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Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Setting Professional Development Goals in 2013
If you aren’t constantly learning something new, you can lose your competitive advantage rather quickly in our fast-paced profession. So even if you don’t make New Year’s resolutions, you might consider at least setting some professional development goals in 2013.
Luckily, PRSA makes that easy. Each month except July, our Greater Fort Worth Chapter offers a luncheon program on a timely topic, including two half-day professional workshops planned this year. Already an expert on that topic? Go anyway. Members say they often get valuable tips simply from sharing a conversation at the table.
Can’t make a midday program? Try one of our evening mixers, primarily designed for networking but also to inform.
Senior-level practitioner? Go anyway. Giving back to your profession not only offers intrinsic rewards, but some senior members suddenly out of a job have learned the hard way that networking isn’t just something you do when you’re looking for work.
Feeling on the fringe? Get involved. With numerous chapter committees, there’s something for everyone to do. The important thing is to stay connected.
You can’t afford not to in 2013.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Passing the torch of the chapter presidency
It’s great to return home after an incredible five weeks in Turkey.
Turkey is a hidden gem; at least it was to me. I’m glad I discovered this amazing country, full of the most genuine, happy, caring, proud and fun-loving people you will ever meet. If the opportunity to visit Turkey arises, seize it. Or just create the opportunity for yourself. You’ll be glad you did.
[Note: Tom was in Turkey taking part in the IBM Corporate Service Corps.]
Not only is it good to be back in the U S of A, it’s good to be back during the holiday season, which is one of my favorite times of the year. Especially when the TCU football team is undefeated and all through the land there’s talk of the Horned Frogs perhaps playing in the national championship game! But the end of this year also means that my term as president of Greater Fort Worth PRSA is about over.
Passing the torch |
[Photo by stevemoraco via Flickr Creative Commons]
Thank you to Carol, who presided over the board and chapter the nearly two months I was in Turkey, and who was as fine a president-elect as a president could hope for. Thanks, also, to the other officers and the board members, all of whom made this a successful and unforgettable year. A special thanks to Andra Bennett, APR; Laura Van Hoosier, APR; and Marc Flake, former presidents who accepted other officer roles this year and always were ready with feedback, guidance and recommendations. It says a lot about an organization when leaders step forward year after year to contribute their expertise. And thank you to the new members who assumed leadership roles. You are our future, and the trust and respect you earned this year will serve you well.
This has been one of the most energizing, fulfilling and amazing years of my 35-year career. I only hope that in some way I helped make 2010 as memorable for others as it has been for me.
Thank you.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
In the hot Texas sun, sweating and wondering...
Just sitting here in the hot Texas sun, sweating and wondering ...
... When is it okay to call a woman a fellow? Well, when that woman is Dr. Amiso M. George, APR. Amiso is a member of the Greater Fort Worth PRSA Chapter, and she's just been accepted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) into its prestigious College of Fellows. The College of Fellows is an honorary organization within PRSA comprised of nearly 500 accredited practitioners and educators with at least 20 years of experience in the business. That's the top two percent of the profession who are members of PRSA.
Dr. George is an associate professor of strategic communication and advisor of the TCU-PRSSA/Bateman Team, Schieffer School of Journalism, Texas Christian University. Dr. George will be inducted into the College of Fellows at the PRSA International Conference in Washington, D.C., in October. She will be the fifth member of the Greater Fort Worth PRSA Chapter to become a Fellow. The four others are Dr. Doug Newsom, APR, Carolyn Bobo, APR, Bill Lawrence, APR and Mary Dulle, APR. It's a tribute to our Chapter that nearly four percent of our members are PRSA Fellows.
... What would we have done, and what would have happened, if the BP oil well in the Gulf couldn't be capped and the flow of oil stopped? What happens if we can't stop the flow of an underground oil well in the future?
... Was Neil Armstrong chewing gum when he walked on the moon 41 years ago, last month?
... How can millions of people daily be able to view a video being transmitted from a mile underwater, but the local cable company can't maintain service to my house during a thunderstorm?
... If there now are 400 billionaires in the world, why aren't we hearing about the many good things they are doing with their money to benefit the human race?
... If members of the millennial generation are supposed to be such collaborative communicators, why are they like so many other youngsters and do not talk to their parents?
... Shouldn't there be a national holiday for the original Anthora's inventor, who recently died?
... If we are supposed to be flying the friendly skies, why are so many pilots depressed? Just recently, the FAA changed a generations-old policy and began allowing pilots with mild to moderate depression to fly while taking antidepressants. The thought of having a depressed pilot in the cockpit depresses me.
