2011 Highlights – WWPR Visibility Elevated To New Levels
Out-going president Kendra Kojcsich was honored for her many years of service to WWPR.  Kojcsich highlighted 2011 goals achieved, thanking the outgoing board and key sponsors for most notably increasing WWPR visibility and awareness; membership more than doubled since last year.  The WWPR website revamp, WWPR blog launch and WWPR signature programs like Emerging Leaders and Executive Communicators’ Roundtable series continued to add value.

2012 – Incoming President, Tina McCormack Beaty Encouraged Members To Continue Momentum
The 2012 incoming president, Tina McCormack Beaty, who previously served as the vice president of the organization and co-chair for WWPR’s 2010 pro bono client, Children’s Law Center, encouraged attendees to get involved to keep the momentum going into 2012.  How can you get involved?  Join a WWPR committee today.

“I am thrilled to be guiding WWPR into a new year with a strong group of industry leaders by my side,” said Beaty.  ”2012 is going to be an exciting year for the PR trade and our new board looks forward to ensuring WWPR is a resource for communicators in D.C., helping them to navigate the changing waters with high-quality programs, as well as volunteer and networking opportunities.”

Keynote Catherine “Kiki” McLean Shares Key Elements Of Successful Women Communicators
In addition to voting on its board, WWPR event attendees enjoyed a keynote by former Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton advisor and current global head of public affairs and managing director of Porter Novelli, Kiki McLean.  McLean spoke of the importance of women supporting women and shared her suggested key elements for successful women communicators: 1) Patience, 2) Integrity, and 3) Passion for Language.  McLean encouraged attendees to be “the person others can turn to and count on.”

Learn More about Washington Women In Public Relations
Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) is the first and only D.C.-based professional organization advancing women in the communications industry. WWPR is committed to delivering outstanding professional development, networking, marketplace positioning, and leadership opportunities to area communicators. Visit us at wwpr.org, “Like” us on Facebook.com/WashingtonWomeninPR, and follow us on Twitter @WWPR.

Communicators from the DC area gathered on January 10, at Porter Novelli for an intimate discussion and presentation from NASA Social Media Manager Stephanie Schierholz on the department’s innovative use of Tweetups. Schierholz explained how she managed to craft a social media campaign to gain 1.7 million followers, host 17 live Tweetups in one year – and achieve all of this without a formal budget.

The goal of the campaign was to spread the word about NASA’s work to as many people as possible. It was clear that social media presented an opportunity to reach new audiences, and engage with communities that were not previously active. In addition, NASA had something to offer in return: insider access to the most cutting edge technology in the world. They decided to experiment with Tweetups, inviting a select number of followers to NASA facilities to attend lectures, tours, and in one case, view an actual spaceship launch.

#NasaTweetUps

Using the hashtag #NasaTweetUps, the team announced the first event to the Twitterverse. They lined up some keynote speakers, and carefully tackled the registration process–especially complicated due to the governmental regulations with which NASA has to comply. They learned a lot from the first few rounds of registration, eventually posting an FAQ page to cut down on the amount of anxious emails. Aside from a few system crashes due to the flood of enthusiastic applications, the Tweetups moved forward successfully.

Results

The brilliance of this campaign was in connecting fans of the agency with the very people who do the cool work they care about. These groups may not have come into contact otherwise, and their combined enthusiasm made the events a memorable experience for the speakers and followers alike.

In addition, the followers became a great asset in telling NASA’s story. Before each Tweetup the communications team at NASA issued a formal press release. Then, through Twitter, Schierholz encouraged followers to individually make contact with their local press and explain that they had been selected to attend this exclusive event. This individual outreach was far more authentic, and generated more coverage than the NASA team could have done alone.

The community took on a life of its own, launching the separate wiki site Nasatweet.com for “Tweeps & Space Geeks” in which they share stories and photos, and keep track of rumored Tweetups-to-come. Schierholz emphasized that social communities “will always have better ideas than you do” and encouraged PR teams to foster the creativity that followers can bring to the experience.

