Three Colorado Newspapers Turn To Denver’s Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, For Public Relations Insight Regarding The Recent PR E-Mail Snafu At The University of Colorado
The Colorado Daily, Denver Post and The Daily Camera in Boulder recently interviewed and included quotes from Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, owner of Denver’s Absolutely Public Relations. The Colorado Daily article on last month’s PR E-mail snafu at the University of Colorado ran June 10th; Denver Post, June 12th, also relating to the E-mail situation and the communications plan -- at the time under development -- to improve CU’s image; and The Daily Camera, July 10, focusing on media training.
Denver, CO, July 15, 2005 --(PR.com)-- The Colorado Daily, Denver Post and The Daily Camera in Boulder recently interviewed and included quotes from Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, owner of Denver’s Absolutely Public Relations consulting firm. The Colorado Daily article, detailing last month’s PR E-mail snafu, ran June 10th; Denver Post, June 12th; also relating to the E-mail situation and the plan – at the time under development -- to improve CU’s image; and The Daily Camera, July 10, focusing on media training and preparation prior to news conferences and media interviews.
The Colorado Daily article was written by Matt Williams, staff writer, and detailed at length the plight of CU PR officials who mistakenly forwarded a disparaging e-mail about a Daily Camera reporter directly to the reporter being disparaged. In the article, Holben said: “Apologizing immediately is the best practice, especially when e-mail is involved. With e-mail communication, I think we've all had enough of it recently to kind of know how to behave and know that what we put out there can be seen by anyone."
The topic of the CU PR e-mail in question ironically was related to a Daily Camera reporter’s request to see a copy of CU’s "Communications/Re-Branding Plan," which at that time was still in draft form. The offending PR officials involved, who have since apologized extensively for the e-mail snafu, have also been reported to each being paid $150,000 per year for their PR expertise. The Denver Post included this quote from Holben: “It's amazing that, regardless of salary level and past experience, good PR strategy can simply boil down to the basic tenets of common sense and good manners. It seems like everyone associated with the CU debacle could use a dose or two of both."
The article that followed in The Daily Camera on July 10 by Staff Writer Britanny Anas, came as a result of additional CU E-mails being obtained by The Daily Camera under state open-records laws that, according to the article, showed some of the “behind the scenes” PR planning and tactics that can occur to prepare a University official for a media interview. The article mentions mock interviews and “talking points” documents. The article says, “such prep work is the norm in the public relations industry.” In the article Holben said: “Public relations professionals often help administrators and executives brainstorm and practice questions before press conferences. You want to make sure everybody is dancing to the same tune. If not, it’s just a recipe for disaster.”
In February 2004, when the football scandal was first unfolding at CU, Holben was interviewed by News Radio 850 KOA, Reporter Alex Stone, concerning crisis PR techniques. Stone turned to Holben as a local expert for public relations information and backgrounding
(http://expert411.com/_wsn/page2.html).
The verbatim of the KOA interview follows:
“No doubt there is some serious crisis management going on behind the scenes at CU right now. Maggie Chamberlin Holben is president of Absolutely PR in Denver. She’s not working for CU, but says this type of damage control can be exhausting,” Stone said.
“The first thing, just like they did back with the covered wagons and such, would be to circle them. Meaning circle your management team. And anybody else involved in your organization directly affecting the situation so that you can very rapidly get people speaking with one voice. It could be one spokesperson,” Holben explained.
“Maggie says even though attorneys will sometimes frown upon it, as a PR specialist, Maggie tells clients to tell the truth. Even if it’s bad, it’s probably going to come out at some point,” Stone said.
“The truth will set you free. So often you’re doing a lot of back peddling because somebody may have either lied, God bless it we wouldn’t that to happen, or just plain misspoke in some manner that gets everything confused,” Holben said.
“What can companies do to look better in the public eye?” Stone asked.
“Start projecting your best foot forward and your best news items forward, if you have any. As the news business goes, a bad event will always get repeated – even up to five, ten years. You can be doing good deeds for all that period of time and then that two of three paragraphs that repeats the incident or the beleagured/whatever organization, kind of haunts you,” Holben replied.
“Maggie says she tells her clients to get an open and friendly PR staff as well. Closed and angry PR people, one can make the media angry and two makes it look like the company or organization is trying to hide something,” Stone concluded.
In addition to the KOA interview, Holben assisted 9News in May 2003 by providing PR perspective regarding the Aron Ralston climbing accident. Ralston is the climber who cut off part of his arm to free himself from a boulder during a hiking accident in Utah in late April 2003.
