MEETINGS
A luncheon program is being crafted. Greatness can’t be rushed.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25
Place: City Club, 301 Commerce St.
Cost: $25 members, $30 nonmembers, $20 students (online add $1)
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‘Networking Nirvana’ and Other Joys
Rather than a regular meeting this month, GFW PRSA members will join Dallas PRSA
at its annual communications summit Friday, Oct. 21, with Shama Kabani, president of the Marketing Zen Group and author of “The Zen of Social Media Marketing,” and keynoter Kevin Sullivan, president of Kevin Sullivan Communications. Organizers promise “networking nirvana” along with sessions in writing, editing, pitching and social media, plus a
social hour has been added at the end of the day.
Kabani will speak on gaining instant and far-reaching audience access; more on
her here. Sullivan spent 18 years with the Dallas Mavericks organization and worked as
communications VP for NBC Sports and as an assistant secretary for
communications at the U.S. Department of Education. He was White House
communications director under President George W. Bush.
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Layoffs and Life on the River: A Hearty Knowledge Exchange
Maybe the purges are inevitable, but the panic doesn’t have to be. Fort Worth SPJ is conducting a special downtown Dallas seminar,
Life After the Layoff, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at the
Universities Center at Dallas, 1901 Main St. Experts on a variety of topics,
including Paul Foutch, ex-Dallas Morning News staffer now with Edward Jones Investments; Joyce Saenz Harris, ex-DMN staffer now in public relations; and Rebecca Aguilar, formerly a broadcast reporter and now a multimedia journalist, will offer
financial advice, job-search strategies, practical considerations and ways to
retool, reinvent and respond with purpose.
Admission is free and of course not restricted to Dallas journalists.
Refreshments will be provided. A parking garage is adjacent at Main and Harwood
streets, across from the old Municipal Building (once known as the cop shop).
Also, parking meters ring the building. More on the center at ucddowntown.org/. Register here.
Back in Fort Worth, there is no regular meeting, but members might find
interesting a panel discussion on the Trinity River Vision project at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 12, in the lecture hall at Fort Worth Botanic Garden, sponsored
by the Trinity River Improvement Partnership. Former City Councilman Jim Lane and project director J.D. Granger have agreed to participate, with additional input anticipated from area
journalists and others. Fort Worth Business Press editor Robert Francis will moderate the panel.
Admission is free. Coffee, tea and soft drinks will be provided. A crowd is
expected for what should be a spirited give and take; the room holds 240
people. No RSVP required.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
TCU music students will grace the day at the TCU Guild’s English tea, from 2 to 4 p.m. Thrsday, Oct. 13, at the home of Megan and Victor Boschini, 3861 Bellaire Circle. Cost is $30; guests are welcome. RSVP to Lois Powers, 817-249-7409 or tcuguild@gmail.com. The Guild funds nine scholarships in the TCU Colleges of Fine Arts and
Communication. ...
Sometimes a letter can be more than just a letter. While a film student at the
University of Southern California, Rex McGee wrote what could have been dismissed as an ordinary fan letter to his idol,
six-time Oscar winner Billy Wilder, about the director’s newest film, the romantic comedy “Avanti!” Wilder was so impressed that he invited 21-year-old Rex to meet him at his
office. That introduction led to a 29-year friendship and collaboration, with
McGee assisting Wilder on “The Front Page,” starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and then “Fedora” with William Holden and Henry Fonda. Today, McGee teaches screenwriting at the KD Conservatory for Film and
Dramatic Arts in Dallas and conducts creativity workshops at SMU based on the
best-selling book “The Artist’s Way,” by Julia Cameron. He has a lot to say, and not just on “Screenwriting: Getting Your Words on the Big Screen,” his topic at the Writers’ Guild of Texas meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17, at the Richardson Public
Library. • WGT third-Monday schedule for the rest of the year: Nov. 21, Heather Wood, “E-Commerce, Your Online Selling Options”; Dec. 19, holiday open house. • Improve your writing/editing skills at WGT PCS (planned critique sessions),
third Wednesday of the month, Richardson Public Library basement, 7-8:45 p.m.
Participants present their own work and receive feedback from fellow members.
E- Earl Stubbs, earlstubbs34@gmail.com. • More at writersguildoftexas.org/joomla/. Send calendar items to Carol Woods at carol.woods@verizon.net.
PRSA local update: Masters and NuPros will mix and mingle Wednesday, Oct. 5, at Terra
Mediterranean Grill, 6-7 p.m., cost $5. The NuPros SIG is for those with up to
five years PR and communications experience; the Masters have APR certification
and/or at least 15 years experience. RSVP here by Sept. 30.
PRSA local update II: Panelists Gigi Westerman, APR; Sandra Brodnicki, APR; and Richie Escovedo, with moderator Nancy Farrar, will explore “Grass-Roots Media Relations and Social Media for the Small Nonprofit” at the chapter’s annual service project, 9-11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Modern Art Museum
of Fort Worth. Admission is free. Questions? Kendal Lake, kendal@themodern.org. The program targets nonprofit staff and volunteers wanting to know more about
using media relations and social media to raise awareness. RSVP here.
PRSA local update III: It’s party hats and fond memories time as Greater Fort Worth PRSA celebrates its
25th anniversary Thursday, Nov. 10, with a dinner and merriment at Four Day
Weekend downtown. Details next month. To help sponsor the evening, contact Holly Ellman, hollyellman@hotmail.com, or Andra Bennett, abennett@fortworthchamber.com.
PRSA local update IV: The PRSA Leadership Assembly will meet Oct. 15, prior to the annual
international conference in Orlando, Fla., on whether to increase national
dues. The 2011 Board of Directors proposes an increase based on the
recommendation of a task force that studied ways PRSA can balance future
budgets while growing its financial reserves. National dues have not gone up
since 2002. The board wants a $30 boost, to $255, effective for members
renewing on or after Jan. 1. GFW PRSA assembly delegates Laura Van Hoosier, APR, and Andra Bennett House, APR, are taking comments at abennett@fortworthchamber.com and lauravanhoosier@msn.com.
