Government Relations

The following information was taken from a presentation that I had to do in class:


What is Government?
Examples:
Armed forces, police and fire departments
Social programs (health and food safety)
Developers of guidelines and laws
Elected political representatives
*Try to find any aspect of our daily lives that is untouched by government activity

Breakdown of Government
Two relationship perspectives:
Governmental relations
Public Affairs
Governmental Relations
“An organization’s efforts to build and maintain a working relationship with elected politicians or appointed government officials.”

Goal: To ensure the organization’s concerns and needs are known to appropriate representatives to ensure the long-term success and survivability of the organization.

Within these organizations…
Public Affairs Specialist-
Writes factual informational letters
Op-ed pieces
Position papers
Newsletters
Create and place advocacy advertising
Visit government officials to discuss issues
Provide testimony for public hearings

Lobbying
A persuasive campaign to support, defeat, or amend legislation that the organization deems necessary to its own interests.
Continuous and strategic pressure advocacy tactics
Negative side: sometimes results in unethical and illegal behavior to buy influence through expensive gifts, travel, or other perks to politicians

Lobbying continued…
Grassroots- enlist the help of average citizens
Calling legislators
Letter writing
Holding rallies/protests

Stealth lobbying- using front groups wherein the organization hides its involvement

Public Affairs
Fulfills government’s need to inform its publics about its programs and services, respond to inquires, and gauge public opinion of its efforts.

Public affairs, public information officer, press secretary, administrative aide, and government program analyst

Public Affairs
Informational Campaigns
Elected officials
Military

Public Affairs and Informational Campaigns
Must alert constituents of new services or changes and seek feedback
Requires research, planning, implementation, and evaluation (just like corporations) to reach target audiences
Campaigns require creative strategies to reach audience

Public Affairs and Elected Officials
They must tell their constituents what they are doing on their behalf and respond to their needs/concerns
Politicians have press secretaries and staff to help coordinate communication and relationship building activities required for winning elections and staying in office
Media relations/event planning
During their campaigns they need public relations to strategize, fundraise, and communicate effectively

Public Affairs and the Military
“Military public affairs is geared toward boosting public opinion about the armed forces, maintaining or improving personnel morale, procuring financial support for its programs, and nurturing public understanding and support.”
public information officer/public affairs specialist

Public Affairs and the Military cont.
Main Challenge:
Maintaining professional and open lines of communication between military commanders and the news media during difficult times.
Uses:
News conferences, news releases, news articles, media tours, Web sites, television/radio programs, magazines, newsletters, and full transcripts of news conference and other interviews, and embedded journalist
Goal:
Provide accurate and timely information
Consistent messages are reinforcing the military’s strategy and actions

Base Closing and Realignment
Facts:
May 13, 2005- U.S. secretary of defense Donald Rumsfield presented proposal for military base closures and realignments
Rome, New York- Air Force Research Lab
Already had the Griffiss Air Force Base closure in 1993
1995 DoD recommendation to close
Past experience made them determined to fight
Became proactive and gained support with a few influential people
Information is power- goal is to pump accurate and persuasive info build positive relationships with the people in charge of analyzing & assessing Rome’s facilities, give simple/easy facts, economic impact analysis reports, fact sheets with graphics/photos/talking points, PowerPoint presentations, informational DVD and posters, local media relations
Resulted in saving base and they even expanded it to send people from the other consolidated locations

Case Study Abu Ghraib
Three parts:
Public Affairs & the Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Scandal
Damage Control: The U.S. Government’s Response
On-the-Ground Response

Public Affairs and the Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Scandal
Summary:
What is Abu Ghraib?
What was the scandal?
When was the first news release?
Punishment?
Media’s response?

