September 2016
In This Issue
2016

Board of Directors


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE




President

Ed Byers

Medical Mutual




Vice President
Thom Fladung

Hennes Communications 




Secretary
Amy McGahan

Dix & Eaton 




Treasurer
Carol Kovach

Diocese of Cleveland 


TRUSTEES


Rita Andolsen

MetroHealth 

 


John Betchkal

Retired, GE Lighting 


 

Mary Lou Brink

The Plain Dealer


 

Toni Garbo

Fox 8 News




Jennifer Keirn

Keirn & Co
 
Russ Mitchell

Russ Mitchell

WKYC - TV3 




Lee Moran

The News-Herald 




Kathleen Osborne

Hathaway Brown School 




Mary Patton

Patton Public Relations 




Denise Polverine

WKYC - TV3 




Joe Pulizzi

Content Marketing Institute 




Todd Schneider

FirstEnergy 


Past President


Michael Bennett

Cleveland Leadership Center 


ADMINISTRATION
Lynn Bracic

Professional Management Concepts, Inc. 
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From the President - Ed Byers



September greetings!



Welcome back to our Byliner after a long, hot summer. The Indians are maintaining their lead in the AL Central and we have high hopes that the Browns can finally turn things around this season. Speaking of which, we have some great things planned for Autumn. We will let  you know about a special Browns program, possibly in October.



Preparations for the Hall of Fame in November are underway as we are busy organizing the video tributes to inductees Steve Litt, Mike and Elizabeth McIntyre, Eva Parziale, Romona Robinson, and George Shuba, with special tribute to this year's Chuck Heaton Award recipient, Danita Harris.



We are still in search of corporate sponsors for the Hall of Fame induction event, so if your organization is interested in paying tribute to this elite class of journalists, please let Lynn Bracic know ASAP One of Cleveland's best known corporations is on the verge of coming in, but there is still plenty more room for corporate sponsorship. Give Lynn Bracic a call for details at the Press Club office. She's waiting to hear from you.



Congrats go out to Press Club Board Member Joe Pulizzi for another fine Content Marketing Institute convention, which featured Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame. Many communicators and Press club members are benefiting from Joe's guidance and wisdom. The man never rests.



Finally, I want to call your attention to Press Club Programming Chair Jennifer Keirn's article on our post-RNC event, which was yet another sold out event! Her write-up on this highly successful program follows this column. Way to go, Jennifer, and her committee!



More to come.



-Ed  
August 31 Program wrap-up
by Jennifer Keirn
The Press Club hosted a sold-out crowd to discuss the lessons all communicators can learn from Cleveland's slam dunk Republican National Convention. The Aug. 31 panel, titled "The Party's Over: Lessons from the RNC," was moderated by Dix & Eaton's David Hertz and included Russ Mitchell of WKYC, Rick Batyko of Team NEO, Emily Lauer of the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee, Susan Glaser of The Plain Dealer and Eileen Korey, who served as media relations manager for the event. 


Hertz kicked off the conversation by pointing out that the party's really not over; the RNC's success has been a starting point to creating a new Cleveland narrative in the national media. Lauer and Batyko described the national media relations strategy that they immediately launched when Cleveland was awarded the event, and how that strategy has unfolded since, including a virtual encyclopedia of Cleveland story ideas and media resources created by Lauer and Korey and distributed to visiting media.  


As travel editor of The Plain Dealer, Glaser spent the week talking to people visiting Cleveland for the event, and shared her perspectives on how visitors perceived our city before the event, and what she heard from them as they departed. As a journalist who has covered 11 conventions, Mitchell provided his thoughts on how Cleveland's handling of the event contrasted positively to those of so many other cities. 


Did you miss the event? Check out Janet Cho's excellent wrap-up of the event on Cleveland.com
   

  

    

Welcome new members

John O'Brien, Jr., Co-publisher/ Editor, Ohio Irish American News, Deputy Dirctor, 35th Annual Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival 
 
An author, columnist, poet, publisher and spokesman, John Francis O'Brien, was honored as one of Irish America Magazine's Top 100 Irish Americans. 


He was named a United Irish Societies 147th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade Honoree. 


John is a communications specialist for Cuyahoga County government, assigned to the sheriff's office.  He is co-founder, co-publisher and editor of the ten-year old Ohio Irish American News and a founder and now serves as Deputy Director of Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival.  He is the author of four books. 


John serves on the boards of Irish Network Cleveland; The Northern Ohio Rose of Tralee; the Sean Moore Memorial Irish Vocals Scholarship; The Irish American Hall of Fame and is founder and directs Speak Irish Cleveland.
Linda Scardilli Krecic, Spokesperson, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority 
 
A senior-level strategic communications and external affairs professional, Linda Scardilli Krecic serves as spokesperson for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority where she handles crisis communications and media relations at the local, state and national levels. Krecic has 20 years' experience in public relations agency work, crisis and reputation management, and issues communications. Arenas include public transit, education, insurance, healthcare and a U.S. Senate campaign. Krecic earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism, Summa Cum Laude, from Ohio University. She lives in Columbia Station with her family.


Thank you for the warm welcome to The Press Club of Cleveland.
Job Opportunity


The Cleveland Jewish News is seeking a full-time reporter with a passion and "nose for news." You will cover breaking news, hard news, spot news, features and other stories as assigned for our award-winning weekly newspaper and website. The ideal candidate will be social-media savvy with proficiency in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. As a multimedia journalist in our newsroom, you will have the ability to take photos and videos. Our reporters also will write long-form stories for our award-winning lifestyle magazines such as Jstyle, Bar-Bat Mitzvah, Canvas and others. 


If you can develop sources, know how to work a beat, want to scoop the competition, excel in a fast-paced newsroom, respect deadlines and are looking for a career in a collaborative environment where you'll always feel appreciated and rewarded for great work, you're the person we're looking for. We compete with all other media to break stories and have won more than 60 awards for our writing and design in the last three years, including being named best non-daily newspaper in Ohio in 2015 and 2016 by the Cleveland Press Club.


You should have a minimum of two years of daily newspaper experience or equivalent, be a self-starter, work well independently as well as be a team player, have the ability to handle multiple assignments, adhere to rigorous deadlines and produce high-quality content. Knowledge of AP style is a prerequisite. Recent college graduates who have demonstrated that they meet the above requirements will be considered. Weekend and night assignments are involved.


If you're confident in your skills and think you have the drive and motivation to thrive in this environment, then we encourage you to submit your, resume and three clips to [email protected]. Reference "Your next reporter" in subject line.
 


Thanks to 2016 Corporate Sponsor:


 


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