By Kaitlyn Barnes

After hearing about Cameron Village’s Travel the Village event three weeks ago, I have been reading more and more about start-up companies and their innovative publicity strategies.  The event took place on July 21 and featured local artists and designers—folks whose works were hanging up or enclosed in glass cases in Cameron Village shops.

With my start-up business PR research, I was particularly interested in one of the event’s focal brands, Lumina Clothing Company.  Started in 2009 by three friends at N.C. State who were frustrated with the local tie scene, the group decided to make their own polka-dotted and striped ties and bow ties, among vibrant-colored solids and other patterns.

I found Lumina’s publicity history to include a well-rounded website, work with other local entrepreneurs, utilization of @facebook, and attendance of local events like Travel the Village.  From a consumer perspective I was impressed and intrigued merely by the information provided on their website.  Is there more to love than hearing about three college kids’ success, and why they named their company after “the” Wrightsville Beach hangout back in 1905?

From a PR perspective, I was impressed but also left with questions.  Social media and the Internet are creating all kinds of new opportunities these days.  Even three college-aged entrepreneurs working with a restricted budget and limited time have found a way to make businesses out of their market frustrations.  But ultimately, I wondered, from a mass communications stand-point, what makes these companies marketable and sustainable?

That’s when I heard about Raleigh Denim.  Featured on UNC-TV just last week this small start-up has shown how local can change to national audiences within a few months.  Raleigh Denim was started by Sarah and Victor Lytvinenko with the goal of re-stimulating North Carolina’s garment industry in a period of little growth and cut-backs in almost every market sector.  They set out with major expectations.  They wanted to use local materials, from within a 200 mile radius.  They wanted local thread, local employees and local machinery.  And finally, with a brand tag reading “Handcrafted By Non Automated Jeansmiths” Raleigh Denim was born.

The couple decided in order to make Raleigh Denim the premium, yet local, brand they desired, they would have to reach out to the metropolises of America—New York, Los Angeles for example—not the Old North State.  With a little sleep, a lot of driving and strong motivation, they launched their denim line at Barney’s Coop in New York City.

It’s all about innovation and identifying accurate audiences, I guess.  I wonder now though, if you go big, can you go home??  And if you stay small how hard is it to go big?  Will Lumina be able to easily start reaching national audiences or should they have thought about that at the onset of launching the brand?  And will Raleigh Denim ever really draw that local Raleigh crowd they set out to benefit?

GOOGLE SOURCE

By James Schlegelmilch

The past few weeks have been filled with stories of N.C. State Highway Patrol misconduct, and this week marks the beginning of the search for S.H.P. commander.

On Friday, Colonel Randy Glover submitted his resignation to Gov. Bev Perdue after just one year of service.  However, the colonel’s resignation does not take effect until September 1.  While his resignation was voluntary, some state officials, like N.C. GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer, said his removal was necessary and outside leadership would need to be brought in to fix this crisis.  “The Highway Patrol needs new command.  It’s a mystery to everybody in North Carolina why he still has that job,” Fetzer said last Monday.

Thursday, Highway patrol officers were asked to turn in personal cellular phone records to investigators.  While some troopers are decrying this policy as illegal and unnecessary, officials say that it is necessary to ensure that patrol officers were not using large amounts of work time to conduct personal business. Allegations continue to pile up against patrol officers, as just this past Friday another officer was placed on administrative duty while she is the subject of a criminal investigation for general misconduct.

Two weeks ago Gov. Perdue called a meeting with 160 officers to try and stop this string of very public ethical lapses.  The meeting included more than two hours of hearings followed by questions from reporters aimed at Col. Glover and Gov. Perdue.  The most public of the allegations had been the resignation of patrol spokesman Major Everett Clendenin after the release of phone records showing more than 2,600 romantic text messages between him and another trooper.  Within the same month, one trooper resigned after his arrest for drunk-driving and felony hit-and-run.  One case involved four officers being relieved of duty when a trooper was pulled over for drunk-driving and instead of being given a sobriety test and taken into custody, officers brought him to a hotel to sleep it off.

The public has been made well aware of the misconduct of the State Highway Patrol, but few of the questions raised have been answered.  Have we seen the end of these allegations?  How much tax-payer money has been misused in the course of this misconduct, either in paying the salaries of these troopers or otherwise?  Who has been turning a blind eye to this misconduct, and who’s going to clean it up?  Still one of the most important questions remaining to be answered is how is the S.H.P. going to restore the general public’s faith in the agency?

