WhipperSnaPR

Pod Design and Legal Seafoods have fun with YouTube… check out the latest project:

I thought I’d dig a little deeper than the New York Times on the Delta Zeta issue and came up with a couple of really interesting items.

First, Misblog has been following the issue and has great commentary and a nice background on it.

I also really enjoyed this editorial in The DePauw about how the media has handled the story. I’m, glad the editors at DePauw’s campus newspaper saw this as an opportunity to not only tackle the issue of diversity on college campuses, but also the standards and practices of today’s journalists.

I am a Delta Zeta and my time as an active member is a big part of what defined my college years. That said, I was never one to quietly sit back and let the sorority machine run its course. In college, I was also a student government and political science geek; that means I studied Robert’s Rules of Order and memorized my sorority’s constitution. I was probably one of the least favorite members in the eyes our adviser. I fought her on the validity of several “rules” and questioned her authority to set such “rules.” I was quite the vigilante.

So, I was not surprised to hear that recently the Delta Zeta national officers have gotten themselves into a nice little PR pickle. The background:

On February 25, 2007, The New York Times printed a story titled, “Evictions at Sorority Raise Issue of Bias.” It opens with…

“When a psychology professor at DePauw University here surveyed students. they described one sorority as a group of “daddy’s little princesses” and another as “offbeat hippies.” The sister of Delta Zeta were seen as “socially awkward. … Delta Zeta’s national officers interviewed 35 DePauw members in November, quizzing them about their dedication to recruitment. They judged 23 of the women insufficiently committed and later told them to vacate the sorority house. The 23 members included every woman who was overweight. They also included the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members. The dozen students allowed to stay were slender and popular with fraternity men — conventionally pretty women the sorority hoped could attract new recruits. Six of the 12 were so infuriated they quit.”

The article continues on quoting infuriated members and using words like disrespect, insensitivity and discrimination. It was followed by a letter to the editor on February 27 by several DePauw students. One of them, Megan Bowker, wrote, “DePauw’s campus had always been ablee to pride itself on having a house where any type of girl could belong. When Delta Zeta’s national officers decided to change the image of the DePauw chapter, they changed our campus dynamic.“

This story, of course, got a lot of attention in college newspapers across the country. Everybody loves a good sorority scandal and, at least at my school, the DZs are not known for their compassion. All the while, most stories claimed that the national president of Delta Zeta or any other national officer declined to comment.

On February 28, 2007, Delta Zeta issued a press release/statement. The headline read, “Statement From the Members of The Delta Zeta Chapter of DePauw University.” My favorite part is the first sentence: “As the active members of Delta Zeta at DePauw University, we feel as though we, the National Organization, and the Delta Zeta chapter at DePauw University have been misrepresented.” I’ll get to my thoughts on this momentarily.

Finally, on March 6, 2007, I received an email from the national office. It reads, in part, “Our members are angry and saddened that our Sorority has been so mischaracterized in the media. As Delta Zetas, we know the true story. You are encouraged to speak out for Delta Zeta on your campus, in your school newspaper, and to the local media.”

Delta Zeta has found itself in crisis management mode and they’ve done very poorly so far. I won’t get into how they got themselves into the mess; what I want to focus on is how they are reacting to the news and managing the media coverage.

1. They should have never declined to comment to The New York Times! Are they crazy! Weeks after the article was printed, they are complaining that nobody is listening to their side of the story. But, when somebody was willing to listen they didn’t want to talk.
2. Who wrote this statement?!?! First of all, don’t try to deceive your readers. Yes, I understand the difference between the active members of Delta Zeta of Depauw University and those that have been forced into alumni status, but don’t try to make it seem this statement is coming from the remaining 6 members of the Depauw chapter. Did they even get a chance to review this statement or comment? This statement reflects the feelings of the national leadership, it should say that. Second - Nobody cares how you feel! You do not release an official statement about how you feel you are being bullied…. never. Finally, don’t try to push the blame on to the “campus climate of DePauw University.” Keep digging your hole ladies, you’re doing a fine job.
3. The email to all members of Delta Zeta doesn’t provide any background; maybe I’m too far out of the loop, but I had to google the story. Furthermore, the message puts far too much faith in Delta Zeta members. “As Delta Zetas, we know the true story.” Umm… not if you won’t tell us! If you’re expecting me to infer your noble intentions based on my own memories as an active sorority member, your wrong. I loved being an active member, but I don’t doubt in the slightest that the national organization is capable of something this appalling.

Finally, I’d like to send some sisterly love to all of the members of the Delta Zeta chapter at Depauw University. I don’t know you; I don’t even know if we would be friends if we had the chance, but I feel for you. Remember, you will always be sisters despite what status the national organization gives you. Cherish that and stick together. As a member of Delta Zeta I am deeply sorry you have to endure the consequences of the poor judgment of our leaders. I think it would do a little good right now for all members of Delta Zeta to reflect on our creed:

To the world,
I promise temperance and insight and courage,
To crusade for justice,
To seek the truth and defend it always:
To those whom my life may touch in slight measure,
May I give graciously of what is mine;
To my friends,
Understanding and appreciation;
To those closer ones,
Love that is ever steadfast;
To my mind,
Growth;
To myself,
Faith
That I may walk truly
In the light of the Flame.

