NC SEEKS HEALTHY LIVING PR

North Carolina is calling for proposals from agencies for a statewide campaign funded with federal stimulus dollars to encourage healthy eating and exercise among its citizens.

The state has issued an RFP through July to guide a PR, advertising, social media and communications campaign on behalf of its Physical Activity and Nutrition Branch, known as PAN.

Total budget is $1,750,000 with about $865K allocated for placing public service ads.

Only 46 percent of high school students in the state met recommended levels of physical activity in 2009, while 44 percent of adults met the mark in 2007, the state notes in the RFP.

North Carolina estimates that such inactivity costs residents $9 billion in healthcare bills, workers' comp and missed days at the office, while dependence on vehicles adds to air pollution and other negative environmental effects.

Download the RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

RYANAIR LOOKS FOR PR FIRM

Ryanair, Ireland’s discount airline, will look for a PR firm following its split with Murray Consultants.

Dublin-based Murray held the Ryanair account for more than a dozen years. Ryanair and Murray could not agree to terms of renewal of the contract that is up at the end of the month. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary called the split regrettable.

Ryanair received a legal blow on July 6 when the European Union’s General Court blocked its takeover bid for Aer Lingus, Ireland’s flagship carrier.

Ryanair began accumulating Aer Lingus shares following its privatization in `06. It controls a 29 percent stake.

O’Leary said Ryanair has no immediate plans to make a revised offer for Aer Lingus, which is 25 percent owned by Ireland's government. He told Dow Jones that it is “inevitable” that the Irish government will ask Ryanair to rescue money-losing Aer Lingus.

Rachelle Spero, an executive VP who led Cohn & Wolfe's global digital strategy, has moved to Brunswick Group in New York as a director of the firm.

Brunswick senior partner Steve Lipin said Spero will help add social and digital media aspects to its clients' campaigns.

Spero was formerly president of client services for Larry Weber's Digital Influence Group and director of marketing for Planet Interactive.

O'DWYER PR'S NEW BUSINESS COUNCIL

O’Dwyer PR’s New Business Council has been opened to help PR firms market themselves to prospective clients and also to cope with the many issues and opportunities facing PR firms in today’s fast-changing environment.

“We will help PR firms gain visibility through listings on our website and directory and will also provide the latest thinking on a host of topics including client/firm relationships and soaring health insurance costs, to name some of them,” said publisher Jack O'Dwyer.

“A great deal of the PR industry has migrated to the agencies, particularly in the area of media relations,” he said.

Clients of all sizes are looking not only for PR generalist agencies but also those that have expertise in certain well-defined areas such as healthcare, tech, financial, food, environmental, travel and beauty/fashion PR, he said.

O’Dwyer rankings of such specialties score high on Google since O’Dwyer’s is the only company doing such rankings, he added.

PR firm principals of both large and small firms will be brought together to share ideas on how to handle the leading issues of the day.

(Continued on page 7)

KETCHUM TAPS VENABLE FOR GAZPROM

Ketchum has hired Venable to increase Washington coverage for Russia's Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas company. Venable picks up a $28K-a-month retainer for its effort.

Gazprom is currently negotiating a deal to develop an oilfield in Iran, the country under United Nations sanctions. At the annual meeting last month, Gazprom officials expressed confidence in wrapping up an Iranian deal.

Gazprom also has targeted Cuba for opportunity as U.S. sanctions on that island nation near the half century mark. Cuba has 20B barrels of oil locked up in the Gulf of Mexico, adjacent to the U.S. zone. Cuba is working with Spain's Repsol and its partners Brazil's Petrobras, Venezuela's PDVSA, PetroVietnam and Malaysia's Petronis to develop its Gulf holdings.

Venable's federal government relations pact with Ketchum calls for a concentration on energy policy. That work entails meetings with U.S. officials and monitoring legislation.

Ketchum received more than $2.5M in outlays from Gazprom during the past year.

AZ PR TO COUNTER ANTI-IMMIGRANT FLAP

A task force of tourism officials in Arizona has recommended a PR firm be hired to explain the state's strict new immigration law that has led to a raft of bad press and canceled travel to the Grand Canyon State.

