Public Relations Princess

Does Character Count at Your Company?

Almost anyone who has a school kid has heard of the Character Counts movement. But what about those of us who have been out of school for a while? Does Character still Count at work? Today, on my Internet radio show Public Relations Princess, we'll talk about how character development does not stop when you graduate from middle school.

Amy Smit works at Character Counts here in Iowa. She'll be my guest today and fill us in on Character Counts and its important mission in the nation.

An Iowa native, Amy moved back to Iowa in 2004 after living throughout the United States while her husband served as a meteorologist in the US Air Force. Amy earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota. Amy gained professional experience in both the political and non-profit fields before joining the ICD team in January, 2004. She lives in Urbandale with her husband, Chad and their children Noah and Avery.

Join us at 4:00 p.m. on macsworldlive.com! That's central time, of course. You can also find more information on Character Counts on this Web site and don't forget to follow Amy @CharacterCounts on Twitter.

Jessica Miller from the Des Moines Social Club My Guest on PRP Today

Jessica Miller, the Marketing Director for the Des Moines Social Club, is my guest today on my Internet radio show Public Relations Princess.

I'm planning to ask Jessica about the Des Moines Social Club, especially the belly dancing classes. I also want to know what goes on at those Daddy Drinks sessions. Would it really be ok if my 79-year old dad showed up? :~) (Don't worry, I won't tell him about it.)

Seriously...We will be talking about what Jessica likes to call "The Des Moines Renaissance." Has Des Moines really changed so much in the last five years that it's becoming a young people magnet?

You can listen at 4 p.m. CDT at www.macsworldlive.com.

Jessica Miller is the marketing and events coordinator for dsm Magazine and its sister publication, The Business Record, as well as the marketing director for the Des Moines Social Club. She is also responsible for dsm's Style section. Miller grew up right outside of Des Moines in Van Meter, Ia. She left Des Moines in 2003 to attend Dominican University in Chicago where she double-majored in Business and Fashion Merchandising. After graduating in 2007, she returned to Des Moines to start her professional career.

Miller, having been back in her home state for 2 years now, feels very fortunate to be a part of "The Des Moines renaissance". Her career in marketing with both companies has allowed her to be very involved in the arts and culture scene, which is very important part in retaining and gaining young professionals in Des Moines.

Jess Held and Josh Fleming My Guests Today on PRP

Jess Held, Executive VP of Client Service at Lessing Flynn is my guest today on Public Relations Princess. Held was previously the Marketing Communications Manager at Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa. A graduate from Central College, she also founded Studio 104, a design and advertising firm located in Pella.

Held brings an extensive marketing background to the firm – including experience in advertising, public/media relations, event planning, strategic marketing planning and product launch marketing. In her role at Lessing-Flynn, Held develops and implements branding, marketing and public relations strategies for Lessing-Flynn clients.

She's bringing Josh Fleming along. Josh is the Digital Manager at LF and a good pal of mine. Always a great source of comic relief, Josh is in charge of managing digital strategy and execution and is also the driving force behind LF's social media offerings. Lessing Flynn has a corporate blog that rates the best and worst of advertising campaigns in Iowa and beyond, and is an acute observer of the world of social media. Word!

Tune in to MacsWorldLive.com at 4 p.m. If you have any questions for Jess or Josh, just tweet me @clairecelsi.

Atheist Bus Ads Taken Down, ACLU Takes Notice

DART (Des Moines Regional Transit Authority) is in trouble. First there was a public relations crisis when seven pedestrians were hurt when DART buses hit them. Now, a local atheist group's ad, that were bought and paid for, have been removed from the buses, due to the complaints of riders.

The controversy over the ads seems to have taken DART by surprise. They've known about the ads for months. It's not a case of the atheists forcing their way onto the bus lot and tacking up their illegal signs overnight. On the contrary, the atheist group has a signed contract and DART actually produced the signs for the group! The General Manager says the ads were installed on the buses "before getting final approval." Shouldn't the ad concepts been approved before the contract was signed?

