In response to a thoughtful Denver Post column by SE2’s Abigail Kesner on the lack of civility in today’s political environment.
Month: October 2012
Turner Adds Two Clients
Turner PR has added Asia Transpacific Journeys and the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau to its roster of travel and hospitality clientele. Turner PR will provide strategic media relations for both organizations focused on increased awareness in the national media marketplace.
JW Wins Elevator Consulting Company
Elevator consulting company Lerch Bates has hired JohnstonWells to conduct public relations efforts on its behalf. Lerch Bates is headquartered in Littleton and has consulted on elevator construction and operations in many of the world’s tallest buildings.
How is The Denver Post Doing?
It all depends on whether it can monetize its “digital” readers. The latest Audit Bureau of Circulations numbers were released today, and over the past year The Denver Post has lost another 12.6 percent of its print subscribers. However, digital subscribers nearly doubled, allowing the Post to claim strong overall circulation growth.
At this rate, The Denver Post will have more digital subscribers than print subscribers by the next ABC reporting date in March 2013.
10 Questions With … 9News’ Kyle Clark
9News anchor and investigative reporter Kyle Clark made headlines locally and nationally on Friday with his interview of President Obama as part of a satellite media tour.
Clark’s questions – on the U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya; stimulus money for the politically connected, Colorado-based Abound Solar; and the lack of civility in the Presidential race – represented a departure from the softball interview questions sitting presidents usually face in local markets.
Kyle graciously agreed to answer some of my emailed questions about the interview and the wide-ranging reactions to it.
Q: How was the decision made for you to be the one to interview President Obama?
A: As I understand it, the interview was offered to 9NEWS by President Obama’s campaign and our news director, Patti Dennis, asked me to conduct it. I’m not sure why I was selected; I’m not our political reporter, but like any player called off the bench by the coach, I just tucked in my jersey and hit the court.
Q: You have developed a reputation for asking hard-hitting questions, particularly as part of the 9Wants to Know investigative team. Did President Obama’s team push back when they learned you would be the one asking the questions?
A: I’ll be sure to mail you $5 for saying that. If President Obama’s team pushed back about me conducting the interview, I never heard about it.
Q: How did you prepare for the interview and select the questions you would ask?
A: I’m a political junkie who follows the campaigns pretty closely so I had a good idea which issues the candidates had already addressed head-on. We have no shortage of canned political messages on-air in Colorado, so my goal was to ask timely, tough, and fair questions that would elicit previously unheard answers on critical issues like Libya, the use of stimulus money and the tone of the race. I wrote out questions the night before the interview and ran them past about 10 people at 9NEWS to ensure that they were fair and addressed issues of interest. The morning of the interview, I adjusted our question on Libya to reflect recent comments made by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to the Associated Press.
Q: President Obama’s answers were perhaps a little longer than you might have expected. What were the next two questions you would have asked him if you’d had the time?
Denver PR Jobs
Among those hiring this week are GBSM, Catapult PR-IR, RTD, Banner Media Group, Denver Water Department, TeleTech, Adams County Government, Downtown Boulder Business Improvement District, The CELL, The Denver Scholarship Foundation, The Colorado Springs Gazette and Swift Digital (Vail).
SE2 Promotes Brandon Zelasko to Director of Interactive Services
Public issues, policy and social marketing firm SE2 has promoted Brandon Zelasko to the position of Director of Interactive Services/Unofficial Futurist. Eric Anderson offers the details.
Marmillion Adds Denver-based AE, Wins 2 Clients
Marmillion + Company has added Josh Lohmer as an account executive in the firm’s Denver office. Lohmer joins Marmillion from New York City, where he wrote advertising copy and conducted market research analysis for Fortune 500 companies and developed and executed the marketing strategy for a local business, including email marketing, website redevelopment and creative social media engagement. He previously worked in Denver for the National Conference of State Legislatures. Marmillion, which specializes in non-profits and associations, also announced it has added the Tourism Board of Provincetown (Mass.) and the Texas General Land Office as clients.
