O'Dwyer's Blog: Covering PR, public affairs, marketing and the world of communications.

Tobin Backs Conservative Climate Push with Shultz

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Thu, 2 Sep 2010 12:16:20 -0400

Tobin Communications produces campaign with former Sec. of State George Schultz touting global warming among conservatives.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

PR Accounts on the Move

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Thu, 2 Sep 2010 14:58:29 -0400

New business wins at Feintuch Comms., The Morris + King co., Rubenstein PR, 5W PR, Cyone PR, Porter Novelli, Swanson Comms., Cheryl Andrews Marketing Comms., The brpr Group, Hill & Knowlton, Wall Street Comms., Gable PR and JiWin PR...

Sitrick Spearheads Burkle's Barnes & Noble Counterattack

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Thu, 2 Sep 2010 11:20:22 -0400

Sitrick and Company is leading Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. counterattack on "scare tactics" deployed by Barnes & Noble's board of directors.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Mexico Taps Firms for PR Blitz

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Thu, 2 Sep 2010 09:50:50 -0400

Mexico’s Committee of Tourism and Conventions for the image-tarnished Mexican State of Baja California has hired Allison & Partners for a six-figure PR effort as the roster of firms that have worked on the crisis grows larger.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Obama Should Have Followed TR's Lead

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 14:49:57 -0400

President Obama last night officially declared combat operations are over in Iraq. Who is he kidding? Teddy Roosevelt made a similar declaration on July 4, 1902, saying "the insurrection against the authority and sovereignty of the United States is now at an end."

Roosevelt, who gets unfairly tarred as a war-mongering imperialist, was referring to the Philippine-American War, which gets very short-shrift in U.S. text books. Bloodshed in the Philippines went on for at least four years. To his credit, Roosevelt acknowledged during his "war is over" proclamation that hostilities continue in certain areas under insurgent control. Does anybody believe that Iraq, a cauldron of sectarian hatred, is to be transformed into a peaceful and democratic oasis within four years?

Obama was not as upfront as TR.

Evan Thomas, author of "The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire," sees many parallels between the U.S. wars in the Philippines and Iraq. The Philippines action was an outgrowth of the Spanish-American War. The White House and cheerleading media snookered America into both conflicts.

[Thomas, who is stepping down from Newsweek after a 25-year run, admitted his own cheerleading, in an interview with Guernica.

He called former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld a "great war leader" shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan and wrote a March 2002 Newsweek article about the Bush Administration's "growing consensus" that Saddam Hussein stacked up as the next target in the war.]

Seeking a measure of redemption, Thomas wrote in War Lovers:

"Just as the threat of weapons of mass destruction turned out to be bogus in Iraq, the sinking of the Maine-the pretext for intervention in Cuba—was caused not by a Spanish plot but rather almost certainly by a shipboard accident."

Once the U.S. gained political control of the Philippines from Spain in 1898, the war "turned dangerous and ugly."

The U.S. abandoned its former Filipino rebel allies and plunged into a counterinsurgency that ultimately cost 4,234 American lives. The final U.S. death toll in Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began in 2003, is 4,416. An American has not yet died in "Operation New Dawn."

In a 1907 letter to Secretary of War William Taft, Roosevelt wrote:

"I don't see where they are of any value to us or where they are likely to be of any value… The Philippines form our heel of Achilles. They are all that makes the present situation with Japan dangerous…. Personally I should be glad to see the islands make independent."

When will Obama be as forthright about the value of Iraq and Afghanistan to the U.S.?

The Philippines became a U.S. commonwealth in 1935 and independent in 1946. The last U.S. military installation in the Philippines, Clark Air Base, shut in 1991.

Will it be 93 years until the last American base closes in Iraq?

(Photo: White House)

Edelman Poll: Work-Life Balance Woes

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 09:42:01 -0400

As the big ad and PR agency conglomerates reported robust earnings for the first half of 2010, many pinned their profit turnarounds at least partially on the ability to do more with less overhead.

This reality in ad/PR-land came from drastic job cuts in 2008 and 2009 and new research from Edelman suggests the greater "efficiency" gained across the U.S. business landscape may be taking a toll on staff.

Edelman's StrategyOne polling unit conducted some research on Americans' attitudes toward their work/life balance amid the "Great Recession" and found that 4 in 10 said the situation has become worse, defying any expectations that many of those with jobs "should be happy and not complain" amid high unemployment.

Notably, nearly half of American workers (43%) among the 1,043 polled said their company is not doing enough to address work/life balance issues.

"Workers are being asked to do 'more with less' and the strain on them is clearly showing," said Bradley Honan, VP of StrategyOne.

More on the results and stats here

(Image via)

PRSA Assembly to spend four hours on definition of PR

greg@odwyerpr.com (Jack O'Dwyer) — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 12:47:04 -0400

The preliminary agenda for the PRSA Assembly Oct. 16 sets aside the afternoon session, from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m., for a Town Hall on "Defining the role of PR professionals of the future."

