Local Gym Chain Tarnishes Reputation, Some Clients’ Credit

By Kathleen Mongero

Peak Fitness, a local chain of gyms once hailed as one of the most prominent in the area, has announced that they are closing all Triangle locations within the next quarter. After the media spotted the management team at the facility’s Glenwood Avenue location in downtown Raleigh being served with an official eviction notice on Monday, there was no denying that trouble was well on its way.

According to the News & Observer, the company has been suffering financially unbeknownst to its customers for quite some time. Peak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and simultaneously stirred up a lawsuit for its failure to reimburse pre-paid members as well as encouraging long-term contracts while under delicate financial conditions that included the cancellation of all of its bonds. The recent debacle has even led the Attorney General’s office to get involved, setting up restrictions in an attempt to protect clients that forbid the gyms from further entering into long-term or pre-paid contracts.

Unfortunately, the gym has the right to default your membership to another fitness facility in the event of a closing. This little tidbit of information that is purposely left out at the time of at the client agreement has left hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals in the Triangle scurrying to protect their credit.

One would assume that such controversial circumstances would merit a convenient process of cancellation, but that is not the case here. Try to contact ABC Financial, the billing company through which the gym operates, and they will explain to you that you may do one of two things: suck it up and work out at whichever fitness facility your membership has been transferred to, or proceed with their 30-day cancellation process during which ABC will continue to charge you for services not rendered for as long as it takes to complete.

If you are among the many individuals here in NC fighting the fitness company, take heart. The NC Attorney General’s Office has posted an item that specifically outlines your rights as a consumer in this case, as well as a link to file a complaint form, which can be e-mailed to them directly. Needless to say, it appears as though Peak Fitness has overstayed their welcome here in Raleigh, and will not be returning any time soon.

Iranian Protests Brought to You by Twitter and Social Media

by Casey Barger

Forget about watching the five o’clock news or reading the morning paper. If you are looking for updates on the election protests in Iran, you should be following the minute-by-minute Twitter updates.

Protests over the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran’s president have led to what some are calling Twitters “biggest moment”. Following the presidential elections, the cities in Iran witnessed some of the largest street riots since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. While the Iranian government attempted to restrict access to controversial websites and text messaging, tweets began to leak out online about the uproar throughout the country.

Tweets even began to target cable news networks, claiming that they were not devoting enough time and resources to Iran election coverage. In response to the trending Twitter topic #CNNFail, CNN did increase their coverage of the events in Iran. Evidently, Twitter has made quite an impact on the news world. Not only has it become a supplement to traditional news outlets, but it also places pressure on these sources to cover in depth, fast changing events.

In this particular instance, Twitter was the ideal medium to cover the mass protesting. Why? Because it is easy for the average citizen to access and to use and very hard for a central authority to control. While the front pages of Iranian newspapers are being whited out and censored by the government, the Twitterverse is exploding with real time information directly from the streets.

So, the next time you feel your news channel hasn’t given you the whole story, take a look at Twitter!

Gov. Bev Perdue Says N.C. Is A Great Place For Green Jobs

By Stephanie Johnson

A new Pew Center report titled “The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering jobs, businesses, and investments across America”, will be supporting Gov. Bev Perdue’s green energy plan, which includes making green energy jobs a major part of the North Carolina economy.

The report listed North Carolina as one of the top 12 states in growing green energy jobs.   This information was gathered by tracking the growth and progress of green jobs in the state over a period of time.  In 2007 green energy jobs employed a total of 17,000 people in North Carolina.  Governor Perdue stated in order to make this a strong effort North Carolina must work on building the strengths that will attract green companies such as “a well-trained, educated workforce; existing relationships between business and research institutions; and a strong link between energy policy and economic development.”

Not being a native North Carolinian myself, it is refreshing to see a state putting issues of the environment front and center.  Having a state be among the top dozen in the country for green energy jobs is impressive and sure to bring in new businesses and residents to the area, especially when “going green” seems to be an issue of growing importance to millions.

