Urban Revitalization Requires Human Revitalization

By Montrie Rucker AdamsJanuary 15, 2015 Blog African-Amreican, civic engagement, colleges, Cuyahoga County, government, Healthcare Institutions, Hough, Smart Inclustion, universities, urban planning

Recently a Cuyahoga County, Ohio 2012 study was brought to my attention. The study contrasts healthcare outcomes in African-American and white communities. Cuyahoga County encompasses Cleveland and other suburban municipalities. The study concluded that low-income residents within Hough, the predominantly African-American inner city Cleveland neighborhood, have a life expectancy of 64 years. Eight miles away in the predominantly white middle class community of Lyndhurst, residents have a life expectancy of 88 years.
The study essentially provides evidence that social determinants such as adequate housing, highly performing schools, livable wages, and healthy food choices literally are a matter of life and death. According to U.S. Census data, Cleveland is 53 percent African-American. Furthermore the average income for an adult is approximately $17,000, and 35 percent of all residents live below the poverty level.

Despite these horrifying statistics, political and business leaders ignore the elephant in the room. It is safer to focus on urban revitalization in a few areas anchored by healthcare institutions and colleges and universities.

These urban innovation districts are believed to be economic development saviors for cities. This is also not unique to Cleveland. Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Detroit are among many cities that are leveraging this approach to revive the urban core. The real compelling narrative is that the masses of citizens have been left behind, especially African-Americans.

Ironically within the problem exists an opportunity for institutions to lead in improving social determinants for all citizens and thus ensuring their own sustainability. Transforming organizational culture in ways that realize benefits for all citizens will ultimately lead to population growth, small business growth, and a revitalized tax base. This innovative model of diversity and inclusion is Smart Inclusion™. Smart Inclusion™ is the missing piece of the puzzle that will inevitably facilitate a sustainable approach to urban revitalization. We are in serious need of the following models among anchor institutions:

• Healthcare Institutions: Developing workforce development partnerships with K-12 schools ensures the next generation of skilled healthcare workers. Improving healthcare outcomes requires a holistic approach.
• Colleges and Universities: Supporting youth STEM programs among marginalized populations establishes a pipeline for new students. Collaborating with community-based organizations can foster new opportunities for innovative research.
• Government: Civic engagement has to be cross-sector, multidisciplinary, and cross-cultural. Local government is integral to Smart Inclusion™.

Equitable urban planning is not merely a social imperative, it is an economic development necessity. It is time that all stakeholders revamp their approach to urban revitalization.

Smart Inclusion™ – A Sustainable Business Practice

By Montrie Rucker AdamsDecember 16, 2014 Blog

One can read almost any survey among executives across industry sectors, and they all cite talent attraction and retention and a lack of innovation as their biggest challenges. Revenue remains flat, and there have no fresh ideas for quite a while. One can easily picture a cartoon of boardroom full of white male baby boomers scratching their heads with a thought bubble containing a bold question mark. Therein lies the irony – the absence of diversity and inclusion is the reason that the answers elude them.

An April, 2014 article highlighted the inclusive efforts of Kimberly-Clark corporation. Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Huggies diapers and Kotex feminine products has a customer base that is 83 percent female. In 2009, leadership at Kimberly-Clark decided to increase the number of women within senior management as well as on the board of directors in 2009. Newly-implemented work-life balance initiatives allowed for top-performing working mothers to serve in more decision-making roles. Top performing women no longer feared making a decision between work and family. By 2013, the stock price increased from $63.71 to $104.46. Changing an organizational culture empowering diverse employees is Smart Inclusion™.