Reported Incidents
Videotaping & photographing naked male & female detainees
Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing
Forcing detainees to remove their clothing & keeping them naked for several days at a time
Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear
Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed & videotaped
Arranging naked male detainees in a pile then jumping on them
Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck & having female soldier pose for picture
Using military dogs (w/out muzzles) to intimidate/frighten detainees and, in at least one case, biting & severely injuring a detainee

Damage Control: The U.S. Government’s Response
April 30, 2004
President Bush
White House Spokesperson (Scott McClellan)
General Kimmitt (media briefing in Iraq)
U.S. Department of State
May 3
Pentagon
May 4
Deputy Commanding General of Detention Operations in Iraq
Special Defense Dept Briefing with the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army and Provost Marshal General
May 5
President Bush with Alhurra and Al Arabiya Television Stations

Damage Control cont…
ABC’s Good Morning America with Secretary Rumsfeld
NBC Today with Secretary Rumsfeld
CBS Early Show with General Peter Pace
White House Press Briefing
Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing
Maj. Gen. Geoffry Miller at Abu Ghraib

On-the-Ground Response
Developed public diplomacy messages
The day-to-day media relations (opened 24hrs/day)-briefings, news releases
Media tours of Abu Ghraib- allowed reporters a look at the detention center, cells where abuse occurred, and housing tent for detainees

On-the-Ground Response cont.
Message: remind reporters that an investigation was launched immediately when abuse was reported, investigation followed procedures, those responsible were being held accountable, and that corrective action had been taken to prevent further abuse.
Epilogue: by June 2006, 11 low-ranking solders had been convicted

My Internship at the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce

Walking through the door on my first day as an intern, I had no idea what to expect. After going through the basic first day instructions, I received my first assignment, writing a press release for the newspaper. It was exciting that on my first day, I was able to do something for the ‘real-world!’

Since then, writing has become routine and I strived to conquer each new project the Chamber put in front of me. I spent most of my days working on specific projects, such as revamping the Alice Walker and Drugs Don’t Work brochures, creating flyers and a Leadership Alumni post card and producing videos for the Web site. These projects took place in the midst of answering phone calls, referring members, greeting tourists, running errands and fulfilling other daily tasks.

Each week, I participated in meetings around town and networking events such as Networking @ Noon, Business After Hours and Lunch-N-Learn. These events have given me the opportunity to connect with Chamber members and gain insight on this wonderful community. The personal contact with the community that I was able to have every day is one of my favorite parts of this internship.

Having an internship at the Chamber has been an invaluable experience. The Chamber staff has helped teach me tools that I could not have received anywhere else. It is a huge sacrifice of the Chamber’s time to have an intern, but the knowledge and skills that I have gained because of them is astounding. In a few short months this internship has allowed me to create enough material to have an impressive portfolio to use in the search for my career.

The time spent in Eatonton and Putnam County was a wonderful experience! I have fallen in love with the way of life found there. From saying hello to new found friends around town to enjoying the beautiful countryside drive to work; this community has welcomed me as its own this summer. I will be forever grateful, professionally and personally, for the time I have been able to spend there!

PR In Action

The PR Campaigns class put together the open house for Digital Bridges. This event helped Digital Bridges get their name out there and allowed people a chance to hear about the services they offer as well as take a look at the building. This video asks two students how they heard about the event and interviews the AE for the campaign, asking her about what went into putting this open house together. I believe their event was a success because I know people walked in the door that day that normally would not have ever stepped foot inside that building. It definitely raised awareness for Digital Bridges. All of this is a prime example of PR In Action.

SWOT of Athletic Auction

I can't believe we don't have a million details to tend to, many people to answer to, and tons of projects to complete... we are finished, the event was a success, and athletics is happy!

The awesome feeling that overcame us as we looked around the gym before the event started is indescribable! Maybe because we thought all the tedious details were never going to end, but the "we did it!" feeling was incredible!

SWOT ANALYSIS- what PR event can conclude without doing a swot analysis??