The session from 8:30 a.m. to noon will include reports from the chair, COO and treasurer and discussion of bylaw amendments.

Lunch is scheduled for noon to 1:30 p.m.

PRSA VP-PR Art Yann Flips on Press Policy

greg@odwyerpr.com (Jack O'Dwyer) — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 12:23:12 -0400

Arthur Yann, VP-PR of PR Society of America, has contradicted himself twice in moves to impede coverage of the 2010 Society conference in D.C. by O'Dwyer staffers.

He told this website via e-mail Aug. 26 that this reporter and a D.C. writer hired by us could attend the Assembly Oct. 16 but each would have to pay the full fee of $1,275 to attend the conference. When we asked if this was a policy applied only to the O’Dwyer Co., he answered via e-mail, "The policy has not been applied selectively. No."

We called up Scott Van Camp, editor of PR News, who said he is being given full conference registration at no cost and that he was accepting this even though we might be barred.

Relaying this to Yann, he then e-mailed us that under a new policy, "Any trade publication that attended last year’s conference but never wrote about it, is not being given a complimentary conference registration, but instead is being asked to pay for their registration this year if they wish to attend. Jack O’Dwyer’s Newsletter falls into this category."

This statement is false because odwyerpr.com extensively covered principal speakers Arianna Huffington and Wendell Potter.

Conference Speakers Covered

O’Dwyer media have extensively covered conference speakers for many years, including 2008 featured speakers Penelope Trunk who gave career tips, and Craig Newmark, founder of CraigsList.

PRSA staffers pleaded with me to come to a pre-speech press briefing because I was about the only reporter present. I did so and asked him a number of questions.

In 2007, I gave extensive coverage to the remarks by TIm Russert, Karen Hughes, Ray Kotcher, Mia Farrow and other speakers. This coverage appeared on our website, mag and NL.

In 2006, I gave huge coverage to Tavis Smiley, talkshow host, who demanded that PR people "Stop the spinning."

John O’Dwyer Falsely Described
Yann said on Aug. 26 that John O’Dwyer, who has both editorial and sales duties, could attend the Assembly. "A credential for John to attend the Assembly is not a problem; I’ll add him to the list," he wrote.

But later in the same day, he wrote: "I checked John's role at the O'Dwyer Co. and your website notes that he is the 'Advertising Manager and Webmaster.' Press credentials are for working press, not ad sales reps. Unless he's on the editorial side, it would not be appropriate for him to attend the Assembly. I'm sorry but I cannot add him to the list."

John O'Dwyer, as his title says, is both editorial and ad sales. "Webmaster" is an editorial title. John O'Dwyer covers public affairs, lobbying and FARA news in the nation's capital.

PRSA's 'No Comment' Policy Described

Yann is directing Twitter users to the Society's “Media Policy” that bars anyone connected with the Society from talking to the media for or about the Society unless "specifically authorized to do so by the president and chief operating officer or VP of PR."

Says the policy:

PRSA members and volunteers at all levels of the organization should refrain from speaking with the media as a representative of PRSA and/or on PRSA's behalf.

This policy applies equally to national board members (other than the chair/CEO), national staff members, national task force and committee leaders; College of Fellows inductees; chapter and district officers and board members; section and affinity group chairs and executive committee members; PRSSA national committee members, and PRSSA and PRSA at-large members.

Individual members may speak to the press but "care should be taken to label the viewpoint expressed in such a way that it cannot be construed as an official stance on PRSA’s business operations, policies, thoughts or positions."

All media inquiries are to be directed to the VP-PR or other members of the Society's PR department.

Sarah Lawrence College Wants PR Buzz Back

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 11:37:01 -0400

Sarah Lawrence College, once considered the "preeminent progressive liberal arts college in the U.S.," is looking for a PR partner to "burnish the brand."

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

ICR Shines Light on Opel

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 09:29:58 -0400

Opel International, a photovoltaic cell maker for solar energy, has hired ICR for PR and IR on a monthly retainer.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Glenn Beck Gets it Right

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:44:46 -0400

Glenn Beck got it right at the jumbo Washington, D.C. revival meeting held at the National Mall on Saturday. He will never get elected President of the U.S. Allelujah to that.

The Fox News star was more Jimmy Swaggart — minus the scandals — than Mitt Romney. He urged America to turn to God. That''s a right, rather than left, turn.

Beck has us wandering in the dark, searching for the Messiah or that old time religion. Is Glenn the one? All he needed was a giant tent to house his 100K followers as the flock would have appreciated a bit of shade from the hot sun.

The meeting is the beginning of the political end for the Beckster. Beck got people to travel to Washington, but left them scratching their heads. They were hardly energized by his message of “restoring honor” by saying your prayers. The rally was flat, a far cry from the fired-up Tea Party gatherings.

