NEW MEXICO UNVEILS $3M RFP.
New Mexico is reviewing proposals for a three-part RFP to consolidate marketing spending worth about $3M to create a single brand for the state as a place to live, vacation and do business.

Ketchum, Edelman, Ruder Finn and Bromley Comms. were among dozens of PR firms from across the U.S. expressing interest in the RFP. The contract does not require a firm to have a New Mexico office.

Gov. Bill Richardson, whose office is overseeing the search, said the sweeping project will be “one of the defining accomplishments” of his tenure, according to a copy of the May 23 RFP, which calls for an ad agency, PR firm and web design shop. Richardson said from one to three firms will be selected for the work, adding “standards will be high, and review rigorous.”

The state currently does not have a “brand,” but uses the slogan “Land of Enchantment.”

The first year of the work will primarily support the Dept. of Tourism, which has allocated $3M – $1.8M for advertising; $600K each for PR and web work.
Other agencies could get involved in the first year and contribute additional money, and if subsequent years of the contract are exercised, the state agencies will seek “much larger appropriations,” according to the RFP.

OGILVY ‘BRANDS’ ATLANTA.
Ogilvy PR Worldwide has picked up the Brand Atlanta Campaign, an account that could bill up to $200K, according to BAC spokeswoman Helen Tarleton.

She said BAC considered a mix of international and local firms including GolinHarris, Edelman, Porter Novelli, Fletcher Martin Ewing, Cookerly PR and Hope-Beckham.

Ogilvy’s mission is to support a marketing communications push that is being developed by Grey Worldwide’s Atlanta office, said Tarleton.

SALMANS DEPARTS BoA FOR MERCER.
Charles Salmans, senior VP of corporate communications for Bank of America’s asset management and Wall Street unit, has moved to Marsh & McLennan’s Mercer Human Resource Consulting division as global director of PR, a new post.

Prior to eight years at BoA and its ‘04 acquisition of Fleet Boston, he was a SVP in charge of corporate communications and direct marketing at Chase Manhattan Bank and its predecessor Chemical Bank.

Salmans also headed corporate communications for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Bankers Trust Co., based in New York and London.

FORMER F-H EXEC PLEADS GUILTY.
A former SVP for Fleishman-Hillard’s embattled Los Angeles office has agreed to plead guilty to three counts of wire fraud regarding the firm’s alleged scheme to overbill the city’s Department of Water and Power.

Steve Sugerman, 41, who left F-H in 2002 to set up his own firm, will cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation and is the first firm staffer to plead guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.
Doug Dowie, who headed the L.A. office at the time in question, and John Stodder, a SVP, have pleaded not-guilty to several counts of fraud and conspiracy. They face trial in August.

Sugerman, a lieutenant to Dowie, said he was working at Dowie’s direction from 2000 until January 2002, when he caused $120K in inflated bills to be submitted to the DWP, according to the U.S. Attorney. Sugerman is slated to appear in court on July 5. The three counts of wire fraud carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison but the deal he cut is likely to curb any sentence.

RF GIVES NOD TO NOBS.
Dave Nobs, a 25-year PR veteran, has taken the helm of Ruder Finn’s Los Angeles office. Howard Solomon had been serving as interim L.A. managing director. He remains as executive director/regional operations and Chicago chief.

Nobs was general manager of Interpublic’s Rogers & Cowan and Weber Shandwick/L.A. He counseled Microsoft, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Vans, NASCAR and Hewlett-Packard.

Previously, Nobs was executive VP at Cone Communications in charge of its marketing/PR practice, and managing director of Earle Palmer Brown. He was also at Cohn & Wolfe and Burson-Marsteller.

Richard Funess, president of RF/Americas, refers to Nobs’ hiring as “one of the most significant appointments we’ve ever made in southern California.”

PRSA PURSUES E-MAILER.
The PRSA staff member who criticized COO Catherine Bolton via anonymous e-mail to the PRSA board used the name “Catherine Hater,” according to the decision published June 9 by the New York Law Journal. The identity of this person has been disclosed to the Court following an “in camera hearing in connection with the intervenor’s application to proceed anonymously,” the Journal said June 9.

Quarto Dunning, the firm which is handling the

(continued on page 7)

QUINN HANDLES ARUBA CRISIS.
New York firm Quinn & Co. has dispatched PR staffers to the Caribbean Island of Aruba, where the disappearance of an 18-year-old Alabama student has captivated media.

Q&C won a three-year pact in 2003 to handle PR for the Dutch island, which uses the tagline “where happiness lives.”