... If after reading the August issue of Texas Monthly, you wondered, as I did, if John Graves found a back porch while he was at TCU.
Try to stay cool. Hopefully, August will fly by and give way to cooler weather and the 2010 college football season!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The value of PR and driving fast
Tom Burke, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
Thanks to a special gift received this past Christmas, I recently had the opportunity to "Be like Richard Petty" by driving a 600-horsepower NASCAR car eight laps around the 2.5-mile track at Texas Motor Speedway. My wife didn't understand why such an experience was a big deal. After all, she said, I drive along Interstate 35 everyday as if I am racing at the Speedway. Friends and colleagues figured I was checking off an item on my bucket list. Truth is, the only item on my bucket list is to not "kick the bucket" each and every day!
Traveling along at 130 mph like a pea crammed into an extra-small pod (how do pro racers drive 500 or so miles in such conditions?) certainly gives you a different perspective on things, especially when you have to navigate banked turns and zip alongside a daunting wall displaying black skid marks from earlier confrontations, all of which the wall easily won. It also makes you realize that this is what many of us in the fast-paced world of public relations profession do on a daily basis; we speed along, perhaps overlooking opportunities to display the art and science of our profession.
While many would argue that the deep value of public relations is exemplified during a crisis, such as the BP offshore drilling incident in the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps because we often are moving at the speed of sound we forget how powerful and beneficial public relations can be during the best of times. Take, for instance, corporate social responsibility. From Tom's Shoes to Kimberly-Clark to the Pepsi Refresh Project, the American Express Members Project and the IBM Corporate Service Corps, companies worldwide are becoming part of the corporate social responsibility trend. As Laura Moore, vice president, global communications, Kimberly-Clark, said during the June Greater Fort Worth PRSA luncheon, through its corporate social responsibility program, Kimberly-Clark and its employees contributed $21.6 million in cash and product donations and 60,000 hours of time to charitable causes worldwide last year. Kimberly-Clark highlighted these amazing accomplishments in its "2009 Sustainability Report Summary." It's a classic example of a classic definition of public relations: "Do good, then tell others."
When you've done good, and told others, it can make it a lot easier to pick up the pieces if you happen to crash into a wall going 130 mph or more.
That's the value of public relations.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Grow your social media measurement skills
(This post appeared in the May 2010 issue of the eChaser)
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)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Make every second count this year
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As hard as it is to believe, a decade has come and gone. As they say, time really does fly. Then again, even a second can seem like an eternity and be life-changing. Just ask the Nebraska Cornhuskers. And the Texas Longhorns. And the TCU Horned Frogs. In the Big 12 Championship game last month, one second was the difference between Nebraska losing, Texas winning and TCU being in the Fiesta Bowl on January 4 instead of playing for the national championship January 7 in Pasadena. In other words, every second counts.
I hope to make every second count this year for the magnificent public relations professionals in Greater Fort Worth PRSA. It is humbling to lead such a dynamic crowd in my hometown, and an honor as president to follow in the footsteps of some of the titans of our industry — Andra Bennett, APR; Laura Van Hoosier, APR; Marc Flake; Holly Ellman; Heather Senter, APR. I am surrounded by an amazing group of accomplished and dedicated people, including the chapter’s 2010 officers and committee chairs. Thanks to all of them for agreeing to lead with me in the New Year.
The year begins with uncertainty swirling about, but I am encouraged by the continued vitality of the Fort Worth-Dallas Metroplex and the resiliency of not only our local public relations professionals but the entire workforce. Hopefully we will not see worse economic times or more unsettling changes than what we just survived and that better days are ahead as we build on the personal and professional relationships that sustain us.
I wish you unbridled success and happiness in 2010. And let’s all resolve to make every second count.
Tom C. Burke, APR
IBM
(TCU '76)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Fort Worth PRSA Dues Increase Vote Revisited
Several weeks ago, I e-mailed chapter members and posted a blog item informing you of the Board’s proposal to increase our chapter dues from $45 to $55 annually.As I outlined in the previous post, our dues have not been increased since the mid-1990s, yet our chapter has grown and with that growth comes increased activities, obligations and associated expenses.
We knew our bylaws called for a vote by the membership at the annual meeting to be able to increase dues for the next fiscal year. However, after looking at the language a little closer, and consulting with a National PRSA, it appears that our bylaws mandate a majority vote of the entire membership, not just those who are present at the annual meeting.
Article IV, Section 1 states: “The amount of Chapter dues for the next fiscal year shall be fixed every year by the Board of Directors. If increased, the increase will be approved at the annual meeting by a majority vote of the Chapter membership.”
In the absence of any other language, such as “a majority of members present and voting,” (which we do have for officer elections), a majority vote means a simple majority, which is 50 percent plus one.
