The conference blog will feature session recaps, photos and interviews, as well as posts that provide an insider's look at an FPRA conference.
We are looking for conference attendees who would be willing to serve as volunteer bloggers. Are you interested? All you need is a laptop computer and the ability to write. Don't worry about the blogging part... we'll show you how the blogging software works and get you set up with a Wi-Fi account at the hotel.
This year's conference will take place on August 9-12 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton. If you are interested in blogging, please contact Chris Gent at cgent@kua.com or 407-933-9836.
FPRA’s Annual Conference is one of the Association’s most anticipated professional development events of the year. For four days, FPRA members, as well as other PR professionals around the region, join together for one common goal — to enhance their career through professional development seminars led by nationally recognized speakers and networking opportunities. By offering experts on a variety of industry-related topics, FPRA’s goal for Annual Conference is to present tools, tactics and strategies that its members can immediately apply and implement in their jobs.
This year, FPRA’s Annual Conference theme is "PR on F.I.R.E."! Annual Conference speakers’ topics and activities will all fall under: Foundation, Innovation, Reputation and Education.
This morning marks one week since the 70th FPRA Annual Conference officially kicked off in Kissimmee. This post will be my final look at blog Web stats related to the conference.
Total unique visitors: 2,570
Total page views: 8,810
The average visitor stayed on this blog for 4 minutes, 52 seconds.
Compared to our 2007 conference blog coverage, these stats represent a 16 percent increase in unique visitors and a 24 percent increase in total page views.
This blog has allowed our Association to reach individuals we might not have reached otherwise. It has allowed us to share information about our growing profession with others living outside the state... and the country. Despite being one of 112.8 million blogs worldwide, the FPRA Blog found a niche and reeled in more than 2,500 unique visitors in one week.
Thanks, again, to our dedicated blog team who made it happen: Suzanne Dameron, Kelly Donovan, Melissa Filipkowski, Amanda Forbes, Chris Gent, Dr. Allen Moore, APR, Paul Ramey, APR. Special thanks to Paul Ramey, APR for championing the cause with FPRA's Executive Committee and to the FPRA State Office for assisting with promotion and logistics.
Working behind the scenes at this year's annual conference was a true public relations professional and marketing genius. I'm talking about Keith Salwoski, Director of Public Relations and Chief Storyteller at Gaylord Palms Resort.
Although we never saw Keith on stage or in the spotlight during the conference, he was making things happen to enhance our conference experience.
Things like donating all the food for Monday night's scholarship fundraiser. This allowed all auction and event proceeds to go directly to the Florida Public Relations Education Foundation. Without Keith's donation, the auction would have raised less than half of the $15,500 it made.
Keith also arranged the donation of an amazing Gaylord Palms ICE! package to the live auction. This item helped raise funds for ongoing educational and professional development programs for FPRA members.
Keith was the mastermind behind the ICE! certificates that were distributed to all conference attendees for donation to the local non-profit organization of their choosing. A nice touch and a great way to give back to our local communities.
He also served as a speaker at Tuesday afternoon's student track, sharing his many years of experience with the future leaders of our profession.
These are but a few examples of how Keith reached out to us during the conference. As a member of the Orlando Area Chapter, Keith continually gives back to FPRA and the public relations profession -- and for that we are all extremely grateful.
Thank you, Keith, and thank you to Michelle Smith at Gaylord who worked tirelessly throughout the conference to support Keith.
In closing, I wanted to share with you the totaled Web stats for this blog during our three day conference. The event itself may be over, but the information, podcasts and photos we've posted these past few days will remain for you to refer back to in the future.
Total unique visitors: 1,701
Total page views: 6,314
The average visitor stayed on this blog for 4 minutes, 49 seconds.
Thanks for visiting. We hope to see you next year on Aug. 9-12, 2009 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton. Here's a glimpse...
FPRA's 70th Annual Conference has drawn to a close. We'll be posting a few recap items over the next day or so. We hope you enjoyed the blog coverage.
Special thanks again to our awesome blog team who worked throughout the conference -- day and night -- to ensure a continuous flow of conference coverage.
2008 CONFERENCE BLOG TEAM
Suzanne Dameron
Kelly Donovan
Melissa Filipkowski
Amanda Forbes
Chris Gent
Dr. Allen Moore, APR
Paul Ramey, APR
FPRA Annual Conference: Closing Session, What Makes the Great Ones Great – Don Yaeger, New York Times best-selling author
Sixteen Characteristics of Greatness
What makes great people tick, and how can we apply those characteristics to our lives? We’re all capable of greatness. It’s all in the mental approach we take to our work and our lives.
How great leaders think:
1. It’s personal.
Don once scored a basket while playing one-on-one against Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player in the world. Furious that he was one-upped by a short white guy, Jordan trash-talked Don every time they met after that, not because he hated Don but because he hated losing. Great leaders expect only success from themselves.
Dr. Leslie Gaines Ross leads Weber Shandwick’s global reputation consulting services and proprietary thought leadership development. She is the architect of groundbreaking, award-winning research into CEO and corporate reputation, executive team reputation, leadership transitions, and reputation sustainability and recovery. Dr. Gaines-Ross is a member of Weber Shandwick’s global senior management team and is based in the firm’s corporate headquarters in New York.
Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation
Dr. Gaines-Ross started her talk by telling us that the growing significance of reputation became very apparent to her when her manilla folders on the topic began growing. It was around 2000 that reputation as a subject was becoming an important body of knowledge and a discipline.
Gaines-Ross found herself and others asking questions: What is driving reputation? What is the relationship to financial performance? How can you recover reputation?
As promised, here are the photos from Tuesday night's Golden Image Awards banquet. Many thanks to Josh Hallett who shot these photos and the ones from the Reception of the Presidents.
In this age of lightning speed communication, it doesn't take long for word to get out about happenings at this year's conference. Check out the blogs and news that has been generated so far:
All the awards have been given out at the 51st anniversary Golden Image Awards banquet and the evening's activities have drawn to a close.
Pictured above is this year's Dick Pope All Florida Golden Image Award winner: Southwest Florida Addiction Services and Susan Bennett Marketing & Media, L.C. with their entry, The SWFAS Campaign to Build a New Detoxification Center.
Special thanks to the following individuals and organizations: Rachel Smith, APR, CPRC and her committee for putting together a wonderful evening... to the Georgia Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for judging our entries ... to the Capital, Gainesville and Jacksonville Chapters for their financial support of the banquet... to FPRA President Suzanne Sparling, APR; Doreen Overstreet, APR; Mary Briggs, APR, CPRC; Terrie Ard, APR; Rick Oppenheim, APR, CPRC; Chris Gent; and Roger Pynn, APR who served as this evening's presenters.
The final individual award given out tonight was the John W. Dillin Award.
The John W. Dillin Professional Award for service to the Florida Public Relations Association has been established as the highest, most prestigious award of the Association. The award honors the spirit and dedication of FPRA’s first president and founder, Lt. Col. John W. Dillin, and his lifetime of service to and support of the Association.
The purpose of the annual award is to recognize an FPRA member for his/her outstanding contribution to the Association and the field of public relations.
Drum roll, please... the winner of the 2008 John W. Dillin Award is:
KAREN PLUNKETT, APR
Director, Marketing/Public Relations & Business Development
Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, PA
Orlando Area Chapter
The next individual award given out tonight was the Doris Fleischman Award.
The Doris Fleischman Award honors unrecognized contributions an individual FPRA member has made to the public relations profession and/or to FPRA. In essence, this is an “unsung hero" award intended to reward that individual who consistently provides support and assistance to the Association.
The award was established to honor the achievements and contributions of Doris Fleischman, business partner and wife of Edward L. Bernays, the “father” of public relations. It honors those FPRA members who, like Ms. Fleischman, make contributions to the field of public relations through consistent, tireless efforts. It is meant to honor a member for his/her “behind the scenes” work and FPRA volunteer efforts that go unnoticed by chapter members and are not recognized by other awards programs.
Drum roll, please... the recipient of the 2008 Doris Fleischman Award is:
ROD HEMPHILL, APR, CPRC
Director, Public Relations
Florida Farm Bureau Federation
Gainesville Chapter
As part of tonight's Golden Image Awards ceremony, three individual awards were given. The first award was the 2008 Member of the Year Award.
This award is intended to recognize one member who has made a significant contribution to the Association through outstanding leadership, demonstrated enthusiasm, extraordinary involvement and loyal support. The recipient is selected by the FPRA State President.
Drum roll, please... the 2008 FPRA Member of the Year is:
PAUL E. RAMEY, APR
Assistant Director of Marketing & Public Relations
Florida Museum of Natural History
Gainesville Chapter
Tonight is one of the highlights of FPRA's annual conference - the Golden Image Awards. For those who are unfamiliar with the awards, here is a short tutorial:
The Golden Image Awards competition is conducted annually by the Florida Public Relations Association to recognize outstanding public relations programs in Florida and to encourage and promote the development of public relations professionalism in our state.
Winners demonstrate the very best examples of innovation, planning and design. The awards competition includes four divisions of categories: Public Relations Programs, Printed Tools of Public Relations, Audio/Visual Tools of Public Relations and Student Projects in Public Relations. To qualify for judging, an entry must incorporate sound public relations research and planning. Entries also must meet the highest standard of production, execution and evaluation of results and budget.
There are several different levels of awards:
Award of Distinction - presented to all the entries that meet the standard of excellence set by a panel of judges.
Golden Image Award - Presented to the top-scoring entry in each category.
Judges’ Award - Presented by a panel of judges for an outstanding entry that achieves maximum results while using a minimum amount of money.
Grand Golden Image Award - Presented to the best Golden Image Award-winning entry in Divisions B and C.
Dick Pope All Florida Golden Image Award - This is Florida's top public relations award awards for the year. It is presented to the best Golden Image Award-winning entry in Division A.
Watch for my later post with a complete list of tonight's winners!
We're now at the halfway point of the conference and figured it was a good time to ask what you think about our conference coverage thus far. Tell us the good, the bad and the ugly. We'd prefer if you left your email so we can respond to you, but if you feel the need to be anonymous, go ahead.
What has been your favorite portion of the conference coverage?
Do you like the fact that we've included commentary on the sessions or would you just prefer the facts from presentations?
The Counselors’ Network offers high-level professional networking and development for senior level counselors. Requires serving in a counselor role in your employment and you must minimum of ten years experience. More information and application can be found on the FPRA website.
We had a small group at this table but each of us was currently involved in a communications audit.
Jay finds that the term “audit” is generally off-putting to clients as it suggests that the process is looking for what the company is doing wrong.
Jay began with the definition of a Communication Audit (CA)
"A communications audit measures the effectiveness of an organization's communications."
It answers the questions:
What are you doing well that you need to continue doing?
What are you doing that you could tweak?
What are you doing that is ineffective that you could drop?
Start with the macro view:
What does the company say that they want to say?
