KVBPR’s Aileen Katcher was named one of the 2012 Most Powerful Women by the Nashville Post for her leadership skills, influence and ability to affect positive change in the community.

The below profile on Aileen ran in the May 2012 issue of the Nashville Post.

Aileen Katcher ranks among Nashville’s most successful and admired business leaders.

However, the long-time local communications pro struggles to pinpoint a defining moment in her career evolution.

“I can’t say there was an ‘a-ha moment,’” she responded when asked at what point she realized she was prepared to oversee employees, budgets, company decision-making and the like.

But Katcher, a partner with Katcher Vaughn & Bailey Public Relations, does recall a situation that helped define the person she is today.

“Some years back, I did have a real leadership test in a non-profit leadership role for my congregation,” she remembered. “During my year as chair-elect, our beloved, founding rabbi announced he was leaving to teach. The next two years of searching for a replacement — serving as board chair and a consistent face of leadership to our members during the year of an interim rabbi — taught me many great leadership lessons.”

One of those lessons learned involved the importance of declining, even though tempted otherwise, to “triangulate.”

“If a congregant called me to complain about the rabbi, I redirected [the congregant] straight to him,” she said. “If necessary, I offered to go with them to discuss the issue.  But not to do it for them.”

Katcher tries to do likewise at KVB.

Click here to continue reading Aileen’s profile.

*Photo by the Nashville Post.

By: Aileen Katcher, APR, Fellow PRSA

This piece first appeared in the Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence Blog on May 3, 2012.

When I moved to Nashville in 1978, the city and business community were controlled by a “good ol’ boy” network. Women in positions of authority and leadership were few and far between. In fact, women were not allowed in most business clubs and civic organizations. “Mad Men” was alive and well.

In 1985, the Nashville Women’s Breakfast Club was founded for women business leaders because they were not allowed in the existing men’s business networking and service organizations. The first time I went to the Nashville City Club in 1979, I was not allowed in the main dining room. Our party (made up of five men and myself) was moved into the Ladies’ Tea Room for our lunch meeting.

Much has changed in the 33 years I have lived here.

Click here to read the rest of Aileen’s piece on the progress of businesswomen in Nashville.

*Photograph by Nashville Business Journal

By: Holley West, APR

Last week Bulldog Reporter shared a new study from interactive marketing software provider ExactTarget, which found that two thirds of online Americans have made a purchase as a result of email. This number is nearly twice the percentage of those who have purchased as a result of receiving marketing messages delivered through Facebook and text messaging.  In fact, according to the study, “66 percent have made a purchase after receiving an email marketing message” where as “20 percent have made a purchase after receiving a marketing message on Facebook.”

What a difference 18 months make!

In August 2010, Steve Rubel wrote a piece for AdAge called “Hot or Not: E-mail Marketing vs. Social-Media Marketing; Which Is Stronger in the Fight to Woo Consumers?” citing that “Nielsen revealed that e-mail’s share of time declined 28 percent, putting it in third place, while social networking, the leader, climbed 43 percent.”

Sad day for email marketing? Not exactly.

Rubel later referenced an eConsultancy study, where of “1,400 U.S. consumers, 42 percent said they prefer to receive ads for sales and specials via e-mail compared to just 3 percent who said the same for social-networking sites and 1 percent who preferred Twitter.”

While the sample audience differs for each study, it could be assumed there are similarities in population segments. Given this, the real value taken from each of these studies lies not in which is better but rather, that electronic marketing continues to grow and, even more importantly, work. Only 3 percent of consumers participating in the eConsultancy study preferred receiving ads via social media compared to 20 percent in the more recent study by ExactTarget. Not to be left out, email marketing success grew by 24 percent.

Perhaps electronic marketing strategies should not focus solely on Facebook, Twitter or email.  If it is determined through an audit that a target audience uses both email and social media vehicles, then, according to these numbers, a good electronic strategy should focus on all.

By: Holley West, APR

It has been a fast and furious few weeks but I did not want to let additional time go by without mentioning my recent trip. Hopefully the generous rules of etiquette that apply to deadlines for sending out thank-you cards apply to this situation as well.

As a new member of Leadership Health Care (LHC), I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend this year’s delegation trip to Washington, D.C. as my first official LHC event.

No surprise, the majority of the trip’s activities centered on the discussion of health care reform, the then pending Supreme Court hearings and where select organizational representatives and elected officials stood on the subject.

Big surprise, the refreshingly honest perspective offered by Jonathan Bush, co-founder and CEO at athenahealth as well as the stories shared by Robert Gibbs, former White House press secretary and special advisor to President Obama.  Also enjoyable was the inside look at the U.S. Supreme Court offered by Lyle Denniston, SCOTUSblog reporter and dean emeritus of the Supreme Court Press Corps, who impressed me with both his historical knowledge of and his respect for not only the system, but for each of the Supreme Court justices. (I imagined sharing cigars and a bottle of scotch with him while listening to him tell behind-the-scenes tales of the high court’s most interesting decisions, but I knew his strict journalistic code of ethics and honor meant it would never happen.)

