Grow your social media measurement skills

President's Column: Tom Burke, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
(This post appeared in the May 2010 issue of the eChaser)

It’s continual learning for me at IBM. Every day. It’s that way when you’re on a team of 400,000 people helping to build a smarter planet and 399,999 of those people are smarter than you!

Thankfully, in today’s intensely competitive and dynamic global marketplace, IBM continues to invest in employee development. Through various avenues, the company provides resources necessary to grow your skills, gain new experiences and build a high-impact career. A career differentiated by expertise. In fact, IBM’s achievements in learning and development recently earned Fortune magazine recognition as the No. 1 company for leaders.

This focus on skills and career development is also true of the Public Relations Society of America. Professional development is one of the most cherished benefits of PRSA membership. At Greater Fort Worth PRSA we continually strive to exceed this expectation of our members through relevant monthly programs and engaging events.

One of our most exciting professional development meetings is set for Wednesday, May 19, at Colonial Country Club. Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO and founder of KDPaine & Partners and author of “Measuring Public Relationships: The Data-Driven Communicator’s Guide to Success,” will lead a three-hour morning workshop focusing on key elements of engagement, including quantitative, qualitative and new relationship metrics. Over lunch she will review measurement principles and how they apply to the new, wild world of social media. It promises to be four hours of exceptional expertise building that you won’t want to miss.

In this crazy world we live in, it is more true than ever that if you’re not learning and growing, you are slowly fading away. And that doesn’t sound like too much fun, does it?

(Photo credit: Sarah Scissors)

President's Column from the September eChaser

Image via Wikipedia

By Andra Bennett, APR

E-chatting the other day with my old friend and fellow Beatlemaniac from junior high, we mulled whether we had the time, energy and dinero to go to the Paul McCartney concert last week at Cowboys Stadium. (We’d seen Ringo together back in ’88 in Dallas.)

After we had about decided it was all too much, she playfully suggested we do what her teenage son often advises: “Let’s don’t go, but say we did.”

In our social lives, we may be able to get away with that one a time or two. But what about when it spills over into our professional lives? How many times have you heard these:

“Oh yes, those figures are 6 months old, but use them in the release anyway. No one will ever check that.”

“How do we make these customer survey results say what WE want them to say?”

“Just tell the reporter I’m out of town.”

“This grassroots campaign is funded by an industry special-interest group, but we’re going to roll it out under the auspices of the foundation.”

These words are not coming out of a teenager’s mouth. They are uttered by employers, clients and colleagues. Where’s the line for you?

Join us at the next PRSA professional development workshop Sept. 9: Building a Recession-Proof Brand Communications Strategy Through Ethical Decision-Making, http://www.fortworthprsa.org/events.htm presented by Alan Hilburg, president and CEO of Hilburg Associates, a Virginia-based firm. Formerly president of DFW’s Bloom Co., Alan is an award-winning author, filmmaker, teacher and senior advisor in organizational transition communications and marketing.

The half-day workshop with interactive small groups and illustrative examples is presented in conjunction with National PRSA’s Ethics month. Kudos to Lauren Kwedar, professional development chair, and Margaret Ritsch, ethics chair, for putting together this excellent opportunity to revisit the PRSA Code of Ethics with challenging activities and meaningful take-aways.

Don’t just say you came. Get a ticket to ride. Register today.

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President's Column from the March eChaser

Image by hyku via Flickr

From GFW PRSA President, Andra Bennett, APR:

Do you think President Obama is saying, “Only 3 years, 11 months to go”? Well, it’s one heck of a first quarter, that’s all I know.

As every level of government, every business and every organization is reviewing its business model and budget right now, so is your GFW-PRSA. Your volunteer elected Board has been diligently reviewing every aspect of the Greater Fort Worth Chapter, from our programs, special interest groups, and service projects to our registration software and luncheon expenses.

Bottom line: we want to provide the best value and benefits to YOU, the member. And we want to be good stewards of the chapter’s funds and come out in the black!

A survey from National PRSA is on its way, to determine your priorities. The GFW Chapter may also be conducting our own survey with “all things Fort Worth” included as well. We will respect your time and make it short, but please be on the lookout for these survey e-mails in the coming months.

Of course, feel free to let the Board or the committee chairs know your opinions / suggestions at any time. All of our e-mails are at http://www.fortworthprsa.org/about/board.htm.

