PHILLY GETS $2.4M STIMULUS FOR OBESITY PR

Philadelphia has earmarked $2.4M in federal stimulus dollars for a multimedia campaign touting healthy food choices, exercise and less “screen time” for kids.

The city’s Dept. of Public Health, eying a two-year initiative, has issued an RFP for a firm to guide the campaign. The DPH said it wants to curb “sedentary behavior” among youth while encouraging walking and biking, in addition to healthy eating habits.

A large chunk of the budget ($1.8M) is expected to go toward placing media.

The firm selected for the public service ad campaign will work with a team from the Annenberg School of Communications. The DPH has its own media planner.

Philadelphia estimates that 24,000 residents have died because of poor diet and inactivity since 2000 and quotes high obesity rates across every demographic group in the city, especially in low-income neighborhoods.

Stimulus funds issued through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are supporting the endeavor. Proposals are due Feb. 16.

RESEARCH GURU OVAITT JOINS MAKOVSKY

Frank Ovaitt, former president/CEO of the Institute for PR Research, has signed on at Makovsky + Co. as executive VP. His job is to integrate research into the PR campaigns developed by the New York-headquartered independent firm.

Ovaitt has extensive corporate experience earned at Monsanto, AT&T and MCI Communications. He founded Crossover International, where he represented drug, auto and retail clients. Ovaitt is CEO emeritus at the Institute and professor of applied PR research at George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. He will remain in metro D.C.

KAN HEADS C&W’S HEALTH UNIT

Mike Kan joins Cohn & Wolfe March 1 as global healthcare practice leader based in London. He takes over for Linda Dyson who assumes healthcare PA responsibilities, a new offering. She moved to the WPP-owned firm from Roche in August and will help clients deal with government reform of health systems.

Kan had headed Edelman’s health unit for the EMEA region. In his 18-year career, Kan led Hill & Knowlton’s health operation in the U.K. and did stints at Burson-Marsteller and Shire Health. C&W has more than 300 healthcare operatives. Kan reports to Donna Imperato, C&W’s CEO.

VOCUS SWINGS TO LOSS

PR software company Vocus swung to fourth quarter and full year 2009 losses of $821K and $2M, respectively, but revenue rose compared with 2008.

The company said today that fourth quarter revenue was up seven percent over ’08 to $22M and up nine percent for the full year at $84.6M. But Vocus posted profit of $1.4M in Q4 of ’08 and $6.9M for the year ’08, although $5.2M of the latter came from a valuation allowance.

In a statement, Vocus president and CEO Rick Rudman said he was pleased with the results, “especially given the continued challenges in the current economy.”

Vocus added a company-best 437 net new subscription customers in Q4, nearly doubling the same period of ’08. New business came from clients like Coleman Company, N.Y. Institute of Technology and Volvo Group N.A. Vocus expects Q1 ’09 revenue in the $21.8 to $22M range. That would be up slightly from 2009’s $20.4M for the same period.

GEPHARDT GOES FOR GEORGIA

The Republic of Georgia, which fought a war with Russia in 2008, has signed Gephardt Government Affairs to a one-year contract worth $35M a month.

The firm of former Majority Leader Dick Gephardt provides lobbying and government services. GGA works the White House and Congress on behalf of the former Soviet republic.

The contract calls for business class airfare for Gephardt and Janice O’Connell, former foreign policy and national security advisor to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Other staffers fly economy class.

Georgia is squabbling with Russia over transmission of a TV station. It alleges Russia pressured a French satellite TV operator to cancel a Russian-language station that started broadcasting from Georgia last month.

GGA picked up a $1.5M lobbying and government relations contract from Turkey last year.

ASSEMBLY MINUTES SHOW FLAWS

The National Assocation of Not Availables (the name we have given PRSA because it withholds critical information from members and the press) has published the “minutes” of the 2009 Assembly in San Diego on Nov. 7.

The 11-page minutes, longer by far than previous three and four-page Assembly minutes, provide some details of the historic meeting that re-wrote the bylaws.

However, much is left out.