What are they actually saying?
What are people are hearing?
If an organization has key messages, can you find all of them in the communications?
Leading one of the Tuesday afternoon breakout sessions was Roy Reid, APR, partner with Consensus Communications. Roy is an accredited and award-winning public relations counselor with a successful background in corporate, government and consulting arenas.
The presentation “Do the Right Thing: Understanding and Applying Code of Ethics” explored the Universal Accreditation Board’s Code of Ethics and how it applies to modern business practices and principles. Roy said many provocative things.
If you work for him, you know that the things he enjoys most (in this order) are ethics, trust and crisis management issues.
Toni James is no stranger to non-profit public relations. Toni has 30 years experience as executive director and later president of the United Way of Marion County. Toni formed her firm, Toni James and Associates in 2007.
Building bridges. It is important to note the similarities to for-profit PR; accountability, need to demonstrate value to management and the channels are basically the same.
“Start at the beginning…,” said the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, and that’s exactly what non-profit, and even for-profit practitioners need to do. Take the time to evaluate who your target publics are, and who they should be.
As a side note, I was personally interested in seeing how Bryan handled this topic in such a short time frame. I have had the pleasure of attending some of his training sessions at UF. Parts of this diversity training session were used for a larger sexual harassment training he did for employees at the Florida Museum of Natural History, where I work. The session was excellent --- but it was three hours! But Bryan is an excellent speaker and he did a magnificent job on this session as well. Also, sadly for UF employees, this is one of Bryan’s last duties in his position at UF, as he has accepted and will soon begin a new position as director of employee development at the University of Virginia, where he received his Masters of Fine of Arts degree.
Now, on with the session:
Bryan gave a brief introduction about the importance of diversity and how it is more accepted in today’s society, in part because of laws, but also because of our country becoming more of a melting pot. But he stressed that he wants to talk to us as individuals and helping each of us be more successful in our personal and professional lives. Everyone carries some type of stereotype, and we don’t even know that we hold them. And these can be barriers to us in public relations.
Session Goals
- Define stereotype
- Discuss the effect of stereotypes
- Gain understanding about your role as both perpetuator and victim of stereotypes and prejudgments
Actively seek out a job. Don’t broadcast your resume to dozens of potential employers you might want to work for or hand your resume over to a recruiter and expect them to get you a job.
Have multiple resumes that are tailored to a specific position. You’ll receive more interested employer responses when you highlight exactly how and why you are qualified for their opening.
Along that line, have multiple versions of a cover letter. Don’t know how to write a stellar cover letter? Check out your college’s career center for literature or counselors who can help you write one. Virginia Tech’s Career Center has an excellent Web site that can help you write a cover letter.
The Difference Between Corporate, Nonprofit, and Agency Public Relations
The following is an abbreviated, paraphrased transcript of a panel of PR professionals who spoke on various topics relating to the different types of PR organizations and jobs available to today’s rising PR professionals. The students in this session enjoyed hearing about the “real world” of public relations and asking some burning questions of their own.
Panel members:
Joe Chabus, APR – leads internal communications at Universal Studios, graduate of UCF
Dan Ward – vice president and partner with public relations agency Curley & Pynn, graduate of UCF
Audrey Perrot – director of communications at A Gift for Teaching, an Orlando-based non-profit, graduate of UF
Moderator – Ryan Sheehy, communications professor at UCF
We have lots of students participating in this year's conference, representing Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Southern College, Florida State University, Southeastern University, University of Central Florida and University of Florida. (photo by Kelly Donovan)
The chocolate break - chocolate chip cookies, double chocolate ice cream bars from Haagen Das and chocolate milk – (yes there were other flavors of ice cream and cookies but they didn’t get my attention) brought people together for a casual review of the days events.
Here are some of the comments during the break…..I’m a strategic person so I liked the keynote this morning. …With these young people, I want to pack them up to do some international PR and get that whole world view. As Americans we are so parochial…it’s not individual faults but our cultural outlook……My primary news source is the economist because I want a broader perspective….
I thought that session on communicating to women was very interesting. Their approach to research was very interesting.
I just had a really great session on diversity…the discussion was great. It’s a challenge as a senior practitioner to find challenging sessions so that was enjoyable. I did one earlier today on marketing to women – and that was very good as well. There are a lot of prejudices that we all have that we aren’t always aware of.
When our keynote speaker said his main regret was that he wished he could be starting out in public relations now…he sounded genuinely wistful. It says a lot about the changes ahead in our profession…. His definition of the economist that he overheard - someone who lacks the charisma to be an accountant – that was great.
How new media is changing the face of public relations
On September 17, 2007, UF student Andrew Meyer was Tasered at a forum featuring Senator John Kerry after aggressively questioning Kerry on his involvement at Yale and in the 2000 election and refusing to step down from the microphone and leave the room. Within hours, The Gainesville Sun and The Independent Florida Alligator, UF’s student newspaper, had posted videos of the incident taken by other forum attendees; by the following morning, not only had the Alligator and the Sun published stories covering the forum and Meyer’s now-famous “Don’t Tase me, bro!” plea, but national media, parents, alumni, and outraged students were flooding the university with calls and emails demanding to know how and why a student could be Tasered at an otherwise nonviolent event.
Last night's Foundation Funk-tion fundraiser grossed $15,500 for the Florida Public Relations Education Foundation. Foundation chair Lynn Schneider, APR, CPRC presented a check this morning to FPRA President Suzanne Sparling, APR.
Congratulations to the Orlando Area Chapter for planning and hosting this year's fundraiser.
On September 17, 2007, at 12:00 p.m. ET, U.S. Senator John Kerry addressed a Constitution Day forum at the University of Florida in Gainesville, which was organized by the university's student government. Toward the end of the question and answer period, University police forcibly removed Andrew Meyer, a 21-year-old fourth-year undergraduate telecommunications student, from the forum, restraining him through direct force and drive stunning him with a Taser.
Several videos of the episode were then posted on the Internet. The video shot with Meyer's camera had 2.6 million views by October 19, 2007 and was considered a viral video. The New Oxford American Dictionary listed "tase/taze" as one of the words of the year for 2007, popularized by the widespread use of "Don't tase me, bro!" The Yale Book of Quotations designated the same quote as the most memorable quote of 2007. Mick Jones, former guitarist for The Clash, wrote and published a song inspired from the event, "Don't Tase Me, Bro." (Wikipedia)
Coming up next is University of Florida Associate Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations Joe Hice, APR who will give insight into the social media incident heard round the world. Blogger Kelly Donovan will have a session summary posted shortly.
One of the things that makes this conference blog a success is posted comments from our readers. Please feel free to post your comments on a session topic or leave a congratulatory note to your Chapter on its awards from Monday.
Unfortunately, Justin Sayfie couldn’t make it. In his place, we heard from Vivian Myrtetus, APR, vice president of Core Message, Inc. in Tallahassee, Fla. who has a similar background to Justin. Vivian is a veteran communications expert with more than 15 years experience in corporate + government communications. She served as top advisor and communications director for Florida Governor Charlie Crist, among other positions.
Vivian shared a quote with us before getting started…“Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.” – Ronald Reagan
She focused on The Changing World We Live In by touching on the changing media landscape, importance of rapid response and lessons learned from her experience.
Tom Jordan, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Hoffman York, has spent the past three years leading the charge on new research to understand advertising to women.
He stated while his presentation mainly will focus on advertising, but should still be relevant as public relations can jump in to help where advertising fails.
When advertising to women there should be four focuses:
• What women love
• What women like
• What women ignore
• What women hate
Prologue: FPRA at 70
Very impressed with FPRA’s efforts in professional development.
“A Valedictory and a Vision”
Valedictory: I come not to comfort you but to challenge you.
The vision: to take a look at the future.
The future of public relations is a challenging undertaking.
Drivers of public relations growth.
1. Many more kinds of organizations are adopting public relations as integral to their success. Not just big corporations any more. Non-profits, smaller companies, even the media, are now using public relations.
2. Public relations professionals are now delivering a plethora of communications services.
3. Public relations is now becoming a global profession (more and more the reality). Ketchum now has seven offices in China.
At yesterday's Presidents' Luncheon, attendees were treated to a short video which featured past state presidents of FPRA. Titled "FPRA Cavalcade of Presidents," the video was produced by former state president and FPRA Executive Director Bob Gernert, APR, CPRC.
Nearly 100 conference attendees participated in Monday evening's scholarship fundraiser to benefit the Florida Public Relations Education Foundation. The foundation funds ongoing educational and professional development programs for FPRA members.
The silent and live auction featured more than 85 gift baskets of items, including weekend getaways, sports tickets and collectibles, artwork and much more. The fundraising total is currently being tabulated and will hopefully be announced later this morning.
Many thanks to the Orlando Area Chapter for hosting this fun and worthwhile event, and thanks to our sponsors: Gaylord Palms Resort, Art of the Party and disc jockey, Allen Moore, APR of Florida MegaMix Radio.
The first full day of the FPRA Annual Conference has wrapped up. We hope this blog has provided visitors with a window into our informative and fun conference... as we celebrate seven decades of enhancing the profession. We provided summaries of some of today's presentations. We uploaded hundreds of conference photos. And we racked up some impressive site traffic statistics for the first day:
Total unique visitors for Monday: 804
Total page views: 3,019
The average visitor on Monday stayed on this blog for 4 minutes, 26 seconds.
Thanks to those of you who visited us today. We'll have even more stuff for you tomorrow... including a complete list of our 2008 Golden Image Awards winners. Be among the first to hear who will be taking home the state's top PR awards for 2008.
It's no secret that the folks at Gaylord Palms Resort are concerned about every detail which could enhance the resort experience for their guests. Here's an example.
We normally don't feature conference bathrooms on this blog, but you have to check out these sunrise/sunset photos of the innovative bathroom stall lighting. And compact flourescent lights no less! Yep, you guessed it - a "green" latrine.
Earlier this year, Gaylord Palms Resort received the Florida Green Lodging Certification from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
On the heels of the Dillin Dessert (hopefully this will not be too chocolate infused or caffeine infused)…comes breakout 2C…WOW! Polarize to Magnetize.
If the name WOW! wasn’t enough to get conference attendees to come to the session, WOW! posters were strewn across the hallway in HUGE red letters, enticing professionals further down the hall.
Carrie Englert Zimmerman, dynamic in bright yellow, truly has the WOW! factor as a former Olympian and first woman to ever receive a “perfect 10” in the floor exercise category. Carrie, president of the largest PR firm in Florida, is geared up to discuss the role of public relations as a catalyst in building business.
