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.
Cultural diversity topic for March 4 breakfast meeting
“Cultural competency” is an essential issue for public relations practitioners in today’s multi-cultural world, according Dora Tovar, speaker at the March 4 joint meeting of the Greater Spokane PRSA Chapter and the Spokane Public Relations Council.
The breakfast meeting begins at 7:30 a.m. Friday, March 4, in the COG at Gonzaga University. Cost is $9 for members, $7 for students and $11 for non-members.
Tovar’s talk, “Don’t get lost in translation,” will emphasize the importance of not taking shortcuts when working with diverse communities. “Sometimes ‘over-translating’ doesn’t work,” said Tovar, who has more than 17 years’ public relations experience working with advocacy organizations, government agencies and corporations in California, Texas, Washington, D.C. and New York.
”For instance,” Tovar says, “it’s especially easy to miss key motivators when working with Hispanic publics if the practitioner isn’t aware of the publics’ preferences.”
Tovar’s presentation will focus especially on working with Hispanic publics, which have become more and more significant in the Northwest over the past decade.
An advocate and leader for Hispanic issues, she heightened the visibility and public positioning of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing Hispanic leadership in corporate boardrooms. Her dialogue with Fortune Magazine led the magazine to aggressively develop its then periodic report, “Best Companies for Minorities.” Today, this annual report is highly coveted by Fortune corporations as a prestigious symbol of achievement for diversity.
She has developed consumer awareness campaigns for regional and global clients. Tovar blends her policy training, community leadership and communications experience to enhance client relationships with corporate America, consumers, the media and within the court of public opinion.
Tovar presents frequently to international audiences on topics ranging from toxic waste, energy and power generation to US-Mexico relations, telecommunications and health policy. Tovar holds a masters degree in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin and undergraduate degree in Political Science from UCLA.
As director of public relations for The Bravo Group, the premier U.S. Hispanic advertising and communications agency, she led design and execution of corporate and community public relations programs for such flagship clients as Kraft, Oscar Mayer and Post Cereals. She directed internal and external communications for the agency, winning coverage in Crains, AdAge, PRWeek, PR News, Businessweek, the Wall Street Journal, American Demographics and The New York Times. As regional manager of corporate affairs for Texaco and Shell brands in the US western region, her skill in crisis communications protected and enhanced their brand positions when under the scrutiny of “60 Minutes,” “20/20,” “CBS Nightly News” and CNN.
The current discussion in the media to separate the State of Washington has fascinated me, and reminds of the communications challenges any group has to assure minorities feel heard and represented. Hmm, sounds like our state needs some good communication!
The people connections provided through PRSA are always listed as one of the highest benefits we each receive, and why many of us state we belong to the Greater Spokane chapter. Our name however, is misleading as we now have members in Northern Idaho and Eastern, Southern and even Western Washington.
Interestingly enough, our situation could reflect some of the same issues of the state and it leads us to some of the same issues. We have a majority of members located in the Spokane, Wash., vicinity. For these members we see direct benefits easily, but for our far-flung members in Olympia, Yakima and Wenatchee, etc., what can we do to assure that our members find value?
One of my personal goals has to make connections with all of our members so through email, phone calls, coffees and informal meetings I have been finding out what our members want and need where they live. As a result of meeting and visiting, I have been able to add value for these members by providing job leads, interns, and even committee work. For example our group in Yakima is judging our PRSSA scholarship applicants this year.
Another initiative has been to support the regional conference which will be held April 24 and 25 in Seattle for the Pacific Region of PRSA. This area encompasses Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, Utah and California. It provides another opportunity to make connections, and get some great professional development.
I have heard success from one business was summed up to "work the program." Our "program" can be summed up with simple communication, whether it’s the state or our PRSA organization. By making these basic connections with our members it shows me this philosophy works. And, I have received the best benefit of all. I feel I receive enormous value in my membership in PRSA because of the opportunities to meet and work with such a variety of talented communicators. I challenge you to reach out and connect, and I know you will find the same value!
Share your professional experience and showcase your field of expertise on Friday, April 1, with an enthusiastic potential member of our profession, at the PRSA annual Day on the Job event.
This popular job-shadowing event matches communications students from the various chapters of PRSSA at WashingtonStateUniversity, GonzagaUniversity and EasternWashingtonUniversity and students from the University of Idaho and WhitworthCollege with a professional communicator in the Spokane area for part of their workday.
Meet up with your student over breakfast at the regularly scheduled PRSA / SPRC membership meeting at 7:30 a.m. on the morning of Friday April1, when scholarship and internship awards will be announced. Then, spend as much of your day as is convenient for you, introducing your student to the real world of public relations!
Feedback from students and professionals rates the Day on the Job experience as one of the most rewarding of the year. We’ll do our best to match students’ areas of interest to a professional in that field.
Don’t miss the chance to play your part in the succession planning for our profession. Sign up for a student match today by emailing Maria Ranniger at MTR Communications at mtrcom@mindspring.com or by giving her a ring on (509) 747-2622.
Underwriting of the event in the form of sponsorships in any amount is most welcome.
Look out for further information coming your way in the next week.
