Hoosier PRSA Blog

Counterpoint on reaching Hispanics

Earlier this month, our luncheon focused on multi-cultural media relations. There were dozens of interesting insights from our presenter, Manny Ruiz, on reaching minority audiences including Hispanics, Asian Americans and African Americans.

One of the points he made was how Hispanics (and other non-English speaking minorities) have more trust in media of their native tongue. Interestingly enough, I just came across this trend item from Iconoculture: http://tinyurl.com/cqnbso

They reference a recent survey indicating, “While 52% of Latinos living in the U.S. may prefer to speak en español, the majority are more comfortable digesting media — television, radio and the Internet — in English.

Sure this is just one study, but this is an interesting contrast. Thoughts?

5 Ways to Make Sure You Never Get to the Second Meeting

The first time you meet a potential client is crucial. If you start on the wrong foot, you’ll never see them again, as they probably have 10 other competitors to choose from. Don’t kid yourself that you’re the only company doing what you do in your area or country. The cruel virtual reality is that in most cases, you’re competing with the world.

With so many opportunities, second chances are a rare commodity in business relationships. So making sure you never hear from them again is rather easy. If the potential client called the meeting, some of these five issues might not be so devastating (maybe they’ll brief you on what they do), but if you asked them to hear you out, take these easy steps and they’ll work hard to forget you ever wasted their time!

5 Ways to Make Sure You Never Get to the Second Meeting

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Grand Slam, Denny's!

All I can say is "Way to go, Denny's!" Their free breakfast giveaway this week was a grand slam indeed. Free-item promotions are nothing new, of course, but it's still satisfying to see one work so well from a PR standpoint. I won't take up space recounting the anecdotal stories I've read in the variety of media coverage on this event, but there are a few things that stand out in my mind that I just love about this week's effort:

1. One report estimated nearly 2 million breakfasts would be served.
2. Denny's estimated that with food, advertising buy, payroll, etc., the promotion cost about $5 million. And they received over $50 million in free traditional media placements. Not to mention the social media explosion. Denny's and Grand Slam were the most-used words Feb. 3 on the Twitter social-networking site.
3. Though the effort cost the company $5 million, it was estimated they would break even based on drink sales alone.
4. It was a win-win-win: WIN #1) Families who can't normally dine out got to take their kids to a restaurant -- what a treat in these tough economic times; WIN #2) Customers, feeling generous after receiving a free meal, likely tipped well. What a nice gift from Denny's to their wait staff (also likely struggling to make ends meet); And WIN #3) Denny's reaps the benefits of this amazing publicity.

It just doesn't get much better than this. What do you think? Did you partake of a pancake or two that morning? Do you think Denny's should make this a regular event? How could this idea evolve into a corporate social responsibility effort for Denny's? Will this entice you to check out Denny's anytime soon, or will you always steer clear of restaurants in which everything from the tables and chairs to the menus and ceramic sugar containers have a feeling of "sticky?"

Tweet, Tweet ... a little birdie told me Hoosier PRSA was on Twitter

Start following the Hoosier Chapter of PRSA now: twitter.com/hoosierprsa. 'Nuff said - only got 140 characters you know.

Continuing Education Academy: Seminar on Special Events and Event Management

Corporate groundbreakings. Social fundraising galas. Conventions. At some point in our careers, each of us has been or will be in charge of planning an event. However, the majority of practitioners receive no training in this field and rely on learning on the job. If there is one topic that is mentioned to the professional development team on a regular basis, this is it!

The goal of the first Continuing Education Academy seminar is to teach strategies and tactics for creating and managing events of all types and sizes successfully.

Participants will gain knowledge in selecting venues, budgeting, time management, project management, themes, food and beverage selection skills, audio visual needs, invitations, and how to ensure the event is appropriate to your company's or client's needs. Participants will leave with a tool kit of practical tips from our panel and their many years of experience.

Panelists:
* Candice Geyer (Panel leader and moderator)
* Tim Sito (President, Graphicon Ad Specialties)
* Kari Strolberg (Detail & Design, ISES member)
* Anne Perry (Assistant Director of Catering, MBP Caterers)

Anyone who is interested in learning more about event management is encouraged to attend. For more information please contact Tess Green at tess@tessgreencommunications.com or 317-903-9366

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2009
Location: IUPUI Campus Center, Room CE405 (directions). Parking instructions below.
Time: Registration, refreshments and networking -- 8:30 - 9:00 a.m., Seminar -- 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Cost: Members of PRSA, PRSSA and IABC, $10; Non-members, $20

Register by Feb. 13!

Parking instructions: Park close to the elevator/stairs exits on each floor. The entrance to the campus center building is on the third floor of the parking garage in the elevator area. There will be someone at the entrance to direct you to the meeting room. Take your parking ticket with you to the seminar to have it validated.