Friday, October 26, 2007
PRSA: A conference worth attending
I had the pleasure of attending the international conference of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in Philadelphia this past week. Through the plenary sessions and workshops, I discovered again that there are many places where our communications work in the church intersects with the work others are doing in industry, advertising agencies and nonprofit organizations. The theme was "PR Evolution: Innovation, Collaboration, Influence."
The most important session I attended at this meeting was the first one, a plenary session in which Mia Farrow was the speaker. Mia Farrow? At a communication conference? I wondered about that. She was there not there to talk about her film career, but her experiences as an humanitarian activist for the people of Darfur. She was passionate in her descriptions of the genocide that is occurring there. Her enthusiasm for this difficult work is amazing. In the ELCA, we have been doing a lot of advocacy work for this region of the world, and I deeply appreciated Farrow's remarks. I also know that for many people in the audience -- nearly 3,500 people -- much of what she was describing was new information. For me, hers was the most important presentation I've heard this year. I only wish more could hear her message.
I went to a workshop called "Think the Press Release is Dead? Think Again." What I learned is that the work we've been doing to improve our delivery of ELCA News is precisely what we ought to be doing. The experts on this panel talked at length about combining written text with audio and video, and using things such as blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, etc. In other words, use as many vehicles as you can to tell the story. I left this workshop knowing that we must continue to tell our stories in many forms. For example, you may have noticed recently that we're delivering more video news releases, and we continue to embed audio and pictures in our stories.
Tim Russert, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," among other things, said elected leaders in Washington, D.C. aren't communicating across party lines, and he described the atmosphere as "poisonous." Media outlets have contributed to this, encouraging politicians to attack each other and counterattack, he said. Further, the presidential candidates are not addressing questions with the specifics of what they will do if elected.
“This is the time to try to get commitments from these candidates, asking them repeatedly if necessary, ‘What are you going to do?’ Tell us specifically. Don’t just say, ‘We have to have a withdrawal from Iraq.’ Explain it. How many soldiers? What will be the consequences? What if genocide results? Give us your best sense of planning and preparation,” Russert said.
“We need to have the confidence that our next president has thought these things through the best as humanly possible, and has the judgment and inner strength to deal with problems that are going to confront us,” he said. “They are going to be enormous.”
As I listened to that, I wondered about the impact people of faith can play in engaging political candidates on these issues in the coming months.
Finally, I was impressed with the comments of Brian Tierney, chief executive officer, Philadelphia Media Holdings, and publisher of the The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. Tierney used his experience in branding, marketing and advertising to turn the circulation slide of these papers completely around this year. How did he do it? Two basic strategies: Get the best journalists he could find to work for these publications and give them the tools and support they need to succeed -- and market what you publish. Tierney said when he assumed his current role, $300,000 was being spent to market the products of a $450 million company. It now spends some $14 million on the task and has done some other things to promote the publications, such as putting the Web address "philly.com" right under the masthead.
Now that sounds like a winning combination for any organization.
John B.
The most important session I attended at this meeting was the first one, a plenary session in which Mia Farrow was the speaker. Mia Farrow? At a communication conference? I wondered about that. She was there not there to talk about her film career, but her experiences as an humanitarian activist for the people of Darfur. She was passionate in her descriptions of the genocide that is occurring there. Her enthusiasm for this difficult work is amazing. In the ELCA, we have been doing a lot of advocacy work for this region of the world, and I deeply appreciated Farrow's remarks. I also know that for many people in the audience -- nearly 3,500 people -- much of what she was describing was new information. For me, hers was the most important presentation I've heard this year. I only wish more could hear her message.
I went to a workshop called "Think the Press Release is Dead? Think Again." What I learned is that the work we've been doing to improve our delivery of ELCA News is precisely what we ought to be doing. The experts on this panel talked at length about combining written text with audio and video, and using things such as blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, etc. In other words, use as many vehicles as you can to tell the story. I left this workshop knowing that we must continue to tell our stories in many forms. For example, you may have noticed recently that we're delivering more video news releases, and we continue to embed audio and pictures in our stories.
