VOLUME 1
ISSUE 1
PRSA Entertainment and Sports Professional Interest Section Newsletter
June/July 2006
Inside This Issue
1 2 2 3 3 3 Message from the Section Co-Chairs PRSA Western District Conference Executive Committee Upcoming Events E&S Section’s First Teleseminar Day in the Life – Hicks, Doug Hicks, D.C. United (pictured below)
CoMessage from the Section Co-Chairs
Welcome to our first newsletter of PRSA’s Entertainment and Sports Section — thanks to the hard work of Jim Guthrie, who is adding “newsletter editor” to his existing role of Section chair of our e-Group/Job Board/Web Page development! Every other month we’ll be sending you Entertainment and Sports (E&S) Section news, updates and articles which we hope you will find informative and useful. If you would like to contribute to the Newsletter or have ideas to make it even more meaningful to our members, please feel free to contact Jim at 818-9924353 or jguthrie@jmprpublicrelations.com. We’re happy to report that the E&S is among PRSA’s fastest growing Sections. Some of the companies and organizations which our Section members represent include Turner Sports, The Recording Academy/Grammy Awards, U.S. Tennis Association, Ringling Bros & Barnum & Bailey, Masters Tournament Augusta National, Harrah’s Entertainment, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts…and that’s just a few from our Executive Committee alone! We hosted our first teleseminar May 23rd on “Celebrity Spokespersons” and were pleased that close to 100 attendees were able to join us. There are many exciting projects and events in the works for the coming months, including a second teleseminar in late July regarding the “Growing Convergence of Sports and Entertainment,” and a third in October related to “social media” tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, RSS, wireless and buzz marketing. The Section will also be hosting a special reception in Los Angeles on July 11, the night before the ESPY Awards and another event in New York in September during the US Open. While the PRSA International Conference in Salt Lake City is not until November 11-14, plans are already under way for the E&S-sponsored Professional Development session, and you will not want to miss our Section’s networking dinner (that we’re sure everyone will be talking about).
“We’re happy to report that the E&S is among PRSA’s fastest growing Sections”
— Tara August & Rita Tateel
There’s even more that we’re working on so be sure to check the most up to date information on our Web page at http://www.prsa.org/Sections/es. In the meantime, enjoy this first issue of our newsletter (we’ll be coming up with a real name for it soon) and don’t hesitate to contact either one of us if you’d like to play a more active role in our Section. Section Co-Chairs Tara August Turner Sports tara.august@turner.com Rita Tateel The Celebrity Source rita@celebritysource.com
PRSA Western District Conference
Spotlight “Lights, Camera, Action! Spotlight on Entertainment and Its Industries” Effect on Other Industries”
Our economy is very much a media economy and as such, also an entertainment economy
— from PRSA Western District Conference
The Entertainment and Sports Section recently sponsored the Opening Session of the PRSA Western District Conference on April 28 at the Universal Studios Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The topic was “Lights, Camera, Action! Spotlight on Entertainment and Its Effect on Other Industries.” Nearly 200 attendees were treated to a very informative discussion by an expert panel which featured: • Ron W. Roecker, vice president, communications and media relations for the Recording Academy/The Grammy Awards, and E&S Section Treasurer; • Paul Pflug, immediate past senior vice president, media relations for Universal Pictures and current president of the newly-launched corporate communications firm, Principal Communications Group; • Brad Jamison, vice president, corporate initiatives for ABC. The session was moderated by Rita Tateel, co-chair of the Entertainment and Sports Section and president of The Celebrity Source. The morning began with the premise that our economy is very much a media economy and as such, also an entertainment economy — our culture, our politics, our very way of life are deeply influenced by Hollywood. “More so than any other country, like it or not, we are a country where the pop culture is the dominant culture. Where else can you turn on the national TV news and the TOP breaking story is that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes just had a baby?” Tateel noted in her opening comments. The panelists commented about the important role public relations plays in this entertainment society and then responded to a variety of questions including: how the entertainment industry affects other industries; how product placement is playing a role in public relations and marketing; what the pros and cons are of using a celebrity spokesperson; and what trends industries are seeing in causerelated PR/marketing and why. Before the session was over, it was announced that like all true Hollywood events, all attendees would be treated to some S.W.A.G. (stuff we all get) in the form of our Section’s very useful Entertainment and Sports Master Calendar (compiled by Jim Guthrie and printing provided by the Recording Academy). Audible excitement was heard from the crowd. While the entire Western District Conference was a terrific event, many of the attendees were commenting that our E&S session was their favorite session (and they loved our SWAG).
