Lo and behold the return of the Bateman Buzz Meter, our ranking of recent newsworthy events based on PR and Social Media effectiveness. As always, please comment on any current news headlines or PR stunts you think are worthy of the Buzz Meter.

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Today we publicly announced our selection as agency of record by NatureBridge, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco and the largest residential environmental education partner of the National Park Service. NatureBridge currently operates four campuses in Yosemite National Park, Olympic National Park in Washington State, Golden Gate National Park and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and each year serves more than 40,000 participants through field science, youth leadership and teacher training programs.

Environmental education is a pre-requisite for a sustainable planet, yet it continues to be misunderstood, underfunded and even ignored. This is especially true in our public schools where, much like the music programs our client Little Kids Rock aims to protect, hands-on nature and science courses taught out in the field are among the first to be cut. In response, NatureBridge has set ambitious goals to expand the program nationwide and inspire even more students in more places to become advocates for the planet.

This win is a key addition to our Green/Sustainability practice formed on Oct. 25, 2010 made up of companies, both for profit and nonprofit, offering products and services designed to protect natural resources and embrace the concepts of environmental integrity and social responsibility. The bi-coastal account team, consisting of myself, Tyler Perry, Shannon Hutto and Kathleen Stuart, will work closely with our fantastic internal contacts Susan Larson and Brea Jones along with a soon to be hired new PR director.

We feel very fortunate to be able to compete for and win accounts where the organization’s mission so closely aligns with causes and issues we as an agency (and individuals) feel so strongly about, namely managing climate change, living a more sustainable lifestyle and protecting the planet for future generations. Welcome aboard NatureBridge!

Today, it’s my pleasure to share with you some exciting news — two recent developments that together mark a big step forward in our agency momentum. In a press release issued yesterday, we announced that Recyclebank has retained the firm to serve as the company’s PR agency of record, handling all corporate, partnership and consumer communications, effective immediately.  What began last year as a small retainer to build awareness of the company’s innovative partnership program has now grown to multi-faceted, full-service relationship encompassing communications programs targeting all of the company’s core audiences: consumers, corporations and cities and municipalities nationwide. Under the watchful eye of Tyler Perry, Recyclebank has grown into one of our largest accounts, now serviced by a bi-coastal team of five people and growing.

Which leads me to our second piece of news — Bateman Group also announced today the opening of our new offices in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope! With Recyclebank as a flagship account, our plan for the Brooklyn office is to focus primarily on working with companies located in the New York Metropolitan area looking for consumer lifestyle and consumer technology PR expertise. The new outpost will also support current Bateman clients located throughout the Eastern U.S., Canada and Western Europe, particularly those accounts where having team members based in a time zone closer to the client’s own is a service requirement.

We’ve always taken care to build a geographically diverse client roster to protect against regional economic slumps. When the recession hit Silicon Valley in late 2008 and leads from Northern California slowed to a trickle, we found great companies eager for our special brand of communications in places like Hamburg, Germany (CoreMedia), Madrid, Spain (Panda Security), Reading, England (The Open Group), Toronto, Canada (Platform Computing) and Stamford, Conn. (Protegrity). Even though today we’re seeing a steady resurgence in business from Silicon Valley, we continue to work towards our goal of becoming one of the most respected agencies nationwide. Our expansion into New York City today represents the first of many important milestones in that quest.

As for Recyclebank, allow me to share one of our first major initiatives as agency of record. We’re spearheading media efforts for Recyclebank’s Earth Month “Green Your Home Challenge”, a nationwide consumer contest running from April 1, 2011 through April 30, 2011 that aims to educate, motivate and inspire people to live more eco-friendly lifestyles. Be sure to check it out!

Proving just how short the shelf life of a news story has become – even one in The New York Times  - the heated debate sparked by Claire Cain Miller’s July 4^th article on the Evolution of PR in Silicon Valley has cooled down considerably since last week. Known simply as “The Article” in PR circles, Cain Miller’s piece really hit the collective nerve of an entire profession – and the subsequent histrionics and grandstanding were a sight and sound to behold. This was one of those rare occurrences – like the Rodney King verdict or O.J. Simpson trial – where you felt forced to take sides. Either you were with Brooke Hammerling, defending both the woman and her “relationships are everything” style of PR, or you were against her… and with Ms. Cain Miller by default, a difficult position to defend given her not-so-hidden agenda to set Hammerling up for maximum vapidity.

