Most Talk About Teen Drama Coming In Jan 2008

Most Talked About Teen Drama Coming In January 2008 On Superstation WGN

One of The Most Talk About TV Dramas “Whittaker Bay” Grabs the Spotlight During the WGA Strike and Gets Picked by Reveille International

***

Sabrina and Kelly Aldridge, the famed twin actresses from MTV’s “8th & Ocean” and Actor Timothy Woodward Jr. (Palmetto Pointe) attended the premier and red carpet fundraising benefit for Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina this month

Hollywood, CA -Wilmington, NC - As talks between the WGA and the AMPTP (Association of Motion Picture & Television Producers) resume next week, there is little hope for a quick resolution. However, there is a new hope and focus on dramas often overlooked by TV network programmers and critics - such as H20 Entertainment’s “Whittaker Bay.”

Due to the month-long WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike currently crippling TV and film production in Hollywood, the overdue attention is increasing around North Carolina drama set for January 2008 on superstation WGN. The WGA reportedly delivered a counterproposal to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ (AMPTP) recent offer relating to residuals for new media streaming, but talks stalled.Everything resumes the first week of January when Whittaker Bay begins airing.

The Hollywood Reporter spotlighted the TV series, filmed on location in Wilmington, N.C., - along with its star cast, Timothy Woodward Jr., Sabrina and Kelly Aldridge - in November’s cover story and special issue, Made in America. “Whittaker Bay,” set to air beginning Jan. 5, 2008, on Superstation WGN. The show is also being marketed in 95 countries by Reveille International, which just signed the Hollywood East drama.

The cast features the twin Aldridge sisters from MTV’s reality series, “8th & Ocean,” and the feature film “Deck the Halls”. The cast will be be on hand at the Dec. 9th premiere at historic Thalian Hall in downtown Wilmington, which will double as a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina.

“Whittaker Bay” is 30-minute drama about four families - the Bannigans, Visteds, Coles and Hawkins - suburban elitists who seem to have the perfect life in their coastal North Carolina community.

Reveille International is one of the leading distributors of innovative and distinctive content from major producers across the globe and has just signed “Whittaker Bay.”

“Our international team is always searching for great partnerships and cutting-edge and provocative programming, and we believe we’ve found that with Actor Timothy Woodward Jr. and Whittaker Bay cast,” said John Pollak, vice president of International Distribution and Creative Affairs for Reveille International. “We’re confident ‘Whittaker Bay’s star-studded cast and powerful drama should raise a few eyebrows of our clients overseas.”

About H20 Entertainment

H20 Entertainment (www.whittakerBay.com), based in Wilmington, North Carolina, has produced a variety of features from dramas to horror, varying in size and budget. The leading North Carolina studios continues to produce constant quality and some of the most innovative and promising production. H20 Entertainment has the assets for any level of production and continues to produce much sought after entertaining films and television content. For more about the cast and dramas visit www.MySpace.com/WhittakerBay.

[Editors note: For advanced interviews or a copy of a trailer of the TV drama Whittaker Bay please contact George Mc Quade, MAYO Communications (www.MayoCommunications.com), Los Angeles, CA at (818) 340-5300 or 818-618-9229 and email Publicity@MayoCommunications.com.

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

PRSA-LA Brings Holiday Cheer To Para Los Niños

Winner Monique Rodriguez,
Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital

Winner Katherine Alvarado, LAX
Los Angeles World Airports

Winner Elisa Mann, Mann & Associates

Public Relations Society of America
Kicks The Holiday Season With
Good fortune & Charitable Mixer
at a Historical Setting In Los Angeles

By George S. Mc Quade III

"Para Los Niños works with some of the most economically challenged working families in Southern California," said Elena Stern, vice president of External Affairs of Para Los Niños, a
Elena Stern, Para Los Niñoslocal nonprofit agency serving low income children and families, that received dozens of unwrapped toys from people attending the PRSA-LA holiday mixer in West Hollywood. The event, of which drew nearly 100 people, was hosted by Global Cuisine at The Lot, in West Hollywood.

"During the holidays, when many parents are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet, toys are often hard to come by. The generous donations made tonight (Dec. 4, 2007) by PRSA-LA members and guests will put smiles on a lot of faces -- children and parents alike. For this, we are extremely grateful," said Stern. “Thanks to the generosity of guests in attendance, nearly 80 holiday gifts will be provided to some of the thousands of children and youth served by Para Los Niños.”

In addition to the delicious food, the holiday mixer featured food fortune telling and magic, excellent raffle prizes, including a three publication deals from Jack O’Dwyer’s package of publications and directories, great networking, and tours of the historic former Pickford-Fairbanks Studios.

Paula G. Leftwich enters
her raffle tickets for a door prize.

"This is nice setting and great food,” Paula G. Leftwich, vice chair, Los Angeles Housing Dept. told this newsletter as she put her raffle tickets in the cans for the drawing.

