Posts Tagged ‘Public Relations’

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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.

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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.

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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.   

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Valuable Lessons for Students Taught Outside the Classroom

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

By Mallorie Mendence

I learned early in life that you cannot always learn everything in a classroom, especially when it comes to one’s chosen profession. Sometimes the only way to learn is to go out and get work experience.

That is exactly what I did when I took on several internships in college.  My main focus for completing these internships was to get experience and determine if I was best-suited for agency work or corporate public relations. At the time, I did not realize that agency public relations and corporate public relations were really that different. 

I did my first internship at Mary Beth West Consulting and quickly learned that the world of agency PR is fast-paced and requires one to do a bit of a juggling act to complete work for multiple clients. In an one-hour time span, I was working on fundraising for one client, writing a news release for a non-profit client and then transitioning into event planning for yet another client.  On top of these tasks, I could not forget to track my work time to be billable to the appropriate client. 

For a new intern with not a lot of PR experience outside of the classroom, my internship experience at Mary Beth West Consulting was invaluable.  I learned that I really did enjoy the agency world and knew that I could thrive in that type of environment.

After finishing the agency internship, I moved to my next internship at a private school near the college I attended.  Fresh off my fast-paced agency work environment, I quickly realized that there was a lot more time to work on projects at the private school.  Further, I was doing photography and some graphic design, which was different from my agency experience.  I was still writing news releases and doing event planning, but it was different than the agency work.  I did not have to track every minute of my day, and I was able to focus on one client as opposed to several. 

It was during my corporate internship experience that I decided I enjoyed both the agency and corporate PR environments and could really work in either.  However, that is not always true for everyone.

Since I am in charge of our internship program at MBWC, I always encourage our interns to do both an agency and corporate PR internship.  What is an ideal work environment for one intern might not be for the next.  All public relations college students should do an internship to apply what they have learned in the classroom and to learn a few lessons that only work experience can teach you.

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The Importance of Trust

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

By Chris Davis, APR, Executive Director, American Red Cross – Blount County Chapter

I’ve had the great fortune to work for one of the world’s most well-known non-profit organizations for nearly 15 years. In that time, I have come to realize that building trust in a non-profit is vitally important to its success or failure, largely because the benefits that one receives from supporting a charity (other than a tax write-off) are often intangible (e.g. the feeling of contributing to a good cause or mission or the knowledge that one small action makes a big difference to the betterment of the community or world).

Building that trust, however, is not enough. Once earned, keeping that trust is one of the biggest challenges any organization (non-profit or otherwise) will ever face, because with that trust comes big expectations. Your reward for doing what is right (trust) is that now it is not just desired, it is expected.

While trust and credibility are earned and kept by a number of different factors, I believe they are most impacted by an organization’s continued focus on two things:

1. doing what is right – making sure that actions taken support the stated mission, and

2. sharing the focus of said actions with all internal and external stakeholders.

In her June 1 blog post, Mary Beth West emphasizes the importance of intent:

“What the majority of organizations out there fail to understand is that their intent – from the board room to the C-suite – is the critical driver of how a company is perceived and what type of reputation will follow. …… No messages or actions can make up the difference in meeting public expectations if an affirming organizational intent is non-existent.”

The organization’s actions mirroring its mission cannot be overemphasized. That is how trust is built and expectations are developed.

With all that being said, I believe a non-profit’s public relations efforts should be focused on those expectations. Key among those expectations should be developing an organization-wide culture of transparency.

A lack of transparency, or even a perceived lack of transparency, can undo the greatest of works and deeds built over decades. For my organization, the controversy over the use of donations following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 was a major black eye, resulting in a very real and tangible drop in public support. One of the main drivers of that controversy was the perception that there was a lack of transparency and that messages delivered did not match the actions planned and/or taken.

To build trust, you need to be as open as possible. In 2010, donors and stakeholders have more access to more information from more sources than ever before, and if they don’t hear the truth from you, they will hear something somewhere, and chances are, you won’t like what they hear.

I’m not saying that everything you do should be free for everyone to know, but one litmus test with regards to transparency is to ask yourself “If I were a (fill in the blank type of stakeholder in your organization), would I want or need to know this?” and “How would I feel about the organization (as a stakeholder) if I heard this news/information somewhere else?” Common sense, combined with a solid communications plan, are your friends and can go a long way as your organizational compass.

One of the most challenging tasks that a public relations practitioner can undertake is attempting to convince the folks in the executive suite that hiding or withholding information never pays off in the long run. Fortunately, examples abound of why a closed system is not a good idea. Just read the front page or business page any day of the week to have that point affirmed. In today’s digital and social media-driven world, no secret is safe.

The other vital part of having a culture of transparency is being accessible. For my organization, it is imperative that donors, volunteers, community partners, and friends know that we will do what we say, and that if anyone ever has a question, comment, or even (hold your breath) a problem or concern, then my door is open and phone calls and e-mails will be answered or returned. Part of being transparent is being accountable, and while not always comfortable, being accountable builds trust.

For 93 years, my organization has been a strong part of its community, and I attribute much of that longevity to the trust, transparency, and accountability that many volunteers and staff have helped to build. But no matter the size or age of your organization, trust can be built and earned, by doing what is right and by being accountable.

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Reflections on My Internship Experience

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

By Allison Fulmer

For anybody, stepping outside of a comfort zone is one of the toughest challenges that people face.  For college graduates like me, stepping out of a comfort zone is dreaded, but inevitable, as we finish our last days of classes and enter the scary world called the workforce.  

Before working at Mary Beth West Consulting, I had little to no “real world” experience.  I am a public relations major, but everything that I had done in the past was in the classroom under the careful watch of my professor.  In fact, before working here, the only “work” I had done was that of a student-athlete, which consisted of me constantly training for my sport.  Unfortunately, I did not have much time to network and get interview experience as I would have liked. 

Needless to say, I was very excited but very nervous when it was time for me to start this job.  Looking back, I could not have predicted just how much this internship has helped me.

I first heard about this internship opportunity through a friend who had worked here previously.  She was consistently informing me of the great work experience and atmosphere that Mary Beth West provided for her; needless to say, she was right.

When I was accepted to be the new intern, Mallorie Mendence, the internship coordinator, kept in full contact with me, sending me information that I would need to know about our clients.  She also made it clear that she was available for any questions that I had and immediately noted that she had full confidence in my ability to be a successful intern. 

When my first day approached, there was no hesitation in putting me right to work.  I was informed later that I arrived during a very busy week, but I appreciated how they treated me as part of their team from the first day.  I also appreciated how the entire staff was willing to help me build my portfolio as they would pass down assignments they knew would benefit my portfolio.  Four months later, I have more confidence, better writing skills, a greater understanding of the world of PR and a portfolio that has grown tremendously.

As my time here has come to a close, I would not change my experience for anything in the world.  Mary Beth West Consulting has given me the confidence I needed and has guided me to the right path toward becoming a successful young professional.  It has allowed me to take on new challenges and tasks and be successful.  

I know leaving here I have not only gained great contacts but also friends who are willing to help me whenever I need it.  It was not until working here that I realized how important it is for college students to take an internship position.  Internships without a doubt help better the transition from being a student to becoming a young professional.  Thank you Mary Beth West Consulting; I hope to see you in the future!

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