The (Good) Week in Review

Sometimes, a litany of negatives is easy to compile, although I generally don't roll that way. (Do others "roll" or do we just roll in the D?) The last 7 days of have been filled with a long list of positives, some work-related, some personal, all people-related. Here goes...

On Friday, May 1 and Monday, May 4, the Rochester Community Schools Foundation (I'm a board member) said "Let's Do Lunch," and hosted about 1000 5th graders from Rochester Schools for an inaugural career day event. I served as a table sponsor and was able to share with 11 5th graders over 1/2 a turkey sandwich and macaroni salad (they didn't say "Let's Do a Big Lunch") the exciting world of public relations. I think a few must have been listening because one young lady said, "Your job sounds really fun!" I assured her that it is.

This event required a great deal of community sponsors and I have to give sincere thanks to my client and friend, Ewa Matuszewski (in purple blouse), CEO of Medical Network One (www.mednetone.net), who agreed without hesitation to be one of two leading corporate sponsors. That's the way Ewa rolls. She is one of the most generous people I know. True generosity - generous of spirit and with her resources.

Saturday was a hole in one for my husband Eric at Brookwood. There is a media connection: Eric was listed in the Detroit Free Press sports section on May 6 under the hole in one headline - a headline I did not know existed until Wednesday.

Tuesday night was a community scholarship celebration of Rochester area high school teens who received college scholarships of varying amounts from local foundations and charities. My anxieties over the future have since eased as I see and hear from these remarkable young people who have combined scholarship, community service, athletics and the arts to make their mark on the world before they even graduate from high school. Our country will be prosperous (for the right reasons) and secure with them at the helm.

On Wednesday night, my client and friend, Patricia Nemeth (pictured on left), an attorney with Nemeth Burwell (www.nemethburwell.com,) received a distinguished alumni award from Wayne State, where she received her law degree and master's degree in law. Being in public relations, I attend many awards events but I never tire of them. I sincerely love to see people honored for their accomplishments - and Pat's are numerous. In March, I watched her receive an award as one of Michigan's 25 Leaders in the Law. And on the PR side, thanks to my new part-time staffer Sue Davis who does research and other fun stuff for me, Pat was included in a CNN website feature on 13 people who live in Detroit and love it. Here's the link - Pat's is #6.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/news/0904/gallery.why_I_love_Detroit/11.html

On Thursday morning, I attended the Rochester Prayer Breakfast at Oakland University with 900 others to hear the incomparable and beloved Ernie Harwell hit one out of the park with remarks that were funny, sincere, nostalgic and hopeful. Kudos to client and baseball fan extraordinaire Jim Lionas of the Hunter Group (www.huntergroup.com), who served as chairman of this year's prayer breakfast and was responsible for nabbing Ernie as the speaker.

On Thursday afternoon, my son Peter returned home from his freshman year of college as a responsible, maturing young man. He had his old job back within a few hours of being home and was basking in the glow of a freshman year that was memorable for all the right reasons.

Oh yes, one final reason i had such a great week...my former Greek professor and long-time friend Ernie Ament said he enjoyed reading my blog - and that I should write more often. This is for you Ernie. Now you must post a comment to keep me inspired.

Okay, a final final reason: Dave Bing is the new Mayor of Detroit. This is a two for one because interim mayor Ken Cockrel (who I think did his best) now goes back to being city council president and Monica Conyers' (think Shrek, birthday tiaras and chaufered rides to her son's private school) power trip is over.

Detroit PR Takes a Hit

It's a good news/ bad news day for the Detroit PR Guru.

You likely have been reading various negative takes on the Detroit environs as national media swoop in and decide in the course of one junket, "Yep, it's a dinosaur. Forget about it."