A set of recommendations was issued by the task force earlier this month and released by the office of Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the controversial bill into law in April.

“Despite threats by some to Arizonans because of misinformation about immigration law enforcement, I am confident that Arizona’s reputation and brand remains strong and that the truth is prevailing,” Brewer said.

Among the recommendations are an immediate contract with a PR firm “to help manage existing dialogue and clarify the facts regarding [the new law] to key target audiences,” according to a summary.

“This could include editorials and interviews in key markets throughout the U.S. such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., as well as Mexico and other select international markets,” the task force said.

About $280K has been allocated for the recommendations.

The task force, which includes the state's Dept. of Commerce, Arizona Mexico Commission, Office of Tourism, Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association, Arizona Tourism Alliance and business leaders, also recommended an immediate fact sheet be printed for digital and print distribution to clarify the new law.

Outreach to corporations, associations and grassroots programs are also among the task force’s plans to offset the barrage of negative coverage.

Tourism is a crucial pillar of the state’s economy representing 37M million visitors and an $18 billion impact in 2008.

FTI SHARES PLUNGE ON REVISION

Shares in FD parent company FTI Consulting plunged more than 24 percent on July 7 as the company cut back its second quarter earnings outlook and its stock was downgraded by two research firms. The fall knocked more than $10 off its share price, which was trading around $32.50.

FTI said after the market close a day earlier that its Q2 revenue will be in the area of $350M, off its $360.5M for the period of '09, because a recovery in activity hasn’t materialized as expected.

President and CEO Jack Dunn said its strategic communications unit, FD, has grown about 11 percent in the second quarter.

“However, with preliminary June results, it became apparent that, based on current economic conditions, progress in these segments would not be at the pace originally anticipated, and that the markets for bankruptcy, restructuring and M&A are significantly slower than we anticipated,” he said.

Its restructuring operation is down 18 percent while technology has declined 14 percent, Dunn said.

William Blair and Oppenheimer cut FTI shares from outperform to market perform.

DAN EDELMAN CELEBRATES 90TH BIRTHDAY

Daniel J. Edelman, a native New Yorker who founded a PR firm in Chicago in 1952 after being transferred there by a Big Apple firm, celebrated his 90th birthday in Chicago July 1 surrounded by 80 family members and friends.

While Dan spent most of his time in Chicago, his son Richard built New York into an even bigger office. The firm also expanded internationally, now having more than 35 offices abroad.

The birthday party for Dan was highlighted by a review of the early days of the firm.

Edelman, a graduate of Columbia University (Phi Beta Kappa) and its Graduate School of Journalism, worked at a newspaper in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and as a stringer for United Press before joining the Army in 1942.

He spent three and a half years in psychological warfare, including analyzing German propaganda on a daily basis.

Edelman’s first jobs after the war were writing news copy for CBS Radio for Douglas Edwards, Arthur Godfrey and other personalities. He also worked at Musicraft Records helping to publicize its stars.

Toni, a maker of hair coloring products, asked the PR firm of Edward Gottlieb & Associates to hire Edelman. Toni then wanted a PR person near its Chicago headquarters.

“Since I was the only single man at Gottlieb, I went,” recalls Edelman.

He later joined Toni as PR director and in 1952 opened his own firm with the company as his first client.

The Edelman firm reported total fees of $440 million in 2009 which included $92M in New York and $63M in Chicago.

APCO UNVEILS REP MANAGEMENT TOOL

APCO Worldwide on July 7 launched its initial study based on its “return on reputation indicator,” a tool to help clients protect and bolster reputation equity.

CEO Margery Kraus calls reputation enhancement a “business imperative” required to meet the growing demands of stakeholders.

The firm’s RRI is based on research gleaned from 10,000 respondents and measures the affect on reputation based on consumer behavior, activism, policy support, litigation environmental, financial value, employee retention and recruitment, according to APCO's statement.

In its debut study, APCO partnered with the Retail Industry Leaders Assn. to gauge the core drivers that define the reputation of retailers. It found that a one point increase in reputation spurred the typical consumer to increase spending by $133 a year and influenced more than six million people to give retailers the benefit of the doubt in a time of crisis (www.rorindicator.com).