For PR professionals concerned about relinquishing control to unknown masses in social media, Schierholz offered an inspiring piece of advice. Focus on making the event truly “awesome” so that people will want to Tweet about the great time they had. Make the event so remarkable that it lends itself to being shared, and you will have the best chance of generating positive buzz about your work, and continued interest in your mission.

Have you organized a Tweetup? What are your top tips?

But what should you recommend to your clients? Here I take a look at two dominant online photo sharing sites – to help you decide whether they hold promise for your organization’s communications goals.

Flickr

Flickr is a promising avenue for a corporate client or conservative organization that wants something clean and controllable, or a site that is easy to access for anyone whether they are registered with the site or not. Like YouTube, it has made efforts into becoming more social and generating its own “Flickr contacts” within its system rather than relying on Facebook friends or Twitter followers.

My favorite Flickr feature for organizations is the slideshow you can embed on a web site or blog. It is a great way to make a post about an event or story much more dynamic and is easy for any user to view. 

Flickr, owned and operated by Yahoo, identifies itself as “almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world”. Well almost, certainly. But in the roaring age of smart phones and their advanced camera features, Flickr may have taken a backseat when it comes online photo sharing by not taking advantage of the mobile transition. While Flickr has a mobile app, it has only a 2.5 out of 5 stars average rating on the Apple App Store, with several reviews complaining about its limited functionality.

Instagram

For Instagram, sharing and being social was in its digital DNA. As a photo-sharing app that operates more exclusively to mobile, it becomes a sort of on-the-go artistic swap, a gritty approach to capturing life’s images (hence its name’s origin from “instant”). Playing off of Facebook’s gigantic success with social photo sharing, the 2011 Apple “App of the Year” adds the extra element of allowing the user to enhance the photo through image filters, giving the photo more of a mood or personality. Only about a year old, the photo sharing app already has 15 million users.

When it comes to advocacy groups trying to reach the policy shaper and sphere of influence in Washington, this approach could be seen as a way to capture a new point-of-view on issues, or better envision the real world impact. And while Instagram is inherently social in itself, it has always encouraged users to share Instagram-created images on different online portals, including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, and even Flickr. A grassroots campaign could have a lot of potential based on the handiness and prevalence of camera phones with Instagram.

Flickr, Instagram, or both for advocacy work?

Although they try to compete with one another on both web and mobile platforms, it’s clear that Flickr owns the web share and Instagram dominates the mobile audience. Flicker prides itself on its categorical, album-like nature, while Instagram thrives on a real-time feed.

When it comes to gaining traction in the DC market, the message as well as the image makes a difference. This is where Flickr can provide greater dividends for the PR professional looking for ways to promote a certain position through illustration. With the ability to add tags (keywords associated with your advocacy topic), Flickr helps categorize each photo as well as help others find them in relevant searches.

If you can’t decide between the image enhancing, convenience of Instagram and the sorting, slideshow abilities of Flickr: don’t fret. Use the Instagram app and then share those photos on your Flickr site, bringing the ease of mobile and a streamlined web presence together in a satisfying, happy medium that will make your online advocacy meet its expectations.

WWPR Board

It’s December 30 and everyone seems to be reminiscing about 2011. Last night, the Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) board met for dinner to celebrate another year and thank everyone for their hard work for the organization. I’ll let President Kendra Kojcsich do the official 2011 WWPR round-up, but in the spirit of the New Year, here are some of the PR best of lists for 2011, along with predictions and tips for 2012.

6 Game-Changing Journalism Events of 2011 by Meghan Peters on Mashable – Number one is DC’s own Andy Carvin of NPR.

5 Social Media Favorites from 2011 by Steven Hughes on socialmediatoday – Hughes reviews his favorites, which may not include your favorites, but you might learn something new.

Top 10 PR Rants for 2011 by Scot Van Camp on The PR News Blog – I really like #10!

