An effective public relations director can be worth his or her weight in gold in safeguarding a hotel's brand and image. But how do you find the right person? The challenge can be vexing, particularly if those doing the interviewing are new to this job category. On the surface it would seem that the public relations director's job is to "get press" - print and broadcast publicity that will shed positive light on the hotel. In fact, the job is much more than that. In most hotels, the public relations director is the "go-to" person for a wide range of needs, including writing and editing (press releases, media alerts, invitations, speeches, etc.), event planning, hosting of media and hotel VIPs, photography, video production, and all manner of trouble shooting. The most effective and successful in-house public relations directors bring to their positions a complex set of skills. READ MORE

The news release has been around for 100 years (that milestone passed in October 2006), conceived by public relations pioneer Ivy Lee who used it to convey to the media details of a fatal train accident on behalf of his client, the Pennsylvania Railroad. For much of its history, the news release (a.k.a. press release) remained unchanged, taking the form of a written statement of news, facts or information on behalf of a company or a cause. Our goal - and yours, I hope - is to better understand how and when to use this basic public relations tool, and how and when not to use it. READ MORE

Public relations, a vital component of hospitality marketing, has seen dramatic growth, both in approach and in practice. Thirty years ago, it was all about publicity - sometimes for publicity's sake. The phrase "there's no such thing as bad publicity" is an extreme example of this idea. The goal was primarily to create awareness and to inform. The word "branding" hadn't yet come into PR focus. Today, while publicity remains at the heart of most hospitality public relations efforts -- whether on a corporate or unit level - it is approached in the context of a broader marketing initiative... and branding is key. For the sake of image, business building and efficiency, it is targeted to a specific audience and it seeks not just to inform, but to engage the prospect in a relationship - one that will have long-lasting benefit for both the constituent and the client. READ MORE

Trends born out of new technology - some unheard just months ago - are rapidly transforming how public relations is being practiced today. The sooner these can be acknowledged, examined and considered, the better equipped we will be to develop and maintain the optimum strategy for our organizations or our clients. And the better prepared we will be to anticipate and incorporate the next wave of innovation in our business. READ MORE

Of all of the marketing disciplines, public relations is, to many, the most difficult to assess. "Are we getting our money's worth?" "Are they as productive as they can be?" "Are we achieving the best results?" "Is it time to make a change?" These are the kinds of questions that surface periodically during the life of almost any client-agency relationship. They may crop up often in a new relationship as it struggles to seek a firm foundation, but they occur even in the most established and longstanding of marriages. The questions are natural and they are understandable. Employing a framework for assessing your particular situation will aid in arriving at solid answers. The process will either support the conclusion that you have the right agency in place...or suggest it may be time to make a change. It will also serve as a guideline for working effectively with your agency so you can be secure in the confidence that you are getting the most from your agency and your public relations budget. READ MORE