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February 5,  2009

Welcome to First Principles Communication

Our web site combines news and views about the public relations profession with information about the activities of First Principles Communication, based in Oakville, Canada.

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November 2008

Students give 2008
Business Law Summit an 'A' 

Four students from Port Credit High School--invited to Pallett Valo's 2008 Business Law Summit in lieu of giving star panelists traditional speaker gifts--have the last word.

"We strongly believe in stewardship, in giving back to the community in which our law firm operates. And we believe that mentoring the next generation of Canada's business leaders is important," says Pallett Valo managing partner Anna Esposito.

The students enjoyed the conference, and wrote an article about it, published in the Mississauga Business Times.

Read the article here.

May 2008

Jana Schilder's expertise on media relations is published in the Mississauga Business Times.

Ten tips for getting famous
in the media

Published in the Mississauga Business Times, May 2008, Page 60

Compared with other sub-disciplines of public relations (PR)—such as dealing with regulators or employee communications—media relations is glamorous and fun. The other moniker for media relations is “publicity.”

Media relations is making companies famous via television, radio, web, and print. The allure of media relations is simple:  it generates buzz about your organization. It’s Andy Warhol’s “15 seconds of fame.”

At the Canadian Institute’s 2-day intensive media relations conference held last month, about 80 business people honed their skills. Here are some useful tips for Mississauga business people: 

1. Spend a lot of time thinking about your “hook.” First, become familiar with the publication or program:  who is the audience and what types of stories have run recently?
   
   This will give you clues as to what angles have NOT been covered. What has been overlooked? Does your company offer added insight into current news and business issues? How will this story affect the publication’s audience? On the other hand, offer an editor a story angle that ran last month—and you’ve just disqualified yourself!
   
   Few organizations can generate news, but many can ride on the coattails of other news stories. Good media relations people can think of the “hook” that no one else has.
2. Act on your “hook” right away. Although we live in the biggest media market in Canada, the “news hole” is getting smaller and smaller. In talking with editors, you’ll be surprised by how many other organizations are in line, ahead of you, frequently with the same story idea.
3. Media prefer to cover events rather than “talking heads.” TV thrives on action rather than in-studio interviews. If your story is abstract, find ways to make it concrete for reporters and audiences.
4. Establish good relationships with editors and reporters. Regularly send out news releases so that editors know that you are willing to offer commentary and interviews. Be patient. It may take 12 to 18 months to get noticed. 
5. Use “leading” in the first paragraph of your news release and it will end up in the trash. Guaranteed. Few organizations can actually substantiate this claim. Reporters are skeptical. Leave out “leading.”
6. Today, reporters live and die by the Blackberry. They all work on the fly. Some also file stories on their Blackberries. If you’re distributing news releases to reporters, keep this in mind:  shorter is better.
7. Reporters and editors think in terms of “stories and anecdotes.” Reporters want stories that make a publication interesting while executives have been ultra media trained to deliver “Key Messages.” This makes for very disjointed interviews. Save “Key Messages” for crisis situations only. It’s O.K. for executives to relate stories.
8. Results in media relations are NOT guaranteed. When businesses retain media relations professionals, they are paying for representation (like retaining a lawyer). Media relations people pitch a story, but editors and producers decide whether that story will run. Professional ethics prevent media relations people from being compensated “only if the story runs.”
9. Ask yourself which business story you’d pull from a newspaper to run yours. If you can make a legitimate case that your business story is more important than other recent stories, it MAY be worthwhile to meet with the editor or producer. Be aware, however, that this is a tough sell and comes across as “whining.”
10. Get excited when the article is published, or when the program airs. Media relations professionals don’t control what gets printed or aired. Stories that are 100% positive are rare indeed

June 2007

Tips for Communicating in a Crisis

More from Jana Schilder, published in the Mississauga Business Times.

Read the story here.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Taylor'd Bagels, FPC client, featured in The Toronto Star

 "... in Oakville, buzz is building for Taylor'd Bagels (2501 Third Line).

FPC is the proud buzz-builder for Taylor'd Bagels, one of our clients, at the time.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Gordon Ramsay: 
chef & change agent

British chef Gordon Ramsay has two television programs on right now in Canada:  Hell’s Kitchen, airing on Fox and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, airing on the Food Network.

There is a lot to learn about running a successful restaurant from Ramsay. And, for corporations, there is also a lot to learn about change management from Ramsay: 

1. Ramsay is actually one of the few who is willing to deliver tough messages.

2. Change management is not for the faint of heart:  crying and screaming!

3. Many supposedly "trained chefs" are actually unqualified to be chefs. Head chefs don’t act like leaders:  cannot plan menus, manage time, delegate or follow-up.  The parallel in organizations is many leaders are equally unqualified.  

