Currently back home in Los Angeles sorting through the mountain of info I collected at the 2009 Marketing and Communications Workshop.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi!  One final happy note from SF - the group from Honolulu Rail Transit threw up their shakas while riding BART, and we’ve got the art to prove it.

From left to right: Honolulu Rail Transit’s Ed Nishioka, Laura Pennington, Sarah Blane, and Patrick Williams.

Thanks to Sarah Blane from HRT and Melissa Jordan at BART for taking the time to share this. A great time was had by all. If you weren’t able to come this year, hopefully you’ll make it next year. Rumor has it the eyes are on Florida for 2010.

And yeah, I’m waiting for the presentations too. I think Jack got back yesterday so hopefully you’ll see a link to them soon. See you next year!

EDIT: Do YOU have pictures from the workshop that you’d like to share here?  We want to see them!  Email me at ffriesema@foothilltransit.org with your pics and stories.

Yesterday, the Marketing and Communications Workshop attendees were taunted by a GORGEOUS San Fran day.  This morning?  Well, the picture above says it all.  We woke to more of the same rain and gloom that greeted us when we arrived here on Sunday.  We can’t complain too loudly though - SF residents have been teetering on the edge of a severe drought for a while now.  Even with these latest storms filling their reservoirs, people are a bit antsy.  So let it rain.

Yesterday was a busy day for me.  First there was the Call Center Challenge - go read about it, if only to admire the chutzpah of Tom’s jacket choice.  Then I met up with Virginia Miller and talked shop (one of my favorite things to do at these conferences…plus Virginia is a delight.  PIOs of the transit world - if you haven’t touched base with her yet, do so immediately.  She will rock your media relations world.).  We did a little Lobby Blogging, complete with photo shoot, and then enjoyed piping hot bowls of wonton soup.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable tasks for me at this workshop, aside from the blogging, was moderating the “Marketing Through the Ages” session.  I had brought my camera in hopes of getting a few shots of the presenters and the crowd assembled, but I was too riveted to aim.  We had a room of about 35 attendees and boy howdy did the questions flow!  To everyone who came and listened and asked those probing and intelligent questions - THANK YOU for your patience.  It was hard to keep track of who was next in the line up and I know you were all itching to get outside and soak up some vitamin D.

Alane Masui from Sacramento Regional Transit District started us off with an in-depth look at her super successful  teen intern program.  Then APTA’s Mantill Williams previewed the new Go Green, Go Public PSA campaign (coming to a city near you - get on board!).  And we ended with a really intriguing senior guide program, presented by fellow APTA workshop blogger Jennifer Kalczuk from The Rapid in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Again, ALL presentations from this workshop will be available online.  Eventually.  :)  Jack and Mantill and everyone from APTA are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to make this workshop the worthwhile event that it is.  Thanks for your patience while we help them breathe and chill for a bit.

Heading out for a chai hot chocolate at Bread and Cocoa (ask for Ryan…he did the pretty design on my cocoa the other day.), and then it’s back down to L.A. for me this afternoon.  Maybe more later.  I took a cable car ride that tweaked my brain about what makes transit work so well in some places (like SF) and not in others.  Being in a city where transit is so ingrained in the daily life of its residents has been so enlightening.

Virginia Miller @ the 2009 Marketing and Communications Workshop (photo by Felicia Friesema)

Hi Folks:

Yesterday we had a terrific Media Coaching Session and it was GREAT! With about 40 people attending, it was a big hit.

The coaching team was led by Mary Currie, public affairs director, Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District here in San Francisco. She adapted a media course she had previously developed just for the PIOs. Additionally serving as media coaches were: Linton Johnson, chief spokesperson & department manager, media and public affairs for BART; Morgan Lyons, director, media relations of DART (Dallas); Richard Maloney, director, public affairs SEPTA (Philadelphia), and me (Virginia Miller, senior manager – media relations for APTA in Washington, DC.).

In the past 5 ¼ years that I have been at APTA (I can’t believe it has been that long), I have had the privilege of getting to know my fellow media coaches. They are experienced, wise “media wizards,” who have seen it all, been through it all, and pull off feats of magic every week. And I can call on them anytime for words of wisdom and help. A special thanks goes to Linton Johnson of BART , who has had a very busy and trying time this year, for making the time to be a media coach.

I wish you all could have been there for the give and the take and the messaging and “press conferences” on transit scenarios. There were people of all levels of experience and no matter your level, there was something for you.

At the very beginning, I asked everyone to come up with nouns that would describe who they are as a PIO. It was interesting to hear everyone’s perspective. Felicia Friesema (a big blogger on this site) came up with “wordsmith.” Tom Holden said “confidant. “ I suggested “referee” …when you sit in on an interview with a principal; you have to act as a referee. For example, if the interview was set for 20 minutes and there are only 2 minutes left, it’s time for the “referee” to step in and “blow the 2 minute whistle.”

