PR Masters Series Podcast, Episode #41 – Joe Lockhart

MetroPlusHealth Names Lesleigh Irish-Underwood New Chief Brand and External Relations Officer

CommPRO Editorial Staff

MetroPlusHealth, the five-star rated health plan of choice for over 600,000 New Yorkers, announced the appointment of Lesleigh Irish- Underwood as its first Chief Brand and External Relations Officer (CBERO), reporting to President & CEO, Talya Schwartz, MD. In this new role, Ms. Irish-Underwood will be responsible for the stewardship and execution of MetroPlusHealth’s brand strategy, including product marketing, strategic communications, media relations, community and government relations, member experience, special events, and data-driven marketing innovation.

“As MetroPlusHealth continues to meet the evolving needs of New York City residents, Lesleigh’s experience as a visionary leader, effective strategist, and innovative brand builder will enhance and strengthen our executive team,” said MetroPlusHealth President & CEO Talya Schwartz, MD. “Lesleigh has that rare combination of strategic thinking, creativity, and management expertise needed to lead the next stage of our brand evolution. Her talents will enable MetroPlusHealth to play an even greater role in the health and wellness of all New Yorkers.” Irish-Underwood’s arrival as CBERO follows a number of recent executive appointments, as Dr. Schwartz builds a world-class leadership team to grow and strengthen MetroPlusHealth’s market share and brand equity in the health space.

“I am so pleased to see the continued growth and development of MetroPlus Health Plan under the leadership of Chairperson Sally Hernandez-Piñero and President and CEO Dr. Talya Schwartz,” said Lloyd Williams, President and CEO of The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, and recently retired Chair of the Customer Experience & Marketing Committee, MetroPlusHealth Board of Directors. “Without question, the appointment of Lesleigh Irish-Underwood as Chief Brand and External Relations Officer will significantly enhance the growth and effectiveness of MetroPlusHealth. She is certainly a great addition to MetroPlusHealth, and I look forward to working most effectively with her.”

Ms. Irish-Underwood joins MetroPlusHealth from United Way of New York City (UWNYC), where she served as SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, and was responsible for innovating growth- driving marketing solutions, accelerating company-wide digital capabilities, and building loyal donor engagement. Throughout her tenure, she oversaw UWNYC’s B2B and B2C brand awareness initiatives, implementing creative marketing and communication strategies that strengthened UWNYC’s internal business plan and significantly increased annual revenue.

“As a native New Yorker who has built her career on serving New York City’s most challenged and underserved communities, it is a privilege to bring my experience and local-market insights to the MetroPlusHealth team in support of the plan’s mission of inclusive, customer-centered, quality-driven care,” said Ms. Irish-Underwood. “I am thrilled to be working with Dr. Schwartz, and an outstanding leadership team, to build even stronger connections with our members, providers, and communities.”

Prior to her transition to the nonprofit sector, Ms. Irish- Underwood was a 25-year veteran of the consumer publishing industry, where she held leadership roles at the Knopf Publishing Group of Random House, Pearson, and Kensington Publishing. She is a member of the CMO Council’s North American Advisory Board—comprised of prominent marketing executives and thought leaders from a diverse range of industries—the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation Board, and Brooklyn Community Board 5. A graduate of Stony Brook University, she was named one of The Network Journal’s 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business in 2018.

(SPECIAL) PR Masters Series Podcast, Episode #41 – Joe Lockhart

Special Episode

Joe Lockhart knows the White House through and through. His responses to my questions during our recent PR Masters Series podcast reflects that. Joe described to our listeners how an effective and experienced White House press secretary prepares for a press briefing and maintains trust, integrity and transparency.

Judging from my interview with Joe, it’s clear to me that President Clinton was well served during Joe’s tenure as White House press secretary. Being a White House press secretary isn’t for sissies. It’s a difficult job being in front of an information ravishing group of reporters. If you’re not good at your job you will be torn to shreds by the media. And if you engage in half-truths, innuendo, gossip, rumors and fake news, you’ll be overwhelmed.

Joe Lockhart is the epitome of what a White House press secretary ought to be. In fact, I would urge him to tutor all future White House press secretaries wanna be’s. If so, the American public would be served up with the truth, which is good for our country.

About the Podcast

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for almost two years now. This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.

About Our Guest

Joe Lockhart, White House Press Secretary under President Bill Clinton

Joe Lockhart is perhaps best known for his service as White House Press Secretary under President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2000, during which time he managed daily press briefings, provided senior counsel to the President, and managed communications through the President’s impeachment proceedings. Long-time White House correspondent Helen Thomas called him “a straight shooter,” and “one of the best it’s been my honor to work with;” Susan Page at USA Today found Lockhart “direct, well-informed and trusted;” and former CBS White House correspondent Peter Maer said “if Joe Lockhart knows anything, it’s how to control a narrative.”

Lockhart developed his knack for steering the conversation during his early career as an award-winning journalist, political strategist and public-relations consultant. Lockhart held posts as Assignment Editor at ABC News, Deputy Assignment Manager for CNN, and foreign producer reporting on the Gulf War for Skye News. He served as a press secretary for the presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis, an aide to Senator Paul Simon, a senior advisor to the John Kerry campaign, and an Executive Vice President at Bozell Sawyer Miller, where he advised a range of high-profile corporations and institutions on media relations and political strategy.

Lockhart is the founding partner and managing director of the Glover Park Group (GPG), a Washington, D.C. communications strategy firm. Under Lockhart’s leadership, GPG earned a reputation for providing its wide range of corporate and nonprofit clients (including Microsoft, Visa and the National Football League) with agile crisis management, astute public affairs, policy, advertising and marketing counsel, and cutting-edge opinion research.

In 2011 Lockhart was named Vice President of Global Communications at Facebook, just as the rapidly-expanding enterprise was preparing to go public. Lockhart helped the company mitigate initial public backlash to its IPO, take ownership of its story, and refortify its brand.

In 2013, Lockhart returned to GPG, where that vision payed immediate dividends, in the form of a major expansion and move to a new headquarters. At GPG, he spearheaded the National Football League’s response to a series of public challenges. In 2016 the NFL named Lockhart Executive Vice President overseeing Communications, Government Affairs, Social Responsibility and Philanthropy. A graduate of Georgetown University, Joe is a native of New York City, New York. Follow Joe on Twitter: @joelockhart

About Our Host

Art Stevens, Managing Partner, The Stevens Group

Art Stevens literally knows the PR industry at every level and in every aspect, from the inside out and from foundation to pinnacle. Art knows what makes a PR business successful, profitable and valuable. A prolific writer as well as a dynamic executive, Art is subtle, observant and quietly creative, yet not opposed to a good measure of “brandstanding” when appropriate.

He has been valuing agencies, brokering mergers and acquisitions, and providing strategic advice for ten years. Art is a former owner and CEO of LobsenzStevens, a Top-20 independent PR agency, which Publicis Groupe acquired.

Follow Art on Twitter: @ArtS1735 Rediscover Your Life Skills to Live the Life You Truly Want

Wendy Glavin, Founder & CEO, Wendy Glavin Agency

Now, that we’re in 2021, what’s changed for you? Many of my friends and colleagues in the U.S. and abroad say they’re still worried about staying healthy and safe, are concerned about the availability of the COVID-19 vaccines, are stressed about job and income loss and feel sad, isolated or in-limbo. Since most people are hardwired with a “negativity bias” all the events of 2020, have thrust us into continued negative thinking, like, what we don’t have, what we don’t want, where we don’t want to be and how we don’t want to feel. Other self- limiting beliefs include, I’m too old, or young, too poor or scared, too busy or not disciplined enough, too lazy or a perfectionist, and other assumptions based on how we were raised or taught.

Whether it’s how you’re wired or your upbringing, we can change our thoughts. For example, one lesson I learned during physical therapy was, “Change a thought, move a muscle.” My guess is when you take a walk, a run or do some type of exercise, you feel better.

Another lesson I learned when I was a young adult was to build on my strengths. My dad used to say, what you did in the past is proof of what you can do in the future. This led me to accept jobs I might not have otherwise taken. Later, I worked with clients outside industry sectors in which I worked. But I read, learned and continue to work in a wide variety of industry sectors in technology.

When I was working in-house at my first agency job after several years, I asked for a promotion. But my direct boss said, you don’t know all the things you need to know. That powerful statement stayed with me over time. I learned what I needed to do to move to the next level. When you’re young, you may feel like you know a lot, but you don’t. However, if you’re determined to learn, you will.

What We Know but Tend to Forget

Regardless of where you are in your career, you focus on what you’re doing and try to move forward. But even more important is reflecting on how far you’ve come and your progress along the way. Perhaps it’s a new project, a new client, a sponsor, more followers on social media, a published article, VC funding, and the list goes on.

But, more often than not, once you’ve accomplished one goal, you’re on to the next. Instead, shift your focus into what you’ve done throughout your life in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s or 50+ years to discover your true potential and purpose.