So now, OF COURSE! the ACLU is interested in the case. This is a type of case that the ACLU was invented to take. In case you are wondering, here is the formula for an ACLU case: A minority group gets something taken away, laws are violated in the process, and this disenfranchised group asks the ACLU to take its case. The ACLU is often looked upon as a member of the left-wing establishment, but the truth is, they defend the NRA too. In this case, the minority is atheists, they got their signs taken down when they had a signed legally-binding contract, and now they will probably have to sue to get their rights enforced.

As a public relations professional, I naturally have some questions:

1. Does DART have rules about what ads can and cannot be accepted?
2. Who decides whether an ad is acceptable?
3. Who pulls the trigger on the decision to take ads down after they have been produced, paid for and installed on the buses?
4. Was the atheist organization offered compensation for their financial loss and damages for DART's refusal to honor the contract?

And the big question I have is, do they have a crisis communications plan in place? I am not going to judge now, because the issue still needs to be resolved. If I were running the show at DART, I would apologize to the atheists, return the signs to the buses, and review any applicable policies to make sure such a crisis is avoided in the future.

Associated Press and Wall Street Journal: Social Media Dummies

The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press are tangentially related. Both are vaunted mainstays of the "mainstream media." Both are respected in journalism circles for providing excellent reporting. Then why are both making such sophomoric mistakes in the emerging media world?

Let's take the case of the Wall Street Journal first. Owned by the same people who drove MySpace into the ground, it's been slow to embrace social media, but now plans on starting its own Linked In competitor? After not even fully practicing social media on their own Linked In page, now the Wall Street Journal wants to reinvent the wheel? Leaves me shaking my head.

WSJ's social media policy also is curious, if not laughable. It's clearly written by lawyers and HR people who have no clue about the social media space. It basically tells everyone how to protect the Wall Street Journal, without even touching upon how to be effective and use the space to the WSJ's advantage. They missed the entire point of social media.

Today, I read that Wall Street Journal reporters are no longer going to honor embargoes unless it is given an exclusive. (For my non-PR readers, an "embargo" is a piece of news that is shared with a news source under the pre-agreed condition that the news source will keep from reporting that information for a set period of time) This is the WSJ's way of taking its ball and going home. It's a very baby-ish way of saying, "We don't think we need to work as hard as everyone else for our stories. If you don't come to us first and give us an exclusive, then we won't print your story at all." Waaaaaa! My guess is they'll end up losing more stories than they gain.

Now, my favorite aging news wire service, the Associated Press. Notice I did not use the AP logo, lest I be sued. They are starting to charge bloggers who use more than five words from their stories! They actually have a chart showing how much they will charge. Last week, a blogger conducted an experiment. He "bought" a Thomas Jefferson quote from the AP (which they have no right to charge for, since it has been in the public domain for centuries). The AP purchase bot wasn't even sophisticated enough to know the difference between the quote and its own material.

According to AP's arcane rules, a blogger cannot even site an AP article and give it full attribution with the post. The ability to comment on material in the news and in online sources already in the public domain is the backbone of social media. By issuing a series of silly assaults on the blogosphere, the AP has instead unleashed a torrent of ridicule upon itself. It should have instead helped bloggers spread its material and helped bloggers properly attribute the material. Most bloggers already do that, but a gentle reminder to offenders would have gone over far better than the campaign of shock and awe that they're running now. The last time I checked, social media people are far less expensive to hire than lawyers.

 

Kelly Foss, Director of Des Moines Farmer's Market, My Guest on PRP Today

(Update, added Thursday, Aug 6, 2009: Here is the contact information for the Des Moines Farmer's Market on Facebook and Twitter, via Kelly Foss)

www.facebook.com/downtownfarmersmarket

twitter.com/downtown50309

Walking around the Des Moines Farmer's market is a rich sensory experience. You'll see thousands of your fellow Iowans, dressed in their most comfy Saturday-wear, walking dogs and strollers, all having a great time. You'll smell delicious breakfast burritos and pupusas, sold by the hundreds. You'll hear the delightful sounds of a melting pot, grooving to street muscians, talking and laughing, or maybe haggling over some tomatoes.