The PRSA-LA is one of the largest membership chapters among the 20,000 member organization in the country, and PRSA-LA President-elect Rita Tateel, president of The Celebrity Source, Hollywood, provided a hint of her top priority for next year.

“One of my goals as President in '08 is to increase multicultural diversity within PRSA-LA. The event tonight is a step in that direction as we are co-hosting the event with the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) and the event benefits Para Los Niños (www.paralosninos.org ),” said Tateel.

There will be other goals when the new LA Chapter Board Retreat comes up on Jan. 18-19, 2008.

By the way, this writer learned in five minutes, what he has been trying to get in three months from a client past due on payment.

“You will either receive payments on the total bill owned, or all one lump sum payment,” said Alanna M. Arthur, M.A., Awakening The Divine Within, Sherman Oaks, CA, who was providing complimentary readings at the for guests at the mixer. “Look for better times in 2008,” she said.

Monique Rodriguez, Presbyterian, Intercommunity Hospital, Katherine Alvarado, LAX, Los Angeles World Airports and Elisa Mann, Mann & Associates each won a raffle package of

1 year subscription to www.Odwyerpr.com, 12 monthly issues of the O'Dwyer Report and a 2007 O'Dwyer PR Director, a pkg worth around $350 each. Congratulations.

- 30 -

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

MAYO PR: New TV Drama Premier Coming

MAYO PR: New TV Drama Premier Coming

New TV Drama Premier Coming

Writers' strike throws focus on "Whittaker Bay"

***
Wilmington, N.C., rolls out red carpet for TV drama stars, H20 Entertainment and Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina.

Wilmington, N.C. & Hollywood, Calif. – With scores of scripted primetime TV series shut down by the Hollywood writers' strike, dramas often overlooked by programmers and critics – such as H20 Entertainment's "Whittaker Bay" – are receiving long overdue attention.

The drama, filmed on location in Wilmington, N.C., was spotlighted – along with one of its stars, Timothy Woodward Jr. – in the cover story of The Hollywood Reporter November special issue, Made in America.

Wilmington rolls out the red carpet Dec. 9 for the world premiere of "Whittaker Bay," set to air beginning Jan. 5, 2008, on Superstation WGN. The show is also being marketed in 95 countries.

The cast features twin sisters Kelly and Sabrina Aldridge from MTV's reality series, "8th & Ocean," and the feature film “Deck the Halls”. Both will be on hand for the Dec. 9 premiere at historic Thalian Hall in downtown Wilmington, which will double as a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina. "Whittaker Bay" is 30-minute drama about four families – the Bannigans, Visteds, Coles and Hawkins – suburban elitists who seem to have the perfect life in their coastal North Carolina community.

Reveille International is one of the leading distributors of innovative and distinctive content from major producers across the globe. "Our international team is always searching for great partnerships and cutting-edge and provocative programming, and we believe we've found that with Actor Timothy Woodward Jr. and Whittaker Bay cast,” said John Pollak, vice president of International Distribution and Creative Affairs for Reveille International. “We’re confident ‘Whittaker Bay’s star-studded cast and powerful drama should raise a few eyebrows of our clients overseas."

About H20 Entertainment

H20 Entertainment (www.whittakerBay.com), based in Wilmington, North Carolina, has produced a variety of features from dramas to horror, varying in size and budget. The leading North Carolina studios continues to produce constant quality and some of the most innovative and promising production. H20 Entertainment has the assets for any level of production and continues to produce much sought after entertaining films and television content. For more about the cast and dramas visit www.MySpace.com/WhittakerBay.

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

First Internatonal Reality TV Show On Showtime

It’s Showtime for
The Hydra Executives

CEO Sulaiman Al-Fahim

Hydra Properties
YouTube (watch)


Striking Writers Puts Reality
TV Shows like Hydra Executives
To The Test



Casting for the International English
Language Reality TV Show is set for
this Saturday, Dec. 15^th, Beverly
Hilton hotel, Beverly Hills, CA and
brings three countries and 16
entrepreneurs together

Beverly Hills & Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) – As Writers Guild of America members continue their devastating strike, more networks are scrambling for alternative content without script material such as reality television shows. One of the most talked about reality TV shows featured this week (Dec. 10, 2007) in BusinessWeek is Hydra Executives. It is the newest twist on Arab reality TV, a program filmed in the United Arab Emirates is to be broadcast entirely in English with a featured cast of eight Americans and eight Brits.

Show sponsor Hydra Properties, LLC has scheduled casting for Hydra Executives beginning at 9:00 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007, at the Beverly Hilton hotel, Beverly Hills, CA. Beverly Pomerantz, casting director has a long list of credits and was featured on KABC-TV Eyewitness news during the launch. Some of her highly rated casting projects include: “Don’t Forget The Lyrics,” “All Star Blitz,” “Price Is Right,” Wild Animal Games” and “Are You Smarter Than A 5^th Grader?”

