BLOG: The Simone Biles Effect

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Let’s take a brief break for some worthy observations about American gymnast, Simone Biles:

 

Biles was asked about the (GOAT) necklace, and she admitted the goat was a bit of provocative goof, that she knew some people would like it and others would hate it. She said she couldn’t believe she was in the all-time conversation at all. “I still just think I’m Simone Biles from Spring, Texas that loves to flip.

-Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2024

 

A highlight among highlights of the two-week Olympic extravaganza will certainly be Simone Biles, proof that when you get the “twisties”, as we all do, what matters is that we get back up, and how.

 

From a leadership perspective, The “Simone Biles Effect” spotlights lessons in leadership.

 

In addition to getting back up (resiliency), lessons are:

  • Know ourselves. Know our surroundings. Know our strengths, our weaknesses, the personal and professional, and our threats. Situational awareness is key to emotional intelligence, which in turn is key to sustainable success.

 

  • Teamwork rules, even and especially in solo roles and endeavors. We are better when we get help from others who can help us to see and understand what we can’t see due to our blind spots. In turn, be at the ready to spot—-help—-others. Simone did this with her network of supporters and advisors in the period after Tokyo.

 

  • Be ever optimistic, and also realistic. Optimism is a force multiplier. Optimism is the secret sauce for seeing opportunities. After the struggles at the Tokyo Olympics, a lesser person might have thrown in the towel. Simone saw the opportunity of tomorrow.

 

  • ”No deposit, no return”, as Rowdy Gaines, the men’s Olympic swimming medal winner shares this motivational thought that to get a benefit, effort must be made.

 

  • Be grateful. In Simone’s response to her success, she demonstrates humility and gratitude. “I am who I am”. We are all the sum total of our life’s experiences.

 

  • We all have a reputation, and narrative, that is tangible and fungible.

 

  • And,
  • Be flexible and agile.

Pivot to opportunities.

 

See how I did that?!

 

#BeSimone as an inspiration!

🤸🏼‍♂️

 

Clark P. Dumont, APR, Fellow PRSA is a longtime Yankee PRSA member. A journalist turned communications professional and organizational leader with experience in health care, aerospace & defense, travel and hospitality and non profit organization leadership, he is a native Granite Stater.

 

BLOG: Purposeful Partnerships:  Building Trusted Relationships Among Collaborating Organizations

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Purposeful Partnerships:  Building Trusted Relationships Among Collaborating Organizations
by Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA

“Trust is key to having successful collaborations”: that was a major takeaway from the powerful Yankee Chapter PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) Lunch & Learn session on Aug. 15th. Special thanks to moderator Jill Kimball, APR, Marketing Manager at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital and panelists Kate Luczko, Sr. Director of HealthForce NH and Peter Wright, President & CEO of Northwestern Medical Center, for sharing your insights.

VIEW LUNCH & LEARN SESSION HERE

 

Other Key Takeaways Included:

 

  1. Collaboration works when the participating organizations understand what they are going to get out of the collaboration. It’s very important to listen and not make assumptions – take the time to understand, what are their needs?  What are their concerns?
  2. Trust is the foundation for effective collaboration. Everything comes back to trust – what is the history of trust?  What are the psycho-social dynamics of trust?  How do I build trust?  “The more you are able to ‘let go’ to your partners, the more likely you are to get to that level of trust early in the relationship.”
  3. Define your shared vision and your objectives. “Take a step back and look at the big picture – where are we all trying to get to?”  Define your goals and objectives – start with the low-hanging fruit to get some early wins.  Use those goals and objectives to measure success.
  4. Be clear when you set expectations. This applies when working with all the collaborating organizations, but also when you are reporting back to your own organization – they may be looking for a “return on investment” sooner than is realistically possible.  Communication about that is key.  Sometimes the arrangements are more informal (e.g. feedback from an advisory board) and sometimes more formal (a signed Memorandum of Understanding)
  5. You need both accountability and flexibility. It’s important to have basic systems in place for clarity on how the organizations will share information, communicate between meetings, complete tasks etc.  Meeting minutes will capture who is responsible and what deadlines are involved.  Note: collaborations can start to fall apart when these expectations are not met – but sometimes, it is important to be flexible and “give each other some grace”.  Even with a plan, it’s important to be open to what you don’t expect. “Sometimes we have to fix the plane while it’s moving.”
  6. Not everything will go smoothly – expect that and make time to discuss “lessons learned” as intel for moving forward.
  7. Find the common ground. What will be beneficial for both sides?  Start with what is most easily acceptable and move forward.  “For example, people may not want to give away all their trade secrets when it comes to recruiting … but they can rally behind a goal of, ‘What can we do collectively to make healthcare more attractive’?”
  8. Get the right people in the room for decision-making. It is difficult to control which representatives an organization sends to the meetings of the collaborating partners – and if they don’t have decision-making power, they need to go back to get organization’s blessing and that doesn’t always work well.  “It’s best to define for the representatives what decision-making power they have, so they know that going in.”
  9. Renew and refresh. Specific partnerships may align for a certain period of time and in pursuit of a certain objective or audience. As organizational goals, priorities or circumstances shift, understand that partnerships – even long-serving relationships – may have to shift as well. Accept and embrace the opportunity, because it is a terrific way to align with new ways of thinking and foster additional beneficial relationships in your industry or community.

