FDA SEEKS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

The Food and Drug Administration is on the hunt for a PR firm to assist its office of external affairs in developing a communications plan.

The FDA issued an RFP in late May and was seeking proposals through June 7 for a one-year contract to handle tasks like communications training of its 50 public affairs staffers.

There is no incumbent and the FDA does not currently have a formal communications plan. The contract, expected to be awarded this month, will carry a one-year option. The FDA, which declined to provide a budget figure, stresses that the work is only for the plan and training and will not include PR efforts that stem from the plan.

Most of the work will take place at the FDA’s Silver Spring, Md., campus.

LEVY HANGS ON AT PUBLICIS; KENNY EXITS

Maurice Levy, at the wish of Publicis Groupe's board of directors, will remain CEO beyond the expiration of his contract at the end of next year. With that decision, David Kenny, digital guru, is departing.

The 68-year-old Morocco-born Frenchman told the Guardian in April that he would not seek a contract renewal. A follow-up story in the Financial Times reported Publicis' board was “not happy” with Levy's planned exit. Levy then left open the possibility of sticking around.

Kenny, a former heir apparent to Levy, was CEO of Digitas when it was acquired by Publicis for $1.3B in 2006. He spearheaded the build-up of the ad/PR combine’s digital business, a move that included the $530M acquisition of Razorfish.

BP TAPS EX-DOE PA CHIEF, ADDS MEDIA FIRM

Anne Womack-Kolton, a director for BP’s PR firm Brunswick Group and former press aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, has been brought in-house by the London-based oil giant as head of group media/U.S.

Kolton joined APCO Worldwide as a VP at the close of the Bush administration and was assistant press secretary at the White House, press secretary to Cheney during the 2004 campaign, and director of public affairs at the Dept. of Energy.

BP has also hired D.C. media and consulting firm Purple Strategies to produce the estimated $50M TV ad campaign running nationally which features CEO Tony Hayward apologizing.

Purple is the firm of Democratic comms. operative Steve McMahon and Republican adman Alex Castellanos.

O’DWYER’S 2010 DIR. LISTS 1,700+ PR FIRMS

The 2010 and 40th annual edition of O’Dwyer’s Directory of PR Firms, which will be published next week, provides information on more than 1,700 PR firms, nearly 400 of which expanded their entries.

Net fee income figures were provided by 135 of the firms which also reported more than 500 fee totals for their specialty practices.

The O’Dwyer specialty rankings come up at the top or near the top when seekers of PR counsel Google “healthcare PR,” “technology PR,” “financial PR” or any of the other specialties tracked by the Directory.

“Marketers have learned that the quickest way to find PR firms in their industry are via the Directory’s rankings,” said publisher Jack O’Dwyer.

Almost all the firms in the specialty rankings have listings on odwyerpr.com which can be easily accessed.

Profiles of specialty practices that appeared in O’Dwyer’s magazine are at the base of the rankings and can be printed out or e-mailed. Users can flip through the electronic magazine pages like the printed product.

Another feature of the O’Dwyer specialty rankings accessed via Google is a geographical listing of all the firms in each particular specialty.

Thirteen pages of rankings break out 13 types of specialties ranging from agriculture and beauty/fashion to technology and travel/leisure.

There are rankings of PR firms in 17 geographical areas.

Orders for the $95 Directory are handled online at odwyerpr.com or at the toll free number, 866/395-7710.

VAN JONES, GAUDET ADDRESS SEMINAR

Van Jones, an environmental advocate who was Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Dr. Tracy Gaudet, executive director of Duke Integrative Medicine, were among the speakers at the 58th annual “Seminar” at the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain June 3-5.

The group dropped the “PR” from its name two years ago after using it for 56 years.

A sign at this year’s meeting said Seminar is “The Annual Forum of Senior Communications and Public Affairs Executives.”

Seminar tradition is that discussion of “PR” as such is forbidden. Instead, political, social and economic topics are explored by speakers and members.

Sources at the meeting said that virtually all those who registered came since only a few Seminar badges

(Continued on page 7)

SEIU ISSUES TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR ARIZ.

Revolution Messaging is behind the Service Employees International Union’s online “It Stops in Arizona” campaign to generate awareness of Arizona's draconian law that seeks to crack down on illegal immigration.

