Firm Director’s Column – MaverickPR Newsletter Spring 2012

My favorite quote, from Roman philosopher Seneca, says, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” That’s what the MaverickPR firm does – makes its staff members lucky.

MaverickPR gives involved students the skills needed to be in a position to receive opportunities. In return, the students give their time and dedication. It’s a partnership that leads to success.

In the past three semesters that I have been employed by MaverickPR, I have seen firsthand the difference it makes in the lives of its members. Serving as the director of the firm for the spring 2012 semester, I’ve been privileged to not only manage accounts and complete tactics, but act as a mentor to new staff members.

Although we are a small staff of 13 with more than 15 clients this spring, we are powerful. The high volume of clients requires each staff member to work on 3-4 accounts apiece, gaining a wide variety of knowledge about PR practices. We are able to write strategic plans, design branding materials, create social media content, write media materials and articles, pitch reporters and form relationships, and much more.

Experience is the number one thing employers are looking for and MaverickPR provides.

It has been an honor to serve MaverickPR as its firm director, and as I prepare to graduate, I know my fellow staff members and I are the lucky ones.

MaverickPR Firm Director’s Update – March

Another month come and gone, March was a busy time for the MaverickPR firm! As seven other staff members and I prepare to jet to New York City bright and early tomorrow for a professional development trip, I know we’re all proud of the work we have to show from this semester.

A few highlights from the past month include:

• Completing designs of a logo and tagline for pilot program, ONE Touch Omaha
• Media relations work for the UNO Sustainable Transit Committee (to be rebranded by MaverickPR ASAP)
• Social media promotion for the Global Youth Services Day/Hike to Help event
• Completion of monthly newsletters for the Nebraska Polio Survivor’s Association and Blue Line
• Adding four new clients and developing strategic plans for each: Warren Academy, D.R.E.A.M., Healthy Futures and UNO Parking
• Event planning for the School of Communication Graduation Breakfast

And much more! We’re also gearing up for many events taking place in the spring. April is sure to keep MaverickPR busy, but what else is new?

MaverickPR Firm Director’s Update – February

Woo, deep breath! The first eight weeks of the semester have flown by in the MaverickPR firm. We have a record number of client accounts right now, completing public relations work for 17 different nonprofit, business and campus organizations. I’m also happy to report that the prospective new clients keep rolling in. Our staff of 12 may be small, but we are powerful and have done a tremendous job keeping up with the workload and meeting our deadlines.

There are a few clients that have been keeping us the busiest lately:

We are in especially frequent communication with Hike to Help Refugees/Global Youth Services Day and have filled our large conference room to capacity on more than one occasion with all of the involved parties. We are thrilled that so many people want to be involved in the planning and implementation of the event that will feature global exhibitioners and a walk to raise awareness for refugees to take place at UNO on April 20. Between the design work and event coordination, our talented team on this account is working hard to prepare for the event.

A returning client from last year, the Omaha Heritage Festival planning and promotion is in full swing. The team members on this account are extremely excited to promote a new aspect of the festival this year – the opportunity to help break a world record! This Memorial Day weekend, MaverickPR and the Omaha Heritage Festival plan to have 500 couples all dancing the Salsa at the same time. The previous record is 419 couples. The event will also feature an authentic Chinese dragon, a parade through downtown Omaha, cultural vendors and musical acts.

One of our new clients this semester is the UNO Sustainable Transit Committee, a group dedicated to alternative modes of transportation, such as carpooling, walking or biking. The team on this account is promoting the re-release of B-cycles, which return to the streets March 1 for their second season in Omaha. B-cycle is a pilot bike-sharing program in partnership with UNO Student Government and the Community Bike Project. The staff will also help to plan and gain involvement with the “Wheels for Meals” race, in which teams register to rent a B-cycle, ride to local grocery store Wohlner’s, purchase canned food that will be donated to a food shelter and return to the starting point the fastest.

As I sit here recounting the weeks in my planner to double check the number of weeks gone by already that I quoted in my lead, I’ve just realized that there are only 17 weeks in a semester. That means the Spring 2012 semester is just about half over. Um…what? I should probably remind myself to stop and take a breath more often, before the next eight weeks fly by under the radar.

First Release at Union Pacific

I began an internship in the corporate relations department at Union Pacific Railroad on January 18.  Find out what President Abraham Lincoln’s upcoming birthday on Feb. 12 has to do with UP’s 150th anniversary in 2012. Click here to check out my first news release at UP.

Engage Audiences with Compelling Content

The phrase, “creating compelling content,” may boast alliteration itself, but the similarities end when considering how to actually produce attention-grabbing material. At PRSA Nebraska’s Professional Development Conference January 20, keynote speaker and social media expert Sundeep Kapur brought attendees in the know about how to make content different and stand out.

