ProfNet is a free service that provides journalists, bloggers, authors and other writers with links to experts and story ideas on the topics they cover. You’ll also find links to job opportunities and other news and resources we think you’ll find useful. To receive these updates by email, send a note to profnet@profnet.com with the industries you cover, and we'll add you to the appropriate edition.
If you’re in need of an expert source, you can also submit a free ProfNet query and have qualified sources come to you, or search the free ProfNet Connect database, which features nearly 50,000 user profiles, all searchable by keyword.
Search the ProfNet Connect experts database
EXPERT ALERTS
- Warrantless Mobile Phone Tracking Must Stop
- Businesses Must Be Wary of ‘Help’ in Storm’s Wake
- Businesses Need Tornado-Response Plans
- Reputation, Experience Matter When Making Storm Repairs
- Why the JOBS Act is Good for Entrepreneurship
- The Latest Auto Trends
- Feds Expanding Retirement Income Options
- Use of Pinterest in Business, Especially Retail and Internal Communications
- Growing Your Business Through Facebook
- Mental Disabilities Covered Under ADA
MEDIA JOBS
- Reporter - NYC
- Technology Editor - NYC
- Senior Reporter - Detroit
- Reporter - New Orleans
- Multimedia Journalist - Redding, Calif.
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES
- Grammar Hammer: Adjectives and a Damp, Drizzly April
- Video Game Blogs: Beyond the Penny Arcade
- #ConnectChat: Marketing Yourself on YouTube
- Freelance Focus: Keeping up With Industry News
****************
EXPERT ALERTS
Expert Alerts are listings of ProfNet members who are available to discuss timely news topics. If you are interested in interviewing any of the experts, please contact their media representative at the end of the listing. You can also find Expert Alerts online at bit.ly/pncalerts
Warrantless Mobile Phone Tracking Must Stop
Jimmy Ardoin
Criminal Defense Lawyer
ArdoinLaw, PLLC in Houston
"Privacy advocates are crying foul over the increased use of mobile phone GPS information by federal and local law enforcement to track people without the benefit of a court warrant. A recent U.S. Supreme Court case over this type of GPS tracking makes it clear that these warrantless searches should not be admissible in court. This is basic: police need a warrant to track your moves in this manner unless there are exigent circumstances. It’s also offensive to see phone carriers making money off their customers’ information by charging police for reports on the minute-by-minute locations of cellphone users. These companies are complicit in eroding their customers' liberties and damaging their right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure."
News Contact: Mary Flood, mary@androvett.com or +1-800-559-4534
Businesses Must Be Wary of ‘Help’ in Storm’s Wake
Darrell Cook
Attorney
Darrell W. Cook & Associates in Dallas
"Construction workers and repairmen of widely varied capabilities are descending on Dallas and surrounding areas in the wake of last week’s devastating tornadoes. Although most workers will target residential areas, those looking to handle the highest-dollar repair jobs will target business owners. Both small and large companies can fall victim to unskilled or unscrupulous repairmen, some of whom make a career out of post-disaster scams. Business owners shouldn’t overlook the qualifications of who is handling their repair work. It’s not unusual for a company to be stuck with a bad repair job or an outrageous invoice that can bring unwanted liens on their property when all they were trying to do is get their business reopened."
News Contact: Bruce Vincent, bruce@androvett.com or +1-800-559-4534
Businesses Need Tornado-Response Plans
Jeff Rasansky
Nursing-Home Attorney
Rasansky Law Firm in Dallas
"When tornadoes ripped the roof off of an Arlington, Texas, nursing home last week, most of the residents already had been moved to a protected area within the facility. However, despite attempts from staff members to shield residents, two still had to be hospitalized and more than 130 had to be relocated. Incidents such as this highlight the need for elder care facilities and other businesses to have severe weather action plans in order to not only protect their residents and customers, but also to guard against future legal liability. Practice drills will insure employees know their roles in getting people to safe areas, in addition to planning for who is responsible for turning off electricity and gas if a building is damaged. Conducting these drills regularly will go a long way toward proving that appropriate efforts were made to protect their residents.”
News Contact: Bruce Vincent, bruce@androvett.com or +1-800-559-4534
Reputation, Experience Matter When Making Storm Repairs
Marc H. Fanning
Insurance Attorney
Fanning Harper Martinson Brandt & Kutchin in Dallas
"The swath of damage left by severe storms often serves as an easy-to-follow path for fly-by-night contractors who arrive on homeowners’ doorsteps offering 'too-good-to-be-true' repair deals. While they may promise to handle all the insurance claim details in addition to the needed repairs, these contractors far too often are inexperienced and untrained for the job at hand. Assigning part of your insurance claim to these so-called contractors could be a huge mistake. After suffering any type of home damage, consumers need to contact their insurance agent immediately, then work with the adjuster assigned to the claim and gather estimates from licensed, reputable contractors. Working with a random ‘Chuck in a Truck’ can jeopardize your ability to get your home properly repaired and the claim resolved in a timely fashion."
News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, rhonda@androvett.com or +1-800-559-4534
Why the JOBS Act is Good for Entrepreneurship
Tanya Prive
Founder
Rock The Post
On Tuesday, March 27, Congress passed H.R. 3606, or the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”), to facilitate the creation of jobs in America by easing access to public capital for growing companies: "Though many changes were made possible by the bills, one of them includes an amendment for the practice of “crowdfunding” online to solicit a large number of small investments. However, companies will need to now disclose financial status, business plans and shareholder risks. Other information that should be disclosed is the purpose of the offering, intended use of funds raised, and the target and deadline of such an offering. Overall, the amendment will make businesses more transparent to their investors and will ensure that investors completely understand and demonstrate knowledge of the risks. Provisions include that investors will be required to review educational materials and to answer questions where it will help them to understand the risk of investing before proceeding with the transaction. In that way, the bill will make crowdfunding less prone to fraud and a more successful practice for entrepreneurs to implement in the coming years."
