SITRICK WORKS WTC MOSQUE

Sitrick & Co. is counseling Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the proposed mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center.

Rauf, who recently returned from a State Dept. trip to the Middle East, spoke about the $100M Park51 project during a Sept. 13 appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations and penned an op-ed piece in the New York Times.

In that Sept. 7 NYT piece, Rauf wrote that his mission is to “strengthen relations between the Western and Muslim worlds and to help counter radical ideology.”

The real estate developer for the 13-story project, Sharif El-Gamal, gets PR guidance from Sunshine Sachs & Associates’ Ken Sunshine and T.A.S.C. Group’s Lawrence Kopp.

ROSS HELMS HILTON'S PR

Dasha Ross has joined Hilton Worldwide as director of global corporate communications. The 12-year PR veteran is in charge of external PR with a focus on consumer and trade media.

Ross worked at Marriott International, handling west coast corporate communications from a perch in Los Angeles. She also did stints at Taylor PR and Ruder Finn.

Hilton, which relocated its corporate headquarters to McLean, Va., operates a global network of 3,600 hotels in 81 countries. The lodging giant's brands include Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and Embassy Suites, among others.

NIDES TO STATE DEPT.

Tom Nides, who did a brief stint as CEO of Burson-Marsteller, reportedly is headed for the State Dept. as deputy secretary for management and resources. He will succeed Jacob Lew, who is moving to head the Office of Management and Budget.

Nides has strong ties with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He served in the Clinton Administration as chief of staff to Trade Rep. Mickey Kantor. He also worked for former House Speaker Tom Foley and managed the 2000 Vice Presidential campaign of now Independent Democrat Joe Liberman.

Nides is COO at Morgan Stanley. He was a key advisor to former Morgan Stanley chairman and Credit Suisse chief John Mack.

Nides chairs the Securities and Financial Markets Assn., Wall Street's lobbying arm.

WS GETS MOTOROLA BIZ AHEAD OF SPLIT

Motorola has tapped Weber Shandwick to guide North American PR for its Motorola Mobility division after an RFP process and ahead of a planned split of the company into two publicly traded entities next year.

The Mobility division, which made up about 65 percent of its $11.1 billion revenue in 2009, includes its mobile devices like smartphones and home devices like cable boxes, while the second unit, Motorola Solutions, encompasses its business services and networks.

Jennifer Erickson, chief communications officer for the Mobility business, cited Weber Shandwick’s digital expertise and “bench strength,” as well as its mobile device and entertainment experience.

Fleishman-Hillard previously handled Motorola’s mobile devices. Edelman continues to rep the Solutions business.

Schaumberg, Ill.-based Motorola announced the split plans in February after delaying spinoff plans for its handset business in 2008. The plan is set to be executed in the first quarter of 2011.

‘I LOVE N.Y.’ PR TO BE RE-BID

New York State has declined to award a PR contract for its “I Love New York” campaign and will put the account out for a new RFP in the near future.

The Empire State released a month-long RFP in April to handle media relations, trade show support and crisis management, among other tasks, for the iconic travel and tourism account.

New York re-launched the 33-year-old campaign in 2008 and has worked with Lou Hammond & Associates.

A contracting official did not provide a reason for pulling the plug on the RFP, but provided a description of the work, noting firms will be required to exhibit “extraordinary experience with travel and tourism public relations.”

The RFP is at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

APR DEBATE HEATS UP

Art Stevens, the leading proponent of letting non-APRs on the PRSA board, on Sept. 16 said that the APR exam process could stand “vast improvement.”

After previously saying in a Society e-group that the APR exam is a “hallmark of professional accomplishment,” Stevens told this NL the exam is for “relative beginners.”

He says “It should (italics added by this NL for emphasis) be a hallmark of professional accomplishments.”

(Continued on page 7)

GOLDLINE GETS PR HELP

Goldline International, buyer and retailer of gold and silver, has brought in PR and lobbying support as it faces congressional scrutiny over its advice to customers.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y) is expected to take the company to task over its business practices amid broader hearings about gold sales this month.

