Some great pointers towards improvement http://ping.fm/O2l7C

Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning - Peter Bregman - Harvard Business Review http://ping.fm/TBGJx

Great #MothersDay gift story. For me flowers, card photo reign supreme you? http://ping.fm/YwReB

The Federal Government needs PR assistance in creating good relationships. This can be done by contracts. Great PRSA op-ed relates. http://ping.fm/nTBE7

Creative film about new CPR techniques you rock Kim ... http://ping.fm/uDO8b

Thanks VA for engaging our Veterans via social media! http://ping.fm/wqdxc

In tough times we find true friends. Forever grateful to Dr. Sam Foote and Roger French. Looking forward to 2012.

Great info in this post -- and important tips for PR pros to be strategic. http://ping.fm/vjgCh

Create a Parade??? Really?

Create A Parade??  Really??

By Paula L. Pedene APR

            If you had told me 20 years ago that I would be creating a Parade for Veterans, I would have looked at you quite quizzically.  Me, create a parade?  Why, how, what in the world would be the impetus for that? 

            The impetus came in the form of direction from one of my best bosses, VA Medical Center Director John Fears.  In was 1996 and we had just finished a “parade” started by the Black Employment Committee on Veterans Day.  There were probably 100 marchers in the “parade”, Model T cars, some Vans, a fire truck and a few clowns.  On the street, we were lucky if there were 10 people watching.

            The Wednesday after, at our weekly strategy meeting, Director John Fears looked at me and said, “That parade has to be better next time”.  I wanted to say, but I didn’t have much to do with it…and I could tell it wasn’t one of those discussion times, so I said yes sir and off I went to figure out how to build a parade.

            I did not realize the effort it would take and the coordination it would require, how much it would cost, or where I would even start.  So it became one of those other on the job training experiences I have found a plethora of in my PR career.   

            First I had to figure out who could help.  I started with the City, they declined saying they already had enough events to manage.  Then I went to the Chamber of Commerce.  The Chamber told me I had to get the City on our side.  Therefore, I was back at square one, until the chamber leaders said just meet with your council member.  So John Fears and I met with Councilman Craig Tribken and he took the concept to the council chambers, where it passed.  The City reluctantly was involved.  But that wasn’t the worst of it.  When they called the City and VA Special Events meeting, there I was sitting across the table from the people who had told me no in the first place. The glares were grueling and I felt bad but it was one of the best PR lessons I have ever learned--careful negotiations.  That day, I gave my word to the City that VA would do what it needed to in order to make this a successful event for everyone. 

My word meant something and I think they could tell.    I was asked to create a committee and lead it with chairs for staging, destaging, logistics, bands, and others.  We had to obtain permission to close streets, work with City of Phoenix Fire and Police to ensure safety all around and to work with our Congressional liaisons and Veterans Service Organizations to help find people who were willing to be part of a parade.  Moreover, we had to create a parade lineup that would depict a pretty event moving down the street.  Planning included a blend of Veterans group, military members and equipment, novelty units, bands and much more. 

We also had to select a theme (Salute to Patriots) and we had to publicize the event, order port a potties, pedestrian fencing, sound towers, tell people we were closing the streets and I could go on and on.

I worked almost 80 hours a week from Sept. to Nov. in 1997 and I have to tell you I learned a lot--about our PR trade, about event planning, about budgeting for large scale events, about promoting VA and Veterans and about working with the community and the City of Phoenix Special Events Department.

That year the parade had about 1,000 people in it, with approximately 85 entries and we had 10,000 people on the street cheering us on.  After the 1997 Parade, at my weekly strategy meeting, my director said, “You did a great job, with that parade, thank you”.  And he rewarded me with a nice special contribution award.  His thanks meant the world to me.  Just as importantly the City Special Events coordinators became my friends and remain so to this day.  So keeping my word, careful negotiations and the success of an event that would honor our nation’s Veterans became a part of my PR experience. 

