Corporate interview: Greg Burch, MTS Allstream

For the final TV assignment of the year, us PR majors were told to grab a camera, and go do some networking: find a communications professional willing to take the time to sit under some the bright lights and answer questions from a couple of students.

It was a great opportunity to get to ask people in the public relations profession just how they got to where they are today, and what sort of things us soon-to-be-grads should do to prepare for getting a job in communications.

This was by far the most challenging of our TV assignments, mainly because of the time pressures – there simply was no time to re-do a shot. It also tested all of our production skills: shooting, audio, and lighting, the latter two which are still pretty new to us and made more difficult by the fact that you want to appear to know what you’re doing, especially when your interviewee could be a potential employer!

That being said, Lennie and myself got an amazing grade for our hard work and it actually turned out quite well! (See for yourself below.) So if anyone out there is looking to produce a corporate video, there are two eager producers right here, and here!

Thanks again to Greg Burch and MTS Allstream for allowing us to film them and drag our carload of equipment all around the building!

Time to get your ducks in a row: crisis comm gone wrong

Photo credit: Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle

As public relations majors, me and my classmates are encouraged to take note of PR issues as they come up in the daily news.

This week, I gave a presentation on one of the more interesting areas of PR: crisis communication, especially when it goes wrong, and especially when it involves cute little ducks getting covered in oil and drowning.

I give you Syncrude and their duck deaths.

The Facts on Syncrude:

Oil company based in Fort McMurray, Alberta, in the Athabasca Oil Sands. They are one of the largest producers of oil from the oil sands.

Part of their company vision is to be “a good corporate citizen, a social leader, protector of the environment, and champion of high safety and ethics standards.”

Both of their mining sites (Mildred Lake, Aurora) have tailings ponds: basins containing residue from oil extraction process, including bitumen, a black tar-like substance.

These tailings ponds are open-air, meaning birds can and do land on them, with fatal results.

Photo credit: Todd Powell, Fish and Wildlife Division of the Alberta Government.

Syncrude, like other oil companies, have measures in place - “waterfowl deterrents” - like air cannons, scarecrows, and personnel to monitor the ponds, to ward off birds.

The Issue:

April 28th, 2008: 1,606 ducks die after landing on Syncrude’s Aurora tailings pond. They fail to report the incident to the Alberta government (anonymous tip notifies Alberta Environment, Syncrude confirms hours later), and an internal employee email is leaked to the Calgary Herald, telling employees to alert the company of “unusual activity”, overhead flights, and to allow no photography on site.

No TV crews, no reporters, no pictures.

Spring/Fall 2010: Syncrude is finally in court facing a provincial and federal charge. New facts come to light;

More ducks died: Originally said 500 in 2008, as opposed to 1,606. Syncrude knew this fact months prior to the court case but didn’t release it as it was part of the investigation.

Deterrents weren’t working: Staff had been cut prior to the incidents, and deterrents were delayed by bad weather. The worst? At that time, Syncrude’s deterrents only worked on weekdays. Since this occurred on a weekend, the ducks were on their own.

Syncrude pleaded not guilty, tried to have the judge dismissed, and fought the two charges because they were “too similar”. Eventually, on October 22, they agreed to pay $3 million. Three days later...

October 26, 2010: 350 ducks die after landing on Syncrude’s Mildred Lake tailings pond. They report the incident to the government, and say their deterrents weren’t working but freezing rain was possibly to blame.

Communication: What they did

Spoke to media, but emphasized effect on company and employees. Tom Katinas, President and CEO of Syncrude in 2008:

"I want to apologize for this terribly sad event that happened on our site. It is a stain on the good reputation that Syncrude has earned over its many years of good operations... It's been particularly sad and embarrassing for me, personally, for the employees of Syncrude and for all the stakeholders in this great company of ours." CBC News.

Avoided responsibility by pleading not guilty in 2008, and blaming the weather in both 2008 and 2010.

Placed full page ads in local and national newspapers apologizing for “the incident that caused... birds to die”. A critical eye would read an “incident” acting independently and having nothing to do with Syncrude “caused... birds to die” which just so happened to be on their pond.

