Category: PRSA

‘Beijing … We Have a Problem’

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

China’s Ministry of Propaganda is alive and well. We feared things would slow down in Asia after the Olympic Games, but the same person responsible for promoting the Olympics (see buck-teeth little girls and CGI-aided opening ceremonies) is helping out on China’s space efforts. No need to worry, however. We expect that PRSA will soon send a registered letter to Premier Jiabao asking China to abide by the PRSA Code of Ethics in its space communications.

PRSA’s Julin: Grandstander or a Pollyanna?

~ Jeremy Story ~ 4 Comments

We were amused when we first read that PRSA CEO (and MGA president) Jeff Julin sent registered letters to the McCain and Obama campaigns requesting that they commit to “a clean and fair campaign.” Julin’s letters read, in part, “The use of innuendo, incomplete information, surrogate messaging and character attacks, whether in political discourse or other forms of commercial free speech, raises serious concerns for our organization.”

These letters beg the question: Is Julin just grandstanding, or is he a pollyanna who is woefully ignorant of our country’s 200+ year history of brutal, negative campaigning. Think McCain and Obama are bad? Try Jefferson and Adams. Democracy has always been a blood sport.

But our amusement level went up today when we read Mark Harden’s Denver Business Journal follow-up article on Julin’s efforts. Apparently no one at either campaign is taking the letters seriously, and PRSA is now flailing about “trying to identify contacts [with the campaigns] who could run it up the flagpole.” Replace “run it up the flagpole” with “return our phone calls or emails” and that sounds about right. The lesson: Being irrelevant is bad enough, but proving it so publicly is worse.

GroundFloor, JW and XStatic Lead PRSA Gold Pick Awards

~ Jeremy Story ~ 3 Comments

PRSA Colorado has posted the winners from Thursday’s Gold Pick Awards, and we have used a proprietary and highly sophisticated formula (two points for a gold, one point for a silver) to determine which agencies fared best:

1. GroundFloor Media (10 points) – Three gold, four silver
2. JohnstonWells (9 points) – Four gold, one silver
2. Xstatic (9 points) – Four gold, one silver
4. Linhart (8 points) – Two gold, four silver
5. Carmichael Lynch Spong (7 points) – Two gold, three silver
6. Schenkein (6 points) – Two gold, two silver
7. 104 West (5 points) – Two gold, one silver
8. Pete Webb (4 points) – One gold, two silver
9. Bawmann Group (3 points) – One gold, one silver
9. Philosophy (3 points) – One gold, one silver
11. CCS (2 points) – One gold
11. Metzger (2 points) – One gold
11. VisiTech (2 points) – One gold
14. Cutter (1 point) – One silver
14. Vladimir Jones (1 point) – One silver

Also, congratulations to the big award winners: Colorado State University, Colorado Springs Utilities and WhiteWave. And to Xstatic’s Amanda Clark and Scott System’s Liz Pope, both of whom won 2008 Rookie of the Year awards.

(Our apologies to Liz Pope for initially omitting her award, and our thanks to Kristy Bassuener for pointing it out).

PRSA Colorado ‘Gold Pick’ Snafu Leaves Seven Entries Missing

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

There has been some grumbling around town today after PRSA Colorado notified seven unlucky Gold Pick entrants that their submissions were lost prior to being judged. PRSA Colorado is refunding the entry fee and promises to evaluate any entries that are resubmitted. 

PRSA Colorado Chapter President Amy Johnson contacted each of the seven entrants personally, and Gold Pick Award co-chair Maggie McMonigle says they have been understanding. But some of those responsible for assembling the original entries aren’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of recreating them. Said one of those affected, “Naturally I am pretty angry since I spent countless hours putting my entry together and simply don’t have the time to duplicate those efforts again this month.”

Upcoming PR Events in Denver

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  • The Denver Press Club is holding an open house this Friday, May 9.
  • PRSA Colorado is sponsoring PR Boost: Giving Nonprofit PR a Leg Up this Saturday, May 10. Volunteers are still needed.
  • The New Denver Ad Club is sponsoring The 3,000 Faces of Eve: Recognizing the Dynamic Realities of the Female Market on May 13. Women executives from CBS, First Data, CP+B and Thomas Taber & Drazen will “discuss, deliberate, explore and dispute how, why, when and where women are marketed to.” 
  • The Jewish Family Service of Colorado is hosting a luncheon May 13 featuring Frank Deford, who graces the pages of Sports Illustrated and is a contributor to HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.

Denver Post Q&A with PRSA/MGA’s Jeff Julin

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This morning’s Denver Post has a Q&A with Jeff Julin, president of Denver-based MGA and currently chairman of PRSA. Credit reporter Steve Raabe for asking some tough questions about how the public relations industry is perceived and why PRSA has been accused of staying on the sidelines in the Edleman/Wal-Mart debacle. Unfortunately, in the abbreviated Q&A format, the responses are mostly just sound bites.

I’m Senior … They Even Let Me Meet Our Clients Face-to-Face

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

Occasionally, as a service to our valuable readers, we take emails that we receive and, well, we’ll just say it: convert them from delusional ramblings and random threats to more thoughtful, well-reasoned statements. In response to our recent post about the PRSA awards judging, the following thought has been expressed by a number of readers, albeit some more eloquently than others:

Five years of experience DOES NOT make someone “senior” level.

The actual emails supporting that concept ranged from, “Would five years make you a senior architect or lawyer?” to “Suggesting that five years of experience makes you ‘senior-level’ and qualified to judge industry awards just reinforces PR’s image as facile publicists and event planners.” Ouch. 

Has the DBJ Dropped its Rankings of Denver PR Agencies?

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

A reader emailed us that the Denver Business Journal has dropped its annual ranking of Denver PR agencies because it no longer trusts the numbers provided by the agencies and is tired of hearing complaints from those challenging other agencies’ numbers. Representatives from PRSA and several of the larger agencies in town are reportedly going to meet Thursday to discuss how they can change DBJ Publisher Neil Westergaard’s mind.

Upcoming Events

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“The Fine Art of Small Talk” — Register here to attend the PRSA Colorado event offering a refresher course on “carrying on a simple conversation.” As a side note, are there really people who need this class? And if someone is so inept that they can’t carry on a “simple conversation,” is one class going to help? January 16 at the Curtis Hotel, $45.
 
“DBJ Book of Lists Awards Luncheon” — Register here to attend the Denver Business Journal’s annual luncheon celebrating its Book of Lists. “Generation Why?” expert Eric Chester keynotes. January 24 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, $70.
 
“True Spin Conference” —  Register here to attend the conference that brings together “flacks from progressive advocacy groups around the country to exchange ideas and learn new and creative PR tactics.” January 31-February 1 at the Curtis Hotel, $350.