The Minnesota chapter, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), is seeking nominations for the Donald G. Padilla Community Service Award which honors a career of outstanding community service in the field of public relations. Nominations are due Oct. 29 at 5 p.m.

For the first time Minnesota PRSA is opening the Padilla Community Service Award to non-members. “We decided to seek nominations more broadly because Minnesota PRSA wants to encourage public service among members as well as throughout the professional communication community,” said Steve Miller, board member and liaison to the public service committee, which manages the Padilla Award process on behalf of Minnesota PRSA.

The award, first created in 1995, is named after Minnesota public relations pioneer Donald G. Padilla. During his long career, Padilla devoted himself to helping civic, educational, human services and arts organizations communicate more effectively. He was a co-founder of the Minneapolis firm Padilla Speer Beardsley.

In 2003, the Padilla Community Service Award was presented to Ann H. Barkelew, APR, PRSA Fellow and a senior consultant for Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. of Minneapolis, for her years of service to the community.

Those interested in nominating a professional communicator for the Padilla Award can find a nomination form and other details by clicking here.

This job just landed in my e-mail box. Looks like a good one.

Kohnstamm Communications is looking for Media Relations Account Executive. They are looking for a person with a degree in PR/Communications, strong writing skills and an ability to strategically craft and communicate messages to stakeholders.

To apply, send a resume to:


Click here for more information.

The Twin Cities office of Weber Shandwick today announced the promotion of employees in the financial services, corporate relations and office services groups. The financial services group promoted Jennifer McFadden from senior account executive to account supervisor. McFadden, who joined the agency in 1999, currently works on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Carlson Wagonlit Travel accounts.

The corporate relations group promoted both Stephanie Moncada and Ryan Benbo from account executives to senior account executives. Moncada has been with the agency since 2000, and works with clients Minnesota State University,Mankato, and United Defense. Benbo joined the agency in 2002 and currently serves on the United Defense, DMI, and Toro teams. The group also promoted Stacy Tapp from account coordinator to assistant account executive. Tapp, who joined the agency in 2002, works with Hotel Sofitel, PATH Inc., the Home and Garden Show, and the Prairie Island Indian Community.

The office services team promoted Heather Kruger from mailroom specialist to office coordinator. Kruger has been with the agency since 2003.

Still looking for that perfect PR job? Here is one that might be right for you.

If you have a passion for writing and a nose for news Padilla Speer Beardsley wants YOU. We’re looking for candidates with three to five years of public relations experience with excellent writing skills, media relations experience and strong project management skills. As an account executive(AE) you would be responsible for managing and developing many day-to-day public relations activities, including writing case histories, feature articles and news releases, as well as planning and implementing trade shows and client events. The AE also will conduct ongoing media calls, schedule editor interviews and assist with research. The clients served include agriculture, manufacturing and technology industries, and community outreach and issues management. Experience working at a public relations agency is a plus.

Padilla Speer Beardsley offers great benefits and is an equal opportunity employer. Send resume to Stephanie Grogg at or #400, . For more information click here.

If you are like me September is a crazy month, filled with too much work, too much travel and not enough time to do the things you really want to do--like attend Minnesota PRSA's Professional Practices Conference held on September 15th. Well, good news! Now you can download part of the conference straight off the Web, courtesy of Minnesota PRSA and VCall.

At the Professional Practices Conference, Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and executive producer at CNN.com, gave a presentation on Why CNN Matters Today More Than Ever.

Check it out.

As the debate rages on as to whether or not bloggers are true journalists, it is interesting to note that even mainstream media are beginning to notice bloggers as a result of CBS's most recent debacle.

On Monday, reported that bloggers were the first to fact-check the fraudulent documents used during a CBS report on Bush's National Guard service.

Then, NBC's Tom Brokaw talked with Minnesota blogger Scott Johnson who's blog was among the first to raise questions about the authenticity of the CBS documents. (Johnson's site was also featured in today's Star Tribune.) It seems that .

Incidently, my favorite quote about blogging to come out of Rathergate is from the Star Tribune's story: And it appears that what inhabitants of the blogosphere refer to as Rathergate is fresh evidence that blogs have gone from being a cyber-niche populated by lonely geeks to a potentially powerful political force.

