To my children
Cameron and Maya
It is no coincidence that as the granddaughter of a pastor and the daughter of an evangelist-whose mission is to spread the gospel-I would enjoy a career as a communications professional. Just as an evangelist sees her work as spreading good news, my calling is to promote good causes that would otherwise go underappreciated. Just as an evangelist rails against sin, I rail against racial and social injustice. My passion for publicizing the work of organizations whose missions resonate with me could be compared to that of an evangelist on a God-directed mission.
I utilize every mode of communication (media relations, public relations, digital media, graphic design, training, events, etc.) to highlight injustice and urge accountability and change. When I'm traveling from city to city leading communications and media workshops for mission-driven organizations, I'm propelled by a passion to elevate work that would otherwise go unnoticed. The joy I feel upon placing a story about a pressing issue with a moral imperative in a national outlet, such as the New York Times or the Washington Post, or getting a guest column published in the opinion section of CNN.com or other well-respected media outlets is unrivaled. It is how I make an impact.
It should come as no surprise then that public relations and communications is a form of evangelism. I am not alone in this belief. Guy Kawasaki, former communications chief for Apple and author of more than thirteen books, considers himself an evangelist for the causes he passionately promotes.[1]Just like faith is a vehicle for some to achieve great things, I see communications as a tool to help organizations large and small achieve lofty and seemingly impossible goals.
The advice I offer here is drawn from personal experience. Over the course of my career, I have found myself at the center of major social justice movements and political campaigns. I did much of this work as a communications leader with a healthcare and social services union for the West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio region called Service Employees International Union District 1199 (WV/KY/OH), their international affiliate the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the national racial justice organization Advancement Project.
While serving on the international union staff for the SEIU, I spent time in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2011. I witnessed the height of major unrest before and after the passage of the then newly minted Governor Scott Walker's provision limiting collective bargaining for public sector unions.[2] I was part of a broader team of communications professionals flying into the state to provide assistance following a barrage of anti-union policies and proposals. I offered communication services such as crafting press releases, talking points, convening press events, and staffing high-level surrogates for public sector union members and leaders, including rank-and-file union member Ann Louise Tetreault, union leaders Bruce Colburn and Dian Palmer, and many others. I also had the pleasure of arranging media interviews for actor Tony Shalhoub who joined his sister, a teacher in Wisconsin's Denmark School System, in protesting the collective bargaining limitation.[3]
From 2004 to 2009, I worked on several political and issue-advocacy campaigns in Ohio while employed with the SEIU District 1199 (WV/KY/OH). The campaigns included a Paid Sick Days ballot initiative that would have kept working families from missing much-needed pay due to their illness or their child's illness. I also worked on a ballot initiative to defeat the Colorado-inspired Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR), which would have shrunk government services by restricting revenue growth.
I've also worked on numerous political campaigns, including a brief stint on President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign as communications director with Obama for America in Nevada, former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's 2010 re-election campaign, and the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns as a member of the communications staff for SEIU District 1199 (WV/KY/OH).
My time on President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign was particularly memorable for the unrelenting nature of the work. My day started at 7 a.m., in time for a daily 7:30 a.m. conference call with communications directors and staff from western states, and usually ended around 10 p.m. Each week we plotted communications events, such as press conferences and other actions, with the goal of publicly defining the opponent, Mitt Romney, before he had an opportunity to define himself. Pulling off half a dozen press events per week was no small feat, but in the end it was incredibly effective as President Obama won the state of Nevada on election night.
These roles reinforced for me the importance of the four principles of extraordinary public relations: being credible, creative, responsive, and relentless. With more than fifteen years' experience working in communications and in the political and policy fields, I know firsthand the difference these four principles make. While the organizations I worked for had budgets of varying sizes, the key to success was always being credible, creative, responsive, and relentless. It was a surefire way to elevate issues that would otherwise go unnoticed or underappreciated.
Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget: A Strategy Guide is a natural by-product of my commitment to strengthen small organizations and grassroots campaigns by offering basic but critically important communications tips. This book is for the mission-driven organization that is spearheading critical work and seeking to promote its cause in the public domain. It is for the outfit that is doing everything right-yet few know they exist. It is for people who find themselves in a communications and public relations role for which they feel ill-equipped. It is for the grassroots leader seeking to elevate an organization's public profile. This manual is also for the executives and leaders looking to assess and evaluate his or her organization's communications program.
