PR / Media Relations

Communicators have been using PR to deliver value for decades. What’s new is that a handful of leading professionals are now scientifically proving how they are generating measurable benefits from the public relations activities. The progress that this change represents is significant: rather than relying on subjective perceptions of what represents value, they are applying the concept of “return on investment” (ROI) and objectively measuring the economic benefits of public relations activity against its associated costs. In this perspective-packed web conference, Mark Weiner offers a research-based model for creating and implementing public relations programs that will generate meaningful results and improve an organization’s ROI. You will also learn how to speak to senior executives in a way that will improve communications and ultimately help strengthen PR performance and results.

What You Will Learn:

• The Difference between “proving value” and “delivering a return-on-investment.”
• The three elements of PR-ROI
• What some of the world’s greatest organizations are doing to prove and improve their PR-ROI (and how they do it)…including branded case studies
• How you can take your PR programs to the next level in clearly demonstrating ROI
• What’s required to go beyond “ROI

Real-world questions that will be answered:

• How do I prove the value of my PR?
• What is the difference between “proving value” and “delivering ROI?”
• How do I connect our PR to meaningful business outcomes and Return-on-Investment?
• What are the three forms of PR-ROI?
• What are companies doing now to deliver and improve their ROI?
• How do I get started?

Presented by:

Mark Weiner is the author of “Unleashing the Power of PR: A Contrarian’s Guide to Marketing and Communication,” published by John Wiley & Sons. Throughout his career, Mark has focused on providing research-based consulting to help clients improve their PR-ROI. Most recently, Mark was the SVP/Global Director of Research at Ketchum after having been president and CEO of Delahaye, the preeminent provider of research solutions for public relations and corporate communications professionals. Mark is a frequent speaker at conferences including those produced by The Conference Board, The American Marketing Association, The PRSA, The IABC and Bulldog Reporter, and he frequently contributes to publications such as Communication World, PR Week and The Daily ‘Dog and has appeared on PBS and CNBC. He is on the editorial advisory boards of PR News and PRSA’s The Strategist, and is an active member of the Institute for Public Relations, for whom he chaired the Measurement Commission in 2004.

Surprisingly, there is no defined background or career path for those who aspire to the position of global corporate brand manager. Public relations and corporate communications practitioners often believe they have the right to be the strongest voice in determining the brand. After all,among the responsibilities of the most senior public relations (PR) executive is that of promoting and protecting the reputation of the corporation.

But at a time when global brands are valued in the billions, there is a dearth of good practical advice on what business professionals from many areas could and should be doing to build and protect their organization’s brand. And everyone from designers to lawyers to marketers to advertisers and even HR professionals can and should be playing a role. Nothing is more important than living the brand.

This webinar offers a chance to hear Michael Morley discuss themes from his new book, The Global Corporate Brand Book. He will show how corporate brand value can be measured in finite terms and encourages PR people to aspire to the role of corporate brand managers. This way their own work’s importance will be recognized and funded. But before this can be achieved, they will need to widen their knowledge beyond traditional PR techniques.

What You Will Learn:

• The six critical elements of a global corporate brand
• Case histories of successful global corporate brands
• The role of corporate communications in corporate brand building

“Presenter was extremely knowledgeable, presented well and used some excellent examples. He dug far deeper into branding and reputation management than I have ever seen or heard. His laying out of the six Vs was creative, sensitive and well done.”

Presented by:

Michael Morley is president of Morley Corporate Consulting, a firm of management consultants in corporate reputation and branding. For nearly 40 years Morley worked at Edelman helping establish it as the world’s largest independent PR agency. He founded the agency’s first overseas office, in London in 1967. He went on to be named President of Edelman International Corporation and established other Edelman offices in Europe, Canada , Asia Pacific and Latin America . Since 1984 he has been based in New York.

Morley has managed multi-national PR programs for companies that include UPS, AMADEUS Global Travel Distribution, NCR, VISA International, British Airways, Ernst & Young, Hoffmann-La Roche, Schering Plough, Procter & Gamble , S.C. Johnson and Hertz Corporation. From 1995 to 1998 Morley was President of Edelman New York and from 1998-2001 was Deputy Chairman and President of International Operations. He served as Deputy Chairman of Daniel J. Edelman Inc until his retirement in 2006.

He is also Chair of the Senior Advisory Board Experts (SAGEs) of the Echo Research Group and adjunct professor teaching in the Master of Science in PR and Corporate Communications program at New York University.

Before joining Edelman, Morley had served as an officer in the Royal Artillery and after a period in journalism had been a director of another British PR firm for seven years. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, lectures extensively on PR, holds the CAM Diploma and in 1981 was elected to a Fellowship in the organization that is responsible for P.R. education and examinations in Britain . He served as Chairman of the jury of the IPRA Golden World Awards from 1999-2002. In June 2003 Morley was awarded the Alan Campbell-Johnson Medal for distinguished service to International Public Relations by The Institute of Public Relations. Later the same year he was one of the first six PR leaders named to the ICCO Hall of Fame.

Online newsrooms have virtually replaced dual pocket, press kit folders stuffed with hard copy. But according to research, poorly designed online newsrooms damage corporate reputations. Find out if your online newsroom is hurting or helping your efforts to manage your organization’s reputation, and learn what you can do to improve the news and information section of your website through search engine optimization, RSS, email alerts, text notifications and GML. And find out how forward-thinking brands are engaging strategically with their stakeholders through social media, but converting those interactions to transactions on their own websites.

What You Will Learn:

• Best practices for online newsroom design and maintenance
• How to integrate social media into online newsrooms
• Reg FD compliance via online newsrooms
• Future trends in online newsroom design

Presented by:

Eric Schwartzman is a senior communications professional with broad experience in online communications, public relations, public affairs and marketing for leading brands, start-ups, non-profits and government agencies. I help organization develop and execute digital communications strategies and have extensive experience integrating emerging information technologies into organizational communications.

