Wisconsin Family Farmers, Music Industry and Farm Aid Band Together to Help Drought-stricken Oklahoma Farmers

August 2011

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Trucks carrying hay donated by Wisconsin farmers arrive today in Oklahoma City to assist farmers and ranchers devastated by drought in the area. The plan came together at the annual Farm Aid concert, held Saturday, August 13, in Kansas City, Kan., where farmers shared stories of parched farmland and starved livestock.

“Farmers come to the Farm Aid concert from all over the country, and the natural disasters that have affected farmers this year were a common theme. Oklahoma farmers said their region had such terrible drought that many farmers and ranchers could not feed their herds and had no choice but to sell their animals,” said Joel Morton, Farm Aid’s Farm Advocate. “That’s when the idea came together—farmers with hay would donate to farmers in need and Farm Aid would find a way to provide transportation.”

The haylift is possible through the generosity of family farmers seeking to do what they can to help their fellow farmers. Wisconsin-based Family Farm Defenders put the call out for hay donations and farmers stepped up to the plate to deliver. Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund also took direct part in planning the haylift. The hay will be delivered to the Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project, which is coordinating distribution.

“We’ve had fifty-two days straight of 100-degree weather and we just plain need hay,” said Willard Tillman, executive director of the Oklahoma Black Historical Research Project. “We deeply appreciate the help and look forward to returning the favor should Wisconsin farmers ever be in trouble.”

Also immediately answering the call to help family farmers are the professionals who produced the Farm Aid concert. Charlie Hernandez, Farm Aid’s 2011 concert production manager, is the founder of Just a Bunch of Roadies, a coalition of companies and individuals in the live touring industry formed in 2010 in response to the Haiti earthquake. Within hours of receiving Farm Aid’s request for transportation, Hernandez had secured two trucks donated by Shomotion LLC, a company providing specialized transportation and logistics solutions for touring acts and special event production.

Other parts of the U.S. have been drastically impacted by drought and Farm Aid hopes this will be the first of a number of haylifts. If you would like to donate, or have hay or transportation to make available, please contact Farm Aid at (617) 354-2922 or gro.diamrafnull@plehmraf.

CONTACT:
Brandi Horton
(202) 248-5462
moc.mmocnavnull@notrohb

Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. Since 1985, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $39 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.

Remembering a patient listener and extraordinary communicator, Saul Solorzano

August 2011

Photo courtesy of Franklin Garcia

Though it may not seem to be the case, any great communicator has to be a great listener as well, and there is no doubt that Saul Solorzano was just that. I met Saul more than 20 years ago when I was just learning to speak Spanish. Though my aptitude wasn’t great, I have always been a person with a lot to say, and Saul would listen. I am not sure how much of what I said made sense or if it was even that comprehensible, but Saul listened with the patience of a man much older and wiser than his years. This capacity to listen patiently, to wait and ruminate, and then break into an ear-splitting grin when he had something to say is what I will always remember about him. His incredible ability to listen, and listen and then listen some more put so many people at ease, because they truly felt heard. And so when he spoke on behalf of the community, people really felt that his words were those that they had shared with him, that his vision was made of up of so many voices and ideas from the community in which he lived and served for so many years. Saul—community leader, father, husband and extraordinary communicator for D.C.’s Latino community—was laid to rest today. Saul Solorzano, presente!



Today is World Photography Day

August 2011

Today is World Photography Day, an annual event celebrating photography through the simple act of sharing photos with other people around the world. This year, Vanguard staff chose to participate by submitting photos they have taken which are not only visually interesting, but also illustrate a lesson in effective communications. Enjoy!

Crystal Borde – As a new photographer with a digital camera, I took photos of everything. I didn’t spend time composing my photographs. It took a while at the U.S. Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon to take this photo. From this experience, I learned that beautiful photographs take preparation and time. Photography and graphic design are very similar in that regard. Like great photographs, well-designed products require strategic thinking, time and lots of patience to be great. For creative, effective materials, communicators must “aim high” like the U.S. Air Force motto, and as the U.S. Coast Guard say, we must be “always prepared.”

