Creative public relations can draw upon many resources and I can recall at least two instances when a bear and an elephant generated headlines in publicizing an event.

At a Miami Beach sports and travel show in the late 1960s, in addition to golf and fly-casting demonstrations, and personal appearances by former Cleveland Indians star pitcher Bob Feller, a dancing bear named Rosie attracted considerable attention with her terpsichorean talents.

A Miami Herald city editor accepted my suggestion for an “interview” with Rosie, and I arranged to drive her and the trainer to the city room. He had a conflict, but said, “hey you can drive her to the paper yourself.”

Finally convinced Rosie wouldn’t mistake me for lunch, I departed for the Herald with a muzzled Rosie in the passenger seat. Not surprisingly, whenever we stopped for a traffic light, motorists gaped at the unusual passenger and sounded their horns The only greater surprise would have been Rosie driving.

At our destination I managed to coax Rosie into an elevator to the second-floor city room where immediately pandemonium broke out.The Herald’s chief photographer suggested seating Rosie at the desk of the business editor—who had a somewhat bearlike resemblance—and photographed her amid much merriment among the staffers, whose noise in the newsroom caught the attention of publisher John S. Knight.

Viewing the scene, he exclaimed, “What’s this all about, Stuart? I thought all of your clients were hotels?”

“Mr. Knight,” I replied, “this bear just bought an ocean front hotel!”

But the stunt produced the desired results, with a photo and caption that generated interest and increased attendance for the show.

And the elephant? Well, we’ll relate that saga another time.

When I told my friends that I wanted to “wintern” during the holiday break, they thought I was crazy. After an intense fall semester, most of them were eager to relax. Thoughts about beach days, high school reunions and Miami nightlife kept them sane through finals week.

But the idea of 27 days of inactivity made me antsy and I thought about volunteering or getting a seasonal job. Eventually, I decided to look for a mini internship instead.

I emailed my resume and a blurb of intent to 15 magazines and PR firms. As the end of the semester approached I started researching the “yes” companies to see which one suited me best.

That’s when I received a reply from Buck, of NewmanPR, pointing out that typically he did not respond to “To Whom It May Concern” emails because it showed that the applicant wasn’t serious enough to research who the unsolicited job pitch should be addressed to. Nevertheless, he decided to make an exception and offer me a position as a temporary intern.

After rereading the email, with its lesson on professional etiquette, I realized the choice was clear. Other replies had been more upbeat, but this was the only email that taught me something. I was gaining knowledge before stepping foot in the office and that made NewmanPR stand out.

Two weeks later, I was driving from Gainesville down to Miami for my first winternship. I had heard the stereotypes about moody PR girls and didn’t know what to expect. Because I had always wanted to see the inner workings of a PR agency, I decided to be openminded and push my preconceived notions aside.

This mindset allowed me to see that the staff was welcoming and that my co-workers were nothing like the stereotypes I had heard about before.

I was surprised that, even though I was a temporary intern, they had created a schedule for me with a list of tasks and projects. The promise of productivity made me eager to start and I knew I had made the right choice.

While my friends were sleeping in and hanging out at the beach, I was gaining some invaluable experience. Not so crazy now, huh?

I was reading an article on Econsultancy today that purported to be a helpful piece on “Five Questions Your Corporate Blog Should Answer.” There was nothing terribly wrong with the article — it was just another in a seemingly endless series of banal advice posts that reminds one of things one already knows, which serves a kind of purpose, I suppose.

What got my attention was this: “Varying your subject expands your credibility and increases your chances of gaining social shares, which in turn drive traffic.” On the surface, the comment doesn’t raise eyebrows and seems fairly straightforward. My problem was with the phrase “expands your credibility.” That phrase seems to indicate that the author, Tom Albrighton, thinks credibility is something that can expand or contract, depending on whether you are entertaining your blog readers or not.

That appears to be a growing consensus in the online realm — your credibility is equivalent to your Klout score or your “reach” or the number of followers you have on Twitter or the number of “likes” on your Facebook page. This view assumes that credibility is a fluid thing that can change, either increasing or decreasing depending on how many people retweet your latest brain burp.

