Press Release 2: Image Building

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMIDEATE RELEASE

Burger Planet
52 Winchester Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53201
262-578-9845

Quick-Service Restaurant Changes Menu
Burger Planet is adding a new healthy food item

MILWAUKEE- Burger Planet has enhanced their menu this year by adding healthy options. Customers can continue to order food from the original menu as well as order new lower-carb items.

"Burger Planet cares about its customers,” CEO of Burger Planet, James E. Muellenbach III, said. “For more than seven decades, the company has succeeded because it put customers first. We listen to our customers. And our customers desire healthy choices, of which we offer many.”

Burger Planet draws customers with its burgers, fries and soda, and is continuing to adhere to what their customers want by keeping the original menu items and welcoming new ones.

Jayne Petersen, a personal trainer and dietitian, is also a new addition to Burger Planet as their new spokesperson. Petersen is fitness guru to many stars, CEO of a fitness and health enterprise, Looking Glass, Inc., and author of a bestseller “Looking Good in a Leotard.” Petersen is well-known for her success in helping Opal Whitcomb lose 75 pounds.

Petersen is developing a new adult Burger Planet Smiley Meal, which will include an ankle weight, white meat chicken entrée and a fruit package. She is working with Burger Planet chefs to ensure new menu items are as healthy as possible. Petersen, accompanied by Burger Planet’s mascot, Corny the Clown, will also do health-conscious appearances throughout the year at Burger Planet franchises and shopping malls around the country.

At the appearances, Petersen will list the healthy options Burger Planet is now offering, such as chicken filled lettuce wraps, fruit and gourmet salads. Customers can also ask to remove the bread or mayo to reduce calories.

Burger Planet will still offer the classic menu items customers still love. The Saturn with onion rings layered on top, the Venus with mushrooms and Swiss cheese, the half-size Mercury burger and the Hemisphere French Fries will all stay. Burger Planet now has a balanced menu with many available options.

"I emphasize a message of moderation,” Jayne Petersen said. “Women can have a burger and fries now and then as long as they are active. Try some of Burger Planet's exciting new menu choices, such as the fruit packages."

Petersen will be at the Burger Planet franchise in Times Square for the kick-off ceremony May 12. In June and July Petersen and Corny the Clown will be traveling around the country providing nutritional packets and advice for consumers. In June they will visit 12 Burger Planets and in July they will visit seven shopping malls starting with the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Burger Planet was started by James E. Muellenbach I, in a shack in Indianapolis. The company is now the largest quick-service restaurant. Burger Planet has almost 9,000 franchises, serves over 52 billion customers and employees over 48,000 people.

Meida Contact: Kayla Hall

Public Relations Assistant Account Executive

Kayla.hall@prforyou.com

-END-

Draft Press Release 2: Image Building

FOR IMMIDEATE RELEASE
Release Date: Sept. 28, 2010

Burger Planet
52 Winchester Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53201
Contact: Kayla Hall
Public Relations Assistant Account Executive
262-578-9845

Quick-Service Restaurant Changes Menu
Burger Planet is adding a new healthy food menu

MILWAUKEE- Burger Planet has remodeled their menu this year by adding healthy options.

Burger Planet draws customers with its burgers, fries and soda, and is continuing to adhere to what their customers want by keeping the original menu items and welcoming new ones.

"Burger Planet cares about its customers,” CEO of Burger Planet, James E. Muellenbach III, said. “For more than seven decades, the company has succeeded because it put customers first. We listen to our customers. And our customers desire healthy choices, of which we offer many.”

To build a healthy image, Burger Planet has hired Opal Whitcomb’s personal trainer, Jayne Petersen, as a spokesperson and a dietitian. Petersen is developing a new adult Burger Planet Smiley Meal, which will include an ankle weight, white meat chicken entrée and a fruit package. She is also working with Burger Planet chefs to ensure new menu items are as healthy as possible.

Petersen, accompanied by Burger Planet’s mascot, Corny the Clown, will do health-conscious appearances throughout the year at Burger Planet franchises and shopping malls around the country.

At the appearances, Petersen will list the healthy options Burger Planet is now offering, such as chicken filled lettuce wraps, fruit and gourmet salads. Customers can also ask to remove the bread or mayo to reduce calories.
Burger Planet will still offer the classic menu items customers still love. The Saturn with onion rings layered on top, the Venus with mushrooms and Swiss cheese, the half-size Mercury burger and the Hemisphere French Fries will all stay. Burger Planet now has a balanced menu with many available options.

