INFONET SERVICES TO RF FOR $1M+

Infonet Services Corp., El Segundo, Calif., named Ruder Finn for global PR, replacing several agencies in the U.S. and Europe. Robert Dowling, EVP, and Teresa Fereday, VP and telecom specialist, will head the seven-figure account from RF/New York.

RF handled media relations for an all-day Infonet meeting with security analysts last month that was webcast and open to the public. Also handled was publicity for two new $1 billion contracts with SBC and Deutsche Telekom. Two million remote access subscribers use Infonet Dial IP Services. Customers include 2,600 multinational companies. InfoNet is listed on the New York and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges.

STEVENS NOMINATED BY PRSA

Art Stevens, chairman and CEO of Publicis Dialog's New York Office, was nominated as chair-elect of PRSA, defeating PRSA treasurer Joann Kileen and PRSA secretary Deanna Pelfrey, who also sought the nomination. Reed Byrum, EDS Communications, Plano, Texas, won the nomination as treasurer over Michael McDermott of Riverside, Conn. Prof. Maria Russell of Syracuse University defeated California counselor David Simon for nomination for secretary. Candidates can also run by getting signatures of ten Assembly delegates and notifying PRSA 30 days before the Assembly. Two members did this last year (Killeen and Lee Duffy).

Sources said the committee had no trouble making up its mind and that the rancor and controversy that surrounded last year's nominating process was absent this year. The committee hopes the Assembly will not mind PRSA being headed by two New Yorkers in a row (Kathy Lewton is now chair-elect).

Stevens and Byrum told the committee they would impose stricter financial controls on PRSA and give the members timely and more detailed reports. The 1999 audit has yet to be revealed by PRSA, which has spent heavily on a new computer system that has had problems. It is losing $475K on its APR program this year and nearly that on its publications. It had a record $880K in payables last Dec. 31.

Joseph M. Russo was named VP/PA and CC, Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., Syracuse, N.Y., handling nuclear communications, IR and customer communications. He reports to Darlene D. Kerr, COO and EVP of energy delivery. Russo was VP/corporate affairs, The Hertz Corp., where he worked for 15 years. NMPC has 1.5 million electricity and 540,000 natural gas customers in upstate New York.

WATSON HEADS LORILLARD PR

Steven C. Watson, VP of broadcasting and communications, Miami Heat of the NBA, was named VP of the new external affairs dept., Lorillard Tobacco Co.. Greensboro, N.C.
He will manage state and federal legislative affairs, media and PR, and oversee Lorillard s Youth Smoking Prevention program.

Watson has an extensive background in GOP politics including serving as regional director of the Republican National Committee in 1989. He was a candidate for the GOP nomination for Congress for the Fifth District in Connecticut in 1989. He also worked for the Reagan/Bush campaign in 1984 and the Bush/Quayle campaign in 1988.

Lorillard makes Kent, Newport, Old Gold, Satin, True, Triumph, Maverick and Max cigarets.

Catherine A. Bolton, 48, VP of communication, International Copper Assn., New York, named chief PR officer, PR Society of America, effective Sept. 5.

She was also at Akzo Nobel, Netherlands-based healthcare and chemicals firm; WNET-TV; Princess Grace Foundation; Six Flags Corp, New York, and in executive sales for Dow Jones Corp. She has a B.A. from New Jersey City University.

Bolton, the first on-staff PR pro at PRSA h.q. since last October, will manage the "Advancing the Profession" and "Establishing Global Leadership" programs of PRSA. David Moyer did the search.

115 BECOME APR AT COST OF $2,000 EACH

PRSA has created 115 new accredited members at a net cost to the Society of about $2,000 each, based on an expected total of 230 APRs this year and the net budget of $475,075 for the program in 2000 (expenses of $635,875 and revenues of $160,800).

The pass rate for PRSA members was 63% (115 of 184 candidates), an improvement from the fall 1999 rate of 46%, the lowest ever (89 passing).

Also taking the exam were 16 non-PRSA members, nine of whom passed the day-long test.

The small number of APR candidates, the lower pass rate, and the increasing costs of the program have driven up the net cost from $372 per new APR in 1992 to $1,401 last year and $2,004 this year.

