ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 31, 1996 TAG: 9610310030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
A QUICK COMMENT on Profnet earned a front page story in the Wall Street Journal and an interview on Fox.
Since taking over as Ferrum College's public relations director last year, Matt Conn has relied on a global computer network to help garner attention for the small Franklin County school.
Little did he know that service - and the fact that he's a transplanted Yankee - would land him and the college on the front page of Tuesday's Wall Street Journal and get him an appearance on national TV.
Conn has used Profnet to get faculty members quoted in newspapers, on television and on the radio.
Profnet's purpose is simple: Reporters with a question can zap it out to a network of colleges, universities and other institutions of learning. Experts in a particular field then respond. It's a good way for reporters to gather information, and a good way for colleges to get publicity.
The Wall Street Journal sent out a Profnet request this summer looking for Northerners living in the South.
Conn, who is from Pennsylvania, fired off a reply, then talked with the Journal reporter about his encounter with a local real estate agent.
On Tuesday, Conn's comments showed up on the front page.
The article details Southern hospitality and its effect on Northerners who move here.
Conn and his wife had an enlightening experience with the agent when the couple moved to Franklin County last fall.
The Realtor was so nice and considerate that Conn said he was initially suspicious of her.
"I, thought, 'What does this person really want?' My real estate dealings in Pennsylvania were nothing like the one here," he said. "I mean, this woman listened to us, and she was genuinely concerned about our needs."
Conn, 31, got a kick out of being on the front page of one of the nation's largest newspapers. When he heard about the story Tuesday, he high-tailed it from his office over to Ferrum's library to check out a copy.
"It's a good plug for Ferrum," he said.
When he returned to his office, there was a message from the producer of a Fox Network news program recorded in New York City.
She asked Conn if he would do a live television interview with the show's host and an etiquette expert Wednesday morning. Conn was hooked up via satellite from the WBRA studios in Roanoke.
"Did I look all right?" he asked after the 20-minute session was over. "My wife told me not to say anything stupid and to make sure I mentioned the college."
Conn, a former radio news reporter, keeps a running tally of the mentions Ferrum professors get in stories across the country.
In 13 months, Conn has used the service to generate more than 20 hits.
He keeps a map in his office to pinpoint the locations where the professors were quoted.
They've been part of stories in the Idaho Statesman newspaper and the Voice of America radio network that broadcasts overseas.
And, with every Profnet success, Conn is becoming more and more accustomed to the down-home way of life that surrounds Ferrum.
"I had to tell the producer of the Fox show to slow down when I was talking to her on the phone. She was talking too fast. I'm so used to the way people talk around here that I couldn't understand her."
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER STAFF Matt Conn, Ferrum's director of publicby CNBrelations, uses the Internet to get the word out about the college.
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