Luncheons and Workshops

Great actors, bad press releases. A match made in heaven.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, press releases are a PR staple — at least for now.
The press release is fighting for its life in a world of spammed inboxes and
140-character tweets. But for more than a century, it has been a key
instrument of public relations.

Done well, these official statements can grab the attention of reporters and
editors; give them timely, useful information; build relationships; generate
buzz; and get results for clients. Done poorly, all you get is a quick trip to
the trash can.

Bad press releases can be excruciatingly painful and almost laughable.
How bad is bad? Join the New Mexico Chapter of the Public Relations
Society of America on Thursday, February 27, when two of Albuquerque’s
best actors, Charlie O’Dowd and Carolyn Ward, read some of the worst
releases we could lay our hands on. Veteran reporter Rick Nathanson of
the Albuquerque Journal will talk about why they’re awful and give his Top
10 tips on writing a news release that will make an editor smile — and run
it.

Don’t miss the fun. Buy your ticket today, and we’ll see you at Seasons! 

About the Hosts:

Charlie O’Dowd is an entertainer. He’s worked in the New Mexico film industry since 1987, serving on crews from City Slickers to Breaking Bad.
Versatile to the core, Charlie kept his hand in local theatre and music and is an award-winning audio book narrator, having narrated 83 novels and the Bible.

Carolyn Ward is a native New Mexican from Deming who loves to act. Most recently, she has been seen on stage at West End Productions, The Adobe Theatre and the Albuquerque Little Theatre and on camera for Haverland Carter, St. Vincent’s Anchorum and in Sandia Labs training
videos. In college, Carolyn was a classical music DJ for her college’s NPR radio station, where she read many, many PSAs.

Rick Nathanson, a reporter at the Albuquerque Journal since 1979, has covered just about every beat. A Chicago native, Rick holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree
from the Graduate Institute of St. John’s College in Santa Fe. A former Peace Corps volunteer, he served as a reporter/editor for the Tonga Chronicle, the government-operated newspaper in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga. Rick loves the variety of general-assignment reporting, his current job, and the breadth of things he gets to learn along the way. He estimates he’s seen thousands of news releases in his 40-year career,
many of them bad. As a sideline, Rick is a Hachidan, 8th Degree Black Belt in Shorin Ryu Okinawan karate and a former nationally ranked competitor.

Step 2. Pay online (if applicable).