Jason Baer's biz card is always the easiest to find because it's metal

Blogger Chris Brogan talks about three levels of business card collecting and networking. The first level is personal, where you forge a bond with the person.   The second level is business, where you hope to conduct business with the person down the road. The third and final level is where you are just collecting names.  Chris says that at social events, we are conditioned to collect business cards as the next step after meeting someone. Instead of doing this all the time, he advises that if you think it’s just a casual meeting, just hug the person and move on.

I always collect business cards. I love seeing how people lay out their information, and it helps me remember names. Just because I’m in public relations doesn’t mean I’m always the greatest at remembering names and faces, unfortunately. Hopefully if I’ve ever breezed past you in a social gathering, and we’ve met before, you’ll understand that I’m not snubbing you — I just am not the best at remembering faces. I seem to be much better conditioned to remembering word patterns rather than face patterns.

My own system is to collect and organize business cards by event. I used to file them alphabetically, but they are coming in so fast and furious now that I can no longer fit in the time to do that. And I seem to remember people better by event – so all the people I met at Social Media AZ, for example, are together in one rubber band stack. I like to go through them physically, not online. Business cards to me are a work of art.

Anyone found a better system?

Jessica Hansen, IABC Phoenix President and Abbie Fink, PRSA Phoenix President

VALLEY COMMUNICATORS UNITE TO DONATE URGENTLY NEEDED ITEMS TO HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF EFFORTS

More than 80 volunteers from IABC Phoenix and Phoenix PRSA collected and assembled 455 hygiene kits; raised over $575 to help those in need

In response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti, the Phoenix chapters of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) organized a social event last month in which members and Valley communicators donated items for 455 completed hygiene kits and raised more than $575 for earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

“Following the tragic event in Haiti, I received phone calls from my clients asking about ways in which they could get involved and lend a helping hand,” said IABC Phoenix President Jessica Hansen. “The best part was that they weren’t doing it for the recognition, but because they truly wanted to help. I began to think about ways in which I could help and knew communicators here in the Valley would pull together and make a difference.”

Last month, more than 80 volunteers from IABC Phoenix and Phoenix PRSA united to assemble hygiene kits filled with urgently needed supplies for Haiti’s earthquake survivors. Each kit included a hand towel, washcloth, wide-tooth comb, nail clippers, soap, toothbrush and bandages. Members collected supplies after learning that hygiene kits can mean the difference between sickness and health for struggling Haitian families. IABC Phoenix and Phoenix PRSA donated the supplies through the Church World Service, one of the American Institute of Philanthropy’s top-rated charities involved in Haiti relief.

In addition to the 455 completed hygiene kits, Valley communicators donated an impressive amount of additional items, including several large boxes of bar soap, toothbrushes, hand towels, Band-Aids, toothpaste and other hygiene items that could not be used to make additional hygiene kits but were donated locally to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix and given to those in need here in our very own community.

“It was amazing to see Phoenix PRSA and IABC Phoenix members, as well as other communicators throughout the Valley, come together in support of others in need,” said Phoenix PRSA President Abbie S. Fink. “I was impressed to see everyone come together in one night to pull together donations, but at the same time I wasn’t entirely surprised as I know our community is extremely generous.”

In addition to the many contributions made by countless individual members, several corporate supporters provided assistance as well, including the Biodesign Institute at ASU, BlueCross/BlueShield of Arizona, MediaWatchAZ and Active Voice Communications, LLC. A special thank you is also owed to Heritage Graphics for supporting this effort and sponsoring the hygiene kit shipment.

While no names were mentioned in the report, it does say that “there are 14 people left in editorial.” I assume the 14 is at The Tribune alone and does not include the Ahwatukee Foothills News and Sun City’s Daily News-Sun.

And Nick Martin over at HeatCity did a great job covering the story following the court decision. Martin reported yesterday that Freedom Communications told employees following the decision that they’d know more about their futures within the next two days.

HeatCity also has an update to this story at http://bit.ly/9mWLNo that includes the names of those laid off.

Our panelists will be discussing timely and topical developments in the profession, and where public relations is headed in the new decade. They will touch on technology’s impact on PR, as well as important challenges posed by today’s economic climate.

Our dynamic panel features seasoned professionals:

Corporate: Anne Christenson, Senior Public Relations Manager for Kahala Corp.
Non-Profit: Amy O’Hara, Marketing & Communications for ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation
Government: George Couch, Public Affairs Officer for USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Agency: Michelle Olson, President of Olson Communications, Inc.
Independent: Ann Videan, Independent Practitioner for Videan Unlimited
Abbie Fink, president of Phoenix PRSA will moderate.

