ProfNet Experts Available on Corporate Culture, Attracting Millennials, Data Breaches, More Also in This Edition: Jobs for Writers, Media Industry Blog Posts
NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network that are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.
You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network – it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/alertswire.
EXPERT ALERTS
- Blue Bell Shows the Power of a Brand
- Corporate Culture is Vital to Deliver Superior Service
- Attracting Millennials to the Workplace
- 'Game of War' Case Exposes Vulnerability
- Doing Away With Traditional Annual Reviews
- Beware Data Breach Insurance Pitfalls
- Cash vs. Credit Cards
MEDIA JOBS
- Freelance Financial Writers – InvestorPlace Media (MD)
- News Editor – Michigan Lawyers Weekly (MI)
- Full-Time Reporter – The Daily Journal (NJ)
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES
- Queries and LOIs That Sell
- First-Time Speaker: Tips to Build Your Speaking Platform
- Upcoming Events for PR, Marketing and Media Professionals
EXPERT ALERTS:
Blue Bell Shows the Power of a Brand
Scott Parks
Vice President of Marketing and Client Service
Androvett Legal Media & Marketing in Dallas
The fact that the return of Blue Bell ice cream to store shelves has fans standing in line to buy the product is an "amazing testament to the power of a brand," says Parks. "The reason Blue Bell wasn't available for four months was because of listeria contamination at multiple plants that resulted in three deaths, with many others sickened. But rather than Blue Bell having to regain the public's trust, stores are instead limiting how many Blue Bell items customers can buy at one time. Blue Bell spent decades and significant sums of money cultivating its down-home 'Little Creamery in Brenham' image. That was clearly time and money well-spent, because almost any other company would be crippled, if not shuttered, by these same facts. Strong brands forge an emotional connection with their customers. And not unlike when a loved one disappoints you, brands such as Blue Bell can leverage the years of goodwill they've earned into forgive and forget."
Contact: Amy Hunt, [email protected]
Corporate Culture is Vital to Deliver Superior Service
Darius Mirshahzadeh
CEO
The Money Source
"In product-driven companies, entire departments are set up to research, develop, test and refine products. But in the mortgage industry, many companies don't give the same care to developing service and culture. This is a mistake. In service industries, culture is the innovation you bring to your customers. You can't expect it to evolve and adapt on its own. You have to invest in a company culture to deliver superior service, retain top talent and generate repeat business."
Mirshahzadeh is a mortgage industry expert and was recently named one of the nation's highest-rated CEOs by Glassdoor in a list that included company leaders from Nike, Apple and Google. He has a 95 percent approval rating on Glassdoor, is a Young Entrepreneur Council member, and contributes articles to Forbes, Entrepreneur and GlobeSt.com. In addition to the topics mentioned above, he can also speak on the following topics: creating an innovative company culture in the mortgage industry; ways to increase employee engagement and satisfaction in the workplace; and how create a company culture that receives approval ratings higher than Apple and equal to Facebook on Glassdoor.
Website: https://themoneysource.com
Contact: Adam Porsborg, [email protected]
Attracting Millennials to the Workplace
Deborah J. Sessions
Chief Operating Officer
Porter Keadle Moore
Millennials (ages 18-34) are now the largest group of workers in the U.S. They are critical to the future success of a firm or company. There are certain things they expect from a workplace, in terms of both atmosphere and advancement. Says Sessions: "Diversity, including generational diversity, is a positive force in the workplace. It's important to create and nurture a 'feedback culture' where everyone has a voice. It's also important to give people an idea of what they need to do to succeed, and to acknowledge that their goals for advancement and work/life balance may be different from earlier generations."
The Center for Generational Kinetics, in partnership with Best Companies Group (BCG), named Porter Keadle Moore one of the nation's Best Places to Work for Millennials. For seven years in a row, the company has finished in first or second place in the mid-sized category of Accounting Today magazine's Best Accounting Firms to Work For competition. In addition to a "career ladder" that helps young people advance, Porter Keadle Moore also recently renovated its office with young people in mind, featuring comfortable sitting areas for informal discussions, offices and conference rooms that can be reserved using iPads that are attached to each doorway, mobile work pedestals to let people move freely around the office, counter space for people who prefer to work or eat standing up, conference rooms wired for mobile electronics.
Website: www.pkm.com
Contact: Terri Thornton, [email protected]
'Game of War' Case Exposes Vulnerability
Joe Ahmad
Executive Employment Lawyer
Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., or AZA
The trade secret theft charge against Jing Zeng, a former executive at Machine Zone Inc., maker of the popular "Game of War" video game, illustrates how sometimes the most potent cybersecurity threat can be homegrown. Says Ahmad: "According to Machine Zone, he was fired, but wasn't immediately escorted out of the building. In the interim, he proceeded to download proprietary information to an external drive. Fortunately, the company detected the download shortly after it happened. After they confronted him, he had the audacity to try to use his theft as leverage for a better severance package. They filed criminal charges instead. So there are three lessons here: Make sure you have good IT people monitoring the security of your confidential information; when you fire someone, walk them straight out the door; and finally, if you get caught stealing your employer's confidential information never, ever resort to extortion, no matter how valuable you think the information might be."