Natalee Holloway, a native of Mountain Brook, Ala., disappeared while on a five-day graduation trip with her high school class. Island authorities have arrested five men who allegedly encountered Holloway the night she disappeared.

The girl’s mother suggested June 12 that the Aruban government could be protecting the suspects, one of whom has family ties to the Dutch government.

The government has offered a $20K reward for information about the disappearance and her family has offered up another $30K. A bar Holloway visited that night has also posted a $5K reward.

Carla Caccavale, partner for Q&C, heads the Aruba account and has traveled to the Caribbean with other staff to handle PR for the crisis.

“Quinn & Co. has made sure that all of Aruba’s travel partners are kept up to date at all times as more information becomes available,” Q&C’s Eileen Almonte told O’Dwyer’s. She said the country has maintained a message board at Aruba.com. “Everything has been going through one channel in order to keep all the information organized and contained,” she said.

Seventy-five percent of tourists that travel to the tropical island – which is about the size of Washington, D.C. and known for its white sand beaches – are from the U.S.

HASS PUTS STAMP ON MS&L.
Mark Hass, who succeeded Lou Capozzi in April as Manning, Selvage & Lee CEO, has put his management team in place.

Larry Kamer, senior VP and director of crisis and issues management, has been named North America president. He will be based in Chicago. Kamer (with Sam Singer) built San Francisco-based Kamer-Singer into a 100-staffer business before selling it to GCI Group in `99. He had been running Kamer Consulting Group before joining MS&L in `03.

Kamer takes over for Jill Farwell, a 20-year veteran of MS&L. She assumes the North America COO slot, and Latin America head. Farwell also will develop the firm’s U.S. Hispanic practice.

Wendy Lund, who had been running New York, is now executive VP in charge of client development.

Jim Tsokanos, managing director of the Atlanta office, moves to head the Big Apple unit. The five-year MS&L veteran had been counseling key clients such as Coca-Cola, The Home Depot and Philips Consumer Electronics.

Rob Baskin, a Coca-Cola veteran, has been upped from the No. 2 slot in Atlanta.

Hass, who joined MS&L in `02, also revamped the Publicis Groupe unit’s European and Asia-Pacific operations.

H&K HIRES DORINSON.
Patrick Dorinson, who worked on the Schwarzenegger for Governor Campaign, has joined Hill & Knowlton as a senior VP in the firm’s Sacramento office. He served on Schwarzenegger’s transition team.

Dorinson exited Public Strategies Inc. for the H&K PA post. Earlier, the 52-year-old executive was deputy secretary of communications for California’s Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, and PR director for Mirant Inc.’s western region.

Dorinson was in the Dept. of Energy, NASA and General Services Admin. under President Clinton.

Bonnie Goodman, executive VP and head of H&K’s Los Angeles office, praised Dorinson’s “battle-tested media relations and crisis communications skills,” in announcing his hire. Dorinson reports to Goodman.

JUSTICE DEPT. TAKES LOOK AT LIBYA PACT.
The Justice Dept. will investigate the $750K contract that Fahmy Hudome International filed on behalf of Libya, Heather Hunt, Acting Chief of the Foreign Agents Registration Act unit, told O’Dwyer’s.

Hunt said she was unaware that the contract does not spell out whom FHI represents, other than the “Government of Libya.”

An attachment to the registration further muddles the picture. It says a subcontractor, JAS International, was hired in “relation to activities supportive of reform and bilateral understanding on behalf of The Ghadafi International Charity Foundation.” Hunt promised to “take a look” at the Libya filing.

FHI filed its contract with the Justice Dept. on March 18 for work that began Jan. 1. It filed an unsigned contract last July just before it began contacting U.S. government officials on behalf of the Libyans.

Hunt said it is okay for a firm to lobby officials—without a signed contract—as long as the registration papers are filed.

Meanwhile, The Hill reported June 9 that House Democrats may ask the Government Accountability Office to launch an investigation of compliance with, and enforcement of FARA regulations.

ATT’S KRANHOLD OPENS S.F. FOR CSV.
Citigate Sard Verbinnen has brought on Paul Kranhold, VP of corporate PR for AT&T, to establish a San Francisco office.

Kranhold has been tapped as managing director and is supported by Matt Benson, a CSV principal who heads the firm’s new media strategies unit and has relocated from New York.

The Bay Area outpost, along with operations in New York and Chicago, is the proxy and crisis firm’s third office.

George Sard, chairman and CEO, said the firm has been considering a West Coast operation for “some time.” CSV had worked with Kranhold while he was at AT&T.

