Specific services include developing strategies for community outreach, media coaching for client staff, communication coaching for client staff regarding on-camera presentations as well as public speaking presentations, writing and distributing press releases, organizing press conferences, managing media interviews, managing direct mail and meeting notifications, facilitating and moderating public meetings. Depending on client needs, Suzanne Michaels may also represent clients as their spokesperson. Specialty services include, but are not limited to: still photography and DVD production. In a bilingual environment, SMC is also experienced providing instantaneous English/Spanish interpretation, and on-site bilingual court reporting.

Upper Valley Traffic Study (City of El Paso / Walter P Moore)
The success of this high profile and highly contentious traffic study hinged on connecting with affected residents, primarily through Neighborhood Associations, to seek common ground, explain the project, and take concerns back to the Walter P Moore engineering firm and City staff who oversaw the project. Additionally, SMC public outreach included developing a complex direct mail survey and survey result tabulation, providing support for four public meetings, responding to residents’ concerns and media inquiries. In the end, consensus was built among residents in support of the Study, which was adopted unanimously and in its entirety by El Paso City Council in May 2009.

Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA El Paso)
This transit project is in the beginning phases; to date the SMC role involves rewriting public outreach requirements specific to the Americas Interchange. There are several additional large transit construction projects ahead, and eventually CRRMA public outreach is anticipated to require substantial community outreach and education regarding toll roads, a “first” for El Paso.

South Central Solid Waste Authority (Las Cruces, NM)
SMC is the public relations consultant to the SCSWA, with an emphasis on recycling. SMC is dedicated to proactively engaging the public, developing positive media coverage, keeping the issue on the front burner through local radio, TV, and print interaction, overseeing communications with the public, and assisting with recycling special events.

Camino Real Environmental Center, Inc (Sunland Park, NM)
Camino Real is a regional landfill, power plant, and recycling facility. The landfill is award winning and considered a world-class operation, and is the only landfill in the area involved in producing electricity from trash (waste-to-energy). SMC provides tours of the facility, teaches waste-to-energy, connects with local civic organizations, assists in hosting “open houses” and public meetings to answer residents’ questions and concerns. SMC garnered substantial positive press coverage for Camino for the waste-to-energy project, and events such as “no charge” community cleanups and paintouts. SMC facilitates media coverage, acts as spokesperson, strengthens connections with the community, educates the broader community to the operations of the landfill, and teaches waste-to-energy to hundreds of students who tour the facility every year.

Additional Recent Public Relations Involvement

Las Artistas is a dedicated group of working artists who stage an annual art show and sale in El Paso. The SMC role was to help launch a website (www.lasartistas.org), garner media coverage, schedule radio and print interviews to promote the event, produce television feature reports that aired on ABC7 in El Paso and can now be seen on www.youtube.com by searching for "El Paso Las Artistas".

UT Houston School of Public Health in El Paso: In working to establish a "presence" for the school, SMC wrote press releases, scheduled radio and television appearances for UT Houston research and teaching staff, conceptualized and placed print and radio ads to reach target audiences, supervised weekly staff meetings.

Paso del Norte Health Foundation: SMC served as scriptwriter, interviewer, co-editor for the "Arts for Assets" DVD, which was the year-end report of a pilot project using art to incorporate the 40 Developmental Assets into the lives of at-risk youth in El Paso/Juarez/Las Cruces.

Education

Texas A & M University - Bachelor of Arts, English/Biology
University of La Verne (CA) – Public Administration Graduate Course Work, 12 hours

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