PR Summit Hits DC June 10

By Robert Udowitz, Partner, RFP Associates – RFPassociates.net

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The DC region finally has a PR conference to call its own thanks to the Capitol Communicator. The Convergence in Communications Conference launched three years ago, and it was so successful that it has rebranded as PR Summit DC for 2016 and has moved to a larger space at the NAHB Conference Center (12th & M) on Friday, June 10.

WWPR’s 2014 Woman of the Year, Pam Jenkins, President Powell Tate and President of Weber Shandwick in the Mid-Atlantic, will lead a morning “fireside chat” on the topic of native advertising at this year’s conference and it’s sure to fill the house. Pam will interview the director of Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Advertising Practices Mary K. Engle. It was under Mary’s leadership that the FTC issued its December 2015 FTC business guidelines for Native Advertising.

Pam’s program, “Native Advertising: What It Means to Public Relations,” will explore how the new guidelines have been received and the future implications and concerns for our clients and our industry.

Another interesting session at this year’s conference is Women in Digital: Tech, Inclusion and Innovation,” led by WWPR 2015 Emerging Leader Emily Rasowsky of Social Driver.  This session will focus on women at the forefront of PR and communications  and discuss how tech, innovation, and inclusion lead to success. This panel will also discuss ways women are making their mark through the use of digital technology and how embracing diverse, inclusive teams can lead to bigger and better ideas.

The PR Summit’s keynote speaker is Chris Graves, chair of Ogilvy PR. Chris’ program is “Brain, Behavior, Story: How Science is Revealing Most Communications Efforts are Dead Wrong.” He describes his speech as a head-spinning, whirlwind journey that will unsettle just about everything you thought you knew about effective communications.

WWPR members receive a 20 percent discount to the PR Summit with the code WWPR (coincidentally). Use this link to see the rest of the agenda and the registration page.

WWPR Announces Six Finalists for 2016 Emerging Leaders Awards

Award honors rising PR communicators that have made significant impact on the industry

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2016 — Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) today announced six finalists that will be honored at this year’s Emerging Leaders Awards on June 21, 2016. The event honors young women (ages 23-30) in public relations and related fields that have made a significant impact through their work in the industry.

The 2016 WWPR Emerging Leaders Awards finalists include:

“At WWPR, we seek to provide an outlet where women are empowered to reach their full potential. We are pleased to announce these six extraordinary finalists,” said Mara Vandlik, WWPR president, “Their achievements and successes inspire and encourage others in the industry.”

The Emerging Leaders Awards is a special accolade for young women active within the communications field who have made a significant impact on the industry. The seventh annual awards ceremony and cocktail reception will bring together more than 140 communications professionals to hear Case Foundation’s Senior Director of Communications Jade Floyd explore this year’s theme “Making A PR Pro.”

From the six finalists, three Emerging Leaders Awards honorees will be named at the ceremony and cocktail reception onTuesday, June 21 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Morning Consult offices located at 729 15th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. To register for the event, click here.

About Washington Women in Public Relations
Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) is a member-based professional society cultivating and inspiring female communicators to reach their full potential in the DC market and beyond. The organization is committed to providing leadership opportunities, professional development, mentorship, and industry networking. 

President’s Note

Mara headshotWWPR is on a roll and March saw another amazing month for our organization. Jenn Sherman, our 2016 Emerging Leaders Awards co-chair helped us organize a tremendously successful membership drive in partnership with Soul Cycle. We had more than 60 new members register for WWPR in the last month- wow! I want to welcome and thank all of our new and renewing members and I hope all of you aren’t too sore from your Soul Cycle spins to join us at our next WWPR event! Do you have any questions about your membership? Please reach out to our great membership chair Mary McGinty who will be happy to help you. Want to get more involved? Please take a look at our various committee opportunities here.

We’ve heard from our members in the past that they really wanted an opportunity to meet members of the board in a more casual setting so we decided to host a WWPR happy hour in March. Check out this fun advice video that Brittany Floyd put together from the event. We will be hosting another Happy Hour on April 26th in partnership with our friends at IABC and we hope you can make it! Thanks again to Christina Ricchi and the staff at i Ricchi for being such great hosts.