Bryan Dumont, president of APCO Insight, believes reputation equity is vital as companies face challenges that affect their ability to remain competitive. He says companies are looking to influence not just consumer behavior but expectations and perceptions of a range of stakeholder groups.

PUBLISHERS FIGHT PROPOSED POSTAL HIKE

Time Inc., Meredith Corp., Hearst Magazines and American Media are key members of the recently formed Affordable Mail Alliance to fight the proposed U.S. Postal Service’s rate hike.

Consumers under the proposed rates would see a two cent jump in first-class mail 46 cents, while publishers say their tab would increase by eight percent.

The Postal Service blames falling revenues for a $6.5B loss projected for its fiscal year ended September and another $7B in 2011.

The Alliance calls the new rates a “tax” on Americans during a time when the economy is mired in a slump. It wants the Postal Service to slash costs before raising rates. The group notes that USPS reported a 13 percent volume drop in `09, compared to a one percent dip in labor costs.

Jim Conway, executive director of the Alliance, says to USPS "the first rule of business is if you're in a hole is to stop digging." He believes jacking up rates will only move more customers away from the federal mails.

The Postal Service has reduced employment bv 200K jobs and is on target to cut $3.5B from its cost structure this year.

NEWS CORP. STICKS WITH MYSPACE

News Corp. dismissed speculation last week that it wants to unload MySpace, the social networking site that it acquired five years ago for $580M.

Digital chief Jonathan Miller said reports of “ongoing talks” to divest MySpace are “fabrications.”

MySpace, which has lost pace with Facebook and Twitter, is slated for a re-launch by yearend.

TWEET COSTS CNN’S NASR

CNN dropped its Middle Eastern senior affairs editor Octavia Nasr over her Twitter posting that expressed respect for the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a leader of Hezbollah.

CNN said the 20-year veteran of Time Warner property “made an error of judgment” with the Tweet, and feared that her credibility as Middle Eastern editor would be “compromised going forward.”

Nasr explained on cnn.com that the Tweet was not meant to convey support for “Fadlallah’s life’s work.” She said she does admire the Shia cleric’s support for women’s rights.

RUBENSTEIN PAVES WAY FOR KING RETURN

New York PR legend Howard Rubenstein is telling the media that a very bright future awaits CNN stalwart Larry King when the talk show host steps down later this year.

The 25-year anchor of CNN's prime-time line-up told Bill Maher last week that he’s “got other things to do.” The 76-year-old King mentioned stand-up comedy among possible pursuits with the expiration of his contract in November.

Rubenstein says King may also endorse products, hit the speaking circuit, pen a column or teach journalism school.

He told the July 5 New York Times that King has a very prosperous future with “a lot of money attached.”

BURSON TAPS CNBC VALLEY CHIEF

CNBC’s Silicon Valley Bureau chief Jim Goldman has moved to Burson-Marsteller’s San Francisco office to chair the firm's U.S. technology practice.

Goldman has led CNBC’s tech coverage from the Valley for the last seven years. He also penned the popular “TechCheck” blog on CNBC.com.

The financial news network said Fortune senior writer and cable news pundit Jon Fortt will be taking over the bureau on July 19.

Goldman previously opened TechTV’s Valley operation and served as bureau chief after serving as tech correspondent for ABC News in New York. He started out at an ABC affiliate in San Jose anchoring financial coverage.

Goldman reports to U.S. president/CEO Pat Ford and global tech chair Jennifer Graham Clary, who cited Goldman’s “deep relationships” in the Valley as an asset to tech clients of the WPP unit.

WALLACE STEPPING DOWN AT AOL

Tricia Primrose Wallace, executive VP of corporate communications at AOL and a key PR executive in more than a decade with the company, is moving into an advisory role.

CEO Tim Armstrong said that she is leaving to spend more time with her family and a search for her replacement will include candidates inside and outside the company.

