FPRA - Florida Public Relations Association Blog

At last week's Image Awards gala hosted by FPRA's Orlando Area Chapter, the FPRA 2007 Annual Conference Blog was honored with an Image Award and a Judges' Award.

In 2007, a volunteer blog team -- led by Chris Gent and Josh Hallett, with writing assistance from Paul Ramey, APR, Donna Foster and student Valerie Norman -- came together to offer live blogging of FPRA's 69th Annual Conference. The blog enjoyed tremendous success, boasting 85 articles, 89 visitor comments, 793 photos and seven podcasts, while drawing 2,207 unique visitors and 7,108 total page views.

Thanks to the vision of Immediate Past President Jessica Rye, APR and the FPRA Executive Committee for supporting and encouraging this endeavor!

Chris accepted the award on behalf of the team. Josh Hallett was somewhere in the deserts of Wyoming and couldn't attending the awards gala.

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At last night's Golden Image Awards gala, the FPRA 2006 Annual Conference Blog was honored with a Judges' Award.

(left to right) Josh Hallett, FPRA State President Jessica Rye, APR and Chris Gent.

In 2006, a volunteer blog team -- Chris Gent, Josh Hallett, Bob O'Malley, APR and Jennifer Wakefield -- came together to produce the first-ever blog of an FPRA Annual Conference. The blog enjoyed tremendous success, drawing 1,264 unique visitors during the 3-day conference that generated 4,775 page views. The blog also boasted 69 posted articles, 82 visitor comments, 363 photos and 11 hallway interview podcasts.

Thanks to the vision of FPRA Immediate Past President Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC and the staff of the FPRA state office for supporting and encouraging this endeavor!

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As a first-time blogger for conference, this has been a very rewarding experience for me. It has been more work, yes, but my hope is that this information will be useful and beneficial for those who were unable to attend conference, and, for those of us (me included) who wished we could be in more than one session at the same time.

I look forward to getting back home and having a chance to look through the blog and review conference when I have more time.

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What's the saying, "What happens at conference, stays at conference?" This entry falls into the category of, 'you had to be there..."

Pictured below is the 'Velvet Hammer'. What is it? You'll need to ask. Just check in with: Rayburn, Oppenheim, Gernert, Savage, McShaffrey, Preston or a few other long-time members.

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If you've ever called the FPRA State Office in Sarasota, you've probably heard -- "FPRA, this is Amanda" -- on the other end of the line. Just who is this Amanda? Why, it's Amanda Stillings!

Amanda serves as office administrator for FPRA as well as office administrator for KSC, Inc., a Sarasota-based advertising, public relations and marketing agency.

Now you have a face to go with the name!

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A typographical error, typo, or fat-finger is a mistake made during the typing process. The term includes errors due to mechanical failure or slips of the hand or finger, but excludes errors of ignorance. Most typos involve simple duplication, omission, transposition, or substitution of a small number of characters. -- Wikipedia

Typos. They impact all of us in public relations. Despite several proofreading passes, we manage to discover the glaring errors only after the brochure, annual report or letterhead has already been printed and delivered to our office.

Sometimes the error is even larger.

Take, for example, the 8' x 24' backdrop on this year's annual conference stage. A few of the conference participants in the audience noticed a typo on Monday. As you can see in the top photo, the theme is listed as "PR: The Convergence of Arts and Science." The 's' in art is not supposed to be there.

After a quick mention to the production folks, the typo was corrected today as is evident in the second photo.

So, what's the biggest typo you've experienced in your career?

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Tonight was the annual scholarship fundraiser to benefit the Florida Public Relations Education Foundation. The event was held at nearby Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, a respected center for research and education as well as a famous orchid showplace.

Conference attendees were treated to an open-air trolley ride to and from the gardens.

The auction featured dozens of items, including weekend getaways, sports tickets and collectibles, artwork and much more. The fundraising total is currently being tabulated and will be announced in the morning.

Many thanks to the Orlando Area and Central West Coast chapters for sponsoring this fun and worthwhile event!

Click here to view the photo slideshow.

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One of the highlights of the President's Luncheon is the Dillin Dessert. Named in honor of the founder of FPRA, Lt. Col. John W. Dillin. The dessert is sponsored by the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter.

This year's dessert is a Warm Guayaquil Cake served with raspberry compote and Rice Crispy Treats Ice Cream. The cake has a warm chocolate center. Enjoy!

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Coming up next is the Presidents' Luncheon. This is a very special event which honors the work of outstanding individuals and chapters in the past year, including the coveted Chapter of the Year and Chapter President of the Year awards.

PR professionals who recently earned their accreditation or certification in public relations will also be honored.

The food highlight of the luncheon is the famous Dillin Dessert, sponsored by the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter. More on that in just a bit.