At a time when the stability of the economy is unsure and environmental concerns are on the minds of many this seems to be a great time to launch this project and hopefully North Carolina will continue it’s progress as being one of the “greenest” states out there while providing jobs for thousands.

As a college student who has spent the last four years of her life toiling over the subject matter of Communication Theory and various public relations courses handed down by prestigious and respected former members of the media, I was faced with contradicting feelings of disheartenment and hope after reading a Tom Foremski article suggesting that the old PR model is dead.

The reasoning behind this statement is rooted in the very trend that has crazed the 21st century to begin with — social media. The problem, according to Foremski, is that many PR agencies are not adjusting their visions to coincide with the new digital business world. Sure, they have all hired young, desperate, tech-savvy college graduates to deal with the chaos of the ever-expanding world of social media, but it is not enough. Here are a few basic points about the current evolution of the PR world that will take the implementation of some digital Darwinism:

To begin, all media is social media. There should be no distinction between the two and everyone should be an expert in it. Who in your PR firm is responsible for handling “social media” and networking sites for the firm itself and its clients? The answer should be, to at least some degree, everyone.

Secondly, firms need to get cozy with the concept of measuring outcomes, not outputs. As Foremski points out, “so what if you e-mailed 50 journalists today?” How many of them actually showed interest through a response? This tactic of output-only is going to hurt many firms in the new era, where PR gurus predict that charging by a monthly retainer is a thing of the past and will soon be taken over by a project-by-project model.

On a related note, using newswires to put out press releases has been proved to be outdated – once again, output-focused. The people in your firm should be doing two things: contacting journalists and others directly and on a regular basis, and figuring out how to drive traffic to news stories and client Web sites.

Over the next several weeks, Foremski will be watching all of us in the PR world closely for signs of change and reporting his findings through his blog. Check it out for the latest PR topics.

Photo via Flickr/Intersection Consulting

The “Bark Blog?”  That is exactly what we said when we visited WRAL.com recently, expecting only a few headlines and the weather.  But the “Bark Blog,” a detailed account of the events in the days of newsroom dog “Tracker,” is just one example of how more and more organizations are appealing to stakeholders on a more personal level by using their shared love of pets.

According to an article in the June 2009 issue of Carolina Woman, 85 percent of dog owners say they consider their pet to be a part of their family.  In an attempt to boost company image and employee morale, a growing number of firms are  also allowing pets in the workplace, which through studies has been shown to to pay off in the form of lower turnover and higher worker productivity.

101 Lounge + Cafe, located in downtown Raleigh, is known for drawing in business by holding a variety of on-location charity events in conjunction with the SPCA and local animal rescue shelters. The positive feedback from online customer reviews along with several third-party endorsements from local blogs are just a couple of factors that show this tactic’s rewards.

Still not convinced that the cute-and-cuddly angle is the right way for an organization to go? Well, consider this: Americans are expected to spend $45 billion on their pets this year alone, up from $17 billion in 1994.   As a  result, an increasing number of business owners are making a plethora of “pet-friendly” changes.   Take your dog on your next coffee run, if you use the drive-thru he or she will receive a complementary dog treat with your $5 latte.  Many restaurants with outdoor seating in the Triangle allow you to dine with a leashed pet, and hotel chains have even started to offer oversized pillows, plush robes and special check-in gift packages of toys and treats.

Photo via WRAL.com

Rick Hendrick Donates 10 Chevy Impalas To The Good News Garage

With a turbulent economy and unsurpassed nation-wide stress, there is always one thing we can count on- the Oprah effect.  From the Kindle to Barack Obama, Oprah’s endorsements actually mean something to people and have shown to instantly provide positive publicity.

On her show, Oprah recently  saluted “heroes in hard times.”  One such guest was Hal Colston, owner of the Good News Garage in Burlington, Vermont.  He asserts that when someone’s car breaks down, they cannot get to work, so they lose their job and things just spiral out of control.  To combat this financial kamikaze effect, Colston runs his community garage, fixing up old donated cars and selling them to families in need at a low cost.