Prior to AT&T, Kranhold was senior VP for public affairs at Fleishman-Hillard in San Francisco and earlier was VP for corporate communications at The Irvine Company.

PITCHING N.Y.’S EARLY A.M. PRODUCERS.
The Publicity Club of N.Y.’s June 8 media panel luncheon with a group of the local early morning TV news producers shattered the club’s old attendance record.

About 200 publicists crowded into the West 51st st. meeting room for the hour-long session on how to get guests booked and events covered on their respective programs.

Lisa Kovitz, a media relations specialist at Burson-Marsteller, who chaired the program, introduced the four producers on the panel, starting with Byron Harmon, executive producer of WCBS 2 “News This Morning;” Kim Gerbasi, senior executive producer, WNBC-TV “Today in New York;” Adrienne Paxton, senior producer, WNYW-TV “Good Day New York,” and Andy Savas, co-producer, WABC-TV “Eyewitness News This Morning.”

Harmon, who oversees the morning show from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Friday and weekend morning coverage, said the program is “personality-driven.”

“We don’t do a lot of segments other than the segments that we have our franchise contributors who we have on staff,” said Harmon.

“So if you want to pitch stories to me, you have a better chance of getting tech stories, medical stories, stories of that nature on my air verses some of the more esoteric or niche or narrowly marketed type of segments,” he said.

Apologizes for Snubs

Harmon, who made a point of apologizing for not returning phone calls and responding to e-mails, said he has a five member planning department, who normally get the pitches and help him in deciding on whether to cover a story.

He suggested they e-mail their pitches to Jonathan Weiss, who is the head planning producer ([email protected]), or Shannon Lanier, ([email protected]).

Gerbasi said she and other producers for her show, which is on from 5-7 a.m., get some of their best ideas from PR people. “We’re open to all different ideas,” said Gerbasi.

She pointed out the program does a lot of different segments, including medical, lifestyle, entertainment and consumer features.

She asked the PR people to disclose any conflict of interest when pitching a story. “I know you’re all representing different things, but if you have a spokesperson or a celebrity person who’s coming on to talk about sleep disorder and is being paid by a sleeping pill company, please be open and up front about that because it’s a very important issue for NBC,” she said.

Gervais said publicists should pitch their stories to Emily Raiber, a segment producer. She said Raiber is the main contact while Karen Harris, another segment producer, is on maternity leave.

She said e-mail is the best way to pitch, but when it’s something urgent, they should call Raiber ([email protected]).

Paxton announced Sarah Graham had joined the show on June 6 as executive producer. “She’s very accessible,” said Paxton, who urged the publicists to start pitching her stories at [email protected] or by phone at 212/452-4863.

Paxton pointed out the show is driven by “personalities, personalities, personalities.”

“If you’re going to call us and pitch a guest, don’t be surprised if we ask you to e-mail a pitch, attach a photo, send a tape, whatever you have so we can really sample for ourselves the kind of personality that your guest has, how we can fit them into our lineup, and what might work best for us.”

It helps for publicists to offer story ideas and guests by putting a “fun spin” on the pitch, said Paxton, who also likes to get e-mails that have the date in the subject line to show what “you’re focusing on.”

Pitch Rules

Savas urged the publicists to keep sending e-mails. “It’s the best way because oftentimes with phone messages we hear the message, we jot things down but then we forget. E-mail is great because you can always go back to it, you can always reply. So keep ‘em coming.”

His e-mail address is [email protected].

Savas urged the publicists to follow these four rules before making a pitch:

1. “Watch the show, record the show, go over it with your client, and then get feedback from that—it’s very important.”
2. “Bring video of your segment. Video is important when you go out and you’re pitching the story try to find a way to capture that on video. The reason is because we tease the story, lots and lots.
“The more times we tease the story we’re always going to be looking for video. Video helps you get your story on the air.”
3. “Have three things to say in three minutes and thirty seconds. Figure out what those three things are, go over it with your client how to get those three things across and make sure you do it.”
4. “Come to the show. Show up, come and meet us. Figure out, find out, watch how we do the show so it helps you again in the future.”

MEDIA NUMBERS_______
121—The number of journalists since 2000 who were hunted down and murdered in retaliation for their work, according to a new study by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

8—The number of new poker magazines started in the past six months.

20-17-10—The percentage of women featured on the op-ed pages of the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post, respectively.

1605—The year when the world’s first newspaper, called Relation, was published in Europe in Strasbourg, France. Now, there are 6,580 daily newspapers worldwide, with a combined circulation of 396 million.