2012: The Year of the Personal Brand by Bryan Clark on the Personal Branding Blog – You’ll find some great book recommendations and a reminder to get social.

#PRin2012: 12 Trends That Will Change Public Relations by PRSA Staff on PRSAY – A common theme on many of the prediction posts continues to be the convergence of PR and marketing.

Eight Social Media Trends for 2012 by Gini Dietrich on SPINSUCKS – Dietrich lists “Reporting to all Stakeholders” as #1.

11 New Year’s resolutions for PR and marketing professionals by Carm Lyman on Ragan’s PR Daily – We can all use the the first resolution – Resolve to be a better writer.

Social Media Tips for the New Year by Brad Friedman on Socialmediatoday – Do you have a Google+ business page?

Why we need better PR in 2012 by Jason Mollica on PRBreakfastClub – Mollica reminds us to take another look at our crisis plans in light of some 2011 events.

2012: The Year of 4Fs by Deirdre Breakenridge on PR 2.0 – I recommend taking the time to watch the video for great resolution ideas for 2012.

What have been some of your favorite year-end wrap-ups or 2012 prediction blog posts? Where do you see the industry going in 2012? Please comment and share with the WWPR Blog readers.

WWPR Vice President Tina McCormack Beaty

From 0 to 60 ramps up speed, but how do you ramp up web hits when starting at 0? You get creative, and fast.

Travalo, a portable and TSA-approved fragrance atomizer, launched earlier this year in the U.S., after a highly successful launch in the U.K. The U.S. distributor was bringing new sizes, new colors, and new product lines to consumers in the U.S. and Canada. The website launched on May 25, 2011, and in just over two months, we had secured the little-known U.S. site with over 10,000 unique visits- and more importantly, a positive impact measured directly by a boost in sales.

How’d we do it? Three creative tactics:

Virtual Blog Event
We invited 30 beauty, travel, and mommy bloggers – three large and targeted segments in the blogosphere— to attend a virtual exclusive product review session. The hook was for them to test and review Travalo, being one of the first voices in the online media to talk about the product. For us it was a controlled environment to generate significant chatter during a small timeframe. The group was invited to include pictures, video, and testimonials – all of which we provided to make the process as easy as possible for them As an enhancement, we offered one Travalo to review and another Travalo for them to conduct a giveaway on their site. The bloggers accepted the challenge and over the course of a concentrated few days, new posts began popping up. The tactic directly drove an increase in web traffic, the largest spike of the entire three month campaign, and increased the Travalo name online in a short period to amplify SEO.

Facebook Ads
Knowing your target market’s eyeballs are on Facebook is only half the battle. We knew that men and women who travel and are interested in beauty/luxury products were on Facebook multiple times a day and considered it a resource, according to recent Pew research. But the issue was micro-targeting them by demographic and specific interest. We first went after those with birthdays within the next week; those interested in travel, beauty products, and luxury goods; those recently engaged; as well as those interested in fitness, sports, and luxury items; those who played softball specifically; and those folks who rode the DC metro. The categories were selected by those which fit our target demographic in unique sub-segments. We wrote and ran multiple versions of copy per category, putting more dollars towards successful ads and pausing the unresponsive ads. The response was interesting and slightly unexpected- the best performing ads, based on clickthrus, were targeting men who felt sweaty after working out and women who had birthdays in the next week.

Engaging Online and Print Media
We decided to reach out to two bloggers for every one traditional publication whether online or print. We gather up the usual suspects: glossies, national travel, Nielsen-rated momblogs, and then cast a wide-net of product review sites. We knew we needed to balance long leads with instant hits, and we didn’t shy away from the lesser known names. Some bloggers with small audiences have the most devout audiences, which helps to create action and thus more traffic to the site. We also secured feature print and web placement in O Magazine that helped to generate the second largest campaign spike in web traffic.

