eChaser: February 2003


	Society of Professional Journalists, Fort Worth Professional Chapter Public Relations Society of America, Greater Fort Worth Chapter International Association of Business Communicators, Fort Worth Chapter eChaser archive [graphics format] February 2003 MEETINGS Next at IABC/Fort Worth ... Strategic Planning: How to Toughen Up Your Marketing Communications in a Soft Economy Your budget's under scrutiny. Still, your work must meet company goals. Brian Everett, ABC, a senior partner in Minneapolis-based MindShare Strategies, knows how to make it happen and will offer tips at the February meeting to ensure that a professional communicator's endeavors have maximum impact, especially in a weak business climate. Everett, a member of the IABC District 4 Board of Directors and a former member of the international IABC board, says lean times are the worst times to cut communications budgets, and he will provide ways to strengthen the argument for keeping a budget intact. "Start now in convincing upper management of the true value of marketing and communications," he says. "Turn your current defensive position in a soft economy into a future offensive position within your organization." Above all, he urges clients to make sure that their efforts are "measurable, results-oriented and aligned with the business goals of the organization -- regardless of the budget size." * Time, date: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11 * Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor * Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket validated) * Cost: $17 members, $22 nonmembers, $12 students * RSVP by noon Feb. 7: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com ----- Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ... Spring Into New Vitality in Business and in Life Feeling overworked and burned out? Is the economy taking a toll on you and your department? Poet and former journalist (also former disc jockey, bartender and vegetable farmer) Alma Jones, owner of the Dallas-based management consulting company Coaching Synergy, will share ways to work smart and not harder at this month's PRSA meeting. Topics include: + Tools and strategies for eliminating the blocks that drain your energy and stall your success. + A step-by-step approach to creating the business and the life you deserve. + Healthy ways to revitalize your business and reduce stress in uncertain times. + A blueprint for building your own research and development team to recession-proof your business (and your mind). * Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12 * Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor * Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket validated) * Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $18 students * RSVP by noon Feb. 10: Glenda Thompson, glendat@nawic.org ----- Next at Fort Worth SPJ ... Marriages are Made in Heaven -- but Some Also Make Headlines The days of a print reporter's hiding notes from the broadcast guys to preserve an exclusive are nearly gone, thanks to convergence. Now reporters are just as likely to let a newscaster lift a quote or two, while a broadcaster may share a phone tip that turns into a scoop. These cozy alliances are for those who have officially teamed up after much wrangling and hand-wringing. So is it working? Do we like it? Bring all the suspiciously joint headlines you can muster for show and tell at February's meeting as the good, the bad and the gnarly features of convergence will be explored by a panel consisting of Dallas Morning News managing editor Stu Wilk; WFAA-TV Channel 8 bureau chief Barbara Griffith; Griffith's husband, Steve Moffett, a newscast director for KXAS-TV Channel 5; and a Star-Telegram deep thinker to be named later. * Date: Wednesday, Feb. 19 * Time: mingling 5:30 p.m., dinner 6, program 6:45 * Place: H3 restaurant, 105 E. Exchange Ave. * Cost: $5 students, $11 members, $15 nonmembers; free valet parking * Menu: choice of grilled trout, six-shrimp kabob over wild rice, a 6-ounce sirloin with two enchiladas or half a roasted chicken and corn on the cob, all served with salad, bread and beverage; substitutions are allowed, like baked potato for wild rice * RSVP: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com ================================================= STRAIGHT STUFF Two big deals dot the immediate IABC landscape, beginning with the 2003 Corporate Communication Summit, March 6-7 in Philadelphia, designed for senior communication pros responsible for demonstrating financial results. Info at www.iabc.com/events/summit. The 2003 IABC International Conference, June 8-11 in Toronto, Ontario, features 65 sessions in six tracks, with exhibit hall, Internet cafe, silent auction and networking. The brochure will be mailed to IABC members this month. Info at www.iabc.com/events/conf2003. ... One of North America's foremost PR strategists, James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, will reveal his tactics for becoming a communications strategist and for "getting to the table" in a Web-based presentation at 2-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6. Cost is $10 to tap into the local link at Alcon Laboratories (registrants will get a map). RSVP by 5 p.m. Feb. 3 to Holly Ellman at holly@lachapelleagency.com. Info: KRM.com/PRSA. ... Micah Group founder and CEO Jim Travis and Ed Bardwell, CEO and co-founder of B2Communications, will