What Sports Team Communicators Can Teach Us

What Sports Team Communicators Can Teach Us, presented by PRSA-NCC Professional Development Committee: If sports are a metaphor for life, sports communication is a metaphor for the rest of PR.

On Tuesday, February 14, the National Capital Chapter of PRSA (PRSA-NCC) will host a workshop at the U.S. Navy Memorial & Heritage Center in Washington, DC from 8-10 a.m.

In this workshop, sports team professionals from the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Nationals, Georgetown Hoyas, and Washington Capitals will provide valuable lessons from their years of experience working in sports communications.

Topics for the workshop will include message discipline in the digital age; lessons about crisis communications from the sports world; integrating social and traditional media and being your own news source; internal communications and selling your plan to your company or client; and how an underdog or small played breaks into the news cycle.

The event will be moderated by Aaron Cohen, Vice President of Media Relations, MSL Group.

Panelists include:

• Kevin Byrne, Senior VP, Public & Community Relations, Baltimore Ravens, @Ravens

• Lara Potter, Vice President & Managing Director, Communications & Brand Development, Washington Nationals, @Nationals

• Mex Carey, Sports Information Director, Georgetown University, @MexCarey

• Ben Guerrero, Manager of Media Relations, Washington Capitals, @WashCaps

Tickets for the event are available for purchase at https://secure.kinsail.com/results.asp?p=prsancc&pt=store&GroupID=22506.

U.S. Navy Memorial & Heritage Center

701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20004

Metro: Yellow/Green lines @ Navy Memorial/Archives station

For directions and parking, visit www.navymemorial.org

From PR Manager to PR Leader on Monday, February 6, 2012

Attend this comprehensive workshop and you will be transformed from a good PR manager into a great PR leader. The half-workshop will offer management and budgeting skills to PR professionals in all employment settings who aspire to become inspiring and capable leaders of people and successful programs. It will teach you how to motivate and manage the people on your team, how to influence the decision makers whose decisions affect you, and how to be smart when it comes to finances and allocating resources.
This workshop is ideal for new or first-time PR managers who want to take their career to the next level. You will learn:
• The differences between managers and leaders and the skills you need to lead• How to lead by example and develop the skills that inspire and motivate people and teams• How to manage expectations, juggle projects and achieve that elusive work/life balance• How to manage “up” so your boss will recognize your leadership skills• How to handle difficult colleagues, irate clients, and other emotionally charged people• How to effortlessly manage both sides of the client-agency relationship • How to effectively develop budgets in order to reach or exceed’ objectives and also meet your own financial requirements
Workshop Leader: Jeff Ghannam, President, Crystal Communications and Marketing, LLC; Falls Church, VA, and 2010 president of the PRSA-National Capital Chapter.

Monday, February 6, 1:00-4:30 at the DC Bar Association, 1101 K Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005
Cost: $75 PRSA, WWPR and BPRS members, $110 non-members, $35 students & retirees Register here

Presented by the PRSA-NCC professional deveopment committee
Host Sponsor: Susan Davis International

Questions? Call the chapter office at 703.691.8733

Radio Trends from 2011, and Looking Ahead to 2012

At News Generation, we see several important trends happening in the industry right now that can impact the work that we do. The first is the prevalence of what we call "general assignment reporters." Many stations no longer have budgets to employ reporters dedicated to a single issue or beat, such as the environment or healthcare. Increasingly reporters are expected to cover several beats. Pitching and message delivery to these general assignment reporters must therefore be developed with this in mind. So avoiding jargon or industry specific terminology is important from pitch to placement of a story.
There is also a major trend toward stations using social media and blogs to further their audience reach and engagement. It's now standard practice for stations to place content on their websites, Twitter, or Facebook profiles to drive listenership throughout the day. Stations often run a portion of an interview on air, and then place the entire interview on their website as well. In addition, social media plays a key role in engagement. It's used to help gather local stories, garner story feedback and inform a part two of a given story, build radio personalities and even conduct promotions.
We also see dramatic growth in the number of Spanish-language radio stations. In 2011 alone, from the spring to the fall Arbitron measurement periods, there was a whopping 21.3 percent increase in the number of stations. This trend is more than a demographic shift. The growth in this radio market provides an opportunity to reach this burgeoning population in their own language with messages tailored to them.

Crisis Communication Lessons from International Finance on Tuesday, January 10, 2012

On Message and On the Money: Crisis Communication Lessons from International Finance

Presented by the PRSA-NCC Professional Development Committee
Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 from 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.

