This recent tweet from one of my former Dallas colleagues caught my eye. Having lived in Dallas for the past 10 years, I’d heard my fair share of Okie jokes, but this tweet really made me stop and think about my own home state pride. It’s something I never considered I had in my first 23 years of living in Oklahoma. I wasn’t ashamed of my home state; it was honestly just something I never thought about—until last year.

My wife and I were sitting outside Eskimo Joe’s during a trip back home for an Oklahoma State football game, and we decided right then and there that we wanted to be back in our home state. We noticed that we missed the little things we took for granted while living in Oklahoma, from the pace and quality of life to an overall appreciation for how Oklahomans treat each other. A five-year plan became a five-month plan, and in November we were officially Oklahoma residents again. What we didn’t truly realize was the dramatic changes and progress that both Oklahoma City and Tulsa had undergone during our 10-year absence.

From the opening of the Ford Center and bringing an NBA franchise to the city, to the continued growth and revitalization of Western Avenue and Midtown, Oklahoma City continues to re-invent itself. In the Tulsa metropolitan area, the Oklahoma River District has established itself as a major entertainment and shopping destination. The BOK Center continues to book major music acts on a weekly basis and the new ballpark, ONEOK Field (client), is part of the major revitalization of downtown Tulsa.

This progress can be attributed not only to outstanding leaders on the local and state level, but outstanding campaigns in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The Tulsa Vision 2025 and the Oklahoma City MAPS projects provided economic investment, improved education systems and created an overall better quality of life for Oklahomans. 

The state also developed great internal campaigns in an effort to keep talent in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma City Chamber implemented Greater Grads, while the Tulsa Chamber’s Young Professionals Club works to keep talented Oklahomans here. Oklahoma Boomerang, which was instrumental in getting my family back home, works to bring talented Oklahoma natives back to their home state.

Oklahoma is a great place to work, a great place to live and a great place to raise a family. It took me 10 years to recognize what I was missing, but once I did, I got back as fast as I could.

I may not be from Muskogee, but I’m sure proud to be an Okie.

Chris asks a few key questions in his recent blog post about the role of local media. I liked the direction Chris is going with the discussion with an excerpt of his comments here.

“When I think about ‘Community Matters’, it occurs to me that the question is what is the purpose of community? Is it to extol content for the community? Or is it to generate content that the community creates? And then, the larger question becomes how to monetize ‘community’? There are 2 billion users coming online in the next ten years. How do we monetize the value of their content? And, further, how do we deal with “truth” in community-generated journalism? On a community site, truth is subjective. Newspapers must be very cautious about libel issues, and objectionable content is muted.”

I’d like to position a few thoughts for attendees and observers to think about prior to Wednesday’s session.

Content in the local community must shift from delivering first to delivering deep.

• User-generated content provides the cloud of interest locally, but it stops right there. Journalists must do the heavy lifting.
• All efforts to monetize will be successful with publishing and broadcasting leadership who believe context trumps content. We all receive tons of content every day, but we lack the context to make it meaningful in our lives.
• Local, social communities are gaining importance (and followers) in the public discourse, but are still ruled by the unruly. Think of them as those who provide instant, virtual letters to the editor. Editorial writers and deep thinkers, they are not.

Special thanks to my friend Blake Jackson, director of social media at Chesapeake Energy, for his thoughts on this subject. See everyone soon.

About We Media- Founded in 2007, We Media helps companies and their leaders see, understand and respond to complex change. They provide strategic consulting that integrates business, content, design, technology and insights on innovation in the connected culture. We Media also creates Web sites and digital media strategies, produces research, conferences, seminars, workshops, awards, investment challenges and organizes a global community of innovators and visionaries.

In February, Saxum’s CEO and President C. Renzi Stone announced the agency will open a Tulsa office during the second quarter. Saxum is currently in the process of selecting the office location.

“We are excited to welcome Chris to our team,” said Chris Payne, Saxum vice president and general manager of the Tulsa office. “With deep roots in the business community from her years as executive director of the chamber’s TYPros program, Chris brings extensive public relations and event experience to Saxum. She will play a valuable role in servicing our Tulsa clients and helping grow our business.” 

As an account supervisor, Oden will be responsible for managing communications and public relations services for multiple client accounts.

“I am really looking forward to joining Saxum and playing a role in building upon its already impressive client base in Tulsa,” Oden said.