Andrew Overton – I took this photo at a Bon Iver concert at the 9:30 Club on Aug. 1. Simply using the Instagram and Twitter apps on my iPhone, I was able to edit the photo and share with my Twitter followers in seconds. It’s incredible to see how mobile technology and social networks have created living, breathing documentation of history—whether they’re small, intimate concerts like this or ground-breaking events like the Egyptian revolution and the London riots.

Brenda Foster – I’ve found that photography is about more than just being in the right place at the right time. It’s really about anticipating what the right place is going to be. During a beach vacation, I saw this Great Blue Heron stalking a fisherman, so I began stalking the bird. The heron was very bold, and in no time he had walked right up beside the fisherman hoping to steal the catch from his line. An odd couple was born.

Kathy Keller – Yes, dogs need good PR too! I volunteer with a local dog rescue, and so I know that the key to finding a home for them is to get great shots to post on their adoption profile pages—shots taken at their most relaxed moments. And everyone knows splashes of color are great at getting attention, so we have our dogs wear colored bandanas at our adoption events—and the photos of them are attention grabbers!

Rhea Jones – This photo ties into persuasive storytelling – it’s of my Aunt Laurel and her dog Brutus. The colors, background elements and expressions all play a part in telling the story. The picture makes the viewer feel like they’re experiencing the event firsthand.

LeAnne DeFrancesco – You’ve really never had a corn dog?! I didn’t think it was possible that people my own age in America could have missed out on this state fair and carnival delight. Like in social marketing campaigns, this revelation demonstrates that you should never assume you know everything about your audience … Focus group testing almost always reveals some surprises! This photo was taken just before my colleagues tasted their first corn dogs at Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City.

Cameron Lane – I took this photo with a common point-and-shoot digital camera. It took nearly 30 minutes of scrolling through the camera menu, playing with the settings, and waiting for the right light to get this shot to come out the way I wanted it to look. This was certainly a case of making the best of the tools at hand to create something that perfectly communicates a moment.

How to Bet Op Ed Success

August 2011

In Sunday’s New York Times, the third richest person in the world penned an op ed asking President Obama and Congress to raise his taxes. Since then, Warren Buffett’s op ed is appearing everywhere. Political commentators are discussing the viability of his recommendation to tax the wealthiest in the U.S., media outlets are writing stories examining his perspective and, arguably most important, everyday people are using social media to share Buffett’s recommendation that the nation “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich.” Links to Buffett’s op ed are appearing over and over again in my Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn news streams.

Photo courtesy of MedillDC on Flickr

What makes this op ed so special? It offers the elusive op ed trifecta: timeliness, an element of surprise and byline credibility.

1. Buffett’s topic is timely and relevant. Many valid opinions exist about how best to address society’s ills, but only the most timely can make it into the news cycle. Buffett’s op ed comes on the heels of the debt ceiling debate and the tensions between balancing the budget and raising taxes.
2. Buffett’s position is surprising and intriguing. What really catches readers’ attention, though, is his unlikely opinion about taxes. Buffett expresses an eager willingness to pay higher taxes to generate more government revenue, which is likely not an opinion shared by many of his fellow billionaires. Buffett, whose individual wealth could cover a significant portion of the United States’ debt, gives permission to U.S. policymakers in his op ed to tax wealthy Americans like himself at the same rate as the working public.
3. Buffett is perceived as a credible expert. Attaching Warren Buffett’s byline to this op ed makes people want to read it and later discuss his surprising opinion with others. People know Buffett understands economics and the current financial crisis better than many, so when he goes on the record with recommendations about what the government should do to generate revenue, people will listen.