The company, which advertises on conservative programs like those of Glenn Beck and Mike Huckabee, hired D.C. firm Powell Tate last month and lobbying firm Prime Policy Group ahead of the hearings.

PPG is the WPP-owned lobbying and public affairs unit of Burson-Marsteller, formerly known as BKSH & Associates. Its Sept. 7 lobbying registration says its scope includes all legislative activities affecting the sale and marketing of precious metals products.

Powell Tate senior VP Eric Hoffman is heading the Goldline work for the firm. He told O’Dwyer’s that PT, part of IPG, was hired about a month ago and is “providing overall communications counsel” to the company.

The PPG team includes vice chairman Bryce Harlow, deputy undersecretary at Treasury during the recent Bush administration, and Martin Paone, executive VP for the firm who worked Capitol Hill for 32 years on the Democratic side.

Goldline executive VP Scott Carter told “Good Morning America” Sept. 9 that the company offers customers sound investment advice and noted its A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Weiner has been after the company for months, starting earlier this year when Politico examined its ties to Beck. Weiner said Goldline encourages customers to buy gold coins at inflated prices and has also criticized Beck’s business ties to the company.

Goldline said Weiner’s criticism is misstated and said it is committed to the “highest ethical business practices.” Beck called an ABC report on the company “the biggest spin you’ve ever seen” and said it is part of a government conspiracy to run the gold industry out of business.

BURSON’S WIFE DIES

Bette Burson, 85, died Sept. 16 at her home in Scarsdale, N.Y., from an inoperable brain tumor. She was the wife of Harold Burson, founder of Burson-Marsteller. The couple was married for 62 years.

Bette worked with Harold as office manager of B-M’s predecessor firm. She traveled the world with Harold, visiting B-M offices and clients.

“Our firm grieves with Harold during this sad time,” said B-M CEO Mark Penn. “I know that he has been touched by the outpouring of concern that so many people inside and outside of our firm extended to him during Bette’s illness. Our thoughts are with the entire Burson family.”

A private funeral is planned.

OBAMA MIDEAST PR ENVOY EXITS

Jonathan Prince, a key Obama administration communications official for the Middle East, has left for a partner slot at Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates in D.C.

Prince was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State handling strategic communications and public diplomacy for the Middle East. He was part of Special Envoy George Mitchell’s delegation to the region and his exit comes as the administration has re-engaged in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

In a statement, CLS founder and CEO Bob Chlopak said Prince has handled some of the “world’s most challenging issues for more than 20 years and is one of Washington’s most skilled, respected and versatile strategists.”

Prince, earlier, was a Clinton White House aide and speechwriter who handled messaging during the NATO campaign in Kosovo, along with other domestic assignments. He also worked the presidential campaigns of Clinton and Sen. John Edwards in ’04 and 2008.

He is a former Brunswick Group hand and was a partner in Isay, Klores, Prince, along with New York PR maven Dan Klores and SKDKnickerbocker founder Josh Isay, which worked on Andrew Cuomo’s aborted 2002 run for New York governor.

ATOMIC POWERS TECH GROUP

Atomic PR has picked up the Technology Council of Southern California account for positioning and messaging for the organization founded in 1991 as the Software Council of Southern California.

Atomic also will provide media relations for the Council’s newly formed peer-to-peer, industry and disciplined subgroups, and will promote its various education and networking events.

Rich Sharga, president of the Council, cited Atomic’s “deep understanding of the challenges and triumphs tech brands face” plus its experience of creating “actionable” PR campaigns in announcing the hire.

Atomic’s Los Angeles office oversees the Council’s activities. That office has just added Katie Gerber, a 10-year-old PR pro. Gerber, a veteran of A&R Partners/Edelman, guided Adobe and palmOne and most recently worked for Disney Interactive Media.

STOUSE EXITS BMC FOR HONEYWELL

Mark Stouse has left the top communications slot at BMC Software to head global communications for Honeywell's $10.8 billion aerospace business.

Stouse, as a VP, takes the reins on external and internal comms., as well as tradeshows, advertising, digital and CSR.