For the past 13 years, it has been a matter of honing what we learned that first year in our parade planning.  Today our event garners nearly 200,000 spectators, 2500 people who are parade entries and a committee that works tirelessly to support what we do.  We have created timelines to keep us on track, we have developed phenomenal publicity venues, we have added education elements, we aligned the event with the VA health care system’s strategic goals and perhaps most importantly our research shows that we have improved the image of VA and Veterans in the Phoenix community by about 30% per year.

The planning has become a bit easier, funding comes from the Veterans Medical Leadership Council, the Parade Committee has remained strong and faithful—this year there are three members who have retired from their jobs and still volunteer-- and just this past year we earned the PRSA Silver Anvil for Community Relations, Government.  AND we are working on our current event.  You can see the latest publicity efforts at www.phoenix.va.gov/news/parade.asp. 

If you want to see how these efforts earned us the PRSA Silver Anvil come see us at the Home of the Free, Because of the Brave Class at the PRSA International Conference in Washington DC on Monday, Oct. 18 at 9:45 a.m.  We will have some great pointers for incorporating special events intro your strategy and we will have some fun along the way.  I look forward to seeing you there.    

Lessons In Leadership

    

     I was reminded this week about something that I had already known about leadership, it is important to trust and empower your people.

     While at a planning event, we were sitting around discussing options for improvement in our health care delivery system. Here we were four groups of about 20 people, trying to determine the outcome for our 2500 employees.
     I sat at my table listening to all the wonderful comments that were being shared: How can we improve the patient experience? How can we help with transportation? What about parking? What about our environment of care, our communications, and our variance--how could we improve all of it?
     As our group began to delve down into what we (all 20 of us) thought was important to relate to our employees, I started hearing more direction than what I thought might be best for those who would be called to carry it out.
     After all, several of us had recently been through Disney Training within the past month and an important take away for me was a key word "empowerment". When I turn online to see the definition, (my hardbound Webster's dictionary is dusty these days) I see that Wikipedia states it as this: Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.
     Although I did not have this handy reference present with me yesterday, I knew in my heart I needed to speak up. Therefore, I slipped on my Mickey hand and raised it high...the instructor called on me and I said...I would like us to take a moment to see if we can change our frame of reference. I think the areas we are looking at improving are sound and they can be good guidelines for our action teams to pursue. However, where I think we need to change--is thinking we can tell these groups exactly how to take charge of their actions. What if we were to use the Disney model and empower the groups to do the research, create the plans based on those findings, and then implement accordingly?
     The doctors were quick to jump onboard, "that is what we should be doing! In medicine, we always need to look at what is happening first, we test, we prod, we poke, we analyze, we get lab work and then we make decisions. I like the idea of doing this for our committees as well". The rest of the group agreed. More positive comments ensued.  And through the dialogue, I think we helped set the stage for an empowering opportunity to create a better platform for our action teams, and to empower them to know they have ownership over the change.
     Does this work in every situation? Unfortunately no. I still think you have to have the right people in place in order to empower them and that boils down to recruitment and retention. Fortunately, our VA Veteran Centered Care Chairs have done a good job picking the right people to help. Moreover, when you have the right people,  you have looked at the research (patient satisfaction and employee relations surveys), and you have centered your strategies based on the research well, the situation is ripe for opportunity and empowerment.
     After all, it is what we as PR practitioners learn in our practice: First listen to what our publics are saying (through our research) then develop a plan of action based on that listening, communicate-build relationships-engage-enhance, and then re-evaluate to see if we got it right. I will be forever grateful for the PRSA Accreditation in Public Relations courses that taught me this.
     If you want to see more of this strategic based planning, a committee based on empowerment, and how you can incorporate it, I am hoping to share these concepts at the PRSA International Conference in Washington DC at our Silver Anvil Case Study Class, "Home of the Free Because of the Brave" on Monday Oct. 18 at 9:45 a.m. Here is a preview PRSA Silver Anvil Podcast site....Home of the Free, Because of the Brave
     I hope to see you there.