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I'm sure most everyone has heard of the trivia game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. It's based on the concept that any actor can be linked, through their film roles, to actor Kevin Bacon. The game requires a group of players to try to connect any film actor in history to the Kevin Bacon as quickly as possible and in as few links as possible.

In a variation of this game we're going to see how fast we can connect FPRA State President Jessica Rye, APR to Leonardo da Vinci. How, you say?

Well, the sketch used in this year's Annual Conference logo is the Vitruvian Man, a world-renowned drawing with accompanying notes created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1490. It depicts a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square.

This image exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance and provides the perfect example of Leonardo's keen interest in proportion.

So what's the connection to Jessica?

The sketch was the inspiration for the mission insignia for NASA's Skylab 3, the second manned mission to Skylab in 1973. Jessica previously worked as a public affairs officer for NASA.

There you go... Jessica Rye to Leonardo da Vinci in just two steps. Take that, Kevin Bacon!

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Conference participants gathered on the north lawn of the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota this evening for the President's Welcome Reception, hosted by FPRA State President Jessica Rye, APR.

Lots of old... ooops, I meant seasoned... and new faces in the crowd. Click here for a photo slideshow.

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For those of you who are here at the conference, I HIGHLY recommend visiting the Vernona, a AAA Four Diamond restaurant for any meal, especially dinner. We decided to splurge and go before the President’s Welcome Reception. I’m a big Food Network fan and love cooking and food in general. I figured since FPRA was nice enough to send me here, I would use my own money to splurge on something I have always wanted: a four course meal.

First course: Key West Shrimp Ceviche, Heirloom Tomatoes, Avocado, Baby Corn,
Second: Seared Rare Tuna, Pistachio Tabbouleh, Broccoli, Saffron Emulsion,
Third: Olive Oil-Poached Beef Tenderloin, Anson Mills Carolina Gold Risotto, Pioppini Mushrooms, White Truffle Fumet,
Fourth: The Tasting Plate- Crème Brulee, Key Lime Tart, Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry Gelato and a Soufflé.

Trust me, you have to go here before you leave!!

Anyway, back to business! The President’s Welcome Reception was held on the greens of the Ritz out by the harbor. As the sun set, FPRAers mingled and dined upon beautiful desserts similar to the ones listed above. As I’m sure you guessed, I didn’t have a thing because I was so full! But the desserts all looked like they would have tasted delicious. I didn’t get a chance to meet the president, but I will be sitting with her at the banquet, thanks to Dr. Rayburn. So I will get to ask her questions then. (I will have to write the answers on paper though since Dr. Rayburn gave Stacey and me strict orders for the banquet table. “You must have FUN and if you blog, you get flogged!”)

Is there anything you would like to ask FPRA President, Jessica Rye, APR?
What was your favorite dessert from this evening?
Did you meet anyone interesting at the roundtable of sweets?

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As my partner in crime, Stacey Getz and I followed the red brick road up to the towering paradise, also known as the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota, we realized that we are definitely not in Tally anymore. There was not a gray cloud in the sky and the sun was shining bright.

In summary: The hotel is very beautiful. There are chandeliers everywhere you look and my gosh….what they must spend in fresh flowers!! They are everywhere! On your plate, in your drink, at every table…EVERYWHERE! Beds are comfy and view of the Gulf is beautiful. I would definitely recommend coming to the conference for the professional development, as well as the great atmosphere. I am looking forward to next year and I hope you will consider coming next year.

What is your favorite Florida hotel and recommendation for the conference committee in the years to come?

If you are here, what part of the conference are you most excited about? I'm excited about Dr. Dale Brill's session on "Giving Structure to the Chaos of Content". When I interned at VISIT FLORIDA, where he is CMO, he would always tell the PR team, “Don’t be afraid to try new things because you are afraid to make a mistake.” It really is the only way to come up with creative ideas; sometimes you may miss the mark, but eventually you will hit the PR nail on the head.

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When I arrived at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club there was a Lamborghini Gallardo in the drive. I asked Tom Preston and Jay Rayburn if they were driving it...nope. Perhaps it belongs to Jessica Rye :-).

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The usual gang of FPRA members took part in the annual golf tournament at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Sarasota this afternoon. Who are the usual suspects? You know, Oppenheim, Rayburn, Preston, et al. The links were beautiful and of course the Ritz-Carlton service was superb.

The winners and awards will be announced at the reception this evening. We'll post an update when we have the details. (It turns out they did not announce the winners at the reception. We'll get the details soon though.) Here are some photo highlights

The complete photoset from the golf tournament can be found here. A slideshow of the photos can be found here.

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While the golf tournament begins later today, the 2007-2008 executive committee will meet in a few hours to plan for the continued success of our great organization and service to our members throughout the coming year. Today's sunrise as viewed from my balcony.

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