In summary, it is a good day to be a blogger, but a bummer of a day to work for CBS. Today, I am one happy cyber-geek!

More bad PR for CBS...

The Minneapolis office of Weber Shandwick seeks a public relations agency professional with 4-7 years experience to join our Investor Relations/Technology team. Successful candidate will have solid writing skills and work on major accounts with emphasis on industrial tech. Responsibilities include working with other agency staff in a team setting and developing creative programs to meet client needs, and maintaining client relationships.

We are looking for smart, creative, high-energy candidates. In return, we offer our valued staff opprotunities to work on amazing accounts and to learn and grow along the way.

Send resume and salary requirements to
Fax:

Get more info here.

It hardly seems like it could already be that time of year, but it is. Its time to submit your award-winning outstanding public relations enteries to Minnesota PRSA for entry into their Classics Awards.

This year's Minnesota PRSA Classics Awards will honor the best in public relations practices on Thursday, March 10, 2005. In addition to the outstanding public relations elements and programs that will be recognized, area students will have the opportunity to enter the 3rd Annual Minnesota PRSA Student Classics Awards. And Minnesota PRSA will once again recognize an individual who has demonstrated exemplary dedication to community service projects and initiatives with the Donald G. Padilla Community Classic Award.

Deadline for receipt of entries is 5:00 p.m., Thursday, December 2, 2004. There are no deadline extensions. Each entry must be submitted according to the "How to Prepare Your PRSA Classics Entry" instructions below or it will be disqualified with no refund.

For more details click here.

Hubbard Broadcasting properties 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTC.TV, Channel 45 were recently awarded the Minnesota Veterans of Foreign War's 2004 Ed A. Callahan News Media Award for their support of the VFW. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS General Manager Robert Hubbard accepted the award at the 2004 State VFW Convention banquet on behalf of the two stations.

This award is presented to television stations, radio stations, newspapers and/or persons working in the media that report Veteran-related issues and stories. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTC.TV, Channel 45 teamed up last holiday season to support Operation Uplink, a VFW program that raises money to send phone cards to soldiers overseas.

By promoting "Answer the Call: Operation Uplink" through public service announcements, news stories, web promotions and phone hotlines staffed by Veterans, the two stations together raised over $73,000. All local donations went to troops from Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The national VFW called 2003 a "banner year" for phone card distribution.

Operation Uplink was created by the VFW in 1996 to help military personnel keep in touch with their families and loved ones by providing them with a free 15-minute phone card, and is an on-going campaign.

In addition to the support given to Operation Uplink, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reported stories from Kuwait and Iraq, where a station reporter and photographer were embedded with the 101st Airborne for 11 weeks during the Iraqi war. The station also covered several stories relating to World War II Veterans and their recognition at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Emily Killoren has been promoted to Client Relationship Manager at Fast Horse Inc., a Minneapolis-based consumer marketing public relations agency. Killoren had been an Assistant Account Executive with the firm.

Killoren, who joined Fast Horse Inc. as an intern in 2003, specializes in media relations, consumer research, writing and editing, special-event coordination and consumer brand promotion.

“Emily has contributed enormously to this firm and our clients on so many levels,” said Jörg Pierach, President of Fast Horse Inc. “This promotion to Client Relationship Manager reflects her growth as a practitioner and positive influence on our developing agency culture.”

At Fast Horse Inc., Killoren has been instrumental in the execution of several high-profile projects, including national media relations programs for The Coca-Cola Company and local branding efforts with Tom Schmdit Spas and the Walker Art Center. Killoren began her career as an intern at Karwoski & Courage Public Relations, where she worked with clients such as Polaris Industries, 3M and McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant.

Moving into the digital realm St. Paul based KSTP Channel 5 news now offers a 24-hour video news service called ABC News Now.

ABC News' expert team of correspondents and analysts will join Peter Jennings on television, broadband and digital. ABC News Now will also cover live breaking news events and hourly news briefs from ABC News correspondents.

However, Peter Jennings' anchored coverage on ABC News network will not be simulcast on ABC News Now.

ABC is the only network to offer this type of service to its viewers, which began July 26 at the . This 14-week programming venture is also available through Sprint cell phones and online sources.

Locally, ABC News Now is available to subscribers on channel 1051, and 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS viewers with a digital tuner can watch on channel 5-2.