For an overview of the delegation, I recommend reading Nashville Post’s blog series.

By: Aileen Katcher, APR, Fellow PRSA

In his forward to Worldcom Public Relations Group’s new free e-book, PR in 2012: Emerging Tactics and Trends From Around the Globe, social media guru and author, Jay Baer says the rules for public relations have changed.  I maintain that the basic strategies are still the same, but how we accomplish them has changed – and that has brought new opportunities.

In the free downloadable book, 20 of our Worldcom partners from around the world share their insights on specific challenges, opportunities or issues they face in their practice and market. It’s interesting to see the similarities and the differences expressed from country to country.

Partners in both Canada and Australia cited the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to their clients, particularly in the natural resources sector.  Firms in both countries also mentioned the impact of hosting the Olympics to tourism and economic development.

Our Polish partner mentioned sports too and event marketing strategies, citing opportunities at EURO 2012 – the UEFA European Football Championship (which I believe is not the US pigskin variety, but soccer.)

From South Africa, I read about harnessing technology to tap the consumer market.  I enjoyed the chapter’s upbeat attitude about the economy, comparing the attitude of today’s empowered consumers there to that of the “business euphoria” following Mandela’s release a decade before.

In an article from a New York partner on how to attract the new generation of travelers, I felt a bit old when I realized I was the aging boomer they were talking about who was being replaced by the more demanding, opinionated, less loyal, more cynical Gen Y traveler as a key audience.

There is a post from Chicago about the health care market seizing on competitive research, Minneapolis on measuring value versus ROI and tips for digitizing brand reputation efforts from Prague.  From a partner in Los Angeles I learned the difference between micropolitan and metropolitan markets.

Worldcom is a great partnership that draws on the expertise and local market know how of 104 partners in 92 cities on six continents.  KVBPR is proud to be part of it.

By: Melinda Dale

Following the ever-changing world of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and other social media platforms feels a lot like watching local news broadcasts – there seems to be a lot of negative news going around. From the multiple McDonalds hashtag highjackings, to rogue tweets on professional accounts by oblivious employees that cost companies money, to public figures sticking their foot in their mouths in 140 characters or less. It’s no surprise a lot of business owners who aren’t so social media savvy are skeptical about becoming a part of this world that boasted more than 4.2 billion users among the major platforms at the end of 2011.

So it was refreshing to read an article on Mashable last week about how Iceland, a country with the principle that everyone is a friend until proven otherwise, has embraced social media and modern technology to help rebuild the country. For instance:

• Inspiredbyiceland.com uses Vimeo and Tumblr to share sights and stories to whet visitors’ interests in visiting Iceland; and citizens (including the president) post invitations to personally escort visitors on tours of the country. You can even watch a live feed of Iceland, though I recommend not watching at 4 p.m. CST as most of the country is asleep so not much is going on.
• Last year, through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr Iceland enlisted the help of all of its citizens to rewrite its constitution.
• When the country’s president announced he would not run for re-election in 2012 residents started an online petition for him to stay in office, which he ultimately agreed to do until the country’s economic issues are resolved.

Read How Iceland is Rebuilding its Economy with Social Media for more examples of the innovative campaigns they are implementing as they rebuild their economy and their international image.

It’s safe to say this approach would not work as seamlessly in other countries, like the U.S., but maybe it will help us reexamine how we treat our “friends” online.

*Pictured: screen shot of a live feed of Tjornin, Iceland (www.inspiredbyiceland.com).

By: Jessica Varner

Interning at KVBPR has not only been an amazing learning experience, but very enjoyable as well. I love working on all of the different projects and the firsthand experience has taught me so much.

I wanted to write a blog post about what a typical day of interning at KVB looks like for me. I am a huge fan of song parodies so I decided to rewrite Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”. Since I do not have class on Fridays, I usually intern from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., giving me a taste of what a typical work day looks like.

I rewrote the lyrics of the chorus, feel free to turn on Dolly’s version in the background and sing along!

Internin’ nine to five
What a way to get some knowledge
Here at KVB
Using what you’ve learned in college
They help you use your mind
Getting paid and class credit
It’s enough to teach you
Good PR if you let it

Nine to five, for research and releases
And you know that my
Job skill sure increases
Working at a firm
With lots of different clients
The piles of projects can sometimes look like giants

The KVB team
Teach you what matters
Step by step
So you can climb that ladder
Using AP style each and every day

In the same boat with a lot of your friends
Waitin’ for the day called graduation
But you’ve got experience
So you know you’re gonna be a-okay

By: Hayley Cook

Because I am both a student and an intern, my time is divided between the classroom and the office.