I’d also like to thank Debra Silimeo and the Hager Sharp team for hosting us for another successful Speed Mentoring event. This is one of my favorite annual events because I love the knowledge and advice that is shared year after year. Thank you to all of our mentors who shared their perspective, advice and encouragement with all of the night’s mentees.

WWPR also hosted a professional development event geared specifically towards senior level communicators entitled Career Resilience on April 19th. I am so proud of this event and thanks to Neveah Bradshaw and Angela Barnett, our Professional Development co-chairs for making this event and our Speed Mentoring event happen within a week of each other! Additional thanks to Andrew Sherman, Christine Brown-Quinn, Stacy Kerr and Victoria Rader for giving their time, energy and expertise to make this event so impactful. Going forward we hope to provide additional professional development events geared towards different subsets of our organization.

Keep your eyes peeled for fun content around our upcoming Emerging Leaders Awards and much more! Thank you for your continued support of WWPR.

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6 Ways to Spot an Emerging Leader

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By Melinda Price, Member of WWPR and WWPR’s Marketing Communications Committee

Emerging leaders in the field of communications come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have a few stand out traits in common. Here are just a few ways to spot an emerging leader:

She listens more than she talks

As any communications professional knows, listening is a key part of building and sustaining relationships in and out of the office. This becomes even more important for an emerging leader who seeks to make connections and solidify her team or client’s trust. She asks questions when relevant and listens openly to the answers she receives.

Where to find her: She’ll be the one that clients ask for specifically, executives turn to as their source for reliable information and colleagues utilize as a sounding board for ideas and authentic feedback.

She commands the room

Not only do emerging leaders have great listening skills, but she can also command a room when it’s her turn to shine. She’s knowledgeable about the client or topic, keeps her poise and fields questions with ease. Analyze her ability to demonstrate presence through posture—you’ll probably come away with a few tips.

Where to find her: In the center of the room, of course!

She’s energetic about her work

Emerging leaders as passionate about the work they are doing and are able to communicate that passion succinctly. This is demonstrated through her ideas, productivity and determination that lifts up the entire team. Her passion inspires her colleagues, superiors and clients to care about a project as much as she does and give it their all.

Where to find her: She’s the one diligently working to meet a deadline with a smile on her face who can still find time to help others on the team.

She knows how to delegate

An emerging leader knows when to take a step back and delegate tasks when her plate is full. She is inclusive in her assignments so she can engage with and assign tasks to the best people for the job, which may not always be her. She nurtures strengths and acknowledges the skill sets of others to do the best job possible on a project.

Where to find her: She’s either assigning tasks in a meeting, engaging in one-on-one meetings or buckling down to take on her end of a project.

She embraces failure

This woman makes no excuses and doesn’t assign blame when something goes awry. She retains her focus and lets it go when appropriate. Her mindset is to immediately get back up, make adjustments and try again.

Where to find her: At her desk or in a meeting in full focus-mode, figuring out how to best solve the problem before her by exploring what worked and what didn’t from a past attempt.

She’s involved outside of the office as well

An emerging leader doesn’t limit her skills to the office, she takes time to hone herself as a professional and lends her skills in other capacities as well if given the opportunity. She takes the time to develop a life outside the office and prioritizes her happiness and well-being.

Where to find her: Taking an active role in a WWPR committee, participating in a webinar to develop her skills, networking with other professionals, volunteering her time at a nonprofit, or a whole host of other activities that help shape her as a professional.

Now that you know six ways to spot an emerging leader, don’t miss noted emerging leaders and industry experts at the seventh annual Emerging Leaders Awards ceremony on Tuesday, June 21, 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET. The 2016 theme, Making a PR Pro, celebrates the remarkable expertise and intrinsic qualities that these developing professional demonstrate and will feature a keynote presentation by Jade Floyd, Senior Director of Communications at The Case Foundation. Registration is open!

