USO-Metro’s Annual Awards Dinner a Touching Tribute to Service Members, Military Families and Volunteers

Last night, the USO of Metropolitan Washington (USO-Metro) hosted its 31^st Annual Awards Dinner at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Crystal City. We attended the dinner, providing PR support, as we have for the past 17 years, and were reminded why we got involved – and stay involved – with this exceptional organization!

The evening was devoted to honoring outstanding individuals from each branch of service, as well as the phenomenal people who support our nation’s service members through volunteerism and USO-Metro’s countless charitable programs, with a special emphasis on the military families served. Attended by senior government and military leaders, celebrities, business and community leaders, more than 600 guests joined with USO-Metro last night to honor our nation’s heroes and their families.  This year also included a Special Salute to honor military medical professionals.

Mr. Lou Diamond Phillips, host of the Military Channel’s An Officer and a Movie, was honored with the Legacy of Achievement Award for his deep commitment to our men and women in uniform, and General Peter Pace USMC (Ret.) presented the annual Merit Award to Mr. Joe Mantegna. This year’s COL John Gioia Patriot Award was presented to Mrs. Kathleen “Kat” Causey to recognize her tireless dedication to soldiers’ welfare, especially her work advocating for proper mental healthcare for combat veterans.

The entire night was an extremely touching tribute to our service members and their families, and we were honored to be a part of it. The night reminded us all how crucial it is to give back to the community we serve. During this time of transition, supporting our nation’s heroes is more important than ever. Advice Unlimited’s involvement with USO-Metro allows us to give back and pay tribute, and is a constant reminder of the sacrifices these heroes make for us each and every day. If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved in this outstanding organization please contact me at slevine@adviceunlimited.net.

Advice Unlimited Celebrates 30 Years of Business

I’m amazed to say that I founded Advice Unlimited 30 years ago – my, how time flies when you love what you do! I’ve had the honor of working with incredible clients in an outstanding community, and I’ve had the good fortune of consistently having wonderful staff who teach me as much as I teach them.

Advice Unlimited LLC has changed pretty dramatically from when I first hung out my shingle 30 years ago. When I founded this Public Relations firm, I eagerly accepted anyone who was willing to hire us. We worked for real estate firms, banks – even Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus!

Once we secured our first government contract, in 1986, I knew I was home. We worked with local organizations, such as the Montgomery County Office of Economic Development, and Federal programs, such as Health and Human Services and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. I felt we were really making a difference, and changing how people lived their lives by helping them to learn about different services that were vital to their everyday lives.

Working with government organizations naturally led to opportunities with companies trying to reach these government organizations, and we discovered this was the perfect complement and extension to the unique specialization we had developed.   As we expanded our efforts with government contractors, I quickly learned that working with the companies that serve the government is another wonderful pool of people who care and projects that matter. And when I discovered technology – wow. The innovation possible when you bring together really smart people who are solving new problems with really caring people who are focused on making our world a better place is exciting, inspiring, and rewarding.

Today we are very proud of our unique niche of supporting government organizations and the technology companies that serve them. We are proud of our specialization and depth of knowledge in this important area. Over the years, we have built amazing friendships and relationships with government, media, and industry leaders. To everyone that we’ve worked with – thank you. To all the folks we hope to work with as we move forward – we can’t wait! Here's to the next decade!

Revitalizing Your Company’s Image in 2013

As government organizations continue to slash spending and cut budgets, it gets harder and more imperative to stand out and clearly communicate how you help your customer meet their mission while reducing costs.  Public relations and marketing initiatives can help you make sure your prospects hear you, see you, and understand why they need you. Here are five tips to consider that can help you revitalize your image this year.

1.    Fine tune your message to resonate with 2013 priorities. Think strategically and focus on how you help your customers solve real problems.

2.    Deliver this message consistently through all of your materials: maybe it’s time for a new brochure or marketing materials, a website facelift, a new blog page from your executives, a new tag line or mission statement. Make sure your message is relevant and your communication educates your audience on how you can help them meet their very tough and very real challenges of today.

3.    If you don’t have consistent public relations efforts in place, that should be a priority for 2013. Tell your story through the publications your customers read and trust, educating them on how you can help solve their problems, and providing examples of success stories in the government marketplace. This is an excellent tool to establish your executives as thought leaders in their area of expertise, as well.

4.    Initiate PR and marketing campaigns with the publications and events that are most relevant for your customers, to communicate your message and integrate your brand with a trusted resource. Stay true to your trusted publications that you’ve used in the past, but branch out in search of new publications and new opportunities for your clients that align with their mission and their needs.

