We’ve had two great presentations at our luncheons this year. In February, Boomer Project Founder/President Matt Thornhill (right) gave us tactical tips and practical techniques for connecting with the Baby Boomer generation. In April, Jill Vaughan (left), Jennifer Mullen, and Rachel Buhse gave an insightful presentation on the marketing and public relations efforts of the Virginia Lottery. Both luncheons have been recorded and, as an added value to your membership, we are exploring ways to upload these videos to our members-only section of our website. Details coming soon!

With four more luncheons to go, I’m sure they will all be just as entertaining and insightful as the first two. Go ahead and register now for the next luncheon on June 21 at the Hotel Roanoke with guest Glenn Kent. We are excited to bring together public relations and marketing professionals in one room in this joint luncheon with AAF Roanoke. Click here to register now.

It is time to start thinking about the Summit Awards. Now is the time to consider what achievements you will want to enter into the competition this year. There will be new categories and different options for submissions. For example, some entries will require electronic submissions – won’t it be nice to not have to prepare a big binder for your entry? (This will only be available for a select few entries – not all) To get your mind thinking in that direction, click here to see a list of last year’s winners.

The Professional Development committee has been hard at work planning a great program for this fall that will bring together members of the media (local, regional, and national) and PR professionals in a “speed-dating” type of event. If you have any contacts with regional and/or national media, please email Professional Development committee chair Beth Klinefelter at beth@visitaccess.com.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful team of colleagues working with me this year. Please take a moment to check out our board members and committee chairs online and acknowledge their hard work. In addition to their day job, they are doing so many great things for the chapter to advance our profession. If you are interested in joining a committee, it’s not too late! Let me know you’re interested at nsimmons@national-college.edu.

I hope to see you all at our next luncheon in June!

Regards,

Nancy Simmons

President

nsimmons@national-college.edu

540-283-6630

Psychology expert Glenn Kent, Ph.D., will examine the role of public relations and advertising in the American obesity epidemic in his presentation “The Supersizing of America: The Psychology of Decision Making and Influence of Mass Media” on Thursday, June 21* at Hotel Roanoke. 

This is the third in the Anniversary Luncheon Series of the Blue Ridge Chapter, Public Relations Society of America, hosted in partnership with its Past Presidents Council. The professional organization is celebrating 20 years of advancing communications professionals throughout western Virginia.

This bimonthly membership luncheon at Hotel Roanoke is being sponsored by Carilion Clinic and Neathawk Dubuque & Packett. It will be a joint meeting with the American Advertising Federation, Roanoke Chapter, and is open to the business community at-large.

Dr. Kent is an assistant professor of psychology at Jefferson College of Health Sciences. He is a nationally certified personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise. He also is founder of Fitness Motive L.L.C., through which he provides his combined areas of expertise to help individuals and organizations achieve personal and professional goals through a positive and healthy mindset.

Since earning his doctorate in health psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 2008, Dr. Kent has focused his career on understanding the motivation behind lifestyle choices – especially those related to diet and exercise. His broad research interests focus on movement, eating, and psychology, with the goal of helping to prevent or reduce the causes of chronic diseases, especially obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Currently, he is conducting research on the psychology of eating that delves into the question of whether discrete personality traits influence, or are related to, food choices.

AAF members may register online at http://www.aafroanoke.org. PRSA Blue Ridge members may register online at www.prsa-blueridge.org.

For more information, visit the organizations’ websites or contact Heidi Ketler, PRSA Blue Ridge President-Elect and Program Chair, at (540) 650-3696.

* Please note: This bimonthly luncheon will be the third Thursday in June, rather than the typically scheduled second Thursday.

June 21, 2012 at the Hotel Roanoke

“The Psychology of Decision Making”

Glenn Kent, Ph.D., Asst. Psychology Professor, Jefferson College of Health Sciences

Presented by Carilion Clinic and ND&P

August 9, 2012 at the Hotel Roanoke

“PR Strategy and the Influence of Elections”

Bob Holsworth, Ph.D., Founder, Virginia Tomorrow

October 11, 2012 at the Hotel Roanoke

"Getting It Right with the Younger Generation"

Presented by Access

December 13, 2012 at the Hotel Roanoke

“Advising a 3-Star Admiral on Media Relations”

Joe DellaVedova, Public Affairs Director, Joint Strike Force

Presented by "tba" - The Becher Agency

The cost to attend a luncheon is $17 for students, $22 for members, and $30 for nonmembers. Please register online and you may pay by credit card or check.

Luncheon titles were created in the development phase of our programs and represent the general theme of the presentation. All are likely to change a little, especially as we communicate with the speaker closer to the date of the event.

The Summit Awards Committee would like to again thank everyone who judged the SC PRSA Awards and everyone who completed the survey around converting our program to electronic entries. Overall, there is definitely an interest in the electronic entries. We received lots of great feedback, however there were concerns about not being able to touch and feel print publications. The committee made the decision to split the category list and offer some as binder-only and some as electronic-only, and to very clearly explain the difference in the call for entries, whether a category has to be all-electronic or all-binder.