I’ve always drawn on my life experiences. My dream as a child was to become a lawyer or an actor. My passions were swimming, skiing, ice-skating, and generally, being around people. I’ve always loved fashion and décor. After traveling and living abroad, I developed a European sensibility, which continues to stay with me. After marriage, children and moving, I learned the significance of being resilient as things always change. If you’re used to taking risks, doing so is easier than those who are more comfortable with the status quo.

8 Tips to Move Forward While Staying In-Place

1. Reflect on your background and ask yourself questions like, what did I love to do? What was easy (and difficult) for me to learn? Who did I enjoy spending time with and why? Who were my favorite teachers, coaches and mentors? What did I learn from them? How and why did I choose my major in-college and did I complete my schooling and get a job in a profession I enjoyed? If not, why? 2. What life experiences were most significant to you and why? What were your favorite destinations or places where you lived? What did you do for fun? What did you hate doing? What hobbies did you have? For example, did you enjoy cooking or baking, art, music, reading, writing, photography, history, sports, caring for pets or other leisure pursuits? Then, if you’re not continuing to do them, why not? With the way the world is now, “I can’t do them at home” is not an excuse. 3. What are your core values? How did you realize that these were important for you? Were they something you were told to do or be or are they based on how you feel and think? If so, create a list of values for yourself. Then, ask other people with whom you trust or are close to, if they agree. Why? Because how you perceive yourself may be different than what you project to others. 4. What relationships have been and are most important to you? Do you think you choose friends who are similar or different from you? Who were and are your mentors? What life lessons have you learned from them? As for relationships that didn’t work, what did you realize about yourself and was there anything you could have done differently? Since we can’t change others, how do you modify your communications with people with whom you have to work when you disagree? Or do you stay silent and harbor built-up resentment? 5. What are your interests now? Are they the same as when you were younger? Have you expanded upon them and if so, in what ways? If not, how can you learn or relearn what you’re interested in? Why not read books or do research? Is there an online course you can take? Can you participate in events by asking questions or challenging underlying assumptions? Do you listen to others when they’re speaking or are you waiting to answer? 6. The fifth question leads to your personality. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Are you afraid of speaking up for fear of being wrong? Or do you feel confident enough to express yourself fully? Do you have a fear of failure? Or do you take risks and if things don’t work out, continue trying? Do you want to be liked by others? Or do you only care about what people who you’re close to think and feel? 7. Do you enjoy the work you do or your career path? If so, what are some ways you’ve added to your skillset? If not, are you staying in your job because you’re afraid you won’t find something else or haven’t discovered your passion? If you do have a passion are you pursuing it? Perhaps, you’ve been furloughed or laid-off, and there are no jobs available, what can you do to stay abreast of your chosen profession? If not, what else can you do to create a new revenue stream? 8. What have you learned from the past year? Have you taken advantage of all the new digital tools that are available to you? Without necessarily speaking about paying for new products or services, what are you doing to stay relevant? Are you joining groups on LinkedIn or Facebook? Are you going on live virtual shows? Are you participating in growing startups like Lunchclub and Clubhouse to exchange ideas with people? Are you listening to podcasts, watching educational YouTube videos or TED Talks?

None of these are rules. Instead, these are ideas to get you thinking about yourself. When you stay focused on all the external events, you’re choosing to live by circumstances out- of-your control. Clearly, everyone is affected by the pandemic. And, if you know someone who’s sick or a caregiver for a family member, life is tough, scary and exhausting (based on what I’ve been told).

In general, life during COVID is tough. Many people choose to do what the medical community, health experts and scientists recommend. While others don’t. Like anything, it’s up to you to decide how you want to live your life. My suggestions are based on what I do, looking within myself to find answers. There’s no right or wrong way to live; it’s up to you.

But, if you’ve followed my articles or heard me speak, then you know the process I use, and am sharing with you called Decode Your Value. Use my Life Skills Tree digital illustration as a guide and download your ownLife Skills PDF to create your tree. Last month, my team surprised me and sent me a framed photo of my Life Skills Tree. It’s over my desk which I see when I wake up, throughout the day and before I go to sleep. It inspires me to help others.

“The willingness to show up changes us. It makes us a little braver each time.” – Brene Brown, Daring Greatly

About the Author: Wendy Glavin is a 30- year marketing communications veteran, a full-service agency owner, a published writer, a technology columnist and a global speaker.Her website is: https://wendyglavin.com/. Contact her at: [email protected].

Mark Weiner Launches New Research Practice within Cognito

CommPRO Editorial Staff

Cognito, the international specialist communication and marketing agency, today announced the appointment of Mark Weiner as Chief Insights Officer to develop the firm’s newly launched research-based consulting practice Cognito Insights. Weiner is responsible for establishing and growing the firm’s research organization by serving clients and accelerating the organization’s growth through the provision of data-informed analysis, insights and guidance.

Cognito represents clients across the financial, professional services and technology sectors from six offices around the globe. The appointment is a direct response to the increased ability – and growing expectation – that communications and marketing will deliver measurable and meaningful growth to businesses while protecting and enhancing reputation and profile.

Based in the United States, the practice will serve Cognito’s clients globally and look at the strategy, effect and impact of marketing and communication activity on Cognito’s clients – including communication, social and digital campaigns. Mark brings 35 years of professional experience having built businesses in the United States and internationally. Prior to Cognito, he led PRIME Research as its CEO before transitioning to Chief Insights Officer after Cision’s acquisition of the communications research provider. Mark led Ketchum’s global research practice after leaving Delahaye Medialink. He is a member of The Arthur Page Society and a Trustee for the Institute for Public Relations. His new book, “Public Relations Technology, Data and Insights” will be published in April by Kogan Page.

“With our Insights practice, we enhance our commitment to data-informed communications and marketing. Data enables us to elevate our performance while demonstrating value and generating a positive return on investment,” said Rowan Benecke, Cognito’s US President. “Mark is a recognized leader in our profession as reflected by the businesses he’s created, the awards he’s won and his many years of experience across diverse business categories.”

“The pandemic has reaffirmed the essential role communication plays for our clients. The crisis has accelerated the need for data-informed strategies and measurement,” said Tom Coombes, Cognito CEO. “This new practice will help our clients to ensure that they work we do is underpinned and informed by solid insights and analytics and that impact and outcomes for the business are maximized. Ultimately it will enable our clients to direct their investment into communication and marketing more effectively and make it more measurable. Ideally, we want to correlate communication and marketing impact on profile and sales and other business functions.”

“Cognito’s commitment to the development and deployment of its research capabilities is a source of great excitement for me,” Weiner stated. “The agency’s faith in my leadership underscores my commitment to providing research-based counsel and guidance to the world’s greatest companies and brands. Unlike the many commoditized data analytics tools available to communicators and marketers today, we focus on expertise, insights and quality counsel, the uniquely human elements that differentiate our offering and drive client success.”

Competing and Winning in the Inbox

Jill Kurtz, Owner, Kurtz Digital Strategy

Did you know that the average person gets more than 120 emails each day? Wow! How do you get your marketing message to be one that is opened and read?

Structure Your Message Well

Paying attention to the details will help your messages win attention. It is fine to use a tool like MailChimp or Constant Contact to manage your list and send your messages. You need to go beyond the defaults to be effective.

Sender: Set up your sender field to be something your recipients will recognize. Use your name if that’s what they know best. Use the business name if that’s what they connect to. Subject line: Speak to a need or interest of the reader. Make them want to open the message. Be specific and compelling! Summary text to start: Have text right up top that lets the recipient know what your message is all about. Preview text: Write preview text that identifies the value of your message for the recipient. Don’t repeat the content of the subject or summary text.

Offer Content that Matters

Getting the details right will set you up to be read. Now your content has to deliver!

Make sure your message is relevant to the recipient. Don’t send the message if it isn’t. You may need to segment your email list to make sure you send only to those people who will find it highly relevant. Sending to fewer people who care is much better than a blast to all.

Tell a story in your message. Stories capture interest and are easy to read. Make sure your story is easy to read online with short paragraphs, short sentences, and simple sentence structures. People who scan rather than read every word should get the gist.

Experts recommend that you focus each message on a single topic. People who open a message will give you 1-2 minutes, so keep it short!

Grow Through A Branding Process: Decode Your Value to Reveal Your True Potential

Wendy Glavin, Founder & CEO, Wendy Glavin Agency

Throughout 2020, we’ve faced hardships, challenges, uncertainty and learned to “pivot,” focus on “the new normal,” and the “next normal”; terms to make sense of what’s happening in our lives. But, thinking about the what if’s can lead us to contemplate worst-case scenarios, most of which are outside our control.

There are a lot of helpful articles about what we can do to minimize stress like exercising, taking a break from the news and social media, focusing on our health and diet, communicating regularly with colleagues and friends, pursuing hobbies and more.

While activities like these may help you cope, they don’t necessarily address the deeper problem – the need to look within ourselves. When you carve out all the experiences you’ve had in your life, you’re able to look at yourself through a broader lens. The process, I created with my team is called, Decode Your Value.