E&S Executive Committee CoSection Co-Chairs Tara August, Turner Sports Rita Tateel, The Celebrity Source Secretary Betsie Brown, APR, Crows Feet Productions Mark Sadowski, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Treasurer Ron Roecker, The Recording Academy CoMembership Co-Chairs Tim Rossi, USTA New England Virgil Scudder, Virgil Scudder & Assoc. CoSponsorship Co-Chairs Deanna Anderson, 705 Communications Jackie Tyson, Peloton Sports CoTeleseminar Co-Chairs Ray Artigue, APR, Arizona State University Bryan Harris, Alan Taylor Communications CoSpecial Events Co-Chairs Craig Hall, Concert Assoc. of Florida John Ingoldsby, Ingoldsby Investor Relations & Sports E-Group Chair Jim Guthrie, JMPR Members-atMembers-at-Large Enrico Dinges, Ringling Bros. Glenn Greenspan, Masters Tournament/August National Jeffrey Pollack, APR, Harrah’s Entertainment Stormy Washington, Walt Disney World Sports & Recreation
E&S Member Benefits
Your membership in the E&S Section includes access to: • The E&S Calendar of Industry Events • The E&S Job Board • The E&S e-Group Discussion Board If you or someone you know is interested in joining the Entertainment and Sports Professional Interest Section, please contact Merideth McIntyre at 212462-1421 or merideth.mcintyre@prsa.org
E&S SECTION NEWSLETTER
PAGE 3
Life: A Day in the Life: Doug Hicks, VP of D.C. Communications, D.C. United
Upcoming Events
ESPY Awards event E&S Section Teleseminar #2 U.S. Open event E&S Section Teleseminar #3 PRSA International Conference July 11 July TBD Sept TBD Oct TBD Nov 11-14 Nov 13
By Enrico Dinges Working as a public relations practitioner in the area of entertainment or sports can present very unique opportunities and challenges. Behind all the glitz and glamour that surrounds professional athletes and artists are the communication and publicity gurus that manage the delicate balance between the individual stars and the organization as a whole. The strategies and tactics employed by public relations practitioners in this field often vary by organization, however most communication fundamentals remain constant. With a series of “A Day in the Life” articles, I hope to provide readers with a window into how some of the most accomplished sports and entertainment organizations address their communication needs. These articles will explore the overall strategies and individual tools and tactics developed by some of the brightest and forward- thinking public relations practitioners in the industry. To kick off the series, I spent a day with Doug Hicks, vice president of communications for D.C. United, the most accomplished professional soccer team in the rapidly growing Major League Soccer (MLS). Over the last 10 years, MLS has benefited from a steady increase in attendance and television audience. Due to the international popularity of soccer, MLS has been able to reach out and establish a strong relationship with the immigrant community often overlooked by other professional sports organizations. Q: How did you first enter the world of professional sports communication and marketing? A: I was studying sports marketing at James Madison, which at that time was a combination of physical education and business courses, and decided to seek out internships that could give me hands on experience. I was able to find an internship working with the Washington Bullets basketball organization. I eventually transferred to George Mason University and continued working as an intern until I graduated and was offered a permanent position in the Bullets’ public relations department. Q: You did not have a communications background going into this job? A: No, I learned on the job. I had a great mentor and would just observe how the best people worked and then would use the skills I observed and add my own creativity to complete my tasks. One night I was approached and asked if I wanted to accept a position as the director of public relations for the Washington Capitals hockey organization. I had to think about it because I wasn’t too familiar with professional hockey. However, I took the job and soon found that I loved what I was doing. I gained a lot of experience dealing with marketing, broadcasting rights and sponsorships issues. Q: What is your overall communications strategy for D.C. United? A: The organization’s overall success begins with a very specific strategic plan led by its public relations and community relations efforts. We have an approach of complete campaign integration that begins with public relations providing the depth, marketing providing the opportunity and customer service facilitating the action. For example, someone reads an article about D.C. United’s upcoming match, they see an advertisement for the match, and they call customer service to purchase a ticket. By properly positioning D.C. United within the media and in the community, the club is best suited to follow up those initial efforts with an aggressive marketing campaign. Through advertising, grassroots marketing, promotions and events, the organization is able to generate revenue streams — including ticket sales, sponsorships and merchandise. Once an individual or group has associated itself with D.C. United, reliance is placed upon each member of the organization to ensure satisfactory customer service.
Networking E&S Section Networking Dinner TAKESOME TAKE-AWAY TIPS FROM
E&S Section’s First Teleseminar!
Spokesperson: The Celebrity Spokesperson: Leveraging Sports and Entertainment Personalities to Enhance Your Media Relations Initiatives The E&S Section hosted our first teleseminar in late May and welcomed close to 100 excited registrants to our conference call on selecting the right celebrity spokesperson to ensure success for your media relations campaign. The moderator for the teleseminar Bryan Harris, managing partner, Alan Taylor Communications (ATC) and the panelists included Matthew Lalin, executive vice president, Steiner Sports Marketing, Rita Tateel, founder and Tateel president of The Celebrity Source, Inc. and Kerry Lyman, Lyman director, marketing public relations, Nestlé Purina PetCare’s CheckMark Communications. The panel started off with the three key things a celebrity spokesperson must have: Relevance, Capability and Interest/Motivation. It also helps to have a celebrity who uses the product (and likes it!), has credibility with the audience and is able to deliver the message points effectively. The panel also discussed some of the common mistakes public relations professionals can make in not being realistic with expectations, going over budget or asking for too much time and not understanding the mindset of the celebrity. A star has an incredible ability to break through media barriers and enhancing a weak news hook but the key is selectivity and not overshadowing the product or diminishing from the message. Join us in July for our next teleseminar on the “Growing Convergence of Sports & Entertainment”…more details available soon! makes the ideal celebrity spokesperson.
E&S Section Reception in LA
Section PreEntertainment and Sports Section Will Host Pre-ESPY Awards Networking Reception July 11, 2006 p. 6-8:30 p.m. Staples Center, Downtown Los Angeles E&S SECTION NEWSLETTER Current E&S members and public relations professionals in the entertainment and sports industries are invited to attend this hosted cocktail and hors d'oeuvre PAGE 3 networking reception. The event is sponsored by the world famous Staples Center and the Recording Academy/GRAMMY Organization. For more information contact Rita Tateel, co-chair of the E&S Section at 323-651-3300 or rita@celebritysource.com