What you may not know is how much work and planning goes into each and every Des Moines Farmer's Market event. Iowa's largest and most famous market is held every Saturday from May-October.

My guest today on Public Relations Princess is Kelly Foss. Tune in to see how her dedication to this special event had shaped it to become what it is now.

Kelly is the Director of the largest and oldest farmers markets in the state of Iowa - the Downtown Farmers Market in Des Moines. Holding this position since 2000, she has played a major role in the development that this open-air Saturday farmers market has seen in recent years. Under Ms. Foss’ direction the Downtown Farmers Market has recruited, encouraged, and trained hundreds of local entrepreneurs, growers, and artisans.

Ms. Foss is recognized for her endless drive to connect the entire community to the health, social, and economic benefits of the market. She continually builds local partnerships and sponsorships that have played a key role in her ability to implement unique programming and experiences, safety and aesthetic enhancements, and her ability to continually rejuvenate and create a fresh marketplace. Now bustling with over 200 vendors and nearly 20,000 patrons each Saturday, the market is recognized as an icon in the community. Kelly is dedicated to the mission of the DTFM which emphasizes locally produced products and food security. Since 2004, Ms. Foss has been one of the driving forces dedicated to implementing and activating the wireless EBT program at farmers markets in the state of Iowa.

In 2006, she was responsible for the research, development, and successful implementation of an indoor/outdoor winter farmers market, which allowed the farmers’ market season to extend through December. Most recently she implemented a new program called “Meals from the Market”, which is a charitable food donation booth at the market offering an outlet to market farmers and home gardeners to share their excess food and produce to local food charities. She currently serves as the Treasurer elect for the local non-profit group (INCA) Iowa Network for Community Agriculture, and is on the local planning committee for the upcoming National Community Food Security Coalition Annual Conference, which will be held in downtown Des Moines in October.

Khrushchev Came To Iowa 50 Years Ago

It's been nearly 50 years since an Iowa farmer hosted Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev at his farm in Coon Rapids, Iowa.

A little historical perspective is necessary to understand this feat. This was in 1959, at the height of the Cold War. An open invitation four years earlier to visit Iowa was published in the Des Moines Register in February, 1955. '"We have no diplomatic authority," reporter Lauren Soth wrote,  "but we hereby extend an invitation to any delegation Khrushchev wants to select to come to Iowa to get the lowdown on raising high quality cattle, hogs, sheep and chickens. We promise to hide none of our "secrets." Let the Russians see how we do it."' This simple invitation set into motion an incredible set of circumstances that led to Nikita Khrushchev's visit to Iowa in August, 1959.

This photo (credit to Life Magazine) of Khrushchev on the left in the gray suit and Garst, (on the right, reaching into the corn bin) is one of dozens documented that day as Garst showed one of the most powerful leaders in the world his farm in Coon Rapids.

Garst's daughters Rachel and Liz still live near the farm and now have dedicated their lives to preserving the natural environment surrounding the Garst farmhouse, where Khrushchev stayed during his visit. Creating Great Places, a non-profit organization, and the people of Coon Rapids are planning an anniversary celebration of the visit at the Garst Farm August 27-30.

One of the things I love about Iowa is its progressive nature. This is a perfect example of the gumption of Iowans to change the world. Join Coon Rapids at a conference and dinner to celebrate the audacity of Iowa.

My love affair with the town of Coon Rapids and its people started in 2005 when it was named one of Iowa's first "Great Places." The presentation included the release of a wild hawk, and I was allowed to let the great bird go. What a sight, as the creature flapped its wings and flew into the air. I'm no longer on the Iowa Great Places advisory board, but it was a great experience.