My love for wine began almost 4 years ago while I was visiting a friend in Tucson, AZ. We took a day trip to a few southern Arizona vineyards. Who knew Arizona had a wine region!?

My first love was very innocent … The 2003 Sonoita Vineyards Angel Wings, a crisp and citrus-flavored white made from mission grapes. While I was at Sonoita I also tasted the 1989 Pinot Noir, the oldest wine I’ve ever tasted.

My taste, curiosity and affection for wine quickly evolved from there. I learned that I prefer reds over whites and there’s more to red wine than a Yellow Tail Shiraz. I’ve never met a blend I didn’t like and my all-time favorite is the Mak Snowy River, a Cabernet-Shiraz blend… delicious!

Why am I telling the world this? Well, my involvement for wine has moved to a new level and I want the world to know! Now, I’m doing some freelance work for a new Boston-based magazine that’s all about wine! The Second Glass is everything the Wine Spectator is not. We’re fun-loving, free-spirited and tight-budgeted…Read this to get a nice picture of who we are and what we want to be.

So, as I’m embracing this new world of fun, I’m discovering many great things about the Boston wine scene. First of all, Bostonians like their wine! And, many of them are interested in cheap and convenient ways to try more, experiment and learn. If you are one of them, join in the conversation on Yelp.

I hope I have much more to say about this very, very soon!

I just saw this AdAge article about Mun2’s new identity ads; they’re a bit controversial, but really fun. And, as I’m not exactly part of the demographic, I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing this speaks well to their market:

“[The campaign] plays with the idea of ‘Check your balance’ for our second-generation, bilingual demo of young people who live within two cultures,” said Alex Pels, general manager of Mun2 (pronounced “Moon-dos”). “How can you assimilate into [American] culture and retain the identity from your Latin roots? These are all images that reflect part of a certain reality of Latin culture in this country.”

I hope Mun2 intends to expand on the campaign… they could do a lot to build a following from this attitude/idea. For starters, someone needs to get these up on youtube! For now, you can view the ads here. Enjoy!

Now I feel like an hombre again

Yesterday, I mentioned I recently discovered Suldog-O-Rama. One of his posts that caught my eye was from last week, “An odd little scene from the life of Suldog.” It is very disturbing… read with caution.

The general topic, if you don’t want to read it, is about suicides on the T. Suldog witnessed one years ago and was wondering why it was never mentioned in the news. One commenter noted, “the news media does not report on suicides or suicide attempts. I guess it may be out of respect for the families or an attempt at not glorifying suicide. Perhaps that was the case with the man you saw also.”

Interestingly, I got saw an article in the metro this morning: “Transit officer stops attempted suicide” (sadly, the metro does not have a website so I can’t provide a link link thanks adam! - see comment below). Anyway, this article focuses on the “hero” who prevented the suicide attempt rather than the actual suicide. However, I couldn’t help but note the irony of the timing on this one.

If any of you Bostonites listen to WBCN, you probably know who Adolfo is. If not, please let me introduce you:

Now, Adolfo is quite a funny guy. A real piece of work! He is a regular on the Toucher and Rich show and the star of a new game from Pod Design! I’m not ready to show the game just yet, but here’s a preview to whet your appetite:

As a fan of Futurama and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, I enjoy the certain Adult Swim flavor of humor that not everybody appreciates. With that said, I just caught the pilot episode of Frisky Dingo… Love it! Get the run-down here, wikipedia, of course and here’s a quick preview:

Josh posted last week about our trip to DC for various reasons and our many fun adventures while there. To add my two cents:

My favorite part was meeting Mr. and Mrs. Matthews. Chris Matthews is cool and all (my bosses first question was, “Does he yell like that in normal conversations?” answer: yep!) but I was more impressed with Kathleen Matthews who was just recently hired as the newest PR star for Marriott International.

Playing the part of WhippersnaPR to perfection, I was literally drooling over myself trying to get two words in with her. She’s a very popular woman. Hell, she’s a newscaster, PR star and moviestar Unfortunately, this wasn’t the kind of event where one hands out business cards and my current business cards are actually my boss’ with my name hand written on the back (very appropriate for a whippersnapr, I think). So, sadly, I didn’t get to have any in depth conversations with her where I proved my own potential stardom in 5 words or less.

The sighting was inspiring none-the-less.

I guess I need to work on my own media training. I’ve given two interviews in the past six months, one with an AP reporter about using itunes to watch TV shows and the other previously mentioned interview about zipcar with the Toronto Star. This is all I have to show for it… nobody would even know it was me referenced in this story… ugh

So far, my record is disappointing. It only gets worse when you look at my friend’s records; both Josh and Ari (see December 4, 2005) have been referenced (yet, I’m the one in PR! frustrating).