A Message from YPRSA President Robin Schell

As the 2024 President of the Yankee Chapter, and Senior Counsel and Partner at Jackson Jackson & Wagner, I would like to invite all of you to share your knowledge and insights on an ongoing basis – we don’t have to wait for a professional development session to do it!  One of the many values of PRSA membership is its network of smart, experienced professionals – over 19,000 of them who are PRSA National members and almost 100 who are members of the Yankee Chapter.  Whether it’s a guest blog on a topic of interest, an observation or a call to action – let’s hear about it!  Please send contributions to Kim MacLeod, APR, YC Board member, at Kimberly.MacLeod@lifeplanccony.com.

With that, I’d like to formally congratulate my colleague Stacey Smith, APR, Fellow PRSA, who recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Public RelationsI’m sharing her remarks because in them, she talks about the importance of all of us in the PR field serving as mentors and role models for each other.

CLICK HERE TO READ STACEY’S REMARKS

In the busy lives we lead, it is easy to put our heads down and simply crank out the work – but it is so much more fun, productive and rewarding to share experiences with our colleagues.  It makes us all better professionals and 9 times out of 10, we come up with a better solution or product as a result of our conversations.  I challenge you all to share your experiences with all of us.  To pick up the phone and call a colleague.  To engage in mentoring of a professional with less experience – chances are, you’ll be learning from them in the “reverse mentoring” process.  I for one plan to learn a lot from all of you this year!

Enjoy the read,

Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA

Yankee Chapter President, 2024

Multimedia Communications Specialist

For over 84 years, Easterseals New Hampshire has been helping people of all ages and abilities through our 11 programs. Our work empowers individuals to improve their health and well-being, achieve greater independence, recover from substance use, develop life skills, access education, secure housing, find family, and connect with their communities. In everything we do, we strive to lead the way to a lifetime of full equity, inclusion, and access.

We are looking for a Multimedia Communications Specialist to join our team! The individual in this key position will Utilize social media and digital marketing to tell the powerful, compelling stories of Easterseals NH, VT & Farnum to raise public awareness of the important work of the organization. Responsibilities include: 

 

  • Identify social media channels best suited to communicating Easterseals stories to our external audiences with a goal to increase public awareness of Easterseals NH, VT & Farnum and enhance the community’s understanding of our mission, programs and successes.
  • In coordination with MarCom colleagues and others, create and maintain a social media toolkit.
  • Partner with MarCom colleagues and program liaisons to contribute to and maintain an editorial calendar to ensure program and event communications are thoughtful, well-planned and equitably promoted
  • Learn Smartsheet to coordinate social media and email marketing calendar/schedule.
  • Monitor social media channels to maximize followers, increase engagement, and manage responses. 
  • Work with MarCom and Development colleagues to create and implement email communication plan and strategy for external events, campaigns, and employee newsletters.
  • Develop, implement, track, and optimize digital marketing campaigns across all digital channels.
  • Will report to the Sr. Director of Marketing and Communications, and will handle social media strategy development and execution, email content development and distribution, digital marketing automation, and engagement/stewardship campaigns.
  • The ideal candidate will be a creative self-starter with a proven track record of growing a digital footprint and increasing engagement.
  • Responsible for creating, curating, scheduling, and posting content to all of Easterseal’s social media channels in addition to designing digital assets for our email campaigns.
  • Potential opportunities to contribute in graphic design. Preference given to candidates  proficient in InDesign and other Adobe Creative Cloud products.
  • This role entails everything from ideation to execution, while ensuring a strong visual brand identity and brand voice across all channels.
  • Manage social media content, the content calendar, and community across all brand social platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
  • Collaborate with Content Marketing Coordinator to build the content calendar and communicate plans with internal teams

 

Qualifications:

 

 

  • Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing or a related field
  • Three (3) to Five (5) years of professional experience providing social media strategy, execution and assessment for an organization with multiple social media platforms
  • Familiar with a range of social media channels, their demographic profiles and the content assets that perform well on each; experience with Facebook Live, Facebook, Instagram advertising, Instagram stories, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube
  • Adept at assessing new technology; able to suggest and implement new tactics to develop brand awareness and engagement, like promotions and competitions
  • The candidate should have a strong understanding of industry trends and content management systems
  • Fluent with analytics and reporting to leadership how social media is converting audience members to action
  • Fluency in all aspects of digital marketing and advertising to include Google Trends, Google Analytics, social listening, SEO and social analytics, Google remarketing, and email marketing (Active Campaign preferred)
  • High-level attention to detail, well organized and proactive, excellent professional judgment
  • Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm in our Manchester, NH Office. 
 
Compensation$55,000 annually with additional compensation considered for education and experience. 

