putting your district in the spotlight
DESCRIPTION
Presented February 13, 2010 at the TASB Winter Governance and Legal Seminar in Corpus Christi, Texas.TRANSCRIPT
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Putting Your DistrictIn The Spotlight
BRAD DOMITROVICHPR Zealot, Speaker, Educator
Texas School Public Relations Association
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The Challenge• School districts face many challenges.• The job of an effective school board is even more difficult when faced with issues that divide your community.
• Bonds, boundary changes, school closings, standardized dress codes, curriculum, school finance, football, cheerleaders, etc.
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Importanceof Communications
•Gets your message out to parents, community, and employees.
•Allows you to clarify your goals and objectives.
•Provides a vehicle to dispel rumors.
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Public RelationsPublic Relations plays an important role in creating a positive buzz about your school district with every one of your stakeholders.
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Who are your stakeholders?
• Students
• Parents
• Taxpayers
• Employees
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What makes the news?•Something controversial.•Something that is timely.•Something that involves a lot of people.•Something that’s important for the public to know.
•Something that is a first.
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Believe it or not ...Members of the media•Are very competitive.•Not always out to get you.
•Can get the “truth” from somebody else.
•Are human beings.
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What does the media do?
•Influence concern about key issues.• Increase public awareness.• Increase public knowledge.•Help the community form an opinion. •Make school districts accountable for their actions or decisions.
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What do schools want?
• Keep community confidence level high.
• Avoid negative publicity.
• Deliver a positive message.
• Make their district stand out from the rest.
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What does the media want?
• An exclusive story.
• An interview with key individuals - not always the schlep.
• Something controversial because it sells!
• To be helpful.
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Is it possible to build arelationship with the media?
•The best time to build a relationship is when their is no major story brewing.
•Stay current with names and contacts.•Be proactive - don’t wait for bad news to begin developing relationships with the media.
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Important things to do ...
• Don’t treat the media as if they were the enemy.
• Be cooperative.
• Respond in a timely manner.
• It’s OK to tell them if they misquoted you in the past or misrepresented you.
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School district news ...• Great test results
• A school board working together
• Excellent financial management
• Great facilities
• Teacher doing something right
• Poor test results
• A divided school board
• Poor financial management
• Lousy facilities
• Teacher doing something wrong
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Interviewing Tip #1
If you are not the spokesperson for the district, politely tell the reporter you will have someone return their call.
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Preparing for an interview ...
• Know the facts.• Anticipate questions.• Set the ground rules.• Rehearse your message.• Anticipate contrary points of view.
• Avoid personal opinions.
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Responding to the media
•Communicate first with your heart.•Your first words create an image.•How are you perceived?•Listen with your face.• It’s all about the kids.•Keep your message simple.
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Guidelines to remember• Keep the energy up.• Remember your audience.
• Remember your message.• Create a sound bite.• Always restate your message.
• Never say “no comment”.
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One last interviewing tip ...
There is no such thing as off the record.
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Interpersonal Communications
•Chamber of Commerce•Ministerial Alliances•Convention/Visitors Bureau•Campus PTO Meetings•Advisory Meetings•Exhibits/Shows
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Media and News Releases
•Simple, factual, and innovative.•Timeliness and connection to major issues/controversies.
•Get your side out first.•Factual, simple when it comes to Board Meeting recaps.
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Website Marketing
•Primary marketing tool.•Evolving website - nothing worse than a static site.
•Train your audience to go there.•Promote your website always.
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Electronic Communications
•Fast, timely, cost effective.•Build your database through parent sign-ups, on-line forms, etc.
•Some examples:★Electronic Newsletters, Updates, Board
Briefings, Emergency News, etc.
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Social Media
Social Media is empoweringparents, students and schools.
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Schools and Social Media
•Social media is more than social networking sites.
•Some examples:★Blogs, Online forums, Podcasts, Really
Simple Syndication (RSS), Network Services, Wikis, Twitter, and more.
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Schools and Social Media
•Communities are using social media to:★ See what other parents are saying about their
school and its staff.★ Get support and insight into educational and
parenting issues.★ Build awareness about an issue or cause.
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Importance of Communications(one more time)
•Gets your message out to parents, community, and employees.
•Allows you to clarify your goals and objectives.
•Provides a vehicle to dispel rumors.
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Public Relations (one more time)
Public Relations plays an important role in creating a positive buzz about your school district with every one of your stakeholders.