Unsubscribe...

It's that little button we all hate, but have to include with any email communications.

UNSUBSCRIBE.

I had a colleague recently mention that she spent part of each day unsubscribing to email communications that she gets. Her goal was to unsubscribe from 5 e-newsletters every day. Ouch!!

But it's a real problem. She's not the first person to talk about email inbox overload. And we all see it each time we send out a newsletter and a few more people unsubscribe. Little by little, our subscriptions dwindle.

So how many readers are we losing every day because of email inbox overload? Or because our newsletters aren't a "value add"? And what makes an e-newsletter one that you want to read?

Is it that it keeps you up-to-date with what an organization is doing? Or is that not enough? Does there need to be some "news you can use" to make you keep reading instead of unsubscribing?

I have my own thoughts. I think a good e-newsletter should be:

• Short. That's why mine only gives the first paragraph of a story and then links people back to my website for the full story. That said, I fully admit that my last issue was waaaaaay too long, but that's only because we'd been on a three-month hiatus while I was on maternity leave, so there was a lot of news to share.
  
• Visually attractive. I think I do okay here, though I'm not too proud to admit we could do better. At least I've done a good job at keeping a color scheme with three primary colors used and in including pictures.
• Useful: There has to be something in it for the reader, and in most cases, just being informative isn't enough. Maybe you provide an events calendar. Or maybe you provide a "top 10 list" each time with hints on what people can do to improve their business.
  

What about you? What makes you keep reading or come back for more? What triggers the "unsubscribe"? I'd love to learn...

May Lunch: The Link Between Reputation Management and Social Marketing

WHEN: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 from noon - 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Bar Louie, 701 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
COST: $22

The U.S. Census Bureau is currently taking on the massive effort of enumerating the entire American population as is constitutionally mandated. Part of this effort is an unprecedented social marketing campaign to increase awareness of the Census with the ultimate objective of ensuring that people fill out their census forms.

This effort is an excellent case study of the interplay between social marketing and reputation management. On the one hand, the media exposure must be sufficiently consistent to ensure that the message gets across and 'sticks' in people's minds. On the other hand, the messenger must be credible in order to ensure that the message will not be summarily discounted. In other words, social marketing and reputation management go hand-in-hand.

May's speakers will discuss the social marketing campaign being conducted by the Census Bureau and then take a step back to look at reputation and reputation management from a conceptual standpoint, using the 2010 Census as a case study.

Speakers:

• Nancy Bates, U.S. Census Bureau
• Clifford Young, Ipsos Public Affairs

RSVP required: CapitalCommunicator (at) gmail (dot) com

April Lunch Recap: Tourism Communications and Reaching New Audiences

CCG members were treated to a lively luncheon talk in April with Pat Wheeler, Director of Marketing, Cultural Tourism DC; Barbara Bahny David, Director of Public Relations, InterContinental Hotel Group and Danielle Piacente, Publicist, & Manager for the National Cherry Blossom Festival who’s with Linda Roth Associates.

All three speakers focused on one of their newer challenges: tourism marketing and communications that no longer focuses just on reaching the out-of-towners. Each shared tips and hints about how they're really rooted in letting locals know what's going on. One reason for the change in focus? All of us locals play host to out-of-town family and friends who want to know "what are you taking me to see and do in D.C. when I visit?"

Pat kicked off by sharing the host of opportunities to experience the history and culture of D.C. and the tactics they employed including visible signs posted throughout the city highlighting the DC Heritage Trails. She also talked about what sort of events the local community turns out for, such as the Passport DC program. A wonderful partnership with Ben’s Chili Bowl owners resulted in Cultural Tourism DC being gifted with space for a visitor center. (You never know how a partnership can benefit you!)

Barbara built on this discussion of partnerships by explaining their anniversary celebration strategy. To demonstrate the reach of the Willard as an icon of D.C. she worked with organizations such as the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the National Building Museum and the American Institute of Architects to host off-site events but all focused on the Willard, including a costume gallery, building renovation talks and artistic photo gallery of the Willard. These events-around-town successfully demonstrated the status and role of the hotel within the D.C. society. Barbara also spoke about keeping this sense of community strong with programming designed to be inviting to all ages from holiday festivities involving local choirs performing free concerts to wine tastings with local bands. She advised leveraging the myriad of talented people in D.C. who could bring something special to your event.