Our April 8 program will feature Brian Pierce, ad copywriter and creative guru, speaking on “How to make your PR writing stand out.” That’s also our Pro-Am Day with ACU, TCU and UTA. Please sign up when you get the e-mail from Jahnae Stout or Mary Dulle, APR, Fellow PRSA for a student shadow that morning. More details will be in the next E-Chaser or online at www.fortworthprsa.org.

Also in April, mark your calendars for Saturday, April 11 for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the non-competitive 5K run/walk. We need 10 members to field a team!! Please contact Cindy Vasquez, cindy@cancercareservices.org , community service chair, ASAP if you’d like to join us in a fun walk for an important cause!

Thoughts on blogging

from the July issue of the eChaser...

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Laura Van Hoosier, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

As the oldest child, I’ve always had a mind of my own. My mother says that by 2 years old I was giving her direction on our next steps. Now I’ve been inspired by my fellow GFW PRSA members to start a blog, and it’s perfectly in line with an independent spirit.

For me, it’s really just a “live, work, play” online journal (nothing as interesting as my high school diary that my mom read) — a wonderful forum to post web sites, updates about my daughters, family happenings and anything that’s in my world. I sent the link to a few close family members, and my aunt in Hawaii wrote back, “BLOG! BLOG! BLOG! We enjoy keeping up with you this way.”

Blogger.com was the easiest way to get started, and once I started, I couldn’t stop. Each morning I wake up thinking, “What will I post today?” But it won’t matter one iota if I’m the only one who ever reads it. Already I have enjoyed looking back to reference articles, facts, funny things the girls did, photos, etc.

Lisa Gail Barnes, Richie Escovedo, Linda Jacobson, Sarah McClellan-Brandt, Terry Morawski and I are blogging away at fortworthprsa.blogspot.com. To join us, e-mail your blog's link to the chapter webmaster, richie.escovedo[@]gmail.com, and he’ll post it.

You’ll hear how Richie and others have forayed into new media at the July 9 meeting. It ‘ll be a hands-on program, so bring your laptop, and the presenters will walk you through useful tools and tactics you can implement right away for your organization.

Here’s to our country’s independence. Yours and mine, too.

Here's to your dreams

from the June issue of the eChaser...

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Laura Van Hoosier, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

Here it is almost summertime, and I have amassed a gigantic stack of books I hope to read, ideally by some beach or pool. The Memorial Day weekend provided a nice opportunity to finish two I’d recommend to everyone: “The Shack” by William P. Young and Maria Shriver’s “Just Who Will You Be?” Originally written for graduates, Maria’s book suggests that the time is always right to chase your dreams.

Almost a dozen GFW PRSA members have committed to starting the APR exam process. APR chair Kim Speairs, APR, and I are fired up about the excitement in this group. These PR professionals want the APR for a number of reasons, not the least of which is it’s a goal — a professional dream.

My daughters had their dance recital Mother’s Day weekend, and the theme was “Wishes, Dreams and Imagination.” In advance of the big day, every dancer completed a flyer that went on display at the entryway along with her photo. Each sheet began with “My wish” or “I imagine” or “My dream is.” Nine-year-old Bryn Van Hoosier completed her message with: “My wish is to get a trained horse that I can ride all the time and groom it sparkly clean.” Pie in the sky, right?

How could we have known that two weeks later she would spend Memorial Day weekend at her grandparents’ farm in Weatherford caring for and riding horses her grandfather got for his four granddaughters. As” luck” would have it, a family friend moved and had two older, trained horses for the taking. They just needed a new home.

You can only imagine Bryn’s joy. Her smile that weekend will stay with us for a long, long time. There’s joy in Mary and Joe Dulle’s family, too, as their granddaughter, Clara Smith, age 6, returned home from the hospital after being kicked in the head by a horse at her parents’ ranch in Canadian, Texas, near Amarillo. “It´s wonderful,” Mary writes, “what the power of prayer, good thoughts and energy can do.”

Sadly, little Juliette Brown’s story had a different ending. The 9-year-old Haltom City girl died after being dragged a mile and a half by a horse near Benbrook Stables. The story touched many, including the Van Hoosier girls. Our sympathies are with the family.

Life is fragile, life is grand. Here’s to your dreams. It’s never too late — or early — to start living them.