Today's Wall Street Journal has an Oakland County freelancer chiming in and, like our economy, it's not pretty. Says this writer, who managed to come up with the most singularly negative piece of journalism about "Detroit" (don't those of us who live in Southeast Michigan consider ourselves Detroiters?) within the context of reporting on Jay Leno's two free comedy shows in Auburn Hills:

“…Detroit has only receded further into its economic and social funk, solidifying its status as the poster child for American urban collapse.”

Huh? He took lemonade - not lemons - and made a grenade. Ouch! Let's hope potential investors in our state will expand their due diligence beyond the Wall Street Journal and include exploration into our water supply, human capital and arsenal of innovation.

Good News? It's personal, kind of. I have the distinction of submitting the most news content to the Detroit Regional Chamber's online news forum, detroiteronline.com in its first year of existence. Detroit may be a dinosaur to some, but if that were truly the case, how could I come up with mainly positive news content from Detroit area companies each week for the past 52 weeks?

When Good Discounts Go Bad

I would have loved to sign up for the Wall Street Journal at the new subscriber rate they emailed me today: $119 for one year. Wow, that's terrific, especially when compared to the $299 I already paid for the Journal in December! Apparently, as a ten-year subscriber, I was given the loyalty subscription rate. This really smarts,though, because my husband, Eric, called in to complain in December about the rate (and remained on hold to talk to a supervisor) when it was not only outrageous but had increased $100 since the last renewal. Apparently he called the customer loyalty line rather than than the new customer line.

So why didn't I just cancel? I thought about it for a long-time but two decision factors came into play. 1. I love the Wall Street Journal and 2. I'm in a business that needs media of all sorts to stay in business. In the meantime, blogging about this has lessened the blow. You know what has really irked me through the years, though, now that we're on the topic of customer loyalty? Car ads where the advertised price is for car company employees only. Can you imagine if Macy's advertised their clothes on sale with an asterisk? *All prices will be 20% higher for actual customers. With Macy's and the car companies all on the skids maybe these aren't good examples, but loyalty in general is supposedly not as important of a sales factor as we are led to believe. How do I know that? I read it in the Wall Street Journal. I guess they follow the advice of their experts.

Hail Detroit's Arsenal of Innovation

I have to get this down in writing before some other state lays claim to it: the Arsenal of Innovation. That's right, folks, that's my new mantra for Michigan. After spending last week talking to brilliant intellectual property attorneys at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione (full disclosure: they are a client of mine), auto industry veterans in the Rochester Optimist Club (full disclosure: I'm a member) and General Motors Institute (GMI) grads from the mid-1980's (full disclosure: they are some of the smartest women I know and they happen to be among my best friends, too)I came to the conclusion that we as a state and a nation do not give nearly enough credit to the innovation and patented technologies that are borne out of the hard work and research of our auto industry.

I've done my fair share of auto industry bashing through the years, although I'd like to think my complaints were grounded in fact. I'll even admit to being against the bailout initially. That all changed, though, when I saw members of Congress denigrating the industry based on half-truths, old information and a striking "us versus them" mentally. "This is getting personal," I thought. "Why don't they like us?" I did some more homework too and really got my arms around the depth of intellectual capital that we have concentrated in Michigan, thanks to the auto industry. Intellectual capital that benefits the entire nation. That can't be said of the assembly lines (with limited to no innovation and research) down South.

I had to chuckle at the Michigan engineer who was so upset about the treatment from Southern senators that he started a Boycott Alabama campaign and website. That's interesting, but I'm not a snowbird and likely will not even be going down South, much less to Alabama in 2009. So how can I boycott Alabama? They don't make anything! And if we're not careful, either will Michigan or the rest of our nation. Let's not lose the Arsenal of Innovation.

I Miss My Morning Newspaper Routine Already

It doesn't happen until March, but I already miss my seven straight days of home newspaper delivery. As a public relations professional who has been closely following media trends for years, I’m deeply disappointed but not surprised by the decision to reduce home delivery of the Detroit News and Free Press. It's not just the home delivery, of course, the depth and diversity of content will surely be lightened as well.