Barbara also addressed using social media (Facebook and Twitter) to reach those in town and out-of-town and advised that communicators pay attention to ensuring a company's brand goes across all channels. For example, on Twitter, each tweet from the Willard imparts the personality of an ageless, worldly, sophisticated grand dame, a hip aunt sharing advice with her circle of friends.

Danielle rounded out the presentations by first sharing interesting statistics about the percentage of people visiting the Festival are actually within the D.C. Region. (Hmmm, I must run into the other 45% who are out-of-towners on the Metro then!) She talked about their efforts to highlight a host of activities under the Cherry Blossom Festival umbrella that appealed to those interested in the history, rich culture of the event but also to all ages from families to the young hipster crowd. Connecting to the community that calls D.C. home, she mentioned tree plantings (hyperlocal!) and the local restaurants embracing of cherry-infused and inspired cuisine -- ingraining the Spring time celebration into D.C. culture.

You can follow our April speakers/organizations on Twitter at @dcculture,
@willardhotel and @CherryBlossFest.

Thanks to our speakers and Elephant & Castle!

And make sure you check out the blog post from member Susan Rink that talks about this lunch!

April CCG lunch: Tourism Communications and Reaching New Audiences

** UPDATE: We're now sold out. You can RSVP to be placed on our wait list. **

Tourism Communications: It's Not Just for Tourists Anymore!

WHEN: Tuesday, April 27, 2010, noon - 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Elephant & Castle, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC
Metro Stop: Metro Center

COST: $25
Cash Only. Exact Change Preffered.

MORE INFORMATION: April kicks off tourist season in Washington, D.C., but for many local "tourism" organizations, marketing and communications is no longer just about reaching the out-of-towners. Instead, these professionals are increasingly being tasked with ensuring that they draw a local crowd to events as well. Come learn more about how some of our local tourism organizations are undertaking the challenges of reaching new audiences with their message.

SPEAKERS:

• Pat Wheeler, Director of Marketing, Cultural Tourism DC
• Barbara Bahny David, Director of Public Relations, Intercontinental Hotel Group
• Danielle Piacente, Publicist, & Manager, Linda Roth Associates. (Danielle handles publicity for the National Cherry Blossom Festival)

RSVP to: capitalcommunicator (at) gmail.com

Ex-spec-tations...

One of our members posted an interesting question to our LinkedIn group recently. His company was asked to provide spec work on an RFP for some web design work. He wanted feedback from others in the industry as to whether this was "standard operating procedure" or not.

My resounding answer: NO!

Truth is, I'm wary anytime someone asks for spec work. You want to know what I can do? I'm happy to share examples of media coverage or past PR campaigns I've run. If I was a web designer, I'd be happy to provide examples of sites we've designed or re-designed. But I'm not going to give away my ideas for free. If I do, you can take them and pay someone else to execute. My value isn't just in my execution, but also in the ideas I generate. Why would I give away that sort of intellectual property for free?

Am I wrong in finding this to be a ludicrous request? And do many solo practitioners find themselves being asked for this?

Lunch Recap: Deploying with 'New' Gear: How the Department of Defense is Using Social Media

Yesterday was the FABULOUS CCG lunch with Price Floyd, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs for the Department of Defense. I can't say enough good things about this lunch and our speaker. Mr. Floyd captivated our audience for the entire presentation and Q&A session, during which he spoke about how the DoD is using social media tools to get its message to both internal and external audiences. He showed us examples of what they're doing, talked about guidelines he follows, and shared lessons learned.

Highlights:

• Ask yourself four questions with any communications / outreach effort: What is the message? Who is the audience? How are you going to reach that audience? Who is the speaker?
• "Non-approved messaging" -- i.e., letting people onto your website to publicly post comments, respond to questions, etc. -- gives credibility to the rest of your site and the content on it.
• Make sure you TRAIN and EDUCATE your employees as to "responsible and effective" use of social media tools. One way the DoD does so is via fun (and short) videos, including a popular "what not to do" video.
• Realize the importance of having personal voices (which can be more engaging) as well as institutional voices (which are more official). One example: On Twitter, he does this via multiple accounts -- @pricefloyd, which is his personal account and is a mix of work and personal updates, and @DefenseGov, which is the official DoD account.
• Realize your goal... One of DoD's goals with social media was to reach a new audience. The department knew that the website audience skewed "older" (i.e., 50+), so the focus with the social media presence was to reach a new audience (i.e., 18-25).
• Know that social media is only one component of a larger campaign. The audience on social media channels is growing, but it's still small. (For example, the viewers of the least watched Sunday talk show are more than the numbers you'll reach via social media. But they're different audiences, so you need to be reaching both.)
• Having problems convincing the boss your company needs a social media presence? Go tell him to himself or the company. She'll see firsthand that the company likely is already there, being talked about. Then ask: "Do you want any say in what is being said about you and the company?"
• Your social media policies and your general communications policies shouldn't be that different. What that means in the case of DoD, for example, is this: What a soldier can't include in a letter home, can't be online. In the case of companies... what you can't talk about to a reporter, shouldn't be talked about online.
• There's nothing more credible than the voices of the people doing the work (in the case of the DoD, the people in the field). So make sure your social media voice isn't just the CEO, Senior VPs, etc.

And perhaps my favorite piece of advice from the day, which is advice he gives to DoD employees engaging in social media: "Don't post something online if it's not something you'd say to or show your boss or your grandmother."

Thanks, Mr. Floyd, for such great advice. And thank you to District Chophouse for the great location with the top-notch technology.

Kudos to Clever Tchotchkes... this year, from Fixation Marketing

Let's face it. Any of us who serve clients -- or attend trade shows -- find ourselves facing a huge dilemma on a regular basis: What do I use as as an end-of-year gift, a customer appreciation present, or a trade show giveaway? There are the obvious answers, ones I admit I've used in the past -- the branded pen, the branded memory stick... I remember when branded stress balls were all the rage.

One company I worked for gave away canvas bags at trade shows -- and people loved them! You saw people walking around the rest of the trade show floor stuffing other companies' giveaways inside, which meant great advertising for us, the "little guys" compared to many other vendors. And people would search out our booth every year, asking if we had the bags because they liked them and used them so much.

All that said, this year at the holidays, I received what I think is one of the best end-of-year (beginning of the year?) gifts yet: greeting cards.

Fixation Marketing in Bethesda, Maryland, created a box of greeting cards for unusual holidays -- Groundhog Day, Arbor Day, Daylight Savings, Flag Day... They're cleverly designed. They have cute sayings inside. And I'll definitely use them... and remember Fixation for sending them. (I've included the front of the card for Tax Day -- yes, Tax Day -- to the left. Inside it says, "Set Your Money Free.")

So kudos to Fixation for getting creative and providing me with a giveaway that is: unique, useful, and will earn them attention not just with me, but also with those to whom I send the cards.

So now I want to hear from you. What is the best (or worst) tchotchke that you've received or given away, and why did you like it (or not like it) so much?

RECAP: December CCG Lunch, "It's All in the Spirit of Giving"

First off, let me just give a HUGE "thanks" to all my members who attended yesterday's lunch. We managed to collect 43 toys for Toys for Tots (plus one monetary donation) from our 37 attendees. Great job, everyone!!

Second note: Did you know that one of Toys for Tots biggest challenges is getting enough gifts for the 10-14 age range? If you haven't yet donated this year, think about choosing something for these older kids. (Even better, Tweet and Facebook this fact to your networks and help us start our own mini campaign to address this challenge.)

Okay. Now, on to the lunch recap...

December's lunch was about handling PR and communications for a charity or a charitable giving campaign. Our distinguished speakers were:

• Sergeant Matthew R. Johnson, who is in his fourth year as a Toys for Tots Events Coordinator... and was looking quite dapper in his Marine uniform
  
• Wendy Beach, Director of Communications, Global Impact. (In addition to raising funds to support international relief and development programs, Global Impact manages the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area and Overseas.)

Key messages from our speakers:

• Evaluation is key: Before starting this year's campaign, Global Impact evaluated past CFC campaigns. Staff used that feedback when creating key messages, revamping collateral materials, crafting a new "theme," and creating goals for this year (such as generating more participation from the the younger government employees and new government employees). This is great advice. I think a lot of us focus so hard on a particular project, and when that project is complete we move right on to the next one. As a result, we often don't take the time afterward to evaluate the project, collect feedback, etc. And there's so much to learn from evaluating what you've done... both good and bad.
  