To register go here.

WHEN:

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

WHERE:

The University Club
39 E. Monte Vista Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Phone: (602) 254-5408

COST:
$25 members, $40 non-members; $45 all walk-ins

QUESTIONS:
chaptermanager@phoenixprsa.org

The kneejerk reaction to write a press release about anything that moves is what prompted me to write my book, “Press Releases are not a PR Strategy,” with the premise that there is more to an overall PR strategy than merely issuing announcements at periodic intervals.

Just choosing not to write a press release however, doesn’t work if you are employed by a publicly held company. There are things such as “material announcements” and Sarbanes-Oxley that help guide what has to be announced.

I’ve worked for a few publicly held companies, and the approval process always was arduous. I found it helpful to establish personal relationships upfront with all the people on the approval chain, and using humor to jolly them along into getting their comments done. I also gave them several hours heads-up that a release was coming their way — and often that was way more advance notification than I personally received about a release I had to write.  With seniority, I’ve gained a closer bond with executives so they’re more likely to work with me and keep me in the loop than they did in my early years.

What tips do you have to help usher the approval process through?

Graphic courtesy of dianagarvilita

With constant advances in technology, marketing professionals now have some of the most powerful tools imaginable to influence key targets. While some of these tools certainly provide new ways to communicate directly with the public, how do marketing professionals best integrate them with traditional marketing vehicles? How do we really know if our campaigns are moving the needle in the right direction? What methodologies can we apply to measure overall campaign effectiveness? And most importantly… what strategies are needed in order to produce a sound ROI?

Panelists for this program include:

• Jos Anshell; Co-Founder – Moses Anshell

• Julie Coleman; Director of Community Relations – US Airways

• Cindy Kim, Director of Corporate Communications and Social Media – Lumension

• Andy Parnell, COO – Defero USA

The event will be moderated by Patrick Howley, Founder – The Howley Group. The event is March 24 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Phoenix Airport Marriott. More information and registration is available on the AMA web site

Responsibilities include: Creating copy for a range of purposes including emails, landing pages, websites, articles, print materials, scripts, product slicks, and more. Participating in the development of deployment of marketing strategies. Monitoring, sending, and tracking emails.

More details here. Oh, and major bonus…you get to work with Kathy Sacks!

Long gone are the days of finding a plethora of news stories on someone who’s done a good deed, has helped a fellow citizen or is prospering in a time of need. Instead we find ourselves being inundated with headlines, images and lead stories on pet kittens being fed to pythons, children being sacrificed in Africa, dying soldiers, rogue flu viruses, celebrities behaving badly, kidnapped children and the never ending story about terrorists wanting to blow up anything and everything that is affiliated with the U.S..

Which leads me to wonder… are we doing our jobs as PR professionals? Are we working with our clients to get their stories told, which 9 times out of 10, are positive stories? Are we joining forces to rally for the traditional fluff piece that so many of clients could benefit from? Are we being proactive to figure out how we can make a positive media story out of a negative headline? Or, as a profession and as a nation, have we become so numb to the negativity that we have elected to waive the white flag in defeat?

I know that well crafted media relations can’t save the world. But until I no longer want to grab a Prozac and a shot of Jack Daniels after the evening news, I’ll keep fighting to bring back those fluff pieces from the ashes and I hope you’ll join me!

• Establishing a unique brand for your business
• Packaging your services so they sell
• The importance of strategic partnerships
• Generating new business & new opportunities
• Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur
• “Watch-outs” for new indies
• Why growing your business is as important as doing your business

The event is March 18, 2010, 11:30 a.m., at the University Club of Phoenix, For more info and to register visit www.iabcphoenix.com.

How many of us in public relations are actually introverts and not extroverts?   In her post this winter about her shyness, blogger Dushka Zapata writes that “according to the Meyers [sic] Briggs type indicator, an ‘extrovert’ and an ‘introvert’ are defined based on where they get their energy. An extrovert is ‘energized by the outer world of people and things’ and an introvert is ‘energized by the inner world of thoughts and ideas.’”

This difference must be what makes some of us PR people gravitate towards writing (my favorite) and some of us towards event planning (would rather have a root canal).  What part of PR do you hate?   That will probably tell you a lot about which side you fall on, introvert or extrovert.

Graphic from http://myers.team-technology.co.uk