The Insider Q1 2010

1. As a former journalist and information director for the NFL, what was the adjustment like taking over the role as first-ever Communications Director for USA Football? What skills in your previous positions lent themselves well in your position with USA Football?

The primary difference between this position and my previous post at the NFL was that no template existed as to how to lead USA Football’s communications initiatives. Publicity work at the NFL is superbly structured around games and events. The NFL has a tremendous system that works and has immensely talented people handling that heavy workload. What helped me settle in quickly at USA Football were inherent relationships I had forged with staff members at NFL clubs and the league office as well as with football media. Working at the NBA and NFL prepared me for the opportunities at USA Football – and we find new opportunities here all the time. My previous career experiences crafted a vision as to how a sports property should be publicized and positioned. I continue to learn every day and I’m doing it within the world’s greatest game.

2. Concussions are a major concern in football right now, with new studies and stories coming out about the injuries everyday. What measures are USA Football taking to educate parents, coaches and USA Football members about youth concussions and how is the organization translating that message to the media and general public?

As the sport’s national governing body on youth and amateur levels, USA Football believes that taking a leadership role in concussion awareness and education is our responsibility to the youth football community and we encourage other national governing bodies to join us. We incorporate CDC-approved (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) concussion awareness education within our nearly 100 football training events. We’re also inserting CDC-approved information related to concussion to our online football coaching education course by April. More than 26,000 youth coaches across the country have successfully completed this two-hour course, which includes 11 quizzes for comprehension.

Beyond this, USA Football will conduct research pertaining to youth football injury rates, which will include concussions. The coaching education that we’ve been administering since 2007 also addresses this topic. When a coach teaches a youngster how to properly block and tackle, that young athlete will be more fundamentally sound, which will lead to a greater likelihood of avoiding a head injury. Concussion spans all sports and we’re poised to direct and lead the youth football community with the CDC’s continued support.

3. How big of an initative is utilizing social media to promote USA Football? Do you see it as a valuable tool for your organization moving forward?

We are investigating how social media can be a benefit to our members; these are the people and players who power America’s favorite sport on the grassroots level. We believe it can be a valuable tool through usafootball.com in the near future.

4. In your experience working for the NFL and with the NFL, how have you seen the media landscape change in the last decade, and how have your PR efforts changed in regards to the 24-hours news cycle?

There are more outlets to consider now than when I entered the sports public relations field in 1996. Stories move faster. Channels like Facebook and Twitter also attract eyeballs and empowers an audience to participate. The basics are the same, though – the world moves on relationships. Relationships with media are built on trust and credibility. I came to USA Football with inherent relationships, and I’ve made plenty of new ones in my first two-and-a-half years here. We have a long way to go, but I know we’re doing things the right way. We have a talented staff, an excellent executive director in Scott Hallenbeck, and unprecedented support from football stakeholders.

5. USA Football is a national governing body with a growing membership. What measures and unique ways does USA Football take to keep its members engaged? How do you show your members you value their support and what methods do you take from a PR standpoint to try to increase overall membership?

Our philosophy is to promote our members more so than USA Football. This means writing a league or club-specific release featuring that organization to announce its employment of our resources or league volunteer background check subsidies. We also write customer-centered editorial for usafootball.com. We salute and publicize the people who power youth football – our appreciation for them and the relationship we have with them is paramount. It’s an exciting challenge to have 415,000 youth football coaches be part of a release or web story-writing process, but it’s worth it when the end result is a better youth football experience for the young athletes and families that propel this sport.

And an important byproduct of shaping our communications with members’ input is strong customer relations. Our resource offering and strong customer relations is further strengthening youth football in the United States. We’re excited about our future and accomplishing our goals with Maroon PR’s talented and hard-working staff with us at every turn.

When you step to the front of the room or podium, your audience doesn’t want perfection. Your audience wants connection.

In this age of political correctness and viral media, fear of imperfection forces too many public speakers and presenters to strive for perfection instead of striving for connection. You can’t move an audience with perfection. You can move it with connection.

I ask all of my coaching clients when we first begin working on a presentation or a speech how they will describe success at the end of the presentation. Most responses focus on results:

• I’ll feel a sense of relief
  
• I’ll get 50 percent of the audience to buy what I’m selling
  
• I’ll increase productivity by 30 percent
  
• I’ll increase our organization’s employee retention by 40 percent
  
• I’ll reduce our customer response time by half a day

Never once have I heard a client say, “Success means I will make no mistakes at all.”

The minute they begin practicing, however, clients flinch at every mistake, misspoken word, and glitch in their PowerPoint. They notice every imperfection - and usually get hung up on those issues.

I’m not saying make every mistake imaginable and don’t worry about it. I’m saying don’t make perfection the goal.

Speakers and presenters who strive for perfection put too much focus on themselves and not enough focus on their audience. Of course you should strive to make sure your PowerPoint uses correct spelling and consistent formatting. Yes, use proper English when you speak. By all means avoid going out of your way to offend people from the podium. But dare to be your authentic self.

Relax. Do your best. Know you will make mistakes. You’ll slip up on this word and forget that word. And when you do, you have the perfect chance to connect with your audience because every person in the audience has experienced the same thing. That’s connection.