PRSA members and PR recruiters, told the results
(continued on page 7)

LARRY WEBER JOINS PR SEMINAR

Larry Weber, chairman and CEO, Weber PR Worldwide unit of Interpublic, is the only PR counselor among 27 new members of PR Seminar, a group of mostly corporate PR executives that met May 31-June 3 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

About ten other PR firms are represented in the 200-member group including Burson-Marsteller; Hill and Knowlton; Fleishman-Hillard; Edelman PR Worldwide; Manning, Selvage & Lee; GCI Group; Ketchum Worldwide; Porter Novelli and BSMG.

A record number of 12 women executives were inducted into PRS, which was once almost totally male. They are Sandra Allen, Associates First Capital Corp.; Marguerite Copel, Ocean Spray Cranberries; Linda Distlerath, Merck; Monie Feurey, Forbes; Betty Hudson, iVillage; Laura Leber, Genentech; Judith Muhlberg, Boeing; Veronica Pollard, Toyota; Marily Rhudy, American Home Products; Katherine Rohrbach, Charles Schwab; Ida Teoli, BCE, and Beth Zoffman, Georgia-Pacific.

New male members are David Altman, Southern Co.; Michael Baroody, NAM; Lee Bonds, Hewlett-Packard; Vincent Borg, Barrick Gold; Aldo Caccamo, Chevron; William Corcoran, W.R. Grace; Charles Holleran, PricewaterhouseCoopers; George Jamison, Hughes Elec.; Allen Marks, Gap; Michael Monroe, KeyCorp; Stephen Morello, Reader s Digest; Brad Shaw, Gateway, and Anthony Zehnder, Warburg Dillon Read.

Speakers at the meeting, which does not allow press coverage, included Kathryn Fuller of the World Wildlife Fund; Raul Yzaguirre of the National Council of La Raza (on the Hispanic community); Ambassador Carla Hills, former US trade rep; William Schneider, CNN political correspondent, and Rolf Jensen, Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, who spoke on "The Dream Society: How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Business."

PRODUCT CONFLICTS ARE NO BIG DEAL

Holding companies have nearly eliminated the problem of account conflicts, according to the American Assn. of Advertising Agencies new Conflict Policy Guidelines.

"Consolidations by both clients and agencies have made previous, more restrictive policies impractical," the 4A s states in the second installment in a series of position papers.

"The issue of account conflicts has always been a particularly difficult one for agencies and clients alike," said O. Burtch Drake, AAAA president/CEO. "The nature of conflicts has changed so much over the past few years, that we felt it was time to document the trends and provide some advice on how our members should approach the issue."

Major marketers generally define conflict by agency brand rather than by holding company, according to the new guidelines. "Under prior thinking, holding companies would have to clear the decks to accept any of the operating units or companies of a global packaged goods client," the 4A s 'said.

The guidelines said many companies are accepting office separation as valid (whereby competitive companies are handled through different offices).

The 4A's said global expansion by both agencies and clients also has alleviated conflict problems.

The 4A's recommends incorporating an agreed-to conflict policy in the client/agency contract, using these five points as guidelines for evaluating whether there is a conflict:

—The agency brand should be used as the criterion, not the holding company.
—The agency office can be a valid separation.
—Unbundled services are considered a valid separation.
—Conflict should be based on "brand vs. brand" or "category vs. category" rather than at the divisional or corporate level.
—Definition of conflict should be based on real business issues on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis.

SURVEY SHOWS NEED FOR BRANDING

Many people do not know what some major companies do, according to the results of a recent survey of investors by Doremus, a New York ad agency.

Doremus queried 400 investors about a random selection of Fortune 500 companies and investing habits.

Fifty percent of respondents described Sysco as a technology company, 10% thought it was a telecommunications company, 20% had no clue, and another 20% accurately identified Sysco as a food and food-related products distributor. However 80% of the people in the survey felt they knew New Delhi Beef, a company created for the survey.

Only 20% of the investors were able to identify USX s business as steel, oil and gas, while other answers ranged from the military to municipal bonds.

Other results of the survey:
—Most people used newspaper articles as sources of information when buying or selling stocks. Magazines, friends and stockbrokers followed, in that order.
—Men were able to identify the particular companies listed two times as frequently as women.
—30% said advertising sometimes led them to purchase stocks.

BRIEFS ____________________________

Bennett & Co., Orlando, Fla., said it hosted 11 media cruises for the new Crown Cruise Line during the Aruba sailing season. The print publicity was worth $69,000, the agency said.

USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll found fewer than half of Americans have received the new Sacagawea coin, which has been in circulation for six months. The US Mint will continue a PR campaign to promote the new dollar coin. Fleishman-Hillard is the agency overseeing the $42 million ad/PR campaign

EDITOR SAYS PR PROS BREAK PROMISES

Rose A. Jones, who is Women's Wear Daily's bureau chief in Los Angeles, said "one percent of PR pros deliever what they promise."

One PR person called me pushing Oscar Golden Gloves, but was never there when I called her, Jones told about 36 publicists who attended a meeting last month sponsored by PRSA/Los Angeles.

Other speakers included Juan Morales, who is editor-in-chief of Detour, and Amy Bernhard, who publishes The Gift List, an annual media directory.

Jones, who also teaches a course on PR, urged the publicists to "follow through with what you promise to the media. You should know the current editor's name and know the name of the column or feature they write."

Jones said she gets most of pitches by E-mail, especially from the dot-com companies.

She looks for well-written news releases instead of fancy packaging. "If the news release looks good, and I don't have time to look at the package, I'll save it for later," said Jones.

Jones, who usually checks her E-mail first, then her voicemail messages, said some editors are paranoid to open any attachments or download programs or software, especially if they don't know the source.

"Always follow up with a phone call, but give me time to read the E-mail," said Jones.

"The best way to get coverage is to acquaint yourself with the magazine or publication and see if your pitch makes sense," said Morales, whose magazine covers fashion and beauty products. He'll tell publicists whether or not he is interested in a story.

Morales said news releases do not have to be "flashy or expensive, just make it interesting."

Bernhard, whose directory lists the names of editors and publications that publish Christmas gift stories, said PR firms should not leave interns or new employees alone and without full knowledge of the product or company they are pitching.

Bernhard, who used to work for Ruder Finn, said she got a pitch from a major PR firm, but the person clearly did not understand her role. "She was asking me so many incoherent questions, I could tell she was inexperienced," said Bernhard.

PEOPLE ______________________________

Jill Horner, 21, a former assignment desk editor at News12 New Jersey, won the "Miss New Jersey" title. Horner, who has a journalism degree from Rutgers Univ., will compete in next year's "Miss America" pageant.

Antonia van der Meer, 42, was promoted to editor-in-chief of Modern Bride Magazine, replacing Stacy Morrison. Van der Meer, who joined Modern Bride earlier this, was the editor of Sesame Street Baby, a start-up magazine distributed by the Children s Television Workshop.

Jeff Jacoby, a political columnist, was suspended by The Boston Globe for four months for writing a piece about the Declaration of Independence signers that was similar to previously published versions.

William Garry, 56, who was editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit<D> magazine, died June 29 in Los Angeles.

Dean Baquet, who is national editor of The New York Times, was named managing editor of The Los Angeles Times.

MEDIA BRIEFS _________________________

Press secretaries for black members of Congress are far more unhappy with media coverage than those of white members, according to a study that appears in the Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics.

Nearly three-quarters of the press secretaries for black lawmakers complained about media stereotyping. "Never can a story be written that they don t mention he is the first black to...," said one respondent. "It's a conservative, white media elite, and all they can see when they look at this office is black, black, black," said another.

In the survey of 52 press secretaries, 93% of those working for white members of Congress said the media generally treated their boss fairly, compared with 17% of those working for black lawmakers.

The biggest complaint was a lack of press coverage by the Congressman s hometown newspaper.

The Washington Post has begun publishing an early Sunday edition that goes on sale on Saturday.

The new "bulldog" edition, which looks different from the Post's customary Page 1, contains new features plus all of the regular Sunday sections.

The early edition circulation is expected to grow to 40,000-60,000 over the next year.

The Boston Globe, which started an early Sunday edition last October, is selling about 23,000 copies, slighly less than its goal of 30,000.

James L. Rowe Jr. is the Post's early edition editor.

Luce Press Clippings' chart of the circulation of top 100 daily newspapers in the US includes Saturday circulation in the daily figures.

Daily papers in several big cities, such as Chicago and New York, have smaller circulation on Saturdays, usually due to decreased newsstand sales.

A few papers have higher circulation on Saturdays, usually because they publish combined editions (morning and evening), include weekend sections and are in markets with mostly home delivery.

Total circulation of 1,483 daily papers is about 56 million and Sunday circulation is about 60 million, according to Luce, which estimates there are 2.148 readers per daily and 2.232 readers per Sunday editions. That adds up to 120 million+ readers of weekday papers and 134 million for Sunday editions.