The effort broke as President Obama prepared to meet with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer at the White House last week.

The campaign features a parody Arizona travel advisory hotline. Callers are warned that an "overly stringent law on immigration has made it difficult for anyone who looks even suspicious, resulting in detainment."

Among those especially warned are people with skin even remotely tanned, yellow or brown. Also, people “who don't resemble a J. Crew or Ralph Lauren model should be very, very careful.” A tip: wear “conservative or preppy clothing to avoid getting noticed.”

Citizenship or immigration papers are absolutely necessary if one must go through the Grand Canyon State, according to the union.

The SEIU brands Arizona’s law something that will "undermine public safety, waste millions of taxpayer funds and imperil our most basic civil rights."

The union is pushing for a federal overhaul of the immigration system.

RM is a mobile communication, social media, and lifestyle marketing firm based in D.C.

Toby Chaudhuri handles the SEIU effort. He was deputy press secretary to Al Gore’s 2000 presidential run, media strategist at the Children’s Defense Fund, communications director at the Campaign for America's Future.

GOP OPERATIVE SCHMIDT TO EDELMAN

Steve Schmidt, a top Republican communications strategist who served high-profile PR roles for Sen. John McCain, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George W. Bush, will join Edelman at the end of the year.

He has been serving as a partner at Mercury Public Affairs leading its California operation.

Edelman said Schmidt will take the role of vice chairman, public affairs, in full by December 1.

Schmidt managed Schwarzenegger's 2006 re-election after serving as an aide and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney and the Bush/Cheney re-election in 2004.

He later was a high-profile senior advisor to McCain during his 2008 presidential bid.

Schmidt also did a stint in Baghdad as a media relations advisor to U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalizad and led the confirmation team of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

In a statement, Richard Edelman praised Schmidt's experience "navigating the interactions between business, government, media and civil society" as he said the firm focuses on "new opportunities" in the PA sector.

Schmidt will serve as a senior strategic counselor at the firm on a global basis with a key focus on the firm's $60M U.S. public affairs practice.

PRENNER HELPS HAGGARD RE-LAUNCH

Embattled evangelist Ted Haggard is working with Los Angeles-based entertainment PR firm Prenner Group as he announced plans June 2 to start a new church in Colorado.

Haggard quit the 14,000-member New Life Church he founded and stepped down as head of the National Association of Evangelicals after a male prostitute said in 2006 that Haggard was a three-year customer of his and a user of methamphetamine.

Haggard, who later confessed to marital infidelity and drug use, worked with Amy Prenner’s firm for the unveiling June 2, when he and his wife said they are starting a new house of worship – the St. James Church – from their Colorado Springs base on June 13.

Amy Prenner, who heads Prenner Group, told O'Dwyer's that she picked up the assignment on a referral and will be providing ongoing counsel to Haggard as he starts anew.

“St. James is a church for sinners – people who have hit rock bottom and people who want to help people who have hit rock bottom,” he said, according to the Denver Post. Reports from the press conference noted Haggard is being trailed by a documentary crew from a Los Angeles company filming his "comeback."

Prenner is a veteran TV and film PR pro. She is a former head of publicity for "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and her firm has worked with E!, The History Channel and TLC, among others.

UofL BIZ SCHOOL SEEKS PITCHES

The University of Louisville is reviewing its advertising and PR account for its College of Business with an RFP open through mid-June.

The school wants to promote programs to diverse audiences and boost positive awareness of the college's existing branding through a two-year contract with an agency.

Ads, PR programs and viral marketing are covered in the request for pitches to support its MBA programs, equine industry program, and the college as a whole.
The selected firm should have experience touting MBA programs and will work with the university office of communications and marketing, following its graphic and branding standards already in place.

Download the RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

BEAR STEARNS PRO FINDS HOME AT CJP

CJP Communications has acquired the PR firm of former Bear Stearns spokesperson Russell Sherman. CEO Jennifer Prosek says Sherman has a “deep understanding of media relations, crisis communications and brand strategy.” He launched Sherman Strategic Communications in ’08.

