pr writing portfolio
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PublicRelationsWritingPortfolio
KellyRe
VillanovaUniversity
NewsReleases
For Immediate Release Contact: Kelly Re (610) 896-7560
SWEET GREEN RESTAURANT COMING TO SUBURBAN SQUARE
ARDMORE, Pa. (Sept. 27, 2010) – The grand opening of Sweet Green will take place on
Sept. 28 at Suburban Square. The first 50 customers will get a free entree of their choice.
Suburban Square is the site of the first Sweet Green in Pennsylvania. This new and
upcoming restaurant serves a variety of all natural salads and yogurt. Sweet Green uses
local, farm-fresh ingredients to provide a healthy and delicious dining experience.
Jennifer Smith, owner of the new restaurant said, “ Sweet Green provides healthy
food that is irresistible. With its chic atmosphere and appetizing food, you will not want
to go anywhere else.”
This addition will greatly contribute to the family atmosphere of the shopping
center. Suburban Square has a variety of stores to shop at that will keep you there all day.
With a large selection of restaurants and stores, it is a great place to bring friends and
family of all ages.
Sweet Green is in the Ardmore Farmer’s Market section of Suburban Square. For
more information, visit www.suburbansquare.com or call 610-896-7560.
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Suburban Square 2/2
About Suburban Square:
Suburban Square is located on Anderson & Coulter Avenue in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.
This shopping center was built in stages from 1927-1931 and was one of the first
institutions to define the Main Line. Suburban Square contains more than 50 different
stores and restaurants and occasionally has special events and sales.
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For Immediate Release Contact: Kelly Re 1-800-932-4600 [email protected]
PENNDOT PLANS TO REDUCE TRAFFIC ON I-76
HARRISBURG, Pa. (Sept. 15, 2010) – PennDOT plans to lessen congestion on I-76 by
building a double decker highway. I-76 is plagued by massive amounts of traffic and
PennDOT strongly believes a double decker highway will help improve this situation.
In addition, air pollution will lessen as a result of the reduction of car emissions.
Community Relations Coordinator Karen Dussinger said, “We are all very excited
about this project. The construction of the highway will be completed with as few
inconveniences as possible and the entire community will experience benefits from the
new highway.”
The improvements to I-76 will not take a long time to complete with construction
estimated to take only five years. The majority of building will take place in the evening
and overnight hours with hopes of not affecting commuters in any major way. Just like
any other highway construction project, rush hour commuters may be impacted a few
times over the five-year period. However, PennDOT plans on making every effort to
ensure that the impact on commuters along with the costs to taxpayers is minimal.
The construction of the double decker highway will begin on Nov. 15, 2010. For
more information, visit http://www.dot.state.pa.us/ or call 1-800-932-4600.
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About PennDOT:
PennDOT oversees transportation in the state of Pennsylvania and it currently deals with
over 40,000 miles of state roads and highways. Currently, the administrator is the
Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Allen D. Biehler, P.E. PennDOT employs
approximately 11,000 people. PennDOT’s recent efforts are concentrated on intermodal
transportation with hopes of enhancing both commerce and public transportation.
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FeatureStories
PublicServiceAnnouncements
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Contact: Kelly Re, Publicity Director Phone: 267-614-1479 Public Service Announcement Length: 0:10 Subject: National Crime Prevention Council’s Fight Against Recidivism Date For Use: October 2010 Voice: Help make America safer for our kids. Join the National Crime Prevention Council and prevent past offenders from committing crime in your community. Public Service Announcement Length: 0:20 Subject: National Crime Prevention Council’s Fight Against Recidivism Date For Use: October 2010 Voice: October is National Crime Prevention month. Play your part to help prevent crime in your neighborhood by helping past offenders rebuild their lives and refrain from committing crime. Not only can you help past offenders
rebuild their lives, but you can help make your community a safer place for your children to successfully build their lives.
Public Service Announcement Length: 0:30 Subject: National Crime Prevention Council’s Fight Against Recidivism Date For Use: October 2010 Voice: Wouldn’t it be nice to know that your kids are playing in a safe neighborhood?
Why live every day worrying when you can join the Crime Prevention Coalition of America? Join today and you can have the power to make your community a safer place. By helping educate past offenders, you can prevent them from committing crime again. Give prisoners a second chance so that your children can have a chance at living in a safe environment.