• You Can't Ignore Social Media: I know. It sounds like a no brainer, right? But what do you do when you're in an environment that doesn't embrace social media, which is the case with many federal agencies that block access to Twitter, Facebook, etc.? Global Impact solved this dilemma by using the (social media) tools they knew government employees could access, such as GovLoop, which is a social media tool specifically for the government.
  
• Know Your Audience: Global Impact realized it was important that any collateral materials created for the campaign be customizable by the volunteers so that materials would speak to particular communities.
• Social Media Isn't Everything: For the Marine Corps, having Marines in blues on the street talking to people directly is the best advertising. So one of the top goals is to get as many Marines out there as possible. It beats any other advertising channel they could use. (Of course, my CCG members already understand the importance of direct person-to-person contact. After all, we're a group that thrives during our in-person monthly meetings.)
• Coordination, Coordination, Coordination: Toys for Tots is a HUGE campaign that always gets national and local media attention. When that's the case, communication is key. You need to make sure everyone has all the information available... after all, you never know when someone might end up being an "unofficial" spokesperson for your cause.

So those were my biggest lessons learned from yesterday. Sure, some of them weren't exactly "lessons learned" -- because they were strategies I already knew -- but I love when our speakers reinforce conventional wisdom and remind me that sometimes I need to go "back to basics."

For my fellow CCG'ers who attended yesterday's lunch... what did you learn from our speakers?

The Value of Professional Organizations

So maybe I'm biased as I write this -- seeing as I am the CCG President and all -- but the truth is, I love this group! The Capital Communicators Group is valuable to me. For one, I love that there are no annual dues. If I attend a lunch, I pay. If I don't attend a lunch, no money goes out of my pocket. (Granted, now that I'm President I attend most lunches, but that's not the point.) Also, I get a lot out of my membership and out of the monthly lunches, both from the perspective of the actual presentations and from the more "informal" networking that goes on before, during, and after the formal program.

But it's gotten me thinking...

For many, the start of the new year is the time when we start thinking about whether we're gong to renew our various memberships. We evaluate the cost of the membership and what we get out of belonging to the group.

So what is the value of the various professional organizations we can join? What is the true "value" of PRSA? Is it worth its annual dues? And what about IABC or WWPR? Or other professional PR/communications groups?.

That's where you all come in! I'm hoping to get some conversation rolling here about the professional groups to which we belong and what "value" we get out of these groups. What groups do you find worth the cost of membership and in which groups have you decided to let your membership go?

Let us know!

CCG December lunch: It's All in the Spirit of Giving

Tuesday, December 15, 2009
noon - 1:30 p.m.

It's All in the Spirit of Giving
Ever wonder about the unique ins and outs of running a PR/communications campaign for a charity or a charitable giving campaign? How about the challenges of doing so during a down economy? Come learn more from the experts!

Speakers:

• Staff Sergeant Christopher Gordon, Coordinator, Quantico Toys for Tots campaign
• Wendy Beach, Director of Communications, GLOBAL IMPACT. (GLOBAL IMPACT has the MOU to manage the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area and Overseas this year.)
  

Location: Bar Louie, 701 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC
Metro Stop: Gallery Place/Chinatown on the Red Line

Cost: $20 + ONE NEW, UNWRAPPED TOY FOR TOYS FOR TOTS
CASH ONLY. EXACT CHANGE PREFERRED.

RSVP to: capitalcommunicator@gmail.com
(You do not have to be a CCG member to attend. Cost is the same for members and non-members.)

The Twitter-LinkedIn Connection

I've seen a lot of tweets today about how you can now feed your Twitter updates into your LinkedIn profile. (Here's the Reuters piece on it.) And a lot of people sound excited about this new development.

I'm not.

I also don't like that you can link your Twitter and your Facebook account. (Is it blasphemy to say that?)

Here's the thing... Yes, I often post very similar updates to one, two, or even all three sites. But I also often post Twitter updates that, to me, aren't "Facebook worthy." And I post Facebook updates that never make it onto Twitter. Ditto, LinkedIn.

For me, the three outlets -- and their uses -- are distinct, though sometimes overlapping. That said, in many cases, I'm friends with someone on Facebook, connected to that same person on LinkedIn and follow his/her tweets on Twitter. And especially in the Facebook-Twitter connection, having the same updates to both locations can be overwhelming.