(Continued on page 7)

NEBRASKA EYES YOUNG ADULTS WITH RFP

Nebraska has called for pitches to create a social and traditional media campaign aimed at teaching young adults about health before and during pregnancy.

The federally funded effort, based on a campaign last year called “Tune,” will target women from 16-25 in the Cornhusker State with a secondary audience of the “young men in their lives,” according to an RFP issued on Jan. 26.

The state wants to utilize sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as tactics like text messaging, in addition to traditional media outreach. The Tune campaign was guided for the last year by Lincoln, Ne.-based Bailey Lauerman & Associates and included a song writing contest via YouTube and Facebook.

Nebraska is one of 13 states to get federal funding for such an effort. The $225K budget was funded under a September 2008 initiative by the Dept. of Health and Human Services. Proposals are due Feb. 22.

Download the RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

WS HANDLES ISRAEL’S EXPO DEBUT

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has selected Weber Shandwick to handle its pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The country has allotted $6M for the exposition, which will carry the “Innovation for Better Life,” theme.

Israel’s pavilion will consist of a “Whispering Garden,” an orchard equipped with trees that whisper in English and Chinese when a person walks close to them; “Hall of Light,” a room covered with PVC/glass to symbolize transparency and technology, and “Hall of Innovation,” where an audio-visual show features Israeli doctors, scientists, and inventors.

Weber Shandwick is to oversee media outreach and plan special events for Israel, which is debuting on the World Expo scene in Shanghai. The show will run from May 1 to Oct. 31. It is expected to attract 70M people.

The Interpublic unit also will handle General Motors’ pavilion at Shanghai.

MS RUNS FROM FINANCIAL REPORT

Morgan Stanley is distancing itself from a report by one of its advisors that seriously questioned its client Puerto Rico’s financial condition and credit rating.

The Puerto Rico Daily Sun obtained and reported on the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney document, noting the investment bank makes tens of millions of dollars a year selling Puerto Rican government bonds.

The newspaper said MS and Puerto Rico’s Government Development bank tried to deny the report’s existence until MS relented later in the day when the newspaper confirmed the report with an employee and refused to issue a retraction.

MS’ VP of corporate comms., Christine Pollak, said in a statement that the analysis was not a research report from the company and does not reflect its views. She said it is the opinion of “one financial adviser, expressing his own personal view.”

Pollak referred to the document as an “alleged investor report.”

ROGERS GETS EXTENSION WITH FIRST 5

The Rogers Group has been given a six-month extension on a large PR pact with First 5 California, a child development program funded by cigarette and other tobacco taxes.

The extension would stretch Rogers’ original contract, won via RFP in 2005, to more than five years. Unlike a $7.4M two-year extension granted in 2008, the latest six-month add-on would come at no cost.

The state said getting an RFP for PR approved at this stage is premature as it reviews the First 5 campaign’s signature programs.

Rogers won the multi-agency RFP process in 2005 for a three-year pact worth $21M, about $12M of which was for traditional PR. It got a two-year extension in March 2008 worth $7.4M because the campaign was reviewing its media account at the time and did not want to run two RFPs simultaneously.

With the latest extension, the contract runs to November 2010. The state does not believe it will have a new PR pact in place by then.

CATER IN CHARGE OF CHAMBERLAIN/LONDON

Mark Cater, who was CEO of GCI U.K. before it was merged into Cohn & Wolfe in ’08, recently joined Chamberlain Healthcare PR as managing director of its London office.

Cater had been regional director for Europe/Middle East/Africa and India for C&W. Previously, he served at Ketchum as worldwide healthcare director. Cater reunites with Jonathan Wilson, Chamberlain's global practice head and Ketchum alum. Both worked in London and New York.

Chamberlain, which is part of InVentiv Health, opened its British office in ’08.

STATES SEEK PUSH FOR U.K. WINE MARKET

The Southern United States Trade Association, an agricultural export group of 15 states and Puerto Rico, is seeking pitches to represent southern U.S. winemakers in the U.K. ahead of the International Wine Fair in London in May.

SUSTA funding comes from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service intended to develop overseas markets for U.S. goods.