As of Oct. 14, this chapter has 157 members, which means that 79 members would need to be present at our annual meeting luncheon to have a quorum – also defined in the bylaws as a “majority of the membership” – to even take a vote on this issue.
Knowing that we rarely have that many members at a luncheon, and not having time to conduct the vote using proxies, the Board withdrew the proposal for a dues increase at its October board meeting.
However, this issue will likely come back. Our chapter’s budget is around $30,000 annually, and the cost to operate – including luncheons, committees, SIG programs, scholarships, bank and credit card charges, web hosting, tax preparation and filing, etc. – is about $190 per member annually.
We do have a few other revenue streams, but our dues are not keeping up with the cost of doing business. If we want to continue having a vibrant chapter that delivers quality programs in a professional setting, uses up-to-date technology, and encourages professional development of our members and our college students, we will need to revisit that .83 cents per month increase in the next year or two.
Wouldn’t you like to see the GFW Chapter hit the 200-member mark in 2010? Thank you for being a part of it.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Being green is good for the environment, but is it good your bottom-line?
Image by K. W. Sanders via Flickr
President's Column: Andra Bennett, APR
Green's my favorite color. Huge green elephant ears gently sway in the breeze outside my home office window as I write this, bringing peace to my work.
My affection toward green extends to the ink on U.S. currency. Having that kind of green brings peace of mind, too.
Can those two greens live in harmony? As environmentally-friendly “green” initiatives have come upon the PR scene, how do we implement programs and campaigns that are relevant to our customer and measure the return to our company / client?
Find out at our next PRSA luncheon Oct. 14 as our panel shares how the public and private sectors are working to steward our precious environment, communicate these efforts to the public, and bring a positive return to a company. Panel members are:
Brian Boerner, director of environmental management, City of Fort Worth
Tom Burke, APR, manager of public relations and communications, IBM
Chris Smith, Texas media director, Environmental Defense Fund
Giving away some green...
We’ll also be handing out some green. The Greater Fort Worth Chapter has established scholarship funds for outstanding PRSSA students at ACU, TCU and UTA. A student from each university is selected to receive $500 each and will receive their check at the October luncheon. The students are:
ACU - Will Moore
TCU - Katie Pool
UTA - Kathelin Buxton
Finally, congratulations to Diane Rhodes Bergman, APR, for achieving her accreditation status from National PRSA. Diane will receive her APR pin and $100 from the Chapter’s Jim Blackmore APR Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund was established last year in memory of Blackmore’s PRSA legacy in Dallas-Fort Worth, and is awarded to GFW members who achieve accreditation.
Chapter members, your annual dues fund these important local awards that elevate the status of our profession and help support fellow members and students. Please join us in October at our annual meeting for the luncheon program, presentations and elections. Your participation is appreciated.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Ft. Worth PRSA considering chapter dues increase
A message from the President of the Greater Ft. Worth Chapter PRSA, Andra Bennett, APR:I'm asking Chapter members to consider something that's sort of like a running joke about members of Congress. Vote yourselves a dues increase.
Our chapter dues are $45 annually. They have not been increased since the mid-to-late '90s, according to chapter records. The Board has proposed increasing the dues to $55 annually, effective January 2010. Bylaws require a majority vote of the membership at the annual meeting at noon on October 14th, at the Petroleum Club, to raise dues. (Register for this meeting here.)
Over the past 11-15 years (when dues were last raised), the chapter has doubled in size, requiring us to send an additional assembly delegate to the national assembly. The chapter has created eight new Special Interest Groups, several new committees such as Diversity and Ethics, committed to annual student scholarships for three universities (UTA, TCU and ACU), and a scholarship fund for members who attain their APR.
Every new activity has associated expense line items - small expenses but necessary for the committees to function. Operation expenses have increased, such as credit card and bank fees for online registrations. Because of our increase in size and budget ($30,000), we now retain an accountant for tax preparation, because even as a non-profit, we are required to file a tax return and associated state tax paperwork. As a 501 (c) 6, we are required to pay sales tax, which has increased as prices have increased.
We have diversified our income streams to include fees for award judging, portions of revenues from the Job Bank and TPRA awards contest, and sponsorships, in order to keep luncheon fees down and not raise dues.
This year, the Board reduced the budget and renegotiated contracts. We are exploring a new venue for luncheons that retains quality and professionalism but would contain costs better.
However, to sustain the many activities and operations of our chapter, we should consider increasing our dues to help cover and defray rising expenses and maintain a balanced budget. In addition, this would add room for further chapter expansion OR protect us from economic downturns like the one we saw this year.
