June 2000 NMPRSA Bulletin Online
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Promoting Tourism in the Midst of Fires
June NMPRSA Meeting To Be Held in Santa Fe
LaNelda Rolly, Deputy Secretary of Tourism for the State of New Mexico, will discuss different tourism initiatives to attract visitors to our state. As the second largest private sector industry in New Mexico, tourism is the lifeblood of many communities. In light of negative perceptions that all of New Mexico is on fire, Deputy Secretary Rolly will address different planned and ongoing initiatives to promote tourism to the State’s target markets.
The June 29th meeting will occur in Santa Fe at
the Inn of the Governors. Cost for the luncheon is $15 for members and $18 for
non-members and $12 for PRSSA members. RSVP to the luncheon by contacting Sam
Giammo at (505) 272-3682 or
before the close of business on Monday, June 26th.
PRSA Announces The Cumbre Award Winners
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| The Sun Healthcare Group | The Garrity Group |
The New Mexico Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has announced the winners of the Cumbre Awards. This annual event honors the best in New Mexico public relations. Awards were given May 18 at the Wool Warehouse by Doubletree, during an evening event entitled "Night of a Thousand Stars."
Top award winners were The Garrity Group (with 12 awards, including the Cumbre Best of Show for campaigns), Sandia National Laboratories (with seven awards), Sun Healthcare (with five awards, including the Cumbre Best of Show for tactics), Griffin and Associates (with five awards) and Plains Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative (with five awards).
The New Mexico PRSA 2nd Annual Cumbre Awards were sponsored by Cooney, Watson and Associates, The Garrity Group Public Relations, LithExcel and Design and Layout by Tom Knox.
Founded in 1958, the New Mexico Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is a professional organization whose purpose is to unite the profession, improve the practice, and encourage understanding and acceptance of public relations among all constituencies.
For the complete list of winners, click here.
Fostering Good Public Relations
By Tom Garrity
NMPRSA President
Good policy fosters good public relations.
The words appear to be simple enough. However, a number of organizations still miss the point. I am happy to see that the New Mexico PRSA Chapter is not one of those organizations.
The Cerro Grande fire that threatened and burned portions of Los Alamos provided many of us the opportunity to give in truly unique ways. Many of us took the initiative to help individually and others corporately. Either way there was tremendous participation that resulted in many needs being met and in some instances surpassed. The communication on PRSA Listserve was surpassed only by the level of cooperation between public and private agencies in wanting to communicate timely and accurate messages.
NMPRSA can help raise the bar in the level of assistance to the communities directly impacted by the devastating fires. I am not talking about caned goods or fundraisers. Specifically I am talking about helping the impacted communities with basic public relations planning and response. During the month of June I will contact the cambers of commerce in Los Alamos, Ruidoso and Albuquerque about using a NMPRSA speakers bureau to teach their members about was they can use public relations to communicate with their key audiences in the midst of adverse perceptions.
If you are interested in participating in this speakers bureau please contact me directly. This is not a PRSA fund-raiser. Speakers bureau participants will be asked to pick up their own travel and meal expenses.
Good policy fosters good public relations. Our organization has tremendous resources to equip and enable organizations throughout our state. This program is just another way to support the "NM" of our NMPRSA.
PR Pointers: Talking Shop, Talking
Trends
Contributed by David Geary
Why do young adults in Spain love their news media?
U.S. television news has lost half of its adult viewers since the 1960s, and newspapers have lost an even larger share. In one study, many young adults found newscasts just another form of entertainment. According to a University of Illinois researcher, one reason is U.S. journalists aren't competitive. Spanish journalists are. In the U.S., mentioning the competition by name is taboo, and copycat coverage leaves citizens with the same news angle. In Spain, the opposite is true. Young adults in Spain are avid news readers and viewers compared to those in the U.S. ("Political engagement and the audience for news: Lessons from Spain," Journalism Communication Monographs, Spring 2000.)
I write my release for Jerry Springer, then send it to local TV news editors?
Matt Kerbel, veteran newsman in a new book "If it bleeds, it leads," compared scripts from national and local TV news with those from talk shows of Ricki Lake, Jenny Jones, Jerry Springer, and Sally Jesse Raphael. He showed news scripts are not unlike scripts of the shock-and-scream based syndicated talk shows. During Nielsen ratings sweeps, news scripts were hyped even more. Kerbel also observed TV viewers love weather reports: "Lots of people tune into local news just to get the weather. They just put up with the stuff about murders … while they're waiting." (Kerbel's book is published by Westview Perseus Press, Boulder, Colo.)
To order, don't call toll free anymore
Perhaps that most repeated sentence in television advertising, "To order, call toll free," may soon be a thing of the past. In New York City, cable TV viewers can interact free with ads using remote control devices. The new concept has potential, not only for those who sell products and services, but also for those who design public service advertisements and political campaigns. (PRNewswire, March 30, 2000)
It wasn't just the cookies
Diane Salucci, PR director for DeVry, tells this horror story with a happy ending. In looking for a PR agency to help out, she found the first agency forgot to tell her it moved and she got lost. When she found it, the head of the firm told her not to expect much coverage from one of its locations. At a second, the firm's vice president chatted away, sipping a Starbuck's latte without even offering her a glass of water. But at the third, she was greeted at the door, asked about her expectations, team members demonstrated their capabilities, and enthusiastically conveyed a desire for a contract. At the end of a long day, she found a plate of fresh baked cookies with a thank you note in her hotel room from the third firm for just being considered. She chose the third firm. ("Instead of telling potential clients what they need, how about asking them what they want?" PRWeek, May 15, 2000)
A potential downside of "integrated marketing communications"
A former PR executive turned lawyer and educator wrote about a potential major pitfall of integrated marketing communications. "If a corporation openly or tacitly admits that its public communications efforts are aimed at improving its bottom line, a court might be more open to apply the definition of commercial speech" to this activity. Commercial speech can be regulated or restricted, and does not enjoy the same status as First Amendment free speech. (Article is by Erik Collins in the current issue of Journal of Integrated Communications, reviewed in the May 22, 2000, issue of pr reporter.)
The Fall APR Test Deadline is Aug. 7th
The application registration deadline for the Fall Accredited in Public Relations (APR) exam is August 7, 2000. The test will be administered Saturday, Sept. 16th.
The NMPRSA will be sponsoring a preparation course for the exam. For more information, contact Chad Perry, APR. His email address is .
You can also visit the PRSA web site at www.prsa.org for information about the APR process.