The 41st NYWICI Matrix Awards: Big Effen Deal? You Bet It Was!

“Last thing, for Rosie, if you are ever in your life getting some award and you think: Why me? Just keep moving and say, ‘Why the eff not?’” -- Idina Menzel , star of "Wicked," and Matrix Award Honoree. Menzel was the final honoree, and her closing remarks were an encore and testament to Rosie O'Donnell that despite all of the controversy she has endured, Rosie is truly an inspiration!

So many highlights at NYWICI's Matrix Awards. I just had to get my most memorable moment out right away. I must say the most impressive and inspiring moment at Matrix Awards for me was when I had the opportunity to ask Matrix Awards Honoree Cindi Berger my question of the day. Of course, I also asked permission to ask Rosie O'Donnell, and Cindi graciously approved. This year's Matrix Question of the Day had to do with success and was directed to everyone, attendees, honorees, and presenters:
"OK everyone knows that you've made it, you're a success, when did you know you made it?"
"I knew I made it when Lois Smith took me on."
-- Rosie O'Donnell

Besides all this, I was so inspired and in awe to meet PR legend and retired celebrity publicist Lois Smith (right photo). Besides work with Rosie O’Donnell, Smith’s career includes many other A-listers from the likes of Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Whitney Houston, Martin Scorsese, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sean Penn, Dick Cavett, Liza Minelli to other iconic entertainment luminaries including Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier. When asked the Matrix question of the day, Smith replied with a happy sigh:


"Oh, I have no idea; I'm still trying to figure this out." -- Lois Smith

I was honored and impressed to meet, Matrix Honoree, Cindi Berger, publicist and managing director at PMK/HBH,(left photo). Besides work with Rosie O’Donnell, over the past two and a half decades, Berger has handled PR for a long list of A-listers including Star Jones, the Dixie Chicks, 50 Cent, Harry Connick Jr., Billy Crystal, Jessica Simpson, Bette Midler, Sharon Stone, Barbara Walters, Tyra Banks, and Mariah Carey. Berger is known for turning celebrity damage control into an art with her signature "no comment" comment. When asked Matrix question of the day, Berger replied in her true gracious, style:


"Sort of a combination of everything. It's not just one moment. It's moments like this where you go well I guess I've made it!"
-- Cindi Berger

Marketing Strategist, new products expert, and Matrix Honoree, Robin Koval, President, Kaplan Thaler Group (right photo), who has been a driving force in the advertising world for over 20 years replied with delightful insight:





"The most important thing when you know you made it is that you never know you made it. You just keep doing it every day and then one day you wake up and you're saying who is that girl in the corner office?" -- Robin Koval

American journalist, television newscaster, author and Matrix Honoree Gwendolyn L. "Gwen" Ifill (left photo), is truly an inspiration. As managing editor and moderator of Washington Week and a senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, Ifill has moderated the 2004 and 2008 Vice Presidential debates it became clear to me why she is known for her "razor-sharp historical perspective and political analysis. Ifill is also the author of the book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.


"I’m still figuring that out!" -- Gwen Ifill

Also answering "Question of the Day," Matrix Emcee, Lesley Jane Seymour (right photo), editor in chief of More Magzine. I was fortunate to get the chance to ask her the my Matrix Q of the Day. Seymour is known for repositioning magazines and highly regarded for developing editorial programs that result in National Magazine Award nominations to spearheading signature cause-related programs, including Time to Talk Day, which raised awareness for domestic violence and the One World/One Wish campaign for the international relief organization Save the Children. She is also the author of two books: On the Edge: Images from 100 Years of Vogue (Random House), and I Wish My Parents Understood (Freundlich/Penguin). Here's what Seymour said when asked the Matrix Q of the Day:


"That's a good question. You know, I think you never really know that you've gotten there. I think you're always struggling. You're always struggling, You're always never thinking you're there. I mean, if you're like a normal person, you just are going from the next thing to the next thing. I mean for me, the most important thing is being out there and able to help other women. Because that's what communications does, I believe. And once when I was at Marie Claire where I started getting out there, traveling to Africa, and going places by myself and covering things for women elsewhere, for me that was the turning point. And I don't know if it would be a success but that's when I understood I was powerful and I could do something with who I am." -- Lesley Jane Seymour



Stay tuned for more on NYWICI Matrix Awards luncheon by visiting this blog regularly or subscribing to the RSS feed. Hope to see you all at Matrix 2012 same place, same time, on Monday, April 23, 2012!