discuss "The Evolution of the Sports Marketing Industry ... From On-site to Online" at the Dallas PRSA luncheon Thursday, Feb. 13, at the Park City Club, 5956 Sherry Lane. Travis is working with the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Sports Commission in helping organize the 2003-04 Big 12 men's and women's basketball tourneys in Dallas. Bardwell's clients include Sony, HP, 3Com, SMU and Safeway. Cost is $25 for members with reservations, $35 for walk-ups and guests with reservations, $20 students. Call (817) 858-6088, or register at prsadallas.org/lunregistration.html. ... Lauren Reis is offering from $95 up to $1,000 to anyone who refers a client to her company, Envision Works. "Do you really know what I do?" she asks. "Who Envision Works is?" The company does communication and marketing work for clients in various industries. More at envisionworks.org. ... A full agenda -- plans for the 2005 National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Fort Worth, an upcoming night of salsa dancing with visiting NAHJ board members, scholarship money to raise and an investigative reporting workshop to organize -- awaits at the next D/FW Network of Hispanic Communicators meeting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Star-Telegram in Arlington, 1111 W. Abram St. Info from Eva-Marie Ayala at eayala@star-telegram.com. SPJ national update: Looking out for the next generation. Student journalists have the same protections against having to reveal sources as their professional counterparts, a federal district judge ruled in December. The decision allows Pinchas Shapiro, a student editor of The Commentator at Yeshiva University in New York, to maintain the confidentiality of sources he used in a story on a teacher's lawsuit. The teacher, Diane Persky, asserted that administrators practiced religious discrimination when they demoted her and kept her from participating in recruiting trips to Israel. Persky asked the court to compel Shapiro to reveal his sources, who, in the article, corroborated her allegations. Senior District Judge Lawrence M. McKenna held that Persky failed to show that the material could not be obtained from other sources. The judge also recognized Shapiro's right to a reporter's privilege in his role as a student journalist. ... In October 2000, an official at south suburban Governors State University called the company that printed the school paper and said stop publication. No one from the Chicago university had checked the paper for journalistic quality, said Patricia Carter, dean of student affairs, and it might contain "grammatical errors." The ensuing legal battle over freedom of speech and alleged censorship will be played out in a federal appeals court in Chicago. A potentially precedent-setting ruling could take months. ... Just call him "his honor." Remember Berkeley mayoral candidate Tom Bates, who was seen trashing stacks of The Daily Californian because the campus newspaper did not endorse him in November's elections? He pleaded guilty to petty theft and was fined $100. The incident took place in Sproul Plaza, coincidentally the birthplace of the 1964 Free Speech Movement. Bates initially denied tossing the papers, but after the case went to prosecutors, he apologized, saying he was tired on the last day of a difficult campaign and made a mistake. He did win the election, though, with nearly 56 percent of the vote to incumbent Shirley Dean's 42 percent. SPJ national update II: secret task forces in Kansas and public information violations in East Texas. Five teams appointed by the Kansas governor-elect to review state government efficiency could meet in secret, a judge ruled early last month, rejecting a lawsuit by news groups. Shawnee County District Judge Eric Rosen ruled that the Kansas Open Meetings Act did not apply because Kathleen Sebelius would not have full gubernatorial powers until she took office Jan. 13. But Rosen also rebuked Sebelius: "When meetings that directly impact public policy of our state occur out of the public eye or ear, our democracy is put in jeopardy. Had the court been provided with a legal option to do so, it would have most certainly ordered the team meetings open." The teams met 18 times, starting in November, in a "top-to-bottom" review. They generated 105 ideas for making government more efficient or increasing fees to offset costs, and Democrat Sebelius said she may include some of the ideas in the budget she submits to legislators. ... Law enforcement agencies throughout East Texas frequently violate the Texas Public Information Act, often responding to requests with personal questions, privacy lectures and demands for identification, a 14-county survey shows. County governments, on the other hand, fully cooperated with residents seeking public documents, according to the study conducted by the UT Tyler journalism department, the Longview News-Journal and the Tyler Courier-Times-Telegraph. The survey, taken from May through September, showed that county employees produced information without question, but agents at sheriff's or police departments produced records just 68 percent of the time. In one case, a researcher was told she had to "earn" the right to see documents. ----- Stale Doesn't Work at Tom Thumb, and It Surely Won't for Your Intranet "Keep your content fresh." The message was heard early and often at last month's IABC meeting as Verizon's Kimberly Page and about 35 