Detroit Chapter Public Relations Society of America  |  January/February 2011

If you are looking for an opportunity to connect with local PR professionals, or if you’re looking for a job in public relations (regardless of your work experience) you must join us at Identity Marketing & PR for metro Detroit’s first Help a PR Pro Out (HAPPO) event. PRSA Detroit and HAPPO’s Detroit team are hosting an informal networking and resume critique session for PR pros and job seekers to gain and share tips and advice about seeking employment and working in PR. Each attendee is encouraged to bring his or her resume for a personal critique.

Identity will provide light food and refreshments. The event is free-of-charge. Please RSVP to Nicolena Stephan

Now is the Time to Join PRSA! Free Chapter Dues with Membership!

Do you have a friend, colleague or co-worker who has been thinking about joining PRSA? February is definitely the time to do it. PRSA-National is offering a special promotion: receive a free one-year local chapter membership, an $80 value, if you join PRSA-National this month.

With PRSA-National membership, you can:

• Enhance your daily performance with the access to the latest issues, case studies and research analysis.
• Benefit from members-only offers, including discounts on professional development seminars, conferences and events.
• Connect with other members and access industry tools with your personalized MyPRSA homepage.
• Accelerate your career — at any level.

With PRSA-Detroit membership, you can:

• 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 leadership roles and advocate for the public relations profession.
• Learn about business development and job opportunities.

Encourage your colleagues to join online now with promotion code FEB11 or they may mail/fax the application to PRSA-National. This offer may not be combined with other offers. Certain restrictions apply. This offer is not valid for associate members; however, if you have less than two years of public relations experience and wish to join as an associate member, as an incentive, you receive a free one-year membership in the New Professionals Section if you join in February.

National membership dues are $225 annually plus a $65 initiation fee. Special pricing also is available for associate members and graduate students.

Questions? Contact Detroit Chapter Membership Chair Barbara Bartos, APR, (248) 515-3004.

Thinking About Accreditation this Year?

Learn More about the Value of Earning Your APR

By Liz Ford, APR

With the kickoff of the 2011 accreditation process in March, you may be wondering how earning accreditation may boost your career in public relations. Here are a few points to ponder:

A Recognized Standard – Established in 1964, the PRSA Accreditation Program is the profession’s only nationally recognized post-graduate certification program.

Enhanced Knowledge & Skills – The APR process refreshes and enhances your public relations knowledge and skills. No matter what college degree you may have earned or what practice area your career is focused on, accreditation takes you back to the basics! The process tests your grasp of the fundamental knowledge critical to success in our field. This information can be applied to your practice of public relations, making you an even better practitioner.

A Potential Edge in the Job Market – If you find yourself in the job market, the APR designation is a nice stamp of approval on your resume and business cards. It demonstrates you have a high level of experience and competency in the field, and it’s a nice talking point for your interviews with potential employers.

PR for PR – Overall, the APR designation helps move the public relations profession forward, which benefits the entire industry. As more of us become accredited, the overall perception and respect for our industry improves.

Personal Satisfaction – Earning your APR is a challenge, and something you’ll be very proud of when you have completed the process!

This year’s program will begin March 11-12 with a preparation session at Walsh College in Troy. Learn more about the prep session, how to sign up, and review the remaining accreditation activities for 2011 at www.prsadetroit.org. Also, a wealth of information about accreditation is available at www.prsa.org. Look for the accreditation page under the “Learning” tab.

For questions or more information about universal accreditation, contact a member of the PRSA-Detroit Accreditation Committee: Tim Wieland, APR, (248) 304-1414; Liz Ford, APR, (313) 471-6081, or Anne Santori, APR, (248) 823-0908.

Diversity Survey – Make Your Voice Heard

According to PRWeek’s 2009 Diversity Survey, 80 percent of black and 56 percent of Hispanic respondents agreed that the PR industry has a problem with recruiting ethnically diverse talent. In that same survey, 84 percent of black and 49 percent of Hispanic respondents also agreed that the industry has a problem retaining those professionals.

With those national statistics in mind, Weber Shandwick Detroit has prepared a quick, 15-question survey to help us better understand the diversity climate in our local PR community. The survey can be accessed here. You are also encouraged to forward the survey link to your friends and colleagues in the field who may not be members of PRSA-Detroit. The deadline for completing the survey is March 4. For the purpose of this survey, diversity in the workplace is defined as an environment in which the people share different ethnic, racial and national origins.