That’s simply not true. Credibility is an either-or thing. You either have it or you don’t. In that respect, it’s like pregnancy — a woman can’t be “a little pregnant.”

In the public relations business, credibility is something that is established over years of being credible. It is based on creating press materials that demonstrate an understanding of what journalists need in order to do their jobs and delivering those materials in a timely manner with no mistakes or hype and in a format that makes it easy to use. It also means you spell everything correctly and write well, so that the meaning is accessible and clear.

Credibility is a zero-sum deal. Journalists either trust you and the information you give them or they don’t, and pass you off as just another flack. You can’t “expand your credibility,” you either got it or you don’t — and if you don’t, it’s hard as hell to get.

Just ask a reporter.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott meeting with the media on board Carnival Imagination at the Port of Miami Nov. 4.

Working in public relations is fun and usually exciting, especially with clients like Carnival Cruise Lines, who practically owns the word “fun.” You just never know who you’re going to meet and what you’ll be doing. From escorting journalists around a 70,367-ton ship to pointing out prime locations for “media gaggles,” interviews and photo ops, you really just never know.

On Friday, Nov. 4, after learning that I would be “Driving Mr. Banks” (my boss) once again, I said a quick prayer that I would get him back to the office in one piece, made sure we had all the proper documents and photo identification needed for the event and headed north to the Port of Miami.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott was in town to take part in a “workday” at the port with Carnival Cruise Lines. The “workday” tradition was started by former Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. During his “workday” Gov. Scott performed several jobs for Carnival Cruise Lines that included deejaying and spinning the hottest records as guests boarded the ship to begin their three-day fun cruise aboard Carnival Imagination.

Thankfully, those involved in coordinating the “workday” event met prior to the big day and walked through all the important details. There was plenty of security and well thought-out solutions to anything and everything that could possibly go wrong.

I had a great day meeting journalists I grew up watching on television and seeing the governor of my state in action. More importantly, the event went off without a hitch. Media turnout was great and the governor’s fun-filled “workday” at the port and on the ship garnered lots of positive media coverage for our client, which is always a good thing in public relations.

Personally, I really enjoyed seeing all the bubbly Carnival guests posing for photos and chatting with the governor before embarking on their cruise. However, I would have to say my favorite part of the day was watching Gov. Scott spin classic hits from the ’60s and ’70s (long before my time, but I knew every word) and joining Carnival passengers for the popular party dance, the cha-cha slide. Classic stuff.

Check out the video here.

I subscribe to the Associated Press Stylebook online. For $20 a year, you can’t beat it for an instantly accessible, continually updated resource. And they send out periodic email updates with new items, clarifications and pronunciation guides that constitute a kind of meta look back at recent headlines, politics and trends. Here are some true-to-type examples from today’s update.

If enough reporters repeatedly make grammatical mistakes that drive editors crazy, it merits an entry: a, an — The update adds the word homage: Use the article an before vowel sounds: an energy crisis, an honorable man, an homage (the h is silent), an NBA record (sounds like it begins with the letter e), an 1890s celebration.

This is an example of how the AP has become more sensitive to the vagaries of electronic news: company names — The updated entry includes this wording: You must include the full company name somewhere in the story. This ensures that the story will be among the search results on Yahoo and other websites. Without the full company name, the story may get overlooked.

With all the Wall Street reportage and the economic crises everywhere, this one was inevitable: Dow Jones industrial average — The market indicator comprises 30 leading U.S. stocks. Executives of Dow Jones Indexes choose the companies in the average. Always use the full name on first reference in stories. On subsequent references, use the Dow.

It’s pretty clear why this clarification was needed: illegal immigrant — Used to describe someone who has entered a country illegally or who resides in a country in criminal or civil violation of immigration law. Acceptable variations include living in the country without legal permission. Use of these terms, as with any terms implying illegalities, must be based on reliable information about a person’s true status. Unless quoting someone, AP does not use the terms illegal alien, an illegal , illegals or the term undocumented.