Honeywell noted Stouse’s approach binds marketing and communications to sales and so-called “success metrics,” a strategy he will implement at the company.

Stouse previously directed external communications at Hewlett-Packard, joining in 2002 from Compaq in that mega-merger. He worked on the agency side at tech firm Neale-May Partners, as well as brief stints with Goswick Advertising, Hill & Knowlton and Edelman.

BMC has not yet named a replacement.

NYT TAPS GOODMAN MEDIA

The New York Times has signed Goodman Media as the paper's PR chief Bob Christie works to put his team in place at the “Gray Lady.”

Christie exited the VP-communications post at Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones & Co. in March for the NYT.

He wooed Tom Goodman’s firm, which handled PR for DJ and the WSJ, during the summer. Goodman told O’Dwyer’s he didn't announce the win because he was waiting for Christie to staff up.

Christie, who is on Twitter at @NYTPRGuy, also hired Dow Jones’ Danielle Rhoades-Ha to get publicity for the breaking stories and booking NYT reporters on TV, according to a report in the New York Observer.

The Observer posted its piece Sept. 16, reporting that the “next battleground” between the NYT and WSJ is over their PR departments.

Dow Jones named Bethany Sherman its chief communications officer effective March 29.

She joined after an eight-year stint at Nasdaq OMX Group, where she was senior VP-corporate communications. Prior to Nasdaq, Sherman was chief client services officer for Middleberg Euro RSCG.

Christie was named senior VP corporate communications at New York Times Co. on March 9.

TIME INC. DIGITAL GURU TO ADMELD

Jason Kelly, VP-strategy and revenue management at Time Inc. Digital, has moved to AdMeld as its chief media officer.

New York-based AdMeld works with more than 300 clients such as Fox News, Hearst TV, Discovery Communications and IAC to help them maximize revenues.

Kelly is to oversee AdMeld's global relationship with data partners and handle special projects for key clients.

Prior to Time Inc., Kelly was at Microsoft and Virgin America.

NEWMAN DIES AT 91

NBC newsman Edwin Newman died Aug. 13 of pneumonia in Oxford, England, where he lived since 2007.

His family delayed the announcement of the death to have time to privately mourn Newman’s passing.

In a more than 30-year career at NBC, Newman was Paris and Rome bureau chief, news anchor, documentary host, “Meet the Press” panelist and “Today” show regular.

After serving in the Navy during WWII, Newman joined CBS and moved to NBC in 1952. He retired in 1984 and became a guest host on PBS.

Newman is author of grammar books, “Strictly Speaking: Will America Be the Death of English” and “A Civil Tongue.” He also wrote a comic novel, “Sunday Punch.”

Newman hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 1984.

TOP SECRET PROJECT AT WSJ

Wall Street Journal editor in chief Robert Thomson has launched a “Special Project” that he says is “crucial to our success as a company.”

In a cryptic memo sent to staffers, Thomson apologizes for “being necessarily vague.” He promised staffers they “will be hearing much more in coming days and weeks.”

The point people in the SP are Jim Pensiero and Gabriella Stern. They will oversee a “large and dedicated editorial staff and will be tapping the combined reporting might of the WSJ and Dow Jones Newswires,” which are humbly dubbed the “world’s most powerful engine for news and analysis.”

Pensiero, deputy managing editor of the Journal, is now editor in chief of the secret task force. He helped create “Smart Money,” led the WSJ’s redesign and “masterminded” Dow Jones’ move to midtown.

Stern is Newswires’ senior editor for global news coverage and a 19-year veteran of DJ. She also serviced as Asia-Pacific and EMEA editor and since mid-2009 was Newswire’s top editor on the News Hub, coordinating content from Newswires and Journal editors.

Thomson used “Special Ops Dear All” as the memo’s subject line.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. owns the WSJ.

INKY, PHILLY NEWS BACK TO AUCTION BLOCK

The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News have gone back to the auction block following the Sept. 14 decision by a bankruptcy court judge to nix the proposed sale of the papers to the Philadelphia Media Network, a group of their creditors.

