I had the pleasure of being one of five judges for the Your Honor Awards for the Legal Marketing Association Southeastern Chapter. It was great seeing some of the interesting work that law firm marketers have been doing across the Southeast in 2012. Winners will be announced Friday.
The Cherokee Heights Arts Festival is fast approaching. Be sure to check out the Marietta artists who will have their original work on display and for sale. This is a great chance to get original art for your home, office or as a gift. I’ll have several of my acrylic paintings in my display area. Check out more on the fest’s Facebook page. Hope to see you there.
Check out the Cherokee Heights Arts Festival in Marietta, Georgia, on November 10, 2012. This small festival features original art from people who live in the Cherokee Heights neighborhood – part of the Cherokee/Church Historic District of Marietta. The event is on Etowah Drive between Freyer Drive and Seminole Drive (30060 zip code) from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
We have a very creative, vibrant community and think you, your family and friends will enjoy the event. This is a family-friendly festival where you can enjoy and buy original art while listening to music from local musicians.
You can get more information on the Cherokee Heights Arts Festival Facebook page. Please “like” us to help get more people to this great event. Feel free to share this message with anyone who you think might be interested.
The Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax was soundly turned back by voters in the Atlanta area. As many people have said, and the media are reporting. this is indicative of how distrustfull the public has become of political leaders. Proponents of the 10-year, one-cent sales tax did a poor job of making their case. They never had a clear, concise message about what would be done with the billions of dollars the new tax would generate. The laundry list of projects was so long, people doubted any real thought or planning had gone into the proposed projects. Proponents also were low-key about some projects that would appear questionable to many people. For instance, the tax was meant to clear up traffic congestion, but some of the money was earmarked for small, general aviation airports. How does that alleviate traffic congestion?
Politcians seemed to believe their own press without taking into account the public’s anti-government mood. Politicians and chamber of commerce leaders touted the tax as the salvation for the area, saying that without it we can’t solve or traffic problems or attract new industry. This came at a time when a poll was released showing Atlanta is very attractive to business and is viewed as a great place for people to live and work.
It’s amazing that the political and civic leaders didn’t do a better job of developing a clear message. If they hired PR help, it appears they either didn’t get the right advice or they didn’t heed the advice they received.
Can’t wait to see what the political fallout is from this clear message from the voters.
The Midtown Alliance in Atlanta held a meet-and-greet in a great space. The Museum of Design Atlanta is awesome. If you want to see creativity applied practically you should check it out. http://www.museumofdesign.org/
When I was a public relations consultant I sometimes met with people who thought they wanted to start a PR program for their organization. In many instances, these people had never developed a PR plan or worked with any PR professionals. So, as you might expect, they often didn’t understand how PR (media relations) works.
During some of these initial meetings a businessman would state that he wanted a guarantee that I would get his company positive media exposure. One business owner stated that he wanted to pay only for each media placement, but he admitted he didn’t know how to value each placement. At the time, the PR firm for which I worked and I thought this arraignment wouldn’t work for us. We explained that we had to be compensated for our time, much in the same way the businessman pays for other professional services such as attorneys and accountants. He admitted he didn’t pay them based solely on outcomes, so we were able to get past this idea pretty quickly. (In fairness to this businessman, some PR firms have developed a model where they are compensated based on the media placements they secure. I have not worked with such a program.)
I recalled the meeting from many years back when a friend of mine at a PR firm told me about a client who was presented with an opportunity to take part in a TV program that was meant to help people find jobs. Various organizations would be able to participate, appearing on live TV as potential job applicants called in about jobs. The client was actively seeking employees, but stated he didn’t want to appear on the program unless he was guaranteed an interview. The format of the program was such that there was a high likelihood of being interviewed, but no guarantee. The host would be moving around and randomly speaking to people who were participating in the program. My friend’s client was adamant about receiving a guarantee that he would be interviewed. My PR friend explained that she couldn’t guarantee it, but stated there was a very good chance of being interviewed, however, if he didn’t appear on the program there was no chance of being interviewed. The client still balked until he saw a promotional spot on TV announcing the event. He then saw the value and agreed to appear.
It’s understandable that people who have little or no experience with media relations would want a guarantee that their money and efforts would result in something positive for their organization. Good PR people will tell clients there is never a guarantee and then give an honest assessment of what they do think they can achieve. It can be a scary first step for a company, but more often than not it has been my experience that once an organization begins a PR program the leaders see the value and are then reluctant to abandon the program.
I just returned from the Legal Marketing Association National Conference. I enjoyed most of the sessions I attended. The one disconcerting thing that occured – four different people reported to me that someone else at the conference had the same name tag as me. It had my name and the name of my employer. When someone I know confronted the man, he walked away. The LMA registration desk confirmed they printed my name tag twice – but no one seems to know why. Maybe conferences should ask for ID at the registration desk so that people don’t masquerade as others. I don’t need some doppelganger going around posing as me doing and saying who knows what! One vendor said my doppelganger even discussed a project I’m involved in and reported the opposite results from what is the actual truth. Creepy stuff!