Wallace’s contract runs through November, according to a prospectus from last December on the AOL spinoff from Time Warner. She earned a salary of $425K in 2009 and was entitled to a bonus of up to 75 percent of that figure.

She joined AOL in 1999 handling the $160 billion merger with Time Warner in 2000 and served as VP of corporate communications for TW from 2001-05.

Earlier, she was an executive VP at Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, part of WPP, and started out in politics.

PEOPLE _______________________________

Scott Conroy, CBS News poltiical campaign reporter and blogger for CBSNews.com, is moving to Real Clear Politics as a White House reporter in August.

Steve Ginsberg has been namd deputy national political editor at the Washington Post, a position he held during the 2008 presidential campaign. He had been serving as local politics editor.

Yochi Dreazen, former military writer for the Wall Street Journal, is slated to move to the National Journal as a senior correspondent covering military affairs and national security.

Tory Newmyer, House leadership reporter for Roll Call, to Fortune magazine’s D.C. bureau as a business and government writer.

(Media news continued on next page)

DIGITAL COLLEGE NEWSSTAND PLANNED

Digital publishing company Zinio and a subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores said they will partner to create an all-digital online newsstand for the college market.

The “store” will include 3,000 magazines and books viewable via PC or mobile devices and includes a revenue-sharing arrangement for NACS members who wish to promote the site to college students.

The companies said they anticipate developing private-label versions for NACS members who decide to deploy and promote their own digital newsstands.

Ed Schlichenmayer, president of NACS Media Solutions, said digital is “increasingly the format of choice for college students.” He believes the venture will “acquaint, or reacquaint, students” with magazines and books.

NACS is a nonprofit trade group representing the $10 billion collegiate retailing sector.

The digital newsstand will debut in August 2010 at http://nacs.zinio.com.

Students can preview digital content before purchasing and purchases will be available for reading on any device where a Zinio app is installed.

’NET SPREADS AIRBUS CRASH HOAX

The power of the Internet to perpetuate a hoax is on full display with the tale of an “Arab flight crew” that supposedly demolished an Airbus plane during routine ground tests in Toulouse in 2007.

The story with graphic photos of that ill-fated jet that was to be delivered to Abu Dhabi’s Ethihad Airways has circulated via e-mail.

The test crew — “not having read the run-up manuals” — revved up “four engines to takeoff power with a virtually empty aircraft,” according to the piece. “Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was smart enough to throttle back the engines,” so the plane smashed into a crash barrier and was totaled.

The story claims the extent of injuries remains unknown due to a media blackout because coverage would be “deemed insulting to Moslem Arabs.”

The accident was real, but there was no media cover-up. Airbus released a press release the day of the crash, saying that five of the nine people on the plane were hurt. Three were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. Airbus also noted that "engine run-ups" are standard procedures during ground tests.

The BBC, Associated Press and Der Spiegel covered the crash. Ethihad Airways issued a statement to say that none of its staffers was involved in the accident. An employee from its contractor Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies was onboard.
A year following the crash, French investigators released a 30-page report that said “unchocked wheels” caused the crash.

David Kaminski-Morrow, an editor at Air Transport Intelligence, called the accident a “schoolboy error” and put the blame on Airbus staffers. He told The National on Dec. 21, 2008, that it’s “hard to believe” that rules were broken because a guy from ADAT was in the plane.

The jet “was at the Airbus headquarters, it was an Airbus test pen, it was an Airbus engineer at the right-hand seat, which the report said is where control inputs were coming from,” said Kaminski-Morrow.

EDELMAN HOSTS MEDIA TRAINING IN GULF

NTA, a trade group for North American travel professionals, is working with Edelman to present a series of free seminars in the Gulf coast region on handling PR during the oil spill crisis.

Half-day seminars start July 13 in Biloxi, Miss., and July 14 in Houma, La. Others in Alabama and Florida are being planned for the end of July.

NTA president Lisa Simon said the sessions will “help people in the impacted destinations proactively manage this crisis and use the media as partners to help communicate the facts.”

Speakers will include Edelman’s crisis, media and social media relations pros as well as NTA professionals experienced in tour operator communications.

