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Newsletter Archive

March 2005 WWPR E-Newsletter

• February Brown Bag Luncheon Recap
• Professional Development
  • Spring Event Calendar
• Pro Bono Committee
• Membership Corner

February Professional Development Luncheon Recap

Written by Nancy Gibson, WWPR Membership Director

To celebrate WWPR’s 25th birthday this year, we are presenting a new theme for several of our Professional Development Lunches. Titled “Profiles in Leadership,” these lunches will feature past Women of the Year winners.

2001 Women of the Year winner, Elizabeth Shea, co-founder of the Shea Hedges Group kicked off the first Professional Development Lunch for 2005 in a packed conference room at the Metropolitan Group on February 16th. Elizabeth outlined the path that led her to co-founding a multi-million dollar public relations firm that is a leader in the tech industry. Following are some of her notes from the meeting and her book list. For all of us who attended the Brown Bag Lunch and heard her speak, we thank Elizabeth for candidly sharing her experiences with us.

Elizabeth Shea’s “Take-Away” Advice:

These are the best pieces of advice I’ve taken (not always at first, however!)

1. Think three years ahead. What does your “job” look like? Are you a one-person shop? Are you four people working in your house? Have you leased office space and on a growth trajectory for people and clients? Then, work your way back.
2. Think of yourself as an employee in your business; it keeps you sane and keeps you honest to yourself. It’s better than a job, but it’s still a job. Pay yourself first. Otherwise, why are you doing this?
3. Get good advisors, and listen! Tax, legal, finance. Get a bookkeeper; you’re too expensive to be managing this aspect of the business. Outsource whatever you can possibly afford.
4. Consider partnerships carefully: they are a marriage
   You’re only as good as your last client; don’t EVER screw that up. Maintain good relationships It ALWAYS comes back to bite you.
5. It takes longer than you think to stop being a start up; once you step in, it’s hard to step back out.
6. Chalk the first two years up to mistakes (and try not to repeat all of them)
7. You’ll work yourself into the ground for the first few years, but it gets better
8. There are more administrative burdens you have to worry about than you’d ever dream of: insurance, taxes, workman’s comp, legal issues, 401K management, liability, licenses…
9. There’s a reason your former employer did things the way they did.
10. Always be a student of learning. And read, read, read! Most books about leadership apply to any business, but should be overly appropriate for your own.

Elizabeth Shea’s shared a list of just-read books that helped shape her leadership style:

• The EMyth, Michael Gerber: at a time when you are starting to build an organization – define roles, think like a business
• The One-Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, Kenneth Blanchard, William Oncken and Hal Burrows: whether you’re a one-person shop or 400
• Good to Great, Jim Collins: more sophisticated: organizational excellence
• Fierce Conversations: Susan Scott for creating a culture in your company that is open and honest.
• First, Break all the Rules, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman for good leadership/management best practices.

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Professional Development

When: Tuesday, March 29 from 12:00-2:00

What: “The Power of a Word”
Instant Response- The dramatic effect of the public opinion research on political campaigns, speechwriting, public relations, advertising and corporate communications

Who: Elaine Gansz Bobo, vice president, Luntz Research Companies

The age-old expression ”Choose your words wisely” takes on a whole new meaning when you consider the research and message development Luntz has done for such clients as Merrill Lynch, Federal Express, NASDAQ, Pfizer, American Express, National Federation of Independent Business, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and eBay. So, how do they determine “which words and phrases work and which ones don’t” when trying to communicate with a target audience by getting inside their hearts and heads?

Elaine Gansz Bobo, 24-year veteran media and political specialist, will share with us some of the processes used by Luntz in their award-winning work, including the use of their Instant Response or “People-Meter,” the firm’s marquis product. According to Bobo , “Numbers can only take you so far. Focus group tapes or transcripts do not capture the emotion of the respondents. Seeing computer-generated, continuous lines that move across the face and voice of the tested individual is the most powerful way available to demonstrate immediate and precise public reaction. A five-minute Instant Response presentation tape often has a greater impact than a 90-minute polling presentation in allowing the client to determine the absolute best way of communicating and protecting them from the mistakes.”

