Category: Uncategorized
JWC Sweeps The Bernays Awards
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve won four Edward L. Bernays Mark of Excellence Awards from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter. 
PRSA’s annual awards program recognizes the industry’s best tactics, campaigns and professionals in categories including media relations, community relations, crisis communications and special events.
The JWC team received two Bronze Bernays Awards Mark of Excellence (the highest honor you can receive) in the “Creative Tactics” and “Digital Press Kits” categories; a Silver Bernays Award Mark of Merit for “Events & Observances More Than Seven Days”; and a Bronze Bernays Award Mark of Merit for “Press Kits.”
Projects included:
Bronze Mark of Excellence for “Creative Tactics”:Proper Gastropub Harry Potter Promotion 
Tying into the release of the latest Harry Potter movie with development of a “Butterbeer” promotion and a Harry Potter trivia social media campaign. The restaurant experienced a 30 percent spike in sales and gained a large number of engaged social media fans and followers.
Bronze Mark of Excellence for “Online/Digital/Media Kits”: California Athletic Trainers’ Association
To help define the role of an athletic trainer to legislators and raise awareness about the safety issues that exist without state regulation of their profession, JWC created a digital press kit with fact sheets and a video PSA urging legislators to approve a proposed athletic training bill. The information and education delivered resulted in the bill’s 100 percent affirmative vote.
Silver Mark of Merit for “Events & Observances More Than Seven Days”: U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships 2010
For the U.S. Parachute Association (USPA) National Skydiving Championships, JWC used extensive research, pitching and coordination to target localized media to promote winners around the country. Trackable coverage included features in 85 regional print, broadcast and online outlets from coast-to-coast.
Bronze Mark of Excellence for “Press Kits/Media Kits”: Home Again Project 25 Press Kit (United Way of San Diego County)
To explain chronic homelessness and the progress of “Project 25, Home Again’s Frequent User Initiative” JWC developed a press kit to promote the importance of permanent supportive housing. Materials included milestone press releases, statistics and fact sheets. JWC exceeded its local media goals, achieving ..over 20 broadcast and more than 20 print stories.
The U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships of Canopy Piloting have begun at Skydive Spaceland, just outside of Houston. Check out this fantastic video: http://vimeo.com/29077012
USPA is our client and a non-profit association dedicated to the promotion of safe skydiving nationwide, establishing strict safety standards, training policies and programs at more than 200 USPA-affiliated skydiving schools and centers throughout the United States. Each year, USPA’s 33,000-plus members and hundreds of thousands of first-time jump students make approximately 3 million jumps in the U.S. USPA represents skydivers before all levels of government, the public and the aviation industry and sanctions national skydiving competitions and records.
For more information on making a first jump or to find a skydiving center near you, visit http://www.uspa.org or call 800-371-USPA.
While we all know the common rules that apply to job interviews (hopefully), like wear a suit, be prepared with copies of your resume and perhaps, most importantly, BE ON TIME – there are a few things practicing PR professionals or those pursuing careers in PR should know NEVER to say.
As public relations professionals it is our job to be creative and to stand out amidst a sea of similar faces, places and products to present what makes our clients special and worthy of media coverage. So why wouldn’t we look at potential employees in the same manner?
So here’s what we DON’T want to hear during an interview when asked the following:
- Why do you want to work in public relations? “I like to talk to people.”
Yes, while this is an important aspect of public relations (after all, what good would an anti-social PR person be?), it should not be the sole reason you want to get into public relations – there has to be something more … substantial.
- What is PR to you? “Relating to the public” or “Creating positive relations between a business and its clients.”
We work in PR; we don’t need a textbook definition of what we do every day, thank you very much. However, we would like for you to demonstrate that you actually know how to do the job, or rather, explain what tools we use in order to “create positive relations between a business and its clients.”
- What aspect of PR do you like most? “I like planning and going to parties.”
Then become a party planner. Despite what pop-culture depicts, public relations is not all about parties and events – it’s an office job.
- What kind of clients do you like to work with? “Well, I don’t like…”
We didn’t ask what you don’t like, but while we’re on the topic – don’t highlight what you hate! Especially if what you hate happens to be an industry many of our clients belong to.