PMN's inability to ink an agreement with the Teamsters local is the reason for the sale's collapse. The other 15 unions at the papers agreed to contracts with PMN. A new auction has been set for Sept. 23. PMN's initial winning bid was for $139M.

PR man Brian Tierney fronted a group of local investors called Philadelphia Media Holdings to buy the newspapers from McClatchy Cos. for $515M in 2006.

The papers filed for bankruptcy in February '09.

FINEMAN SHIFTS TO HUFFINGTON POST

Howard Fineman, a 30-year correspondent at Newsweek and pundit on MSNBC, has joined the Huffington Post to oversee its political coverage.

He told the New York Times that he wanted to be “where the action is.” The “chance to dive headlong into the future” was too good to pass up.

Fineman worked in the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Washington bureau before joining the weekly magazine. His new title is senior politics editor. He plans to remain an analyst at MSNBC, but will drop his column on the cable network’s website.

Mark Hosenball, investigative reporter at Newsweek, is moving to Reuters as money and politics reporter.

He joined Newsweek in 1993 from NBC’s “Dateline” and wrote the “Declassified” blog Michael Isikoff, who left for NBC earlier in June.

(Media news continued on next page)

BLACKWATER MADE PR PLAY

Blackwater, which was the State Dept’s “go-to” security firm in Iraq until the massacre in Nisour Square, offered PR services, according to a report published Sept. 15 on The Nation’s website.

Via a Blackwater shell company, former CIA paramilitary Enrique “Ric” Prado and ex-CIA officers Cofer Black and Robert Richer were available for “representation” to “national decision-makers.”

Black served in the CIA for 28 years and ran its counterterrorism arm. Richer was its deputy director of operations. Both left Blackwater.

Prado, wrote Jeremy Scahill, also offered to lead four-man counter-surveillance teams in the U.S. for $33,600 a week.

Monsanto, Walt Disney, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Barclays and Deutsch Bank were customers of Blackwater.

The Nation reports that Monsanto tapped Blackwater's Total Intelligence unit to be its “intel arm” to infiltrate activist groups protesting the biotech giant's activities. Disney paid Blackwater $24K for work by TI and the Terrorism Research Center to conduct a “threat assessment” for potential film shoots in Morocco.

Barclays hired TRC for background checks of Libyan and Saudi businessmen. In particular, the Brit bank wanted to know whether executives of the Saudi Binladin Group had any ties to Osama bin Ladin.

Richer noted that SBG chair Bakr Mohammad bin Ladin is respected among Arab and western intelligence services for cooperating in the hunt for Osama bin Ladin.

Blackwater, now known as XE Services, is on the auction block. Founder Erik Prince has moved to Abu Dhabi due to “business friendly climate,” low taxes and lack of trial lawyers.

Scahill also noted that Abu Dhabi does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.

LEHMAN GETS PUBLISHING POST

Susan Lehman, director of communications and strategy for New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice, has been named publisher and editor of Twelve, a publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group.

Lehman takes over for Jonathan Karp at Twelve, which was set up as an author-friendly boutique publisher in 2005 to produce and market one book per month. Its authors include Christopher Hitchens and Sebastian Junger. Karp was named publisher at Simon & Schuster in June.

At NYU, Lehman, an attorney, handled media relations and training, public education and advocacy for the center, a non-partisan organization that describes itself as part think tank and part public interest law firm.

Lehman was previously an editor at Riverhead Books and wrote, with Edward Hayes, “Mouthpiece: A Life in – And Just Outside – the Law” (Doubleday 2006). She was also senior editor at Talk magazine and producer for Court TV, following a criminal defense law career.

CBS TO UNVEIL ‘60 MINUTES OVERTIME’

CBS said it will launch a web-only extension of “60 Minutes” on Sept. 26 to include three original stories derived from unaired material or back stories from the weekly TV segments in its archives.

“So much goes into the reporting of a ‘60 Minutes’ story and often there’s more original material that doesn’t make the broadcast, or interesting back stories we don’t get to share with the viewer. Now we have a place to do that,” said executive producer Jeff Fager.