When asked what HealthForce is most proud of, Luczko talked about identifying barriers for hiring more respiratory therapists in NH.  “Instead of playing the middleman, we got practicing respiratory therapists in a room together with members of NH OPLC (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification), the NH Hospital Association, and River Valley Community College (who offers the Respiratory Therapy program) and facilitated a discussion on how to solve the problem – while an informal collaboration for now, this felt like a big win.”

According to Wright, the New England Collaborative is working well, with some early group purchasing wins and they have established themselves as a legal entity, hired an Executive Director and reached agreement on how they would be funded.  They are well-positioned for future progress. “Relationships are a marathon, not a sprint,” he said.

 

Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA is Senior Counsel and Partner at Jackson Jackson & Wagner, a behavioral public relations and management consulting firm in the Seacoast of NH.  She is currently serving as President of the Yankee Chapter of PRSA.

Rebuilding Trust, Ethics, and Communications in an Age of Innovation

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Rebuilding Trust, Ethics, and Communications in an Age of Innovation

Wednesday, September 25, from 12-1pm EST, ONLINE

FREE

REGISTER HERE: https://loebschool.org/register/trust2024

 

Now in its 24th year, the Edelman Trust Barometer is a global research study measuring trust in society. The 2024 report highlights broad gaps in the public’s trust in government leaders, business leaders, journalists, and technology companies. The findings serve as a wake-up call for business and policy leaders to better manage communications to regain and grow public trust and have implications for organizations of all sizes which serve customers and stakeholders.

 

Your Instructor: Drake Baer is Senior Vice President, Thought Leadership at the Edelman Trust Institute, where he guides the narrative development of research.  A former editor-at-large at Business Insider and senior writer at New York Magazine, Drake has authored two books, including Perception: How Our Bodies Shape Our Minds.

 

This PD session for Yankee PRSA is offered in collaboration with the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications.

Meet a New Yankee Chapter Member!

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Name: Katie Paine

Originally from: New York City

Currently live in: Shankhassick Farm, Durham, NH

Job Title and Organization: CEO and Founder, Paine Publishing

Work History/Background: started out in marketing in Silicon Valley in the ‘80s. When I was asked to “show my results” I learned that engineers and software developers do not understand words. So I started collecting data to prove my value in charts and graphs and numbers. Moved back East in 1986 to work for Lotus Development in Cambridge where I was the 9th Director of Communications in five years. Needless to say, I knew I had to deliver results. Fortunately I had Lotus 1-2-3.  We analyzed and coded 2000 articles to determine the extent to which we’d been able to communicate our messages. Bob Strayton, head of our PR agency told me “anyone who isn’t using this system by the year 2000 doesn’t deserve to be in business.”  So I quit Lotus and started the Delahaye Group, arguably the first company devoted to measuring PR. It was purchased in 1999 by what is now Cision (and many Delahaye employees are still there!)  My next plan was to start a subscription newsletter devoted to PR measurement, but I kept on getting requests to implement measurement programs, so KDPaine & Partners was born. That was bought in 2013 by Carma. Then I went back to the original idea of a measurement newsletter and started Paine Publishing. Not a great time for paid newsletters so I now am back to measurement consulting and training and implementing integrated measurement dashboards. A big part of what I do is train more “measurement mavens” through our online courses: https://painepublishing.com/training-education/type/courses/

Why I joined Yankee Chapter

PRSA has always been a great place for networking. I’ve met so many great people at Yankee Chapter events.

