Social Responsibility – Share Words of Your Kind Deeds

During this time of year, people often give of themselves more than they do during other parts of the year. Much the same, business needs to be human and give of itself throughout the year and during the holidays. Many businesses do so much for the community, but fail to make sure the key stakeholders know what they are up to.I have worked with some good businesses over the years and would like to highlight some of the good things that each have done.

• First DFW International Airport, a government entity of all things actually holds an Aviation Career Expo each year in early December to bring in upwards of 4,000 local students to learn about aviation. American Airlines hosts the group with dozens of local businesses that are in the aviation sector from Tarrant County College to what looks to be a flying museum of older planes that are open for inspection.

• If you ever get stuck at an airport, like DFW, and you need help, you should pick up that scary “white” service phone and ask that person for what you need. DFW has been known to give out diapers, formula, blankets, cots and so much more for those impacted by an unfortunate weather.

• Chesapeake Energy gave thousands of bottles of water to local charities in 2011 during the 70 plus long streak of blistering heat here in Texas. Not only that, they actually loaded a case (1,700 or so bottles of water) in the back of a pickup and took it to the fire fighters working to extinguish the Parker County wildfires.

• Then just last week, Epic Helicopters looking to do something to celebrate the holidays, reached out to the Ronald McDonald House to offer a holiday lights tour to one of their residents. Three weeks later 5-year-old Zachary McBride was given the sleigh ride of a life-time with his mom riding right behind him. Zachary's story as seen on CBSDFW - 11.

If your business does good things out of the goodness of its heart, then be sure that you are also telling your customers, business partners or potential clients so that they know what doing business with you is really like.While each of these examples earned mass media coverage, the outreach did not stop there. There was outreach to city councils, county judges, law enforcement, boards of directors and so much more to ensure that the good business was recognized for their good citizenship.

Originally posted on Murnahan Public Relations, Inc's blog.
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Brian Murnahan, President of Murnahan Public Relations, brings more than 15 years of corporate communications experience in multiple different business sectors, including aviation, oil & gas, privacy, transportation and public policy. Murnahan specializes in media relations, crisis communications, public affairs, community / stakeholder relations, international outreach and media training.

The Agency of the Future

by Margaret Ritsch, APR

What do the decades ahead hold for the Edelmans, Richards Groups, and other agencies of the world?

Four top agency CEOs shared their outlook at PRSA International Conference in San Francisco in October. Fred Cook, CEO and president of Golin Harris, completely overhauled his 700-employee global agency to adapt to a rapidly changing marketplace.

“As our world evolves, so do the needs of our clients,” said Cook, according to the Holmes Report from June of last year when the 55-year-old agency unveiled its restructuring plan. “Clients look to us for one: insights; two, ideas; and three, engagement,” Cook explained last week to a packed audience at the Marriott Marquis. “We’ve reorganized the entire company around that.”

Golin Harris abolished the traditional agency hierarchy and replaced it with four communities of specialists: Connectors, Creators, Catalysts, and Strategists, he said. Connectors handle traditional and media engagement; creators create; catalysts lead accounts; strategists plan, conduct research, forward big ideas. The agency of the future will have a much broader suite of services and new skill sets are needed, he said.

Colleges and universities are turning out thousands of generalists every year and there are not enough jobs for them, said Rob Flaherty, APR, Ketchum’s CEO and president. He encourages students to specialize in an area such as research, media relations, video, digital or writing. His agency no longer hires generalists, but instead looks for new college graduates who already have specialized skills.

At Ketchum, new jobs and titles reflect the rapidly changing needs to the marketplace. Community and conversation manager is one example. “Storyteller” is another, he said.

Flaherty said the availability of so much consumer data augurs a sea change in how the agency advises its clients. “Big data allows us to market to the individual,” he said. “There are a huge wave of new jobs at Ketchum around this.” The employee of the future, Flaherty said at the conference, “understands the power of data, is a connector, digitally nimble, and believes in the power of community.”

One way the agency is tapping the boundless creativity of digital natives is Ketchum’s new crowd-sourcing idea site, MindFire. Originally envisioned as a tool to solicit creative ideas from college students for Ketchum’s clients, Mindfire has now become a talent recruitment site, he said.

Hill & Knowlton’s Jack Martin said his agency is investing heavily in research and digital. Measurement is very important – one of the most critical things in the business, he said.

The client of the future will unleash the power of big data, desire transparency, appreciate smart risk-taking, and be willing to turn over its brand to the community, Flaherty asserted.

