Month: March 2009

Turner PR Continues to Grow

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The Denver Business Journal profiled Turner PR this week, noting that, “While many businesses struggle to survive the recession, Turner PR is doing something surprising: expanding its clients and staff. The Denver company, which also has offices in New York and Los Angeles, has picked up six high-profile clients since November and is looking to hire a new social media specialist.” New clients include Eddie Bauer and Hotel Teatro. I’d point out that much of that growth has followed Turner’s hiring of Jordan Blakesley and BrieAnn Fast, but they are far too modest to want me to do that.

Former Schenkein Owner Named SVP at IMA Financial

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Former Schenkein principal and co-owner Leanna Clark has joined Denver-based IMA Financial Group as Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications & Executive Director of the IMA Foundation. While at IMA Financial Group, Clark will continue her work with the non-profit Project C.U.R.E., helping it take groups of community and business leaders to developing nations where it delivers medical supplies and equipment.

Q2 PRSA Events

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Damon Runyon Award Dinner 
Friday, April 17 at 6 p.m.
Sports writer, author and Colorado native Rick Reilly will attempt to cheat death by accepting the Denver Press Club’s Damon Runyon award. PRSA members can receive the Denver Press Club member rate when they purchase tickets online at http://www.blacktie-colorado.com

PRSA Western District Conference
April 22-24 in Newport Beach, CA
The conference program, registration, hotel information, and things to do are posted at http://www.westerndistrictconference.com.

2009 Gold Pick Awards
May 7, Ritz Carlton Hotel, 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Register today for PRSA Colorado’s 2009 Gold Pick Awards. Register before Monday, April 27 to take advantage of early registration prices: http://www.prsacolorado.org/cde.cfm?event=257309.

Linhart Finalist for CWCC Athena Award

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Congratulations to Linhart PR’s Sharon Linhart, who was named a finalist for the annual Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CWCC) ATHENA Awards. The ATHENA Award “honors the Denver woman who best exemplifies exceptional professional achievement, devotion to community service and generosity in actively assisting other women in the attainment of professional excellence and leadership skills.”

Linhart’s fellow finalists include Cathy Hart, vice president, corporate services, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer, Xcel Energy; Tensie Homan, managing partner, KPMG,LLP; Caz Matthews, foundation president, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield; and Jill S. Tietjen, president/CEO, TechnicallySpeaking. Winners will be announced April 30.

Social Media Experts Launch ‘Media On Twitter’ Database

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TrackVia, Digital Idea Media, Sarah Evans and HARO‘s Peter Shankman are jointly launching Media On Twitter, a powerful media database available to all Twitter users. The database — which is populated by Twitter users, vetted by editors and free to the entire community — allows users to sort media twitter IDs by beat, location, name or media outlet. (Disclosure: I am a partner in Digital Idea Media and TrackVia is a client).

PR Experts Examine Obama’s ‘Punch Drunk’ Moment

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

The Washington Post asked several PR pros to offer their perspectives on President Obama’s “punch drunk” moment on 60 Minutes Sunday. The most curious response came from Rich Masters of Qorvis Communications:

“The interview was nearly 30 minutes long and the ‘punch drunk’ segment lasted about 30 seconds, I think it’s ridiculous that 30 seconds would come to define an entire interview. 

As we all know, the purpose of a sound bite is to make a single statement define a much broader conversation. Sometimes in politics those sound bites work for you (think Lloyd Bentsen’s “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” or Ronald Reagan’s “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience”) ands sometimes they work against you (Richard Nixon’s “I am not a crook” or Bill Clinton’s “I did not have sex with that woman … Ms. Lewinsky”). But for a PR person to argue that a sound bite – intended or otherwise – unfairly defines a conversation is naive or duplicitous.

5280 Named Top 5 Magazine by CRMA

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Congratulations to 5280 for being named a finalist for the City and Regional Magazine Association’s annual General Excellence award. 5280 joins Texas Monthly, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles magazines as the nation’s top local magazines with circulations greater than 60,000. 

