The first job President Barack Obama had out of college was community organizer for labor unions and other civic groups on the south side of Chicago.

President Obama used grassroots community organization techniques — Saul Alinsky-style organizing tactics – for union votes, neighborhood improvement and for lobbying city hall in Chicago. Most of these efforts involved “turning people out”: whether at the union hall, the church steps or the polling place. Delivering people to precincts is what David Axelrod, now the president’s chief democratic policy strategist, does best.

Word cloud from MSPA blog, "The Rambler"

Continue reading " “Community Organizing” and Public Relations: How to Build Face-to-face Communications "

Obama’s presidential campaign has been held up as one of the most successful and galvanizing political races in recent history. It’s clear that the Obama team was innovative in using social media and universal themes (such as “change” and “hope”) to appeal to all voters.

Now that philosophical themes have given way to real-life legislation, the Obama team has new lessons to share with the public relations community — particularly how to translate campaign promises into detailed legislation, mobilized constituents and nitty-gritty details. In the words of Real World (which, coincidentally, is filming in Washington right now), “what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real?”

1. Depend on loyal supporters in times of crisis — The biggest mistake we’ve seen so far has been the underestimating of the town hall meetings. Democratic leaders and Obama supporters have been slow to respond to the town hall meetings; instead, it appears that only critics of the upcoming health care bill are the only ones that care about health care reform.If our organization is being attacked, we should encourage brand loyalists to defend us. Obama is using the same e-mail list of the supporters he gathered during the campaign to share legislation and action steps for his followers, a great way to translate the momentum he gathered during the campaign to legislative steps toward health care reform.

Continue reading " Lessons from the Obama Administration (and Town Hall Meetings): PR Practitioners Listen Up! "

The role of the public relations professional is changing — not only are the faces of media changing, with social media and other “new” technology, but the industries we represent can change even as we advocate on their behalf. The challenge to maneuver, reposition and speak on the fly has never been as evident as during the Obama campaign last year, where every minute new developments changed campaign strategies. As advocates of a presidential candidate, our roles as public affairs professionals were constantly changing to effectively appeal to the latest town and the latest news.

Public relations and political campaigning are similar endeavors — they require the same persistence, relationship-driven successes and the ability to transform crises into media opportunities. However, campaign press relations and public relations differ in that the press and advance practitioner on the stump move in real-time against changing parameters, competitive candidate claims or attack ads, while the public relations exec can leverage messages or products/services that seem relatively stationary.

Public relations professionals create personal and long-term connections with the trade press popular press, and have a rolodex of connections in the blogosphere. In campaign press relations, only the traveling press that move with the candidate are available for an ongoing relationship. The national political writers and commentators are important, but in the Obama campaign it was all about local or statewide media in what seemed like a blur of caucus or primary states. You don’t ever go home again — or at least President Obama did not head back to Iowa until closer to the election.

Continue reading " New Role for Public Relations Pros: Best Practices from the Obama Media Trail "

I think it’s important for anyone interested in pursuing a career in public relations or as we say in government, public affairs, to be interested in all aspects of what’s happening in politics, media, local and national activities, etc. In other words, it’s important to have your thumb on the pulse of what’s happening locally, regionally and nationally. That’s what your boss wants to know and probably what he or she doesn’t have time to focus on.

I’ve always found that if I can provide added value to the organization, specifically my immediate supervisor, with real-time important facts, that effort makes me invaluable as an employee and provides me access that other players in the organization do not have.

In government public affairs we work for the citizens of the United States, not one political party or another. It’s important that we remember this because that concept can easily get lost in the heat of battle, especially when you’re trying to get a news release coordinated and distributed and a certain supervisor may want to slant a story a certain way. The Department of Defense public affairs guidance has always stayed with me throughout my career.

Continue reading " Integrity First . . . A Responsibility We All Share "