In 2000, I resigned from the Interpublic Group [NYSE:IPG] PR firm Rogers & Cowan, where I served as director of promotions managing a staff of nine, and went out on my own to specialize in online communications. Since then, I have developed online communications strategies, training programs and campaigns for Boeing, Brigham Young University, City National Bank, Environmental Defense Fund, Johnson & Johnson and many others.

Building on my experience managing pressroom activities at The Grammy Awards, and working in pressrooms at the MTV Music Video Awards, MTV Movie Awards, FOX Teen Awards, the People’s Choice Awards and other special events, I built the first online newsrooms for Cirque du Soleil and the Salt Lake Olympics to efficiently distribute press materials and high resolution photographs online. This led to the development and creation of online newsroom software as a service provider iPressroom, which I founded, and which today hosts online newsrooms for Target, Toyota, UCLA and others on a proprietary content management system designed specially to help nontechnical personnel practice online communications autonomously from IT professionals or webmasters. I remain the company’s chairman, participating at the board level, and advising on matters of corporate finance and business strategy.

My podcast, On the Record.Online, has received numerous awards including the Public Relations Society of America Bronze Anvil Award in 2007, the Marketing Sherpa Email Marketing Award in 2007, the MarCom Gold Award in 2007, the PR News Platinum Award in 2007, the Public Relations Society of America Los Angeles Chapter Prism Award 2007 and the Society for New Communications Research Award of Excellence in 2006. Complete bio

“This is the best seminar that I have attended in a long time. The speaker was thorough, pragmatic and interesting. He opened up a whole new vision of possibilities for a Newsroom.”

“It was a very meaty webinar – wish it could’ve been a little longer.”

“It gave me a solid overview of current thinking, trends and research regarding online newsrooms. We are an organization that relies on our online newsroom considerably, and we’re in the process of renovating it. This information will improve its offerings significantly.”

In this age of rapid communication, openness and transparency, it becomes more important than ever to find common ground and forums for dialogue with stakeholder groups beyond customers and shareholders. Mutually beneficial  alliances with environmentalists, health-care advocates and similar groups can  provide insights into markets, societal trends and public concerns. Done well,  such alliances can enhance the reputation of both the company involved and the advocacy group. Learn how McDonald’s and Tyson Foods have implemented  mutually beneficial alliances with advocacy groups and NGOs.

What You Will Learn:

• What works and what doesn’t in building alliances with advocacy groups
• NGOs as friends, foes and collaborators
• Best practices in forming productive alliances with advocacy groups

Questions Asked and Answered

• What are some of the criteria you use to select NGO’s?
• Do you see significant variance between the individuals within NGO’s?
• Does McDonalds carry on an open dialogue with PETA and other antagonists in the 9 and 10 zone?
• Can you talk more about using social networking for NGO engagement?
• CSPI and PETA are very antagonistic; what guidance can you offer for dealig with these specific entities?
• What’s the most effective approach for a national company with only 1 PR and 1 Community Relations employee and no agency?
• Is it best to focus on one issue like Tyson is doing with hunger, and establish leadership over long term, or try to be involved in many other issues on a lesser scale?
• Are there any examples faith-based organizations who have been good partners for you to work with?
• Social media engagement takes a lot of manpower to do. Are either of you adding to staff to engage online with NGO’s?
• Can you both give examples of how you have enabled local leaders to emulate your corporate strategies on a local basis?
• Who is the most important audience to hear about your commitment to hunger?

Presented by:

Bob Langert is Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility for McDonald’s. His responsibilities with McDonald’s include social responsibility efforts, including McDonald’s social responsibility reporting; Global environmental management systems and issues; Global supply chain issues (e.g., sustainable agriculture, biotechnology, animal agricultural and animal welfare programs); Issues management; and part of McDonald’s “Balanced, Active Lifestyles” team.

Langert joined McDonald’s in 1983, with management positions in logistics and packaging purchasing in the 80s; and responsibilities for environment, energy management, animal welfare, Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities, emerging issues’ management, and, most recently, social responsibility in the 90’s through today. He earned an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; a BA from Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois, and a BS at Hamburger University.

Ed Nicholson is currently director of corporate community and public relations for Tyson Foods, Inc. He has been with Tyson since 1995, previously serving as the company’s director of media relations, and primary media spokesperson. Ed is part of a team that helps create and implement community relations strategies in the 100 U.S. communities in which Tyson Foods has operations. He is also responsible for managing relationships within Tyson’s primary area of philanthropic activity, hunger relief. He has been at the forefront of Tyson’s use of social media, which is focused on creating community around the issue of hunger.

Peter Faur, president of RightPoint Communications Inc., has been

on the front lines of controversies ranging from environmental spills and cleanups to industrial fatalities to allegations of animal abuse at marine theme parks. He is known for keeping a cool head, getting people from many walks of life to talk together, and helping people learn how to explore each other’s concerns so they can find mutually agreeable solutions to problems they face. Faur moved to Phoenix in late 2002 to head the communications staff of Phelps Dodge Corp., a copper-mining company acquired in 2007 by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. As vice president-corporate communications, he was responsible for all the company’s internal and external communications programs. He designed and implemented a community relations and communications model now replicated in several communities in which the company is pursuing environmental remediation projects. While the issues are controversial, the company has been able to build bases of support and has kept strong, results-oriented dialogues in place.

Additional Resources:

• McDonald’s Corporate Responsibility homepage
• Tyson Foods Hunger Relief Homepage – Recent News Releases
• Peter Faur’s Common Ground Blog Post on this webinar

The data is in!

1. Diversity is a source of competitive advantage
2. Diverse teams arrive at better, more innovative solutions than monolithic teams
3. Diversity is not the same as affirmative action or any other government mandated equality program – it’s better
4. Diversity makes common, moral and good business sense

You are a believer. Great.

