FPRA - Florida Public Relations Association Blog

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.

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

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

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

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

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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.

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This blog enjoyed a steady stream of visitors throughout FPRA's annual conference on Aug. 5-8.

That trend continued today -- one day after the conference -- when the blog drew an additional 295 unique visitors.

Here are the totaled stats since Monday:

Total unique visitors: 1,702
Total page views: 5,622
The average visitor stayed on this blog for 5 minutes, 18 seconds.

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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.

Thanks for visiting. We hope to see you next year on Aug. 3-6, 2008 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee. Here's a glimpse...

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We've wrapped up another busy day at the FPRA annual conference. Here are the Web stats for Tuesday, Aug. 7:

Total unique visitors: 395
Total page views: 1,328
The average visitor on Tuesday stayed on this blog for 5 minutes, 9 seconds.

Thanks to those of you who visited us today. We'll have more stuff for you on Wednesday as we wrap up this year's conference.

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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?

Do you like the fun stuff and hallway interviews?

Suggestions?

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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.

See you tomorrow.

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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.

Thanks for the contribution, Jeni!

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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.

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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.

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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.

Add a Comment

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!

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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:

"It's something unpredictable

but in the end it's right.

hope you had the time of your life."

We hope you did.

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We've wrapped up another busy day at the FPRA annual conference. Here are the Web stats for Tuesday, Aug. 8:

Total unique visitors: 351

Total page views: 1,723

The average visitor on Tuesday stayed on this blog for 4 minutes, 27 seconds

Thanks to those of you who visited us today. We'll have more stuff for you on Wednesday as we wrap up this year's conference.

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We thought you might like to see the view from the cheap seats of those blogging this conference. Chris, Josh, Bob and Jennifer are seated on the back row (with very nice folks from the Ocala Chapter!) surrounded by power cables, cameras, conference schedules, etc.

Here's the nice folks from the Ocala Chapter...

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Well, the first full day of the FPRA Annual Conference has wrapped up. We hope this blog has provided visitors with a window into our fun and informative conference... and the power of FPRA. 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: 530
Total page views: 1,590
The average visitor is staying on this blog for just under 4 minutes

Thanks to those of you who visited us today. We'll have even more stuff for you tomorrow... including a complete list of our 2006 Golden Image Awards winners. Be among the first to hear who will be taking home this year's top PR awards.

If you're not familiar with the Golden Image Awards program, we provided a short tutorial.

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Want to contact us? There are a number of ways.

1. You can e-mail either Bob or Josh
2. You can comment on a blog post

Want to get more involved with FPRAblog?

1. You can comment on a blog post
2. You can become an author

How do you become an author?

We're always looking for new people to help out. If you are interested in writing for this blog just a e-mail us (see above). Our plan is to invite other FPRA members to join in the fun.

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