Filed under: Uncategorized
He is being inducted into the Colorado Blacks Hall of Fame Saturday, joining the likes of Wellington Webb, Penfield Tate, and Daddy Bruce Randolf.
Bruce Goldberg’s column in this week’s Denver Business Journal includes a list of the Top PR Gaffes from Story + Welch’s Jeremy Story. On the list are The Cartoon Network, Microsoft, J&J and Boulder’s own John Mackey. If you are not a subscriber, the list is on his blog here.
One of the great truths in Corporate America is that any memo from management that begins, “I know you are keenly aware that the economy is a major issue facing our country“ is going to suck. And the good folks at Clear Channel Communications (CCC) — KOA, KHOW, KBPI, KRFX, KTCL, KBCO, KKZN and KFMD — are learning that lesson firsthand. CCC Market Manager Lee Larsen is softening the ground with employees now, so if you were planning to pitch any of your friendly local radio news anchors/producers, you’d better hurry. And then point them to The Jump.
Rupert Murdoch plots to move The Wall Street Journal from Lower Manhattan to a News Corp. building in Midtown.
Filed under: Uncategorized
The report is here, and Bela Lugosi look-a-like Richard Edelman provides context here.
Among those hiring this week are Crocs, Catapult, Arapahoe Library District, Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee, Passantino Andersen Communications, Western Resource Advocates and the Cleveland Clinic (yes, the one in Cleveland. No, we’re not sure why its being advertised here either.)
Having finally dumped its interminable “14 Days to Launch“ banner, the VisiTech Web site has retreated and now is in week 2 of “Preparing to Launch.” And this is a tech agency?
And before you get smug, Pete Webb, we’ve noticed that you’ve been without a real Web site for a couple of months. Remember the good old days when companies created a new Web site and then pulled down the old one to replace it?
- Flint Whitlock and flack emeritus Terry Barnhart will discuss their new book, ”Capt. Jepp and the Little Black Book: How Barnstormer and Aviation Pioneer Elrey B. Jeppesen Made the Skies Safer for Everyone” at noon this Thursday at the Denver Press Club.
- Ex-LeGrand Hart employees are planning a “reunion” at 6 p.m. this Thursday at The Corner Office Bar.
- The True Spin Conference, which bills itself as bringing together “flacks from progressive advocacy groups around the country to exchange ideas and learn new and creative PR tactics runs this Thursday and Friday at the Curtis Hotel downtown.
- The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement are sponsoring the Colorado Business Hall of Fame black-tie dinner at 6 p.m. on February 7 at the Marriott City Center.
- PRSA and Qwest are sponsoring an event titled “Tackling Tough Hits: Notoriously Anti-PR Journalists Share Breakthrough Pitching Tips” at 11 a.m. on February 14. No word yet on who the journalists are, but the other details are here.
Crocs’ SolesUnited program, which recycles and distributes old Crocs in impoverished countries, will be featured on this week’s episode of Celebrity Apprentice (Thursday at 8 p.m. on NBC). The celebrities will create an awareness campaign for the company’s charity program. Because when your stock price has fallen 63 percent over the past three months, who better than Stephen Baldwin, Gene Simmons and Marilu Henner to develop the marketing strategy to turn things around.
If you have been dragging your feet on renewing your online subscription to the Wall Street Journal because Rupert Murdoch had been hinting that it might soon become free, prepare to be disappointed. Not only will it not be free, but the online subscription cost is expected to increase starting in March. Read the details at the WSJ (and note the irony that this article was free to the general public).
Fortune has released its annual rankings of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, and two Colorado-based companies — CH2M Hill and PCL Construction Enterprises – made the list.
More than 5,000 Coloradans filed for unemployment benefits due to mass layoffs last year, and approximately half of those received their pink slips in the fourth quarter. With those kind of numbers, you would think office rents would be stable or decline slightly. But rents in downtown Denver actually rose 26 percent in 2007, which represented the nation’s seventh largest jump.
Chipotle has dropped Boulder-based TDA as its lead advertising agency, replacing it with New York City-based DeVito/Verdi.
Filed under: Denver, Denver Post, Layoffs, Public Relations, Rocky Mountain News
The Boulder Daily Camera is taking heat for its article covering the spectacularly horrible car crash that killed three men who were in their early twenties. Westword has the details on reader reaction that accuses the paper of glorifying the men’s behavior, including this quote:
“The thing that really makes me feel much better about this is they died doing what they loved to do — they were drinking, they were going fast and they were together,” (one of the dead men’s sister) said. “It gives me comfort, it does, to know those three things.”
UPDATE: The Boulder Daily Camera editor responded to the readers’ reactions.
Filed under: American Gladiators, Bill Husted, Boulder, Denver, Denver Post, Public Relations
No one is tougher than PR pros, and here is your chance to prove it. NBC will be on the CU-Boulder campus on Feb. 2 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) auditioning contestants for the new American Gladiators.
Whole Foods announced it will only offer customers 100-percent recyclable paper grocery bags, in a move designed to bolster the company’s green credentials. The Boulder Daily Camera reports, “As part of the effort to cut out single-use plastic bags — which are petroleum based and can take more than 1,000 years to break down in a landfill — Whole Foods stores will sell canvas bags and a new reusable plastic sack for 99 cents.”
Turner PR has added two new high-end resort and real-estate clients, Viceroy Anguilla and Viceroy Mayakoba, to its client roster. Turner PR will build the Viceroy brand and create greater visibility for the two communities using strategic media relations programs.
Among the Denver-area companies hiring this week are Catapult, Turner PR, Children’s Hospital, Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation, Comcast, Denver Business Journal, Kaiser, MX Logic and Noodles & Company.
