Grads, I hope you fail. A lot.

Not exactly the hopeful message typical of graduation ceremonies.

But I’m of the opinion that those speeches sort of miss the point. Hope springs from good fortune, which truly blesses the prepared.

Failure’s the unsung hero of success. It gets all the blame for the hardships of life rather than the blessings of a successful end result.

Dating dogs helps shift through to find a happily ever after. Surviving a rat-infested studio to enjoy a beautiful 3-bedroom home. Shaving carburetor parts in a car factory precedes the successful PR firm.

Failure’s truly a wonderful thing.

The most successful people I know failed often and took enormous risks. Lost thousands of dollars, millions even and constantly reinvent themselves.

Life will kick you down, sometimes repeatedly and you’ll think you can endure no more. People will fire you, you will get laid off, your work will be unsatisfactory, a boss will hate you, you will hate a boss.

The great results of all that: you get better every day, eventually surrounding yourself with like-minded people who compliment your talents.

You won’t be good at everything. But hopefully, you’ll figure out what you’re good at and raise the bar.

In short: forget GPAs, your alma matter, and your breeding. It’s the guts, that inner drive that propels you forward, look up that giant mountain and take your first step.

Sounds daunting, but the journey’s magnificent. You’ll find as you age you truly do get better, at everything. Work, love, life.

Interesting people challenge themselves every day. Don’t allow yourself to become boring.

Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino once told me: “I’m never satisfied with yesterday. I wake up every morning and think: ‘How can I be better?’ “

Be better. Every day.

And don’t forget to fail. Fail a lot.

- Erica Holloway is the principal at national PR firm Galvanized Strategies. Subscribe to her Zn30 Blog posts.

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I’m a Sunday news program junkie, but I’ve rarely given Face the Nation as much of my viewing attention as in the last couple weeks.

The consummate news man, Bob Schieffer, seems to have taken his job as the program’s host and his position to call out President Obama’s administration and the rash of scandals rather seriously.

It’s a nice change of pace from the ho-hum baloney churned out week in and week out by David Gregory and Co. on NBC’s Meet the Press – a rather long-in-the-tooth institution.

This morning, my eyes popped, my heart sang as Schieffer used his commentary to do what news organizations used to do with greater directness.

He defended the First Amendment.

Mediaite found this week’s episode as thrilling as I did calling it a “terse critique that skipped the easy shots but did not spare the president.”

It’s not easy being a fly in the ointment. The Fourth Estate’s rarely beloved for long by the public before it’s hated. The media, as I tell my clients ad nauseum, isn’t your friend – they are the public’s protector, the seeker of information and that means they align with no one.

Somewhere, the Obama Administration forgot this or at least, they foolishly believed perhaps to live above such scrutiny. Nixon thought so too famously telling TV interviewer David Frost: “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.”

Our Founding Fathers, for all their many faults, knew men with power are corruptible. Oversight helps keep these imbalances in check.

Thomas Jefferson once opined on the need for a free press: “No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.” 

Naturally, it’s most amusing to hear the president’s grand scheme of getting to the bottom of these scandals by way of Attorney General Eric Holder. The irony wasn’t lost on Schieffer either.

“The president needs to rethink his entire communications policy top to bottom. It is hurting his credibility and shortchanging the public. And to head the review, how about someone other than the attorney general whose department is so deeply involved? That makes no sense to me.”

Nor to me, Mr. Schieffer.

Earlier in the segment, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer outlined a scheme in which a panel – another Gang of 8 (ugh) – would be introducing legislation setting up “rules where… if the government wants to go to a member of the press and say you have to divulge your sources and certain information, they would first have to go to a judge, and that judge will impose a balancing test [and say] ‘which is more important? The government desire to find out who leaked the information or the robust freedom of the press.’ “

Hold up, Chuck. Now we’re not a free press but a press limited by way of reverse oversight from the Legislative, Judicial and Executive branches? Well, while we’re at it, let’s take back Watergate and all the many betrayals perpetrated upon the American public. Whose to say we’d know about any wrong-doing were the government to have its thumb on the media?

Jefferson also warned of such foolish and rash actions: “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

WATCH SCHIEFFER’S COMMENTARY HERE. 

