VE & Co Blog In My Own VoicE: Jeffrey A. Davis, APR

Jeff heads our Baltimore office that just relocated to the Power Plant district near the Inner Harbor. Hometown: Radnor, Pa.Education: Ohio Wesleyan University, B.A. JournalismFirst job: Reporter, The Delaware (Ohio) GazetteFirst concert: Aerosmith -- at the Spectrum in PhiladelphiaFavorite Thing About Baltimore?It's called "Small-timore" for a reason. We have major attractions, big league sports, any level of sophistication you want, yet still that small town feel. True, there's not as many Starbucks as a D.C., but Charm City has a friendly, more down-to-earth feel with something for everyone. My favorite experience is walking with the crowds along Eutaw Street after a nighttime Orioles game with the towering warehouse on one side and the lit up Oriole Park on the other. I go as slowly as the crowd allows on a walk that offers so much about the Baltimore experience. Jeff at the Inner Harbor prior to a press event for the Grand Prix of BaltimoreVolunteer ActivitiesIn addition to professional and communications groups, I have volunteered for the Red Cross of the Chesapeake Region, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Susan G. Komen Maryland and the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation in Annapolis. For the past 20+ years, I have been on the board of directors for the Parks & People Foundation, where our mission is "Uniting Baltimore Through Parks."Most Memorable PR ProjectFortunately, I've had many, including one that won a 2016 PRSA Silver Anvil for promoting the value of liberal arts education on behalf of the Council of Independent Colleges. One that I'll never forget is a press conference at the City Dock in Annapolis with Alex Haley, author of Roots, to promote Kunta Kinte High Heritage Day. After it was over, I escorted Mr. Haley up Main Street to a reception at Banneker-Douglas Museum. Just the two of us. Today, there is a statue of him at the Annapolis City Dock reading to children.PR Lesson: Always Keep Your Chin UpThat time I got a feature profile about a client in a Capitol Hill newspaper and he mailed the article to me with an angry note scribbled across the story complaining about how his double chin (chins?) appeared in the photograph.News HabitsYes, I am a news junkie. I start every day watching Baltimore TV news, while looking at the New York Times and The Capital in Annapolis on my iPad Mini. Then, the pulp versions of The Sun and The Wall Street Journal. It's NPR if I'm driving to the Bethesda office, and that's just the start. At night, it's NBC's Lester Holt, among others. I'm a big fan and listener of podcasts.Do You Have a Mentor You Look Up To?My journalism professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, the late Verne Edwards, who taught me so much about the news business, starting with the importance of accuracy and a strong ethical foundation. I cannot imagine what he would say about what we are witnessing today. Actually, I can.Jeffrey A. Davis, APR March 08, 2017 Public RelationsDigitalCreativeSocial