The good news for our students is that public relations is one of the top 10 careers with a future, Flaherty said. “The most valuable media in the world is something you can’t buy: earned conversation, word-of-mouth, face-to-face,” he said.
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Margaret Ritsch, APR is director of Roxo, TCU’s new student-driven agency for strategic communication. Formerly director of public relations at the Balcom Agency, then owner of her own firm, Perception, Ritsch joined the TCU faculty in January 2012. She and five Roxo interns traveled to San Francisco for the PRSA and PRSSA annual conferences.

PR lessons from 'Kate' and Tarrant Area Food Bank's hunger campaign

The billboard asks a compelling question: What does hunger feel like? JustAskKate.org 

It strikes me that putting a (cartoon) face to hunger with a compelling narrative is a creative way to generate curiosity and hopefully leads to awareness, donations, volunteers, etc. The video component is simple but effective:

I reached out to Andrea Helms, Director of Communications for the Tarrant Area Food Bank and a Ft. Worth PRSA member for some insight into the campaign. I'm so thankful that she was wiling to share since I believe there are some interesting lessons and processes from this effort for PR and communication professionals:

Why did TAFB implement the 'Kate' concept campaign? 
Akron Canton Regional Food Bank in Ohio shared the Kate video concept with the Feeding America network of regional food banks, to which Tarrant Area Food Bank (TAFB) belongs. TAFB decided to customize this video for the organization not only because of the impact of Kate’s message, but to also join in creating a sense of unity across the network.

What are some of the strategic objectives you hope to achieve?
AWARENESS. We would like Kate’s message to be shared all over our community, through our Partner Agencies, donors and volunteers, and the general public. As part of our annual awareness initiative, we hope the community learns that hunger and food insecurity exist right here in our own neighborhood and we, together, can do something about it.

Through various print ads, billboards, and social media, we seek to increase awareness about hunger and direct people to the Kate video. We hope the Kate video and her message goes viral. The more that people share the video with their networks, the bigger the awareness of hunger we can create within our community. The video not only educates the public about the face of hunger--for example, Kate could be your next door neighbor, a co-worker or friend--but it also educates them about Tarrant Area Food Bank’s role in fighting local hunger.

When did it start and how long will the campaign run? 
The campaign started mid-October and will run through December. We will do another flight of the campaign in the Spring of 2013. The Kate video will remain active on our website and on justaskkate.org and through social media when the campaign is not active.

How would you say your version of the campaign differs from the original version?
We are the first Feeding America food bank to launch a traditional marketing campaign around the video. Up until now, the Kate video has been used as a tool in food banks for educating volunteers and donors and has been used through social media and word of mouth.

What communication channels are you using to share Kate? 
Facebook and Twitter posts, Facebook ads, billboards, print ads in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Fort Worth Business Press, the Just Ask Kate web page, the TAFB website, YouTube, e-blasts, email signatures, volunteer training and exclusive showings at TAFB related events.

We also have several collateral pieces our staff use for various audiences, such as children’s activities and giveaways, including Kate as a fan with suggestions on the backside for taking action to build awareness about hunger.  Our life-sized Kate cut-out is being used for photo opportunities with key people in our community for posting on social media.

How will you determine the success of this campaign?
Because this is an awareness campaign, we are most interested in how viral the campaign becomes. The more video views, shares and likes we get from the Kate video, the more we know the word is being spread around our community. We have been using Facebook and Google analytics to track where our viewers are coming from and what actions they are taking after they view the video, such as visiting our website or liking our Facebook page.
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What do you think? Is this a compelling campaign to help generate awareness for the food bank's fight against local hunger? As always, the comments are yours.
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The post is from the Next Communications blog.

PRSA Assembly Highlights 2012 #prsaicon

PRSA Assembly Highlights 2012 
Submitted by Andra Bennett House, APR

National Board 
Even though the PRSA Southwest District does not have a district rep on the board (because no one ran), Blake Lewis, APR of Dallas was elected as National Treasurer. Blake will be an excellent “go-to” person for our district, if the need arises.

PRServing America PRServing America is a competition for the best pro-bono community service project by a chapter. PRSSA can participate as well. For 1st place, the prize is $2,500 and the prize amounts go down from there. Our Chapter could think about a pro bono project that would be a possible submission for this recognition and reward.

Advocacy 
PRSA submitted an op-ed to Roll Call re: Senate inquiry into federal agencies and contractors payments to PR firms.