4. The effect on the kitchen staff (or organization) of leaders who don’t lead is that team members become demoralized.

5. Team members who don’t respect each other and cannot get along:  chef, head waiter and wait staff are all at odds.

6. Chefs and/or team members who don’t pull their weight, but who have plenty of “attitude” to compensate!

7. Team members who protect each other for the wrong reasons:  because “we are friends.”

8. Restaurant owners who, even when told what they need to do to turn their restaurant around, don’t act on Ramsay’s advice. Why? Because they don’t like to deliver the bad news and fire people.  

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Tips for communicating
in a crisis

Aaron Brown, former ABC and CNN news anchor

The June 2007 issue of Mississauga Business Times has, on page 16, an article I wrote on communicating in a crisis. The article was inspired by a one-day conference organized by Tom Axworthy and the Queen's University Centre for the Study of Democracy. Highlight of the day was the after-lunch keynote speech by Aaron Brown, former ABC and CNN anchorman.

Read the article here.

Monday, May 7, 2007

MEDIA RELATIONS
Taylor'd Bagels has made its second TV appearance

First Principles client Taylor'd Bagels hosted Real Life television show host Sharon Caddy and her production crew, taping a program shown Wednesday, April 25. Real Life is produced by the CTS Television Network.

It was a great show, with Sharon rolling her own bagels.

PHOTOS: Visit our Real Life television program page on the Taylor'd Bagels web site here to see some of the photos we took during production.

Taylor'd Bagels has since shut down.

MEDIA RELATIONS  2 :
Letterman show a source of legitimate news

Following on the heels of the story immediately below, we learn this week, via "Late Night With David Letterman," the plans of U.S. Senator John McCain to run for the Republican presidential nomination.

MEDIA RELATIONS 1:
Comedy Central channel a source of legitimate news

Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show," that mocks the foibles and faux-pas of politicians and airs nightly is now actively seen by media relations professionals as a legitimate media placement for their clients.

Recent Stewart guests included Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. And on January 29, Bill Gates announced the new Windows Vista operating system on the show. Gates was trying to answer Stewart's sometimes silly and always mocking questions ... and Gates was keeping up with the comedy program. Why? Because the audience demographic and size warrant that politicians and CEOs alike play along on "The Daily Show." 

And the impressive guest list is sure to grow. When will Hilary Clinton be appearing?

Back in 2004, a poll released by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 21 percent of people aged 18 to 29 cited "The Daily Show" as a source of primary news. Art imitates life. 

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 

The art of the
commencement speech

With May 2006 coming to a close, it is time to look back at some of this season’s (and past seasons') commencement speeches. Here are some favourites from a range of celebrities on the commencement circuit. You might want to read and save these in your files.

A very good commencement speech should be personal and inspiring. Equally important, it should use stories and anecdotes to both make the speaker’s points and keep the listeners’ interest. And, it should be mercifully short.

In fact, all good communication has three things in common:  brevity, levity, and repetition. Let me repeat that….  

Senator John McCain
Columbia University, May 16, 2006
TRANSCRIPT 

Christiane Amanpour
Chief International Correspondent – CNN  University of Michigan, April 29, 2006
TRANSCRIPT             VIDEO (15 min)

Bono
Harvard University, June 6, 2001
TRANSCRIPT 

Jon Bon Jovi  (a very good speech)
Monmouth University, May 16, 2001
TRANSCRIPT   

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Objective news
versus ratings

Veteran news reporter and anchor Aaron Brown, who was axed by CNN in the wake of Hurricane Katrina coverage last fall, gave a sobering speech titled “Media and Politics in a Changing and Chaotic Time” at The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, January 24, 2006.

Brown’s NewsNight 10 p.m. timeslot was given to Anderson Cooper in a bid to capitalize on Cooper’s popularity, which spiked during his coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Eighteen hour days, pulling bodies out of flooded homes and trying to nail officials on-camera is Cooper’s younger and more hip style. The goal was to connect with a younger demographic. This was CNN’s gamble:  to out-fox Fox News. According to latest audience statistics, the gamble has not translated into increased viewers. 

In the speech, Brown made some stunning observations:

"Truth no longer matters in the context of politics and, sadly, in the context of cable news," said Aaron Brown.

“Television is the most perfect democracy,” Brown said. "You sit there with your remote control and vote." The remotes click to another channel when serious news airs, but when the media covers the scandals surrounding Laci Peterson, the Runaway Bride or Michael Jackson, "there are no clicks then," the journalist said.

Read the story in the Palm Beach Daily News here.

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