The relationship between the media and PR professionals is a complicated one. This is why articles on the PR industry are actually quite rare (especially in the national business press). When they do appear, media tend to focus on practitioners who best embody all of their preconceived notions of the stereotypical uninformed PR flack. As a result, the practice of PR is at best, misunderstood, and at worst, misperceived to be the profession of “spinmeisters” (liars); bubble-headed blondes (bimbos); and silly “see and be seen” events complete with air kissing and exclusive VIP lists to satisfy our disproportionately sized egos. There was, however, one reporter who got it right. Her name is Katharine Mieszkowski.

Almost 12 years ago, FAST COMPANY magazine ran a story by Katharine Mieszkowski in the Dec. 1997 issue on the Silicon Valley PR scene entitled: The Power of Public Relations. The story focused on the personalities of two powerful female figures in technology PR – Pam Alexander and Andi Cunningham – and their different approaches to the PR process and to building their agencies. Alexander Communications is offered up as one model: the PR firm built on intense personal relationships, a knack for networking, and a focus on working the conference circuit (sound familiar?). Cunningham offers another: the values-based PR firm that limits the number of its clients to offer more personal service, brings truth into its clients’ often-insulated world, and represents the anti-PR firm by rejecting hype and hyperbole.

In comparing the FAST COMPANY and NYT pieces, you’ll reach two obvious conclusions: 1) Mieszkowski’s story is more balanced and objective, portraying both women as smart and articulate and their respective firms as runaway successes; 2) Cain Miller’s piece fails to uncover anything new in Hammerling’s “Who Do You Know” PR approach, with the exception of integrating social media channels. Pam Alexander and Brooke Hammerling share an almost identical viewpoint on PR and both relied on the strength of their personal networks to launch their companies. Fast Company presents this view as a valid approach to the PR business that works well for some firms and certain clients. And its true. I’ve watched several media relations shops become wildly successful. Schwartz Communications in technology and Rubenstein Public Relations in consumer are two that come to mind.

Personally, I’ve always felt more of an affinity with Andi Cunningham’s point of view. The Bateman Group’s PR philosophy is in many respects a direct descendent of the Cunningham model pioneered in the 1980s; improved upon by firms like FitzGerald Communications, Niehaus Ryan Wong and Applied Communications in the 1990s; and (I hope) to be perfected by the Bateman Group in the 21st century. Hallmarks of this approach include: keeping the number of clients low and service levels high; smaller teams more focused on fewer accounts; genuine knowledge of your market; highest quality writing standards; and a focus on corporate brand building in addition to product/service awareness campaigns.

After some thought, I came to the conclusion I was too hard on Brooke Hammerling last week in my posts to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and comments on TechCrunch. I was caught up in the moment and made an unfair rush to judgment I now regret. Lessons learned? Well, one is just as there’s more than one way to solve any given PR problem, there’s more than one approach to practicing our craft and growing our businesses. Brooke Hammerling has found success on her own terms and without compromising any of the things that make Brooke, well, Brooke. That alone deserves my admiration and respect. And it’s the diversity of style, creative thinking and entrepreneurial spirit embodied by the people working in PR that attracted me to this industry in the first place and has kept me here. Well, that and the fact all the people in advertising were a$$holes…

Until next week!

At the Bateman Group we take our responsibility for being good corporate citizens seriously and our selection process for taking on pro bono work is pretty straightforward. We look for visionary organizations with dynamic founders who are providing creative solutions to real world problems, either locally, nationally or globally. While many of our pro bono clients aren’t technology companies per se, we tend to partner with social entrepreneurs who are using technology in really innovative ways.

My team and I were really excited to recently have had the opportunity to co-produce a fundraiser in collaboration with our friends at Citizen Space for a really cool media advocacy project called WeOwnTV. A spinoff of the critically acclaimed documentary film, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, WeOwnTV will teach film production and storytelling to a group of young Sierra Leonean ex-combatants and survivors of their country’s civil war, and provide a Web platform for their stories to be seen and heard around the world. Development of a media education center in Freetown, Sierra Leone is also in the works, and the WeOwnTV creators have already been approached by media professionals in Haiti and South Africa about extending the program into those countries.

I want to personally thank everyone who was able to show their support and attend the June 10 event, which turned out to be a huge success. Special thanks to Tara Hunt for donating the great venue, to my team at the Bateman Group for rallying a good turnout, and to my event planner maven of a wife for helping us pull everything together in record time.

