Quote:COLLEGE PARK — The University of Maryland anticipated most fans would initially react "emotionally and negatively" to last year's decision to join the Big Ten Conference. So the school sought to influence the debate with a plan to lobby media pundits and plant positive comments into fan message boards.

Scores of documents and emails, obtained by The Baltimore Sun in response to a Public Information Act request, detail a public relations strategy that was as secret as the Big Ten negotiations themselves.

...

The public relations campaign was meant to help turn the tide in favor of the move. It included hiring a corporate communications consultant to help shape the message and also working to prevent news of the negotiations from getting out before the move was imminent.

"So far, this is unfolding just as we expected," Brian Ullmann, the university's assistant vice president for marketing and communications, wrote in an email to deputy athletic director Nathan Pine on Nov. 18, one day after negotiations on the impending move were disclosed in the media. "We knew that in the absence of our messaging during this initial stage, most fans would react emotionally and negatively. That has occurred and clearly the message boards and comments sections skew heavily negative. Several of us placed comments on boards and media sites last night to help balance it out."

Ullmann also wrote that the school planned to "engage professional assistance in helping to drop positive messages into the blogs, comments and message board sites. I will arrange for this service today."

(11-06-2013 11:15 PM)bluesox Wrote:  so who is the maryland paid hack on this site?

Quote:"Scott Van Pelt is a powerful voice in the media and a loyal UMD grad," public relations consultant John Maroon wrote to a Maryland communications official before the story broke. "It would be in our best interest to let Van Pelt break the story and talk about all of the positives."

(11-06-2013 11:19 PM)CommuterBob Wrote:  

(11-06-2013 11:15 PM)bluesox Wrote:  so who is the maryland paid hack on this site?

Exactly. I was gonna say it didn't really work on here. There are still many on this board who have lots of derogatory comments about Maryland.

(11-06-2013 11:10 PM)NJ2MDTerp Wrote:  http://touch.baltimoresun.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78081342/

Quote:COLLEGE PARK — The University of Maryland anticipated most fans would initially react "emotionally and negatively" to last year's decision to join the Big Ten Conference. So the school sought to influence the debate with a plan to lobby media pundits and plant positive comments into fan message boards.

Scores of documents and emails, obtained by The Baltimore Sun in response to a Public Information Act request, detail a public relations strategy that was as secret as the Big Ten negotiations themselves.

...

The public relations campaign was meant to help turn the tide in favor of the move. It included hiring a corporate communications consultant to help shape the message and also working to prevent news of the negotiations from getting out before the move was imminent.

"So far, this is unfolding just as we expected," Brian Ullmann, the university's assistant vice president for marketing and communications, wrote in an email to deputy athletic director Nathan Pine on Nov. 18, one day after negotiations on the impending move were disclosed in the media. "We knew that in the absence of our messaging during this initial stage, most fans would react emotionally and negatively. That has occurred and clearly the message boards and comments sections skew heavily negative. Several of us placed comments on boards and media sites last night to help balance it out."

Ullmann also wrote that the school planned to "engage professional assistance in helping to drop positive messages into the blogs, comments and message board sites. I will arrange for this service today."

(11-07-2013 12:45 PM)LSUtah Wrote:  Now the putrid uniforms make sense...diversionary tactics.

(11-07-2013 07:56 PM)jaminandjachin Wrote:  No one is spewing hatred. It's fact. It's ridiculous for a conference to hire a PR firm to smooth over a conference move. How many other schools had to do that?

(11-07-2013 08:06 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 07:56 PM)jaminandjachin Wrote:  No one is spewing hatred. It's fact. It's ridiculous for a conference to hire a PR firm to smooth over a conference move. How many other schools had to do that?

Pretty much all of them. You think PR is something only Maryland works on? Seriously????

You think your beloved Tar Heels havn't consulted with some PR Guru's on how to best defend themselves during the issues that have popped up lately for you guys?

Sure...you go ahead and think that.

(11-07-2013 08:37 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  Great, a Big Ten homer calling out others for being homers for their league. Alrighty then.

(11-07-2013 08:26 PM)jaminandjachin Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 08:06 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 07:56 PM)jaminandjachin Wrote:  No one is spewing hatred. It's fact. It's ridiculous for a conference to hire a PR firm to smooth over a conference move. How many other schools had to do that?

Pretty much all of them. You think PR is something only Maryland works on? Seriously????

You think your beloved Tar Heels havn't consulted with some PR Guru's on how to best defend themselves during the issues that have popped up lately for you guys?

Sure...you go ahead and think that.

I don't recall an ad being put out in a major newspaper to calm down our fanbase for any reason. Besides, this thing with Maryland is different. They are a year removed from making this decision and they are still trying to sell their fanbase on it.