Communication: What they should have done

1. Allow photos and access to site. Otherwise, it implies that you have something to hide, and when photos do leak - and they will - it will make the issue even bigger than it really is.

2. Tell the truth, tell it all, tell it first. Basic, key rules of crisis communication that will make your company look honest, and organized, while keeping out of the mainstream media too often.

3. Don’t cause a fuss in court. It only makes it look like you’re more concerned about damage to your company as opposed to the damage you caused - which may be true, but not a good thing to tell the public.

4. Give a presentation on the topic and hand out duck-themed cupcakes! :

Photo credit: Lennie Eulalia

The curious case of William & Kate: PR and the royal family

Photo credit.

It’s only a royal wedding, and it’s only “A Royal Wedding”.

Last week’s announcement from Prince William and Kate Middleton about their engagement and upcoming wedding has thrown the international media into a feeding frenzy, while keeping the royal family’s PR on their toes.

As if the daunting task of planning a wedding - any wedding - isn’t stressful enough, when your family also happens to be a national business, there’s the added challenge of everything you do being scrutinized and rated for its effect on the entire clan’s reputation.

The initial word from the media, suggested that with the royal’s decrease in popularity of late, William & Kate’s engagement is actually a big PR move designed to boost public support.

Maybe it is, and maybe (hopefully) it isn’t - either way the whole event had the potential for some damaging moments, but for the most part, was handled quite well.

First, there was the announcement itself. Rumours had been swirling for weeks about the engagement, but William and Kate didn’t let media speculation bully them into making the announcement before they were ready, and in doing so, demonstrated that they had control over the news, the message, and its delivery, a crucial part of any big announcement - especially when it involves British paparazzi.

Then there was the issue of the ring, which again wasn’t only a ring but “A Ring” - “Diana’s Ring”.

Even I cringed at hearing that bit of gossip, wondering why the couple would want to open that particularly nasty can of worms and further fuel comparisons between Kate and William’s late, beloved mother Princess Diana.

While Kate seemed rather unprepared for how to answer questions related to Diana, William handled the sticky situation with skill worthy of an media relations person:

“There's no pressure because, like Kate said, you know it's about carving your own future. No one is trying to fill my mother's shoes. What she did is fantastic. It's about making your own future and your own destiny, and Kate will do a very good job of that.”

Start watching at 12:50 to see Prince William's smooth issues managment

It seems a lot of people agree with William’s statement - so much so that recent polls (which, to be fair, should always be read with a truckload of salt) show the majority of Britons want to skip Charles and Camilla and have the title of king and queen go straight to William and Kate.

That opinion seems to be the big PR issue at the moment, and I’m interested to see how the royal family will handle it.

The key, of course, will be consistent messaging with the media, and to “avoid any game playing... this should be used as an opportunity to remind the public and the world of the value the royal family brings to the country” (James Herring, Taylor Herring Public Relations).

Time to stick together - at least until after the wedding!

CreComm News Conference 2010: a photo essay

This past Thursday morning the CreComm public relations majors staged a mock news conference in the college TV studio, covered by the journalism and media production majors. It was the anxiously awaited grand finale after two weeks of hard work for the PRs, and the beginning of a long, stressful day of shooting and editing for the Js and MPs.

While the news itself was fake, the tasks involved in setting up the conference were quite real and not at all unlike what would be expected of us in the workplace – everything from writing the news release, backgrounders, and speeches, to designing the media kit, and giving on-camera interviews.

I loved how this one assignment combined a large number of the skills we’ve learned and that the topic gave us a lot of room to express our creativity. Our group chose a graduation theme for the conference, so we designed the media kit as a yearbook, the media kit CD as a grad cap (complete with tassle!), the schedule as a diploma (complete with ribbon!), and organized a sort of procession for the media, accompanied by Pomp and Circumstance, which included a photo op – some of which you’ll see below.

Thanks to my awesome group of Jess, Glenda, Erika, Stacia, John, Karleigh, Lisa, Jasmine, and Angèle: it was fun working with you and I'm so proud of the result!

And this little piggy... was taxidermied and made into a bank.