You may have heard me discussing it in a video or during a live event. Or, if you’ve followed my articles on the subject, you’re learned the importance of looking back to identify your core values, merging your professional and personal personas to seize opportunities, instead of waiting for external events to change.

While recognizing your hard and soft skills is one way to categorize your strengths and weaknesses, Life skills consist of what you’ve learned throughout your life which when you know what they are, you can incorporate them into your brand and your communication.

Recently, I began thinking about how I could illustrate the Decode Your Value method. This sparked a memory for me of hiking in a forest long ago with my family and getting lost. Everywhere we looked was the same; tall trees, colored leaves, fallen branches and rocks. We panicked and didn’t know how to find our way out of the woods.

Perhaps, this is how you feel because of or in spite of the pandemic. To help you make sense of the concept, here’s an illustration of my Life Skills tree below. The trunk represents my core values, the greenery are my notable life experiences and the branches represent how the categories connect: Here’s a Life Skills tree PDF that you can download and complete. If you need help, please reach out with your questions, ideas or comments. Like a patchwork quilt, create your own life tree and spread the word. Hopefully in 2021, we’ll have a digital forest.

As we’re nearing the end of 2020, I’ll leave you with one of my most favorite life quotes by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

“For what it’s worth, it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing.

We can make the best or worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”

About the Author: Wendy Glavin is Founder and CEO of Wendy Glavin, a NYC full- service agency. Wendy is a 30-year veteran of corporate, agency, consulting and small business ownership. She specializes in B2B2C marketing communications, executive writing, PR and social media advisory. Her website is: https://wendyglavin.com/. Contact her at: [email protected].

Tune Your Brand Voice Jill Kurtz, Owner, Kurtz Digital Strategy

As a marketer, you nurture the voice of your brand. Brands with a consistent voice that resonates with the target audience will achieve the most success.

Sadly, the majority of brands don’t have a clear and consistent voice. Messages conflict. Themes are mixed. You lose the audience because they can’t figure you out.

Here are some things to consider as you tune your brand voice to find the right pitch, tone, and volume to be heard.

Define Your Master Message

We’ve all heard the phrase “sing from the same song sheet.” Does your brand have one? A clear, precise statement defining your identity is the foundation for a sustainable voice that will focus all communications. Your master message should create emotional connections, which are more effective than rational arguments.

Know What Makes You Unique

Saying what you offer is unique is cliche. Demonstrating what makes you unique in your marketing is gold!

Do You

Authenticity is critical. No one can connect with cold, corporate speak. Having a personality and a conscience is paramount. People want organizations to have values. Share your highs and lows. Be personable. Support meaningful conversations.

Now What? – Can Communicators Help Restore Confidence in Our Public Institutions? (On- Demand Video)

Free Virtual Event: On-Demand

Hosted by: The George Washington University

Graduate School of Political Management

Master’s in Strategic Public Relations

These two high profile panels will tackle the communications challenges communicators and the media have faced this year, including the impact of Covid-19, the resulting economic upheaval, and the 2020 election.

Our panelists, consisting of both practitioners and journalists, share experiences and offer specific recommendations to adopt in the new year to help restore order and confidence amongst the public in our public institutions.

(Moderator: Lawrence J. Parnell, Associate Professor & Program Director, Masters in Strategic Public Relations – GSPM, Adjunct Professor – School of Business, The George Washington University)

Panel One – Lessons from Insiders

This panel includes communications professionals with government and association experience. They share their best practices and lessons learned as we focus on issues of transparency, accountability and a commitment to public service and association members. Panelists:

Scott Thomsen – President of National Association of Government Communicators Chelsea Ritchie, Head of Digital Advocacy at International Copper Association Anne Rancourt, Communications Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health Scott Widmeyer, Founding Managing Partner, Finn Partners and Chief Strategy Officer/Washington

Panel Two – The Media Perspective

This panel includes working members of the media, covering Washington DC from the White House to leading government agencies. They discuss their relationships with communications professionals working within both the government and associations sectors.

Panelists:

Joe Lockhart, White House Press Secretary under President Bill Clinton Margaret Talev, Axios’ White House and Politics Editor Brian Karem, Senior White House correspondent for Playboy Rear Admiral John Kirby, USN (ret), CNN military and diplomatic analyst

Watch On-Demand Video

Name* First Last Email* Organization*

About Our Speakers

Panel One

Scott Thomsen – President of National Association of Government Communicators

Scott Thomsen is the director of communications and public affairs for the Ventura County Fire Department. He has more than a decade in government communications after working for news organizations around the country, including The Orange County Register and The Associated Press. He currently serves as president of the National Association of Government Communicators, which is dedicated to recognizing, developing and advocating for excellence in government communications.

Chelsea Ritchie, MPS, Head of Digital Advocacy at International Copper Association Chelsea Ritchie keeps her thumb on the pulse of Washington politics. The native Southern Californian has spent the past eleven years in Washington, D.C., working with prominent public figures, associations, nonprofits, manufacturers, Am Law top 20 Law Firms, and Fortune 100 Firms. She has worked on some of the most notable Supreme Court decisions and Congressional issues, such as Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the extradition of Chen Guangcheng to the United States, and Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

As a consultant and federal lobbyist, Chelsea has elevated her client’s success by specializing in public affairs to incorporate traditional government relations along with public relations, grassroots, and digital components. Currently, Chelsea works with the International Copper Association to influence copper’s role in legislative and regulatory matters for global policymakers.

Anne Rancourt, Communications Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health

Anne Rancourt is the communications director at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Prior to joining the NIDA team in 2020, she worked at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases where she led communications on HIV, allergy, and immunology for Dr. Anthony S. Fauci. In her career at the National Institutes of Health, Ms. Rancourt has also served as the communications director for the Office of Research on Women’s Health and at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, where she led media for The Heart Truth campaign. Before coming to NIH, Ms.Rancourt was a Presidential Management Fellow in the Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, where she directed communications strategies on the Department’s $167 billion Recovery Act investment. She has also worked in brand management, behavior-change campaigns, and marketing on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She began her career as a journalist at The Washington Post and NBC News. Ms. Rancourt has a bachelor’s degree in English from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in strategic public relations from George Washington University.

Scott Widmeyer, Founding Managing Partner, Finn Partners and Chief Strategy Officer/Washington

Scott Widmeyer has a 35-year record in providing strategic counsel to scores of decision-makers, from presidents to governors to chief executive officers to union leaders. From working as a newspaper reporter to running major media operations for national campaigns, Widmeyer knows how to get results for his clients. His track record of successes in education, health care, politics, campaign finance, LGBTQ issues, technology, trade and other public policy matters illustrate his impact as a “change agent” in things that matter most to America.

Clients regularly turn to Widmeyer for advice on economic development issues, marketing strategies, coalition building and crisis management. He founded Widmeyer Communications in 1988, building on a career in newspaper reporting and serving in major communications positions for five highly respected leaders — former President Jimmy Carter, former Vice President Walter Mondale, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, the late Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro and the late American Federation of Teachers president Albert Shanker. In 2013, Widmeyer Communications became a Finn Partners company.

Scott is active in many civic and philanthropic causes. He currently serves on the Boards of the New York City Leadership Academy and the Contemporary American Theater Festival. In addition, he chairs the George Washington University National Council for Media and Public Affairs and is vice president of the Education Writers Association. Until 2016, Scott served on the board of the LGBT Community Center of New York.

And, for three years in the early 2000s, he chaired the LGBTQ Victory Fund, the leading political action committee and training organization in the US for gay candidates. Scott also was a member of the GLAAD board for several years. In 2007, he was named a David Rockefeller Fellow, a highly coveted one- year program of the New York City Partnership. As a corporate member of the Partnership, Scott and his firm are involved in a number of top priorities related to education, diversity and technology.

(Moderator) Lawrence J. Parnell, M.B.A.

Lawrence J. Parnell, M.B.A. is an award winning Public Relations professional and academic who is an Associate Professor and director of the George Washington University Master’s in Strategic Public Relations program. He has served in this role for 12 years and has built the GW Master’s program into one of the best known and admired programs in the US. Professor Parnell also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Strategic Communications at the GW School of Business.

He also operatesParnell Communications, a strategic communications and leadership training advisory firm. In this role he advises government, corporate and non-profit organizations on executive development and strategic communications.

Prior to coming to GW, he had a successful 32-year career in the private and public sector. He has worked in government, corporate and agency settings and in national, state and local political campaigns. He was recognized as PR Professional of the Year (2003) by PR Week and was named to the PR News Hall of Fame in 2009. The GW Master’s program was named the “Best PR Education Program” for 2015 by PR Week.

He is a frequent author and speaker on communications strategy, crisis and issues management, leadership skills and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at industry conferences and universities around the world. He is quoted often on communications management and crisis communications by the national, business and trade media.

He is the co-author of a leading public relations textbook – “Introduction to Strategic Public Relations – Communicating Effectively in a Socially Responsible World” from Sage Publishing. In its first year, (2018) the text was adopted by over 30 leading undergrad PR programs across the country. The second edition of the text, titled: “Introduction to Public Relations” was published in October 2020 by Sage Publishing. He also contributed as a co-author of a chapter on CSR in the book “Nation Branding and Public Diplomacy” (Peter Lang Publishing) published in 2017. He is active on Twitter at @gwprmasters and on Face Book and Linked-In under his name.