PRSA advocated on behalf of PR pros being able to edit Wikipedia for clients. The owner of Wikipedia apparently was against this. The name of the Facebook group in favor of it is called Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wiki Engagement (CREWE).

Get more PRSA advocacy news.

Business Case of PR 
PRSA wrote Forbes op-ed for business schools including reputation management in MBA programs. (MBA Initiative)

Commission on Public Relations Education gave a lengthy presentation on the disparity of what colleges require for PR degrees.

Membership 
Currently PRSA National has 21,378 members. This is down from 2008 highs, but steadily climbing back up.

Free webinars this year – 63 have been offered, with 6,500 participants, exponentially up from any previous time.

Chapter resources – document sharing platform is being developed for online. No more chapters keeping stuff in shoeboxes!

Next year, ALL Members will be able to pay dues quarterly for a $15 processing fee. This will be optional for chapters to allow members to do this or not. It may allow more members to join, but could affect chapter cash flow.

Issues & Trends emails have been upgraded to be more user friendly and quickly read.

Priorities for 2013 are Ethics, Diversity, Advocacy and the Brand: One PRSA.

Unconference
Value of Districts – upshot of discussion was that National should look at possibly re-drawing the Districts into smaller territories, separating it from board representation, or subsidizing districts to help pay for regional conferences. There are members who do not belong to Chapters, yet chapters fund the Districts, so some members are benefiting without contributing.

Member Benefits – Districts could help aggregate benefit information for the Districts and provide it in a canned fashion for the chapters for newsletters, luncheon announcements, etc. Districts could help pen op-eds and localize the advocacy efforts of National for chapters to submit to their local publications.

Many topics discussed and videotaped – National to condense and make available soon.

Town Hall
Many delegates expressed concern that the Assembly did not vote on anything except the board slate. We listened to reports and gave feedback, but some did not feel the expense of the travel was worth being there in person, and did not feel the Assembly “accomplished” much.

I predict if there is no “beefy” agenda next year, and only voting on board nominees, many chapters will send proxies vs. delegates unless they are staying for the conference.

Thank you to Andra Bennett House, APR and Holly Ellman for representing the Greater Ft. Worth Chapter of PRSA as delegates to the Assembly during the 2012 PRSA International Conference.

JPS Health Network: A Changing Vision and Communication Lessons

The best way to tour a hospital and check out its fluorescent lighting is from a standing position, not while lying on your back. At least that's what we were told by JPS Health Network President and CEO, Robert Earley.

For the record, he's right.

Robert Earley, 

 JPS Health Network
President and CEO

Recently, the Ft. Worth Chapter of PRSA took its monthly lunch program on the road and got an "unfiltered view tour" [his words] of Tarrant County's public hospital with Mr. Robert Earley. This tour was our chance to hear from this local leader who is using a strategic communication and community outreach campaign to help change hearts and minds about the Tarrant County Hospital District.

"We're in the life and death business," said Earley of the work JPS does for what last year was over 1 million people. "We hope it's more life." 

As the county's public hospital, JPS gets a bit of bad rap. There's a misconception that since it's funded by tax dollars, people tend to think the care would be sub-par and that there's no need to provide additional resources through private funding. To be clear, his pre-tour talk did not come across to me like a fundraising effort. Instead, he just pointed out parallels to other publicly funded institutions getting additional resources from benefactors to programs they support. (cough - college football coaches salaries - cough) Funding challenges are typical for public institutions and there were many of those challenges he inherited.

As for the care, he explains that he wants a cultural shift. They had previously been operating in a realm of mediocrity. "We're not there yet," he said. Earley recognized, "while the care was good, [they] weren't treating people right." So he made some changes and expected more.

He wants JPS to be a place where best-practices in healthcare are created and then followed by others. Earley expects more from his 4,500 employees: "When people walk in the front door, everybody gets respect."

When they hire, he says they take a "360° approach." They want people with the right skill-set and heart.

Robert Earley has Three Rules for the JPS Health Network staff:

1. Own It. He wants staff to be proud of where they work. When they hear about the good, it's ok to share that they work for JPS. When there are challenges, it's still ok to share that they work for JPS.
2. Seek Joy. He wants employees to smile. Ideally, he hopes they have reasons to smile throughout the day. Healthcare can make for a stressful environment, providing clear direction and positivity can go a long way.  
3. Don't Be A Jerk! Earley is on a personal campaign to against "jerkdom." He cites examples in our society where we seem to raise up jerks and jerk-like behavior ahead of being simply good people.