Tim Russert, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," among other things, said elected leaders in Washington, D.C. aren't communicating across party lines, and he described the atmosphere as "poisonous." Media outlets have contributed to this, encouraging politicians to attack each other and counterattack, he said. Further, the presidential candidates are not addressing questions with the specifics of what they will do if elected.
“This is the time to try to get commitments from these candidates, asking them repeatedly if necessary, ‘What are you going to do?’ Tell us specifically. Don’t just say, ‘We have to have a withdrawal from Iraq.’ Explain it. How many soldiers? What will be the consequences? What if genocide results? Give us your best sense of planning and preparation,” Russert said.
“We need to have the confidence that our next president has thought these things through the best as humanly possible, and has the judgment and inner strength to deal with problems that are going to confront us,” he said. “They are going to be enormous.”
As I listened to that, I wondered about the impact people of faith can play in engaging political candidates on these issues in the coming months.
Finally, I was impressed with the comments of Brian Tierney, chief executive officer, Philadelphia Media Holdings, and publisher of the The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. Tierney used his experience in branding, marketing and advertising to turn the circulation slide of these papers completely around this year. How did he do it? Two basic strategies: Get the best journalists he could find to work for these publications and give them the tools and support they need to succeed -- and market what you publish. Tierney said when he assumed his current role, $300,000 was being spent to market the products of a $450 million company. It now spends some $14 million on the task and has done some other things to promote the publications, such as putting the Web address "philly.com" right under the masthead.
Now that sounds like a winning combination for any organization.
John B.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
"The Ten Commandments" hits theaters
Oct. 19, 2007
This is an animated feature that is not to be missed. The film is a superbly animated feature that closely follows Cecil B. Demille's original motion picture by the same name, which featured Charlton Heston. This version of The Ten Commandments is distributed by Promenade Pictures, a worldwide distributor of family films. This picture will appeal to children and adults, and it was meant for families to watch it together.
The film features some big Hollywood names as the voices of the key characters: Christian Slater as Moses, Alfred Molina as Ramses and Elliott Gould as God. Ben Kingsley is the film's narrator.
The film is the story of Moses' life, focusing on his relationship with Ramses, the Egyptian king, leading the Jews out of Egypt to the Promised Land, parting the Red Sea and destroying Ramses' army. The film concludes with Moses' death, after he saw the Promised Land but was not allowed to cross into it.
Prior to its release, there was some controversy involving The Ten Commandments and Radio Disney, which asked for the word "God" to be stricken from advertisements for the movie. Promenade President and Chief Operating Officer Cindy Bond complied with the request, because Radio Disney's listeners are the core audience for the film, she said. Viewers of the film will hear plenty about God and Scripture, but the feature is not overly heavy in its use of "God" language.
I watched a DVD of the movie on a computer screen. This is a picture filled with colorful animated scenery and large landscapes that is meant to be watched on the big screen. Families will enjoy this film, and it provides the basis for more discussion later.
John B.
This is an animated feature that is not to be missed. The film is a superbly animated feature that closely follows Cecil B. Demille's original motion picture by the same name, which featured Charlton Heston. This version of The Ten Commandments is distributed by Promenade Pictures, a worldwide distributor of family films. This picture will appeal to children and adults, and it was meant for families to watch it together.
The film features some big Hollywood names as the voices of the key characters: Christian Slater as Moses, Alfred Molina as Ramses and Elliott Gould as God. Ben Kingsley is the film's narrator.
The film is the story of Moses' life, focusing on his relationship with Ramses, the Egyptian king, leading the Jews out of Egypt to the Promised Land, parting the Red Sea and destroying Ramses' army. The film concludes with Moses' death, after he saw the Promised Land but was not allowed to cross into it.
Prior to its release, there was some controversy involving The Ten Commandments and Radio Disney, which asked for the word "God" to be stricken from advertisements for the movie. Promenade President and Chief Operating Officer Cindy Bond complied with the request, because Radio Disney's listeners are the core audience for the film, she said. Viewers of the film will hear plenty about God and Scripture, but the feature is not overly heavy in its use of "God" language.
I watched a DVD of the movie on a computer screen. This is a picture filled with colorful animated scenery and large landscapes that is meant to be watched on the big screen. Families will enjoy this film, and it provides the basis for more discussion later.
John B.
