October 2005 Industry Watch

Industry Watch: Community Relations PR Agency
October 2005

Q&A with Art Brochet, Vice President, Muir Public Relations

Q: How did you get into Public Relations? How have you changed since the beginning of your career?
I had a 13-year career at Puget Power, a privately owned electric utility serving much of Western Washington. Over the years, I got further and further away from the technical and engineering end - my education was in engineering - as I saw more of the big picture, including the needs of the community. Ultimately, I left Puget Power to attend graduate school at the University of Washington in International Studies and Public Affairs.

While I was in graduate school, I got involved in local politics. This in part took the form of chairing the Community Council for Capitol Hill, one of Seattle's dynamic neighborhoods, and by helping settle a conflict in my own neighborhood with a private high school.

Seattle Prep Academy announced plans for a project to expand their campus in the neighborhood. This wasn't its first such project, and the neighborhood resented existing impacts and previously broken commitments. Seattle Prep was asked, where are you going with this, where does development end? Essentially the school said, we don't have to talk with you.

To make a long story short, we formed the North Capitol Hill Neighborhood Association, the City persuaded Seattle Prep to meet with us in mediation, and ultimately we came to an agreement.

In the agreement, the neighborhood agreed to support Seattle Prep's development in exchange for the school limiting future enrollment and supporting a residential only parking zone. Quid Pro Quo - the interests of both parties were fully met.

Back to the question-how this led to my first job in public relations. Jeanne Muir, founder of Muir Public Relations, was involved in the North Capitol Hill Neighborhood Association. She was also a friend and neighbor. She had a contract that required someone with project management experience and asked me if I wanted to work on the project part time. I said yes and became the project manager, working on the budget, schedule, contracts, etc. Now I've been at Muir Public Relations for six years. Over the last three, we've moved progressively toward the issues arising out of growth in neighborhoods.

Q. What are the special foci of Muir Public Relations? What are some of the PR challenges your clients present?
Muir does public relations and community relations around growth issues in neighborhoods. We mostly work with a three-prong client base:

Neighborhoods, civic groups and non-profits

Government agencies and municipal departments such as the Office of Economic Development, the Department of Transportation and various utilities

Owners and developers of properties, who are the actual agents of growth and change

We serve as the communication link between developers, governments and communities. Muir PR facilitates communications and community process between developers or agencies and the community around growth issues in a given community. When a major project takes place within a neighborhood, we facilitate the process so that it will be a success for the neighbors, a success for the adjacent commercial interests and a success for the project. Everyone gets served.

For instance, we recently acted as the construction liaison on the Ave Project. The Ave is University Way NE, the main business street and shopping district near the University of Washington. We were instrumental in having the overall construction project address neighborhood business needs, distributing flyers each week updating everyone on the project and upcoming impacts. This was a long-term project, so the construction took a hiatus over the Christmas shopping season. We were able to arrange for placement of temporary pavement and sidewalks so that these small businesses and stores would not suffer economically during the busiest shopping time of the year.

Q. What do you attribute Muir's success to?
A combination of good facilitation and honesty with both the community and the developers or agencies. Also, determining from all parties what's really important to them. For example, we were hired to help on a new building planned for a sensitive site in Fremont, - a vital, artistic community in Seattle. The site contained not only a very popular tavern, but also a parking lot being used for outdoor movies and for a Sunday market. Muir conducted the community outreach to get the interested parties - the developer, nearby property owners and the general community - together to determine what was really important, and then to continue the facilitation and communication.

The community asked for and got a tremendous amount of art incorporated into the building design as well as things to ensure the future of the neighborhood's character, such as a stipulation in the lease renters sign that they would not make formal complaints about the Solstice Parade, which is a huge event in the Fremont Community.

What the developer got was speed and efficiency during design development, no opposition during permitting, and an award for "Community of the Year" from the National Association of Homebuilders.

As this was the first development in Fremont in 10 years to avoid litigation in the permit process, developers (and property owners) began to believe that working with the community would afford speed and viability to the project as well as attractiveness.

Part of what happens for us on a project is working within the community to help them come to know what they really want and what's doable. We go back and forth between the community and the developers and say, yes, that can be done, or no, that's unrealistic. That's where real value in the process lies.

Q. What's your favorite project?
I am thrilled to be helping with the Safeway site in the Broadway District of Capitol Hill. Our client is a developer who bought the site and is planning on a multi-use building. A rezone goes into effect August 15, raising the height limit from 40 feet to 65 feet. This will be the first building under this new zoning.

I think this project, on this site, is very important for the Broadway District's revitalization, and I want to help in any way I can. Communication and facilitation between the developer and the community will help them work hand-in-hand, and the result will be a project that support's the goals of both. It's another opportunity for Muir PR and me to help make Seattle a better city to live in by satisfying both developers/owners and the community.

Q. Is there a difference between Community Relations and Public Relations?
I think they're very different and yet there's a place where they meet and there's a soft, fuzzy boundary between them. That fuzzy area is where Muir operates most. Is it public relations or community relations when you gather individuals together who have common interests and then develop messaging from the issues for media? It's both, really. I find these areas the most interesting and challenging. Again, the element of facilitation is very important-using persuasion, argument and presentation of information-and yet going about it with honesty and integrity.

Q: What does a typical workday look like for you?
Is there ever a typical day? It's always different and that's what I love about it. Broadly, though, a typical day might include an hour-long interview or facilitating a small meeting of three or four people around project issues. We look for a solution or we brainstorm. I usually spend a couple of hours writing and editing communication materials for a client or a targeted audience. I'm also part of the management team so there's often a decision-making element to the day. I do project planning for our own growth and development as well as strategy planning for projects and clients.

Q: Is there a company, agency or person you think is in particular need of major PR help right now?
I don't know anyone who is so good at communicating that they can't improve with more of it - including government and other agencies and private businesses. But I think it's not so much PR help as community relations and two-way conversation facilitation that's needed. I don't mean market research - that's just sampling. What's needed is achieving conversation and understanding among interested parties.

Sometimes it's better to have an outside person stand between the involved parties. A critical assessment of messages and the organization can be really important as well as having someone say, we think this is what's important for you to know.

Q: What changes do you predict for the PR industry over the next few years? What aspect of the PR industry do you think will be fastest growing in 2005/2006?
Technology is the fastest changing element. Professionals in this business aren't really changing, but the technology is. An example is using a web site for joint conversation development between agencies. Bloggers are supported to deal with particular topics. Readers can voice opinions. These new venues allow PR professionals to see what kind of coverage is possible and to garner opinions. There's stuff around the corner I can't even begin to imagine. However, as much as we use state of the art tools, these tools do not drive what we do. What we do is driven by our clients' needs, and I don't think that will ever change.

Art Brochet
Art Brochet is a Vice President at Muir Public Relations where he focuses on community relations, public outreach and construction impact mitigation. He holds an engineering degree with a minor in construction management, and worked for 13 years at Puget Power on design and management of major construction projects. He followed that career with graduate studies in public policy and international relations at the University of Washington before he joined Muir Public Relations.

http://www.muirpr.com