The women of Guts & Glamour showed what style is all about today during the taping of Connecticut Style at WTNH-TV in New Haven. Expect this look to be the rage look this Spring!
Hosts Jocelyn Maminta and Teresa LaBarbera talked to the women firefighters who have both Guts & Glamour! The 2012 calendar featuring Connecticut female firefighters is now on sale. A portion of the proceeds will benefit 9/11 first-responders.
The interview will air on Wednesday’s show, January 11, 2012. Connecticut Style is on at 12:30 P.M. right after the Noon News. We had a great time and Jocelyn and Teresa really got to the heart of the matter, showcasing strong women in a different light.
Sporting both gowns and gear, Connecticut female firefighters showcased both their “Guts & Glamour” for all of Connecticut to see! The women took center stage on Better Connecticut with Scot Haney and Kara Sundlun. The show aired this afternoon on WFSB channel 3.
The calendar features female firefighters in gowns with a touch of their firefighter side. I came up with the idea to showcase the many layers to today’s strong woman. She’s bold. She’s brave and beautiful! Not just one thing defines her. Many of these women juggle full-time jobs, families, community obligations and volunteer as firefighters. Talk about doing it all. Makes me feel like a little field mouse!
By the way, it was fun for me to be back at WFSB-TV. I started my television career there in the early 1990′s as an intern! Scot Haney and his partner Paul were gracious hosts and a lot of fun! Thanks also to the show’s producer Melissa Dethlefsen for making this happen and of course, the entire crew!
Guts & Glamour firefighters know and live by the word dedication. At their first calendar signing in West Hartford center, the women behind Connecticut’s first female firefighter calendar, sent their signatures and well wishes to Manchester firefighters serving in Afghanistan.
“Dedication. They’re dedicated to our Country and we’re dedicated to them,” said Miss January Theresa Bouchard-Pereira.
The men are friends and colleagues with Bouchard-Pereira who is a 911 EMS in Manchester and a Manchester Volunteer firefighter.
“They all want calendars but shipping them would cost a small fortune,” Bouchard-Pereira said. “So, I figured we’d get all the women to sign them tonight and send them off in one big care package.”
Guts & Glamour creator and photographer Shelly Sindland donated the calendars to the men. “It’s the least I could do, we could do. We want them to know that we’re thinking of them especially during this time of year,” Sindland said. ”One war is over but the war in Afghanistan is not. We need them to know that we still care and have not forgotten about them.”
The women sent along personal messages along with their signatures.
“We owe them a lot,” one firefighter said. “I hope these calendars lift their hearts and spirits.”
From the Republican-American, Litchfield County Times, Torrington Register , and today in West Hartford News and NBC 30, ”Guts & Glamour” is the hot story of the week. And yes, I meant to use the word “hot”.
“Guts & Glamour”, the first of its kind calendar featuring Connecticut female firefighters, is due out December first. Hear “Miss January” and “Miss February” talk about the project during part of my interview with them on WDRC-AM, The Talk of Connecticut. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the 9/11 fund for first responders.
If you would like to sell calendars in your store or schedule a signing event with the firefighters, please email me at shelly@shellysindland.com.
Click here to listen to my interview with Chris Wragge of The Early Show on CBS. The same link will also bring you my interview with Ann Nyberg of WTNH-TV~news anchor, blogger, mother and superhero. I had a lot of fun filling in for Mary Jones on WDRC-AM radio a few weeks ago. Thanks for the opportunity!
Before you answer that question, whatever your answer may be, I ask this question purely from a public relations standpoint. Is Governor Dannel Malloy crazy or courageous to hold these town hall meetings on his budget proposal which calls for huge tax hikes, deep program cuts and major union concessions? (Although some would say with spending increasing by 2.4 percent every year, the Governor’s cuts didn’t go far enough. However, that statement fits more into my former life as a reporter.) In my current life, as a public relations and media relations professional, I have to say, I am very intrigued by Governor Malloy’s gutsy move to meet with the public face to face.
Whether you like him or not, you have to admit it takes a lot of audacity to address a potentially angry crowd with numerous television news cameras rolling. The Governor could have stayed behind closed doors at his Capitol office but he’s not. He’s out in the trenches selling his budget and not afraid to take a few rhetorical punches. Even former Governor John Rowland said on his radio talk show that he wouldn’t do what Malloy is doing.
Malloy isn’t just writing a song. He’s facing the music.
Not the typical song and dance by any politician. For that, I give him high marks. However, from a public relations standpoint, looking defensive every night on the 11 o’clock news is not good for his image. As a former reporter, I know which clips will make the newscasts and most likely, it won’t be the Governor getting embraced by a supporter. No, it will be heated questions from someone in the audience because that makes good TV.
With that in mind, I decided to see for myself what actually goes down during these town hall meetings. Monday night, I headed off to Malloy’s latest meeting in Hartford but got there a little too late. The meeting started at 7 p.m. and based on my years of experience as a reporter, I knew these things never started on time, so, I got there 10 minutes late. When I arrived at the Kinsella magnet school, the doors were closed as Hartford Police stood guard because the meeting room was over capacity~meaning, no more people allowed, including me, my friend Nora and a few dozen other people hoping to get the Governor’s ear.