I think one reason I feel this way is because Twitter seems like a much more "now" phenomenon. I may tweet updates from an event I'm attending. Or post random updates about what I'm doing or something I just read. In contrast, I look to Facebook status updates to promote events, post random thoughts, etc. I think of Facebook status updates as being a little less frequent because it's not as easy to stay up-to-date on new posts. (New tweets pop up in the bottom right corner of my screen. I can read them, click on them, ignore them, etc., while continuing with what I'm doing.) So when people link their Twitter and Facebook status updates, I often find that my "status updates" on Facebook become overrun with one person's updates at the expense of everyone else. And it's frustrating.

What say you? (Oh, and by the way, if you want to follow me on Twitter, it's @rferrier. As to Facebook and LinkedIn, I have to have some noticeable connection to you to connect on LinkedIn. And Facebook, well, that's for people I really know.)

-- Robin

NON-CCG EVENT: Meet the Press Event with Walt Mossberg

WHO: Tech Council of Maryland

WHAT: Meet the Press: Leading Journalists Speak on What's News, What's Not and Changes in the Media... with keynote speaker Walt Mossberg, personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal

WHEN: November 2 from 8-10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

ADDITIONAL DETAILS: Walt Mossberg will share his thoughts on the Cell Phone and the Future of the Internet. Mossberg is the author and creator of the weekly Personal Technology column and is one of the most widely-read columns on technology products and services in the world. He is also the co-creator and co-producer of the technology industry's most prestigious annual conference, D: All Things Digital, and is the co-executive editor of the technology web site, allthingsd.com, which extends the experience of the D Conference to the Web.

You will also hear from a panel of distinguished journalists that cover technology, biotech, telecommunications and general business issues to help explain what they cover, how they do it and educate us on the changing world of journalism.

More info or to register.

SPACES REMAIN for Oct. lunch this Wednesday

Designing Websites for Action or Advocacy
Learn the art -- and science -- of designing websites for action and advocacy.

SPEAKER 1: Len Johnson, President & CEO of JDG Communications, will talk about creating a site that is a research-based solution, using as an example his experience creating the FTC kids web site YouAreHere, where kids learn to be smarter consumers through games, activities and online conversations. Learn how Len's team conducted interviews with kids, parents and educators; how they tested the site; and how they evaluated the outcomes.

SPEAKER 2: Stephanie Dailey, Senior Public Affairs Specialist, NIHSeniorHealth.gov, National Institute on Aging, will talk about the unique aspects of making a site for an older demographic.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 from noon - 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Topaz (in the Enlightenment Room), 1733 N Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036
Metro Stop: Dupont Circle on the Red Line

Cost: $26
CASH ONLY. EXACT CHANGE PREFERRED.

Please RSVP.

September Lunch Recap: Handling Communications Surrounding Controversial Projects

So for our September lunch, we were lucky enough to have Michael E. Newman from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Michael is NIST's Senior Communications Officer and served for six years as Communications Director for the agency's technical investigation of the collapse of three World Trade Center buildings on 9/11. Needless to say, he had a lot to share... so much so, that we even allowed him to break our "no PowerPoint" rule so that he could show some graphics. (Big thanks to the D.C. location of the Greene Turtle for helping us make this happen!)

So what did I learn:

• For a high-profile, long-term project like the WTC investigation, it's important to have one point of contact for the media. (It helps prevent confusion.)
• Whenever possible, it also helps to have one primary expert or project leader handle the majority of the media interviews.
• As a PR/PA/Comms professional, you have to make sure you or someone from your team is a member of any task force supervising the project so that you can provide input on strategy and plans. (i.e., Communicating what your company / org is doing can not be an afterthought.)

Michael also had some great advice on how to deal with those who may (very publicly) oppose your work:

• Be respectful and respond to their correspondence, but realize you don't have to get into an active debate. (It's too easy for those of us in the communications realm to feel like we have to respond to every media query, every letter, every invitation. Sure, we do need to respond. But responding vs. debating are two very different things.)
• Don't condemn or criticize those who oppose you. (i.e., avoid "we're right and you're wrong" debate.) Instead, address opponents' claims directly and without judgment.
• If you do respond to the opponents' claims, do so with the right goal in mind: to provide balance for others who already have heard the opposing viewpoint. Don't respond intending to convince the opponents to see things your way.

