Posts Tagged ‘Public Relations’

Mary Beth West Consulting Wins “Best in Show” and Sweeps Evening with 11 Awards at PRSA Ceremony May 12

Friday, May 13th, 2011

PRSA Honors Kevin Painter of LeConte Wealth Management with Community Service Award

Maryville, Tenn. Mary Beth West Consulting, LLC, a public relations and reputation management firm in Maryville, Tenn., won “Best in Show” and multiple top honors at the annual awards dinner of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Volunteer Chapter on May 12 at Hunter Valley Farm.

The event also honored Kevin Painter of LeConte Wealth Management with the Community Service Award, which recognizes an individual or organization who has used public relations practices to improve the quality of life within East Tennessee communities.

The agency won “Best in Show” for the 2010 holiday media relations campaign for Dandy Lions as well as 10 “Award of Excellence” honors in the following categories:

  • Public Service: Blount Education Initiative
  • Media Relations: Dandy Lions 2010 Holiday Campaign
  • Public Affairs/Government: Expanding Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Scientific User Community
  • Marketing Consumer Products: Rainscapes
  • Marketing Consumer Services (Financial): LeConte Wealth Management
  • Marketing Business-to-Business: Interactive Springboard 2010 Launch Campaign
  • Writing (Column): LeConte Wealth Management “Purpose-Built Portfolio”
  • Collaterals (Direct Mail): Rainscapes 2010 Direct Mail Campaign
  • Website (Professional Service): Rainscapes website
  • Blogs: Mary Beth West Consulting “In the Profession” Blog

Joe Bogardus, Mary Beth West, Amy Schwinge, Mallorie Mendence and Tyra Haag following the V Awards ceremony.

Interactive Springboard – a collaboration between Mary Beth West Consulting and Knoxville-based Blue Media Boutique – shared top honors for the newly redesigned Avistelé website; Avistelé Lifestyle Communities is managed by Knoxville-based RenaissancePG.

 “I’m so appreciative of the clients we’ve been privileged to serve,” said agency principal Mary Beth West. “Throughout my career, I’ve held tremendous respect for the public relations profession; my team is honored with the overwhelming response by our colleagues to recognize the work we so highly value.”

Painter – a graduate of Maryville High School and co-founder of LeConte Wealth Management– was  honored with the Community Service Award.

“Kevin has been a client for three years and a dear friend for many years longer,” said West. “Of all the colleagues I have in my age cohort in the local community, I can think of no one who takes on more community service efforts to support the non-profit, social service and arts sectors than Kevin.” 

Established in 2003 and located in the Law Building in downtown Maryville, Mary Beth West Consulting works with clients to advance their communications, relationships and reputations to meet business objectives. 

The firm’s services include integrated brand marketing communications strategies and campaigns; media, community and employee relations programs; social and interactive media strategies and program management; crisis preparedness; and special events.

Communities Have to Know Who They Want to Be for Economic Future

Monday, March 28th, 2011

By Mary Beth West, APR

We’ve focused some of our blog posts this month on the topic of public relations’ impact on local community development. 

As business enterprises in and of themselves, municipal entities and the organizations that support them – such as chambers of commerce, industrial boards and special economic development initiatives – must have a cohesive business plan in order to achieve prosperity for a local community.

Some interesting and rather challenging aspects drive how these entities must operate along these lines:

  • Achieving buy-in and unity – Because of the diversity of stakeholders within any community, one of the foundational pieces of getting a cohesive business plan together rests with the buy-in part.  Different stakeholders inevitably want different things from their community’s future, and even if the end-game is relatively agreed-upon, there may be a dozen different opinions as to strategy and methods.  Strong, collaborative leadership in a community is absolutely essential in arriving at the core business plan, inclusive of goal, objectives, strategies and tactics.
  • Looking long, long-term – Local cities and regions know better than any other types of organizations that you can’t just flip a switch with the creation of a business plan and suddenly achieve all you’ve set out to be.   These groups’ leaderships must be visionary in their approach, easily looking 20, 30, even 50 years into the future to develop their game plan for infrastructure development.  That infrastructure ultimately has to build, attract and retain the types of business and industry that will make their community produce the quality of life desired for current and future generations.
  • Creating an effective brand – Mobilizing a city or region’s business plan with an effective marketing program represents a critical component of building the area’s future.  So few regions get to the point of creating a strategy that works.  Often, a cohesive brand and supporting message never gels because the community just can’t ever agree what they want to be or how they want to leverage their assets (i.e. the buy-in and unity problem).  Other times, the message that’s ultimately developed just isn’t authentic . . . it doesn’t ring true with the decision-makers potentially locating their businesses in the area, for example.