I’ll try again next week in Manchester and I’ll be sure to get there early.
In the meantime, my guess is there is more at play here with Governor Malloy’s town hall meetings. I believe he’s doing it because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. I’ve heard from a few sources that Governor Malloy goes into these meetings with no talking points or prepared work but instead uses his own words and thoughts. Again, not your typical politician at work here. However, if Malloy decides to change his game plan, he has the ammunition to do it; meaning, he’s done his homework. He can say he talked to the people and decided to change his plan based on what they said. A politician who really listens. In that aspect, this PR move could be brilliant, if that’s what plays out. While it may not score him great television news coverage, it could score him big points with the people. My sister, a Hartford school teacher, told me she thinks it’s the right thing to do. I’m guessing others echo her words. Malloy’s town hall meetings may get him bad press but ultimately help with his public perception; an interesting juxtaposition, to put it mildly.
It wasn’t quite what I expected. I thought there would be loud jeers, a few tossed tomatoes, sighs, guffaws, you name it. However, that was not the case at Governor Dannel Malloy’s latest town hall meeting in Manchester. Instead, there was lots of praise for Governor Malloy even from those not so in love with his plan which calls for huge tax hikes, deep program cuts and major union concessions.
“I’ve never seen a Governor do anything like this, ” said one minister from Manchester. “It invigorated our democracy.”
The loudest jeers came when one member of the audience took some serious shots at state employees.
“State employees are over-paid and under-worked, ” the man said urging Governor Malloy to reduce state workers by 5%. “We won’t notice the difference.”
As you can imagine, that didn’t fly with union members who didn’t get the chance to speak. 15 people were picked to speak through a lottery. A few people sitting near me said they thought the process was rigged because only those with positive things to say took the mic. (We did find some very vocal opponents outside the auditorium who did not attend the meeting by choice.)
Roy Occhiogrosso, a senior Malloy advisor, flat-out denied any allegations that the lottery process was rigged. My friend Nora (who worked in politics) and myself think rigging the process is highly unlikely. There’s too much at stake. If anyone were to ever find out, Malloy’s image would be toast.
Moving on, I think Governor Dannel Malloy did very well last night from the public relations standpoint. I like how he boiled down what his proposed tax hikes would mean to the average taxpayer making $62,000 a year, essentially, a cup of coffee and a stick of gum. (those are my words) He said his plan would cost the average tax payer $1.37 a day in income taxes and 15 cents a day in additional sales taxes. From a public relations standpoint, that’s a very tangible example of what this will cost you. Skip the cup of coffee and stick of gum, and you’re good to go. When you look at it that way, that’s not too bad.
Governor Malloy was composed, clearly knows his stuff, and anyone who leaves these town hall meetings (both supporters and opponents) know that Malloy is a pretty smart guy. Again, this improves his image even though he knows what he’s doing isn’t popular with the public.
“I laid out a budget that everybody has a reason to hate, everybody.” Governor Malloy said. “But I have this 3.3 billion dollar deficit problem. I’m hoping enough people will understand, we can’t cut our way out of it and tax our way out of it….I’m doing the best I can.”
LT. GOVERNOR NANCY WYMAN
One place the Governor can DO BETTER is here. I’d like to see the Lt. Governor, Nancy Wyman~former State Comptroller~play a bigger role in these meetings. I think Governor Malloy should let Lt. Governor Wyman answer a few of the questions. She’s a smart woman. She knows her stuff. Right now, it seems all the Lt. Governor does is hold the mic for people in the audience who have questions~a little too Vanna White for me.
Paul Lis knows he has more of a pot belly than a six pack. Instead of big hair, the Connecticut wedding DJ says it’s no secret that he’s losing some of his. Lis is hardly loud. When he’s not in front of his microphone hosting his national internet radio show, he’s actually soft-spoken. Lis is the polar opposite of a man who goes by the name DJ Pauly D on MTV’s hit reality TV show The Jersey Shore. Yet, the soft spoken South Windsor DJ says everybody thinks he’s “that guy from the Jersey Shore.” He says he’s even gotten threatening phone calls from men who want to beat him up for stealing their girlfriends. Imagine that, Lis who already has a steady girl named Kim.
The Jersey Shore has practically wiped his name off the google map by burying his name, face and reputation.
It’s just one of the reasons why Lis and his attorney Jose Rojas filed a Federal Lawsuit last week against Paul Delvecchio, Jr (aka DJ Pauly D) and MTV. Lis has trademarked the name DJ Paulie and says MTV is violating copyright laws by using the name even if it’s spelled differently. To read the original press release click here. Meanwhile, Lis is starting to get his name back. Coverage of his lawsuit has gotten national and local attention.
“I’m just trying to protect what’s mine.” Lis says.
You can bet there will be more to come on this story!
