Aug 25, 2011 Pitching Bloggers Luncheon Recap

Pitching bloggers is an important part of public relations, and there’s a right way to do it. Three great bloggers joined us for a panel discussion to discuss their preferences, recommendations and experiences: Nick Chipman of dudefoods.com; Heather Blessington of mamavision.com; and Jon Mueller of 800CEORead.com. For a great recap of the event, read the tweets @prsawis.

Among the tips shared: Be personable (and human)! Be edgy! Be respectful (read the bloggers’ work before pitching them)! Be helpful!

March Luncheon – Community Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility with Anne Reed & Kim Marotta

This month’s chapter meeting was off the charts! Two incredible, intelligent, passionate and successful women talked from a corporate and nonprofit perspective about ways to leverage and integrate corporate social responsibility, community relations and sustainability programs into marketing and brand-building efforts. Anne Reed, the executive director of the Wisconsin Humane Society and Kim Marotta, vice president of corporate social responsibility at Miller Coors shared their stories.

In case you missed it, here is the live twitter feed. Somehow Andrew Wiech and I managed to never duplicate tweets over the course of the hour long presentation:

@PRSAWIS	The 130 yr old @Wischumane society is known as one of the top nationally #prsawis
@PRSAWIS	@WiscHumane‘s mission IS community outreach. #PRSAWIS
@PRSAWIS	Communication is the key. @WiscHumane establishes itself as the authoritative resource in the community. #PRSAWIS
@PRSAWIS	@wischumane keeps Social media very conversational #prsawis
@PRSAWIS	Short videos from the staff @WiscHumane and shared on YouTube. Very authentic. #PRSAWIS
@PRSAWIS	@wischumane has a symbiotic relationship btwn programs and outreach #prsawis
@PRSAWIS	Important to get out in the community and invite them back in. @WiscHumane #PRSAWIS
@PRSAWIS	Develop one brand image for CSR. “Great Beer. Great Responsibility.” #PRSAWIS
@PRSAWIS	Go to greatbeergreatresponsibility.com to engage with @millercoors and for a chance to win an iPad #prsawis
@PRSAWIS	“Society has expectations and in today’s world, those expectations have changes. Sustainable, transparent, ethical.” @MillerCoors #PRSAWIS
@PRSAWIS	Retailers continue to push the agenda #prsawis @millercoors
@PRSAWIS	54% of shoppers consider sustainability to be a one of their decision making factors. @MillerCoors #PRSAWIS
@PRSAWIS	Best ambassadors are your own employees. “Be Great. Be Responsible” @MillerCoors #PRSAWIS

Here are a few other key takeaway points from the presentation:

Anne Reed, nonprofit sector

• Better communications = increased donations
• Engage in several community partnerships to carry out mission
• Your building itself can be community outreach – bring people in to see the mission in action

Kim Marotta, corporate sector

• Social responsibility is good for business, not just because it’s what people expect, but it helps cut costs, good for the environment and establishes meaningful partnerships
• Social responsibility leverages employee attraction and retention

Also, watch this short video with Kim and Anne:

What did you take away from this month’s luncheon?

- Jenna Kashou (@JKashou) & Andrew Wiech (@AndrewWiech)

Local PRSA Chapter to Present 2010 Paragon Awards at May 25 Ceremony

May 21, 2010 – Milwaukee, Wis. – The Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America will present its annual Paragon Awards to outstanding local companies at an evening ceremony.

The event will be hosted by two recognized journalistic personalities from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, columnist Jim Stingl and reporter Crocker Stephenson. The awards ceremony will begin at 5:30pm on Tuesday, May 25^th at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Bradley Pavilion in Milwaukee,

The Paragon Awards were created in 1983 and are given annually to honor local companies and individuals that exemplify excellence in communications. The awards recognize outstanding work in the area of public relations, honor creative and strategic superiority and encourage a higher level of performance among public relations professionals. For more information about the PRSA, visit http://www.prsawis.org or http://www.twitter.com/prsawis.

From this year’s pool of 95 submissions, the PRSA will present 20 awards of excellence, 28 awards of merit and one award for best in show at the ceremony.

In addition, the Southeastern Wisconsin PRSA has selected two outstanding industry leaders to receive awards for individual public relations achievements. These awards will be given to Rich Meeusen, CEO of Badger Meter, and Carolyn Bellin, APR, chief public relations officer of Froedtert Hospital, in recognition of the tremendous skill and commitment both have shown as advocates for their organizations in the Milwaukee region.

“Both honorees have made significant strides in advancing the success of their companies and in making Milwaukee a better place to live and do business,” said Mary Scheibel, APR, PRSA president and principal owner of Scheibel Halaska.

Serving as Masters of Ceremony, Jim Stingl and Crocker Stephenson will add a unique style of entertainment and personality to the evening.

Jim Stingl is best known for his local news column that runs in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, plus his regular video columns. He has worked at the Journal and the Journal Sentinel for a total of 23 years, not counting the five years he delivered the paper as a kid. A Milwaukee native and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he worked at two other Wisconsin newspapers in Beloit and Green Bay before returning to his hometown.

Crocker Stephenson has been a reporter at the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Journal Sentinel for a total of 24 years. He began covering Milwaukee criminal courts in early 2008. In November that year, a kinship foster mother was charged with killing 13-month-old Christopher Thomas and with torturing his sister. Stephenson’s aggressive coverage of that story and other issues related to child welfare in Milwaukee has sparked legislative and institutional changes that deepened public accountability and have tightened the safety net for Milwaukee’s most vulnerable children.

Live updates from the Paragon Awards and the latest news can be found on Twitter by following #paragonawards, or @prsawis.

The Public Relations Society of America Southeastern Wisconsin chapter was founded more than 50 years ago by pioneering public relations professionals. The organization today consists of more than 300 plus member organizations serving to advance networking and educational opportunities for communications professionals in the community.

For more information, contact Matthew Mente at (414) 270-3514 or mmente@insidesh.com.