(Media news continued on next page)

EXPERT JOINS SPA MAGAZINE.
Spa magazine editor-in-chief Liz Mazurski has named Julie Sinclair senior editor of the publication, which is published six times a year by World Publications in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Sinclair was previously editor-in-chief at American Spa, an industry trade publication, where she covered Spa for the past couple of years.

She also has worked at Woman’s Day, Bridal Guide, and as special projects editor for This Old House magazine.

Mazurski said Sinclair will be involved in all departments of the magazine, which portrays the full depth of the spa experience and ways to live it every day.

VARBUSINESS NAMES WALSH AS EDITOR.
Lawrence Walsh was named editor of VARBusiness, a biweekly magazine published in Manhasset, N.Y., by CMP Media.

Walsh replaces Robert DeMarzo, who was named publisher in Jan. 2005.

For the past five years, Walsh was editor, executive editor and managing editor of Tech Target’s Information Security magazine, where he won the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ feature writing award for his expose on Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing initiative.

Walsh also held editing and reporting positions at The Boston Globe, and The Woburn (Mass.) Advocate.

AD/PR PRO EYES INC. AND FAST COMPANY.
Brian Tierney, a Philadelphia ad/PR professional, and his investors have submitted a bid to buy Fast Company and Inc. magazines from Gruner + Jahr.
Their goal is to create a company to provide services to small businesses.

AdMedia Ptrs., which brokered the sale of Tierney’s agency to Interpublic Group of Cos., is handling the bid for Tierney and his partners—O’Neil Property Group and venture capital firm Strattech Ptrs.

Other possible acquirers include Time Warner’s Time Inc., Hearst Corp. and McGraw-Hill Cos. as well as the Economist Group, Forbes and CurtCo Media Labs.

Tierney’s primary interest is in Inc., around which to build a multimedia company targeting small business while he sees Fast Company as little more than something he can try to stabilize.

PLACEMENT TIPS________
The New York Post has begun covering advertising on a regular basis in its business section.

Daniel Colarusso, who took over as business editor in Jan., said publicists should stick to the beat system unless its big news, and to send all press releases to [email protected].

Holly Sanders, who is the ad beat reporter, can be pitched at 212/930-8000.

Fetch the Paper is a new free monthly paper for pet owners who reside in Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties, plus San Francisco.

The paper has advice columns, calendar of events, book and new product reviews as well as a column devoted to the care of cats, birds, and other creatures.

Sandy Lurins is editor and publisher of the paper, which also has a website (FetchThePaper.com).
Renaissance Consultations, which handles PR for Mara Publishing, is handling inquiries at 530/362-1339.

Weekend, a magazine targeted at women ages 35+, debuted on June 14 on newsstands.

The magazine, published by Hearst Magazines, is divided into two main sections: “Weekend at Home” and “Weekend Away,” covering activities and time-saving tips for the home as well as ideas for quick getaways.

The magazine will publish bimonthly until Hearst makes a decision on the 2006 frequency.
Susan Wyland, who was founding editor of Real Simple and editor of Martha Stewart Living, is editor of Weekend.

PEOPLE______
Jeff Jarvis, whose website, BuzzMachine.com, is one of the most influential media blogs, has signed on as a consultant on improving reader interaction and retential on About.com, a leading online source of consumer information and advice that was acquired in March 2005 by The New York Times Co.

Joseph Cahill, 46, was promoted to managing editor of Crain’s Chicago Business, succeeding Jeff Bailey, who is joining the New York Times.

Philip Berk, a correspondent for FilmInk, Australia and Galaxie, Malaysia, was elected president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. for the year 2005-06.

Jonathan Dube, managing producer of MSNBC.com, is joining CBC.ca, the Canadian Broadcast Corp.’s online website, as editorial director.

CNN VEERS TOWARD MORE NEWS.
CNN is replacing “Inside Politics,” “Crossfire” and “Wolf Blitzer Reports” with a new three-hour news block call “The Situation Room.”

Wolf Blitzer will moderate the new program, which will focus on major and interesting news stories of the day.

Two veteran news producers, David Doss and Victor Neufeld, are joining CNN. Dodd will oversee “Anderson Cooper 360,” Neufeld “Paula Zahn Tonight.”

“Your World Today,” CNN International’s midday broadcast, will air on CNN domestic weekdays at noon. This is the first time any cable news outlet has devoted a regular daytime block to international news, according to USA Today.

Andrew Tyndall, a news analyst, told the paper that CNN is attempting to “counterprogram against Fox rather than compete” by focusing more on hard news and analysis, and away from opinion and talk.

