PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Marc Flake, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
As noted in my July column, the chapter is initiating its sensei plan -- a sort of mentor-lite program -- to match members of our Masters SIG with young professionals in the Nu Pros group. Donna Darovich is rounding up members of the former, while Linda Jacobson is taking names for the latter. Donna and Linda chair those groups, respectively.
If you need reminding, "sensei" is a Japanese title for teachers, professionals, politicians, clergy and other authority figures. It is also used to show respect to someone who has achieved a level of mastery in an art form or some other skill. A "kohai" is considered a junior learner.
Our senseis will get with the kohais about 15 minutes prior to the September meeting and socialize during the luncheon until I interrupt everyone's conversation to introduce the program. I hope the pairings will continue, primarily at our chapter meetings.
September is PRSA Ethics Month, and the meeting should be a real barn-burner. Two TCU professors, both communications experts, will discuss how to tell whether someone is being truthful. The program is part of a chapter-wide effort to increase awareness of ethics issues as they apply to our daily jobs.
Ethics chair Paige Hendricks says the issue is important in public relations because we can't always assume that the information we are asked to disseminate to news media by our organizations or clients is true. This topic has wide applicability across all professions, so consider inviting a guest.
The program is part of a broader effort to bring ethics front and center for our membership. Paige and co-chair Lauren Kwedar have developed activities over the next five months to highlight the importance of the issue. They plan on e-mailing an "Ethics Moment" each month to members asking for their answers on how to handle ethically related case studies. Answers will be compiled and reported two months after each scenario is presented.
I look forward to seeing all of you -- especially the senseis and kohais -- Sept. 12.
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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
Betsy Boyett, IABC Fort Worth
The board met in August for a half-day strategic planning, and you're going to love the ideas that emerged -- an online membership directory, after-hours networking events, joint activities with Dallas IABC and an accreditation study group, to name a few. We are excited about this direction, which will draw us closer to other organizations and utilize the great network of communicators that is at our fingertips.
Back in the buffet line, lunch at the Petroleum Club is going up, the third increase in a couple of years. We absorbed the past two but cannot this time. Beginning with the September meeting, lunch costs $25 for members and $30 for guests or members without a reservation. We still believe that these figures are low and should not hurt your budget. Keep in mind the need for a reservation. Also, if you make a reservation and cannot attend, you owe for the meal if you do not cancel in a timely manner.
September is IABC Worldwide Membership Month. For anyone who joins or renews membership, the $40 application fee is waived. If you were thinking about joining, September is definitely the month do to it. In addition, IABC is providing free web access during September. Sign up at iabc.com/login/trial.cfm.
IABC Fort Worth is on a roll, and I'm pleased that you're a part of it!
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Welcome to the new fiscal year at Fort Worth SPJ. We open with Mike Cochran and Clayton Williams, follow that with programs on covering the Barnett Shale phenomenon and religion, then the barbecue and gift drawing benefit Dec. 5 at Coors. And that's just through Christmas! Come see us. You'll miss something if you don't. ...
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 10-9 to approve the Toxic Right-to-Know Protection Act (S. 595). The act would reverse a December 2006 EPA rule change to the toxics release inventory that significantly reduced toxic release reporting requirements for polluting facilities. In June, SPJ was one of 200 organizations to sign a letter in support of the bill. ...
Aging Today editor Paul Kleyman has released "The Journalists Exchange on Aging Survey on Style" and "Words to Age By: A Brief Glossary and Tips on Usage." Tha material is based on a survey of almost 100 journalists who cover issues related to aging. More here.
Closing words: "They [war supporters] keep on doing this. They keep on hitting it and hitting it and hitting it, and it's always more and more implausible, strange and in a fantasy world. They're desperately groping for a historical analogy, and their uses of history are really perverse." -- MIT professor John Dower, in another attempt to distance himself from President Bush and other conservatives who misuse, in Dower's opinion, a quote from him to argue that critics of the administration's Iraq policy echo those who questioned the U.S. effort to bring democracy to Japan after World War II
