D S Simon Productions partnered with Johnson Teague Public Relations on behalf of the Verizon Foundation to execute a Satellite Media Tour with famed CBS sportscaster, James Brown, and Chief Security Office for Verizon, Mike Mason, to help stop domestic violence. Douglas Simon spoke with JB and Mike about how men can change behavior to reduce domestic violence. To find out how you can help, visit http://foundation.verizon.com/

Mike and James’ VlogViews:

James – “It was an education process for me understanding how much of an epidemic domestic violence is. Working with my friends at Verizon, I came to understand that it across the spectrum. I understand how much there has been a lack of respect and equality on the part of men in their conversations and in their attitudes and many men think it’s in our DNA to act that way and that it’s okay when in fact, it’s not okay.”

Mike – “The campaign is really about beginning a dialogue that brings this problem out from the shadows and exposes it before the public that would probably like to ignore it or probably like to hope that it just goes away. As JB says, this problem is epidemic and that is not just hyperbole. This problem is an epidemic problem.”

Mike – “In the time we’re doing this campaign, just this week, hundreds of women will be negatively impacted by domestic violence.”

James – “I would love it if young boys would grow up with a healthy understanding of what healthy manhood is all about based on the foundation stones of respect and equality.”

James – “I’m passionately committed to this effort to try to eliminate or certainly minimize domestic violence.”

Mike – “It’s a time for all of us to step up and be a little bit heroic and engage just a little bit in bringing resolution to this problem.”

Douglas Simon, President and CEO of D S Simon Productions, shares his take on the underreported story of the 2012 campaign.

Some of Doug’s VlogViews:

“There was an important rule change that’s not getting a lot of coverage by the Republican National Committee: No state that votes before April 1st is allowed to hold a winner take all contest. 52% of the delegates will be chosen by that date; meaning the majority of the delegates chosen are going to be broken up among the different candidates which may make it more difficult for Romney to have a majority of delegates at that point.”

“The real strategy is can candidates survive until April 1st and be in a good position to get the winner take all numbers that happen after that?”

Helpful Websites:
RNC Delegate Summary

Frontloading HQ

If you missed CES this year, you missed a lot. Here’s a chance to catch up:

D S Simon Productions partnered with the Consumer Electronics Association as the official Broll provider for the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. D S Simon created a total of 42 videos capturing the best of the excitement, energy and engagement the week long unveiling event has to offer. Walk around with the likes of Justin Bieber, 50 Cent, LL Cool J, Jillian Michaels and Snooki and watch exclusive footage of some of the coolest technological innovations this side of the Starship Enterprise. Highlights include new product launches from Microsoft, Sharp, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, Verizon, Motorola, LG and Intel. If you are interested in watching the videos in their entirety or using the Broll, please contact CES@dssimon.com. Enjoy!

Douglas Simon, President and CEO of D S Simon Productions, spoke with Julia Hood, Executive Vice President for Haymarket Media, on her recent return to PR Week. Julia shares what she learned about corporate communications during her time with the Arthur Page Society and how she plans to incorporate those lessons into making PR Week even bigger and more impactful.

Some of Julia’s VlogViews:

“I was really blessed to have this kind of master class in corporate communications, as I call it, and among the themes that emerged for me was how the profession has matured though the lens of the corporate communicator; the way that the corporate communicator is working as a chief convening officer and a chief collaboration officer across the whole network within the organizations.”

“PRWeek is an incredibly strong brand, people are loyal to it. Our readers are very fond of it, we have strong partners and we have a strong subscriber base that keeps growing. We’re getting deeper into organizations; that, to me, is telling us something.”

“Part of PRWeek’s mission in the next couple of months is going to be defining, ‘What do we believe in? What do we believe the industry is for? The profession is for? The value of the profession is for organizations, for society, for the greater good?’”

“We’ll be looking for more partnerships. We’ll be looking to encourage and support other activities that help us focus on some of the themes that we believe are really important about the way the profession is growing.”

Helpful Websites:
http://www.prweek.com/
http://www.haymarket.com/home.aspx
http://www.awpagesociety.com/

Julia on Twitter: @julia_hood

Douglas Simon, President and CEO of D S Simon Productions, shares an exciting addition to the D S Simon Super Bowl communications lineup and introduces former NY Giant and Super Bowl hero, Carl Banks as newest spokesperson. He also shares other exciting Super Bowl related communications initiatives D S Simon will be participating in for 2012. For more information on or to participate in these or other opportunities, please contact Jamie Claudio, Chief of Staff, at jamiec@dssimon.com.