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Every year since 1970, NYWICI has awarded outstanding women in communications the prestigious Matrix Awards. The long list of past winners reads like a who-is-who of exceptional women in the fields of advertising, books, broadcasting, film, magazines, new media, newspapers and public relations and is a true reflection of achievements by women in communications. For more information visit NYWICI.org

Deal with It: Communicating in a Crisis - How to Navitate the Chaos and Triumph

Deal with It: Communicating in a Crisis - “How to Navigate the Chaos and Triumph”
written by Gloria Buono Daly, as appeared on NYWICI.org on May 8, 2009

On May 5th, NYWICI members and guests gathered at Burson-Marsteller NY for a panel on how to master crisis management in politics, government, business and non-profit organizations. Panelists addressed the gaps, critical challenges and successes in crisis communications.

The event was moderated by Courtney Hazlett, columnist and celebrity correspondent, MSNBC. The panelists included Cindy Leggett-Flynn, partner, Brunswick Group LLC; Davia Temin, president, Temin & Company; Loretta Ucelli, senior advisor, Gutenberg Communications; and Gail Cohen, Global Chair of Healthcare Practice, Burson-Marsteller NY.

Hazlett started by quoting then Senator John F. Kennedy: “The medium, television, which lends itself to manipulation, exploitation and gimmicks, can be abused by demagogues but appealed to emotion, and prejudice, and ignorance.” She then picked up the threat and addressed the panel: “That was when we only had TV to deal with; now that we got Twitter, the internet, and cable news 24 hours a day, speed is everything! When do you decide to jump on something, and when do you decide to pull back and see what the story is going to be?”

READINESS AND SPEED

Most communications’ crises stem from a gap between what an organization perceives as a problem and what the public thinks is the problem. Ucelli believed that in those cases, speed is everything; crisis managers must be ready to communicate when necessary and be aware of what is going on around them.

MONITORING IS BREAD AND BUTTER

Social media are vital in identifying a developing crisis and have broadened crisis communications. Leggett-Flynn believes that many companies don’t have the tools to take necessary steps, however. Cohen added that there are more voices today than a decade or two ago and that now, “monitoring is bread and butter.”

HERE TODAY, TWEETED AWAY TOMORROW

Twitter users are mostly in their 30s and 40s, while CEOs and company heads are usually older. Temin sees a lot of confusion among managers on the reality of blogs and tweets, given that many celebrities often hire people to tweet for them. “Tweets may be here today — and tweeted away tomorrow.”

TRANSPARENCY, RESPONSIBILITY AND REPUTATION

Communicators face challenges when putting aside personal feelings about a particular corporation, when asked to restore their company’s or client’s reputation. Leggett-Flynn believes that many communicators function as legal representatives. “In media, you’re either evil or a hero; gray areas don’t play well.”

THE DOT AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE

While one of the main elements in crisis management is developing the facts and putting them out fast, Ucelli stressed communicators must know how to end the sentence quickly in almost any crisis situation. Temin shared an experience, where a communications manager and former journalist kept on answering questions when the right strategy would have been to simply say it once and leave it at that.

BRIDGE THE GAPS, CONTROL THE DAMAGE

After Nickelodeon’s failure to address the domestic abuse charges against Chris Brown, many parents wanted to know why the station hadn’t disqualified the singer from its Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. “If Nickelodeon had participated in a public conversation rather than simply wait for Brown to pull out, that would have helped [its] reputation,” explained Cohen.

Q & A HIGHLIGHT

On the failing auto industry, Bernard Madoff, Bear Sterns, AIG and Rod Blagojevich, the consensus was that the car makers committed the biggest blunders in their crisis communications. Ucelli believes the situation had been in their control but management had missed the target for years. “The inability to produce a car that Americans would be driving and the big public relations incident on Capital Hill, didn’t work,” Ucelli concluded. “It’s so ubiquitous, so silent, nothing online,” added Cohen. And Leggett-Flynn believed that there was disconnect from reality — which, by the way, goes for most of those on the list.

written by Gloria Buono Daly

as appeared on NYWICI.org on May 8, 2009