The group is also seeking reps to pave the way for visits by SUSTA officials to promote U.S. goods in Brazil and Chile.

For the U.K., the group, via RFP, wants a liaison between the wine fair organizers and SUSTA to assure its space is prepared to specifications. It also wants its representative to create a PR and marketing plan for key U.S. markets through the media prior to the show and to introduce U.S. winery reps from 10 to 12 southern wineries around the U.K. industry, among other tasks.

The three RFPs call for in-country reps to set up meetings, make a presentation on the foreign market, set up an agenda for U.S. suppliers to visit, and handle communications for and organize a networking event with the country’s trade officials.

Download the RFPs at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

CROWLEY GETS CNN ANCHOR POST

Candy Crowley, senior political correspondent at CNN, has been named anchor of its “State of the Union” interview show that airs Sunday.

She succeeded John King on Feb. 7 as he gets ready to take over Lou Dobbs’ old 7 p.m. weekday slot.

A revamped SOTU is to run from 9 to 10 a.m. with an update at noon.

WASH TIMES TAPS DEALEY

The troubled Washington Times has named Sam Dealey editor after an intensive nationwide search, according to publisher Jonathan Sleven. He is a one-time editorial board member of the paper that is owned by Korea’s Unification Church.

Dealey’s resume includes editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal's culture and thought page, assistant managing editor of the American Spectator and contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report and Reader's Digest.

He also reported from Africa for Time and wrote for publications such as New York Times, GQ and Details.

Dealey looks forward to guiding the Times as it “transitions to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.”

ROSENBUSH REPLACES HODGE AT HARPER'S

Ellen Rosenbush steps in as acting editor of Harper’s with last month’s departure of Roger Hodge from the magazine founded in 1850. Hodge took over for Lewis Lapham in 2006.

Harper’s publisher Rick MacArthur told staffers of the need to change the culture of the magazine, urging more cooperation between editorial and advertising staffs, according to a report in the New York Times.

Harper's has been known for its long-form reporting and essays, a format that may be out-of-touch in today's Internet-driven media scene.

Rosenbush had been managing editor.

NPR APOLOGIZES FOR ‘FLAWED’ OBIT

National Public Radio apologized Feb. 5 for its “flawed” obituary of left-leaning 87-year-old historian Howard Zinn who died Jan. 27 while on a speaking tour of California.

The four-minute obit by Allison Keyes, which aired Jan. 28, including a quote from conservative David Horowitz who blistered Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present.”

Said Horowitz: “There is absolutely nothing in Howard Zinn’s intellectual output that is worthy of any kind of respect. Zinn represents a fringe mentality which has unfortunately seduced millions of people at this point in time. So he did certainly alter the consciousness of millions of younger people for the worse.”

That quote sparked a protest campaign from Fairness and Accuracy in Media that resulted in over 1,600 emails, over 100 phone calls and 108 comments on npr.org, according to NPR’s ombudsman Alicia Shepard.

Critics compared the attack on Zinn’s obit to the respectful coverage that NPR afforded conservatives William Buckley, Robert Novak and evangelical Oral Roberts. Those obits refrained from any “mean-spirited” remarks, admitted Shepard.

FAIR’s talking points noted that Zinn was admired by those on the left as much as Buckley was by those on the right.

Shepard wrote that obituaries are “are news stories that place a person in time and history -- not tributes.”

NPR had every right to mention that Zinn was controversial and that “some historians were dismissive of his work.” Several professional obit writers agreed however that Horowitz’s “harsh comments about Zinn were not appropriate.”

NPR does not have a full-time obit writer. Keyes was assigned the obit the day after Zinn died for an “All Things Considered” segment to air the same night. She had trouble finding sources to talk about Zinn.

NPR now believes it should have waited a day or two, as did the Washington Post, to find a “more nuanced critic” for the obit. That would have been better than rushing a flawed obituary on air,” wrote Shepard.

COUNTRY WEEKLY GETS REVAMP

Lisa Konicki, ex-photo editor of Country Weekly magazine, has been named editor-in-chief of the weekly American Media title devoted to country music.

