North Carolina Bans Smoking in Public Places

Earlier this week, after narrowly passing through the North Carolina House, Gov. Bev Perdue signed the North Carolina smoking ban into law, making us the 31st state to ban smoking in the workplace, bars and restaurants.  The law will take effect January 2 of next year.

The ban on smoking highlights the declining influence of the tobacco industry in the United States and in North Carolina, where tobacco is still a large yet declining part of the economy.  While the smoking ban is currently “big news”, it remains to be seen how well the state will remind everyone of the ban when it becomes law approximately seven months from today.

Starting several months before the law takes effect, the state should begin reminding everyone about the upcoming law through multiple channels.  The media will also play a large role in reminding the general public of the change as January 2 approaches.

The smoking ban is a step in the right direction for North Carolina and the health of its general population.  We will revisit this topic in December or January and discuss how the state made everyone aware of the new law.

What do you think about the smoking ban?  Is it a positive step for the state or is it restricting personal freedoms?  Let us know in the comments.

Related Links

• NY Times: North Carolina Approves Ban on Smoking
• New Raleigh: Smoking Ban Signed into Law
  
• Wikipedia: List of Smoking Bans in the US

LinkedIn Is Local Platform Of Choice — But Should It Be?

The Triangle Business Journal just announced the results of a poll this week aimed at determining what social networks are being put to work by local businesses. The verdict: the business-savvy LinkedIn reigns supreme.

(Editor’s note: The survey is unscientific and had just shy of 400 respondees. Make of that what you will with regard to the poll’s findings.)

Almost 40 percent of voters indicated they preferred LinkedIn’s business connectivity. Twelve percent noted that they use Facebook to promote their business, and just 8 percent said they touted their business through Twitter.

The TBJ’s reporting stops shy of answering an important question: What are local companies trying to achieve through social networking? For instance, LinkedIn is a tremendous business-to-business and networking tool, but in terms of target markets and prospective customers, it’s a dead zone. Likewise, Facebook and Twitter are great for establishing a brand and reputation, but have frustrated those trying to quantify results within a specific community. In short, companies looking to connect via one or more applications should start with the end in mind and set goals to direct their course of action, particularly when it comes to public relations and marketing a brand.

(Speaking of promoting a brand, please follow us on Twitter if you’d like.)

Why The Best Defense Is A Good Offense, And Why The Best Crisis PR Plan Is Common Sense

Doug Fox, the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission chairman, resigned today after The News and Observer presented Gov. Bev Perdue with an e-mail Fox, also a Wilmington attorney, sent in November after President Barack Obama’s election, which featured a doctored image of the White House’s South Lawn depicted as a watermelon patch.

File that as Exhibit ‘A’ under political follies of Darwinian proportion. Really, what were you thinking?

We’ll spare the lesson in reactive crisis PR for this post. Instead, meet crisis PR’s Agent Zero: keeping one’s nose clean. The best crisis plan is a proactive one that prepares someone ahead of time for possible crises and sets mechanisms in place to avoid PR blunders. (Granted, you can’t predict the future, but the Boy Scouts’ mantra — “be prepared” — rings true here.) Equipping your employees with a plan of action for certain circumstances is a must in todays 24/7 news cycle.

In Fox’s case, while impeding opinions like the one he implicitly shared by forwarding the offensive e-mail might prove difficult, any PR team worth its salt would refer again and again to talking point number one: Act like a public official should. Even ABC Commission chairmen are representatives of the people.

The relationship between PR team and client can be a two-way street; the clients who see the most success (or avoid foolish decisions that can stain a brand) are the ones who recognize the value of proactive measures to prepare for the worst.

Photo via thirdrail