MEETINGS
A Few Simple Rules: What Leaders Need to Know About
Effective Communication but Don’t Ask Until It’s Too Late
Numerous studies have shown that major organizational initiatives — outsourcing, restructuring, integrating an acquisition — often deliver results that are disappointing and over budget, with the cause
traced to poor communication by leadership. At the January IABC meeting in
fancy new downtown digs, the City Club, management consultant Barry Mike will review the basic strategies that leaders must use if they are to be
effective.
Mike is a managing director for CRA Inc., a management consultancy specializing
in solving business problems where the cause or solution is communications. An
M.B.A. honors graduate of the SMU Cox School of Business, he has worked
extensively as a communication coach with senior executives at T. Rowe Price,
Pizza Hut, Verizon and Hewlett-Packard.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26
Place: City Club, 301 Commerce St.
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 (online add $1)
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H1N1: Six Days in May and Beyond
Representatives from the Fort Worth Independent School District’s communications department will discuss at the January PRSA meeting the
decision to close the schools due to the H1N1 outbreak in May, how the ISD
shared information with its stakeholders and how it dealt with the H1N1-related
deaths of two students in the fall.
The communications team also will show “Six Days in May,” a short video written and produced by the ISD about its proactive and reactive
information campaign.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13
Place: Petroleum Club, Jacobs/Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St.
Cost: $25 members, $35 nonmembers, students $20
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A January program is being developed. Everyone in the eChaser database will be
notified when it’s finalized.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Fort Worth SPJ’s signature First Amendment Awards competition for broadcast and print
journalists in Texas and Oklahoma is back for a seventh year, with
better-defined categories and still with two print divisions to level the
playing field. The call for entries has been distributed throughout SPJ Region
8; postmark deadline is Feb. 12. Here’s what you need to know. ...
You hear it all the time from editors and agents: “I love your voice,” or “I’m looking for a strong voice.” So this voice is what exactly? A writer’s voice is a combination of style (the mechanics: grammar, sentence structure,
word choice), tone (mood) and theme (issues addressed, like friendship or
betrayal or destiny). Voice is not the story, it’s the way you tell the story. Wendy Lyn Watson tells quite a story — her “I Scream, You Scream” and “Scoop to Kill” feature amateur sleuth Tallulah Jones, who solves murders in between scooping sundaes — and with a distinctive voice. Watson will front an interactive workshop, using
a variety of ways to distill the essence of a unique writing voice, at the next
Writers’ Guild of Texas meeting, at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18, at the Richardson Public
Library. Participants will take away exercises that should help them continue
developing their writer’s voice after the workshop ends. Tthe Writers’ Guild of Texas meets the third Monday of the month; all WGT events are in the
Richardson library and open to the public. More at
writersguildoftexas.org/joomla/. WGT early-birds: Feb. 15, regular meeting, topic pending; March 15, agent Q&A with Terry Burns, Hartline Literary Agency. Send events calendar items to Carol Woods at shurlock@flash.net. ...
J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism will assist women-led news
start-ups with grant funding from the McCormick Foundation. Winners will
receive $12,000 each to launch their business and blog about it in their first
year. Submit grant proposals by April 12. To learn more and apply, click here and here. Speaking of J-Lab, its New Voices initiative helps fund the start-up of
innovative micro-local news projects. New Voices provides funding through a
grant that you can apply for by March 1. Last year’s grantees include The Austin Bulldog, Intersections: The South Los Angeles Reporting
Project, New Era Media in Boulder, Colo., and Backyard News in Harrisburg, Pa.
IABC local update: You didn’t deep-six your radio when you bought a TV, did you? Likewise, organizations
shouldn’t kill print just because they now have online tools. Done properly, print can
be powerful for reaching, motivating and engaging an audience. In a Jan. 13 web
seminar, communication expert Steve Crescenzo will probe what a good print publication can do for you that all the online
tools in the world cannot; what content belongs in print, and what belongs
online; and how to write for print in an age of reduced attention spans. More
at bit.ly/4FXNQH. Meanwhile, learn here how to create vital connections with the six common stakeholder groups that
have the greatest influence on an organization’s success. Available in print or PDF. And everything you need to know about
do-it-yourself video production is here.
IABC local update II: In a warm-up to his presentation at IABC Fort Worth later in the month,
management consultant Barry Mike will offer strategic thoughts and incisive behaviors for developing a personal
leadership brand and increasing influence at the IABC Dallas luncheon meeting
Tuesday, Jan. 19, at Popolos. Register here.
PRSA local update: Entries are now being accepted for the 2010 Texas Public Relations Association’s Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards competition, co-sponsored by the Austin, Central Texas, Dallas, Greater Fort
Worth, Houston and San Antonio PRSA chapters. Deadline is 5 p.m. Jan. 14, then
late entries will be accepted (with an additional $50) through Jan. 21. More
from TPRA contest manager Julie Fix, APR, at awards@tpra.com.
PRSA local update II: Calling all communications professionals. Organizers hope there’s a spot in your 2010 budget for the PRSA Southwest District Conference, April
15-17 in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City Chapter is gearing up for the annual
meet and outlining plans around this year’s theme, “Your Network is Your Net Worth.” Check here to be a speaker or sponsor.
PRSA local update III: The next APR “Open House” webcast — study tips and a review of the APR exam — will be Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m. Sign up here. The next online cohort group begins Jan. 26 and will meet 14 weeks via
webcast. Participants are encouraged to practice delivering their readiness
review. They may enroll in the online study course at any time and join in for
the new candidate orientation. Cost is $195 for PRSA members, with a $25
discount for those in a group of five or more who enroll at one time. Contact
APR chair Lisa Starnes, APR, at lisastarnes@texashealth.org.
PRSA local update IV: Meet the 2010 Greater Fort Worth PRSA officers, directors and committee chairs:
president Tom Burke, APR; president-elect/VP membership Carol Murray, APR; VP programs Allyson Cross; treasurer Marc Flake; treasurer-elect Diane Rhodes Bergman, APR; secretary Lara Kohl; directors Joan Hunter, Richie Escovedo and Lisa Starnes, APR; assembly delegates Laura Van Hoosier, APR, and Andra Bennett, APR; accreditation committee, Lisa Starnes, APR; awards, Cindy Vasquez; bylaws, Dan Keeney, APR; community service, Phil Beckman; diversity, Glenda Thompson; ethics, Julie O’Neil; hospitality, Jahnae Stout; job bank, Jerrod Resweber; newsletter/public relations, Megan Murphey; nominating (immediate past president), Andra Bennett, APR; professional development, Margaret Ritsch; student liaison/scholarship, Carroll Burney; Education SIG, Dr. Shelley Wigley; Health Care SIG, Whitney Jodry; Independent Practitioners SIG, Paul Sturiale, APR; Masters SIG, Hope Caldwell; Nonprofit SIG, Kendal Smith; NuPros SIG, Cacy Barnard; Online SIG, Richie Escovedo; President’s Council, Dr. Doug Newsom, APR, Fellow PRSA; and Social Media SIG, Richie Escovedo.
