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Greater Spokane Chapter October 09 Newsletter
9/2009
Presidential Transitions, Free PRSA Membership, PRSA’s Hardship Plan, Tele-seminar Wrap-up and more…
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A Letter from the President…
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Throughout this month’s newsletter, we’ve highlighted upcoming activities and events. Maybe you’re looking for a way to share the experience and knowledge you’ve gained as a PR professional? If so, we’d love to have you be a speaker at an upcoming “Third at Four” PRSA event. All you need to do is copy the following web address into your browser: http://www.prsaspokane.org/news.asp?id=161 and fill out a Call for Presenters form
On another note, September was PRSA's annual Ethics Month! PRSA Ethics Officer Susan Nielsen, M.S., APR, provides interesting commentary on why it's now harder than ever to remain ethical in the workplace. We love receiving articles from our local members! Have an article idea? Let us know! E-mail Spokane PRSA Communication Chair Monique Dugaw at monique.dugaw@inbc2.org .
Finally, I want to thank you all for your support this past year. I’ve truly enjoyed serving as your Greater Spokane PRSA president. My term goes through December 2009; however, I’m leaving the PR profession to become a high school teacher. I’ve made so many great friends and colleagues through PRSA. I hope the educational associations I join as I embark on my new career bring me the same amount of opportunities that PRSA has given me.
In the meantime, Cher Merrill, APR, who currently is on the board of directors, will serve as interim president through December 2009. Cher brings a wealth of experience to the president position. Cher is has been a member of the Public Relations Society of America since 1987, and Accredited since 1989. Vice-President of Marketing, Public Relations and Communications for Associated Industries, headquartered in Spokane, her background includes more than two decades in public relations for regional and national firms, and she is the published author of four non-fiction books and numerous articles and is an accomplished speaker.
Voting for all of our new board members and officers for 2010-11 will take place shortly via email.
Best wishes!
Michelle Galey
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR! PRSA “Third at Four” Events for 2009-2010
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Thursday, October 15
4 pm – 5:30 pm Lincoln Center
Third at Four Professional Meeting and Presentation
“Public Relations: The Value-Added Role” In our fast-paced, ever-changing environment organizations face significant challenges. As they shape their future by positioning themselves in the marketplace and striving to get everyone in the boat rowing the same direction, Public Relations can play a vital role. Highlighting the Innovative Strategies Track, our featured speaker is management consultant Linda Oien. The Founder of businessPATHS, an organizational development consulting firm in Spokane, WA, Oine has assisted numerous organizations develop strategic plans and innovative strategies. In her address to PRSA she will pinpoint significant challenges that organizations face and share how people in the Public Relations role can increase value and support organizational success. Our recently accredited (APR) members will also be introduced. Refreshments will be supplied by The Lincoln Center.
Thursday, November 19
4 pm – 5:30 pm Lincoln Center Networking and Fundraising Event. Watch for more details coming soon!
(No event in December)
Happy Holidays!
Thursday, January 21, 2010 4 pm – 5:30 pm Lincoln Center
Professional Meeting and Presentation. Refreshments served.
Details to follow.
Thursday, February 18 4 pm – 5:30 pm Lincoln Center
Teleseminar and “Wine Down”
Thursday, March 18
Spring Workshop Times and location TBD
Thursday, April 15 4 pm – 5:30 pm Lincoln Center
Teleseminar and Wine Down
Thursday, May 20 4 pm – 5:30 pm Lincoln Center
Professional Meeting and Presentation. Refreshments served. Details to follow.
Thursday, June 17 4 pm – 5:30 pm Lincoln Center
Teleseminar and Wine Down “Salute to Summer” (No events scheduled for July and August)
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THINKING OF BECOMING A PRSA MEMBER?
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TRY US OUT FOR ONE YEAR WITH A FREE CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP
FOR NEW MEMBERS!
Experience the full power of PRSA at a reduced rate. Receive a FREE one year Chapter membership when you join as a new member of PRSA National in September or October 2009!
With PRSA National membership, you will:
• Stay on top of emerging public relations trends and industry news
• Find answers to your most pressing public relations questions
• Meet others, engage with experts and receive professional support
• Benefit from members-only offers, including discounts on professional development seminars, conferences and events
• Have opportunities to participate in leadership and awards programs
• Be a part of a vibrant community of more than 22,000 public relations professionals
• Accelerate your career – at any level
With PRSA Local Chapter membership, you will:
• Become a visibly-engaged member of your local public relations community, while expanding your circle of colleagues and contacts
• Attend local seminars, meetings, luncheons, receptions and programs
• Earn recognition through industry awards
• Step into a leadership role and advocate for the public relations profession
• Learn about business development and job opportunities in your local community
The networking opportunities offered to me at the Chapter level have been invaluable. I have used my status as a PRSA member and APR to land jobs and also position myself as a local expert in the field. I have also given back to the Chapter by serving on our board of directors, which has helped me to expand my network.-- Cher Merrill, APR Greater Spokane Chapter
Join now with promotion code FALL2009. This offer may not be combined with other
offers. Current members and Associate members may not apply. National membership dues are $225 annually plus a $65 initiation fee. Don't forget to check out the Greater Spokane Chapter for all your membership benefits. Questions? Send an e-mail to Member Services or call (212) 460-1400.