 Oden comes to Saxum with more than 10 years experience in public relations, marketing, advertising and community relations. Before joining Saxum, she served as executive director of the Tulsa Metro Chamber’s Tulsa’s Young Professionals group. Oden also served in marketing positions for the St. John Health System, Wyandotte Advertising and Kuhn & Witternborn Advertising in Kansas City, Missouri. She also has served as board member for Oklahoma State University’s School of Journalism and Broadcasting and the Association for Women in Communications and is a graduate of Leadership Tulsa. She has a bachelor of arts in advertising from OSU.

With a local, regional and national client base covering a variety of industries, the Saxum team focuses on creating lifelong client relationships through proactive communications that are customized, multi-dimensional, strategic, team-focused and results-driven.

Saxum offers a variety of public relations services to its clients, including strategic counsel, corporate communications, crisis communications, media relations, social media and training workshops. Saxum’s wholly owned creative company, Maxus Creative, offers a host of creative services, including print and brand identity, Web and interactive design and video and motion graphics production.

 The company is a member of IPREX, one of the world’s largest international public relations networks. Saxum has been recognized three years in a row as one of the fastest-growing companies in the greater Oklahoma City area, and Stone has been named one of Oklahoma’s and the industry’s top leaders under the age of 40 by multiple organizations.

 For more information on Saxum Public Relations and Maxus Creative, visit www.saxumpr.com and www.maxuscreative.com.

He asked me what I like most about public relations. I quickly answered, “Working with nonprofits.” He looked at me, puzzled, and said, “Why? There’s no money in nonprofits!” My interest in helping nonprofits with public relations has nothing to do with monetary reward, but with the reward of helping a cause larger than myself.

Many nonprofits do operate on a limited marketing budget, so working in the industry often requires inexpensive, creative solutions to meet objectives. Here are some recommendations on inexpensive ways to market your nonprofit without blowing your budget.

1. Establish a social media presence. Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and You Tube are free to join and can increase your nonprofit’s visibility in the community. These sites can also improve your search engine optimization.
2. Develop corporate and community partnerships that make sense. The Made in Oklahoma Coalition (client), a group of Oklahoma food manufacturers who work to promote local Oklahoma products, has established a successful partnership with local food banks. A portion of proceeds from the sale of MIO paper towels and cookbooks benefit the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma Food 4 Kids program. 
3. Use social media as a tool for fundraising. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, online fundraising efforts by @RedCross became one of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter and raised millions of dollars. Social media can provide an immediate call to action for your supporters to contribute to your cause.
4. Join nonprofit coalition groups that can help advocate for you in the legislature and community. The Oklahoma Women’s Coalition is a great example of an education and advocacy coalition with a growing membership of organizations, including local chapters of the YWCA and the League of Women Voters. 
5. Engage your elected officials. Invite them to your events and incorporate them into major announcements. They can become your biggest advocate and add credibility to your initiatives.
6. Build solid relationships with local media and trade publications. Follow them on Twitter, invite them to your special events and arrange for media tours of your facilities. Respond quickly to their requests, and you will build trust. Be a resource for them, even when it doesn’t result in media coverage.
7. Develop social media campaigns around your advocacy projects. Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity (client) uses Twitter and Facebook to share photos, update followers about opportunities, promote partnerships and the Renovation Station stores.
8. Go green. Make simple and sustainable changes in the way you conduct business. Refrain from printing annual reports and newsletters and distribute them online or in digital form. Turn off computers and power strips at the end of the day. Green practices will cut costs and can make your nonprofit more interesting to media.
9. Publicize your events on free online calendar listings. Use free social media news release tools like PitchEngine and Scribd to spread the word online. 
10. Start a blog. Update a Wordpress blog daily to keep your volunteers, board members and donors informed and position yourself as an expert. Link to your blog and other social media sites from your main Web site to drive traffic.

If applied, these easy and affordable measures can help market nonprofits in a cost-effective, successful manner.

This business decision had a lot of personal investment and thought. For starters, I’m a Tulsa native. Following a terrific experience as a student in the Jenks Public School System, I attended the University of Oklahoma, where I was privileged to play basketball for the Sooners. Four NCAA tournaments later, I graduated with honors and began looking for a job. I chose Oklahoma City as my home because I was offered a job there. Then, I married an Oklahoma City girl and the love of my life, Lee Anne.

Ten years later, I find myself a native Tulsan living in Oklahoma City. There are not many of us. As someone who always thought I’d spread my wings and fly somewhere far away, Oklahoma City and Tulsa offer unique and rewarding experiences without having to leave a state where we’ve put down solid roots.

