Ad Council, NCMEC, DOJ & Wireless launch 1st wireless Am

Ad Council, NCMEC, DOJ & Wireless launch 1st wireless Am
Press Release AD COUNCIL, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND WIRELESS FOUNDATION PARTNER TO LAUNCH FIRST EVER WIRELESS AMBER™ CAMPAIGN New Ads debut in conjunction with National Missing Children’s Day NEW YORK, May 24, 2006 – The Advertising Council, in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC), The Wireless Foundation and the U.S. Department of Justice, launched today a national, multi-media public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to raise awareness of Wireless AMBER Alerts™ and encourage all wireless subscribers to aid in the search for abducted children. The PSA campaign is the first to address this technology and the ads will debut in time for National Missing Children’s Day (May 25th). Statistics show that when a child is abducted, the first three hours are most critical to recovery efforts. Since its creation, the AMBER Alert program has helped reunite more than 260 children with their families. AMBER (“America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response”) was created in 1997 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to find abducted children. The AMBER Alert program was soon adopted across the country and is a legacy to Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Arlington, Texas and then murdered. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have since established AMBER Alert programs. The Wireless AMBER Alerts initiative was launched in May 2005 as a way to extend the AMBER Alert program by reaching out to the nearly 70% of the American population that uses wireless devices. Sponsored by NCMEC, The Wireless Foundation and the U.S. Department of Justice and created pro bono by ad agency Merkley + Partners, the new PSA campaign is designed to educate the public about Wireless AMBER Alerts, inspire cell phone users and other wireless subscribers to register for the Alerts and, in turn, increase the number of people who may be able to help in locating an abducted child. “Wireless AMBER Alerts have the potential to extend the reach of these critical messages to millions of people. We are proud to join NCMEC, The Wireless Foundation and the U.S. Department of Justice in this potentially life saving effort,” said Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of The Advertising Council. All wireless subscribers who are capable of receiving text messages, and whose wireless carrier participates in the Wireless AMBER Alerts Initiative, may opt in to receive free alerts by registering at www.wirelessamberalerts.org or their wireless carrier’s website. Subscribers may designate up to five geographic areas for which they would like to receive Wireless AMBER Alerts. "The Wireless AMBER Alerts initiative is a natural extension to the AMBER Alert program," said Ernie Allen, NCMEC president and CEO. "Everyone has a role to play in the search for an abducted child and this effort allows anyone with a cell phone to get involved in the search." The campaign includes radio, newspaper, outdoor and Internet advertising, which direct parents and all adults to visit www.wirelessamberalerts.org to sign up for Wireless AMBER Alerts. To view the PSAs, please visit http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=354. "It is our hope that this compelling new PSA campaign will lead wireless consumers all over the country to sign up to receive free text messages when a child has been abducted in their area and join the effort to help reunite that child with their family," said Steve Largent, President of The Wireless Foundation. The message here is quite simple: Most Americans now carry cell phones…and these now can be used for the common good: to help alert Americans to an “AMBER Alert,” said Andy Hirsch, Merkley and Partners Partner and Executive Creative Director. “This campaign helps make them aware of the power they literally have in their hands to help rescue an abducted child. It is a call for them to join and unite in the fight against this horrific crime and help our children.” Per the Ad Council model, the PSAs are being distributed to more than 19,000 media outlets nationwide later this month and will run and air in advertising time and space donated by the media. "AMBER Alert is a proven tool for helping recover abducted children," said Regina B. Schofield, Assistant Attorney General and National AMBER Alert Coordinator. "When people receive wireless AMBER Alerts on their cell phones, there will be even more eyes and ears available to help return children to their families." Merkley + Partners Merkley + Partners (www.merkleyandpartners.com) is a full service, integrated marketing communications firm specializing in Consumer Advertising. Founded in 1993, M+P currently has 214 employees and manages over $500MM in client billing. Headquartered in New York City, clients include: Arby’s Restaurant Group, Citigroup, E-Loan, the Ferrero Company, Mercedes-Benz, Novartis and several others. M+P is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), a leading global marketing and communications company. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) NCMEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 387,800 leads. Since its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more than 119,800 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 102,200 children. For more information about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com. The Wireless Foundation The Wireless Foundation is a non-profit organization that was formed by member companies of CTIA-The Wireless Association(tm) in 1991. The Foundation oversees a number of programs designed to put wireless technology to work addressing the challenges of society. www.wirelessfoundation.org. U.S. Department of Justice The Department of Justice's mission is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. www.usdoj.gov The Advertising Council The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has effected, and continues to affect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit www.adcouncil.org. CONTACT: Ellyn Fisher, The Ad Council, 212-984-1964, efisher@adcouncil.org Communications Department, NCMEC, 703-837-6111, media@ncmec.org Roxanne Robbins, The Wireless Foundation, 202-785-0081, RRobbins@ctia.org Catherine Sanders, DOJ, Office of Justice Programs, 202-307-0703, Catherine.E.Sanders@usdoj.gov Jennifer Getschmann, Merkley + Partners, 212-366-3193, jgetschmann@merkleyandpartners.com http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2397

May 26, 2006 (7:18 PM EDT) Emergency Services Tap Cellular Technology By Laurie Sullivan, TechWeb News Emergency services from wireless vendors to non-profit groups are increasingly tapping into technology to build alert systems and location-based platforms. In one example, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children this week launched a program to highlight an emergency service allowing cellular subscribers to sign up online to receive text messages on any cell phone. The organization teamed up with carriers and other groups last year to design the Wireless AMBER Alerts system. The service, which is slowly gaining traction throughout the nation, offers an instant text message on the subscriber's cellular phone. The free program also works with pagers and PDA, said Bob Hoever, director of special operations for the Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Friday. "The alert directs the subscriber to immediately call 911 or the police agency investigating the abduction," he said. "When a child is abducted, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, and the more eyes and ears you have looking for the child, the smaller the haystack." More than 224,000 emergency 911 calls are made daily from cellular phones, according to the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association. The CTIA estimates more than 70 percent of those living in the U.S. have cellular service, accounting for approximately 210 million subscribers. The goal to create awareness has proved slow going. Although people have registered, Hoever said it's not clear how many subscribers have signed up for the free service. He did say there have been 266 children safely returned to their families since the Amber Alert was introduced in Arlington, Texas, about nine years ago. Verizon Wireless offered another signal that cellular carriers are providing emergency services. Verizon Wireless on Friday said 911 operators can now locate 95 percent of the customers from their handsets. Verizon said about one-third of 911 call centers have upgraded their systems and can receive the location information from callers using cellular phones, PDAs, smartphones and other wireless devices. Wireless phones that are GPS-enabled can help public safety authorities determine the location of a caller, even if the caller doesn't know where they are or is unable to speak. The GPS location technology integrated in the phones makes it possible for the handset to transmit location data automatically to emergency services, helping them to dispatch emergency assistance faster. The Federal Communications Commission required by the end of 2005 that at least 95 percent of all wireless handsets have the ability to give emergency personnel the location of 911 callers. AT&T Inc.'s Cingular Wireless is using a network-based service to locate callers who dial 911, the company said. Sprint Nextel sought a waiver from the FCC, which has not responded. The company has told the FCC more than 84 percent of its customers had wireless phones capable to identify location. http://www.techweb.com/headlines_week/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=188500782

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