There was good news for fans of quality, locally-produced food and supporters of the Manitoba cattle industry earlier this week: Keystone Processors Ltd. opened its doors and announced it was shipping Manitoba-raised beef to local stores.

Dooley Communications organized an official “tenderloin cutting” ceremony (in lieu of a ribbon) that generated a significant amount of publicity. Media covering the event included: Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Sun (I love that print reporters make video now), CBC English TV, CBC French TV, CTV Winnipeg, CKX Brandon, CITY TV Winnipeg, Global Winnipeg and the Manitoba Cooperator. The story was picked up by a number of other print and radio outlets across the province.

So why is a new beef packing plant a big deal? Well, if you’re a fan of high quality, locally-produced food, then you’ll be pleased to learn that Keystone Processors is planning on launching a new premium-quality brand of aged, Manitoba-raised beef this spring. It’s difficult to find premium, aged beef as it is and nearly impossible to find Manitoba-raised products.

But more important is the potential impact the plant could have on the provincial cattle industry. The company plans to make this the first sizable, federally-inspected beef packing plant opened in this province in a generation. That federal licence is needed to sell to national retailers and to export our beef products to the world, including fast growing markets in Asia (where forecasters are predicting most food demand growth will be in the next 50 years).

It also marks the start of the creation of a Manitoba brand of beef. Keystone Processors has an opportunity to capitalize on consumers’ demand for high quality, premium products.

Having a local plant will also be a great benefit to local cattle producers who currently are forced to truck their animals across the continent (Alberta, Ontario or into the U.S.) to get them to market. Once Keystone Processors ramps up its operation, there’ll be another local option that will create more competition among buyers of cattle and one that will save local cattle producers significant transportation costs.

Dooley Communications is working with Keystone Processors on its branding and public relations efforts. Stay tuned. We cooking up some good things together.

For the past couple of months, Dooley Communications has been working to help Manitoba’s newest beef plant get up and running with some branded materials including a new website (www.KeystoneProcessors.com). Keystone Processors Ltd. is in the process of renovating and upgrading the former Maple Leaf pork plant at 663 Marion St. By 2011, the company plans to become federally-inspected, which will give it access to growing export markets as well as to national grocery chains.

It will target the vast and promising Asian markets where rapid economic development in recent years has led to the creation of more affluent middle classes. That economic growth has spurred a surge in demand for more nutritious diets which include more meat.

At the same time, Keystone Processors will also work to process beef for kosher and halal markets in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

I’m very pleased to be working with Keystone Processors. It’s always exciting to develop public relations and marketing strategies for a start-up because the potential of a great idea extends in front of us with nearly limitless possibilities. The Manitoba cattle industry has been hurt badly in recent years. The U.S. border closed after BSE was discovered in Alberta; transportation and feed costs skyrocketed; and last year rains washed away farmers’ fields.

With a new beef plant closer to home, Manitoba cattle producers will have an option in the event out-of-province plants close to them again. More importantly, the new plant makes long term business sense because it will save both producers and Keystone Processors money on transportation. That will also leave a lasting environmental benefit as the carbon footprint of the industry will decrease.

But best of all… Manitobans will have a new source of quality, locally-raised beef to buy. I can’t wait to throw a steak on the barbeque this spring!

 CPRS Manitoba joins Marketwire in hosting second annual award

WINNIPEG, January 19, 2009 - The Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) is inviting nominations for its second annual Manitoba Communicator of the Year Award.

The organization established the award to honour individuals or organizations that have demonstrated excellence in public communications in business, politics, entertainment, non-profits, or the community at large.

Gail Asper and Kim Jasper were presented with last year’s award for their work promoting The Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Their efforts included using a wide variety of tactics - from public presentations to advertising, media and government relations - to secure public, corporate and government support for the museum.

“Last year’s pool of nominees was very impressive and we expect this year’s competition to be just as spirited,” says Adam Dooley, past president of the Manitoba CPRS chapter.

“Nominees, or self-nominees, can be communications professionals, CEOs, community leaders or grassroots activists,” says Dooley. The nominees will be evaluated on the overall strategy, scope, and results of a campaign.

“Creativity is vital for communicators to get messages across credibly and honestly, but equally important is when the message results in significant contributions to the community,” said John Hamilton, president of CPRS Manitoba. “We’re very proud to be able to recognize the best in our profession.”

The Communicator of the Year will be selected by a panel of senior CPRS Manitoba members. The winner will be introduced at a gala luncheon on March 18, 2009 at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg. This year the gala will also offer a program of professional workshops during the morning. The event is made possible through the generosity of principal sponsor, Marketwire. Nomination, workshop, and luncheon ticket information are online at www.cprs.mb.ca. Deadline for nominations is February 13, 2009.

Government Relations Workshops

Kicking off the Communicator of the Year celebrations is a special morning of professional development with a workshop on government relations: “Influencing Government, Regulating Influence”; an educational opportunity for anyone who wants to engage governments constructively and proactively to influence policy or raise awareness about a program, product or service. CPRS Manitoba has assembled high powered experts who will explain Canada’s new Lobbying Act and how to effectively work with governments and strengthen advocacy efforts.

CPRS Manitoba

As the leading professional association for communicators in the province, CPRS Manitoba includes members from corporations, public relations agencies, government departments and non-profits. Members represent a wide variety of fields, ranging from agriculture and health care, to financial services and manufacturing.

For more information on the award, see the Web site www.cprs.mb.ca or contact Adam Dooley, past president of CPRS Manitoba, at (204) 291-4092, or e-mail: adooley@dooleycommunications.ca.