Kimberly-Clark proved that Smart Inclusion™ is ultimately about key performance indicators. These performance indicators can be economic, social, and environmental. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 37 percent of Americans are either African-American, Native-American, Asian-American or Latino. Furthermore, women comprise 50 percent of the American population. Smart Inclusion™ is not merely some feel good social imperative, it is a sustainable business practice. Sectors most needing to integrate Smart Inclusion™ for stakeholder engagement include:

Government: The 21^st century digital age and transformational demographic shifts in cities have changed the civic engagement paradigm forever. Transparency and cross-cultural collaboration are now fundamental to the new urban landscape.
Public Utilities: Smart meters and other online water and energy management tools have empowered the customer with more knowledge. Customer engagement within a service territory made up of customers with diverse cultures and values has become an evolving science.
Colleges and Universities: The international student population has increased dramatically at most institutions of higher learning. Increased competition to attract and retain such students require culturally-competent outreach strategies for each diverse student population.

Multiculturalism is the new normal. The infinite combinations of age, race, gender, class, and culture require nuanced value propositions. A recent Pew Research Center study also found that black women and Latinas use Instagram and Twitter more than any other social media platform. The convergence of changing demographics, globalization, and our everyday access to advanced technology has driven the need for Smart Inclusion™. Smart Inclusion™ for stakeholder engagement is fundamental to organizational sustainability.

Which Social Media Networks Have the Most-Engaged Users?

By Montrie Rucker AdamsDecember 9, 2014 Blog

Engaged couples are in a relationship. You want your engaged visitors to be in a relationship with you. Which networks are the most engaged?

According to a report from Shareaholic, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+ drive the most engaged social referrals to websites. The analysis examined visit duration, pages per visit and bounce rate for visitors to its network of over 200,000 websites from eight social media platforms: Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn and YouTube.

YouTube was the top performer across all three metrics. Its referrals to websites have the lowest average bounce rate (43.19%), the longest visitor duration (227.82 seconds) and the highest pages per visit (2.99).

Although LinkedIn and Google+ drive the fewest referrals to Shareaholic’s network, they bring in some of the most engaged visitors. Google+ users spend on average more than three minutes driving content on websites shared by connections in their circles and visit 2.45 pages at each visit and bounce only 50.63% of the time.

LinkedIn users spend 2:23 minutes on average of each link they click, viewing 2.23 pages at each visit and the bounce rate is 51.28%.

Visitors referred from Twitter and Facebook to websites are about equally engaged. Bounce rates are both at 56.35%, though Twitter users visit more pages on average (2.15 vs. 2.03). Facebook users spend more time on a site post-click (127.44 seconds vs. 123.10 seconds).

Pinterest users view fewer pages per visit than Facebook and Twitter visitors (1.71) and spend considerably less time on site (64.67 seconds) than visitors from all other networks expect for StumbleUpon.

So what does this mean for you? When you want to drive visitors to the information on your website, you must think about where the visitors are and where they want to be.

You want to engage your visitors, and when they are, they are most likely to go where you ask them to go…your website.

Smart Inclusion™ – The New Normal for Capital Improvements

By Montrie Rucker AdamsDecember 2, 2014 Blog, Sustainability capital improvements, colleges, government, municipal, smart energy, Smart Inclusion, smart water, universities

Commercial buildings account for 35 percent of US and 40 percent of global electric consumption. They eat up 30 percent of companies’ operating budgets and account for nearly 20 percent of worldwide carbon emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

By integrating smart energy and water management practices, public sector institutions can improve operational outcomes as well as environmental outcomes. Adopting advanced conservation technology such as motion sensing shower heads and smart lighting can yield substantial cost savings. Equally important within public interest sectors is targeting strategic communications that incentivizes stakeholders to modify behavior in ways that lead to reduced energy and water consumption. This will only occur when a stakeholder benefit resonates in a manner that is measurable and personal. Messaging that public interest institutions can convey include:

Healthcare institutions must strategically communicate to stakeholders that their smart energy management initiatives help to improve public health and wellness by reducing carbon pollutants into the atmosphere.
Colleges and universities can communicate to its student population that their conservation habits can result in lower operating costs that can help to control tuition costs.
Governments and municipal utilities have to integrate smart energy and water management into the 21^st century citizen engagement paradigm.