But while your energy and enthusiasm on the topic of diversity are required, they are not sufficient. You need a rock solid communication plan and the know-how to execute it in order for diversity to take root and stay rooted in the fabric of how the company you work for does business.

What You Will Learn:

1. Explaining the business case
2. Reinforcing the values and visions of the diversity effort
3. Identifying the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) for employees
4. Defining diversity
5. Communicating expectations
6. Demonstrating ongoing commitment

Instructor: 

Jacqueline M. Welch is Vice President, Employee and Organizational Effectiveness for Rock-Tenn Company, a $2.2 billion Norcross, Georgia headquartered manufacturer of packaging products, merchandising displays and recycled paperboard. Rock-Tenn Company operates more than 90 facilities throughout the United States, Argentina, Canada, Mexico and Chile.

As Vice President of Employee and Organizational Effectiveness, Jacqui is responsible for talent acquisition, performance management, career development, learning and development, succession planning, organization development, employee relations, compliance, union relationships, corporate communications, and workplace practices such as corporate citizenship and diversity for a workforce of 10,000 employees. Jacqui reports directly to the CEO and is an officer of the company.

Jacqui’s expertise is in developing, implementing and institutionalizing people programs, practices and policies that support business objectives and optimize organizational culture. This includes developing customer-focused business strategy for the human resource function and building line capacity to manage the people asset.

Who should register:

• Communications, HR, public relations and managers and supervisors who want to help take their organization’s diversity program to the next level

Reduce waste, cut costs and reduce environmental impact, increase employee engagement and retention, bolster your brand … what’s not to like about infusing green and sustainability into your organization?

And so it is no wonder that companies, large and small across all industries, are launching and supporting employee green teams to add arms and legs to green and responsibility goals. But, as this webinar underscores, green teams and social innovation do not just sprout and blossom without coordination, recognition, communications and a basket full of other good practices.

Whether you are just thinking about launching an employee green team, or you would like to ratchet yours up to the next level, learn the latest strategies from our three experts with a wealth of what works, and what doesn’t.

What You Will Learn:

• Building and communicating the business case for green teams 
• How to grow green  teams without dampening the grass-roots passion that they started with
• Big picture overview of some best practices from other leading companies, including Bloomberg, EMC, Ingersol Rand and Genentech
• How to create unique recognition and training programs (specific to your corporate culture)
• How to connect green teams to customers and communities
• What are some pitfalls to watch out for?
• How should you measure success?

Learn how the eBay Green Team, started by a small group of employees, has grown to more than 2,400 eBay employeees in 23 countries and 225,000 eBay buyers and sellers. The program was awarded “Best Employee Engagement Strategy” by the 2010 Social Innovation Awards.

Presenters:

Krista Van Tassel: As the newest member of the Wells Fargo Environmental Affairs team, Krista supports our many Green Teams, who promote environmental innovation and educate team members about their role in supporting our sustainability efforts. Before coming to Wells Fargo, Krista earned her MBA in International Business at Georgetown University. She’s also worked in a variety of sustainability and marketing positions in both the nonprofit (Net Impact) and for-profit (Sun Microsystems) worlds, and served as the Cupertino Campus Chair for Hewlett-Packard’s 2002 Charitable Giving Campaign. In her oh-so precious free time, she enjoys running, reading and volunteering.

JD Norton has been with eBay for ten years and spent most of that time not only making it a great place to work for eBay employees, but also making sure eBay is a good corporate citizen in the communities in which they operate. He is currently heads Community Engagement for the eBay Green Team, where he leads a global employee Green Team of over 2500 employees spread out across 25+ office locations worldwide, as well as 300,000+ eBay community members who have also taken the green pledge.

Deborah Fleischer is President of Green Impact, a strategic sustainability consulting practice that helps socially responsible companies and NGOs transform a commitment to sustainability into action. She is a LEED AP with over 20-years of direct experience working with businesses, governmental agencies and non-profits on environmental and sustainability challenges. Her expertise focuses on strategy, engagement and communications. She is the author of Green Teams: Engaging Employees in Sustainability and is a regular contributor to GreenBiz.com, where she has blogged extensively on best practices for engaging employees. Her recent clients include the University of California San Francisco, Plantronics, Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), Sonoma Open Space District and the Sonoma Land Trust. You can follow her occasional tweets at @GreenImpact, join her Facebook page or check out her blog Shades of Green.

“Good ideas for reinvigorating our team and expanding our reach internally and externally.”  … Webinar testimonial

We all live in glass houses. Reputation failure is no longer a threat that looms large for companies only in high-risk industries and activities. It has become an all-too-familiar scenario for all companies in all corners of the world. A Weber Shandwick proprietary analysis revealed that over three-quarters (79 percent) of the world’s number-one most admired companies lost their crowns over the past five years in their respective industries.Over three-quarters (79 percent) of the world’s number-one most admired companies lost their crowns over the past five years in their respective industries. The corporate reputation “stumble rate” continues to rise. Recent corporate crises have demonstrated that a company’s reputation can be destroyed in seconds. A mishandled response, inappropriate act, product tampering, or poorly timed financial disclosure all have the power to instantly tarnish a respected reputation. However, the well managed and reputation-conscious company does not need to stand defenseless when faced with a damaged reputation. This web conference will identifiy and describe the actions companies and their leaders can take to safeguard their corporate reputations, and rebuild their reputations and restore their good names after a crisis. Read Q&A with Dr. Gaines-Ross.

What You Will Learn:

• Why reputation is more fragile than ever,and why it matters to a company’s valuation, well-being, and permission to exist
• What triggers reputation loss and why are so many companies struggling with tarnished reputations?
• What can a company do to safeguard its reputation from loss?
• What are the most important steps in recovering reputation
• What role should leaders, communication, marketing and PR professionals play in reputation recovery and sustainability

Why you should purchase:

Media coverage of reputation alone has increased 108 percent over the past five years. Reputation management is now considered a legitimate body of knowledge, with a number of emerging new disciplines, including reputation recovery. Also, the sheer number and severity of corporate falls from grace in the last few years — coupled with the emergence of revolutionary ways of transmitting information, influential micro-constituencies and widespread mistrust of business — have magnified the need for a viable framework for the repair and recovery of damaged company reputations. 

