Verilink: Very good and very fast

Objective: Verilink,a leader in the telecommunications industry, needed us, in less than 24 hours, to put together a press conference so that they could announce that it would be consolidating its headquarters from San Jose, Calif. to Huntsville, Ala.

Challenges: Verilink Corp. needed to launch into the North Alabama business community with a first-class press conference and media campaign. But merger-acquisition-consolidation issues are always sensitive times for employees, stockholders and a corporation’s image.

Then there was the time-crunch issue. Panorama Public Relations/PPR Communications, LLP received a call from Verilink Corp. headquarters in San Jose at 2 p.m. CST on Aug. 20, 1999. Verilink wanted the press conference to be the next day, but corporate leaders would not make it into town until just before the time they wanted the press conference to start. All of the communications between Verilink and Panorama had to be linked from Alabama to California.

Strategies: Panorama burned the midnight oil and, within 24 hours, our firm had everything in line for the telecommunications corporation. We worked with corporate leaders to quickly develop a theme for the communications campaign: "Silicon Valley to the Tennessee Valley."

A press conference was jointly coordinated with the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County, questions and answers for the conference were developed through Panorama working with the consolidation announcement team in San Jose. Regional media and important dignitaries were notified of the event and the news, copy for a full-page advertisement was solidified, and graphic display items that depicted the campaign’s theme were developed and produced.

Results: As a result of our speedy yet superlative efforts, Panorama was able to get Verilink positive exposure on all local television networks and on the top-rated area radio station. The Huntsville Times daily newspaper and several area economic development publications ran both news and feature stories about our client and its potential positive impact on the community.

The event campaign and subsequent partnership between Panorama and Verilink that developed helped the telecommunications company to positively position itself in North Alabama. After relocating to the area, the company entered into an expansion mode. The increased positive exposure garnered for Verlink made it easier for corporate officials to hire the most qualified employees from the area, and to launch mutually beneficial partnerships with suppliers and contractors throughout the area.

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