Dubbed “60 Minutes Overtime,” CBS said story elements will be shot and produced exclusively for the online audience and will feature behind-the-scenes footage of production of its segments to give viewers te “perspective of ‘60 Minutes’ correspondents and staffers.”

Viewers of the TV program will be directed to 60MinutesOvertime.com.
“60 Minutes” executive editor Bill Owens will oversee the programming of the site, working with Fager.

Mark Larkin, vice president of CBSNews.com, added: “The correspondents telling stories about their stories is the kind of thing that people are looking for on the Web.”

“60 Minutes” draws an average audience of 13.3M viewers per week on Sunday nights.

USA TODAY TAPS ‘MONEY HONEY’

“Money Honey” Maria Bartiromo started up a monthly interview column in USA Today on Sept. 20.

The CNBC anchor has been charged with penning an up-close look at top leaders in today’s business world via the Q&A column.

The column will run monthly in print and online in the “Money” section of the paper and website.

NEWTON TO EDIT ‘GREEN BOOK’

The 80-year-old Social List of Washington, D.C., known as “The Green Book,” has tapped Beth Ann Newton as its new editor.

She takes over for David Howe, who has retired after 11 years at the helm.

The publication lists the most prominent Washingtonians in sectors like business, law, government, philanthropy, technology, and others.

Selection to the book is by invitation only.

FOODIE WEBSITE IN THE WORKS

Former Forbes.com publisher Jim Spanfeller, who has set up a venture-backed web publishing company, is set to launch a food website, The Daily Meal, on Oct. 15.

Former Saveur editor and Gourmet columnist Colman Andrews is set to head the publication with Valaer Murray, ex-managing editor at Forbes Traveler, in the ME slot.

From the release: “ The Daily Meal will create a complete food experience for cooks, food lovers, wine connoisseurs, discerning diners and everyone in-between.”

The site, The DailyMeal.com, will include original content and a user community. Spanfeller expects 2M unique visitors per month in its first year.

RFPs FOR PR FIRMS AND SERVICES

Upstate New York’s Greater Rochester International Airport, which caters mostly to business travelers visiting companies like Eastman Kodak, Xerox and Bausch & Lomb, is on the hunt for a PR specialist via an RFQ open through late October.

The airport, run by the Monroe County Airport Authority, says 65% of its 2.5M passengers last year were business travelers. Seven airlines have a presence there, including JetBlue and AirTran, which have helped dropped the average fare.

The PR work outlined in the RFQ runs from managing usage of the airport's meetings and events facilities to promoting its operations and services to the public, industry and aviation community.

The RFQ was issued Sept. 10 and is open through Oct. 27. Download at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

The California Dept. of Veterans Affairs, which has been squeezed by the state legislature and governor in recent years to raise private funds, is on the hunt for a consultant or firm to boost its outreach to companies, legislators and private donors. California has the most military veterans of any U.S. state - more than two million - who, combined with their families, make up 10 percent of the Golden State's population.

The department's communications office issued an RFP on Sept. 16. Deadline is Oct. 18. RFP is at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

A water utility for the greater San Antonio area is reviewing its PR account with an open RFP process through October.

The work covers strategic PR planning, crisis, community, media and government relations, as well as corporate communications to maintain the Bexar Metropolitan Water District's “reputation, enhance its prestige, and present a favorable image” to the 260K people it serves, according to the RFP.

Pitches are due Oct. 8. Download the RFP at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

The city of Golden, Colo., seeks a PR contractor for a $30-40K assignment to boost tourism, shopping and other economic activity in coordination with its other marketing efforts. RFP is at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

North Carolina’s courts are looking for pitches from PR firms to handle social media for the judicial branch’s guardian ad litem (legal guardian) program, known as GAL.

The GAL program, which has 64 offices and tackled nearly 36,000 cases from 2008-09, provides legal counsel to abused, neglected and dependent children in the Tar Heel State with a goal of ensuring them a safe and permanent home.

An attorney typically works each case with a trained volunteer. An RFP issued Sept. 8 calls for media relations and communications services to produce a social media push eyed for a November launch. A contract is expected to run through Feb. 20, 2011. Proposals are due Sept. 29. RFP is at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

VMS ADDS ADS TO MONITORING

VMS has enhanced its InSight software platform to include monitoring of advertising content, in addition to news and other media.