Successful content involves engaging consumers and keeping them coming back for more in as many different ways and using as many channels as necessary, according to Kapur. The best content is interactive, using the multiple tools provided by technology to take a different approach than just attempting to get the public to “follow” or “like” your page. Providing interesting information should be enough to gain an audience.

After gaining an audience, control the traffic of users on the different channels by directing them where you want, such as your company’s website, via content. “Give [the consumer] a background where you can try to manage this interaction,” Kapur says.

Kapur encourages public relations professionals to take advantage of certain tools, citing examples of web-based seminars, QR codes, videos and coupons as just a few ways to engage an your audience. He also suggests using all facets of multimedia, noting each social media platform for its strengths:

• Blog – Use to humanize your brand
• Facebook – Create dialog using tools, such as apps, pictures, videos and custom tabs
• Twitter – Spread the word using helpful information, host a tweet-up and shout out to your followers
• YouTube – As the No. 2 search engine, YouTube provides a big opportunity for your audience to find you; Record short clips of what’s going on at your organization
• LinkedIn – The best B2B platform that companies can use to brand themselves with status updates; Use it to gain credibility through recommendations

Kapur outlined five goals of social media that PR practitioners should use as a guide when utilizing these mediums:

1. Find new members
2. Develop effective on-boarding, or getting to know the members
3. Give them pieces of information to share
4. Cut costs to fund your program
5. Drive attributable revenue

As technology rapidly advances, so does social media content, leaving much speculation about the future of these tools. In 2012, Kapur predicts three key social mantras: social integration, social measurement and social customer-relationship management (CRM). With that in mind, he says to remember to listen to your consumers, keep them engaged and use many channels to send out your message. Compelling content will keep consumers coming back for more.

Sundeep Kapur – NCR has been assisting organizations with their converged channel marketing strategies since 1990. He has been helping brands leverage social media to expand their reach, do things in real time and drive effective engagement. Sundeep is a passionate teacher who works with businesses across multiple industries, helping them to enable technology and services to brand, and personalize and speak to consumers more effectively.

Sundeep has delivered more than 500 presentations to help businesses drive consumer engagement. His teaching has taken him to multiple cities around the world. Sundeep is also an avid user of social media, having leveraged words, pictures and video into a conversational digital book at www.emailyogi.com. He writes a column on Social Integration at ClickZ.

Sundeep enjoys yoga and is a ‘yogi.’ A yogi is one who teaches through learning!

Newest Boystown.org Articles

Be sure to take a moment and read my latest articles posted on the Boys Town website:

Boys Town California Begins CSP

Boys Town Passages Academy’s New Student Body President

Also, backtrack a little and check out all the Boys Town holiday stories I wrote (or co-wrote with a fellow intern). Gathering the information from 10 of the 11 Boys Town sites about their numerous holiday activities  and writing it all up was quite the endeavour, but left a feeling of immense satisfaction in the end. Here are the ones that were posted on boystown.org:

Tree Lighting Fun for the Whole Family By: Me

Boys Town North Florida: Tree Lighting, Holiday Programs, Chili – Oh My! By: Me & Emily Johnson

Community Christmas Activities Bring Cheer! By: Me

Boys Town South Florida Families Filled with Hope By: Me

Holiday Happiness at Boys Town Texas By: Me

Boys Town California Festive for Holidays By: Me

Check Out This Article

Since May 2011, it has been my pleasure to work as a public relations intern at Boys Town and write stories about the organization’s 11 sites across the country. Writing brings me a lot of joy and I feel great going to work each day, knowing that I am a part of Boys Town’s wonderful mission to save children and heal families.

Click here to check out my most recent article that was posted on Boys Town’s website.

Its All Bittersweet

As I sat at MaverickPR’s Santa Paws event yesterday (it was the sixth year in a row we’ve hosted pet pictures with Santa and donated the proceeds to a local animal shelter), it hit me. Looking around the room at so many of my fellow members, I realized that, for more than half of them, the end of an era is literally so close they can touch it on their black caps and gowns. This unbelievably talented group of people – my peers, my team, my support system of shoulders to lean on, vent business and gossip about boys…my friends - will be walking across that stage in just 12 short days. I was shocked by the realization that there is a small part of me that feels as if I should be there alongside them, but I know the rest of the May seniors and I still have much to do before we reach our time. No matter how long each of our 2011-2012 student-run firm seniors have been around, we have all grown innumerable ways together into the communications professionals we were meant to be. And now, it is the December graduates’ turn to go out into the world and make their marks. I couldn’t be more proud, as many of them are already employed or have interviews lined up. And I have not an ounce of doubt for the rest of them. Going back to my cheerleader roots as I often do, go get ‘em!

