April 4, 2012 : A Guide to Getting Local Coverage
Presenters: Michelle Maxwell, Senior Editor of Content; Don Currie, Local and State Editor; and Dick Hughes, Editorial Page Editor
Moderator: Bill Church, Executive Editor of Statesman Journal Media
Heard from a panel of Statesman Journal editors: Michelle Maxwell, Senior Editor of Content; Don Currie, Local and State Editor; and Dick Hughes, Editorial Page Editor. Panel presentation was moderated by Bill Church, Executive Editor of Statesman Journal Media.
Learned how we, as PR professionals, can provide information to our local paper in a way that is beneficial to the paper and our clients. How do these editors prefer to receive information? What’s newsworthy to them? When do they prefer to receive your information? What social media outlets are they also using to gather stories? Learned all of this and more from local editorial experts.
*All photos courtesy of Diana Dettwyler
January 11, 2012 : Kick Off the New Year with Team Building by a Pro
Presenter: Mara Woloshin, M.A., APR, Fellow PRSA, Principal of Woloshin Communications, Inc.
Veteran PR expert Mara Woloshin helped us kick off the new year with insights into team building – and how communication and synergy plays the key role. We left with some great tools to build our own teams!
Simply defined, synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. True teamwork is built on trust. Both are critical to creating successful communication strategies and can be created on a regular basis – if we know and practice a few principles, such as valuing and respecting differences, building on strengths, compensating for weaknesses.
Mara led us through insightful exercises and self-assessments to discover your “style” and how you build on the strength of teamwork. We no doubt have a few ‘Aha’ moments and left with an prescription for motivating yourself and others to “become something greater than the sum of your parts.”
About Mara Woloshin
In addition to leading the Woloshin Communications team, Mara Woloshin maintains a diverse client roster. Since 1991, her boutique agency specializes strategic counsel and consulting services as well as training and workshops in new business development, workforce change, integrated market planning, research and nonprofit partnership programs.
Mara is an in-demand speaker and seminar presenter. Her keynote presentation — “Growing Up Goldberg” — is an entertaining look at real-life applications of change in the work place based on the observations of her eccentric family members. Mara has also taught at Oregon universities since 1989; she holds a master’s degree in communications.
Mara is the former North Pacific District Chair, a professional member of the National Speakers Association and the Public Relations Society of America’s Counselors Academy. She is a past president of the Portland Metro Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and received PRSA’s William Marsh Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. She was admitted into PRSA’s College of Fellows in 2005. She is the 2009 North Pacific District Chair for PRSA where she will oversee the career and profession development for eight states. Her work in public relations research and planning has received numerous awards.
When Mara isn’t gardening with questionable results, she is busy helping others. She has assisted 25 refugees get their U.S. citizenship. She is also the Universal Accreditation Chair of the Portland chapter of PRSA. Her workbook, “Preparing for APR Success, A Step-by-Step Study Guide” is now available at Woloshin.com and at Amazon.com.
October 5, 2011 : Marketing in a Post-Print Era
Presenter: Patty Howe of Al’s Garden Center
We learned how Oregon’s premier family-owned and operated garden center has adjusted their marketing efforts in a post-print era and achieved success. Reaching the consumer is very different today than when Al’s began in 1948. How do they do it? Is social media the answer? What online monitoring tools are they using to track public perception of their brand, and even their competition?
Patty is part of Al’s Garden Center’s marketing team. Her responsibilities include: social media (Facebook and Twitter pages,) public relations, planning and scheduling seminars and events, community outreach efforts, and the coordination and implementation of Al’s donations programs. In the past, Patty spent 17 years in television newsrooms as an Assignment Editor in TV stations in Portland including KATU, KGW, KPTV and KHOU in Houston, Texas. Her responsibilities in the newsroom included: daily and long term coverage plans; use of helicopters, live trucks and newsroom crews; and affiliate relations. Patty has a degree in Marketing, and has the unique perspective of someone who has made the leap from the era of radio, print and TV, to the era of online communication.
September 7, 2011 : Make Local Opportunities Work For You
Presenter: Alan Bushong, Executive Director of Capital Community Television
We learned about our local CCTV and about utilizing their services to reach local consumers. With opportunities like the Community Billboard, Holiday Open House spots, film training, and video brochures — CCTV, located in downtown Salem, can provide a local outreach solution.
June 8, 2011 : Media Planning/Buying in a Competitive Marketplace
Presenter: Katie Walther, President of Run Spot Run Media, Inc.
Having spent over 20 years in the advertising business and three years on the station side, Katie knows media.
As a testament to her ability, Katie was named 1998 Media Professional of the Year by the Portland Advertising Federation. She has also served on the Media Steering Committee for Worldwide Partners, the largest organization of independent advertising agencies in the world.