members and guests examined the subject of "Intranets: How to Keep Your Employees Coming Back for More." Using PowerPoint, Page walked the audience through the creative methodology she uses to make the Verizon employee site practical and appetizing. She emphasized measuring usability and compared quick and easy approaches to more expensive methods. She also stressed the importance of coordinating the intranet menu with print publications, e-mail newsletters, video programs, posters and face-to-face communications. For those who want to learn more, Page, an electronic communication specialist at Verizon, suggested "Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability," by Steve Krug and Roger Black, and "Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity," by Jakob Nielsen. After the meeting, IABC/Fort Worth members Pam Huff, ABC; Arden Dufilho, Lori De La Cruz and Lauren Reis met with Friends of the Public Library members Bunny Gardner, president; Pat Adams, Sandra Tomlinson and Claude Crowley, ABC, to work out details of IABC's role as a Friends PR/marketing advisory group. Any IABC members who wish to participate in the project should contact Crowley, who chairs the Friends PR committee, at (817) 292-5095 or claudecrowley@earthlink.net. ----- Western Culture, Caps and Coverage by Krista Brown The Advertising Club and PRSA made history last month, presenting the Dateline Award to dual recipients -- the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the Westside Little League All Stars -- for the first time in almost 30 years. Each year, the Ad Club lauds an organization that brings positive publicity to Fort Worth or Tarrant County. The award last went to two groups in 1974, when Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and the Texas Rangers were honored. The Westside Little League All Stars made it to the Little League World Series in August, the first Fort Worth team to achieve the feat since 1960. The 12 young men played their hearts out, to acclaim in the national print and broadcast media. Several of the players attended the Dateline Award luncheon at Ridglea Country Club. "We owe a lot to these kids," coach Jon Kelly, who is also the father of the star pitcher, said in accepting the award. "They demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and just played the game for the love of it." The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame introduced its $21 million, 33,000-square-foot home to the world in June and generated massive interest with a well-developed strategic plan. More than 1,000 newspapers, nearly 200 magazines and international media ran the story -- an estimated $10 million in print coverage. Approximately 170 stories ran on television, in addition to national and international radio interviews. Executive director Pat Riley, who joined the museum in 1996 at its original home in Hereford, Texas, credited its success to the women honored and the western culture they helped establish in the city. Ultimately, she said, "it's all about the women we represent." She also thanked PRSA members Greg Staley with the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau and Bill Lawrence, "a guiding force and firm foundation," for their advertising and PR assistance. ----- Learning to 'Love the Ground' by Frank Perkins Retired Army Maj. Bob Good had an old soldier's advice for the Star-Telegram's Barry Shlachter and Dallas Morning News photographer Cheryl Diaz Meyer at the January SPJ meeting: In a combat zone, "learn to love the ground." In other words, stay low and stay loose. The thought had already occurred to Shlachter, who did a reportorial tour of duty in Afghanistan and admitted to being "in denial" about going next to Iraq. Likewise, Meyer isn't blind to the dangers after covering the fall of the last Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan, a "bloody" affair complicated by the difficulties of maintaining electronic equipment in "the first digital war." She noted that photographing combat, while demanding and frightening, was also invigorating. "You are never so close to life than when you are that close to death. Every cell in your body is alive. It's an unbelievable high." Even aware of the well-publicized gender inequality under fundamentalist Muslim rule, Meyer's biggest surprise was how the Afghans treated women. "I covered my hair but could not work in the traditional woman's head-to-foot burka," she said, and thus she was subjected to groping from the Afghan men on a daily basis. She complained one night in the journalist's hostel, and most of the men correspondents reported similar treatment. As for the tension between the military and the media, fourth panelist Jim Quick, a UTA management professor and retired Air Force colonel, said he thought the media had "very few axes to grind" in covering military operations. "Their primary interest was on getting the correct information to the public." He also didn't see anything unusual about "a fairly healthy tension between a free and open press and the military's mission to serve the country." Good, a helicopter platoon and company commander with the famous 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry in Vietnam before his echelon into public affairs officer for Fort Hood's III Corps, said he was disappointed by reporter ignorance of military ranks, organizations and missions. "If a reporter can't tell a command sergeant major from a