Beck seemed more interested in launching a religious crusade than leading the people to the promised land. He promised to look for a modern-day Moses, or at least someone smarter than him to run for president. The great search has begun.

An online New York Daily News poll should give Beck pause. A vast majority feel he is a fraud. A whopping 93 percent of respondents say that Beck “just wants to get more famous and make lots of money with his angry tirades.” Seven percent say he “wants to fix America and save the country from our dishonorable politicians.” Call it the ultra transparency.

People are beginning to see right through Beck and mock those phony tears of his.

There is another poll out today that provides little cheer to Beck’s sidekick, Sarah Palin. A "60 Minutes"/Vanity Fair poll shows that 59 percent of Americans don’t think that Palin would be an effective president. Even worse for Alaska’s former chief: 40 percent of Republicans give her a thumbs-down.

So the dream ticket of Beck/Palin or Palin/Beck will never come to be. At least that was President Obama’s dream ticket.

Fitch Gets Global Comms. Head

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:16:08 -0400

Fitch Ratings has tapped Citigroup’s Daniel Noonan to head global corporate comms.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Havas Profit Soars

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:48:19 -0400

French ad and PR conglomerate Havas said first-half profit soared 22.5% partly on strength in North America.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Council Tables Smart Grid PR Pact

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:07:50 -0400

Naperville, Ill.'s city council has balked at a $450K PR price tag as it implements Smart Grid technology. Half of tab with Chicago PR firm could be picked up by Uncle Sam.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Top Solar Company Gets Comms. VP

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:57:40 -0400

Arizona-based First Solar, the country’s largest solar cell maker, has recruited a Deutsche media relations exec to lead corporate communications.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

MS&L Gets Ronald McDonald House Assignment

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:53:36 -0400

Following a competitive pitch, MS&LGroup will handle Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northewest Indiana as it opens the largest facility in the country.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Right-leaning Koch Brothers Push Agenda

greg@odwyerpr.com (Jack O'Dwyer) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:28:06 -0400

Right-leaning Koch brothers David and Charles, whose father Fred helped found the ultra-conservative John Birch Society, is conducting a “covert” campaign against Obama Administration aims using numerous groups with neutral or innocent-sounding names like “Americans for Prosperity,” says the Aug. 30 New Yorker.

Jane Mayer, staff writer at the magazine since 1994, says the brothers have spent $100 million+ pushing an anti-intellectual, anti-Obama, pro-Republican libertarian, Tea Party-supporting agenda using a $35 billion fortune that is topped only by those of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

David Koch

A major plank is casting doubt on whether earth-warming is taking place, something that “infuriates” physicist Joseph Romm, who operates the ClimateProgress.org website.

Mayer, noting that Koch Industries have been tabbed as one of the ten worst air polluters in the U.S., said the cigarette industry similarly delayed its comeuppance for decades by preaching doubt about cigarettes and cancer.

“The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation,” she writes.

Neither David or Charles Koch nor anyone associated with them (except anonymously) would talk to Mayer about her 11-page article.
Koch operatives are active in promoting the Tea Party which has a conservative agenda, according to research by Mayer.

David Koch Gives $100M to NY State Theater

David Koch with his wife, Julia, outside the Koch Theater.

Reclusive David Koch burst into the public eye in New York by donating $100 million to refurbish Lincoln Center’s New York State Theater which was then named after him.

First Lady Michelle Obama, although third honorary co-chair of a May 17 gala recognizing Koch’s millions in gifts to the American Ballet Theatre, skipped the gala “because Koch is best known as part of a family that has repeatedly funded stealth attacks on the federal government and on the Obama administration in particular,” says Mayer.

Koch family foundations have given millions to 34 right-leaning political and policy groups with names like the Institute for Justice (which files lawsuits opposing state and federal regulations), and the Institute for Humane Studies (which supports libertarian academics).

The 1980 Libertarian Policy platform, quoted by Mayer, called for the abolition of the FBI and CIA; federal regulatory agencies including the SEC and Dept. of Energy; ending Social Security, minimum wage laws, gun control and all personal and corporate income taxes.

It also proposed legalized prostitution; legalized recreational drugs, and legalized suicide. Government would have one function: protecting individual rights.
Koch has pledged $10M to repair Lincoln Center’s fountain.

Mayer has dug up tax records showing that the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation spent more than $120M from 1998-08 while the Charles G. Koch Foundation spent $48M+.

The Claud R. Lambe Foundation of Charles and his wife spent $28M and Koch Industries (oil refineries, pipelines, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Dixie cups, Lycra) spent $50M+ on lobbying since 1998.

Scientists, Academics Cave to $$

A theme of the Mayer article is that scientists and academics often cave to desires of rich businesspeople.