GBSM Names New Principal

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GBSM expanded its management team with the promotion of Andy Mountain to Principal. Mountain has been with GBSM for five years as Senior Associate working with issues management and public involvement clients including AARP, RTD FasTracks, and Denver Water.

CBS4, Denver Magazine Team Up

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Denver Magazine announced that it has formalized a relationship with CBS4 to jointly cover local entertainment stories and charitable events. As part of the agreement, CBS4 critic at large Greg Moody will contribute a regular column to the magazine, and CBS4 will carry a segment the last Friday of each month “that gives viewers a sneak peek of one of the stories in the new issue of Denver Magazine.”

Local Firms Win Awards

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  • Congratulations to Cohn Marketing, which picked up two Rebrand 100 Global Awards for its branding work for Mont Blanc Gourmet and Developers Diversified Realty’s Centros ISLA (located in Puerto Rico).
  • And congratulations to Vladimir Jones, which picked up the APikes Peak Advertising Federation’s Best in Show award for a television spot the agency created for its client St. Francis Medical Center. 

Rocky Staffers to Launch Online News Service

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The former Rocky Mountain News reporters and editors behind IWantMyRocky announced today they will launch INDenverTimes.com, a subscription-based, online news service:

INDenverTimes is an effort to reinvent the newspaper for the Internet age, featuring many of the reporters, editors, designers and other journalists that the Denver community has come to depend on for coverage of local and national news, sports and the arts. News will be free, but the subscription will invite readers inside the newsroom as never before through news analysis, insight, online chats and other features.

Former Rocky staff involved in effort so far: Sam Adams, Tom Auclair, Lisa Bornstein, Mark Brown, Tim Burroughs, Mary Chandler, Mark Christopher, Kevin Flynn, Tillie Fong, Steve Foster, Scott Gilbert, Chuck Hickey, Cindy House, Kevin Huhn, Kim Humphreys, Jay Lee, Aaron Lopez, Gary Massaro, David Milstead, John Moore, Alex Neth, Melissa Pomponio, Bill Scanlon, Hank Schultz, Marc Shulgold, Ed Stein, George Tanner, Chris Tomasson, Bob Willis and Mark Wolf.

Local PR Wins

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  • The Creative Alliance has been selected by Naples (Fla.) Jet Center to redevelop that organization’s corporate identity, Web site and other marketing tools.
  • Pivot Communication was named agency of record for The Boomer Group, a Denver firm that connects companies with experienced baby boomer temporary or full-time staff.
  • SHiFT was selected by Boulder County Public Health to “refresh the organization’s graphic identity, develop strategic brand messaging, produce a PSA as well as print ads for the organization, all aimed at increasing awareness of BCPH health services.”

KWGN/Channel 2 Rebrands Itself ‘The Deuce’

~ Jeremy Story ~ 6 Comments

Bad news for Microsoft. The best case study it had that a business could create a logo using nothing more than PowerPoint is going away. KWGN/Channel 2 is rebranding itself “The Deuce,” and a new logo will presumably follow. While Michael Roberts at Westword examines the scatological implications of the new brand, we’d rather use this opportunity to again make fun of GM Dennis Leonard for his claim that he discovered John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Five for Fighting.

James B. Meadow Memorial Scheduled

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Family and friends of former Rocky Mountain News reporter James B. Meadow have scheduled a memorial to “tell stories, laugh and cry and rejoice in his life well lived.” The details are:

          A Celebration of James’ Life
          Saturday, March 14, at 11 a.m.
          Colfax Events Center
          1477 Columbine Street
          Denver, CO 80206

Additionally, friends have established the James B. Meadow Tribute Fund at 1st Bank of Cherry Creek to help the Meadow family with expenses during this difficult time. All 1st Bank locations are able to accept your donations if you stop by or you may mail a check to:

          1st Bank of Cherry Creek
          P.O. Box 461050
          Denver, CO 80246

PRSA Event: Protecting Brand Reputations

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PRSA Colorado is a hosting a March 18 lunch event/panel discussion that will examine how public relations has played a prominent role in trying to minimize the loss in consumer confidence during the recent financial and peanut-recall turmoils. Linhart’s Paul Raab will moderate, and the panelists are GolinHarris’ Mitch Head (who works with the U.S. Peanut Board) and Charles Schwab’s Sarah Bulgatz.

