MEETINGS
Reaching Larger Audiences with Smaller Budgets
Communicators are more strapped than ever to find ways to get their message to
the target market. Michael Fletcher, Studios 121 president and CEO, executive producer Paul Leone and senior technical producer Will Raymond will demonstrate new technologies, explain the driving factors behind the costs
of production, and share tips to reach just the right audience at the September
meeting.
Studios 121 has produced more than 200 episodes of HD and SD programming
(syndicated and original comedies, biographies, music concerts, and music and
entertainment news) for Univision, Telemundo, CMT, CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox. The
company has expertise in everything from logo design and branding campaigns to
corporate videos and websites.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21
Place: Studios 121, 6125 Airport Freeway, Haltom City
Cost: $15 members, $20 guests for a boxed lunch and beverage
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Translucency and the ‘No Comment’ Debate in the Era of Transparency
Transparency is critical to ethical public relations, and PR professionals
struggle daily with whether to comment in sensitive and rapidly changing
situations. Brigham Young University professors Rob Wakefield and Susan Walton believe that while transparency often is interpreted as being completely open at
all times, instances can occur where not disclosing information is the most
ethical stance for both organizations and their stakeholders.
For the September program, sponsored by the TCU Schieffer School of Journalism,
Wakefield and Walton will discuss their recent publication “Translucency Corollary to the Transparency Theory” and offer a list of considerations PR pros can use to guide their approach to
providing information at critical times. Organizers promise a lively
discussion.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8
Place: Colonial Country Club, 3735 Country Club Circle
Cost: $25 members, $35 nonmembers, students $20, walk-ups add $5
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BP and the Gulf Coast Oil Spill: Do We Know the Truth?
CBS 11 anchor Doug Dunbar and CBS Southern Bureau chief Scott Keenan will lead a discussion on the challenges of covering the monstrous environmental
disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Dunbar spent several days in the region filing
video and online reports.
Time & date: mingling 6 p.m., eats around 6:30, then the program Wednesday, Sept. 22
Place: Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant, 2201 N. Commerce St.
Cost: $17 members, $25 nonmembers, $10 students, free if you join right then and there
Menu: Joe T.’s renowned family-style enchilada dinner; cash bar
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STRAIGHT STUFF
TCU’s Dr. Jesús Castro-Balbi will wax musically rhapsodic on the cello at the TCU Guild fall luncheon
Thursday, Sept. 16, at the home of Shannon and Stephen Nolan, 2116 Spanish Trail in Fort Worth. Cost is $30; valet parking is available.
Guild nonmembers are welcome. RSVP by Sept. 10 to Lois Powers, 817-249-7409 or tcuguild@gmail.com. The Guild funds eight scholarships in the TCU Colleges of Fine Arts and
Communication. ...
Journalism and social media heavies Mike Orren, Pegasus News; Theodore Kim, The Dallas Morning News; Jake Batsell, SMU; Jessica Nuñez, Nuñez PR Group; Victoria Harres, PR Newswire; and Mike Merrill, Social Media Club of Dallas, will conduct a workshop from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 11, in Umphrey Lee 283 on the SMU campus. Cost is $10 for
students and Dallas Press Club/Asian American Journalists Association members,
$30 for nonmembers. RSVP by Sept. 3. ...
The Lilly Endowment funds scholarships for religion writers, and applications
are reviewed quarterly. The next deadline is Oct. 1. Info here and here. ...
Four luminaries in children’s literature — illustrator/writer Priscilla Burris, author of “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” and more than 15 other children’s books; Scholastic assistant editor Mallory Kass, who edited “39 Clues” and other middle-grade and young adult fiction; Scholastic executive art
director Elizabeth Parisi, who designs and oversees more than 120 children’s books across four imprints; and author/illustrator Dan Yaccarino, who has created favorite books including “Every Friday” and “Good Night Mr. Night” — will make a rare visit to the area for a kid-lit conference Sept. 25 in
Arlington hosted by the NC/NE Texas Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Burris, Parisi and Yaccarino will present a
seminar and critique illustrators’ portfolios. Kass will present a seminar and critique authors’ first pages. Info
here. Registration deadline may have passed, but this may be good enough that you
should stow away in the cargo hold. ...
“Write the best book you can.” In today’s competitive market, that isn’t enough. As the publishing world contracts, jobs disappear, including editor
and copyeditor positions — another reason why it’s important to submit a polished manuscript. Retired librarian Cindy Vallar, associate editor of Industry of Solander, the magazine of the Historical Novel
Society, will provide a checklist of ways to get that manuscript past the
initial query at the next Writers’ Guild of Texas meeting, 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20, Richardson Public Library.
Expect a discussion of tight writing, cause and effect, dangling modifiers,
choosing the right word, and punctuation and grammar tips. Third-Monday
early-birds: Oct. 18, Ben Johnson, author of Sam Zell biography; 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/. Send events calendar items to Carol Woods at carol.woods@verizon.net.
PRSA national update: Greater Fort Worth PRSA will have a presence at the PRSA 2010 International
Conference: Powering PRogress, Oct. 16-19 in Washington, D.C. Chapter director Richie Escovedo will be an official conference blogger. PRSA public relations manager Diane Gomez invited him to attend via, what else, Twitter. More on the conference here. Escovedo also was recently quoted in a Dallas Morning News story on local school systems establishing social networking policies.
PRSA national update II: Selected webinar. “Gulf Spill Communications: Behind the Scenes with Key Responders”; 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8. Take a look at communications management for the
Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill with Neil Chapman, head of communications for BP Global Refining and Marketing, and Gerald Baron, founder of PIER Systems, a web-based crisis communication management service
operating as the primary platform for Unified Command. Chapman and Baron will
discuss meeting the communications challenges of the largest environmental
disaster in U.S. history, from managing nearly 60,000 inquiries to
orchestrating interactive web tools, including the Deepwater Horizon website.
Register here.
PRSA local update: Five officers will be voted on at the Oct. 13 annual membership meeting:
president-elect/membership chair, Allyson Cross; VP programs, Chris Smith; treasurer-elect, Lara Kohl; secretary, Jahnae Stout; and director, Margaret Ritsch, APR. Five officers and directors have already have been elected to serve in
2011: president Carol Murray, APR; treasurer Diane Rhodes Bergman, APR; directors Joan Hunter and Lisa Starnes, APR; and assembly delegates Laura Van Hoosier, APR, and Andra Bennett, APR. As immediate past president, Bennett chaired the nominating committee.
Committee members were Van Hoosier, Murray, Holly Ellman, Tom Burke, APR, and Paul Sturiale, APR.