According to Holben, in her interview two years ago with 9News, Ralston could parlay the incident into a lifetime of money and fame, if he so chose. "Certainly the book deals, the movie deals, the speaking engagements. Those could go on for his entire life literally," Holben says.
As the reporter pointed out in the television news story, Aron Ralston may also consider using his powerful story to motivate others, after he recovers from the loss of his arm, and the shock of instant celebrity. Holben observes: "He was selected by this 800-pound boulder to, in essence, be an inspiration to amputees. And as it's turned out, he's really an inspiration to everyone."
Maggie Holben was not consulting Ralston, she simply partook in the interview as a public relations expert. According to 9News Anchor Ed Sardella, "Ralston's family has a friend in the public relations business who is handling all the media requests and he's gotten calls from the Oprah Winfrey Show, among others, and from media organizations from as far away as Germany and Japan."
Holben, who has been an accredited member of the Public Relations Society since 1985 and a member of its Counselors Academy, founded Absolutely Public Relations in Denver in 1999. She has more than 25 years of public relations consulting experience and has taught both advertising and public relations on the university level. Most recently Holben was named to the board of directors for the Colorado Bioscience Association for her PR expertise and was named a Regional Leadership Coordinator (Rocky Mountain Region) for the national Leadership America organization.
First quarter 2004, Holben placed the bylined article, "PR 101, A Quick Review," in the national Discover [Card] Business Services’ Inside Biz newsletter that focused on Public Relations. Holben's article appeared along with a feature on "PR Tactics at Vermont Teddy Bear Company," overview of the PR industry in the U.S. provided by the Public Relations Society of America, and a special purchase offer for the Full Frontal PR book for Discover Card merchants. The newsletter can be found at this pdf link (scroll to page two to find Holben’s article):
http://www.pr.com/upload/presskit_1527_1119288670.pdf.
Absolutely PR’s consulting clients include: a Fortune 500/ S&P 500 company requiring Denver and Colorado localization of their products and services; Baxa Corporation, Englewood, CO; Adventures In Color Technology, Golden, CO: and Holben Building Corporation, Denver. The consultancy maintains several websites to maximize exposure and attract media attention for contracted and indemnified clients. These sites include:
http://www.publicrelationsnewsroom.com
http://www.expert411.com
http://www.denverprnewsroom.com
http://www.online-presskit.com
For more information about Absolutely Public Relations, go to
http://www.absolutelypr.com. For further information about Maggie Chamberlin Holben go to http://www.maggieholben.com. Holben’s Expert Information For Journalists profile is found at: http://expert411.com/_wsn/page2.html.
# # #
The Colorado Daily article was written by Matt Williams, staff writer, and detailed at length the plight of CU PR officials who mistakenly forwarded a disparaging e-mail about a Daily Camera reporter directly to the reporter being disparaged. In the article, Holben said: “Apologizing immediately is the best practice, especially when e-mail is involved. With e-mail communication, I think we've all had enough of it recently to kind of know how to behave and know that what we put out there can be seen by anyone."
The topic of the CU PR e-mail in question ironically was related to a Daily Camera reporter’s request to see a copy of CU’s "Communications/Re-Branding Plan," which at that time was still in draft form. The offending PR officials involved, who have since apologized extensively for the e-mail snafu, have also been reported to each being paid $150,000 per year for their PR expertise. The Denver Post included this quote from Holben: “It's amazing that, regardless of salary level and past experience, good PR strategy can simply boil down to the basic tenets of common sense and good manners. It seems like everyone associated with the CU debacle could use a dose or two of both."
The article that followed in The Daily Camera on July 10 by Staff Writer Britanny Anas, came as a result of additional CU E-mails being obtained by The Daily Camera under state open-records laws that, according to the article, showed some of the “behind the scenes” PR planning and tactics that can occur to prepare a University official for a media interview. The article mentions mock interviews and “talking points” documents. The article says, “such prep work is the norm in the public relations industry.” In the article Holben said: “Public relations professionals often help administrators and executives brainstorm and practice questions before press conferences. You want to make sure everybody is dancing to the same tune. If not, it’s just a recipe for disaster.”
In February 2004, when the football scandal was first unfolding at CU, Holben was interviewed by News Radio 850 KOA, Reporter Alex Stone, concerning crisis PR techniques. Stone turned to Holben as a local expert for public relations information and backgrounding
(http://expert411.com/_wsn/page2.html).