Commercials from the top 100 television and radio markets, newspaper and magazine advertisements, banner ads from the Internet, billboard and cinema ads are now tracked by the service.

Peter Wengryn, CEO at VMS, noted marketing professionals can review the impact of paid and unpaid media campaigns and check how messaging is resonating in the marketplace with the service.

Users can get alerts immediately when a news story or advertisement breaks and can analyze a competitor’s latest campaign commercials “the minute they hit the airwaves, or scour VMS’ unmatched ad archives,” the company said.

PRN REVAMPS PROFNET

PR Newswire created a free, online “expert community” around its premium ProfNet source service dubbed ProfNet Connect, replacing its existing Experts Database service.

PRN said the service offers an enhanced set of social media and content management features intended to “promote more targeted and interactive exchanges of ideas and resources.”

ProfNet has been challenged by the free, tech-savvy start-up HARO, now part of PRN rival Vocus, along with other more niche services intended to connect journalists with sources.

PRn said its daily email distribution of media queries, part of the premium ProfNet, will remain an “essential component” of the service.

PRN says its new service brings together expert profiles, blog posts, and enables users to engage in real-time conversations through forums and groups.

The service has also enhanced its profile building tools that allow subscribers and the public to create “expert” pages that include background info, photos, videos, white papers and speaking abstracts, all indexed in major search engines.

UBM TRADES $287M FOR CANON

United Business Media, the U.K.-based company that owns PR Newswire, has acquired tradeshow producer and publisher Canon Communications for $287M.

Thirty-two-year-old, Los Angeles-based Canon runs 41 trade shows, mainly in the so-called advanced manufacturing sector, which includes the growing medical device market. It also publishes magazines, email newsletters and webcasts, among other services.

“The combination of Canon’s brands with both our worldwide infrastructure and our existing electronic engineering business offers us exciting growth opportunities, particularly in Canon’s core medical device design and manufacturing markets,” said UBM CEO David Levin.

UBM purchased the company from Spectrum Equity Investors and Appraise Media, which bought Canon from Veronis Suhler Stevenson in 2005 for about $200M.

APR DEBATE HEATS UP (Continued from page 1)

The APR test appears to be at the college level since study of 21 chapters of college PR texts is recommended as the way to pass the test.

Assembly delegates who have been arguing the APR issue in nearly 100 postings on a Society e-group have been warned they face legal action if they print more than one copy of any of the postings and if they retransmit the e-mails “in any way” to anyone else.

Says a four-page memo to e-group members: “The terms of use are…in accordance with the laws of the state of New York and the intellectual property laws of the U.S. and you agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of the state of New York for any cause of action arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms of Use.”

Members Would be “Insulted”

Kathy Lewton, 2001 president of the Society who has made dozens of postings, said on Sept. 17 that members would be “insulted” by “many of the comments” in the dialogue.

Only delegates are supposed to see the e-group dialogue but security is far from air-tight.

One member asked: “What are they going to do, sue us for communicating? This is a communications Society.”

The pro-APR side blasts the non-APRs as unmotivated, lacking in professionalism, and being disloyal to the Society.

Lewton has pointed out that some supporters of APR call the exam “a mark of professional excellence and credibility” (posted Sept. 17 by Lauri-Ellen Smith of the North Florida chapter) while others say “the entire APR process takes a few hours and people should be whizzing through it” and that the exam is “a piece of cake.”

Lewton also says the Society is being dishonest by not saying “up front” to member prospects that the Society has “a two-tier membership system” in which APRs “have more rights than non-APRs.”

She said the board of the Westchester/Fairfield chapter, to which she belongs, discussed the APR amendment and voted that “neither an APR nor 20 years of experience” should be required to join the national board.

North Florida Rejects Change

Bryan Campbell, North Florida, said in a posting that nearly 50 members unanimously rejected removing the APR rule last year after a teleconference discussion with bylaws revision chair Dave Rickey.

