Month: November 2008

Dusty Saunders 2.0

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

“Retired” Rocky Mountain News media reporter Dusty Saunders is getting more column inches than … well, name a reporter who still works there. First, Dusty names names (and salaries) on Bob Kendrick’s departure from 9News. Then, Dusty is the first to report that 9News is offering buyouts to employees older than 55 years who have 10 years or more with the station.

And if that weren’t enough, Dusty today digs into the most recent four-week rating period that were measured by “Local People Meters,” the A.C. Nielsen’s new electronic measurement technology. The results:

10 p.m. Monday-Sunday Newscasts

1. 9News/NBC – 16.8 (+0.2 from 2007)

2. CBS4 – 11.5 (-2.5 from 2007)

3. KMGH/ABC – 9.9 (-1.0 from 2007)

25 Best Cities to Find a Job

~ Jeremy Story ~ 2 Comments

As if this economy weren’t depressing enough, Careerbuilder.com has analyzed the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data to identify the 25 best cities to find a job. And you can forget about New York, L.A., Chicago or even Denver. The winners:

1.  Sioux Falls, S.D.
2.  Rapid City, S.D.
3.  Idaho Falls, Idaho
4.  Bismarck, N.D. 
5.  Houma, La.
6.  Morgantown, W.V.
7.  Logan, Utah
8.  Fargo, N.D.
9.  Casper, Wyo.
10. Billings, Mont.
11. Ames, Iowa
12. Lafayette, La.
13. Midland, Tex.
14. Iowa CIty, Iowa
15. Lincoln, Neb.
16. Portsmouth, N.H.
17. Great Falls, Mont.
18. Charlestown, W.V.
19. Des Moines, Iowa
20. Missoula, Mont.
21. Salt Lake City, Utah
22. Provo, Utah
23. Odessa, Tex.
24. Pocatello, Idaho
25. Sioux City, Iowa

GroundFloor, Weise Dominate CHC Awards

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GroundFloor Media and Weise Communications were the big agency winners at the 2008 Colorado Healthcare Communicators Gold Leaf Awards. GroundFloor picked up the Grand Gold Leaf and a Gold Leaf for its work with The Children’s Hospital, and a Gold Leaf and Best Non-Profit for its work with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Weise picked up five awards: Two Gold Leafs for its work with CCRM and Centennial Medical Plaza (CMP), the Best Hospital Award for its work with CMP, a Silver Leaf for its campaign for Bonfils and a Bronze Leaf for its work with Swedish. Welch Creative Group also won a Gold Leaf and a Silver Leaf for its campaigns for The Children’s Hospital, and Linhart PR won a Bronze Leaf for its campaign for New West Physicians.

You can see the complete list of winners here.

Who is Behind the Denver PR Blog, Part II

~ Jeremy Story ~ 7 Comments

Okay, it’s me. A few of you knew that; most of you didn’t. To those who did know, thanks for keeping the secret. And to those who didn’t know, thanks for not asking around too much. Secrets like this rarely keep long.

I started the Denver PR Blog because there was a vacuum of PR information in Denver, due in part to the shrinking business sections in the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. Many of us wanted to know what was going on in Denver’s PR community, but only knew what we heard around town at lunches or various PR events. My goal with the blog was to aggregate and disseminate Denver PR news and rumors for everyone’s consumption. And to do it with enough of an edge that it stayed interesting.

I kept the blog anonymous because I thought intrigue would drive traffic, which it has done. In fact, the growth has astounded me. I started it less than a year ago, and in that time it has grown from 150 hits a month to more than 14,000 a month. I have done nothing to promote it other than exchange a few links; the growth has been organic, driven entirely through word-of-mouth by you. And I thank you for that.

So, now, the next evolution of the blog will begin, and I hope that it will contain many more voices than just mine. Thanks for reading. 

– Jeremy Story

Clark to Leave Schenkein

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

Following a tough year that saw Schenkein reduce its headcount by nearly one-third, principal and co-owner Leanna Clark announced she will be leaving the firm in January. She plans to devote more time to her philanthropic endeavors, while still remaining an advisor to the firm. The DBJ called Clark one of Denver’s “communications leaders” and noted that Schenkein has “represented many of Denver’s top companies and nonprofit groups as well as national firms.”

Who is Behind the Denver PR Blog?