More information/registration is available here.

Bill Husted and P-Park

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Bill Husted and Penny Parker are quickly becoming the Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez of the Denver Post. He hates her. And she hates him. But they’ve agreed to pretend to be civil and “respect each other out of a ruined friendship.” Here’s betting one of them is gone in 12 months. Not surprisingly, it is Michael Roberts at Westword who has the details.

In Memoriam

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Sadly, former Rocky Mountain News reporter James B. Meadow passed away this evening. His family issued the following statement:

Dear family and friends:

It is with great sadness that we inform you of James’ passing earlier this evening. James’ condition deteriorated rapidly this afternoon and a follow-up CT scan revealed there was no brain activity.

We are humbled by your thoughts and prayers these past few days. Your outpouring of love and kindness has kept us strong during this difficult time.

We will be sending along more information as arrangements are made.

In love,

Julie and the Meadow family

Former Rocky Reporter Meadow Hospitalized

~ Jeremy Story ~ 4 Comments

Former Rocky Mountain News reporter James B. Meadow was involved in a nasty bike accident yesterday and has been hospitalized with serious injuries. Ping Brad Bawmann of the Bawmann Group if you want more details.

UPDATE 2: James’ family has set up a Facebook page to offer updates on his condition: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54935367583&ref=mf

UPDATE 1: Here’s the email Brad sent to friends and colleagues:

Dear friends:

At this hour, the life of my friend James B. Meadow hangs in the balance.

Please join with me in praying for his miraculous recovery. The world will be less without his friendship, masterful musings and poignant prose about life as we know it and life as we might not have imagined it.

You may know James as an astounding writer for the now defunct Rocky Mountain News. For more than 25 years he has regaled the community with his superb story telling and provocative profiles. Unlike the modern version of junk-food journalism, James writes with the eloquence of five-star dining dazzling our palates and tempting our taste buds for more, more, more.

Early Friday afternoon, James crashed during a bicycle jaunt at Chattfield Reservoir. I suspect he was celebrating the completion of his hardscrabble work for renowned photographer John Fielder and their upcoming book about Colorado’s ranching royalty. Continue reading “Former Rocky Reporter Meadow Hospitalized” →

CBS4’s Rivers Caught Up in Illegal Gambling Ring

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

Former Denver Broncos running back and current CBS4 sports anchor Reggie Rivers is the biggest name being associated with an illegal gambling ring that may have ties to a New York Mafia family. CBS4 says it is “aware that Reggie Rivers is on the witness list” and that its management has “been informed that (Rivers) is fully cooperating with the CBI.” Tom McGhee and Deborah Sherman at the Denver Post have the details.

UPDATE: Rivers tells 9News he was unaware that gambling is illegal in Denver, and the CBI is treating him as a potential witness rather than a target of its investigation.

The Latest on Scripps and MediaNews

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So, it’s been a week since we learned that Scripps would shut the Rocky Mountain News down. The most recent developments:

PR Budgets, Staffs and Salaries Shrinking, USC Report Finds

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The University of Southern California released the results of its survey on the effects of the current economic environment on public relations. The highlights:

  • Budgets: 51 percent said their 2009 PR budgets are smaller than in 2008, while 18 percent said they are larger than in 2008
  • Staff size: 22 percent said they downsized their staffs last year, while 63 percent said they made no changes to staff size last year
  • Salaries: 56 percent anticipate salary freezes in 2009, while 21 percent expect salary cuts
  • Agencies: 69 percent of those retaining PR agencies have – or plan to – cut agency budgets by an average of 25 percent