The show begins filming next month with eight Americans and eight Brits vying for the ultimate chance to start their real estate business with a $1 million prize. The boardroom-style "Apprentice"-like program is now being marketed for worldwide distribution in March. It is being produced in association with Showtime Arabia, which is partly owned by Viacom, and Dubai's Infinity TV.

“There is nothing better than doing business with other countries, because it eliminates all the other conflicts,” said Executive Producer Ziad Batal, of the new reality TV show Hydra Executives. “Why Abu Dhabi? There are more millionaires per capita in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) than any other country in the world. And it is creating more, because the opportunities are there. It is immigration lotto; it is the land of opportunity. It is an incredible environment, secure, very friendly and entrepreneurial country.”

The reality TV series was created by CEO Sulaiman Al-Fahim, Hydra Properties LLC, a leading Abu Dhabi-based international real estate company and the key backer of the show. For the full story visit:

http://www.mayocommunications.com/2007NewsReleases/NR-114-Hydra.htm

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

EPPS Spotlight Legends of Entertainment Publicity

Mike Casey and Cliff Dektar
At EPPS "Legends of PR"

Legends of Entertainment Publicity Say,

"Never Lie To The Media"

Four legendary entertainment publicists with experience totalling more than 150 years took center stage in Hollywood to tell the exciting television publicity story of diverse and informative secrets of the business over the last 50 years. The panel discussed the dramatic changes in production, tactics and what has keep their passion over the years in the evolution of Holllywood publicity.

(l-R ) Doug Duitsman, Gene Walsh and Mike Casey.

Hollywood, CA -“Never lie, or mislead the media, because they’ll never forget,” TV Publicist Legend Gene Walsh, a publicist with NBC for 30 years told a small crowd recently (10-23-07) attending the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society (EPPS)


The event was also sponsored by International Cinematographers Guild Local 600. He was among four legends in TV publicity discussing their “unique” situations and how TV publicity has evolved. “Legends of Entertainment Publicity” event at the fine arts theatre, Hollywood, CA.

Walsh closely worked with many of TV’s legends, including Grant Tinker, Brandon Tartikoff and Fred Silverman. He is a founding member of the Television Publicity Executive Committee (TPEC) in Los Angeles and continues as a Member Emeritus.

“Nothing makes a public relations job easier than having a star like Johnny Carson,” Gene Walsh, a publicist with NBC for 30 years. “Carson would do everything from getting his picture taken in front of an oven to the top of a hotel in New York, where he would say, ‘this is a long way from the beach.’” After the session Walsh told us, “Johnny had nurtured Joan Rivers into a great job as his permanent substitute host. He (Johnny Carson) was upset because Joan never contacted him before suddenly calling a press conference announcing she was leaving ‘Tonight’ and accepting a late-nite job at Fox,” he said.

Walsh said Carson was upset when Joan Rivers, a weekly fill-in host, announced at a news conference that she was going to host a show on Fox.

Additionally, Walsh noted that “NBC felt obliged to release some sort of statement and that Johnny did not want to say anything. We (NBC) released the statement, ‘We wish her a modicum of success.’"

Doug Duitsman said his last eight years were the most gratifying, and said, “I discovered during that time that women are more equipped to do this job, than men. I don’t know how men feel about it out there, but emotionally women are better prepared to handle this type of job. You look around today, 21 and you see a lot of women are getting into PR departments of major corporations, so I think there might be something to it.”

Duitsman is the founding chairman of the Television Publicity Executive Committee, known as TPEC. He served 34 years in Television Publicity, beginning as a Publicist with NBC and later as Vice President of Publicity, Promotion and Advertising of Columbia Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Television.

Duitsman is also one of only two public relations executives to serve as President of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Publicity departments he headed were honored on three separate occasions by the Publicist Guild of America for “Best Conceived Publicity and Promotion Campaigns.” “Be dead honest with the media,” he advised.

The moderator was Thomas Roberts, anchor and correspondent with Entertainment Tonight/The Insider.

Thomas Roberts ET Anchor

What’s different today, compared to 50 years ago? “There are a lot of nasty people and regular reporters we need to dump today, because there is no reason for them to be nasty,” said Cliff Dektar, who began his career in entertainment publicity at ABC TV in August 1956. Dektar’s TV publicity career included many TV shows including “The Rifleman,” “Man with a Camera,” “Robert Taylor’s Detectives” and “The Big Valley.” He also helped launch ABC Sports. “Jerry Buck, who was one of my favorite writers at Associated Press said he left the AP, because it was such a strange organization,” said Dektar, who did publicity for the TV show “Hee Haw” for 15 years and as a governor of the public relations branch of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and president of the Los Angeles Chapter. He is also a founding member of EPPS and the Television Publicity Executives Committee (TPEC).