Cited by Mayer is the new book, "Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming." Published in May by Bloombury Press, New York, it was authored by Naomi Oreskes, professor of history and science, University of California, San Diego, and Erik Conway.

David Koch told New York magazine that he does not believe that global warming is caused by human activity.

Should the planet get hotter, he told the magazine, “The earth will be able to support enormously more people because far greater land area will be available to produce food.”

Museum Dances to Koch Tune

Mayer accuses the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History of dancing to the Koch tune because of gifts from his foundations.

The exhibit, she writes, notes that carbon dioxide levels are at record levels and are projected to increase, but “makes it seem part of a natural continuum.”

Humans adapt to changes in the earth’s temperature and amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, says the exhibit, noting that people may adapt by building “underground cities,” developing “short, compact bodies,” or “curved spines” so that “moving around in tight spaces may be no problem.”

“Such ideas uncannily echo the Koch message,” writes Mayer.

Cristian Samper, the museum’s director, told her the exhibit is not about climate change and called Koch “one of the best donors we’ve ever had, in my tenure here, because he’s very interested in the content but completely hands off.”

Mayer said the exhibit “infuriates” physicist Romm who says it “whitewashes the modern climate issue” and is “underwritten by big-time polluters who are underground funders of action to stop efforts to deal with this threat to humanity.”

New York Publicist Helps Kochs

Mayer writes that while the “Kochs and their political operatives declined requests for interviews, a prominent New York PR executive who is close with the Kochs put forward two friends: George Pataki, former New York governor, and Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News and a real-estate magnate.”

Pataki called David Koch “a patriot who cares deeply about his country” while Zuckerman praised Koch’s “gently decency” and the “range of his public interests.”

(Koch images: Koch Family Foundation)

A PRSA First: Charging Reporters at Conference

greg@odwyerpr.com (Jack O'Dwyer) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:41:30 -0400

PR Society of America has instituted a policy of charging reporters the full member rate of $1,275 for covering the annual conference that starts Oct. 17 in Washington, D.C.

Reporters can cover without charge the Assembly meeting that takes place on Saturday, Oct. 16.

The press table at the Assembly is at the rear of the meeting hall and outside the area where the delegates sit. Reporters are not allowed in the delegate area when the Assembly is in session.

Arthur Yann, VP-PR of the Society (pictured), announced the new policy in an e-mail yesterday. No reason was given for the policy.

The Society for years has been reducing facilities for the press at its annual conference.

It previously provided a press room with telephones, computers, internet access, fax machines and copiers. A bulletin board displayed coverage obtained in the city where the conference was taking place. Texts of a half dozen or more speeches at the conference were provided. Coffee and other beverages were available as well as fruit, juices and pastries. Society staffers were stationed in the press room throughout the day to help reporters.

An "interview" area with several seats and a table was set up so that Society officers could conduct on-the-record interviews with reporters who received full conference registrations, including all meals and the Sunday night opening reception.

Jack O'Dwyer in the PRSA "media center" in 2009.

The 2009 "press room" consisted of a table in a hallway with no phones, computers or copiers available.

The table was staffed by local volunteers who were unable to answer questions by reporters. This website left a series of ten questions with the volunteers but none were answered.

Speakers Are 'Second Tier'

Keynote speakers this year are not of the stature of previous keynoters who included Donald Trump, Tim Russert, James Earl Jones, Arianna Huffington, James Carville, Mary Matalin, Mia Farrow and Donna Brazile, among others.

Keynoters for 2010 are Bettina Leuscher, chief spokesperson, United Nations World Food Program; Bill Tancer, author of "Click" (advice for web users); Jeffrey Hayzlett, a "digital thought leader," and Charlene Li, author of "Open Leadership" (social media).

Society members, noting that the spring meeting of the 19 board members (including two non-voting African-Americans) was cancelled, ostensibly to save money, said spending on speakers this year also seems to have been cut due to budget constraints.

AFL-CIO Chief: 'Palinism' is Updated 'McCarthyism'

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:10:23 -0400

As Glenn Beck attempts to co-opt the civil rights movement tomorrow by rallying Tea Partiers at the Lincoln Memorial with his made-up history, AFL-CIO boss Richard Trumka reminds us of the power of loaded code words to divide people, demonize political opponents and destroy rational debate.

Trumka took on Sarah Palin during his speech Aug. 26 at the AFL-CIO’s biennial convention in Anchorage. To Trumka, Palin seemed "okay" until she "blew off Alaska" for the wild world of Fox TV and began spewing nonsense about "death panels" and the "real America." This is what Trumka said:

“Sometimes – about Sarah Palin – you just have to laugh. But it's not really funny. In this charged political environment, her kind of talk gets dangerous. 'Don't retreat … reload' may seem clever, the kind of bull you hear all the time, but put it in context. She's using crosshairs to illustrate targeted legislators. She's on the wrong side of the line there. She's getting close to calling for violence. And some of her fans take that stuff seriously. We've got legislators in America who have been living with death threats since the healthcare votes.