I participated a few weeks ago in a terrific program hosted by Leadership Blount, “Generations at Work,” which was hosted at the Blount campus of Pellissippi State.  Attendees from late-teens in age through four generations up (Millenials, Generation X, Boomers, Matures) were in attendance, all discussing how Blount County will be impacted by the needs of an age-diverse community.

Each generational group was asked to break into individual sessions to discuss what the top community priority should be.  Interestingly, all of the groups unanimously arrived at education as a priority, if not the priority, of the future.  

This type of exercise involving community members as well as decision-makers is an excellent example of how communities can launch an effort to develop a strong business plan for their futures.  For an initiative of this sort, the best public relations plan evolves from the inside-out.

PR’s Impact on Local Economies for Better Business

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

by Tyra E. Haag
@tyratuckerhaag

As Mahatma Gandhi  once said, “Speed is irrelevant if you’re going in the wrong direction.”

Public relations creates a lasting impact for local businesses and savvy business owners to understand the credibility PR creates when implemented properly.

In an October 2010 article posted on Hispanic PRBlog, Gary McCormick, APR, Fellow PRSA, immediate past chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), was quoted as saying, “From other studies and anecdotal information, we have found that the strategic value of public relations continues to outpace that of other professional service industries, and that within the Los Angeles area, the public relations profession is offering an economic boost, clearly benefiting the local economy.”

Similar sentiments can be found within a December 2010 blog post on CommPro.Biz by Scott Harris, president of Mustang Marketing. According to Harris, “PR has the power to reach people in a way ads both cannot and do not, and today, when the name of the game more than ever before is ROI, PR has the solid track record.”

With this month’s blog topic surrounding PR’s impact on local economies for better business, I asked Tammi Ford, executive vice president for the Blount Partnership, the following question:

How has the Blount Chamber of Commerce used public relations strategies and tactics over the years to attract business, industry and tourism to Blount County?

Here is Tammi’s response:

The Blount Partnership, which consists of the Blount County Chamber of Commerce, Chamber Foundation, Economic Development Board and Smoky Mountain Convention & Visitors Bureau, develops an action plan for the year.  Our PR strategy is based on our yearly action plan. 

While each organization’s mission and audience are different, the end result is the same – economic prosperity.  Whether it’s helping area businesses to be successful, recruiting new business or increasing tourism dollars, the bottom line is building the Blount County economy. 

The Chamber offers a variety of benefits, services, and programs to help area businesses grow.  We develop a yearly communications/PR plan to promote these activities, which includes a monthly newsletter printed in The Daily Times, two monthly e-news campaigns (with tracking capabilities), face-to-face contact, media events and press releases to area media.  We also push information out, including member news, through our website and social nets such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Chamber blog. 

How do we measure the success of our communications plan?  Business growth, business assistance, new members, retention, attendance, participation, website visits, and social media interactions.

To promote tourism and business travel, the Smoky Mountains Convention & Visitors Bureau (SMCVB) has a yearly marketing plan coupled with a PR plan.  The SMCVB has been very aggressive in hosting events throughout the year where thousands of people flock to the area.  For these events, our PR schedule includes:  email campaigns to past festival “go-ers,” media releases, targeted tourism/travel publications, website and of course, social media. 

How do we measure success?   By the number of heads in beds and the increase in revenue for area retailers.