At Bear, Sherman headed corporate PR and communications efforts of the failed investment banker's business units. He joined Bear in ’99. The Federal Reserve bailed out the banker in ’08 and then engineered a shotgun marriage to JPMorgan Chase. The Bear Stearns name was retired in January.

Sherman was a reporter/anchor at New York 1 News prior to moving to Wall Street. He is now a partner at CJP.

HEARST ACQUIRES ICROSSING

Hearst Corp. has acquired iCrossing, a top digital marketing services company, in a deal worth an estimated $325M. Scottsdale, Ariz-based iCrossing employs 550 people in 12 offices.

The deal provides Hearst with web development, mobile/social marketing, paid search, search engine optimization and data analytics capabilities. iCrossing counts Coca-Cola, Toyota, Bank of America and Travelocity as clients.

Don Scales, CEO of iCrossing, said "aligning with Hearst means a sharing of consumer insights, content, channel expertise and technology that will result in totally new approaches to both digital and integrated marketing for advertisers."

Matthew Petersen, senior VP of Hearst Magazine, gets to head a new unit, Hearst Marketing Services, formed to house iCrossing and future acquisitions in the $25B digital marketing space.

He joined Hearst from Meredith Corp. in March. At Meredith, Petersen was senior VP of Meredith Integrated Marketing.

WASH TIMES PRO AXED AFTER CRITICISM

Julia Duin, who reported for the Washington Times, has been let go by the paper that is owned by Korea’s Unification Church.

The dismissal follows Duin calling the Times a “rudderless ship” in a story published by the Washington Post. The paper is up for sale.

The 54-year-old Duin believes she was canned in retaliation for saying nobody at the Times really knows who is running things.

Times editor Sam Dealey told Duin she was laid off because “religion coverage has no future at the paper.” He denied her WaPo quote had anything to do with the firing. Duin was dismissed June 1 while giving her five-year-old daughter a tour of the newsroom.

KARP GETS PUB POST AT S&S

Jonathan Karp, who established the Twelve imprint at Hachette Book Group, is the new publisher of Simon & Schuster, which is part of CBS.

Twelve publishes about a dozen books a year by notables such as Christopher Buckley and Christopher Hitchens. It published Ted Kennedy's memoir, "True Compass."

Karp succeeds David Rosenthal who was at the helm for 13 years. S&S puts out about 100 books annually. Mary Higgins Clark, Bob Dylan, Stephen King and Jonathan Alter are among authors at S&S.

NYT THREATENS LEGAL BATTLE WITH WSJ

The New York Times Co. has sent the Wall Street Journal a legal letter demanding that it drop a tagline for which the Times claims to have a trademark pending.

The Times is upset with a May 26 WSJ ad with the line “Not Just Wall Street. Every Street.”

“While we are flattered by your admiration of our marketing efforts, please note that The Times owns the trademark rights in the slogan and your brazen appropriation of our intellectual property rights constitutes a willful infringement and dilution of the Times's rights under the Lanham Act,” lawyer Richard Samson wrote in the letter.

The Times says it uses that exact slogan in New York City ads. It promises to pursue all legal remedies if the Journal doesn't drop the contested tagline.

LOWRY JOINS VARIETY

Tom Lowry, who was media editor at BusinessWeek, is now senior editor at Variety, handling coverage of business and finance from New York.

He spent more than a decade at BusinessWeek, which was recently bought by Bloomberg, writing cover stories on Rupert Murdoch, ESPN and digital piracy.

Lowry also worked at the New York Daily News and USA Today. He begins the Variety job on June 28. Lowry will report to group editor Tim Gray.

D.C. JOURNO TO B-M

John Mercurio, executive editor of The National Journal's digital “Hotline,” has moved to Burson-Marsteller as a director in its media practice in Washington, D.C. He’ll work under executive VP Josh Gottheimer in the media unit.

Mercurio penned the “PolitiScope” column at NationalJournal's website. He moved to TNJ from CNN, where he was political editor from 2002-05, and earlier covered Congressional elections at Roll Call.

Mercurio was also Annapolis bureau chief and D.C. city hall reporter at the Washington Times.