I also see myself as a “storyteller.” I highly recommend the book, the Story Factor by Annette Simmons. It is one of the best books I have read on how to be influential through using story telling. And when I talk to reporters about what is going on across the country with public transit, I am telling story after story…

Mary Currie said she thought of the word “fisherman” (or maybe “fisherwoman”) because she is always fishing for information from reporters on what they really need or are up to!) And certainly, I am sure we are always fishing for information in our organizations. And when I pitch an idea and a reporter bites, it’s a good fishing day for me. 

Thanks again to my fellow coaches and to all that attended. It was a great session because of everyone’s participation.

I look forward today to attending the PIO Shop Talk session where we will get together, meet each other and share our stories. (Back to the storytelling!)

From tarantulas to strippers to anger management patients to people requesting door-to-door service, the Call Center Challenge is a minefield of customer service obstacles that is not for the faint-of-heart or the unsmiling.

I think the one word that comes to mind in describing this year’s contestants is unflappable. These men and women have seen and heard it all. But in the end there can be only one. And the winner is…

Robyn Jeoffroy from MARTA nailed it (Can I pick them? Seriously, she was en fuego!). It was a good competition with some all-too-realistic scenarios that made a lot of us just nod knowingly.  Congratulations, Robyn!  And big kudos to all of our other contestants - you did your agencies proud and reminded us all of how important the work you do really is.

(BTW - nice jacket, Tom.  I totally respect you for it.)

Currently sitting in the Call Center Challenge…SO MUCH FUN. The picture above (missing Robert who was inside on stage) is of a few of the waiting contestants (with Rose from APTA on the far left…Robyn just to the right of her is currently up on stage making it look EASY) and really, based on those genuinely happy smiles? It’s going to be a TOUGH competition. More to come!

One of the many benefits of working for APTA is the opportunity to travel to conferences and workshops like this one; and an added benefit is sampling outstanding restaurants all over the country (I’ll never forget the incredible find in Milwaukee’s Lake Park Bistro).   And even though I didn’t step outside the hotel for a single moment today and the thought of another hotel meal in a meeting room was more than I thought I could bare,  my attitude quickly changed upon meeting my dinner companions.  Tonight I had the distinguished pleasure of meeting and celebrating with the 2009 APTA Call Center Challenge finalists.  This evening, APTA’s Customer Service Challenge Task Force hosted a dinner for the seven Call Center Challenge finalists.  What a group of outstanding individuals.   Here’s to Betty, Robert, Robyn, Lashon, Shelly, Shannon, and Mary.

I wish you all luck in tomorrow’s competition. Although we’ll ultimately have only one winner, in my book you’re all winners.  Thanks for a great evening and thanks for your often unrecognized service to the public transit industry.

The one thing that I have really enjoyed about
being part of this industry is that every day is
completely different. Today was a perfect example
of this within the conference. In what other
world do you learn that cows are suspects in police
reports in Montana, moderate a panel,
eat ice cream while discussing logos, and
get thrown into a press conference role play
scenario with only 15 minutes to prepare? I can’t
imagine this occurs in a variety of industries,
however, I have never been to a conference
loaded with accountants, so I can’t speak for
all groups.

The interaction and energy at the conference
has been really great so far and I can’t wait
to see what else is in store. To top it all off,
blogger is now in my job description. How cool is
that?

Hope you left some room in your suitcases! If the bagloads of information being carted away were any indication, this was a very successful marketing exchange. Some of you might want to weigh your luggage before going to the airport–those “too heavy” fees are pretty steep. A special shout out to Greater Bridgeport Transit. Our esteemed panel of judges selected their entry as the best of the green materials, which were all grouped on one table. Although the “prize” was all the things left over from last night’s reception…

Thanks to all the table moderators who did an excellent job of keeping the discussions flowing. Although really, do marketers need a lot of prodding to talk?

Hope you found some new ideas from the materials or the discussions or both. This is one session where everyone contributes and everyone benefits and that is probably why it remains one of the most popular sessions year after year.

Keep the conversations going!

Part of the advantage of attending conferences is the change of perspective that it gives you.  It’s so easy when managing crisis after crisis (Fellow PIOs?) or trying to put together a campaign or event to get into a narrow point of view.  Getting out of your normal routine is vital to keeping things fresh and alive in your career.  So we go to conferences, meet new people, share ideas, and, of course, eat.

The Hilton is smack dab in the middle of Chinatown. After a day of swimming in ideas, it’s really nice to walk out the door and try some of the best Chinese food that the city has to offer. Then it’s back to business. I’m currently in the Media Coaching session and getting a brainload of good info on all aspects of media relations (Linton (BART) and Virginia (APTA) are my PIO heroes). I’ll be posting about that later on for all my PIO people out there.

I did double duty this morning and hit both morning sessions – Dump the Pump and Marketing and Communications in a 2.0 World (my own favorite – I’m addicted to Facebook and use it often as a tool for media relations – friend me! ).

Doug Bartlett from BART detailed an impressive response to his agency’s Dump the Pump campaign (donuts and coffee are a helpful media relations tool apparently). His presentation has more salient details, downloadable here shortly.

Linda Somilleda from Foothill Transit introduced a few new and interesting elements to her agency’s Dump the Pump campaign. The most intriguing to those assembled was the use of Transit Ambassadors on Dump the Pump Day – staff in easily identifiable t-shirts on hand at major bus stops and stations to guide new transit riders through the unfamiliar world of public transportation.