This year’s event will be held at Morning Consult at 729 15th St, NW, Washington, DC, 20005. Photographers from Digital Pixel 1080 will capture the evening. WWPR is grateful for the contributions of these sponsors in making the evening a success!

The Emerging Leaders Awards is a special accolade for young women active within the communications field who have made a significant impact on the industry. Know someone who fits the bill? Nominate today!

PR’s Role in Politics: Checking in on Flint, Michigan

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The Role of Public Relations in Politics is a monthly column written by WWPR member Margaret Mulvihill, examining the role of PR in politics.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Washington Women in Public Relations

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Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Is PR still playing a role in managing the crisis in Flint, Michigan, and if it is, how effective is it? You may remember that at the beginning of the year, when the story of the water-poisoning in Flint was breaking-big, we took a look at the situation and the major players, vowing to return to check for any progress, any possible misery mitigation, for the people of Flint and Genesee County and the replacement of the damaged and worn lead pipes.

As background, this all began in April 2014, when Governor Rick Snyder’s Republican administration’s state-appointed emergency manager decided to save money by switching from the Detroit Water System to the Flint River for water supply to Genesee County and the City of Flint.

Residents complained about the discolored water. People, especially children and infants, fell ill. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha doggedly pursued the medical problems arising from the poisoning. Still, state officials claimed the water was safe to drink. It would be another 18 months before Republican Governor Rick Snyder’s administration acknowledged that there might be a problem. Lead, a known and potent irreversible neurotoxin, poisoned the people of Genesee County and the City of Flint, Michigan.

Follow his hiring of Jerrod Agen as Chief of Staff, Snyder promptly hired Mercury llc, a public affairs company whose principals are known for staffing Republican Party campaigns. Agen’s wife Bettina is a Senior Vice President at Mercury. Snyder was forced to set up a task force to investigate, and that task force found the state government responsible, with the Governor as the ‘Buck stops here’ man.**

Mercury claims that their strategies put their “clients ahead of rapid political and regulatory changes, competitors, critics, and changes in the external environment.” So what has changed, if anything, for the Snyder administration?

Well, for starters, there is now a movement rooted in political activism to recall Snyder.

Rev. David Bullock of Detroit’s Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church is the author of the Recall petition, and organizers have only 60 days to collect 790,000 valid signatures from registered voters to get the recall on the ballot in November. The Reverend claims that people from all political parties and social strata are supporting his petition because they believe that ‘Rick Snyder’s got to go.’*

When forced to acknowledge the water poisoning issue, Gov. Snyder set up a task force, whose findings blamed the state and the emergency manager for the crisis. A recent poll found that 69% of likely voters hold an unfavorable opinion of Snyder’s leadership, while 52% hold an unfavorable view about the governor himself. MSNBC conducted an online poll of 2700 people in March, in which they posed the question: Should Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Resign over the Flint Water Crisis? 87% said yes.

While acknowledging the recall movement, and the influx of volunteer workers replacing the worn lead pipes, it’s clear that the City of Flint, Genesee County and the water crisis are no longer in the headlines.

The Mayor of Flint, Karen Weaver, has dropped out of sight, and where are the celebrities now?

Flint and the water crisis has received no ink over the past two weeks. There could be many reasons for that. The news cycle is a living organism, it needs to be fed frequently. It could be that other news topics have taken priority in Michigan, in the United States.

It could be that Mercury are really, really good at what they do.

Margaret Mulvihill is Director of Communications at Lawson Mulvihill Media Inc., in Washington, DC. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/political_pr

*WJBK Interview, March 27, 2016

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/113873840-story

** Snyder’s own words from the Jan. 19 State of the State address, when he apologized for the state’s role in the lead poisoning of Flint’s drinking water:

“Government failed you: Federal, state, and local leaders by breaking the trust you placed in us,” Snyder said in the formal address. “I am sorry most of all that I let you down. You deserve better. You deserve accountability; you deserve to know the buck stops here with me.”

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