PRSA Positions I Have Held or Are Interested in: Have never held a PRSA position, but would be open to something in the future.

Most challenging PR situation: When I was at Lotus, the Boston Bureau Chief of Business Week walked into my office after an extended exclusive interview with my boss at Lotus, Jim Manzi and told me: “I’m going to write the “Jim Manzi is an A-hole story.” He proceeded to provide me his impressions of my boss, none of which were favorable. Knowing I did NOT want to be within 100 yards of Manzi when that story came out, I asked him to give me a week to resign before he ran it. He obliged and I quit and started The Delahaye Group.

Bucket list/trip activity. Win first place in the Great Bay Yacht Club Merrymac Sailing Regatta. https://www.piperboatworks.com/history-of-the-merrymac.html

Hobbies/interests: Sailing, maintaining the farm, raising chickens, gardening and hanging with my Great Pyrenees Sir Lancelot, Knight Protector of Shankhassick Farm.

Contact Information: kdpaine@painepublishing.com

 

Tracy Sweet

Making a Statement On Societal Issues: When It Is (And Is Not) Warranted

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Making a Statement On Societal Issues:

Andover’s Principles Clarify When A Response To World Events Is (And Is Not) Warranted

By Tracy M. Sweet, Chief Communications Officer, Phillips Academy

Yankee Chapter PRSA member

Reprinted with permission from Currents magazine (May/June 2024), published by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Phillips Academy is an independent co-educational boarding school. As its CCO, Tracy Sweet takes to heart her role in providing communications that enrich, inform, and protect the school community. When pressures to respond to an increasing number of political and societal events began taking her away from that mission, she, and the school’s leadership team, took action by developing guidelines for responding to world events.

What prompted the need for guidelines that establish when to address societal issues?

In the span of two years, we issued eight statements on societal events, such as the war in Ukraine, the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The process was reactive and, further, it felt presumptuous to think that a school statement would have some profound effect. We questioned whether putting out such statements aligned with our mission. We took a moment to pause and really think about that.

The guidelines start by asking what the campus community needs from Andover. This includes things like informational resources and support, a place for fellowship, or an educational forum.

Once our campus community is taken care of, we address the need for a public statement by asking: Is the matter relevant to education? Does it directly impact our mission? Does Andover have expertise to advance a deeper understanding of the issue?

If we answer “yes” to any of those questions, the guidelines lead us through a discussion that helps us consider the potential effects of issuing a statement such as, “Would some students, faculty, or staff feel ignored or silenced, their opinions unwelcome?”

How do the guidelines for societal issues differ from those that guide communication surrounding a crisis directly affecting your campus community?

The guidelines are an addendum to our crisis communication plan. The fundamental question no matter the issue is: “How are we responding to the needs of our campus community?”  That’s the start for both; then the processes are entirely different. We recently revamped our crisis communications plan in the form of scenarios. We’ve designed 10 different possible scenarios, which we’ll keep adding to; they include a cyber-attack, a student tragedy, an environmental disaster, an active shooter—all the things that keep us up at night.

You revisited the new guidelines last fall. Why?

When war broke out in the Middle East, Andover’s response did not include a statement. It did include immediate support and resources as the crisis escalated. Our Head of School addressed a campus-wide assembly, and education programming came a few weeks later when a guest scholar explored the history of the conflict and the current political and religious climate. Our challenge, from a communications stance, was that students recalled previous global events when Andover did speak out and wanted to know why we did not issue a statement this time.

We quickly realized we had not done a good enough job to broadly share that our approach to statements had evolved. To increase awareness, we emailed our “Andover Principles” campus-wide and posted them online.

For instance, one of the principles states:

Andover’s mission is to educate high school students. We teach students how to think, not what to think. And we teach them to analyze societal issues through a wide range of perspectives. We are not policymakers or experts in global affairs. Therefore, it is rare that Andover will issue a statement on societal events that do not directly impact the school’s mission.

Why are these guidelines so important?

Having guiding principles helps to create clarity when emotions are running high. Without a framework, you risk making an unanchored ethical decision by weighing the importance of one tragedy against another. In some cases, you are placing value on one group’s needs over another. That’s not sustainable, and it’s certainly not a best practice.

