Month: November 2011

Denver Post Buyout Update

~ Jeremy Story ~ 4 Comments

The list of Denver Post employees who have accepted the paper’s buyout offer has started to trickle out is out:

  • Religion reporter (and obituary specialist) Virginia Culver
  • Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Mike Keefe
  • Gossip columnist Bill Husted
  • Managing editor Jeanette Chavez
  • Theater critic John Moore
  • Fina arts critic Kyle MacMillan
  • Librarian Jan Torpy
  • Don Russell
  • Lifestyles reporter Sheba Wheeler
  • Sportswriter Natalie Meisler
  • Senior editorial assistant Pete Names
  • Designer Jackie Feldman
  • Information graphic designer Jonathan Moreno
  • Copy desk chief Joe Hudson
  • Robert Smith
  • Feature design director Jim Carr
  • Denver Newspaper Agency (reprints) Joyce Anderson
  • Photographer John Prieto
  • Reporter Jeff Leib
Update: The Denver Business Journal reports that 19 Denver Post staffers accepted a buyout.

Update II: Michael Roberts at Westword has the complete list of the 19 staffers who are leaving, and offers some perspective on what their departures might mean for the Post.

Denver PR Jobs

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

Among those hiring this week are the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, the City of Boulder, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce (unpaid intern), FCC Services, Financial Planning Standards Board, Medtronic Navigation, Oncure Medical Corp., Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, PlanSource, Rally Software, St. Julien Hotel and Spa, The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Western Union, NANA Development (Colorado Springs) and the Weld County District Attorney’s Office (Greeley).

Another Sad Reality of Fewer Column Inches

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

One of the sad realities of newspapers continually cutting back the column inches they publish every day is the loss of some of the traditional services they provided, including obituaries. Many of you may know Don Shook, who prior to moving to Las Vegas spent 27 years in Denver with Channel 4, Coors and the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office. His wife, Maggie, passed away last month and Don was shocked to find that the Post wanted $1,600 to publish her obituary. Don fired off the letter below to the Post, but has yet to see it published or receive a response.

Dear Editor:

My wife of 37 years just got her dying wish, thanks to The Denver Post.  Maggie passed away last week in our Las Vegas home after many years of pain and suffering. She made it absolutely clear that she wanted NO obituary notices; however, after 25 years of living in Golden, I was willing to risk her wrath on “the other shore” to share news of her passing with our considerable number of friends along the Front Range. She will indeed get her wish regarding your newspaper.

I built a modest obituary into the paper’s template, along with a recent photo that captures her nicely.  To run it three days would be just under $1,600.  Does The Denver Post expect me to singlehandedly save the organization from financial doom? With the recent news of yet morestaff reductions being sought, is the newspaper hoping to stave off closure of its daily publication by capitalizing on people at such a moment of profound grief?

Given your apparent lack of feeling for the community you purport to serve, perhaps the time may come when we all read of the Post’s own obituary. For the sake of your many fine employees, I hope not.

Donald Shook

There will be a memorial for Maggie next summer in Golden. If you are interested in reconnecting with Don, you can reach him through his PR firm in Las Vegas.

Bawmann Hires One, Wins Several

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Things are hopping at The Bawmann Group. The firm announced it has been retained by the Centers for Health and Public Safety, Kaiser Permanente-Colorado and the College for Financial Planning to provide a variety of marketing and public relations services such as web development, advertising campaign development, social media strategy and community outreach. TBG also was awarded a new contract by the State of Colorado to manage advertising and PR for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program.

Additionally, TBG has added Kelly Heavey as account executive. Heavey is a University of Kansas graduate and most recently handled social media and public relations for the sustainability grant under the direction of the mayor of Lincoln, Neb.

RIP LeGrand Hart

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

Denver public relations agency LeGrand Hart appears to have shut its doors for good. The news is surprising since the firm ranked second in revenue in the Denver Business Journal’s 2007-2008 Book of Lists ($2.70 million in revenue). But it was second only to Schenkein ($2.72 million in revenue), so maybe we should expect the unexpected.

For old time’s sake, here is the ranking of agencies that appeared in 2007-2008, the last time the DBJ ranked public relations firms:

1. Schenkein ($2.72 million)
2. LeGrand Hart ($2.70 million)
3. JohnstonWells ($2.65 million)
4. PRACO/Vladimir Jones ($2.51 million)
5. MGA ($2.29 million)
6. Pure Brand ($2.13 million)
7. GroundFloor Media ($2.10 million)
8. Linhart ($2.09 million)
9. CTA Integrated ($1.86 million)
10. Turner PR ($1.65 million)
11. CLS ($1.56 million)
12. 104 West ($1.51 million)
13. Webb PR ($1.35 million)
14. Bawmann Group ($1.28 million)
15. Metzger ($1.10 million)
16. VisiTech ($1.10 million)
17. LawsComm ($1.07 million)
18. InterMountain ($1.05 million)
19. Catapult ($0.92 million)
20. Corporate Advocates ($0.83 million)
21. Volume PR ($0.83 million)
22. SJI Ltd. ($0.75 million)
23. October Strategies ($0.74 million)
24. Aiello PR ($0.70 million)
25. Capitol Solutions ($0.69 million)

Sander Resigns from Sports Board Following Gambling Allegations

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The high-end gambling ring that took down Denver Post sports columnist/reporter Jim Armstrong has claimed (partly) another victim: Steve Sander. Sander has resigned his seat on the Metro Denver Sports Commission board to “to prevent any misperceptions about the organization” that could arise from his name being linked to the gambling ring.