I currently read the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Oakland Press, Rochester Eccentric and Wall Street Journal - all through home delivery. I can read the papers from 6:20am to 7:30am each day, no problem; then I go online and read the New York Times, USA Today and Yahoo News. I definitely prefer paper to plasma (to quote Liz Cezat of Cezat Creative Communications.) I already spend most of my work day online; holding a newspaper is a treat, a tradition, a luxury - not work.

There's more to this story, though. The impact on local PR people like me who want to get their clients’ messages to the public will be real and deep. However, above all, we are information brokers who get good stories and legitimate trends to writers, reporters and producers, regardless of the medium. Our profession will survive, and even thrive if we continue to be creative in providing useful information to those in a position to share it with large or targeted audiences. Also, key to future success will be going back to the roots of good PR, which is as much about building trust and relationships in the business and local communities as it is about media coverage.

I'm not happy about the changes, but I'll accept them. And I'll meet some new people in the process, too. After all,aside from pitching great story ideas, meeting terrific people is the best part of public relations.

Media Deflection Strategy: From Bad Economy to Bad Governing

Do you read the Wall Street Journal? If so, perhaps you should take a break. It's one bad news story after the other. It's not made up news, of course, it's real, really bad news. It appears that every company I ever heard of (or never heard of) is laying off more people than I knew they employed. It's my business to stay informed, though, so I keep reading - and wincing. So imagine my delight this afternoon when I got a WSJ email blast that was not more bad news about the economy.

No, in an attempt to get our collective minds off the financial crisis, the Governor of Illinois, Rod "I want to make money" Blagojevich, got himself arrested today on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama. It's too early to say what will happen to Mr. Blagojevich, but a word of caution to his ultimate successor. The governorship of Illinois appears to be the gateway to the big house - and I don't mean the governor's mansion. That's right. Blagojevich replaced Governor Ryan, who is currently in jail. Even a PR guru would have a difficult time putting a positive spin on that sorry trend.

PR Gets New Respect with Big Three's Washington Debacle

I get no respect. Well, actually I do but I needed an entree for this post. The public relations field often takes a hit on the importance of its role in the boardroom. Further, whether earned or not, PR people often get a bad rap in certain circles. Today, however, I have read in blogs and traditional print that the Detroit 3's PR stinks. Translation: Do they know what PR is and how to use it? "Where were their PR people?!!" scream irate viewers of the media debacle that unfolded this week in D.C. "Who were their advisors?!!" bemoan others.

The automotive CEOs didn't appear to have a plan for their Washington visit. If you don't have a plan for how to present your request for a huge sum of money, it does not build confidence that you have a plan for how to spend it. Like my new-found friends, the PR advocates noted above, I do question if anyone is advising them. While it sounds absurd to think not, I recall Cerberus getting rid of its PR function after its purchase of Chrysler, LLC. Their thought process appeared to be: "We are not publicly-traded anymore so we don't need to communicate with outside parties." News flash: every company needs to communicate with outside parties, albeit at different levels and with different tools.

In considering the Big 3 execs' actions this week, any decent PR person would have advised against taking a corporate jet, just for starters. It's only a ten hour drive from Detroit. They could have caravaned in their fuel efficient and/or good looking cars (not SUV's)like the Ford Focus, Lincoln MKZ or Chevy Malibu (which should have been designed for the Cadillac line because it's such a looker). Included in the caravan, which would have made for great TV, radio, video, you tubing and print photos, could be "real" employees, not only those who make $21 million a year.

A good PR person would have prepped the execs for all the worst case scenario questions. They would have encouraged warmth but would have strongly advised against the front page photo that appeared recently in the Detroit newspapers, and perhaps national ones, too, that showed all the executives sitting around the table in DC with Nancy Pelosi and other politicos GRINNING for the camera. Don't smile guys. You're not happy. Remember?