Sometimes the AP offers interesting insights into other cultures: Korean names — The style and spelling of names in North Korea and South Korea follow each government’s standard policy for transliterations unless the subject has a personal preference. North Korean names are written as three separate words, each starting with a capital letter: Kim Jong Il. Use Kim on second reference. South Korean names are written as two names, with the given name hyphenated and a lowercase letter after the hyphen: Lee Myung-bak. Use Lee on second reference. In both Koreas, the family name comes first.

And we thought all that separated them was a demilitarized zone.

Political campaigns always seem to generate a few new entries: PAC — Abbreviation for political action committee. Raises money and makes contributions to campaigns of political candidates or parties. At the federal level, contribution amounts are limited by law and may not come from corporations or labor unions. Enforcement overseen by the Federal Election Commission. PAC acceptable on first reference, spell out in body of story. A super Pac is a political action committee that may raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, including from corporations and unions, to campaign independently for candidates for federal office. Its activities must be reported to Federal Election Commission, but are not otherwise regulated if not coordinated with the candidate or campaign.

Here again, cultural sensitivity rears its ugly head in the second sentence: Ramadan — The Muslim holy month, marked by daily fasting from dawn to sunset, ending with the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Avoid using holiday on second reference.

The stodgy Associated Press has been around since the 1920s, but it is attuned to pop culture, hence: shoutout.

And, new to the Pronunciation Guide are: Anwar al-Awlaki — U.S.-born cleric who was key al-Qaida figure; killed in Yemen in 2011 (ahn-WAHR’ al-aw-LAH’-kee), and Ercis — Turkish city damaged in October 2011 earthquake (EHR’-jihsh).

At NewmanPR we pride ourselves on the quality of the written product we produce. Our press releases have a notable lack of adjectives, superlatives and exaggerations. We believe the journalists who receive our written product appreciate that and trust us because of it. But not all press releases could pass a fact-check test like the one the Times-News of Twin Falls, Idaho, performed on a state politician’s release.

Since we don’t deal in “spin,” I’m confident that whatever has our agency’s name on it would pass with flying colors.

Andy Beaupre, co-founder & CEO of Beaupre, a communications, branding and PR company owned by Brodeur Partners posted an essay on Ragan Communications today where he argues that we should ditch “pitch” and “pitching” as anachronistic in this day and age. He says the terms and the act itself is old-fashioned and marks users as fossils in the new age of new media and social networking.

While Beaupre is probably well intentioned, his arguments are a little too strident to my ears. He takes the time-honored “pitch” and slaps it with every negative attribute he can find, from calling it old-fashioned, to blaming it for “de-positioning” the entire PR industry (whatever that means) to labeling it as arrogant. Beaupre would have us convert every function of public relations into a “two-way conversation,” a “story.”

That’s all just socmed agitprop, if you ask me. Certainly, social media have had a tremendous transformative effect on the industry, and we as practitioners have had to adapt — with varying levels of success. But there are still legitimate uses for a pitch and times for when pitching is an effective approach.

For example, when responding to a query on HARO, I wouldn’t know how to “start a conversation” that would get my information noticed from among 200,000 subscribers. However, I might stand a better shot if I craft a short, clear, catchy pitch that is more likely to snagged a harried reporter’s attention.

Pitching remains a specialized tool in the PR practitioner’s quiver. It shouldn’t be hyped up or puffed up or deceptive — you can pitch without going to the dark side of PR. Indeed, journalists smell that in a second and toss your attempt at fooling them.

As long as there are journalists out there, and last time I checked they hadn’t all migrated to Twitter, there will be a use for the pitch and for pitching. Call me a fossil, but I’m not willing to give up on it yet.

We are in the process of updating the Florida Keys and Key West tourism council press kit. OK, you say, so what?

Well, it’s no small feat, as it consists of about 40 press releases clocking in at more than 100 pages. Indeed, we only update it every couple of years since it’s such a monumental task.