Presented by:

Dr. Gaines-Ross is one of the world’s most widely recognized experts on CEO reputation — how CEO reputations are built, enhanced and protected. She spearheaded the first comprehensive research on CEO reputation and its impact on corporate reputation and performance. She developed Weber Shandwick’s first global corporate reputation study — “Safeguarding Reputation™,” which identifies strategies for sustaining and recovering corporate reputation. Dr. Gaines-Ross is the author of CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success (John Wiley & Sons, 2003) and Corporate Reputation: 12 Steps to Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation (www.corporatereputation12steps.com, John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Before joining Weber Shandwick, Dr. Gaines-Ross was Chief Knowledge & Research Officer Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller and Marketing & Communications Director at Fortune. At Fortune, she initiated several groundbreaking research programs including “Leveraging Corporate Equity” and “Brands at the Crossroads.” She is also widely recognized for her strategic insights into and analysis of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies Survey. Dr. Gaines-Ross was a 1995 winner of Time Inc.’s President’s Award. She is also the co-author of FORTUNE Cookies: Management Wit and Wisdom, which was published by Vintage Books.

Dr. Gaines-Ross’ work has been featured in the Financial Times, The Times (London), The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Wired, Advertising Age, PRWeek, Forbes, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Chief Executive, Business 2.0, Across the Board and in many other publications around the world. She has also appeared on CNN and CNBC.

Dr. Gaines-Ross is a frequent public speaker on CEO and corporate reputation management. She has lectured at The Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, USC, Wharton School of Business, New York University and Columbia University. Dr. Gaines-Ross was also a speaker at the 2003 World Economic Forum Governor’s Meeting. She is a member of Ethical Corporation’s Advisory Board, serves on the Executive Advisory Panel of Corporate Reputation Review and was inducted into the Academy of Women Achievers of the YWCA of the City of New York. Dr. Gaines-Ross has been named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics for 2007” by Ethisphere Magazine.

Dr. Gaines-Ross created http://www.reputationRx.com, the Web site devoted exclusively to reputation news and information, and her blog can be found at http://www.reputationXchange.com.

Who should purchase:

• Corporate communications, marketing and public relations professionals Executives at all levels and areas of the company who need to understand the new “stumble-rate” of corporate reputations, and be prepared with a realistic roadmap to reputation recovery that can stabilize and regenerate a company’s most competitive asset.

Proving the value of public relations continues to be one of the profession’s most vexing challenges.  Mark Weiner, CEO of PRIME Research in North America, and John Gilfeather, President of the Marketing Research Council, share their experiences in helping some of the world’s most admired companies and brands, including Procter & Gamble, ATT, GE and more.  In addition, the two provide the tools you can use now to demonstrate and generate a positive return on your PR.

What You Will Learn:

• Three keys to optimizing objectives-setting
• How to conduct an “Executive Audit,” a proven approach to uncovering the often secret PR value system within your own organization
• How to establish credible measurement systems for reputation and other key outcomes
• The three established criteria for generating a positive return on your investment in PR with case studies from GE, Miller Brewing and TXU

Additional questions that will be answered:

• What is a reasonable budget to conduct a credible measurement program?
• What is the risk-free approach to setting objectives?
• How do I minimize the risk of evaluating our PR?
• What can I do now to begin generating a positive return on investment?

Presented by:

 Mark Weiner is the CEO of PRIME Research in North America. PRIME Research is one of the world’s largest public relations and corporate communications research and consulting providers with offices in Western Europe, North and South America, Eastern Europe and the Far East. Since 1993, Mark has devoted his career to helping many of the world’s most respected organizations and brands to demonstrate and generate a positive return on their investment in corporate and brand communications. He is the author of “Unleashing the Power of PR: A Contrarian’s Guide to Marketing and Communication” published by John Wiley & Sons.

Prior to PRIME, Mark Weiner was the Global Director and Senior Vice President of Ketchum Research where he led an international team of analysts. Prior to joining Ketchum, Weiner was the CEO and president of Delahaye, a global public relations research and consulting firm.

Weiner is a member of the PRSA, IABC and the Institute for Public Relations for whom he served as Trustee and Chairman of the Research and Measurement Commission. He is an editorial advisory board member of PRSA’s Strategist and PR News. A frequent provider of provocative public relations content, Weiner is a recurring conference speaker at international and domestic events, and a prolific author, having published more than one hundred articles.

John Gilfeather is an expert in corporate reputation measurement, public affairs research and B2B marketing. He was Managing Partner at Yankelovich and was responsible for all the custom research of the firm. After 30 years at Yankelovich, he joined Roper Starch Worldwide where he was Vice Chairman and head of Roper Public Affairs and Media. For the past 2+ years, he was Executive Vice President in charge of Stakeholder Management research for TNS in the North America.

Mr. Gilfeather conducted groundbreaking research in corporate reputation for Time Magazine on the 1970s, for Brouillard Communications in the 1980’s and for Fortune Magazine in the 1990s. In the current decade, he created the Roper Corporate Reputation Scorecard and the TNS Corporate Social Responsibility Report Card. He is a frequent speaker on reputation matters for the PR Leadership Forum, the CCI Leaders Forum, PR News seminars, the Fortune Corporate Marketing Forum and the Fortune Global Marketing Forum.

Mr. Gilfeather is a Past Chair of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO) and served on it Board for nine years. He is a founding member of the Institute for Public Relations’ Commission on Measurement and Evaluation. Currently, he is President of the Marketing Research Council.