Nancy McCarthy, APR, vice president of accreditation for FPRA, led one of the Monday afternoon breakout sessions and unveiled the mystery behind becoming accredited. She also shared some tips to help those pursuing Accreditation prepare for what may be a defining moment in career development. Overall, now is a great time to pursue Accreditation - given the current state of the market, what better time than now to do something for yourself and set you apart in the industry. And most of all, it’s fun to have letters after your name…
Coined ‘A step by step guide to becoming You, APR’, Nancy discussed the accreditation process and covered the Research section of the KSAs in addition to quizzing the group with a couple test questions. It’s important to know that the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB) is the governing board of Accreditation in Public Relations. Information is available at praccreditation.org – wealth of information available there.
Dr. Jay Rayburn, APR, CPRC, sat in on the presentation and provided insight into how the exam was developed. He also mentioned that one mistake people make when preparing for the Examination is thinking that they “know” this or that…start writing it down and it’ll make an impression. Also advised that you put the time in and get involved in study groups and other resources available to you. The goal is to help you succeed.
Project Hometown as a 501c(4) tax exempt organization created to promote new and renovated community venues designed to significantly enhance the quality of life of all central Floridians through arts, education, entertainment and sports.
The goal to build a new performing arts center, new events center, and renovate the Citrus Bowl Stadium.
Challenges were to educate the community on the tourist tax. The tax could only be used to enhance tourism and entertainment in the community, but could be partially used to build these venues. Therefore, by using the tax as a partial funding source coupled with with a variety of other funding sources, this would accomplish full funding for the projects.
At the conclusion of the Presidents' Luncheon, 11 former FPRA State Presidents gathered on stage for the annual "passing of the gavel." This is a fun time for each former state president to share highlights and funny stories from their year as state president.
Pictured above, from left to right, are: Suzanne Sparling, APR (2008); Jessica Rye, APR (2007); Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC (2006); Carole Savage, APR, CPRC (2004); John McShaffrey, APR (2003); Kathy Giery, APR, CPRC (2001); Rick Oppenheim, APR, CPRC (2000); Lynn Schneider, APR, CPRC (1999); Jay Rayburn, II, Ph.D., APR, CPRC (1994); Karen Plunkett, APR (1991); Bob Gernert, Jr., APR, CPRC (1985).
FPRA Immediate Past President Jessica Rye, APR took the stage and announced that Carole Savage, APR, CPRC is the recipient of this year's Past Presidents Award. Carole is the volunteer and disabilities coordinator for CLM Workforce Connection.
The Chapter President of the Year is Barbara-Anne Urrutia of the Southwest Florida Chapter! Barbara is the public relations manager for Lee County Port Authority in Ft. Myers.
This year's Outstanding Chapter of the Year award goes to the Central West Coast Chapter! Congratulations to Chapter President Dee Zulauf, APR and her board. Dee is a partner in the Sarasota PR firm EnviZage.
The winner of the Most Improved Chapter award is the Volusia/Flager County Chapter! Congratulations to Chapter President Pat Kuehn, APR and her board. Pat is the community information specialist for Volusia County Government in DeLand.
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 Caramelized Hazelnut Chocolate Terrine, a rich European chocolate mousse with caramelized hazelnuts and bittersweet chocolate glaze, Frangelico Anglaise. Enjoy!
The awards portion of the annual Presidents' Luncheon has just wrapped up in the main ballroom of the Gaylord Palms Resort.
FPRA State President Suzanne Sparling, APR took to the stage and recognized the outgoing president of each of FPRA's 15 chapters. They are as follows:
Elizabeth Caire Couch, APR - Capital Chapter
Dee Zulauf, APR - Central West Coast Chapter
Becky T. Murphy - Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter
Sheila Zachow, APR - Gainesville Chapter
Scott R. Saunders - Jacksonville Chapter
Carla Groleau - Nature Coast Chapter
Elaine Ashman - Northwest Florida Coast Chapter
Anita T. Winter - Ocala Chapter
Jamie D. Floer, APR - Orlando Area Chapter
Ashley Hodge - Pensacola Chapter
Barbara-Anne Urrutia - Southwest Florida Chapter
Linda Herridge - Space Coast Chapter
Dan McLean, APR - Tampa Bay Chapter
Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC - Treasure Coast Chapter
Pat Kuehn, APR - Volusia/Flagler County Chapter
Next, Jessica recognized the outgoing members of the outgoing 2007-08 Executive Committee:
Lanette Hart, APR, CPRC - President-Elect
Jessica Rye, APR - Immediate Past President
Nancy McCarthy, APR - VP of Accreditation/Certification
Melanie Mowry-Etters, APR, CPRC - VP of Annual Conference
Wendy Crites Wacker, APR - VP of Chapter Services
Jeff Nall, APR, CPRC - VP of Communications and Public Relations
Sheridan Becht, APR - VP of Finance
Rachel Smith, APR, CRPC - VP of Golden Image
Jennifer Moss, APR - VP of Member Services
Dr. Bob Davis, APR, CPRC - VP of Planning/Research
Trista Wallace, APR - VP of Professional Development
Paul Ramey, APR - VP of Technology
April Herrle, APR, CPRC - Counselors' Network Chairman
Lynn Schneider, APR, CPRC - FPRE Foundation Chair
Nancy McCarthy, APR, Vice President of Accreditation/Certification was next on stage to recognize those individuals who received their APR (Accredited in Public Relations) and CPRC (Certified Public Relations Counselor) certification this past year. This is the largest group of newly accredited members in more than a decade. Congratulations to
CPRC
Julia Babair, APR, CPRC
Terrie Glover Ard, APR, CPRC
Kate Gooderham, APR, CPRC
Tina Haisman, APR, CPRC
Lanette Hart, APR, CPRC
Kara Winton, APR, CPRC
Florida Public Relations Education (FPRE) Foundation Chair Lynn Schneider, APR, CPRC took the stage and announced the recipient of the Bob Davis Foundation Scholarship Award. The scholarship is named in honor of long-time FPRA member Dr. Bob Davis, APR, CPRC. Bob is a retired professor from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. The recipient of this award was Megan Burgess, a student at Florida State University.
Next, Suzanne presented her much-anticipated President's Awards of Excellence for 2008. The following Chapters were recognized:
President's Award for Accreditation/Certification - Southwest Florida Chapter
President's Award for Chapter Administration - Jacksonville Chapter
President's Award for Communications - (tie) Central West Coast Chapter, Space Coast Chapter
Vice President of Communications Paul Ramey, APR came forward next to announce the winners of Best Chapter Web site. The Best Chapter Web site honors went to the Orlando Area Chapter. The runner-up was the Pensacola Chapter.
Vice President of Communications Jeff Nall, APR, CPRC was up next to announce the award for Best Chapter Newsletter. Best Chapter Newsletter - Volusia/Flagler County Chapter
Suzanne came back on stage to continue her award presentations:
President's Award for Community Service - Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter
President's Award for Customer Service - Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter
President's Award for Financial Management - Gainesville Chapter
President's Award for Fundraising - Capital Chapter
President's Award for Image Awards - Ocala Chapter
President's Award for Leadership Development - Orlando Area Chapter
President's Award for Membership - (tie) Capital Chapter, Treasure Coast Chapter
President's Award for Professional Development - Treasure Coast Chapter
President's Award for Professional Recognition - Pensacola Chapter
President's Award for Promoting the Profession - Orlando Area Chapter
President's Award for Senior Member Development - Space Coast Chapter
President's Award for Spirit of FPRA - NW Florida Coast Chapter
President's Award for Student Development - Tampa Bay Chapter
The President's Award for Customer Service is a new award added this year to tie into Suzanne Sparling's focus on customer service to our members.
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.
Keith Gold, founder and Creative Director with GOLD & Associates, led one of the Monday morning sessions. Keith's career history reads like a listing of America's leading marketing firms, as he has served as Director of Strategic Planning and Creative Services for some of the world's most renowned agencies.
“Creativity takes courage.” – Matisse
Ideas and creativity are the elements that give campaigns staying power. It takes thorough research, but creativity is necessary for a few reasons:
Bombardment: The average consumer receives over 550 offline messages each day. Can you imagine how many additional messages they receive online?
Awareness: Only 2% of these messages are retained! It takes determination, research, and creativity to come up with the message that will stick with your public. Can you name the companies behind campaigns like “What Can Brown Do For You?” or “Where Shopping is a Pleasure?” Do you remember who Clara Peller was? How about “Where’s the beef?” Clara starred in that campaign over 20 years ago but the phrase remains ubiquitous today.
A New Orleans native, Dr. Joseph V. Trahan, III, APR, Fellow PRSA, has over 25 years of public relations/affairs experience in governmental, association, educational and non-profit public relations. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, United State Army Reserve (USAR), and a former Commander of the 314th Public Affairs Operations Center located in Birmingham, Ala.
Dr. Trahan's remarkable professional profile includes training more than 3,500 people a year in media relations. Perhaps it is the fact he has a Cajun father and Italian mother that lent the voltage to his presentation on how to work with the media more effectively.
Start with the 3“C”s of media relations:
Control – Stay in control.
Competence – Stay in your lane. Don’t veer into areas you aren’t familiar with.
Concern – Prior to 9/11, the poster child for the necessity of concern was Vladimir Putin; when 119 submariners died in the North Sea, he had no response to the media questions about the loss. It came across very poorly on TV.
When a reporter asked the postmaster - what are you telling the American people about the anthrax situation? – the postmaster answered that “We’re telling them that the threat is in the mail.” You have to express your concern about a situation which he never did.
Members of the Counselor's Network enjoy unique opportunities throughout the year. One of those perks is one-on-one conversations with keynote speakers during conference. This morning, CN members spent some quality time with opening speaker Jim Tsokanos.
As we celebrate 70 years of FPRA, Jim Tsokanos’ presentation focused on the future:
- The New Reality and Influencers that are happening in our business
- Understanding the new C-Suite
- Harnessing the Power of Influence
- Ten ways to get ahead in the multilogue
The New Reality and Influencers
The changing face and landscape in our business includes a decline in consumer confidence, a redefining of loyalty and changing expectations.
Firsts - America became a majority non Protestant nation in 2005 and in 2006 the University of California admitted more Asian than white students. Today there are more adults on the planet over age 60 than under age 4.
Many things are changing our business, including: immigration, innovation, globalization (the internet has changed everything and made our entire society more global), saturation (advertising is everywhere, all the time, and we are always bombarded with it), personalization (the consumer is driving the brand and where companies are going) and a severe decline in confidence of institutions
These are issues that are affecting every community.
We kick off our series of conference podcasts with an interview with outgoing FPRA State President Suzanne Sparling, APR. Suzanne is vice president of investor relations at United Way of Brevard County, Inc.
FPRA State President Suzanne Sparling, APR (pictured above with microphone) hosted a welcome reception tonight for conference participants. The dessert reception was held in the Emerald Bay Plaza.
Click here to view the photoset from the reception.
The annual FPRA Golf Outing took place Sunday afternoon at Falcon's Fire Golf Club, located adjacent to Gaylord Palms Resort. The tournament was sponsored in part by Publix and was coordinated by Steve Shepherd of the Gainesville Chapter and at-large member Jennifer LaTorre.