I caught up with WeOwnTV’s brainchild and my good friend Banker White at the event. For those of you who were unable to attend, here’s the inside scoop on this inspirational project.

BB: What was your inspiration for WeOwnTV?

White: The inspiration for WeOwnTV came clearly from our first documentary film, which followed the lives of a musical band of Sierra Leonean refugees. The spirit of the All Stars film was really collaborative in nature, both because of how we developed relationships with the band members, and also because of what we learned from them in terms of how to live, be creative, and overcome life changing obstacles.

Secondly, the way in which we started to collaborate with the youngest member of the band, Alhaji Jeffery Kamara (aka Black Nature), was a big inspiration. 14 years old at the time, Black Nature was incredibly curious about the film making process and really eager to share his story with other people around the world. For victims of war, living in a refugee situation, they were really conscious of where the footage would go and who would see it. Being around them and appreciating how conscious they were of this was very powerful.

Fast forward several years and formalizing a curriculum for other young people to produce and share their stories was a logical extension. And I am very excited to say that Black Nature is collaborating with us on the project from his new home in San Francisco.

BB: What do you hope to accomplish with the project?

White: WeOwnTV has engaged a wide range of participants from young media professionals and students, to ex-combatant, street kids and child prostitutes. In January 2009 we met with and interviewed over fifty extraordinary young adults to become both project participants and WeOwnTV staff. We selected fourteen extraordinary young adults.

During our time in Sierra Leone we have noticed that there are a lot of NGOs in Sierra Leone that focus on working with children, and others that focus on infrastructure and development. However the generation of young adults who are Black Nature’s age living in Sierra Leone today essentially lost their opportunity for an education due to the war. In many ways they lost their childhood all together and are too old for many services being provided today. With WeOwnTV we want to specifically target this age group since it has been so underserved.

Our curriculum will provide highly customized professional training for video and sound production in a way that is very much balanced with encouragement to help cultivate an inner strength that already exists. For example, all of the participants are incredible orators, up to date on world politics, and have active intellectual minds. Our program is specifically geared towards bridging the gap from having the potential to being active media makers.

BB: WeOwnTV has a pretty significant social media component. Can you explain this?

White: There are really two components. One is how we (the production team) are using social media and the other is how the program participants themselves will be able to leverage these tools.

My team and I are obviously using social media to raise awareness of the project, and also as a catalyst for forming partnerships with other organizations and individuals who can support us on several levels. For example, we’ve been able to put ourselves out there, using mostly Twitter and Facebook, to identify other groups who are doing similar work. In fact, we are using these platforms to help plan the next leg of our trip back to Freetown, Sierra Leone.

On the flipside of this, we want to make sure the community we are trying to serve has the same ability to collaborate with their peers in other places. Our tech training will teach them how to get online and use social media in similar ways for advocacy. Social media and Internet access will obviously give them the ability and added motivation that comes from seeing their videos online to embrace these tools.

BB: Are there broadband infrastructure barriers for the WeOwnTV program participants that will dictate how they use social media?

White: Sierra Leone is only one of a few countries in sub Saharan Africa that has broadband Internet access thanks to the massive UN peacekeeping mission that started in 2001. However, while the technology exists, the affordability doesn’t.

Until the situation changes, we are looking into SMS text messaging because it’s a much more affordable way to distribute and update content for the Web. Actually, there are a lot of great NGO blogs in the region powered by SMS. All of our participants currently have cell phones and Twitter accounts to be able to update their profiles and websites via text messaging.

Until things change, the situation requires us to stay committed to finding creative solutions, not give up.

BB: How can people and organizations get involved with the project?

White: One of the most exciting things about our curriculum and the WeOwnTV social media distribution platform is that there have already been requests for us to do similar things in other countries, including Haiti and South Africa. Forming partnerships will be the lifeblood of the project so we encourage working media professionals around the world to get in touch with us. Everything we did with the All Stars film started with emails between people who shared a common interest, and we would like to see as many people as possible use the curriculum and our platform together.

Of course, WeOwnTV is a natural fit with a lot of the great work that other organizations are already doing. For example, we are already working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and others to help develop and ultimately replicate the WeOwnTV model.

In addition, you can check out some footage of the event, which includes a special acoustic performance by the Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars (thanks Amy Ziari!):

We’ll be reporting back on WeOwnTV’s progress. In the meantime, please help us get the word out!