PR FIRM GUARANTEES PLACEMENTS

Event Management Services, a Clearwater, Fla.-based PR firm, will refund a client's fee if it fails to land an interview on a radio talk show.

Marsha Friedman says more than 40% of radio talk shows are now being simulcast over the Internet, most likely at a workplace, where the listener needs to be online to do his/her job.

"This means you are immediately targeting the cream of the Internet crop. All other methods of reaching the affluent online prospect will soon become obsolete by comparison," predicts Friedman, who can be reached at 727/443-7115 ext. 201; [email protected].

PR FIRM'S SPECIAL REPORT WINS AWARD

The Allergy Report, a special report published by Communications Strategies, a healthcare PR firm in Chatham, N.J., won a Bulldog Award for placing allergies on the national agenda as a serious medical issues and heightening the public s perception of this pervasive disease.

CS used the publication to deliver a multifacted allergy media awareness campaign for the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology highlighting the seriousness of allergic disorders and the need for proper allergy management and treatment.

The firm said journalists representing national and regional, print and broadcast outlets and wire services reported on the severity of allergic disorders and endorsed The Allergy Report as a resource to enhance diagnosis and treatment of allergies by general practitioners, pediatricians and other primary healthcare providers.

PLACEMENT TIPS ______________________

The New York Times has started a "Technology Briefing" column on the day's financial, product, policy and personnel developments.

The column, which uses briefly written staff reports and news service material, is compiled by F. Duayne Draffen. It is to be published Tuesday through Friday in the "Business Day" section with other technology news.

Westwood One will distribute the talk program, "Troubleshooter Tom Martino," nationwide starting Aug. 7. Originating from KHOW-AM in Denver, the program will air Monday through Friday from 2-5 p.m. (ET).

Martino, who bills himself as the "only place in media to get direct help with consumer problems," features segments like "Sleaze Brigade," which exposes bad business practices and "Deadbeat Hall of Shame" that names absentee parents who don't pay child support.

Tom's Help Center, staffed by consumer counselors, researches and solves problems that callers bring to Martino.

Public service announcements that have relevance to a radio or TV stations audience will the most air play, according to the 2000 Annual Survey of Public Affairs Directors, conducted by West Glen Communications, New York.

Seventy-six percent of TV station respondents and 85% from radio stations said the most critical factor in deciding to air a PSA is relevance of the message to their audience.

Familiarity with the non-profit sponsor or the cause it represents produced the second-highest response, with 16% from TV stations, 11% from radio.

The remaining two choices, PSA length and use of a celebrity spokesperson, got minimal responses.

Everyday Pictures is the title of a new custom magazine that Meredith Publishing is publishing for Eastman Kodak.

Christine Bourque is editor of the full-size quarterly magazine, which will offer ideas on how to take better pictures. Jody Garlock is managing editor.

They can be pitched at PO Box 7050, Des Moines, IA 50309; [email protected].

Breakfastnetwork.com Production, which holds monthly breakfast seminars and other events, is publishing "The Noise in the Alley," a twice-monthly E-mail newsletter.

The letter, which can be checked out at www.thenoiseinthealley.com, has information about the Internet and new media executives.

One element is the "Noisemakers" section, which asks four Internet executives questions each month and features their unedited responses.

The newsletter will also include one noteworthy profile per issue in its "A View from Inside" department, which offers an anaylsis of the backgrounds and aspirations of individuals who are members of New York's Silicon Alley community.

Pitches should be sent to [email protected].

REPORTER DOES PUBLICITY FOR NEWSWEEK

Rosanna Maitta, a freelance reporter in Rome, Italy, has joined Newsweek as a publicist and to work on special issues and projects.

Maitta, who has reported for ABC News Radio, BBC-TV, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and Business Week, also was a reporter/anchor for Vatican Radio English Service.

Her husband, Howard Fendrich, is a sports writer for the Associated Press in New York, where they live.

Mike McCurry, the former Clinton White House spokesman, was named to the board of directors of Grassroots.com, where he is expected to become CEO.

The website, which is based in Washington, D.C., aims to help citizens do research on candidates and send their views on issues to elected officials.

It hopes to make money by charging special interest groups to wage campaigns through the site.

115 BECOME APR (cont'd from page 1)

of the latest APR test and the cost for the creation of one APR, expressed surprise and dismay.

"I hate to say it, but the APR program is a crock," said New York recruiter Toby Clark.