CPRS Manitoba is ready to start the preparations for the second annual Manitoba Communicator of the Year award. As past-president, I’m heading up the committee to oversee the award celebrations. We have plenty of energy already and great ideas on how we can make this year’s award celebration better than the last.

If you’re interested in volunteering, drop me a line at adooley@dooleycommunications.ca.

The award will go to the person or people who have demonstrated excellence in corporate communications and public relations. We had a tremendous field of nominees last year and I expect we’ll enjoy the same kind of response in year two.

Media relations is almost always a crap shoot - especially if you’re pitching soft news. You never know what kind of news day you’ll be up against and sometimes newsrooms can be unpredictable as to what they want to cover.

As a former reporter, I know the first step is to try to pitch a story to the media that’s relevant to their audiences and find something that works in their media. Make sure you have a visual story to tell for television. Make sure you have details and context as well as a good photo op for print. Radio thrives on being instantaneous and requires a good speaker who can break complex ideas down to sound bites. Online media (see all of the above) thrives on immediacy.

Media relations (and media training) is an important part of what we do at Dooley Communications. Right now, we’re doing a lot of work in this regard for UNICEF Canada. Last month, we helped them with publicity around a special meeting on the sexual exploitation of children in Winnipeg. This month, we’re working on the annual Trick or Treat campaign.We have an entire month of events and activities planned and high hopes of earning some positive media attention.

Sometimes being good at media relations means being nimble. Yesterday was a case in point. We heard that one of our UNICEF schools in Regina was holding an assembly today featuring a popular local Canadian Idol contestant. We quickly put together a media advisory and made sure it made it into the right hands of the major media outlets in Regina. This morning, we were pleased to see reporters from two television stations and the major daily paper out to cover the event. I’ll post the links later.

I was on CBC Radio One’s Information Radio this morning. They wanted me to give them a PR person’s view of what’s going on with the Winnipeg Police Service, especially with regard to the ongoing Taman inquiry. The inquiry is looking in to the events that led to former Constable Derek Harvey-Zenk’s fatal collision with Crystal Taman. Harvey-Zenk had been drinking, but his arrest was apparently mishandled and evidence botched. He ended up with house arrest and there was a public outcry that led to the current inquiry.

The public has heard officer after officer take the stand only to (incredibly) lose almost all memory of the events that transpired.

It’s a PR disaster for the police service. More than most organizations, the police need to enjoy the trust and confidence of the public to do their jobs. If their credibility is impugned, their moral authority declines… precipitously. Judging from letters to the editor and countless ‘water cooler’ chats, I think that is exactly what’s happening here.

So what can or should the police do? In my opinion, Police Chief Keith McCaskill and city leaders should take the time during this inquiry (sooner rather than later) to express to both the police service and to the public that they are concerned with what they’re hearing. They should also use the opportunity to remind everyone not to jump to conclusions; the inquiry needs to run its course. But the chief needs to indicate that he is seeing and hearing what everyone else is.

McCaskill’s real work will begin once the inquiry reports its findings. He’ll have to do three things. First, he needs to identify the issues that are causing this credibility crisis. What are the roots here? The thin blue line is an excuse, not an answer. If there’s a culture of entitlement in the police service, he needs to attack it head on. That leads us to the second step: he needs to take action. If that means disciplinary action, then he needs to act swiftly and fairly. Third, he needs to communicate to both the police service itself and to the public at large what he’s done and why he’s doing it. Expectations need to be reset along with the high standards the police are held to.

I have a lot of sympathy for the Chief and for the officers on the force who are being tarred with a big, undiscerning brush. It’s not fair, but it’s reality. McCaskill has already showed a lot of character and leadership by testifying at the inquiry as soon as his name was dragged in to the affair. He needs to show the same grit in weeks and months to come to restore the public’s confidence in the service.

As I follow the almost daily reports on whether Winnipeg will build a new football stadium in Point Douglas, I’m left wondering if it will ever come to pass.

The story was leaked to the press a couple of weeks ago, well ahead of when it should have been made public. I wonder if the ‘leaker’ was trying to torpedo the project? If so, he or she will probably get what they desired. This is a great example of the story getting out in front its proponents. David Asper, the private developer looking to build the new stadium, seemed to be caught flatfooted. The neighbourhood was shocked to hear about plans to bulldoze their houses… go figure … and the rest of the city was just plain surprised that the Blue Bombers were considering a move to the low track.

Asper and Mayor Sam Katz have tried to catch up to the story, but they haven’t succeeded. It’s out and growing and evolving all on its own. Meanwhile, Asper and the politicians are still wading through all the many details that should have been sorted out before making the story public. The plans will no doubt change a hundred times before this project gets real traction and that, more than anything, will probably end up killing it: a death by a thousand cuts.

This is just one more example of the City of Winnipeg getting caught in a communications disaster. I suspect this is a direct (and costly) result of the current city administration gutting its public relations department.

Oh please let the woeful Spirited Energy campaign die. A story in the Winnipeg Free Press today illustrated just how badly the province fumbled its last attempt to ‘rebrand’ itself. The article revealed a Grade 4 class had come up with their own rebranding effort.

They hung their branding efforts on Flatlanders: Our sky goes on forever. Okay, it’s not brilliant, but let’s give the kids credit. They put their heads together and came up with a brandname and a tagline that actually mean something, that every Manitoban will instantly understand, and (best of all) it provides a unique identity.

Someone remind me, what did the province pay for the meaningless pith: Spirited Energy? And yet the article mentions that there’s a rumour the province is trying to revive it. Ugh. Why? It’s a sunk cost, let’s not throw more good money after bad.