And down in Tyler, Texas, she's talking about -- and I quote -- "union thugs." What? Her husband's a union man. Is she calling him a thug? Sarah Palin ought to know what union men and women are.

Oh, she goes to great pains to talk differently about unions and the working people who belong to them, knowing full well we're one and the same.

But using the term 'union thug.' That's poisonous. There's history behind that rhetoric. That's how bosses and politicians in decades past justified the terrorizing of workers, the murdering of organizers.

To me, it just doesn't seem OK to go where she's going. It sits wrong with me. The Mama Grizzlies, Sarah Palin says, just sense when something's not right. Well, I wonder if those Mama Grizzlies can sense something's just not right with her.

Quite frankly, America works because lots of people contribute lots of ideas—that's good—even when some of them are just plain wrong. But people need to come to the table in good faith. That's not Sarah Palin. She'll go down in history like McCarthy. Palinism will become an ugly word.
Who is this woman, anyway? What happened to her?"

Beck is staging his event on the same ground that Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech exactly 47 years ago. The Fox News gasbag is the guy who accused President Obama of being a racist and holding a “deep-seated hatred for white people.” Hucksers like Beck use “fear and anger as marketing tools” to alienate people from their government and make them frightened of the future, wrote Gene Robinson in today’s Washington Post.

The same can be said of Palin.

NASCAR Shifts PR Gears

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:14:24 -0400

Auto racing giant NASCAR is retooling its PR apparatus and launching a search for a chief communications officer.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Blueshirt Guides Cogent into Arms of 3M

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:13:22 -0400

San Francisco's Blueshirt Group is guiding Cogent Inc. as the biometric identification company agrees to a $943M takeover by industrial giant 3M.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Skechers Get PR Support

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:05:06 -0400

Skechers has brought in a crisis PR firm to fend off attacks on fitness claims made by its Shape-Up shoes that are pitched by football great Joe Montana.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Army Corp to Review New Orleans PR Pact

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:46:50 -0400

The Army of Corp of Engineers is reviewing, via open RFP, a lucrative PR pact with its New Orleans public affairs unit.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Insults, Name-Calling Mar APR E-mail Debate

greg@odwyerpr.com (Jack O'Dwyer) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:24:02 -0400

The e-mail debate over dropping APR as a requirement for PRSA board service has descended to the level of a “bar room” brawl marred by “demagoguery, name-calling and cheap shots,” says one participant.

APR supporters are led by former national directors Steve Lubetkin and Michael Jackson, and Jim Lukaszewski, who conducts seminars on crises for the Society.

Lubetkin, Jackson, Lukaszewski

One of their main arguments is that members show “commitment” to the Society by going through the APR process.

Kathy Lewton, 2001 president, says that in general the APRs have not proven to be leaders since the 3,910 APR community “does not seem able to turn out even 12 candidates (two for each of six board seats”) in the past 20 years.

There are nearly 400 APRs in each of the ten districts and sometimes no one will run from a district which is why the APRs want to eliminate district representation on the board.
Lewton wonders why there is “such concern about protecting this ‘right’ when so few choose to exercise it.”

APR Leadership Participation is Miniscule

The 19 candidates who showed up this year represented less than one-half of one percent of the 3,910 APRs.

Any new member, including those with no experience at all in PR, can apply for the APR process. Previously, five years of experience was required.

The debate, in which the “ethics” of APR critics are called into question, resulting in spirited responses, is in a private “e-group” of the Society that is seen by only a handful of the 21,000 members.

The 21,000 figure includes an estimated 1,000 or more PR Student Society members who can join for $65 while still five months from graduation.

The Society website has yet to mention on its front page or in Tactics Online the existence of the Committee to Promote Democracy in PRSA. The Committee has been denied use of the 21,000 member e-mail list.

This writer believes APR is a blight on the Society that has driven away almost all the major figures in PR and caused a severe shortage of candidates for national board and offices It has resulted in the Society’s membership declining to about 20,000, which is where it was in 1998 (19,600).

APRs cling to power even though they are causing possibly fatal harm to the Society.

Open Letter to APR Supporters

Here’s our open letter to Lubetkin, Lukaszewski and Jackson:

Hello Steve, Jim and Michael:

Kathy Lewton, 2001 president, correctly points out that the APRs in general are anything but “leaders” since so few of them ever show up for national board or office posts.

The small clique of APRs who have taken control of the Society have sought unsuccessfully for years to do away with district directors because so few APRs show up for office. A major reason for lack of candidates is the noxious policies of the Society including having a secret list of Assembly delegates, cancelling the printed members’ directory but not supplying a PDF of it, and failing to conduct a “PR for PR” campaign.