Counselor Gerald Schwartz said the money migh<%0>t be better spent on a home for PR seniors. Recruiter Arnold Huberman said the $2,000 is being "thrown away.

ounselor Richard Newman said the term "Universal" that is being applied to the program is false because it implies there is a test that "fits all."

Recruiter Dennis Spring said "It makes no sense to lose money" in such an activity and advised instead that PR pros lobby state or city governments to recognize PR as a profession and set standards.

Susan Noonan of Noonan/Russo Communications noted the tiny number of APR applicants compared to the "tens of thousands of people in PR" and said the money should be spent on training thousands rather than testing a few.

Counselor Don Middleberg said he is opposed to tests for PR pros since "they don t evaluate what s in a person s heart...whether they have the heart to succeed.."

Marie Raperto of The Cantor Concern, Susan Elion of Elion Assocs., and Karen Shnek of The Howard-Sloan-Koller Group, all recruiters, said no client had ever asked for an APR candidate.

Raperto said the cost of the program is "unwarranted" and that "everybody feels the same way about APR."

Wescott Defends Use of "Universal"

Phil Wescott, chair of the "Universal Accreditation Board," which includes PRSA and seven other U.S. PR groups, denied that PRSA is misusing the term "universal."
Universal is "an apt descriptor of our organization s aspiration," said Wescott.

"It doesn t suggest that such a universal professional credential currently exists under any group s auspices," he added. "But the UAB and its partner organizations have a shared vision that is moving us toward a more global program and credential that will prove valuable in many nations and cultures."

PR groups in Canada and five other countries have started a "Global Alliance" that recognizes the accrediting programs in various countries and does not attempt to impose a single international test. The International PR Assn. lists about 80 PR groups throughout the world on its website. There are about 50 local and national PR groups in the U.S.

IPG BUYS AD AGENCY FROM GUNDS

Interpublic has purchased Nationwide Advertising Service, Cleveland, 400-employee recruitment ad agency with offices in 41 cities, that grossed $50 million in 1999, from Gund Business Enterprises, which also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team.

GBE, which keeps a low profile, was not mentioned in the release put out by the Edward Howard Co., Cleveland, and McCann-Erickson Worldwide.

Nationwide will be part of the McCann unit. IPG wouldn' say whether the deal was for stock or cash.

GBE is headed by Gordon Gund, who also heads the Gund Foundation, philanthropic organization.

Gund, 59, one of Cleveland' best-known citizens, has had an active career in spite of being stricken with retinitis pigmentosa, which causes blindness, at the age of 30.

Gund is the son of George Gund II who founded a decaffeinated coffee company that became the Sanka unit of General Foods. George Gund also headed the bank that is now Ameritrust. GBE reportedly has a number of business interests but it is a private company and further information was not available.

The Cavaliers play in the Gund arena, for which GBE paid $14 million for naming rights for 20 years.

BOOK TELLS HOW TO CREATE 'BUZZ.'

The process of building "buzz" among consumers is the subject of The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing (Currency Books: Oct. 17; hardcover; $25).

The book, which was written by Emanuel Rosen, who was VP/marketing for Niles Software for nine years, identifies the kinds of products and services that benefit from "buzz," and shows companies how to ignite the kinds of conversations that drive sales.

The author draws upon interviews he conducted with more than 150 marketers, researchers and customers as well as upon his own experiences.

Rosen argues companies must learn to sell not to individual customers but rather to customer hubs or networks, both on the Internet and through other channels.

ASSEMBLYMAN TO JOIN SON S N.Y. PR FIRM

Denis J. Butler, 72, who is retiring after 24 years from the New York State Assembly at the end of his term in December, will join Butler Assocs. LLC PR as a partner.

The Manhattan-based firm, which specializes in media relations and crisis management, is headed by his son, Thomas P. Butler, who opened it in 1996. Thomas had previously been a senior VP at Dan Klores Assocs., VP/AS at Rubenstein Ascocs. and deputy press secretary to New York City Council Speaker Peter Vallone.

Clients include Cornell Univ., Uniformed Firefighters Assn. of Greater N.Y.; Proskauer Rose; Amalgamated Life, and GAL, elevator manufacturer.

The elder Butler, a Democrat, is currently chairman of the Queens Assembly Delegation.

A lifelong resident of the district, which covers Astoria, Long Island City and Jackson Heights, Butler has fought against abortion and in 1988 he received the Pro Vita Award from the Brooklyn diocese in recognition of his efforts for the pro life movement.