5.    Be present! Attend networking events, visit customers; face-to-face interaction is really important in these challenging times. Your customers need to know you and know they can trust you. Virtual interaction is not enough.

 

When you’re ready to revitalize your company’s image please contact me – I would love to assist you in planning and implementing a PR strategy that will help you grow your presence in the government marketplace in 2013! 

For more information on how Advice Unlimited can help you create and implement a successful public relations plan, or provide support for other public outreach and communication initiatives, please contact me at 301-924-0330 or slevine@adviceunlimited.net.

Five Tips for 2013 Planning

The New Year is close approaching and 2013 planning is in full effect! This is a great time to assess your organization’s public relations and marketing strategies for the New Year, and make sure you’re on track for higher visibility and awareness in 2013.

Public relations is hands down the best bang for your buck – it is the single most powerful tool in any organization’s marketing communications arsenal. If it’s not in your arsenal, 2013 is the perfect time to take advantage of this influential tool. Consistent, focused PR educates your audience on the solutions you provide to help solve their problems; a results-driven PR campaign builds name recognition and brand awareness, helping you expand your organization’s sphere of influence. Here are five tips to consider when planning your PR campaign for the year ahead.

1.      Think through your business goals and objectives for 2013.  You should be ambitious about where you want to be in a year and how much you would like to grow, while also making sure your goals are attainable.  Then align your PR goals with your business goals. Want to expand your thought leadership presence? Grow a specific vertical market? Defining your goals helps you clearly identify where PR can provide support and ‘air cover.’

2.      Define the PR/marketing actions needed to achieve your goals and objectives. It’s important to be realistic about how much you can accomplish in twelve months, and you need to ensure that your actions truly support your goals. For example, if you want to grow a specific vertical market, you want your PR effort to focus on the media and events that serve that specific market.

3.      Review the past year’s successes and efforts that were especially effective in communicating your message, and integrate these initiatives into next year’s campaign, as well. You want to continue to nurture and leverage these successes to ensure continuity and consistency.

4.      Establish metrics to be achieved: how many feature articles are you aiming for, and what’s reasonable to expect with resources committed? Remember, consistency is key, so an important element is securing feature articles that truly tell your story throughout the year, not just clustered around an important event. Want spokespeople quoted in the press? Work with your PR team to define the metrics that make sense with your level of effort and commitment, then put them in writing, and track results.

5.      Enjoy the holidays!  Make sure to take the time out of your busy end of year work schedule to spend time with friends and family.  You have been working hard all year long, so take the holidays as an opportunity to relax and appreciate what your hard work has brought you over the past year.

And if you need an engaged, focused PR team to help you achieve your goals, please call me – we’d love to help you plan and implement a focused, results-driven PR campaign for 2013! Our promise to you – we’ll consistently deliver results, exceeding your expectations!

Happy holidays!

For more information on how Advice Unlimited can help you create and implement a successful public relations plan, or provide support for other public outreach and communication initiatives, please contact me at 301-924-0330 or slevine@adviceunlimited.net.

Project USO Elf: Help a Military Child in Need!

We’ve been involved with the USO of Metropolitan Washington (USO-Metro) for over 16 years, and each program reminds us why we love being involved with this phenomenal organization! Project USO Elf is one of the organization’s special holiday programs, dedicated to helping military children and families.  We hope you’ll agree this is a program worth supporting!

Project USO Elf is devoted to providing 1,200 children of military families with gifts for the holidays.  Area companies, organizations and families can register to "sponsor" a local military child this holiday season. While military families face challenges year-round, holidays can be especially difficult. Volunteering as a sponsor for this program can help to bring a smile to a child’s face, and reminds us what the holiday season is really about. 

To volunteer as a sponsor, please visit www.usometrodc.org/holiday -- this provides registration information and matches you with a child in the program. Within two weeks, you will receive your sponsor child’s first name, gender, age and holiday wish list. Donors are asked to purchase a minimum of two gifts and/or gift cards from the list, totaling $50 or more for each child. Once you make your selections from the child’s wish list, you will receive information about where to drop off the gifts – drop off locations include the OUCP Warehouse, Fort Belvoir & McGill Training Center, and Fort Meade. All gifts must be dropped off on December 10^th between 6:00 am and 7:00 pm. Do not worry about gift wrapping the presents; USO-Metro will do that for you! 

If you are able to help and would like to assist military families in the Washington D.C. metro area, please register to be a sponsor in the Project USO Elf program! If you have questions about the program and how to help out, contact Shannon Rush at 703-805-4277 or Shannon@usometro.org. If you would like to support a military child in need through Project Elf, but don’t have time to shop, you can donate $50 per child at www.usometro.org/donate.