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OVERVIEW

A tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012, left 20 children and six adult staff members dead and the nation in a state of grief. The CT Parents Union received numerous calls from friends, family and supporters in the hours immediately following asking how they could help show support for the victims and others experiencing loss.

On that day, the CT Parents Union originally planned on kicking off the annual ” ‘Tis the Season to be Reading Day” events, which received a proclamation dated Dec. 14, 2012 from Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Instead, Gwen Samuel of the CT Parents Union sprung into action contacting stakeholders, supporters and sponsors to organize the CT Parents Union Sandy Hook Coping & Caring Parent Express Bus. The visits would allow the many affected to share in their collective grief and offer condolences to victims of the shooting.

 SOLUTION

Working with her media consultant, Erica Holloway of Galvanized Strategies, Samuel put together a flyer of information for sponsors to underwrite the bus costs.

The Parent Express would make 10 stops throughout the state offering the following: collection of personal condolence cards, connections to grief and bereavement resources, children’s books giveaways, characters with book readings and healing activities on coping with life and loss, plus a heroes tribute to educators and first responders.

Generous sponsors included the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Comcast, Graustein Memorial Fund, Big Hearted Families, Jeff’s Place Children’s Bereavement Center, The Cove Center for Grieving Children, Friends Way, Manitou Experience, NYC Parents Union, Dropout Nation, Cedar Valley Publishing, National Family Engagement Alliance, Scholastic, Candlewick Press, Simon and Schuster, CPTV/PBS Kids, Kimochis(Toys with Feelings), State of Black CT Alliance, Hartford Knights Youth Organization, Hartford Parents University and Carriage Limousine, and Sheraton Norwalk.

Once details were set, Galvanized Strategies distributed a media advisory on December 20, alerting national media that the bus visits would begin the following day, December 21, in Danbury and conclude on December 24, Christmas Eve, in Newtown.

 RESULTS

The outpouring of public support and media coverage was overwhelming. Tens of thousands of messages of hope brought comfort to those hurting in the wake of the tragedy.

Media coverage for the Sandy Hook Coping & Caring Parent Express Bus totaled 122 identified news stories nationwide, including TV, radio, print, wire, online news and blogs. In terms of publicity value, it prompted more than $40,000 in earned media for the CT Parents Union and its sponsors, plus a priceless value of comfort in a time of great need.

BROADCAST COVERAGE: Audience 121,723, Clip Value $517*

ONLINE/ NEWS WEB SITES/ DAILY NEWSPAPERS/ NEWS SERVICES/ BLOGS COVERAGE: $37,205 Publicity Value**

*Critical Mention gathers the estimated audience data as provided by Nielsen and SQAD. The value is affected by the length of the segment and air time.

** CisionPoints Publicity Value is a calculation that estimates the price that professional media buyers would pay for that amount of exposure for that particular outlet – not the ad rate. It provides a numeric value that allows you to compare the value of one article to another article.

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The Connecticut Parents Union believes a good education is a not a crime.

Sounds simple, right?

In the United States, education of children is compulsory and universally available.

Yet, in school districts around the nation, parents within the ZIP code of sub-par schools face some tough choices if they want their kids to attend college.

They can hope to get their kids into the limited seats available at charter schools, if available nearby, or find the funding for private schools.

But a rising number of parents are option for a third choice: breaking the residency laws and possibly be convicted of “stealing” a public education.

Numerous cases of residency fraud include school districts paying for private investigators to track down the legal residence of students.

Authorities may prosecute, though many opt to allow parents to simply pull their students from the school and return them to the failing schools they fled.

Considering the lengths these parents go to seek out a better education, parents seem painfully aware of the lifelong struggles ahead for their children if they do not get out of these failure factories.

How can America’s public education system ever expect to close the achievement gap with such a hostile environment – one that locks out the poorest children of color?

The Connecticut Parents Union and the recently-launched National Parents Union hope to lead a country-wide mission to challenge these residency laws to make public education free and fair to all children.

It’s a challenge that Galvanized Strategies relishes to take on with the organizations headed up by the feisty spark-plug Gwen Samuel, a warrior mom of two from Meriden, Conn.