We had five foursomes this year:
Team #1 - score 67
Dr. Jay Rayburn, APR, CPRC, Fellow PRSA
David Hart
Rick Oppenheim, APR, CPRC
Bill Warren, APR, CPRC
Team #2 - score 64
Reese Riggle
Sarah Templeton
Jan Loomis
Jeff Cooper
Team #3 - score 69
Brad Zachow
Sheila Zachow, APR
Mike Smith
Patrick Smith
Team #4 - Score 67
Lisa Zupko
Lisa Eck
Jennifer Palombo
Mark Mitchell
Team #5 - score 60
Steve Shepherd
Tim Orwig
Daryl Morris
Tim Flors
The winning team was Team #5 (pictured above), followed by Team #2 and Team #1. The putting contest was won by Patrick Smith. Closest to the pin was won by Jeff Cooper. Longest drive was won by Mark Mitchell. Longest putt was won by Brad Zachow.
Click here to view the complete photoset from the golf outing.
Congratulations to our winners and thanks to everyone who participated! And a special thanks goes out to Alexander and Desiré Shepherd (pictured below), children of Steve Shepherd, who served as our golf outing photographers.
These alligators and turtles are hanging out in the atrium of the Gaylord Palms Resort. The specially designed habitat, called Gator Springs, is home to 15 juvenile alligators and 30 native species of turtles. They also have several live species of Florida snakes (securely displayed, of course).
The live alligator display is managed by nearby Gatorland.
Children, please keep your hands and arms inside the boat.
FPRA Vice President of Chapter Services Wendy Crites Wacker, APR (pictured above) is offering a Chapter Leadership Forum today from 2-5 p.m. for incoming chapter leaders. The forum is designed to provide leadership tips and resources to make the coming year successful.
Let me be the first to welcome you to the 2008 annual conference of the Florida Public Relations Association. This year, we celebrate our association's 70th anniversary! Seven decades of leadership. Seven decades of building relationships. Seven decades of enhancing the profession.
This annual conference is FPRA's premier professional development event. Members of FPRA, as well as other PR professionals from around the region, will gather in Kissimmee today for three days of professional development, networking and fun. By offering experts on a variety of industry-related topics, it is our goal to present concepts and tactics that participants can immediately apply to their own jobs.
It's going to be a great conference, and we hope you will take full advantage of this conference blog.
On behalf of the conference blog team, welcome to Kissimmee!
In the most recent edition of FPRA On Point I wrote an article seeking individuals interested in being part of the blog team for FPRA’s 70th Annual Conference in August. I am happy to report that we had some takers!
Throughout the three-day conference the members of this blog team will post their reactions to speakers, sessions and the conference in general. The blog will also feature podcasts as well as plenty of photographs... and maybe even a few surprises!
So without further adieu, let me introduce to you this year’s annual conference blog team:
SUZANNE DAMERON is a partner with Aspire Green Branding & Social Marketing, the first green PR & marketing firm in SW Florida. Suzanne has been a member of FPRA since 2004 and has served on the Central West Coast Chapter board for three years. As the first Director of Emerging Communications for her chapter, she recently created the 30 Days of Blogging social media initiative, cwcfprablog.typepad.com.
KELLY DONOVAN is a mass communication graduate student at the University of Florida and interns with the PR and marketing department at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Kelly has worked on advertising/public relations campaigns in community building, healthcare and youth risk prevention. She is excited to attend her first FPRA conference, thanks to a scholarship from the Gainesville chapter.
MELISSA FILIPKOWSKI is a public relations account executive at CAP, a full service marketing agency in Sarasota. She will be serving on the board of FPRA’s Central West Coast Chapter as Director of Administration this coming year. Filipkowski is new to the field, recently graduating from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s in public relations and a double master’s in management and international business.
AMANDA FORBES is an account executive for Fry Hammond Barr, a full-service advertising and public relations agency in Orlando, Fla. Amanda leads local and national public relations initiatives for clients in the government, residential and commercial real estate industries, to name a few. She has been an active member of FPRA since 2005 and currently serves as the Membership Chair for FPRA’s Orlando Area Chapter and has served on many of the Chapter's volunteer committees.
CHRIS GENT is vice president of corporate communications for Kissimmee Utility Authority. He has been a member of FPRA since 1994 and currently serves as the Webmaster of FPRA's Orlando Area Chapter. Chris has served five years on the FPRA State Board, including three years on the Executive Committee. He is a past president of the Orlando Area Chapter and winner of both the Doris Fleischman Award and the Dick Pope Grand All Golden Image Award.
DR. ALLEN MOORE, APR is the Public Information Officer for the Orange County Corrections Department in Orlando. As the primary spokesperson for one of the nation's largest jail systems, Allen handles media relations and acts as an advisor to the Chief of Corrections and the management team. Allen has 16 years of combined active duty and reserve military service in a public affairs capacity, as well as, private sector experience as a radio & TV news director, reporter and talk show host.
PAUL RAMEY, APR is assistant director in charge of marketing and public relations at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, where he has worked since 1999. He is a past president of FPRA's Gainesville Chapter and currently serves as Vice President of Technology on the FPRA Executive Committee. Ramey has more than 20 years of journalism, public relations and communications experience, including work in print, radio, healthcare and public schools.
We have received the go-ahead from FPRA's Executive Committee to offer live blogging of this year's FPRA Annual Conference in Kissimmee. Last year's conference blog was a tremendous success, and we even picked up a few awards along the way for our efforts.
The conference blog will feature session recaps, photos and interviews, as well as posts that provide an insider's look at an FPRA conference.
We have a couple of bloggers who have expressed an interest, but we could use one or two more. Are you interested?
All you need is a laptop computer and the ability to write. Don't worry about the blogging part... we'll show you how the blogging software works and get you set up with a Wi-Fi account at the hotel.
If you are interested, please contact Chris Gent at cgent@kua.com or 407-933-9836.
This morning marks one week since the 69th FPRA Annual Conference officially kicked off in Sarasota. This post will be my final look at blog Web stats related to the conference.
Total unique visitors: 2,207
Total page views: 7,108
The average visitor stayed on this blog for 4 minutes, 56 seconds.
Web stats are an interesting thing. The stats tell me that 44 percent of those who visited this blog in the past week had a computer monitor resolution of 1024x768, followed by 15 percent who had it set at 1280x1024. And the stats tell me that 72 percent of the visitors had Windows XP as their operating system, while 18 percent were using a Mac.
They also tell me from where our site visitors originated during this past week.
Of course, we had lots of visitors from cities throughout Florida, including Altamonte Springs, Cocoa, Fort Lauderdale, Gainesville, Groveland, Indiantown, Maitland, Naples, Orlando, Ormond Beach, Pensacola, Rockledge, Sanford, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa and Winter Park.
We also had numerous visitors from other states, including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
And we even had a group of individuals following our conference from the countries of Australia, Canada, Fiji, Germany, India, Romania, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
This blog has allowed our Association to reach individuals we might not have reached otherwise. It has allowed us to share information about our growing profession with others living outside the state... and the country. Despite being one of 71 million blogs worldwide, the FPRA Blog found a niche and reeled in more than 2,000 unique visitors in one week.
Not bad, not bad at all.
Thanks, again, to our dedicated blog team who made it happen: Donna Foster, Chris Gent, Josh Hallett, Valerie Norman and Paul Ramey, APR. Special thanks to Tina Haisman, APR for championing the cause with FPRA's Executive Committee and to the FPRA State Office for assisting with promotion and logistics.
Photo Joe generously provided us with a disk of all the photos he shot before, during and after last Tuesday's Golden Image Awards gala. Josh posted them all this evening over on Flickr.
In clearing off the hundreds of annual conference photos from my camera, I came across this cute group photo of the recipients of this year's Doris Fleischman Award, John W. Dillin Award and Member of the Year Award -- all showing off FPRA's exclusive set of engraved silver.
(left to right) Amelia Woodbridge, Kathy Giery, APR, CPRC, and Erin McLeod.
In closing, I wanted to share with you the totaled Web stats for this blog during our three day conference. The event itself may be over, but the information, podcasts and photos we've posted these past few days will remain for you to refer back to in the future.
Total unique visitors: 1,407
Total page views: 4,528
The average visitor stayed on this blog for 5 minutes, 9 seconds.
The 2007 FPRA Annual Conference has drawn to a close. We'll be posting a few recap items over the next few days. I know I had a blast and hope the readers did as well.
What a great ending to an amazing conference. As a first timer here I am overwhelmed at the "Love Fest" this FPRA conference really is. I hope you read these traits to becoming a leader and take them to heart. Thank you for letting me show you the event through the eyes of a student. I really enjoyed the opportunity and hope to see you all again! -Valerie Norman, hopeful future leader.
10 Leadership Traits
#1 Personal Clarity
Great leaders know:
Who they really are
What they really want in their life
Why they really want it
#2 Courage
Great leaders accept personal responsibility, display courage, and are pro-active
#3 Integrity
Great leaders “walk their talk.” They live with integrity and inspire trust.
#4 Resilience
Great leaders are curious and always searching for a better way. They understand how to accept and initiate change.
#5 Vision
Great leaders see and stay focused on the big picture. Great leaders know the answer to the 4 key leadership questions; where are we going, how do we get there, what resources do we have and need, and how do we measure success. Larry adds a fifth one; are we having fun!
In the last session of the morning, Larry Face, President of Next Level Achievement, discussed “Ten Traits of Really Great Leaders” that help us take our leadership skills to the next level. Face began the session by asking the audience to think about someone we think of as a good leader and what traits make them a good leader. The audience listed about 35 traits including intelligence, drive, patience, resilience, ability to make decisions, charisma, fun and enthusiasm. Leadership is about communications. Determining what is important to others as well as yourselves—developing consensus, clarity and execution of strategy.
EQ is more important than IQ in determining a great leader. The speaker said, “the convergence of heart, head and guts (the EQ) is the sweet spot of leadership.” Society operates at it’s best when they communicate with one language, but organizations don’t think of it like that enough.
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!
In between the two morning sessions on Wednesday I caught up with incoming State Association President Suzanne Sparling, APR. We talked about conference (of course) and her upcoming year. Click here to listen to the interview: SuzanneSparling.MP3
Cynthia Gordon, VP of Corporate Communications and TV Program Development at Universal Studios, gave an interesting presentation on “The New Media Roller Coaster Ride.” She described how Universal used bloggers, appropriate Web sites, YouTube and much more new technology to market their brand and events, such as the popular Halloween Horror Nights.
Universal will soon come out with a new Harry Potter theme park, authenticated by J.K. Rowling herself. Webcasters and fans of the adventure stories were allowed to get a sneak peak at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure. By using new media technology Universal created a BIG buzz about the theme park and invited average media users to help spread the word. Over 300 Million critics with blogs & digital videos are available for hire as potential marketing executives. Maybe you can be one of them.