Brand champions are internal and external story tellers who spread the brand vision, brand values and cultivate the brand in an organization. Every organization needs committed and passionate brand champions. Be it your employees, investors, customers, or other key influencers, true advocates for your brand affect the corporate bottom-line and are critical to maintaining strong brand equity. 

What You Will Learn:

• Why does branding matter, and how does it translate to profitability?
• What are the world’s most powerful brands, and what are they doing consistently right
• Does your brand really speak to all stakeholders? How is stakeholder value measured and valued?
• What are the best practices for building  powerful brands?

What Do Your Customers Think About Your Company? (And Are They Right?)

A company’s image is perhaps its most powerful marketing asset. On the cutting edge of corporate strategy, image is essential for positioning a company for maximum growth. When finely honed and used correctly, corporate “image” can influence consumer choices, build brands, pre-sell products and services, and add value to a company in the minds of its public. 

Case studies and best-practice examples: Jim Gregory, noted  brand expert, will moderate this discussion and delve into Dell Computer and JetBlue Airways corporate case studies that will look at  different stakeholders and how they can positively affect your brand.

Presented by:

Jim Gregory is founder and CEO of CoreBrand, a global brand strategy and communications firm based in Stamford, Connecticut with offices in New York, New York and Tokyo, Japan.  

With 30 years of experience in advertising and branding, Jim is a leading expert on brand management and credited with developing pioneering and innovative tools for measuring the power of brands and their impact on a corporation’s financial performance.   

Among the tools Jim has developed is the Corporate Branding Index® (CBI) – a research vehicle that has continuously tracked the reputation and financial performance of over 1200 publicly traded companies in 47 industries since 1990. CoreBrand uses the CBI to help clients understand how their brand compares with industry peers and determine how communications can impact corporate reputation and financial performance – including stock price and revenue growth.  

Jim is a brand council member for both Bristol-Myers Squibb and New York Stock Exchange. He is a frequent speaker on the financial benefits of advertising and brand management for The Wall Street Journal as well as BusinessWeek. 

Jim has written four books on creating value with brands, Marketing Corporate Image, Leveraging the Corporate Brand, Branding Across Borders and The Best of Branding. His latest white paper, Driving Brand Equity and Accountability, was sponsored by Barron’s and published by the Association of National Advertisers.  Jim may be reached directly at 203.564.2439 or by email.  

Bob Pearson serves as vice president of communities and conversations for Dell.  As a member of Dell’s Communications team, he is responsible for digital media activities, ranging from customer resolution to management of IdeaStorm, Direct2Dell, StudioDell and other digital initiatives.  His teams are also responsible for corporate media, public affairs, internal communications and the Office of the Chairman communications.

Before joining Dell, Mr. Pearson worked for Novartis Pharmaceuticals as Head of Global Corporate Communications and as Head of Global Pharma Communications, where he served on the Pharma Executive Committee.  Prior to Novartis, Bob was President of The Americas for GCI and was responsible for creating and building the firm’s global healthcare practice.  He was previously Vice President of Global Public Affairs & Media Relations at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi Aventis) and worked at CIBA-Geigy in both communications and field sales.  He has more than 20 years experience in executive corporate communications and public relations.

As Brand Manager for JetBlue Airways Kim Ruvolo manages both internal and external brand strategy, including all brand communications, product and brand building, customer and crewmember experience, and delivering JetBlue’s brand promise to “Bring Humanity Back to Air Travel”. Her recent projects include the internal launch of Happy Jetting, JetBlue’s most recent advertising campaign; creating and re-focusing ShopBlue—JetBlue’s online retail store; reevaluating and redesigning the current uniform program; and executing JetBlue’s industry-leading Customer Bill of Rights.

Prior to being employed at JetBlue, Kim worked at Denver-based Frontier Airlines for five years where she spent most of her time re-branding the airline—a project that increased Frontier’s brand awareness from 47 to 89 percent in the Denver area. Kim attributes her knowledge of good customer service and understanding of airline operations to her first-years in the airline industry as a reservations agent.

PR & Marketing Is Changing – Are You? Online PR provides the means to reach target audiences directly, with or without participation of the news media. Internet marketers have been doing that for years, but public relations professionals have been slow to get on board. No PR professional can afford to ignore online PR or outsource it to specialists; it is an essential part of the skill set all PR professionals must have. It’s as fundamental as writing, pitching and building relationships.

So, what must you know to thrive in this ever-changing online environment? If you’re like most public relations pros, you need a broader knowledgebase, greater online skills – and perhaps, a new mindset. PR pros are doing a better job with social media than keyword research and SEO, which much change. To define online PR simply as social media is short-sighted and will lead PR pros astray. This jam-packed webinar will give you a critical understanding of the basic online PR skills you need to master fast, for the sake of your clients, employers and your career.

Learning Topics:

• When SEO meets PR: how to write effectively for sites, releases, articles and newsletters
• When PR meets social media: which sites, what to monitor, and how do you know it’s working?
• How keyword research for Online PR differs from online advertising
• Online PR best practices for your website

• Optimizing online press releases—what’s most effective now

What You Will Learn:

• 4 results-driven SEO techniques for online PR
• A 10-minute keyword research method that always yields insights
• The right and wrong role websites play with Online PR
• 3 proven ways to write copy for both humans and search engines
• Traditional vs. online releases: the real data may surprise you
• An overlooked yet powerful method to gain consistent web site traffic
• The Online PR Social Media blueprint: it’s not what you think
• Buzz and reputation monitoring: recommended tools and tactics.