So there's my take on our latest lunch. Did you attend? What did you learn from Michael? Let us know.

Making Your Out of Office Message Work for You

I sent an email to a colleague this morning. A few minutes later, his out of office message bounced back. Not a big deal, right? I ignored it at first. When I finally clicked over to see when he'd be back, I saw the following message:

--------------
I am out of the office till Tuesday 25th August. If you are at GnomeDex or at #Tbash please say hello.

Hope you are registered for the GrowSmartBiz conference Sept 29th in Washington DC - more details http://tinyurl.com/gsbiz (use coupon FRIENDOFSHASHI to get a amazing discount on the conference fee.)

You can reach the Social Media team at Listen@networksolutions.com.

If you are a small Business or small business related expert please visit http://GrowSmartBusiness.com and read the Second wave of the Small Business Success Index.

Have a few minutes? Read our Blog http://blog.networksolutions.com. Check out http://growsmartbusiness.com, http://womengrowbusiness.com. We love feedback. Thanks.
--------------

And I realized something... all this time, I've been wasting my out of office message with just details about when I'd be back and who to contact in my absence. Why hadn't I realized that my Out of Office Message was yet another marketing tool? It seems so obvious now.

Yup, just another reason I'm so pleased that I've met Shashi Bellamkonda, the genius behind this craft message. (He's always teaching me something... even when he isn't intending to do so.)

So you can bet that the next time I'm out of the office, my message will be promoting a CCG lunch, or my next socStardom event, or maybe just JHU's classes. Who knows. I just know it's time my Out of Office Message started working for me... that way, I'm working even when I'm not. (Hey, do you think if I do this, I can start taking vacation days and not counting them as vacation since I'll still be marketing and promoting the campus? Well, maybe that's taking it a little too far...)

July lunch: Voice of America

Voice of America: A Look Inside U.S. International Journalism
Tuesday, July 21, noon-1:30 p.m.

Did you know that there is a U.S. government agency charged with providing news overseas? That agency is Voice of America, which broadcasts in 45 languages and reaches 138 million people each week with approximately 1,500 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming!

While VOA is well known around the world, this multimedia powerhouse is virtually unknown in the U.S. Our July lunch will change that!

Come learn more about VOA's journalistic mission, and how they promote it both domestically and internationally. Plus, take a tour of the VOA facilities.

Speakers:

• Steve Redisch, Executive Editor, Voice of America
• Joan Mower, Director, VOA Public Relations
• Language Service broadcaster TBA

Location: VOA, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC

RSVP required

The Beauty of Twitter: Being Human

I'm inspired to write this post after reading "What's the Point of Twitter" on (non-DC based) communicator Sarah Morgan's blog. I hear people complaining all the time about Twitter... "what is it?" "why should I use it?" "why do I care what you're doing?" "people write about so many mundane, stupid things" and on... and on... and on...

Sarah captured the point of Twitter beautifully. With one word.

"Human"

Her point...

With Twitter, we see the human side of our colleagues, co-workers, and perhaps online-only friends. It allows us to see sides of people that make them who they are, not just what they do. It's relaly no different than the small talk you make when you attend a networking breakfast, formal dinner or other work-related event. Or one of our CCG lunches. Does your every conversation in these forums revolve around work topics? Probably not. You talk about what's going on in your personal life, a good book you read, a movie you disliked, a recent recipe you tried out and loved... any number of things. And after the lunch, you probably remember better the personal connections.

The point? If you're on Twitter, be human. Talk about your life, not just your work. People will remember you for it. And appreciate the "human" in those you follow. (It's a sentiment I've heard talked about not just by Sarah, but by our own CCG social media guru, Denise Graveline of don't get caught.)

socStardom3 w/Ten Golden Rules CEO Jay Berkowitz

I just realized that I never posted to this group about our upcoming socStardom3 event with Web Marketing and SEO expert Jay Berkowitz. Here are the details:

WHEN: June 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
WHERE: JHU Montgomery County Campus, 9605 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD
COST: Free

Wondering what Jay is all about? Trying to decide whether or not you're attending socStardom3? Listen to this podcast with Jay!