Konicki, who also oversees countryweekly.com, has been with the magazine for 13 years.

Ken Tucker, editor of Billboard Country Update, was named managing editor of CW to oversee its writing and editorial staff.

Also, former staffer Eva Elliott has returned to CW after stints as art director at Relish and Spry. She’ll take that title at CW overseeing layout and design.

RODALE SHUFFLES MAG PR TEAM

Rodale has promoted Allison Hobson Falkenberry to associate VP, brand communications to lead the publisher’s magazine publicity teams with responsibility for all consumer publicity.

Rodale said she’ll also work closely with its integrated marketing and sales team on all consumer-facing media opportunities reporting to Robin Shallow, executive VP, communications.

Falkenberry had been executive director of Men’s Health and is credited with leading a PR strategy that garnered a record number of impressions for the magazine, its overall brand, and its offshoot book “Eat This, Not That!” in 2009.

Allison Keane has been promoted to executive director, Men’s Health/Women’s Health, reporting to Falkenberry. She previously headed PR WH.

Also, Bethridge Toovell has been upped to director of comms. at Prevention under Falkenberry and Lauren Paul has been promoted to manager, communications to oversee PR for its branded books and TV opportunities for the brand.

Rodale has promoted Tanja Sullivan to director, corporate communications, and Ellie Prezant has been upped to senior manager, marketing communications, both under Shallow.

(Media news continued on next page)

CABLEVISION UPS PR CHIEF

Cablevision Systems, which has navigated the high-profile acquisition of Newsday and a recently settled standoff with Scripps Networks, promoted its top PR executive, Charles Schueler, to executive VP, communications and community relations.

President and CEO James Dolan said in a statement that Schueler guided Cablevision’s media and community relations “during a period of unprecedented change and growth.”

Schueler, who has served as the Dolan family-owned company's chief communications officer and strategist as senior VP, will continue as its chief spokesman. He is currently handling the spinoff of its Madison Square Garden properties, including the arena, the New York Rangers and New York Knicks, slated to close on Feb. 9.

He joined the company in 1988 after serving as director of PA for its former Boston cable system. Earlier, he worked for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Cablevision properties include the eponymous cable operation and its Optimum services, Newsday Media Group, Clearview Cinemas, Sundance Channel, Radio City Music Hall, Beacon Theatre and Chicago Theatre.

Goodman Media Int’l handles Cablevision.

D.C. MEDIA, PR PROS URGE MORE ‘DEBATES’

A group of dozens of journalists, political PR consultants and prominent business executives kicked off a campaign last week to urge President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner to hold more debates like Jan. 29’s widely covered and viewed session in Baltimore.

“It is time to make Question Time a regular feature of our democracy,” the group said in an open letter released today under the campaign title “Demand Question Time.”

Among the initial supports of the push are Mike Moffo, VP of SS+K who was a deputy field director for the Obama campaign, David All, president of digital PR shop David All Group, Patrick Ruffini, who ran digital campaigns for the Republican National Committee, Michael Bassik, former Chief Digital Officer of Air America and a senior VP at Global Strategy Group, and Mark McKinnon, former media advisor to President George W. Bush.

“This was one of the best national political debates in many years,” the group said of the recent event. It has started a petition drive at DemandQuestionTime.com.

GOOGLE’S EUN RETURNS TO AOL

David Eun, who was VP-strategic partnerships at Google responsible for handling coordination with its YouTube unit, returns to AOL on March 1 as president of its media and studios operation.

He will manage AOL's more than 80 content sites and its Seed.com publishing platform, as well as the StudioNow video unit in Los Angeles and New York.

Eun reports to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong. He replaces Bill Wilson, who is exiting after a nine-year stint at AOL.

Eun left AOL’s then- parent company, Time Warner, in 2006. He was responsible for digital distribution and broadband content for AOL, Time Warner Cable and Time Inc. divisions.

Prior to Time Warner, Eun was a partner in Arts Alliance, a venture capital firm that specializes in digital media, information technology and business services.