Sander also serves as director of strategic marketing for Denver, and a city spokeswoman told the Post that he will be allowed to complete the term of his contract that expires at the end of this year.

Yost Launches Fyn PR in Fort Collins

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

Nicole Yost has launched Fyn (pronounced fine) Public Relations, a full-service public relations agency based on Fort Collins. Fyn PR is the agency of record for the Loveland Chamber of Commerce, Midtown Arts Center, Backbone Gourmet Grub & Brewhouse, Perfect Square and Fred’s Used Websites. It also manages PR for several project clients as well, including the upcoming Snow Sculpture in the Dark event put on by Engaging Loveland.

Hits to Traction Communications’ Hamling Keep Coming

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The hits to Traction Communications’ Kirsten Hamling keep coming. KMGH/Channel 7 has an update on a story CBS4 broke about Hamling’s alleged theft of money intended for The Children’s Hospital. According to KMGH’s Lance Hernandez, “the Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation has issued a cease-and-desist order” against her organization, Fired Up For Kids. And sources indicate that the amount of the alleged theft is at least $50,000.

Additionally, Hernandez talked to a firefighter who appeared in the calendar who says he is “betrayed and hurt that all calendar money may not have gone to burn victims.”

UPDATE: CBS4 News Director Tim Wieland says that no cease-and-desist order has been filed, but that future calendar sales and events are on hold pending an investigation. And according to the Denver Post, TCH has asked the calendar maker to stop using its name until that independent investigation is completed.

Traction PR’s Hamling Denies Theft of Fire Calendar Money

~ Jeremy Story ~ 4 Comments

A follow-up to yesterday’s post about a CBS4 investigation into Traction Communications’ Kirsten Hamling over missing money intended for The Children’s Hospital. Through her lawyers, Hamling has now explained that Fired Up for Kids actually was never a non-profit/charity and that she is under no obligation to donate the proceeds of its firefighter calendar to The Children’s Hospital’s burn unit. Classy.

CBS4 Investigating Traction PR’s Hamling for Fire Calendar Theft

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

CBS4 investigative reporter Rick Sallinger is hot on the trail of Traction Communications’ Kirsten Hamling over missing money intended for The Children’s Hospital’s burn unit. Hamling is the founder of Fired Up for Kids, a non-profit that creates beefcake firefighter calendars that benefit TCH’s burn unit, but questions are now surfacing over whether she pocketed the money instead.

UPDATE: The Denver Post reports that the Denver District Attorney’s office is investigating.

Gambling Ring Implicates Armstrong, Sander

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

It isn’t as juicy as the Denver Players Club scandal, but this weekend’s report of a high-end Colorado gambling ring has done what the Players Club scandal couldn’t do: name names. Among those who have been caught up in the ring are Denver Post sportswriter Jim Armstrong (who was fired Friday when his name surfaced) and Steve Sander, Denver’s director of strategic marketing and a member of the Metro Denver Sports Commission’s board of directors.

The silver lining for Denver Post colleagues is that Armstrong represents one less layoff that may come should the newspaper’s buyout program not yield results.

‘Content Fusion’ Just Marketing Hype

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

When I was a vice president at Weber Shandwick, I spent a lot of my time – 60 percent, if you believed my job description – having conversations with prospective clients, and I was always looking for a hook that would let me have a different kind of conversation with them than my competitors could have.

So I was curious about the agency’s announcement last week of its new “content fusion” approach to integrated storytelling that promises to identify “what stories can be told in which formats and where to drive those stories.”

After watching the video and reading the white paper, it is clear that “content fusion” is both brilliant and disappointing. It is brilliant because it give Weber Shandwick another proprietary hook to have unique conversations with a prospective client, and disappointing because it boils down to simply acknowledging that some stories are better told using video and graphics. Hardly innovative stuff, but you have to give Weber Shandwick credit for the fancy packaging.

Dovetail Solutions has Acquired Story + Welch …

~ Jeremy Story ~ 14 Comments

… and I am joining dovetail as president:

DENVER – November 2, 2011 – dovetail solutions today announced that it has acquired Story + Welch LLP, a Denver-based public relations firm that focuses on B2B, professional services and technology clients. The acquisition expands dovetail’s client roster and strengthens its ability to offer its signature Strategic Community Investment-focused communications approach.

As part of the transaction, Story + Welch co-founder Jeremy Story will join dovetail solutions as president, reporting to dovetail founder and CEO Andy Boian. Story has more than 15 years of experience developing and executing high-profile communications campaigns for organizations ranging from the Fortune-100 to private start-ups. Among the companies he has counseled over the course of his career are CIGNA, H&R Block, Sun, American Airlines, ExxonMobil, StorageTek, tw telecom and Faegre & Benson.