Heike says Hi!

Hi!
I'm Heike from Germany. I have been an intern with AutoCom and I really love Detroit. Detroit is not a beautiful city but it has nice corners like the DIA. I have never seen such an amazing museum. On a Sunday Morning you should talk a walk (sorry a ride) at Belle Isle. If you miss German bread or European bread you should go to this unbelievable "Avalon Bakery" (Willis Street, Downtown Detroit). Please try this amazing bread but take care of yourself because it is not a really safe area....it is Detroit.

by Heike

Bianca

Hello everybody!
My name is Bianca Bischoff, I am 22 years old and will be intern at AutoCom from the first of march till the end of august.
At the moment I study economics at the Universtiy of Applied Science Nürtingen-Geislingen (that’s near Stuttgart) in the 5th Semester.
I’ve been to the US for three times now, but I have never been to Detroit or the Great Lakes before. And it was always just for holiday and I’m really happy to have the chance now to get to know the “real american way of life”.
Well, there are nearly 4 weeks left, till I will fly to Detroit. My preperations for my 6 months internship are nearly finished, there are only a few little things left. And slowly I’m getting really nervous! I’m looking forward to work and live in the US for the next couple of months. The only thing I’m a bit afraid of, is buying a car. But I think I will manage this. And I think there will be a few things I will miss. For example my mom, my best friend and of course driving fast on the highway =) ! And the real Swabian noodles (called “Spätzle”)! Oh I’m so nervous, I nearly can’t wait for the moment flying to Detroit!

See you soon!

by Bianca

North American International Autoshow

Every year in January Detroit hosts the North American International Autoshow at the COBO center. For two weeks it’s all about new cars, spectacular presentations and nice parties. I had the chance to visit the Autoshow earlier this week and couldn’t get enough of the cars. Especially the new Audi Q7, the Mercedes SLR and the BMW Z4 are on top on my wish list now. It’s obvious I like German cars, hm?! Fortunately there was no price tag on any of the cars, so I can at least pretend to earn enough money in the next couple of years to buy me one. =)
At the Autoshow you really could see what is good PR and marketing - it all follows a special strategy.


AutoCom’s tribute to the Autoshow is its annual Charity Night Preview Dinner for AutoCom clients and their guests. This year we invited our clients to the Coach Insignia, a restaurant on top of the GM Towers with a fantastic panoramic view of the Detroit (MI) and Windsor (ON) skyline. Our evening started with a reception and a first get-together in the private dining room and later everybody went to COBO for the Charity Night Preview Show. As the name suggests this night’s biggest purpose is to raise as much money as possible for local children charities (and show your gowns… of course!). An expected amount of $ 6.9 million could be raised this year by the 17,000 gala guests.
After our guests came back from the show they enjoyed excellent food and wine, good Jazz music and nice talks. Not to forget the view! Did I mentioned the view already? It’s amazing! So if you ever have the chance to visit the Coach Insignia on the 72nd floor of the GM Towers – do it! It is worth it in every possible way.

by Ilka

BBSO intern project

A pro bono client of AutoCom is BBSO (Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra). They need some publicity for an annual young artist competition in January. Our company's PR approach is to always write a press release and send it to key members of the media.

1. To write the press release: (www.bbso.org/images/BBSO_youth_competition_2005_Dec._1.doc)
a.Meet with Carla, the manager. Get basic info from her and ask questions to create the release.

b.Meet with last year's winner. As part of the prize, BBSO invites three of last year's winners respectively to each of their concerts. I went to the one in December and interviewed the piano winner and took pictures of her.

c.Write the release. I started from scratch. There was nothing to follow from previous ones. Lillie, our editor, and Jack, my PR trainer and BBSO project instructor, helped me to revised it over and over for more than 8 times. I learned a lot from them and I really appreciate it!
Send it out by e-mail together with pix of the three winners.

Tips: to make your press releases standing out from the tons of e-mails sitting in editors' mailbox. (Sources: face-to-face talk with Jack, the PR training material, my lessons and successful experiences from this project)
a. Attractive lead. The first paragraph should be interesting to make people go on reading.
b.Begin with short paragraphs and key words. Since editors usually scan and skim the first part of each paragraph.
c.Quotes from key people: to make it vivid.
d.Pictures enclosed: editors simply like it
e.Meaningful e-mail subject line: with client's full name and what it is about

2 To pitch with phone calls after e-mail distributions:
I called some of the editors who would probably be interested in our release the next day after I sent out the release.

Tips for telephone pitches: (Sources: I learned from face-to-face talk with Jack, from the PR training courses, my lessons and successful experiences from this project)

a.Decide what you are going to say. I prepared a little script to be fluent.

b.Call within 24 hours of your e-mail distribution. However, Friday afternoons and Monday mornings are bad time to call because they are likely to be busy with deadlines.

c.Just leave a voice mail, when they do not answer the phone.
Prepare what are to say before you call, especially when you are facing the answering machine, you've got one or two minutes, so you have to keep it concise but to the point.

d.Be familiar with what you are pitching. They may catch you with questions on the spot. If you don't know, just say I will find it out and get back to you ASAP, and really do that.

e.Express that the release is important for the pub's readers but not for the clients.

f.Offer to answer questions and leave a contact number, although it is already on the press release.

g.If they say it is not their area to cover, ask them to refer you to their colleagues who might be interested.

h.Ask if you can follow up again for next week / month, if they say that they have a full schedule or page.

3 Results:

Two presses picked this release. One uses that even for 1/4 pages and with two pictures. A big success for me~~~~ ^_^

By Lei