For more info click here.

Northwest Airlines global travelers will have additional route and fare choices as SkyTeam today announced that Continental Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest Airlines are now full members of one of the world’s fastest growing airline alliances. The SkyTeam Governing Board also revealed that effective September 15, passengers will be able to accrue and redeem frequent flyer miles interchangeably on any of the nine member airlines. With the addition of three new members, SkyTeam now serves 341 million passengers with 14,320 daily departures to 658 global destinations in more than 130 countries.

SkyTeam’s Governing Board said, “The entry of Continental, KLM and Northwest into the alliance marks the single largest airline integration in aviation history and is an important milestone for global airline customers. When the alliance launched in 2000, we promised SkyTeam would alter the competitive landscape for airline alliances by focusing on the needs of our customers. Our growth over the past four years in terms of network reach, frequencies and destinations is a testimony to our commitment to continually live up to that promise.”

Get more from the Star Tribune here.

Today is primary day, time to vote!

In Minnesota you can find your polling place by visiting the Secretary of State's Web site.

It is time to make your voice heard...vote.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press announced in Sunday's paper that they will "launch sweeping changes to the way it covers and presents news" beginning Wednesday, September 15, 2004.

According to the article, "the new look of the Pioneer Press will emphasize covering news from local communities and feature other changes aimed at making the paper more useful, more user-friendly and more relevant to readers."

Pioneer Press Editor Vicki Gowler was quoted in the article as saying that they want to make the Pioneer Press "the hometown paper," but that they will also continue to cover world and national news.

The Pioneer Press has seen their , however they still do not offer daily home-delivery to the Minneapolis side of the river. There was no mention of this in the article.

Minnesota remembers the victims and heros of September 11!

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For info on "How To Cope With September 11 Anniversaries" .

With the presidential elections this year it seems that either George W. Bush or John Kerry have been visiting Minnesota every week. But is Minnesota cashing in on its swing-state status when it comes to the production of TV advertisements? Not according to today's Star Tribune.

According to Strib reporter Deborah Caulfield Rybak, the campaign has not produced the "bonanza of political ads" typically expected at this point in the campaign. Here is an excerpt from her article:

Although television viewers might feel they're already suffering from political ad clutter, "It's light right now" among the ad minutes allocated to local commercials, said station manager Trey Fabacher, of WCCO-TV, Channel 4. "There have been a number of bookings in October about three weeks prior to the election, but the market is lighter than expected this month. Buying has been sporadic at best."

Get the rest of Rybak's article here.

According to today's Business Journal, Korbel champagne has awarded a $5 million media planning and ad placement contract to Minneapolis advertising and communications firm Carmichael Lynch.

Get the rest of the story here.

Fast Horse Inc., announced today that it is ditching the traditional "billable hours" model found at most PR agencies in favor of new a structure, dubbed Fast Track.

According to Fast Horse, Fast Track includes the adoption of a project-fee system for most client work, and flattens the organization with the elimination of several traditional account management layers and titles. The model also creates new career tracks designed to enhance growth and job satisfaction.

“We’re one of the fastest-growing firms in the country because, from the beginning, our staff has been able to offer an uncommon amount of experience, creativity and flexibility to produce results for our clients,” said Jörg Pierach, president of Fast Horse Inc. “Fast Track will ensure that we are able to maintain that advantage by formally eliminating and safeguarding against some of the fundamental industry barriers to great client service and revenue growth, such as an over-reliance on inexperienced staff and billable-hour pressures.”

The Death of Billable Hours

With the new Fast Track model, Fast Horse will abandon the industry standard of billing clients by the hour in favor of a project-fee structure for most assignments. Fast Horse will work closely with clients to clearly define and agree upon appropriate project objectives, deliverables and budgets, and once those parameters have been agreed upon, staff members will be free to put the full weight of their collective experience and available resources into meeting and exceeding program expectations. Project budgets will continue to reflect competitive market rates, but will be established through a formula that allows more seasoned staff to efficiently accomplish appropriate work often delegated to more inexperienced staff in traditional agency models.

“The Fast Track model will not make us more expensive than our competitors, it simply allows us to be more efficient and effective,” says Pierach. “We’re making this move because we’ve seen that it works, and the timing is right for our agency to formalize a more value-driven proposition.”