The findings of this survey will be presented during a co-sponsored panel discussion hosted by PRSA-Detroit and Weber Shandwick Detroit on April 5. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

From the President’s Desk

Susan Ferraro, APR

I’m delighted and so very honored to be writing my first column as president of PRSA-Detroit for 2011. Some of my family members have started to call me by the distinctive “Madame President” title! So much so, that last week my 5-year-old niece Jacqueline told me I was her favorite “President of the United States!” I can empathize with how President Obama must have felt taking on his presidency – it’s a responsibility not to take lightly and I’m humbled to have your trust and support during 2011.

I promise to lead the chapter in an open, progressive manner and to seek out the advice and talent of the hundreds of PRSA-Detroit members who look to our chapter as a source of professional development and information relevant to our dynamic profession. As president, this is not a job to do alone, and in order to be successful, I will draw insight from the collective wisdom of the past presidents and the many talented practitioners who comprise this distinguished organization.

As a female leader, I learned recently that despite the familiar slogan, “We’ve come a long way baby!”, as women we still have a long way to go to garner respect for our leadership abilities and business acumen.

I learned this lesson as I prepared my home for the holidays. A contractor cleaning my carpeting noticed my PRSA-Detroit president’s plaque [with corresponding gavel] hanging on my living room wall. While admiring it from afar, he remarked on how impressive it looked and then asked me if my husband or my father were judges! When I told him the plaque and gavel were MINE and briefly explained PRSA-Detroit, he got a look of astonishment on his face. It was almost as if I could read his mind – a woman president seemed to be out of his grasp of understanding. He then went on say, “Well, you do seem like a “people person!”

I thank all of the past female PRSA-Detroit presidents who “paved the way” for my opportunity and call on all PRSA-Detroit members to serve as ambassadors to educate those who are ignorant or misinformed about our profession. We are much more than “people persons” and we need to tell the world what public relations is, why it’s important and how its value can benefit every person or company who relies on PR for its success.

I also thank all the men who have served as PRSA-Detroit presidents. I always feel that getting both a male and female perspective on issues results in well-rounded and insightful ideas and contributions.

I also want to thank all the PRSA-Detroit members for the time and talent they give to our organization. I learn from each of you and value all you have to offer as we work together to enlighten our members with progressive programming and provide value for a PRSA-Detroit membership.

For those members who are not currently active in a committee or attending programs – please consider getting involved. I need your help! I pledge to always be accessible and receptive to feedback of any kind. I can be reached by e-mail or by phone at 586-243-9746. And don’t be surprised to hear from me – I’m not shy about reaching out to garner your thoughts and ideas. By the way, I might communicate in an old-fashioned manner and actually call you on the phone! It seems the least I can do as a “people person!”

Mayor’s challenge: Moving Detroit forward
begins with changing its image

By Monica Cheick-Luoma, PublicCity PR

Reshaping Detroit’s image and reputation is his most important challenge, according to Mayor Dave Bing. So, it seemed appropriate that he spoke about this challenge to area advertising and communications professionals, most of whom are very familiar with the task of influencing perceptions.

“No one can do it better than you and we need your help,” Bing told the group at a sold-out Jan. 27 luncheon at the Detroit Athletic Club. The event was sponsored by the Adcraft Club of Detroit in partnership with the Detroit chapters of the Public Relations Society of America and International Association of Business Communicators.

The mayor acknowledged that the toughest issue he has faced since coming into office is regaining people’s trust in government. He and his leadership team have focused much of their attention on the image of the mayor’s office and of the city. “The only way that we’re going to bring this city back and make it what we want it to be is to work together,” he stated.

He credited the creative class with helping to “change the face of Detroit.” And while he sees change occurring, he said that more balance is needed in telling Detroit’s story and to promote a more positive image of the city.

Step No. 1 in changing the city’s image is the establishment of an open and inclusive mayor’s office that fosters communication within the region. He acknowledged that all of the city’s problems cannot be solved overnight, and that his administration is focused on the things they are going to do during this term.

Topping his list is fixing the problems facing the water department; stepping up public safety; and establishing a mass transit system that will go beyond Eight Mile Road and incorporate local and regional transportation needs. In the next 60 days, the mayor said he planned to release the final Detroit Works Project, the long-term plan to repurpose land in the city.

Mayor Bing, who was a success on the NBA basketball court and in the boardroom before taking public office, said this phase of his career was different and that he is counting on both his leadership team and the public to work toward bringing Detroit back to its former glory. Based upon the applause the mayor received when he announced his intention to run for another term, the advertising and communications communities are ready to do their part.