If you ever find yourself drawing a blank in the front of the room trying to recall a name or a common phrase, own up to it. Ask your audience for help. They will love you for it because they will connect with you. Connection is where the magic happens in the front of the room.

So the next time you make the lonely trip to the front of the room or the podium, do your very best, but measure the impact of your very best in terms of connection, not perfection.

Gerry Sandusky is a communications consultant, TV & Radio sportscaster, and the Voice of the Baltimore Ravens. His company, The Sandusky Group, is on the web at www.SanduskyGroup.com.

2009 was a tremendous year for Father Leo Patalinghug and the growth of his Grace Before Meals (GBM) movement. Father Leo created the Grace Before Meals concept in 2003 to encourage families to share meals together, which helps strengthen family bonds. The movement has produced a book (Grace Before Meals: Recipes for Family Life), a website (GraceBeforeMeals.com), blog, podcast, web show and e-newsletter.

Maroon PR has been working with Hunt Valley, Md.-based Renegade (an advertising and production agency) since January 2008 as the company’s PR Agency of Record and has provided media relations support for the Grace Before Meals project. Renegade manages various initiatives for Grace Before Meals, including producing the GBM web show, overseeing marketing, social media and the development/management of GraceBeforeMeals.com.

In March of this year, Maroon PR secured a cover story for Father Leo in The Washington Post, surrounding an appearance he had in Washington, DC. The feature led to numerous media inquiries interested in profiling Father Leo and GBM, including national mainstream news outlets like ABC World News with Charles Gibson and Fox’s “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

Food Network took notice of Father Leo through his web show and featured him in an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" in September. Maroon PR secured various media opportunities for Father Leo in the Baltimore area to promote the appearance and a premiere party organized by Renegade in Baltimore’s Little Italy. Media secured by Maroon PR included coverage by all four television news affiliates, BaltimoreSun.com's "Dining@Large" blog and Baltimore Magazine blogs, and radio interviews on local Baltimore radio stations.

In October, America’s No. 1 Sunday Morning News program, CBS News Sunday Morning expressed interest in featuring Father Leo in their annual episode devoted to food. For the story, Maroon PR and Renegade assisted the segment producer with site locations, scheduling of interviews and provided video/photo content for the segment. The segment with CBS senior correspondent, Rita Braver aired on November 22 (video below).

Maroon PR and Renegade will continue to work together in 2010 and beyond to grow the GBM movement through various news outlets, grassroots marketing efforts and social media tools.

Maroon PR will feature a regular column by someone from our team, in an effort for our readers to get to know us and hear our opinions. This quarter, we’ll hear from Account Executive Chris Daley about the importance for public relations firms to be able to do more than just secure coverage.

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At Maroon PR, we pride ourselves in serving as an extension of our client’s team. We strive to bring more value to clients than just through securing media placements. Examples from this past year include bringing Sullivan's Steakhouse and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation together for the restaurant's VIP Grand Opening, in which Sullivan's donated $10,000 to the nonprofit. We also helped Nick and Christina Markakis create The Right Side Foundation .

Oftentimes we work outside the normal scope of traditional public relations professionals. Our team is available to serve as business consultants, relationship builders, event planners and managers, copy writers, philanthropists, graphic artists, social media marketers, journalists, etc. Multitasking is critical in our industry, but being multi-talented and resourceful brings more to businesses seeking a high return on investment (ROI).

Being versatile and capable of performing tasks outside traditional media relations is more important than ever for PR firms looking to provide cost-effective ways to maximize exposure for brands. Businesses are being more conscious when it comes to budgeting for outside help. It is vital as a vender to keep this in mind and to learn new and innovative ways to bring value to prospective or current clients.

This past fall we were one of numerous outside vendors hired to work with the United Football League (UFL) for its "Premiere" season. Working with the UFL was an experience that challenged us as an agency to expand our role outside of the traditional public relations firm. Overseeing PR for the Florida franchise (Florida Tuskers), and being based outside Baltimore, Md., was not easy at times, but it was rewarding in the end because it provided us with a great learning experience and gave us something to build our business upon.

In addition to serving as the role of a traditional PR staff for a pro sports team, the UFL had us serving the role as the Tuskers’ community relations department and in-game entertainment managers. We assisted with community events for the team and booked game-day and halftime entertainment. Our capabilities as a boutique public relations firm grew because of this experience.

Being able to pitch and secure a media story for clients will always be a critical role of our job, but stepping outside that role and building a resume with other capabilities is just as important to offer to clients seeking invaluable additions to their team.

Chris Daley is an Account Executive at Maroon PR. He can be reached at Chris@MaroonPR.com.

After nearly two decades in communications and branding for a number of sports organizations and professional teams, public relations specialist John Maroon launched Maroon PR in April 2006.

Maroon PR has experienced growth each year since it opened its doors. Originally an agency focused on sports and entertainment clients, the firm experienced tremendous success, leading to the creation of two distinct divisions in May of 2009 - Sports & Entertainment and Corporate public relations. Under this new structure, Executive Vice President Tim Richardson oversees the Sports & Entertainment division, while Vice President Mitchell Schmale manages the firm’s increasing corporate clientele. Each division is guided by President John Maroon. Click here to view Maroon PR's Corporate Brochure.

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