The former Bain & Co. management consultant began a communications career at NBC, where he handled cross-media initiatives involving TV programming, Internet and retail consumer products.

Armstrong, in a statement, said Eun's recruitment comes “at an exciting juncture for the company as we focus on scaling our content platforms, production and partnerships to offer quality, original content that will engage consumers.”

O’HARA EXITS TV GUIDE NETWORK

Ryan O’Hara is resigning the presidency of TV Guide Network at TVGuide.com after an eight-year stint.

He is leaving following last year’s takeover of the channel by Lionsgate and One Equity Partners.

O’Hara believes strong leadership is in place at TVGN to make it a major player in the “branded celebration of entertainment and fandom.” He is ready to take on a “new entrepreneurial opportunity.”

DISCOUNT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA CONFAB

The NewComm Forum of the NewComm Collaborative, part of Redwood Collaborative Media, is offering a discount of up to $700 on its meeting on “The Social Web” April 20-23 at the San Mateo Marriott, San Mateo, Calif.

A discount of up to $600 was offered for registrations received before March 12 and an extra $100 was added for registrations received by last week.

Standard price for the event is $1,495.

Speakers at the conference include Scott Monty, head of social media, Ford Motor Co.; Charles Holt, senior strategist for emerging media, Dept. of Defense; Tim Westergren of Pandora, and Neville Hobson, head of social media Europe, WeissComm Group.

PR and other professionals are invited to join the NewComm Collaborative, which was started last year as a “new community for professionals from diverse disciplines who are interested in discovering how to leverage the new communications tools and technologies that are changing the way business is done.”

Charter memberships are available at $195 through June 30, 2010.

Redwood Collaborative Media is headed by founder and CEO Andrew Muns.

He is publisher of Software Test & Performance magazine. RCM was started in December 2008 with the acquisition of the Software Test & Performance division of BZ Media.

The company has transformed the traditional media property of Software Test & Performance magazine into STP Collaborative, a interactive online media and community site for more than 50,000 staffers.

UNH TECH TESTING LAB WANTS PR

The Univ. of New Hampshire's InterOperability Lab, a third-party testing ground for data and networking products from companies like Cisco, Apple and Ford, is looking for a PR firm to boost its "brand" and attract funding and memberships.

The lab, which, according to an RFP, lacks a comprehensive, effective PR and media "process," wants to be positioned as a knowledge leader for data communications and storage technology expertise.

More than 130 companies test new products and technologies on the UNH lab's $30M equipment by paying significant fees (up to $24K/year) to be part of testing consortiums in categories like wireless and routing. Its results are confidential and not published, which keeps the IOL's profile low.

The RFP calls for a plan to work with business and trade press, developing news releases, working with industry analysts, and "interfacing" news and news service information with members, both current and prospective. The one-year PR contract is capped at $100K. Subudhi Consulting Group, based in Richmond, Va., currently works with the lab on PR.

Proposals are due Feb. 16. (odwyerpr.com/rfps).

RF: CSR VIEWS EXPRESSED IN CHINA

Chinese consumers said they would avoid companies with a poor CSR record, but criteria like quality and environmental protection far outweigh concerns like intellectual property rights and employee treatment, according to a study by Ruder Finn and Tsinghua University.

Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble are viewed as the top corporate citizens for fast-moving consumer goods among the Chinese population, according to the study of more than 3,000 respondents. In the auto sector, Volkswagen and the state-owned car maker First Automotive Works scored top marks for CSR.

RF pointed out that Chinese companies are faring well in the food and drink sector (Coca-Cola and Pepsi were the only foreign companies in the top 10), but are behind the curve in hygiene products and automobiles with only two slots in the top 10 for both categories.

Notably, more than two-thirds of Chinese consumers said they would refuse to buy or reduce their purchases of products from companies perceived to have a poor CSR performance. More than 73% said they would prefer to purchase goods from a company with a strong CSR view.

Looking inward, Chinese consumers said domestic companies have an "average" (around 50%) CSR performance and less than a third said they were satisfied with that. A paltry 11-14% said Chinese companies perform CSR better than foreign competitors.

