Valley PR Blog

Marketing Sociologist Says:
July 19th, 2010 at 5:02 pm

Wondering what PR firm was responsible for this horrific release? “”We are proud to be APART of an amazing community of professionals who strive to improve our customers overall experience. We would like to also express our congratulations to all of the other nominees,” said Mark A. Franks, president and CEO of Castle Megastore Group Inc.”

When an agency doesn’t know what the word apart – meaning to distance – means, tsk, tsk. Unfortunately this is the level of PR in the Valley. How many PR practitioners refer to AP Stylebook and Strunk & White’s “Element of Style”; or something called a “dictionary”?

Jennifer Says:
July 20th, 2010 at 10:20 am

So, Mr. Marketing Sociologist, are we to assume that by posting your comment here, you are suggesting that whomever wrote that release might benefit by attending the Writeshop workshop? I’m going with “yes.”

Marketing Sociologist Says:
July 20th, 2010 at 11:53 am

I would go with Yes, too Jennifer. Thank you. Also, as someone commented in the APR post, companies should be training their staff relentlessly (to a point – work does need to get done).

Excuse the fact I forgot her name, but at a recent IABC function I met a former IABC Phoenix president. She was ABC’d, higher accreditation than I got in Toastmasters, an MBA. This is the level of commitment you don’t see every day. Wish I could remember her name – she should be at the top of mind whenever anyone has a high level position open. Unfortunately, I see companies hiring the MINIMUM qualified to head their communications programs. A post here commented on a company that replaces its head of communications every year. That seems to be de rigueur in Phoenix because companies aren’t hiring the best of the best to head their PR efforts. That has lead to a downward spiral in the quality of professionals over the past two decades.

Glad to see attention to professionalism on this blog. It seems to be getting attention again. Let’s hope professional pride is a trend that continues. It is the BEST thing for public relations.

Rrrosa Says:
July 20th, 2010 at 12:15 pm

You certainly have strong opinions, MS,which I respect. But if you are to criticize for grammatical incompetence, for future reference:

“I would go with Yes, too, Jennifer.”
[Comma after "too" before person's name. I assume "yes" is capitalized for emphasis.]

“Unfortunately, I see companies hiring the MINIMUM qualified to head their communications programs.”
[MINIMALLY qualified.]

Marketing Sociologist Says:
July 20th, 2010 at 2:20 pm

Thank you, Rrrosa. Everyone needs an editor. I did check Strunk & White on the first comma – not necessary and as one English blog site said, we have a tendency to use too many commas. Minimally was fantastic, though! Good point. Why did I capitalize Yes? Probably was going to put it in quotes but don’t use quotes online because it messes with SEO. Loved your comments. Thanks, or is it now thanx? Keep up the great comments. Hope you follow this site ALL the time!

Paula Hubbs Cohen Says:
July 20th, 2010 at 5:36 pm

I know Len is just the messenger, so this isn’t aimed at him, and I did check the Commpose website to verify that this is a direct quote from their site, which it is. Does anyone else think that the following is an extremely, uh, funky sentence, especially for a group offering writing lessons? If I had my editor’s hat on and a writer submitted this sentence to me, I’d return it with the comments: “(1) very awkward phrasing; (2) please don’t end a sentence in a preposition.”

“Commpose is an Arizona based group of copywriters who come together for the purpose of creating a network to share ideas with, bounce ideas off of, and continually learn from.”

Again, I’m only offering this observation since they are hosting a writing workshop.

Jim Veihdeffer Says:
July 21st, 2010 at 1:37 pm

In MS’s defense (not that he needs it), I think we allow more leeway in punctuation punctilio for blog comments than for press releases and other official documents. For one thing, a blog comment does not usually have the benefit of a crew of outside proofers. For another, blog comments gain their very potency from their immediacy and personal character. For a third, blog comments are not usually editable by the poster whereas press releases can be edited and reviewed by any number of people in the process of preparation.

I admit to being a bit more obsessive than necessary about punctuation when I’m texting or IM’ing, but I cut my friends some slack in those instances.

Kim Stearns Says:
July 30th, 2010 at 10:53 am

MS, I believe your comment was in err. I’m not sure where you pulled that quote from someone at Castle Megastore, but it’s certainly not in this post about a writing workshop.