Presented by:

  Jim Bowman has broad experience in all functional areas of public relations and corporate communications, with an emphasis on media relations. As Vice President of Corporate Communications for Nokia Inc., he was part of the global team that established Nokia as one of the world’s top 10 brands. Jim’s strategies and creative thinking have helped build the brands and images of some of the world’s most respected companies and get small companies known. As owner and President of J. R. Bowman and Associates, LLC, Jim now concentrates on serving small-to-medium-size businesses. Jim’s ability to diagnose PR problems and suggest solutions earned him the name, “The PR Doc®” among his associates. He has launched http://www.theprdoc.com to help small agencies and individual public relations practitioners get affordable access to PR tools and expert help from senior practitioners. Jim was recognized by his peers with election to the Arthur W. Page Society, a selected-membership organization of senior public relations executives, and appointment to the client advisory board of the Council of Public Relations Firms. 

Mike Moran, is author of the acclaimed book on Internet marketing, Do It Wrong Quickly, on the heels of the best-selling Search Engine Marketing, Inc., Mike Moran led many initiatives on IBM’s Web site for eight years, including IBM’s original search marketing strategy. Mike holds an Advanced Certificate in Market Management Practice from the Royal UK Charter Institute of Marketing, and is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He also writes marketing columns for Internet Evolution and Search Engine Guide. Mike frequently keynotes conferences on Internet marketing for marketers, public relations specialists, market researchers, and technologists, and serves as Chief Strategist for Converseon, a leading digital media marketing agency. Prior to joining Converseon, Mike worked for IBM for 30 years, rising to the level of Distinguished Engineer. Mike can be reached through his Web site (mikemoran.com), which is also home to his Biznology newsletter and blog.

Marc Harty is CEO of MainTopic Media, Inc., a strategically focused, values-driven, marketing consultancy and training company. Ever the entrepreneur, Marc has owned an ad agency, a web development firm, and a search marketing firm. A marketing strategist with over two decades of distinguished service, Marc has won over 200 local, national and International awards, including two Clio’s and “Best Of Show” from The Dallas Ad League. Marc speaks regularly on Online PR, Thought Leadership, Social Marketing and Internet Business Transformation. His true passion? Developing proven marketing programs that can help anyone get the visibility and results to successfully manifest their life purpose.

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On the surface, it would seem social media is at odds with investor relations.  The new media channels — Twitter, blogs, podcasts, social networks, company websites etc. — are all about conversation, informality and transparency.  Investor Relations has by necessity always been necessarily buttoned down.  After all, employees can go to jail for violating SEC fair disclosure rules.

Still, if investor relations is charged with enabling the most effective two-way communication between a company, the financial community, and other constituencies, which ultimately contributes to a company’s securities achieving fair valuation, why should social media tools not be used?  In this webinar, our experts will talk about the opportunities and risks associated with using company websites, blogs and social media to supplement traditional channels to acheive broad, simultaneous and fair disclosure. They will also talk about how to approach and practice the delicate balancing act of using social media channels for communicate financial performance, without getting into disclosure hot water.

What You Will Learn:

• What the US SEC’s public disclosure requirements are.
• How some IR professionals are creatively pushing the envelope on using social media in investor relations
• Do’s and Don’ts when integrating social media into your IR program
• How to not violate any disclosure rules
• How to calculate the ROI of using social media for investor relations
• What is the social media news release and should every news release be social?

Presented by:

 Richard Brewer-Hay is Senior Manager, Corporate Communications at eBay.Richard has more than a decade of communications, marketing and production experience. In January, 2008, he joined eBay as Chief Blogger to direct its social media initiatives and launch “eBay Ink” (http://ebayinkblog.com), where he captures and shares his insights and perspective on the company and provides another conduit for corporate communications.Richard launched the ebayinkblog Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/ebayinkblog) in June, 2008 that allowed eBay to become the first Fortune 500 company to live-blog financial announcements and earnings’ calls via Twitter. In March, 2009 Richard introduced the first social media guidelines for corporate disclosure for both blogging and micro-blogging. Prior to joining eBay, Richard was with PodShow (now Mevio), a new media network where he oversaw the company’s programming lineup for two years. As Sr. Director of Talent and Marketing for PodShow, Richard grew the signed talent pool from 25 to over 250 contracted individual video and audio show producers, and contributed to network growth from 25 to over 16,000 shows before his departure in December, 2007.

Robert (Rob L.) Williams II serves as director, Investor Relations for Dell Inc.  He is responsible for the strategic direction of the investor relations function and executing Dell’s global investor communications program in conjunction with the chief financial officer and senior management. Dell’s Investor Relations is involved in global industry conferences, a large-scale analyst conference, on-site investor visits, quarterly earnings, the annual shareholders’ meeting, strategic research projects and a broad competitive analysis function. Mr. Williams also provides guidance regarding Dell’s operating results and business strategies to global institutional investors and sell-side securities analysts.  Mr. Williams is a 17-year Dell veteran and has served as director of investor relations for the past seven years.  Prior to joining investor relations in 1995, Mr. Williams held positions in corporate treasury, finance and marketing at Dell. He serves as president of the Austin-San Antonio chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute and is an active national speaker on topics ranging from strategic impact of investor relations to social media.  Mr. Williams received a bachelor’s of business administration degree in management from the University of Texas  and  a master’s of science degree in finance from Texas A&M University. He serves on the board of the Austin Children’s Museum, where he is a member of the executive committee.

Serena Ehrlich recently started her own consulting firm focusing on social media strategies and implementation for public and private companies. During her years at Business Wire, Serena worked closely with public and private companies providing guidance on investor relations and public relations trends, marketing, product development, social media, SOX trends, XBRL and trade show services. In addition, she worked with some of the largest companies in North America, including ExxonMobil, Walt Disney, Mattel, Textron and more. In her spare time Serena serves as chairman of the interim social media club (www.socialmediaclub.org ) board of directors as well as a senior advisor for the international YoungPrPros (www.youngprpros.com) and is a 8 year board member for NIRI – first in Dallas and later in Los Angeles.

• “The webinar was great today … helpful and insightful.”
• “Both presenters gave real-world examples. Much better then other Webinars I’ve attended where it’s just a vendor trying to sell you a product.”