New York state law prohibits Butler from lobbying legislators in Albany for two years.

APR, the sacred cow of PR Society of America, is old, sick and costing a lot of money to keep alive.

As noted on page one, the net cost of creating one new APR member of PRSA this year, after all fees are collected, will be about $2,000. The $200 dues of ten members are thus needed to create one APR.

But suppose the new APR quits PRSA the next year and loses his or her right to use APR? This means that a $2,000 investment has gone down the drain. More than 10% of PRSA members quit each year and some are APRs.

The almost complete absence of interest in APR among the nearly 20,000 or so eligible to take it is one reason its cost has soared from $372 per new APR in 1992, when 346 new APRs were created, to $2,000 in 2000 when an estimated 230 new APRs will be created (first half production was 115 APRs). What publisher would put out an annual book that cost $475,000 but sold only 230 copies?

Also driving up the cost is the recent higher flunk rate, indicating a lower caliber of candidate. The test itself has not changed much in 15 years. In 1992, 81% passed while this spring only 63% passed. Last fall was the worst class ever–only 89 of 193 passed it (46%).

Interest in accreditation of any type is scant in other groups. The IABC, after 26 years of an Accredited in Business Communications program (ABC), only has 670 ABCs. With 13,500 members, it produced 65 new ABCs last year. But it only spends about $35K on ABC each year (income of $19,585 and expenses of $53,953) and does not require office-holders to be ABC.

IABC seniors correct the test while PRSA spent $86K on an outside service for this in 1999.

Despite years of campaigning, PRSA has been unable to interest even one of the 80 or so international PR groups in its misnamed "Universal APR" program. Canada and five other nations have now set up their own mutual recognition program.

The PRSA politics feeding this sick old cow are clear. About half of PRSA s membership is now healthcare, educational, military, government, other types of non-profits, and utilities, where credentials are important. PRSA and APR certificates look good on the resume and on the wall. Corporate PR chieftains long ago left PRSA for PR Seminar, Arthur Page, etc., and the big counseling firms have now started their own combine. The PRSA national board has three former APR chairs on it–Roger Lewis, Tom Bartikoski and Joann Killeen. Only a general revolt of the membership will put this cow out of its misery.

While PR and IR firms can take stock and options for payment from high-tech and other clients (7/19 NL), an IR pro advises us that Rule 17B of the SEC says that a clear and full description of any type of remuneration must accompany press releases sent out by the IR/PR firms on behalf of the clients... the May CFO magazine has an article on "Breaking up the Big Five" (CPA) firms, pointing out that the SEC has "railed about auditor independence and quality." An SEC-mandated "Independence Standards Board" is studying whether the CPAs are favoring their management consultant clients. Some companies, including Union Carbide, the article notes, will not take any consulting services from their auditors. The SEC has also busted on the auditors for their lack of clear communications and for allowing "balance sheet games" that confuse investors and the public. Hardly anyone can do his or her own income tax because of the jungle of rules. User-friendly is not something on the agenda of CPAs. KPMG's Stephen Butler is mounting a PR offensive against the SEC for "relentlessly picking on his beloved profession," says the article... chilling statistic from Newsweek 7/17: 196 of 200 teenage girls tested for HIV in Zambia were positive. One local song says "AIDS is going to kill you so why not party?"... bathroom humor so prevalent in movies ("Me, Myself & Irene," etc.) is now in ads. A full page ad for quixi.com in current magazines has a man sitting on a toilet while eating dinner with four other people. "What are you doing to save time?" asks the copy... Northstar-at-Tahoe, scene of the July 13-15 PRSA board meeting, was featured in a full-page essay in the 7/24 Time mag. An "extreme golf" tournament was held at Northstar at about the same time as the board meeting. Players used the ski slopes as fairways, aiming for ten target zones. It s much better exercise than cart golf and would be a bonanza for ski resorts if it catches on... PR Seminar held its annual private meeting at a plush resort, keeping all speeches and comments to its 150 or so corporate and agency members. Companies foot the bill of well over $500K so the elite few can be educated. A number of interesting speakers were on the program but the rest of the PR community will never hear a word of it. Although called "PR Seminar," only two of the 27 new members have "PR" in their titles–Carol Schumacher, VP-PR, The Home Depot, and Stephen Morello, VP-CC & PR, Reader s Digest Assn. Attendance with spouses was standard for this group but lately fewer and fewer spouses have been showing up.