Archive for public relations
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations Marks 17th Year
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I’ll spare us the parade of trite sayings such as “it seems like only yesterday, blah, blah blah” about Sawmill Marketing Public Relations marking its 17th year in business. Instead, here are two of my high highlights as well as three maxims that I’m sure will guide us the next 17 years as they have since 1995.
High Highlight #1: No question..it’s when Jeff came on board and we became SMPR partners. A Public Relations professional to his core who has lead us in new directions…most notably/recently his expertise in social media…he is also a genuinely nice guy and good friend.
High Highlight #2: Being on site (and working around the clock day after day) for five weeks at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City where we represented a resort property that was an unofficial Olympic Village for Nordic ski and biathlon teams from around the world. It was a heady experience working with major national and international media on a daily basis and in close daily contact with athletes of that caliber.
Our Three Maxims:
- Always Take the High Road. No exceptions, no detours.
- It is a Small World. In large measure reputations rise and fall as a result of this simple statement.
- LOVE what you do or don’t do it anymore. A great day @ SMPR is when we get a “hit” for a client and/or we provide counsel that a client recognizes as smart, insightful and new.
Thank you for your part in helping us to arrive at age 17 and for your continuing help to propel us to the next 17 years.
Ninth Annual ‘TBC Classic’ On Track to Break $1 Million Donation Milestone
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I’m perfecting my awesome swing for Tuesday’s sold-out ninth annual “The Brick Companies Classic” fund-raiser golf event hosted by Sawmill client The Brick Companies with proceeds going to their TBC Foundation.
It’s anticipated that the ninth year will be the charm and they’ll break the $1 million donation milestone. Since this is my first time swingin’ the old clubs at the event held at Queenstown Harbor, will this milestone-smasher simply be a coincidence or will my presence be, once again, over the top?
Fore!!!
Use Earthquake Lessons to Shake Up Your Crisis PR Plan
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Here’s a crisis communications lesson from yesterday’s East Coast earthquake – if your crisis PR plan relies on using a telephone or cell phone, you had better insert an alternative method for reaching out to people.
As Gus Sentementes reported in today’s edition of The Baltimore Sun, “As Marylanders reached for their cell phones to communicate with their friends and family, they found it easier to get peace of mind through text messages, emails and Facebook updates than through calls.”
That’s because just about everyone has a cell phone in their pocket – and the first thing they do in an emergency is call family and friends, so the phone system cannot handle such a high volume of calls. To actually work, your crisis communications plan needs to rely on other means to get the word out – tweets, texts and Facebook updates.
As we counsel clients, now is the time to set up those social networking accounts and the related policy and protocol – not during an emergency! [Gus's photo sent via Twitter, left, shows an evacuated Sun staff yesterday after the earthquake shook up the building.]
The Same Old Story – This Time from Inc. Magazine
Posted by: | CommentsInc. is a favorite magazine of mine because I always learn something and enjoy a good read as I do so. Imagine my chagrin when editor Jane Berentson
took the PR profession to task with yet another trip to the woodshed for irrelevant pitches and obvious email blast pitches.
When will we learn?
Ms. Berentson shares that, for her, the best story ideas “unfold in a conversation about this and that” which provides valuable insight into her approach for exploring and discovering stories that reside beyond the obvious and the expected.
Our challenge is to find a way to be a part of one of her conversations about “this and that” and in so doing, uncover a story that neither one of us knew was there.
Kudos to Fireline Corp. President for Maryland Daily Record Award
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We were delighted to nominate Anna Gavin, 28, president of Fireline Corporation, a Sawmill client, for the Maryland Daily Record “20 in their 20′s” award that recognized young leaders for their exceptional professional and personal achievements at this early stage of their careers.
The award is meaningful and the recognition is invaluable!
Crisis Communications Tip #9: Develop an Audience Strategy
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While many focus their crisis communications effort primarily on crafting what to say, we believe it’s also critical to develop an audience strategy for the crisis messaging.
Begin by prioritizing the audience that is impacted the most and then identify the influencer audiences. This exercise should quickly reveal the crisis communications audience strategy as well as options for how best to begin communicating with them.
Additionally, the audience strategy will help to fine tune and customize the crisis messaging so that it is relevant and credible to the target audiences.
No News Can Indeed Be Good News
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s not always the right strategy to seek media attention for your client — especially when it involves one side of a complicated and litigio
us situation. But what if the client wants to react to recent (albeit one-sided) coverage?
Perhaps the best counsel is to view the situation from a reporter’s standpoint, who would be receiving yet a new angle to a story s/he thinks has already been covered. With a little digging how many more sides to the story will now be uncovered? What’s the potential cost to the client in letting the media determine how to use the new angle? Is the risk worth it?
Think of ways other than media coverage to get your client’s story told, including communicating directly with the audience with concise, accurate and relevant information that may or may not touch on the situation at hand — a decision that needs to be weighed carefully and without the repercussions of “he said, she said.”
Media Training Tip # 1: Be Prepared!
Posted by: | CommentsThere is no need to be familiar with the subject matter of this interview to know that the reporter was well prepared, asked straightforward questions and conducted himself professionally while his interview source was ill prepared at best, visibly uncomfortable and abruptly left the room!
Crisis Communications Tip #3: Make Media Training a Priority
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lude “Next Steps” in our crisis communications plans and “media training for designated spokespeople” is nearly always at the top of this list.
Why? Because we’re firm believers in the crisis communications mantra of “tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth.” This appears to be simple, sound and matter-of-fact when talked about in the calm of a conference room, but yet another matter requiring resolve, courage and leadership should a crisis situation occur.
In our experience, the designated spokespeople who already have a fundamental knowledge of how to communicate their messages to the media are better equipped to immediately focus themselves and their organization on telling it all, telling it fast and telling the truth, rather than to first take a crash course in media training.