Location: Navy Memorial, 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC, 20004

Cost: $35 PRSA, WWPR and BPRS members; $55/non-members; $10/students/retirees, $10 additional the door. Register here

When entities like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were established to foster global monetary cooperation after World War II, no one could have anticipated a world of 24/7 e-news, iPad magazines and Twitter. These new mediums – in addition to an increasingly interconnected global economy, the pull of emerging markets and Euro zone upheaval – make international financial communication a crucial strategic challenge. This PRSA-NCC Professional Development Workshop will provide concrete examples of how financial institutions manage unfolding policy messages, often mitigating potential crises while communicating with a global, multi-cultural audience in dozens of languages. Whether you’re connected to international business, picking up crisis communications tips or just interested in the intricacies of tweeting in Arabic, this lively panel will provide a real-world examination of the financial messages that are shaping our global economic recovery.

Panelists include:

• Bill Murray, Chief of Media Relations at the International Monetary Fund

• Greg Ip, U.S. Economics Editor for The Economist

• Silvia Kofler, Minister-Counselor, Head of Press & Public Diplomacy/Spokesperson for European Union Delegation to the United States

• Representative from the World Bank (invited)

Potential discussion questions include:

• How do institutions like the World Bank and the IMF adjust messages for cultural relevance while still maintaining consistency?

• How do global financial institutions manage relationships with the financial press, given the need for both timely dissemination and political discretion? How can communicators mitigate the adverse reactions that inevitably accompany any highly charged financial decision on the global stage?

• What is the role of social media and web content in shaping world views of these institutions? How are programs like World Bank’s #thinkEQUAL campaign crossing barriers such as language and basic Internet access?

Workshops on social media, working with experts in early 2012

I've got two workshops coming up in early 2012 that are relevant for communicators, and both are in Washington, DC:

• Your 5 best social media resolutions in 2012 is a lunch-and-learn session designed to catch you up on emerging trends in social media, along with tips to help you get more consistent, frequent and effective in your social posts. Just $30, this session takes place on January 10 and includes lunch.
• Be an Expert on Working with Experts is a full-day workshop on February 1, and it focuses on helping communications, fundraising, government affairs and related professionals better understand the policy wonks, subject-matter experts, scientists and engineers they work with--with tactics and materials you can use again and again to do a better job of gaining experts' cooperation when you ask them to communicate with non-expert audiences, from reporters and public audiences to legislators and donors. If you register by January 11, the session is just $300; thereafter, registration is $350. 

Both sessions will take place in downtown DC near the Metro Center stop on the Red Line. Email me at info[at]dontgetcaught[dot]biz with any questions you may have. Bring your team, and share this with your colleagues!

-- Denise Graveline

Learn How to Put More Power and Precision in Your PR/PA Writing

Put More Power and Precision in Your PR/PA Writing and Gain New Ideas on How to Write Better for Traditional and Social Media

Thursday, December 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Hager Sharp, 1030 15th Street, NW, Suite 600E

Washington, DC 20005

Become a “New” Writer: In this acclaimed workshop, offered twice yearly by PRSA-NCC since 2008, you are empowered to achieve greater professional success with your PR/PA writing.

You'll learn: • New concepts for writing better. • New ideas for writing news the media will use. • New models for writing emails, pitches, news releases. • New approaches for writing on blogs. • New techniques for writing on social media sites. • New thinking for writing to achieve PR/PA success. As a “new” writer, you achieve more tangible, strategic PR/PA results with your writing, and your organization obtains a greater return on their investment in your success and in their success.

Now Presenting: Workshop Instructor: Don Bates Writing/Media Relations Instructor, New York University; Founding Director, Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations, George Washington University.

Program Pieces: Thursday, December 8, 2011
8 a.m. - 9 a.m.—Registration, networking, continental breakfast. 9 a.m. - Noon —Presentation, discussion, writing review. Noon - 1 p.m.—Catered lunch. 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.—Presentation, discussion, writing review. 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.—Submissions’ review and Q&A. 5 p.m. - 6 p.m.—Post-workshop Q&A (optional, not required).

Workshop Cost:$150—PRSA, WWPR and BPRS members$220—Non-members$75—Students and retirees Register here

Presented by PRSA-NCC Professional Development Committee
Host Sponsor: HagerSharp

PRSA-NCC Holiday Party is on Monday, December 19

Monday, December 19, 2011

Carmine’s Restaurant
425 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC
5:30-8pm

Kick off your holidays with friends and colleagues at this PRSA-NCC end-of-year event.

Join us at the legendary family style Italian restaurant located conveniently in Washington, D.C’s Penn Quarter. Metro: Gallery Place/Red Line and Archives/Navy Memorial/Yellow and Green Lines

PRSA-NCC will announce the recipients of the chapter’s Diamond and Silver Awards.

Includes hors d'oeuvres and a holiday beverage.

Event Fee: $40 PRSA, WWPR and BPRS members; $55 guests

Register here


We will also accept donations on behalf of KidSave, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating change so forgotten orphanage and foster kids grow up in families and connected to caring adults.