On the surface, it would seem social media is at odds with investor relations.  The new media channels — Twitter, blogs, podcasts, social networks, company websites etc. — are all about conversation, informality and transparency.  Investor Relations has by necessity always been necessarily buttoned down.  After all, employees can go to jail for violating SEC fair disclosure rules.

Still, if investor relations is charged with enabling the most effective two-way communication between a company, the financial community, and other constituencies, which ultimately contributes to a company’s securities achieving fair valuation, why should social media tools not be used?  In this webinar, our experts will give an overview of the new financial communication landscape and offer practical advise on deploying all the newest tools including shareholder forums, Twitter, Facebook, Slideshare, docstock and YouTube to supplement traditional channels to achieve broad, simultaneous and fair disclosure. They will also talk about the risks of using social media channels for communicate financial performance and avoiding disclosure hot water.

Real world questions addressed:

• What are the respective roles of the key IR players in your company, i.e. CEO, CFO, Legal, IRO with respect to participation, review, approvals?
• How difficult was it to sell the idea internally to start using social media for IR?
• How effective has your use of social media been in engaging investors and building/improving relationships?
• How do you measure the effectiveness?
• For IROs who aren’t doing these yet but are thinking about it, what issues should they keep in mind, what possible obstacles/roadblocks should they be aware of and plan for?
• Where do you see your company going/growing next in use of social media for IR?
• How is the overall financial communication paradigm is shifting and why is that important to your company?
• What are the pros and cons of setting up a shareholder forum, and what is involved?
• What are the risks of using social media for investor relations, and how do you manage them?

Presented by:

Ruth Cotter is the director of investor relations at Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD). Her responsibilities include leading AMD’s global relationships with shareholders and analysts. AMD is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. Ruth has 12 years of IR experience. Prior to joining AMD, Ruth’s expertise spanned several years at CRH plc, one of the worlds largest building materials
groups listed on the Irish, London and New York stock exchanges. Following that, she spent a number of years at Trintech Group plc, co-headquartered in Ireland and the USA. A leading provider of transaction risk management solutions listed on Nasdaq. In addition, Ruth has public relations experience within the public, banking and consumer industries. Ruth holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and History from University College, Cork, Ireland.

Laura Graves is Director of Global Investor Relations at Cisco, a Fortune 50 company with sales approaching $40 billion annually.  Ms. Graves joined Cisco in late 2004 and assumed leadership of the Company’s award winning IR practice in 2006.  Since that time, she has expanded Cisco’s IR activities on a global basis and is recognized by Wall Street for having developed thought leading processes for IR engagement and outreach.   At Cisco, Ms. Graves manages a diverse team responsible for strategic corporate and financial communications, including M&A and Treasury communications.  She is a senior executive on Cisco’s Corporate Communications team, and regularly collaborates on strategic public relations, executive & employee communications, social media planning and corporate social responsibility.  Previously, Ms. Graves was Director of Investor Relations at InVision Technologies, a homeland security explosive detection company.  Graves was responsible for increasing corporate visibility, analyst coverage and institutional holdings for InVision, and was instrumental in positioning the sale of InVision to General Electric Company in 2004.  InVision products continue to protect air travel under the GE umbrella today.

Abe Wischnia is Principle and CEO of Abe Wischnia and Associates. A respected investor relations and public relations professional with more than 20 years of experience, Wischnia, APR, has created successful investor relations, public affairs and corporate communications programs for clients in a broad range of industries including biotech, high tech, defense, financial services, chemicals and energy as well as government agencies. He is a published writer with articles on investor relations, public relations, and other subjects, not to mention articles he has written for corporate publications. He has also taught writing at the university level. He has been a television news anchor, radio talk show host and a paid public speaker at conferences. As a journalist, he won awards for television news reporting on public issues. Prior to forming Abe Wischnia & Associates to specialize in investor relations and shareholder communications, he was senior director of IR and corporate communications at Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc., a biotech company headquartered in San Diego. Before that, he headed IR and PR for San Diego-based Cubic Corporation. He also spent ten years as a public affairs executive at Chevron Corporation.

• “It gave insight into areas we have yet to consider in our IR mix.”
• “It’s a relevant issue in my industry.”
• “I learned a lot on Social Media in a short time frame.”
• “Gave me enough background to start seriously planning for introduction of social media in my IR Program.”
• “Learned how other companies view the IR and social media dynamics.”

Stop repeating these 10 proven mistakes when dealing with the media and managing your media relations program!  

Ever since outlaw Jesse James wrote and issued the first news release, media relations practitioners have steadfastly refused to learn from the mistakes of their forebears.In James’s case, he didn’t take into account the suspicious and questioning nature of the reading populace, who viewed his bombastic news releases as early American “spin control.”

Learning Topics

Underestimating the intelligence of your audience is just one of the 10 major mistakes covered in this session. Others include:

• Not being a student of the media, keeping up with their changes needs and trends
• Confusing media output numbers with bottom-line outcome measures
• Annoying editors with misdirected and/or badly-prepared materials
• Not routinely evaluating your media relations programs and management
• Trying to substitute media relations for communication

Wilma answers real-world questions on:

• Holding the media accountable and keeping them from allowing bias or half-truths from creeping into news coverage, so that what is reported is straight, honest and fair
• How recent college graduates — with no contacts — can build relationships with the media
• The most effective ways to pitch
• Dealing with a less-than-objective journalist
• The best way to get to know a editor, writer or reporter
• The most important and effective tools in media relations
• The best day/time to pitch stories
• The least offensive way to bring a reporter’s error to his or her attention – and how to ask for a correction
• Pushing the envelope: How persistent you should be in making your pitch
• Teaching senior management the difference between a subjective, self-serving news item and a legitimate, content-rich press release
• Measures practitioners should routinely implement to measure results on the fly – especially during a crisis
• The biggest changes in media relations over the past 10 years

Presented by:

Wilma Mathews, ABC and IABC Fellow, works for Arizona State University as director of constituent relations. She also conducts media relations seminars, provides media training for corporate executives and is co-author of On Deadline: Managing Media Relations (4th edition, Spring 2006). Her background includes corporate communications and international public relations for AT&T/Lucent; nonprofit communication for two chambers of commerce and a medical center; and writing/editing for a newspaper and magazine. A national and international speaker, Wilma also contributes articles to trade publications and lectures on PR and media relations at ASU.