To blog or not to blog?

By Ilene Wolff

If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog for your business, experienced bloggers have advice and tips to offer.

Leslie Dagg, account supervisor at B2B firm Bianchi Public Relations, advises thinking carefully about your commitment to blogging before an inaugural post.

“If you’re going to do it, it has to be something you devote time to,” she cautions.

Bianchi PR, of Troy, set up its Bianchi Biz Blog about two years ago to heighten the firm’s profile as a thought leader in the industry, build awareness of the agency, showcase its fluency in B2B communications and build a social media presence.

Dagg said the winning strategy is to set goals for the frequency and length of posts, brainstorm clusters of topics in one session, and write them in advance if possible. A good way to find and develop entry ideas is by researching subjects your clients are interested in, she says.

Bianchi posts an average of one blog entry a month. Its criteria include: no self-promotion; and the topic and information should be useful and of interest to a prospective or current client. Tips (5 Tips for Pitching Your Story in the 24/7 Web World), trends and anything on social media are popular topics. Its annual Banned Buzzwords survey results (a related post got 1,300 views) have gone viral, and the most recent survey had more than 700 responses, she says.

Dagg says Bianchi promotes new blog posts via its monthly e-newsletter.

Like their colleagues across town, bloggers at Marx Layne & Company in Farmington Hills say you’ve got to be committed to blogging in order for your site to be a success.

“If you’re going to do it, do it in a big way,” says Jennifer L. Cherry, Marx Layne vice president. “Don’t be shy.”

The company puts a lot of focus on its blog, PR and Digital Insights, and other social media efforts as similar work for clients has grown, she says. These communication tools have become so critical that Marx Layne hired a new type of social media expert, a “digital architect,” Matt Schuler in 2010. The term is so new there is no Wikipedia entry for it.

Schuler is in charge of Marx Layne’s “online reputation management, search engine optimization (SEO), online video production and content marketing” and develops comprehensive social media strategies for clients,” according to the news release announcing his appointment.

He posts regularly on savvier ways to use smartphones, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other electronic media. Michael Layne and Cherry also post entries on a regular basis.

Unlike Bianchi, Marx Layne works to maximize exposure to its blog. It not only drives traffic to the site by using other social media like Twitter, the firm pitches posts to aggregator sites like Techmeme and mediagazer.

As a result, mediagazer linked to the post Digging out from being buried in a world of “too much.” And, a post advising extra care when tweeting because tweets may be embedded in web pages, and subject to wider scrutiny, led to an interview with Tech World News for Cherry.

Want to learn more? Visit www.prsa.org for articles, surveys, seminars and even blog posts about blogging.

Member launches new local magazine

By Ilene Wolff

At a time in life – retirement – when most are dreaming of hitting the open road, volunteering or spending more time with family, Mark “Marko” Benner, APR, became executive editor of a new magazine.

Macomb Now, which recently published its inaugural issue with a 10,000-copy run, is an upscale lifestyle quarterly that focuses on the people, places and happenings in Macomb County. It’s also online, where readers can find expanded versions of stories and soon can view video of people featured in it. Also planned for the future is reader-produced content in the form of blogs.

The first issue featured a cover story on Mark Hackel, the county’s first executive who recently took office. Also included are features on chef Jeff Baldwin, of J. Baldwin’s restaurant in Clinton Township, a photo essay entitled “Where’s Macomb,” and “When Money’s Tight, Boundaries Blur,” a story on regional collaboration by PRSA-Detroit member Ilene Wolff.

“The general theme is that there’re a lot of great things going on here in Macomb County,” says Benner, who lives in Warren. “We’re celebrating people who are proud to call Macomb home.”

Wolff says: “Mark and his partners are not only shining a spotlight on Macomb, they’re also providing work for freelance photographers and writers like me. It felt really cool to write for the inaugural issue of a new publication, and I’m grateful to have played a part.”

Benner retired in 2010 after 18 years with Warren-based Campbell-Ewald, where he was chief communications officer. In addition to the magazine, he provides strategic communication planning and creates executive presentations as Mark O. Benner LLC.

“The magazine is kind of a nice appliqué on top of that,” he says. “I felt very comfortable stepping into this role.”

And so far he’s doing a stellar job, says one of his co-partners, Peter J. Lucido, a Clinton Township attorney who directs the advertising for the publication.