 

What’s in it for you? We offer a comprehensive benefits package for full-time, eligible employees, including:

  • Medical, Dental, Vision, Life & Disability
  • Paid Time Off (PTO) begins accruing on your first day!
  • 10 Paid Holidays, including a Floating Holiday of your choice
  • 403 (b) Employer Match – up to a maximum of 3%
  • Tuition Reimbursement after one year of employment
  • Federal student loan forgiveness eligibility and student loan repayment for qualifying positions
  • Employee Discounts
  • On-site child care center at a discount for employees. Available at Auburn Street and S. Main Street in Manchester
  • Wellness Programs: Health coaching, on-site and remote nutritional counseling services, remote and on-site fitness classes, reimbursement programs for weight loss & tobacco cessation
  • All Employees of Easterseals NH are now eligible for DailyPay, a new optional benefit that allows you to access your pay whenever you need it.

We are proud to be a recovery-friendly workplace and a NH Veteran-Friendly Business.

 

To learn more about this role, please click on the blue “Apply Now” button below to submit your application. Difficulty submitting your application? Contact Kris at 603-913-5575 or kfleming@eastersealsnh.org.

Candidates must have received or be willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by date of hire to be considered for employment. EOE

Virtual Lunch & Learn: The Art of the “Op-Ed” with Luke Ladan, APR

How do you write an op-ed column? How do you pitch it for placement? And why do op-eds even matter in the first place? Join our friends at the Maine PR Council for a virtual Lunch & Learn session led by Luka Ladan, APR, president and CEO of Zenica Public Relations. Having secured hundreds of op-ed placements for clients in recent years, Mr. Ladan is uniquely qualified to explain each and every step of the op-ed process—from brainstorming, drafting, and editing to pitching and placing. He also explores the history of the newspaper opinion page and how it has evolved in 2023. Attend this session to gain a deeper understanding of the content creation required to place op-eds nationally, regionally, and locally, influencing countless readers in the process.

Cost:  $20 for PRSA members; $30 nonmembers; free for students 
Date: Tuesday, May 9, 2023; 12-1 p.m.
Venue: Zoom

Registration Link:  https://meprcouncil.org

Yankee PRSA Scholarship Application Deadline Is March 31!

Each year, the Yankee Chapter PRSA awards a $1,000 scholarship to a student with a declared major in a public relations-related field who is studying at an accredited degree-granting college or university in New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine. Undergraduate students, who will achieve “sophomore,” “junior,” or “senior” grade level by fall of the current year, or graduate students who have a declared major in a public relations-related field are encouraged to apply for the Yankee Chapter PRSA Scholarship.

Entries will be reviewed by a committee of public relations professionals. The recipient will be announced at a later date. The honoree will receive a $1,000 scholarship to be used toward tuition and fees in support of their educational pursuits.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE & APPLY

Building a High-Impact Leader

Discover how to conduct your own leadership self-assessment and how to look in the mirror and continually strengthen your leadership capabilities.

Join us as Jonathan Dapra discusses how leaders can use self-awareness to evaluate their leadership performance, deconstruct their capabilities and make concrete results-driven choices to improve performance and impact across their organization.

Invite your team members to this beneficial workshop.

Virtually: Tuesday, Oct. 18 | 4-5pm

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Lessons from an Entrepreneur: Using basic PR principles to grow your business

Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA, is Senior Counsel and Partner at Jackson Jackson & Wagner, a behavioral public relations and management consulting firm; recently shared five great lessons to use when growing your business.

Lessons from an Entrepreneur: Using basic PR principles to grow your business

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ICYMI: Podcasting 101 Recording is Available

Thank you to Southern NH University Instructor Jon Boroshok for hosting an informative Professional Development session on podcasting!

Jon covered a lot of ground that you’ll want to know before trying your own podcast. But the bottom line – it’s a PR no-brainer and it’s easier than you think!

 

Presentation Slides

Watch the Event Here

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How Did Delta Reach A 95% Vaccination Rate With Employees?

Insights From Gina Laughlin, Managing Director of Employee Communications at Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines was on top of the world at the start of 2020, with a workforce that was 90,000 people strong.  They were winning awards for customer experience and paying out $1.6 billion in profit-sharing to employees.

Six weeks later, COVID gut-punched the entire airline industry — along with many other industries – and Delta Air Lines had to simultaneously figure out how to continue doing business while keeping employees and customers safe, all in a constantly-changing environment of rules and regulations, while adjusting to a harsh new financial reality that saw business and leisure travel come to, effectively, a screeching halt.

