GMPR news

Guthrie/Mayes is a sponsor and invites you to attend the 9th annual Backyard Baseball & Bar B Q fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association!

March Luncheon: Communicating During a Crisis  

Presentation by Dan Hartlage, Principal with Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations  

Do you know what to do in case of a crisis? Have you wondered what your first steps as a key communicator should be?

Dan Hartlage will walk through Communicating During a Crisis, providing expert counsel to prepare you for a challenging occasion. In his presentation, Dan will cover:

• Initial steps when a crisis occurs
• Messaging during a crisis – what to say…and what not to say
• How to handle the critical ‘fork in the road’
• The final exam – how others will view your handling of the situation
• Preparing for and dealing with the media

March 8, 2011

11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Carrabba’s–Hamburg, Lexington

$20 PRSA Members

$27 Potential Members

$15 Students

Click here to register for the luncheon.

Media Contacts:

Clair Nichols                                                   Jennifer McGuire
Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations                 Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations
(502) 649-8956                                              (859) 940-3845

GUTHRIE/MAYES PUBLIC RELATIONS EXPANDS INTO LEXINGTON

Expansion to enhance firm’s Central Kentucky presence 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (February 14, 2011) – Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, one of the largest independently owned public relations firms in Kentucky and the Southeast, has opened an office in downtown Lexington.  Led by public relations veteran Jennifer McGuire, the Lexington office will provide a Central Kentucky base for the agency’s expansion.

Guthrie/Mayes is a full-service public relations and public affairs counseling firm.  Founded in 1977, the agency’s client-service areas include strategic communications counseling, media relations, social media, corporate communications, public affairs/issues management and crisis communications.  The firm also has a long established media-training practice area – with clients throughout the U.S.

The agency’s clients include Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Toyota Motor Sales, Keeneland, Philip Morris USA, United Healthcare of Kentucky, Red Bull, CSX Transportation, Century Aluminum, Buffalo Trace Distillery, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana and Lexington-based restaurant franchise company Thomas & King.

Guthrie/Mayes Lexington Leadership

McGuire joins Guthrie/Mayes as a senior counselor, bringing with her 17 years of public relations and integrated brand-marketing experience.  Her diverse background includes working with agencies in New York, Cincinnati and Atlanta and clients ranging from Proctor & Gamble to YUM! Brands, Trump Organization, Dow Chemical, Marriott, United Egg Producers and American Greetings.

“We’re already quite familiar with Central Kentucky through our work in serving Lexington-area clients, as well as helping clients from outside this region who have Lexington interests,” said Clair Nichols, a principal with Guthrie/Mayes.  “So, the Guthrie/Mayes Lexington office is a natural and logical step for us.  The Lexington office gives us a true statewide reach.”

Nichols said the Lexington office also “opens opportunities to expand our Central Kentucky client base.  We see this region as an area of growth for the firm.”

“The Lexington area has a very strong and vibrant business and civic environment,” said McGuire, a Kentucky native who attended the University of Kentucky.  “The Guthrie/Mayes Lexington office will be very much a part of that environment – as it has been for 34 years in Louisville.“

McGuire most recently operated her own business as an independent public relations consultant. An accomplished writer, she ghost-wrote a brand-strategy book in 2010 that will be published early this year.

Prior to that, McGuire was an account director with Laura Davidson Public Relations in New York, where she led agency work related to tourism and travel.  She also spent four years with Cincinnati-based Northlich, an integrated brand-marketing agency, where she oversaw programs for Millstone Coffee, Star-Kist Tuna and Hyatt, as well as the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

She has extensive experience in media-relations work, both on a local and national level.  In addition, she has worked closely with clients in the development of social media programs.

After attending UK for three years as a journalism major, McGuire graduated from Baruch College in New York with a degree in Spanish corporate communications. 

McGuire is a member of Lexington’s Thoroughbred Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. 

The Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations Lexington office is located at 249 East Main Street, Suite 400, in the offices of Cornett Integrated Marketing Solutions, and can be reached at (859) 281-7872.

