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MEETINGS
Effective Writing for Online Channels: Don’t Hog the Remote!
Where’s the remote when you need it? Probably in someone else’s hands, especially when the content is subpar.
It is a communicator’s job to ensure that messaging is appropriate for all online channels, from the
least obscure to the most popular. Cytron and Co. president Scott Cytron, ABC, will teach IABC members and guests at this month’s luncheon how to take control of the remote by understanding 10 ways they can
manage the process and strengthen their writing.
Cytron, an in-demand presenter on PR/marketing and B2B products, was a member of
the IABC Executive Board from 2004-2008, president of the 330-member Dallas
chapter in 2000 and chair of District 5 in 2001. He is a former director of
portfolios for the International Accreditation Board.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, March 24
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 (online add $1)
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No professional development meeting in March (it happened already at the Best of
the Southwest Communicators Conference!). The monthly schedule resumes
Wednesday, April 8, with advertising copywriter Brian Pierce on “How to Make Your PR Writing Stand Out in a Crowd.” Details next month.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Twelve bright, motivated student writers, photographers and designers are sought
to staff The Working Press, the daily tabloid that covers the SPJ National
Convention, Aug. 27-29 in Indianapolis. Visit The Working Press web page for application info. E-mail Heather Porter with questions. ...
The National Press Foundation is sponsoring a four-day seminar and funding
fellowships for business, consumer and lifestyle writers and editors to attend
the program “Understand Retirement Issues,” May 31-June 2 in Washington, D.C. Attendees will have on-the-record access to
experts from the federal government, AARP, the Brookings Institution and other
think tanks, and will visit appropriate Washington venues. More from Maha Masud at programs@nationalpress.org or 202-663-7285. ...
Barry Shlachter, the man behind Great Texas Line Press, will present “Why a War Correspondent Began Publishing Texas Cookbooks and Other Lone
Star-themed Tomes and Loves Doing It” at the Writers’ Guild of Texas meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, March 16, at the Richardson Public
Library, 900 Civic Center Drive. A journalist who covered the Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan, numerous coups in Asia and Africa, and points in between, he
will explain how quiet desperation in the workplace — the Star-Telegram — triggered an entrepreneurial impulse. What resulted is a garage-based boutique
publishing house that today has 19 titles and last year sold 45,000 books. WGT
third-Monday early-birds: April 20,
Barbara Blanks, a.k.a. St. Flossie, on “I Don’t Have a Clue and I’m Not Talking About Mysteries”; May 18, Earl Staggs on short stories; June 15, WGT All-Stars Read-In; July 20, Nancy Robinson Masters, “10 Rules for Top Gun Writers”; Sept. 21, Cindy Valor on writing the historical novel. More from writersguildoftexas.org/joomla/ or from organizer Carol Woods.
IABC local update: IABC chair Barbara Gibson, ABC, has been around the globe, but she’ll be at Riscky’s BBQ in the Stockyards at 6 p.m. Monday, March 23, to meet IABC Fort Worth
members and solve the world’s problems. Possible discussion topics: mapping a career path, tactical to
strategic communication, and research as part of your plan. RSVP to pamhuff@gmdirectinc.com by March 18. After 20 years building a career in the U.S., Gibson quit her job,
sold most of her possessions and moved to London. No contacts. No work permit.
Within six months she was president of the UK chapter of IABC, and the
following year she became region chair of IABC Europe/Middle East. Six years
later, she’s running a successful consultancy with clients in the UK and worldwide and
serving as IABC international chair.
IABC local update II: Early-bird next month: “IABC Your Way,” a half-day seminar on presenting yourself in a volatile marketplace, Tuesday,
April 28, at the Baker Building on the Texas Wesleyan University campus. More
at iabcfortworth.com and in the April eChaser.
IABC local update III: A panel of top area communications experts — Carol Barreyre, ABC, Carol Barreyre Communications; Richard Buse, R.S. Buse Communication Services; Scott Cytron, ABC, Cytron and Co.; and Jerry Stevenson, Buck Consultants — will share tips on going it alone and on how to tap into freelance talent at
the next Dallas IABC luncheon, Tuesday, March 10. Register here.
PRSA local update: Big doings at the Healthcare SIG. It will delve into “Why Consumers Trust Facebook (Maybe More Than You): The Evolving Role of Trust,
Transparency and Consumer Choice in Online Health Management” at a lunch and learn Wednesday, March 25, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Center for
Cancer and Blood Disorders (Community Room), 800 W. Magnolia St. Cost is free
to Healthcare SIG members, $10 for nonmembers. Parking is available in a public
garage on Alston Ave. RSVP by March 23 to
christyj142@gmail.com; indicate if you would like to order a $10 boxed lunch. Intended for
practitioners in any business, the session will consider how hospitals are
influencing consumer behavior through social networks, why patients are
self-organizing in ways impossible before now, and what can be done to generate
online PR, marketing and loyalty. ... And register before April 21 to save $100
on ”Leveraging Social Media in Health Care Public Relations: Innovations and
Strategies for Enhanced Consumer Engagement,” May 13-15 in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the PRSA Health Academy. The PRSA
Health Academy is one of PRSA natonal’s largest professional interest sections with nearly 1,000 members. Its Frank J.
Weaver Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual for outstanding
contributions to health care PR, and its MacEachern Chief Executive Officer
Award honors a health care CEO who has effectively used public relations to
advance the profession. Drenda Williams Witt at JPS Health Network received the Weaver award in 2007. “We’d like to see another North Texas practitioner or chief executive officer
honored,” says Healthcare SIG chair Christy Jones. For assistance preparing an entry, contact her at christyj142@gmail.com.
PRSA local update II: The PRSA Pink team in the Komen Tarrant County Race for
the Cure will be off and running at 8 a.m. Saturday, April 11. The Komen is the
largest group of 5K runs/walks in the world, growing from one local race with
800 participants, in Dallas in 1983, to an international series of 117 races
with more than 1.3 million participants. PRSA Pink will go the distance as a
group. All PRSA members, business associates, families and friends are
encouraged to join. Register for $30; team T-shirts are $10-$15. Contact team
captain
Cindy Vasquez at 817-921-0653 or cindy@cancercareservices.org. Signing up by March 27 will allow time to order the shirts.