"There is a long way to go for Chinese companies to catch up with foreign companies in terms of CSR performance," said Prof. Zhao Shuguang of Tsingua Univ.

Among the top CSR concerns of Chinese citizens were product quality, environmental protection, and management integrity. Criteria considered least important were intellectual property, fair competition, and employee rights and interests.

DNA13 EXPANDS OFFERING, REACH

Dna13 has released an upgraded version of its flagship media monitoring and PR management software and expanded its availability through a partnership with Thomson Reuters.

The revamped software monitors both traditional and social media, including microblogging services like Twitter, and adds the capability to register RSS feeds and similar content.

The dna13 software also allows for multiple users to collaborate on projects and share assets like media lists and other information from a single source.

News coverage is provided in graphical and tabular format and can be sorted by issue, campaign, region or business line, the company said.

The company has also expanded the availability of its flagship software, which is being marketed by both dna13 and through Thomson Reuters’ Thomson ONE PR platform in the U.S. CNW Group markets the software in Canada.

BRIEFS: Cision’s Social Media Dashboard nabbed a 2010 CODiE Award for best social media aggregation service. The Radian6-powered service monitors more than 100M blogs, online forums, digital media, microblogs, social media and rich media sites. Dow Jones’ Factiva won best content aggregation service. ...D S Simon Productions, New York, produced a satellite media tour for aluminum giant Alcoa with a couple on a campaign to recycle cans to pay for their July 2010 wedding. Alcoa donated 150,000 cans to the effort (about one-third of the total needed). The SMT included more than two dozen interviews from the couple’s home in Spokane, Wash. The bride called Alcoa’s donation “incredibly motivating.” Video is at http://bit.ly/bc70w3. The couple is about 82 percent of the goal of 400K cans, which would provide about $3,800 for the wedding. ... PR Newswire has launched CSR Room, a tool that lets users create and manage web pages for corporate social responsibility efforts in compliance with SEC requirements relating to the impacts of climate change. The SEC voted in January to issue interpretive guidance on existing disclosure requirements related to climate change focused on four issues: the impact of legislation and regulation; the effect of international accords; indirect consequences of regulation or business trends; and the physical impacts of climate change.

ASSEMBLY TRANSCRIPT (cont’d from page 1)

No vote totals are given except for the final vote of 264 to 20 that approved the new bylaws.

The main bylaw change, which would have taken from the Assembly the power to elect board and officers, was defeated by a vote of 175-103 as recorded by this NL.

This proposed bylaw was voted on first because it had drawn the most comments during the year.

The minutes do not show any of the totals of other votes that were taken during the meeting, only whether a motion was passed or not.

Numerical and percentage totals were flashed on giant screens for each. These constituted "actions" and the numbers should have been in the minutes, according to those familiar with "Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised" (RONR).

Five of 15 Articles Discussed

RONR’s rules for adopting new bylaws, a process called a "revision," say that a representative assembly of a group should have the chance to discuss and vote on all articles up for adoption.

NANA Assembly delegates were only presented with five of the 15 articles for discussion.

Three and a half hours of the nine-hour meeting were taken up with leader speeches, an hour and a half lunch break, elections and other procedural matters.

Not discussed was Article 2 which says "reasonable compensation may be paid (to members) for services actually rendered to or for the Society."

This appears to defy the "no inurement" clause for members in the tax code. Article 5 says, "No elected officer or director shall be entitled to any salary or other compensation for their services…"

However, this leaves the door open for payment to members who are not elected officers or directors.

Most PR Students Barred from Membership

Among other articles not discussed was Article 10 which continues the rule that students may only join the Student Society if a chapter exists at their college. Only about 300 of the 4,000 colleges have such chapters.

Several national leaders proposed in 2001 that students from any college should be able to join the national group directly.

PR professors and others blocked a motion on "at-large student membership" from reaching the floor of the Assembly that year. Fifty signatures were obtained against the proposal.

There were 21 from past presidents including Betsy Plank, 1973 president, who is closely identified with the NANA Student Society.

