Kelly Rossman-McKinney, APR, Chief Executive Officer

Kelly is a certified crisis communicator, a nationally accredited public relations counselor (APR) and a member of the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) distinguished College of Fellows.  She has been recognized as one of Michigan’s Most Influential Women and selected as one of the top 25 women business owners by the National Association of Women Business Owners.  In 1999, she was named to the Lansing State Journal’s “100 People to Watch This Century.”  In 2004 and 2007, The Rossman Group was named the “most effective public relations firm” by the MIRS/EPIC-MRA State Capitol Survey.  The poll of 406 capital insiders also ranked Kelly as the most effective public relations professional.  The Rossman Group celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Contact Information
Kelly Rossman
517-487-9320
krossman@rossmangroup.com

Monday

June 23, 2008

Making issues matter

One profession in Lansing has absolutely blossomed in the past 10 years–and I can’t decide whether I’m thrilled or annoyed!  It’s called issue management, a specialty niche in public relations that we at The Rossman Group describe as “maximizing support and minimizing opposition.”  Sounds devastatingly simple, doesn’t it?  Ah, but if it were, our clients wouldn’t need us.  They could do it all themselves.  After all, how hard could it be?  Just tell people the facts–they’ll understand the big picture, they’ll get the need, they’ll support the cause.  Legislators will automatically vote the right way and everyone will be happy.  Rii-ght!

Truth be told–and we love the truth, as long as it’s our truth, backed up by our facts!—many of the issues debated in Lansing are complex and far from popular.  And some aren’t on anyone’s radar screen.

So bring on the specialists in issue management–those of us with the finely honed set of skills required to create a climate in which legislators are comfortable voting our way.  We also bring a keen understanding of the legislative process and the reality of politics.  And don’t forget the critical ability to take a complex issue and boil it down to a core set of key messages that absolutely resonate with people.  Our job is to make an issue matter in a way that Joe and Jane Q Public say, “Yeah, that’s right!”

Who hires firms like The Rossman Group?  A wide range of groups with one goal in mind: getting their message across.  They include the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association and its partner coalition, the Michigan Transportation Team, which has worked for years to strengthen transportation funding.  Then there’s DTE, Consumers Energy and their partner coalition, the Michigan Jobs and Energy Coalition, working to get legislation passed to stabilize the electric energy market, create thousands of jobs and help ensure affordable, reliable electricity.  Another is the Coalition to Protect Auto No Fault, fighting legislation alleged to provide reduced premiums but which in fact would put thousands of accident victims at risk of financial ruin.  Then there’s Cure Michigan, the ballot campaign to make embryonic stem cells available for research into cures for spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and more.

We’ve also had the honor of working for the Michigan Municipal League and several of its members over the past 20 years, helping override Gov. John Engler’s revenue sharing veto in 2001, pushing for regional cooperation and 425 agreements for important economic development initiatives. 

We’ve learned over the years that the right thing to do is not always the easiest thing to do.  And we’re thrilled to partner with our clients to help the rest of the world see the light!

Tuesday

June 24, 2008

Crisis communication

Several years ago I thought it would be great to become a certified crisis communicator.  I headed down to the Crisis Management Institute in Louisville, Kentucky, and spent a couple of days learning what to do–and, more important, what not to do in a crisis.

Since then, The Rossman Group has helped manage the communications end of a number of critical situations, including the ill-informed clamor to end production of the anthrax vaccine, the intense media scrutiny of public officials following a tunnel blast, the drunken driving arrests of a handful of city officials (no, not all at the same time!), a propane tank explosion at a local gas station, an oil refinery fire, and the embarrassing iPod story that took the Michigan House Democrats around the media world in less than 24 hours.

Every crisis has two key elements at its core: There is a threat to the survival of the business/organization/individual; and the public wants answers, reassurance and accountability.  Our client’s lawyers almost always want our client to shut up–we usually want our client to speak up.  We get it that lawyers live in fear of someone saying something that will come back to haunt them.  But we argue that the court of public opinion moves way faster than the court of law.  A bad headline can run tomorrow; the court case won’t hit until months after public opinion has formed.  I’m all about getting the headline right, right out of the gate.  We’re mindful of the threat of litigation and willingly dance with attorneys to get their approval for at least a simple statement.

Crisis communications has three basic elements, which anyone can implement on the fly:

Acknowledge.  Yeah, go ahead and acknowledge the situation.  Don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. 

Apologize.  People want someone to say, “I’m sorry this happened.”  It doesn’t mean you accept responsibility, so don’t let your lawyers talk you out of it.  But mean it when you say it. No fair sounding like a churlish 6-year-old who only regrets getting caught. 

Act.  Take action to fix the situation–and let people know what that action is and when it will be completed.  Sometimes the action is easy: We’re going to stop doing whatever it is we were caught doing.

It’s simple, it’s straightforward, but it’s darn rare that someone will actually do this when caught up in the heat of a crisis.  That’s what we’re here for–to lead you to the best possible outcome when you’re in a bad situation.  We do whatever it takes to feed the hungry reporters pounding your door–so they won’t feed on you.

Wednesday

June 25, 2008

Emerging ideas – changing Michigan

Like many of my generation (yeah, the Boomers), it never dawned on me that I might be one of the old farts at the table saying extraordinarily uninspiring things like “that won’t work,” “we tried that,” “not gonna happen,” etc.  What happened?  How’d we get from being young rising stars to (my preferred term) “seasoned veterans?” 