Austerity measures and global competitiveness are now forcing local institutions to expand their brand reach in order to survive. Healthcare systems are marketing newly constructed cancer centers to attract potential patients from the Middle East. Public colleges and universities that historically have recruited from within the state now market new research centers and business incubators to attract new students from China. Municipal utilities are investing in broadband technology infrastructure in order to attract new investment from international technology conglomerates. In order to align innovative messaging with transformational change, Visibility Marketing Inc. rolled out Smart Inclusion™. Smart Inclusion™ facilitates delivering strategic messaging across barriers that used to be avoided or ignored.

Smart Inclusion™ among colleges and universities, healthcare systems, and government entities is ultimately about embracing the fact that constant change and paradigm shifts within these sectors require innovative models of cross-sector collaboration. Major construction projects must have an identity that connects to a much wider array of stakeholders than ever before. Strategic communication that integrates Smart Inclusion™ is not merely a model of inclusion, it is model of institutional sustainability.

CBC Magazine Article: IPG Connects Self-employed PR Pros

By Montrie Rucker AdamsDecember 2, 2014 News advertising, be more visible, branding, communications, marketing, public relations

This article first appeared in CBC Magazine
By Lauren Sable Freiman | Photo by Jim Baron

Being self-employed certainly has many advantages. But camaraderie and the opportunity to bounce ideas around the office typically aren’t among those advantages. That’s where the Independent Practitioners Group steps in to fill a very real void.

A support group for self-employed public relations and marketing professionals, IPG started as a subgroup of the local chapter of the Public Relations Society of America in 1990. In 2001 the group broke off to become an independent networking group, focused on addressing the unique needs of those who work independently.

“There is a certain amount of isolation you deal with when you are self-employed, and this is one avenue to get out and mix and mingle with peers,” Jim Tabaczynski, IPGs co-chair and president of JPT Group, says.

Almost 80 percent of the group’s 15-20 paid members are female and have been working in the industry for an average of eight years. Most members work from home but not all. Montrie Rucker Adams, IPG’s co-chair and treasurer, houses her business, Visibility Marketing Inc. in an office outside of her home.

“There is a great camaraderie among members. There are a lot of emails going back and forth where people ask who knows about this or who can help me with that,” she says.

IPG hosts monthly lunch meetings from September through May at restaurants around the city. The format varies between professional development and open roundtables, and the content is driven by member wants and needs. A roundtable discussion where members shared their favorite apps was a big hit among members, Tabaczynski says.

As the public relations and marketing industry is dynamic and ever changing, members are especially interested in programs on things like pay-per-click advertising and mobile apps, which provide them with new ways of reaching people.

“We always ask our members what they want,” Tabaczynski says. “The best way to find new programs is to listen to your members.”

According to Rucker Adams, IPG has hosted conferences in the past, including one on social media. As a small networking group, IPG is also open to partnering with other networking organizations to co-sponsor programs. One such program was a meet and greet with tech writers from Crain’s Cleveland Business and The Plain Dealer, which IPG co-hosted with the Northeast Ohio Software Association.

“Our members always enjoy meeting with the media. It is a program that seems to resonate the most with people,” Tabaczynski says. “What we usually tell the media is that we want to learn how to work with you better and we want you to be able to work with us better. We ask what types of stories they are looking for, what they aren’t looking for, and what they consider to be their geographic footprint.”

Though some members have similar businesses and are competitors, Rucker Adams says that, nonetheless, IPG members serve as a strong support system to other members.

“We are very big on passing information, and there are many opportunities to gain clients as well,” she says. “There is always an opportunity to get a new perspective. The more varied voices you have, the more opportunity you have to learn.”

For more information: IPGCleveland.org

Crains Cleveland Business Article: Montrie Rucker Adams, president and chief visibility officer, Visibility Marketing Inc.