“I love getting a client, and watching them grow and become famous after a year,” said

Panelist Mike Casey, who did publicity for the Ninja Turtles movies. “When I told my son that I had to do an red carpet event, and he learned it was the Turtles movie, he got so excited, and that’s when I realized they had a real following.” Casey had a long and eclectic career as a press agent and later publicity director for Warner Bros. Television, NBC Productions and KTLA. He was also a senior publicist at Universal Pictures, 20^th Century Fox Television, Lorimar Television and served at two major entertainment PR

firms in Los Angeles. He started his showbiz career as night manager of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and later became stage manager and assistant director of CBS Television. He is currently executive vice president of Hanson & Schwam and handles publicity for the “Broadway on Ice.” And Olympic champions Dorothy Hamill and Nancy Kerrigan.

Also at the event the 2007 EPPSilon award was handed Jill Hudson and the “American Idol” publicity team for the “American Idol” $75 Million Plus campaign, IDOL GIVES BACK. The campaign brought “American Idol” fans, celebrity entertainers, show participants and corporate America together to raise much needed funds through “call-ins” and corporate donations from Ford, News Corporation, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Allstate, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and ConAgra. The funds were distributed through charity Projects Entertainment Fund, which combats extreme poverty in the U.S. and through the world, particularly in Africa. No one showed up from American Idol to accept the award.

JS2 Communications entry took second place: “The Wonder of Reading holds its 2nd Annual Explore-A-Story: A Celebration of Books Family Festival and Fundraiser” raising $580,000 through ticket sales and donations-surpassing the inaugural year’s results. The event also raised awareness of Pacific Theatres’ charitable work.

2005 EPPS Pres. Scott Pansky
hands JS2 EPPSilon Award.





////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

PRSA who? Erase PRS and start over...says Jack O'Dwyer

Jack O'Dwyer Oct. 16, 2007

RADICAL REFORM NEEDED AT PRS

This is our last editorial before the once-a-year meeting of the Assembly of the PR Society. This body, which meets Saturday in Philadelphia, is supposed to represent the interests of the members. We don't think it does. It represents the interests of the leaders and h.q. staff. We would like this to be a serious meeting that takes up serious topics like local-only chapter membership, sending Tactics and Strategist by e-mail (saving at least $400,000), moving most of h.q. to a city far from New York thus saving more money (like the AICPA and others have done), returning to members their beloved Blue Book of members which was their phone book and which contained lots of other materials, to name a few topics. But the Assembly will be delirious if the 250 chapter delegates let themselves be hornswoggled into discussing the "Strategic Plan" for an hour and a half (with monitors patrolling the aisles to make sure they don't discuss anything else). The current SP is a cloud of soaring aspirations and goals with about as much substance as a real cloud. It can easily be shown that it has failed in its main goals so why craft another one? Leaders want to shift the attention of the delegates to the future and away from the painful truths of the present. Another such dodge this year is the threat to re-write the entire bylaws. Delegates will have to worry about that one, too. We recall the adage: "The future is the playground of fools." PR people should not practice bad PR on each other. Old Strategic Plan Was a Failure For openers, the 2004-07 SP said that PRS is a "member-driven organization" when it emphatically is not. Members are typically kept in the dark about big decisions like killing the directory, the code, and signing a 13-year lease downtown. There is no PRS blog for members and they're barred from seeing what their "elected" delegates say in a private e-mail group. As it turns out very little is being said in this e-group. Most of the participants are leaders. What participants have learned is that they're not getting the third quarter financials until the day of the Assembly. They're ready but the board, which meets this Thursday, has to see them first. We don't think the board is more important than the Assembly. A chief goal of the SP was making PRS "the profession's leading voice on important industry, societal and global issues." We haven't seen a single speech all year from either CEO Rhoda Weiss or COO Bill Murray, both of whom have ducked all but three of the 15 biggest chapters. How can leaders have a voice when they're in hiding?! Weiss has only spoken to two of the top 15 chapters and none of the five largest. Foundation Is Much Smaller than IPR Another big goal was to "identify the PRS Foundation as the leader in research and education that advances the profession." This is preposterous because the Institute for PR, which broke away from PRS in 1989 over the APR issue, had revenues of $845,485 in 2006 vs. the Foundation's $259,840 in 2006. IPR is three times as big as the Foundation and we don't see the latter catching up. Actually, it should never have been created. PRS should have accepted an independent foundation back in 1989. Leadership Development Failed Another unrealized 2004-07 SP goal was to "create a leadership institute to develop promising mid-careerists to service the Society…" What a laugh! On the Oct. 9 delegate teleconference, S.E. district chair Blake Lewis bemoaned the failure of even one acceptable candidate to show up for a district board position. One had to be recruited by petition. "No organization should have to go through that," he complained. Obviously this SP initiative failed. Only nine candidates showed up for seven board and officer positions this year. Chapters also have difficulty in attracting volunteers. APR Is in the Doldrums Another goal, equally laughable, was "increase the number of accredited members through a targeted marketing plan." New PRS APRs have been at an all-time low for three years running-totaling 391 in three years or an average of 130 yearly. This program, which attracts only a trace of the 18,000+ eligibles, would be very difficult to revive after being in a moribund state for so long. Leaders have to accept this and other unpleasant facts instead of feeding themselves fluff. Gold Anvil Winners Absent Yet another main objective of the SP was "gain recognition" for PRS leaders such as Gold Anvil winners. Where are Debra Miller, 2006 Gold winner, and all the other Gold winners? Are there any speeches or leadership activities coming from them? No. What have they got to say about the secret e-mail group of the delegates, the false financials that understate conference payroll costs, the lack of a blog on the PRS website, etc.? Nothing. Equally silent are the past presidents, who self-mockingly call themselves "The Dead Presidents Society." Plan Was Meaningful in 1999 The Strategic Plan was more meaningful when it was created in 1999 as a "check and balance" against rule by the board. It was meant to gather the opinions of a broad spectrum of members. The 1999 SP demanded that APR be removed as a qualification for national office or the Assembly or membership on the nominating committee. What happened was that the board removed the SP of its independence. The 1999 board led by Sam Waltz rejected the APR advice in the strongest terms and said it would fight any such changes in the bylaws. The board now dominates the SP. The SP is no longer a "check and balance" on the board and neither are the Ethics Board, which refuses to make any criticisms of the national board; the audit committee, which rubber stamps the audit by Sobel & Co.; the College of Fellows, which is silent; the ex-presidents, also silent, and the Gold Anvil winners, even more silent. All these possible "checks and balances" are no match for the board and its arsenal of lawyers, accountants and association executives. The Assembly is the last possible "check and balance" but its overwhelming rejection of the Central Michigan proposal last year (which would have made the Assembly the chief policy-making body of the Society) shows the board is in almost complete control of it. SP Loaded with Positive Spin The SP is loaded with positive words like "strategy," "critical," "vision," "ethical," "strengths," etc. How many zeros make one? If the delegates spend one minute on creating a new string of superlatives for PRS, they will show how politicized they have become. If they want to win a lot of brownie points with the national leadership, that is the way to do it. The Assembly is the one day in the year when PRS volunteers and staff must operate in the open. It is too big to be hidden. Its actions will be duly recorded for all to see. What is needed is for the chapters to create their own governing body, at last providing some balance to the out-of-control national board and staff that has abandoned the democratic principles on which the U.S. is founded.