three-star general, he has no business covering military issues." He also disliked those journalists who arrive on the scene with a preconceived story. "You find a lot of those kind at the national media level," he said. Shlachter is a graduate of the first correspondents "boot camp" conducted by the Marine Corps. Asked if the experience heightened his respect for the military, he replied: "Yes and no. The best part was meeting the officers and enlisted men on a personal basis. They were curious about me, and I was curious about them. That boot camp built a lot of respect for each other, I think, but reporters must resist bonding too much with the unit they are covering." The uneasiness between the press and the military extends even to clothing. Boot camp attendees were outfitted in the standard military fatigues, web gear and helmets. That made some, including Shlachter, uneasy. "But when we had blue jeans and red sweaters in front of us during a field exercise, those colors just glowed, and the military garb made sense. You don't want to be a target, but at the same time you want to be at a distance from the military as well." ================================================= PEOPLE & PLACES Former WFAA-TV news director Travis Linn died Jan. 17. At the time of his death, he was a journalism professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. He also was a former Southwest Bureau chief for CBS News. ... Witherspoon executive VP Mike Wilie, senior VPScott Kirk and senior copywriter Tina Widner have been selected to judge local ADDY competitions for American Advertising Federation chapters in Texas. Kudos & Contracts ... Star-Telegram staff writer Jan Jarvis has been accepted for a seminar on "Paying for Health Care" at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland at College Park. The seminar, Feb. 18-21, will explore rising health care costs, access to care, quality of care, the cost of prescription drugs and related issues. ... For the fourth time in five years, the UTA Shorthorn is a finalist for the Crown Awards, one of the top competitions in college journalism, given by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, an affiliate of Columbia University in New York. Recipients of the Gold Crown -- the highest award -- will be announced March 22. Of the 13 other finalists, only one, the UT Austin Daily Texan, is from Texas. ================================================= COMINGS & GOINGS Additions ... at the S-T: University of Arizona grad Stacy Garcia, new chief librarian; formerly with the Irving Public Library, she has a newspaper background, having worked at the San Antonio Express-News and the Arizona Daily Star Promotions ... at KTVT Channel 11: Michelle Buckalew, now executive producer for special projects, responsible for coordinating sweeps efforts ... John Sparks, investigations/politics executive producer, supervising the Eyeteam, coordinating war coverage plans and continuing to coordinate political coverage, with emphasis this spring on the Legislature ... Darren Stagner, 10 p.m. producer, a move from the 5 o'clock slot ... Kent Chapline, 5 p.m. producer, with the additional responsibilities of newsroom I-News coordinator; he remains a field producer on special coverage Exits ... S-T page designer Eldon Phillips, relocating in Florida. "The time has come for me to move on to a warmer place," he wrote his colleagues. "I will miss all of you, and when I get settled I will drop you an e-mail. Thanks for the memories and God bless." ================================================= GOOD READING "Live From New York: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live" / Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller / Little, Brown With unprecedented access, the authors interviewed the stars, writers, crews and guests who made SNL one of the greatest long-running TV comedies of all time. Back-stage stories, from Bill Murray decking Chevy Chase to Norm MacDonald's campaign to infuriate NBC brass, comprise an oral record that will be the definitive account of the show's first 25 years. The story bursts with creative frenzies, clashing egos, actors who became megastars and those who disappeared; the origins of famous routines, censorship battles, and humor so toxic it never got on the air; the love affairs, feuds -- all the insanity involved in producing a show that changed America. Everyone from Cameron Diaz to Ralph Nader to Robert Downey Jr. to George Bush the elder has appeared on SNL, and they all share their memories. ================================================= RESOURCES With hoaxes and half-truths becoming the bane of the information-driven society, Purportal.com boasts that "the bunk stops here." Its introductory screen says, "That story that your brother-in-law just sent to you and forty other people sounds true. ... Put it to the test here!" The site provides urban legends search engines and related tools with which to verify that latest rumor before you hit the e-mail "forward" button. ... The Battelle Memorial Institute, which develops products for government and industry, has compiled forecasts to validate speculation about what will be common in the years to come (www.battelle.org/forecasts/default.stm). Predictions for the period from 2005 to 2020 cover such things as nanomachines, personalized public transportation and genetaceuticals. Supporting material discusses each development's use in society and