APR Trivia - August

Q: How many APRs are there worldwide?

A: 5,000

Members Only: Behind the Scenes at News-Press and WINK

Designing the front page of the paper and watching WINK news live in-studio were just a few of the highlights from the FPRA members only media tour on June 29.  Take a look event in pictures:

FPRA SWFL Pins New Members

Our professional network continues to grow.  FPRA SWFL now has 93 members!  At the July luncheon, President Carla Ulakovic recognized this year's new members and gave them their FPRA pin.

This year's new members include: 

• Glee Ann Agius, Salty Sam's Waterfront Adventures
• Kylee Pitts, AVOW Hospice
• Lauren Marks, Kreps DeMaria Public Relations & Marketing
• Ansley Campbell, Kreps DeMaria Public Relations & Marketing
• Miriam Pereira, Harry Chapin Food Bank
• Madison Mitchell, Goodwill Industries 
• Jennifer Goen, Florida Gulf Coast University  
• Julie Pedretti, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin 
• Paul Lodato, WXRY
• Patricia “Trish” Acquafredda, Trace America 
• Craig Bamberg, Allen Systems Group/ASG Software Solutions 
• Jessica Boles, Charlotte Behavioral Health Care 
• Pete Cento, The Cento Group and Atlantis Photography & Design 
• Crissy Fabian, Investors’’ Security Trust Company 
• Alex Fernandez, Pushing the Envelope, Inc. 
• Ed Fox, Fox Electronics 
• Mike Jackson, Jackson PR 
• Sarah Nadal, Shell Point Retirement Community 
• Kimberly Royal, Riverchase Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery 
• Laura Ruzicho, Edward Jones 
• Patrice Shields, Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs 
• David Simmons, PR Graduate 
• Hallie Visaggio, Visaggio Community Consulting, LLC 
• Kacey Weaver; Priority Marketing
   
  

Media Pros Give FPRA an Exclusive

It was every PR professional's dream come true, a chance to turn the tables and question the reporters.  Southwest Florida's local "news hounds" were up to the task on June 21, as they let a packed crowd in on the secrets of making headlines at the Annual Media Breakfast.  The event was at the Holiday Inn - Gulf Coast Town Center.  

The panel included:

• Steve McQuilkin with the News-Press
• Phil Borchman with Gulfshore Business
• Lauren Stillwell with NBC-2 and ABC-7
• Penny Moore with Naples Daily News

Here are some of the questions and answers from morning:

What is one of the most frustrating things the media encounters with PR Professionals?

• Steve says burying the lead is frustrating sometimes.  State what the news with the story is and then give the background.  Also, limit follow up calls and emails.
• Phil says he can tell when someone calls that has not read the magazine.  If you read the magazine you can see how the stories are done and what not to ask for.
• Lauren says calling is not the best, they prefer it to be in an email and sent to them for review.  It has a better chance of getting on the schedule when submitted in writing.  Try to also have great visuals to go with the story since they are video based.
• Penny also agrees that email is best.  Try to include the details in the email in case attachments do not open and make sure the contact is listed.

How to reach them?

• Steve says it is best to use one of the general emails that gets sent to multiple contacts in case your one contact is out.  Like community@news-press.com.
• Phil says you can call him or email him.
• Lauren says that they use a ‘beat’ system with reporters covering different topics - it is best to use the general news tips email sometimes, so they can get the lead to the right person.
• Penny says you can use the ‘participate’ site or use news@naplesnew.com which is monitored at all times and forwarded to the right person.

How do PR Professionals handle reporters who are trying to do stories without doing homework or background on the organization?

• Steve says a lot of their business reporters have been around a long time.  Be patient with them and maybe send backgrounders with the story.  Steve will store any provided backgrounders for 6 months when he gets one and he can share with it reporters working on related stories.
• Phil says some writers are better than others.  He would want to hear about any problems we ever come across so he can make sure they take care of it in the future.
• Lauren says they have a young staff that turns over every couple of years.  Let them know when that happens and they can educate them and try to keep one reporter with that organization so that they know the background and the story.
• Penny says to be patient, but if it happens more than one time to let her know.  They want to make sure the reporters know what they are reporting.

Social media – How are they using it?