Superstorm Sandy Inspires Proactive Communication from Government

Last week, when Hurricane Sandy was getting ready to slam the East Coast with high winds, flooding, destruction and even heavy snowfall, one thing I believe truly went right -  governments at all levels  implemented a strong proactive media communications strategy to prepare citizens and  organizations for the impending disaster. 

All levels of government did a great job of being out in front of their message to the public about the severity of the storm, who it would impact, and what steps citizens should take to protect themselves and their property.  Several days before the heart of the storm came on land in New Jersey and New York, national and local government officials had informed residents of preparation procedures and even gave evacuation orders to people in some areas, including New York City.  New York City Mayor Bloomberg gave orders to close all public transportation and ordered residents living in low-lying areas (what was called zone A) to evacuate by Sunday afternoon.  The city that never sleeps was shut down. This had a worldwide impact when the New York Stock Exchange was closed on Monday and Tuesday because of the storm, but it was the right thing to do.  The government deployed national disaster relief from FEMA, the Air National Guard, the Army and the American Red Cross early so they were on location when people needed them the most.

From the top down, the government did an excellent job being proactive about Hurricane Sandy.  During a critical campaign week before the election, President Obama canceled campaign visits across the country to do his job as the leader of our country.  The President’s commitment to providing disaster relief was intense – he stated that “We are not going to tolerate red tape, we are not going to tolerate bureaucracy, and I’ve instituted a 15-minute rule, essentially, on my team.  You return everybody’s phone calls in 15 minutes, whether it’s the mayor’s, the governor’s, or county officials.  If they need something, we figure out a way to say yes.”  Implementing the 15-minute rule was critical to clearly get things done and solve real problems fast. This approach enabled the White House to share vital information and delegate strategic action plans to the lower levels of government.  Rapid response is crucial in a disaster; the people in charge need to continuously know about changes to the plan, status reports, and what is happening on the ground.  In addition to communicating effectively among themselves, these multiple government organizations did a great job of quickly and clearly communicating with the public.

Days and even weeks before the storm started its destruction of the Northeast, the government was sending warnings through traditional communication channels, such as televised press conferences, as well as more interactive channels like social media.  The most predominant communication channel used was news television broadcasts, but according to the New York Times, social media channels such as Twitter recorded over 20 million tweets about Hurricane Sandy between Saturday and Thursday of last week.  The public was clearly involved in information sharing about Hurricane Sandy; this provided guidance, comfort and reassurance.  

As government public affairs organizers, we must be proactive, flexible and connected to ensure we are reaching all of our different citizen groups with timely, accurate information and guidance, through the communication channels they use and trust.  Various government officials like Mayors Bloomberg and O’Malley did just that, using several Twitter accounts to get information to the public.  They were focused, and provided an excellent example of strategic crisis communications done right: leveraging communications effectively to educate the public, disseminate critical information in a rapid, reliable and easily understood format that their audience could embrace, calming fears and dispelling rumors.

If these past few weeks have inspired your organization to dust off your strategic crisis communications plan and see where it needs updating, now’s a great time to review your plan to ensure you’re building in the use of interactive communication with new social media tools as well as traditional communication channels to ensure the public has timely, accurate and clearly understood information and guidance.  For more information on how Advice Unlimited can help you create and implement a successful disaster communication plan, or provide support for other public outreach and communication initiatives, please contact me at 301-924-0330 or slevine@adviceunlimited.net.  

 

 

USO-Metro’s Stars and Stripes Fundraiser for Wounded Warriors and Military Community Honors Largest Corporate Sponsors

Last night, the USO of Metropolitan Washington (USO-Metro) held its 9th Annual Stars and Stripes Night at the Sheraton National in Pentagon City. We were honored to attend the event and provide PR support, as we have for years. Each event that we attend reminds us how much we love to be involved with this wonderful organization!

The focus of the night was the Circle of Stars presentation, where USO-Metro President Elaine Rogers announced the top corporate sponsors for USO-Metro. The 30 sponsors provide generous funding to support USO-Metro’s mission to lift the spirits of military service members and their families.

The fundraiser reminded us that USO-Metro’s generous top corporate sponsors make it possible for USO-Metro to serve their mission each and every day, providing a broad range of programs to our service members and their families, including programs for children with deployed parents, support services for spouses and emergency housing programs. We had a wonderful time last night, and are humbled to be involved with such a fantastic organization!