Panel Two

Joe Lockhart, White House Press Secretary under President Bill Clinton

Margaret Talev, Axios’ White House and Politics Editor Margaret Talev is Axios’ White House and Politics Editor. She oversaw 2020 election coverage. She is a CNN analyst and contributor to “Axios on HBO.” She is the former senior White House correspondent for Bloomberg News, covered Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and is a past president of the White House Correspondents‘ Association.

Brian Karem, Senior White House correspondent for Playboy

Brian J. Karem is an award-winning journalist, author, speaker and recognized defender of the First Amendment. Karem currently serves as the senior White House correspondent for Playboy. He is also the host of Just Ask the Question, a podcast featuring conversations with informed individuals about politics, current events and pop culture. He is also a frequent guest on CNN and other networks.

Karem has worked in both newspaper and television as an investigative journalist covering politics, crime, refugee issues, and state and local news. His work experience includes America’s Most Wanted (producer and correspondent); People magazine; Fox News; NBC News; and the Courier-Journal, among others.

Karem has received multiple awards for his work, including the prestigious Pieringer Award and the Freedom of the Press Award, and was recently nominated as “Journalist of the Year” by the Los Angeles Press Club.

Throughout his career, Karem has been a champion of free speech and vocal advocate for freedom of the press. He has testified in support of a federal shield law numerous times before state legislatures and is the founder of the First“ Jailbird’s Club,” a group of 13 reporters who went to jail to defend a confidential source and who have toured the nation to rally for a federal shield law.

Most recently, Karem successfully filed a lawsuit against the Trump White House for suspending his credentials for a month, citing First Amendment and Fifth Amendment violations. The suit named President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham as defendants. He won the suit and has also successfully defended against two appeals.

Karem is a member of the White House Press Corps Association and the National Press Club and serves as immediate past president of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C Press Association.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, USN (ret), CNN military and diplomatic analyst

Rear Admiral John Kirby, USN (ret), is a CNN military and diplomatic analyst and most recently served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Kirby appears regularly on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and across all of CNN’s programming providing analysis on issues related to the U.S. military, defense, foreign affairs and diplomacy. Prior to joining CNN, Kirby had a 29-year career with the United States Navy, joining after college and eventually retiring as Rear Admiral in 2015. In 2011, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta appointed Kirby to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations. Two years later, after serving as the U.S. Navy’s Chief of Information, Kirby was chosen as Pentagon Press Secretary and became the first uniformed officer to hold the position. Following his military career, Kirby returned to government to serve as the Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. Soon after, he was appointed by then-President Obama to take on the role of Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Public Affairs, a title he held until the end of the Obama administration.

Kirby is from St. Petersburg, Florida, and holds a B.A. in History from the University of South Florida, as well as an M.S. in International Relations from Troy State University and an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

PR Masters Series Podcast, Episode #38 – Fred Cook Overview

About Our Guest

Fred Cook has worked at Golin for over 30 years. He started as an account supervisor in the Los Angeles office and moved to Chicago 15 years ago to become Golin’s third CEO. Fred credits the company culture for his long tenure with the firm.

During his time with Golin, Cook has had the privilege to work with a variety of high-profile CEOs, including Herb Kelleher, Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. He has also managed a wide scope of crises for his clients, including airline crashes, product recalls, and sexual harassment.

Fred is proud of the firm’s accomplishments, but he is even more excited about the future. The world is experiencing profound changes in demographics, globalization, multiculturalism and technology which are impacting the way people communicate with each other. To stay ahead of their changes, five years ago, Golin completely redesigned the agency by adopting a proprietary business model called g4, to deliver deeper insights, bigger ideas and broader engagement to their clients. Since that time, Golin has been named ‘Agency of the Year’ more than a dozen times.

In 2014, Cook published “Improvise – Unconventional Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO,” which shares the wisdom he gained as a cabin boy on a Norwegian tanker, doorman at a 5- star hotel and chauffeur for drunks. In 2015, after speaking on college campuses around the world, Fred accepted an additional position with the University of Southern California as the Director of the USC Center for Public Relations at the Annenberg School whose mission is to shape the future of public relations and those who will lead it – through research, education and thought leadership.

Instead of Focusing on Blockchain, Examine the Stories of Innovators Who Propel the Technology

Wendy Glavin, Founder & CEO, Wendy Glavin Agency

The global pandemic has changed the way we work, communicate, socialize, and conduct our daily lives. Some people are in limbo while others are focused on the what ifs. Instead, with the acceleration of digital technologies, staying abreast of the emerging trends will keep you relevant and prepare you for new opportunities.

Having worked with founders of tech startups, I learned how those who are successful operate. They have a mission bigger than themselves, possess customer-driven ideas, and never give up despite challenges.

After reading many books about technology, I’ve learned the ones that stick provide use cases, learnings from the past, use plain-English instead of techno-speak, demystify the core concepts and take us along the author’s journey. In October, I was a judge during CoinAgenda and BitAngels Virtual Pitch Competition, a global pitch fest with many leading startups. The opening presenters were authors John Hargrave andEvan Karnoupakis, both experts in the field who discussed their new book, Blockchain Success Stories: Case Studies from the Leading Edge of Business.

Their conversation was engaging, educational and thought- provoking which inspired me to learn more. If you’re a blockchain or crypto enthusiast, you know that many startups fail while others succeed. So, what makes a startup last?

For those of you who work within industry sectors that use blockchain applications, you’ll gain a better understand of the global ecosystem. If you’re a tech-newbie, a student, or are searching for a job, blockchain has accelerated. Why not get involved?

The global blockchain market size is projected to grow from $3.0 billion in 2020 to $39.7 billion in 2025, according to a May 2020 report from MarketsandMarkets. PWC predicts that blockchain has the potential to add $1.76 trillion to the global economy by 2030, increasing jobs by 40 million.

While the authors review blockchain basics, the reader doesn’t get mired in descriptors, industry-specific jargon or buzzwords which hinders adoption. Several years ago, Gartner even dubbed the problem as blockchain fatigue.

I encountered this first-hand when I wrote,The Amazing Utility of Blockchain: From Mining Crypto for Charities to Tracking E-Coli in 2018 and learned that many people were still not clear about how blockchain works. After writing a more basic article, How Blockchain Can Rebuild Digital Trust it was named CommPRO’s #2 most-read (out of 10,000 contributors) in 2019.

How to Move from Tech Newbie to Savvy

People often think you need to be a technologist, data scientist, analyst, investor or possess hard skills like data analytics, cloud and distributed computing, AI, engineering, UX design and more.

But business leaders report that having soft skills like, a growth mindset, creativity, adaptability, a collaborative nature, and emotional intelligence, are equally important in our current environment.

In fact, Walmart and JPMorgan are increasingly experimenting with new blockchain initiatives where non-technical folks are needed, Phillipe Forte, partner at The Blockchain Venture Coalition told CoinDesk.

Like the case study method created by Harvard Business School, the authors discuss each founder’s vision, their strategy, fits and starts and how they worked to overcome problems and gain adoption.

The questions at the end of each chapter help us think about what we’d do in different scenarios and serve as teaching tools. With so many inspiring stories in the book, here are a few examples: How Helium is Reducing IoT Costs. You Can Too

In 2013, Amir Haleem champion video gamer and Shawn Fanning, creator of Napster wanted to create a massive wireless network that was inexpensive and used less power and bandwidth.

One year later, their idea evolved into a wireless network of millions of hotspots. Instead of using large and costly cell towers, people connected their devices to Helium hotspots, creating communities of connectivity without using WiFi.

With Helium, consumers can connect to the Internet of Things (IOT) using a hotspot that tracks location, usage, and more from scooters, bikes, smart pet collars, cargo freights and detect forest fires.

Once people connect their hotspot to WiFi and place it on a windowsill, it connects to a Helium IoT wireless peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol or a standard set of rules called LongFi that connects to thousands of self-communicating devices.

The energy used is similar to the cost of a 12-watt lightbulb. In essence, people become their own telecom company which Helium dubbed, “The People’s Network.” It’s accessible to anyone at a low-cost, resistant to censorship and secure.

Some of the companies using Helium are Salesforce for IoT innovation, Lime for micro mobility tracking, Conserv for protecting art, Smart Mimic for contact tracing, and many others. Here’s a brief video about Helium.

How Voatz, a Mobile Voting App Can Help Disenfranchised Voters

Throughout the Presidential election, voting was a huge topic of discussion with uncertainty and skepticism about the process. Barriers included fears of catching COVID-19 while waiting in long lines, concerns about mail-in ballots, an inability to take time off from work, lack of clarity regarding the location or access to polling places and other problems with voting.

For example, many military personnel and students studying abroad were unable to get their ballots in on time, and some people who were incarcerated were not allowed to vote (depending on their state). Others felt they were discriminated against because of their race, gender or financial status.

