Bernard told a tale about processionary caterpillars. These little fellows move through the trees in single file, with one leader and each snugly fitted against the rear of the caterpillar in front. The French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre succeeded in getting the first caterpillar to connect with the last one, forming a complete circle. He expected that eventually they would discover they were marching endlessly to no purpose, but the circle kept moving around and around until exhaustion and starvation set in. "They mistook activity for accomplishment," Bernard explained. "They meant well, but got no place." For this group, he didn’t need to elaborate.

The second presentation was "Getting Voter Approval the New Fail-Safe Way." Gay Campbell, the director of communications for the Everett School District in Washington, and Jeanne Magmer, the recently retired public information director for the Oregon School Boards Association, jointly shared their experiences in running hundreds of successful school levy and bond campaigns. They presented a very simple plan, yet there were some surprises, and some of it will seem counter-intuitive to those of you who have been involved in campaigns.

Campbell and Magmer suggested an early survey of all potential voters in order to learn where they stand on the levy. The yes votes are noted and divided by how frequently they vote. The no votes are questioned further, to determine if emphasizing a particular aspect of the levy’s purpose moves their vote to yes. If so, these people are also noted. Those who can’t be moved ("Men over 60 are death on wheels for most measures," Campbell said) are discarded and never referenced again. This is crucial to what follows.

All communication from that point on is designed to appeal to this yes votes, emphasizing and reemphasizing the specific aspect they already told the pollster moved them on the issue. The yes side repeats the message over and over again, entirely ignoring whatever the no side is up to. Repeating the message extends into the ballot language itself. Campbell and Magmer emphasized that the actual ballot language should be written by PR people with legal oversight, rather than by the attorneys themselves. My guess is that few people are aware that often the question printed on their ballot is a form of campaign literature.

As election day approaches, all effort is expended on turning out the yes vote. Campbell suggested identifying the number of votes you need to pass the levy, then getting 125 percent of that number of yes voters to the polls. Magmer also explained that voters like to get their messages from people "who look like them." Therefore, if you have identified female retirees as a large portion of your yes vote, then your mail, phone banks, and even precinct walks should feature a female retiree.

Finally, Teresa M. Rafferty, the public information coordinator for the Freehold Regional High School District in New Jersey, presented "Communicating Proactively in Sensitive Situations." She said that public relations officers have to "balance their act" between being honest with the community and strengthening positive public perceptions of the schools. Rafferty explained that no response is usually the worst response when faced with bad news, and advocated responding in a timely manner. "Spin cannot cover sin," she said.

Perhaps her most interesting piece of advice was for public relations officers to take their own notes when speaking with reporters. That’s a sensible precaution if you’re fearful of being misquoted, but the mental picture of two people conversing while both of them are furiously scribbling notes is hilarious to contemplate. Rafferty also provided handouts with guidelines for dealing with poor test scores and difficult labor negotiations. Both indicate that what you read in your newspaper or see on TV about a serious situation in your public schools was the result of who was best able to manipulate the media.

The guidelines for test scores included this advice for disseminating poor scores: "The opening paragraphs should announce and explain an action plan and several paragraphs later, announce the scores. The point is to give the community something to be proud of and the impression that the problem is being addressed. The spin you put on it will be included 9 out of 10 times." When it comes to contract negotiations: "Press releases should be prepared so the district is quoted accurately and background material will be included in the story. Reporters are less prone to distort or make mistakes and sizable segments of the district’s side will be incorporated in the final piece."

Tomorrow: The conference wraps up. EIA will provide details of three or four more presentations.

+ Handout of the Day #1. "Are you lonely? Work on your own? Hate making decisions? Hold a meeting! You can: SEE people; DRAW flowcharts; FEEL important; IMPRESS your colleagues; All on COMPANY TIME!!! Meetings: The practical alternative to work." -- a handout from Dick Bernard, former president of the Minnesota School Public Relations Association.

+ Handout of the Day #2. "Common advice from knowledgeable horse trainers includes the adage, `When the horse dies, dismount.’ Seems simple enough. Yet, in the education business we don’t always follow that advice. Instead we often choose from an array of other alternatives which include: buying a stronger whip; trying a new bit or bridle; switching riders; moving the horse to a new location; riding the horse for longer periods of time; saying things like, `This is the way we’ve always ridden this horse;’ appointing a committee to study the horse; arranging to visit other sites where they ride dead horses more efficiently; increasing the standards for riding a dead horse; creating a test for measuring our riding ability; comparing how we’re riding now with how we rode 10 or 20 years ago; complaining about the state of horses these days; coming up with new styles of riding; blaming the horse’s parents (the problem is often in the breeding); and tightening the cinch." -- a handout provided by the Minnesota School Public Relations Association from April 1999.