BP TWITTER SPOOF AUTHOR POSTS MISSIVE

A person identifying himself as "Leroy Stick" laid claim to the popular Twitter spoof site BPGlobalPR with a lengthy essay criticizing BP's physical and PR response to the Gulf oil spill.

"You know the best way to get the public to respect your brand?" he asked. "Have a respectable brand."

Stick rapped articles and blogs by PR and marketing pros wondering what BP should do to save their brand from his Twitter satire.

"First of all, who cares?" he wrote. "Second of all, what kind of business are you in? I'm trashing a company that is literally trashing the ocean, and these idiots are trying to figure out how to protect that company?"

Among his advice to BP: "Offer a great, innovative product and make responsible, ethical business decisions. Lead the pack! Evolve! Don't send hundreds of temp workers to the Gulf to put on a show for the President. Hire those workers to actually work!"

He continued: "Re-branding doesn't work if we don't let it, so let's hold BP's feet to the fire. Let's make them own up to and fix their mistakes NOW and most importantly, let's make sure we don't let them do this again.

"Right now, PR is all about brand protection," he concludes. "All I'm suggesting is that we use that energy to work on human progression. Until then, I guess we've still got jokes.”

The BPGlobalPR Twitter account has more than 113K followers.

(Media news continued on next page)

HELEN THOMAS QUITS

Helen Thomas resigned June 7 as the longest serving member of the White House press corps in the aftermath of saying that Israelis should “get the hell out of Palestine” and go to Germany and Poland.

The 89-year-old UPI fixture was working as columnist for Hearst Newspapers. She did not appear at that briefing.

That session featured Press Secretary Robert Gibbs dismissing Thomas’ comment as “offensive and reprehensible.” He said Thomas' remark “certainly” does not reflect the opinion of the Obama Administration.

Thomas was dropped by her speakers’ bureau, Nine Speakers Inc., last week as well. Diane Nine, president of the firm issued a statement that praised Thomas as an “esteemed journalist” and “trailblazer for women.”

However, the company “is no longer able to Represent Ms. Thomas, nor can we condone her comments on the Middle East.,” according to Nine.

Thomas has apologized for her video remark and claims it does not reflect her position on the situation in the Middle East.

In her Hearst statement, Thomas expressed a “heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.”

GROUPS FORM ‘CENSORSHIP COALITION’

Conservative religious and media groups have banded together to form a "censorship coalition" to pressure advertisers to drop financial support for programming that they deem offensive to Christians and Jews.

The Citizens Against Religious Bigotry debuted via a press conference June 3 to denounce “JC,” an animated pilot under development by Comedy Central about Jesus Christ.

JC, which may or may not air, depicts Jesus as a “regular guy” in New York who is trying to escape from the long shadow of his powerful father.

The Coalition believes it can pressure Comedy Central to pull the plug on JC, since the Viacom property already “caved” to Muslims who were offended by a depiction of Muhammad in “South Park.” That bit was censored.

Coalition members include Bill Donohue's Catholic League, Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council, Rabbi Daniel Lapin's American Alliance of Jews and Christians, Tim Winter’s President Television Council, Brent Bozell’s Media Research Center and talk radio host Michael Medved.

Bozell expects advertisers will yank ads from Comedy Central once the Coalition reveals the “vile and offensive nature” of previous characterizations of Jesus, according to his statement. He's confident “they will discontinue their support for unabashed, anti-Christian discrimination.”

Bozell is looking for what he views as fair play from Comedy Central which “makes a habit of attacking Christianity and yet has a formal policy to censor anything considered offensive to followers of Islam.”

To Bozell, “this double standard is pure bigotry.”

KETCHUM, F-H, EDELMAN WIN BIG AT ANVILS

Ketchum took home five Silver Anvil Awards and the U.S. Air Force won the top honor at the PR Society of America’s annual event on June 3 in New York, the largest haul among dozens of winners.

The U.S. Air Force, working without an agency, won the “Best of Silver Anvil Award” in the issues management category for a push to facilitate media coverage of flag-draped coffins bearing the remains of U.S. service personnel arriving at Dover Air Force Base. Members of the Air Force, including Erin Conaton, undersecretary of the Air Force, were on hand to accept the coveted PR award.

