IAMC Public Relations Meeting
Tuscany's Oakbrook July 6, 2004
Attending: Tom Whennen, Jr. Colin Walsh, Kathy Posner

Tom and Kathy,

Just a recap of our discussion today and some ideas going forward-please feel free to add your own notes.

IAMC OBJECTIVE:
Several years ago, while working with Kathy and Comm2, IAMC enjoyed a PR campaign that provided Print and Television Media coverage for the State council. Several members shared their expertise to the public on WCIU cable as well as "Fox Thing in the Morning".

Things were hopping, members were excited, and we were well into a plan to get some positive news about our Industry out to the public in Illinois. IAMC enjoyed an enviable position amongst State Councils and NAMA, having our PR campaign published in several Trade Magazines as well.

Over the years, as leadership changed, the objectives of the council changed, the economy turned our members focus closer to their own businesses, and the PR campaign lost its inertia.

However, a lot of effort was put toward the concept of POP advertising at the machine level, which although was a solid plan was not supported by our suppliers citing the lack of discretionary funds in a lackluster economy as the reason.

As Tom has taken over the Presidency this past May, he has asked Colin to rebuild the PR committee back to it's former accomplishments and beyond.

SOME IDEAS
Meeting with Kathy Posner (formerly of Comm2-she has sold her business and is now handling some PR consultant work) was step 1. We reviewed our History and revisited some old ideas like "vending is Convenient" and agreed it was time for a more timely "Socko" 1.

  1. New Theme: We agreed that our focus should be on Healthy foods in Vending and vendings role in schools.
    a. POP: we agreed that some of our best advertising coverage is at our accounts-right in front of our customers at the machine level. Stickers for the Snack machines were revisted and we began to brainstorm some ideas.
    b. "Grab a Snack-Take a walk" Realizing that obesity and/or poor eating habits are not a function of what we sell in vending machines, we discussed a campaign entitled "Grab a Snack-Take a walk" (or something along those lines) We thought we might piggy back on the "Walk America" pedometer idea. IAMC members would apply these stickers to their machines and encourage their customers to get a quick snack, but also remember to exercise . We were all going to research the cost of the pedometers.
    c. PFAD: We discussed taking the idea to educators (Principals and Superintendents)Kathy suggested the "Principal for a Day" program as an outlet for the program. She will explore this.
  2. Speakers Bureau: Tom has expressed the need to get the Speakers Bureau up and running again. I agree wholeheartedly and have made it a priority of the Committee.
    a. We discussed a Training session conducted by Kathy that would help Operators get our message across.
    b. We discussed developing an outline for our Speakers to get the word out regarding our Healthy Vending Theme.
    c. We touched on making Jim Ellis' presentation the template for our Speakers outline.
    d. We touched on trying to bring Educators together for a seminar regarding our program-or finding out where we may be featured as guest speakers.
  3. Miscellaneous:
    a. In addition to Kathy's training session on Public Speaking, we agreed that an outline for publications in our local newspapers was an area we may need help in. This initiative has been very successful for us in the past.
    b. As part of this initiative, we agreed to put together some numbers for the industry including number of Vending machines, employees, dollars annually, and healthy items in the Illinois Market.
    c. This information may be used in Newspaper articles , public speaking, or television spots. Kathy mentioned a friend who writes the "Lunch with" column for the Tribune..
In Conclusion, I spoke with Jim Ellis immediately after our meeting and he agreed to Co-chair the PR committee. Jim's enthusiasm and knowledge of the theme will be a tremendous asset to the program. Kathy has left numerous emails and is hot on the trail for us….

Let's talk…

Respectfully Colin