The debate in the Society e-group fails to mention the huge decline in interest in APR in recent years. Only 904 new APRs of the Society have been created in the six years from July 1, 2003, when the computer-based test was introduced. The average was 150 yearly.

In the previous six years, 1,623 APRs were created (average of 270) and in the six years before that, 1,782 (average of 297). The decline is at least 50% because of smaller Society memberships. In the 1991-96 period, average membership was 15,703 vs. 21,000 in the latest six-year period. Also, five years of PR experience was required of APR candidates but no experience whatever has been required for at least five years.

Art Stevens defeats his own argument for non-APRs on the board by constantly saying APR is a "hallmark of professional accomplishment” when the overwhelming majority of members, by their avoidance of this test for 46 years, obviously believe no such thing.

His Committee’s proposal to allow non-APRs on the board if they have 20 or more years in PR jobs “with increasing levels of responsibility” is tantamount to keeping the APRs-only rule.

Test Skips Writing Skills, Creativity

The computer test doesn't cover writing skills or creativity while the Readiness Review consists of an applicant claiming to have created all sorts of things. Local chapters administer the RR so local politics is possible. Subjective judgments are made. There are no national standards for the RR, not when rules are administered by local members.

“APR” is outdated since the new titles that get jobs have digital, social media, corporate communications, corporate affairs, PA, etc., in them.

A study by Fellow Rene Henry found in 1999 that APR even back then had virtually no meaning in the PR job marketplace. Korn/Ferry said an APR hurt in the marketplace.

The main case against APR and APRs is the policies and practices of the APRs who have ruled the Society since the mid-1970s.

APRs Allowed Unethical Practices

The APRs from 1980 to 1994 allowed the sale of hundreds of thousands of copies of authors’ materials without their permission even though the Code says members must “preserve intellectual property rights in the marketplace.”

APRs wouldn’t speak to the authors, pay them a nickel or even offer free ads for their books. They allowed hundreds of Silver Anvil entries to be tossed in the 1980s for minor rule infractions (while keeping the entry fees).

APR subsidies cost the Society $2,926,080 from 1986-2002. Subsidy in 2000 was $1,794 per new APR (link, sub req'd).

Robert’s Rules Are Savaged

APRs disobey the most basic of Robert’s Rules which bar proxy voting and demand that any votes taken at a meeting be reflected in the minutes.

Fifty-six proxies were voted at the 2009 Assembly but only the leaders and staff know how these proxies were voted or who voted them. Proxies are again being solicited for the 2010 Assembly which leaders refuse to audiocast although it would be cheap and easy to do so.

APRs broke the basic Robert’s rule about bylaw revisions—that all articles be brought before the voting body. Robert's also says a revision should not be done at the regular annual meeting (which is what the Society did in 2009).

Another basic Robert's Rule is that the board of any association is "subordinate" to its assembly, a rule followed by lawyers, doctors, CPAs and psychologists. Page 9 of Robert's says "the board within an organized society is an instrumentality of the society's full assembly to which it is subordinate." At the Society, the opposite is true--the board rules and even conducts the Assembly.

Society Out of Step with other Groups

Despite the above, the bylaws of the Society cite Robert's as its "parliamentary authority" and say that Robert’s "shall govern the Assembly in all cases."

APRs break year after year accounting’s No. 1 rule—money is not booked until earned. They book a year’s dues as cash, thus providing misleading balance sheets.

APRs are again withholding the full list of Assembly delegates even from the delegates themselves. Any delegate who so wishes can withhold his or her name from the list. Only delegates who make a written request (new this year) to staffer Linda Darnowski can have the list of delegates who allow their names to be used.

APRs have picked Philadelphia twice for the national conference (2007 and 2013) while ignoring New York, where the Society had its biggest conference ever in 2004.

They created the “Business Case for PR” but neither president Bill Murray nor VP-PR Arthur Yann are out promoting this to business groups in New York or elsewhere.

IRS Form 990, showing the salaries of the top six staffers at the Society in 2009, is still unavailable. It was due May 15 and then Aug. 15 but can be put off till Nov. 15. APRs, breaking long Society tradition, now want to charge reporters $1,275 to cover the conference. I doubt any other assn. charges reporters to cover its conference.

PR Accounts on the Move

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:20:40 -0400

New business wins at Atomic PR, Relevant PR, L2 Comms., Duffy & Shanley, The Cline Group, rbb Public Relations, Vivid Infusion, NewsMark PR, Wall Street Comms., Lynott & Associates, Xanthus Comms. and Wonacott Comms...

