Sessions about Media Relations

State U. plays their arch rival this Saturday in football. No tickets? No problem. You watch it on TV – or maybe not. Video is the next best thing to being there, and in 2007 you don’t have to wait until you get home to watch. Online video sites, smaller and better cameras and portable viewers can give most anyone what they need to not only be a viewer, but also a producer, broadcaster or even “podcaster.” Do you have a story to tell? A message to send? Then fire up that video camera, get some software and prepare to share it with the world. This session will offer tips on how to make a quality video presentation above and beyond those funny things you see on YouTube. Experts from the University of Tennessee and Kansas State University will offer advice on production and editing techniques, the art and style of video photography, and script writing – including the “full circle” effect of storytelling. We will focus on where video is going in the future, and discuss web video, iPod usage and satellite technology. We also offer the perspective of an ACE member “bamboozled” into video, and how the experience is going.

What should you do if a reporter makes mistakes in a story about your boss, your program, or your agency? This is an area of media relations where you really need to pick your fights carefully. But, you do have some options and opportunities. This session will address how you should go about approaching reporters, correspondents or, if necessary, their editors to get the corrections you want. We’ll also talk about when to ask for a correction and when to do nothing, as well as discussing the various types of corrections that are available for different situations. You’ll also learn some proven strategies for what to do if the media refuses to correct the error, along with tips to make sure that the problem doesn’t happen again.

Starting with a clear definition of branding, we’ll move through a tried-and-true process that will lead you to a brand that resonates and ultimately delivers an enhanced reputation and image for your organization. Join us for a rousing game of “Brandoo.” We’ll then show you how to work with internal and external stakeholders in a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis to define your organization’s market niche. We’ll show how to develop information so that you can accurately express your brand through communications pieces. We’ll talk about brand attributes, brand personalities, tone of voice and overarching goals. We’ll show how to funnel all of this information into a statement that defines the goals of your communications efforts for primary audiences. The information will crystallize in a look at brand standards manuals that now guide communications for Ohio State University Extension, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, and academic programs in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Finally, we’ll show examples of how these brand standards are applied through key communications pieces.

The CLEC Information Office serves as a communication resource for the Center’s interdisciplinary faculty, the Environmental Horticulture department faculty, and the Master Gardener and Florida Yards & Neighborhoods programs. Information Office staff coordinate media and public relations, internal communications, and strategic communication planning for these departments and programs. The staff also serve as writing resources for faculty, publishing their research and extension work in popular publications and Web sites. The CLEC Information Office was established to coordinate communication efforts between the UF and Florida’s Green Industry. The coordinated communication will allow all parties to reach the intended audience of Florida residents. The Green Industry in Florida generated $15 billion in sales in 2005 and UF is making a concentrated effort to become a visible part of this industry. In 2006, the Florida legislature established CLEC. The Center has faculty throughout the state and housed in multiple departments including environmental horticulture, soil and water science, plant pathology, entomology, and agricultural communication.

This session will cover networking resources and utilizing expertise within your university or agency to address the public's "need to know" in a crisis or emergency situation. Learn how to coordinate activities with other governmental agencies, as well as use novel resources to educate media representatives nationwide.

During this session learn how a few maneuvers can turn a crisis into a fiasco. The presenters use real examples taken from the news pages to show how communicators and others have taken a bad situation and made it worse. Audience participation is a must in this session which takes a light-hearted approach to teaching crisis communications. The take home message: Don't let this happen to you.

What’s in it for you? How does eXtension fit in your daily life? What is the code? Can you enter restricted space? Learn what we’re doing, how you can get your news releases on eXtension. The up-till-now secret process will be revealed.

Bordertown racism is an issue in many parts of the United States. It has been the topic of communitywide discussion on the Navajo Nation through media interviews in the newspaper and on the radio and through community meetings. The panel members will discuss how the issue has evolved in their community and what reaction there has been. The Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC) developed and produced a discussion guide "Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation" to help communities develop their own ability to solve racism problems. The guide is available free to download, or can be purchased in bulk from www.studycircles.org. They offer a discount of $3.00 each when purchasing more than 10 copies of a guide and can take those orders over the phone, via email or by faxing # 860-928-3713. They invoice orders costing more than $20.00 all other require prepayment. (Suggest either copying or ordering to accompany this session). Joanne Littlefield will facilitate this panel discussion.

Are News and Marketing mutally exclusive? While we all talk about "integrated marketing," how does it really manifest itself in terms of the traditional news operation? How can news and marketing best and strategically co-exist?

Outline Processor Markup Language is a computer file format that can be used as a news reporting and organizational tool. From creating a lightweight database of media outlets, to using OPML as a note-taking tool to report live news events, the programming language is versatile and appealing to a variety of agricultural communications practictioners. This breakout session will demonstrate the uses of OPML as a news reporting and information gathering tool.

The Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University is conducting the Study of Positive Youth Development to look at how positive influences in the lives of youth help protect them from getting involved in "problem behaviors". Five years into this 6-year longitudinal research involving 4,000 diverse adolescents from across the country, indicators for youth success are emerging. Data is showing that one of the most significant factors helping youth move effectively through adolescence is involvement in a quality youth development program such as 4-H. This is good news for agriculture and university communicators, as it provides research to support the value of this USDA- and university extension-operated youth development program. In this session, representatives from National 4-H Council and Vanguard Communications will share highlights from the Tufts study and show you the communications tools available to help you use the data to promote your university’s Extension 4-H program.

Learn how to help your Extension and Research faculty reach their audiences through marketing plans that are goal-oriented and audience specific. Bring your vexing marketing challenges to this session, and we’ll discuss how to attack and bring home a victory. We’ll walk through the discovery process with clients as you laser in on key goals and audiences through questions and research. We’ll discuss how to mine your communications toolbox and move beyond the obvious to provide innovative solutions for your customers. We’ll share the elements of a marketing plan and provide real-life examples.

In this session, two communications professionals from the Los Alamos National Laboratory will teach their approaches in training scientists and other spokespersons to talk with the media. In the first part of the session, they will share examples of how LANL spokespersons have talked publicly about highly-sensitive topics. Latter parts of the session will focus on training landgrant communicators to train scientists and others on their campus to be effective public spokespersons. Includes hands-on training and group presentations.

We recently developed an integrated marketing communication (IMC) approach for the new UF/IFAS Extension NPR radio program, Gardening in a Minute, in order to reach a broader audience with sustainable landscape management information. Associated marketing materials include the Web site, a poster, a Web card, a seed packet, fact sheets, a press release, a display banner, and shirts. This session will explore, in panel format, how we used the already-extant Solutions for Your Life Extension Web site and marketing materials to create a brand extension to help further the UF/IFAS branding effort. Our panel will give an overview of IMCs, as well as an explanation of SolutionsForYourLife.com research, and how both were applied to the Gardening in a Minute effort.