More details about the event.

Please RSVP if you plan on attending!!

April Lunch Recap: Environmental Communications

A recap by Debbie Friez (@dfriez on Twitter)

Speakers: Raquel Garcia, Earth Day Network communications manager, and Adora Andy, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spokesperson

Garcia began by discussing Earth Day Network’s challenge in defining their audience. Diversity is very important to them, because the Earth belongs to everyone. So, theirs is a message of inclusion. In using the term “Green Generation” they mean everyone, and stressed that global warming is happening to everyone, now.

Andy is challenged to communicate scientific conclusions and information in a conversational way. She says it helps to think about finding a way to reach the single mom with three kids. She went on to say people are not interested in global warming, but they are interested in water quality. Because global warming is not easily understood, she has banned it from all EPA press releases.

EPA released a school air quality study soon after Andy joined the department. They gave an exclusive to USA Today, and allowed the reporters extra time to research all the information, as well as access to several experts and researchers as an effort to help the paper get the story right. The day the study was released the story ran in USA Today. Additionally, EPA released a press release, and provided materials to the parents of students in the effected schools. Their goal was to help the parents feel involved.

Both speakers answered several questions and gave tips for getting your message out to the media:

• A sound bite should show emotion or opinion.
• Put statistics that show a problem upfront in your release. Then, show the solutions within the release.
• Insert urgency in your message, but don’t be an alarmist.
• Look for ways to reach new audiences.

Were you at the April lunch? What lessons did you learn from our great speakers? Let us know!

March Lunch: Communications at the DEA and the DEA Museum

What a great lunch! Our friends at the DEA did such a great job with this month's lunch. They were entertaining. Funny. Informative... If you weren't there, you really missed out!

Highlights from Sean Fearns, Museum Director, DEA Museum and Visitors Center:

• Volunteers: The museum has convinced the "powers that be" at the DEA that it's a benefit if DEA staff (special agents, chemists, etc.) volunteer time during the day at the museum. And TPTB agree. This gives Sean a crazy knowledgeable team of volunteers. (His second pool of volunteers are retired workers.)
• Funding: Sean has a hard time getting funding for the museum from the DEA. Understandably, $$ go toward the DEA activities versus the museum. He's solved this issue by forming a Foundation that provides financial support for the museum from outside the DEA.
• Working with the Schools: One way Sean has been able to attract school groups to the museum is by ensuring that the museum -- and the activities related to it -- speaks to the Standards of Learning that teachers much teach to.
• Media: The museum also has been a great in-roads to new media who otherwise wouldn't write about -- or pay any attention to -- the DEA's activities. More media = more visibility.
  

Highlights from Garrison Courtney, Director of Public Affairs, Drug Enforcement Agency:

• They've got an incredibly small team handling public affairs for a huge agency. (Makes it kind of hard for the rest of us to complain about our work load...)
• The DEA is constantly being asked to participate in documentaries, TV shows, etc. Garrison has a handful of questions he asks, including: 1) How are you funded? (If you aren't funded, they won't work with you.) 2) Let me see your script treatment. (If you don't have one, you're not ready or focused enough for them to work with you.
• Surging: Garrison's work style is to see where the focus is. For example, he may spend 4 months focusing on documentaries, then 4 months focusing on magazines (based on readership trends), then 4 months with his resources focused on online, etc., etc... It's a smart way to work for a small shop.
• Garrison's division always includes a special agent. It's a rotating position, but an important one. The special agents Garrison trains during their time with his department become billboards in the field for the importance of public affairs.

Highlights from Special Agent Brian:

• Brian provided a unique perspective because he's not trained in public affairs, but was assigned to Garrison's division. But his was an important lesson. He said that when he was in the field he was trained to believe that newspaper coverage was bad and they should stay away from the press. Now that he's at headquarters working with Garrison and his team, Brian understands the importance of the press, and he's relaying that message to people in the field. (Lesson: Nothing beats firsthand experience! If you can bring your non-PA folks into your department to work for a few weeks or months, the experience will be invaluable to you and to the non-PA employee!)

I'd love to hear what others who were there had to say about the day... and about what they learned. Post comments below!

P.S. -- I didn't get to take the museum tour. (Handling official CCG business instead.) But for any of you who were on the tour, post below and let us know how cool the museum was!