Fox has been attracting an average of 842,000 viewers to CNN’s 458,000 and MSNBC’s 217,000 at any given time, according to the paper.

The lawsuit of PRSA and COO Catherine Bolton against Road Runner and the planned suit against a former staffer (page one) are embarrassing to PRSA members and particularly those from New York.

These legal actions should be the last straws for PRSA/New York which should disassociate itself from national and its anti-communications policies.

The chapter should follow the lead of the Institute for PR which walked in 1989 out of disgust with national’s obsession with APR (on which $2 million has been lost since 1988), and New York Women in Communications, which split from its national group ten years ago and now has 1,100 members.

The actions show the impotence of the PRSA board and the dominance of a staff that relies too much on the advice of law firm Moses & Singer rather than PR considerations.

If dozens of PR pros worked at headquarters in New York instead of four, these legal actions would never have been filed.

Our information is that only three of the five members of the 2004 executive committee approved the actions last November–president Del Galloway, president-elect Judy Phair and treasurer Maria Russell.

Not on the phone call were Rhoda Weiss, treasurer, or Reed Byrum, immediate past president.

Some directors are furious that the 17-member board was not given a chance to vote on this historic attack on a means of communication, our sources say.

Quarto Dunning, law firm for Road Runner, says the PRSA suit, if successful, would have a “chilling effect” on anonymous e-mails. National media attention will be focused on PRSA.

QD also wonders how Bolton can claim her reputation with the board was damaged when the board supports her attempts to sue the e-mailer for defamation.

This is one instance where the board should not hide behind Phair as its single spokesperson. We hear the board is deeply divided on this issue and members should know how each director stands.

Michael Cherenson of Livingston, N.J. should tell Tri-state chapter members and all members how he feels. Gerard Corbett of Hitachi America and Mary Barber of her own firm in Alaska, the two at-large directors, owe reports to all members.

News item: PRSA national nets record $580,000 from its conference in New York in 2004 instead of the usual profit of $131,000.

Yes, national made a bundle from New York.
But what are the chances that any of this will be spent on New York PR pros?

Virtually nil. The national board does not have one New Yorker on it.

A grateful national board would pump money back into New York. It should pay $20,000 a month starting in the fall for top-flight speakers at PRSA/NY lunches; spend about $200K opening a midtown information center for PR pros and reporters, and help fund a new association for New York PR firms that refuse to pay the $2,500 dues required by the Council of PR Firms.

PRSA/NY last week unveiled a study showing that blacks and Hispanics experience bias in the PR field. Only about half of the 132 respondents (10% return) feel satisfied with their jobs. Nearly half feel they are treated unfairly at work.

Hispanic PR pros report the lowest levels of satisfaction.

Women-owned PR firms (80% of respondents were women) show a greater commitment to keeping multicultural PR pros.

The survey was made by Lynn Appelbaum of City College of New York and Rochelle Ford of Howard University. RF Binder Partners was the underwriter of the minority study.

Co-chairing the committee are Lester Davis of CommCore Strategies and Lily Loh of WPP Group’s Hill & Knowlton.

We urge the Black PR Society and Hispanic Marketing Communication Assn. to put aside these claims of discrimination and instead help fill the PR leadership vacuum in New York.

They can help lead the way towards creation of a fall conference that could net the same half million that PRSA’s conference made last fall and the half million the NYWICI Matrix lunch nets each spring.
PRSA/New York, with about 700 members, pays about $157,000 in dues (at $225 per member) to national each year and mainly gets snubbed. Not one PRSA/NY member became APR last year.

Another nightmare is about to break on PRSA’s head. A PR professor at a major university is studying PRSA’s copying and selling of hundreds of thousands of articles and chapters of books in the early 1990's without the authors’ permission.

PRSA said it was only collecting “loan fees” rather than selling the information packets and refused to pay the authors a nickel. Instead, it spent more than $70,000 with Moses & Singer (see above) defending what its information center did.

The professor, having done a Lexis/Nexis search, is surprised at how little was written about this except in O’Dwyer publications. He asked us to fill him in.

He will also seek PRSA’s viewpoint.

Institutions such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, AdWeek and all the major book publishers, whose articles and complete chapters of books were copied for the lucrative “information packets,” would not come to the aid of the dozen authors who hired a lawyer. Not a word appeared in the NYT, WSJ, AA or AdWeek.

We think the publishers did not want to annoy the market represented by PRSA’s members. We hope a thorough study will be made of this unhappy chapter in PRSA’s history.

– Jack O'Dwyer