» The Client: The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce
» Job: Generate national and local media coverage for the Commission’s new report, “Tough Choices or Tough Times,” a comprehensive report outlining recommendations for education reforms in the U.S. This is the second edition of the report from the commission, which was organized by the National Center on Education and the Economy. The first report was released in 1990.
» Agency: Widmeyer Communications in Washington, D.C.
» Theme: The report calls for sweeping changes to the U.S. education system and warns of negative consequences for the next generation if reforms aren’t enacted.
» The Concept: The goal of Widmeyer’s public relations campaign was to distinguish “Tough Choices or Tough Times” from the numerous other reports released in Washington every day. Widmeyer did the PR for the initial report in 1990, and was charged with garnering the same amount of high-profile coverage they did the first time.
» The Plan: The Widmeyer team first established a Web site, www.SkillsCommission.org, to serve as a hub for all report-related materials and prepared the report’s commissioners to serve as spokespeople. They then reached out to key contacts in the media, government and in the public policy arena to begin building buzz around the report. The efforts resulted in scoring a Time magazine cover, as well as coverage in many national newspapers, broadcast and radio outlets. A national press conference and high-profile release of the report in December also drew coverage from local media outlets around the country.
» Creative Team: Scott Widmeyer (chairman), Lee Jenkins (senior vice president), Cathy St. Denis (vice president), Adam Shapiro (assistant vice president), Alissa Schulman (account manager), Nicole Rife (senior web and graphic designer)
» Background: With offices in Washington and New York, Widmeyer Communications is a full-service public affairs, media relations, integrated research, marketing communications, risk and crisis communications, advertising and design firm.
Working on Next: Widmeyer is currently working on several campaigns, including a campaign about college student spirituality for the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, a campaign on Congressional ethics and lobbying reform for the Committee for Economic Development, and a risk and emergency preparedness project for Hecla Mining Company.
