Where Do You Stand?

Just one part of what’s special about our team at Standing Partnership is every person’s excitement about giving back to our communities. The commitment began with the firm’s founding in 1991, but I admit I was blown away recently when a team member pointed out that we have helped nearly 50 civic and charitable organizations as community partners to date.

Just before our company’s 10th birthday, we formalized the partnership selection process. Now, we select several nonprofit organizations annually and commit to share our time, dollars and expertise. We value these community partners and treat them as if they were full-paying clients.

This year’s St. Louis partners are:

• Center for Character & Citizenship (UMSL)
• Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition
• KidSmart Push for Pencils
• Old Newsboys Day
• Our Little Haven
• Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis
• Siteman Cancer Center
• Social Venture Partners
• Stray Rescue of St. Louis
• United Way of Greater St. Louis

Virginia office partners are:

• PACEM (People and Congregations Involved in Ministry)
• Virginia High School League

Our partnerships vary:

• Some of our projects are “done in a day” … such as the Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition’s fundraising kickball tournament. The Standing team won two games and raised money for a great cause!
• Other projects bring together a full Standing “client” team to handle a short-term consulting assignment, manage a branding effort, develop a social media strategy, or oversee a longer-term media relations training and outreach program.
• Some support takes the form of direct financial contributions or sponsorships of partner events.
• Some long-term nonprofit Standing clients have also been our community partners … when we have believed in their mission and decided to provide additional services to help accomplish important goals. Sometimes there just aren’t the resources to do everything.

Anyone who doesn’t believe one person – or a small company – can make a big difference, you may be surprised how wrong that idea is.

We highlight our community partnerships on our Web site, and I encourage you to nominate your favorite charity this November when we will vote as a group on our partners for next year!

I’ve been catching up on my industry reading (thanks to del.ici.ous and my ever-informed colleagues) and came across this piece in Business Week. Legitimate and respected news sources are now doing their editing, layout and yes, even LOCAL NEWS reporting from Mumbai.  In the spirit of The Olympic Games, I’m all for sharing best practices and maximizing efficiencies… but come on! I think this insults the profession of journalism and adds another layer of doubt that we, as communicators, have to overcome. “Pay no attention to that editor behind the curtain, er, hemisphere.” Sheesh.

In a July 21 article titled “Flexible schedules work best when thought out, detailed,” Chicago Tribune reporter Barbara Rose looks at the pros/cons of flextime in the business world. She points out that rising fuel prices may be spurring some organizations to be more flexible about - flexibility.

I’ve been flexing at Standing Partnership since 2002. I generally work four days a week and try to work from home a couple of days out of the month.

The key words are “generally” and “try.” In order for this to work for my employer, clients and me, I have to be flexible too. That might mean taking a call or an assignment on my day off, or adjusting my days to meet a client need.

Making sure this works for my colleages is equally important, so once a year we survey all employess (about many things) and include questions about how flex schedules are working.

We also make sure that our office hours are covered during normal business hours. Today, that means a colleague and I have volunteered to answer the office phones since we have the option (during summer Fridays) to allow the staff to leave early if they have completed their assignments and are not otherwise needed.

What are some ways your business is adding flexibility to its work week?  What’s working? What’s not?  Gotta run - the phone’s ringing!

I work part-time for Standing Partnership, which (for me, at least) means I’m in the office two days a week reveling in my “adult” time working away and the other three days enjoying “mommy time” with my two little Princesses (yes, that is a deliberate and well-earned capital P). I keep my laptop open on my kitchen counter and glance at emails as I pass through during the day, just to stay up on the latest…and because I’m a bit obsessive that way.

Given my OCD, I thought it would be a great idea to update my cell phone to a snazzy little Smartphone. I had visions of being a multitasking queen - fire off an email while the Princesses hit the playground, catch up on my favorite blog while waiting for dance class to end, play on Facebook edit an important work document while hiding in the restroom hanging out with other moms during a playdate.

Are you laughing at me yet? Yeah, I totally deserve it.