Here’s to all the times, good and bad, laughter, tears, hugs, victories, frustrations, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and, of course, the future. Congratulations to the University of Nebraska Omaha’s MaverickPR class of December 2011! xoxo

Transparency + Action + Leadership = Effective Crisis Communications

Of the many sessions I had the privilege to attend while at the 2011 Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) National Conference, there is one that left a greater impact on me than the others: Crisis Communications – Confronting Reality with Strategy. 

 The speaker, Richard S. Levick, President and CEO of Levick Strategic Communications, is an expert in the field of crisis communications. He navigated the audience through an engaging presentation, giving several tips along the way. According to Levick, effective crisis communications can be summed up in three words: transparency, action and leadership.

 Transparency is the idea of open communication with the public, during a crisis. Attempting to hide details or find a “scapegoat” (person or group to place the blame on), will do an organization no good and only cause more harm. It is much better to be upfront and honest about the situation and any possible wrongdoing on the company’s behalf. Levick used the example of the Taco Bell lawsuit, in which the fast food chain was sued with a claim stating its beef was not a high-enough grade quality to pass regulation. Taco Bell retaliated with an ad campaign entitled, “Thank you for suing us,” which explained that the claims were false and stated facts to supplement this.

 “Actions, not solutions,” said Levick. “You don’t need a solution, you just need action.” Action requires making some type of movement, as soon as possible, after a crisis occurs. Waiting too long to act can damage an organization’s credibility, according to Levick. He provided an example, opening up a discussion in the session about whether or not the audience thought BP CEO Tony Hayward handled the oil spill situation well, in 2010. As most people began to shake their head no, Levick put an end to that with his opinion. He said that while Hayward may have handled the oil spill situation poorly altogether, BP was initially off to a good start by providing a quick response that focused on the victims of the oil rig explosion. Hayward’s first statement, the day after the explosion, was: “Our concern and thoughts are with the rig personnel and their families. We are also very focused on providing every possible assistance in the effort to deal with the consequences of the incident.”

 Wrapping up the three-part formula, Levick expressed the importance of leadership during a crisis. When a crisis occurs, the public wants to hear from the top person at the organization and are extremely dissatisfied if they don’t. Therefore, the CEO or president should almost always be the spokesperson. The leader must also be able to switch goals when needed; if a strategy isn’t working, the leader must be able to make a decision to switch directions. Levick illustrated this by telling the story of Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger and the landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, in 2009. When the plane lost power in both engines just six minutes after takeoff, Sullenberger decided to turn around and attempt to make it back to LaGuardia Airport. When he realized he wouldn’t make it, Sullenberger immediately switched goals and looked for another place to land. Regardless of the fact that the river was an inconvenient place to land, Sullenberger was determined to keep the 155 passengers on-board safe.

Richard Levick and Levick Strategic Communications has set new standards in global communications and brand protection for corporations, countries and major institutions. Levick has been honored for the past three years on the prestigious list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the Boardroom” by the NACD/Directorship Magazine and has been named to several professional Halls of Fame for lifetime achievement. Levick has co-authored three books, The Communicators: Leadership in the Age of Crisis; Stop the Presses: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference (now in its second edition); and 365 Marketing Meditations.

Photo above right: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/taco-bell-beef-meat-lawsuit-ads_n_815303.html

Photo above left: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/61014/thumbs/s-HUDSON-RIVER-LANDING-large.jpg

So…I Finally Caved

Since my Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), MaverickPR, hosted a Regional Activity conference last April, I have been debating the idea of starting my own blog. Seven months later and I’ve finally given in to wordpress.com. I was practically forced to get a twitter account (I didn’t see the point and I was a vehement Facebook girl) after that fateful weekend as well, after much encouragement from all of our wonderful speakers – especially Tressa Robbins of BurrellesLuce! Thanks again, Tressa. But after that weekend, I saw the light. How was a company to expect me to create and maintain social media for it if I wasn’t even doing it for myself? I’ve come a long way in the past seven months and now, once again, I am expanding my online presence. I will admit that this blog is something I’m very excited about, but only have been putting off because of insanely-busy-life-syndrome. Not since my days of Xanga, as a sophomore in high school, have I had a blog. I loved my Xanga…long after all of my peers had given up on it, there I still was, writing away about my life every day. On the contrary, I promise this blog won’t be about the trials and tribulations of a 15-year-old girl, but rather a 21-year-old student on the brink of graduating college and, you guessed it, job searching! Welcome to my living portfolio. I’m new at this, so I ask that you bear with me as wordpress and I get acquainted.