Strengths:
* The PR DreamTeam is amazing! We all have so many qualities that truly make our team invincible! We each have characteristics that are essential to creating an awesome team that without one of us we couldn't work as well. Our individual talents balanced out to make the event a huge success!
*Tradition- the fact that this particular event happens every year, the clients and guests knew what to expect and how to do it all, even though we had no clue what we were getting into
*Client- our clients were very understanding and helpful during the whole process

Weaknesses:
*Timing- we really did everything the last two weeks before the event, even though we had all semester
*Budget- we did really well at staying within our budget, but if we had more we could have made it look even classier

Opportunities:
*We were able to put this night together!
*We had the chance to plan a huge night like this and gain awesome, valuable experience for the future
*Made friends with people in the community

Threats:
*The ticket price in this economy kept people away- not selling as many tickets as normal/not raising as much money as last year
*Not getting the word out to enough people that might have came if they knew about it
*Needs bigger/hotter items that would draw people in

Evaluation of Mean in Green

Planning my own basketball theme night was a huge learning experience. I thought it would be simple and that the hardest part was coming up with a cute theme for the night and everything else would just fall into place. Well that wasn't the case...

1) My event was “It’s All About Prevention” with Bobcat Athletics on Jan. 29. I helped ATSO, the Athletic Training Student Organization, plan their emphasis night. I worked with Kirk Armstrong to plan this night. ATSO had a Tape Off (ankle taping competition) and a Knock Out basketball competition during the halftimes along with a raffle to win two date night packages.
Itinerary for the night:
Women's Game
First Half- Media Timeout- student reading PSA
Halftime- Tape-off competition
Second Media Timeout- announce who won the 1st drawing
Men's Game
First Half Media Timeout- student read PSA
Halftime - Knock Out competition
Second Half Media Timeout- announce the date night drawing

2) I would say that the night was a success. All the details for the night went off without a hitch. The whole evening was smooth, the events during the halftimes were great, and ATSO made a good amount of money with their raffle. The attendance for the Women's game was pretty good and the Mens game was PACKED! My clients, Kirk Armstrong and GCSU Athletics, were completely satisfied with the night and that's all that matters to me.

3) The best learning moment from my event was dealing with a difficult client. I never thought that I would be met with such resistance. It was hard to not take it personally. I'm glad I had to go through all those hoops with him in this type of setting instead of experiencing it on a tougher level in the professional world.

4) The one thing I wish I could do over would be dealing with my client. I hate that someone views me in a weird way for no reason. Maybe if I had met in person first instead of an email then everything would have been spelled out and not confusing to begin with.

5) I'd grade my event an A. My first reaction was to write a B based on the internal communication and struggles that happened but then I realized that those elements don't matter to the overall success of the night. They help me grow as a professional but in regards to the basketball night, it really doesn't matter. I'd say an A because everything went as smooth as possible.

6) I think consistency is the most important thing in order to keep "Mean in Green" alive. We need to keep the core elements the same every single time and keep reminding people of them. I think the most important parts of a Mean in Green event is the logo, the name, and wearing green. We need to emphasis wearing green in all descriptions of a Mean in Green event in order for people to pick up on the fact that GCSU Athletics wants fans in green at games! It's the easiest and most effective way to unify us as GCSU Athletic Fans!

Oh MillyVegas.... oh Ben Roethlisberger...

This past week, Milledgeville has been home to media vans and reporters, a sight most have never seen before. As a mass communication student in this community I can see both sides to this debacle. It's neat to see what professionals do in high profile/breaking news type stories. But as a lover of this community and school, it is frustrating to see what lengths the media will go to in order to get a scoop. In class, Pate called it "Drive-by reporting" comparing it to a drive-by shooting... they come in, disrupt, cause tension, get the story, and get out of town, leaving everyone to deal with the strain their presence created.
Dr. Miller asked some questions on her blog concerning these reporters....

What did you learn this week about the nature of media coverage in a time of crisis or emergency?
~The nature of media coverage in a time of crisis or emergency is FAST, FAST, FAST! It's pretty cutthroat! They want the details first and it doesn't matter to them who they tick off, hurt, or embarrass. As long as they have the stories as they develop then they are golden.

What's the one lesson of crisis public relations you'll always remember from this event? What is your takeaway from this, as a practitioner?
~It is important to speak first on behalf of your client so that the story everyone is talking about is the one you want them to hear. Once a side gets presented, the court of public opinion has already cast their judgment. You have to make sure it is in your favor by getting your story out the way you want it, before anyone else has a chance to sway peoples minds.