Sharing op eds and news articles now is so easy with social media, offering new opportunities to get a position out to a larger audience, as Mr. Buffett discovered. I suppose the rest of us taxpayers are so pleased by his willingness to share the tax burden, we’re sending his message to our friends and followers on social media. Buffett’s message spread via social media because his ideas validated what some Americans think about increasing taxes on the rich. Whether his plan is a good idea or not, Buffett’s op ed struck a common nerve; when your op ed is able to articulate a sentiment shared by many, you expand the number of people reading and recommending your op ed to their family, friends and colleagues with the click of a button. While people tend to also share op eds or articles they disagree with on their social media profiles, favorable positions tend to put an organization in the best light and generate positive responses from the social media community.

The increased integration of social media is raising the stakes for op ed success: Whereas the op ed trifecta used to be necessary for just getting your op ed placed, it is now essential for ensuring sharing via social media.

On the Road to Farm Aid to Save Family Farms

August 2011

While many are hitting the road to Kansas City, Kan. this weekend for Farm Aid 2011, DCers got a taste of Farm Aid much closer to home earlier this week. On Monday, a contingency from Vanguard and other Farm Aid supporters turned out to support Will Dailey’s Road to Farm Aid tour at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Va. Boston-based Dailey and his band The Rivals played a rousing set featuring old favorites and some energetic new material, getting the crowd excited for his performance at this weekend’s Farm Aid concert at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

A Farm Aid veteran, Will and his band conceived of the Road to Farm Aid tour as a way to raise awareness of Farm Aid’s mission to help strengthen and revitalize our food system in the days before the Kansas City concert. Stops so far have included Cape Cod, Mass., Philadelphia, Pa., and Louisville, Ky. Each stop has featured remarks from Farm Aid’s local partners, contests to win tickets to the concert, merchandise and more. It’s a great idea that may become a Farm Aid tradition going forward.

Tomorrow, Will will join Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews along with guest artists such as Jason Mraz, Jamey Johnson, Jakob Dylan and Rebecca Pidgeon in playing to a crowd of 25,000 in the brand new LIVESTRONG stadium, which is home to Sporting Kansas City, the city’s major league soccer team. While certainly no stranger to the Midwest, this will be Farm Aid’s first time in Kansas. The state is home to more than 65,000 farms, 85 percent of which are family-owned, and so it is a place where Farm Aid’s work is being carried out every day. Farm Aid brings the farm experience to concertgoers via family farm-identified, local and organic concessions, as well as HOMEGROWN Village, an opportunity to rub elbows with farmers and other local contributors to the sustainable agriculture movement.

This will be my fourth year volunteering at Farm Aid, and talking to Will after his show on Monday reminded me of the incredible commitment Farm Aid artists show to family farmers and the Good Food movement. They’re volunteers too; they travel their entire crew on their own dime, sometimes to play just a few songs given the full lineup at the event. And yet they are always incredibly gracious when we run them around to do media interviews or appear with farmers on the HOMEGROWN stage. So while Farm Aid is a cool musical festival, it’s the importance of the mission and the collective energy of the hundreds working together to help carry it out that keeps me and others coming back year after year.

In Memoriam: Ray Anderson, Green Business Champion Communicator

August 2011

As communicators for social change, we know that our work won’t produce instant results, won’t necessarily earn us millions and won’t always be valuable in certain people’s eyes. As a green business pioneer Ray Anderson said, “Well, it’s hard. It’s the work of a lifetime. It takes an awful lot of patience and stick-to-itiveness.”

Photo courtesy of whiteafrican on flickr

Anderson passed away Aug. 8 at age 77 from cancer. In 1994, he read Paul Hawken’s book “The Ecology of Commerce,” which explains the environmental havoc that businesses and industries wreak. The book shocked him into reforming his carpet business, Interface. His goal — “Mission Zero” — was to produce zero waste, have zero impact and leave zero carbon footprint by 2020. A self-proclaimed “recovering plunderer,” he wanted to “take from the earth only what can be renewed by the earth naturally and rapidly, not another fresh drop of oil, and to do no harm to the biosphere. Take nothing. Do no harm.”