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PitchLetters
750 Race Street Philadelphia, PA 19106
September 1, 2010 Mary Stanton Assignment Editor KYW-TV CBS 1555 Hamilton Street Philadelphia, PA 19130 Dear Ms. Stanton: According to PhillyCrime.org, Philadelphia has more than 80,000 crimes annually. In comparison to the rest of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia contains a majority of the state’s overall crime. For this reason, it is extremely important that you consider airing our Public Service Announcement that encourages citizens of Philadelphia to join their local National Crime Prevention Council. Jennifer Garner is the celebrity spokesperson for this Public Service Announcement because just like the every day Philadelphia citizen she wants what is best and safe for her two daughters. We want to encourage more people of the city of Philadelphia to join the National Crime Prevention Council with hopes of making neighborhoods a safer living environment for children. Since October is Crime Prevention Month, it would be a great time to air this Public Service Announcement. Enclosed please find live copy for use as a Public Service Announcement promoting the Philadelphia National Crime Prevention Council. We would greatly appreciate your station airing this Public Service Announcement. If you have any questions or need additional materials, please contact me at (267) 614- 1479. Thank you in advance for your support of the National Crime Prevention Council. Sincerely, Kelly Re Kelly Re Public Relations Director Enc.
883 Penn Street Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 December 5, 2010 Mercedes Ott 800 Lancaster Ave Villanova, PA 19085
Dear Ms. Ott:
As the study abroad deadline approaches, many students at Villanova are faced with the all-important choice of whether or not to apply. This decision is one that requires much research and commitment. A student may need to overcome their fears of living in a foreign country for several months in order to finally decide to study abroad. As a result of the difficulties a student may face in making this decision, it is crucial to provide as much support and information as possible.
Michael Miller is currently a senior at Villanova who successfully went abroad last fall and his story is one that has the power to inspire others to do the same. His experience with a host family in Buenos Aires, Argentina has helped shape the person he is today and has opened his eyes to things he would never see in America. Through weekly information sessions, Michael Miller shares his stories with other students with hopes of motivating other students to go abroad.
Overall, Michael Miller’s study abroad experience and dedication to the study abroad program provides a relatable story that can increase the number of students at Villanova who study abroad. I will call you in a few days to determine your interest in doing an article on Michael Miller. In the meantime, I can be reached at (267) 614-1479.
I am looking forward to working with you.
Very truly yours,
Kelly Re
Kelly Re Assistant Director of International Studies Enc.
PositionPaper
Facebook: Privacy Policies That Are Not So Private
Background Information
Facebook is a social networking site founded in 2004 with the goal of allowing
people to communicate efficiently and effectively with family members and friends.
Seven years later, Facebook has evolved into more than just a simple networking site.
With more than 500 million users worldwide and a variety of applications, Facebook has
become a popular site all over the world. According to Facebook.com, 50 percent of its
users log on every day and people spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on
Facebook. With such a large number of people using this Internet site, there is no doubt
that privacy is a main issue.
The process of creating an account involves agreeing to Facebook’s privacy
contract. Users have the ability to access the contract at any time. The document is
several pages long and encompasses a wide range of security policies. Facebook has in
fact taken the necessary steps to cover almost all privacy issues. When concerns arise for
users, it is not as if Facebook did not warn the public about the terms of privacy. Also,
no one is forced to sign up for Facebook and there is always the option of not creating an
account if one disagrees with the regulations.
While the privacy terms of Facebook are clearly stated, there are several flaws
with some of the policies themselves. For example, on Facebook’s privacy page it states,
“You can remove or block cookies, but it can impact your use of Facebook”(Facebook’s
Privacy Policy, 2010). Why should blocking your personal page from something that
you do not approve of hinder your use of Facebook? It is almost as if Mark Zuckerberg,
the creator of Facebook, is trying to make it seem like you have the option of making
your page as private as you would like, but not without consequences.
Another flaw with the privacy policies of the site is the section titled “Friends
Platform.” Basically, the “Friends Platform” section puts the privacy of a user’s account
in the hands of their friends. If a person’s friend uses an application, not only can the
application share the user’s information, but also it has the ability to take information
from the user’s friends’ pages (Helft, 2010). It does not seem right that your personal
information can be shared simply because your friend decided to use an application. As a
result, your personal privacy is based on the actions of others and not on your own
actions. Additionally, Facebook’s policy says that it may take information that a user has
chosen to make private and make it public. Advertisers also have this power to acquire
information that a user may have chosen to not make public. The advertising process
works in such a way that advertisers select which characteristics of users they want to
target and then Facebook is able to provide them with these users based on information
that users may have chosen to not show others, such as their birthday (Facebook Privacy
Policy, 2010). Thus, the privacy setting for information called “Only Me” is not really
viewed by only that person. It appears as if the term “private” is used very loosely when
connected with Facebook.