These three tactics fed off of each other and were strategically placed on top of one another in an effort to make an early impact. They also directly achieved our goal of raising awareness, both online and off, for Travalo and had the best outcome possible- a significant increase in sales for the new U.S. company.

Every client and subject is different – what are your tips and tricks for driving traffic on a limited budget to a new website? Share below or tweet me at @TMStrategy.

2011 Washington PR Woman of the Year Heathere Evens-Keenan and WWPR President Kendra Kojcsich

We work in one of the greatest professions imaginable. Having experienced the varied sectors of our industry—public relations agency, corporate and government—there are five guiding principles I’ve learned that have made all the difference in how interesting, rewarding and fun our work can be. These tips have become somewhat of a roadmap and I share them with you, my fellow communicators, in hopes that they will bring you career success and satisfaction in 2012 and beyond.

1.     Build Your Personal Brand

Take an active role in building your personal brand. Decide what you stand for and how that gets communicated over time. Create purposeful and consistent communications that support your brand across all available vehicles. Social media is a perfect platform since forums like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter provide an excellent outlet for brief, succinct dissemination of your messages.

2.   “Use Your Powers Only for Good!”

This motto (from colleague and skilled graphic designer, Stephanie Helline of Strategic Design Studio) is one of my favorites because it perfectly captures the superhero-like specialized skills we have mastered. Our toolkit as communicators is powerful. We are the shapers of ideas. Those skills have a tremendous ability to affect the world around us. Make sure you use them in some way to give back—give your time to mentor students, support nonprofit organizations, positively impact your community, or advance our profession. And, always work only with clients, organizations and issues you can stand behind personally. If things change and you lose confidence or trust in those you are representing, it’s time to walk.

3.     Be a Cross-Trainer

Savvy communicators use all tactics and strategies at our disposal to reach key target markets—it makes no difference if the approach is considered public relations or more of a traditional marketing tool. Understand how to each different tactic can best be used to deliver the most effective outcome. The best campaigns seamlessly integrate both public relations and marketing. Keep up on the latest developments and ask yourself, “What will most effectively deliver the measurable objective we have set?”

4.     Make a Commitment to Bold-Faced Integrity

Daily, purposeful, bold-faced integrity in all things should be a driving focus in your career. From following a professional Code of Ethics, to adhering to your own moral code, as a communications professional I believe there is no other way to operate.

5.     Know that Nothing Gets Done in a Vacuum

You are not the Lone Ranger forging your career. The truth is none of us get very far alone. It takes a village of supporters, colleagues, mentors and friends. Get active in groups like WWPR, PRSA, IABC, AMA and other communications organization whose membership is a ‘Who’s Who’ list of some of the most accomplished communicators in our industry. And, think about how you can be helpful to your colleagues in both big and small ways. Choosing to approach your profession with a spirit of partnership and mentorship, rather than a competitive stance, takes your career to a whole new level.

We are all an amalgam of the people who have come into our lives at some point and left their mark. Each of these open, generous, knowledgeable communicators elevates our great profession. Think about what mark you will leave and take an active role in making it happen. Bring energy, excitement and purpose to your field and build your own reputation for greatness.

I hope to see many of you at future WWPR events and I wish you all the best in the coming holiday season and new year!

Have your own recipe/tips for success? Post them here on the blog or send comments directly via Twitter to @KeenanPR or email heathere@keenanpr.com.

Heathere Evans-Keenan, APR has run her own public relations business, Keenan PR, since 1999. Well known in the public relations community for volunteering and mentoring, she has received several industry awards, including a PRSA Silver Anvil. She is also the founder of the Independent Public Relations Alliance.

Christine Till has 40 years of public relations experience and has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University for 35 years. She is currently the director of communications at Venable LLP, an internationally known law firm. Christine frequently acts as a panelist and is fluent in French and Spanish.

Donna Vincent Roa, PhD, ABC, CSR-P is currently the managing partner and chief strategist at Vincent Roa Group LLC, having started the firm in 2009. A winner of numerous awards, she is past president of the largest International Association of Business Communicators chapter in the country and was a Rotary Scholar.