"I emphasize a message of moderation,” Jayne Petersen said. “Women can have a burger and fries now and then as long as they are active. Try some of Burger Planet's exciting new menu choices, such as the fruit packages."

Petersen will be at the Burger Planet franchise in Times Square for the kick-off ceremony May 12. In June and July Petersen and Corny the Clown will be traveling around the country providing nutritional packets and advice for consumers. In June they will visit 12 Burger Planets and in July they will visit seven shopping malls starting with the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Burger Planet was started by James E. Muellenbach I, in a shack in Indianapolis. The company is now the largest quick-service restaurant. Burger Planet has almost 9,000 franchises, serves over 52 billion customers and employees over 48,000 people.

-END-

Press Release 1: Announcement

Social Media Club of Cache Valley
851 N. Main Street
Logan, UT 84321
Contact: President Preston Parker
(661) 772-7537

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release Date: Sept. 21, 2010

THE SOCIAL MEDIA CLUB OF CACHE VALLEY

Cache Valley now has an access for residents to learn about social media

LOGAN, Utah – The Social Media Club of Cache Valley (SMCCV) is inviting interested Cache Valley residents to join.

The SMCCV is a non-profit organization that helps members learn more about essential social media skills. The club is directed by seven board members who are currently working, or have previously worked, as public relations coordinators. Residents and businesspeople who are interested in improving their social media skills can benefit from becoming a member.

“The club is one of the most effective ways people can learn about social media,” Preston Parker, president of SMCCV, said. “All of the social media experts in Cache Valley are involved.”

The club meets every second Tuesday of the month. Members learn how to operate cutting-edge social media through demonstrations, hands-on learning and group interaction. Through working with real social media scenarios, members become fully confident using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and Blogs.

SMCCV was established in 2009 after SMCCV President Parker and colleagues visited the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City. They felt this club was so influential that they should create one for Cache Valley.

To become a member of SMCCV, visit www.smccv.net or join the SMCCV group on Facebook.com

Contact: Public Relation Specialist Kayla Hall kayla@prspeciailist.com

09-16-10 Online Journalism

After reading three different links about resumes and cover letters,
Six steps to Resume 2.0
How to avoid common resume mistakes and 30+ sites for resume and cover-letter inspiration , I have learned how I can improve my resume to make me an appealing job applicant.

All of the links are helpful, but the one I found to be the most helpful was the six step resume. Shannon Paul, the author of “Six steps to Resume 2.0,” suggests accommodating the needs of the receiver by sending both an html copy of the resume and a word document. Paul gives basic steps in creating a resume. She says to first start in a word document, add hyperlinks to key words that the employer can click-on to gain more knowledge about you. An example of this is hyper linking your name to your professional blog. Send the resume in word, create and send an html version of the resume, and explain, in a personable way, why you sent an html copy. Paul ends by saying that when sending your resume information, never expect the employer to have read or clicked on the things you sent.

I learned new information from the other websites as well. A pointer I found helpful was from “Don’t make it a moral statement: it’s a marketing document.” This text explained how to market yourself by not stating what your job responsibilities were, but stating what you accomplished while you were at the company. An example is “I helped increase sales by 20% by my social media outreach.”

These links have loads of information that can help anyone succeed when creating a resume. Who knows, you might get a job based on the quality of your resume.

Draft Press Release 1: Announcement

Press Release

Social Media Club of Cache Valley
851 N. Main St., Logan UT 84321
Contact: President Preston Parker
(661) 772-7537

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release Date: Sept. 14, 2010

THE SOCIAL MEDIA CLUB OF CACHE VALLEY

Cache Valley now has an access for residents to learn about social media

LOGAN, Utah – The Social Media Club of Cache Valley (SMCCV) is inviting interested Cache Valley residents to join.

The SMCCV is a non-profit organization that helps members learn more about essential social media skills. The club is directed by seven competent board members who are currently or previously worked as a public relations coordinator. Residents or businessmen and businesswomen who are interested in improving their social media skills can benefit from becoming a member.