Said Conaton: “It is a solemn process that ensures dignity, honor and respect for the fallen, and also provides care, service and support to family members, while allowing the media to give the public considerate insight into the human cost of war.”

Big Agencies Reap Awards

Fleishman-Hillard and Edelman won three Anvils, each, while MWW Group, MS&L, Cone, Brodeur Partners, Taylor, Hill & Knowlton, Carmichael Lynch Spong and Weber Shandwick were among single winners.

Ketchum, part of Omnicom, earned a nod for launching Chase Card Service’s Chase Sapphire rewards program in the marketing, consumer services, category of the Anvils, as well as work with Frito-Lay, Kodak and Time Warner.

Another Omnicom unit, F-H, won in the association/non-profit category for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a group which has people shave their heads to raise money for childhood cancer. F-H also won for public service with its work for UPS on a teen safe driving effort.

Edelman’s efforts for Abu Dhabi’s national energy company, Masdar, won an Anvil in the government category for a campaign promoting renewable energy in the Middle East. Edelman also took home a tech award for reinvigorating the eBay brand.

rbb Takes Crisis Anvil

In the closely watched crisis category, Miami-based rbb PR won an Anvil for its work with AMResorts to allay concerns about the H1N1 flu in Mexico.

GolinHarris won a crisis Anvil for its handling of the National Peanut Board’s response to a recall of more than 3,000 products last year.

Without an agency, Newell Rubbermaid won an internal communications Anvil for its “Rise to the Challenge: Overcoming the Great Recession of 2009” campaign.

A group of eight agencies won an Anvil with client World Wildlife Fund in the events/non-profit category for the WWF Earth Hour 2009.

The firms included Creaxion, Environics Communications, Jasculca Terman & Associates, The Firm PR, Brand Neutral PR, McNeely Pigott & Fox PR, Dan Klores Communications and Glodow Nead Communications.

Scores of Awards of Excellence and Bronze Anvils were also given out at the annual event.

Complete list of winners is at prsa.org.

STANTON GETS IN TO CAREY SCHOOL

Stanton PR & Marketing has picked up PR duties for Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, following an RFP process.

The school issued an RFP in March to solicit PR help in putting it “top-of-mind, top-tier” among U.S. business schools.

The account covers national PR as the school believes its local and state media coverage has been adequate. It also put out separate RFPs for the media buying (won by Media Group) and search engine marketing (awarded to Tempe-based Lucid Agency).

New York-based Stanton wins a year-long contract with four options years with the school named after New York investment banker William Polk Carey.

MAINE SEEKS HELP FOR BIZ PITCH

Maine, which is currently reviewing its tourism PR account, has issued a second RFP to market the state for business development.

The Pine Tree State wants to pitch itself as a “viable and competitive option” for start-ups, relocations and expansions, as well as to retain business already located in the state. The RFP calls for a firm to help position Maine as “pro-business” and highlights assistance programs and resources for corporations.

Factors to be considered will be B2B experience, social media and PR savvy.

The Pine Tree State’s Department of Economic and Community Development has a $100K budget for the resulting year-long contract, which could be extended for three additional years.

Firms must have an office or partner within a two-hour drive of Augusta. Pitches are due June 16.

Download the RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

FRAUSE TAPPED TO REVAMP TOURISM PLAN

The Frause Group has won a competitive pitch process to revamp Snohomish County, Washington’s decade-old tourism plan.

Five firms pitched the March RFP from the outdoors-oriented region, which begins 12 miles north of Seattle and includes stunning views of the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound.

The Seattle-based firm will lead a team that includes strategic planning firm Berk and Associates, tourism shop Calyx, and Site Story, said Wendy Becker, economic and cultural development officer.

PRAXIS LICKS 14 FOR MARBLE SLAB PR

Praxis PR has emerged from a competitive review to guide PR for Marble Slab Creamery in Canada.

The ice cream franchise has about 60 of its nearly 400 locations in Canada with 24 more on the way. It issued an RFP in February for the $50K PR account.

Eighteen firms responded to the RFP, a field that was narrowed to five – Evangeline PR, Weber Shandwick, The PR Department, DDB and Mississauga, Ontario-based Praxis, said marketing director Sharole Lawrence.

