RE Cancel of Talk of the Nation - Oh, THE IRONY

Aside from its quality, its consistently high numbers, and its invaluable platform for civil national discussion in these fraught times, there is at least one other troubling aspect about this announcement.

Talk of the Nation delivers for NPR on the promise of two-way communication in this modern, digital age. Not only did these negotiators fail to tap into the enormous pool of listeners to take our temperature on this, they have drawn back to a more one-way, paternalistic delivery of news and what they describe as stories.

For stories, we've got The Moth, and This American Life. For magazines, we have Fresh Air.. What we will no longer have come summer is a national meeting place where give-and-take is the essence.

That's why the name has always been especially brilliant: Talk of the Nation. Not, Talk at the Nation.

As a long-time supporter, I continue to be concerned by the decision-making of NPR, PRI, etc.

Show NPR how Social Media Works, at http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/29/175677788/talkofthenation.

Or, re-TWEET:
Cancel popular TALK OF THE NATION? Oh, THE IRONY! That's why name’s always been brilliant: talk OF (not AT) the nation. Bad NPR!!

Time for reflection - included by SF Chronicle Editors, 1/14/11

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Time for reflection

Well said by the president in Tucson.

Now, time for reflection. Then, let us live up to the expectations of Christina Taylor Green and all our children. As citizens, let's demand that our elected representatives have vigorous, informed, civil debates on House and Senate floors. A good place to start would be a straightforward bill from Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., that would outlaw the special clip that allowed the Arizona gunman to shoot 20 people without reloading.

Again, that's debate, and it's spelled: vigorous, informed and civil. Our citizens young, old and in-between deserve no less.

Jill Center, San Francisco

And away we go...

Copy from my 2010 Holiday Card (above):

Left image from NY Times Magazine, July 9, 2009, Rob Walker, Remixed Images

Right image by Jill Center (using the RONCO keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/createPoster) click here

An Authentic Jill Center #4/225

...

To learn about the original "Keep Calm" poster, and the modern iterations, read Rob Walker's terrific NY Times Magazine piece (click here).

To all: Happy New Year!!!

Nonprofit Spotlight: PhotoPhilanthropy

Nancy Richards Farese is the founder of PhotoPhilanthropy which promotes and connects photographers with non-profit organizations around the world to tell the stories that drive action for social change. Her work has been published in print media such as Time Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Marin IJ, The Anniston Star and The Financial Times, and in association with a wide range of charitable organizations including The International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, The Carter Center, The Infectious Disease Institutes in Uganda, Living Goods and Right to Play.

click here to learn more, including the 2010 Activist Awards

Bittersweet Chance to Meet Favorite Novelist in 2010

One Sunday morning last Spring, I read about the plight of a loving couple confronting the dementia that would take the life of the husband. Sad, and not unusual for me after eleven years as a senior communications director at the Alzheimer's Association.

But this time the piece, a Modern Love essay in the New York Times, was by Elinor Lipman (pictured at right).

Elinor Lipman is the best-selling author of nine sparkling comic novels. She is a designated NY Times Book Review Editors' Choice, the 20th (now 21st) Century incarnation of Jane Austen. Elinor Lipman is my favorite living novelist.

Now, Elinor Lipman was applying her gifts to tell the story of how frontotemporal dementia (FTD) had intruded upon her family life. UCSF's Memory Clinic, here in San Francisco, is one of the nation's foremost centers for FTP research. While in touch with the research side, Elinor Lipman used her Times essay to tell the family side of the FTP story with exquisite precision and brave humor. Her piece is now available to FTP families reaching out to the Alzheimer's Association for support and comfort.

After sending an email in appreciation via the Times, we arranged to meet during her upcoming visit to San Francisco to promote her latest novel, The Family Man. After the reading and a chat, she made a point of introducing me to Dr. Robert Farese, Jr., MD, the Senior Investigator at the UCSF-based Consortium for FTD Research who also attended the reading with Consortium Chief Operating Officer Megan Grether, PhD.

As the American population ages and dementia cases approach tidal wave proportions, increasing numbers of dementia caregivers - and now early stage patients - are using the arts to grasp and then to convey a sense of their experience. When a uniquely gifted writer converts her personal clash with dementia into a public narrative, she is adding to a landscape where the comforts are still far too sparse.

For more about Elinor Lipman, click here.

News Update: On January 4, 2011
President Obama signed into law the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) which during the just-ended Lame-Duck Congress was passed by unanimous votes in both the Senate and the House. This means that for the first time there will be a coordinated national strategy to overcome the national crisis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, including FTD. Click here for more information.