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A Tsunami of Ethical Challenges
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Although September was PRSA’s annual Ethics Month, being vigilant about ethics and ethical behavior in our business and personal dealings is a 24/7, 365 days-a-year endeavor. We only need to listen to the news to see that corporate America is rife with misconduct, conflicts of interest (putting one’s own interests above the organization) and behaviors that place a company or an employee at risk due to unethical decisions and actions.
In the 2007 National Business Ethics Survey® (NBES) conducted by the Ethics Resource Center (ERC), more than two in five employees who observed misconduct, did not report what they saw. As I discovered while writing my master’s thesis (“The Rise in Corporate Ethics Officers and Their Role in the Public and Private Sector”), part of the problem could be that many companies do not have a formal, well-implemented ethics and compliance program or an ethics officer in place. Many companies, including publicly-traded and those with thousands of employees, leave the ethics issues or enforcement to an ethics committee (frequently found among board of directors or senior leadership) or their risk or compliance manager.
The 2007 NBES indicated that companies that couple a strong ethical culture with a well-implemented ethics and compliance program experience the greatest reduction in ethics risk.
• The strength of a company’s enterprise-wide ethical culture has the greatest impact on misconduct.
• The strength of a company’s formal ethics and compliance program has the greatest impact on encouraging employee reporting.
• Together, culture and program maximize ethical behavior and appropriate reporting in the workplace.
Our current economic climate and unemployment rates can certainly test ethical behavior within organizations. With a recession and fear of job loss, many employees may choose not to report unethical behavior for fear of retaliation or losing their job altogether.
In a July 2009 article entitled Repairing the Ethical Infrastructure, published in the “Governance Year in Review” special edition of Directors & Boards, Patricia J. Harned, Ph.D., president of the Ethics Resource Center, said falling revenues and contributions, cost cutting, fear, job losses, and intensified pressure to perform add up to turmoil and anxiety in the workplace. When turmoil goes up, employee misconduct rises. She said that the watchwords for the rest of this year in government and business will be accountability and transparency. She also said that good ethics are good business. And the reverse is ugly.
Conducting yourself and operating within your business with honesty, integrity, accountability, candor and professionalism are all essential elements of ethical behavior (see PRSA’s Professional Standards Advisory-10). If you do these things consistently, you will be serving yourself and your organization well.
The results of the 2009 National Business Ethics Survey® are scheduled to be released this fall. Stay tuned for more information. A few of our members have mentioned ethical dilemmas they have faced and resolved in their organizations. If you are willing to share your stories, we’d like to hear about them! Contact Susan Nielsen at susan@strategicniche.com.
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PRSA's Economic Hardship Plan
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Below, is the link to the document on the national site that describes how the program works.
http://www.prsa.org/membership/documents/PRSA Hardship Plan.pdf
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Wrap-up Report: September Greater Spokane Chapter’s “Third at Four” Meeting features television journalist Cindy W. Morrison
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By Cher Merrill, APR While Morrison suggested that her listeners consider a “Twitter-Pitch” as an alternative to a typical media pitch, she said building a solid relationship should always be the first step – with simple steps such as making note cards for media personnel, listing the type of reporter they are (i.e. education reporter, government beat, etc.), how they prefer to receive information, what deadlines they have, who “tweets,” who is on Facebook, etc., along with contact details on the cards.
“Know the players,” advised Morrison, “the movers and shakers on air, but also those who make things happen behind the scenes such as assignment editors. I call them the ‘gatekeepers.’ They are as important as any on-air personality. You’ll want to get to know them.” Once you’ve got some solid data on who’s who and what’s what, look for opportunities.
Morrison offered a great source for national news ideas, “HARO” for “Help a Reporter Out,” a website founded by Peter Shankman. Shankman is the author of Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work and Why Your Company Needs Them (Wiley and Sons 2006.) His website has become the de-facto standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources. It provides more than 100,000 sources around the world looking to be quoted in the media and it offers PR people a great way to get national and international attention for their news.