~ Jeremy Story ~ 15 Comments

Over the past year, I have received a lot of questions about who I am. I have been accused of working for GroundFloor Media, GBSM, Linhart and JohnstonWells. And more specifically, I have been accused of being Steven “Steve” Silvers, Paul Raab, Dan Welch, Ramonna Tooley, Donna Crafton, Bruce Goldberg (just learned that one yesterday), Matt Wagner, Melissa Hourigan, Andrew Hudson, and (my favorite) Bill Husted.

For the record, none of those guesses is right. So why am I telling you this? Because Bruce Goldberg at the Denver Business Journal has figured out who I am and will disclose it Friday in his Street Talk column. So until then, I’ll enjoy my last few days of anonymity.

Focus on the Family: ‘Christmas. There, Was That So Hard?’

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family has released its annual list of naughty and nice Christmas retailers. Those retailers headed to heaven include Cabella’s, Kohl’s and Wal-Mart, while Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods will have to settle for purgatory. Those destined for hell include Banana Republic, Old Navy and Lane Bryant. See the entire list (and FOTF’s rationale) here.

Starz Film Festival to Screen ‘Stop the Presses’

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Kelly Pascal Gould of Pascal PR points us to Stop the Presses, a documentary about the troubled newspaper industry that will appear at the Starz Film Festival today at 4 p.m. Patty Calhoun at Westword has the details on its premier yesterday in the auditorium at the Denver Newspaper Agency, which, according to former Post columnist Al Lewis, was “like showing a horror film inside a graveyard.”

Twitter Takes Down Johnson & Johnson

~ Jeremy Story ~ 3 Comments

Johnson & Johnson brand Motrin got schooled in the finicky art of social media over the weekend when one of the ads it wanted to “go viral” did just that. Unfortunately, the conversation, which began on Twitter and spilled over into the blogosphere, focused on why the ad was insulting rather than clever.

By 8:30 last night, the Motrin website was down as the company removed the ad. Unfortunately for Motrin, the print executions will continue for another month before they cycle out.

DMCVB Selects Delightfully Pushy New Name

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

Following the lead of cities such as New York and Los Angeles, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau has changed its name to something more memorable: Visit Denver. “Our challenge was to find a 21st Century name that would be easy to remember and enunciate, be consistent with our brand, and have a call to the action,” said DMCVB/Visit Denver President Richard Scharf.

JohnstonWells Reduces Staff

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

JohnstonWells has grown to be the largest public relations agency in Denver, but even it hasn’t escaped the effects of the softening Denver market. The agency let three staffers go in the past few weeks “after looking at our projections and evaluating the economic realities many companies are facing,” according to President/COO GG Johnston.

And JohnstonWells isn’t alone. Last June, Schenkein reduced its headcount by nearly one-third, and a number of agencies continue to quietly downsize through attrition.

Press Release of the Week

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

You make the call:

  • McStain Neighborhoods — Denver Examiner Reporter ProConnect’s Steve Caulk is spinning a tale that McStain is abandoning its headquarters building so that the company can be “more nimble (and) efficient” (rather than because the company is in such a dire financial situation that it has reduced headcount from 155 to 20 employees over the past year).
    (UPDATE: Here’s the Rocky’s article on the news)
  • 90octane — Announced it is “going green” by implementing such cutting-edge steps as having employees turn out lights, and recycling paper and cans (and, apparently, press releases other companies issued 10 years ago).

PRSA Adds Recession-focused Panel to Member Retreat

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

PRSA Colorado has added a panel to its Member Retreat titled, “How Do We Survive and Thrive in this Economic Recession.” Targeted at senior-level public relations/communications practitioners, the panel features GroundFloor’s Laura Love, the DBJ’s Scott Bemis, Andrew Hudson, Qwest’s Sheila O’Neill and Steele Street Bank’s Matt Baldner. Registration for the event has technically closed, but if you hurry you can probably still sneak in. Register here.

Less-Expensive Mark Koebrich to Replace Bob Kendrick

~ Jeremy Story ~ 15 Comments

Dusty Saunders at the Rocky Mountain News conducts the most extensive post mortem to date on Bob Kendrick’s departure from 9News, and concludes that he is a victim of the sagging economy. Dusty also guesstimates the annual salaries of various local news personalities:

  • Jim Benemann, CBS4 – $700,000
  • Adele Arakawa 9News – $500,000
  • Bob Kendrick, 9News – $400,000
  • Mike Nelson, Channel 7 – $400,000
  • Kathy Sabine, 9News – $400,000