Gina Laughlin, Managing Director of Employee Communications at Delta Air Lines, described the strategies the company took to get through their 3 Phases of COVID-19:

  1. Phase I:  Crisis Mode (March 2020 – Sept. 2020).  This included working with HR to downsize the workforce without involuntary furloughs, offering unpaid leaves of absence and retirement packages and communicating daily to employees as the CDC and World Health Organization issued rapidly-changing operation guidelines for the airline industry.  Fortunately, Delta had built a culture of open, two-way communication – and they found employees were hungry for as much information as possible during this uncertain time.   They ran weekly town hall meetings with CEO Ed Bastian and other key leadership team members; brought in medical expert partners for updates and sent out daily emails in support of the Stop The Spread-Save Lives campaign.  All communications could be accessed after the fact – key for a 24/7 traveling workforce.  All messaging revolved around 3 basic tenets:  Take Care of Delta Employees; Take Care of Customers and Preserve the Liquidity of the Company.  Communication professionals listened to employee feedback via a quarterly Pulse survey and adjusted any communication that would make Delta appear “tone deaf” in this new environment.
  2. Phase II: Adjusting To The New Normal (Oct. 2020 – Oct. 2021).  As spring/summer travel started to come back, Delta focused on the best way to accommodate the increase while hammering home messages on what to do to keep employees and customers safe, which included cleaning protocols, providing free testing and, when the vaccine became available, getting employees vaccinated.  They adjusted communication frequency to “pre-COVID levels”, and laid the groundwork early with vaccination messaging in a highly-targeted campaign that rolled out state-by-state.  They partnered with state officials and CVS on the distribution of vaccines and worked with the community to make them as accessible as possible under the “Connected Together-Protected Together” campaign.  Because the culture of rewarding employees for making responsible health choices already existed (e.g. earning Delta health rewards for actions like getting physicals and flu shots), they were able to get 50% of employees vaccinated (1 dose plus) by April 2021 – an impressive number.  They then focused on removing all barriers to getting the vaccine, including offering it in the airport, via “vaccine trucks” on the ramp and in employee parking lots, offering personal paid time off to recover from any vaccine side-effects and allowing employees to bring family members to get vaccinated with them.  To get to the goal of 75% (considered at the time to be the herd immunity benchmark), they used an incentive drawing with cash and travel prizes, spotlighting the role models by sharing footage of the winners in their communications.  Important point:  although leadership was clear they wanted everyone to get vaccinated, they made a promise not to mandate it – so no employee would lose their job as a result of not getting the vaccine. Instead, they gave employees a choice – they could get vaccinated, or pay a healthcare surcharge.  They talked openly about this decision in town hall meetings, sharing the “why” behind the decision and providing a two-way forum for employees to ask questions and give feedback. This open communication platform was important for employees to both agree and disagree with Delta’s decision.
  3. Phase III: Living With The Changing Face of COVID.  (Nov. 2021 – Present).  This is where “optimism meets reality” as new strains of the virus appear, and regulations are issued (e.g. Federal mask mandate).  With more than 95% of the workforce vaccinated, Delta is now focused on reinforcing key messages delivered by trusted leadership and making testing as convenient as possible (Delta employees are able to order boxes of 6 online and also can be tested weekly at work).  Another strategy:  Delta is leveraging the compliments they get from customers by sharing them with all employees, building pride and morale.  Finally, a simple piece of advice that costs nothing – recognize and thank employees often for a job well done in difficult circumstances!

 

For further questions, Gina Laughlin can be reached at gina.p.laughlin@delta.comTo read more about Delta Air Lines and CEO Ed Bastian, view the recent article from PRSA Issues and Trends https://chiefexecutive.net/delta-air-lines-ceo-ed-bastain-we-keep-climbing/.

For information about Yankee Chapter PRSA Membership, visit www.yankeeprsa.org.

 

 

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Beyond COVID-19 Issue Anticipation for 2022

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 2021 Yankee Chapter Annual Meeting! Our panel presentation (Beyond COVID-19 – Issue Anticipation for 2022) was a valuable tool for communicators looking to identify challenges and opportunities in a post-pandemic world.

In case you missed it, a recording of the panel discussion and presentation are available here:

Beyond COVID-19 – Issue Anticipation for 2022 PDF Presentation:

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Annual Meeting & Panel Discussion

Beyond COVID-19 – Issue Anticipation for 2022

The Yankee Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America will host an online workshop via Zoom webinar entitled: Beyond COVID-19 – Issue Anticipation for 2022, on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 9:30 a.m.

Join the partners of Jackson Jackson & Wagner, Stacey Smith, APR, Fellow PRSA and Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA, as they share JJ&W’s model for issue anticipation and facilitate a discussion with panelists representing a variety of industries on “what’s next” for their organizations in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While none of us have a crystal ball, part of our value as public relations practitioners is the ability to anticipate issues that can impact our organizations – sometimes to be response-ready in the event of a crisis, and other times, to proactively seize opportunities that present themselves based on the environment in which we are now operating.
Speakers include:

  • Vanessa Stafford, Director of Communications, NH Hospital Association
  • Jayme Simões, President, Louis Karno & Co.
  • Rosalynne Whitaker-Heck, Ed.D., APR, Professor and Associate Provost, Champlain College, Burlington, VT

Yankee Chapter members are invited to stay on the call after the panel discussion to attend the 2021 YPRSA Annual Meeting.

The fee is $10 for PRSA members and $15 for Not-Yet Members.

The Yankee Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America represents public relations and communications professionals in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Register today!