One thing that was apparent from both presentations was that this past year’s Dump the Pump campaign was incredibly timely and created a huge buzz on top of the already loud and regular media coverage about rising gas prices. Huge return on investment across the board – visibility, ridership, sustained interest from media, new rider recruitment, etc.

Jack @ APTA mentioned the APTA Dump the Pump Toolkit available online at apta.com and is looking for new ideas of things that might be helpful additions to the 2009 toolkit.

I then shimmied over to the main ballroom for Marketing and Communications in a 2.0 World. Standing. Room. Only. It was all about blogging, Facebook, Twitter, video and podcasting, and creating dynamic content.

The big scare factor for a lot of people entering the Web 2.0 (or social networking) world is unpredictability of the conversations generated by these open forums – both the flaming insults and questionable analogies (BART’s Melissa Jordan highlighted a “monkey butt” comment that illustrated this perfectly. Download the presentation for details. It’s a hoot.) and the joy of hearing firsthand about great transit experiences straight from your customers. Web 2.0 is FULL of transit lovers and haters (not unlike the offline world), and like it or not (I’m of the ‘like’ category), it’s an unignorable part of the new transit communications paradigm. It’s about creating discourse and creating opportunities between the public and the agency that serves them.

Brave new world or gigantic calamity waiting to happen? The jury still seems to be out at a lot of agencies, but the ones who are plowing forward are adapting in ways that echo into everything else they do to market public transportation.  All the presentations are full of useful and compelling info if you’ve been stuck on how to convince other people in your agency that this is something you need to do.

At today’s Marketing and Communications Committee meeting, Jessie Baginski (LAKETRAN), chair of the Passenger Information and Wayfinding Task Force discussed the group’s efforts toward standardization of how the transit industry presents information to the public.  This worthwhile effort is part of APTA’s Standards Development Program.  Perhaps the task force will take a page from the European transit system cited below (see image) and adopt a standard that this important safety message be carried on all transit vehicles.  LOL

Seriously, thanks to Jessie and her task force for getting this important initiative off the ground.  Your work will serve the industry for years to come.

Greetings from not-so-sunny California! I’m currently sitting in the Marketing and Communication Committee meeting on the fourth floor of the San Fran Hilton looking out the giant picture windows over this beautiful city and seeing nothing but rain and bleak, gray skies. That said? Nothing but sunny dispositions and smiles in here.

For those of you who are reading this back home and are lamenting missing out on all these  good ideas and networking opportunities - fret not. These are exciting times for marketers in public transportation and APTA is looking to keep everyone involved.  One of the first things mentioned in the Vice Chair report was how to keep people engaged in what we do at these workshops when people can’t travel. This blog is a great tool for that, so we hope you check back often for workshop updates. Jack Gonzalez on the APTA staff has done a great job recruiting a team of on-site bloggers, and we’re all going to be ticking away our observations throughout the week.

Speaking of Jack, he did say said that all the presentations from this week’s workshop will be downloadable here at apta.com.

But back to Vice Chair Bonnie Arnold’s question – how do we keep you involved when you can’t travel? The Marketing and Communications Committee has a bevy of task forces that need your help and ALL of them are looking for new members to help them reach their goals. I’m listing them for easy reference below. Hopefully Jack can come in later and give more specifics about contact info for the various chairs. If you’re interested in contributing your considerable leadership skills and marketing savvy to any of these task force groups, step forward and be counted…

Authorization – Alice Wiggins, Chair

Conference Programming – Jennifer Kalczuk, Chair

Customer Service Challenge – Richard Maxwell, Chair and John Metzinger, Vice Chair

Ridership Experience *NEW* - Kathy Shaw Clary, Chair and Dan Dawson, Vice Chair

Passenger Information and Wayfinding – Jessie Baginski, Chair

Outreach – Linda Somilleda, Chair (and my boss at Foothill Transit – she’s great to work with!) and Cynthia Baker, Vice Chair

Advertising Revenue *NEW* – Barbara Moulton, Chair and Jeffrey Kaley, Vice Chair

More later!  The task forces are currently in their breakout sessions and I’m heading into one of them.  By the way, if you have a wish list of blog topics you’d like to see here, PLEASE comment below.  We want to make this a useful tool for helping you stay involved, even if you can’t be here in person.

Cheers!

Felicia Friesema, Marketing and Communications Manager - Foothill Transit

After an uneventful plane ride of nearly six hours , I arrived in San Francisco this afternoon.   Unwilling to shell out $9 for a boxed “meal” on the plane, I arrived starving.  So my first stop in the City by the Bay was Chinatown.  After a delicious lunch at Cathay House of California, I was presented with a fortune cookie.  All of which got me thinking, what good fortunes would I hope  for transit marketers this week?

1. He who hopes most will see his marketing budget increase by 50 percent.

2. He who travels great distances to a workshop, will mysteriously see all work back at the office completed by someone else.

3. May your riders and boards bestow great honors upon you.

Let me know what message you’d hope to see inside your next fortune cookie.