Have you ever watched your client on television and thought: “Oh, my! Look at how many chins he has, and what’s that terrible glare coming off his shirt and forehead? I never noticed in our meetings that he was that heavy. He also looks scared to death – and why does he keep licking his lips?” You tried to coach him on his message. In fact, you did all you could do to help him develop sound bites, and now you can hardly concentrate on the message with the way he looks, because he is doing so many distracting things.

This CD will teach you how to effectively coach your clients and colleagues for appearances on TV, both live and prerecorded. It will teach you when and how to offer praise and criticism without being offensive. And it covers how interviewees should dress, posture themselves and provide effective message delivery. Your purchase also includes a slew of extras – at no extra cost!

Learning Topics:

• The tricks of the trade to help people appear calm and confident on camera, even if they are not
• How to look natural — from make-up to body language and movements
• Tips and techniques to help prevent some of the unexpected distractions that can prohibit your true message from getting out to your audience
• How to motivate your clients and colleagues to improve their media performances
• How to tactfully and effectively learn to stress the need for “rehearsal”

TJ answers real-world questions on:

• Suggestions to get your boss to undergo some training
• How to convince your CEO to talk to the press
• Techniques to overcome annoying speech tics
• How to keep your answers concise and to the point
• How to provide constructive feedback in a jiffy
• How not to come off as though you’re dodging a question—even if you are
• What your executive should bring into a television or radio interview
• How to prepare an executive for the hard questions

Instructor:

TJ Walker, president of Media Training Worldwide, is one of the world’s leading authorities on media and presentation training. With more than 20 years of media training experience, TJ has trained thousands of CEOs, authors and experts, including Nobel Peace Prize winners, leading government officials in the United States, European prime ministers and African diplomats. He is producer and host of daily audio and video Speakcast broadcasts, covering media and presentation training tips and techniques. A leading corporate trainer, he has personally trained top executives at Unilever, Bank of America, Hess, Allstate Insurance, Charles Schwab, Akzo Nobel, US Trust, Dun and Bradstreet, The Hartford and EMC. He is also the official media trainer of the Miss Universe Organization.

TJ is the world’s most widely published and produced media trainer, with more than 50 books, training videos, CDs and software programs to his credit. He has also been a media columnist for Investor Relations Magazine. Additionally, Walker is known internationally for his many years as a political commentator for the Voice of America Radio Network. More than 65,000 readers subscribe to his weekly Media Training Tips Newsletter, including most of the Fortune 500 corporations. He is a frequent news commentator and has appeared often on MSNBC, Fox News Channel, Court TV and Bloomberg TV. He also has been a syndicated TV and talk show host, appearing on or hosting more than 2000 TV and radio shows. He has also hosted talk radio shows on seven different networks and has been featured in the New York Times, NBC News, ABC News, CBS radio and most major radio news outlets.

Walker was a merit scholar at Duke University, where he graduated magna cum laude. He has lectured or conducted trainings at Yale University, Columbia University and Princeton University. He is also co-leader of the Communitelligence Media Training community and posts a daily video clip on the site.

Who should Purchase:

This practical, information-packed learning opportunity is ideal for public relations professionals, as well as professionals in:

• Corporate Communications
• Internal Communications
• Public Affairs
• Public Relations
• Marketing
• Webcast Marketing
• Anyone who is associated with television broadcasts
• College/university libraries and bookstores

Social media is a two-edged sword. We tend to only talk about the positive side — how social channels creatively deployed can greatly expand your organization’s marketing reach. Not much attention is paid to the dark, destructive side of social media — how a single customer complaint ignite a firestorm sweeping the Web and causing the most hardened organizations to panic. What to do? What to say?

This webinar explains the dynamics of customer activism in today’s democratized media world. It offers practical, actionable avoidance and response strategies for business executives and professional communicators. It also outlines processes to building an attack-proof culture that centers on customer satisfaction.

The good news is that bad buzz can be countered by earnest and savvy customer engagement. You can actually turn the angriest customers into raving fans.

“Great information that I can share with others who handle social media. Very informative and loved hearing the case studies.”

What You Will Learn:

• Why common business responses to customer complaints often make matters worse;
• Why complaining customers can be some of an organization’s most valuable assets;
• How vocal critics can be turned into raving fans with an active response strategy;
• How to manage and respond to comments on customer review sites;
• Customer support strategies for Facebook and Twitter;
• How to organize a team to identify and respond to attacks in minutes; and
• How to create a culture that puts customers first.

Who Should Attend

This webinar is designed for everyone who would like to help their organizations react to any online crisis that might erupt. It is especially suitable for:

• Brand managers, marketers, PR pros, social media managers, communications department staffers, public affairs, security, employee communications, media relations and issues management professionals.

Presented by:

Paul Gillin is a veteran technology journalist and a thought leader in new media. Since 2005, he has advised marketers and business executives on strategies to optimize their use of social media and online channels to reach buyers cost-effectively. He is a popular speaker who is known for his ability to simplify complex concepts using plain talk, anecdotes and humor.

Paul is a prolific writer who has written five books and more than 200 published articles since 2007, in addition to two blogs. His award-winning 2007 book, The New Influencers, chronicled the changes in markets being driven by the new breed of bloggers and podcasters. His most recent book is Attack of the Customers. It documents the increasing incidence of online customer negativity and  tells of businesses can avoid being victimized.