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

CJR Sues for Emails of Paterson's Ex-PR chief

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:12:56 -0400

The Columbia Journalism Review has filed a suit against New York State to force release of emails of Gov. Paterson’s former PR chief.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Collection Attorneys Seek PR Help

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:21:38 -0400

A D.C. trade group for attorneys in the debt collection sector seeks PR help via RFP to fight a "predatory" image.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Foley: Bonfire of the Buffoons

editorial@odwyerpr.com (Guest Blogger) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:43:26 -0400

The slated 9/11 Koran bonfire shows how "public discourse" has moved from civil and rational to intolerant and violent amid a summer of Muslim bashing, writes O'Dwyer's columnist Kevin Foley.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Auto PR Pro Pitney Killed in Accident

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:11:31 -0400

Jack Pitney, who handled PR for the launch of the Mini Cooper, was killed in accident on his farm.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

D.C. PR Firm Backs U.S. Muslim Push

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:31:14 -0400

A small D.C. PR shop is helping a group of "average American Muslims" counter perceived "fear-mongering" over the lower Manhattan Islamic center project.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Lone Star Shines at Israel PR Awards

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:13:58 -0400

Jerusalem agency Lone Star Comms. was the top winner at the Israel Spokesperson and Public Relations Association's annual award fete.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Lewis Gets FaceTime

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:58:45 -0400

FaceTime Communications, a security and compliance software developer for business that focuses on the "New Internet" technologies like social networks and blogs, has tapped Lewis PR for the U.S., following a competitive pitch.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Updated: FTC Slaps PR Firm for Disclosure

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:41:32 -0400

The Federal Trade Commission has settled an action brought against a gaming PR firm that the government regulator said posted game reviews for clients without disclosure.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

5W PR Plunges into Mosque Mess

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:18:20 -0400

Ronn Torossian's 5W Public Relations is repping televangelist and former Presidential candidate Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice, which has filed suit to stop construction of a mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Dolby Plugs into H&K

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:19:16 -0400

Hill & Knowlton has picked up Dolby Laboratories' global PR account, following a review.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Bite Taps WaggEd's Herman for N.A.

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:01:45 -0400

Michelle Herman, senior VP at Waggener Edstrom, has been named general manager for the three North American offices of Bite Communications, based in San Francisco.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

CHP Re-Issues RFP for PR

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:27:14 -0400

The California Highway Patrol has re-issued an RFP for its PR and media account with a new deadline of Sept. 8.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

2001 PRSA President Wants Non-APR Candidates

greg@odwyerpr.com (Jack O'Dwyer) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:56:59 -0400

Kathy Lewton, 2001 president of PR Society of America, said accredited PRSA members allow only themselves to be national leaders but very few of them ever show up when nominations are open.

“I can’t remember the last time, maybe 20 years, when there were at least two candidates for every board seat and every office,” she told the Assembly e-group Aug. 24.

“It seems curious that there is such concern about protecting this ‘right’ when so few choose to exercise it,” she added.

Lewton noted that there are nearly 4,000 PRS but the “APR community” does not seem able to turn out even 12 candidates (two for each of six board seats) each year.”

The nominating committee has to “hunt for candidates after the deadline or simply ratify the solo candidate running,” she noted.

Unopposed this year were Phil Tate, candidate to repeat as treasurer; Prof. Kirk Hazlett for the Northeast district, and Linda Burkley for the Mid-Atlantic district.
Tate and Hazlett got the nominations but Burkley lost to Steve Grant when Grant, having lost a bid for secretary, decided to remain on the board for another two years. He took the board seat nomination sought by Burkley.

Under a bylaw passed last year, directors can serve four years in a row and return to the board after skipping a year.

Since the APRs are proving to be so uninterested in leadership, Lewton said, “it is incumbent upon all of us, as leaders, to open up the process to any qualified member and let the nomcom do its work in making the best choice?

Signatures Dry up for “Democracy” Committee

The Committee to Promote Democracy at PRSA has hit what appears to be a stone wall in its bid to let non-APRs on the board.

Its proposal would require that any non-APR show at least 20 years in PR in posts with “increasing levels of responsibility.”

The same proposal was defeated by the 2009 Assembly by a vote of 142-111.

Only two signatures have been added in August to the electronic petitionthe CPDP is circulating, the last one being added Aug. 17. Total in the past four months towards a goal of 1,000 is 354.

Only two of the 110 chapter presidents have voiced support of the CPDP—New York and Los Angeles.

No chapter has conducted a binding vote on the issue by rank-and-file members.

The Society’s APR leadership has not allowed online or in print Tactics to mention the CPDP nor use the 21,000-member e-mail list to reach members.
CPDP member Art Stevens said in the e-group that the CPDP’s proposal would not “devalue” APR.

However, the APRs have rejected this argument, saying it would deal a possibly mortal blow to the 46-year-old program.

“Please allow this compromise to the present policy to pass,” Stevens pleaded in his e-mail. “The proposed bylaw change would continue to value APR very highly and at the same time allow qualified Society members to become leaders.”