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Responses:

Arnie Huberman (10/16): The only way to save PRSA is to destroy it, and start from scratch. PRSA membership is of ZERO value to me if it is on your resume.APR even worse. Like a phoenix, a new organiztion that represents the members and not the self-serving intersts of the staff should arise. And I would give the job to Richard Edelman to organize!

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

Advertising is Dead

George Mc Quade

By Aida Mayo, president
MAYO Communications

MAYO Communications To Share Public Relations Tips At USC Event

***

Vice President George Mc Quade is Scheduled to Speak at The University of Southern California’s Association of Integrated Marketing (AIM) PR Night, which Exposes Students to the Different Aspects of the Marketing and PR Industry, and It Also Gives Them an Opportunity to Interact with Pros

Los Angeles— “Advertising is dead, however public relations and integrated marketing communications

are on the rise,” so said George McQuade, vice president of new business/media at MAYO Communications, an LA based international public relations firm. Mc Quade a board member and last year’s president of Entertainment Publicists Professional Society (EPPS) said, “It is a consumer revolution, where people get their news, information on demand, when ever and where ever they want it via social websites such as Facebook, MySpace or elsewhere Online. The entertainment and advertising agencies are realizing there are billions of dollars to be had on the Internet. And more corporations, even high tech customers are switching to PR.”

Mc Quade is amongst several PR Pros expected to attend the USC’S Fall 2007 Public Relations Night on Wednesday, October 17 from 6:30 - 8 pm. The event is intended to expose students to the different aspects of the marketing and PR industry, and it also gives them an opportunity to interact with professionals. Various companies representing the diverse fields of integrated marketing will be present.

“At every university campus I tell students if they major in Information Technology they’ll become a millionaire overnight, if they minor in it, they’ll become rich in five years. Just about everything from broadcast news to ‘how to find or do whatever’ is discovered Online. The news media has finally

caught up with technology, but now consumers are sometimes even more knowledgeable, and expects more from information resources. There are nearly 2,000 widgets Online, or what I describe as your life on a desktop, where you can obtain info on just about anything your heart desires thanks to Google.”

In addition to the challenges of technology, budding PR and marketing pros are finding they need a wider skill set. “I recommend anyone majoring public relations or marketing also take business, photography, computer science and creative writing classes,” Mc Quade said. “It just makes you that much more valuable, and you can fit into more jobs available. There are lots of new media jobs today. The career opportunities and resources are endless. Only 10 years ago when students applied for jobs they had to request company information ahead of time. Now, students can surf the employer’s website and read everything from annual reports to the mission and goals of the corporation.”

