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MEETINGS
Broaden Communications Interaction with Wikis
In the expanding world of social media, it’s hard to know which tool to use. Beyond checking trivia on Wikipedia, how many
people utilize wikis as part of their communications model? What is a wiki
anyway? How is one created? Kay Colley, Ph.D., knows and she’s talking, at the next IABC meeting, which is on a different day this month — Monday, Nov. 16.
Assistant professor Colley teaches journalism and PR at Texas Wesleyan
University. Her more than 14 years in communication education include full-time
faculty appointments at UT Arlington in public relations and the University of
North Texas and Blinn College in journalism. She has advised the student
newspapers at UNT and Blinn and currently advises Texas Wesleyan IABC, the
student chapter affiliated with IABC Fort Worth.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16
Place: Petroleum Club, Jacobs/Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St.
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 (online add $1)
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How to Navigate in the Public Service Space
Media distribution opportunities have grown exponentially. So how do you get
your message out there so that those in your audience know you’re talking directly to them?
The November meeting, with KXAS-TV’s Scott Saldinger, business development account manager, and Nada Ruddock, director of community affairs, will address the new ways to communicate
through media companies, with emphasis on how to work with them to get noticed.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11
Place: Petroleum Club, Jacobs/Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St.
Cost: $25 members, $35 nonmembers, students $20
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When Your Twitter’s All A-flutter and Your Facebook’s ‘Way Booked Up
Journalists/educators Broc Sears, Aaron Chimbel, Andrew Chavez and Chris Whitley will lead a multimedia workshop for professionals Saturday morning, Nov. 14, in
TCU’s new Convergence Center in the Moudy Visual Arts/Communication Building, 2805
S. University Drive.
Expect a thorough grounding in Photoshop, InDesign, Facebook and Twitter.
Advance registration is required; seating is limited. The workshop is free,
with an optional $10 lunch.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Friends of Mike Cochran — you and you, and you there at the bar — your literary lion has two public appearances planned this month. He’ll be a “celebrity bartender” Tuesday, Nov. 10, and sign and sell his new book, “The Godfather of Poker,” at Adam Jones’ Grace restaurant on Main Street in downtown Fort Worth. The evening is billed
from 5 to 7 p.m., but anticipate a later close. Doyle Brunson, the aforementioned godfather, would bet on it. Friday, Nov. 13, Cochran will
be talking and signing and selling some more at a UTA Friends of the Library
reception in the Central Library sixth-floor parlor on the campus (RSVP, please). Brunson joins Billie Sol Estes, Cullen Davis and Clayton Williams, to name three, on Cochran’s scamps and scalawags profile sheet. He and Cochran met as students at
Hardin-Simmons University, where Brunson was a basketball star until an
accident ended that. Arriving in Fort Worth after graduation, he soon quit his
sales job to play poker full time. He befriended some of the shadiest
characters in the city’s infamously colorful history. Yessir, another perfect Cochran subject. ...
American Press Institute faculty member Steve Buttry, a pioneer in new directions for “old” media, will return to his alma mater, TCU, Nov. 18 and 19 to give a
seminar/workshop similar to presentations he has done for large media outlets.
Buttry will detail the Complete Community Connection, an approach he created
for Gazette Communications in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in two duplicate four-hour
sessions Nov. 18, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. “Upholding and Updating Ethics” the next day will feature four 90-minute seminars on different subjects.
Attendance is free, but seating is limited to 50 persons for the C3 sessions
and to 40 persons for the ethics sessions. All activities will be in the
Brown-Lupton University Union. Area journalists and j-educators are welcome.
More here. ...
Emmet Smith assembled a full concert organ piece by piece from various places, and he will
perform on it for the TCU Guild luncheon meeting at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov
19, at the home he and wife Judy share, 3635 Hilltop Road in Fort Worth. The organ is in one room, and the pipes
are in a room behind it. The meeting could last a couple of hours, depending on
how tuneful Smith is that day. Cost is $15. RSVP to Lois Powers, 817-249-7409 or tcuguild@gmail.com. The Guild funds eight scholarships in the TCU Colleges of Fine Arts and
Communication. ...
Road trip! The Texas Tribune goes live Nov. 3. All founding donors — members, corporate sponsors and investors, plus their guests — are invited to the launch party at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, at The Belmont, 305
W. 6th St. in Austin. RSVP to rsvp@texastribune.org. ...
It’s a Writers’ Guild of Texas doubleheader this month. Twenty-five-year computer industry
veteran (latest endeavor: hakunamatataweb.com) Sami Mikail will discuss the creation process and the target audience for web sites, blogs
and other twitterific tools at 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, in the
Richardson Public Library. The WGT third-Monday schedule resumes Nov. 16,
7-8:30 p.m. same location, with syndicated entertainment columnist and author Candy Havens (“Charmed & Ready,” “Charmed & Deadly”) explaining the ways to clean up a manuscript in two weeks and have a polished
piece ready to send to agents and editors.
IABC local update: E-newsletters: a smart way to market. Here’s a relatively simple, low-cost way to reach your customers or clients. Whether
you’re a communicator in a corporation or professional services firm or a one-man
band in a home office, e-letters can work for you.
IABC local update II: Safeguard your organization from the corporate trust crash. A lack of trust is at the root of the financial crisis and will have an impact
far beyond financial and governmental institutions. Distrust has enormous human
and financial costs, but it’s a myth that professional communicators can’t do anything to earn confidence.
PRSA local update: Awards chair Lauren Burkett; Lisa Starnes, APR; Andra Bennett, APR; Linda Jacobson, APR; Carolyn Bobo, APR, Fellow; Donna McLallen, APR; Jerrod Resweber; Marilyn Gilbert and Richie Escovedo put on their critique hats Oct. 24 to judge the Totem Awards for Puget Sound
PRSA. Thanks, GFW PRSA past-president Henry Stewart, for providing lunch (Henry left PR to become a chef and now fronts Henry Cooks
& Caters). But wait, more judging is needed to break ties and evaluate new
entries. E- loburkett@gmail.com to do round two, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Center for Cancer and
Blood Disorders on Magnolia (next to the Paris Coffee Shop).
PRSA local update II: The UTA PRSSA chapter is excited to send four members to
the national conference in San Diego in November and extends its thanks to all
who supported the recent fund-raisers. The chapter also needs professionals to
critique student portfolios at a speed networking event Thursday, Dec. 3, 6-8
p.m. on the UTA campus. Contact chapter president Kathelin Buxton, kathelin.buxton@gmail.com.
PRSA local update III: Need an intern for 2010? Try the Mayborn Internship Fair
on the UNT campus, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11. Produced by the Mayborn
School of Journalism, the fair will be in the Career Center in Chestnut Hall
and is free. One table and two chairs will be provided to a company or
organization seeking interns, and tabletop exhibits, materials and giveaways
that can fit on the table are allowed. Undergraduate and graduate journalism
students will be invited. More from coordinator
Jo Ann Ballantine, 940-565-4778, joann.ballantine@unt.edu.