The Economic Development Board (EDB) uses strategies to recruit new business to the area.  One of the target audiences are site selectors.  Our organization has face-to-face time with these selectors every year, but their preferred method of communications – e-mail and website.  To stay in front of them on a regular basis, we have an e-news campaign with tracking capabilities that keeps them updated on Blount industry news.  We’ve also given these site selectors flash drives packed-full of Blount County information (i.e. demographics, maps, available sites and buildings.) 

Additionally, our website – www.blountindustry.com – won the International Economic Development Council best website award for our demographic.  The EDB also uses social nets to spread the word. 

How do we measure success?  By increased prospect activity and site visits.

The Public Relations Society of America also offers the following message point about the impact of PR within an article titled “Communicating Public Relations’ Value: Business Value and Public Good are Essence of PR Today.” Below is a portion of the article:

  • A survey of chief marketing officers at major national and global advertisers conducted by the Association of National Advertisers found that the value public relations delivers as part of the overall marketing mix is increasing. Why? A few reasons. Public relations is closer to the perspectives, objectives and concerns of corporate CEOs than any other communication or marketing discipline. Public relations also sees “the whole corporate picture,” as it relates to issues that CEOs worry about. Finally, public relations is a key driver of business outcomes critical to organizational success, including crisis mitigation, reputation and brand building, consumer engagement, sales generation, wealth creation, issues management and beneficial shifts in constituent attitudes and behaviors.

When implemented properly, it seems pretty clear how impactful the public relations profession  can be while boosting the all-mighty bottom line – for local businesses and the economy.

So, How Did You Find This Place?

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

By Joe Bogardus

Invariably, when I am talking to a native of Tennessee, especially in the communications field, the question is posed: “So, how did you find this place?”

And, invariably, I will report how my wife and I discovered East Tennessee at a Live South real estate show. How I read about the area in Money magazine and learned about its vibrancy and natural beauty by checking out the different websites for industries, realtors and attractions.

All of these are public relations and advertising activities. All of these factors influenced my wife and me to visit the area and eventually move our household to suburban Knoxville.

We built a new house and furnished it. We have bought one new car and will need another one in a year or two. We joined a church. We volunteered in community and professional organizations. We have paid our property, sales and Halls taxes. We have had an impact on this local economy and not some other local economy.

But, we never would have come to Tennessee if we had not gone to that Live South show – a public relations activity. It’s a great example of how good public relations tactics can benefit and expand local business.

We are just one household. Thousands of other households have been transplanted to Tennessee in the past decade, and good public relations has played a role in bringing these individuals and their resources to the state.

Tennessee has much to offer to people of all ages and varying skill sets. We need to keep getting the word out. Individual local economies and the state overall will be the beneficiaries.

Earth to TSA: Unions for “Employee Engagement” Aren’t the Answer

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

By Mary Beth West, APR

With our blog focus this month on PR and the power of the relationship (it having been Valentine’s and all), we couldn’t help but notice in recent weeks the headline about Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) airport screeners’ successful efforts to unionize.  While we recognize and respect unions’ right to advocate for the interests of their memberships, a primary rationale for the start-up of this particular one, as put forth by TSA chief John Pistole, leaves us bewildered about the means to the end.

According to his quote in the February 5-6 hard copy of The Wall Street Journal: “The safety of the traveling public is our top priority and we will not negotiate on security. But morale and employee engagement cannot be separated from achieving superior security.”

Note to Washington: There’s more than one way to skin a cat.  When it comes to developing employee morale and engagement, there are far more efficient ways to achieve those outcomes.

As if the TSA doesn’t have enough public scrutiny and criticism bearing down on it between the pat-down / scanner uproar of several months ago, the agency now seems to be inviting a whole new onslaught of public frustration about whether the TSA is all about nimble expedition of safety and security, or, more about job and wage/benefits protection for its government employees.

If employee morale and engagement is the end game, then we’d like to offer a far more streamlined solution: a substantive program of employee communications and internal team relationship-building.  Such a program can be implemented at a fraction of the cost and, if executed well, can produce the desired benefits with none of the negative down-side. 

It’s another example of how the public relations profession offers efficient business solutions through smart, relationship-driven programs . . . and case study upon case study proves that employee communications work in powerful ways to solidify a focused, productive workforce. 

