Erich Schuttauf, Executive Director
Basic Media Skills – Beating the media at their own game

Your AANR Brand Management team has produced a new DVD – Basic Media Skills – Beating the media at their own game. This information will help you become an effective spokesperson and avoid the traps and pitfalls set by reporters. For those who have had some experience, this information will serve as a refresher that can help you build on your strengths and enhance your ability to plan and control media coverage.

Since 1995 AANR has aggressively sought to educate the public regarding social family nude recreation through professionally trained spokespersons placed in mainstream media by our public relations and marketing firms. As a public relations professional for over 20 years, Susan Weaver has directed the Association’s PR strategy and worked with AANR staff, volunteers and clubs to ensure that they deliver effective messages.

The result has been excellent stories in such mainstream publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Time magazine, and many other media outlets.

While Susan has conducted media workshops in all seven of AANR’s regions, trained regional officers and club representatives to carry out effective interviews in their local media and has helped clubs owners and operators carry out PR crisis management to manage the message provided the media, she has not been able to reach every individual who wants to represent nude recreation.

Media interviews can be a powerful tool, for good or for bad. Media shapes public and political opinion, and one statement quoted or misquoted can make a huge difference.

For this reason, AANR has funded the preparation of this media training DVD. For those who have never taken AANR’s excellent media interview training from Susan Weaver, or for those who might like a refresher, this is a great benefit.

AANR will send your club this powerful DVD as a thank you for your support of AANR. Just respond to this message letting us know you would like a copy and provide a current contact and address where we should send your DVD.

It’s Budget Season Again

As a recent message from AANR President John Kinman notes, the staff is at work compiling figures from 2008 and, with that information, preparing a draft 2009 budget for the budget committee. We would ask that committee chairs provide us with proposals–and especially any which would substantially change their budgets from 2008 levels–to our office no later than Monday, October 6. Please e-mail your information to Cindy Horton at FinDir@aanr.com. Thank you.

AANR Helping Members and Clubs

This week AANR fielded calls and e-mails from two members concerning child custody matters. The first was from a pair of member grandparents in Illinois who may be denied visitation with their granddaughter on the basis that they belong to a nudist club even though the child has not been taken to the club and is not exposed to nudity within the home. The second issue concerns a member mom who overheard a state social worker tell another parent that “adult nudity in the presence of a child is never acceptable and would trigger an investigation.” We have emailed a response with written information and additional suggested resources.

Finally, AANR assisted two clubs this week. A club in New Mexico has used a camping area on U.S. Forest Service land without incident for several years but is now encountering challenges due to new park personnel being assigned to the area. On the West Coast, a club learned that a problem group may be planning to book an event on their grounds.

Linda Berry, Director of Publications
The Bulletin

You’ll read the “inside scoop” about Nancy, Don, Mark, Darrel, and Karri in the November Bulletin that is in production.

Carolyn Hawkins, Public Relations Coordinator

Positive Publicity

PR was a little slow this week, however there was a mention in ESPN Magazine http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3602871