By Montrie Rucker AdamsNovember 24, 2014 News communications, marketing, media, public relations

Originally Published in Crains Cleveland Business: November 16, 2014

Earlier this year, Crain’s Cleveland Business formed an 11-member minority advisory board to provide objective, constructive input on minority-based issues for Crain’s. The Crain’s Business Diversity Council has met regularly since April. This is one in a series of profiles of its members.

Montrie Rucker Adams is a seasoned communications professional, yet she still has had her abilities called into question despite her qualifications.The president and chief visibility officer for Visibility Marketing Inc. of Beachwood said diversity and inclusion are issues that still need to be addressed. “No matter where you are, there’s this segregation that seems to naturally happen,” she said. “It’s still going on, it’s still happening. … It’s the 2000s and people are still running from each other.” Adams, who also has worked as director of publications for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District; as manager of marketing and public relations for the Health Museum of Cleveland; and as editor of Kaleidoscope magazine, is not one to sit back, however. Not only is she a member of the newly formed Crain’s Business Diversity Council, she’s been involved in a variety of community organizations and efforts, including the East End Neighborhood House and Continue Life Inc., a homeless shelter and transitional housing program for expecting and parenting young women.Adams also is passionate about her work with the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women at Case Western Reserve University.

“I am truly a women’s advocate,” she said. “When it comes to women, we’re still just treading water … sometimes just standing still.”

She even has made inclusion part of her everyday work at Visibility Marketing, implementing a practice of what she calls “Smart Inclusion.” It builds off the concept that innovation requires collaboration that crosses boundaries that we used to avoid or ignore.

Too often, she said, it is human nature for people to look for people like themselves — whether it’s in news coverage, the world of business or other circles.

“It’s the same old, same old,” she said. “That’s what happens when you don’t open your circle wide enough.”

It’s for that reason that Adams is encouraged by the Crain’s Diversity Council and her involvement with it. “It’s a positive step in the right direction,” she said.

Adams, a Northeast Ohio native who now lives is Richmond Heights, earned an undergraduate degree in business administration and psychology from Baldwin-Wallace College and her master’s degree in business administration (marketing/marketing management) from the University of North Carolina.

She and her husband, with whom she works at Visibility Marketing, have two children, ages 11 and 13.— Amy Ann Stoessel

Measuring PR Through Your Website

By Montrie Rucker AdamsNovember 20, 2014 Blog businesses, campaign, content, infographics, information, public relations, SEO, website

When it comes to measuring your public relations impact, there’s a new kid on the block.

Now, a business’s website analytics and search engine optimization is at the center of public relations measurement. You can find out if your visitors are buying your product or service, ask for more information and if your public relations efforts are shaping the correct perceptions. A system for measuring your impact through your website includes:

Defining business goals
Marketing and communications aim to get customers to a company’s website and take action, be it downloading information or making a purchase. After defining your goals and implementing your public relations campaign, determine where the most traffic came from and evaluate the quality of your website’s users.

Determine Your Customers’ Search Terms
Using search terms in your content is essential to driving traffic and those terms must be a part of the public relations campaign. Understanding how search engines work is vital for effective SEO, and should dovetail with a business’s goals.

Use Google Analytics
Learn how to analyze the data: How many visitors, what pages they visit and what is their behavior when they arrive at a page? It’s time to fine tune your campaign if visitors aren’t going to the pages you want them to visit or aren’t taking any action when on your site.

Create good content
Shareable content such as photos, video and infographics extends your reach. Make coming to your website a great experience that benefits the user. In this way, they will visit often and tell others about the great information they received.

