Press Conference at the Rose Palace

This morning while floats were being decorated all around us, we conducted a press conference at the Rose Palace about safety and enforcement measures for the 2011 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game.

In the photos above, Fire Chief Dennis Downs addresses the media.

Here's the Rose Palace exterior. You've passed it a jillion times. It's at 835 S. Raymond Ave. and is owned by the Tournament of Roses Association for decorating floats.


Police Chief Phillip Sanchez was up next:



And then Darryl Dunn, general manager of the Rose Bowl Stadium:


After the speakers were finished, there were side interviews with reporters. Here's Chief Sanchez being interviewed by KNX Radio while Darryl Dunn is interviewed by Brian Charles of the Pasadena Star-News:


Police Sgt. Bobby Lomeli, who ordinarily works with public schools, did a Spanish-language interview with Telemundo:



How does a PIO get the media to come to a press conference? With a simple e-mail:

CITY OF PASADENA PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
PRESS CONFERENCE / PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa Derderian, Fire Department, (626) 744-7276

Hundreds of thousands of people line the Rose Parade route on New Year’s Eve in anticipation of the parade the next day, and more than 90,000 football fans attend the Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1. This Wednesday, officials will conduct a press conference to explain important safety measures for revelers along the parade route and at the Rose Bowl Stadium, and plans for responding to situations in which people break the law or are in need of medical attention.

DATE AND TIME:
Wednesday, Dec. 29
10 a.m.

PLACE:
Rose Palace
835 S. Raymond Ave. in Pasadena

MEDIA PARKING:
Limited parking is available at Rose Palace for media (on-site security will direct you in); there is additional parking across the street.

SPEAKERS
• Dennis Downs, Pasadena Fire Chief
• Phillip Sanchez, Pasadena Police Chief
• Bill Flinn, Tournament of Roses Chief Operating Officer
• Darryl Dunn, Rose Bowl General Manager
(The 2011 Tournament of Roses theme float “Building Dreams, Friendships and Memories” will serve as a backdrop.)

A LITTLE MORE INFO:
Enhanced security measures will be in effect and very evident along the parade route and at the stadium. Typical calls for response include medical issues, alcohol-related incidents and illegal burning. The Rose Palace is owned by the Tournament of Roses Association and used for the construction of floats.

# # #

Ann Erdman
Public Information Officer
City of Pasadena
Public Affairs Office
100 N. Garfield Ave., Room S228
Pasadena CA 91109
(626) 744-4755
Cell: (626) 375-2742
www.cityofpasadena.net/publicaffairs
Blog: www.pasadenapio.blogspot.com
Facebook: Pasadena PIO
Twitter: pasadenapio

Lisa Derderian, our emergency management coordinator and PIO in the Fire Department, gave me the basic info and I put the alert together quickly and sent it out. Lisa and I make a great team!

I don't know how it is that she wasn't in any of the photos I shot this morning.

So just for giggles, here once again (as if we would ever tire of it!) are the photos of Lisa in her fire PIO hat and me in my makeshift city PIO hat that was created out of sheer jealousy:




I have a newer version in my office if you ever want to come visit it! Both of my PIO hats were made by the mighty Zack Stromberg of the Public Affairs office.

On Friday I'll post some photos of the float decorating that was taking place in the cavernous building.

Meet Phil Sanchez

Part of my role is to organize press conferences. In the council chamber yesterday, Phil Sanchez was introduced as Pasadena's next police chief. He'll begin his new duties on July 11. City Manager Michael Beck is in the background in the photo above.

After the formal portion of the press conference, Phil Sanchez took a few minutes to chat it up with some reporters, including (left to right) Dan Abendschein of the Pasadena Star-News, André Coleman of the Pasadena Weekly and Terry Miller of the Pasadena Independent.


In addition to press, there were community leaders at the conference. Here's Phil being greeted by Tanganica Turner, field representative to California Assemblyman Anthony Portantino...


...and Martin Gordon of the ACLU (that's an L.A. Times photographer on the right).