If you develop a pattern of issuing performative statements, you could erode your institution’s reputation. As a strategic communications professional, I see that as an affront to the profession. We are not vending machines for generic quotes. We must offer substance. It is not the statement, but the action that signals care and empathy and compassion.

How to Develop a Co-branded Marketing Strategy

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By Marnie Grumbach, Yankee Chapter member and Founder of Fluent IMC (Westbrook, ME)

Co-branding with another organization can be a powerful way to expand your reach — either to new geographic markets or to new audience segments.

READ MORE HERE AT MAINEBIZ

Yankee Chapter Members Named to New Hampshire 200 List

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Congratulations to five members of Yankee PRSA, who were named to NH Business Review’s 2024 New Hampshire 200 list. The list of leaders for the 2024 edition is a unique group of people who have made their mark on New Hampshire’s economy, business climate and the state as a whole.

Hats off to these five Yankee Chapter members:

Lisa Cramb, Montagne Powers

Clark Dumont, APR, Fellow PRSA, Dumont Communications

Kristen Lestock, Cookson Communications

Laura Simoes, Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications

Jayme Simões, Louis Karno & Company

READ MORE HERE

May President’s Column, Yankee Chapter 2024

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From Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA, Yankee Chapter President…

One of the most rewarding parts of serving as President of the Yankee Chapter this year is enjoying the success of our many hard-working committees and vol unteers – it has been so much fun to work with you all and to see the fruits of your labor!  Thank you for all you do.

Our Membership Committee of Mark Elliott, APR (Chair), Clark Dumont, APR, Fellow PRSA, Keri Pappalardo and Mackenzie Kreitler has hosted two successful in-person socials in Concord (March) and Exeter (April).  Thanks to Robin Giampa, APR, Director of Communications at Phillips Exeter Academy for hosting us on April 11th for an informative campus tour and a networking social at the Lamont Art Gallery.  We were amazed at the creativity of the art exhibit – all pieces were submitted by Phillips Exeter Academy employees!    Stay tuned for news of our next membership social, slated for Manchester in September.

For those who want to do a road trip to Freeport, ME — on Wed. May 8th, the Maine PR Council is hosting a member social from 5-7 p.m. at the Maine Beer Company entitled “Doing Good Through Great Beer”.  This is a nice chance to meet our neighbors to the north (with a side benefit of getting in a little spring shopping at LL Bean!) To register: Maine PR Council Mixer & Social at Maine Beer Company – Yankee PRSA

By the way, we are creeping closer to our goal of 100 Yankee Chapter members … we are at 98 members right now!  If you’re a new member looking to join a committee, please give me a call at 603/770-3607 to discuss the possibilities.  If you’re looking for find out more about PRSA and Yankee Chapter membership, contact our chair, Mark Elliott, APR at melliott@velcro.com.

Our Professional Development Committee, led by Kristen Lestock and Denise Hutchins, has been meeting weekly with members of the Maine PR Council and the Boston PRSA Chapter to plan our multi-chapter half-day conference, “AI and PR:  Sparking Curiosity, Removing Fear” that will be held May 29th from 8 a.m. – noon at the Nackey S. Loeb School in Manchester.  Thanks to all of our sponsors to date:  Easterseals NH; Northeast Delta Dental; the Nackey S. Loeb School; Jackson Jackson & Wagner and Boston PRSA/President Kelly McFalls.  It’s not too late to become a sponsor, so if your organization is interested, please let me know before May 10th so we can include your logo on our website and in conference materials.  For those who haven’t yet registered, here is the link:  AI and PR Half-Day Workshop: Sparking Curiosity and Removing Fear – Yankee PRSA

If you are going to be in the Manchester area the night before the conference, on Tuesday, May 28th, we’re pulling together an informal dinner at Diz’s Café at 6:30 p.m. Diz’s Cafe: Restaurant on Elm Street in Downtown Manchester, NH (dizscafe.com).  Please let me know by May 24th if you’d like to attend (cost is not included in the conference registration price).

