Megan Neher

Author

Feb
11 ^th

I’m Flexible!

Posted by Megan Neher —

Two articles caught my eye in the January/February issue of IABC’s Communication World. Above The Fold and Make Your Own News both resonated with me and the transition my business has underwent in the past three years. It’s been a natural transition – thankfully – and one in which I’ve been excited about. Let me tell you why.

Above The Fold tells the story of the sad decline of print media. This is particiularly troubling to me because I majored in print journalism and truly enjoy reading a printed newspaper daily at my kitchen table. I started reading it each morning with my breakfast in high school and it’s been a daily ritual since. Of course, it also impacts my PR business leaving fewer reporters and publications to pitch stories.

Make Your Own News is how companies – many just like my clients’ businesses – are responding to this decline. And this is the exciting part. I’m busier than ever writing for blogs, shooting photos and video to post online and keeping up with clients’ Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.

I’m stealing a line from the article, but it’s a good one and it’s what I’m telling my clients about the transition: “used in the online environment, storytelling can reflect passion, uniqueness and immediacy.”

It’s this “storytelling” – or otherwise known as news or public relations – that can create a personality for the company. It offers an opportunity for us PR people to put some creativity into our writing, use imagery and demonstrate an identity for a brand that the old-style of PR and press releases simply didn’t allow for.

Again, I still can not accept that I won’t be reading a newspaper at the kitchen table. (My laptop doesn’t fit as comfortably on top of my cereal bowl.) But, with this transition, I’m thrilled to be writing stories that connect us with the past/present and help define what is authentic about someone… even if it is just for a computer screen.

Jul
23 ^rd

Communications for the Good!

Posted by Megan Neher —

Someone asked me recently what my intentions would be if I started another new business. I knew right away that it would be to help others/communications for the good! Of course making millions of dollars would be nice too!

I’ve enjoyed being a part of several local organizations that are doing good for others in addition to owning my own business. Some of this is because of assignments from clients. And some is pro bono work I’ve volunteered to do as a way to offer my expertise to various organizations for which I feel a particular passion. I encourage any entrepreneur to loan their skills to nonprofits. Not only will the charity benefit, but you will too as you network and grow your expertise.

We are working on another charity benefit this month on behalf of a client and it’s very rewarding. It has been a pleasure to serve on this committee as a representative of my client, Zona Rosa. We have a long list of other nonprofits and clients for which we’ve helped organize charity galas and/or benefits including: River of Refuge, Ronald McDonald House, Infiniti of Kansas City, Synergy Services, Salvation Army, Hillcrest Transitional Living, Love Fund for Children, Wonderscope Children’s Museum and Harvester’s Food Bank.

Jul
02 ^nd

Diversity – even within professional organizations

Posted by Megan Neher —

When I moved back to Kansas City from Scottsdale, Ariz. six years ago and decided to start my own PR business, I knew I needed to join an organization to network, continue my professional development and meet people. But which one?

The most important thing I was looking for was diversity. I wanted an organization that was made up of individuals who offered a variety of skills, skill levels and even diverse professions. It wasn’t going to help me much to sit around with a bunch of people who were exactly like me!

That’s my favorite thing about IABC. However, what I’ve discovered as I finish my year as president of KC/IABC is that marketing to this diverse group, even within a single professional organization, can be challenging.

We enjoy a fantastic membership of graphic designers, ad buyers, newsletter writers, corporate communicators, PR professionals, photographers, events planners, social media experts, videographers, communication strategists and the list goes on and on. And, we welcome all professionals who may fall into the vast category of business communicators to join one of our meetings to see what we’re all about. In fact, we’ve created a variety of special interest groups as a way to cater to these vertical categories within our organization, and it’s been a huge success.

So whether you’re a senior vice president of corporate barbeques, director of lengthy complicated corporate jargon, manager of chaos or even CEO of really cool projects, we hope you’ll consider KC/IABC your home and offer your feedback on ways we can make you feel more welcome. Thanks for making this year as president of KC/IABC a tremendous opportunity.

Feb
28 ^th

KC/IABC Wins

Posted by Megan Neher —

The Kansas City chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (KC/IABC) received a Chapter Management Award for financial management, as well as a commendable achievement award for website of the year, at the annual IABC Leadership Institute conference in Orlando in Feburary 2009.

As chapter president, I’m especially proud of these awards. I can’t take credit for either one, but I’m still proud.

These annual awards recognize leadership abilities, management skills, creativity and teamwork of outstanding leaders from more than 100 IABC chapters worldwide. The judges praised KC/IABC’s overall fiscal responsibility and management of large-scale events, including the annual Bronze Quill awards program and the chapter’s annual Business Communicators Summit.

KC/IABC’s recently updated website was selected as the best website of the year. Judges cited adherence to brand, use of graphics, ease of functionality and member resources content. The site also received recognition for its new social networking and member directory content.