Marble Slab was looking for a firm to boost its brand in Canada and handle store openings and product launches on a contract lasting about a year.

WIRES KICK OFF IR SERVICES

Thomson Reuters on June 7 launched Web Disclosure, a service for regulatory news announcements which allows companies to communicate with and solicit feedback from audiences, the company said, noting the web-based, self-publishing and analytics tool can also be used for press releases beyond regulatory news.

Business Wire the same day announced the August launch of two new tools for investor relations and PR - InvestorHQ investor center and the NewsHQ online.

BW said both services include "client-branded" navigation, automatic, simultaneous posting of press releases on companies’ website, SEO and content-sharing features.

The tools also allow for creating hidden or so-called "dark" pages for crisis communications and IR issues.

Thomson Reuters said a key element of its new service is integration with its IR website which ensures regulatory releases are published on the website at the same time they reach other outlets, a step the company said lags in the disclosure process today.

TR notes the investor community has consistently rated a simplified way to access and interact with all of a company's disclosure information via a website as their preference.

Institute for PR Trustee Rips BP

The Institute for PR carried an incendiary blog post from an IPR trustee lashing into BP for “public relations blunders,” accusing the oil giant of misleading the public, “lying and covering up,” and ostensibly re-branding the company “Beyond Pathetic.”

Stephen Dishart, a PR pro and executive director of the not-for-profit Blue Ocean Institute, suggested the oil giant “should get some better advice if they don't want the tragedy to be fatal.” He added: “After decades working in public relations, I’m disappointed and surprised that BP tried the old mistakes of lying and covering up.”

The fiery language of the piece drew a rebuke from Michael Clement, managing partner of Strait Insights, a North Carolina-based communications shop, who said the article "is more appropriate for his employer’s website, not the Institute’s."

“There will be a time to make judgments about whether the company leadership and its public relations professionals made the right calls but right now I want 100% of their focus on stopping the leak and keeping us accurately informed,” wrote Clement.

UNITEDHEALTHCARE OXFORD RISING 20.8%

UnitedHealthcare Oxford, the plan most used by New York area PR firms, according to StevensGouldPincus, is boosting its rates by 20.8% as of Aug. 1. Last year’s increase was 7.1%.

Rates for singles in the better-grade “Choice Plus” plan go from $596 monthly to $721 or $8,658 yearly.

Family rates go from $1,854 monthly to $2,236, or $26,841.

Rates for singles in the middle-grade “Freedom Standard” plan go from $558 monthly to $674 ($8,090 yearly) while family rates go from $1,729 monthly to $2,089 ($25,068).

VAN JONES, GAUDET AT SEMINAR (cont’d from 1)

had not been picked up when the meeting started. Counting spouses and companions, attendance was more than 250.

Security for the meeting, attended by executives of many of the biggest companies in the U.S., was tight.

No one was allowed into any sessions without a Seminar badge. Tight control was also kept of the program and attendance lists. Last year about a quarter of the members did not show up because of criticism of corporate meetings at plush resorts (AIG).

Attendance was only 127 vs. 167 in 2008.

By meeting after June 1, Seminarians were able to cut the room rate at the Ritz-Carlton from the usual $409 to $249. Registration fee for couples was $3,350 last year. This year’s fee has not yet been determined since Seminar blocked its website to those without codes.

No Spokesperson This Year

New York PR pro Michael Paul was spokesperson for Seminar last year but said he no longer performs that function.

Phone calls and e-mails were not returned by Seminar leaders and members including chair Johanna Schneider of the Business Roundtable, program chair Joan Wainwright of Tyco Electronics, and Kathleen Matthews of Marriott Int’l, wife of MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.

Jones became embroiled in a controversy in 2009 over past political activities. He allegedly made a comment disparaging congressional Republicans and was also said to have been a member of a “Marxist” group. He attacked such charges as “a vicious smear campaign” but resigned in Sept. 2009.

Jones is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior policy advisor at Green for All. He has a joint appointment at Princeton University as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Gaudet Is Obstetrics Professor

Dr. Gaudet is assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University Medical Center.

The Duke website says that “Under her leadership, [Duke] has opened a state-of-the-art healthcare facility dedicated to the transformation of medicine through the exploration of new models of whole-person healthcare.”

