim your rightfully trademarked name. Go to Facebook’s “Report an Infringing Username” section to “request removal of an unauthorized Page” and you should be on your way to claiming what’s rightfully yours.
Media Training Tip #11: Camera is Always Rolling
By · CommentsDuring our media training sessions we typically show examples of good and bad interviews to illustrate key points. Here’s a classic from television station KTVI Channel 2 in St. Louis that we should add to the mix! It features investigative reporter Elliott Davis confronting Joe Ortwerth, then-county executive of St. Charles (Mo.) County. Ortwerth didn’t take the “no comment” route, but instead chose a more bizarrre approach to “answering” the question! We first saw the interview a few years ago, but thanks to Ragan Communications (via Tripp Frohlichstein of Media Masters) for bringing it to our attention.
BALTIMORE, Md. (January 25, 2010) – Sawmill Marketing Public Relations (SMPR), headquartered in Baltimore, has been awarded a City of Baltimore Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) certification via the City’s Minority and Women’s Business Opportunity Office , according to Susan J. Anthony, founder and partner of the 15-year-old PR firm that specializes in media relations, social media, media training and crisis communications.
The PR firm also received certification from the State of Delaware via its Office of Management & Budget, Office of Minority and Women Business Enterprise, which certifies MWBEs for State of Delaware Minority and/or Women Business Enterprises.
“We have had ongoing requests for our marketing services from organizations requiring these important designations and seeking WBE and MBE certified communications and PR firms in Baltimore, Maryland and in Delaware,” she said. “We are excited to now be able to work with them and also with other companies and agencies needing our services and expertise as well as the certification.”
Anthony and SMPR partner Jeffrey A. Davis, APR have extensive experience working on city- and state-level PR assignments, particularly in the areas of transportation, health and community relations.
In 2009, Sawmill Marketing Public Relations was awarded a State of Maryland Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certification (09-043).
About Sawmill Marketing Public Relations
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations is a Baltimore PR firm and social media marketing communications agency established in 1995 specializing in the development and execution of marketing public relations programs as business development strategies for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and professional services clients. The Maryland public relations company specializes in social media, traditional media relations, media training, and crisis communications. For additional information, visit www.sawmillmarketing.com
Sawmill Introduces ‘Facebook Friday’
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On Twitter, today is “Follow Friday,” when people recommend their favorite users to follow each week.
Here on the PR Buzzsaw, we’re introducing “Facebook Friday,” when on certain Fridays we’ll share a favorite tip for making your Facebook experience (from a PR standpoint) just a little bit better. We’re all about being practical and simple here, so it’ll be just one tip at a time.
This first “Facebook Friday” tip comes via R2integrated’s Page Sands, who delivered an outstanding presentation at a Greater Baltimore Tech Council event this week. Here goes:
When naming your (or your client’s) Facebook page, don’t be tempted to simply call it “XYZ Corporation.” Think about the search implications and use a name that is more likely to deliver search results. As Page explained it, analyze your top keyword search results and name your page using that intelligence. Your friends and fans already know you, but the people you want to reach are more likely to search for a broader term. So instead of “Anthony, Davis & Miller Realty Associates” (which really doesn’t say much), try something more specific, such as “New York City Apartments.”
Like most businesses, we’re hoping to leave much of 2009 far behind us, including an unpleasant trend we saw gather momentum as the year-that-wouldn’t-end continued its trek to the finish line.
Specifically, the trend is the new business prospect who is inconsiderate, rude and ill-mannered. There, we said it and it needed to be said. It seems that the past year brought more of these prospects to our doorstep than ever before. For example, we were requested to provide a proposal for a customized PR solution in less than a day to a serious business problem a firm was encountering. We dropped what we were doing and did so gladly believing it to be both urgent and a perfect fit with our capabilities. To date, three phone calls asking for feedback have yet to be returned.
Another prospect requested us to participate in their search process with three other agencies with the first step being an “information gathering” meeting. After waiting nearly 45 minutes (because the first agency was allowed to go beyond the time allotted to each participating agency), we were hurriedly ushered in to the stuffy conference room, business cards exchanged and the clock started ticking.
Within minutes of beginning our presentation, the person spearheading the search whispered to a colleague and then left the room. As of this writing, we have never heard from anyone in that organization, including the person who left the room and who has also not responded to a friendly e-mail asking for an update.
Finally, we participated in numerous teleconferences with a prospect, each one requiring a revised, more detailed document until it came close to resembling a plan. A huge investment of our expertise and time. The prospect then announced they had decided to do 
everything in-house, using our work as their road map, of course.
Each of these prospects are well-known organizations and with seasoned communications professionals in place. It’s baffling that any organization, but especially those of their stature, would behave as they did.
We hope 2010 brings a return to a higher caliber, more professional search process and behavior by organizations seeking to establish a relationship with a PR firm. In the meantime, we can only imagine the type of a client any of these three organizations would be if their behavior as a prospect was so distasteful.
‘Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter’ Marks 1st Year
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Today is the one-year anniversary of the “Sawmill Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter.” What started in 2009 as a simple listing of a handful of 
media on Twitter has grown to a list of 210, with WJZ’s Marty Bass (below) and WBAL Radio’s Rob Lang (left) as two of the names added this New Year’s morning.
You can scroll through the names and follow by clicking on the link on the Sawmill home page (upper right corner). If you’d like to follow all 210 as a single list – a great way to see what they are collectively
tweeting about – click here for the list created by Jeff.
And as always, if you come across any new names or changes we should know about, send us the news and we’ll update the guide right away.