To address these issues, Nimit S. Sawhney, Co-Founder and CEO of Voatz, a private Boston-based company created the first voting app. Recalling his travels to India, Nimit discusses what he saw as a young child; seeing families targeted and killed and people being forced to vote at gunpoint. This experience inspired him to create a new voting system that people would trust.

Pilot programs included the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, counties within the states of West Virginia and Massachusetts, and also with Tufts University. Voatz was used in federal, state and municipal elections in West Virginia, Denver, Oregon and Utah.

As John says, it’s an idea whose time has come. We do everything on our phones. Why not vote? Watch this short Voatz video to learn the inspiration behind the founders use of blockchain technology.

Owning Your Digital Assets

The story of CryptoKitties is one of the most well-known in blockchain, and one of the authors’ favorites because of what happened during a massive boom in 2017 with blockchain.

Mack Flavelle, the CEO of CryptoKitties worked at Dapper Labs and Axiom Zen. Axiom Zen is an innovation studio that develops software and innovation solutions for both large companies and startups in gaming, AI, AR and blockchain.

Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs, Former CEO of Axion Zen, the company behind CryptoKitties, works with startup founders, corporate leaders, VC’s and academicinstitutions.

Together, they had an idea to take a breeding/farming game and “mash it up” with the new world of cryptocurrency and blockchain. The story began when Flavelle was staying with his father and said after receiving a message, we just sold our first CryptoKittie for $30,000. Then another message said Ethereum crashed.

Since CryptoKitties was extremely popular it was driving the sale of Ethereum. How did they fix the problem? They followed the same method as Satoshi and created a non-fungible token (NFT).

As an aside, if you haven’t heard the name, Satoshi Nakomoto it’s a pseudonym, person or persons who developed Bitcoin, authored the renown Bitcoin whitepaper and created the first blockchain database. Another innovation was tokenization (using blockchain technology to securitize assets). Simply put, it’s when a blockchain token is issued to represent a real tradeable asset.

Unlike fungible tokens (which can be exchanged for equal value) such as a ten-dollar bill which is equal to two five- dollar bills, or one Bitcoin has the same value as another Bitcoin, NFT’s are unique, rare, and not interchangeable. ERC721 is a standard interface for NFTs, a subset of Ethereum tokens. In gaming and collectibles, NFT’s are digital collectibles.

The CrytoKitties team collaborated with Metamask, created a community of investors and in early 2018, CryptoKitties spun off Dapper Labs into its own company which raised $12M from VCs and angel investors. In May of 2018, one CryptoKitty sold for $140,000 and in October, it had 1M cats that were bred with 3.2M transactions on its smart contracts and raised an additional $15 million.

As the world moves increasingly online, so has consumers’ desire for discovering and collecting digital memorabilia that brings them one step closer to their favorite athletes, musicians and iconic characters,” said Roham Gharegozlou, in a statement to Venture Beat.

Since most people know of CryptoKitties, I won’t share the entire story. Instead, here’s a Vox video about the craze behind why people buy digital cat collectibles.

Build on Your Strengths

These and many other stories are covered in-detail in Blockchain Success Stories. Whether you’re a student, graduate, entrepreneur, marketer, or C-Suite executive, blockchain is impacting most industry sectors. You can learn by reading, participating in virtual events, using social media, watching explainer videos and more.

Throughout 2020, common terms used are, “pivoting,” “the new normal” and “the next new normal.” Instead, continued learning will keep you relevant during an uncertain future. As a marketing communications veteran, I expanded my skillset to become a published writer and a technology columnist. If you reflect you on your career, you will find common patterns and transferrable skills too.

As we move closer to 2021, here’s one of my favorite quotes about learning:

“The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.” — Carol Dweck, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist and author

About the Author: Wendy Glavin is Founder and CEO of Wendy Glavin, a NYC full-service agency. Wendy is a 30-year veteran of corporate, agency, consulting and small business ownership. She specializes in B2B2C marketing communications, executive writing, PR and social media advisory. Her website is: https://wendyglavin.com/. Contact her at: [email protected].

9 Communications Predictions for 2021

Be prepared for a year of digital domination, concrete DE&I action, and livestreamed events.

Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO, Crenshaw Communications

2020 has been a year like no other.

Even the Oxford English Dictionary is at a loss for words to describe it. If we could wipe it off the calendar and start again, most of us probably would. So, the sooner we finish our 2020 roundup posts and 2021 forecasts, the quicker we can turn the page, right?

Seriously, not all the news is bad. The year of COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, assorted climate disasters, and a historically divisive presidential contest has accelerated existing trends. It also opened new opportunities for professional communicators. Here are some observations on what we can expect in 2021.

Work will be fully digital.

The pandemic fueled the digital transformation already underway in most business sectors. Gartner predicts that an “anywhere operations model will be vital for businesses to emerge successfully from COVID-19” in 2021. This is particularly true for marketing, brand and corporate communications. Remote work is now a permanent option for many office employees, and all internal and externally focused campaigns must be fully digital. The rush to digital operation has obvious ramifications, including a greater emphasis on digital security, and automation of repetitive tasks that frees up humans for higher-touch communications.

Continue reading here…

How Would You Summarize 2020 in a Single Word?

Linda Descano, CFA®, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications & Executive Visibility, Red Havas

Ellen Mallernee Barnes, Vice President of Content, Red Havas

2020 will go down in history as many things. Among them, it’s been The Year of Opposites—when homebodies are the cool kids, hugs can be lethal, being positive is a negative, and being negative is a positive. It’s also fair to say it’s been The Year of Things We Never Thought Would Come Out of Our Mouths, along the lines of:

Oh, I love your mask! Where’d you get it?

My screen time is 12 hours today, down 3% from last week.

Am I allowed to hug you? Did you hear that she’s still going to barre class but not telling anyone in her pod?

I have this reoccurring dream where I’ve completely forgotten to wear my mask and I’m out in public.

My kids haven’t been to school in nearly a year.

Have you been washing your groceries?

I miss my morning commute.

If you don’t pick up your room, you’re not getting your four hours of screen time today.

And the list could go on…

When discussing an approach for the December episode of our “Red Sky Fuel for Thought” podcast, we were most intrigued by how language has been used to describe this unconventional year. Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com agreed that 2020’s word of the year is pandemic, while Oxford Dictionary chose to break character by naming numerous words of the year, including unmute, mail-in, coronavirus and lockdown.

This led our agency to ask: What one word could be used to describe how communications specifically have shapeshifted in 2020? We asked that question of our colleagues globally, and 145 of them took us up on the challenge of identifying their word of 2020. Let’s be clear: We approached this not to produce a statistically backed thought leadership piece but to engage colleagues and ourselves in a conversation about a shared passion: communications.

What surprised us was that, much like the team at Oxford Dictionaries, we couldn’t identify a single word or phrase to coalesce around. In fact, more than 70 words were put forward. The two most-mentioned words were pivot and unprecedented—each with eight mentions. Zoom, virtual and digital were next, each with six mentions.

In spite of not being able to identify a frontrunner for Red Havas Word of the Year, some definite themes emerged. As you might expect among a group of communicators, words that define the lexicon for a new era were top of mind: from pandemic and social distancing to Zoom and mute to allyship and woke.

Another theme captured the magnitude of how our lives have—and continue to—change, such asunprecedented , cataclysmic, inconceivable, overwhelming, and revolutionary. And then there was a group that aligned around the ever-changing situation, such as pivot, agile/agility, flexibility, adaptive and adaptation, dynamic and evolving. Last but not least were the group of words that spoke to our feelings: from connected, resilient, purposeful and woke to unprepared, isolated, uncertain and frantic.

It’s nice to know we’re not alone in this fruitless pursuit to produce a single word for 2020. In fact, one could say we’re all in this together in this new normal—something else we’ve heard many, many times this year.

“I’ve never witnessed a year in language like the one we’ve just had,” says Oxford Dictionaries president Casper Grathwohl. “The team at Oxford were identifying hundreds of significant new words and usages as the year unfolded, dozens of which would have been a slam dunk for word of the year at any other time. It’s both unprecedented and a little ironic—in a year that left us speechless, 2020 has been filled with new words unlike any other.”

We’ll leave you with a parting sentence, into which we’ve packed as many 2020-relevant words as possible.

The pandemic gave way to an unprecedented year and a new normal for communicators in which we all pivoted to meet virtually via Zoom, connect in-person at a social distance, and stay woke and agile amongst the chaos and uncertainty.

What’s in store for 2021? Hopefully good things that require fewer words.

We invite you to head over to Twitter to tell us what you think should be 2020’s word of the year: https://twitter.com/redhavas_us/media.

About the Authors: Linda Descano, ®,CFA Executive Vice President

Linda is an executive vice president of Red Havas in New York. Linda specializes in providing strategic counsel on corporate communications, executive visibility, issues and crisis management, and Merged Media communications strategies to global corporations and organizations. Prior to joining Red Havas in 2015, Linda was managing director and global head of content marketing and social media at Citi; other roles during her tenure at Citi included president and CEO of Women & Co., the award-winning financial lifestyle community for women, and director and portfolio manager of the Citi Social Awareness Investment program. A PR News PR Professional of the Year and one of Campaign U.S. Digital’s 40 over 40 honorees, Linda brings a unique blend of storytelling experience and investment acumen, complemented by work in B2B, B2C and B2B2C, giving her an uncanny ability to help clients create authentic conversations and campaigns.