Topics to be covered include why Gulf region businesses should be paying attention to media relations, crisis communications, how to monitor the news, and managing interactions with social media, among other areas.

NTA once had Edelman on retainer to do all its PR and the two have a long history. Edelman executive VP Cathleen Johnson is a director-at-large on NTA's board of directors.

Info and registration is at NTAOnline.com/gulfcoast.

TRAVEL WRITERS SEEK PR VIA RFP

The Society of American Travel Writers has issued an RFP for a two-year PR contract with the 55-year-old organization of 1,200 members like editors, photographers and film producers.

The group targets three audiences in the U.S. Canada – the travel journalism community (members and non-members); travel/tourism consumer news media, and trade media – and sees PR as a way to build membership, offer input on the travel sector to the media, and promote the overall organization.

The RFP calls for a PR firm to produce and disseminate a steady stream of press releases, identify and train spokespersons for travel events, market its new brand, “Travel’s Most Trusted Voices,” and leverage social media and membership polling, among other tasks.

Beverly Hurley, a member of the group's PR committee, told O’Dwyer’s the group is not currently working with a firm. She said that previously PR activities were handled by volunteer associate members (PR representatives) of the society.

She declined to provide a budget, but added: "We do have a commitment from the Society to fund the project. We are looking for proposals from firms that include a budget amount based on the RFP requirements."

SATW’s annual convention is slated for Germany in October.

A contract is expected to start in January 2011 and run two years with two options. Proposals are due July 23. Download the RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

PROVO UTILITY SEEKS EFFICIENCY PITCHES

Provo City Power, the utility for 35,000 homes and businesses in that Utah city, has issued an RFP to develop a marketing and PR plan for its energy efficiency programs.

PCP won a federal grant late last year from the $16.8B Office of Energy Efficiency fund created by the stimulus law.

The company seeks an agency to promote plans to allocate the funds for residential energy audits, and rebates for appliances and weatherization.

Firms are being asked to draw up a marketing plan to include media and communication strategies, promotion activities, web work and other tasks.

Pitches are due July 19.

Download the RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

CHP REVIEWS PR ACCOUNT

The California Highway Patrol is reviewing its PR and media account with an open RFP process through late July.

The CHP seeks a firm to support its office of community outreach and recruitment. The work, PR, media relations and public service advertising in both English and Spanish, will support both traffic safety campaigns and its own efforts to recruit officers.

A two-year contract is planned beginning December 1, according to the RFP released July 6.

The CHP, cemented into the pop culture zeitgeist through the late 1970s and ‘80s TV drama “CHiPS,” is based in Sacramento.

Ogilvy has worked with the CHP in the past.

Proposals are due July 29.

Download the RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

IOWA BIZ ENTITY SEEKS PR PITCHES

The economic development entity for central Iowa has published an RFP open through July 23 to handle its $70K national PR account.

A selection committee of the Greater Des Moines Partnership has been tapped to oversee the process, which aims to narrow a group of finalists by the end of July.

The Partnership is looking for national PR experience and strong media relations savvy, as well as expertise in community relations and economic development. Knowledge of the region is a plus.

It currently works on small PR projects with two agencies in the Des Moines area, said Lauren Burt, director of media and marketing.

Download the RFP odwyerpr.com/rfps.

BRIEF: The 52-year-old redevelopment authority for the city and county of Denver is on the hunt for a PR firm to burnish its image and highlight its programs and resources as its focus has shifted from blighted areas to historical redevelopment and economic stimulus. The Denver Urban Renewal Authority issued an RFP on June 28 and is taking proposals through July 16 for the $60K account. A 16-month contract is expected to carry two option years. RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

MARKETWIRE ADDS SYSOMOS

News distribution service Marketwire has acquired social media monitoring company Sysomos for an undisclosed sum.

Both companies have Toronto roots. Sysomos was created as a research project at the University of Toronto in 2005 and counts PR firms like Hill & Knowlton and Shift Communications among its customers.

Nick Koudas, professor at the university, is co-founder and president.

Marketwire said the move gives its clients tracking and sentiment analysis capabilities for outlets like blogs, social networks, Twitter, forums and video through Sysomos’ services – MAP and Heartbeat.