Keep media information short and simple, Morrison advised, and pay attention to those deadlines. “Deadlines are huge!” she said. “Most mistakes are because of deadline crunches.” To avoid being misquoted, pay attention to when newscasts air and give reporters plenty of additional information they can refer to when back in the office.
As a television newscaster, Morrison gave a variety of tips on what she called “good TV”:
• Practice sound bites until you can tell the story in 10- to 15-second snippets.
• Wear solid colors if you’ll be on camera.
• Keep hair and makeup to a minimum.
• Don’t be a talking head, use your hands – it’s a movement-oriented medium.
• Be prepared: Talk to reporters beforehand asking what point they want to talk about. Writer Linn Parish gives the “local picture”
Local journalist and editor Linn Parish of Parish Media, facilitated a lively discussion following Morrison’s tele-presentation. Parish, who has written for the Spokesman-Review, The Business Catalyst, Entertainment Spokane and others, offered that area news sources are not as likely to be dependent on the social media connections that Morrison described – although acknowledging that the online connections have their place. (Parish is available online at http://www.brightestideaever.com/ as well as Twitter, LinedIn, Facebook and LaunchPadINW.)
Parish also commented on changes coming to news sources as their staffs dwindle. He acknowledged that giving more complete information, allowing writers to tell the story more quickly, is very helpful. What followed was an animated discussion regarding how far public relations people can/should go in actually writing articles for publications.
Attendees also discussed invasion of privacy issues and crisis communication and the best ways practitioners can work with the media. “Reporters are part of the community too,” Parish commented, adding that, while wanting to do their job, they also are next door neighbors to readers and viewers.
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In the next few days, we will finalize our 2010 “Third at Four” schedule of meeting presentations. To do so, we are following the lead of PRSA’s 2009 International Conference (San Diego, November 7 – 10.) The Conference’s direction is focused on bottom-line enhancing, real-world advice in four important areas:
1. Innovative strategies
2. Effective tactics and techniques
3. Specialization and practice areas, and
4. The business/management case for public relations Our plan is to offer local meeting content in the same four essential tracks. As we finalize our 2010 schedule, we want to know what you need to know. Please take a few minutes to offer any seminar topics you would like to see and – if you choose – to answer our “Call for Presentations.” The four tracks are described below, and the survey and Call for Presentations follow. Track 1 Innovative Strategies:
New strategic insights in public relations, integrated communications, management, planning, relationship, reputation, branding, social media, sustainability, career development and any other emerging opportunities. Track 2 Effective Tools & Techniques:
Proven tactics, techniques and case studies in public relations, integrated communications, messaging, media relations, emerging media, social media, word-of-mouth, search engine optimization (SEO), green marketing, crisis communications or litigation. Track 3 Specialization & Practice Areas:
Targeted sessions, including Professional Interest Sections-sponsored programming, will focus on expertise specific to audiences, industries, emerging trends and multicultural communities. Track 4 The Business Case for Public RelationsTM:
Strategic outcomes of public relations and how it delivers value for all organizations, with possibilities to include research, measurement, advocacy, ethics, social values or case studies.
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Greater Spokane PRSA Survey
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Copy the following link into your internet browser to access the survey: http://www.prsaspokane.org/take_survey.asp?id=19
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Call for Presentations: Third at Four
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The purpose of our meetings is to provide high-quality education and networking opportunities for public relations, communications and marketing professionals. Our four-track focus this year offers an opportunity for single speaker sessions as well as interactive forums or panels.
Presentations for consideration can focus on current and emerging issues, best practices or challenges facing practitioners. Presentations are welcomed for all levels of experience - from fundamental to intermediate to advanced topics.
An individual may submit a maximum of two proposals as the only or primary presenter, however individuals are allowed to be part of additional sessions as panel participants. Deadline for submissions is November 6, 2009. Send to Cher Merrill, APR, c/o Associated Industries, 1206 N Lincoln, Suite 200, Spokane WA 99201 or email to: cmerrill@aiin.com.
Presentations should be non-commercial and should not be sales focused. Presentations should run approximately 45 minutes. Typical audiovisual support will be a PowerPoint presentation or equivalent. Submit a proposed title and a synopsis of 50 words or less (can be attached). Include presenter’s name, title, company along with phone number and e-mail address.
Name___________________________ Title ____________________________ Company _______________________ Address _________________________ Phone number___________________ Email address_____________________ Presentation topic (50 words or less):___________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Track this presentation fits within: _____ Innovative Strategies _____ Effective Tools & Techniques _____ Specialization & Practice Areas _____ The Business Case for Public Relations TM
Note: Presentations solicited are for PRSA Greater Spokane Chapter meetings and/or special events to take place starting January, 2010 through the end of the year and beyond.
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