Where: Downtown, Metro accessible location TBD

Cost: FREE to members; $15 for non-members

RSVP: Please respond no later than March 28, to Jennifer Bolick at Jennifer@RichfieldProductions.com.

When: April 20, 2005 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

What: “First Here, Last to Be Recognized”
Messaging Session at the National Museum of the American Indian

Where: National Museum of the American Indian at 4th Street and Independence Ave., SW (on the National Mall between the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and the U.S. Capitol Building).

METRO: L’Enfant Plaza Station (all lines except Red); exit Maryland Avenue/Smithsonian Museums

RSVP: No Later than Monday, April 18 to Jennifer Bolick, Jennifer@RichfieldProductions.com

Upcoming Professional Development Events

May 18 - Professional Development Luncheon - Speaker and location to be announced in April newsletter

June 15 - WWPR’s Media Roundtable (formerly known as the Flack Attack)

WWPR April Networking Opportunity

When: April 6. 2005 - 25th Anniversary Kick Off Happy Hour, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

What: To celebrate WWPR’s 25th Anniversary, we are partnering with PR Newswire/Multivu to bring you a networking Happy Hour. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres, cash bar and drink specials!

Where: Topaz Bar at 1733 N Street, NW

Look for your email invitation soon!!

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Pro Bono Committee

WWPR is Seeking a New Pro Bono Client for 2006 - We are looking for an organization that works specifically with women’s issues and could benefit from pro bono counsel. If you would like to suggest an organization that fits this criteria, , please contact Lauren Lawson, Pro Bono Director at 202-216-060, ext. 84 or lawsonlauren@yahoo.com.

WWPR's Pro-Bono Committee needs volunteers to assist with the second annual National Stop the Silence Race on Saturday, April 10, 2005 at 9 a.m. at Freedom Plaza (13th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW).

The race is to raise awareness about child sexual abuse. All registration proceeds will benefit WWPR’s non-profit client, Safe Shores - the DC Children's Advocacy.

The committee is looking for assistance with publicizing the race, securing media interviews for the Director of Safe Shores, as well as volunteers the day of the race.

If this is of interest, please contact Lauren Lawson at LawsonLauren@yahoo.com.

For more information on the race itself, please go to www.stopcsa.org.

Background: Safe Shores - The D.C. Children’s Advocacy Center (DCCAC), is a nonprofit organization working to minimize the trauma that children face by serving as a centralized facility through which abuse cases are handled. The DCCAC works in public/private partnership with a multidisciplinary team (MDT) of agencies including the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Office of the Corporation Counsel, Child and Family Services Agency, and Children's National Medical Center. A full listing of the services provided by the DCCAC is available at www.safeshores.org.

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Membership Corner

Please Renew Your WWPR Membership for 2005!

If you would like to join WWPR or if you have not renewed your membership, please take some time this week to join us! Membership dues are $85.00 per calendar year.

HOW TO JOIN WWPR: Go to http://www.wwpr.org/info.shtml and complete an application, print it out and mail it in, along with your $85.00 dues to: WWPR, P.O. Box 65297, Washington, DC 20035-5297. Please make checks payable to WWPR. Once your application has been reviewed, you'll be notified to confirm your membership. Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing.

HOW TO RENEW: Simply mail in your dues of $85.00 to: WWPR, P.O. Box 65297, Washington, DC 20035-5297. Please make checks payable to WWPR.

We will email you a membership receipt for your records or to seek reimbursement from an employer. If you have any questions, please contact Membership Director Nancy Gibson at nncgibson@aol.com

WWPR members: we’re looking for submissions for our website’s Membership Page for WWPR Member Profiles. We will be updating this page monthly and look to you to populate the page with interesting background information on yourselves! Please send all your Member Profile submissions to Nancy Gibson at nncgibson@aol.com.

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Torin Lee, Marketing and Communications Director
Washington Women in Public Relations
PO Box 65297
Washington, DC 20035-5297
www.wwpr.org
info@wwpr.org

If you would like to be added or removed from this mailing, please e-mail Torin_lee@yahoo.com.