The changes to the category structure are as follows:

• Eliminate Exhibits and tradeshow category due to lack of participation
• Split AV in to two categories -- Short format (60 seconds and under) and Long format (over a minute)
• Electronic entries -- Green, Interactive Long, Interactive Short, Media relations, Social Media, Special Events, Website, Issues and Crisis, (8 total)
• Binder Entries -- Annual reports, Community Partnerships, Internal Communications, Lin Chaff, Magazines, Print Pubs, PR Campaigns, Student (8 total)

New this year, we will also be awarding 20th Anniversary Best in Show Awards for the highest numerical score for Modest and Average budgets. Additionally we have some exciting changes being considered for the Summit Awards Gala, which is Nov. 2, so mark your calendar!

The Call for Entries will be out in June, but don't wait, start working on those entries today!

A look at how Skittles handled the ethical dilemma of the Trayvon Martin shooting

I think it’s fair to say that Skittles got more than a “taste of rainbow” when the brand inadvertently landed in the middle of a tragic national story and ended up profiting from it. For those who are not familiar with the Trayvon Martin case and how Skittles became involved, here’s a brief overview:

Seventeen–year-old Martin was shot and killed by a neighborhood watchman while coming back from a convenience store carrying only a lemonade and bag of Skittles. Martin’s death led to protests and outrage across the nation as concerned citizens demanded an arrest in the case and reignited debates about racial profiling. Skittles became an instant icon for Martin’s innocence and senseless death. As a result, Skittles sales skyrocketed. College students sold the candy in fundraisers for the Martin family. Skittles were used to set up makeshift memorials. Protesters carried bags of the candy during organized marches or pinned Skittles wrappers to their hooded sweatshirts.

Both the New York Times and Associated Press reported that Wrigley, the division of Mars Inc. that makes Skittles, decided to issue only a brief statement to the Martin family offering condolences. The statement said, “It would be inappropriate to comment further as we would never wish for our actions to be perceived as an attempt of commercial gain.”

Was this stance appropriate? Some on social media questioned whether Skittles had a social responsibility to make a donation to the Martin family since the brand was profiting from the tragedy.  Let’s review the six steps in PRSA ethical decision-making guide to see what, if anything, Skittles might have done differently and how a PRSA member might have advised Wrigley decision makers:

• Define the specific ethical issue: Skittles is realizing financial gain from one family’s personal tragedy. Does Mars Inc. or Wrigley have any social or financial responsibility to the family? Should Skittles speak out on the issue, or would that action make the company look as if it were trying to capitalize on Martin’s death?
• Consider the internal and external factors: What legal issues would Skittles need to consider in showing support for the Martin family while the investigation into the shooting was going on? What are the political implications of taking a stance on the issue since the shooting triggered calls for elected officials in Florida to repeal the so-called “Stand Your Ground” law? What internal company values, such as the Wrigley “Principles into Action,” or policies might influence the situation? Skittles should consider social and economic factors as well. Does the Wrigley division of Mars Inc. and the Skittles brand want to be associated more closely with this controversial and somewhat divisive social issue? If so, what would be the appropriate dollar amount to donate?
• Identify key values: The “Taste the Rainbow” slogan brings to mind values of peace, harmony, and preservation of innocence. Protesters are fighting for those ideals to bring justice to the Martin family, but Skittles may not want to associate its “rainbow” image with a national tragedy. For a public relations practitioner counseling Wrigley decision makers, the advocacy, honesty, and fairness core values from the PRSA Code of Ethics should guide the Skittle response.
• Identify the parties who will be affected by the decision: Skittles customers, Wrigley employees, protesters, Trayvon Martin’s family and political gun-right groups would all be affected publics. Wrigley decision makers should think about how each public would react and how those responses might affect the product as well as the company’s reputation and goodwill.
• Select ethical principles to guide the decision-making process: Conflict of interest is the main PRSA Code provision that the public relations counselor should consider in advising Wrigley decision makers. If Skittles decided to do more for the Martin family either financially or publicly, would customers, employees, or the general public perceive that action as a real or potential conflict of interest? Would Skittles be seen as unfairly profiting from the tragedy?
• Make a decision and justify: In my opinion, Skittles handled the situation in the best way it could. The brand offered sincere condolences to the family and then stayed out of the controversy. Sometimes you can do more by saying less.

As the legal battles in the Martin shooting continued, Skittles did, in fact, appear to make the best decision. Now the attention is focused where it should be: on justice in the case and not on the bag of Skittles.

Ethics Chair Tiffany Woods submitted this article. She welcomes your feedback and suggestions for future topics to address ethics in the practice of public relations. Contact her at tdwoods@rcps.info.

Amanda Allen

Title: Public Relations Assistant                   

Company: New River Community College

Joined PRSA: March 2012

Why did you choose PR as a career?  I have a true love for communication. I really believe that on a fundamental level, if individuals and organizations spent more time on solid communication and relationships with one another, we’d all get a lot more fruitful work accomplished. As altruistic as that might sound, it’s true.