She also worked on the development of personalized health planning and initiatives in research and medical student and resident education. She is the author of “Consciously Female,” a book on integrative medicine and women’s health, published by Bantam Books in 2004, and “Body, Soul, and Baby,” (Bantam 2007).

She writes for numerous publications including a column for Body + Soul magazine and also appears on TV programs.

PRSA MEMBERS ASK ACTION ON APR

Members responding to the petition of the Committee for a Democratic PRSA are asking for quick action to end the APR requirement for national office.

Richard Kline, VP, communications, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Los Angeles, said in signing the petition that the Society should “immediately and forever remove from its policies the unnecessary and inappropriate APR requirement for national office and board.”

The Society, he said, should have leadership of the “best and brightest—not just the relatively few who are APR.”

The Society’s board can call an Assembly with ten days’ notice that could pass such a rule using proxy votes, which were made legal in the Assembly last November. This would allow open elections to take place this summer.

Otherwise, candidates will be announced on the Society website June 21 and comments would be allowed until July 12. The 21-day period includes the July 4 holiday.

There is no provision for members finding out how the candidates stand on issues facing the Society. Candidates only answer questions put to them by the nominating committee, headed by Jeff Julin, 2008 chair.

Other signers of the Committee’s petition who are asking for immediate action include Dian Terry, assistant VP of Teradata division of NCR, Dayton, who says the change should be made “as soon as possible,” and members Forrest Anderson and Ken Ulrich, who say the change is “long overdue.”

Anonymous “Signers” Showing Up

The Committee has obtained 240 “signatures” as of Friday, June 4, but 31 of them are anonymous. Goal is 5,000.

None of the 110 chapter websites of the Society has mentioned anything about the Committee’s quest thus far and none has made any arrangements for a vote by chapter members.

There is no mention on the website of the New York chapter, some of whose members formed the committee. The national board said it is taking a neutral position of the initiative.

The only president of a top 25 chapter signing the petition is Irene Maslowski, president of the New York chapter. She put “New Jersey” after her name and signed on May 18, nearly a month after signature collection began. She provided no comment. Her firm is based in Rosedale, N.J., about 25 miles from New York.

The other 24 chapter presidents not signing thus far are below. Seventeen of the presidents are APR.

Jeff Ghannam, National Capital; Tim Hussey, APR, Georgia; Stephanie Krol, Chicago; Eric Moses, Los Angeles; Elizabeth Monaghan, APR, Colorado; Richard Donley, APR, Detroit; Candee Wolf Olson, APR, Minnesota; Stephanie Dedeaux, APR, Houston; Neil Neroutsos, APR, Puget Sound; Michael Gross, Philadelphia; Jaron Terry, APR, Central Ohio; Meghan Gross, Boston; Patricia Alvarenga-Smith, APR; Jamaison Schuler, APR, Hoosier; Laura LaChapelle, APR, Maryland; Mary Scheibel, APR, S.E. Wisconsin; Ken Hunter, APR. New Jersey; Katie Coates Ageson, APR, Orange County; Joel Goldstein, Greater Cleveland; Sara Wacker, APR, San Diego; (Mr.) Chris Kemper, APR, Cincinnati; David Thompson, APR, Portland, Oregon; Krysta Pellegrino, San Francisco; Jill Haynes, APR, St. Louis.

(PR) Seminar hosted one of its most controversial speakers ever this year--Van Jones, a community activist who has been called “a communist-anarchist radical.”

He was Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality before leaving amid a flurry of accusations last September.

Critics found that he had signed a petition in 2004 questioning whether the Bush Administration had allowed the 9/11 attacks to provide a pretext for war in the Middle East and that he had publicly supported Mumia Abu-Jamal, accused murderer of a Philadelphia cop.

His ice-cold sendoff by the Administration included two brief statements released just after midnight Saturday on a holiday weekend.

In attending Seminar, Jones hob-nobbed with the heads of communications for a day or more at a plush resort.

His appearance at Seminar would not have squared with the policy of President Obama to attack the “culture of secrecy in Washington, where information is locked up, taxpayer dollars disappear without a trace, and lobbyists wield undue influence.”

