MEETINGS
Crisis Communications: Don’t be Afraid
October is the month for scary surprises, which makes it the perfect time for a
program on a most frightening prospect for professional communicators — crisis communications. TCU associate professor Amiso George, APR, and Judy Ramos, communications director for the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School
District, will share their experiences and solutions, from initial assessment
to strategic response to on-the-fly implementation, at the October IABC
meeting.
They will explain why and how they pursued directions that shifted with each new
piece of information. Along the way, they also will offer their top tips for
managing crisis challenges.
George formerly directed the graduate program at TCU’s Schieffer School of Journalism and the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism
at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is a former television reporter and
anchor with television stations in Nigeria, Ohio and Washington, D.C. Ramos, a
multiple award-winning communicator, civic leader, former journalist and
full-time mom, took the reins of HEB ISD’s information program in 2001 after 13 years in the tourism industry.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26
Place: City Club, 301 Commerce St.
Cost: with reservation, members $15, nonmembers $20, students $10; without
reservation, members $30, nonmembers $35, students $20
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Leadership: Finding Your Place in the C-Suite
How do you address executive egos, biases and a variety of communication filters
and still have your voice heard? How do you influence, think, analyze or
network differently in order to one day find yourself in the C-suite?
Attendees at the interactive morning session will discover why executives (and
the other important people in their lives) think like they think and do what
they do. Topics include executive values and priorities; breaking through
ceilings, power struggles, politics and organizational structures;
strategically managing a personal network in order to stay a top performer; and
leading where you are and being effective at what you do.
Over lunch, participants will explore ways executives lead under a
Google/Twitter e-scope, where organizational reputations disappear in a digital
moment and CEOs are “voted out” by the public. If your organization were BP’d or Toyota’d or Tiger’d, would it survive? Invite your CEO.
Presenter Dan Novak teaches graduate-level leadership and innovation at TCU and South University. He
also consults in the areas of leadership breakthrough and organizational
diagnosis and strategy. He spent 31 years at IBM in a range of leadership,
marketing, entrepreneurial and international roles, including worldwide brand
management.
Time & date: morning session 8:30-11:30 a.m. (continental breakfast at 8), luncheon session
11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13
Place: Colonial Country Club, 3735 Country Club Circle
Cost: workshop and lunch, members $105, nonmembers $125, students $60; workshop only,
members $75, nonmembers $85, students $40; lunch only, members $30, nonmembers
$40, students $20
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And a Big Texas Welcome to the New SPJ Prez
SPJ national president Hagit Limor, a multi-decorated investigative reporter at WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio, will relate what SPJ is doing across the country to work for journalism,
journalists, open government and a free press at a reception in her honor Oct.
16. By tradition, Fort Worth is the first stop for a newly installed SPJ
president, and Limor will bring news from the just-completed national
convention in Las Vegas.
Among Limor’s dozens of national, state and local honors are a 2008 National Headliner Award
for a four-year investigation into pollution from the local international
airport and a 2008 Emmy (both awards with videographer Anthony Mirones) for exposing a wedding video company that brides nationwide said never
delivered the goods. The National Association of Health Care Journalists lauded
her work on a story about lack of access to mental health care by a national
insurance company.
Time & date: 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16
Place: 2102 Pembroke Drive, Fort Worth, home of Paul and Harriet Harral
Cost: $10
Menu: tenderloin slow grilled, vegetables, appetizers, beer, tea, wine, brownies
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STRAIGHT STUFF
The program is nearly set for the next APME NewsTrain, Oct. 12-13 at the TCU
Schieffer School of Journalism. Sessions begin at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12,
and run through 4:45 p.m. Oct. 13. The program is divided into tracks to
accommodate participants, regardless of whether they can attend the full
program or only a single day. The $50 registration covers everything, including lunches both days. The registration page features
a program and bios on the faculty: Marci Burdick, Mitch Pugh, Michael Roberts, Steve Buttry, Melinda Janik and Matt Stiles. ...
Paula LaRocque, who literally “wrote the book” on writing, will conduct her one-day, once-a-semester seminar at SMU on
Saturday, Oct. 30, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in Dedman Life Sciences 110. In the morning
she will present guidelines that enliven any writing — memo, report, article, press release or newsletter. That afternoon she’ll focus on creative literary devices that produce more effective narratives.
Her “Book on Writing” is included in the fee ($225 or $215 for early registration). Lunch on your
own. To register call 214-SMU-THINK or go online:
smu.edu/cape. ...
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce’s 2010-2011 Media Directory, a 70-page cornucopia of data — e-mail addresses, fax numbers, circulation figures and distribution areas for
print media in Tarrant, Johnson, Parker and Hood counties, as well as local TV
and radio contacts, online news outlets and blogs — can be yours for $50 (chamber members $30). Call 817-338-3332, or order online
at fortworthchamber.com, ...
Dr. Harry Parker, managing director of the Trinity Shakespeare Festival and chair of the TCU
Department of Theatre, will discuss plans for the festival at the TCU Guild
luncheon Thursday, Oct. 21, at the home of Lynn and John Cockrell, 2611 Torrey Pines in Fort Worth. Cost is $15. Guild nonmembers are welcome.
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. ...
A fiction character is much more than a physical description and a résumé of likes and abilities. Carol Woods at the next Writers’ Guild of Texas meeting (7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, Richardson Public Library) will
explore nuances of character building and sound the alert to meaningless words
and the evils of passive writing. Woods has been active in the regional writing
community for more than 20 years; now retired for either the third or fourth
time, she is a freelance editor. Third-Monday early-birds: Nov. 15, Clay Reynolds; Dec. 20, Christmas party and WGT All-Stars read-in. Suzanne Frank, the author of seven novels and director of SMU’s creative writing program, will lead a workshop Saturday, Nov. 6. More at writersguildoftexas.org/joomla/.
IABC local update: Paul Maynard, aka the Relentless Networker, will discuss “Networking by Association(s)” at the IABC Dallas luncheon meeting Tuesday, Oct. 12. Register here.