Ellen Mallernee Barnes, Vice President of Content

Ellen has managed editorial content creation and strategy for Havas PR’s corporate, nonprofit and consumer clients since 2011, contributing her writing and editing skills to numerous award-winning campaigns across a breadth of industries. Always on-message and engaging, Ellen has drafted hundreds of impactful blog posts and bylines that have landed clients in the likes of Forbes, Fast Company, The New York Times, USA Today and top trade publications. Red Havas’ clients have also come to count on her to develop long-form think pieces, such as white papers and research reports, and short-form social content that is crisp and compelling. And to build our clients’ thought leadership profiles, Ellen has assembled hundreds of winning award entries and speeches. Ellen previously served as editorial director for Gibson Guitar and has a background in journalism.

PR Masters Series Podcast, Episode #39 – Peter Finn

Overview

About Our Guest

Peter Finn plays the central role in the creation and ongoing initiatives of Finn Partners and the development of the practices and offices that now make up the global agency. Over the years his contributions as Founding Managing Partner have included the recruitment of key executives, and the orchestration of domestic and global acquisitions of agencies specializing in technology, health, consumer marketing, tourism, education, professional and financial services, branding, public affairs and social and digital practices. He’s developed a powerful team, acquiring top notch agencies and integrating them into the firm, building what began as a small agency in 2011 into one of the top independent agencies in the world.

Under Peter’s direction, Finn Partners was selected by the prestigious Holmes Report as “Best New Agency” in 2012 and later was “Midsize Agency of the Year” by PR News and Holmes Report, and was named Health Agency of the Year by the Holmes Report in 2018 and was named one of the top Health agencies in the world in 2020. Finn continues to grow rapidly and is currently ranked by the O’Dwyer’s report as the 4h largest US based independent PR firm. Through Finn’s efforts, the firm has more than quadrupled in size over the past eight years and now has 20 offices around the world with almost 800 employees internationally.

Prior to launching Finn Partners, Peter was Co-CEO of Ruder Finn, Inc., He first joined Ruder Finn in 1976 and played a key role since the 1980s in turning the firm into one of the largest independently owned public relations firms in the world.

Peter is co-founder, with his wife Sarah, and Chairman of the Catskill Mountain Foundation, one of the largest arts organizations in the upstate New York, where he continues to work with many public officials at the local, state and federal level, impacting the region’s economic development. He is the recipient of the 2017 Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts award.

Peter has a B.A. from Brown University and an M.A. from Columbia University.

PR Masters Series Podcast, Episode #40 – Michael Kempner Overview

About Our Guest

Michael Kempner is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MWWPR, one of the nation’s largest independent public relations firms. He is a nationally recognized authority on reputation management, crisis management, public affairs, business to business, consumer marketing and corporate social responsibility, and has counseled some of the world’s most prominent executives, organizations and companies. Michael is known for his candor, commitment to community service and personal attention to client needs. He is an author and speaker on a variety of public relations, management, entrepreneurship, and marketing topics.

An active member of his community, Michael serves as the chairman of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, in addition to a current member of the PR Council Board of Directors, a board member of the New York Coalition for the Homeless, Fulbright- Canada Scholarship Board and a founding Board Member of ConnectOne Bank, one of the nation’s most successful community banks (NASDAQ: CNOB). He is also active in progressive politics and issues, having played major roles in the campaigns of President Barack Obama, Secretary Hillary Clinton and currently Joe Biden.

Ad Strategy Mistakes to Avoid

Ronn Torossian, CEO, 5WPR

Businesses can no longer afford to avoid investing in social media ads, with about 97% of digital consumers using at least one of these platforms. However, with the rise of social ad spending, businesses cannot make any mistakes in their social media ad strategies.

To make sure that all ad spend is successful, businesses should first become familiar with the different types of strategies. An even better way to become familiar with social ad strategies is to learn about the common mistakes that businesses tend to make with their own ad spending and marketing strategies and know what to avoid.

When a company decides to invest in social media ads, they then create the audience targeting based on what information it already has about the target audience. This information might be about the age range, gender, location, or interests, but even then, it’s not enough research, which is one of the key elements when it comes to creating social media ads.

As Alexei Orlov of MTM notes, Fortunately, Facebook offers a solution to these businesses because it has a split testing feature for advertisers, which allows them to split test up to five different ads at the same time. For businesses looking to build their social ad strategy but don’t have the ability to split test their campaigns, they can start with a small test budget-making educated guesses and then adjust each strategy according to any new information they learn.

Social media ads are typically exposed to thousands of people, increasing their chances of receiving negative comments. Whether it’s someone that simply doesn’t like the ad of a customer that didn’t particularly find the product useful, a negative comment can easily lead to a loss of sales because the same number of people that see the ad are also going to see the comment underneath it and be persuaded to avoid the company.

An easy solution for this issue is to reply to any negative comments and to find a solution to solve the issue that the customer might have. That way, aside from the negative comment, the audience will see that the business is responsible and wants everyone to have a positive experience, therefore making them trust in the business a lot more.

The main goal of social media ads is to get the audience to act on something, but this is not easy to achieve if there are no clear directions for the audience. Educating the public about a certain product or service might lead them to open a link, but businesses should be as clear as possible about what they want the customers to do when viewing the ad.

The call to action (CTA) should be clear, simple, and easy for the viewers to do – it should save them the trouble of looking up the website or searching for the same product on the website so that they can purchase it. The process should be made extremely simple instead of complicated and confusing.

PR Masters Series Podcast, Episode #36 – Margi Booth

Overview

About Our Guest

Margi founded M Booth in 1985 to create innovative communications programs for highly respected consumer, lifestyle, and corporate brands. Under her leadership, the agency’s client roster has grown to include American Express, Unilever, Google, GE, Mercedes Benz, and Godiva, among others. In addition, her agency has been recognized by the Holmes Report as Creative Agency of the Year, and is one of nine companies cited in 2014 as the Best Place To Work by PR Week.

In 2009, Margi sold her firm to Next Fifteen Communications and assumed the role of MBooth’s AWC (Active Working Chairman). In her new role, she is involved in setting the firm’s strategic direction, client counseling and new business. Margi is also working with Next Fifteen to manage its talent and acquisition strategies.

She is a New York Women in Communications Matrix Award recipient for career advancement in public relations and was awarded the New York Public Relations Society prestigious John W. Hill Award for her demonstration of leadership in the practice of public relations. She is a founding member of the Council of Public Relations Firms, and serves as a board member of the Center To Advance Palliative Care, and the Community Resource Exchange.

How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Campaign

Jill Kurtz, Owner, Kurtz Digital Strategy

Think you need an influencer campaign for your marketing and communication efforts? This seems to be a common tactic lately.

Saying you are going to leverage the influence of one of more people who have a strong audience in your field or among your target audience is easy. Figuring out who is really an influencer may take time.

Here’s some help if your goal is to leverage influencers. Four Measures to Pick the Right Influencer for Your Marketing Campaign

1. Audience Demographics

You need a deep understanding of your target audience to determine if an influencer is a fit. General demographics like gender and age are too broad to help you find the right influencer.

Layers like location, interests (including interest in your area of effort and your brand), income, language and more can help you to hone in on the best influencer for your needs.

You want to find a good intersection of your target and the influencer’s audience. You want enough people in an influencer’s audience who would also likely be interested in your brand or product.

2. First-Hand Awareness

Speaking of target audience, you ideally want the influencer to be in that audience. Someone who knows your brand first hand will be in the best position to talk about it.

At the least, you want someone who meets the major criteria of your target audience. That person is most likely to have influence over others in the same group.

3. Follower Growth

The degree of influence is measured by social media influencer follower growth. You pick an influencer based on their following. It makes sense to pay attention to how that following grows during your engagement with that person. You want to see a steady, consistent rise. Dramatic increases could mean the influencer is buying followers or using some other means to artificially boost their following.

4. Social Content

Even if your focus is one particular social platform, look at the content an influencer publishes everywhere online. This will give you a complete view of where they actually wield influence.

Take time to review conversations, noting topics and who is engaging.

Follow the Data

As you consider these four factors, don’t ignore any other insights you gain. There are dozens of data points you can consider. Effective influencer marketing requires both data science and creativity.

Now What? After-Election Self-Care: 5 Reminders When Life Happens

Paolina Milana, Author & Founder of MadnessToMagic.com

My parents were immigrants. Growing up, they shared their stories of what it was like for them navigating the unknown, living in war-torn Sicily under the rule of Mussolini and Hitler during World War II. Fast forward to the late 1970s all the way into the early 2000s, and as I and my siblings were growing up, we faced a different kind of unknown involving mental illness. I’ve shared in my published books that my family tree is one wherein insanity took root, leaving us to find our own way, living with both a mom and a sister, each diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. These two major influences in my life are part of my story. But they aren’t the whole of my story.

