Oil Spill White Paper On Deepwater Horizon Spill PR Response

June 1, 2011

It starts like this: "In the spring of 2010 the tourism industry in Escambia County had every reason to be optimistic. Every indication, from advance bookings for the coming tourism season to rising bed-tax collections, was that the industry was poised to finally recover ground lost following Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and the subsequent downturn in the economy. An air of confidence was palpable among area businesses."

Many of us know the rest of the story only too well: Oil on the beaches and an economic downturn that came to be called the "Lost Summer" of 2010. Through the worst of the spill EW Bullock assisted the short-staffed Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau getting out the daily message about Escambia County's beaches and the larger story of the economic devastation and psychological impact brought on by the spill.

This spring, with most of the spill behind us and the prospect of a strong tourist season, the EW Bullock staff determined we needed a white paper outlining the crisis, our response to it and the results. The paper, posted on VisitPensacola.com, recounts the many steps we quickly took when the oil threatened, including everything from updated talking points for staffers at the Visitor Information center and staff of area hotels to responding to dozen of media inquiries from around the globe.

The white paper, "BP Oil Spill and Escambia County Tourism Crisis and Recovery: Communications Strategies and Effects," also demonstrates the result of our efforts to soften the economic effects of the spill which had the impact of maintaining higher lodging revenues overall than counties to our east and west, as shown in this chart.

When we asked ourselves (and others asked us as well) what made the biggest difference as to why Escambia County seemed able to hold on a little better during the spill and bounce back more rapidly afterwards, we could only point to one thing. While some other counties took the money given to Gulf Coast counties by BP to help offset the economic impact and poured it into one-hit promotions like big concerts, we at EW Bullock and the CVB made the decision to produce a 30-second TV ad we called "The Other Side of Pensacola," that focused on things to do here – touring historic sites, eco-tourism on unaffected inland waterways, culture and shopping – away from the beach. We played that ad nationally. Comparing the numbers, we think our strategy worked.

Susi Robichaux Morphs Into VOCUS Queen

June 20, 2011

Our own Susi Robichaux recently returned from a four-day VOCUS conference in Baltimore where she dined on crab cakes (more on that later), made good use of the Inner Harbor, heard from cutting-edge professionals in the public relations and media relations field, and rubbed elbows with everyone from the folks who work for Martha Stewart, domestic goddess, to government types, VOCUS junkies all.

What is VOCUS? Glad you asked. It is on-demand software for public relations, marketing and communications professionals. Used by more than 4,000 customers worldwide, it is available in seven languages. (We're embarrassed to say we only use the English, though Susi, who was raised in Memphis and is a former Delta State Starduster, does speak fluent Mississippi Deltaese.)

VOCUS allows for news and social media monitoring and management. That means if somebody out there writes or says something good (or bad) about one of our clients or about our hometown of Pensacola, we know it right away. It also allows us to make sure the news we spread around for our clients is distributed to ALL the right people through an extensive database of media contacts, thousands of them.

All in all, VOCUS is very helpful to us and beneficial to our clients. And now Susi is an official VOCUS Queen, able to use the service to its fullest potential. Ask to see her tiara.

(Oh, and about the crab cakes. Susi called her first night in Baltimore to say that, while the Maryland-style cakes are good, they just can't hold a candle to the yummy crab cakes at The Grand Marlin Restaurant and Oyster Bar on beautiful Pensacola Beach. We're putting that review out on VOCUS.)

Mike Craney To Speak in Summer Seminar Series

June 27, 2011

What do you get when you combine a guy who has the personality of a salesman, loves social media and is fluent in speaking geek? Our very own Mike Craney.

He's the one who figures things out when the Internet goes on the blink, when the phones don't work or when someone has committed a stumble-fingered move on the computer that seems to have plunged us back into the glue-pot and linotype age. And he's the one who stays on the leading edge of social media and technology in marketing, keeping us up-to date on the latest trends, tactics and practical applications.

Mike is a featured speaker at the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce's five-week seminar, "Social Media & Your Business: How to Grow Your Online Presence." Mike, who is speaking on "Going Viral: Media Sharing," joins people like Caron Sjoberg from Ideaworks, Dechay Watts from Sprout Content, and Shelley Yates from The Fish House. They'll give you different aspects of using Twitter, Facebook and the like to grow your online presence and, as a result your business.

The seminars are each Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. from July 13th through August 10th. The cost is $20 and that includes lunch. Only the first 15 get in. Hurry, it's a good deal. For more information go to http://bit.ly/jfFGwV

And rest assured, though Mike can hardly refrain and the season draws nigh, he has promised not to mention Auburn football. At least not while you're eating.

Sara Surber: EW Bullock's Latest Star In the Making

June 27, 2011

Go to ewbullock.com, click on "the team" and when the 12 photos pop up, click on the picture in the lower right-hand corner. Presto! Sara Surber! Nice smile.

(You might also note that there is a direct correlation between the age of the people in the staff photos and which ones of us who are smiling. Just sayin',)

Anyway, back to Sara. A native of Tulsa, Sara came to our attention when she was interning at the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, a client of ours. Sara, then a UWF student, was unfailingly bright, eager, willing and brimming with ideas.

So when we started looking around for someone to step in a take a full-time position with EW Bullock, we interviewed and accepted resumes from an awful lot of attractive and talented people. Somehow we kept coming back to Sara. She's younger than some of our kids and that's good. When you have young talent around it helps keep you honest and your mind in the game.