Fyi, a $10 annual increase amounts to 83 cents per month per member.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me (abennett [at] fortworthchamber.com) or our Treasurer Allyson Cross (cross [at] gcgadvertising.com).
Andra Bennett, APR
President, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
Thursday, August 27, 2009
President's Column from the September eChaser
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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/
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.Thursday, June 18, 2009
Hack and Flack: Still Adversarial
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My journalist husband and I have considered starting a blog called Hack and Flack, taking off on NPR’s Click and Clack but more like Mary Matalin and James Carville. Remember TV’s “Odd Couple” intro: “Can two divorced men {hack and flack} share an apartment without driving each other crazy?” Neil Hefti music up now.
Those sentiments were all in play at last week’s GFW PRSA luncheon when four publishers/editors of local weeklies [Lucie Allen, publisher/editor of the Spanish-language Panorama News; Lee Newquist, publisher of the Fort Worth Weekly; Blake Ovard, managing editor of The Star Group Newspapers, and Kay Pirtle, editor of the Wedgwood News] and an ex-ombuddy were corralled in a room of PR practitioners.
The weeklies were invited because Greater Fort Worth PRSA members wanted to hear how they were doing financially and how we could work together on news stories.
Oscar, meet Felix.
During the Q&A, Lee Newquist, publisher of Fort Worth Weekly, was asked how PR practitioners could be of the most value to the weeklies. As part of a longer response, Newquist answered, “PR companies, at least on the journalism side of what we do, are problematic because they’re in between (us and) the person with the real answer. I don’t want to talk to a PR person whose sole role in their career is to spin it and make it sound good." There was nervous laughter from the audience, and several Tweets.
Blake Ovard, managing editor of The Star Group weeklies, echoed: “All of the cities have a PIO, and their job is to keep you from getting the story, so they don’t understand why I don’t want to talk to them. They say, ‘Well, I have all your information.’”
At this point, neck hairs began to bristle. Marc Flake, Tarrant County PIO, took umbrage with those statements and stepped forward. He related how he had facilitated the Weekly’s requests for a recent cover story by Peter Gorman that examined issues related to the medical examiner’s office.
“I was very helpful with Mr. Gorman,” Flake said, “and told him who he needed to talk to, gave him background, gave him all the documents (and) contract information he needed. I don’t stay between you guys (and county sources). I help you get the information you need.”
Spontaneous applause erupted from PR crowd.
I found the exchange refreshingly candid -- and disturbingly enlightening. It brought home to me that the adversarial relationship between hacks and flacks is still alive and well.
Some may dismiss weeklies (and indeed all newspapers now) as non-influencers or think their constituents don’t read those papers, so who cares what they think? But with the market share of dailies falling and weeklies currently increasing, we need to have this honest dialogue to bridge the gap of misperceptions.
Maybe the panelists didn’t realize they were in a room with cream of the crop PRSA practitioners, who hold to a PRSA Code of Ethics,which state in part:
HONESTY - We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests ofthose we represent and in communicating with the public.
LOYALTY- We are faithful to those we represent, while honoring our obligation to serve the public interest.
FAIRNESS- We deal fairly with clients, employers, competitors, peers, vendors, the media, and thegeneral public. We respect all opinions and support the right of free expression.
PR practitioners are obligated to our organizations / clients and their stakeholders as well as to the public interest. Journalists are obligated to the public’s right to know, their readers and advertisers. (Yes, advertisers were mentioned several times by the panelists as being quite an important audience.)
Here’s the rub: being honest and ethical doesn’t always translate (in the private sector, anyway) to being as “open” as some of us would like. This is due to a number of reasons, including proprietary information, SEC regs, security concerns and political sensitivities.
As PR practitioners, we have to weigh the benefit vs. risk of responding to certain media inquiries. Brave responders will answer even a hostile reporter in order to provide balance. But cautious ones will favor silence if media objectivity is questionable and they are mischaracterized or taken out of context repeatedly.
In our changing media landscape and diminishing dailies’ prowess, it would behoove PR practitioners to eschew derogatory terms for alternative or community weeklies (punk rags, podunk papers) and appreciate their financial strength and scope of influence among many constituencies.
By the same token, journalists should re-examine their broad-brush generalizations about PR practitioners as spinners and blockers. In light of shrinking news staff and resources, ethical PR pros provide information, assistance and access to high-level sources that will only become more critical for journalists who want to report the truth.
Read about the financial status of the dailies and the hack’s take on it here.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
President's Column from the March eChaser
Image by hyku via Flickr
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!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Thoughts on blogging
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Monday, June 2, 2008
Here's to your dreams
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
