OUTLINE FOR PROPOSAL PRESENTATION

A Pitch to AAA

Problems on the Road

— 80 Percent of accidents are caused by distracted driving

— 21 percent of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage

The Plan

— Television Ads

— Radio Ads

— Mail-out Fliers

Public Awareness

— Increasing public awareness can reduce

— Accidents

— Injuries

— Fatalities

What It Will Take

— Proposed budget of $2 million

— Funded from sponsorships

What it means for AAA

— Increased brand recognition in connection with good a good cause

— Fewer accidents means lower expenses on response and insurance claims

— All leading to more advertising and higher profitability

So what is PR?

Dear Dave,

You asked me what public relations is; this is going to be my best shot at describing what public relations is and does. One definition of public relations came from buildingbrands.com, “Public Relations practice is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.” http://www.buildingbrands.com/definitions/07_public_relations.php

A practitioner of public relations is someone that can open and maintain clear lines of communication between an entity and the various groups of people that the company or organization serves. This happens on many different levels. Brandbuilder.com went on to emphasis the importance to many customers the ability to know the company behind the product. Public relations is more than just ‘launch parties’ for new products.

Public relations helps an organization and its public's adapt mutually to each other is the definition that the Public Relations Society of America in the organization's web site. Public relations plays a key role in maintaining the trust people have in the organizations they associate themselves with, whether it be a business or a not for profit organization. This is accomplished by clear and open communication between the two parties. It is the role of the public relations practitioner to be fluent and proficient in the many different ways that an entity can communicate with several different groups of people.

In order for a public relations officer to clearly and efficiently communicate a message, they must first know who needs to hear the message and what that message should be. For this reason, one of the biggest roles of a public relations officer is research. Before any message is communicated to a public, by any means, it must first be decided what that message is. In order to know what to communicate, it first has to be established what identifies the public that the organization need to connect with. Public relations practitioners must be familiar with several different ways of identifying a public including marketing, demographics; or identifying characteristics of people such as income, age, and gender.

Once that it has been decided who should receive the message, there are several different ways one group of people can communicate with another. The fastest growing way to communicate a message is the internet. The internet is unique because it much easier to reach a more specific group than say newspaper, and more members of that group. Public relations now utilizes not only web sites but all forms of social media, such a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, as well as blogs.

One of the strongest tools of public relations is the press release. A press release gives reporters and other members of the press the information needed to relay the message from an organization to the public. For example if Apple released a new line of computers, they could send a press release that would be seen by many members of the press. They in turn could feature an article in the technology or business section of their newspaper, include an article in their magazine, or a spot on their radio talk show. By sending one release, Apple had their message communicated to several specific groups of people from a page or perhaps just few paragraphs being made available to the press.

I hope that help answer some of your questions. If you have any more questions you can always ask me but there is great information on the internet, for example, the PRSA web site, http://www.prsa.org.

-Mike

Dish Network sued for breaking 'do-no-call' law

A suit was filed on Wednesday against satellite TV service Dish Network, saying that many consumers on the national do-not-call list were called on its behalf.

The federal suit claims that Dish directly and through its authorized dealers, called customers on the National Do Not Call Registry. The complaint also alleged that the company broke federal telemarketing rules by assisting its authorized dealers in marketing Dish Network services via automatic "robocalls" to potential customers.

Eileen Harrington, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the the National Do Not Call Registry has been very effective at protecting Americans from unwanted telemarketing calls at home. She also said "But because a few bad actors still don't' get it, we want to make it crystal clear. If you call consumers whose numbers are on the Do Not Call Registry, you're breaking the law."

The government is considering civil penalties for Dish, which have not been specified. It also wants a ban against Dish Network; keeping it from violating do-no-call and telemarketing laws and requiring it to monitor its dealers' compliance.

Less Demand for Phones Will Cause 1,700 Layoffs

The world's larges maker of cell phones, Nokia, plans to eliminate about 3 percent of its work force as demand for phones drops. The company, based in Finland, said that 700 workers there would be laid off and the rest in Europe, Asia, and North America. The layoffs will take place in the company's division that produces, markets, and sells mobile phones.

The job cuts are part of Nokia's plan to decrease its annual operating expenses by 700 million, or about 11 percent of their total expenses.

Nokia has stopped designing phones for the Japanese market as another cost-cutting strategy. They also plan to freeze salaries, hiring, and nonessential travel.

SEARS Closes Stores to Cut Costs

Sears, the parent company of K-mart and Sears Roebuck, closed 30 stores in 2008 and plans to continue with the strategy. On Thursday, Sears said it decided to close another 24 stores. The company is expecting that this will add earnings, eliminate negative cash flow, and generate cash from the liquidation of inventory.

Yahoo CFO not opposed to sale

Internet firm Yahoo! is not oposed to making a deal that could potentially sell it's search business, CFO Blake Jorgensen said on Wednesday.


Jorgensen also said that the search business is intertwined with Yahoo's other online products and properties, and so any deal, a partnership or a sale, would be done for the right reasons and right economics.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said she did not join the company in January to sell it, nor did she have the preconceived notion of doing a serch deal.

Proposed Bill Requires Factories to Notify Officials During Crisis

Because of 2 deaths from a chemical plant explosion last year, a bill was proposed that would require industrial facilities to contact emergency responders within 15 minutes of a major accident.

Senate Bill 279, proposed by Governor Joe Manchin, states that in the case of an emergency, factories and plants must contact the state's Mine and Industrial Accident Operations Center within 15 minutes of the incident.

During recent hearings, lawmakers speculate whether the proposed bill gives enough leeway to companies to deal with the crisis and notify all of the appropriate people. Lawmakers also question the provision that would fine facility operators $100,000 if they fail to comply with the 15 minute deadline.

Senetor Bob Williams said “A small plant fails to meet the 15-minute deadline because they’re dealing with an emergency and are subject to a $100,000 fine is a subject of concern. You have very little leeway, so if you find in a situation make a call within 16 minutes instead of 15, it seems you are mandated by this bill to impose a $100,000 fine".

Committee members also were concerned that the ruling lacked a definition for the types of emergencies that would require factories to contact the center.

Due to the questions regarding the bill, committee chairman Mike Green assigned a sub-committee to further review the legislation and return with proposals for amendments.

bad panut butter

A five pound container of peanut butter was found to contain the salmonella virus. According to Stephanie Kwisnek, spokesman for King Nut and Peanut Corporation, reported cases of illness cannot conclusively be tied back to the peanut butter. As a precaution, approximately 1,000 cases of peanut butter have been recalled.

Verizon vs. Everyone Else

Verizon announced earlier this month that the acquisition of Alltel Wireless was completed. This takeover makes Verizon Wireless the largest carrier in the United States by several million customers. Although this means many more years of that annoying "can you hear me now" guy, it also means a little job security for me, seeing as I am currently employed by the East Coast based company. As T-Mobile and AT&T continue to grow along with the company, Sprint has been loosing customers at a much larger rate than the other major cellular providers, making AT&T the closest second in the country.