Right now, we’re each experiencing some universal commonalities in terms of life events. These include the 2020 Election, the COVID health crisis, the downward economy, and the country divided in a way that our country hasn’t seen since the days of the Civil War. All of these happenings are part of all of our stories. But they aren’t the whole of our stories.

And that’s the point.

Life happens. Good. Bad. Ugly. Unknown. Sometimes, outcomes are what we want them to be, and, sometimes, they are not. Sometimes, we have “how to” playbooks to follow in dealing with them, and, sometimes, we’re forced to figure it out on our own. Regardless of what is, with each event — before, during, and after — we experience a whole host of emotions on both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between: Anxiety, depression, fear, worry, panic, fury, relief, elation, amusement, satisfaction, and more. Sometimes, we’re even feeling emotions that conflict with one another at the very same time (i.e. how can I feel love for someone who so infuriates me with how they think and what they believe…?). One minute, we might feel hopeful, and the very next minute, we’re deep in despair.

All of our “now” may be pretty confusing and stressful.

That said, the good news (and, yes, there actually is good news) is that whatever we’re feeling, it’s normal. And we aren’t alone. In these uncharted waters of our time, it isn’t easy to navigate our respective ships, and it’s pretty clear that so many of us are struggling with so many different emotions that our mental health is suffering.

So what can we possibly do? How can we deal with life happening and what seems like more than we can handle? Here are some recommendations that have helped clients, family, friends, colleagues, and, yes, even myself:

Acknowledge Reality – From the tallies of Election 2020 to the work from home and virtual schooling to loved ones or strangers contracting the virus: These things are facts. Acknowledge them and accept them for what they are. But in doing so, don’t forget to be aware of other facts: the sun rising or setting; birds flying overhead or singing; your dog jumping around, excited about being let outside to play; a stranger driving alongside you on the freeway pausing to let you into their lane. Too often we focus on the one-sided realities that add to our stress; rather than realizing all of the other truths of this life that are happening at the same time and that give us joy. Pay attention to ALL that is. Be aware of not just the challenges and the unknowns, but the everyday miracles and moments that make this life all that it is and was meant to be.

Think of what Fred Rogers said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’

Separate What Is from What You Make It Mean – Maybe the person you voted for in Election 2020 took the lead or maybe he didn’t. Maybe that person driving alongside you on the freeway did or didn’t let you into their lane. Whatever is, separate that from the meaning and the importance you assign to it. Because for everything in life, it’s not about the actual thing that happens (really, it’s not); rather, it’s about what we choose to make it mean and what we do as a result in response to it. So give yourself the freedom of perspective. Distance yourself and your feelings from the actual event or happening. Doing so helps you to see things more clearly and to find solutions to problems that, otherwise, you may not see.

Think of the wisdom of Helen Keller: “When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we don’t see the one that has opened for us.”

Punctuate with a semi-colon versus a period – I started this article sharing some truths that are part of my personal story and some truths that are part of our societal collective story. As I said, as much as those events and facts are part of the story, they are not the whole story, nor are they the end of the story. In grammar and punctuation, the semi-colon is used to connect two independent thoughts that are closely related and of equal importance. In the mental health awareness and suicide prevention communities, the symbol of the semi-colon is used to communicate the fact that your story isn’t over. No matter what came before or what is in this moment, your story is “to be continued.” So if at this moment, your feelings are those on the negative end of the emotional spectrum, take heart in knowing that change is ever-constant. There is no period punctuating what is. There’s a semi-colon, and that realization is one of hope and inspiration and possibilities.

Think of the 2000 film Cast Away whose main character played by Tom Hanks crashes onto an uncharted deserted island and not only survives for four years, but rescues himself and finds his way back home: “So I know what I have to do now. I have to keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise, and who knows what the tide can bring.” Hindsight Is 20/20 – Back in my college days, I had saved enough money to attend an out-of-state school for one year (or so I thought). On the weekend prior to my leaving on my new adventure, friends treated me to a celebratory lunch in one of Chicago’s famous eateries. Little did I know that later that night, I (and my friends) would end up in the ER with severe food poisoning (courtesy of an outbreak at the restaurant). With my departure delayed, and several university orientation events missed, I cursed my fate lamenting “why me?” Fast forward to the end of that year. Tuition was due, and I didn’t have enough money. I was thousands short. Without payment, I wouldn’t get my grades and wouldn’t be able to transfer to another school I could afford. Feeling quite desperate and without a clue as to what to do, on the very last hour of the very last day the school would accept payment, I dragged myself to the financial aid office, planning to beg for mercy. On the way there, I stopped to pick up my mail. Much to my surprise, the letter with the return address belonging to a Chicago attorney’s office held within it a check from the restaurant responsible for my food poisoning. It not only covered my outstanding tuition bill but many other bills I had racked up. So at the end of the day, what I originally had thought of as one of the worst things to have happened to me turned out to be my saving grace. (I tell the whole story and more in my upcoming book COMMITTED publishing May 2021.) Hindsight is, indeed, 20/20. We often aren’t able to see or fully understand why something is or isn’t happening. What we think may be the end to our world may be the exact opposite. Likewise, what we believe is our dream coming true may just a few years down the road become a nightmare. We have to believe that life really is happening for us and not to us.

Think of it as Malcom X suggested: “Every defeat, every heart break, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.”

Remember Who You Are & What Matters – During challenging times, it’s easy to get swallowed up in the drama. We put our focus on what’s outside of us, rather than what’s in us. We spend our energies on things we can’t control, and we neglect all the things we can – and, ironically, all the things that bring us joy and really do matter to us and make us who we are. So choose to get back to you. Engage in the things that bring you pleasure. Show yourself compassion. Do whatever it is you love. Reach out to those you love. Give yourself what you need. Those tiny moments of self-care will give you the strength to live life as it was meant to be. In my own times of despair, I have gotten back to who I am by engaging in creative endeavors. Every project has helped me shift my spirits and has propelled me forward in bigger and better ways that I could ever have imagined. As a matter of fact, it’s during one of those lower than low periods that I created “Seriously! Are We THERE Yet?! – my whimsical picture book for every grownup on life’s journey. If you need a bit of inspiration, this rhyming romp is for you. Get it and give it a quick read. It might just give you the spark you need to journey on.

As Chinese American author Maxine Hong Kingston said: “In a time of destruction, create something.” About the Author: Published author, speaker, podcaster, content producer, and Founder of Madness To Magic, Paolina Milana’s mission is to share stories that celebrate the triumph of the human spirit and the power that lies within each of us to bring about change for the better. Her professional background includes telling other people’s stories, both as a journalist and as a PR and digital media/marketing executive. She currently serves as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in foster care and as an empowerment and writing coach who uses storytelling to help people re-imagine their lives, write their next chapters, and become the heroes of their own journeys. Paolina’s first book, The S Word (She Writes Press, May 2015), earned the National Indie Excellence Award. Seriously! Are We THERE Yet?! (October 2020) is the first in her “children’s book for adults” series, and Miracle on Mall Drive (November 2020) is her first fiction novel. Her free podcast, I’m with Crazy: A Love Story is on iTunes at https://apple.co/399ToaG. A proud first-generation Sicilian, Paolina is married and lives on the edge of the Angeles National Forest in Southern California. She welcomes contacting her at [email protected].

The Social Dilemma: A Documentary and Big Tech’s Grasp Over Us

Wendy Glavin, Founder & CEO, Wendy Glavin Agency

On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the Senate committee held a hearing with Big Tech CEOs Jack Dorsey of Twitter, CEO Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and CEO Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc., Google.

The hearing was called, “Does Section 230’s Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior” which focused on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 says that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider;” a legal protection against sharing third-party content. Since Section 230 was enacted into law in 1996, Republicans and Democrats believe it should be modified to more closely represent where the industry is today. The key takeaways were divisive content, fact-checking, censorship, anti-conservative bias, data privacy, antitrust, the abuse of power, misinformation, local news, security and more.

With the election only five days away, several Democrats accused Republicans of deliberating holding the hearing so close to the election to impact it; while Republicans countered with the need to reign in Big Tech.

Top news organizations reported that it was “a sham,” that there were “few direct hits on these companies,” “this is nonsense,” and “have yet to result in anything concrete.” For more in-depth coverage, please go to Axios.

While there have already been several Congressional hearings about technology companies within the last several years, including in July 2020 and in October 2020 when The Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Google.

But, what has this all led to? If you watch two documentaries, “The Great Hack” and “The Social Dilemma.” you’ll gain a deeper understanding of what these companies know about us and how our data is being used against us. And, how everything we do is being tracked both online and offline, even when we’re sleeping. And, as I’ve learned, it’s scary. How often do you receive spam calls? Do you worry that your smart devices and cell phones are listening to your conversations? Is your inbox inundated with ads? Are you concerned about the use of facial recognition technology and geolocation targeting?