Mc Quade also recommends networking and finding a mentor before students graduate. “When you graduate decide where you want to live, take an entry level job in that city and just move there. Check in with your mentor as you make your moves up the career ladder, and listen to what they say, because your mentor can save you the heartache of making same mistakes they did,” he said.

For More about MAYO Communications visit www.MayoCommunications.com.

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

A hard lesson learned on the Internet

How To Protect Yourself From The Potential Of A $220,000 Judgment: SafeMedia’s P2PD Technology Solutions Are The Answer


By George Mc Quade

“The recent Minnesota copyright infringement precedent-setting case gives the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) the right ammunition to stop people from downloading and distributing unauthorized copyrighted digital files over contaminated Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks,” said CEO & Chairman Safwat Fahmy SafeMedia Corp., Boca Raton, FL.

“SafeMedia products are the only technology that was designed and created to block all contaminated encrypted and non-encrypted P2P networks and to protect internet users from such costly judgment. SafeMedia products installed on a university/schools, government and ISP networks or at internet users home would make it virtually impossible for anyone to commit illegal file sharing.”

RIAA won its first trial last week when a jury ordered Jammie Thomas of Duluth, Minnesota to pay $220,000 to a half dozen separate record companies -- Sony BMG, Arista Records, Interscope Records, UMG Recordings, Capitol Records, and Warner Bros. Records. The settlement involves 24 copyrighted songs illegally downloaded and shared with others over a Kazaa file-sharing network on her computer. Thomas' lawyer argued that someone else could have downloaded the songs either in-person or remotely, but the Minnesota jury ruled in favor of the recording industry.

In a previous case in Arizona Judge Neil V. Wake provided the legal foundation for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recent victory. The case Atlantic v. Howell, where Judge Wake, in a summary judgment, shot down the Howell's arguments and handed the RIAA $40,500 in statutory damages, $350 in court costs, and a permanent injunction against future copyright infringement by the Howells.

“This landmark decision was based on ‘The Made Available Theory’ that anyone who has P2P programs on their computer, which connect to a contaminated P2P network (even without downloading files) is committing copyright infringement since the only reason to have the programs is to make copyrighted files available to all other users,” said Fahmy. (Contaminated P2P networks are known to contain illegal copyrighted files, classified business information, national security data and personal identification documents).

According to Tom Sydnor, senior fellow and director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property at The Progress & Freedom Foundation, the Jammie Thomas case is a double-edge sword for Internet pirates. "First, by rejecting the defendant’s “a-neighbor-could-have-done-it defense,” the jury indicated that the holder of an internet-access account is responsible for illegal uses of their account. This helps dispel the myth that you can download with impunity and then blame on your roommate when get caught.

"Second, by awarding damages of $9250 per song—well above the $750-per-song minimum—the jury spoke to both the illegality and immorality of unauthorized downloading. Some say that this verdict will not deter file-sharing because the number of people using file-sharing programs has increased since the lawsuits began. They miss the point. The defendant here was sued because she was allegedly uploading over 1700 songs. Studies show that the percentage of users uploading files on these networks has plunged since the lawsuits began. As users learn to stop uploading infringing files, the problem of infringing downloaders will resolve itself,” explained Sydnor, who also authored a study for the US Patent Office on dangers of file sharing, and recently testified in Washington DC, along with SafeMedia Corporation.

In another RIAA lawsuit, Elektra v. Santangelo, AOL has been enjoined as a third party defendant and sued for $4 million. The lawsuit against AOL is based on information and belief that, AOL failed to use its controls to prevent illegal downloading (from Contaminated P2P networks) of copyrighted music, even though it had the information, superior knowledge, ability, skill, techniques, tools, power and authority to prevent such downloading.

“The verdict should also send a message to distributors of file-sharing programs,” said Sydnor. “Yet again, a consumer made an utterly foreseeable use of a file-sharing program and suffered dire consequences. Distributors that care about their users will get the hint and start using the best-available technology to prevent infringing uses of their programs and networks.”

SafeMedia’s P2P Disaggregator (P2PD) technology is embedded in DSL and Cable modems in the home or work environment or as a standalone subnet appliance for universities, government agencies and corporate networks. Our strategy of subnet implementation eliminates any network latency; controls darknets file sharing between subnets and reduces exposure to backbone failure. “These cases are likely to send a strong message on piracy throughout cyberspace,” said Fahmy.

“We believe universities and campuses across the country are trying to end piracy on campus. A university, based on the AOL lawsuit may be found liable for allowing the infringing conduct of staff and/or students where the university has provided access to the equipment used to carry out the infringing conduct and not taken reasonable steps to ensure that their network infrastructure is not used to infringe copyrighted material,” he said.