its political implications, if any. The information could find a home in op-ed columns or feature stories. ================================================= PRESIDENT'S CORNER Roger Partridge, GFW PRSA The Board of Directors of Greater Fort Worth PRSA is gearing up for another great year of programs, luncheons and professional development opportunities. The first event will be 2-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, when Mary when Mary Dulle, director of public relations for Alcon Labs, hosts "How to Develop the Mind of a Strategist," a webinar featuring James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA. Cost is only $10. Contact Holly Ellman at holly@lachapelleagency.com for details. And watch for news about the integrated marketing seminar April 9 on the TCU campus and Pro-Am Day on April 11 with a "Mystery Tour" theme. Students will tour four very different businesses, all related to PR, but the companies will remain a mystery to the students until that day. Numerous networking and educational benefits are available through the chapter, so please take advantage of your membership by attending the monthly luncheons and other offerings. The chapter is 150 members strong, all with unique public relations talent and experiences. Come make a new public relations friend at the Feb. 12 luncheon. You'll be glad you did! ----- PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Patrick Grady, IABC/Fort Worth If you haven't already done it, mark Feb. 11 on your calendar for IABC Tuesday -- this is one you don't want to miss. Brian Everett, ABC, will talk about "Strategic Planning: How to Toughen Up your Marketing Communications in a Soft Economy." And how important is this? Strategic communications planning is relevant to every single one of us. We share a global marketplace, and we're all faced with the uncertain economy, less-than-stellar sales and an increased focus on a shrinking bottom line. Then the magnifying glass hones in on reducing costs, and marcom takes a hit. That's one of the things Brian will discuss. He'll help you build the strongest case for warding off the budget ax. The topic's so big, we've extended the meeting time. This one will start at 11:30 and end at 1:30. You will learn, perhaps like never before in a one-hour seminar, how to measure budget strength and shift funds among categories based on changing parameters. You'll even get a Mindshare Strategies (Brian's company) "Budget Econometer," just for showing up. Finally, one of the most significant ongoing trends in communications is managing effectiveness. Brian will give you tools to help you show -- no, prove -- your return on investment. IABC Tuesday. You can't beat it. ----- OVER & OUT John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ When Spaghetti Warehouse in the Stockyards closed, there went our February location. So Kay Pirtle, the Perle Mesta of Polytechnic High, simply rolled the program wagon up Exchange Avenue to the Stockyards Hotel's restaurant and wrangled a menu so enticing, the meeting will be worth your time even if you don't like us. Members still pay only $11 (we're eating the difference, as it were, to return a little value to the faithful), and we also still plan, at summer's end, to award a Worthington overnight stay to a member who hasn't missed a meeting since September. More value. Oh, and our dining room at the H3 has a fireplace, but we can't shut the door with a blaze going or the carbon monoxide, in Kay's words, might "wax a bunch of journalists." ... College participation in these monthly info-revels is gratifying. Students Alan Bentrup, Matt Slocum, Pat Gillespie, April Charlemagne, Michelle Curtis, Amy Hicks, Katie Lutz and Gray Strickland -- all from UTA except Ms. Lutz, a UNT broadcast freshman -- made the January meeting. Thanks to UTA j-profs Beverly Horvit and Steve Collins for urging students to get involved. ... A toast to Lou Hudson and his wife, Mary Ann, who have custody of their former stepgrandkids, ages 4 and 13, and now are adopting them. "If you're keeping score at home," Lou writes, "when the boy is 18, we'll be 75 (yikes!)." Lou was among the 13 longtime Star-Telegram editorial/photo employees who accepted a retirement buyout in June 2001, but he has continued working part time. Now he's leaving for good, probably, to raise a second family. Under the subject line, "Th-th-th-that's all, folks," he e-'ed his colleagues last month: "It's been a great ride, starting in 1968 with Phil Record as city editor of the marvelous old Evening Star-Telegram and winding up with a great bunch of people on the national-foreign desk. I will miss you all, even those I've never met but feel like I know from a voice on the phone or a byline on a story. ... Somebody once said that you meet the most interesting people working for a newspaper, and nearly all of them are your co-workers. That's true. ... Don't ever change. Cheers, and may your deadlines be reasonable and your news holes large (and your sources loose-lipped)." What a guy. ... Our prayers go out to Nancy Bartosek and her family on the death of her son Kevin and his fiancé in a boating accident in Louisiana. In a slapdash exercise like this column, where should such a sad notice go? Maybe at the end is best. Nancy, your grief is ours, too. We are so sorry. There's nothing much else to say. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at Robert Carr Chapel on the TCU campus.