The chapter’s board, with one exception, voted last week against removal of the APR rule, he said.

Stevens and Steve Lubetkin, who has been arguing in favor of keeping the APR rule, have declined an invitation by this Newsletter to debate the APR issue in-person in our offices or elsewhere.

Stevens has a New York office and Lubetkin’s firm is in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Nearly 100 postings on the APR issue are in a Society e-group, far more than the number that the bylaws re-write drew last year. The re-write debate was never conducted before a “live,” “in-person” audience and the same holds true for the APR debate. Debate is limited to teleconferences and e-mail groups.

Lawyers Challenge Legal Threats

Lawyers who were shown the e-group agreement that members are forced to sign or face removal from the group, said the press has a right to describe the e-group debate because of its news value and because reporters are not party to any agreement with the Society.

As for enforcing it with members, lawyers said the Society would have to show how transmission of e-group postings damaged the Society or anyone.

Further, the lawyers said, the Society holds itself out to be a communications organization that espouses in its Code of Ethics “the free flow of accurate and truthful information” and that it “supports the right of free expression.”

The Code says its members should contribute to “informed decision making in a democratic society.”

In another new document called “Media Policy,” members are ordered not to respond to any press calls that could place them in the position of speaking “officially” for the Society unless permission is given by VP-PR Arthur Yann or one of his staffers.

There is nothing in the one-page document that tells members they have every right to criticize the Society and its policies as long as they are “officially” speaking in their own behalf.

These legal threats and orders have no place in a Society that is supposed to be encouraging free speech, said senior members.

Rank-and-file members have every right to know what is being said about the APR proposal in Society e-groups, they said, adding the debate should be in the main, free area of the website since Society leaders habitually say they represent the entire industry and not just members.

Text of the agreement is at odwyerpr.com/blog.

O&B SPINS OFF ELASTICITY

Osborn & Barr, the agricultural PR giant that does PR work for Monsanto, has spun off Elasticity, the digital/word-of-mouth firm launched Jan. 1, 09 by Fleishman-Hillard veterans.

CEO Michael Turley says the spin-off reflects O&B's changing needs and Elasticity's "emerging ability to be self sustaining."

With the move, Elasticity shifts from O&B's St. Louis headquarters to a newly renovated office on Lucas Ave. in the "Gateway to the West."

Elasticity has conducted programs for Anheuser Busch InBev, Sony Online Entertainment, Toro, American Mustache Institute, Charter Communications and Capital One. It was founded by Dan Callahan, Brian Cross and Aaron Perlut.

BRIEF: Many chief marketing officers are overseeing PR tasks like crisis management and media relations to keep a consistent message amid emerging digital communications, but more than half of the companies in a survey have not aligned their marketing and corporate communications operations, according to a study by Hill & Knowlton and The CMO Club. Full story is at odwyerpr.com.

Legal expenses at PRSA were a record $110,452 in 2008, more than double the average legal bills of seven previous years.

Not known are legal costs for 2009 when extensive legal work was done on the bylaws revision.

The Society’s 2009 report is not available on either GuideStar or Foundation Center 990 Finder, the two internet sources where its 2008 report is posted.

Chair Gary McCormick told the Lexington, Ky., chapter Aug. 10 that he thought the 990 would be filed by the end of August.

VP-PR Art Yann does not respond to questions about the 990. He has been sent a fax asking for it but the law is that the Society has 30 days to comply with such a request. PRS is not required to file until Nov. 15.

Assembly delegates last year did not get to see the 990 which for the first time provided the pay/benefits of the top six staffers. Previously, only the highest paid staffer was reported. Also reported were more than 35 stock trades.

COO Bill Murray got a $50,064 raise (19%) to $312,779. He also received $30,500 in retirement pay and non-taxable expense benefits of $16,587.

The Society uses two law firms, Venable, 660-member firm in Washington, D.C., and Sifton & Salimi, three-lawyer firm in Brooklyn where Ann Thomas, formerly with Venable, handles the account.