It’s funny to me how people over 35 seem to be so surprised by new media. As students, we are probably under 25 and we grew up in a time where new media wasn’t really new to us; it’s just the way it is and we grew up with these new advancements. To us catching up on our news online or watching the latest events unfold on YouTube isn’t shocking or amazing to us. This is just the way it is. What I mean by this is we aren’t awestruck enough to let this new technology scare us or intimidate us. We can utilize our skill and knowledge to expand our PR strategies.
Maybe this is our “in” to impressing our bosses and becoming indispensable.
Blogs, podcasts, Facebook/MySpace, links, Web sites, all those “techy” words; to us they are every day vocabulary and we probably know more about them then we think. Just ask someone over 40 if they know the basics of Web site design. Maybe you’ll get a yes, but I assure you the average wouldn’t know.
For instant, my mother once asked me to look up a Jacksonville number while I was in Tallahassee. Then she said, "Oh, you can't because you don't have a phone book." I was like, "Mom, its called Google!" She just didn't think of that because it wasn't second nature to her like it is to me. So study up on new media because it might be our golden ticket to becoming the new giants of PR.
Well, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Yes, Josh, I am actually posting on the FPRA blog while listening to our speaker. This is an out-of-body experience. I just wish John Dillin was here to see all of this—he wouldn’t believe it!
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.
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.
All the awards have been given out at the 50th anniversary Golden Image Awards banquet and the evening's activities have drawn to a close.
Pictured above is this year's Dick Pope All Florida Golden Image Award winner: City of Tallahassee and VancoreJones Communications, Inc. with their entry, Successfully Changing Your Most Important Citizen Service.
Special thanks to April Herle, APR, CPRC and her committee for putting together a wonderful evening!
The final individual award given out tonight was the John W. Dillin Award.
The John W. Dillin Professional Award for service to the Florida Public Relations Association has been established as the highest, most prestigious award of the Association. The award honors the spirit and dedication of FPRA’s first president and founder, Lt. Col. John W. Dillin, and his lifetime of service to and support of the Association.
The purpose of the annual award is to recognize an FPRA member for his/her outstanding contribution to the Association and the field of public relations.
Drum roll, please... the winner of the 2007 John W. Dillin Award is:
Kathleen M. Giery APR, CPRC Public Relations Director LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services, Gainesville, FL Gainesville Chapter
The next individual award given out tonight was the Doris Fleischman Award.
The Doris Fleischman Award honors unrecognized contributions an individual FPRA member has made to the public relations profession and/or to FPRA. In essence, this is an “unsung hero" award intended to reward that individual who consistently provides support and assistance to the Association.
The award was established to honor the achievements and contributions of Doris Fleischman, business partner and wife of Edward L. Bernays, the “father” of public relations. It honors those FPRA members who, like Ms. Fleischman, make contributions to the field of public relations through consistent, tireless efforts. It is meant to honor a member for his/her “behind the scenes” work and FPRA volunteer efforts that go unnoticed by chapter members and are not recognized by other awards programs.
Drum roll, please... the recipient of the 2007 Doris Fleischman Award is:
As part of tonight's Golden Image Awards ceremony, three individual awards were given. The first award was the 2007 Member of the Year Award.
This award is intended to recognize one member who has made a significant contribution to the Association through outstanding leadership, demonstrated enthusiasm, extraordinary involvement and loyal support. The recipient is selected by the FPRA State President.
Drum roll, please... the 2007 FPRA Member of the Year is:
Erin McLeod Chief Operating Officer Senior Friendship Centers, Sarasota Central West Coast Chapter
The Golden Image Awards competition is conducted annually by the Florida Public Relations Association to recognize outstanding public relations programs in Florida and to encourage and promote the development of public relations professionalism in our state.
Winners demonstrate the very best examples of innovation, planning and design. The awards competition includes four divisions of categories: Public Relations Programs, Printed Tools of Public Relations, Audio/Visual Tools of Public Relations and Student Projects in Public Relations. To qualify for judging, an entry must incorporate sound public relations research and planning. Entries also must meet the highest standard of production, execution and evaluation of results and budget.
There are several different levels of awards:
Award of Distinction - presented to all the entries that meet the standard of excellence set by a panel of judges.
Golden Image Award - Presented to the top-scoring entry in each category.
Judges’ Award - Presented by a panel of judges for an outstanding entry that achieves maximum results while using a minimum amount of money.
Grand Golden Image Award - Presented to the best Golden Image Award-winning entry in Divisions B and C.
Dick Pope All Florida Golden Image Award - This is the big Kahuna of awards for the year. It is presented to the best Golden Image Award-winning entry in Division A.
Watch for my later post with a complete list of tonight's winners!
We're now at the halfway point of the conference and figured it was a good time to ask what you think about our conference coverage thus far. Tell us the good, the bad and the ugly. We'd prefer if you left your email so we can respond to you, but if you feel the need to be anonymous, go ahead.
What has been your favorite portion of the conference coverage?
Do you like the fact that we've included commentary on the sessions or would you just prefer the facts from presentations?
This session was designed for those thinking about becoming a Certified Public Relations Counselor. The interactive session had 14 attendees, and reviewed various aspects of the exam and how to prepare for it.
CPRC exists because FPRA felt there was a need for a professional certification to recognize professional growth and achievement of senior members who have already earned their APR, and who have more experience than someone who has been in the field for a shorter amount of time.
The oral component was added because that’s often what is required in a professional setting, especially in an agency setting where making presentations is something you do everyday.
One of FPRA's dynamic duos, Dr. Jay Rayburn II, APR, CPRC, PRSA Fellow and Joe Curley, APR led an afternoon breakout session on setting up your own business. There are a number of successful independent practitioners within the field and within FPRA. But what does it take to go out on your own? Jay and Joe shared some secrets.
First up was Joe Curley. Joe said that starting a business can be one of the most rewarding experiences in your life, or the biggest drains. Often creative individuals aren't well suited for things like taxes and running a business. However, when you're starting you need to do much of that work. But it's important to shed those responsibilities quickly. You're time is best served doing billable work, not doing the books.
As to when to start your business? Joe says don't do it right out of school, get some agency or corporate experience first. Take advantage of the time you work for an agency. First off the mistakes don't cost you, it costs somebody else. Agency work is also great for networking and building relationships.
With a passionate heart, Rick Oppenheim, APR, CPRC, unlocked Pandora’s Box of job searching tips. As a student, if you attended one presentation, the handouts given at this one are worth more then gold. It seems PR should really stand for perfect representation when searching for a job. It's a nerve-racking time for students, but hopefully these tips will help you make it through the storm and seem as perfect as possible.
Rick's "Five Essential Traits for Public Relations Success" should be read every month and burnt into our memories. So here they are!
This discussion was led by Denise Feiber, APR, a Counselors Network and FPRA Gainesville Chapter member. Denise is a past president of the Gainesville Chapter and served on the State FPRA Executive Committee for two years as Communications Director. She currently is Public Information Director for the Florida Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry, where she is required to give interviews both indoors and in the field.
Viewers will decide within 8 seconds if a spokesperson appears credible. In today’s 24-7 news cycle, public relations professionals have to be prepared to answer the media’s call. Whether you are in and out of the field or in a studio, this session provided a few tips from experienced industry pros on how to be prepared for your moment in the spotlight.
A hand-out was distributed with some helpful hints, (click on read more information below for link to downloadable, printable pdf) but here a few items discussed during lunch that are not in the handout:
- just as you try to take control of the time and circumstances for an interview, you also should try and take control of the interview area, as far as the specific location based on lighting, wind, etc. Have a good side? Ask the reporter if you can face in a certain direction, etc.
- it’s always a good idea, for both men and women, to keep a pair of casual shoes, even tennis shoes, in the office, for those unexpected visits to the field. No one expects you to wear $150 dress shoes while you’re climbing dirt piles at the construction site or working in an orange grove.
For a complete list of on-camera tips, Download file here.
Each of the conference participants has grabbed a boxed lunch and joined one of 13 interactive roundtable discussions facilitated by senior PR practioners. Our blog team has divided up and will report back shortly on the discussions held at their respective tables.
Roundtable topics:
- Social Media - Josh Hallett
- Handling the Bad News and Bad News Media - Bob Gernert, Jr., APR, CPRC
- Lobbying - Kate Gooderham, APR
- Building a Relationship with Your CEO - Joe Curley, APR
- Research for PR - Dr. Jay Rayburn, APR, CPRC, Fellow PRSA
- Public Relations & Branding - Dr. Bob Davis, APR, CPRC
- How to Write Winning Public Relations Objectives - Tina Haisman, APR
- Turning Competition Into Collaboration: Building Business/PR Relationships that Matter - Dee Zulauf, APR
- PR for Fundraising Events - Thomas Nunan, APR
- Thinking Outside the Box: New Ways to Attract Attention to your Product/Work - Michelle Bono, APR, CPRC
- PR for Non-Profits - Rachel Smith, APR, CPRC
- Publicity - Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC
- Tips for Looking Cool Under Pressure During On-Camera Interviews - Denise Feiber, APR
Public relations legend Aaron Cushman reviewed highlights from his career and discussed campaigns that failed and what he learned. He also shared a few humorous personal anecdotes involving famous clients from diversified fields of entertainment, sports and Fortune 500 companies. And more importantly, what has happened with the media in the last 10 years.
The utilization of public relations techniques is now being used by Al Queda, Middle East insurgents, Iran, North Korea and playing a key role for our government, military and the domestic political scene as well.
If you've been to conference before then you know 'Photo Joe'. But do you know Joe's last name? I talked to Joe about his years of loyal service to FPRA and some of the memories (and photos) Click here to listen to the interview: PhotoJoe.MP3
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.
On Public Affairs and WW II:
FPRA Founding President John W. Dillin, APR, CPRC would have taken pride in Mr. Burson's roots in the profession. John and six others founded this association in 1938 ... prior to World War II. One of the roles John played in his WW II tour in the Air Force was the development of the public affairs concept in the armed services. He was quite proud of having had a hand in that military communications function.
Women's Dominance of the Public Relations field:
Mr. Burson has witnessed public relations evolve from a field dominated by men to today's 85/15% female/male practitioners. He noted that he felt more gender balance (closer to 50/50) would be in order. You can also see the evolution of the field in the past-president's gavel passing line (not that its scientifically relevant). I'd like to learn what our female practitioners feel is/are the reason(s) for the gender disparity? Are "salary levels" causing men to pursue other professions?
A "Fine" Situation:
Last but not least ... to the individual whose cell phone rang during Mr. Burson's remarks ... they make those things with both a vibrate setting and an on and off switch. I would suggest to the FPRA Board that a $50 fine be levied against anyone whose phone audibly rings in a conference session -- payable to the FPRA Scholarship fund for use in scheduling sessions on telephone etiquette and common courtesy. The Counselor's Network has had such a policy for several years.
