Pirozzolo Company Public Relations

TV Newsman Barry Nolan Offers Media-Training Plus Media Coverage Program with Pirozzolo Company

Veteran newsman Barry Nolan and Pirozzolo Company are teaming up to offer a unique concept in media training for corporate and not-for-profit CEOs and executives – media training plus media coverage.

 Nolan-Pirozzolo clients get six hours of training in on-air media interview skills, plus an edited video to post on their Website or use for presentations. The media coverage includes a minimum of 36 major online media outlets such as Reuters, Market Watch, USA Today, major market TV news, and CNBC plus a news release distributed to the nation’s 900 biggest TV, newspaper and magazine decision makers.

“Executives master effective message delivery in a wide variety of real-world media situations,” explained Nolan. The media coverage focuses on getting the executives’ point of view across on an industry issue that impacts their organization. Topics include government regulation, public policy, the economy, climate change, small business financing, and international trade.

 An a la carte menu is also available.

 Nolan, a regular on CNBC and NPR, who has worked for ABC, Fox TV, and syndicated fare such as Hard Copy, added, “We help clients figure out how they differ from the chorus of voices that line up on one side or the other of a current issue and develop their own voice – one that distinguishes them from the pack and resonates with their customers and stakeholders."

                                                                                                                       TV  Newsman Barry Nolan

His decades of experience in news and programming, as well his work on Capitol Hill as a senior staff member of the Joint Economic Committee, gives him hard- earned insights into what it takes to be successful on TV, "We helped an anti-terrorism training expert respond to remarks by presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Herman Cain. With our help he was able to take timely advantage of a news event to get his message across on FOX TV.”

Pirozzolo Company founder Dick Pirozzolo said, "Most media training deals only with TV performance. Our approach identifies issues with which clients can ally themselves, shapes their message to support organizational goals, and helps the clients develop the on-air chops needed to make their point with real impact.” 

 Said Nolan, "If you channel surf the 24 hour news and business outlets on any given day, you will see corporate and not-for-profit organizational leaders in a variety of media settings: one-on-one interviews in studios, on-line conferences, live remotes from a satellite facility, ambush interviews on their doorsteps and at formal news conferences. Our clients get the training they need to handle every one of these situations with ease.”

 Nolan is quick to add, “I can give you a good argument for careful preparation in just two letters – BP. Tony Hayward spent his entire career at BP, but sadly for him, he will be most remembered for a two-second sound bite: 'I’d like my life back.' "

         Antiterroristm expert Todd McGhee of PHI at Fox 25

For details contact Pirozzolo Company at: 781-235-9911 or email dick@pirozzolo.com

 

 

Terror Expert Todd McGhee Speaks on Bombing Suspect Rezwan Ferdaus for Fox 25 in Boston

Todd McGhee has the knowledge to comment on antiterrorism methods in the US and has also acquired the on-air TV skills that make him a superb expert guest.

When Fox 25 needed an expert to comment on a recent terrorist threat, Todd McGhee appeared on the Boston TV outlet to comment on the arrest of Rezwan Ferdaus. Ferdaus is the Ashland, Massachusetts resident who was allegedly plotting to fly explosive-filled radio controlled aircraft into the Capitol and Pentagon.

McGhee is a 24-year veteran Mass State Trooper who served as a specially trained officer and trainer of the Anti Terrorism Unit at Boston's Logan International. In the wake of 9/11, Todd co-developed new anti-terrorism methods and training for Logan, TD Green Airport and the MBTA.

His company, Protecting the Homeland Innovations, has trained NYPD, Washington Metro, New Jersey Transit and other agency security people to spot, analyze and respond to behaviors that indicate a potential terror threat. In 2007 PHI became the only private firm to be approved by the Department of Homeland Security to train behavior analytics to federal grant recipient agencies.

 

Kim Carrigan interviews Todd McGhee on Fox 25.

For a clip of the broadcast please visit:

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/morning/technology-and-terrorism-20110929

It’s been 10 years since 9/11.  Are we safer?

We’re being smarter about spotting potential threats by looking for and analyzing the kind of behavior that could spell trouble. Instead of relying increasingly on technology, we teach security people how to engage passengers in tactical dialogue – asking simple, friendly questions and looking for responses that could mean trouble – the poker player’s tell.

 What can the public do?