When Rick Hendrick, an automotive dealer from Charlotte, heard about Colston’s Good News Garage, he contacted the Oprah Show producers and offered to help.  “HendrickCars.com wants to pitch in,” he said.  To help a few families get back on the road, Hendrick donated 10 2008 Chevy Impalas. “They all get 29 miles to the gallon.  They’ve got 100,000-mile warranties. They’ve all been serviced.  They’re certified, so there’s no maintenance.”  But our very own hometown hero did not stop there.  He also agreed to buy gas for each of the cars for one year.

Everyday heroes do not always make the headlines, but fortunately Hendrick has.  His generous donation and appearance on the Oprah Show was a brilliant public relations strategy.  Car dealerships are getting hit hard right now, especially with GM recently filing for bankruptcy, but Rick Hendrick Chevrolet is managing to stay optimistic, stay charitable and stay in the news.  This message is much more beneficial than any television promotion or newspaper advertisement, as it portrays the dealership not as a power-hungry corporation, but a  company based on compassion and community involvement.

My name is Mike Castro. I was born in New York, raised in Pennsylvania and now living down here in North Carolina. I currently attend the School of Communication Arts for Digital film making. I focus mainly on film editing and special effects. I use both Mac and PC, depending on the software I need to use. I like to put my own creative spin on my work and I always get the job done.  Drop a comment off if you’d like to learn more about me or interning at MMI.

Former N.C. First Lady Puts University In PR Pickle

This May, the campus of NC State University and its home turf of Raleigh were buzzing, but not about the university’s upcoming graduation. The talk of the town this summer are the allegations being brought against Mary Easley, former N.C. Governor Mike Easley’s wife,  regarding the means by which she managed to land a $170,000-a-year job amidst recession-induced budget cuts.

According to The News and Observer, the Easleys used personal connections and swapped business favors with now former university trustees Larry Nielsen and McQueen Campbell, to create a job in the provost’s office for Easley directing a speaker series at $80,000 a year. Last summer, however, Mrs. Easley signed a five-year contract worth approximately $850,000 that included her taking on the development of a public safety leadership center.

Perhaps Mrs. Easley’s salary and position would have been overlooked if not for the combination of a declining U.S. economy, tens of thousands of North Carolina job losses, consistent reports on NC State’s budget cuts and the ongoing FBI invesitgation surrounding the former governor’s campaign finance records.

Heightening  all of the controversy and commotion is Mary Easley’s refusal to resign from her position, despite direct requests from UNC system President Erskine Bowles and NC State Chancellor James Oblinger, which begs the question — how does this look for NC State?

As the university takes all measures possible to push Easley’s resignation, including the recent moratorium on the development of her public safety leadership center, she continues to defend her job. NC State has chosen to follow through with an offensive reaction strategy in battling Easley to the bitter end — but is it helping, or is this effort simply another catalyst for damage to the university’s prestigious public image?

Photo via Hyku

In a scary yet somewhat liberating move, we have decided to hand Raleigh Public Relations over to “The Interns” (que a lightning strike and scary music).  Within the next week or so you will begin to see posts from our new crop of summer interns at MMI.  Jake Potter and I will continue to contribute as full-time editors but on a limited basis.

Have no fear — the quality of the posts will still be held to the same high standards and the topics will still be focused on issues that affect Raleigh, North Carolina and the public relations profession.  We believe the move will allow us to focus the blog more on current events, bringing additional value to you through our blog posts (as well as augmenting our interns’ portfolios).

The decision to give the interns more control over RPR.com comes along as we are rolling out our new branding, so there is a lot of change happening in the MMI office. During the change we are excited to keep bringing you the good stuff on this blog.  At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you continue to find the posts valuable, so let us know how we are doing.  A rant or two in the comment section will keep us on our toes

 -Bobby McDonald

Photo from www.SwissMiss.Typepad.com