In reaction to what is probably the most bizarre news story I’ve heard in a long time, the Winnipeg Humane Society voiced their outrage this week over an ad in the Vancouver Magazine touting the perfect holiday gift: a piggy bank fashioned out of a real piglet.

thecheeky.com

The Piglet Bank is featured on thecheeky.com with a $4,000 price tag for what they describe as “the piggy bank of all piggy banks”:

“Its a real piglet that has been taxidermied and inserted with what all piglets probably dream of as babies, a coin storage unit and a cork plug. Make your plush overpriced apartment complete with this little guy.

The piglet bank will take up to 12 months to produce from the time of order. We expect half the money up front and half when the piglet had been completed. Just so you know that we don’t actually kill the Piglets, they die of natural causes and these are the ones that we use.”

As expected, there was an immediate uproar from various animal rights groups, even a journalist with the Vancouver Sun who wrote that while there are hundreds of other everyday products made from pigs, this piggy bank “strips away the last shred of dignity from one small, sentient being whose innocence has been lost in the relentless commercialization of life.”

The curious thing about this story, however, is that I can’t find a response of any kind from the Vancouver Magazine.

With a reaction of this kind, and on a topic so sensitive, you’d think that after nearly two weeks since the gift guide was published, the magazine would have issued some sort of statement – apologizing for offending anyone, or at least explaining what their objective was in running the ad (especially since the other gifts on the guide were much more tame).

In public relations, "no comment" is not a good decision when it comes to communicating as it can get people making assumptions – in this case, about ethics – which you don’t want your audience doing.

The owners of thecheeky.com, who are no strangers to controversy, haven’t been as quiet, saying:

“Most people understand it’s a bit of a joke. We’re not harming any animals. We’re not even considering it. It’s quite ridiculous what’s happening." “It’s no different than buying a leather jacket or a leather belt, or having bacon on your BLT. We’re just adapting to a different product.”

Art of the business card: Part 2

This is an update on a post I made back in April.

Once again, I’ve been assigned do create a business card as part of a visual identity project, but this time it must include our own logo.

I’m not sure if I feel more or less restricted by the logo requirement. After all, it’s an easy way to create a cohesive branding package (logo, business card, letterhead), but at the same time prevents tweaking things for different layouts.

I’m also finding it hard to design, or “brand”, myself. In another course we’re designing a logo for our own bar, cafe, or other trendy business and I’m having no trouble experimenting freely with colours, text, placement, etc.

But when it comes to developing something that represents you, there’s the added pressure of knowing that the choices you make with its design will reflect, or suggest things about you: your personality, how you work, and more.

Certain texts give a sense of weight or seperation, rhythm or continuity, while colours can suggest a whole range of moods and energy. Even arranging text and graphics in particular ways can imply movement or order, and put the focus of the logo on a specific element.

I tried not to overanalyse myself and just created a simple, basic logo that covers a wide range of “communications” – I’ll leave the specifics for when I actually get a job in the field!

Here's some that caught my eye while researching mine:

This person designed the typeface for his logo, which makes it much more personalized, and eliminates the problem of using a common font that someone else could use for their identity. I love the blocky text - but not for myself - very bold, and dare I say it, masculine.

I’ve noticed that some people solve the above problem of using widely available text by combining it with a graphic that relates to their business or field. I tried to do that with mine, as you’ll see below.

Another method is to tweak generic text to make it original, as I believe these two people did. It also helps if your name lends itself well to combine letters to make an interesting shape.

Owls are a very popular animal for logos, I see. I wonder what that means? I’m wise, cute, and googly eyed?

My logo with coordinating business card. It definitely needs an owl, though, now that I look at it.

Out ‘n about in la belle pays

Bonjour tout le monde!

Cette post est plus tard, mais c’est tres important aussi!

In August, I went on my first trip to Paris and I am thrilled to say it was a grand succès. Up until that point I’d been learning French for almost three months and the trip came at good point in the learning process. It was the proof I needed to see that all my hard work really would pay off.

Before Paris, the only practice I got speaking French with other French speakers was during my monthly visits with my old high school French teacher, and I was a little concerned about how I’d fare with perfect strangers.