Legal bills were $65,325 in 2007; $66,761 in 2006; $42,571 in 2005; $20,498 in 2003; $51,011 in 2001; $34,628 in 1998 and $55,461 in 1995 (average of $48,036).

Trohan Is Back as Parliamentarian

Again working for PRS as parliamentarian is Colette Trohan. She gave extensive advice on the bylaws re-write last year but it is not known what her fees were.

Houston delegate Sally Evans asked on a teleconference that the crucial 2009 Assembly be audiocast but Trohan and 2009 chair Mike Cherenson argued against it.

Cherenson said it was “near impossible—technologically challenging.” When Evans said sessions of Congress are telecast daily, Trohan said that Congress has “unlimited funding.”

Cherenson asked Trohan for her opinion and she said she “strongly recommends against getting involved in the Judge Ito (O.J. Simpson judge) effect where all of a sudden instead of having your meeting and dealing with what you have to deal with people are very aware that there are cameras, whatever, some kind of audio feed.”

She advised the Society to “put out a synopsis of the actions that would not take as much time as minutes to put together and pretty much say here’s what happened.”

Audiocasting Cheap and Easy

The above is total nonsense because audiocasting is both cheap and easy and was used in last year’s conference just after the Assembly.

As for PR pros being disturbed by “cameras” and an “audio feed,” that is also preposterous. If they can’t stand the limelight, they don’t belong in PR.

We hear this all the time—Assembly delegates are “disturbed” by our presence and we must stay in the back of the room. This is some kind of spin—PR people are upset by the mere sight of a reporter.

Trohan appears to be an advocate for what Society leaders want rather than someone who quotes Robert’s Rules. She did not protest when only some of the bylaws rather than all of them were discussed as required by Robert’s.

Delegates need to elect their own chair and need to have their own lawyer and parliamentarian.

Otherwise, the Assembly will again be a meeting of chickens run by foxes.

July 16 Board Minutes Unavailable

Still unavailable are the minutes to the July 16 board meeting where Richard Edelman and Bill Doescher of the Committee for a Democratic PRSA asked the board to support non-APRs being in national leadership. The board refused to do so.

Late board minutes are a habit with the Society. The minutes of the July 24, 2009 meeting were not posted until Oct. 24 and the October 2008 minutes were not posted until five months later. New York State government bodies must post their minutes two weeks after a meeting.

Information-withholding continues on a massive scale at PRS and includes the list of delegates that rank-and-file members cannot see. Delegates don’t even have to list their names if they don’t feel like it.

Proxy votes will be used again at the Assembly although this breaks a basic rule in Robert’s Rules. There is no report on who holds such proxies or how they are voted.

Legal Threats to Members Are Grotesque

The dominance of a legal culture at Society h.q. has now reached grotesque proportions with the Society threatening legal action against delegates who forward e-group postings to anyone.

Supposedly such delegates would be breaking the “intellectual property laws of the U.S.” and would be subject to the “personal jurisdiction of the courts of the state of New York” for any violation of the e-group agreement.

Participants own their own postings and can send they anywhere they wish.

Secondly, all of the nearly 100 postings should be in the public area of the PRS website so rank-and-file members can see the debate and put pressure on their delegates.

APRs Are a Nasty Crowd

The non-APRs would see the APRs in their true colors—lying about the APR issue as having been brought up “repeatedly” when it was only brought up once before; lying to prospective members by not telling them they will be second class members until they pony up another $385 for the APR process; hurling insults at those who want APR decoupled from office-holding (calling them “whining, negative, destructive, accusatory”); questioning the ethics of the decouplers (calling them “those who slime the ethics of our profession”), and endlessly praising the APR exam which is based on 21 college textbook PR chapters (falsely calling it “a mark of professional excellence and credibility”).

The APRs repeatedly contradict themselves by describing the APR process as something arduous that takes a lot of time and commitment while at the same time saying the process is “a piece of cake” and that “the entire process takes a few hours and people should be whizzing through it.”

If there is anything that would topple the APRs and lead to a revolt of the non-APRs in the chapters, it would be viewing this debate. It’s no wonder h.q. does not want members to see it.

— Jack O'Dwyer