PR crisis happen all the time, but when one strikes at this level it becomes even more difficult to address.  It is even more difficult when the agency in question is charged with the keeping the public safe, and the officials have such power, as enforcing the law.

One of the first steps in handling a crisis is to have a leader step forward and take responsibility.  What do you do when these leaders are resigning, who answers for them?  Something as simple as removing the violators in question will not restore the public’s trust.  Only the coming weeks will show the state plans to address this crisis and, most importantly, keep it from happening again.

Photo Source: Ildar Sagdejev

By Kaitlyn Barnes

Picture this.  It’s a typical 100-degree, summer Monday and it’s time for work.  But this morning the words stoplights, potholes, traffic, bump-ups and road-rage will not be in your vocabulary or even creep into your mind.  Heck, you won’t even say road-kill.  This morning you’re not driving your car; you’re taking Raleigh’s new mass transit system.

Of course we’ve all thought of this situation before.  Raleigh-Durham has been working on ideas similar to Charlotte’s LYNX light rail and CATS program for the past 15 years, and have yet to make much progress.  Like all state-funded projects, creating something like a light rail would be expensive.  But aside from this obvious drawback, what’s keeping the public from (pardon the pun) getting on board?

In 2007 political consultant, Carter Wrenn, criticized the state for exciting everyone about a mass transit system before having a concrete, outlined financial plan.  Like I did in the beginning of this post—I drew an exciting picture of what the future could be like.  Although it may not even be possible, I attempted to create hype behind my idea and left out all the corresponding, negative details.

In 2009, N&O reporter Bruce Siceloff discussed Mayor Meeker’s three ten-year plans for creating 69 miles in total of mass transit in the Triangle.  And more recently, a question and answer session with Thomas Crowder helped confirm that the sales tax would increase by ½ a cent in order to appropriate the necessary funding.  These of course are more detail-oriented and concrete approaches to promoting the new infrastructure.

Which tactic produces the best results I wonder?  In the out skirts of a recession the last thing the public wants to read about is an increase in taxes and more budget cuts.  But if government officials aren’t upfront about the costs of certain projects, we might run the risk of creating support for a project that was never really feasible.  And if we publicize the costs and financial particulars too much, isn’t there a chance the state has just wasted time and money researching a project no one wants to support?

Also, what about the expiration date of projects like these?  After 15 years of trying to promote such a venture, have all the big PR guns been pulled out?  Is there a way to continue approaching the public without exhausting the subject matter?

Photo Source: Google

By Jessica Lam

Got an issue with the city? Then take out your smartphones and be heard – via the SeeClickFix app.

Raleigh’s newest city council member, Bonner Gaylord (@bonnergaylord), recently teamed up with Connecticut-based SeeClickFix.com (@SeeClickFix)to launched a smartphone app that allows users to directly contact the city council for problems that need solutions. All users need to do is snap a photo of the area in question, type a short message and upload it!

Exciting as it all seems, I think it is even more exciting how Gaylord targeted the average Raleigh citizen. He took into consideration two of the biggest issues of modern society: time and communication with the local government.

Let’s look at time. People tend to be rushing from one place to another, using “I don’t have time” as a daily excuse for everyday tasks. We like everything to be “on the go” and never quite understand how one moment it’s noon and the next it’s 5 p.m. But with the SeeClickFix app, Raleigh folks can simply submit their concerns as they come across them, eliminating the need to find time to come back to it again.

The SeeClickFix app also makes it much easier to have Raleigh voices heard. How? Citizens can send concise city concerns directly to the city council at the touch of a button. That means no more petitions, letters, e-mails and the like.

But this leads me to wonder several things. Would users abuse this option, leading to floods of complaints and repeats? Which ones should the city focus on first or at all? Will it be effective? Are people going to take advantage of this app? Gaylord currently pays $100 per month to keep the app running, so will there be a profit or loss? Will others adapt this new method of bridging the gap between politicians and constituents?

So is the SeeClickFix app the new way to express your democratic right? You decide.

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

by Amy Gretenstein

Vice President Joe Biden held a brief tour and speech Thursday in an effort to tout the success of the Obama administration’s stimulus package.