"We are trying to be a transparent organization." Earley is using what I consider to be a smart community relations tactic with on-site tours. One example of this unfiltered view was that we were encouraged to ask any question along the way; anything was fair game. He's proud of JPS being the Level 1 Trauma Center for Tarrant County. We saw operating rooms, including two that stay staffed, stocked, and ready 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Honestly, it's highly impressive.

Here are some additional public relations take-aways from Robert Earley and the JPS tour:

• The JPS team observe other healthcare systems going through challenges and then they look internally to see if they have the same issue(s).
• They want to establish a network by which they can communicate directly with stakeholders and not be reliant on traditional media methods.
• The quality and safety standards as an organization are constantly in need improvement.
• Training is top-notch: A JPS nurse receive approximately $64,000 in training. (Trauma nurses get double that amount!) The problem they have is talent retention. Nurse get well-trained, work a while then split. Earley said they have about a 20% turnover rate, which is way too high. (I wouldn't be surprised if JPS starts an aggressive campaign to keep their talent.)
• Earley instituted a chair policy in the hospital. A folding chair hangs behind the door of the hospital rooms and doctors are required to remove the chair and set it next to patients so that they can be at eye-level with them to talk.
• There are so many electronic and networked aspects of healthcare in general and especially within the hospital, but not much in their communication. Yet.

During the Q&A period, someone asked how do they tell the JPS story. Earley responded with a smile, "we hired J.R. Labbe."

Jill "J.R." Labbe is the former editorial director for the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. I think this is an intriguing move for JPS and for Labbe. I'm interested to see how she can bring her skills to the other side of the news for storytelling and work from within the organization. She expressed some parting words in the newspaper about her new role:

While my responsibilities as vice president of communications and community affairs at JPS will differ greatly from what I've been doing the past 20 years -- and the irony of going from inflicting pain on government employees to being a government employee is not lost -- my love for this community and the people who call it home will not.

Wise move, JPS.

Robert Earley concluded by letting attendees know that others are welcome. They'd appreciate more people coming to JPS and seeing first-hand what's happening and how things are changing for the better. There's work to be done and it's wonderful to see organizational communications and community relations take starring roles in the process for this organization.
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This is cross-posted from the Next Communications blog by Richie Escovedo, Fort Worth PRSA 2012 VP of Programs.

'From the Everyday to the Bad Day' with Kristie Aylett, APR

Have I mentioned how much I dig Storify? In addition to being super-easy to use (drag-n-drop), it's a great tool for capturing tweets, pics, posts, slide decks, videos, links and more on a topic, event, news item or anything really if you are creative. I recommend PR pros experiment with Storify.

Enough with the unpaid praise for Storify. Here's the latest from the June 2012 Ft. Worth PRSA lunch program with Kristie Aylett, APR.

“Best of Show” at first PRSA Worthy Awards gala goes to Catholic Charities’ “Money School” campaign

City Council member Joel Burns honored as “Communicator of the Year

The first-ever Worthy Awards were announced Thursday May 31 at an inaugural awards gala held at Marquis on Magnolia in Fort Worth. The Best of Show went to Sandra Brodnicki, APR and Gigi Westerman, APR for a campaign they developed for Catholic Charities’ financial education program, rebranded “Money School.”

Judged by the Central Michigan Chapter of PRSA, the new annual competition bestowed 12 Worthy Awards, eight Awards of Excellence and 10 Awards of Achievement. A separate academic category recognized the contributions of faculty at TCU and UT-Arlington to the public relations profession. The Greater Fort Worth Chapter of PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) established the Worthy Awards this past year to honor excellence in the strategic communications field in the region.

The chapter recognized City Council member Joel Burns as Communicator of the Year for “his willingness to expose his personal story and become a national spokesperson for victims of bullying,” said Bob Ray Sanders, a Star-Telegram columnist who announced the awards. The chapter established the Communicator of the Year award to honor a public figure who exemplifies the principles of honest, transparent communication and effective relationship-building for the common good.