The work of the TSA is critically important to the safety and well-being of our citizens.  Those employees certainly deserve respect and to have every advantage associated with a fair workplace. 

While the TSA seems to have charted its course on this issue, we hope other government agencies working at all levels within this country will make more effective use of public relations strategies and tools to achieve their goals, for internal and external audiences alike.

The Truth of Reagan

Monday, February 7th, 2011

By Mary Beth West, APR

No big surprise this weekend that Peggy Noonan offered up one of the most poignant and insightful columns on the man who was Ronald Reagan, as the country recognized this past weekend what would have been his 100th birthday. 

As a child who came of age in the 1980s, I remember many flashbacks of that presidency.  Sitting in my third-grade classroom when another teacher from across the hall burst in to turn on the television coverage, just as the world learned President Reagan has been shot.  The eloquent speeches upon the Challenger disaster and visiting the Berlin Wall.  The tough stance on the air traffic controllers during their strike, which, incidentally, threatened my family’s flight travel plans to Daytona that year (proper motivation for deeply engraining the memory in a then-9-year-old mind).

When I wrote a college scholarship essay in the spring of 1990 prior to my freshman year at UT, my topic was on Reagan.  I knew at that point that I planned to enter the communications profession, so what better subject matter than “the great communicator”? 

Truthfully, though, until doing my research for that paper, I had never heard him described by that phrase before.  What I knew of Ronald Reagan from my childhood created something of an ideal for me – that every president was supposed to be able to speak like him, emote like him, convey a sense of pride, security and confidence, as he did for me. 

I was not of a specific political mindset at the age of 18, mind you . . . my feelings at that time about President Reagan had little if anything to do with political ideology.  It had everything to do, though, with the way he made me feel as a very young person about my country. 

As I read Noonan’s column, it evoked the memory of what resonated most about Reagan to me, during my childhood and continuing to this day: you knew where the man stood on matters. 

Those stances – whether you agreed with them or not – were always exceptionally well-considered and pondered to the finest detail, as demonstrated in the way he explained them to the public, so that you knew that the position he ultimately took had real meaning and backbone behind it. 

It wasn’t something the RNC or any political faction pushed him to say or do.  It wasn’t a strategic check of polling data.  It was his position and his alone.  He wasn’t afraid to be judged for his positions, because he knew he could stand firm on the quality of his own considerations, rooted in the values he held. 

There is a truth to that way of leadership that is undeniable.  In fact, it’s powerful beyond words . . . even enough to spur a critical mass of Democrats to vote for someone as conservative as Reagan certainly was.

Now as a professional communicator myself, specifically in the public relations profession, in which so many people to this day quite erroneously think truth-telling is an oxymoron, I find myself seeking out clients, co-workers and colleagues who operate with this brand of authenticity as their foundation.  They can certainly come from all walks of life and political viewpoints, and they do, and I relish the diversity.

But knowing who they are, what they’re about, and what they stand for are the central touchstones of what make me seek these kinds of people out.  I probably have the 40th president to thank for making me so consciously aware of how much I value those qualities in others, as well as how much I value this approach in the work I do.   

True PR: The Power of the Relationship

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

By Amy Schwinge, MAOM

Have you ever worked with a vendor or colleague via phone or e-mail for a period of time, then one day had the chance to meet that person face-to-face?  Isn’t it nice to be able to put a face with a name and get to know the people you work with on a regular basis? 

I thoroughly enjoy getting to know the people I see every day in the office and the people I work with by phone and/or e-mail.  From my experience, I truly think it helps the camaraderie and teamwork to get to know each other better.

I think the same can be said for public relations.  The power of the relationship is essential for practically any business or organization to be successful.   In my current position at Mary Beth West Consulting, I focus a great deal of my time on media relations, which is just what it says—relationships with media.  I try to make a concerted effort to get to know the members of the media who I work with on a regular basis—either in person or via social media.  I genuinely enjoy getting to know them, and it is amazing just how much we usually end up having in common.