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Smart Inclusion™ – The New Higher Education Imperative

By Montrie Rucker AdamsNovember 18, 2014 Blog African-American, college, Kent State University, KSU, Millennials, Smart Inclusion

Last month Todd Q. Adams, our chief of sustainability and innovation, was invited to speak to African-American male students at Lakeland Community College in Ohio. Lakeland launched Pathfinders a few years ago as a program designed to attract and retain African-American male students. To their credit, the college realizes that admission does not necessarily equate to inclusiveness. Fostering a deliberate welcoming environment is what yields positive returns for Lakeland.

Kent State University in Ohio touts that the 690 African-American, Latino, and Native American students represents a 3.3 percent enrollment increase from last year. The 2,668 international students from 103 countries represents a 9.03 percent increase from last year. Although these numbers are somewhat modest relative to the 41,000 Kent students, Kent State University is clearly establishing the framework for innovative models of diversity and inclusion. In order to deliver stakeholder engagement solutions that align with such transformational change, Visibility Marketing, Inc. rolled out Smart Inclusion™.

Smart Inclusion™ on college campuses is about integrating all students into the university ecosystem in ways that are meaningful to them as well as the university at large. Sustainability will require new success metrics that measure cross-cultural business collaboration, student-run business startups, and inclusive models measuring student life satisfaction. International student attraction and retention strategies now require targeted campaigns that are culturally relevant. According to a March, 2014 Pew Research Center study, women are also enrolling in college at a rate greater than men across almost every racial and ethnic group.

The successful institutions will be able to effectively manage the intersection of this dynamic diversity. Lakeland and Kent State University understand that “checking the box” to tally diversity does not work anymore. A June, 2014 Brookings Institution study also revealed that Millennials (those born between early 1980’s and early 2000’s) also value social responsibility and personal satisfaction more than prior generations. Traditional models of stakeholder engagement and student outreach no longer apply. Smart Inclusion™ in higher education is not merely a model of inclusion, it is model of institutional sustainability.

We’re All Writers…How You Write: Print vs. Online

By Montrie Rucker AdamsSeptember 17, 2014 Blog

The Internet has changed everything. Not only do we have information at our (literal) fingertips, but now, we’re all writers.

From Facebook, to Twitter to blogs, people who have never considered themselves writers, are writers. If you are starting (or have) a blog, how can you write to make sure it gets read?

Write Relevant Content 

It may be tempting to write about your brother’s dog, but if it doesn’t relate to your site or page topic, leave it out. Web readers want information, and unless the page is information about said dog, they really won’t care, even if it is a good metaphor for what you’re trying to say.

Put Conclusions at the Beginning

Think of an inverted pyramid when you write. Get to the point in the first paragraph, then expand upon it. People don’t want to have to read page after page to get to the meat.

Write Only One Idea per Paragraph 

Web pages need to be concise and to-the-point. People don’t read Web pages, they scan them, so having short, concise paragraphs is better than long rambling ones.

Use Action Verbs

Tell your readers what to do. Avoid the passive voice. Keep the flow of your pages moving. I was always taught to limit or eliminate “to be” verbs and replace with “is,” “am.”

FORMATTING

Use Lists Instead of Paragraphs 

Lists are easier to scan than paragraphs, especially if you keep them short.

Limit List Items to Seven Words 

Studies have shown that people can only reliably remember seven to ten things at a time. By keeping your list items short, it helps your readers remember them.

Write Short Sentences 

Sentences should be as concise as you can make them. Use only the words you need to get the essential information across.

Include Internal Subheadings 

Sub-headings make the text more scannable. Your readers will move to the section of the document that is most useful for them. Internal cues make it easier for them to do this.

Make Your Links Part of the Copy 

Links are another way Web readers scan pages. They stand out from normal text, and provide more cues as to what the page is about.

Proofread Your Work 

Typos and spelling errors will send people away from your pages. Make sure you proofread everything you post to the Web. If you can have someone else proofread before sending. If you can’t do that, wait a few hours. Your eyes will be fresh and may pick up mistakes otherwise missed.

If we’re all writers, it’s best to write right. Take care to provide the best content and format which will increase your chances of repeat readers.