Did you know that Web sites are going to have scents that you can smell? Did you know there is a new online currency in a virtual world called Secondlife? Discover what it takes to be on the cutting edge of marketing’s next generation of internet marketing. This knowledge-packed presentation provides tactics and strategies that you can apply immediately and successfully. About 80 attendees were at this session.
New technology is moving so quickly is it difficult for even the experts to keep up with. Sometimes you just have to try something and see if it works for you, your company.
Today
- Social networks
- consumer-generated media
- mobile marketing
- click-and-know
- virtual worlds
- scented CD-ROMs and Web sites
- video e-mail
- blog marketing
Anand Pallegar from atLarge, Inc. led one of the Tuesday morning breakout sessions. Anand's session dealt with how PR and measurement is adapting to the new forms of media. The digital revolution has happened, it's not going to happen, it's not going on, it's happened.
Convergence is the name of the game today, people and firms are constantly taking on a number of tasks. Anand asks the audience who focused solely on PR and who had mixed roles. The majority of the audience worked in a mixed environment. That is part PR, part marketing and who knows what else. With this convergence, how do we know what's working and what isn't working? How can we measure results?
With the new media model there are a number new factors: citizen journalism, social media, etc. Traditional media sources like radio, outdoor and newspaper have eroding confidence levels. New forms of media are growing in confidence.
One of the new tools of the new media landscape is RSS. RSS allows for content to be delivered in a standard format. Blogs elevated RSS and this connected world. Anand talked briefly about the 1% rule. That is if you have 100 people online, 1 will create content, 10 will interact with it and the rest will read it.
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?
The first session of the morning is led by Harold Burson, APR, Fellow PRSA, Founding Chairman of Burson – Marsteller. The session title was “It’s Time to Speak Up for Public Relations,” and Burson covered the historical, philosophical and legal roots of pr as a discipline that existed long before the term “public relations” came into use and long before it was offered as a commercial business service.
Burson began by saying that PR is an applied social science. We as professionals should use our knowledge to teach communications and to influence others. PR professionals should have knowledge of all sciences—behavioral, social, etc. Burson said he heard someone say PR is doing good and getting credit for it, and the room broke out into laughs. Currently, the PR field is at a very high point. At no time in the past 60 years, has the PR field enjoyed the reputation and status as an important and very necessary institution as it is recognized today.
The PR field has gone through tremendous transformations:
- Early on the field was dominated by men.
- Now pr/communications people are now in positions of top management. Upper management and PR professional now work closely. So close, the speaker joked, that now communications professional know where all the bodies are buried.
- With the advent of cable television, the news day became a 24-hour cycle rather than a twice daily (morning and afternoon)
- Starting in the 1980s, the news media became much more intrusive. In the past, publications like Forbes would only publish stories with happy endings.
- Increasingly, you see fewer CEOs that are ready and willing to speak out.
- Corporations have become much more reactive in their PR. In the past, corporations created programs, and now corporations are so busy reacting that they aren’t focused on the positive stories, social responsibility, etc.
- In recent decades, PR has really been able to define itself as a field and FPRA is aggressive in moving the field in a positive direction.
PR as a commercial function only began in the 1900s:
-WWI created a large propaganda bureau and after WWI many people went into PR.
- The big impetus for PR firms came after WWII when reporters, which were public information officers in the war, returned home from war and started their own PR firms (rather than going back to the newspapers). Burson was one of those reporters who started his own PR firm.
-In 1947, about 500 PR firms existed in NY City. Unfortunately, many of those firms did not make it.
Though PR as a commercial function only began in the 1900s, PR has been a huge part of world history—Rome, American Revolution, etc.
- In 1865 (Stamp Act), Samuel Adams started writing articles (4 newspaper in American then), making speeches about separating from England, led the Boston Tea Party, wrote an article labeling 5 deaths the Boston Massacre–these are all examples of early PR.
Burson remarked that as we move into the future, PR professionals need to focus on content. The speaker also noted that over the years, women have increasing entered the field and now there are more women in the field though typically, the higher positions are held by men. Burson feels this is a serious issue that needs to be recognized. He feels the field should be more balanced in terms of gender and that professionals entering the field should have more journalism experience.
The first full day of the FPRA Annual Conference has wrapped up. We hope this blog has provided visitors with a window into our informative and fun conference... and the convergence of art and science. We provided summaries of some of today's presentations. We uploaded hundreds of conference photos. And we racked up some impressive site traffic statistics for the first day:
Total unique visitors for Monday: 471
Total page views: 1,212
The average visitor on Monday stayed on this blog for 4 minutes, 14 seconds.
Thanks to those of you who visited us today. We'll have even more stuff for you tomorrow... including a complete list of our 2007 Golden Image Awards winners. Be among the first to hear who will be taking home the state's top PR awards for 2007.
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!
Hello fellow FPRA members! This is my first time at the FPRA Annual Conference and my first time as a blogger, and I am super excited. Thanks to a scholarship from the Gainesville Chapter, I was able to attend the conference this year. (Yes, I am a proud Gator!)
The first day of conference is nearly finished, and I really just wanted to let you know what it was like as a first-time conference attendee. First, everyone is super friendly and the Ritz is so nice. Also as a conference blogger carrying around a computer (Yes, I'm also a Mac Addict!), I get a lot of attention. Everyone is so excited about FPRABlog.com and the conference bloggers. For someone who was a little nervous coming in today (Yes, that’s me!), that’s really exciting too. Some other highlights so far—the Dillin dessert (very chocolaty!), a lot of award recognitions and the new State Association President Suzanne Sparling, APR did the Gator chomp on stage. I've had a great first day! For all those attending conference for the first time (like me), congrats and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. And for all those who may not have been able to attend this year, I definitely recommend. It’s great!!
How about you? Are a first-time attendee of the FPRA Annual Conference? What is your favorite part? Do you blog (for professional or personal)?
Lori Martini, FPRA VP for Chapter Services on the state executive committee, led a great workshop for incoming chapter leaders, despite some minor, (OK major ) technical difficulties. This workshop is valuable not only for incoming chapter presidents and president elects, but for ANY of your chapter board members.
Some tips:
DO:
-open the CD toolkit and peruse ASAP once you are back in the office
-do make copies for ALL chapter board members and expect them to refer to their areas of accountability on the CD
-refer to the CD often – put it in your calendar. Make the time. (it really will help you and make your job easier)
-send a copy of all the “great” stuff your chapter is creating to the VP of Chapter Services
-share your ideas with your co-chapter leaders from around the state
DON’T:
-put the CD on a shelf or file and forget about it once you are back in your office.
-keep the wealth of information to yourself
-be afraid to ask questions regarding items found on the CD – Your first point of contact is VP of Chapter Services, who for the 2007-08 year is Wendy Crites-Wacker, APR, wcrites@rtix.com, or (386) 418-8888.
-forget to refer to the CD often (Lori says 85 percent of the calls and e-mails she received this year was something outlined on the CD)
As students we are primarily focused on getting PR experience, building our portfolios and making great grades. The President’s Luncheon made me realize it’s never too soon to think about the future. Being surrounded by PR greats and hearing their long lists of accomplishments is motivating in a way that’s larger then life. You just have to be in the room to feel the power.
The steps we take now will lead us to accomplishing the HUGE dreams we may have in the coming years. Start preparing now by becoming involved in a FPRA executive committee or any volunteer event. Get to know the people around you, make contacts, but most of all make friends. Combined the knowledge we have can produce amazing results and strategies to accomplish anything. PR has a very bright future and you can be a part of it.
The dictionary describes convergence as “Coming together from different directions.” In public relations today, we must artfully bring people together for consensus, understanding and, eventually, execution of strategy. David Voss discusses how to learn to listen effectively and facilitate engagement forums of diverse communities to build consensus.
This session has approximately 40 attendees.
Convergence is another tool to help you reach your public relations goals
Levels of PR
1. Press relations
2. Public information
3. Persuasion
4. Engagement – listening to audiences, involving public, reaching consensus, sharing responsibility
Speaker Dr. Dale Brill, Chief Marketing Officer of VISIT FLORIDA, gave his presentation entitled, “Evolve or Die!” to an excited group this afternoon. The official title was “Giving Structure to the Chaos of Content.” Per Dr. Brill’s request take off your shoes and relax as you listen to this lesson in content for Web sites, aka “All the things Dr. Rayburn refuses to learn we will be talking about,” said Dr. Brill.
He begins with an excerpt from his FPRA conference presentation given 10 years ago. He pulled out what he thought was the most important points of his presentation.
THAT WAS THEN: 1997 first presentation at conference
- Content is King
- Usability is paramount
- The consumer has control
Then he continued with what he felt was key now regarding Web sites and attracting visitors.
THIS IS NOW: 2007
- Content is King
- Usability is paramount
- The consumer has control
My first breakout session of the afternoon is Diversity “Speak” … Messages of Inclusion led by Ken Kinzie, MSW, LCSW, President & CEO, Kinzie Counseling & Consultation and Beverly Alter, President & CEO, Alter & Associates, LLC and The Alter Group. This interactive session explored the subtlety and importance of language—written, electronic, visual and spoken communication. Diversity is an issue everywhere, and as pr professionals we should be aware and on the forefront of change. Here are my notes from this session.
• Inclusion (a better word instead of diversity)—We should be discussing how we are the same rather than how we are different.
• Everyone has diversity bias!
• Relearning and combining traditional media (newspapers, etc.) with new media (blogging, Web site, etc.) to communicate your message and consider the message based on all your publics.
In honor of FPRA's 69th Annual Conference, Florida Governor Charlie Crist sent this welcome letter which is included in this year's conference notebook. Thanks, Governor!
FPRA Immediate Past President Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC took the stage and announced that Bob Gernert, Jr., APR, CPRC is the recipient of this year's Past Presidents Award.
This year's Outstanding Chapter of the Year award goes to the Southwest Florida Chapter! Congratulations to Chapter President Olivia Orth and her board. Olivia is Creative Director at Priority Marketing in Ft. Myers.
The winner of the Most Improved Chapter award is the Nature Coast Chapter! Congratulations to Chapter President Jessica Lambert and her board. Jessica is the Communications Resources Director for the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners in Lecanto.
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!
The awards portion of the annual Presidents' Luncheon has just wrapped up in the main ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota.
