Annual Reports of the Public Relations Committee
2000-2001
Annual Report
AALL Public Relations Committee 2000-2001
Sally Wambold, Chair
PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT 2001
The Public Relations Committee continued the activities of the previous year: writing Spectrum articles, evaluating Excellence in Marketing campaign entries, presenting the Chapter Leadership PR Roundtable, and participating in CONELL Marketplace . In addition, the Committee started a new campaign to capture the essence of law librarianship with the @your.law.library slogans (patterned on the ALA @your.library campaign). The Committee once more sponsored the PR Showcase at the Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. Finally, also new this year was the initiative to establish a Law Librarian's Day.
The Public Relations articles in Spectrum included "New Realities, Old Budgets," "My Excellent Adventure Across the C's of Newsletter Design and Editing," "Are You PR Impaired? How Would You Know?" "Taxing Times Call for Drastic Measures," "The How of PR-New Realities, New Roles," "Show Your Stuff," "Passing the PR Bar," "Food for Thought: Issues Raised at the 2001 SEAALL Annual Meeting that Should be Considered Nationwide," and forthcoming articles on curb appeal, marketing, and the @your.law.library slogans.
The Excellence in Marketing Award evaluations were done by a subcommittee of Fran Bertelli, Claudia Jalowka, and myself, Sally Wambold. Forty-eight entries in all were submitted. The entries of the top three contenders in each category were forwarded to the Awards Subcommittee for EIM which made the final decision. Winners will receive a plaque from AALL and a monetary award from FindLaw. (Note the name-change of the sponsor - from West Legal Directory to FindLaw. This occurred shortly before the Annual Meeting.) The winning entries were Jenkins Law Library (Best Brochure), Justice Libraries U.S. Department of Justice (Best Campaign and Best PR Toolkit), Ms. Abigail F. Ellsworth (Best Newsletter), and Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin (Best Use of Technology).
The @your.law.library project was coordinated by Cheryl Gritton. Law Librarians submitted almost 150 slogans. The winning slogans were seek.justice@your.law.library (by Donna Bausch of the Norfolk Public Law Library) and aided.not.abetted@your.law.library (by Nancy Strohmeyer of Loyola New Orleans). The Public Relations Committee decided both slogans were worthy of recognition. Copies of all slogans were available in Minneapolis.
Representing the PR Committee at CONELL in Minneapolis were Joan Shear, Fran Bertelli, and myself. FAQ sheets were handed out as were the @your.law.library slogans and candy. Fran Bertelli brought pictures of PR Committee activities to share with the CONELL participants.
The Chapter Leadership PR Roundtable was presented in Minneapolis by Carol Bredemeyer, Sue Burch, and Sally Holterhoff. They discussed PR tips/strategies for chapters in various situations. And they suggested ways to face different challenges, with the goal of addressing individual chapters' needs.
The PR Showcase was organized by Joan Shear, Lucy Curci-Gonzalez, and Sally Wambold. Approximately twenty law libraries were represented by various brochures, bookmarks, newsletters, manuals, posters, and other promotional materials which were displayed near the Activities Area at the Minneapolis Annual Meeting.
The first steps were taken to establish a Law Librarians' Day in an effort to publicize the profession. E-mails were sent to some Congressmen and Senators. An initial letter was sent to President George W. Bush. Mary Alice Baish, the Washington Affairs Representative, will send out a follow-up letter to keep the idea before the President.
Many thanks go to
all of the members of the Public Relations Committee for their hard work
this year: Fran Bertelli, Tracey Bridgman, Sue Burch, Lucy Curci-Gonzalez,
Cheryl Gritton, Claudia Jalowka, Joan Shear, and Martha E. Thomas.
Sally Wambold, Chair
Last Updated: December 11, 2002
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