Michael Nowland, president and CEO of MW, said the acquisition is a step in putting together an integrated solution strategy across communications disciplines like PR and IR, independent of business size or budget.

Koudas said Sysomos’ tools help manage crisis situations, track and measure reputation, monitor press coverage, and “correlate the connection between press releases and news coverage with social media activity.”

Marketwire is owned by Toronto private equity firm OMERS.

CISION GRABS SWEDISH NEWSWIRE

Cision said it will acquire Sweden-based newswire and press contact database Public and Investor Relations PIR Svenska in a deal that closed July 1.

The company has seven employees with revenue of about SEK 8M, or $1M. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cision, which is based in Sweden, noted PIRS has built a sizeable customer base, particularly in the public sector, and will have a positive effect on its European operations in the second quarter.

After cost-cutting amid a rough 2009 for the company and the PR services sector overall, Cision’s CEO Hans Gieskes said the company will increasingly seek out acquisitions to boost its Connect press release distribution service and Plan media database.

BRIEFS: Research and technology company Vision Critical has unveiled ReactionPlus, an audio and video testing service that allows users to measure reaction to content. The tool captures respondent feedback across up to ten different dimensions, which, VC notes, compares to traditional two dimensional dials. That approach, the company says, helps users uncover which words, images and sounds trigger engagement, as well as at what point a storyline captures or loses its audience, and which presenters have most appeal and why. Info: visioncritical.com. ... Laidlaw Group, Boston, has been tapped by the law firm of Joseph B. Lichtblau to design and develop a web and mobile web presence. ...E.H. Anderson PR, Waco, Tex., has opened a video production division, Cut Pro Video, led by Bage Anderson, a video shooter, editor and producer who won an Emmy for CNN’s coverage of the Branch Davidian standoff. Infio: ehandersonpr.com. The unit handles corporate video and electronic newsgathering services.

NEW BUSINESS COUNCIL (Contined from pg. 1)

Advice will be provided on such nuts-and-bolts topics as crafting contracts with clients; safeguarding secrets when employees leave; non-compete contracts; staying within the law when employing outside contractors, and obtaining letters of confirmation.

Variety, Creativity Characterize PR Firms

PR has shifted more to firms in recent years just like corporate ad departments shifted their work to ad agencies many years ago, said O’Dwyer.

The variety of assignments available in agencies is attractive to the most creative PR pros, he said.

“Today’s PR firm has a wide range of capabilities and techniques that can be applied to any issue that comes up and can quickly add more hands if that is what is needed," he said.

Those who join O’Dwyer PR’s New Business Council at the charter rate of $300 yearly will be able to post a description of their firm's services, executives and accounts on odwyerpr.com and will receive the following informational products: access to the daily news site odwyerpr.com; the 2010 O’Dwyer’s Directory of PR Firms listing 1,700 firms; subscription to O’Dwyer’s monthly magazine, and access to the running database of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that has published 87 RFPs this year.

The RFPs are obtained from companies, local, state and federal government bodies; trade associations, professional groups and other sources.

Contact Jack O’Dwyer at [email protected]. Details are available at odwyerpr.com.

BLUE CHIPS WANT TO AX APR BOARD DUTY

The Committee for a Democratic PRSA said 65 members of the Arthur Page Society have signed their petition to drop the need for “accreditation” for national board duty.

Those executives work at blue-chip companies such as General Electric, Chevron, Intel, Wal-Mart, United Airlines, Levi Strauss and United Airlines. The Committee notes that the Page Society has not taken a position in the debate.

The group has also received support from PR pros representing top colleges like New York University, Drexel and Southern Methodist Univ.

The Committee's goal is to have 1,000 signatures on its online petition to remove the APR requirement for national leadership in order to present it at PRSA's Assembly. It currently has 343 signatures.

Less than 20 percent of PRSA members are accredited, which means that 80 percent of the Society’s 21,000 members are banned from leadership.

PRSA/L.A. BACKS DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT

Eric Moses, president of PRSA/L.A.,the fourth biggest chapter with more than 500 members, has announced chapter support of the Committee for a Democratic PRSA which wants to remove the APR rule for board and officer service.