For starters, I surprised myself with how much confidence I had when I was in Paris. Though I’m not fluent by any means, what little French I did know assured me that I would be able get my message across – spur of the moment – if I had to.

For instance, I had no qualms about asking a security guard at the Louvre for directions to the Venus de Milo, or explaining to a street vendor how many scoops and what flavour ice cream I wanted on my cone (pistachio and dark chocolate, of course).

The highlight of the trip, however, was our waiter at Le Soufflet restaurant who was extremely friendly and patient with us, and graciously paid me a compliment on my “parfait Francais”.

Just walking through the streets everyday and being constantly surrounded by a French environment made an improvement on my language skills – words came easier to me and I was able to pick up a few new catch phrases, like “bonne journee a vous”, instead of the tried and true “au revoir”.

I should note that you don’t have to travel all the way to Paris just to get some experience speaking in French and hearing others use the language.

If, like me, you know someone who’s fluent in the language and willing to help, meeting regularly and talking to each other in French is a great way to practice constructing your own sentences on the fly while getting feedback and suggestions.

But if you don’t have anyone on hand, that’s no big deal either. New media has made this easier, especially for people looking to speak with someone from the language’s country of origin. There are numerous online language communities – some well managed and free to use, some not – which give users the opportunity to practice a language with others either through text, audio, or video chat.

The only downside with this, of course, is the time difference between countries and continents can make it hard to find a time to meet that’s at a decent hour for both parties.

Perhaps I’ll try an online community like Skype when I’m not in school full time. For now, I’m trying to keep my language skills fresh by listening to podcasts and Internet radio where French is the primary language.

I recommend One Thing in a French Day (also available to download from iTunes), and the CBC French Radio app.

Coming soon: my audio documentary about my experience learning French through new media.

#wpgvotes, new media is there

I’m fairly interested when there’s an election in my community, and usually spend the evening of the big day watching the results appear on TV. But yesterday’s election was easily the most exciting I’ve experienced so far.

Why? Because I didn’t watch it on TV.

My primary source as news developed was the #wpg votes Twitter feed with CBC Radio 1 streaming live online in the background.

Together, they gave me the up-to-the-minute (or, with Twitter, up-to-the-second) information I needed, while eliminating what I now consider the rather useless visual that TV provides.

I didn’t miss the line of candidates’ photos on screen with vote numbers flickering beside them, or the constant turn to a panel of experts giving their thoughts and predictions as the votes come in.

Instead, thanks to Twitter, I looked at the occasional backstage photos that journalists and CreComm J Majors tweeted and enjoyed the mixed commentating and news updates from “regular” people, and media professionals with some nice interaction and RTing between the two.

Sometimes I think that presenting local events in the traditional newscast format can create a disconnect, in that it doesn’t give that close-to-home, unscripted feel of news as it happens.

Following the election via the very untraditional Twitter, however, made the entire thing seem more relevant by being able to read real reactions from “regular” people (admittingly not always a good thing), while at the same time just as informative because of input from media outlets, too.

That being said, new media isn’t for everyone, and this time around the local TV stations really failed to deliver for those looking to them for immediate results.

I should point out that I don’t live in Winnipeg, and therefore couldn’t vote in that election (even though its results still very much affect me), but way out in my small part of the world, new media also tried to be a voice in the election fray.

Tried, and... well, it was a very quiet voice. Of the nine people running, only two had an online presence.

One candidate effectively (in my case) used this presence to appeal to youth voters, sending them a targeted letter with links to his blog and Facebook page.

He was the only person running to acknowledge the youth vote, as well as understand that it required an approach different from the usual canvassing. Case in point, although my parents read the brochures, letters, and other scraps of paper handed to them at the door, I preferred to read up whatever I could about candidates online.

I imagine there was a time when people didn’t know who was their new mayor until they read the (print!) newspaper the next day. Now, with better technology and web posting, people can – and demand – to know the results immediately.

Unless, of course, you have to rely on the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) for your results. Even with their website advertised as the new “one-stop shop on election night”, I still had a day’s wait. As Kenton Larsen would say, 'wah wah'!

New media works, but only if you use it well. AMM election organizers take note.