Bayview Public Relations

February marks the two year anniversary of Bayview Public Relations. We’re grateful for the opportunities our clients have given us, and the support we’ve received from our partners, colleagues, friends, and family.

A few clients have been with us since the beginning – USAmeriBank, Franklin Street, Fisher & Phillips, Walter Investment Management Corp., for example – and we’re thankful for the partnerships we’ve developed. Their continued support, and the addition of some major new clients – Transitions Championship, Ybor City Development Corp., and Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central & Southwest Florida, to name a few – helped us nearly double revenue in 2011.

While we’ve grown exponentially, we’re committed to keeping our quality of work high. Three things, among many, are fundamental to our approach to public relations:

1. PR is not “one size fits all.” In a time of shrinking traditional news media, fast-growing social media and tight marketing budgets, each client requires (and deserves) different strategies and tactics to achieve goals.
2. Targeting pays off. By taking the time to research outlets and read material from journalists, we’ve developed a deeper understanding of the issues facing a client’s audience and how their expertise can shed light on issues, resulting in a better chance of coverage now (or in the future).
3. Learn to work with the media. Completing our required media training helps our clients feel prepared to talk with the media, understand how the process works, and increase their chance of being quoted as a resource.

We look forward to many more years of helping clients communicate with the audiences that matter most to them!

Missy MacFarlane, principal and account director with Bayview Public Relations, has successfully achieved Accreditation in Public Relations. The APR designation is the mark of distinction for public relations professionals.

Accredited PR professionals demonstrate a commitment to the profession and to its ethical practice and competence in knowledge, skills and abilities associated with the profession, including strategic thinking and planning, business literacy and legal standards.

In the Accreditation process, professionals complete an extensive application and compile a campaign portfolio to present to a Readiness Review Panel; participate in a two-hour oral board comprised of three accredited practitioners who judge candidates on 16 areas of knowledge, skills and abilities; and, after a series of classes, pass a three-hour computer-based examination covering 44 key areas ranging from ethics and law to communication models and theories.

Missy is among a group of seven PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) Tampa Bay Chapter members achieving Accreditation in 2011. Other members successfully completing the APR process include: Susan Barnes of Girl Scouts of West Central Florida, Travis Claytor of Tampa Bay & Co., Lori Hudson of Hillsborough County (Fla.), Kate Sawa of American Heart Association, Heather Sugg of William Mills Agency, and Marissa Segundo of City of Largo Recycling.

Karen Mess Frashier, APR, chairs PRSA Tampa Bay Chapter’s Accreditation committee and mentors candidates throughout the process.

Jesse Landis, principal and strategy director with Bayview, is also Accredited in Public Relations.