Touring Cree with Energy Secretary Steven Chu and then speaking for about 25 minutes, Biden bragged that Cree, a Durham company that manufactures light-emitting diodes (LEDs), is an “American success story.”  Cree received more than $39 million tax credits and has hired around 375 new employees within the last year.

As if that was not impressive enough, upon Obama’s inauguration, Cree stock sold for $18.76 a share and to $19.99 when he signed the stimulus bill. Today, the stock has been selling for about $71.44. Super impressive, indeed!

Not only is Cree being highlighted for its impressive economic gains and hiring, but it is also being noted for its boosting of manufacturing in renewable and energy-efficient technologies.

While I do agree Cree is a stimulus success story, it sure doesn’t hurt to have the vice president come in and pat the president on the back. Just days before a major House vote on the health care bill, Biden’s appearance might have something to do with swaying last minute votes. However, it is always good PR to highlight your successes and it appears Biden is doing just that.

Biden and the administration could not have picked a better success story. Cree is an American company increasing jobs and revenue, and is promoting renewable energy-efficient technologies. Looks to me like Biden “hit the nail on the head.”

Photo source: NathanF

by James Schlegelmilch

Today, State Treasurer Janet Cowell will announce the official in charge of North Carolina’s Innovation Fund.  The NC Innovation Fund will take $250 million from the state employee’s pension fund and invest the money into up and coming North Carolina-based businesses.

This investment idea, while not a new idea nationally, is an excellent way to lend a helping hand to businesses that have invested their own time and energy into North Carolina’s economy while generating a return on the money that is already in the system.

There are about 20 states in the nation that have this type of plan in place already, and North Carolina began the process of finding management of the fund and investment opportunities this past November when the state issued requests for proposals from private equity firms to manage the investments.

The state’s pension fund already has investments in stocks, bonds, real estate, and alternative investments like private equity, hedge funds, and venture capital.  This new plan will be a way to ensure that while growing the pension fund, the state’s economy is supported in a sort of “win-win” scenario.

While this investment plan will be good for the state on both ends, as with any investment, it will take time to see returns on the money invested in these local businesses.  I do feel though, that this is a great opportunity for the state to do something for itself.  In this economy, businesses need all the help they can get, and if the state itself can get something back for it, I’m not sure how this can be a bad thing.

Photo Source: Pfala

by: Mallory Pfeffer

For as long as I have lived in North Carolina and attended the schools here I remember there being conflict after conflict relating to the bus system for public schools. Basically, the issue is that Wake County has a system of taking buses into inner-city areas and moving students to schools all over the county.

The reasoning behind it is to provide inner-city students with the same opportunities that the students in more affluent areas receive, and to add to the diversity of schools. The problems are some students have to travel more than 20 minutes to get to their schools, they arrive incredibly early and get home incredibly late, they are ultimately being stripped from their communities and the transportation costs really add up.

A meeting held by the Wake County school board on Tuesday was organized to vote on whether or not diversity busing should continue. The session began at 10 a.m. and extended into the night, so clearly a great deal was discussed. Previously, a vote had been cast to end the busing program and have students attend the schools in their communities, so the board was organized to discuss the possibility of passing the resolution.

With representatives from the different communities, as well as the NAACP, at the meeting there were plenty of differing opinions available to turn it into a heated debate. Civil rights became the center of the argument. Some were arguing “racism,” others were arguing that they “opposed anything that lead to re-segregation,” and still others were arguing that “morality doesn’t support the new plan.”

By the end of the session the board decided to keep the new plan and end diversity busing in communities. The opposition aren’t going down without a fight. Rev. William Barber, president of the NAACP in North Carolina declared, “don’t get discouraged” and “get your head up! We’ve got some courts we may need to get into.”

Although the meeting may have ended and the vote was determined, it appears the situation is far from over.  With Wake County now receiving national attention , the government and school board should tread softly. If you were to type “Wake County’s response to diversity busing” into a Google browser nothing but negativity towards the school system appears. Officials should be doing what they can to combat all of the negative headlines, but yet they don’t seem to be trying very hard to maintain a positive image. Well, good luck Wake County, it seems you may be needing it.

Image: laffy4k

By Audrey Beckett

The results of the October 2009 Wake County School Board elections have created a steady stream of media coverage, with new topics taking priority every few weeks. Much of that coverage has been negative, or at the very least, had potential to inflame parts of the board’s constituency.

