On the Radar Screen
It's rare for a week to go by in which Microsoft [MSFT] isn't in the headlines but the spotlight may be getting too hot for Bill Gates. First federal court, then this week's deal between Netscape and America Online.
It might be time for Bill and company - known for courting only selective media outlets - to make its PR team as accessible as its software. During the ongoing Department of Justice case, it held a press conference open only to a handful of hand-picked journalists, while others covering the trial weren't invited.
PR NEWS called the company last week to explore with the PR team its strategy amid the barrage of bad press, including its take on the most recent legal loss in a case which forces the company to restore Sun Microsystem's Java programming in Windows 98.
Hey, Bill! We're still waiting for the phone to ring.
WorkPlus Extranet Is New Line in Communications
Small companies may not have the big bucks it takes to set up an extranet so Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Company hopes to make it cheaper and easier. The company is funding WorkPlus.com, a site which allows licensees to build external Web sites (password and firewall protected) and store them on their server. The cost is $1,000 for the license, and 80 cents per month per employee, with a $200 minimum. Sponsored sites also are available at a minimum of $100 per month (60 cents per user).
Part of an extranet's value is to provide a way for employees to review human resources-related material with their partners while at home; extranets allow them to access information at their own convenience without jeopardizing security. (Cashman & Katz, 860/652-0300)
Industry Buzz
- Harry Pforzheimer III named by Edelman PR executive VP and GM of its Silicon Valley office, headquarters of the firm's Global Technology practice. He joins the firm after leaving The Weber Group where he spearheaded its West Coast expansion. (Edelman, 650/968-4033)
- Medialink acquires WirePix, a New York-based PR photo service which rounds out Medialink's services by allowing them to offer its 1,500-plus client base full production and dissemination services to news rooms worldwide. (212/682-8300)
- PRSA's Counselors Academy is collecting votes on its newest slate of candidates for its executive committee. New members-at-large to the committee are Kathy Cripps, president and COO of SCIENS Worldwide; Lynn Casey, senior VP and COO of Padilla Speer Beardsley; Betsy Buckley, co-founder and principal of McGrath Buckley Consulting Group; and Faye Clack, president of Faye Clack Marketing & Communications, Inc. (PRSA, 212/995-2230)
- The Manship School of Mass Communications at Louisiana State University unveils plans to begin an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in mass communications and public affairs in the Fall of 2000. Part of the impetus for the program is there aren't any doctoral programs of mass communications at any school in Louisiana or Arkansas. (LSU, 225/388-8654)
- Robert Sommer, executive VP of The MWW Group, East Rutherford, N.J., named to the board of directors for the Public Affairs Group, Washington, D.C. (MWW Group, 201/507-9500)
- Dairy Management Inc. promotes Michael Braden from director of communication services to VP of communication services. DMI is the national and international planning and management organization heading programs for the American Dairy Association and the National Dairy Council. (DMI, 847/803-2000)