“Mark’s job is to gather the ‘orchestra’ together, and figure out who plays best,” says Lucido.

The third partner in the new venture is Grace Shore, president of the Macomb County Chamber of Commerce. Shore’s job is to monitor people and places in Macomb County in order to drive the magazine’s content.

Putting together the first edition went smoothly, but took an extra two weeks past deadline. “We had one of those weeks built in, but one not,” says Benner.

The publishing trio has been working on Issue II while promoting their new publication through complimentary distribution, word of mouth, social media, a recent kickoff party and appearances on three cable television shows. Word is definitely getting out far beyond Macomb County’s boundaries. Business consulting firm Plante & Moran in Grand Rapids is linking on its website to Macomb Now, and Shore recently attended a legislative gathering in Lansing where she spotted copies.

Macomb Now has a strategic partnership with the Macomb Chamber, giving the group a venue for getting out its message as well as discounted advertising and complimentary subscriptions for its members. The magazine will also publish the chamber’s annual member directory.

PRSA Annual Meeting

Lisa Vallee-Smith, APR, (2004 Chapter President) accepts the Robert Hefty Distinguished Service Award

Pam Young, APR, (2000 Chapter President) accepts the PRSA Detroit Chapter Hall of Fame Award

PRSA-Detroit President Susan Ferraro, APR, and Immediate Past President Rich Donley, APR

Rich Donley, APR, along with PRSA-Detroit past presidents, passes the gavel to Susan Ferraro, APR

Scholarship Award winners Katherine Heck (Michigan State University) and Erica Rogers (Wayne State University)

Accreditation Chair Tim Wieland, APR, (center) with new APRs – Jamie Morris, APR, and Joseph McKeown, APR

The 2010 PRSA-Detroit Chapter Executive Board – Jennifer Flowers, APR, John Austerberry, APR, Susan Ferraro, APR, Rich Donely, APR, Jessica Killenberg Muzik, APR.

The Motschall family accepts the Chapter Hall of Fame Award on behalf of Melissa Motschall, APR, Ph.D. Melissa served as a chapter board member for six years. She passed away in 2010.

Worth Noting

Mullen recently added Becky Johnson, APR, Brad Marley and Gary Mason to its team. Johnson joined Mullen in Sept. 2010 as an account supervisor and currently serves as vice president of marketing and communications for the Michigan Council of Women in Technology and communications chair for the Farmington Youth Assistance’s board of directors. Marley joined Mullen in Dec. 2010 as an account supervisor, focusing on technology, automotive and social media. Mason joined Mullen in January as a senior account executive.

Stratacomm has announced the promotion of Jasmin Nadalizadeh to account executive from assistant account executive. In conjunction with her recent promotion, she won the 2010 Fleishman-Hillard Team Player of the Year award – a prestigious, merit-based award that recognizes the respect, teamwork and commitment of one person in each Fleishman-Hillard office annually. (Stratacomm is a Fleishman-Hillard company.) Nadalizadeh provides day-to-day support on multiple agency accounts, including the Aluminum Association, Root Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Bright Automotive. She joined Stratacomm in May 2009 as an intern.

New members

Rebecca Bray
Dow Automotive Systems
rlbray@dow.com

Alexandra Haddad
U-M Law School
ahaddad@umich.edu

Melissa Leger
Health Alliance Plan
Mleger@hap.org

Jacqueline Matthews
Matthews Software Inventions
jackiemat@matthewssoftware.com

Barbara O’Connell
boconnell@wheretofindcare.com

Jamie Patrona
Airfoil Public Relations
patrona@airfoilpr.com

James Polehna
Kelly Services, Inc.
polehjm@kellyservices.com

Leisa Revels
Health Alliance Plan
lrevels@hap.org

Stephanie Scheer
Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital
Sscheer1@hfhs.org

Suzanne Sullivan
Suzannesullivan423@gmail.com

Calendar of Events

February – Mother Knows Best: Meet the Mommy Media – The Program Committee is wrapping up final details for this event. Keep an eye on your inbox or check the PRSA-Detroit calendar.

Feb. 24 – Help a PR Pro Out (HAPPO) PR/Comms Industry Networking Event & Resume Workshop Identity Marketing & Public Relations, 5:30-7:30 p.m., 30700 Telegraph, Suite 1475, Bingham Farms, Michigan 48025

March 11-12 – Accreditation Preparation Session, Walsh College, Troy (See related article in this issue.)