While some people might think those views would be terrible for big business, Anderson effectively communicated that his reforms had the opposite effect. His costs went down and he attracted more customers because they wanted a company that was doing good by the environment. In addition to speaking about his work, Anderson wrote two books. He said, “Our people are galvanized around this shared higher purpose…[a]nd the goodwill of the marketplace is astonishing.”

This view also stands true in social change communications. PR agencies frequently get a bad rap for having soft drink and apparel clients, caring only about the bottom line and only doing “corporate social responsibility” to make a good impression. I’m proud to work at an agency that is galvanized by this shared purpose. Whether it be environment, education or mental health-related, it’s amazing the quality of work that emerges when employees are motivated by the power of positive social change.

Farm Aid adds KC Hometown Favorite Hearts of Darkness to Concert Lineup

August 2011

Bernadine Healy: Communicating Loudly and Proudly for Women’s Health

August 2011

Some people communicate for social change with garden shears, slowly trimming the landscape to a more pleasing picture. Others communicate with a machete, lopping off deadwood and anything else that gets in the way of change.

Photo courtesy of NIH

Bernadine Healy, who died Aug. 6 at 67 of a recurrence of brain cancer, was one of the latter.

Healy’s career goal of medicine was established by age 12. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, she became a cardiologist and held positions at Johns Hopkins University and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, among many other prominent organizations. Calling medicine the most noble of endeavors, Healy took the established medical culture and whacked away at the old, established ways of looking at patients, particularly women in mid-life and older. She later became the first woman to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH). If you see a public service announcement outlining all the symptoms that can mask a woman’s heart attack — such as fatigue or indigestion — you can thank Healy, who communicated loud and long that women were not just miniature men, and in fact needed their own course of study, which became the $500 million Women’s Health Initiative at NIH.

Like many outspoken communicators, Healy was not universally beloved and her knack for ruffling feathers in “old establishments” led to the end of her relationship with several organizations, including the American Red Cross right after the September 11 terrorist attacks. But her communications style cleared the path to a better understanding of women’s health, and her innovative policymaking has certainly saved countless lives through prevention.

Healy once said of her professional accomplishments: “I am proud that I never compromised my core beliefs, never wobbled on what I believed to be the right path and had the strength to endure both.”

What a terrific message for medicine and communications.

Upton Sinclair: Influential Investigator

August 2011

August 2011

“I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

― Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair Jr. was a prolific author whose most acclaimed work, “The Jungle,” exposed the brutal conditions of the American meatpacking industry and led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

Sinclair was born on Sept. 20, 1878 in Baltimore, Md. He studied at Columbia University and wrote dime novels and magazine articles to pay for his tuition. He continued to publish after he graduated, and in 1904 he was commissioned by the editors of the popular socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason to examine the lives of Chicago stockyard workers. He spent seven weeks undercover in the city’s meatpacking plants, learning every detail about the work itself, the home lives of workers and the structure of the business. “The Jungle” was born from this research and was first published in serial form in Appeal to Reason. In 1906, “The Jungle” was published in its entirety.

With the instant success of “The Jungle,” Sinclair became a true “muckraker,” a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt about reporters who were working to expose the downside to the Industrial Revolution. No novel since “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” first published in 1851, had made such a social impact. Public pressure led to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act, which established the Bureau of Chemistry that later became the Food and Drug Administration. Ultimately, Sinclair was disappointed that the novel had become known for exposing tainted beef rather than the poor treatment of immigrant workers, including women and children.

With the income he received from publishing “The Jungle,” Sinclair founded the utopian Helicon Home Colony in Englewood, N.J. In 1913, he moved to California and became actively involved in politics, organizing the socialist reform movement End Poverty in California (EPIC). He wrote and produced several films, including “¡Qué viva México!” in 1930-1932. He also hoped to become the Democratic nominee for Governor of California in 1934, but was defeated by Frank F. Merriam.

Sinclair died on Nov. 25, 1968. The Upton Sinclair House in Monrovia, Calif. is now a National Historic Landmark.

Galvin Electricity Initiative Leadership Update

August 2011