We love the renaissance happening right now in Tulsa. Especially downtown Tulsa, from the BOK Center opening to the new ONEOK Field (client) to the revival of the Brady District, it’s a great time for Tulsa. Over the past few years, we have grown our Tulsa-based clientele, and it quickly became clear that we needed a permanent presence there. I understand the difference between the markets, and I knew we needed an excellent Tulsa-based public relations practitioner to lead our efforts.

Even though I’m from Tulsa, I know people in Tulsa want to do business with other people in Tulsa – just like in Oklahoma City. Chris is a perfect fit because he is great at public relations and marketing, and he loves Tulsa.

I think we’re on to something special at Saxum. We’ve found a unique way to use our creativity and expertise to provide our clients with the Saxum Experience, which focuses on building our clients’ reputations and achieving their goals in an ever-changing business environment. We use a unique, multi-dimensional team approach to deliver customized, strategic, results-driven communications. We have a smart, thoughtful and dynamic team in Oklahoma City, and we are building a similar team in Tulsa.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be hiring additional staff, making client announcements, opening a permanent office and getting even more involved in the community. In effect, we’ll use some of the public relations strategies and tactics we use for our clients to promote ourselves.

Thanks to a great team and outstanding clients, we are continuing to grow our business on a state and national level. Of course, no matter how large we become, our clients will always remain our top priority.

It is an exciting time, and we are thrilled to share the good news. Thank you for welcoming us to Tulsa. It’s good to be home.

“As a Tulsa native, I am excited to announce that we will be opening an office in my hometown,” said Saxum President and CEO Renzi Stone. “We already have an existing client base in the area, and we see tremendous potential for growth.”

Payne comes to Saxum with more than 20 years of public relations and strategic communications experience. He previously served as senior manager of corporate communications for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., a global corporation and one of Saxum’s newest clients. Payne worked at the company for nearly 17 years, having started as a manager of corporate communications for the Thrifty Car Rental brand. Prior to joining Thrifty, he spent four years working for public relations and political consulting agencies in the Dallas area, leading a number of regional and national accounts.

He is a past board president of Susan G. Komen for the Cure (the Tulsa affiliate) and serves as the accreditation chairman for the Tulsa Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Payne previously served as president of the Tulsa Chapter PRSA. He has a Master of Arts in mass communications from the University of Oklahoma.

“We are thrilled to add Chris to our Saxum team,” Stone said. “He is a longtime Tulsa resident who loves the city, understands the agency business and brings a strong strategic marketing and public relations background to this position.”

The Tulsa office is on schedule to open in the second quarter of 2010, and the company currently is hiring additional staff.

Stone founded Saxum in 2003 and has since grown the company to 19 full-time employees with a local, regional and national client base covering a variety of industries. The Saxum team focuses on creating lifelong client relationships through proactive communications that are customized, multi-dimensional, strategic, team-focused and results-driven.

Saxum offers a variety of public relations services to its clients, including strategic counsel, corporate communications, crisis communications, media relations, social media and training workshops. Saxum’s wholly owned creative company, Maxus Creative, offers a host of creative services, including print and brand identity, Web and interactive design and video and motion graphics production.

The company is a member of IPREX, one of the world’s largest international public relations networks. Saxum has been recognized three years in a row as one of the fastest-growing companies in the greater Oklahoma City area, and Stone has been named one of Oklahoma’s and the industry’s top leaders under the age of 40 by multiple organizations.

For more information on Saxum Public Relations and Maxus Creative, visit http://www.saxumpr.com/ and http://www.maxuscreative.com/.

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The Financial Brand, an interesting Web site that offers information about just that – financial brands – offers an extensive 80-page report about how financial institutions can “harness the power of Twitter.” Granted, you may not have the time to review such an extensive report, but it’s interesting to know that the research is out there. Highlights include:

• Promote new products and offers
• Share personal finance tips
• Express their brand and reveal their personalities
• Build community outreach programs
• Provide information about community events and activities
• Increase exposure for their charitable and philanthropic efforts

Thankfully, the very helpful Mashable Web site offers five ways that banks can use social media to return real value for their institutions, with the top five being:

• Community building
• Product research
• Customer service
• Marketing and promotion
• Transparency

Financial institutions (and all other organizations using social media to connect with customers) need to remember that the number one reason to participate in social media is to build relationships.

Organizations who want to ultimately gain customers need to listen and engage at the point of need. For example, if you use Twitter to SPAM followers with your message or service (even if they are likely to use your services), they will most likely ignore and possibly resent your brand or organization.

