Media relations is very important to any company because often the news media is what can affect the company's reputation in a positive or negative way. Essentially, media relations is the many ways that a company communicates to the public through utiliziation of news media. The company should not let just anyone be their spokesperson or talk to the media because the spokesperson needs to hold a respectable, important position within the company. The person should also be media trained, focus on three to five key messages that the company wishes to enforce to the public, should have practiced with possible questions and therefore knows the right ways to respond to what can be tough questions for anyone to answer.
Because Goldman Sachs prides itself in taking action to better the environment and encourages changes to be made regarding this, they dedicate a section of their website to "Citizenship." Under this heading, you can find subheadings such as the environment, community giving, and philanthropy. Just this past January, Goldman Sachs held a day long conference event that was entitled, "Assessing U.S. Climate Policy Options," which aimed to get business, investment and NGO leaders together to discuss the U.S. legislation policies regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Goldman Sachs teamed up with an organization called Resources for the Future for this event. It was reported that senior leaders from both organizations spoke of possible options, weaknesses, and strengths of the current federal climate policy. Since the event was only open to various business leaders, I would imagine that all attendees received invitations to this event. I think that Goldman Sachs does a good job in offering the information from this event to the public because all of the numerous slides from the conference are available to look at it. For further in-depth information, the public can even download the lenghty report that they created. The conference was centered around a slideshow presentation, where there was use of graphs and visuals that could grab the attention of the attendees. In the beginning of the conference, there was a breakfast and registration which I thought was a good idea because this would give a chance for socialization and allow people to talk and get to know each other a little more. Networking is key to these events and by allowing for a breakfast break, this is made easier.
Because Goldman Sachs prides itself in taking action to better the environment and encourages changes to be made regarding this, they dedicate a section of their website to "Citizenship." Under this heading, you can find subheadings such as the environment, community giving, and philanthropy. Just this past January, Goldman Sachs held a day long conference event that was entitled, "Assessing U.S. Climate Policy Options," which aimed to get business, investment and NGO leaders together to discuss the U.S. legislation policies regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Goldman Sachs teamed up with an organization called Resources for the Future for this event. It was reported that senior leaders from both organizations spoke of possible options, weaknesses, and strengths of the current federal climate policy. Since the event was only open to various business leaders, I would imagine that all attendees received invitations to this event. I think that Goldman Sachs does a good job in offering the information from this event to the public because all of the numerous slides from the conference are available to look at it. For further in-depth information, the public can even download the lenghty report that they created. The conference was centered around a slideshow presentation, where there was use of graphs and visuals that could grab the attention of the attendees. In the beginning of the conference, there was a breakfast and registration which I thought was a good idea because this would give a chance for socialization and allow people to talk and get to know each other a little more. Networking is key to these events and by allowing for a breakfast break, this is made easier.
In 2005, Goldman Sachs made the annoucement that they were going to manifest an environmental policy, where they would try to influence public policy makers regarding the issue of carbon green house emissions. They released a statement reporting that they are going to fund a Center for Environmental Markets, which will "engage in research to develop public policy options for establishing markets around climate change, biodiversity conversation and ecosystem services. Recognizing that climate change cannot successfully be addressed through voluntary action alone, the firm has also committed to promoting regulatory solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions." The company reported that they would begin to encourage their employees to practice eco-friendly ways of living on a daily basis. Also, they said that they would not finance any company that did not meet their environment friendly standards. The company was able to get alot of good media attention for their policies promoting global change and since 1999, has donated $94 million dollars in grants that are directed towards educating the youth. Last November, the company created "Goldman Sachs Gives," which donates to various charities.
I think that overall the company did a decent job from a public relations standpoint because while I was searching the internet I came across many articles that were reporting of this "going green" action for Goldman Sachs. It is important to have newspaper articles and clippings because people view this source of information as more credible, since they often contain 3rd party testimonies. Also, since Goldman Sachs was trying to motivate their own employees to make changes that would better the environment, I think that the need for strong employee communication is essential to make further progress.
I think that overall the company did a decent job from a public relations standpoint because while I was searching the internet I came across many articles that were reporting of this "going green" action for Goldman Sachs. It is important to have newspaper articles and clippings because people view this source of information as more credible, since they often contain 3rd party testimonies. Also, since Goldman Sachs was trying to motivate their own employees to make changes that would better the environment, I think that the need for strong employee communication is essential to make further progress.
To further increase the awareness of Goldman Sachs "going green" I would have developed a catchy tagline like "Goldman Sachs Carbon Green House Emissions," where Sachs would stand for "sacks" in this case because the company is trying to eliminate the harmful effects of green house gases to the environment. It would also be a good idea to encourage paper items in the cafeteria of the Goldman Sachs building as well as enforcing the need to recycle by placing recycle bins in and around the building.
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