Everett, a member of the IABC District 4 Board of Directors and a former member of the international IABC board, says lean times are the worst times to cut communications budgets, and he will provide ways to strengthen the argument for keeping a budget intact. "Start now in convincing upper management of the true value of marketing and communications," he says. "Turn your current defensive position in a soft economy into a future offensive position within your organization."

* Time, date: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11

* Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor

* Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket validated)

* Cost: $17 members, $22 nonmembers, $12 students

* RSVP by noon Feb. 7: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com

Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ...

Spring Into New Vitality in Business and in Life

+ Tools and strategies for eliminating the blocks that drain your energy and stall your success.

+ A step-by-step approach to creating the business and the life you deserve.

+ Healthy ways to revitalize your business and reduce stress in uncertain times.

+ A blueprint for building your own research and development team to recession-proof your business (and your mind).

* Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12

* Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor

* Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets (get ticket validated)

* Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $18 students

* RSVP by noon Feb. 10: Glenda Thompson, glendat@nawic.org

Next at Fort Worth SPJ ...
Marriages are Made in Heaven

-- but Some Also Make Headlines

Bring all the suspiciously joint headlines you can muster for show and tell at February's meeting as the good, the bad and the gnarly features of convergence will be explored by a panel consisting of Dallas Morning News managing editor Stu Wilk; WFAA-TV Channel 8 bureau chief Barbara Griffith; Griffith's husband, Steve Moffett, a newscast director for KXAS-TV Channel 5; and a Star-Telegram deep thinker to be named later.

* Date: Wednesday, Feb. 19

* Time: mingling 5:30 p.m., dinner 6, program 6:45

* Place: H3 restaurant, 105 E. Exchange Ave.

* Cost: $5 students, $11 members, $15 nonmembers; free valet parking

* Menu: choice of grilled trout, six-shrimp kabob over wild rice, a 6-ounce sirloin with two enchiladas or half a roasted chicken and corn on the cob, all served with salad, bread and beverage; substitutions are allowed, like baked potato for wild rice

* RSVP: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com

=================================================

Two big deals dot the immediate IABC landscape, beginning with the 2003 Corporate Communication Summit, March 6-7 in Philadelphia, designed for senior communication pros responsible for demonstrating financial results. Info at www.iabc.com/events/summit. The 2003 IABC International Conference, June 8-11 in Toronto, Ontario, features 65 sessions in six tracks, with exhibit hall, Internet cafe, silent auction and networking. The brochure will be mailed to IABC members this month. Info at www.iabc.com/events/conf2003. ...

One of North America's foremost PR strategists, James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, will reveal his tactics for becoming a communications strategist and for "getting to the table" in a Web-based presentation at 2-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6. Cost is $10 to tap into the local link at Alcon Laboratories (registrants will get a map). RSVP by 5 p.m. Feb. 3 to Holly Ellman at holly@lachapelleagency.com. Info: KRM.com/PRSA. ...

Micah Group founder and CEO Jim Travis and Ed Bardwell, CEO and co-founder of B2Communications, will discuss "The Evolution of the Sports Marketing Industry ... From On-site to Online" at the Dallas PRSA luncheon Thursday, Feb. 13, at the Park City Club, 5956 Sherry Lane. Travis is working with the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Sports Commission in helping organize the 2003-04 Big 12 men's and women's basketball tourneys in Dallas. Bardwell's clients include Sony, HP, 3Com, SMU and Safeway. Cost is $25 for members with reservations, $35 for walk-ups and guests with reservations, $20 students. Call (817) 858-6088, or register at prsadallas.org/lunregistration.html. ...

Lauren Reis is offering from $95 up to $1,000 to anyone who refers a client to her company, Envision Works. "Do you really know what I do?" she asks. "Who Envision Works is?" The company does communication and marketing work for clients in various industries. More at envisionworks.org. ... A full agenda -- plans for the 2005 National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Fort Worth, an upcoming night of salsa dancing with visiting NAHJ board members, scholarship money to raise and an investigative reporting workshop to organize -- awaits at the next D/FW Network of Hispanic Communicators meeting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Star-Telegram in Arlington, 1111 W. Abram St. Info from Eva-Marie Ayala at eayala@star-telegram.com.

SPJ national update: Looking out for the next generation. Student journalists have the same protections against having to reveal sources as their professional counterparts, a federal district judge ruled in December. The decision allows Pinchas Shapiro, a student editor of The Commentator at Yeshiva University in New York, to maintain the confidentiality of sources he used in a story on a teacher's lawsuit. The teacher, Diane Persky, asserted that administrators practiced religious discrimination when they demoted her and kept her from participating in recruiting trips to Israel. Persky asked the court to compel Shapiro to reveal his sources, who, in the article, corroborated her allegations. Senior District Judge Lawrence M. McKenna held that Persky failed to show that the material could not be obtained from other sources. The judge also recognized Shapiro's right to a reporter's privilege in his role as a student journalist. ... In October 2000, an official at south suburban Governors State University called the company that printed the school paper and said stop publication. No one from the Chicago university had checked the paper for journalistic quality, said Patricia Carter, dean of student affairs, and it might contain "grammatical errors." The ensuing legal battle over freedom of speech and alleged censorship will be played out in a federal appeals court in Chicago. A potentially precedent-setting ruling could take months. ... Just call him "his honor." Remember Berkeley mayoral candidate Tom Bates, who was seen trashing stacks of The Daily Californian because the campus newspaper did not endorse him in November's elections? He pleaded guilty to petty theft and was fined $100. The incident took place in Sproul Plaza, coincidentally the birthplace of the 1964 Free Speech Movement. Bates initially denied tossing the papers, but after the case went to prosecutors, he apologized, saying he was tired on the last day of a difficult campaign and made a mistake. He did win the election, though, with nearly 56 percent of the vote to incumbent Shirley Dean's 42 percent.