A Flatter Organization and New Career Paths

As part of the new Fast Track model, Fast Horse also has abandoned the traditional job titles and career paths found at most agencies. The firm will continue to build account teams with the appropriate mix of experience and skill level necessary for achieving best-in-class results for its clients. However, careers will now be offered on distinct professional and administrative tracks designed to enhance growth opportunities and job satisfaction. The professional track will be reduced from seven to three new account service levels and titles, each reflecting a well-defined proficiency in managing client relationships, as well as core communications and marketing skills. Under the Fast Track model, staffers on the professional account service track will be required to have a minimum of two years related experience.

Administrative account work will be executed by a newly created staff level responsible for flawlessly managing details that don’t require development of specialized public relations and marketing skills. Both tracks continue to offer staffers ample opportunities for increased compensation and responsibility, and no jobs will be cut as a result of the reorganization.

“As an independent firm with a very clear industry focus, we have the flexibility to create a structure that doesn’t force highly skilled practitioners into roles that don’t necessarily bring the most day-to-day value to our clients,” says Pierach. “Fast Track formalizes the business approach and client service philosophy we’ve operated under from our inception.”

Tunheim Partners, the Minneapolis-based public relations and public affairs agency, is pleased to announce the hire of Leslie Kupchella as an account supervisor.

Prior to joining Tunheim Partners, Kupchella worked as press secretary for Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and was responsible for strategic marketing and media relations to promote and communicate the governor’s legislative agenda. As primary spokesperson for the governor, Kupchella served as the media liaison for local, state and national media.

Kupchella also worked as press secretary for U.S. Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), directing all media relations activities for his campaign and, following his election, helping to ensure a smooth transition from the campaign to congressional office.

In addition, Kupchella has worked in communications for Rainforest Café, Inc., and Dayton Hudson (now Target Corporation). Her areas of concentration at Tunheim Partners will include public affairs, media relations and business development.

“Leslie will add additional depth to our public affairs practice with her state and congressional experience,” said Kathy Tunheim, president and CEO, Tunheim Partners. “Her strategic media relations expertise will be valuable in the public arena as well as with our public relations clients.”

Do you know someone who has demonstrated a long-term commitment to strengthening the community by sharing his or her expertise and knowledge of public relations with nonprofit organizations? Of so consider nominating them for the Donald G. Padilla Community Classic Award.

Minnesota PRSA is accepting nominations now, if you want to nominate a person who has consistently demonstrated volunteer commitment to our community through outstanding communications.

Entries will be judged on depth of volunteer commitment and on results achieved, and the final decision will be made by the Minnesota PRSA board of directors. The recipient will be recognized at the Classics awards banquet.

For more details click here.

Adweek and the Business Journal report that Minneapolis-based advertising agency Campbell Mithun has named Jack Rooney president, effective Sept. 15.

According to the Business Journal, Rooney, 46, most recently was the executive vice president of client management at in New Berlin, Wis.

Rooney replaces former CEO and president Les Mouser.

Get Adweek's story here.
Find the Business Journal story here.

For the second consecutive year the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting circulation increases, both throughout the week and on Sundays for the year ended March 28, according to information released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Audited totals for 2004 show Pioneer Press combined Monday through Saturday circulation up 2,129 copies, or 1.1 percent, and Sunday circulation up 1,361 copies, or 0.5 percent. The increases bring the Pioneer Press' daily total to 189,899 and the Sunday total to 253,126.

The Monday through Saturday year-over year growth figures are based on internal Pioneer Press records. Because of a change from five-day Monday through Friday reporting to six-day Monday through Saturday totals for daily circulation, an audited comparison to the previous year is not available.

"The Pioneer Press has established a strong pattern of growth," says Publisher Par Ridder. "Changes we'll roll out in just a few weeks, designed to help us respond more closely to readers' needs and interests, will add even more momentum to our growth."

The Pioneer Press' weekday and Sunday growth is concentrated in the Twin Cities metro area, where the gains mean the most to our advertising customers, Ridder says.

The Pioneer Press has reported circulation increases on its last three six-month Publisher's Statements filed with the Audit Bureau, as well as its on its 2003 annual audit for the year ended in March 2003.