The task has gotten me to thinking about whether it makes sense to even have a traditional press kit for journalists. We no longer print it (you’re welcome trees and environment!), at least, but one is led to wonder whether the whole concept of the “press kit” is outmoded in these days of anytime access to online archives of information?

I’ve concluded that the short answer is No.

The reason is the way the Keys press kit functions, which gets to the heart of what we do in public relations. For the Keys, the press kit provides a comprehensive overview of what is a very complex and diverse destination. It’s like having 250 clients, not just one — the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, or TDC. There are five chambers of commerce, six if you include the Key West Business Guild — the nation’s first gay-focused chamber of commerce. There are five District Advisory Boards, one for each region within the Keys. There are three umbrella committees dealing with different aspects of the Keys tourism offerings: fishing, diving and culture.

How do you tell the story of a destination that is so diverse, other than through a hundred-page press kit? How else would you cover everything from arts and archeology to cuisine and kayaking? From ecology and fishing to shipwrecks and literary figures?

Some argue that the press kit is just too long, that it should be just factual, a few pages of bullet points, not a long-winded narrative, would serve as well. But the purpose of the Keys press kit is not to simply provide facts, but to tell the story of the Keys, to give a narrative flavor and set a mood that evokes the destination as much as describes it.

So we will continue to update the damn thing every couple of years because it’s more than just a hundred pages or so of facts and figures, it’s a holistic work that tells the story of the Florida Keys and Key West, and, if you read the whole enchilada, like I have to do every so often, you really do get the Keys. And that’s the point.

I’m going on the road at the end of the month and have been looking for ways to consolidate and lighten my load to avoid the inconvenience and expense of checked baggage and, worse yet, lost baggage. In this era of fascination with travel, however, there are many innovative and wonderful things available to accomplish that.

First, I’m flying to California to accompany a video crew on a four-day Carnival Cruise Lines sailing. Then, five days later, I fly to Venice, Italy, to host a press group on a four-day trip to the inaugural of Costa Cruises’ new Costa Favolosa. The second trip presents the additional challenge of having to lug a tuxedo halfway around the world for a gala evening. Groan …

As a savvy PR guy, of course I subscribe to Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out, or HARO. For years Shankman has been extolling the virtues of Scottevest travel clothing — jackets, vests and pants with pockets galore. I was especially impressed when Shankman took a four-day trip to China and carried no luggage, just wore Scottevest clothing with pockets stuffed with everything he needed.

So I took the plunge and ordered a Scottevest jacket with removable sleeves because Venice in July is brutally hot, like Miami, and I thought it might work better as a vest, but would still provide me with flexibility for cooler climes. Of course, my co-workers just thought I was just being quirky again.

The jacket arrived today, and my colleagues were singing a different tune. While we all agree that I’m not going to win any fashion shows in my Scottevest, they couldn’t wait to load up the pockets with all the stuff pictured in a cool “X-ray” image of the jacket. In went my MP3 player (the jacket has a special pocket for that with cord guides so the earphones don’t get tangled), my e-reader (to replace the three or four books I always travel with), camera, keys, tissues, hand sanitizer, wallet, water bottle — virtually everything I would usually carry on in a valise — and everybody tried it on to see how it felt.

Here's all the stuff we put in the jacket.

The results — everybody (including me) thought it was very cool. The jacket is balanced very well, so that even with all of the stuff squirreled away in umpty-dozen pockets, it is comfortable. Everyone agreed that the craftsmanship is exceptional, and it has thoughtful accessories, like a water-bottle strap to keep the bottle upright inside your pocket, a retractable keyholder and in the glasses pocket, a built-in lens-cleaning cloth on a string.

My colleagues said they can’t wait for me to leave to find out how the jacket performs on the road, but I’m not sure how to take that …

Twenty-one pilot whales found themselves stranded on May 5 off the lower Florida Keys near Cudjoe Key. We have been keeping the media up-to-date on the situation through videos, photos and press releases.