The Rocky Mountain News profiles former Mullen High School and University of Miami Quarterback Ryan Clement as he takes what may be his last chance at playing pro football. Clement, who earned a law degree, currently works for The Kenney Group, a Denver firm that specializes in strategic political and government communications services.
Denver International Airport hopes to have carbon-offset kiosks installed by August to help guilty flyers feel better about the environmental effects of their travels. Under the plan, passengers could input their flight information to calculate how much in offsets would be required to erase their carbon footprint.
Filed under: David Milstead, Denver, Public Relations, Rocky Mountain News, Venture Capital
Venture capital investments in Colorado dropped by almost $100 million in 2007, according to a David Milstead piece in the Rocky Mountain News. The 15 percent Colorado decline runs counter to the national trend of a 10 percent increase in venture capital funding.
BusinessWire is sponsoring a free Webinar (Friday, Jan. 25, at 11 a.m.) on how to apply Web 2.0 tactics to press releases. According to BusinessWire, “You’ll learn how to ‘Digg’ your releases (and if you even should), how to save them on del.icio.us, and get them into an RSS feed — all in the quest of maximizing Google juice.” Get more information and register here.
“The Chamber Serving the Broomfield Area” has officially changed its name to “the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce” to, in the words of its president Jennifer Kerr, “make it more identifiable as a Broomfield organization.” Local print shops specializing in business cards and letterhead reportedly applauded the brilliant decision.
Filed under: Awards, Denver, Denver Press Club, Public Relations, Tim Russert
The Denver Press Club will honor NBC political analyst Tim Russert with its 14th annual Damon Runyon award. The banquet is Sunday, April 13, at the Denver Marriott City Center. Tickets presumably are going fast and can be found here.
Target has a reputation as being slightly upscale and wholesome, so many were surprised when the store’s traditional target logo featured an unexpected bullseye (see below). But what would have likely been an under-the-radar issue exploded when Target dissed a complaint from a blogger, citing its policy of “not participating with non-traditional media outlets.” Ouch.
Filed under: Denver, Greeley, Hickenlooper, National Western Stock Show, Ritter, Salazar
You know the National Western Stock Show officially is underway when a Greeley bumpkin throws out the first embarrassing racial remark. And extra points for doing it in a venue that allowed Mayor Hickenlooper, Gov. Ritter and Sen. Salazar to all race to the nearest reporter to denounce the comments.
PR Week’s annual Salary Survey is underway, and you can participate here. The survey provides an interesting benchmark for public relations practitioners on both the corporate and agency sides. Results will be released on Feb. 25.
A PR Newswire staff member was fired for using “loony bin rally” as the slugline on a press release announcing a Mental Health Association rally. Gawker offers some perspective.
Filed under: Crocs, Denver, Jobs, LeGrand Hart, PR Moves, Public Relations, SHiFT
- Crocs named Shelley Forslund public relations manager. Forslund formerly was with LeGrand Hart.
- SHiFT named Michelle Crisci Shauf (say that three times fast) account supervisor. Shauf joins SHiFT from Anna’s Angels Foundation for Down Syndrome Research. Her resume also includes IBM, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Ernst & Young.
- The Cherry Creek Arts Festival named R. Tony Smith business and communications director. Smith formerly was finance and operations director for the festival.
- Celestial Seasonings named Michael A. Bloom vice president of marketing. Bloom joins Celestial from Nestle.
PR Week has the details of Schenkein’s viral video campaign for Stapleton. A sample:
Never underestimate the amount of work and sarcasm that goes into “helping Denver suck less, daily.” To help shoulder the load, The Denver Egotist is looking for a few good co-bloggers.
If you have any pro bono PR work left in your budget, you might want to give Buffalo Chip a call.
PR Week announced the finalists for the 2008 PR Week Awards this morning. Congratulations to Linhart PR for being a finalist for the “Small PR Agency of the Year,” and to WhiteWave Foods for being a finalist for the “Crisis or Issues Management Campaign of the Year.”
The Denver Post has the latest on Coors’ consumer-generated content campaign tied to the Super Bowl (previous post is here). Apparently the Coors lawyers are working overtime to try to prevent another public relations debacle.
Filed under: Denver, Denver Business Journal, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News
How do you break through the clutter when promoting an annual event that has lost some of the general public’s (and the media’s) attention? You aggressively respond to intriguing rumors about the event. What if no one is spreading rumors about you? No problem. Become a one-stop shop to create, spread and respond to the rumors.
PR Week has the details of Coors’ latest campaign.
Would someone please wake up the IT staff at VisiTech? The unveiling of their Web site redesign has been “14 days” away for weeks now.
Filed under: Denver, Denver Post, Journalism Moves, Layoffs, Public Relations, Rocky Mountain News
Westword has the latest scoop on the continued departures of staff from the Post and Rocky. Among them:
- Julia C. Martinez, reporter, Denver Post
- Ivan Moreno, reporter, Rocky Mountain News
- Fernando Quintero, reporter, Rocky Mountain News
- Sarah Huntley, assistant city editor, Rocky Mountain News
Turner PR has announced three new hires and a promotion:
- Amanda Conti joins as an account executive; she previously worked at New York boutique firms Marina Maher Communications and Bratskeir & Company.
- BrieAnn Fast and Jordan Blakesley have been hired as account coordinators. Both join Turner from LeGrand Hart.
- Jill Neumann has been promoted to writer/research analyst.
EchoStar won a “Best of Show” award at CES for its TR-50 High Definition DVR. EchoStar’s press release is here.