The slogan If you see something say something needs to go further. PHI is now working  with the transportation industry to educate the public on how to spot suspicious behavior and to report  activity that is out of step with the norm – the passenger who hangs back when everyone is in rush or carries bags into the baggage claim area at the airport. Trust your instincts and notify authorities, but do not alert the individual, advises McGhee.

 What about stopping the lone wolf terrorist?

Grass roots policing and responses by law enforcement are key. The lone wolf terrorists are individuals who are disconnected with society. It has nothing to do with relegion, they just want to belong to something and will find a nefarious cause to connect with. It's also a myth that people from a poor socio-economic background are more likely to become terrorists.

                  

                    Gene Lavanchy interviews Todd McGhee on terror threat and suspect arrest.

McCain Tweet Shows Social Media not Just for Kids

 

A few days ago, US Sen. John McCain tweeted his support when Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a "birther bill" that would have required presidential candidates to show their birth certificates.

“Proud of @GovBrewer for her veto of the ‘birther bill’ -- it was the right decision,” he posted on Twitter.  His tweet was picked up on MSNBC and dozens of political blogs.  

More telling, this party stalwart chose social media  to drive a wedge between the GOP leadership and birther crazy talkers. 

McCain is not alone. Do a keyword search for "tweet" on Politico (http://www.politico.com/) and you'll see that dozens of political figures and Presidential hopefuls, rely on Twitter to present their case – Haley Barbour, Newt Gingrich, Chuck Schumer and the the undaunted Sarah Palin to name a few.

So much for Social Media being a playground for 18-25 year olds and so much for its dubious impact. Even the less-well known have discovered the ripple effect of Twitter.

Point --  social media cannot be evaluated using the same rubric as TV Nielson ratings or newspaper circulation figures Doing so is a losing proposition. It puts social media at a distinct disadvantages and misses several benefits of participation in Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Blogs.

Consider these benefits.

Social media is often used by TV audiences and readers of the old media to pass along stories, which implies their endorsement. Studies show that I am more likely to read and act upon an article if I receive it from a friend who I consider a leader in the field. It's the two-step communication model being played out in public.

Social media allows us to bypass the gatekeepers -- sometimes you need to get your message out now – unchanged, modified or interpreted by the editors or talk show producers. This is something we used to achieve with mat services that provided press-ready articles to newsrooms around the country.

Social media frees us from putting enormous effort into communicating routine news. For example, in the dark ages, we used to spend an inordinate amount of time on executive hire news releases, striving to get the  "Who,What,Where" editor to run a line or two of a 300-word release. Now, we simply post these releases online and on social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn where the handful of people who matter will see it. And the editors are freed up too because they don't have to waste time sorting through, "I'm so exited to be joining Bloviation Incorporated..." releases.

Social media gives us fast feedback -- best bargain in market research and far more instantaneous than the old days of Broadway when the stage manager and actors waited around for the reviews to come out in the early edition of the Times.

Social media sites such as YouTube, democratize video by giving smaller companies the opportunity to demonstrate complicated products without incurring high production costs. And... the value of positive video produced by customers showing our products in action is priceless. We once worked with a defense contractor who sent DOD officials, YouTube postings by soldiers in Iraq who were using its product because the customer produced video demonstrated "force protection" benefits in such a personal way. Powerful stuff!

Social media puts us all in the conversation. The CEO who posts to his own Blog items gets direct feedback from customers --  unvarnished by PR or marketing staffers.

Social media gives the old media – as well as emerging new media outlets – ongoing access to us and our clients. The amount of time I spend calling editors (outgoing messaging) to pitch stories today is less than a tenth of what it was in the old days.

Today my job is to get the editors to come to us and I use social media to do that job.Editors who are looking for story ideas and sources troll social media sites for what they need when they need it. The more we establish our presence, the more calls we get from reporters looking for a source. It's simply the Internet version of Woody Allen's advice about showing up.

Lastly, we don't know where Social Media is going or how it will develop as a way we communicate with one another any more than we could predict the impact of the Xerox machine, Faxes and PCs during the 80s and 90s. I bet Public Relations Founder Ivy Ledbetter Lee and his pals debated the efficacy of carbon paper and the telephone when PR was in its infancy. About this there can be no debate: it is our job to be experts on communication strategy, tactics and emerging tools and that includes social media.  

And besides, social media is fun, so like the old Alka-Selzer catch phrase... "Try it. You'll like it!"

 

Statue of President Barack Obama at the grammar school he attended when he lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. Children at the school today. © 2011 Dick Pirozzolo