I needed to wrangle Phil for an interview outside with a TV reporter.


All in a day's work.


Photos by the mighty Zack Stromberg of the Public Affairs Office.

Introducing Michael Beck

We had another press conference today, this time to introduce Michael Beck, who has accepted the offer from the city council to be Pasadena's next city manager effective Oct. 1.

The press conference was in the council chamber, where Mayor Bogaard made the announcement.



A lot of local reporters and editors were there from various news agencies, including Larry Wilson and Janette Williams from Pasadena Star-News, Andre Coleman from Pasadena Weekly, Terry Miller from Pasadena Independent, Marc Berry from Crown City News, Dean Lee and Susan Henderson from Mountain Views Observer, Candice Merrill from Pasadena Now and others.

Mayor Bogaard also sang the praises of Barney Melekian, who has done a masterful job of serving as city manager in an interim capacity and will go back to his duties as Pasadena's police chief in October.

I spent a lot of time with Michael Beck today and I have a good feeling about him. He's a good leader with a good track record in local government, plus he's a dedicated family man which makes him A-OK in my book.

Here's the news release that was sent out today.

Anatomy of a Press Conference

I've organized press conferences for 32 years. We conducted one today. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how it works.

It begins with an issue. Make sure it's worthy of a press conference and will resonate with reporters and the public.

Location, location, location. Decide the best place for the conference to be conducted -- a site that reflects the issue. 

Then there's the planning. Who should speak? What should be included in the press kit? What are the logistical issues associated with the site?

The devil is in the details. Microphone, lectern, backdrop, visuals, table for press kits, chairs, sign-in sheet, permit if necessary, alternative in case of rain (if it's outdoors).

Burn the midnight oil. Research the issue and write the materials: key messages, media alert, news release, fact sheet, etc. Then send everything out for review by all the powers that be and revise as necessary.

Alert the media! A media alert serves as the announcement of the press conference. It's short, sweet and to the point with details such as the issue and why it matters, date, time, place, speakers, parking, and main point of contact.

Meet with the Team. Go over the final key messages (some call them talking points but I don't like that term) and determine which should be covered by which speakers. Discuss the order of the program. Make sure everybody's comfortable with who's on first.

Serve as the MC. Thank everyone for coming, introduce the issue briefly, announce the speakers and then turn it over to the them. Come back to the lectern to field Q&A and wrap the whole thing up.

Do the follow-up. When you get back to the office, send out the news release to all media to ensure that those who couldn't attend have the info. Double-check the websites of reporters who attended the press conference and email the links to speakers and the boss.

Here's how it worked today at 10:30 a.m.:

The issue is that there's a proposal on the table in Sacramento to once again balance the state budget off the backs of municipalities. The state is looking at a loophole in the law that could make it easy for them to shrug their responsibility and let cities pay the price. In Pasadena, public health will potentially suffer as a result.

A large room at Pasadena Public Health Department was chosen as the site. I led off the press conference as MC.



Mayor Bill Bogaard was the first speaker.



Then Bernard Melekian.



And Dr. Takashi Wada, our public health director.



The last three speakers were Mary Donnelly-Crocker, executive director of Young & Healthy, which is a community partner of Pasadena Public Health Department; Jacquelynne Jones-Corby, district representative of Senator Jack Scott; and Adam Carter, district representative for Assemblyman Anthony Portantino. Scott and Portantino are standing with cities on this issue.

Steve Mermell, our director of finance, was standing by to answer questions involving dollars and cents.

Reporters from several news outlets were there, plus Dr. Wada did a phone interview with KFWB prior to the press conference.

The Pasadena Star-News had an article posted online just three hours after the press conference was over. Janette Williams does quick work!

Many thanks to Joy Guihama and other staff at Pasadena Public Health Department for their assistance in the logistics, creating the fact sheet that was part of the press kit and providing these photos!

Here's the news release I wrote, which was part of the press kit and was also sent out later today after the press conference.