SafeMedia’s products were created specifically to give universities, corporations, government agencies and ISP’s a complete long term cost effective solution for protecting their users and winning the war on Internet piracy associated with contaminated P2P networks.

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

Lawmaker Proposes To Strengthen Anti-Counterfeiting and Internet Piracy Efforts

(top-Left) Mike Robinson, MPAA --- LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (at podium)
With US Chamber President
















"Supremes" Mary Wilson testifies on piracy.






Congressman Howard Berman moderates.





Chief Economist Jack Kyser,
V.P. LAEDC (left)

(L-R) Marcus Cohn, RIAA; Lew Kontnik, Dir. Brand Protection,
Business Continuity, Amgen; Phil Terzian, Sen. Dir. Gov. Affairs, Activision;
Crystal Zarpas, Mann & Zarpas, LLP; Mike Robinson, MPAA and Gavin Koon,
International Rep., International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees (IATSE)

Lawmaker Proposes
To Strengthen
Anti-Counterfeiting and
Internet Piracy Efforts

“Congress is making Internet service providers responsible for piracy on their networks, not just those who download or share the content,” said Congressman Howard Berman at Anti-Piracy Event in LA

SafeMedia has the Technology and solutions to support this legislation

Hollywood, CA – A California congressional delegation, Motion Picture Assn. of America (MPAA), Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA), law enforcement and music industry executives huddled in weeklong brainstorming meetings to solve the growing problem of counterfeiting and piracy threats to America’s economy. SafeMedia Corporation is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Coalition against Counterfeiting and Piracy (CACP) and an Internet Task Force Member and participated in the event.

“Counterfeiting and music piracy have been going on for years, escalating to a point where it has to stop, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us to do this,” Singer Mary Wilson, one of the three original legendary Motown Supremes singers testifying during Anti-Piracy Awareness Week in Hollywood (Thursday, August, 23, 2007). Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, known as the “Supremes,” were one of the most successful female singing groups in recording history.

“Counterfeiting and piracy are costing the U.S. economy about $250 billion annually, have led to the loss of more than 750,000 American jobs and needlessly expose consumers to dangerous and defective products,” said California 28^th District Congressman Howard Berman, who moderated the Town Hall meeting, along with 33^rd District Congresswoman Diane Watson and 27^th District Congressman Brad Sherman.

“The Crime of counterfeiting and piracy is a dangerous threat to consumers and our economy,” said Berman, who also chaired a hearing last June in Washington to reduce digital copyright violations on campus. Berman promised to secure more funds and resources for the U.S. Dept. of Justice, INS, Homeland Security and other federal agencies to crack down on counterfeiting and piracy.

Representative Sherman also believes that Congress has to start enforcing intellectual and copyright laws at the borders with more investigators, prosecutors and federal trade agents. “Six to nine percent of the world trade has pirated goods from auto parts to Barbie Dolls. If the real Barbie Dolls have lead paint, just imagine what the counterfeit dolls have,” he said.

All panelists agreed that the industry and government need to take a proactive approach on the street and on the Internet. For the full story please visit or click here:http://www.mayocommunications.com/2007NewsReleases/NR-88-2007-MotownPiracyWeekwrapUp%208-0-26-07FINAL(2).htm

[For more information about SafeMedia Corporation’s product line visit www.SafeMedia.com or
call 561-989-1934.]

MAYO PR - "We don't guarantee media, we just get it!"

