San Diego public relations consultant and strategic communications veteran Derek Danziger has authored a children’s book inspired by a very personal connection.
Titled “I’m Autistic and I’m Awesome,” the book features the many facets of autism and encourages self-acceptance and confidence in children, families and friends of people with autism. Danziger and wife Malinda have a child on the autism spectrum.
“I hope this book can be a helpful resource for applied behavior analysis therapists and autism-focused organizations to use when trying to discuss the subject with children and friends in a way that is relatable and easy to understand,” Danziger told Times of San Diego. “This is a passion project for me.”
Earlier this year, Danziger, with nearly 30 years of experience in the San Diego market, opened his own consulting firm called Danziger Public Relations. He had spent the previous decade as a vice president at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, San Diego’s oldest operating PR firm, followed by serving as president of Katz & Associates, a marketing communications and public affairs firm.
“Often people see children with autism as being challenged, but I prefer to look at the traits as superpowers,” Danziger said. “A child that has an incredible memory can play music just by hearing it or gets hyper-focused on something that interests them to the point of becoming an expert are gifts that should be celebrated.
“Many of the behaviors of children on the spectrum can be confusing to neuro-typical children. Repetitive motions, asking the same questions repeatedly, not liking crowds or loud noises, are just a few examples, and can be challenging for other children to understand. This book is designed to explain those behaviors in a way that siblings or friends of children on the spectrum can better understand and empathize with their behaviors.”
The 38-page book, priced at $15.99 on Amazon, is published by Road to Awesome, a publisher based in Omaha, Neb. “I was connected to them through a friend who was also working on a children’s book and had been in touch with them about their own story,” said Danziger. “I pitched them my idea and they supported the project. I was humbled to have a publisher believe in my story.”
The book’s illustrator is Natia Gogiashvili, who is based in the country of Georgia, a former Soviet republic that borders Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey.
“We collaborated remotely on the ideas for the images,” Danziger said. “I met her through an online network of freelance illustrators around the world.”
The book intentionally does not have characters with names, according to Danziger. “The book includes an array of multicultural children that are the focus of the various pages, but they don’t have names,” he said. “It was important to me to show that children of all backgrounds can be on the autism spectrum, and everyone is special in their own unique ways.”
A portion of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to Ride Above Disability, a Poway-based nonprofit that provides therapeutic horseback riding to children on the autism spectrum.
“I’m Autistic and I’m Awesome” is Danziger’s first published book. He has written several unpublished manuscripts, including several children’s books and a murder mystery set in a 1990s newsroom.
San Diego Community College District Wins Marketing Awards
The San Diego Community College District reports it recently won four awards for marketing and public relations projects from the Community College Public Relations Organization of California.
The projects included a video profile, With Excellence, a magazine published three times annually for employees and the community and a thank-you mailer to donors of San Diego Promise, a program that provides a free community college education with grants to offset the cost of textbooks and instructional supplies.
“I am incredibly proud of the work our team does every day in support of the District and its colleges,” said Jack Beresford, SDCCD director of communications and public Relations. “We have some amazingly talented professionals who are helping the District better engage with students and the broader San Diego community.”
The CCPRO awards recognize the best at California’s 117 community colleges, which collectively form the largest system of public higher education in the U.S.
Nico Coetzee Named President of Creative Agency Modifly
San Diego-based Modifly, a creative media agency, has named Nico Coetzee as president.
Coetzee, with more than 20 years of global advertising and technology experience, will be responsible for developing and implementing scalable growth strategies, overseeing agency operations, propelling the business into new markets, cultivating and maintaining customer relationships and fostering employee growth, the company said.
Coetzee’s career spans several industries, including healthcare, retail, automotive, finance, consumer-packaged-goods and electronics. Prior to Modifly, Coetzee served as chief marketing officer of CureClick, global CEO for KPI Agency and managing director of Media360. He has held leadership positions in Dubai, London, Portugal, Spain and South America.
“I am humbled and inspired to be a part of such a prestigious organization,” said Coetzee. “I am excited about utilizing Modifly’s industry-leading reputation to scale with our clients through company growth and innovation. I am committed to propelling Modifly to new heights of success and growth.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Nico to Modifly as our new president,” said Elijah Schneider, Modifly founder and CEO. “His impressive track record of driving growth and innovation in the industry, combined with his passion for excellence and client service, make him the ideal leader to take Modifly to the next level.”
Poll: News Media Feeds America’s Divide
Americans blame the news media for increased political polarization and division in the country, according to a recent survey.
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults say the news media is the cause for political polarization in this country, and just under half say they have little-to-no trust in the media’s ability to report the news fairly and accurately.
The survey, released as part of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, is from the Associated Press, the nonpartisan and objective research organization NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
As reported by AP, the survey shows Americans have significant concerns about misinformation and the role played by the media, along with politicians and social media platforms.
“That breakdown in trust may prompt many Americans to reject the mainstream news media, often in favor of social media and unreliable websites that spread misleading claims and that can become partisan echo chambers, leading to further polarization,” wrote the AP.
While a slim majority of Americans say they have some degree of confidence in the news media’s ability to report the news fully and fairly, only 16% say they are very confident, while 45% say they have little to no confidence at all.
Four in 10 say the news media is doing more to hurt American democracy, while only about two in 10 say the press is doing something to protect it.
Republicans view the news media less favorably than Democrats, with 61% of Republicans saying the news media is hurting democracy, compared with 23% of Democrats and 36% of independents. Also, more Republicans think the news is strongly influenced by the U.S. government and the political views of journalists.
Concern about the threat posed by misinformation unites Americans registered with both major political parties, with about nine in 10 U.S. adults saying misinformation is a problem.
A third of American adults say every day they see stories with false claims from politicians or misleading headlines.
Social media plays a key role in a divided America, the poll said, with nearly two-thirds of respondents saying that when they read a news story on social media they expect it to be inaccurate.
The poll of 1,002 adults was conducted March 30-April 3. The margin of sampling error for respondents was plus-or-minus 4.4 percentage points.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