Prive is the founder of Rock The Post, a social networking platform for entrepreneurs to fund and swap resources. She founded Rock The Post in 2011 in order to create a tool for business owners to leverage their networks and reach new ones to fill the missing pieces of their projects. Prive is available for interviews to further discuss the impact the JOBS Act will have on entrepreneurship and crowdfunding.
Website: www.rockthepost.com
News Contact: Zach Cutler, zach@cutlergrp.com or +1-202-642-2740
The Latest Auto Trends
Josh Braunstein
General Manager
Corsearch
Braunstein can discuss emerging trends we are likely to see in the auto industry based on the latest trademark filings (from January 2010 to present).
"While nearly 900 trademarks have been filed in the alternative fuel/hybrid/electric category during that time period, just under 10 percent comes from the world’s top tier automakers (e.g., GM, Ford, Honda, etc.). This means the remaining 90+ percent are coming from smaller and/or startup automakers, as well as suppliers and components makers. Of those 900 filings, roughly 20 percent came from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Additionally, contrary to expectations, trademark filings by automakers have remained relatively steady since before the recession."
Corsearch is a trademark-protection business under Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services.
News Contact: Danielle Lundquist, dlundquist@peppercom.com or +1-212-931-6157
Feds Expanding Retirement Income Options
Russell Gully
Attorney
Thompson & Knight in Dallas
"When given a choice, retirees frequently choose lump-sum payments over other lifetime annuity options offered through their employer-sponsored retirement plans, even though lump-sum payments increasingly create a risk that retirees will outlive their income. Recent IRS rulings are recognizing that retirees are living longer and need more options to better plan for long-term needs, and this may make other lifetime income options more attractive. These new rules and proposals give retirees much more flexibility to, for example, roll a lump-sum distribution into a separate pension plan, allowing combined retirement benefits to be paid in an annuity form. There are also proposals that allow for a new ‘qualified longevity annuity contract’ that would delay without penalty the current requirements for minimum annuity distributions after age 70."
News Contact: Barry Pound, barry@androvett.com or +1-800-559-4534
Use of Pinterest in Business, Especially Retail and Internal Communications
Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin
President and CEO of Tribe
Serial Entrepreneur and Author
"Pinterest is a relatively new social media tool that first looked like the next 'mommy blog'-type craze, but is now proving useful in many ways for businesses. The proof is there from early adopters of Pinterest, and is seen as the next 'must-do' for businesses, especially retailers and companies invested in strong internal communications programs."
Tribe is an internal communications agency that consults with national and global brands about a presence that includes Pinterest.
Website: www.tribeinc.com
News Contact: Drew Plant, Drew@PlantCommunications.com
Growing Your Business Through Facebook
Chip Poli
CEO
Poli Mortgage Group, Inc. based in Norwood, Mass.
"The five most effective ways to grow your business through Facebook are: post relevant information to your fans, be careful not to over-post, use other business pages to grow your fan base, make use of Facebook advertising and include your Facebook URL on all of your company's marketing collateral."
News Contact: Anna Steinbock, anna@exposeyourselfpr.com
Mental Disabilities Covered Under ADA
Mark Shank
Attorney
Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank LLP in Dallas
"A recent federal court decision serves as an important reminder for employers that relatively common mental health conditions are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In one of the first discrimination lawsuits taken to trial concerning bipolar disorder, a Washington man last week was awarded more than $315,000 based on allegations he was fired despite a diagnosis of his condition. There are a wide range of impairments under the ADA that qualify as a disability, and employers need to view any documented mental condition with seriousness rather than skepticism, and managers need to be trained on how to recognize and respond to any request for accommodation. Employers must manage the performance issue, not the disability, but these situations can be difficult when mental illness is causing a performance issue that may require disciplinary action."
News Contact: Barry Pound, barry@androvett.com or +1-800-559-4534
***************
MEDIA JOBS:
Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: bit.ly/pncjobboard
- Reporter - NYC
- Technology Editor - NYC
- Senior Reporter - Detroit
- Reporter - New Orleans
- Multimedia Journalist - Redding, Calif.
See more listings here.
******************
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:
Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at profnetalerts@prnewswire.com
- GRAMMAR HAMMER: ADJECTIVES AND A DAMP, DRIZZLY APRIL: ProfNet Editor Grace Lavigne reviews how to correctly punctuate descriptions with multiple adjectives: bit.ly/HXNYQ5
- VIDEO GAME BLOGS: BEYOND THE PENNY ARCADE: PR Newswire's Thomas Hynes lists some of the best gaming blogs he has seen recently: bit.ly/HlBJi0
- #CONNECTCHAT: MARKETING YOURSELF ON YOUTUBE: ProfNet Editor Evelyn Tipacti will interview online-video expert Kevin Nalty on April 10 on Twitter: bit.ly/IqWoLI
- FREELANCE FOCUS: KEEPING UP WITH INDUSTRY NEWS: ProfNet Director Maria Perez interviews writers on how they stay on top of the beats they cover: bit.ly/Hugyds