In recognition of her education advocacy efforts, Parenting Magazine selected Samuel as one of 51 moms from across the country to represent their state at the inaugural March 2010 Mom Congress on Education and Learning Conference at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Some policy makers wait in the wings to take on this battle with Samuel and her growing base of support.

While the issue of funding does muck up the works, we know that the real crime is protecting the achievement gap – not good parenting. A resolution must be sought to end this archaic practice.

Tomorrow’s leaders don’t attend failing schools. Locking out a kid from a good school is a life sentence to crime and low-wage jobs.

**Learn more about the CT Parents Union at www.ctparentsunion.org.

Subscribe to Galvanized Strategies’ updates.

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Many Americans are reacting with disgust at the media coverage of last week’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Understandably, such a sensitive story involving 20 young children and six self-sacrificing adults deserves the highest caliber of accurate information and coverage.

Yet, the errors have been plentiful and serious. From the incorrect information about the shooter’s identity as Ryan Lanza instead of Adam Lanza, to the shooter’s weapons, and the ages of the victims.

Perhaps the greatest outcry: interviewing surviving children.

No question, it can go too far in today’s competitive 24-hour news cycle.

Yet, as much as the public wants to hate the news media, they want to hate themselves too.

Journalism schools teach future reporters how to write well-constructed stories, interview news sources and build source relationships.

In the beginning, you cover public meetings, a major land development project, city elections or the occasional famous person.

It’s exciting and you revel in the chance to make a difference in the community.

But after a few years on the job, it becomes clear that all those terrible stories – from the Holocaust to 9/11 – had story tellers who tracked down the truth.

Being the messenger doesn’t make you immune to the pain.

Many crime victim survivors pushed me and my peers to be better, more caring reporters.

The mantra: Tell the story knowing one day, it could be you.

But for all the training and interview role playing a journalist does, nothing prepares you to face insurmountable grief and still manage to ask “what happened.”

Many years ago, I found myself knocking on a mother’s door whose son committed a “suicide-by-cop” just the night before.

I didn’t want to go. My editor pushed me out the door with the directive to return only when I have a quote and a photo of the victim.

The victim mixed a vicious dosage of cocaine and alcohol with an aggressive case of chronic depression. After barricading himself in his room, his mother called law enforcement to talk him out and return him to his most recent treatment facility.

Several hours of negotiations ended when he brandished a rifle through his bedroom window. Law enforcement opened fire. The rifle in question was an unloaded b-b gun.

Early in the morning, I awaited the arrival of the medical examiner’s office with our crime photographer to get photos of the scene. Crime scene investigators marked off where all the casings landed outside.

After watching his lifeless body be pushed into the medical examiner’s van, I sought out the mother for an interview.

“I killed my son,” she wept uncontrollably, holding onto my shoulders. “Why did I call the police?”

I filed my story, went home and cried myself to sleep.

Several weeks later, his autopsy and toxicology report lay on my desk.

Reading it over and over, I absorbed every detail: the diagrams of his young body, the holes, his healthy organs, the toxic amount of drugs and alcohol in his system.

I recall being amazed by the language used by the medical examiner, describing his appearance as handsome, young and athletic.

His existence boiled down to paper work.

Another awful day, another sad story, another sleepless night.

That happened several times in my journalism career. The stories, the interviews of crime victims, the pictures of the loved and lost – it all haunted me.

It’s precisely why I cannot watch any coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

I skip every Facebook post, every Tweet, every story. I pray very hard and thank God I’m not one of those unfortunate reporters on the front lines.

For me, I had to psyche myself out just to talk with a crime victim without shaking like a leaf. In my mind, I wouldn’t want to talk to a reporter and yet, there I would be notebook in hand.

One woman who lost her son to a high-profile murder worked with me at a journalism workshop. I shared my personal obstacles and the difficulty in approaching people like her just for a news story.

“Talking about my son brought me peace,” she said. “At first, I felt under siege like you would expect. But then I realized, nobody else was asking me to tell his story. It helped him live on.”

Reporters are imperfect people who make mistakes, sometimes lots of them and sometimes really big ones.

Arguably the mistakes made covering Sandy Hook were done in haste and in the name of competition. That sort of lazy, ethically-lax work deserves intense scrutiny by those news organizations.

But reporters are people none the less. They feel the hurt just as people around the world do.