Preferably, an organization should listen, engage and be involved in its follower’s posts only to suggest specific products or services if someone specifically asks for the information. For example, if there is a discussion about who has free checking, it would be appropriate to provide specific information. The goal is to be helpful and share without expectations.

The organization should establish that its investment in the community is for the long term, not just when there’s a transaction on the line. When the organization is engaged in the daily conversation and an opportunity arises to which the organization has expertise or interest, there is now the occasion and the invitation to connect.

MSU alums, students and fans became aware that the university planned to change the current logo when a new version was uncovered in January on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site. MSU’s athletics department soon found itself facing angry fans that were fiercely loyal to its current logo.

Fans created a Facebook page, “The Old Spartan Logo.” Within a few weeks, more than 63,000 people had joined. To put that number in perspective, The Oprah Magazine page has less than 7,500 fans. Even beloved basketball coach Tom Izzo became involved when he publicly berated fans opposed to the change, “For all of you out there complaining, shame on you.” (That included yours truly, a 2003 alumnus.)

In the end, the fans on Facebook won. Athletics Director Mark Hollis announced Feb. 5 that MSU’s current logo will not change. Nike will still design new uniforms, bringing all MSU athletic teams into a unified look, but the logo will stay untouched.

The logo war could have ended much worse for MSU. I give credit to Hollis and MSU’s administration for listening to their most important audience- the fans. But credit is also due to the thousands of fans who voiced their opinions.

For us PR folks out there, the lesson learned is obvious. Before social media, my Spartans would almost certainly be taking the field with a new logo on their helmets next football season. But because fans now have immediate access to an unfiltered megaphone in social media, their voices are stronger than ever. With little exception, that’s the way it should be.

Now if only our logo could help us win a bowl game or two.

What have you accomplished today? Not just work, but everything. Did you say thank you to the guy opening the door or the gal who served you coffee? Did you tell your kids or spouse I love you? Did you make a difference?

Last week, I took a flight to Phoenix on my favorite airline – Southwest – to meet a client and a consultant. With two small children at home, I am trying to only do these trips for one night at a time and I am writing this post on Friday evening on my way home.

The unthinkable happened as we were on our final approach into Phoenix. A lady a few rows in front of me went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. Southwest handled the situation perfectly, first by asking for a doctor and then getting the plane down as quickly as possible. We watched as paramedics carried her off the plane. For thirty minutes we sat as they worked on her in the jet way, presumably unsuccessfully based on everyone’s reaction as we exited the plane.

As I saw the real tears from passengers and flight attendants after the tunnel had cleared, it made me remember the blessing of today. Part of my trip to Phoenix was to plan for the future of our business in public relations. The funny way God works is that we are only guaranteed today. I didn’t know the poor woman, but I thought about how short life is and how thankful I am for today’s blessings.

Before you go to sleep tonight, ask yourself, did I make a difference today? Do I have any regrets? If you cannot answer this question to your satisfaction, try again tomorrow.

In the wake of a massive disaster, people usually want to know two things: 1) What happened? and 2) How can I help? Social media provides a platform to answer both of these questions quickly and easily.

No longer do we have to wait for updates from traditional news outlets, rather, through social media sites, citizens are journalists. Those directly impacted by the earthquake in Haiti were able to search for information and help through social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Flickr and YouTube. Thousands of photos taken directly from the devastation in Haiti were broadcast on social media sites 24 hours a day for several days. According to a Jan. 20 study by Pew Research, 13 percent of Americans – including 24 percent of those younger than 30 – say they have received or shared information about the Haiti earthquake through Twitter, Facebook or another social networking site.

As the lines between traditional and new media are beginning to merge, we see mainstream news organizations utilizing social networking for news and information. Nick Wrenn of CNN International Digital Services said, “We immediately moved someone supervising social media and our iReports to the Haiti desk.”

But sending and receiving news and information is not the only way social media is being used in disasters. As the devastation in Haiti unfolded in photos, videos, news articles and blogs, people couldn’t help but wonder, “How can I help?” What resulted was one of the most, if not the most successful text donation campaigns in history. Text donations set up by the American Red Cross to benefit Haiti had topped $25 million by the end of last week and most of the money has come in $10 increments. By comparison, last year only $4 million was donated to all charities by mobile texts.

During times of crisis, social media provides a platform where we can quickly discover the latest news on what is happening, and support agencies can share compelling stories to encourage donations and support. I truly believe these platforms offer a human connection that initiates caring and, more importantly, a calling to help.