Dear PRSA Colleagues,

Special thanks to those who joined us for the 37th Annual V Awards. Because of the efforts led by Mallorie Mendence and her V Awards Co-Chair, Aleisha Julian, we had an enjoyable evening at The Orangery honoring excellence throughout our industry. I commend them for their hard work, which started late last year, to make the event so successful.

As you know, to make this event possible our entries were judged by the Buffalo Niagara PRSA Chapter, and now it’s time for us to return the courtesy for its Excalibur Awards. They require two judges per entry (a third judge is only sought if the scores provided vary by 10 points). To maximize everyone’s time, reservations are requested so we can ensure the process goes smoothly. Any support you can extend by participating during a portion of this year’s judging is greatly appreciated. If you haven’t done so already, please email me at jennifer.faddis@knoxschools.org with the judging date that you plan to participate so we can plan accordingly.

Reciprocal judging locations:

-         Monday, May 14 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the “Business Incubator Building” on the UT Ag Campus located at 2450 E.J. Chapman Drive, Knoxville TN 37996. Guests can park at the front door and pizza will be provided.

-         Thursday, May 17 from 1 to 3 p.m., immediately following the monthly PRSA luncheon at Scripps Networks, in the E2 Green Conference Room. (It’s just upstairs from the room where the luncheon will be.)

-         Tuesday, May 22 from 8 to 10 a.m. at the American Cancer Society office (871 North Weisgarber Road  Knoxville, TN 37909). Coffee and doughnuts will be provided.

There are many more exciting plans in the works for the rest of the year. I know summer plans are quickly approaching us, so I hope that it’s an enjoyable time for you AND you will mark your calendar to join us as more PRSA opportunities are available. 

Sincerely,

Jennifer Faddis 2012 Volunteer PRSA Chapter President

Jennifer.faddis@knoxschools.org

West and Cockrill to Present Award-Winning Merger PR / Branding Campaign Case Study at May 17 PRSA Luncheon

Two long-standing market leaders in the Greater Knoxville business community – each a competitor of the other – decide to merge. 

The soon-to-be-merged company needs a new brand – including a positioning statement, logo, website, brand advertising . . . “the works,” as well as an employee communications strategy, social media program, positive media coverage and client communications – all researched, planned and ramped up in less than three months (with one of those months in the thick of the holiday season), rolled out internally and externally in a single day immediately after New Year’s, and all without the merger news leaking prior to launch. 

Mary Beth West of Mary Beth West Consulting and CEO David Cockrill of Red Chair Architects will discuss the strategic communications effort that was invested in the roll-out of the Red Chair Architects brand, which launched Jan. 3, 2012, following the merger of Cockrill Design & Planning and Community Tectonics. 

The campaign just received top “Award of Excellence” honors from PRSA’s Volunteer Chapter in the Global Communications, Media Relations, Social Media, Internal Communications and Marketing Professional Services categories. 

Cockrill and West will share lessons learned from the campaign, as well as strategic factors and communications that any company should consider in a merger decision. 

When: Thursday, May 17 (networking at 11:30 a.m.; meeting begins at noon)

Where: Scripps Networks Interactive NEW Building
**From Sherrill Blvd., turn onto Frank Gardner Lane, between Highland Funeral Home and Brown Squirrel Furniture. Proceed to roundabout and make an immediate right to the SNI guard house. Give your name to the guard. Visitor parking is on the top level of the parking garage in front of the main entrance. A PRSA representative will meet you in the lobby to direct you to the meeting room.

Cost: $20 for members, $25 for non-members

Menu: Please indicate your lunch choice when submitting your RSVP. A vegetarian option is also available if needed.

• Tarragon Chicken Salad on Wheat (Blend of tarragon, celery, onion and seasoning)
• Curry Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad on Croissant (Sweet and tart cranberries with the crunch of fresh pecans and celery)
• Turkey Bacon Swiss on Sourdough

RSVP: Chelsey Riemann at chelsey.riemann@townoffarragut.org by Noon on Friday, May 11. Please note that no-shows will be billed.

A new survey reveals that Tennessee’s communications professionals are much more certain about the return on investment using social media in 2012 than in 2010 as well as more confident about measuring social media results.  

Interactive Springboard – a joint venture between Tennessee-based Blue Media Boutique, LLC (a division of software firm Efficience) and Mary Beth West Consulting, LLC – collaborated for a second year with Bryant Research, LLC, to field a statewide survey of Tennessee communications professionals to quantify social media’s perceived benefits to companies and organizations statewide.

The team last fielded the survey in summer 2010.  Both the 2010 and 2012 surveys targeted members of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), which has chapters of communications professionals in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Tri-Cities.  