The four newly elected board members shifted the board to a conservative majority. Debra Goldman, Chris Malone, John Tedesco and Debra Prickett made it clear from the beginning that big changes were going to be made to the system’s assignment and busing policies. The concern that has been raised most frequently is that these new changes will discourage diversity within the Wake County Public School System.

Many of the tensions surrounding the school board are political and I have no intention of taking a political side in this blog. However, regardless of any individual’s political ideology, there are some public relations issues that should be addressed.

A significant amount of criticism has been leveled against the board by civil rights organizations who oppose the board’s proposed end to busing for racial and socio-economic diversity. The North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has been vocal about their fears. Reverend William Barber, president of the chapter, has stated, “We’re no longer going to sit back and watch our schools, without any challenge, go back to segregation. ‘Separate but equal’ does not work. We know that.” Regardless of the board’s intentions, this is the kind of bad press that they need to address head-on. Being associated with racism, segregation and ineffective historic policy is a PR nightmare that should have been quickly and forcefully refuted.

It may have seemed easy to write off complaints when they were coming from the board’s political opponents.  However, a recent survey distributed by the board itself has indicated that 94.5% of the 40,000 Wake County parents surveyed are happy with their child’s current assignment. As an elected body, the board will receive bad press if they fail to be responsive to their constituency.

In recent days the conflict between the board majority and Wake Superintendent Del Burns has been the focus of much  media coverage. Burns has submitted his resignation, claiming he could no longer work “in all good conscience” for the district, but plans to continue working until June 30. Since he made this announcement he has been quick to criticize the new board’s decisions and they in turn are threatening insubordination charges and stripping him of power before June 30. Disagreement among members has come to light as minority members defend Burns. Coming on the heels of previous bad press, recent media coverage has painted a picture of the board ineffective and argumentative.

The school board is in a tough PR situation. If they want to repair their image they need to take steps to shape the messages being broadcast. The first step: they need to be vocal as they respond to criticism. It’s also important that they are putting positive messages out so that their constituents aren’t only hearing criticisms. Finally, if they continue to express their internal disunity to the media, they should only expect bad press.

by Amy Gretenstein

On Friday Feb. 12, Revenue Secretary Kenneth Lay told The Associate Press that his agency is starting to delay refund checks for taxpaying individuals and businesses. Apparently this is because the state is out of money in its checking account.

The announcement has caused a bit of an uproar among citizens and politicians alike. However, the idea of delayed refunds isn’t new to the state. Last year, the state held back refunds but were not upfront about it. Not until angry taxpayers started complaining did the state speak up.

This year, the state and Gov. Bev Purdue have done a good job being more proactive about the delays. Gov. Purdue said not to be alarmed by the delays. Like many people around the state, North Carolina is living paycheck to paycheck and does not want to bounce any checks.

Typically during the months of February and March, refund checks arrive between two and six weeks. After April 15, checks typically take 12 weeks to arrive. Secretary Lay said the checks are delayed to a 12 week estimated arrival time.

Between the reassuring words of Gov. Purdue and Secretary Lay, I know I feel a little better about the delays. And because the state has been so honest about the delays, I feel even more encouraged to get my taxes done ahead of time so I can get my refund sooner than later.

Photo source: uzvards

By James Schlegelmilch

The continuing saga of disgraced governor  Mike Easley and his affiliates seems to be far from over.  Just hours before the indictment of former Easley aide, Charles Ruffin Poole, Lanny Wilson announced he will step down from the North Carolina Board of Transportation.

Wilson said in a letter to Gov. Bev Perdue, that he has “become a distraction” and will remove himself from the board.  Wilson was appointed to the board by former N.C. Gov. Easley in 2001, and again in 2005.  Wilson had testified before the State Board of Elections about Easley’s campaign finance violations.

Just this past Monday, Wilson announced that he will also be removing himself from the board of the N.C. Turnpike Authority.  This announcement comes as those involved in all aspects of the Easley debacle are pointing to Lanny Wilson as one of the “key money men.”

Indictments continue to roll in, and one has to wonder if traditional crisis PR tactics are going to be enough to restore the face of North Carolina politics.  As this situation continues to unravel, more and more of our state leaders are attempting to right their wrongs.  Crisis PR was created to handle these types of situations.  But with honesty and responsibility falling to the wayside, are PR strategies enough to restore North Carolinians confidence in our state leaders?

Photo Source: whoohoo120