Unethical Chain of Events Over the Past Year
Over the course of its existence, Facebook has made changes to its policies in
response to critics. However, the changes that have been made over the past year appear
to have done more damage than good. In December 2009, Facebook changed their
privacy settings by recommending that people make their information viewable by
“everyone” and it even made a user’s name, profile picture, and gender public by default
(Vascellaro, 2010). As a result, ten privacy organizations, including our own American
Civil Liberties Union, filed complaints against Facebook asking that its original settings
be restored. Following these complaints, a glitch in the site caused messages that were
meant to be private to be misrouted to other users. Even after this serious issue, Facebook
began to send users’ profile information to other sites such as Yelp, Microsoft and
Pandora. Following this decision, U.S. Senators Charles Schumer, Al Franken, Michael
Bennet and Mark Begich contacted the Federal Trade Commission to try to push for new
privacy guidelines (Cheng, 2010). Despite efforts not only within our own organization,
but on the part of other privacy organizations and Senators as well, we still have
unresolved issues with Facebook and privacy.
Will Facebook Ever Truly Change?
As previously mentioned, Facebook experienced a series of incidents regarding
privacy in the past year alone. In addition, a poll that was taken by the Wall Street
Journal surveyed users’ opinions on how they would grade Facebook’s handling of
users’ privacy. The results revealed that 66.1 percent vote F, while only 1.4 percent voted
A (Vascellaro, 2010). With a strong discontent among its users, you would think that
Facebook would make more of an effort to improve. Rob Enderle, an analyst at Enderle
Group, does not foresee a bright future for the privacy of Facebook users and says,
“[Facebook] makes their money from advertising and selling information on their users,
so full privacy is contrary to their business model. If they promise something they can’t
deliver, they burn trust, so they may think it best to just leave the subject alone.”
With an increase in complaints and comments, such as Enderle’s, Zuckerberg
rarely acknowledges these concerns. His overall attitude toward Facebook privacy in
general is that users will want to make more information about themselves public over
time (Vascellaro, 2010). The real question here is will users actually want to make their
information public over time, or will Facebook force them into making this information
public? Will Moffat created a site called YourOpenBook.com to pressure Facebook to
change. The purpose of his site is to allow someone without a Facebook account to search
for Facebook users and view users’ public photos (Vascellaro, 2010). While Moffat
created this site purely to prove a point and to try to bring about change, other people are
using Facebook as a model for building their own social networking sites rather than for
rebellion. Ray Valdes, who is an analyst with Gartner, says, “Facebook is a very large
canary in the coal mine. Competitors are watching to see how much Facebook can get
away with and what are the limits that are considered acceptable by government and its
users.” The privacy policies of Facebook must be corrected before the social networking
world as a whole is influenced by these tainted policies.
What Can We Do As Members of ACLU?
As members of the ACLU we need to put forth a stronger voice in regards to
Facebook’s privacy policies. We need to be a prominent presence in the news and get
more people talking. If we do not change Facebook’s privacy policies soon, other sites
may copy these policies and we will have to deal with a more severe situation. The
Constitution along with our mission statement, seeks to protect the privacy rights of
American citizens and it is our commitment to ensure that Facebook does not violate
these rights.
References
Cheng, J. (April 2010). Senators complain about Facebook privacy changes. Retrieved
November 17, 2010, from http://arstechnica.com
Facebook’s Privacy Policy (October 2010). Retrieved November 17, 2010, from
http://www.facebook.com/policy.php
Facebook Press Room (2010). Retrieved November 17, 2010, from
http://www.facebook.com/press/info
Helft, M. (October 2010). Facebook acknowledges privacy issue with applications.
Retrieved November 17, 2010, from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com
Gaudin, S. (November 2010). Privacy questions trail Facebook messages. Retrieved
November 17, 2010, from http://www.computerworld.com
Vascellaro, J. E. (May 2010). Facebook grapples with privacy issues. Retrieved
November 17, 2010, from http://online.wsj.com
Backgroundersand
FactSheets
Suburban Square: A Hot Spot to Shop on the Main Line
Suburban Square opened in 1928, making it one of the earliest shopping centers in
the United States. For more than 75 years, Suburban Square has been a hot spot for
shopping and dining on the Main Line. J.Crew, Williams-Sonoma, and Ann Taylor are
just a few of the many high-end retail stores that can be found at Suburban Square.
Recent additions include the prestigious Priscilla of Boston and Denim Habit, which can
only be found in select locations across the nation.
Another notable addition to Suburban Square is the Ardmore Farmers Market.
The Ardmore Farmers Market gives local farmers in the community the opportunity to
sell their crops. Not only is the market a local economy booster, but also it contributes to
society’s interest in healthy foods. A new restaurant to this market is called Sweet Green.
This Sweet Green is the first of its chain to open in Pennsylvania. The only other
locations it can be found in are Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The main item
on the menu are their all-natural salads. Their all-natural salads along with their frozen
yogurt treats are low in calorie content making Sweet Green’s menu the perfect choice
for a healthy diet.