According to Drs. Jim and Lauri Grunig and Dr. Linda Childers Hon, there are six qualities to examine when quantifying relationships—“whether in an organization and its publics or a just personal friendship.

  1. Trust: You must feel comfortable making yourself vulnerable in the relationship. You have to give up some control.
  2. Satisfaction: What you put in equals what you get out — you’re not always giving.
  3. Commitment: Especially in times of crisis, both parties are in it for the long haul. It’s loyalty.
  4. Control mutuality: Both parties have a say in the relationship. One side isn’t walking all over the other.
  5. Exchange: If the relationship is built on “this for that,” it’s an exchange relationship.
  6. Communal: If the relationship is built on “what’s more important for the relationship and not for your self-interest,” it’s a communal relationship. This is what ethical PR practitioners strive for and what social media is making easier.”

I think the key to a meaningful personal or business relationship is to keep it real.

Mary Beth West Honored With 2010 David Ferguson Award

Monday, October 25th, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 19, 2010) — Mary Beth West, APR, principal, Mary Beth West Consulting, LLC., was selected as the recipient of the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) 2010 David Ferguson Award, which was presented at the PRSA Educators Academy reception held during the PRSA 2010 International Conference in Washington, D.C. The David Ferguson Award recognizes outstanding contributions to public relations education by a practitioner.

“Public relations generates success for businesses and organizations throughout our society, and PRSA’s Educators Academy contributes to the profession’s greatest potential by driving academic research, professional standards and the qualifications of future professionals,” said West in accepting the award. “It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by these educators whose work I value and respect.”   

West’s 16-year career in public relations includes a range of posts in the agency, corporate and banking sectors. For seven years, she has managed a public relations consulting firm in Maryville, Tenn.

“The Ferguson Award gives us an opportunity to again honor David Ferguson who truly believed in and supported public relations education,” said PRSA Educators Academy Chair Terri Lynn Johnson, ABC, APR. “We honor him by honoring another PRSA member, Mary Beth West, who also thinks as he did. West has been an outstanding contributor to PRSA and to public relations education. She was nominated by Betsy Plank, who described her as ‘one of the best.’”

West’s involvement with PRSA and its student organization, PRSSA, has extended over two decades. She served as national public relations director for PRSSA while a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UT), where she was honored as the public relations student of the year in 1994, and received the UT Chancellor’s Citation for Leadership and Service. 

Her early Chapter leadership roles in PRSA included serving as educational liaison to several Tennessee-based PRSSA Chapters. She went on to serve in board leadership positions with the Nashville and Volunteer Chapters of PRSA and, later, served on the national board of PRSA, and led the Society’s National Advocacy Advisory Board. 

West worked again with PRSSA as national professional adviser this past decade, during which time she co-founded, alongside Gail Liebl, APR, the PRSA New Professionals Group, now one of the largest Professional Interest Sections in the Society, and helps transition PRSSA students to PRSA associate membership and active career involvement. 

On a local level, West serves on the UT College of Communication & Information board of visitors. Her firm has sponsored more than $25,000 in local and national scholarships and academic program support, student attendance to PRSSA National Conferences and more than a dozen paid internships for PRSSA students. A career-long member of the Champions for PRSSA and a contributor to the Betsy Plank Endowment, West was the founding donor of the Travis Parman Public Relations Scholarship and the Dwayne Summar Essay Contest at the University of Tennessee, in honor of two close friends and mentors in the profession who are alumni of UT.

About the Educators Academy
In 1978, college and university public relations educators, both full and part time, and practitioners who share with educators a commitment to improving the quality of teaching and scholarly research in the field, were invited to be members of the Educators Academy. Established that same year, the Educators Academy was developed to reach those college and university public relations educators and practitioners to further the advancement of teaching public relations in higher education.

About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
With more than 31,000 members, PRSA is the largest organization of public relations professionals and students. PRSA is comprised of 111 local Chapters organized into 10 geographic Districts; 16 Professional Interest Sections that focus on issues, trends and research relevant to specialized practice areas, such as technology, health care, financial communications, entertainment and sports, and travel tourism; and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which has more than 300 Chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. PRSA is headquartered in New York.