While many agree that our personal data shouldn’t be used to track our activities or sold to advertisers without our knowledge, people feel data privacy is too scary to think about, too complex or just so overwhelming that there’s nothing we can do to change it. In 2018, we learned about how Cambridge Analytica harvested data from millions of Facebook accounts, triggering investigations into the unethical use of personal data by Facebook, Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the UK Brexit vote.

At that time, Ex-Cambridge Analytica staffer Brittany Kaiser’s documentary, The Great Hack, illustrated how our data is being tracked, harvested and used against us. One of the core themes is how we leave our data footprint for others to access and follow daily. Other documentaries on the subject include Screened Out and Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World.

From the credit card swipes we make, to the identities of our friends and families, to our pictures, videos, online activities and more, Big Tech companies track users’ behavior to target ads to us. If you’d like to learn more about the basics of data privacy, please read, “In Our Digital World, You Are Being Followed,” from September 2019.

A new Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma was released on September 9, 2020, featuring the Center for Humane Technology’s founders, advisors and technology leaders. The opening screen shows a quote from Sophocles, “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse.”

Without giving away any spoilers, this movie differs from the others mentioned in that insiders from the technology industry who worked at Facebook, Instagram, Apple, YouTube, Google, Twitter, Palm, Mozilla Labs, Pinterest, the developer of Google Drive, Gmail Chat, Facebook Pages and Facebook’s Like button, among others, speak directly about their experiences.

The dialogue is raw, with executives who appear to be hesitant when answering questions. Their descriptions are apologetic and honest about why they chose to leave these companies. They express ethical issues and concerns that tech is no longer being used for the good of society among other problems.

Tim Kendall, CEO of Moment and former President of Pinterest and former Director of Monetization of Facebook, said, “It’s easy to forget today that these trolls have created meaningful systemic changes happening around the world because of these platforms that were positive. I think we were naïve about the other side of the coin.”

While he was at Facebook, Kendall was hired to come up with the business model for the company. He and his monetization team decided, “Advertising was the most elegant way.”

When the narrator of The Social Dilemma asks, “What is the problem?” there are hesitations. These are hard answers to articulate, some of which include:

1. Fake news 2. How social media is negatively affecting children 3. How we’ve gone from the information age to the disinformation age 4. How capitalism has come to shape our politics and culture in ways that people don’t understand and didn’t anticipate 5. How to handle the pandemic in the age of fake news 6. How social media has eroded the fabric of our society

Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and former Google Design Ethicist, says we need a new agenda for technology. “If you ask people what’s wrong with technology, they’ll reference, scandals, grievances, tech addition, data being stolen, fake news, polarization and hackers.”

“The problem should not just be privy to tech people, but to everyone. The tech industry has lost its way. Never before in history have 50 designers, 20-35-year-old white guys, made decisions that would have an impact on two billion people,” Harris added. Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, former head of User Experience at Mozilla, lead designer of the Firefox browser and inventor of the infinite scroll said, “Advertisers are the customers; we’re the thing that’s being sold.”

In November 2018, I wrote my first column for Equities called, “Has the ‘Public’ Lost Trust in Big Tech Companies?” I called some friends on Wall Street who spoke about the FAANG stocks.

After a random survey of roughly 200 people at the time, only one person said, Google is a tech company. Other respondents said Google (owned by Alphabet) is a search firm, Facebook is a social media platform, Amazon is for online purchases, Apple is for purchasing phones, computers and other devices, and Netflix is a streaming service.

It was remarkable that so few consumers seemed unaware that these were technology companies at heart.

Consider Amazon as a primary example. In its quarter ended June 30, 2020, the company reported net income of $5.243 billion. That wasn’t just from books and Prime subscriptions. Amazon Web Services, the not-so-humble cloud computing platform subsidiary, generated $3.357 billion of the bottom line — 64%!

The public at large got one of the first glimpses behind the curtain during the daylong testimony by CEOs in the Big Tech antitrust hearing before Congress on July 29, 2020.

Listening to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law grill Apple’s Tim Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai was disturbing. If you didn’t watch or read about it, the core issues were market domination, whether Big Tech should be broken-up, the need for Federal antitrust regulations, privacy protection, data collection practices and efforts to thwart competition. On July 31, 2020, two days after the hearing, a survey by Harris Poll for Fast Company of 1,020 American adults revealed that nearly half of 18 to 34-year-olds said their perception of tech giants improved and 63 percent said that their usage of the companies’ products and services increased.

Overall, however, Americans are still extremely uncomfortable with the Big Four’s business models, which are built on the backs of user data. Though nearly all Americans (86%) use services like Amazon and Instagram, and 75% access them daily, only 9% feel that it is “completely worth it” to give up the personal demographic and preferences information that these companies sell to marketers.

In my article, In Our Digital World, You Are Being Followed, I asked the same questions of you: Armed with this knowledge, what are you going to do? Start reading the terms and conditions? Delete apps? Stop using Facebook? Debate the need for personalized ads?

You do have control, but the decision centers around what tech conveniences you’re willing to give up versus protecting your privacy.

As for me, I’ve turned off Alexa because I know my device is listening to my conversations. I’ve removed myself from many Facebook Groups and barely post on Facebook or Instagram. I turn off the news except during important world events. I continue to use Google to search, but am selective about the publications I read.

I stay updated on business and industry trends by reading industry websites, Twitter and Facebook posts, but I’ve set boundaries for COVID-19 updates since the information is constantly changing. I feel more in control and less stressed. While my actions are limited, even small changes do make a difference, and I sleep better knowing that Big Tech isn’t watching me around the clock like Truman Burbank.. About the Author: Wendy Glavin is Founder and CEO of Wendy Glavin, a NYC full- service agency. Wendy is a 30-year veteran of corporate, agency, consulting and small business ownership. She specializes in B2B2C marketing communications, executive writing, PR and social media advisory. Her website is: https://wendyglavin.com/. Contact her at: [email protected].

IPR Releases New Study: ‘The Career Path of a Social Media Professional’

CommPRO Editorial Staff

Approximately half of social media managers say they work more than their colleagues and plan to leave their current role within two years, according to a new study of social media managers. The Institute for Public Relations, Ragan Communications, and the University of Florida partnered on a survey of more than 450 social media professionals about their career path, including the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The report focuses on the structure and budget of the social media function within organizations; the background, experience, and career path of the social media manager; and the job skills, work-life fit, and performance of the social media manager.

“Today there are more than 55,000 social media job listings on LinkedIn,” said Marcia DiStaso, associate professor and public relations department chair at the University of Florida. “At all levels, most of these positions are looking for someone who is collaborative, creative, and detail-oriented. Unfortunately, beyond this, we know little about the social media career ladder, so that is why we conducted this study.”

With the widespread use of social media, nearly every organization has a social media account, as resources are increasingly shifting to these digital channels and networks. In the USC 2019 Global Communications Report, 38% of U.S. CEOs said social media and online influencers would be the most valuable component of their company’s communications strategy in the future, more so than owned, earned, and paid media. Social media managers are responsible for giving brands a voice.

“This survey points to both the critical role of social media in storytelling and reputation management and the lack of a clear career path for many social media managers,” says Diane Schwartz, CEO at Ragan Communications. “We’re hopeful that this research will help organizations address this dichotomy.”

Some of the key findings include:

Social media managers are ambitious. Seventy percent of social media managers want to be promoted in their positions, but only 40% saw that possibility in their current roles. More than half (57%) of the social media managers did not anticipate being in their current role for more than two more years. Social media managers typically work more than the standard 40-hour workweek. Most social media managers worked slightly more than the standard 40-hour workweek, averaging 41-59 hours per week. In terms of comparing how much they work in relation to others in their function, 48% said they worked the same number of hours as their colleagues while 47% said they worked more. Research has found burnout is definitely a concern for the “always-on” social media manager. Social media is often housed in communication/public relations and marketing departments. Half of the respondents (51%) said social media was in the communication/public relations function while slightly more than one-third (38%) said it resided in marketing. Only 4% said it was a stand-alone function. The primary role of social media managers is to create content and strategize. Two-thirds of respondents said their primary role as a social media manager was to create content (41%) and strategize (27%). Twenty percent said their primary role was to improve brand awareness and reputation. Social media managers frequently participate in internal strategy conversations. At least two-thirds of social media managers are involved in social media strategy (76%) and department/function strategy (68%). Forty-one percent participate in the overall business and organizational strategy.

“Little research exists about this increasingly critical position within organizations,” said Tina McCorkindale, president and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations. “We wanted to learn more about the career path of social media managers and also look into our crystal ball to see what’s ahead for them and the function.” Methodology The Institute for Public Relations, Ragan Communications, and the University of Florida conducted a survey about the career path of social media professionals, including the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Respondents were given an opportunity to enter a drawing for three $50 gift cards and to receive a copy of the report at the end of the survey. A total of 451 respondents participated in the survey. Twenty-two people indicated that they are not involved with their organization’s social media, so they were removed from the study. Fifty people did not complete the study after the first question. Therefore, the study included 379 respondents with a margin of error of +/-5%.