Here we sit, struggling to keep up in a world dominated by new technology, new communications tactics, “feed me now” internet access, wondering what the future holds.  This must be how my grandparents felt as they watched transportation change from horse-and-buggy days (yes, really!) to landing a man on the moon.  Old, but exhilarated.  Totally out of it (how do they do that?!), but absolutely amazed that it all works!

The question is no longer, “What future can my generation create?”  The question is, “What is the "X" or "Y" generation doing next to change the world our generation lives in?”  We are already reacting to their–OK, your –technology, pop culture, invention, creativity. 

Michigan needs a place for that energy and creativity.  And we are not doing enough to foster the relationship between emerging ideas and the world we helped change.  Recently, at the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce’s Mackinac Conference, we were introduced to a new concept: Fusion, bringing the historical (read: old) constructs of the business and political world into “fusion” with young people and their energy.  We must align with the young, rather than force them to conform to the traditional ways of doing business and running our communities.

This is the future.  Old farts, make way.  Embrace texting and get yourself a MySpace page (or whatever you call it!).  And remember, you youthful rising stars: We’re not old–we’re retro!

Thursday

June 26, 2008

Where will your trip begin?

I am a sucker for the state of Michigan’s “Pure Michigan” ads.  The voice, the music, the words, the pictures–they all draw me in and make a believer out of me–and I already was a believer!  Your trip begins at www.Michigan.org!

But besides the feel-good response, do the ads work?  Are people really hopping into their cars, paying $4+ bucks a gallon and heading east, west, north or south?

While I haven’t seen the data, anecdotally I’m hearing from friends across the state that the most popular restaurants in Northern Michigan have immediate seating available every single night, including the wildly popular Saturday night at 7 pm slot.  And that can’t be good for business.

So here’s my plan.  Throw my kids in the car and drive to all those spots I fly by on the way to somewhere else.  Like the …

• Frederic Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids – just north of I-96 off exit 38 (the Beltline, M-44), which I fly by every time I go to a meeting in Grand Rapids. 

• Giant Clam at Sea Shell City on the east side of I-75 (exit 326) in Levering (we’ve all seen the signs on the way to Mackinac Island).  C’mon, a giant clam????  We’ve gotta see it!

• The National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods, not all that far from the Giant Clam, it’s supposed to be both beautiful and inspiring.  We could use a good dose of both!

I’m especially keen on showing them the gritty beauty of Detroit.  My Lansing-born kids have never really seen Detroit, so we’re heading down for a weekend that includes catching the Tigers at Comerica Park (they’re still on a winning streak, right?); the Detroit Institute of Arts in all its refurbished, kid-friendly glory; the Motown Museum on Grand Boulevard (funk at its best!) and of course, the fabulous Detroit Zoo!  We also plan to hit the Hard Rock Café in Campus Martius and check out the cosmopolitan campus of my alma mater, Wayne State University, in Midtown.  We’ll also check out the powerful fist of Joe Louis and the cooling fountains at Hart Plaza.

Gee, maybe we’ll do a week in Detroit!

Friday

June 27, 2008

Politics…

The Democratic primary was just the beginning.  Never in my wildest dreams did I expect that, in my lifetime, the two most serious contenders–the real-deal candidates–would be an African-American male and a white female.  The usual suspects (aka, the white guys) got left in the dust–coiffed hair and all–and what high school civics class ever prepared us for that prospect?

Ironically, who knew that the female candidate would get criticized for being too tough, too aggressive, too harsh, too direct, too strident and just not warm and fuzzy enough?  Isn’t that what she was supposed to do–show that she had the emotional fortitude–i.e., big girls don’t cry–to be president?
So that’s exactly what Hillary Clinton does.  She shows that she’s tough enough–and she ultimately loses out to the guy who is willing to show his feminine side–to show compassion and concern, to be warm and fuzzy.  And, to top it all off, she gets ambushed by the occasionally loose-lipped behavior of her spouse.  (That may be the best example of the “what goes around comes around” theory I’ve ever seen!)

Now that the gender issue is out of the way, come November we’ll grapple with ageism and racism.  Do we vote for the old guy or do we vote for the young guy?  Seasoned veteran or new-kid-on-the-block?  (Check out my blog from Wednesday and admit this is the old fart issue all over again!)
Or, assuming the age issue doesn’t matter, decide whether or not you’re voting for the white guy or the African-American guy.  People tell pollsters race doesn’t matter, but if Michigan’s strong support to repeal affirmative action two years ago is any indication, we’re way more racist than we are willing to admit–unless the curtain to the voting booth is pulled shut.

John McCain had pretty much a free ride during the primary campaign, although he did rise like Lazarus as a candidate so purportedly dead in the water that his own Michigan campaign chair, Attorney General Mike Cox, took a walk.  (And how much is he regretting that, do you suppose?)  Clinton and Obama kicked each other’s tires so much during the primaries that it’s a wonder either of them crossed the finish line.  McCain’s road test is just starting.

Two quick final observations:
I don’t care what the candidates’ wives wear.  Enough with their dresses, their wardrobes, their makeup.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fashion maven from the get-go, but Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama are both women of substance and they deserve to be recognized for their brainpower, not their fashion sense.

It’s high time we thanked the people–all the people–who are willing to run for office, whether it is for the local school board, city council, the state Legislature or Congress.  Being an elected official is a thankless task that does not win one many popularity contests.  (Ask Andy Dillon how much he likes being speaker of the House!)  It means being on the job 24-7, sacrificing quality time with family and friends, and being second-guessed at every turn.  But it means everything to your community and to your constituents, so for those of you who choose to run–thank you, thank you, thank you. And for those of you who win…be careful what you wish for!!!! 

Check back on Monday to hear from Dan Kildee, Genesee County Treasurer.