She began her advertising career in Louisville, Kentucky, at Doe-Anderson Advertising, one of the Southeast’s largest agencies. Within six months, she progressed from Media Buyer to Buyer Supervisor. Two years later, she returned to her home state of Oregon.
Run Spot Run Media Inc., is passionate about media and believes in maximizing client’s dollars by looking beyond the numbers. She’s also skilled at securing value-added opportunities for her clients.
Run Spot Run Media, Inc. has completed work for Spirit Mountain Casino, Oregon College Savings Plan, Oregon Sports Authority, NW32 (CW) Television Station, AT&T Broadband of Oregon, Entercom Radio Group, The Oregonian, City of Newport, Oregon State Fair, Adidas America, Metro Auto Wholesale and past account experience includes but not limited to Thriftway, GI Joe’s, Egghead.com, Nature’s Fresh Northwest and Pacific Coast Restaurants.
May 4, 2011 : Turning PR Nightmare Into Social Success
Companies often worry about the PR nightmares that social media can cause. But what about the opportunities social media presents for managing a brand crisis? Mikki Trowbridge and Jennifer Larsen Morrow from Creative Company, Inc. presented recent examples of brands using social media for crisis management and analyze who passed, who failed, and what made the difference. Mikki and Jennifer summarized of key elements of successful crisis management using social media and guidance for building social media into your brand’s crisis response plan.
Jennifer and Mikki brought their generational perspectives (Boomer vs. Millennial) to the general discussion of who uses which social media and how.
BIOS
Jennifer Larsen Morrow is president of Creative Company, Inc., a strategic marketing and branding firm based in McMinnville, Oregon. Creative Company works with regional, mid-size organizations to get more response from their marketing investment by optimizing their brand at the point of choice, the place where audiences choose to take action.
Jennifer began in graphic design in 1976, and founded Creative Company in Salem in 1978. Creative Company has earned more than 100 awards for design, marketing and copywriting for identity development, packaging, recruitment suites, sales materials and more. Jennifer is well-known for her expertise in branding and marketing and has conducted workshops on branding, as well as spoken at local and national conferences. You can follow her on Twitter @jlmorrow.
Mikki Trowbridge is an account manager and writer at Creative Company with a flair for all things digital, including social media and search engine marketing. Mikki has her MBA from Willamette University and adds her perspective from more than five years of nonprofit management experience. You can follow her on Twitter @mikkitrow.
Creative Company can also be found on Twitter @optimizemybrand, online at creativeco.com, on facebook at www.facebook.com/creativeco. Their blog can be found at optimizemybrand.com.
2011 PR Workshop for Nonprofits and Government Organizations
Our second annual special event featured PR and communications experts presenting hot topics for government and non-profit organizations. We explored social media tools, relationships with the press and learned to construct a communications plan. A panel of PR experts answered burning questions on how to incorporate PR, communications and marketing into your organization. Stay up-to-date on our Chapter’s activities by subscribing to our email list.
March 2, 2011 : Are Polls Still Relevant?
Presented by: Mike Riley, Principal and Research Director of Riley & Associates, Inc. in Portland, Oregon
Past election cycles found Riley Research conducting political polling for KGW News Channel 8, the Portland NBC affiliate. Riley has also worked with KOIN 6, the local CBS affiliate, as well as Fox News at the national level.
Riley conducts constituent polls for a wide variety of public affairs interests, including utilities, education, and healthcare organizations. He also works for political interests, initiative petition-backers, legislators and the lobby. Riley is a frequent editorial contributor to regional newspapers, and is perhaps best known for the “Riley Report,” which provides topical polls on subjects of public interest.
February 2, 2011 : An Entrepreneur’s Blueprint to Social Media
We’ve all heard the buzz about social media and probably experienced first hand how it has impacted both our personal and business lives.
But do you know how to use it to its full potential? This tool has eluded many small business owners and organizations. Entrepreneur Tim Fahndrich covered the basics of how to turn “social media” into a proven marketing tool. He answered the four burning questions that most people have about social media, covered the essential steps you must understand before you get started (or restart), talked about which sites are best for your industry, discover little-known strategies to leverage your time and laser focus your activity, and revealed relationship building tips and tricks to help you grow your business.
Tim started working in the internet space in 1996 when he co-founded one of the first “dot-coms” in the lawn and garden industry. He went on to build one of the most successful e-commerce-only ventures, having one of the highest-trafficked web sites in the industry, getting featured in Time Magazine, and building real revenues. The website was sold in 2001.
After taking some time off from the internet industry, he returned in late 2007 to found Third River, Inc. He has since provided leadership in the web design and marketing industry in Salem, Oregon and beyond by providing educational workshops, webinars, teleseminars, and web design services for small to medium sized businesses.