The highest-level Worthy Awards went to:

o   Balcom Agency for its social media for Justin Boots and for the agency’s digital newsletter;

o   Bill Lawrence, Lawrence and Associates, for publicity for “The Cowgirl Who Became a Justice: Sandra Day O’Connor,” an exhibit at the Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame;

o   Chris Smith, Smith Communications for an op-ed published in the Houston Chronicle about a proposed coal plant, written for several environmental groups;

o   Concussion for its approach to launching Enchanted Rock Vodka in the highly competitive, “Texas-made” adult beverage industry;

o   Fort Worth ISD for a video shown by Superintendent Walter Dansby to business leaders about renovations and schools funded by a $593.6 million bond program;

o   Fort Worth Museum of Science and History for the opening of a new exhibit, the 9/11 Tribute: Tenth Anniversary;

o   Gigi Westerman, APR and Sandra Brodnicki, APR for their integrated campaign for Catholic Charities Fort Worth to rebrand and promote a financial education program for low-income families.

o   GCG Marketing for a campaign for Rahr Brewery after the roof collapsed and production was shut down in early 2010;

o   J.O. Design for the agency’s new website;

o   Margaret Ritsch, APR, for an executive report for Balfour Beatty US on the business case for social media;

o   The Trinity River Authority of Texas for a revitalized annual report and a more cost-effective method of production and distribution;

o   TCU Vitals, for a student-led campaign to educate fellow students about the symptoms of alcohol poisoning so they can get help when needed.

Eight Awards of Excellence, the second-to-highest honor, went to:

o   The University of North Texas for a social media blitz;

o   Cash America for a company blog;

o   The University of North Texas for UNT Research, an annual report;

o   Lawrence and Associates for publicity for the Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame;

o   Fort Worth ISD for a “how-to” video in Spanish and English;

o   Mansfield ISD for its election-winning bond ;

o   Concussion for a campaign for the 2011 Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival;

o   Balcom Agency for a campaign to launch the Justin Bent Rail brand.

Ten Awards of Achievement went to:

o   Cash America for a “Cash Rap” video contest and an article called “Bringing Honor” to spotlight employees who served in the military;

o   The University of North Texas for the fall 2011 issue of The North Texan;

o   Balcom Agency for a 2012 calendar/annual report for LifeGift;

o   Hillwood Properties for the AllianceTexas Media Day; 

o   J.O. Design for publicity for Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth’s prom dress sale, a video about the agency’s temporary headquarters, and a campaign to build pride for the Green Wave at Tulane;

o   Fort Worth ISD for a promotional video for South Hills High School's brand new Gold Seal Programs of Choice;

o   Concussion for an art project designed for the “T.”

Judged by faculty at Belmont University in Nashville, academic Worthy Awards went to Amiso M. George at TCU for the newly published Case Studies in Crisis Communication: International Perspectives on Hits and Misses and her leadership for the student-led Vitals at TCU; and Julie O’Neil at TCU for her review of white papers and books on PR research, measurement and evaluation. UT-Arlington’s Department of Communication received an Award of Achievement for coursework in which students conduct research and develop strategy, tactics and key messages for various community partners.

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May is all about leadership

by Allyson Cross, Greater Fort Worth PRSA Chapter President

On May 31 we will host our first Worthy Awards Gala at The Marquis on Magnolia beginning at 7:00 PM. We will honor the year’s best in public relations work and leadership. Bob Ray Sanders will serve as emcee and will also present our award to the Communicator of the Year, an individual who is not in day-to-day public relations but who exemplifies communication leadership.

I’m so pleased to announce that at 49 submissions we exceeded our awards entry goal. Feedback from across the country suggests that this is a fabulous response for an inaugural awards program. I hope you’re as excited as I am to see the judging results.

Our May 9 luncheon will feature Sam Sims, PRSA’s Southwest District chairman for 2012. Mr. Sims will speak to us on communications and leadership — a great topic as we honor our own local communications leaders! And speaking of leadership, kudos to Dr. Amiso George, APR, Fellow PRSA, with the launch of her new book, “Case Studies in Crisis Communication: International Perspectives on Hits and Misses.” (On April 26, Dr. George, pictured below at left, shared her thoughts during a chapter mixer on coordinating and editing her book's production with contributors across the globe.)

For a final note on leadership, it’s a good time to honor those in our chapter who have been designated PRSA fellows. The PRSA College of Fellows is an honorary organization of more than 400 senior practitioners and educators, each of whom has left a footprint on our profession. Our local fellows are Carolyn Bobo, APR, Fellow PRSA; Mary Dulle, APR, Fellow PRSA; Dr. Amiso George, APR, Fellow PRSA; Bill Lawrence, APR, Fellow PRSA; and Dr. Doug Newsom, APR, Fellow PRSA. Special thanks to each of you for your tremendous impact on public relations.