NEWs from the PR Round Table E-Editor...

updated for January 2011

WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON?

John Boland, President & CEO, KQED-Public Broadcasting for N. California

coming January 25, 2011

reserve here

...

Phil Matier & Andrew Ross, Matier & Ross Column, SF Chronicle

Jonathan Weber, Editor-in-Chief, The Bay Citizen

Don Spetner, Exec VP/Corp Affairs, Korn Ferry International

Diane Gage Lofgren, Senior VP/Brand, Communications & PR, Kaiser Foundation - thrive

Jesse McKinley, San Francisco Bureau Chief, The New York Times

Matt Stiker, Chief Marketing Officer/Exec VP, SF Convention & Visitors Bureau

Dana King, News Anchor, CBS TV 5

Vince Sollitto, VP/Communications, YELP, Inc

Ed Cavagnaro, News/Program Director, KCBS - #1 in Bay Area Radio Ratings

.THEY ALL HAD LUNCH

with the SF PR ROUND TABLE

See what they had to say at the new PRRT E-Newsletter ARCHIVE

Jill Center -- PRRT E-Newsletter/Invitations Editor, and Board Member -- jillcenter@sbcglobal.net

Matchmaker, Matchmaker...

COMING UP:
Andronico's SF Location Preparing to Open Space for Nonprofits & Community to Connect

My neighborhood Andronico's Market had just completed its latest renovation. Seeing that the former bank branch space at the front (busy Irving St access) was being used as a temporary storeroom, I sent Bill Andronico (CEO for the 8-outlet Bay Area grocery chain) a note: Could the space be converted for a rotating series of informational presentations and workshops by local nonprofits?

With the commitment and follow-through of San Francisco store Director John Bacho, the space has now been spiffed up. John and I will be meeting after the Holidays to finalize the details so that (3) nonprofits I've contacted will serve as the inaugural presenters:

1. Community Health Resource Center (part of California Pacific Medical Center)
2. PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support)
3. Alzheimer's Association (Northern California Chapter)

What we have here is a perfect point to intersect:
The 81-year Andronico's and its mission to serve the local community
+ local nonprofits working effectively in tough times to promote the health and well-being of San Francisco families.
Stay tuned.

And if YOU see a similar opportunity for a win-win match ... favorite local store + worthy nonprofit/s ... Ask!
...

From the 2010 Healthy Aging Summit at SF City Hall

Having worked on day-of media for the November 9th Summit at City Hall, I can pass along some looks at how the City/County of San Francisco is leading the way on how to live healthy and have a good life as we age:

• Media Advisory click here;
• News coverage (Nov 10) by KTSF-Channel 26, in Mandarin and Cantonese ... with English interviews by two of the three morning speakers;
• Community Public Access Cable TV 29, click here spot coming soon for Nov 15 segment report by The Good News at 10:30pm on SF Commons;
• To view Facebook pictures by the November 9th event photographers, click here.

If you were unable to attend, but want to learn about future events, just send an email to futureevents@sfhealthyaging.org.

It was a pleasure working with the Summit organizer, the Community Living Campaign.

Preview of Story Coming in Late November

California Takes Initiative on Alzheimer's
by Jill Center, Editor, PR Round Table Newsletter

As founding Communications Director (1997-2008) for the Alzheimer's Association here in Northern California, I was pleased to see real progress on the California State Plan for Alzheimer's, the result of a joint advocacy/media campaign that we began just after mid-decade. California is currently on of the few states in the U.S. facing how to cope with the coming dementia tsunami.

Following are:

• an update from my friend Ruth Gay, Alzheimer's Association Advocacy Director, who was instrumental in the creation of the planning process, and then its implementation;
• along with a letter published (Nov. 6, 2010) in the New York Times by Sherrie Matza, a member of the State of California Statewide Eldercare Task Force charged by the Governor with responsibility for the State Alzheimer's Plan.

... For the rest of this breaking story, plus Holiday Help for Alzheimer's Families, click here.

WHAT DO NONPROFITS REALLY WANT? my latest SF Chronicle insight...

Comments Page: Networks direct volunteers to micro gigs

NO SUBSTITUTE FOR SHOWING UP. This grabbed me, with cloud-sourcing & crisis mapping attacking huge problems. Got 5 minutes? Help save the world; then get back to work/life in the fast lane. Or, not. Nonprofits fret about jumping on the social media train. These wow-inducing tools helped save lives. But, they're not substitutes for what most nonprofits want, from each of us. That's ...
to read more, click on the Chronicle's link atop this post -- where you can also give my comment an Ebert-like "thumbs up."