About Guthrie/Mayes

Guthrie/Mayes is one of the largest independent public relations firms in Kentucky and the Southeast.  Established in 1977, the firm’s expertise includes media relations, public affairs, media training, crisis communications and issues management.  Please visit us at www.guthriemayes.com, on Facebook (Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations) and Twitter (@GuthrieMayesPR).

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Our summer intern, Kim Williams, shares her thoughts about the 10-weeks she spent at Guthrie/Mayes.

http://kypress.com/internexperiences/2010/interns/williams_kim.html

Back on June 24, I had the nice opportunity to visit the radio booth during a Louisville Bats baseball game and talk with WKRD-790 play-by-play announcer Matt Andrews.  We talked about the Louisville branding initiative … aka Louisville – it’s possible here. Matt is a one-man band in the booth.  It was an amazing site, watching him call the game, keep the score sheet and track every pitch, and conduct the interview … and he made it sound so easy.

Matt interviewed Greater Louisville Inc intern Aaron Yokum during the top half of the fifth inning about GLI’s intern-to-earn program.  Cool interview.  Then my interview was during the bottom half of the fifth inning.  You can listen to both interviews here … Aaron’s interview runs until about the 7:30 mark on the timer, then mine begins.

By the way, the Bats have totally gotten into the Possibility City theme.  Have you noticed the large sign they erected on the outside of the stadium … says “Louisville – It’s Possible Here.” It faces Spaghetti Junction – where 45 million cars pass through each year.

Listen here: Bats Interview

-Dan H.

I was honored to be the luncheon speaker yesterday for the Bluegrass Chapter of the PRSA.  It was a great time.  And I had the opportunity to talk about media training trends, and why an increasing number of organizations are serious about having spokespersons who are trained and prepared.  Thanks very much to Misty Cruse and the rest of the PRSA board for the opportunity.

Dan H.

I will be speaking to the Bluegrass (Louisville) chapter of the PRSA on Thursday (June 24) at Masterson’s.  I will be talking about our experiences in media training … an area of our business that has grown substantially in recent years.  We’ll have a little fun looking at some interviews that implode.  And, yeah, we’ll get a little serious, too.

I don’t want to give away the presentation, but will tell you this … more and more companies and organizations of all sizes are seeing the benefits in assigning select media interviews to various employees based on the employees’ areas of expertise.

I’ll explain more over lunch Thursday.

- Dan H.

For more information about Thursday’s lunch, visit http://www.bluegrassprsa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=272&Itemid=49

Ashley Schaffner, an associate account manager at Guthrie/Mayes, was recently featured in the Courier-Journal’s Volunteer Spotlight for her work at The Center for Women and Families.

Read about it here.

I had a nice time the other night as guest speaker of a Public Speaking class at Brown-Mackie College. I gave them a very condensed version of the presentation training sessions that we provide clients. The students were great … very attentive and asked some good questions.

I shared with them my belief that one of the most valuable skills in any profession is the ability to communicate — especially in settings where you need to speak and think on your feet. Lots of heads nodded in agreement. Cool.

Best of luck, guys.
-Dan H.

See the article below in which Guthrie/Mayes principal Dan Hartlage shares his thoughts about crisis communications with Dun & Bradstreet’s Allbusiness.com.

Small Businesses Take Charge in PR Crises

By Karen Leland

In 2009, Richard Laermer, president of RLM Public Relations, received a concerned call from one of his clients, a small New York nonprofit with a religious affiliation. The company had come under scrutiny when a contractor who produced videos for the nonprofit was found to own an online porn company.

“This person was a good friend of the chief executive officer,” says Laermer. “So the CEO decided that he would handle the reporter himself, without any guidance from a PR person.”

Laermer says he called the reporter after the interview and was told by the journalist that the CEO was a jerk and that he was now going to do a full exposé on the situation. “I’d spent the last three years cultivating relationships for this client with journalists, bloggers, and producers, and now this CEO was going to ruin it all.”