• Steve says people are responding through social media and they are using it more.  Reporters are able to show their personalities more using Social Media.
• Phil says they use it as a resource, but make limited use of it. 
• Lauren says social media has become a new type of website.  They tweet and use Facebook a lot.   Followers are offering tips and leads on Facebook.  They are starting to use the Pinterest platform too.  They try not to post too much on Facebook, so they have rules and guidelines in place for stories to be posted on Facebook.  They can instigate conversations and then use those on the live news.  It helps them to know what impacts their audience and keep on top of what people want to know.
• Penny says all reporters have Facebook and Twitter handles so that they can be reached and connected with their audience.  Sometimes news topics hit Twitter faster than they get the news so they use them a lot to see what it going on in the community.

What the best way to get our story on the website?

• Steve says just about everything makes their website.  Stories with ‘people’ impacts are great stories.  Make sure to note what the impact is for our area, and usually those stories get a better chance for exposure.
• Phil says that they work off different themes each month and it is best to try and figure out where your story may fit.  It helps to get you on the web or in the publication if you fit into one of the themes.
• Lauren says getting it on the community calendar or posting your photos on the interactive section of the site.
• Penny says to use the ‘participate’ site, naplesnews.com/participate.  Getting into print is harder.  You have to have a ‘hook’ or a timely story.  State what the news hook is.  If it gets in print then it will be on the website too.

What is the best time of day for news releases?

• Steve likes them to be early if possible.  If they get a good release at 4pm or 5pm it is hard to get the story in to the print issue the next day. He doesn’t mind follow up emails, but prefers emails to phone calls.  It is best to email the releases early and if you want to check on it, to check early as well. 
• Phil says anytime before 2pm, because that is when he starts to compile the Gulfshore Business Daily
• Lauren says between 10am and 2pm during the day is best.  Later in the day will make it harder to get it on the news because they are finishing up stories that they have been working on all day.  Also, any breaking news trumps all stories.
• Penny says early is best because they have their editorial meeting at 10:30am.  They plan the next day’s paper at 4pm.  And get events to them a week or 2 in advance.  You can follow up with email as well.   But the farther in advance you can supply events or releases, the better.

How do you feel about news conferences and ribbon cuttings?

• Steve says they don’t really cover ribbon cuttings, but if you can make it a bigger story, like the business will bring in lots of jobs, that would help it to be picked up.  Really sell the bigger stuff, but if just a ribbon cutting, not always covered.
• Phil says they don't cover live events, but they welcome follow up and photos afterwards.
• Lauren says they come if it has a big story to it.  They like tours or being able to interview and walk through places.  They also like to interview people behind the ground breaking and putting them in their element for interviews.
• Penny says they don’t cover those either unless there is a big lead to it or big story behind it.  They need a ‘people’ element for ribbon cuttings.

If there is a celebrity coming to an event what is the best way to coordinate coverage?

• Steve says celebrities want to be treated special.  The News-Press prefers to treat all their stories and interviews equal.  They try to coordinate interviews with them if possible. They would prefer to get some lead time so they can arrange a decent amount of time for interviews.
• Phil has not done a lot with celebrity coverage unless there is a business connection.  But they like to interview them and cover features if there is a connection.  Other than that they don’t cover them much.
• Lauren would like to have more than 10 minutes and get a wireless mic on them so that they can get with natural sounds as the celebrity moves around in their environment.  Also the more visuals they get the better.  When it comes down to time of day for interviews, the worst is 4pm or 5pm in the afternoon.  During the day is better.  Earlier is better.
• Penny says to send the information to naplesnews.com.  Don’t just send it to one person though, copy other reporters.  They would like to have a private interview if possible to ask their own questions and get their own visuals.

With shows in town, do you want a lot of info and B-roll?

• Steve says more is better.  Send everything you can and they will try to use it.
• Phil agrees with Steve, the more the better.
• Lauren says the more the better.  They try to get their own video because of FCC rules.  B-roll is helpful, but they like to shoot their own.  B-roll has to list where it came from with a courtesy note.
• Penny says the more the better

Events – How to promote them early, especially if there is a deadline to sign up?

• Steve says to submit events to the calendar feature on their website and if it is important to you maybe send something to the community news email as well.
• Phil says they have a calendar function on their website that helps to keep track of events down the road.
• Lauren said if there are visuals that would help.
• Penny says to put any deadlines in bold and note if it is far out

How do you build stronger community partnerships/relationships?