SPJ national update II: secret task forces in Kansas and public information violations in East Texas. Five teams appointed by the Kansas governor-elect to review state government efficiency could meet in secret, a judge ruled early last month, rejecting a lawsuit by news groups. Shawnee County District Judge Eric Rosen ruled that the Kansas Open Meetings Act did not apply because Kathleen Sebelius would not have full gubernatorial powers until she took office Jan. 13. But Rosen also rebuked Sebelius: "When meetings that directly impact public policy of our state occur out of the public eye or ear, our democracy is put in jeopardy. Had the court been provided with a legal option to do so, it would have most certainly ordered the team meetings open." The teams met 18 times, starting in November, in a "top-to-bottom" review. They generated 105 ideas for making government more efficient or increasing fees to offset costs, and Democrat Sebelius said she may include some of the ideas in the budget she submits to legislators. ... Law enforcement agencies throughout East Texas frequently violate the Texas Public Information Act, often responding to requests with personal questions, privacy lectures and demands for identification, a 14-county survey shows. County governments, on the other hand, fully cooperated with residents seeking public documents, according to the study conducted by the UT Tyler journalism department, the Longview News-Journal and the Tyler Courier-Times-Telegraph. The survey, taken from May through September, showed that county employees produced information without question, but agents at sheriff's or police departments produced records just 68 percent of the time. In one case, a researcher was told she had to "earn" the right to see documents.

Stale Doesn't Work at Tom Thumb,

and It Surely Won't for Your Intranet

After the meeting, IABC/Fort Worth members Pam Huff, ABC; Arden Dufilho, Lori De La Cruz and Lauren Reis met with Friends of the Public Library members Bunny Gardner, president; Pat Adams, Sandra Tomlinson and Claude Crowley, ABC, to work out details of IABC's role as a Friends PR/marketing advisory group. Any IABC members who wish to participate in the project should contact Crowley, who chairs the Friends PR committee, at (817) 292-5095 or claudecrowley@earthlink.net.

Western Culture, Caps and Coverage

The Advertising Club and PRSA made history last month, presenting the Dateline Award to dual recipients -- the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the Westside Little League All Stars -- for the first time in almost 30 years. Each year, the Ad Club lauds an organization that brings positive publicity to Fort Worth or Tarrant County. The award last went to two groups in 1974, when Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and the Texas Rangers
were honored.

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame introduced its $21 million, 33,000-square-foot home to the world in June and generated massive interest with a well-developed strategic plan. More than 1,000 newspapers, nearly 200 magazines and international media ran the story -- an estimated $10 million in print coverage. Approximately 170 stories ran on television, in addition to national and international radio interviews.

Executive director Pat Riley, who joined the museum in 1996 at its original home in Hereford, Texas, credited its success to the women honored and the western culture they helped establish in the city. Ultimately, she said, "it's all about the women we represent." She also thanked PRSA members Greg Staley with the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau and Bill Lawrence, "a guiding force and firm foundation," for their advertising and
PR assistance.

Learning to 'Love the Ground'

Even aware of the well-publicized gender inequality under fundamentalist Muslim rule, Meyer's biggest surprise was how the Afghans treated women. "I covered my hair but could not work in the traditional woman's head-to-foot burka," she said, and thus she was subjected to groping from the Afghan men on a daily basis. She complained one night in the journalist's hostel, and most of the men correspondents reported similar treatment.

As for the tension between the military and the media, fourth panelist Jim Quick, a UTA management professor and retired Air Force colonel, said he thought the media had "very few axes to grind" in covering military operations. "Their primary interest was on getting the correct information to the public." He also didn't see anything unusual about "a fairly healthy tension between a free and open press and the military's mission to serve the country."

Good, a helicopter platoon and company commander with the famous 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry in Vietnam before his echelon into public affairs officer for Fort Hood's III Corps, said he was disappointed by reporter ignorance of military ranks, organizations and missions. "If a reporter can't tell a command sergeant major from a three-star general, he has no business covering military issues." He also disliked those journalists who arrive on the scene with a preconceived story. "You find a lot of those kind at the national media level," he said.

