This Week in CWC

The PRofessional

May 25, 2010

For The Love of Money

The CWC FPRA and the Association of Fundraising Professionals have partnered to bring you the professional development program on reputation management in June. Please mark your calendars for:

Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Location: Michael's on East, Sarasota 

Speaker: Martha Wells, VP of Communications, Mote Marine Laboratory

Program details will be forthcoming in the upcoming event e newsletter this week or you can find out more about the program now at http://www.cwcfpra.com/events/event.cfm?evtID=27.

The AFP is handling the registration. RSVP afpfl@verizon.net  or click here.
Members: $25.00; Non-members, $30.00.

It Takes Little to Fan But a Lot to Engage

From Paul Armstrong, Kindred's Director of Social Media (http://www.kindredagency.com), on how to drink from the ever-changing social media / digital communication firehose. Paul has previous worked for MySpace Corporate Communications in Los Angeles and has devised digital strategies for Sony, Activision, Yahoo! properties amongst others.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: 'Build your networks before you need them'. I can't count the amount of times I'm out and about and I get asked one of the following questions: How many followers is good? How many fans will we get? How many fans/followers is enough? What should we put down for fans? Is 1,000 fans doable in a week? The answer is of course a cross between it depends and I don't know. Read more.

The Flack on the Future of PR

The Flack reported on PR 3.0, a conversation that took place during the recent PRSA Digital Impact Conference in NYC. Here are future trends likely to have an impact on the art and science of public relations:

• Facebook's Open Graph and the propagation (and eventual ubiquity) of the social network's "Like" button for accelerating the spread of "trusted" news and info.

• The eventual democratization of the communications function within (and outside) an enterprise, and the cultural shift required across all departments for this to occur, i.e., "conductor versus producer."

• The growth of mobile and location-based channels and services as the dominant e-commerce platform and sales driver, respectively.

• The importance and value to our clients of visual (and creative) story-telling, e.g., less text, more multimedia, to engage audiences.

• The realignment of media relations wherein individuals, versus organizations, have the ability to create a viral story meme.

Read the entire post Where PR Is Headed. 

You’ve Overcome Writer’s Block

This month, we wind up our focus on writing. Julie Platt, APR, comments on being on the other side as writer’s block lifts.

You have regained your confidence, a new perspective and your smile. Your newfound creativity is like the sun shining on your sentence structure. Emerging from writer’s block is a glorious feeling. Enjoy the moment, but remember to keep working. Now is the time to utilize ‘best practices’ to stay focused and alert. The block may come again; we hope that the resources we’ve provided will ward off future encounters.

To make your writing more compelling and creative, Ann Wylie of Wylie Communications suggests these three tactics:

1. Use metaphor, not modifiers. Engage your readers with an analogy.
2. Coin a word. Make up your own word.
3. Twist a phrase. Surprise and delight your readers with a change of words.

Check http://www.wyliecomm.com/2010/04/kindle-your-creativity/ to learn more about these tactics and examples of each point in Anne’s article “Kindle your creativity.”

Do You Feel The Message?

Brian Weiner

If you don’t feel the message, it’s likely your audience doesn’t either. Brian Weiner, President of the One on One Group, presented several fresh ways to fundraise at last Friday’s professional development workshop Bringing Your Brand to Life Virtually, Virally, and Vibrantly.

Missed the event? Check out the coverage on the CWC FPRA blog.

Mark Your Calendar

June 1. Deadline for FPRA conference scholarship applications. Download from the CWC FPRA website. 

June 8. For the Love of Money - Why Looking Good Is As Important As Doing Good. June Professional Development Program on Reputation Management. Registration Information Here..

Aug 8-11. 2010 FPRA Annual Conference, Naples, Florida. Register now at www.fpra.org.

Update on Stephen LeBlanc Honorary Blood Drive

Stephen LeBlanc

Friends – Saturday was amazing! We had so many people show up that we had to ask a good number of them to donate this week instead. The blood mobile couldn’t accommodate the numbers! In 4 hours we were able to register 49 donors and successfully collected 44 units of blood (some donors had to be deferred because of illness or recent travel and so forth. We were packed all day!  Stephen came and stayed for about 45 minutes. It was so good for him to see that so many people love him – and he got a chance to speak to a woman who had a liver transplant 4 years ago. He was at the hospital yesterday for his weekly appointment ...we are all in a waiting pattern and hoping an organ becomes available soon.  - Ginya Carnahan 

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