There are so many more wonderful things to be said about these amazing women. Want to hear them? Join us at the 22nd annual Washington PR Woman of the Year Award Luncheon at the Capital Hilton on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 from 12:00 to 2:00p.m.

Come mingle with top communications professionals, enjoy a three course lunch and hear a keynote address from another award worthy woman and former White House deputy communications director, Jen Psaki. Tickets are available here.

WWPR Mount Pleasant Guided Tour and Mini-Walk

Date: Saturday, October 29, 2011

Time: 11:00 am – 12:30 p.m.

Meeting place: Corner of 15th & Irving Street, NW (Nearest Metro: Columbia Heights, Green/Yellow Line)

Fee: $30

Register today!

2011 WWPR Media Panel

“Journalists and PR professionals share the common goal of providing information,” explained Judy Lubin of Public Square Communications and a 2011 WWPR Emerging Leaders Award winner.  “Nonetheless, the relationship between these two fields is—in the Facebook sense—‘complicated.’ ”  

PR professionals from across the Washington, DC area gathered this week at the National Press Club for the WWPR Annual Media Roundtable and Luncheon.  A distinguished panel of journalists looked critically at the state of journalism today, and discussed best practices for public relations professionals to navigate this changing environment.

The panel included:

Moderator: Judy Lubin, President, Public Square Communications and Contributing Blogger, Huffington Post

Amy Austin – Publisher, Washington City Paper

Anne Louise Bayly Berman – DC Editor, Daily Candy

Tamara Keith – Congressional Reporter, NPR

Karen Shalett – Editor, DC Magazine

Brandis Griffith Friedman – Special Projects Producer, WJLA-TV 

Trends of Note

The event began with a discussion of new trends in the media landscape.  In an era where everyone can become a publisher in a matter of minutes, Austin emphasized there is great demand for quality content that offers a trusted voice or something unique.   In addition, the panel acknowledged the shift towards “hyperlocal” content, with greater emphasis on reporting that is both local and ahead of the curve. 

Bayly Berman noted people used to read an article and simply move on.  In contrast, today’s readers take immediate action after viewing an article—whether by leaving a comment, retweeting, or purchasing a daily deal for the restaurant they just read about. 

A key theme of the day was the recent shifts in journalism have forced reporters to be better than ever.  People have less tolerance for jargon, or content that is not useful to their lives.  Journalists are embracing these changes, providing better substance to readers and pointing to a promising future for the field.

Pitching to the Press

When sending pitches via email—think Twitter!  Just like a 140 character post, make the subject line punchy and attention-grabbing to ensure that your email gets noticed.

Shalett urged the room to be aware of the varying lead times of different publications and the journalist in question.  For instance, Daily Candy has immediate deadlines in order to be the first to cover a new business in town, as opposed to reporters at NPR who need time to develop an in depth story and find authentic voices.  With this in mind, it can sometimes be better to actually contact a reporter before a full press release is prepared and perfected.  For example, try sending an exploratory pitch explaining: “We think this is coming up.  If this is of interest to you we can pursue this further.”  With this advance notice, the journalist can build your story into their plans and be sure to provide the best coverage.

Overall the event was a great success, with a lively question and answer session and an engaged audience.  The dialogue and concrete advice clarified many aspects of media relations, and hopefully took steps towards making this relationship a little less “complicated.”

What were you favorite take-aways from the media panel? Please share with the WWPR Blog readers.

Seating is limited so make your reservation by calling 202-955-0075 or at OpenTable.com. Please designate Thrive DC when making your reservation.

DATE:              Saturday, October 15, 2011

TIME:               5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

LOCATION:      Mio Restaurant

1110 Vermont Ave NW # 1 

Washington, DC 20005-3575        

COST:              $55 per person for a multi-course dinner

Mio Restaurant www.miorestaurant.com

Thrive DC www.thrivedc.org