Another attempt at "at-large" student membership was made at the 2007 Assembly by the Western district. This would have let students join the Student Society even though their schools did not have a Student Society chapter.

Fierce opposition greeted this. Casey DeLorme of the Western district and Joe Trahan, chair of the Educators Academy, addressed the Assembly and said the proposal had been withdrawn.

A compromise was to have been worked out but no further proposals on the matter were ever brought up to the Assembly.

Also not discussed was Article 12 which says that all members of the Board of Ethics must be APR even though less than 20% of members are APR.

Robert’s Advises Full Venting

Page 575 of RONR says, "A revision of bylaws or a lengthy amendment involving more than one section should be considered seriatim as described in 28."

"Seriatim" in RONR means discussion of something paragraph by paragraph. It also has the meaning of "one by one in sequence."

Says RONR (page 268): "In adopting a set of bylaws or the articles of a platform, consideration by paragraph is the normal and advisable procedure."

“Webster’s New World Robert’s Rules of Order”, which simplifies and even expands on what is in RONR, says on page 331 that “bylaw revision is usually considered, presented, discussed and amended article by article. After all the articles are read, discussed and amended, the revision as a whole is opened up for discussion and further amended.”

Webster’s advises that revisions be taken up at a special meeting or a series of special meetings rather than a regular meeting.

It also advises that a "large committee" be appointed with "the most interested and vocal people" who "represent many viewpoints."

The NANA bylaws committee had 11 members, ten of them accredited. The committee members sought the appointment rather than being appointed by leadership.

One member quit to protest the policy of avoiding any face-to-face discussion with members on the bylaw revision.

The committee instead of face-to-face had eight teleconferences open to delegates and members who registered. Neither chair Mike Cherenson nor bylaws chair Dave Rickey ever appeared in person before any of the 109 chapters to discuss the revision.

Cherenson addressed the East Lansing, Mich., chapter Sept. 23, 2009. After speaking for 57 minutes, he took several questions.

RONR and Others Bar Proxies

RONR and other parliamentary guidelines bar proxy votes in a deliberative body as being against the nature of such bodies.

RONR, combating the failure of some state legislatures, including New York’s, to bar proxy voting in deliberative bodies, adopted a rule that says use of RONR as a parliamentary authority should be taken as sufficient to satisfy any state law that demands a specific bar to proxy voting.

Since 56 proxies were used, or 19% of the total of 284 delegates present, all the votes in which the deciding factor was proxy votes can be challenged indefinitely, say those familiar with RONR.

They said this is because a fundamental rule of deliberative bodies has been violated.

However, since NANA is thus far withholding the vote totals, there is no way to determine whether proxies were the deciding factor in any particular vote.

Delegates used numbered electronic keypads which kept a record of all of their votes.

IT specialists are moving in for the kill.

Information technology specialist Andrew Muns, publisher of Software Test & Performance magazine, is promoting a seminar on social media April 20-23 at the San Mateo Marriott at a cost of $1,495.

IT nerds (brainy but unsociable) sense that PR people are lining up like sheep to be driven into social media pens.

However, it could be that the great bulk of PR pros are not falling for the social media hype.

The NewComm Collaborative that Muns heads last week offered discounts of up to $700 for those registering early for his three-day seminar.

So we don’t think demand is all that strong for SM in spite of all the hype.

According to the NewComm flyers, SM is going to “change the way business is done” and you’d better get on this bandwagon.

PR pros and others are being asked to take charter memberships in the NewComm Collaborative at $195 each.

Social media is a small part of the internet and is not going to replace the main job the internet does—making an immense body of facts, knowledge, history and prices available to the masses that cannot be controlled by any organization.

Coke, Pepsi Are Examples

Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo are examples of companies putting lots of effort into social media, touting themselves as public servants and do-gooders.

Coke is helping the Boys and Girls Clubs and PepsiCo will donate to favorite charities picked by users. But the public is also going to search out the two parent companies on the web.

What will they find? That the main products of both companies contribute heavily to obesity, a condition afflicting an estimated two-thirds of Americans.