FPRA State President Jessica Rye, APR took to the stage and recognized the outgoing president of each of FPRA's 15 chapters. They are as follows:
Vivian Myrtetus - Capital Chapter
Ton Nunan, APR - Central West Coast Chapter
Susan Clayton Black - Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter
Nickie Doria, APR - Gainesville Chapter
Reese Riggle - Jacksonville Chapter
Jessica Lambert - Nature Coast Chapter
Tracy Louthain, APR - Northwest Florida Coast Chapter
Emma Eldred - Ocala Chapter
Susan Ennis, APR - Orlando Area Chapter
Jeff Nall, APR, CPRC - Pensacola Chapter
Olivia Orth - Southwest Florida Chapter
Shanti Brasington - Space Coast Chapter
Dan McLean, APR - Tampa Bay Chapter
Karen Brown, APR - Treasure Coast Chapter
Joe Radcliffe, APR - Volusia County Chapter
Next, Jessica recognized the outgoing members of the outgoing 2006-07 Executive Committee:
Suzanne Sparling, APR - President-Elect
Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC - Immediate Past President
Melanie Mowry-Etters, APR, CPRC - VP of Accreditation/Certification
Erin McLeod - VP of Annual Conference
Lori Martini - VP of Chapter Services
Tina Haisman, APR - VP of Communications
Jay Wilson, APR - VP of Finance
April Herrle, APR, CPRC - VP of Golden Image
Rachel Smith, APR, CPRC - VP of Planning/Research
Paul Ramey, APR - VP of Professional Development
Jamie Melendez - VP of Public Relations
John McShaffrey, APR - Counselors' Network Chairman
Carol Savage, APR, CPRC - FPRE Foundation Chair
Melanie Mowry-Etters, APR, CPRC, Vice President of Accreditation/Certification was next on stage to recognize those individuals who received their APR (Accredited in Public Relations) and CPRC (Certified Public Relations Counselor) certification this past year. Congratulations to
APR
Tina Banner, APR
Betsy Couch, APR
Nickie Doria, APR
John E. Fleming, APR
Kenneth Ryan Gerds, APR
Darlene Goodwin, APR
Kathleen M. Hahn, APR
Tracy Louthain, APR
Stefanie Macfarlane, APR
Christine Martinez, APR
Heidi R. Otway, APR
Gordon A. Paulus, APR
Julie Ann Platt, APR
Clare Ulik, APR
CPRC
Jeff Nall, APR, CPRC
Florida Public Relations Education (FPRE) Foundation Chair Carole Savage, APR, CPRC took the stage and announced the creation of the Bob Davis Foundation Scholarship Award in honor of long-time FPRA member Dr. Bob Davis, APR, CPRC. Bob serves as a professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
The first-ever recipient of this award was Caitlin Murphy, a recent graduate of the University of Florida. Dr. Davis and Caitlin are pictured above.
Next, Jessica presented her much-anticipated President's Awards of Excellence for 2007. The following Chapters were recognized:
President's Award for Accreditation/Certification - Capital Chapter
President's Award for Chapter Administration - Ocala Chapter
President's Award for Communications - Gainesville Chapter
President's Award for Financial Management - Jacksonville Chapter
President's Award for Fundraising - Orlando Area Chapter
President's Award for Image Awards - Treasure Coast Chapter
President's Award for Leadership Development - Orlando Area Chapter
President's Award for Membership - Pensacola Chapter
President's Award for Professional Development - Central West Coast Chapter
President's Award for Senior Member Development - Gainesville Chapter
President's Award for Spirit of FPRA - Space Coast Chapter
President's Award of Student Development - (tie) Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter, Southwest Florida Chapter
Vice President of Communications Tina Haisman, APR came forward next to announce the winners of Best Chapter Newsletter and Best Chapter Web site.
Best Chapter Newsletter - Pensacola Chapter; Runner-up - Ocala Chapter
Best Chapter Web Site - Central West Coast Chapter; Runner-up - Orlando Area Chapter
Members of the Counselor's Network enjoy unique opportunities throughout the year. One of those perks is one-on-one conversations with keynote speakers during conference. This morning, CN members spent some quality time with opening speaker Kirk Stewart.
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.
The first breakout session of the morning is Engaging Your Audience: A Scientific Look at What Attract Attention led by Sara Quinn, Visual Journalism Faculty, The Poynter Institute. This session discussed design elements and what holds the readers attention.
The speaker discussed a study by the Poynter Institute examined reader habits. The study tracks what attracts and holds the reader’s attention—400 readers in 4 cities—by measuring eye stops. The study was very scientific—highly defined, specific, setting analyzed, etc. The study had a number of exciting findings including:
The first speaker, Kirk Stewart, Executive VP and Corporate Communications Leader of PACO Worldwide, gave an amazing PowerPoint on “Responsibilities of 21st Century Organizations” this morning. He previously served as VP of Corporate Communications at NIKE and used this experience to influence his presentation.
While I listened to this lesson of 14 guidelines companies should follow, I thought to myself, these are important rules that we as students should follow when sharpening our PR tools and growing into professionals.
These are his exact bullets with my adaptation of how it applies to us. (I only used the ones I thought were relevant.)
Responsibilities of the 21st Century Student
1. Know Who You Are: Do you know what makes your different? What is your personal mission statement? Define your goals and interests.
2. Live Your Values: Are you using your values to drive your actions? In everything you do, are you putting on a display of your morals and standards? Define the principles you believe in.
3. Take Responsibility: Do you take responsibility for your actions? Have you taken it upon yourself to be committed to absorbing all the PR information and skills you can? Make a list of goals for your career development and take responsibility to fulfill them.
4. Substance First: What consists of your personality and experience? Is it something that would impress those around you and your potential managers? Describe the attributes that you consist of; work on the ones that are weak and hone the ones that are strong.
5. Be Accountable: Do your personal tactics lie upon a foundation of trustworthiness and dependableness? The PR major can be cunningly competitive; use your creativity and talent to become a step above the rest, in an ethical manor.
6. Engage and Collaborate: Are you involved in the community you are searching for a job in? Paid experience can be great, but volunteering for to do PR for a community event can be challenging, extremely rewarding and impressive to a future employee. Show some initiative; volunteer to lead a PR effort for a community organization.
7. Be Transparent: Are you honest and open? What is your credibility rating? Make sure that in interviews for potential jobs you always tell the truth. Even if your resume isn’t up to your standards, use details and creativity to describe what you have done; don’t make promises you can’t deliver by lying.
8. Define, Don’t Defend: Have you put your foot down to keep from swaying with popular opinion? Have you established your role in your workplace as a leader? Define yourself or others will do it for you.
9. Be Consistent: Your dependable, responsible, caring; would your friends describe you the same way? In everything you do, do you strive to advertise your confidence and valuable qualities? Letting go with your friends is one thing, but your core values should always stay consistent.
10. Monitor and Anticipate: Are you studying the industry and trends by reading books or networking with the PR greats? Are you ready for the real world and what it has to offer you? Make a list of topics you want to learn more about.
11. Take Nothing for Granted: Are you utilizing every opportunity out there that could make you a better PR practitioner? Are you grateful to those who have influenced you and taught you valuable PR strategies? Write thank you notes to professors, co-workers, managers, family and friends that have supported you and taught you all you know.
Please note that session 1B has changed slightly from the original conference brochure. The topic is still lobbying, but the speaker has changed. We are very grateful, and fortunate, that FPRA member Colleen Thayer, APR, legislative affairs representative for the Southwest Florida Water Management District, was able to step in at the last minute when the scheduled speaker had a client emergency. Thanks much, Colleen.
Jeni Hatter of the Orlando Area Chapter emailed us this cell phone camera shot she snapped during this morning's general session. The photo features two of our conference bloggers -- Chris Gent and Josh Hallett -- hard at work.
Kirk kicked of his talk with some research around trust, specifically the declining levels of trust of organizations. Currently NGOs are the most trusted organizations globally. There are also increasing expectations that consumers have of companies. One of the top expectations deals with the environment. Another issue is the growing gap between the CSR expectations and performance.
Consumers are increasingly punishing corporations that are seen as socially irresponsible. Combine this with an evolving media landscape. News is happening 24/7/365. Employees and stakeholders are networked. Finally, there is no more local. Everything is news everywhere.
Kirk highlighted 14 points for corporate responsibility:
1. Know Who You Are: This can go back to your mission statement. Sometimes this evolves.
2. Live Your Values: Make sure your operations are in line with your mission. This is also based upon history, i.e. what drives its behavior.
3. Take Responsibility: This can be a difficult thing for companies that haven't dealt with this in the past. Admit your shortcomings, be humble and don't be defensive. Breakdown in any of these areas will cause organizations problems.
4. Substance First: Have something to talk about first and make sure it's worthwhile. Often in crisis situations it's the CEO's role to lead.
5. Be Accountable: This works internally and externally. The external accountability is what many organizations have a problem with.
6. Rally Your Core: In times of crisis your most important stakeholder is your employees. Arm your employees with information. Let them serve as ambassadors for your organization.
7. Engage in Collaboration: Organizations need to be involved, with: community, stakeholders, etc. It involves building relationships. Put a human face on the company.
8. Be Transparent: Kirk feels this is the single most important thing that organizations can do. Increased transparency equals increased credibility. There is no alternative.
9. Define, Don't Defend: Define yourself or others will do it for you. You could say stay on the offensive and not on the defensive.
10. Stay Close to Your Consumers: Keep the brand fresh, keep the brand relevant. Often your most important stakeholder is the people that buy your products.
11. Be Consistent: Words=Actions. Focus on a core theme over time. Kirk referenced the recent scandal involved Whole Food's CEO, John Mackey.
12. Speak With One Voice: Integration is a must. Coordinate among all functions and channels, but most of all tell compelling stories.
13. Monitor and Anticipate: Develop an early warning system. Use tracking research and prepare for the unexpected. Ultimately though you must manage crisis effectively. How an organization responds in crisis really speaks about who they are.
14. Take Nothing for Granted: Never become complacent. Don't underestimate competitive response.
This year there are 204 attendees registered for full conference and 277 expected for Golden Image on Tuesday night. In addition there are 24 students registered. Are you here? We'd love to hear from you :-)
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!
It seemed appropriate that I would speak to FPRA State President Jessica Rye, APR, during the President's Reception this evening. Jessica looks back over the past year and talks about what's in store for her after her term as president ends on Sept. 1st. Click here to listen to the interview: JessicaRye.MP3
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.
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 :-).
This year's blog team is currently meeting to finalize coverage of the conference. The team consists of Donna Foster, Chris Gent, Josh Hallett, Valerie Norman and Paul Ramey, APR. Click here for their bios.
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
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.
Let me be the first to welcome you to the 69th annual conference of the Florida Public Relations Association. This year's theme: PR: The Convergence of Art & Science.
This annual conference is FPRA's premier professional development event. Members of FPRA, as well as other PR professionals from around the region, will gather in Sarasota today for three days of professional development, networking and fun. By offering experts on a variety of industry-related topics, it is our goal to present concepts and tactics that participants can immediately apply to their own jobs.
It's going to be a great conference, and we hope you will take full advantage of this conference blog.
On behalf of the conference blog team, welcome to Sarasota!
We're just a few days away from the 2007 FPRA Annual Conference. The blog coverage will kick-off on Sunday with some photos from the golf tournament and some other 'social' highlights.
From a session standpoint what are you most looking forward to?
