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April 1, 2009
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Do It Yourself: Media
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Big shout-out to great sponsor The George Washington University! Earn your Master's in Organizational Sciences. Don't miss the info session on April, 9. See ad to the right for details and tell them we sent you!
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Producing your own online video means never having to hope Katie Couric likes you. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) proved this by launching their own online network (TransportationTV.org) from its office near Union Station. On Friday, we asked relatable media relations man Tony Dorsey to do his best NBC page impression and give us a studio tour.
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The "studio" is a converted office, so the tour was short and gave Tony time to reenact his newsman days—including nine years at DC's NBC 4—with videographer Teneille Gibson. Launched in February, he tells us videos range from actual news pieces to interviews with relevant lawmakers. Tony's background gave him the expertise and connections to bring in a green screen, camera, and Mac video editing suite. As far as making videos work within their budget: "The timing was right," he says, because it coincided with AASHTO's national marketing campaign, called "Are We There Yet."
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Executive Director John Horsley tells us TransportationTV, and other initiatives, have led to more calls from media in the past six months than the previous six years. Another positive: being on-air keeps employees excited and gives them a new way to use their skills. John stretched his own abilities by becoming host of a weekly segment, The Briefing Room. Tony calls it "op-eds on steroids." When not playing Kronkite, John (and AASHTO) speak on behalf of the 50 state DOT's. Most recently, he helped produce a list of 5000 ready-to-go, stimulus-worthy projects, worth $64 billion.
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| Hazards |
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Some perils of leading the Society of American Florists are predictable: say, having no excuse for greeting your spouse empty-handed, ever. But CEO Peter Moran tells us not everything is foreseeable. Twice in 10 years, SAF had to cancel their September conference. In '98, Hurricane Georges defied 100 years of weather data and smacked their Puerto Rico site. In '01, their meeting was scheduled for the Saturday after 9/11. Besides staying glued to the Weather Channel, Peter says their best defense is to alternate coasts each year—this fall in Phoenix—so at least they occasionally miss hurricane season.
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With COO Drew Gruenburg, Peter credits successful member retention on keeping SAF top of mind, so dues collection doesn't catch members off guard. This includes using strategic opportunities to stay in touch, like a Valentine's Day Business Kit. They also prod members with social media, e-mail blasts, even cold calls, taking their pulse throughout the year. It appears to have curried favor, as he just marked 24 years at SAF, 18 as CEO. While yesterday's warm weather did signal the return of daisies and lilies, to Peter it also means the start of sailing season. He lives and docks in Annapolis.
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| SharePoint! |
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We got so excited to see social media experts in person (the faces behind the Twitters) that we tracked down these pros in Baltimore, at last week's 2009 SharePoint.Org Conference. SocialFish's Lindy Dreyer and Maddie Grant of SocialFish hang out with SusQtech's Kyle Schaeffer at J.Paul's on the inner harbor. The conference brought together 250 association and non-profit SharePoint users to swap ideas and hear from Josh Bernoff, co-author of Groundswell.
Send story ideas to Curtis@Bisnow.co.uk. April Fools! It's Curtis@Bisnow.com
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This newsletter is a journalistic news source which accepts no payment for featured interviews. It is supported by conventional advertisers clearly identified in the right hand column. You have been selected to receive it either through prior contact or professional association. If you have received it in error, please accept our apologies and unsubscribe at bottom of the newsletter. © 2009, Bisnow on Business, Inc., 1323 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036. All rights reserved.
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