Moses said the chapter’s board believes that the Society “ought to distinguish its members by their professional talents and passion for advancing the profession — whether or not they are APR — and find national leaders among them.”

Moses notes that fewer than 20% of the Society's members are APR meaning that about 17,000 members cannot run for national office.

The APRs have blocked non-APRs from seeking office since the mid-1970s.
Moses said the board’s support of the APR program is not involved since it believes the APR process “provides professional development and distinction for those who hold certification.”

The board is urging chapter members to sign the Committee’s petition.

Questions Sent to Board

The national board, having skipped the traditional quarterly meeting in April, will meet Friday in Atlanta.

Board members as well as the 19 candidates have been e-mailed the following questions by this website.

Editor Jack O’Dwyer said that “While the move to end rule by the APRs is progress, there are numerous abuses and undemocratic practices that must be ended now and can’t wait the four or five years before the board has a majority of non-APRs on it.”

Chief among these, he said, is the board’s refusal to publish a list of the 2010 Assembly delegates who were elected, according to the bylaws, by Jan. 1, 2010.

“No other legislature or governing body in the world, including Cub Scout packs, keeps secret the members of its rule-making body,” he said.

Questions have been sent to the national board as well as the 19 candidates for national board and officer posts.

Thus far, the only candidate who has answered them for publication is Regina Lewis, chief communications officer, The Potter’s House of Dallas.

PRSA CHAIR, COO AT GA. CHAPTER

Gary McCormick, chair of the PR Society, and Bill Murray, COO, will attend the July 15 meeting of the Georgia chapter which takes place the day before a national board meeting in Atlanta.

McCormick will speak at Maggiano’s Buckhead restaurant on “How America’s Leading Home Improvement Network Grows Brands.” He is director of partnership development at HGTV of Scripps Networks Interactive and will tell the expected audience of 100+ “how your organization can leverage other brands to reach new audiences through partnership development…without a single dollar changing hands.”

Georgia is the second biggest chapter in the Society with more than 800 members and will send nine delegates to the Assembly Oct. 16 in Washington, D.C.

Chapter president is Timothy Hussey of Emory University School of Law.
The board meeting will be the first since January.

The Society has also set a new APR Boot Camp for Aug. 4-7 at h.q. with the fees set at $350 for the instructions. Applicants must also pay the $385 APR fee for a total cost of $735.

Conducting it are Michele Hujber, APR chair of PRSA/N.J., and Bob Saline and Jason Kirch, APR co-chairs, Central Pa. chapter.

The Committee for a Democratic PRSA, which wants to end the 35-year rule of the Society by the small minority of accredited members, has won the en masse backing of 65 PR executives.

The 343 signatures on its petition now include those of nine PR professors and eight Fellows. Also significant is that a sitting board member, Don Kirchoffner, has broken ranks with the board to sign the petition.

Board members are usually 100% loyal to any stand of the majority of the board and even sign a promise at the first board meeting not to break ranks.

Kirchoffner, a Fellow, is a former PA director of the U.S. Army and a member of its PR Hall of Fame. He has often said he has never ducked a press call.

Such signatures will give a lot of momentum to the Committee’s drive although it still can’t loosen national’s grip on the chapters.

Chair Gary McCormick and COO Bill Murray are speaking Thursday to the Georgia chapter and we are calling on McCormick to can his commercial for HGTV (“the leading home and lifestyle cable network”) and instead take questions on the revolt against the APRs.

McCormick’s public stance is that the board is neutral on the revolt but his and the board’s actions belie that.

The board won’t let the committee headed by Richard Edelman, Art Stevens and Dave Rickey use the 21,000 e-mail list of members.

It won’t allow any coverage by Tactics either online or in print of the Committee for a Democratic PRSA.

It has buried the subject on its little-used PRSAY blog. The last mentions of the Committee were in mid-May.

The Fellows have sent 14 questions to the candidates and that is what needs discussing.