You can imagine what happened next. I nearly broke my nose walking into a playground while texting someone. I missed the announcement about dance recital shoe color because I was reading a blog entry, thus causing what my family now refers to as the “Great Tap Shoe Meltdown of 2008.” And, I’m now looking for new playgroups but am finding them all mysteriously “full” - I think I’ve been blacklisted.

Here’s what I learned from this experience:

1) Verizon will kindly take back said Smartphone within 30 days with no hassles. (Love you, Verizon!)

2) Boundaries are a good thing.

Every one of my clients - and everyone at Standing - has my cell phone number. They can call me anytime, 24/7, and I’ll take the call. I’ve talked with clients while at home nursing babies, giving baths and participating in tea parties. But, do I really need to have email at my fingertips round the clock? Does it really help my clients to scan RSS feeds with one eye while keeping the other on the kiddos? Was I more productive with constant access to everything I need to work?

For me, the answer was no. In fact, I think I even got a little less productive, because I was trying to do everything at the same time - and doing none of it very well. My clients deserve all of my attention when I’m at work or when there’s a crisis, just as my family deserves all of my attention when I’m not at work or when they have a crisis - even if that “crisis” is a skinned knee or broken heart (we take “So You Think You Can Dance” very seriously around our house).

So, if you really need me - or if you know of a very forgiving playgroup willing to accept a mom with a slightly dented tiara and a busy cell phone - give me a call. I promise I’ll be there.

One of the newest trends currently emerging in the traditional publishing world is the cross-niche, global magazine. Apparently, reading up on culture, society, international affairs and everything in between in one compact publication is where readership is going – or, at least where publishing houses want us to be. Illustrating this point is the lot of new publications that are seamlessly merging a wide variety of topics into one package. Take for example, a personal new favorite of mine, Monocle magazine, from the publisher of the widely successful Wallpaper magazine.  

Monocle, as described on its Web site, “is a global briefing covering international affairs, business, culture and design and is developed for an international audience hungry for information across a variety of sectors.”  Further blurring the lines, its publishers call it “more of a book than a magazine.”  Monocle maintains a high level of quality content through its extensive network of bureaus all managed from central command in London and is presented in a simple design chock-full of interesting photography.

In our increasingly interconnected, global world, these new media outlets are tapping into a new truism – connecting to the global community is accessible, important and relevant. What happens in Mumbai may not affect your daily life, if you are in say, Minneapolis; but what Monocle does well is its ability to open your viewpoint to new ideas and trends that can easily be translated to your work or personal life. 

As I was driving to work listening to KWMU I heard a statistic on American Public Radio’s  Marketplace Morning Report that surprised me:  According to a poll taken in April by the Conference Board, fewer than 40 percent of Americans planned a summer vacation this year – the lowest measurement of planned vacation in 30 years. Perhaps more startling to me was that the average American worker earns just 14 days for vacation in a year. I went online and found this CNN report listing the U.S. second to last (above Vietnam) for minimum paid vacation.  Reviewing the list was interesting.  For example, I know my Canadian in-laws that work for the government receive four – six weeks paid vacation per year – something not represented on this chart.

Fortunately for me, I’ve been at Standing for nearly 10 years and have earned four weeks of vacation.  But what about those who, for a variety of reasons, have to change jobs every three-or-so years?  Is two weeks of vacation adequate to maintain a high level of productivity, job satisfaction and still address the needs at home?  In today’s economy, are people willing and able to take vacations? What do you think?

If you’re like me, you’re anxiously awaiting and counting down the days until the Olympic games begin. In preparation for 8/8/08, several members of the Standing team will be entering a little competition of our own. No, we won’t be traveling to Beijing, but rather Fenton, Mo. Nonetheless, our Standing team, a.k.a. the KickStands, will be suiting up and charging the kickball field (and crossing our fingers to not break any bones!) in hopes to bring home the gold.

As part of our commitment to the St. Louis community, we will be supporting one of our community partners, Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition (FACC), by participating in its Second Annual Kickball Tournament. All proceeds of the tourney will help raise money to find forever-loving homes for foster children in the St. Louis metropolitan community. If you’d like to donate to this worthy cause, send your donation to FACC, 111 N. 7th St., Suite 402, St. Louis, MO 63101.