About D S Simon’s 2012 Super Bowl Initiatives:

“Even though I am a diehard Jets fan, I’m proud that we’re going to be partnering with former NY Giants football Super Bowl hero, Carl Banks.”

“He’s an awesome personality and he’ll be heading a co-op Satellite Media Tour on January 26th before the big game. It’s a great opportunity for you to share your message with key audiences across the country.”

“We also have a very important anti-domestic violence initiative with the Verizon Foundation and the NFL Players Association that will be taking place from Indianapolis during Super Bowl week.”

“If you’ve got content that’s Super Bowl related that you want to share with news stations across the country as well as web outlets, we’re going to be holding not one but two video B-roll feeds on January 31st and February 1st to get your content distributed easily.”

For more information on or to participate in these or other opportunities, please contact Jamie Claudio, Chief of Staff, at jamiec@dssimon.com.

Website: www.dssimon.com

D S Simon Productions had a big year in 2011 and would like to thank all who have helped to make that possible. For the second year running, we chose to give thanks by sharing our good fortune with young, bright students from disadvantaged communities in the greater New York City area and make a donation to the Fresh Air Fund on our client’s behalf.

Partnering with the Fresh Air Fund, D S Simon participated in their Career Awareness Program for 7th to 9th grade students. The vast majority of kids who participate in the program go on to become college graduates. Take a look at their time with us:

For more about the Fresh Air Fund, go to: WWW.FRESHAIRFUND.ORG

To contribute to the Fresh Air Fund, click here

To follow the Fresh Air Fund on Twitter, go to: WWW.TWITTER.COM/FRESHAIRFUND

What’s your best advice for corporate communicators in 2012? We asked some of the best corporate strategists and thinkers to answer that very important question. Fay Shapiro, Publisher at CommPro.biz, Steve Cody, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Peppercom, Lucy Siegel, President and CEO of Bridge Global Strategies and more weighed in to give corporate communicators their best advice for the coming year. Take a look:

For a full transcription, click here

To participate in this video series and share your best tips, please contact Jamie Claudio, Chief of Staff, at jamiec@dssimon.com

Douglas Simon, President and CEO of D S Simon Productions, shares a few exciting projects D S Simon completed during the holiday season with , and . The D S Simon family wishes you and yours a very happy and healthy holiday.

Some of Doug’s Vlog Views:

“One of the fun parts of doing what we do is sometimes we get to go behind the scenes. When it happens to be one of the most talked about events in America at that time it gets to be a lot of fun. This year we had a chance to work with three of our partners that we work with quite a bit, going behind the scenes from Thanksgiving to Black Friday and all the way to Cyber Monday.”

“For Macy’s, we were able to do a series of projects looking at the balloon preparation for the big Thanksgiving Day Parade as well as a number of other promotions for them.”

“We were there for Black Friday for Toys’R’Us as they opened their doors on Thanksgiving night.”

“I hope you enjoyed this look in and have a wonderful holiday season!”

Martin Murtland, Vice President & Managing Director, Factivia Communicator, for Dow Jones discusses Occupy Wall Street’s implications for media and communications.

Some of Martin’s Key Takeaways:

“The thing I find interesting is just the shear wide range of topics that are being covered in association with the Occupy Wall Street movement; such as economic inequality and executive pay but also, more recently, things like police enforcement.”

“We found in traditional media, focus was more on the police crackdowns and on social media the discussion was around the actual protesters being pepper sprayed, particularly the University of California campus where they were protesting possible hikes in tuition fees. If you compare them in totality, I think they’re both covering the same sort of issues and following a similar trend pattern in terms of the volume and the favorability.”

D S Simon Productions conducted a Global Satellite Media Tour from New York City and Johannesburg, South Africa, on behalf of Alere for their “Make Positive More Positive” campaign for World Aids Day on December 1, 2011 with Population Services International Spokesperson, Donna Sherard. D S Simon President & CEO, Douglas Simon, was on hand to speak with Donna about this vitally important initiative and how the campaign is encouraging the public to make big differences in small ways.

Some of Key Takeaways:

“You can make a difference by providing a free HIV test kit simply by liking us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/morepositive or following us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/more_positive. We are donating up to one million kits.”

“The Make Positive More Positive campaign is a partnership between Alere and Population Services International, PSI, two global health organizations. Through the campaign Alere will donate up to one million HIV tests, one for every individual that likes us on Facebook or follows us on Twitter. PSI will work to ensure that individuals living in places where there is great HIV burden and limited access to treatment, testing and counseling services will get access to these tests.”

Website: www.morepositive.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/morepositive

Twitter: www.twitter.com/more_positive