Contact: Amy Hunt, [email protected]
Doing Away With Traditional Annual Reviews
Christopher Cabrera
Founder and CEO
Xactly
"Many employers are still using an annual-review process that was popular before we put a man on the moon, but they're now such an old-school way of thinking. As a manager, I hated doing them. We've done away with annual reviews and replaced them with more regular feedback sessions, and we're helping other companies do the same."
Cabrera is the CEO of Xactly Corporation and is a seasoned executive with more than two decades of successful senior management experience at both early-stage and public companies. He is a noted industry expert in issues relating to sales performance management, sales compensation, commission, employee engagement, incentive compensation, benchmarking, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery models. He was named the 2011 "Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year" by the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the USC Marshall School of Business. He is also the author of "Game the Plan" (River Grove Books, 2014) and co-author of "Xactly Sales Compensation for Dummies" (Wiley Publishing, 2006), as well as a contributing writer to such industry publications as Inc.com, Selling Power Magazine, and destinationCRM.
Website: http://www.xactlycorp.com
Contact: Chris Navalta, [email protected]
Beware Data Breach Insurance Pitfalls
Amy Elizabeth Stewart
Insurance Coverage Lawyer
Amy Stewart Law in Dallas
The steady stream of high-profile cyberattacks has many companies in the market to buy cyberinsurance, but prospective buyers should be wary of policies that shift too much risk back on to the company and its employees. In addition to representing corporate clients in disputes with insurance companies, the firm also helps businesses review their policies to make sure they provide maximum coverage. Says Stewart: "If your policy doesn't allow for human error, which is one of the main reasons to buy insurance, it's not a worthwhile policy, no matter how reasonable the premiums are. It's also important not to overstate your internal security protocols to try to get good rates on your policy. If you state that you consistently take certain steps to avoid a breach and you're stretching the truth, that can come back to bite you in a big way, especially if you make a claim and your insurance company discovers that your cybersecurity measures were more haphazard than you led them to believe."
Contact: Amy Hunt, [email protected]
Cash vs. Credit Cards
Pamela Yellen
Financial Security Expert
Bank On Yourself
"Research shows you'll spend almost 20% less, on average, when you pay with good, old-fashioned dollars than when you use credit cards. And you won't feel one bit deprived. Once you've paid off the credit card debt, consider using cold, hard cash for any expenses less than $300. Even if you do pay off your credit card statement in full each month (kudos to you), it may be worth examining what card you use. Perks are available -- from airline miles to points in a brokerage account. Card Hub provides a handy report on "The Best Credit Cards for Every Stage of Life." For example, for those nearing retirement, one credit card allows consumers to save with a 2% cash reward that gets deposited directly into an IRA.
Yellen is author of the New York Times bestselling book, "The Bank on Yourself Revolution: Fire Your Banker, Bypass Wall Street, and Take Control of Your Own Financial Future." She investigated more than 450 financial strategies seeking an alternative to the risk and volatility of stocks and other investments, which led her to a time-tested, predictable method of growing wealth now used by more than 500,000 Americans.
Contact: Michelle Tennant, [email protected]
MEDIA JOBS:
Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/
- Freelance Financial Writers – InvestorPlace Media (MD)
- News Editor – Michigan Lawyers Weekly (MI)
- Full-Time Reporter – The Daily Journal (NJ)
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:
Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line.
- QUERIES AND LOIs THAT SELL. We recently hosted a Twitter Q&A with Linda Formichelli, freelancer writer and co-founder of Renegade Writers. Linda explained the differences between queries and letters of introduction, when to use them, how to writer them and much more. You can read a recap here: http://prn.to/1JMTGDS
- FIRST-TIME SPEAKER: TIPS TO BUILD YOUR SPEAKING PLATFORM. Last week, we looked at four tools needed to help you season your speaking skills, but where do you start if you've never done a speaking event before? In order to get some great experience, you should start small. If you aren't a seasoned speaker, you don't want to burn any bridges by pitching yourself to an event you may not be ready for. Today on ProfNet Connect, Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts shares a few tips to consider to help you start building your platform: http://prn.to/1EBoMON
- UPCOMING EVENTS FOR PR, MARKETING AND MEDIA PROFESSIONALS. Attending industry events is one of the best professional development tools available to us. Here is a list of upcoming events for PR, marketing and media professionals around the country: http://prn.to/1NYl2Xk
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