Recap - Penn State Matters: A Roundtable Discussion with PR Pros in Higher Education

In this roundtable breakfast discussion, more than 20 attendees met for an open and honest discussion about reputation management in higher education answering the question, “Can Sandusky happen to any of us?”  Moderated by Chris Lukach, PPRA president and crisis communications firm co-owner and COO, the discussion touched on topics including: sexual impropriety, plausible deniability and re-branding. 

“Penn State’s education message is buried under shoulder pads.” said panelist Dan Cirucci, a lecturer on corporate communications at Penn State Abington.  “To come out from under this mess, the communications team needs to highlight the school’s commitment to higher education.” 

Panelist Paul Healy of the University of the Arts stressed the importance of preparing for a crisis such as the one Penn State is facing.  “You can invest years of marketing and millions of dollars to build a brand and it only takes one crises to undo all that work.” He continued, “You need to have a crisis plan in place before the crisis hits to minimize damage.”

“Reputation management is tough – and no one is safe from it,” said panelist Brian Kirschner of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.  Once the director of communications for the 76ers, he knows this well.  “Reputation crises like this are not exclusive to higher education.  They happen in sports, with consumer brands, hospitals – everywhere.”

Lukach ended the discussion with a poignant phrase, “I’d wish you all good luck, but we know it’ll take more than that to get through a crisis.”

Vote for Rock to the Future in Pepsi Refresh Project

Non-profit Recipient of PPRA Pro Bono Assistance a Finalist for 25K Through Pepsi Refresh Project

 

PPRA members have another way to help make a difference this December! Vote for Rock to the Future, a Philadelphia non-profit organization that PPRA supported through the PRoactive program to win a 25K prize from Pepsi Refresh campaign. Voting closes at the end of the December.

You can vote once online daily and once with a text message daily! Rock to the Future received pro bono PR support through PPRA's PRoactive committee last year and is a cause close to many members hearts.

With $25,000 the Rock to the Future will be able to give the gift of musical education to more students in Philadelphia as part of a free after school program. 

Rock to the Future's Mission – 

Rock to the Future is a 501(c)3 youth development organization that provides free music education and tutoring to lower-income Philadelphia students who would otherwise never experience the benefits of music education.

From 'Jabberwocky' to 'tober'-mania, a case for only clever wordplay

By Bill Wedo

 

Good riddance to you, October.
A.k.a. Dog-tober. A.k.a. Pink-tober. A.k.a. Apple-tober.
Besides being the month for releasing formerly unmarketable movies and for watching teams not the Phillies in the World Series, October has become the nesting ground for that most annoying and inane of marketing efforts.

I speak, of course of the "-tober" craze.

What began as the charmingly simple rhyme/puns of Rock-tober and Shock-tober has morphed into a torrent of annoying, often nonsensical mutations of the word October.

There's Egg-tober—raising funds for gynecological cancers. There's Crop-tober—either a great time to be outdoors, or the chance to win a trip for two to Amsterdam for Cannabis Cup 2011. Your choice.

And let's not forget X-tober, a month-long celebration of "The X-Files." Forget the truth, it's the idiocy that's out there.

But the one that sends me screaming from the room is Subway's "Anytober" campaign. Could there be a more stupid marriage of words? Coupled with its cloying "five-dollar foot-long" ditty, your ears bleed along with your mind.

There's always someone to blame. In case of tobermania, I'm throwing it on FM radio marketers. And Lewis Carroll.

Believe it or not, as far back as 1980, two New York City stations were arguing over who could use the term "Rock-tober." Then in the 1984 horror movie "Rocktober Blood," a revenge-minded rock star rises from the dead to murder his band mates. Okay, maybe it's not all that clever, but at least Rock-tober rhymes with October, and since it's about rock music, it makes some kind of sense.

But why throw stones at Mr. Carroll? The creator of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" almost singlehandedly popularized the notion of nonsense literature, especially with his epic and delightful poem "Jabberwocky." In it, he combined words such as "chuckle" and "snort" to come up with one of my favorite words, "chortle."

To describe these creations, he co-opted the term portmanteau—two meanings packed into one word. In his day, a portmanteau was a suitcase, so the metaphor was perfect. Understand, when it came to words, this guy was a pro and could portmanteau with the best of them.

Even today, many portmanteaux are just fine. Take "Texarkana," the area on the border of Texas and Arkansas. I stopped for gas there once. Nice place. Or "spork," the delightfully whimsical eating utensil combining "spoon" and "fork." Or "jeggings" ("jeans" and "leggings," which my daughter claims are terrific). Though when it comes to Comcast ("communication" and "broadcast") or Verizon ("veritas" and "horizon"), I'm afraid any clever wordplay is overshadowed by the monthly bill. But, I digress.

The problem begins when the amateur wordsmiths step in, those with little talent–or common sense.

These people reasoned (I use the term loosely) that if "rock," "shock" and "Bach" were good -tober matches, then why stop there? I think they missed the "shoat" or "bohip" or something like that.

Portmenteaux should be labeled DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. OR AT AD AGENCIES.

Unfortunately the Subway campaign seems to be working. Forbes magazine reports that the

"Anytober" promotion helped push up Subway's BrandIndex metrics to yearly highs. I have no idea what that means. But if those scores bring back "Anytober," I will be frumious ("furious" and "fuming"). Thank you for that one, Mr. Carroll.