I spend my mornings getting organized, which I see as a moment of pure bliss. My orientation to detail is definitely something that attracted me to PR initially, and it comes in handy when I’m balancing multiple projects. In the mornings I spend time going over previous projects and their progress, checking my email, and discussing any new projects with KVB staff.

Then it’s time to get started. Some days, I start out with research projects for clients. This is something I do for staff frequently, and it usually involves creating a database of findings in Excel. Research can range from searching for numerous articles about a specific topic to compiling a list of awards for a certain field. Mostly, this takes some excellent Google skills and a little patience, which is something that I’ve learned primarily through experience in the field and researching information for class projects.

I also work quite frequently with media list building/editing and press release writing. A few days back, I sent out a press release for Metro Arts and their second phase of artistically-designed bike racks, which you can admire all over the Nashville area. Writing is something that I have honed tremendously while at Belmont. One of my very first classes as a PR major was Basic Newswriting (where my first assignment was to write a fake obituary for my professor, which naturally involved interviews with her elderly parents about their “deceased” daughter). “Basic” Newswriting, as it was so-called, was not basic in any sense of the word – it was rigorous and challenging, but I learned how to cut the fluff out of my PR and news writing. Through this coursework, I feel more confident in my writing, which is overall more concise and to-the-point than it was 4 years ago when I started college.

One of my favorite aspects of PR is event marketing, and I’m privileged to be working on some of that here! Event marketing was something I gained monumental experience in when I helped plan Nashville’s Fourth of July Hot Chicken Festival during my previous summer internship. At KVB, I’m working on a fundraising gala for one of our clients, and I’m so excited for my timeline to start taking shape. Moreover, media relations is a big part of event marketing, and it’s an aspect of PR I really enjoy.

In my PR Design & Production class, we’ve been talking a lot about knowing your brand and accurately conveying its message through design. The takeaway: in the end, YOU are responsible for your brand, not the graphic designer, or in this case, the media. The art of a press release is in sculpting your client’s brand and its message accurately. I’ve learned that this is an integral part of media relations and conveying your message to the general public through a medium.

I round out the day by finishing up projects, entering time, and readying myself for the next day. Connecting the dots between coursework and interning is something I’m excited to be doing, and I’m thankful to intern in an environment that encourages learning new things and skill building on a daily basis.

By: Aileen Katcher, APR, Fellow PRSA

The announcement this week that Gannett will begin charging for online content for all of its publications except USA Today is part of a growing trend to charge for news content.  The question is, how will this affect the local newspaper market?

We have already seen a shift in news consuming habits of the younger generation (under 40) to seek news from national sources rather than local sources.  Even if they do occasionally read a local outlet online, will they do so if they have to pay for it?  While those of us in my generation are used to paying for newspaper and magazine subscriptions, those who grew up in the computer era are not.

What about TV and radio sites?  Will they start charging or is the revenue generated by the on air and web ads sufficient to keep them in the black?  And if they do charge, will people pay or just wait to hear or see the news broadcast on radio or TV?

What are your thoughts about this?  Will you pay to read the Tennessean online?

By: Melinda Dale

Eight short years ago, a sophomore at Harvard University launched an online network that would eventually make him the ninth most powerful person on the planet (according to Forbes magazine). As you know, that sophomore was Mark Zuckerberg and the network was Facebook.

This week’s news headlines were full of reports and opinions about Facebook’s move to file for an IPO, which could set its worth at a staggering $100 billion. You might have to sift through dozens of these articles to begin to comprehend the impact this move will have on the direction of the company and the Internet as a whole. But, one article in particular brought to light a monumental fact about the power of this social network.

In the TIME Business article, Why Facebook’s IPO Matters, Sam Gustin highlights recent events that had a global impact because of Facebook and other social media tools:

• Protests that swept across the Middle East, collapsing governments in power for decades
• Activists organizing Occupy Wall Street movements across the country, ultimately shaping a key issue for the 2012 presidential election
• Opposition against SOPA and PIPA (Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act), causing both the House and the Senate to postpone votes on the bills indefinitely

And just this week, the backlash caused by Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to pull funding for Planned Parenthood. The announcement was made on Tuesday, and within three days almost 30,000 comments were made on posts on Komen’s Facebook Wall about the decision. Long-time supporters from across the country took to social media to either praise or condemn the organization, threatening to pull their own financial support. This morning Komen reversed its decision.

It’s hard to argue against the power of a Facebook post. In just eight years this tool, and the doors it opened for many other social media platforms, has fundamentally changed the way we communicate, and the way we live.

Now we must ask ourselves…what do the next eight years hold?

*Photo: Protests in Egypt, February 2011. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)