Huntsworth Revenue Rises 13%

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:22:19 -0400

PR and healthcare comms. holding company Huntsworth, noting a "more buoyant" market this year, said first-half revenues were up 13%.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Chime Rings up Profit Surge

editorial@odwyerpr.com (Guest Blogger) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:44:25 -0400

Chime Communications, parent of the U.K.'s biggest PR firm Bell Pottinger, reports that first-half pre-tax profit surged 39 percent to $18M.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

SS&K Tapped to Recruit Teachers

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:22:56 -0400

The Dept. of Education has tapped Shepardson, Stern & Kaminsky to guide a traditional and new media push to attract teachers. DOE sees 1.7M needed by 2017.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

ABC Libel Case Given New Life

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:22:53 -0400

A federal appeals court on Tuesday breathed new life into a libel suit against ABC's "20/20" which was dismissed at trial in 2007.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Apex Plugs in Saylor for PR

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:26:34 -0400

Chapter 11 electronics maker has brought in Saylor Company to handle comms.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

WSJ Off Mark With Blast Vs. CSR

webmaster@odwyerpr.com (odwyerpr) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:32:37 -0400

"PR is a waste of money" is a basic idea in a major Wall Street Journal story: "The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility" that ran Aug. 23. "Do good and tell about it" is what some have suggested that PR is about, but opponents of CSR may favor a different rule: "Don't waste money on doing good. Put every possible dollar into profit for the shareholders."

Management executives have every right to ask PR executives: "WHY do CSR? Why not keep the money? Why not focus on Corporate Stockholde Responsibility?? Here is how to respond: just as food is nutritious but too much can endanger health or lives, hunger for profit is good but can be too expensive if it causes a company to miss out on four CSR advantages writes PR pro Ron Levy.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

RFP: PR Project

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:55:12 -0400

RFP: Career academy group; budget, $30K; deadline 9/1.

View the RFP (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

St. Lucia Moves PR Account to Redpoint

greg@odwyerpr.com (Greg Hazley) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:49:00 -0400

Redpoint Marketing PR has picked up North American PR duties for the Saint Lucia Tourist Board, following a review.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Will We Now Fear Parades?

webmaster@odwyerpr.com (odwyerpr) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:04:12 -0400

Labor Day is almost here. Will we still welcome parades while many millions remain unemployed and tens of thousands of battle wearied, depressed and likewise jobless soldiers return with so little to greet them? This reality was brought home severely to me the other evening as I accidentally came upon an old video of the late Walter Cronkite's series "The Seeds of War," writes PA pro Joe Honick.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Edelman Taps VanderMolen for Integration

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:58:24 -0400

Edelman has named Alan VanderMolen to the new post of president/CEO, global practices and diversified insights businesses. The move is effective Jan. 1.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's

Fashion PR Unleashes "Preemptive Product Placements"

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:20:16 -0400

Delightfully snarky Simon Doonan dishes about a possible secret PR weapon used by fashion houses -- "preemptive product placement" or "unbranding" -- in his Aug. 23 must-read column in the New York Observer.

The "wicked new marketing strategy" is "deliciously dirty," writes Doonan, a creative director at high-end Barneys New York and author of gems such as "Eccentric Glamour."

The focus (and trepidation) of high design's attention these days on on none other than "Jersey Shore's" Snooki, the epitome of all that is crass and low-class. Doonan recalls how Snooki, "whether drunk or sober," was once never caught without a Coach bag dangling from her arm. Those days, mercifully, for students of PR are now over.

Ever a man for detail, Doonan noticed that Snooki recently started toting different designer purses. That got him to wondering if she was "trading up" or "vomiting into her purses and then randomly replacing them."

Fashion insider, Doonan has his own theory on Snookums' new sense of style. He believes the luxury houses are gifting her with free bags. The shocker: They are not sending her their own bags. They are sending her each other's bags. Competitors' bags! It is nothing but a grand PR breakthrough. It's fashion playing hard ball.

Doonan calls the placement strategy brilliant, and one that makes total sense. "As much as one might adore Miss Snickerdoodle, her ability to inspire dress-alikes among her fans is questionable. The bottom line is nobody in fashion wants to co-brand with Snooki."

Doonan believes as Snooki's lucrative career builds, she won't need free bags. She may soon be able to buy her own Birkin, "thereby precipitating a mass suicide over at Maison Hermes," according to Doonan.

Fall-out from Snooki's designer bag choice may soon come home for Doonan. The super-exclusive Belgian Delvaux bag makes its U.S. debut in Barneys this fall. Imagine what would happen to the image of one of the world's most elitist brands if Snooki has a Delvaux bag swinging from her arm the next time she is arrested. Simon would certainly have a fit. He also would enjoy the sweet irony.

Valerie Plame/CIA Reporter Joins NJG

kevin@odwyerpr.com (Kevin McCauley) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:47:45 -0400

Matt Cooper former Washington correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, Time and Newsweek, is now managing editor of the National Journal Group.

Read the full story (sub req'd) | Subscribe to O'Dwyer's