(Thanks to board member Melanie Deardorff for developing the new site on behalf of the chapter. She’s pictured above on the right along with me on the left, IABC chair Barb Gibson and Dan Dillon, last year’s prez.)

The entire board of directors for KC/IABC was thrilled to be recognized at the conference. We were also energized to enter next year and hopefully will win even more chapter awards in 2010! Especially since KC/IABC is a five-time winner of the International Chapter of the Year award… it might be time to bring back that honor to KC.

For more information on IABC’s Kansas City chapter, visit www.kc.iabc.com.

Jan
20 ^th

KC Star’s Restaurant Critic a True Professional

Posted by Megan Neher —

I work with many local and national journalists, and few I consider friends. Lauren Chapin, the restaurant reviewer for The Kansas City Star was one of those friends. Her untimely death in December was a shock and hurt more than the death of a casual colleague should. For whatever reason, it really resonated with me because of the season, because of her writing about her family and because of our relationship, albeit a mostly business one.

And, I’m not unusual. It seems she was a remarkable person to many. The late Lauren Chapin left an indelible imprint on Kansas City’s culinary community via her restaurant reviews and food writing, so much so that local restaurants, suppliers and friends are hosting a benefit event for her daughters.

The event titled “Four Stars for Lauren” will be at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29 at the Boulevard Brewery, 2501 Southwest Boulevard, KCMO. Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased in advance online at http://fourstarsforlauren.eventbrite.com/.

The tribute event to honor her memory will raise money for a college fund for her two teenage daughters.

Restaurants and other businesses supporting the event include the American Restaurant, Blanc, Bluestem, Capital Grille, Le Fou Frog, Hereford House, Jasper’s, JJ’s, La Bodega, McCormick & Schmick’s, NoRTH (my client!), Ophelia’s, Hotel Phillips, Pierpont’s, ReVerse, Room 39, Café Sebastienne, Michael Smith, Café Verona and Webster House.

I plan to attend, and I’d love to see you there.

Nov
25 ^th

Nostalgia merits newsworthiness sometimes

Posted by Megan Neher —

To some degree, newsworthiness is subjective. For example, there are those who’ve recently reported that they do not see the news value in covering the Kansas City Fairy Princess at Zona Rosa. Of course as the PR representative for Zona Rosa I would strongly disagree.

After working as a newspaper reporter for The Olathe Daily News following graduation in print journalism from Kansas State University and then later as the business editor for The Lawrence Journal World, I learned to decipher the difference between something that had news value and something that didn’t. This has become very important as I now counsel clients on this very topic as a PR consultant.

In fact, I also use this as my best piece of advice that I give new graduates or college students as they intend to enter a career in public relations. Work as a journalist – even if it is only at your student paper so you can understand news value.

If the Fairy Princess was just another Santa Claus sitting on a chair visiting with children from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day at the mall, then I too would agree that she didn’t have any real news value. I would write a press release and expect to be listed in the community calendar section of the newspaper.

But maybe those whom deemed her un-newsworthy do not know her history. Maybe those who claim she shouldn’t merit a news story in The Kansas City Star do not understand the nostalgia that surrounds her. And perhaps those who criticize the coverage haven’t heard of The Kansas City Museum and the efforts they’ve put into preserving this important history for our city.

Some might say this sounds a little over the top, and it might be. But, year after year, women and men from all over the city and beyond come to Zona Rosa to thank the development for preserving the history of The Kansas City Fairy Princess. To them she’s not just a pretty young woman who visits with children, but a relic of the city and a beloved reminder of past Christmases

Nov
16 ^th

Kansas City Star is Missing Out

Posted by Megan Neher —

The Kansas City Star is overlooking an important industry in its business coverage: residential real estate. I see coverage from time to time regarding commercial developments, but what about residential real estate?

I’m from Kansas City and grew up reading The Kansas City Star. I majored in journalism and worked as a newspaper reporter for five years before getting enticed by the world of public relations. I lived in Phoenix, Arizona where – as you can imagine – residential real estate news makes the front page on a weekly basis.

As a full time working professional, I read the business section with particular interest, but I’m dissatisfied by the constant corporate coverage. I would assume that there is only a small percentage of your readers who are interested in daily business news concerning labor, banking, telecommunications, agribusiness, technology and legal industries, but that most of these readers are homeowners.

A common topic of interest seems to be residential real estate – whether you own your own business, just moved to town, have lived in the same home for 50 years or are unemployed. It’s the one topic that is of common interest across all industries and reader demographics. (Now, to be fair, I have to confess that I have a real estate company as a client, so I’m especially in tuned with this coverage.)

And, I’m not talking about the New Home section. I understand that this special advertising section. Nor, am I talking about Sunday’s House & Home section, which is a feature section about home decorating and home styles. What I think is missing is the business news coverage of real estate.

