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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Association wants to help restaurants make their own news
SOME restaurants and restaurateurs seem to get all the ink in this town. Why that happens is not a matter of guesswork. At all.
Some have a publicist and some have direct working relationships with media professionals who cover the industry -- or both. Others are just so colorful they wind up being their own publicists.
But what about the rest, who do what they do with little to no fanfare?
Help is on the way. The Hawaii Restaurant Association has picked up an idea from its Nevada counterpart to help more of its members get publicity.
"You Make News" is a news release service offered to HRA members to get the word out about newsworthy accomplishments, for instance.
"One of the things the restaurant association is working on is trying to get benefits to members, besides advocacy," said Bill Tobin, Tiki's Grill and Bar owner and HRA president .
For $100, the member can commission the HRA to hire a writer to draft a 1,000-word news release. Upon the member's approval the release will be sent to five media outlets. The association notes it cannot guarantee coverage, but the release becomes the property of the restaurateur for inclusion on a Web site, in marketing materials or further media distribution.
Some members are exploring the idea of using the new service, said HRA office manager Sandy Miller.
Roberta Cullen, who serves multiple nonprofit organizations in various capacities, said she thinks the service is "a great idea." Cullen's colleague Amy Blagriff is executive vice president of AIA Honolulu, a local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which also offers a Web-based news release service called "Archiwire."
The service "allows members to post press releases of their work that are picked up by the national and local press," Blagriff said. Members must write their own releases, but the site provides guidelines.
Blagriff noted that "many of our local members are solo practitioners and this service gives them the tools and access they need to get the word out about their accomplishments and the value of the work that they do."
Cullen and Blagriff belong to the Aloha Society of Association Executives -- an association of people who manage nonprofit associations -- so the idea may well spread.
Hawaii is home to many public relations firms that can be retained to represent just about any type of business, but perhaps the state's best-known restaurant publicist is Elissa Josephsohn.
Her clients include Compadres, Dixie Grill, Auntie Pasto's, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Shanghai Bistro and Hong Kong Harbor View Seafood Restaurant. She also has a raft of theater clientele -- and you read about her clients all the time because of her efforts.
It's not that she sits at a computer 24/7 writing news releases -- she becomes part of a client's team and business plan.
"It's having a person who is part of your marketing and your strategy, helping with everything from light levels to employee training and role-playing to community relations," she said.
Josephsohn has become a part of the family for many of her clients, shipping leis to the mainland for the daughter of a client who is getting married, editing a client's child's college essay and helping one client get mainland theater tickets for a date with a woman who is now his wife.
No two-page news release can do that, but Josephsohn noted a Chinese philosophy, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
"For people who have never had any emphasis on publicity, a promotion or special events, this (new service) may be a very useful first step and a way to test the waters."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com