First among them is where is the list of Assembly delegates who were elected as of Jan. 1, 2009? No legislature in the world, down to and including Cub Scout packs, has a secret governing body.

Chapters remain under tight control of the board and staff. Only one of the 110 chapters—Los Angeles—has yet to side with the Committee, which has won the backing of PR leaders such as James Grunig.

Grunig is the author of several books and is the creator with his wife Larissa of the “symmetrical” theory of PR which says communicators must do something in return if they want audiences to do something.

Also joining in the reform movement is Frank Ovaitt, former president/CEO of the Institute and now an SVP with Makovsky + Co. Also signing was CEO Ken Makovsky.

Eight Fellows of the Society besides Kirchoffner are now pushing for ouster of the APRs—Ed Block (1997 Gold Anvil winner), Kathy Lewton (2001 president), Kirk Hallahan, Larry Foster, Bruce Harrison, Richard Newman, Nann Miller and Richard Tyler.

Other PR professors besides Grunig and Hallahan signing are Don Stacks of the University of Miami; Elliott Schreiber, Drexel University; Kathy Fitzpatrick, Quinnipiac University; Irv Schenkler, New York University; Clark Caywood, Northwestern University; Robert French, Auburn, and Robert Petrausch, Iona.

Other signers include: Mary Lynn Cusick, SVP of Bob Evans Farms and 1998 president of PRSA; Gary Sheffer, executive director, corporate communications and PR, General Electric; Mark Hass, president, Edelman China and former CEO, Manning, Selvage & Lee; Michael Kempner, president and CEO, MWW Group; Amy Binder, CEO, RF Binder Partners; Adele Ambrose, VP and chief communications officer, Merck & Co.; Carol Cone of Edelman, formerly CEO of Cone; Carol Schumacher, VP-IR, Wal-Mart Stores; Ray Crockett, Coca-Cola, (senior counsel, 2007 board); Mike Holoweiko, Central Michigan chapter; David Samson, general manager, PA, Chevron Corp.; Ronald Culp, managing director, Ketchum Midwest and former VP-PA, Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Elise Eberwein, SVP-CC, USAirways; Chris Hosford, executive dir., CC, Hyundai Motor America; Daniel Collins, VP-CC, Corning International; Donna Peterman, CCO, PNC Financial Services; Brian Levine, VP-CC, Office Depot; Bill Imada, IW Group, Asian market PR specialist

The board of the Society skipped its spring meeting for the first time ever.
We know boards never skipped this meeting because for many years it met at resorts or resort cities such as Carmel, Vancouver, Lake Tahoe (for skiing), San Antonio (golf), Santa Fe (twice because of the art/music festival), Montreal and even London (entire board in 2000 for a four-day visit).

Following a loss of $1.1 million reported for 2000-2001, the board stopped such excesses.

We don’t want a repeat of what happened on Sept. 24 last year when 2009 chair Mike Cherenson spoke to the E. Lansing, Mich., chapter for 57 straight minutes before he allowed a couple of minutes of questions.

The hot topic then was the bylaws revision on which thousands of hours of volunteer and staff time had been spent. We don’t want a commercial for HGTV which is the reason McCormick returned to the board after resigning from it in 2006. Scripps wanted him to publicize the cable channel’s offerings.

McCormick initially promised some new ideas including naming African-Americans and reporters to the Strategic Planning Committee he headed last year.

The board squashed that plan and McCormick caved.

His motives were clear at the Assembly last year when he spent 17 minutes describing plans for the Society at the start of the meeting when numerous Assemblies had demanded a halt to such time-wasting speeches that should have been given in advance in hard copy or e-mail.

This was a horrific waste of time when the Assembly had a huge pile of work on its desk—a complete re-write of the bylaws.

Leaders including McCormick wasted the first hour and a half of the session and then another hour and 45 minutes for a lunch break.

Major PR executives and figures, including many leading educators, are pressing the board for reform.

We hope it will listen to them and vote removal of the APR barrier at the earliest possible time so that free and open elections can take place this summer for the first time in more than 35 years. Only ten days’ notice is needed for an Assembly that could use proxies to wash away this stain on the Society.

--Jack O'Dwyer