Uncategorized

The oil company’s chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, wasn’t referring to short men and women when he said, “People say that large oil companies don’t care about the small people. But we care. We care about the small people.” He was referring to residents of the Gulf Coast — victims of the oil spill. The chairman’s remark came during a press conference after BP agreed to put $20 billion in an escrow account to compensate these “small people.” For its part…

On Thursday, the Internet was awash with details about Facebook’s (creepy) leap into geo-location services. Now that Facebook has adopted a Foursquare-like feature, the notion of checking in at locations might go mainstream. But remember: A recent poll showed that 84 percent of adults in the U.S. are not at all familiar with location-based services. So, the question is, do you even know what we’re talking about?

According to a survey by Benchpoint, client demand for measurement of online communications rose from 29 percent in 2008 to 41 percent in 2009. The good news is that 88 percent of PR pros believe measurement is an integral part of the PR process and 77 percent currently measure programs, the survey reported. The survey was conducted on behalf of The Association for the Measurement and Evolution of Communication and the Institute for Public Relations.

According to a new study by marketing firm Lucid and freelance analyst Lisa Finn, 68 percent of moms follow businesses on Twitter to receive useful information, 67 percent follow a business to learn more about products or services, and 60 percent are looking for deals. Meanwhile, the top two reasons moms use Twitter are networking/meeting new people (77 percent) and keeping up with news (60 percent), the study said. Bottom line: The study highlights that moms want info, connection with others, and to fol…

While arresting a woman for jaywalking, a Seattle police officer was accosted by a 17-year-old friend of the jaywalker. In response, the cop punched the teenager in the face — and it was all caught on tape. The Seattle police department defended the officer’s reactions. Members of the community, and many watching from home, aren’t so forgiving. It’s fair to call this one a PR problem for the Seattle PD. CBS News has  the video of the punch.

PR management firm Vocus said it lost $343,000, or 2 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $5.7 million, 30 cents a share, one year earlier, when it was helped by a tax-related gain. The company’s revenue grew by 10.4 percent, to $21.1 million, thanks in part to the addition of 203 new subscribers in the quarter. Vocus has 3,761 subscribers, including AirTran Airways, Deloitte & Touche and the National Hockey League.

The American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA), a national, not-for-profit organization based in Arlington, Va., is looking for a media relations professional to join its team. This person will develop, manage and maintain a diversified and comprehensive public relations program to obtain widespread positive coverage for the organization in local, regional and national press. Read more about this job.

This June event takes place at Nasdaq in New York. If you can’t make it, you can still catch all the action live by signing up to watch a webcast of the event. Learn more about it here .  Related MarketWatch The Public Relations Society of America, one of the co-hosts of the Social Media for Financial Communicators conference, will ring the opening bell at Nasdaq this morning.

Yo young’un! Remember last week when Todd Defren changed your life with an “ open letter to millenials ” that was featured on PR Daily . Well, he’s back and he’s got more goodness to share with you. This time, Todd is here to tell you a thing or two about loyalty. Yes, his advice involves you staying with an employer for more than six months, even if the monkeys haven’t given you a C-suite position by that point.– J.W.

Just weeks ago it seemed Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and the bank stress tests were both doomed for failure—and maybe they still are. But, the announcement of the stress test results, amid numerous leaks to the press, is a victory. “Geithner managed to get it out AND get a major bank rally going during the leaks period,” Joe Weisenthal wrote for Business Insider ’s Clusterstock blog. “Every time a bank was revealed to have been deficient, they went up. If only due to the…

School was almost out for the summer, and then swine flu hit. Elementary schools, high schools and colleges—both public and private—across the nation have crafted responses to the swine flu outbreak. Here’s an exploration into how those schools have communicated in the past few days. Related Advertising Age Ten marketing tips from CDC’s reaction to swine flu. Related Ragan.com 85 percent of communicators have sent word about swine flu.   Related Reuters Google searches can pr…

This position is responsible for assisting with everyday operations of the PR office and assisting with storewide events. Read more about this job.

The average weekday circulation of nearly 400 dailies fell 10.6 percent between April and September, compared to a 7.1 percent slump during the previous six months, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Many readers are turning to the Web, because—unlike in print—the product is, well, free . Related PR Junkie Here’s the good news: In the third quarter, newspaper Web sites saw the most traffic ever. Related Gawker  The job market is so bad for journalists that MediaBist…

SNL Financial, an information and research firm in the financial information marketplace, is seeking a public relations manager to direct and administer all aspects of SNL’s relationship with the media.  Read more about this job.

There’s been much hullaballoo about Arizona’s tough new immigration law, but the bill signed in April doesn’t take effect until July 29. In advance of its enforcement — which has sparked numerous boycotts against the state — an Arizona task force recommended the state launch a six-figure PR campaign to combat misinformation. “The state should hire a PR firm ‘to help manage the existing dialogue and clarify the facts’ regarding the immigration law,” ac…