CASB Names Woolley Director of Communications
The Colorado Association of School Boards has named Kristine Woolley as its Director of Communications. Woolley formerly was the marketing and community relations director for a law firm in Charlotte, N.C., and also was the community relations and public relations manager for the Visiting Nurse Association in Vero Beach, Fla. Prior to attending graduate school at Colorado State University, Woolley was a newspaper reporter for The Mountain Mail in Salida, where she covered education and school boards.
Women’s Foundation of Colorado Hires Sporrer
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado hired Kim Sporrer, APR, as its new Marketing and Communications Manager. Sporrer most recently was Director of Communications for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder.
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado is a Denver-based nonprofit focused on building resources and leading change so that every woman and girl in Colorado reaches her full potential.
Linhart, Vermillion Win PR News Award for Rudi’s Organic Campaign
Linhart PR and Boulder-based Vermillion Design + Interactive were named winners in the PR News Digital PR Awards‘ WOW! Campaign category for “Rudi’s Organic Bakery: Let’s Doodle Lunch Campaign.” For the WOW! Award, which was given to the most innovative digital campaign, Linhart and Vermilion helped Rudi’s Organic launch the program that invited moms to upload their child’s artwork to receive a free customized sandwich box with the child’s design on the lid.
Western Dairy Assoc. Names Grammond Communications Director
The Western Dairy Association has named Jo Anne Grammond as its Director of Communications. Grammond formerly was an account supervisor with Phoenix-based agency Mullen Public Relations and was also a reporter for Tribune Newspapers in Mesa, Ariz. Most recently, she was a freelance writer and public relations consultant and worked with The Metropolitan Group at Re/Max Unlimited in Aurora.
GBSM Promotes Miller to Senior Associate
GBSM has promoted Kyle Miller to the position of Senior Associate. Since joining the firm, Miller has concentrated on both statewide and community-based projects involving land use, natural resources, health care, telecommunications and public involvement.
Powell Joins CenturyLink as PR Manager
CenturyLink has named CJ Powell as Public Relations Manager for its Denver/Northern Colorado market. CJ will handle internal and external communications for CenturyLink and will directly report to the VP/GM responsible for the company’s Denver/Northern Colorado market.
JW Celebrates Its 41st Birthday
Happy 41st anniversary to JohnstonWells.
Colorado Healthcare Communicators Annual Awards Event
Blake & Heinrich Win Awards for Cherry Creek Arts Festival Work
Blake Communications and Heinrich Marketing recently received awards from the International Festival & Events Association for their work with the 2012 Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Blake Communications won the gold for Best Media Relations Campaign and Heinrich received three awards, silver and gold, for creative work on CCAF’s Cherry Arts 365 membership program.
Linhart Named Chair-elect of Worldcom PR Group
Congratulations to Linhart PR’s Sharon Linhart, who has been named chair-elect of WORLDCOM Public Relations Group, a leading partnership of global public relations firms. Sharon also has been elected as one of three new trustees to The Boettcher Foundation. In this role, she and the other trustees will be responsible for the oversight of the Boettcher Foundation, including supporting and preserving the vision and mission of the foundation.
Cervantes Launches Frankly Communications
Frankie Cervantes has launched Frankly Communications, a full-service digital engagement, marketing and PR consultancy firm. The firm works with a variety of B2B & B2C clients, including a well-known music label, an aerial imagery start-up and an IPTV Spanish-only programming company.
Law Firm Names Lara Day Director of Communications
Law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has added Lara Day as director of communications. Day will oversee the firm’s internal and external communications strategy and public relations efforts, as well as provide presentation and communication training for the firm’s attorneys. She previously was with Pure Brand Communications.
Second Annual PRSA Colorado ‘Brand Challenge’
PRSA Colorado is hosting the Second Annual Brand Challenge – a networking, collaborating, creative thinking and pitching competition – on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at the Wynkoop Brewery.
Representatives from Colorado organizations, including Visit Denver, Colorado Ski Country USA, and RiNo Arts District, will each present the audience with a unique communications challenge. Teams of 10 people will have 50 minutes to collaborate, brainstorm and develop a solution. Each team will then have five minutes to pitch their idea in front of the audience. The brand representatives will select the best pitches– one for each brand. Each member of the winning teams will receive a prize. Teams will be assigned upon arrival – first come, first serve.
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