Obama has also said he would erase “the belief that the government benefits the special interests and the well connected at the expense of the American people.”

Keep Name ‘PR Seminar’

Seminarians should keep the name “PR Seminar” because it’s more descriptive than “Seminar” which says nothing about the nature of the group. They might as well call themselves “The meeting.”

Members include those from scores of Fortune 100 companies and about half of the top 25 (General Electric, Ford, JPMorgan Chase, Hewlett-Packard, Citigroup, General Motors, AIG, IBM, Procter & Gamble and Kroger).

Financial giants represented but not in the industrial ranking include Visa, MasterCard, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American Express. Other members are from such giants as Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, FedEx and Kraft.

“Seminar” opens itself to charges that it is a “false front.”

President Obama has promised “transparency” and the one thing that (PR) Seminar is not is transparent. It should run its previous flag up the flagpole.

Seminarians are corporate strategists and we believe this involves advising on lobbying.

Sources at the meeting said that just about everyone attended since few identity badges were left on the table. There was no concern over the boycott that some cities, companies and organizations are conducting against Arizona because of its strict new immigration laws.

Lobbying at federal and state levels has become the main activity of many companies with communications taking a back seat. It doesn't matter in many cases what people think as long as the right laws are passed and enforced or not enforced, as the case may be.

Critics say the Obama Administration has not lived up to its promises of openness. The AP says 17 agencies refused 466,872 requests under the Freedom of Information Act in 2009 which is even more than the 312,683 requests filed in 2008 under the Bush Administration that were rejected.

PR Society Is Well Hidden

Another hotbed of secrecy, subterfuge and intrigue is PRSA where some members are trying to introduce democratic principles although the Society has forbidden such tactics for many years.

Trying to introduce democracy when the tools of democracy are denied to those trying to do this is a no brainer. It's like a hand trying to scratch itself.

Chapter leaders, who get all their goodies from national and none from the rank-and-file members who are at least 80% non-APR, are not going to allow any voting by members. Otherwise, the APRs would be quickly deposed, ending a reign of about 35 years. Attempts to dislodge them have been going on since 1999.

Exhibit A is the New York chapter itself, some of whose members originated this drive to talk tigers into becoming vegetarians.

The 767-member chapter only has 51 who are APR or 6.6%. Given a chance to vote (which they won't get), the rank-and-file members would oust the APRs by a huge margin.

However, chapter leadership is cool to this. Irene Maslowski, oddly chapter president even though her PR firm is 24 miles away in Roseland, N.J., only signed the online petition of the Committee for a Democratic PRSA on May 18 which was almost a month after the first signatures went up (April 23).

She signed it "Irene Maslowski, New Jersey." She should have said she was president of the New York chapter. That would have made her the only chapter president among 110 supporting the CDP. What is she afraid of? We can't get Maslowski to show any interest in polling chapter members right now.

No Democracy in New York Chapter

If committee leaders can't even get democracy practiced in their own chapter how can they expect it to flourish elsewhere?

Another chapter we're looking at is National Capital, the biggest by far with 1,350 members in its area of whom 1,150 are members.

Since it's based in the seat of our democracy, one would expect that democratic principles might be followed. No.

The chapter gets 14 votes since it represents the non-members in its area. Although APRs account for only 20% of members, suddenly 13 of the 14 Assembly delegates are APR!

What kind of justice can the non-APRs expect from them? None. NCC president Jeff Ghannam shows no interest in asking the rank-and-file for their opinion. There is no mention of the CDP on the chapter's website.

NCC is one of the most loyal of chapters and a hotbed of APR.

APRs dominate national committees and task forces. Twenty-nine of the 35 chairs and co-chairs on the Society's website are APRs. These are the chairs and co-chairs that bylaws re-write committee members last year wanted to add to the Assembly as voting delegates. They lost. Sixty-nine of the 138 Silver Anvil judges in 2010 are APR.

Our guess is that APRs see the designation as something that will help their careers by burnishing their resumes with some of the literally thousands of titles that national can hand out.

These are seen as resume-enhancers that will help the APRs to land or keep a job. The cost is comparatively high--$385-but the return can be high if a job interviewer also happens to be APR.

--Jack O'Dwyer