And for reporters dealing directly with victims, they’re experiencing this tragedy as none of us would want to.

No matter how imperfect, we should be thankful that our nation still supports a free press willing to shed light in dark places few would dare go.

It just might be a well-told story that eases the heart and mind of a Sandy Hook parent.

The post Sandy Hook Coverage: Don’t Judge the Media So Harshly, It’s Hard for Them Too appeared first on Galvanized Strategies.

American students still lag behind on international standardized tests and tend to perform worse as they age, a new report shows.

Galvanized Strategies’ Erica Holloway appeared on HuffPost Live to discuss the issue with host Josh Zepps Los Angeles political consultant and Politic365.com contributor Unai Montes-Irueste.

“We do need to improve our overall profile when it comes to education,” Holloway said. “Preparing these kids for global economies, not local economies. And being able to compete not just to go to college, but to go to college and beat out somebody from another country to take a spot in your local university.”

Holloway noted a compounding factor in the widening achievement gap: lack of choice.

“Residency laws nationwide are keeping kids in a cycle that keeps them in the achievement gap,” Holloway said. “So, essentially a kid that lives in a bad neighborhood that goes to a bad school is not going to grow up to have a high-wage earning job. So, having the choice to go to a better school across town is where I think the conversation nationally is going to be thriving.”

• WATCH the entire HuffPost Live interview here.

Another hot-button topic: teacher performance and evaluation.

A recent post by a Galvanized Strategies client, UPforEd, on IVN San Diego Edition points out that the outdated system could result in better educational outcomes for students.

“… but there is resistance to changing this old-school process that harms not only kids, but also teachers.”

UPforEd Executive Director Lisa Berlanga shared her own personal story, that of a young teacher in the early 1990s unsure how to measure her performance and outcomes.

 “My district-sanctioned summary evaluation was a single sheet of paper with one comment and six ‘effective’ marks – the highest evaluation achievement on the scale.”

Berlanga wrote that after her probationary period ended, she was only evaluated once every other year. Teachers with 10 years experience could apply to be evaluated just once every five years.

The district uses the same teacher performance evaluation process today.

No matter what the reason, U.S. students clearly are not getting the education they need to compete in tomorrow’s economy.

• Read the full story on the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s PIRL and TIMSS 2011 Exams here.

Subscribe to Galvanized Strategies newsletter and follow Erica Holloway @erica_holloway.

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Galvanized Strategies recently launched Fallbrook Healthcare District’s ‘It’s Your Health, Choose Wisely’ campaign.

The two-pronged effort contacts the constituency by direct mail and in-person presentations targeting 7,500 Fallbrook residents, 65 and over, about healthcare options at Fallbrook Hospital.

Galvanized Strategies won the public relations bid back in September when the district faced a difficult contract impasse with Graybill Medical Group, which along with Palomar Pomerado Health, terminated its agreement with Fallbrook Hospital.

The fallout led to a tug-o-war primarily over senior patients. According to Graybill, it admitted about 150 patients with United Health Care insurance to Fallbrook Hospital. After the contract termination, Graybill referred more Fallbrook patients to the new Palomar Pomerado Health facility.

Galvanized Strategies was charged with stemming the patient loss by informing patients of their local healthcare options with a personalized approach for the “The Friendly Village.”

In the midst of crafting message around the dispute, PPH came to an accord with Fallbrook Hospital demanding a quick redirection in the campaign message.

Fortunately, the campaign time frame corresponded with “Open Enrollment,” which allows members of a group health insurance plan to choose new or different benefit programs. The regrouping helped delay the piece just long enough to avoid the crush of election mail.

The results: a proactive, fairly timeless community relations campaign which includes information about “Open Enrollment,” insurance and healthcare options at Fallbrook Hospital.

Galvanized Strategies subcontracted with Crotty Consulting to produce 7,500 pieces of mail (seen above), which included a response card and return envelopes to open up dialogue with the community.

Based on the universe demographics and message, Crotty estimated a roughly 20 percent response rate – 18 percent higher than the industry standard.

Galvanized branded the PowerPoint presentation with the mail piece’s messaging and art for district spokesperson appearances at local services clubs and Open Enrollment workshops.