I posted an article back on June 25 seeking individuals interested in being part of the blog team for FPRA’s Annual Conference in August. I am happy to report that we had some takers!
Throughout the three-day conference these individuals will post their reactions to speakers, sessions and the conference in general. The blog will also feature podcasts as well as plenty of photographs... and maybe even a few surprises!
So without further adieu, let me introduce to you this year’s annual conference blog team:
DONNA FOSTER is the communications manager for the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center. She has been an active member of FPRA since 2006 and currently serves as the Electronic Media Director for FPRA's Gainesville Chapter. She will also serve in this role on next year’s board. As a first-timer to the FPRA Annual Conference, Donna was chosen as the recipient of her chapter's Annual Conference Scholarship.
CHRIS GENT is vice president of corporate communications for Kissimmee Utility Authority. He has been a member of FPRA since 1994 and currently serves as the Webmaster of FPRA's Orlando Area Chapter. Chris has served five years on the FPRA State Board, including three years on the Executive Committee. He is a past president of the Orlando Area Chapter and winner of both the Doris Fleischman Award and the Dick Pope Grand All Golden Image Award.
JOSH HALLETT is owner of Hyku, LLC, a social media consulting firm based in Winter Haven, Fla. Josh has been a member of FPRA since 1996, and has always been an advocate of technology's role in public relations. This included developing the first statewide Web site for FPRA in 1996 and FPRA Blog Week in 2006. Josh is currently a member of FPRA's Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter and blogs frequently about the impact of social media on public relations and traditional media.
VALERIE NORMAN currently serves as president of FPRA’s Tallahassee Student Chapter. She works as a PR assistant at CoreMessage, Inc. where she has displayed her talent in aggressive media outreach, helping her company earn a FPRA Image Award for pro bono work with the Tallahassee Network of Young Professionals. She was also awarded a conference scholarship by FPRA's Capital Chapter. Valerie will be blogging the student sessions at this year’s conference.
PAUL RAMEY, APR is assistant director in charge of marketing and public relations at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. He is a past president of FPRA's Gainesville Chapter and will be serving on the FPRA Executive Committee this coming year as Vice President of Technology. Ramey has more than 19 years of journalism, public relations and communications experience, including work in print, radio, health care and public schools before being hired on by the museum in 1999.
Have you registered for FPRA's Annual Conference? Why you ask? Because more than 200 of your fellow public relations professionals already have!
To date, we have surpassed last year's total number of conference participants and we're still adding names to the list. Will your name be one of them?
Don't miss your opportunity to join with hundreds of other PR practioners from throughout Florida for the largest annual gathering of public relations professionals in the state.
Click here to download the conference brochure and registration form. Register today!
We have received the go-ahead from FPRA's Executive Committee to offer blogging of this year's FPRA Annual Conference in Sarasota. Last year's first-ever conference blog was a tremendous success, and we even picked up a few awards along the way for our efforts.
The conference blog will feature recaps, photos and speakers’ presentations, as well as providing a feel for the atmosphere inside the conference.
We have a couple of bloggers already lined up, but we could use one or two more. Are you interested?
All you need is a laptop computer and the ability to write. Don't worry about the blogging part... we'll show you how the blogging software works and get you set up with a Wi-Fi account at the hotel.
If you are interested, please contact Chris Gent at cgentATkua.com or 407-933-9836.
Last week I was in Sarasota for the Central West Coast Chapter's professional development seminar. While out for dinner the night before I snapped this shot of the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota.
At last week's Image Awards gala hosted by FPRA's Orlando Area and Volusia County Chapters, the FPRA 2006 Annual Conference Blog was honored with an Image Award and a Judges' Award.
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!
The 69th Annual FPRA State Conference will be held August 5-8, 2007 at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota. As you can see by reading the blog coverage of the 2006 conference, the FPRA State Conference is the best professional development and networking event for public relations practitioners in the state of Florida. Every PR professional in Florida should attend.
So save the date on your calendar and plan your budget accordingly.
Did that headline spark your interest? Well nothing super-exciting :-) I was at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota for the Arthur W. Page Society Annual Conference today and snapped a photo of the hotel. The Ritz in Sarasota is the home of the 2007 FPRA Annual Conference.
If you haven't been there it's the standard Ritz quality and service. Looking forward to conference next year!
First, Josh uses his experience blogging the 2006 FPRA State Conference as the case study for the lessons he shares. That alone is reason to read it.
In addition to this reason, his post provides valuable information we can all use in our jobs. Public relations practitioners often have a role in planning and cooridnating large business meetings, trade conferences, public hearings or other special events. The case study provided by Josh provides a "how-to" primer on incorporating blogs into these meetings and events.
We all witnessed the benefits blogging added to FPRA State Conference. Why not add these benefits to your next event or meeting?
The 68th conference of the Florida Public Relations Association has wrapped up in Amelia Island, Fla.
Lots of great sessions, networking, awards, fun... and even a few surprises. It's been fun. Thanks, Suzanne Sparling, APR for all your hard work in pulling this conference off.
We've also had lots of fun with this conference blog. Thanks to those of you who visited, who commented and sent nice notes along the way. We tried our best to convey to you the look, feel and flavor of an FPRA annual conference. I hope we succeeded.
We hope that those of you who visited will make plans now to attend next year's conference in Sarasota. The investment will pay huge dividends for both your current employer and your career as a public relations professional.
In closing, we wanted to share the final Web stats for the entire three days conference. The event may be over, but the information shared these past few days will remain on this blog for you to refer back to in the future.
Total unique visitors: 1,264
Total page views: 4,775
And to borrow a line from a recent Green Day song:
Mark Ziegler is an Associate in Communications, College of Communication at Florida State University. Mark is a very energetic speaker to say the least. His style is very engaging. He opened his session with a quick story about an FPRA conference he attended almost 10 years ago in Boca. His credit card had been stolen during the event, so when he thinks about FPRA he always checks his wallet :-)
Mark had intended to go to medical school, but he saw the signs when he was studying. During gross anatomy he had trouble opening the chest cavity. He said, "this is a sign."
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, made a visit to the FPRA annual conference this morning. Well, not the REAL Mark Twain... but an actor named Bob Valentine from Murray State University who shared Clemen's humor and wit.
Mark Twain was born in Florida... Florida, Missouri that is.
Here's some of his most memorable quotes from today's presentation:
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
FPRA's 68th Annual Conference is almost over and it has been a wonderful experience, with some great surprises. Work has already begun on next year's conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Fla. Erin McLeod is the incoming Vice President of Annual Conference and is responsible for planning the event. I spoke with Erin about next year's event and what she has in store for us. Click here to listen to the interview: ErinMcLeod.mp3.
The final individual award given out tonight was the John W. Dillin Award.
The John W. Dillin Professional Award for service to the Florida Public Relations Association has been established as the highest, most prestigious award of the Association. The award honors the spirit and dedication of FPRA’s first president and founder, Lt. Col. John W. Dillin, and his lifetime of service to and support of the Association.
The purpose of the annual award is to recognize an FPRA member for his/her outstanding contribution to the Association and the field of public relations.
Drum roll, please... the winner of the 2006 John W. Dillin Award is:
LYNN SCHNEIDER, APR, CPRC
- Public Relations Director, Shell Point Retirement Community - Member, Southwest Chapter
The next individual award given out tonight was Member of the Year Award.
This award is intended to recognize one member who has made a significant contribution to the Association through outstanding leadership, demonstrated enthusiasm, extraordinary involvement and loyal support. The recipient is selected by the FPRA State President.
Drum roll, please... the 2006 FPRA Member of the Year is:
At the conclusion of tonight's Golden Image Awards ceremony, three individual awards were given. The first award was the 2006 Doris Fleischman Award.
The Doris Fleischman Award honors unrecognized contributions an individual FPRA member has made to the public relations profession and/or to FPRA. In essence, this is an “unsung hero" award intended to reward that individual who consistently provides support and assistance to the Association.
The award was established to honor the achievements and contributions of Doris Fleischman, business partner and wife of Edward L. Bernays, the “father” of public relations. It honors those FPRA members who, like Ms. Fleischman, make contributions to the field of public relations through consistent, tireless efforts. It is meant to honor a member for his/her “behind the scenes” work and FPRA volunteer efforts that go unnoticed by chapter members and are not recognized by other awards programs.
This year's winner could not attend the Golden Image Award gala, so the award was presented to her by members of the Pensacola Chapter at their July board meeting. Click the image below to view the acceptance video. The proud recipient is...
EILEEN PERRIGO, APR - Instructor & Internship Coordinator, University of West Florida - Member, Pensacola Chapter
The Golden Image Awards have become a standard of public relations excellence in the state of Florida. Winners demonstrate the very best examples of innovation, planning and design. The awards competition includes four divisions of categories: Public Relations Programs, Printed Tools of Public Relations, Audio/Visual Tools of Public Relations and Student Projects in Public Relations. To qualify for judging, an entry must incorporate sound public relations research and planning. Entries also must meet the highest standard of production, execution and evaluation of results and budget.
Thanks to Trista Wallace, APR and her committee for putting together a wonderful evening!
I just received a comment from a not-so anonymous poster on a post I did. I figured it would be a good time to ask everyone participating in what you think of the conference coverage thus far. Tell us the good, the bad and the ugly. We'd prefer if you left your e-mail so we could respond to you, but if you feel the need to be anonymous, go ahead.
What has been your favorite portion of the conference coverage?
Do you like the fact that we've included commentary on the sessions or would you just prefer the facts from presentations?
Something new this year is the inclusion of more networking time! Because the FPRA conference is always jam packed during both day and night with activities, this is a very welcome addition.
FPRA realized that while members enjoy the professional development opportunities, we really wish we had just an hour or two during the day to network with our fellow professionals from throughout the state.
Kudos to Suzanne Sparling, APR and her conference committee for adding this enhancement to this year's conference.
Next up is a presentation on the Terri Schiavo case.
For those of you new to the case (or from outside Florida), the case was about a woman from St. Petersburg, Fla. whose medical and family circumstances and legal battles fueled intense media attention and led to several high-profile court decisions and involvement by politicians and interest groups.
Schiavo, then 26, collapsed in her home in 1990 and experienced respiratory and cardiac arrest. She remained in a coma for ten weeks. Within three years, she was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state (PVS).
The legal history around the Schiavo case included fourteen appeals and numerous motions, petitions, and hearings in the Florida courts; five suits in Federal District Court; Florida legislation struck down by the Supreme Court of Florida; a subpoena by a congressional committee in an attempt to qualify Schiavo for witness protection; federal legislation; and four denials of certiorari from the Supreme Court of the United States.
Ultimately, Terri's husband won the legal right to have her feeding tube removed on March 18, 2005. She died thirteen days later at a Pinellas Park hospice on March 31, 2005, at the age of 41.
We'll have insight on the presentation afterward...
