The Update

3/2007

Welcome to the official newsletter of the Greater Spokane PRSA Chapter. Past issues can be found by going to www.prsaspokane.org and clicking on the "Newsletters" link.

Join us on Friday, March 2 at 7:30 a.m. in Cataldo Hall on the campus of Gonzaga University for the joint PRSA/MARCOM breakfast meeting. This month's meeting features a blockbuster panel of media experts: Hugh Imhof (manager of media relations, Avista Corp.), Andrei Mylroie (VP, Desautel Hege Communications), and Pam Scott (communications manager, Spokane Regional CVB). They will focus on how you can get "Big Time Visibility: Garnering National, International and Trade Media Coverage."

Their collective media successes range from placing stories in technology trade publications on the other side of the world, to explaining critical energy issues in the national press, to cultivating relationships with travel writers and promoting the Spokane region throughout the nation and world. Please join us as each panelist discusses their variety of experiences, answers your questions and presents solutions to challenges they have faced.

The meeting is open to any interested public relations professionals and students. The meeting fee, which includes breakfast, is $9 for members, $11 for non-members and $7 for students.

More about our speakers:

Hugh Imhof
Hugh Imhof is a seasoned public relations professional with experience on both sides of the camera. He is currently manager of media relations for Avista Corp.

Imhof’s professional career includes working as a producer/director at KSPS-TV, a reporter for KHQ-TV, and producer and host of Spokane this Week, a long-running public affairs program on Spokane. Hugh also served as interim executive director for Walk in The Wild Zoo, owned and operated Vision Communications, a media relations and freelance writing business, and served as television director for the Washington State University News Bureau.

Imhof received a degree in psychology from Ricks College and a communications degree from Washington State University.

Pam Scott
Pam Scott is communications manager for the Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau, handling most of the media relations and member newsletters. In 2006, the CVB earned nearly $2 million in media coverage of Spokane and the surrounding region.

Pam worked for the ABC-TV affiliate KGUN-9 in Tucson as a news producer for two years before accepting a media relations position at The University of Arizona. At UA, she also worked for the Arizona Health Sciences Center and University Hospital to launch the kidney transplantation program and later a pancreas transplantation program. She also handled media relations for Andrew Weil, the Center for Poison Control and Colleges of Nursing and Pharmacy.

Before joining the CVB, Scott worked for The Spokesman-Review as a photo archivist and writer for the “Looking Back” column. Scott graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in journalism.

Andrei Mylroie
Andrei Mylroie is a vice president at Desautel Hege Communications (DHC), a public relations and marketing firm with clients throughout the world.

Prior to joining DHC, Mylroie had extensive sports marketing and management experience. Mylroie was the Team Manager for the Trek-Volkswagen and Gary Fisher Mountain Bike Racing Teams, where he worked with athletes including an Olympic gold medalist and World Champion. At DHC, much of Mylroie’s focus has been delivering media relations results for clients including Itron, Avista, local tribes and ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. He has enjoyed great success placing stories in venues from the Wall Street Journal to the Spokesman Review, and CNN to local network affiliates.

Andrei graduated with a B.S. from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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If you haven't already done so, please take a few minutes to respond to this membership survey. The results of this survey will shape the activities and areas of emphasis for our chapter over the next year. Please let us know what you like, what you don't like and your ideas for new activities in the chapter. All of us PR practicioners know how important it is to garner feedback from your constituencies -- please help your organization move forward by sharing your opinions.

Go to: http://www.prsaspokane.org/take_survey.asp?id=6 and take the survey online today!

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Dear fellow PRSA Members,

As public relations professionals, we know that the most important component of any communications program is properly understanding your audiences and communicating with them in the way they wish to receive information. This is a cornerstone of our profession and what makes public relations and integrated communications programs successful.

In recent years, the advertising world has started to turn to this mode of thinking as well, with a slow change from the “four Ps” to the “four Cs” for planning strategy. We all know the four Ps (product, place, price, promotion) we each learned as part of our communications education. You may not be as familiar with the four Cs, which takes each of the components and makes it more focused on the consumer, less on the product:

• Instead of Product - you have Customer Value
• Instead of Place - Convenience
• For Price - Cost
• For Promotion – Communication

By putting the focus more on the consumer, advertising and communications campaigns are more effective and more focused on the ultimate outcome. This is by no means a radical revelation, but is indicative of the way organizations are starting to shift focus from their product/service to the consumers they are trying to connect with. It also points to a shift from the idea of one-way promotion of a product to the consumer to two-way communication with the consumer about the product. This shift brings our profession to the forefront, in developing two-way communications strategies that meet the needs of the organization, but also the needs of the consumer.

Have a wonderful month, and please consider getting involved with any one of the great chapter activities we have planned.

Best wishes,
Tamitha

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The Greater Spokane Chapter of PRSA is offering a $1,500 scholarship to members of PRSSA chapters in the area and to PRSSA members-at-large in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. Completed applications are due March 2, 2007. They may be brought to the March 2 PRSA/SPRC breakfast meeting at Gonzaga University or sent to PRSA board member Chris Bieker as directed on the application form.