At all times residential real estate should be a big story, but there’s no more important time than now with the recent mortgage crisis leading to many of our ecomonic problems. In fact, it’s common for many big daily newspapers, such as The Arizona Republic and the Las Vegas Sun do full section special reports annually on residential real estate.

As far as I can tell, there is not a reporter assigned to cover residential real estate – The Star and of course with the recent layoffs I highly doubt they’ll be doing any hiring. This has been an issue I’ve discussed with the Star’s editors for many years.

General story topics that are of interest to the typical reader might be:

• Where are the city’s best home values? Are new and resale homes in the outskirts of the city (Gardner, Smithville, Blue Springs, Lee’s Summit) still listing at good prices?

• Which cities offer tax rebates for homeowners? I know Bonner Springs does, do others? How is it working?

• Lake homes, such as Lake Quivira and Lake Lotawana have varied home prices. I know the homes are expensive on the lakes, but they also vary greatly from one house to the next. For example, a $180,000 homes sit next door to $600,000 homes. And, the land of these homes usually makes up about 50 percent of the home’s value – not a typical percentage for most homes.

• Where are new KC residents drawn? I just talked to a woman and her husband who moved here from California and only looked on the Plaza and Mission Hills. I was surprised.

• Are families moving to Kansas City, Missouri despite the bad reputation of the school districts? I hear they are, which in turn is improving the districts.

• Luxury homes sit on the market for months because of the low demand in this area. How do Realtors market these high priced homes?

• Where are homebuyers bidding for homes and ultimately offering more for the home than the asking value – and is this still happening anywhere now that market is down? How do you handle this situation as a buyer or as a seller?

• Kansas City, Kansas development is a big story and will continue to be one. What about the homes over there? Bonner, Basehor, Edwardsville are platting land as fast as they can to prepare for the demand of homeowners – with most of these cities planning to double in size in the coming years.

• Many real estate agents specialize in HUD foreclosures and are selling most of these properties to investors – either people wanted to fix up the home to sell or use it as a rental property. How does this business work? Who can bid on these auctions? Can you get a good deal?

• Renovations that pay – What can the average homeowner do to their home to increase its value? Do local remodeling companies have appraisal information to share with customers?

• Homeownership as an investment. I just met a young couple who bought a home in Waldo two years ago for $130,000. They just had it reappraised this year for $170,000 so they could get a home equity loan to remodel the kitchen. But, with the recent mortgage news, they’re tentative.

• Rural living in Smithville area is getting more popular. A new development is under construction featuring two-acre lots priced up to $110,000.

• Who is using the federal tax credits available to buyers? Do agents know how to market those to buyers struggling to come up with the money?

Anyway, you get the idea… And, I have many more story ideas where these came from.

I enjoy reading The Kansas City Star and will continue to do so, but I’m shocked that for the past five years that I’ve lived here, I think I can count on both hands the number of locally written residential real estate stories. I hope one day they will wake up and smell the coffee.

Aug
26 ^th

Olympic Communication

Posted by Megan Neher —

Synchronized diving, swimming, beach volleyball and, of course, gymnastics. The Summer Olympics capture all of us – if only for 16 days.

Being part of a global organization, such as the International Association of Business Communicators, makes me think about the communication that goes on among Olympic athletes. Of course many of these athletes don’t speak the same language, just as some of our membership from across the world doesn’t.

It can be tricky to communicate with someone who doesn’t speak your language (and sometimes embarrassing) as you try your luck with a few common phrases heard on TV and mostly relying on grunts and rudimentary gestures. But surprisingly – just like a sly one-year-old – we usually get our point across.

I finished a cross-country drive with my kids this week and was thinking about these amazing athletes. Not only are they living their dream as Olympians, they’re visiting one of the world’s most exciting cities. I imagine they are wandering through the Olympic Village, attempting some non-verbal communication within the enormous international community. I’m envious. What an unbelievable adventure, even as a spectator, to soak up the ambience of Beijing at this time.

It reminded me of another international adventure that feels like a lifetime ago. I spent a high school spring break in Mexico with family. I returned to Shawnee, Kansas, and wrote a emotional commentary for my high school newspaper lambasting the communication skills of spring breakers – especially their treatment of the Mexican tradesmen. After digging through two boxes in the attic at my parent’s house, I found the piece (yes, my mom and I somewhat of a pack rats). I was Megan Mullikin back in 1989, but as you will see if you click the link below, I was just as opinionated as the Megan Neher you know now!

Thankfully, I’m confident the Olympians in Beijing use much better communication in the international scene than my classmates did during their weeklong freedom at Padre Island. U.S. Olympic personalities like Michael Phelps, Shawn Johnson and others help ensure we’ve buried the persona of the Ugly American forever!

Older Posts →

← Newer Posts