Questions Surround PRS Candidates

Aug. 24, 2007

GOVERNANCE, DISCLOSURE ARE PRS ISSUES

Six candidates have been nominated for national PR Society board and officer posts – Mike Cherenson, chair-elect; Rosanna Fiske, treasurer; Mary Barber, secretary; Kathy Hubbell, N. Pacific director; Phil Tate, S.E. director, and Dave Imre, director-at-large. Fiske They are merely nominated at this point and could be opposed by other members until Sept. 20. The issues facing the candidates are of interest to all PR pros since the Society claims to represent the entire PR field and not just members. Its "overall goal" is to be the "standard bearer for PR" and to position the Society "as the acknowledged brand of PR excellence." Candidates thus far have only provided their biographies and general statements about PR. They have yet to answer questions about the issues of governance and disclosure that face the Society. Cherenson PRS policies appear to have alienated much of the corporate world since no corporate person is on the slate above. It is likely that only one corporate person will be on the 17-member 2008 board – Christopher Veronda of Eastman Kodak. The 11-member Society Ethics Board has no corporate representatives. You can express your opinions on these issues by using the "Tell O'Dwyer's what you think" device at the end of this editorial or by voting yes or no on each question. Questions for Nominees and all PR Pros: 1. National board and officer posts should be decoupled from accreditation and any APR requirements should be removed from the bylaws (including the nomcom). ( ) yes ( ) no 2. Again print the 1,000-page directory of members, PR services, bylaws, etc., or at least allow a discussion of this on the PRS website (which never took place). ( ) yes ( ) no 3. Bring back the previous Ethics Code (dropped without a vote of the membership) but put teeth in it such as requiring PR pros to reveal sources of communications. ( ) yes ( ) no 4. Put both the audit and IRS Form 990 on the PRS website in full text like many organizations do. ( ) yes ( ) no 5. Defer about six months of dues income to reflect its unearned nature (a practice of most organizations). ( ) yes ( ) no 6. Release the transcripts of the 2005-2006 Assemblies as was the previous policy. ( ) yes ( ) no 7. Release the names of the 19 Assembly delegates who voted for the 2006 Central Mich. governance proposal that would have given more power to the Assembly. ( ) yes ( ) no 8. Consider moving some h.q. operations out of New York in view of the $5.2M staff costs (46% of revenues). ( ) yes ( ) no 9. Use blast e-mail facility to sample member opinions on important issues. ( ) yes ( ) no 10. Release Assembly delegate list early in year with all delegates reachable by a single e-mail. Ask delegates to seek direction from members, not chapter leaders. ( ) yes ( ) no Planning Committee Abolished A brief history on these issues is that in 1998-99 a Strategic Planning Committee of two dozen leaders (only a couple allowed from the board) created the first five-year plan to end the practice of each new president setting his or her own agenda, discarding previous agendas. The SPC urged that the APR rule be removed for board and Assembly posts since 80% of members were barred from running. But the 1999 board, headed by Sam Waltz, rejected the advice and voiced support for APR. Thereafter, the SPC declined in importance and in 2005 it disappeared as a separate entity. The 2006 board, with Cheryl Procter-Rogers as president, said that henceforth the board itself would be the SPC. The concept of an SPC with representatives from throughout the Society and from various levels of PRS, was abandoned. In other moves that consolidated power in the hands of a few, the 2004 board took on the role of also being the Foundation board and the 2005 board urged the Assembly to pass a bylaw that let the five-member executive committee of the board act in place of the full board (which was passed). News item: Mary Barber, nominee for secretary of the PR Society, after seven years on her own, took a PR job at the Alaska Community Foundation, saying she wasn't looking for a change but the ACF was "the perfect combination of PR skills, giving back to the community, and providing my family some stability while my husband changes careers." Many other PRS leaders have recently made changes. Mike Cherenson, nominee for chair-elect, sold his father's PR firm in early 2006 to an ad agency; Rosanna Fiske, treasurer nominee, closed her firm to teach; Kathy Hubbell, N. Pacific nominee and owner of Adscripts, is moving from Montana to Oregon in search of a PR teaching job; Judith Phair, 2005 president, left her firm for the Graduate Mgmt. Admission Council; Cheryl Procter-Rogers, 2006 president, left HBO in mid-term for her own firm; the agency of 2004 president Del Galloway (Husk Jennings Galloway) was bought by On Ideas in 2005 and Galloway joined the Corp. for Public Broadcasting; Cathryn Harris, 2004 director who was dir. of comms., W. Va. American Water, went to her own firm after that job was eliminated; Steve Lubetkin, 2004 director, left Fleet Bank for his own firm after the bank merged; 2006 director Dave Rickey went from AmSouth Bank, now part of one of the ten largest bank holding companies after acquisition by Regions Financial, to Alfa Corp., Montgomery, Ala., insurance company; Art Stevens, 2003 secretary, went from CEO of Publicis Dialog New York to Stevens/Gould/Pincus, and Reed Byrum, 2003 president, went from Trilogy to his own firm. Only two of the past 12 presidents had significant jobs and stayed in them through and after the presidency–Mary Cusick (1998) of Bob Evans Farms and Kathy Lewton (2001) of Fleishman-Hillard and H&K. Others were in small firms, academia or nonprofit. The rejection of Ray Crockett of Coca-Cola as S.E. director of PRS is symptomatic of PRS's alienation from corporate PR…PRS's bulging payroll of $5.28M (46.3% of revenues of $11.4M) contrasts with the payroll of the Council on Foundations ($6.6M or 36% of income of $18M). The ACF, which Mary Barber has joined, follows the guidelines for "transparency" of the Council. This includes putting the full audit and IRS Form 990 on the website. PRS does neither. Does ACF want its name associated with such practices? Still being withheld are the names of the 250 chapter Assembly delegates…Debbie Girard, now on PR for PRS under VP-PR Janet Troy, as a freelancer for PRS in 2004 authored "Tale of a Turnaround" for the magazine of ASAE/D.C. It said PRS was beset with "money woes, eroded credibility with members, low employee morale and a less-than-desirable working relationship with the board" but this was reversed by COO Catherine Bolton with the help of 2001 pres. Kathy Lewton and 2003 pres. Reed Byrum (2002 pres. Joann Killeen was not mentioned).

By Jack O'Dwyer
www.Odwyerpr.com