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PEOPLE & PLACES
Interlinked Media, represented by the Hondo Group, helped the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial reach out to the next generation of PGA golf enthusiasts by incorporating text messaging into the tournament's radio and television ads. The text message campaign ran last month through the conclusion of the tournament May 27. Texting "Colonial" to 77007 brought up instructions on how to reach the ticket office by phone or to buy tickets online. ... Off the links and into the heartland, the Hondo Group is the new agency of record, providing strategic marketing communications and integrated sales support, for Wyffels Hybrids, one of the nation's largest independent hybrid seed corn companies. Headquartered in Geneseo, Ill., Wyffels serves growers in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and the Ohio River Valley area and since 1953 has focused on developing elite corn hybrids. ...
The Texas State Guard seeks a PR professional in the Dallas area dedicated to doing pro bono work in the community, whether a local neighborhood or the larger global arena. Military experience is helpful but not required. Guard members each volunteer more than 200 hours a year to assist the state during emergencies. Contact David Cauble, 469-441-6070 or caubletxsg@gmail.com.
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GET A JOB
An award-winning, global PR firm seeks a senior account supervisor-level professional in North Dallas for contract work. Strength required in consumer electronics. E-mail Alan Weatherbee, aweatherbee@cmgrp.com. ...
The president of a North Dallas PR/marketing firm needs periodic executive assistance. Flexible hours and availability to work from home. Candidate would play an integral part in current firm initiatives. Send résumé to Elizabeth Bashara, 917-447-6989, ebashara@aol.com. ...
The Newsletter Company in Dallas seeks an account manager to work with its automotive clients, princpally Cadillac and Saab dealers. Applicants should have a degree in communications, PR, journalism, advertising or marketing and be adept at telephone communication. Adds the agency's Mary Ann McKinley: "You'll be talking to customers and prospects and managing the workflow of quarterly newsletters, from design and editorial through writing, production, printing and mailing. It could be a great job for a mom returning to the workforce, as age/experience is an asset." Casual work environment near the West End, 40-hour work week. Send a résumé PDF and cover letter including salary requirements to McKinley at maryann@thenewslettercompany.com.
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NEW MEMBERS
SPJ ... Katrina Waters, Texas Cattle Raisers Association ... Bob Kowalski, Star-Telegram
PRSA ... Amy George, Cooper Aerobics Center ... recent TCU grad Cindy Vasquez ... Tammy McKinney, American Heart Association ... Hilary Moore, American Mensa
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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Marc Flake, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
I don't hate it. The Star-Telegram's new look does not incite in me paroxysms of negative adjectives, like it does in some people I've talked with recently. Then again, I haven't found anybody who waxes eloquent with positive reactions, either.
It does prompt those of us in the PR business to rethink the way we pitch stories to the paper. In the past, I've tried to give the reporter enough material to write a relatively long story. The longer the story, the better it was played. Now brevity is king.
Also, I may not like the jumbled look of p. 1, the oddly designed advertising and putting editorials on the nontraditional right side of the page, but I do like the larger proportion of space devoted to local news. The small news hole in the front section has been criticized, but as one who wants to get information about local government in the news pages, my total focus is on the local sections.
Tarrant County government (my employer) has had a lot more 300- to 600-word stories run about it since the change, and that's true wth other local governments, too. Sure, the stories are shorter, but there are more of them. And the stories are often fact-driven pieces that detail the nuts and bolts of local government. Not only do I think people are learning more about what we do, but I'm getting more information on what my city council and school board are doing.
This new focus on shorter and more local stories opens up new opportunities for stories that don't need so much exposition.
A few other things I like are the "editorial" comics moving to the opinion pages and the new comics that have been added; moving the Entertainment gossip page to where it belongs on the back of section B; and the whole color scheme and typeface change.
And for those of you who don't like the new packaging, it could be worse. The paper could've gone tabloid.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Recently unincarcerated video blogger Josh Wolf reportedly has been invited to face off with Steven Colbert on June 12 on Comedy Central. Josh, and you thought those federal prosecutors were tricky. ...
SPJ national has dubbed Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., "Senator Secrecy" for placing a secret hold on Senate Bill 849, also known as the Open Government Act of 2007. The bill would significantly reform the federal Freedom of Information Act, which is one of the strongest tools Americans have to supervise the inner workings of government and to hold elected officials accountable. Ryan Patmintra, Kyl's press secretary, said it's no secret that Kyl has concerns about the Open Government Act. But if Kyl's concerns are no secret, "then why would he insist on working from the shadows to place a hold on this very important legislation?" asked SPJ president Christine Tatum, an assistant features editor at The Denver Post. "The irony of secretly blocking a vote on a bill that would make government more transparent is supreme." More on national's "Senator Secrecy" page. ...
Found this the other day, Molly Ivins at the Columbia University Journalism School's 2003 graduation. You can read her speech, hear her deliver it -- a little startling, a little sad, more than a little prescient. And funny. Molly was full of herself, but maybe that helped her get past stage fright and say the things she needed to say. No one could poke the elephant with a stick like she could. ...
SPJ plans to launch a Legal Advocacy Network this fall to help reporters get legal help and promote collaboration between the journalism and media-law communities. More at spj.org/lan.asp or from coordinator Joe Wessels at joe@joewessels.net.
Closing words: "Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin -- more even than death. ... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man." -- philosopher Bertrand Russell ... "Physics is like sex. It may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it." -- physicist Richard Feynman
Closing words II, on the front lines: "It just feels like we're driving around waiting to get blown up." -- Spec. Tim Ivey, 28, of San Antonio, a muscular former backup fullback for Baylor University, to Washington Post staff writer Joshua Partlow in Baghdad
Closing words III, real president entry: "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." -- President John Adams, in a letter to wife Abigail, who was in Philadelphia and had yet to join him in their new home, the President's House (White House), in the under-construction capital; about 150 years later, Franklin Roosevelt had these words carved into the mantel in the State Dining Room