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Contact: Kelly Re, PR Director, (610) 896-7560, [email protected]
PennDOT: Upgrading Pennsylvania Transportation Every Day
From regulations and policies to maintenance and construction, PennDOT has
been responsible for everything that deals with transportation since 1970. PennDOT’s
duties are not limited to roads and highways, but encompass waterways and airports as
well. Since there are so many types of transportation, there are specialized departments to
ensure that everything is taken care of effectively and efficiently.
Every day Pennsylvanians use some form of transportation. As a result, highways
and different modes of transportation may become worn down and unsafe. In order to
create a safe environment for its users, it is important to constantly maintain and upgrade
transportation. Fortunately, PennDOT has an annual budget to provide for these needs.
PennDOT’s superior programs and policies have contributed to its success as an
organization. For instance in 2005, PennDOT successfully reconstructed part of Route 28
Allegheny Valley Expressway 3R. With many years of experience, PennDOT has the
ability to construct a double decker highway on I-76 with ease and expertise.
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Contact: Kelly Re, PR Director, 1-800-932-4600, [email protected]
DID YOU KNOW?
• Suburban Square is a shopping center that opened in 1928
• James K. Stone commissioned the architectural firm Dreher and Churchman to design the shopping center
• The original plan for Suburban Square included a bank, post office, food market, small stores, a department store, an office building and a movie theater
• It’s one of the earliest shopping centers in the United States
• Originally named Hestobeen Square and renamed as a result of a contest
• First shopping center to include a true department store when Strawbridge & Clothier opened
• Open seven days a week
• First Pennsylvania location of Denim Habit, which is a retailer of premium denim, sportswear, and accessories
• Contains many notable retailers such as Urban Outfitters, Apple, and J.Crew
• A new Ardmore Farmers Market has been added with food from local farmers
• Metro Commercial Real Estate is the exclusive leasing agent for the retail center
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Contact: Kelly Re, PR Director, (610) 896-7560, [email protected]
DID YOU KNOW?
• PennDOT was created in 1970 when the Department of Highways was merged with transportation related functions
• The annual budget consists of more than $6 billion in state and federal funds
• Oversees programs and policies related to highways, airports, railroads, and other forms of transportation
• Responsibilities include 40,000 miles of highway and about 25,000 bridges
• A keystone-shaped shield identifies major state-owned traffic routes
• Supports the Ports of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Erie
• The central headquarters is in Harrisburg, Pa.
• The six main divisions of PennDot are called deputates and each one in charge of a specific transportation function
• The agency operates 15 Welcome Centers along the highways near the state’s borders and greets almost 4 million visitors a year
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Contact: Kelly Re, PR Director, 1-800-932-4600, [email protected]
OtherWorks
For Immediate Release Contact: Kelly Re 267-614-1479 [email protected] National Crime Prevention Council Media Alert Jennifer Garner to Speak About Protecting the Children of Philadelphia as Part of NCPC’s Campaign to Eliminate Crime WHO: Actress Jennifer Garner WHAT: News Conference WHEN: Saturday, November 20, 2010 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. WHERE: Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia Conference Room A One Logan Square Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-963-1500 WHY: Garner is a great role model and a loving mother who understands the importance of protecting her children. For this reason, she has decided to help the parents of Philadelphia and has dedicated her time towards making sure that the children of this city are safe. The actress will promote Philadelphia’s National Crime Prevention Council, which seeks to stop released criminals from reoffending. INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES: Garner will be available for interviews from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
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Good morning and welcome to the kick-off of the “Save Our Children, Join the
National Crime Prevention Council” campaign. I am Kelly Re, Public Relations Director
of the Philadelphia National Crime Prevention Council. On behalf of the organization, I
would like to extend our gratitude to Jennifer Garner for her decision to partner with us
on this important campaign. Ms. Garner has played a vital role in our campaign of
spreading awareness about the need to prevent criminals from reoffending and her
involvement is greatly appreciated. With her help, we hope to increase the number of
members in Philadelphia’s National Crime Prevention Council.
Over the course of the next few months, Ms. Garner will be featured in broadcast
public service announcements. These announcements will help promote the involvement
of Philadelphia’s citizens in making their community a safe place. The National Crime
Prevention Council seeks to educate previously convicted criminals and to prevent them
from committing crime. With the reduction of reoffenders, we are lessening the crime
rate in our neighborhoods, making them a safer place for our children to play.
In addition to public service announcements and advertisements, the campaign
will also feature pamphlets about safety and will offer free self-defense classes. Ms.
Garner’s dedication towards caring for her own children is what motivated her to join this
campaign. She is a strong advocate of keeping her own children safe and for this reason
she was inspired to work with the National Crime Prevention Council to ensure that other
parents were able to keep their children safe. With her ability to reach vast audiences, we
strongly believe in the success of this campaign.
Once again, I would like to extend a sincere thanks to Ms. Garner for her
dedication and commitment to the National Crime Prevention Council. Together, we can
help make our community a safer place for our children. Thank you.