Hello!

Welcome to GMT's monthly e-newsletter for June 2009. We send this e-newsletter on the first Monday of every month to share feature announcements, membership tips, links to recent articles from environmental reporters, new members, and other helpful resources.

You are receiving this as your organization is a member of Green Media Toolshed and you are currently a registered GMT user. Should you wish to opt out of this monthly communication, please see the instructions in section 8 below.

Word Count: 1,317
Read Time: 5 minutes

In this issue you will find:
1. Member Connections
2. Be in the Know – How GMT Tools Can Help Your Group
3. Buzz from the Beat
4. Link(s) of the Month
5. Community Coverage
6. GMT Welcomes 1 New Member
7. Support: Database Do’s and Don’ts
8. Opt out instructions

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1. Member Connections: Attend a social media webinar

Register for a FREE webinar held by Care2: "Share the Story: High Impact Ways to Integrate Social Media into Your Advocacy And Fundraising Campaigns"

Wednesday, June 10th at 2 p.m. Eastern
Advance registration is required.
Register at https://care2team.ilinc.com/register/ybtzsbt

The webinar will focus on using social media to maximize your fundraising and advocacy efforts. Learn how to level the potential of social media for your organization and tactics for measuring your success.

Featured speakers include:
-Misty Meeks, Online Communications Manager at World Society for the Protection of Animals - Canada
-Robyn Erler, Manager of Activism Marketing at Care2

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2. Be in the Know - How GMT Tools Can Help Your Group: How do you get your environmental group to sit at the same table as the smokestack companies with whom you compete?

Ask Richard Judy.

On Wednesday May 20th, GMT invited Richard K. Judy, an experienced PR Professional at the corporate and nonprofit level, to hold an open interview for our members.

With a background in public relations, Richard has extensive experience working both for corporations as well as with numerous environmental groups. He also has done media relations and crisis communications training for Amoco Corporation, BP America, the U.S. Green Building Council, and Propex Fabrics. He finished working at BP America in 2003 after having risen to director of public affairs for the Southeast U.S.

Richard left us with a lot of good advice and important take away, including advice for working with smokestack companies, managing your crisis communications, and building better relationships with reporters.

Listen to the recording of the session (40 minutes), and check out a few tips from Richard on building relationships with reporters:

1. Get out and about when environmentalists get together. Environmental conferences are goldmines for reporters, so you can bet on seeing a few media acquaintances there. Host an event and invite a variety of environmental groups and reporters, who exchange information and benefit from each others' attention. Events also enable you to get to know the reporters personally.

2. Make yourself into a resource for reporters. Call reporters when you have facts and figures that will be valuable to them. Don't make blind phone pitches unless you have a headline story.

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3. Buzz from the Beat: Expanding the Meaning of Renewable Energy

Felicity Barringer, an Environment and National News reporter for the San Francisco Bureau of The New York Times, writes and blogs extensively about water and energy issues.

In a recent article from May 24th, “With Billions at Stake, Trying to Expand the Meaning of ‘Renewable Energy,’” Felicity scopes out how federal tax breaks and state quotes for “renewable” energy have given the word an elasticity that stretches from the traditional air and solar power to coal and nuclear waste.

Read into the full story of how coal and other nuclear waste products now qualify for renewable energy benefits in several states at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/business/energy-...

Get more information on Barringer’s blog at http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/

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4. Link of the month: Need an inexpensive way to do a moderated press teleconference?

MaestroConference is a teleconference tool recommended to us by a Green Media Toolshed member. You can use it for press conferences, other trainings and workshops.

Nice features of this teleconference service include:
1. The ability to facilitate breakout sessions in small groups of dyads and triads. The breakout session leader can 'walk the room' and listen in on various groups.

2. You can also do polling where your reporters or other participants 'raise their hand.'

3. During discussions, the host has the ability to moderate the conversation and “pass the mic,” therefore avoiding the commotion of people speaking over one another.

Learn more about MaestroConference at http://www.progressivecommunicators.net/en/toolbox... and on the main site at http://maestroconference.com/.

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5. Community Coverage:

Coming from Laura Perez Arce

Send submissions to nina@greenmediatoolshed.org.

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6. Let’s Welcome 1 New Member to our GMT Community

Oregon Rural Action is a membership-based community organization that promotes economic sustainability, social justice, and ecological stewardship for Oregon’s land, air and water. They provide information and the resources needed for Oregon locals to build community around these pertinent issues.

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7. Media Database Q & A: Media Database Upgrades Going Live for June

You may have noticed on Friday, May 29th, that the upgraded Vocus Summer 2009 edition is live.

While there are a few nice improvements to both the interface and functionality, the new interface may take a few minutes to adjust to. I'd like to provide you with a summary of the changes, as well as a few directions, so that you are able to take advantage of these new features.

You can also watch a full size video tutorial to get a visual review of all the changes.

The two GMT & Media Database Trainings offered on June 9th and June 23rd (1:00- 2:15 p.m. Eastern) will also be a good review. Please RSVP to nina@greenmediatoolshed.org.

Now, a brief review of the new features:
1. Fully Configurable Homepage: A new home page design will give you the ability to customize the display and size of the panels shown on the landing page. You and your communications team will be able to configure your home page through the Home Page Designer and drag and drop the panel boxes with the Tab Designer icon.

2. Training Modules: Next, you can use the new easy reference to the Training Module in each section of the application to get quick access to the latest Vocus tutorials. For example, right from the Media Contacts panel, you can listen to a tutorial on list building.

3. New profile format for journalists and bloggers: Vocus '09 features a new profile format for journalists and bloggers that more closely resembles the look and feel of social media sites. All information will now be "above the fold," so rather than scrolling down the page, you can view the information you need in a more centralized setting. All of the information will be stored in a tab motif, which includes System Pitching Profile, Proprietary Pitching Profile, Lists, Activity, News, Notes. Profiles will also include Twitter handles when relevant to help you follow and build a relationship with reporters.

4. Distribution Layout and Reports: After sending a distribution, you will be able to view advanced, custom reports that summarize media contacts and lists sent. To view this report, select your distribution from the Distribution Home section, and click "view report."

Questions? Contact Nina Schwartz at (202)408-8850 x10 or nina@greenmediatoolshed.org

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8. Opt out instructions:
We’ll be sad - but not bitter - if you do.

To opt out of GMT’s monthly e-newsletter, reply to this email with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.

To share feedback about the content and format, please reply to this email and include your thoughts in the body of your message. You can also submit a question to be answered in the next FAQ section by replying to this message.

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View past e-newsletters in our monthly e-newsletter archive section of the GMT Training Center: http://www.greenmediatoolshed.org/taxonomy/term/38
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