Think Fast

Laermer quickly called the chair of the board and worked out an immediate crisis intervention strategy to put out a companywide communication explaining the situation and telling all employees not to speak to the press or anyone outside the organization. The CEO was placed on suspended leave and an independent firm was hired to audit the books. Laermer then informed that same reporter of the actions taken, and when the story came out in a major newspaper that week, it included the steps Laermer’s client was taking to deal with the problem. “This company is donation-dependent, so the way this was initially handled could have been the end of the company,” says Laermer.

When a potential PR disaster occurs, Laermer says it’s critical to immediately stand up and say, “Let’s get to the bottom of this.” Laermer cautions that when companies delay responding — as Toyota recently did with its cars’ brake systems — or stonewall the press when there’s an obvious problem — as Tiger Woods did — the story will grow instead of going away.

Craft a Three-Part Message

And while recent news reports have shown that a quick response is essential, Dan Hartlage, a principal at Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, believes that crafting a three-part message is also critical in any PR crisis.

“The first message needs to be an expression of sincere concern for those affected,” says Hartlage. “After that, you need to demonstrate that you are taking action to determine what happened and how it happened, and what you are going to do to get to the bottom of it.” Finally, explain what measures you’re taking to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.

“One of my clients, a small family restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, had an incident where the African-Americans on the staff all received racial hate-mail letters at their homes,” says Hartlage. “And the letters were written in such a way that it was clear the author was likely someone who worked at the restaurant.”

After the owners of the company contacted law enforcement, they immediately met — both in a group and individually — with the employees involved to answer questions, express concern, and make it clear that they intended to find out what had happened and to ensure that it wouldn’t happen again.

“While all this was going on, reporters who had anonymously received copies of the letters began to call. Hartlage’s clients promptly responded, telling reporters that they needed some time to look into the situation and promising to get back to the journalists by the next day. That evening, they also met with a well-known black community activist who had contacted them. Together, they worked out a plan for diversity training for all employees.

When the community activist was interviewed that night on the local news channel, Hartlage says he stayed neutral, stating that he had met with the owners and that they were clearly concerned about the situation. “Historically, these things can lead to picketing, activist boycotts, and ongoing news conferences,” says Hartlage, who explains that the actions his client took made it a one-day story instead.

At the beginning of every crisis, the media will ask what happened, how did it happen, and to whom? At a certain point, however, Hartlage says the story becomes not about what happened, but how it was handled. “That’s the fork in the road,” he says.

Not every small business is going to face a crisis on the magnitude of the Louisville, Kentucky, restaurant or New York nonprofit, but both examples show how unpredictable these types of problems are. You can’t plan for every scenario, but you can be prepared by knowing how you want your business to be perceived by clients and the press.

Don’t Point Fingers

Last December, a surprise storm in the small fishing town of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, brought 125 miles per hour winds that shook the town and destroyed a $14,000 wind turbine by manufacturer Helix Wind, blowing it into the bay — where the local scuba class spent the next day retrieving the unit and blogging about the situation.

“I got a call from the homeowner saying the wind turbine had failed in a storm and that she was getting bombarded by the local press for comments,” says Ian Gardner, CEO of Helix Wind in San Diego.

Gardner told the customer he would look into the details and decide on a course of action once the investigation was complete.

“Our turbines are designed to sustain winds of 80 mph,” says Gardner. “I found that the customer left the wind turbine up in conditions that were well beyond the operating specs of the technology. In addition, the customer did a self-installation on the unit, which put it out of warranty, so we had no legal obligation to replace it,” he says.

But when a Dutch Harbor radio station called Gardner directly to discuss the situation, instead of insisting that he was in the right not to replace the unit, he went on the air to explain that the company would be replacing the system at no charge and that it would supply a free monitoring system to prevent this from happening again.

As a result of Gardner’s goodwill, rapid response, and upfront style, the situation went away quickly and enhanced Helix Wind’s reputation within the community.

The goal is to maintain good customer relationships and create confidence in your products and services. While no amount of planning will keep a problem from occurring, small businesses can prevent a crisis from becoming a public disaster by addressing the issue directly and taking steps to correct the problem in a timely, efficient manner.

http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/public-relations/13929049-1.html