If you’re looking for a good laugh and fun entertainment, stop by Fenton Park, 1215 Larkin Williams Road, anytime between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Wish us luck!

This spring, I was given the opportunity to serve as a judge for the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil Awards. We call these the “Oscars of our industry,” and I’m pleased to say that Standing Partnership has earned two Silver Anvils: one for our work with Ranken Technical College on an integrated communications program and the other for Mercy Health of Northwest Arkansas for crisis communications - and one Award of Excellence for the St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Healthy Kids at Play community relations program.

It was valuable to be “on the other side of the table.” This peek into the world and work of other agencies and organizations afforded me two insights - first, that the public relations industry is doing great work for large corporations and small companies, for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations across the country. The second, and more important to our clients, is that after spending eight hours pouring over 22 entries, I was reminded of the expertise, industry knowledge and high-quality counsel that Standing Partnership provides our clients every day.

A few months ago, we tallied the results of our annual client survey, and while having a shiny silver statuette to display in our trophy case is a wonderful accomplishment, the real reward is knowing that our clients trust Standing Partnership to protect and enhance one of their most valuable assets - their organizations’ reputations.

A rather benign conversation last week with a friend in
Argentina quickly turned into a heated discussion when she began explaining her newly chosen profession as a “BlueCaster.” Not familiar? Don’t feel bad, neither was I.

She explained BlueCasting as a proximity marketing technology that uses WiFi signals and Bluetooth enabled devices to transmit advertising messages. In a real-life setting this translates to billboards and adverts beaming messages to passing Bluetooth devices such as your mobile phone. This all means that advertising is about to get much harder to ignore. But that may not be a bad thing, in fact, it just may be what consumers want – the ability to accept advertising that is relevant to them on their terms.

My first reaction to learning about this technology was how intrusive BlueCasting sounds and it is, but my friend quickly calmed those fears by explaining the simple solution – just turn off your Bluetooth.

Time will tell if BlueCasting is relevant to consumers. If marketers can deliver exclusive or valuable content, I believe it will work. If not, it may become another annoyance in our hyper-connected lives. In the meantime, I fully intend to support my friend, albeit cautiously, in her new endeavor as a “BlueCaster.” However, this all may change on my next trip to visit her should my mobile be inundated with her handiwork.

I recently attended KidSmart’s 2008 Push for Pencils campaign kickoff (which earned me a “Walking the Halls” award; thank you, Justin). KidSmart is a local nonprofit that supplies 40,000 St. Louis-area children with basic school supplies that they could not afford otherwise. To jump-start the Push for Pencils campaign, which will take place the last week in August, KidSmart hosts a breakfast for its corporate partners at its free store. It’s a great opportunity to share ideas and stories about successful drives; to hear from students and teachers who benefit from these supplies; and to see the free store, where teachers from qualifying schools can shop for their students – for free!

I got involved with Push for Pencils two years ago, when Standing hosted its first drive, and I have been increasingly involved ever since. When I first learned about KidSmart, its mission and the profound need for the support it provides, I was stunned. I’d like to avoid sounding naïve here, but let’s face it, I was. Pencils, paper, crayons, notebooks … these are all things I took for granted as a kid, but to many children (80,000 in the St. Louis area, in fact), these are luxury items! To hear one teacher describe it, her kids’ faces light up when it’s “KidSmart Day.” (You can listen to more stories here.)

Needless to say, I am thrilled to be leading Standing’s upcoming Push for Pencils charge … and I’m looking for ways to further expand our drive. Do any of the Where Do You Stand? readers have any suggestions? Would you be interested in hosting a drive? Or, would you be willing to bring a pack of pencils when you visit our office next? Some of Standing Partnership’s corporate partners have already gotten involved: Mayflower Transit has donated a moving truck to help store all of the collected items, and the St. Louis Rams will be hosting the team’s first PFP drive this year!

KidSmart’s list of most-needed supplies are: pencils, markers, crayons, glue, loose-leaf paper, scissors, spiral notebooks, backpacks, colored pencils, two-pocket folders, pens and supply boxes.