And what would you like to tell the people of the world who have a whole new impression of Milledgeville?
~Milledgeville is a wonderful, small, southern town. It is our home away from home. An incident like this would have happened regardless of the actual town Roethlisberger was in. Milledgeville is one of the safest cities I've been in and this incident doesn't change how we feel about this town. And yes, the police chief may sound a little southern, esp with a name like Blue, but he's a cop, not a public speaker so give him a break.

Branding

Branding is an essential tool used by corporations, companies, products, and people everywhere! It is how people remember your business or product. Creating a brand is an important part of helping with the stickiness factor. Having a brand sets you apart from the millions of other people/businesses, it creates a quick, attention grabber. A brand is an element that must be consistent throughout anything you produce. It needs to be synonymous with your name.

On my resume and cover letter I chose to use teal colored font for my name and for the centered subject headlines. I also set my font to Georgia font. I chose this color because I love blue, it is def. my color but I wanted it bright because it, in a way, represents my personality. I am very outgoing and bold and I felt as if using teal could showcase that. I chose the Georgia font because I love Georgia, haha, I have lived here in ATL my whole life and even though no one has any idea when they look at a font that it is called Georgia Font, it still is a little bit of me. I put my resume and cover letter on grey, marble-ish resume paper. I thought the grey looked best with the teal font and tied it all together.

I'd love to be able to create a real logo but at the moment I don't know what to do with my name in logo form. Eventually I'll try and work something out, but for now the color and font will have to do :-)

Tip That Auction!

I enjoyed reading The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell. The book was a smart, observant read. It made me want to go look up the other books by the author and read those as well.

The biggest key point that this book is trying to make is that every fad, trend, or popular item has a point at which the popularity “tips” from average to a success. It took specific instances and analyzed their tipping points to figure out what made them popular. It also looked at the three types of people involved with making things tip in our society. The three people are the Connectors, the Mavens, and the Salesmen.

The Connectors are “people with a special gift for bringing the world together”; they have to know a lot of people. Connectors have a “truly extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances”. A Maven is “one who accumulates knowledge”; “a person who has information on a lot of different products or prices or places”. “This is the person who connects people to the marketplace and has the inside scoop on the marketplace”. A Salesman has the “skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing”. If I had to put myself in one of these categories of people, I would be a Salesman. I could possibly be a Connector, because every friend that I have belongs to their own group of friends that I’m connected to as well. My friends are scattered and very diverse. I think Salesman above a Connector because people have always believed everything I say. For some reason people trust me and the things I say. I have the ability to convince people to do things. In the book it describes Tom Gau as having “energy, enthusiasm, charm likeability, and more”. There is just something about me that has the same kind of affect on people.

Finding the tipping point to something is the key to making it a success. A lot of the instances in the book discussed the tipping point by looking back on what happened, but if one could discover this before then they would be very successful. We are in the midst of planning the Athletic Auction. Pinpointing things that we believe will make this auction “tip” will make our event a success. I think our theme for the night is an essential element to making this Auction tip. Our theme will get the attendees excited about the evening and will create the perfect atmosphere for them to feel appreciated and in return spend money on the Auction. We need to make sure that everything that we do (the invitations, program, decorations, etc) looks classy and set apart. They need to feel as if the money the spend will go to a good cause and that they are loved by Athletics. Even the small touches make a big difference in making something the evening spectacular. Without those touches it will just seem mediocre. Making sure it’s classy not cheesy should be our goal. Question: What can we do to make the auction tip? Answer: Details, details, details!!!!!