With a 40 percent survey response rate, the 2012 results show that 76 percent of Tennessee communicators think “the return on investment in social media is well worth it,” compared with 62 percent who thought so in 2010. 

On this point, the number of professionals who agreed that this statement was “very true” more than doubled, from 15 percent of respondents in 2010 to 35 percent in 2012. 

Also, a near-total majority of Tennessee communicators (97 percent) agree that “social media is an important component in any communications plan,” compared to 90 percent who agreed in 2010.  

There was an overall decline in the concentration of those who believe that the cost of managing social media is too great for most organizations, from 58 percent in 2010, to 43 percent in 2012. 

“Uncertainty is diminishing quickly about the value and necessity of social media in strategic communications,” said Mary Beth West, principal of public relations firm Mary Beth West Consulting, LLC.  “Communications professionals in Tennessee are getting a stronger foothold in the discipline of using social media effectively and making the case for social media ROI to their management teams.”

"The sophistication level about social media is rising," said Tori Rose, creative director of Blue Media Boutique. "However, we still see a gap between communicators recognizing the importance of social media and being able to actually implement it in certain areas - like crisis communications, new product development and offering branded mobile apps to build stronger relationships with the public."

The team’s survey data produced a “gap analysis” measuring the difference between what respondents said social media’s importance is toward accomplishing specific results and, in comparison, how well respondents’ own organizations are using social media to achieve those results themselves.

Just as the 2010 survey reflected, the 2012 gap analysis produced a negative gap score for every item queried – meaning that Tennessee communications professionals reported that their own organizations are underutilizing or underperforming with social media compared to the importance of using social media for particular needs. 

Those needs with the biggest gaps between importance and actual performance: No. 1 – “using social media for crisis communications”; No. 2 – “including social media in new product development”; No. 3 – “offering a branded mobile application to build stronger relationships with stakeholders”; No. 4 – “monitoring social media for comments about the organization”; and No. 5 – “using social media as a tool for building a strong internal culture.”

When asked, Tennessee’s communications professionals most frequently cited a shortage of staff time and the lack of organizational support as the areas where improvements would increase their organization’s success with social media.

The following message is from Mallorie Mendence, V Awards Chair for 2012

Hello! I hope everyone enjoyed the V Awards. As public relations professionals, we all understand the need for evaluation, and we are asking you to evaluate the V Awards and our monthly meetings. The following link is to a survey to tell us how we did and what we can improve: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/89XGRQY.  Please note: the survey will close on May 11.

Thank you!

SAVE THE DATE for the PRSA Southeast District Conference in Chattanooga Sept. 19-21 at the DoubleTree Hotel. With the proliferation of personalized communication channels, the expansive role of effective public relations has never been more important. Joins us as we emphasize the critical function of public relations as relationship management while acknowledging the prevalent outcome of today’s instantaneous and pervasive social media.

Early Bird Registration Early bird rates for the Southeast District PRSA Conference are $195 for PRSA members and $295 for non-members. After July 31, registration will increase to $295 for PRSA members and $395 for nonmembers.

You can purchase tickets online here.

Speakers Bringing in nationally-respected speakers with expertise on promotions and social media, the SE District PRSA Conference is not one to be missed! Click here to see the confirmed speakers.

More details and registration information are available online at http://www.seprsaconference.com/.

Meetings begin with networking at 11:30 a.m. followed by the Noon program. Locations are TBA.

Thursday, June 21

Bryan Campbell, Oak Ridge Associated Universities

Search Engine Optimization

No July Meeting

Thursday, Aug. 16

Heather Ripley, Fletcher PR

Garnering National Media Placements

Thursday, Sept. 27 (Please note the change in date for this meeting.)

PRSA Ethics Month

Gerry Corbett, APR, Fellow PRSA, PRSA Chair & CEO

Ethics in PR

The Square Room at Café 4 on Market Square

Friday, Oct. 26

PR Day (no monthly luncheon)

Thursday, Nov. 15

Cynthia Moxley, Moxley Carmichael

PR for the Extreme Makeover Home Edition Knoxville Build

Allison Miller has joined the faculty of the new Knoxville Campus of Virginia College, teaching Speech & Business Communication courses. Miller has dual career paths in both communications and adult-focused career education. Previously, she's taught at three other career colleges in the subjects of English/Communications, Business, and Computer Applications.

Virginia College opened for its first term on April 4, 2012, at its new location on Old Broadway in Northeast Knoxville. The campus will accommodate up to 900 students at its peak enrollment. Miller also continues her part-time consulting work in public relations and corporate training with area small businesses and local universities.