All this makes me think of poor Alice, who said:
"It all seems to fill my head with ideas–only I don't know exactly what they are."

And that will be the official motto next year when I proclaim Witless-tober.

See you then.

Bill Wedo is a recovering journalist and Communications Manager at Studio Incamminati, a school for contemporary realist art in Center City. This piece first appeared on WHYY NewsWorks, a great place for essays and opinion pieces.

Penn State Matters: A Roundtable Discussion with PR Pros in Higher Education

Of the Moment Program - Tuesday December 13th

Penn State's crisis has shone a light on the realities of public relations and crisis communications in academia.  Can the Sandusky situation happen to any of us?  And are we prepared to respond if it does?  Don't miss this unique and engaging roundtable discussion about the higher education communications landscape with PR pros from leading institutions throughout the Philadelphia region.

Panelists include:
Moderator, Chris Lukach, PPRA President and SVP & COO of Anne Klein Communications Group
Paul Healy, VP Communications for the University of the Arts
Dan Cirucci, Lecturer at Penn State Abington
Brian Kirschner, Senior Director for USciences News & Public Relations


Location:
Penn's View Hotel
Front & Market Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19106 

Time:
8:30 - 9:00 AM - Registration & Breakfast
9:00 - 10:00 AM - Roundtable Discussion

Registration Fees:
$25 - PPRA Members
$40 - Non-Members
$15 - Students
Additional $5 fee for walk-ins 

Space is limited! Click here to register now!

2011 Gold Medal Award Banquet Honoring David L. Cohen

Where’s David?  He’s everywhere!

By Thomas Rogers 

The Philadelphia Public Relations Association chose to honor David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation, as its 2011 Gold Medal Award recipient.  Among family, dear friends and colleagues, David received that award at a banquet on November 17^th in the Grand Ballroom of The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia.

PPRA 2011 Gold Medal Award recipient, David L. Cohen, and PPRA President, Chris Lukach

David L. Cohen has a broad portfolio of responsibilities at Comcast, including corporate communications, government affairs, public affairs and corporate administration, and serves as senior counselor to the CEO. Before assuming this position in July 2002, David served as a partner in and Chairman of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, one of the 100 largest law firms in the country. From January 1992 to April 1997, David served as Chief of Staff to Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell.  During the course of his career, David has become an asset to the city of Philadelphia.

At the banquet, Renee Chenault-Fattah of Philadelphia’s NBC10, and a good friend of David’s since their years together at Penn, served as mistress of ceremonies.  She conducted a classy event with an attendance of outstanding Philadelphians from the public relations world and beyond.  After a tribute video, the list of those who spoke about David included Kevin A. Feeley of Bellevue Communications, veteran Philadelphia broadcast journalist Larry Kane, Governor Edward G. Rendell and Mayor Michael Nutter.  Their words were a testament to the great things David has done for not only the public relations industry in Philadelphia, but for the city as a whole.  David L. Cohen truly is everywhere Philadelphia matters.

Chris Lukach and mistress of ceremonies, Renee Chenault-Fattah of NBC10

Each speaker emphasized some of David’s outstanding contributions to making Philadelphia a top-notch city.  Gov. Rendell praised David’s understanding of the importance of creating opportunities for those less fortunate.   Larry Kane commended David’s ability to work with both unions and management to bring events like the 2000 Republican National Convention to Philadelphia.   All of the speakers, however, spoke to David’s strong character and leadership.   When the speeches concluded, David graciously accepted his award from PPRA President Chris Lukach to a standing ovation.

David L. and Rhonda Cohen with banquet committee co-chairs, Lisette Bralow and Mark Tarasiewicz

The PPRA would like to thank Lisette Bralow and Mark Tarasiewicz, the co-chairs of this year’s banquet, as well as the entire 2011 Gold Medal Award banquet committee, for all of their hard work in making this year’s event a great success.

*Photo credits: Bonnie Squires

This blog post was written by Thomas Rogers. Thomas is working towards his Master of Arts degree in Strategic Communication at Villanova University and he recently completed a public relations internship with the Philadelphia Bar Association. Thomas served on the PPRA’s 2011 Gold Medal Award banquet committee and he serves on Philly PRoactive.

Recap: Why Public Media Belongs in Your Public Relations Plan - A Program at WHYY

By Nina Scimenes

Recently PPRA partnered with WHYY on an educational breakfast program giving PPRA members an insider’s look at WHYY and Newsworks.   Everyone in attendance left with tips from the experts about how to get a story covered by WHYY. 

 

WHYY has a special connection with PPRA because that is where Nessa Forman, late Hall of Famer, spent a significant time of her career.  Nessa was The Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at WHYY until 2007. Dan Cirucci gave a beautiful tribute to his dear friend Nessa sharing stories about her wonderful work ethics and endearing personality.

After a warm welcome from Arthur Ellis, Executive Director of Communications & Brand Management and Bill Marrazzo, WHYY President and CEO we were introduced to other key individuals who were on the panel sharing tips about how to get stories covered by WHYY and Newsworks.org.

Eugene Sonn, News Director, Susan Greenbaum, Radio Times Producer and Shannon McDonald, Feed Blogger explained what it’s like behind the scene at WHYY and Newsworks.org.  After the panel portion of the program attendees had the option to take a tour of the studios at WHYY Technology Center and Hamilton Public Media Commons.