Twitter

After learning in class all about the joys of twitter, I have been trying really hard to update it multiple times a day. It's difficult when you don't have a phone that allows you to use twitter as you go, so I feel a little silly updating it whenever I get near a computer but I'm still making the effort to do so! I am currently following 50 people and have 21 followers. I have gone through and added people/companies that I think will professionally help me in some way or another but we will see what comes from that. Two random people are following me at the moment and I have no idea how they found me and why the would want to follow me but I'm letting them just so it looks like I have followers, haha! I'm about to get unlimited text messaging so maybe once I do that, I'll feel as if twitter is more useful because I'll be able to text in updates as I'm out and about. If anyone has any more tips on how to make twitter a more useful part of my life, let me know! P.S. the title is a link to my twitter account :-)

Fishing For Bobcat Success

This week my team (Leah, Lauren, and myself) pitched our theme for the Athletic Auction. Our theme did not get picked but we are excited to work with the other theme and get this auction planning going! The hands on experience with clients and event planning are the elements of PR that I LOVE!! In order to do the pitch we were given the event (Athletic Auction) and a $1,000 budget. Our team went through a couple of ideas before we finally settled on "Fishing For Bobcat Success". We wanted to highlight the success of GCSU Athletics. Last year we won the Commissioners Cup, which tells the world that we excel at sports here at GCSU. The community members that come to this auction and spend their money year after year need to know that their money is put to good use and we have a reputable program. We also thought about who our audience is and what they would like. We live in a Lake Community and the people that come to this auction want to be comfortable while having a good time, so we decided to focus on a fishing theme. We wanted to decorate the gym in fishing paraphernalia. We were going to bring in the fishing team's boat and set up in the corner, have fishing poles, netting, lures, tackle boxes and fish covering everything. With everyone's help,we know we could have turned it into a cute night and we hope that the theme gets implemented another year. For now, we must shift gears and create a beautiful, glamorous evening with the Stars of GCSU Athletics!

Guest Speaking at Flagler

This week my PR class from GCSU had to opportunity to travel to Flagler College and speak to a Sports Marketing class and their PRSSA chapter. We left Sunday morning and arrived in St. Augustine Sunday evening around 5:00. Flagler put us up in the World Golf Village Renaissance Hotel. Once we settled in we met with two professors from Flagler and ate dinner at Cady Shack, the restaurant Bill Murray owns. Monday morning we had the amazing opportunity of touring PGA Productions (soon to be PGA Entertainment)! We were able to see everything they did as a production studio, from where they store their film to their TV studio, editing rooms, and recording studios. It was amazing to see what a real life; professional production company looks like and see their day-to-day operations. We headed over to beautiful Flagler College and spoke to a Sports Marketing class. These students seemed eager to hear about what we at Georgia College do to promote our Athletic teams and games. It was a great experience being able to simply share what we do and see other students gain insight from it. After speaking to the students we went on a tour of the campus. Georgia College is a beautiful, historic college but Flagler is a different kind of gorgeous! That night we went and cheered on our Bobcat Basketball Teams as they both played and defeated Flagler! It was definitely fun to be able to cheer for your home team during an away game! I think they needed us there, cheering them on, in order to win! Tuesday, we had breakfast at Beachcombers, a little restaurant on the beach, and then headed back to Flagler to speak one last time. We listened to their PRSSA chapter tell us of all the exciting and innovative things they do at Flagler. I wasn’t aware that we were going to get to hear about what they did, but I was glad we got to because they are doing some awesome things around St. Augustine! After speaking to them we ate lunch in their amazing, Hogwarts-isq cafeteria! Talk about some amazing food! After spending time with our Flagler friends we finally said bye and headed back to Milledgeville. We will see some of them again when they come in April to see firsthand what we do with promoting athletics. Besides the 5 hour (maybe longer) van ride, the trip was a completely positive experience! I am so thankful for this opportunity that Flagler University and Dr. Ginger Carter Miller and Al Weston gave us!

Catching Up With The Times

Part of my to do list for this weekend consists of creating a twitter account and a blog. It's 2010 and I'm a senior in college and all I use is facebook. I feel as if I am way behind on the phenomenon of tweeting and blogging so today, this rainy Saturday, is my day to catch up with the times. Everyone will have to bear with me as I figure out my twitter account and this blog, but I have a feeling that once I get the hang of it, you won't be able to get rid of me!