Community Relations

Public relations is not just about publicity. It’s about connecting with your market and your circles of influence. Successful companies, both large and small, get involved with their local – and sometimes global – communities.

McLane Rieger Communications advises clients on how to get involved in their community. Reputations are made not by publicity, but by good customer service and activism in a company’s market as well.

Management and employees enjoy getting in the trenches and rolling up their sleeves. That's why Dirk Broekema and his team at On Call Employee Solutions annually volunteer at the Rock 'n Roll Marathon and San Diego AIDS Walk. That's why Steve Comer and his team at Morrison & Foerster go down to Mexico every June and build a house with supplies they've donated. That's why Dr. Valerie Youngblood of Continuum Medical Spa spoils teachers. They're not doing this for recognition. They act because they're good neighbors.

The trade magazine After Market interviewed Jan Rieger and ran a sidebar of her ideas for its readers:

On Track With the Community, by Casey Clapper, Associate Editor

…."I think that community involvement builds employee morale and customer loyalty. People today are hungry for a sense of community,” says Jan Rieger, president of McLane Rieger Communications in San Diego.

“Being a good neighbor is kind of expected for today’s business. In some big cities, it’s been thought that the reason crime is so high is because people don’t feel as if they’re party of a community like they do in a small town,” she explains. “Even in a large area, people seek to feel like they are part of a community.”

A full bank of projects

Community service can take many forms and can be tied in to your motorsports program or completely separate from it. Here a few examples from Jan Rieger of McLane Rieger Communications.

• Sponsor neighborhood sports teams/race teams. Those teams often provide “thank you” plaques you can hang in your local store.
• Take elderly people from retirement villages on weekend rides in classic cars.
• Donate race or monster truck tickets to groups of underprivileged kids.
• Collect money at store counters for a local charity. “I would suggest doing that on a temporary basis, like for six weeks, and collect for something specific,” Rieger advises.
• Offer small scholarships or provide supplies for local vocational school and high school students.
• Collect bicycles for the needy.
• Donate remote control cars (or even racecar replicas) to local children’s shelters.