Application forms may be found at http://www.prsaspokane.org/scholarships.asp or call Chris Bieker at (509) 323-3014. The Greater Spokane Chapter of PRSA will announce the scholarship winner during the April 6, 2007 breakfast meeting.

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The annual PRSA Day on the Job offers professionals an opportunity to give something back to the profession. Share your expertise for part of a day, or a whole day, with one of the region’s bright, young communication students. This year’s Day on the Job event is April 6, 2007.

The event matches enthusiastic communications students from area universities with participating professionals for a job-shadowing experience. Participating schools include: Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, University of Idaho, Washington State University and Whitworth College.

The Day on the Job event begins at the regularly scheduled PRSA/SPRC breakfast meeting at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, April 6. Students will spend the morning shadowing their professional matches. PRSA will host lunch and a professional panel presentation for students at Gonzaga University at 12:30 p.m. Professionals may choose to attend the lunch with their student match or end the job shadow at that time.

If you would like to take this easy opportunity to give something back to the profession, sign up for a student match by contacting PRSA board member Chris Bieker at chris.bieker@wa.usda.gov or (509) 323-3014 by March 23, 2007. Students interested in shadowing a professional may also contact Chris Bieker.

Underwriting of the event in the form of sponsorships in any amount is an added way to support the profession.

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PRSA North Pacific District Professional Development Conference
San Francisco, May 17-18, 2007

The North Pacific District of PRSA (prsanpdistrict.org) will host its popular professional development conference on Friday, May 18 in downtown San Francisco. The theme of this year’s conference is Golden Gateway to the Global Village. We anticipate 175 practitioners will attend the event including a pre-conference reception on May 17.

The deadline for proposals is Thursday, March 1, COB.

Proposals:
The conference committee seeks dynamic presenters who will share tools, techniques, trends and knowledge of new technology or research pertaining to the themes of global and international relations, diversity and sustainability communications.

If you are an industry expert, seasoned senior practitioner, researcher, or service provider to the public relations industry, we would welcome your proposal to individually or jointly present or moderate one of the following topics:

• Experience in other countries and cultures
• Nw technology and tools for improving public relations
• Sustainability
• PR and marketing to diverse audiences (multicultural PR)
• Media relations (case studies, tips and techniques)
• Leveraging technology (using the Internet or other technology for research, measurement, media list development, reaching/influencing constituencies, etc.)
• Ethical PR Practice (issues of ethics in PR and how to address them)
• Career development/enhancement (resume preparation, interviewing skills, etc.)

The committee seeks dynamic proposals that provide PR professionals with new knowledge, insight and tactics that can enhance their professional capabilities.

Your proposal must include a title, description of what will be covered (including three "takeaways" for participants), description of or actual handout materials, and biographies of the presenters. Programs must offer solid and authentic tactical and strategic insights, and must NOT be a commercial for products or services. Word limit: 200 words total. If you are selected, you will receive complimentary registration to the full conference.

All presenters will be listed on the North Pacific web site as well as the PRSA SF web site, and if available, your presentations will be offered to members after the event.

Send Proposals To:
Dianne Danowski-Smith, APR (ddsmith@ulum.com) and Joette Storm, APR, (jsword@acsalaska.net).

Deadline: March 1, 2007

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The Salt River Project (SRP) is seeking the services of a firm or independent contractor to assist with the writing of its 2006-07 Annual Report. Based in Tempe, Ariz., SRP is the nation’s third largest public power utility and metropolitan Phoenix’s largest water provider. For more than 100 years, SRP’s response to growth, commitment to progress and stewardship of the environment has made it possible for millions to live in the desert and enjoy a bustling economy in metropolitan Phoenix.

Interested parties can learn more about SRP by visiting our Web site, www.srpnet.com. To express an interest to be considered for the Annual Report project, contact Nelson Ross, APR, at Nelson.Ross@srpnet.com.

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You can save $200 off of your Package 1 (full) Registration if you register by March 1st 2007 by visiting www.prsa.org/conf2007.

Join us in Philadelphia, where big city excitement meets historic charm, for the PRSA 2007 International Conference, “PR Evolution: Innovation. Collaboration. Influence,” October 20-23.

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The board had its regular meeting on February 8, 2007. Most of the discussion centered around the local PRSSA chapters and their activities, including Gonzaga's regional professional development conference. The board is actively reaching out to students at the University of Idaho and WSU. In addition, the board is supporting the EWU chapter in obtaining a new faculty advisor.

Plans for Day on the Job are in motion and board members are actively making calls to professionals to signup as mentors for the event. PRSA members are encouraged to sign up and spread the word to their colleagues.

In addition, the board is reviewing the effectiveness of the holiday auction which provides the financial support for scholarships and Day on the Job. The board hopes to obtain ideas and directions from the chapter membership by reviewing the survey -- which is still available to take online.

The next board meeting will be March 13.

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Have a story idea for the Spokane PRSA newsletter? Send your article, announcement or shameless plug to Lance Kissler by the last Wednesday of each month.

Contact:
Lance Kissler
lkissler@mail.ewu.edu
(509) 359-6317

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