“The club is one of the most effective ways for people to learn about social media,” Preston Parker, The president of SMCCV said. “All of the social media experts in Cache Valley are involved.”

SMCCV was established in 2009 after SMCCV President Parker and colleagues visited the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City. They felt like this was such an influential program that they should create one for Cache Valley.

To become a member of SMCCV, visit www.smccv.net or become a member on facebook.

Contact: Public Relation Specialist Kayla Hall kayla@prspeciailist.com

09-13-10 Journal - Intro to PR

What organization was using public relations?
THE WHITE HOUSE; Office of the First Lady

Where did you see the event/story?
Drudgereport.com

Briefly describe the situation.
Michelle Obama spoke at the National Restaurant Association meeting in Washington, DC Sept. 13 She spoke about how important restaurants are to our culture and how much all Americans eat out. She emphasized her “Let’s Move” platform to help childhood obesity and how she wants the help of the restaurants to start offering more healthy options.

What was the organization trying to accomplish?
Michelle is trying to help protect children from childhood obesity. She is trying to do this from various angles including informing parents and children, and by talking to restaurant owners. The Office of the First Lady also wants Americans to know that the First Lady is actively fulfilling her campaign. The more the general public feels like she is doing something positive, the more they will like her and possibly even like the President more.

What was their main message?
Michelle Obama is urging restaurant owners to make their menus less fattening by taking out lipids, and by giving more healthy options like carrots and apples instead of fries.

Who was their target audience?
Restaurant owners; Parents; Children; American public; voters

What media/activity were they doing?
Press release; public speaking; campaigning

Do you think they were successful? Why or why not?
Yes. Forty percent of the restaurants in America were represented at the Nation Restaurant Association and Mrs. Obama had enough time to plead her case, Americans are eating out far more than they used to and therefore they need healthy options when they go out to eat. They heard her loud and clear and I think they will choose to add healthy options. They might do it because they genuinely want to help eliminate obesity in the rising generation or because it is popular, but either way I feel they will make a change.
I felt like Michelle’s image was boosted by disseminating this information. It made the public feel like she wants to make a difference in America.

Here is a link to the press release sent out by the White House
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/09/michelle_obama_pushing_restaur.html

United Breaks Guitars

In the event “United Breaks Guitars,” David Carroll flew with United Airlines from Nova Scotia to Nebraska when he saw, out of his passenger window, United’s worker carelessly tossing his Taylor guitar into the plane. Upon arrival, Carroll discovered the neck of his guitar had been broken. Carroll attempted to receive reconcile from United Airlines, but after a year of vain attempts, the aspiring country singer, David Carroll, decided to compose a piece about how United broke his guitar in which he posted on Youtube.

Unbeknownst to United, Carroll’s video, “United Breaks Guitars” received over 100,000 views within the first day. The same day United’s stock prices fell 10 percent. By the first year his song generated almost nine million hits. Within days after the release, United contacted Carroll and offered compensation for his beloved guitar. He denied the money and asked them to instead donate the money to a charity of their choice, in which they did.

This story is a perfect example of why public relations is so important. If an institution is not meeting the needs of their customers, then they have broken the mutually beneficial relationship and will quickly lose support. This story also proves how influential one person’s opinion, combined with internet, can be.

In this particular situation I feel like Carroll took the most effective approach at getting the revenge he felt he deserved. After a year of suffering, trying to be compensated for the damage done to his guitar, he felt the only way to change United’s behavior was to publicly humiliate them. Carroll received the outcome he hoped for and some. United offered to compensate him for the damage, and Taylor guitars donated two guitars for Carroll’s second and third video. The aspiring country singer was now famous. He found instant notoriety within 24 hours all because of a broken guitar.

When watching the first “United Breaks Guitars,” the lyrics mention a United representative, Mrs. Irlweg. The music video displayed a lady holding a sign saying “Mrs. Irlweg” and then holding up a sign saying “no.” This singles out Mrs. Irlweg specifically. I do not agree with Carroll choosing to use exact names in his music video.