PR and the Political Animal

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

By Mary Beth West, APR

Mrs. West Goes to Washington . . . I’m making my second trip to D.C. this month.  The first was a legislative trip I attended with my husband, a Chervolet dealer, along with other members of the Tennessee Automotive Association.  The second is to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) International Conference, coming up this weekend.

Whenever I’m in that town, I can’t help but feel the almost palpable energy and vibe that goes hand-in-hand with the sheer weight of everything that Washington, D.C. is – from its history and architectural presence to the miracle of democracy that plays out there every day, in ways small to the most grandiose.

And, admittedly, there is a part of me that wishes I could work in the thick of it.  To me – and I acknowledge there’s bias here – the public relations profession plays as significant a role in our democratic process as any other vocation.

After all, there are few lines of work that operate more directly to help formulate, share and advocate ideas tied to government legislation, policy and action. 

Mid-term elections are only weeks away, and with the ramp-up, the media marketplace will be overflowing with those ideas, from diverse voices and points of view.

In the maelstrom, you better believe that it’s an army of public relations professionals who are driving a great deal of research on the issues, reaching out to stakeholders, helping develop their clients’ positions on those issues and crafting the appropriate communications to make those ideas heard – with an end goal tied to the most quantitative of outcomes . . . an up or down vote.

For the remainder of the month, my team is taking a look at public relations in the political process.  “Political PR” is a heavily loaded term in this profession – largely because so many people both working inside and outside of public relations associate it with unethical communications practices.  Sadly, much of the bad rap is deserved, which is why PRSA has clocked overtime in the past decade to combat unethical and unprofessional practices with its own advocacy effort.  We’ll talk about those issues, too.

Chime in and let us know what your ideas are on public relations’ role in the political process.

Get Your Ethics On

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

By Mary Beth West, APR

With 20 years in public relations both as a student and professional, I’ve become a big believer that ethics in any organization begins with its culture.

The same holds true for the culture of a profession.  And in the public relations sphere – where pockets of bad examples still persist – the Public Relations Society of America seeks to foster a culture driven by the best of what this profession has to offer.

Part of promoting this potential is PRSA’s September Ethics Month, when the 21,000-member organization’s 110 chapters nationwide turn their sights toward spotlighting ethical issues for focused discussion, with its Code of Ethics as a resource for solutions.

Ethics is tough stuff.  In fact, it seems to get tougher the more a company or organization wants to do the right thing.  What factors can make the right choices hard? 

To name a few:

  • The desire to avoid admitting a mistake
  • The dread of initial public backlash
  • The risk of poor sales
  • The profitable ease of short-term gains when “no one is really watching” the means to an end

As countless case studies show, each of these above outcomes plays out in mammoth proportion when the wrong decision is made – ironically, with the intent of avoiding these very outcomes at what might have been a negligible fraction of the impact had the right decision been made. 

The voice of strong public relations expertise in an organization’s management often pays its biggest returns by preventing poor decisions from the get-go – particularly those decisions that we know run counter to ultimate public expectations.

As a profession, public relations experts are well-trained – and often have sufficient war wounds from managing previous fallouts – to know what public and media reaction is going to be to an organization’s policies and decisions three steps ahead of when a decision is actually made. 

That’s why public relations professionals who know the formal constructs of ethical decision-making are so vital toward informing strategic decisions . . . and more so today than ever before, given that online communication has taken ethical challenges into a new stratosphere.

So this September – we challenge all organizations to turn up the volume in making ethics a shared value and priority:

  • Take a look at the PRSA Code of Ethics, as well as other ethics codes that may exist through your industry’s professional organizations.
  • Understand what ethics really means to all your stakeholders.  What is “right” to institutional shareholders may not hold water with customers, employees or community members. 
  • Commit to ethical practices in a way that holds everyone – every single person in the organization – accountable.
  • Share standards of conduct as well as best practices and case examples with all employees in management and throughout the front lines.

You can get the process started by reviewing a range of resources available   all of which are useful tools toward getting a conversation going in your organization.