Thanks to our Accreditation Committee, led by Mark Elliott, APR and Joe Gallagher, APR for coordinating the multi-chapter panel discussion on “Starting Your Accreditation Journey” on April 9th.  We had a nice turnout for the live program.  Thanks to our moderator Brad Belote, APR and panelists Cristal Steur, APR from the PRSA Greater Worcester Chapter; Greg Glynn, APR from Maine PR Council and Thomasena Shaw, APR from the PRSA Boston Chapter for sharing their insights.  If you missed it, check out the recording:  https://velcro.zoom.us/rec/share/mA8on6mh0LI_stsoXlUnti1K6ONQ-oB8YCx9YPct-Ci8vYs4XeOLtFJXFdsOqrkj.tvWgeCAmyJ7NNayE

Our Bylaws Committee, led by Jane Law, APR has put together a number of recommendations for updating our Bylaws – we will be discussing these at our next Board meeting on May 8th at 3 p.m.

Thanks to Donna Eason, APR and new Yankee Chapter member Mary Flowers for their work on the PRSSA Grants and Scholarships Committee – they have put together a proposal for our Board to discuss that involves transitioning our scholarship funds so we can support more PRSSA events and help graduating PRSSA students with scholarships to continue their membership and involvement in PRSA when they graduate.

Why Do PR Practitioners Need To Develop A Relationship With AI?  Word of Wisdom From Tony D’Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA

As we prepare for our upcoming half-day conference on “AI and PR”, we’ll be sharing insights from a variety of practitioners… the blog below captures the highlights from an interview with Tony D’Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA, Professor of Practice at Syracuse University and Shelly Goldman, host of “Let’s Talk PR” on the impact of generative AI on the PR profession.

Why PR Practitioners Need to Develop a Relationship with AI – Yankee PRSA

New Member Spotlight On Tara Bishop

Want to get to know our new members better?  Be sure to visit the “Meet A New Member” section of our website!  This week, the new member spotlight is on Tara Bishop, Communications Director for the Diocese of Manchester, who is currently serving on the Communications Committee: https://www.yankeeprsa.org/new-member-profile-tara-bishop

PRSA’s DEI Initiatives

In April, PRSA ran a very informative presentation focused on inclusion of the Deaf community.  Here is the link to the recording:

https://prsa.zoom.us/rec/play/AXnuvPrDMcE1VjTU0PfYF54ow4wnAVKn0CI1GDfAB4WI4CkhPaWIbmWwF8AaFiD75dDHFLCFmfY-dBA.8AuR5U2fKAVLT-m-?canPlayFromShare=true&from=share_recording_detail&continueMode=true&componentName=rec-play&originRequestUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fprsa.zoom.us%2Frec%2Fshare%2F6GqcRomJWpNbItFAATE2jWuD5R9HcxPjMFq6I-G3omRKVd3v1U51Su9Yv5HrjpcB.t-515n065Jq9F1Ot

On May 16th, from 5-6 p.m. you can learn more about the issue of ageism in the program, “Diverse Dialogues:  Shifting Perspectives – Age Is Just A Number”.  To register:

Diverse Dialogues: Shifting Perspectives: Debunking ´Age Is Just a Number’ | PRSA

For more information about DEI initiatives, please contact our Yankee Chapter DEI Representative Jill Kimball, APR, Marketing Manager for Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, at j.kimball@nvrh.org.

 

Meet a New Member: Tara Bishop

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Name:

Tara Bishop

Originally From:

Manchester, NH

Currently Live In:

Manchester, NH – I couldn’t leave my close-knit family and hometown 😊

Current PR Title/Organization:

Communications Director, Diocese of Manchester (the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire)

LinkedIn Profile:

www.linkedin.com/in/tara-dolphin-bishop

Work History:

I interned at several PR and marketing firms during college and finally at the Archdiocese of Boston. I worked there after graduation, moved on to a PR firm and then transitioned to marketing roles at nonprofit organizations. Eventually I became a freelance writer and publicist for a roster of marketing firms, nonprofits, and corporate clients while my children were small. After 14 years of freelancing, my career came full circle when I returned to working for the Church in my current role.

History of Yankee Chapter/PRSA involvement:

I recently joined the Chapter and PRSA and am assisting with social media management for the Chapter.

Most Challenging PR Situation:

Navigating the changing media landscape with the influence of social media content and the ever-dwindling attention span of target audiences.

Bucket List Trip/Activity:

Taking my four children to Ireland where I studied abroad and honeymooned to see where my great-grandparents lived.

Hobbies and Interests:

Spending time at the lake with my family and chauffeuring my kids to all their activities (I look forward to having some different hobbies when they’re older!).