Worthy Award Filing Tips

By Carolyn Bobo, APR, Fellow

The Worthy Awards – a first for our chapter – are designed to provide area communications, marketing and public relations professionals with an opportunity to celebrate creativity, strategic thinking and professional ability.

Don’t be hesitant about entering. Think about your activities since 2010 (as a first-time contest, we have a broad entry time frame) and go for it. Here are some tips for preparing your entry.

A solid entry will address these points:

· What was done?

· Why did it matter?

· How was it measured?

Here’s how to prepare your entry.

Carefully read the entry parameters.

The judges (Central Michigan chapter) will look at each required area and base their scoring on how well the four entry areas are explained. Entrants should address each required point, and thoughtfully explain their good work so that it is excruciatingly clear to judges not familiar with our area.

Rationale (Tactics) and Research (Campaigns, Projects)

Explain any type of research, and why it was used. A textbook campaign would include formal, original research, but that isn’t always feasible or necessary. Judges know this, so entrants should clearly describe what was done. For example, a brainstorming session, a review of media clips or discussions with clients may be described as secondary, qualitative research … literature review … content analysis … anectodal reports.

Objective/Purpose (Tactics) and Planning (Campaigns, Projects)

Why did you do this? Possible reasons are to increase sales, raise funds, create name recognition, affect public behavior. Describe any factors about the project/tactic that will help judges understand the purpose and the market. Note that the purpose must - absolutely must – match the outcome. Read on to the Evaluation section.

Execution (Campaigns, Projects)

Explain which tactics were chosen and why. When there are several tactical options, the entrant should state, for example, that “these tactics were selected to expand the reach of our message,” identify and justify each tactic. Remember that the judges won’t know that your decisions and efforts were special unless you tell them.

If your entry states that “TV station XYZ sponsored the event,” you must explain that “TV station XYZ rarely supports activities in Fort Worth.” Or, “TV station XYZ sponsors only three events per year and we convinced the station to choose ours.”

Another hypothetical example: If your target market/public prefers electronic media over print, your entry should state, “Secondary research found that our target demographic prefers to receive electronic communications.” Such data may be obvious to you, but your entry narrative also must make your decision obvious to the judges.

Execution (Tactics)

Here’s where to explain who wrote the copy, designed a magazine, edited content, provided photos, approved the budget and negotiated with a vendor. The tactics section of The Worthy Awards is an explanation of who did what. If an unusual price or component was negotiated, say so, so the judges will understand your extra effort.

Results (Tactics)

Tactics are created to meet a specific need, and are skillfully and professionally prepared. An evaluation of effectiveness and impact, based upon defined objectives, can be simply stated. However, the results must - absolutely must – match the purpose. If the purpose was “to generate five media stories,” the result must show five (or more) media reports. If the purpose is “to raise awareness,” the results must show a measurable increase in awareness.

Evaluation (Campaigns, Projects)

Explain how the targeted market, public or audience responded and how you learned about its response. This is the time to include quantitative data and analysis. Such measures may be a replication of preliminary research or measures of other activities. For example, measures can be election results, a sales increase, ROI, donor or donation increase, or the number of participants/responses that exceeded expectations. Include as much measurable and anecdotal response as possible, and describe future plans. If comprehensive research was not needed, say so. For example, “More than 5,000 people in our target public responded to the activity. We expected only 3,000, so we did not repeat our preliminary research to measure interest in the topic. However, we will analyze the experience of these respondents to plan future campaigns related to this issue.”

Good luck to everyone. See you at the May 31 awards presentation.

(Don’t forget to submit nominations for Communicator of the Year. There is no fee.)

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or would like more information:

The Worthy Awards Committee

Michelle Clark<mailto:clarkm@trinityra.org>, Trinity River Authority of Texas

Margaret Ritsch<mailto:m.c.ritsch@tcu.edu>, APR, TCU

Carolyn Bobo<mailto:cgbobo6311@att.net>, APR, Fellow PRSA, University Relations, UNT

Allyson Cross<mailto:cross@gcgadvertising.com>, president, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

Liz Heck<mailto:liz@jodesign.com>, JO Design, Marketing, Public Relations

Megan Murphey<mailto:murphey@gcgmarketing.com>, GCG Marketing

Rita Parson<mailto:rita.parson@tccd.edu>, Tarrant County College District