Also, it’s fun! I get to meet tons of interesting people and the industry itself is growing and changing every day. I’m constantly amazed by the achievements of my peers and their creativity and success serves as a big motivator to make sure I stay at the top of my game and contribute quality to work to the field.

What have been the highlights of your career? One of the biggest highlights of my PR career has been coming to New River Community College. NRCC is really a fantastic place to work and I receive tremendous support from my colleagues in all my endeavors. I really feel like I have grown as a person and a professional since beginning my position at the college.

I love that I get to do something different almost every day at my job – and I never know what that might be. This was exemplified early on in my tenure at NRCC, when a professor came running into my office and said “Hey! An honor student lost a bet and he’s wearing a penguin suit…can you come take a picture?”

It still ranks as one of the strangest questions I’ve gotten on the job, but it was fun – and the photos turned out great!

Allison Clarkson

Title: Communications Specialist

Company: National College

Joined PRSA: April 2012

Why did you choose PR as a career?  I took a required public speaking class my freshman year in college, really enjoyed it, and wanted to take more classes in the same field of study – so I became a Communication Studies major. I started taking the PR courses required for the major and realized that it was the career I wanted. I’ve been particularly interested in working in PR in a higher- education environment.

What have been the highlights of your career? I’m very new to the field, but Chuck and Nancy at National College have helped me get my foot in the PR door. They’ve been very supportive in helping me get my career going. I’ve only been working with them for a few weeks, but I’ve learned something new from them every day. I’ve spent a lot of time learning the theoretical “textbook” side of PR, and now I’m excited to use what I’ve learned in school and put it into practice.

As a benefit to PRSA Blue Ridge members, information sent to chapter leaders about job openings is posted on the website under the “Resources” tab. Job openings are also included in each issue of the Blue Ridge Views newsletter.

Current openings:

Communications Specialist, The Babcox & Wilcox Company, Posted March 15, 2012

Communications Project Coordinator, Virginia Tech, Posted March 16, 2012

Database Marketing Trainee, ETS Dental / Vision / Tech-Ops, Posted May 4, 2012

Public Relations Specialist, VDOT – Staunton, Posted May 7, 2012

To read more detail about these jobs, click on this link which takes you to the PRSA Blue Ridge website. From there, select the link for the position you are interested in to learn more.

Treasurer Melinda Mayo has just registered for the 2012 Leadership Rally at PRSA headquarters in New York in June. This two-day seminar is designed to train incoming chapter leaders on how to manage their chapters effectively, discuss best practices, and plan for their respective term. The event is also a great opportunity for Melinda to ask questions specific to our chapter’s needs. Please let her know if you have questions or concerns that you would like her to address. Email her at melinda.mayo@roanokeva.gov. 

Did you know there are discounts with other businesses just for being a member of PRSA? Your PRSA membership allows you to receive preferred rates on insurance, technology, relocations services, shopping, car rental, and financial planning. Offers may have limited availability.

Member Discount Programs

Insurance for Auto, Homeowners, Renters, and Motorcycle from GEICO

• Health, Dental, Life and Business Insurance for Members and Chapters, and Discounts from Top Vendors
• Exclusive Discounts With Zipcar for Business and Individuals
• Wine Baskets, Gourmet Baskets and Other Personalized Gifts from GiftTree.com
• Broadcast Monitoring Services with DigiClips
• Online Newsroom Services with NewsCactus
• Personal and Corporate Relocation Services
• FedEx®
• Car Rental Discounts with Budget and Avis
• Financial Planning for Members and Chapters

Visit the Member Resources page of www.prsa.org/MyPRSA to learn more!

Anyone who attends a luncheon during 2012 has a chance to be a winner! As part of the chapter's 20th anniversary celebration, a drawing will be held at each luncheon for golf umbrellas with the 20th anniversary logo on them. At the April 26 PRSA Luncheon, the following selected winners took home this terrific prize:

Eric Wagner (Virginia Tech PRSSA)

Jesse Tuel (Editor, Virginia Tech Magazine)

Randy Ferguson (Media Director, Patrick Henry Community College)

Elaine Bays-Murphy (Cable Access Director, Roanoke Valley Television)

Sarah Kilbourne (Virginia PRSSA)

Ralph Tartaglia (Roanoke Fire-EMS)

Andrea Long (Virginia Tech PRSSA)

Becca Leaf (Virginia Tech PRSSA)

Susan Bland (Communications Manager, Virginia Tech)

KC Kolarek (Virginia Tech PRSSA)

Want to submit an item for the chapter newsletter? Send an email with your information to Treasurer and Publications Chair Melinda Mayo at melinda.mayo@roanokeva.gov.

Remaining 2012 Newsletters

July/August – Will be available Monday, July 16 (Submissions due July 2)

September/October – Will be available Monday, Sept. 17 (Submissions due Sept. 3)

November/December – Will be available Monday, Nov. 12 (Submissions due Nov. 1)