L’Editeur, Renslar “Renny” Keagle, [email protected] President, P.A.L.S., Robert Cearlock, [email protected] THE PRESS ASSOCIATION OF LA SOCIETE MAIL P.A.L.S. DUES TO: The Bulletin is an official publication of the Renslar R. Keagle Press Association of La Societe, published 12 8714 Marble Dr., El Paso, TX 79904-1710 times a year at an annual subscription cost of $17.00 (mail only) $10.00 (Digital only) payable Ph: (915) 346-6099 [email protected] to P.A.L.S. Publication address is 8714 Marble Annual dues are $17 Mail $10 Digital Dr., El Paso, TX 79904. Contributions, ideas or MAKE CHECKS OUT TO P.A.L.S. comments welcome. PUFL—$100.00 Vol. 36 No. 9 Supporting and Encouraging La Societe Public Relations for 36 Years May 2021 Check out the new 2022 Americanism pin—we In this issue!! got an initial 50 for Grand and Locale and they are almost gone. A great pin to give educators P.A.L.S. Page—Directeur Cearlock when doing a FFFGs program at schools. I carry The Clipboard—PR Stuff Around the Web several on my person to give out and discuss the PR Editorial—”The Gavel and Leadership” Forty and Eight. Flags for First Graders and Covid Between Memorial Day and the 4th of July, there is a lot to cele- A Prayer for D-Day brate and reflect on. This issue covers a bit of that. Most Locales and Grands are contemplating upcoming elections—so I thought I Speeches—Flag Day—Woodrow Wilson would give my thoughts in this months editorial. Newsletter Filler, Trivia or Just for Fun The Bulletin serves many purposes, public relations of course, but Spotlight on PR—Pitching Reporters it began as a resource for L’Editeurs providing material and ideas Poster of the Month for their newsletters—and I hope we are accomplishing that. Back Page—Special Observances for June Everyone stay safe, got my shots, consider getting yours, I had no Digital only—Flags 8—11 side effects and feel safer but we are all different. Blessings!!! One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, P.A.L.S. since 1984—Past L’Editeurs one nation evermore. George Hartley Oliver Wendell Holmes Don Collins Paul Chevalier NATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE Directeur—Robert Cearlock, POB 1782, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864, 618-244-5761 [email protected] Sous/Directeur Area 1—Renslar “Renny” Keagle, [email protected] Sous/Directeur Area 2—Paul Yager, [email protected] Sous/Directeur Area 3—Michael G. Paul, [email protected] Sous/Directeur Area 4—Thomas “Woody” Woodward, [email protected] Advisor—Pat Beamer, [email protected] P.A.L.S. Page L’Editeur—Please take a look at the front page of the Bulletin and see the contacts for your area. It goes without say- ing that there are more newsletters, press releases, notices, media releases, social media posts, photo releases, Flickr posts, etc., etc. that we are not made aware of. Our area committee members and Directeur Cearlock would greatly appreciate copies and knowledge of what is going on out there—to include “cc” us on emails that include public rela- tions material—like e-newsletters. BTW—now is the time to take a look at the annual PR report in the Petite Commu- nique! Any questions—please contact us! Best regards. Renslar “Renny” Keagle THE CLIPBOARD SOCIAL BUZZ…. Twitter has altered the dimensions for photos in posts, allowing for vertical images to be fully visible in posts without being cropped. PR stuff from Those pictures should also be clearer, given Twitter’s recent update to 4K around images—because some art just needs to be seen as clear as possible. Of course, Twitter the web giveth and Twitter taketh away—the change will, for the most part, make the “open for a surprise” tweets not so surprising. I suppose it’s a fair trade-off to avoid the sometimes wildly embarrassing crops that used to plague the platform. Verizon sells Yahoo and AOL for $5 billion Verizon is bailing on its major media properties. CNBC reports: Verizon will sell its media group to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion, the companies an- nounced Monday. The sale allows Verizon to offload properties from the former internet empires of AOL and Yahoo. The sale will see online media brands under the former Yahoo and AOL umbrellas like TechCrunch, Yahoo Finance and Engadget go to Apollo at much lower valuations than they commanded just a few years ago. Verizon bought AOL for $4.4 billion in 2015 and Yahoo two years later for $4.5 billion. Verizon will get $4.25 billion in cash from the sale along with its 10% stake in the company. Verizon and Apollo said they expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2021. The move signals that Verizon’s gaze is shifting toward its internet-provider businesses. As for Yahoo and AOL, perhaps they’ll finally find a happier home in months ahead. Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen compared T-Mobile to The Grinch— in an earnings call, responding to news that T- Mobile will cease providing its CDMA standard of mobile data transmission and potentially cause millions of Dish’s Boost Mobile customers to lose service beginning next year. Cruise industry responds to CDC’s proposals for setting sail by July—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] sent a letter to the cruise industry claiming that cruise ships could be permitted to set sail in American waters as soon as July, depending on how cruise lines comply with the CDC’s framework for conditional sailing order. Big Tobacco responds to proposed ban on menthol cigarettes—The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has announced renewed efforts to ban menthol cigarettes in response to a lawsuit filed last summer that alleged regulators had “unreasonably delayed” their response to a 2013 petition seeking to a ban the flavor. The lawsuit also alleges that menthol and other fruity flavors are specifically marked to communi- ties of color. “The science is there, the data is there, so why are these products still on the market?” said Carol McGruder of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. “There was a specific, intentional focus on creating the next generation of smokers by making menthol cigarettes avail- able in those communities,” said Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics’ group on mi- nority health and equity. A spokeswoman for [cigarette manufacturer] Reynolds American said the company would submit evidence countering FDA’s proposal. “Published science does not support regulating menthol cigarettes differently from non-menthol,” she said in a state- ment. • PR Editorial— The Gavel and Leadership It goes without saying that this time of year each Locale and Grand starts thinking about elections and the possibility of new leadership. At some point the gavel of leadership gets passed on to someone who was elected and takes an oath of responsibility. With that gav- el also come accountability. How heavy that gavel is depends on how it is used. Perhaps the most important aspect in holding the gavel of leadership is trust—a two way street. There has to be trust between the person holding the gavel and those over which it governs. The gavel will get pretty heavy for the leader that uses it to micromanage and be a control- ling figure—that is when it truly gets lonely at the top. The gavel becomes lighter when a leader leans on the wisdom of others. The gavel is not a magic wand but in the right hand can be used to influence, guide and inspire others. I think an important way to look at leadership is that the Chef de Gare leads and the rest of the officers and Directeurs manage. In the military we looked at it as command and staff. I like to think of it as the Chef de Gare focusing on “doing the right things” and the rest “doing those things right.” So if the gavel has been placed in our hands, what are some of the essential skills and qualities we must exhibit… Be aware of your strengths and limitations Be motivated to inspire yourself and others Give feedback and not be afraid to receive feedback Praise in public, criticize in private—this includes not only in person but social media, emails, etc. Treat everyone with respect. Delegate as much as possible—it shows you have trust Mentor and train someone to replace you Recognize and reward others Don’t be a good listener, be a great listener—you can’t listen if you’re doing all the talking Don’t be afraid to be a devil’s advocate when necessary So the bottom line is that with the gavel you are in a position of influencing your organization towards achieving your goals. Kind of a generic definition—but true. The gavel is of course a symbol of leadership and is used to open and close each promenade or Cheminot. The person holding it is responsible for everything in between. • L’Editeur "Every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for leadership." --James Humes "The task of the leader is to get their people from where they are to where they have not been." --Henry Kissinger "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody." --Herbert Swope "Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you be- come a leader, success is all about growing others." --Jack Welch "No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it." --Andrew Carnegie Covid Pandemic not stopping Flags for First Graders We know that the pandemic has fully or partially closed schools and for those that are re-opened to some extent— there are a lot of restrictions on access.