I think Carroll under estimated the fame the video would receive, and he too realized that spotlighting Mrs. Irlweg was uncalled for. He posted a self-made personal interview on youtube two days after stating that Mrs. Irlweg was in fact a kind person. After watching the video I felt like he had made a genuine mistake in mentioning her name and was trying to make amends. I also appreciated that he informed the public of the steps United was taking to fix the problem. This showed that Carroll was not trying to completely destroy United’s reputation, but was trying to make a point in a big way. I enjoyed how Carroll kept the situation comical throughout the videos and the interview. At the end of the personal interview he said, “One day I hope to have a good laugh with her [Mrs. Irlweg] about all of this,” which I too hope will happen.

I, like everyone else, have been an airline customer and have experienced the frustration of broken luggage, and the near impossibility of receiving compensation. It makes me happy to know that someone finally made a big enough stand to hopefully change their procedures and policies.

I am frustrated at how United chose to respond to their Carroll’s problem at the beginning. If they knew they were to blame for breaking his guitar, that they should put aside policy to compensate him for his losses. I feel this should be the ethics of any company willing to do business; they have to be aware there will be mistakes they will have to account for.

I did however, feel like United handled the problem in the correct manner after the video was publicized. Once Carroll launched the song, United chose to care because Carroll’s situation because it was damaging their image in a way that was immeasurable. United was quick to offer money compensation and then did as Carroll asked and donated the money. I felt like they had good damage control. Carroll had attained so much power over public opinion that if United failed to fulfill his request their image would continue to crumble.

This has fully awakened me to the power of youtube and other sites on the Internet that have changed the dynamic of public relations completely.

Online Journalism

This week we covered the different aspects of online journalism. We learned that a website ending in .org does not guarantee that it is a reliable site. Anyone can purchase a domain name ending in .org. In order to know if a website is reliable, a person must check their ABCs: Accuracy, Authority, Biased, Content and Design. If one or more of the ABCs is not in place it is most likely not reliable.

We talked about what the difference is between blogs and websites. “Blog” is short for web log, and was first used by Matt Drudge, the founder of drudgereport.com. A blog is more user-friendly and does not require computer science to manage.

Our online readings covered “netiquette,” the proper way to use the internet, what not to say in an online conversation and

The netiquette portion emphasized that when talking to others via the Internet, remember they are human beings with feelings and emotions. Choose your wording correctly and avoid using text in all caps. Use ethics on the Internet the way you would offline. Understand the site you visit before posting or commenting. Don’t be selfish by posting unimportant things and wasting others bandwidth and time. Use proper punctuation and avoid flaming wars and swearing. The Internet offers an immense amount of knowledge, use it and share your knowledge with others. We should always remember to respect others privacy, never abuse our power and be forgiving.

Letter to Cousin Explaining PR

Public relations does not have one specific definition, but can be defined in various ways with the same static key elements within each description. As “Public Relations Writing”, by Newsom and Haynes explains, when talking about public relations, “The ingredients to look for are ethical, social responsible, trusting relationships, reliable communication, anticipation of consequences, counsel to client/organizations, and evaluator of outcomes.” PR serves both the interests of the institution for which it belongs, and the public’s interests. It focuses on internal publics and media as well as external publics and media. PR insures the communication between the institution and its publics remain open. PR disseminates key information concerning the institution, that the public would be interested in knowing, as well as stays informed on the public’s opinion of the company and relays that information back to the head of the institution.

Two-way communication is essential in public relations. This communication can be made between employer and employees, employees and customers, institution and public, institution and government and so forth. The main channel of communication is through the written word. A majority of public relations is writing. Through a newsletter, a company can communicate with their stakeholders past, current and future happenings. They can construct a press release catered specifically for each medium such as print or broadcast. The press releases must include news-worthy information or faces the risk of being rejected by the media. News-worthy information could include the releasing of a new product, a prominent person speaking at their company or even bad news concerning the company. It is the job of the public relation specialist to inform the public of the problem and, with detail, explain how they are going to fix the problem and follow up with a press release concerning their success in correcting the problem. A company can also hold a conference call with their employees where the agenda must be written prior to the call.

PR communicates with their publics through an array of media. One of the newest, most effective forms of two-way communication happens through social media. Instead of just “pushing information” to the public through the media, they “pull people into discussion.” This helps give the institution significant information from their stakeholders and helps the institution with their publicity. Along with social media, the use of traditional media is still widely used and accepted. Public Relations still values traditional forms of media including print and broadcast, each reaching specified audiences and meeting the needs of the institution as well as the needs of its stakeholders.