- What attracts you to a career in public relations? (I know – this is very similar to item #1 on our list, but we’ve actually gotten this answer more than once) “I want to be like Samantha from Sex and the City.”
I don’t really think this needs any explanation.
Yes, we at J. Walcher Communications are the people who will let a restaurant know when a word is misspelled on the menu. We will exclaim in horror at random apostrophes (used for no reason!!!). And we cannot stand a person using the wrong “their” or “they’re.” We are beholden to the AP Stylebook and have a deep affection for spell check (although we cannot understand why it refuses to recognize the term “triathlete”).
So when Judgment Day (May 21, 2011) arrived, The Huffington Post contacted us — not to discuss the end of the world, but why our spelling shouldn’t go to hell in the process (see last two paragraphs):
Rapture 2011: Apocalypse Now… No, Now! (LIVE BLOG) – Huffington Post
by David Moye, Posted on May 21, 2011
Today’s rapture is supposed to herald the coming of Judgment Day.
Passing judgment is supposed to be God’s job, but a lot of word experts, spelling sticklers and — though they hate the term “grammar Nazis” — are passing judgment on the millions of internet postings that are adding an extra “e” between the “g” and “m” in “judgment.”
Seriously, do a Google search. We can wait….
OK, see what I mean?
Although the Good Book says, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” surely, that didn’t refer to incorrect spelling, right?
Steven Murray, who is the Communications Director at the First Baptist Church in Houston, is praying that’s not the case.
“I try to express grace more than judgment, but spelling it with the extra ‘e’ is a pet peeve of mine,” Murray said. “It’s right up there with people who use the term ‘irregardless.’”
Murray personally cringes when he sees judgment spelled “judgement,” but suspects that the correct spelling is a casualty of a world where Twitter and Facebook influence people to “let spelling slide in the interest of speed.”
Although the Lord works in strange and mysterious ways, he’s not sure if the spelling of “judgment” without the “e” between the “g” and the “m” is his doing.
“It’s more one of the mysterious ways of the people who founded the English language,” he said.
But San Diego-based copy editor Phyllis de Blanche is a little more merciful to those who dare besmirch the proper spelling of “judgment.”
“There are two accepted spellings,” she insisted. “Although that extra ‘e’ is not standard, it is acceptable. I think the reason it’s the standard with journalists is because Associated Press prefers to use the shorter version. For instance, they allow ‘OK’ to be spelled with just two capital letters instead of ‘o-k-a-y.’”
Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based copy editor Karen Spiegelman has strong words for people who add that extra “e.”
“Spelling it that way makes it easier to make fun of you,” she said. “Seriously, it’s not big a deal, but if you, like some people, try and justify after the fact by pointing out the alternate spelling, you just look silly.
“However, being able to spell ‘judgment’ correctly is like a secret handshake.”
To be fair, “judgment” is spelled with the offending “e” in England — except when referring to a legal judgment. But like many things that are different in the United Kingdom than the United States — such as warm beer — this distinction is illogical to editors like Jill Kuraitis in Boise, Idaho.
“It drives me crazy!” she said. “Yeah, there are English variations, but this one makes no sense. It jumps off the page when I see it spelled with that ‘e.’ It’s one of the words on my 50 most annoying word screw-ups list.
“However, it’s not as bad as when people screw up the difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer.’”
If the judgment day scheduled for Saturday fails to pass, Kuraitis thinks her fellow word nerds should band together to make sure that people start spelling ‘judgment’ correctly by the next scheduled apocalypse on December 21, 2012.
“We could probably get Bill Gates to fund us,” she said.
Passing judgment over the spelling of a word sounds a little extreme, but manuscript editor Stephanie Thompson sees it differently.
“To me, correct spelling is the difference between taking a story seriously or not at all,” she said. “If you can’t figure out the spelling of a word, what else might be wrong in the story?”
As for the final word on this issue, Public Relations executive Sandra Fong Young, who frequently blogs about AP style and word usage, looks to a higher power.
“Just now, I checked the King James Bible and judgment is spelled without the ‘e’ there,” she said.
Luckily, we now all have until 2012 to work on our spelling.
