PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Holly Ellman, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
As we're learning to compete in a global market, we recognize the need to sometimes approach things differently. Last year, Dora Tovar gave us Part I of marketing to the American Latino community. At the August meeting we will hear Part II, where Dora will present case studies of successful campaigns.
Speaking of successes, our special interest groups are meeting a lot of needs. On Aug. 1 at Texas Wesleyan, Tracy Syler-Jones' Education SIG heard a fascinating panel of education reporters from the Star-Telegram, The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Business Press. The July 21 meeting of the Independent Practitioners SIG, headed by Nancy Farrar and Sandra Brodnicki, discussed contracts and pricing, and the group members shared winning strategies. The Independent Practitioners SIG, now in its fourth year and boasting 84 members, meets 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. the third Friday of each month at the Four Star Coffee Bar west of downtown. The chapter has other SIGs for health care, professionals new to PR and those who have worked in the field for 15 or more years. Take advantage of this free way to increase your knowledge and your network.
Our chapter has experienced some changes on the board of directors. Tracy Sturrock, who co-chaired the Southwest District Conference this spring with Ashley Antle, has moved to Virginia. Laura Squires, APR, will fill the position until December. Lisa Orr has taken Laura's position as professional development chair and is planning the second seminar for this fall. Recently, June Norman, APR, left the workforce to stay home with her two daughters and resigned as assembly delegate. Julie Hatch, APR, was elected to fill her position until the end of the year.
-----
PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
Ken Roberts, IABC Fort Worth
July marked the beginning of a new fiscal year for IABC Fort Worth. Allow me to introduce our 2006-07 board of directors.
City of Euless communications/marketing manager Betsy Boyett is our president-elect and programming chair. Send any ideas for speakers or professional development topics to Betsy at bboyett@ci.euless.tx.us.
Immediate past president Richard Maxwell, the marketing director for the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, is our senior delegate to the IABC Southern Region board. Membership chair Cheryl Hart, owner of Hart Marketing, informs one and all about IABC and how to join this outstanding organization. Contact her at cheryl@hartmarketing.biz.
Other directors are Michael Agnello, marketing and communications chair, a communications specialist at Citi Assurance Services; Julie Trowbridge, treasurer, marketing manager at Carter & Burgess; and Pam Fry, secretary, marketing manager at Freese and Nichols.
Also, Jeff Posey, Bronze Quill chair, internal communications manager at Carter & Burgess; Deena Graves, accreditation chair, principal and owner of bottomLINE Communications; and Colby Horton, webmaster, the Automotive Service Association's manger of web operations.
At-large members are Mike Long, freelance editor and writer; Andrea Scott, communications specialist at Brinker; Tim Tune, RadioShack's online services manager; Jenny Walker, marketing coordinator for the Tarrant Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse; and Amy Yancey with First Command Financial Planning.
Finally, I'm Ken Roberts, and I have the honor of serving as chapter president this year. My paying job is marketing communications manager at Freese and Nichols. Contact me at kmr@freese.com.
Each member of the board is working to ensure that IABC Fort Worth provides value to its members and guests. Feel free to contact us with any suggestions or questions. We look forward to an outstanding year of networking, professional development and fun. For information about our chapter, including programming and events, visit us at iabcfortworth.com.
-----
OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
The weather cooperated, the fajitas were fine, Jeff Prince picked and grinned for hours (didn't have to twist his arm too hard), Mike Cochran happily told stories on Carolyn Poirot and Jack Strickland's porch into the night, and Amon Carter's boat scooted across Eagle Mountain Lake with timeless agility. That was Splash Day, and I missed it. Always thought I was pretty smart. Might want to rethink that. ...
This from SPJ HQ. According to the San Antonio Express-News: "The constitutionality of the Texas Open Meetings Act, which prohibits elected officials from deliberating public business in private, is now in the hands of a West Texas federal judge. A ruling, which poses the most serious challenge to the Texas Open Meetings Law since it was passed in 1967, is not expected soon. After a one-day trial Wednesday [July 19], U.S. District Judge Robert Junell gave the parties until late September to file additional pleadings." More here. ...
Hooray for Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism for shedding light on a hidden trove of environmental images. The EPA initiated "Project Documerica"in 1971 to record its successes and failures in battling environmental degradation; more than 15,000 images have been tucked away in the National Archives. Graduate student Jeremy Herliczek has created a web site that explains the project's history and features galleries of images of environmental threats. ...
Closing words: "This is the sort of banana-republic intimidation of the press we sneer at when it occurs on other points on the globe. The American public deserves nothing less than knowing what's going on at Guantanamo." -- Charles Davis, co-chair of SPJ's Freedom of Information Committee, on the military's expulsion of four journalists from Guantanamo Bay following the suicides of three detainees ... "News at its best is a wake-up call, not a lullaby, and I'm not in the lullaby business." -- Dan Rather to reporters at Summer TV Press Tour 2006 ... "I had been looking forward to him serving prison time, but the Lord said, 'Vengeance is mine.' Most of that good stuff that everybody gives him [Ken Lay] credit for doing, well, it's awful easy to pass out somebody else's money." -- Charles Prestwood, 67, a longtime Enron employee who lost his $1.3 million retirement savings when the company's stock collapsed