Adam Bordes, nutritionist author of “Lighten Up! Daily Reminders to Having a Lighter, Happier, Healthier Life,” says the high fructose corn syrup in sodas doesn’t increase blood sugar like “real” food and results in people staying hungry and eating more.

Coke is being excoriated on the web for allegedly blocking a Canadian TV segment on its activities in Colombia. Activists in that nation refer to “Killer Coke” for its alleged union-busting. They demonstrated at Coke h.q. in Atlanta in November.

Hewlett-Packard, a featured company at the Business Development Institute’s SM seminar Jan. 13, is slammed on the web for the astronomical cost of its ink.

Almost all of what we read about SM is about process and techniques—almost nothing about subject matter. Difficult subjects are simply avoided, as though that is the solution to the problem.

SM Is Fake Socializing

SM occupies many of the new generation in rapping with each other electronically during the day.

Real socializing, the previous norm in PR, involved PR and press couples socializing at daytime or evening events or even weekends. PR pros were among the most gracious and entertaining hosts and hostesses.

Washington, D.C.’s Bob Gray typified the socially skilled PR pro.

Crimping PR pros’ style in recent years has been the removal of their expense accounts (while almost all other businesspeople still have them judging by jammed New York restaurants at lunch).

Instead of rapping with reporters in person and sharing knowledge while building social skills, PR pros today are turned into customer service reps who do one-on-one with consumers in Twitter and other electronic venues.

Quality of National Dialogue Is Issue

At issue is the quality of national dialogue. Organizations need to present themselves for questioning on a public stage.

A lot of PR brainpower is being expended on measurement and SM rather than on fostering open discussion, which PR prof Tim Penning has described in PR Tactics as the heart and soul of PR.

Significantly, this essay is not on the NANA (nee PR Society) website although his other essays are.

NANA Shuns Public Discussion

A example of refusal to take part in public discussion is the National Assn. of Not Availables. We don’t use its legal name because of its information withholding practices.

NANA says it has a “Business Case for PR” but how can an organization that doesn’t practice PR promote the use of it?

Its Assembly Nov. 7, 2009 was a travesty because a large part of what was said by the delegates could not be heard by other delegates. Leaders had refused to audiocast the Assembly live which would have been both cheap and easy.

Instead of being given the stage, where leaders spoke, nearly 100 delegates had to use mikes in the aisles and often did not speak “on the mike.” Forced to “address the chair,” they presented the backs of their heads to about half the room of some 280 people.

Leaders have misinterpreted Robert’s Rules of Orders (RONR) on this. Delegates must “address the chair” but do not have to physically “face” it. They could use the same mikes as the leaders, addressing fellow delegates “through the chair.”

NANA has an audiotape of the 5.5 hours spent on the bylaws but won’t supply it to delegates or the press. This year it won’t even make a transcript of the tape.

Gary McCormick, 2010 chair, is refusing to answer any of our questions on this and other matters and we’re not surprised.

HGTV Blew Up Housing Balloon

We’d also like to question him on the role that his employer, HGTV (House/Garden), played in the housing boom and bust.

HGTV is one of the favorite programs of our spouse and we have watched it dozens of times as people shopped for, sold or redecorated houses.

Time mag accused HGTV of “pumping air into the real estate froth by teaching us how to extract value from our homes.” HGTV programs include “Designed to Sell,” “House Hunters,” and “My House is Worth What?” Even worse were shows called “Flip That House” (TLC) and “Flip This House” (A&E).

Never once did HGTV tell us what buyers were putting down on these houses or details of the financing.

With the number of homes “under water” heading towards 5.5 million and higher, it’s no wonder McCormick does not want to talk to us either about HGTV or NANA.

We want written assurances from McCormick that NANA will obey the law and provide us with a suitable device so we can hear everything said at the 2010 Assembly. The Assembly should be audiocast live. The 2010 “Leadership Rally” set for June 4-5 at a cost about $100K should instead be a spring Assembly that could right the numerous wrongs done at the 2009 Assembly.

It would givc the “Leadership Assembly” a chance to show some real leadership.

--Jack O'Dwyer