• Steve works partnerships several ways.  They use their editorial voice to get the word out about things and get exposure.  They try to find out what readers are looking for in the community and figure out best way to approach it.
• Phil says they are always open to ideas and to connect with him and talk with him.
• Lauren says the same as Phil.  She has a slew of anchor talent that would love to MC or come out to events; they like to participate in community activities.
• Penny says to contact their marketing department and talk with them about it. 

Lunch Recap: Dr. Dave Fleming Shares Life Practices

FPRA members left the July luncheon inspired and ready to take on life with some new ideas from Dr. Dave Fleming.  Dr. Fleming told the group, "if you really want move ahead in your career, practice these things."

 

1. Pay Attention

2. Be curious

3. Risk Forward

4. Stay connected

"The first and probably most important practice of a successful person is paying attention, having awareness," said Dr. Fleming.  He recounted a life-changing experience of falling asleep while driving and encouraged listeners not "fall asleep at the wheel" in their careers.

Other tips from Dr. Fleming include:

• Be curious: Stay humble, flexible, open
• Risk activates things
• Stay connected: you cannot be your best alone

In closing, for those who want to transform their business, he recommends reading Seth Godin's book the Purple Cow.

Also at the luncheon, the FPRA recognized new members and awarded it's annual chapter honors.

Social Media Corner: Don’t get Pinned by Pinterest Copyright Laws

By: Annette Venditti 

Guest Column, provided by Pushing the Envelope, INC. 
 

I just started a Pinterest board and I am loving it! (While the social media team here at PTE has been on for a while, I’ve waited to join.)  I have quite a few friends already actively participating so I finally decided to engage the artist/creative side of my brain and join them in this new online image sharing site. As I began creating my boards, sharing and liking images in all my favorite categories, I was quickly hooked by the sheer beauty of all the images and the variety of categories I could find that interested me greatly. That was the first week, by the second week, I ran across an article by Kirsten Kowalski, an attorney, who wrote about why she deleted her Pinterest boards due to a legal concern she had about copyrights and copyright infringement. Yikes.
She basically said that Pinterest’s legal disclaimers (something I did not bother to read, by the way) leave the users solely responsible for any future rights concerns or issues by any contributing artist or photographer who’s images they posted and shared. I needed to find out more (as now I had both my daughters start a Pinterest of their own for creative inspiration!) and did some research and this is what I found and the guidelines I plan on following from now on.

As an artist myself, I am very sensitive to the concept of sharing someone’s work or, heaven forbid, plagiarizing anything written, photographed or drawn by another artist or designer. Check out these basics and read more about how to use this image sharing application in the future. Check out these tips and do your own research as well to ensure that you and your friends and family are safe and inspired daily by this creative and time-stealing application.

1. Don’t REPIN, Pin The Original: Re-pinning in this application is simple and quick, BUT there are many images that do not have the original source connected to the image so before you pin to your own personal board, take the time to locate the original source and be sure it’s stated on the image when your done.
2. Don’t CUT, COPY or PASTE An Image: If you begin to edit an image you find and share it on a blog or other source, this is potentially copyright infringement and not legal by any means. Share the image on Pinterest as you found it with the original source ALWAYS included.
3. DO Always Critique & Comment (Captions): Be sure to include a comment or critique on the caption section of the image for EVERY image you pin and share to your boards. Once you have confirmed and included the original source, by commenting you are offering feedback to the original source or individual who owns the image and therefore contributing back to the image and it’s source.

So, at least for myself, I will continue using Pinterest as I have simply fallen in love with the idea of opening my boards and being instantly captured for hours at a time by images that offer me creative inspiration, artistic and natural beauty, human emotion and more. I leave you with my final words of wisdom, go forth and Pin!

Still Time to Donate to FPREF

Please consider joining the Southwest Florida Chapter and help support the professional development of professional members and students by making a contribution. The Southwest Florida Chapter Board has voted to match funds donated by our Chapter members up to $300.

Conference Bloggers Needed!

This year's 74th Annual Conference in St. Augustine on August 5 -8 will feature eight dynamic general sessions and 16 stimulating breakout sessions. To see a full list of opportunities, download the full conference brochure.

With so many educational opportunities, State is seeking some eager FPRA members to dive in and help blog the conference! Want to be a Blogger at Annual Conference? All you need is a laptop computer and the ability to write. Don't worry about the blogging part... we'll show you how the blogging software works and get you set up with a Wi-Fi account at the hotel.  To sign up, click here.