The verbatim of the KOA interview follows:
“No doubt there is some serious crisis management going on behind the scenes at CU right now. Maggie Chamberlin Holben is president of Absolutely PR in Denver. She’s not working for CU, but says this type of damage control can be exhausting,” Stone said.
“The first thing, just like they did back with the covered wagons and such, would be to circle them. Meaning circle your management team. And anybody else involved in your organization directly affecting the situation so that you can very rapidly get people speaking with one voice. It could be one spokesperson,” Holben explained.
“Maggie says even though attorneys will sometimes frown upon it, as a PR specialist, Maggie tells clients to tell the truth. Even if it’s bad, it’s probably going to come out at some point,” Stone said.
“The truth will set you free. So often you’re doing a lot of back peddling because somebody may have either lied, God bless it we wouldn’t that to happen, or just plain misspoke in some manner that gets everything confused,” Holben said.
“What can companies do to look better in the public eye?” Stone asked.
“Start projecting your best foot forward and your best news items forward, if you have any. As the news business goes, a bad event will always get repeated – even up to five, ten years. You can be doing good deeds for all that period of time and then that two of three paragraphs that repeats the incident or the beleagured/whatever organization, kind of haunts you,” Holben replied.
“Maggie says she tells her clients to get an open and friendly PR staff as well. Closed and angry PR people, one can make the media angry and two makes it look like the company or organization is trying to hide something,” Stone concluded.
In addition to the KOA interview, Holben assisted 9News in May 2003 by providing PR perspective regarding the Aron Ralston climbing accident. Ralston is the climber who cut off part of his arm to free himself from a boulder during a hiking accident in Utah in late April 2003.
According to Holben, in her interview two years ago with 9News, Ralston could parlay the incident into a lifetime of money and fame, if he so chose. "Certainly the book deals, the movie deals, the speaking engagements. Those could go on for his entire life literally," Holben says.
As the reporter pointed out in the television news story, Aron Ralston may also consider using his powerful story to motivate others, after he recovers from the loss of his arm, and the shock of instant celebrity. Holben observes: "He was selected by this 800-pound boulder to, in essence, be an inspiration to amputees. And as it's turned out, he's really an inspiration to everyone."
Maggie Holben was not consulting Ralston, she simply partook in the interview as a public relations expert. According to 9News Anchor Ed Sardella, "Ralston's family has a friend in the public relations business who is handling all the media requests and he's gotten calls from the Oprah Winfrey Show, among others, and from media organizations from as far away as Germany and Japan."
Holben, who has been an accredited member of the Public Relations Society since 1985 and a member of its Counselors Academy, founded Absolutely Public Relations in Denver in 1999. She has more than 25 years of public relations consulting experience and has taught both advertising and public relations on the university level. Most recently Holben was named to the board of directors for the Colorado Bioscience Association for her PR expertise and was named a Regional Leadership Coordinator (Rocky Mountain Region) for the national Leadership America organization.
First quarter 2004, Holben placed the bylined article, "PR 101, A Quick Review," in the national Discover [Card] Business Services’ Inside Biz newsletter that focused on Public Relations. Holben's article appeared along with a feature on "PR Tactics at Vermont Teddy Bear Company," overview of the PR industry in the U.S. provided by the Public Relations Society of America, and a special purchase offer for the Full Frontal PR book for Discover Card merchants. The newsletter can be found at this pdf link (scroll to page two to find Holben’s article):
http://www.pr.com/upload/presskit_1527_1119288670.pdf.
Absolutely PR’s consulting clients include: a Fortune 500/ S&P 500 company requiring Denver and Colorado localization of their products and services; Baxa Corporation, Englewood, CO; Adventures In Color Technology, Golden, CO: and Holben Building Corporation, Denver. The consultancy maintains several websites to maximize exposure and attract media attention for contracted and indemnified clients. These sites include:
http://www.publicrelationsnewsroom.com
http://www.expert411.com
http://www.denverprnewsroom.com
http://www.online-presskit.com
For more information about Absolutely Public Relations, go to
http://www.absolutelypr.com. For further information about Maggie Chamberlin Holben go to http://www.maggieholben.com. Holben’s Expert Information For Journalists profile is found at: http://expert411.com/_wsn/page2.html.
# # #
Contact
Absolutely Public Relations
Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR
303-984-9801
http://www.absolutelypr.com
Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR
303-984-9801
http://www.absolutelypr.com
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