Fallbrook Healthcare District also established a 24/7 toll-free healthcare hotline at 1-877-932-7913 promising a returned call by a live person within 24 hours Monday – Friday.

The day the piece landed just before the weekend, Fallbrook Healthcare District Administrator Vi Dupre emailed Galvanized: “Looks great!”

The District began receiving response cards and calls almost immediately.

So far… so good.

Learn more about the Fallbrook Healthcare District at www.fallbrookhealthcaredistrict.net. Contact Galvanized Strategies with your public relations needs today.

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San Diego Rostra took home three San Diego Press Club awards Tuesday night, two of which named yours truly as an administrator of the esteemed center-right political blog.

Though it’s always an honor to be recognized for your efforts, Rostra’s a real labor of love. Unlike many other blogs today, we don’t pay our contributors and have yet to monetize our site.

It’s real, down and dirty political fat chewing. Consume at your own risk.

It’s been years, eight to be exact, since I last won a journalism award and back then, we would have never considered a “blogger” at the same level as a journalist.

The damage done by ever-shrinking budgets means less beat coverage, fewer legal battles for the public’s right to know and generally, more questionable information in the stratosphere and arguably, a greater information space to own.

Sadly, the public distrust of the media’s at an all-time high. A recent Gallup poll showed 60 percent of Americans saying they have little or no trust at all in the news media.

Yet, I can report the Fourth Estate is still alive and kicking.

Trust me, I’m a blogger.

Photo above from the 39th Annual Press Club Annual Awards posted at the San Diego Press Club Facebook Page. Learn more about this 400-plus organization at www.sdpressclub.org.

- Follow me @erica_holloway.

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Fallbrook Healthcare District today brought on Galvanized Strategies for public relations and marketing consulting.

Currently, efforts are under way to divert Fallbrook-area residents away from Fallbrook Hospital inpatient and outpatient services for treatment nearly 30 miles south to Palomar Hospital. While some medical needs cannot be met at Fallbrook Hospital, many can.

Galvanized Strategies’ winning bid proposes to implement a community education and outreach plan to prevent any sustained or unnecessary loss of patients.

Since 2000, the Fallbrook Healthcare District has distributed 204 grants totaling $5.2 million to nonprofit organizations that serve the health and well-being of district residents. The district sponsors collaborative annual events and programs such as the Health & Fitness Fair, the PSA Screening and Community Resource Directory.

Community Health Systems, based in Tennessee, has managed Fallbrook Hospital for 14 years transforming it from a struggling institution.

As part of the 30-year lease with CHS, it keeps the hospital’s operating profits while property tax revenues are kept by the hospital district and directed to the benefit of the community.

Learn more about Fallbrook Hospital at www.fallbrookhospital.com.

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I love work on drug-prevention efforts and so, it’s with great pleasure that I announce my little pr shop’s newest client, North Coastal Prevention Coalition.

The North Coastal Prevention Coalition, or NCPC, works through funding from the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Alcohol and Drug Services, to support the County’s prevention initiatives and engage the community in environmental prevention strategies and advocacy to reduce substance abuse problems.

The County initiatives include four areas: the Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative, the Marijuana Prevention Initiative, the Methamphetamine Strike Force Initiative and the Prescription Drug Task Force of San Diego County.

As many of you know, I helped roll out the “OXY ABUSE KILLS” campaign to launch the Oxy Task Force of San Diego County (now the Prescription Drug Task Force of San Diego County). Our public relations works led to a whole host of awards, including two regional Emmys and a public service Silver Bernays Award of Excellence.

My newest efforts are equally as important to save lives by educating the public on social host ordinances and help reduce the use and abuse of illegal drugs.

Just last month, two people were arrested in Spring Valley for hosting underage drinkers facing up to $1,000 fine for a first-time offense up to 6 months in jail. Violators can also be held liable for injuries resulting from a minor guest’s negligence and for the cost of responding law enforcement services.

In addition to its ongoing prevention work, the organization also hosts the annual April 20th event, “420 Remix – A Celebration of Drug-Free Life Choices,” attracting more than 1,000 youth countering the 420 marijuana drug culture’s smoking holiday.

Moms, dads, aunts, uncles, family and friends. Get involved. Follow NCPC on Twitter and like them on Facebook.

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