The six values mentioned above summarize the Public Relations Society of America's pledge—a pledge expected of all members—to act ethically regarding clients, the public, the law, and our profession. Our PRSA Code of Ethics is designed to help us build the image of our profession. The thought is that all of us as public relations professionals ought to recognize that our industry needs to work hard to develop better respect and recognition as a professional institution.
The PRSA value for discussion this month is loyalty.
The principle of loyalty refers to the idea that we as public relations people must be loyal to our customers or employers. We back them up when they have a strong stand to make. We protect them from image damage. We tell them directly how we feel about issues and try to help them develop good decision-making processes. We keep their best interests at heart.
This is not unlike how Bugs the Wonder Dog is loyal to me. Bugs often tries to share important information with me, but sometimes I don’t listen. So, out of loyalty, Bugs takes drastic steps to get my attention. Occasionally, she may have to stop me in my tracks with a small but attention-getting bite on one of my lower extremities. Given the fact that Bugs is only about 9 inches tall, we’re talking ankles mostly.
So, although we as PR people shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds us, it’s OK to bite their ankles -- out of loyalty, of course. (I flunked logic the first time through.)
Beyond the dog thing, the PRSA value of loyalty also extends to the public interest. In other words, not only must you demonstrate loyalty to your clients or boss or corporate owner, you’re expected to act in loyalty to the public interest. Now this can become sticky because corporate interests sometimes don’t coincide with the public interest (well, if that isn’t the understatement of the decade…). This is where we earn our pay. We must use our best judgment and mediate the situation.
For example, say your chain discount store client has been hiring, through a deal with its cleaning service subcontractor, illegal Eastern European aliens. (Hard to believe, don’t you think?) You have lots of options here: forget it because it’s a subcontractor doing the wrong thing; warn your client of domino-effect repercussions; warn your client of the pending firestorm if they actually have a working deal to hire illegals, and so on.
If nobody listens to you, do you squeal to the Bureau of Citizen and Immigration Services (formerly the INS)? Where should your loyalty lie? With your paycheck? With your long-term relationship with your client? With the low-income people being systematically exploited by a corporation? So many issues; so little time…
Ultimately, the concept of loyalty begs two philosophical questions: With which party should your loyalty lie? With which party does your loyalty lie? (I got an A in logic the second time.)
These questions put us in a realm where experience proves to be a great teacher. If a PR person doesn’t have that experience, then it’s time to work with colleagues to think through and understand how your firm or department approaches clients’ problems based on the answers to those two philosophical questions.
Reprinted with permission by Mary Pieschek, ethics officer, PRSA Northeast Wisconsin
March 10: Teleseminar Held at Gonzaga University’s Foley Teleconference Center
“Big Results, Little Budgets: Campaigns on a Budget”
You Will Hear From: Jeffrey Ory, APR
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2005Deadline to Register: Friday, March 4, 2005
Check-in: 11:30 a.m.Time: 12 noonDuration: 1 hour
Cost: $15: PRSA Member & Students$30: General Public
In today’s marketplace, it seems that the tiny budgets left after massive budget cuts could never be enough to achieve success. However, this is not the case. The job of the public relations specialist is to find those outlets for exposure without breaking the bank. Learn practical ideas on how to stay at the top of the public relations game during an economic downslide, and produce awe-inspiring results on a limited budget.
Understand how to get the most from a limited budget while increasing your effectiveness in these key areas:
·Strategic planning
·Finding outlets for exposure
·Analyzing your audience
May 26: Webseminar Held at Gonzaga University’s Foley Teleconference Center
“Building Community Relationships: Gaining and Maintaining Public Consent” A PRSA Master Practitioner Series ™ Program
You Will Hear From: James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA Date: Thursday, May 26, 2005Deadline to Register: Friday, May 20, 2005
Cost: $25: PRSA Member & Students$50: General Public
There are some powerful relationship realities between various community groups and organizations. Constituents are asking more questions; decisions are taking longer. Very small forces, sometimes individuals, can stop very big ideas and projects. People without credentials have enormous credibility. Corporations and institutions must prove their validity, honesty, and trustworthiness every day. Most public debate and discussion, on issues that matter, is focused more on embarrassment, humiliation, and blame shifting than on achieving beneficial progress.
In today’s environment of public suspicion, gaining and maintaining public consent to operate has become an on-going, top management concern for most businesses and large organizations. Community relationships are effectively maintained primarily through engagement with various publics and audiences within the community and your organization.
This 90-minute program will outline the key elements that lead to gaining and maintaining public consent.
Program objectives:
Some of the important questions this program will answer:
·Why do people without credentials have real power?
·Why do we have to keep proving ourselves, even if we’re honorable organizations?
·Why does the news media always get it wrong, and we get the blame?
·Why aren’t powerful facts and data convincing?
·How can we prevent situations from getting emotional?
·Why do public officials take sides against us, even when our proposal is beneficial?
·How can we avoid the communication warfare that occurs when the message is useful but controversial? How do we permanently fix the trust problem?
There will be 20 minutes of live questions and answers at the end of the program to answer your specific questions.
Jennifer Simmons Public Relations Coordinator Northern Quest, A Kalispel Casino 100 N. Hayford Rd. PO Box 1300 Airway Heights, WA 99001 Phone: (509) 847-2108 Fax: (509) 343-2163 jsimmons@northernquest.com
