PRSA Buffalo/Niagara - Upcoming Programs and Events

On Feb. 16, an unconfirmed report of a gunman inside UB’s Lockwood Library set in motion the university’s emergency communications plan. Although no gunman was found, the five-hour drama provided a high-stakes test of UB’s crisis-communication procedures amid intensive media coverage, ambiguity about the threat, rumor-fueled social media chattering and public scrutiny of the university’s actions.   

Join us on Sept. 23 and get a first-hand account of how UB communicators responded to the crisis, what lessons were learned and how your organization can better prepare for an emergency.

Joseph A. Brennan's bio:
Joseph A. Brennan, Ph. D, APR, is the associate vice president for university communications at the University at Buffalo. Brennan has 20 years of communications and management experience in higher education. Before joining UB in February 2008 he had served as the executive director of communications and marketing at Ohio University. Before that, he was the senior communications officer at University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., as its executive director of marketing and university relations. He previously was executive director of public relations and marketing at The University of Toledo in Ohio and public relations director at Delgado Community College in New Orleans.

From 1992-95, he was manager of public communications and research support services at UB's Research Institute on Addictions. Prior to that, he served as coordinator of conferences and lifelong learning at Niagara University and was dean of evening and continuing education at Bryant & Stratton Business Institute.

Brennan has worked as a consultant in the field of public relations and has taught at UB, Buffalo State College, Niagara University, Medaille College, Tulane University and University of the Pacific. He is active in PRSA at the national level, as a member of the executive committee of the Counselors to Higher Education section. His work has won recognition from organizations including the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, PRSA and the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations.

Brennan is a graduate of Wayne State University. He earned a doctorate and master's degree, both in English, from UB in 1996 and 1988, respectively, and an MBA in 2007 from University of the Pacific.

On August 12, 2009, Jet Blue announced its “All You Can Jet” promotion, where travelers can fly as much as they want in the month of September for only $599. The next day, friends Joe DiNardo and Clark Dever hatched a plan to quit their day jobs and take full advantage of the opportunity. The catch? They would only allow themselves 12 hours to spend in each city.

Naming the project “Twelve Hours in a City,” the duo chronicled their journey online through their website, Facebook page and Twitter profiles. One month, 30 cities, and thousands of followers later, DiNardo and Dever garnered coverage in local and national media, including TIME Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, CNN News, USA Today and ABC World News Tonight, among many others.

Join us on September 9 as Twelve Hours in a City co-creator Joe DiNardo takes us through the project from conception to execution. Learn how he used social media to spread the word of his travels, gain followers and attract the attention of media outlets everywhere.

Joe DiNardo's bio:
Joe DiNardo created Twelve Hours in a City as a social media experiment to test media outreach strategies and community building theories. Before the project, he was the vice president of marketing for Counsel Financial Services and its sister company, Plaintiff Support Services, where he contributed to a portfolio growth of over $150 million. He is a 2006 graduate of the University at Buffalo, where he majored in Business Administration.

What does it take to build a movement of loud and proud brand ambassadors? More social media applications? Faster technology? Geno Church teaches you the seven lessons on how your brand can build and grow a movement, starting with how to treat people like fans, not customers, and how to allow your fans to share brand ownership. Learn the difference between a movement and a campaign, as well as how to measure ROI. Hear about word-of-mouth case studies, including the Fiskars Brands' “Fiskateers” movement, which now has more than 5,000 members worldwide, and the Effie award-winning Rage Against the Haze youth anti-smoking initiative, which has more than 7,000 active teenagers involved despite a complete state program budget elimination.

You will learn how to:

• Turn product conversations into passion conversations.
• Build and grow a word-of-mouth movement.
• Encourage your customers to be brand ambassadors.
• Measure word-of-mouth ROI.
• Allow your fans to share brand ownership.

About the Speaker

Geno Church, Brains on Fire’s word-of-mouth inspiration officer, is responsible for developing word-of-mouth, buzz, viral and evangelism strategies for the agency’s clients. In his 14+ years with Brains On Fire, Geno has helped build word-of-mouth into the identities of brands including Fiskars Brands, the American Booksellers Association, Rawlings Sporting Goods, and Rage Against the Haze (South Carolina’s youth-led antitobacco movement). Geno has been recognized as a thought leader in both the identity and word-of-mouth realms, and has received awards from numerous organizations, including the 2008 Effie awards and the 2006 Word of Mouth Marketing Association WOMMIE Awards.