Shlachter is a graduate of the first correspondents "boot camp" conducted by the Marine Corps. Asked if the experience heightened his respect for the military, he replied: "Yes and no.
The best part was meeting the officers and enlisted men on a personal basis. They were curious about me, and I was curious about them. That boot camp built a lot of respect for each other, I think, but reporters must resist bonding too much with the unit they are covering."

The uneasiness between the press and the military extends even to clothing. Boot camp attendees were outfitted in the standard military fatigues, web gear and helmets. That made some, including Shlachter, uneasy. "But when we had blue jeans and red sweaters in front of us during a field exercise, those colors just glowed, and the military garb made sense. You don't want to be a target, but at the same time you want to be at a distance from the military as well."

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Former WFAA-TV news director Travis Linn died Jan. 17. At the time of his death, he was a journalism professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. He also was a former Southwest Bureau chief for CBS News. ... Witherspoon executive VP Mike Wilie, senior VPScott Kirk and senior copywriter Tina Widner have been selected to judge local ADDY competitions for American Advertising Federation chapters in Texas.

Kudos & Contracts ... Star-Telegram staff writer Jan Jarvis has been accepted for a seminar on "Paying for Health Care" at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland at College Park. The seminar, Feb. 18-21, will explore rising health care costs, access to care, quality of care, the cost of prescription drugs and related issues. ... For the fourth time in five years, the UTA Shorthorn is a finalist for the Crown Awards, one of the top competitions in college journalism, given by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, an affiliate of Columbia University in New York. Recipients of the Gold Crown -- the highest award -- will be announced March 22. Of the 13 other finalists, only one, the UT Austin Daily Texan, is from Texas.

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Additions ... at the S-T: University of Arizona grad Stacy Garcia, new chief librarian; formerly with the Irving Public Library, she has a newspaper background, having worked at the San Antonio Express-News and the Arizona Daily Star

Promotions ... at KTVT Channel 11: Michelle Buckalew, now executive producer for special projects, responsible for coordinating sweeps efforts ... John Sparks, investigations/politics executive producer, supervising the Eyeteam, coordinating war coverage plans and continuing to coordinate political coverage, with emphasis this spring on the Legislature ... Darren Stagner, 10 p.m. producer, a move from the 5 o'clock slot ... Kent Chapline, 5 p.m. producer, with the additional responsibilities of newsroom I-News coordinator; he remains a field producer on special coverage

Exits ... S-T page designer Eldon Phillips, relocating in Florida. "The time has come for me to move on to a warmer place," he wrote his colleagues. "I will miss all of you, and when I get settled I will drop you an e-mail. Thanks for the memories and God bless."

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"Live From New York:

An Oral History of Saturday Night Live" /

Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller / Little, Brown

With unprecedented access, the authors interviewed the stars, writers, crews and guests who made SNL one of the greatest long-running TV comedies of all time. Back-stage stories, from Bill Murray decking Chevy Chase to Norm MacDonald's campaign to infuriate NBC brass, comprise an oral record that will be the definitive account of the show's first 25 years. The story bursts with creative frenzies, clashing egos, actors who became megastars and those who disappeared; the origins of famous routines, censorship battles, and humor so toxic it never got on the air; the love affairs, feuds -- all the insanity involved in producing a show that changed America. Everyone from Cameron Diaz to Ralph Nader to Robert Downey Jr. to George Bush the elder has appeared on SNL, and they all share their memories.

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With hoaxes and half-truths becoming the bane of the information-driven society, Purportal.com boasts that "the bunk stops here." Its introductory screen says, "That story that your brother-in-law just sent to you and forty other people sounds true. ... Put it to the test here!" The site provides urban legends search engines and related tools with which to verify that latest rumor before you hit the e-mail "forward" button. ... The Battelle Memorial Institute, which develops products for government and industry, has compiled forecasts to validate speculation about what will be common in the years to come (www.battelle.org/forecasts/default.stm). Predictions for the period from 2005 to 2020 cover such things as nanomachines, personalized public transportation and genetaceuticals. Supporting material discusses each development's use in society and its political implications, if any. The information could find a home in op-ed columns or feature stories.

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Roger Partridge, GFW PRSA

The Board of Directors of Greater Fort Worth PRSA is gearing up for another great year of programs, luncheons and professional development opportunities. The first event will be 2-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, when Mary when Mary Dulle, director of public relations for Alcon Labs, hosts "How to Develop the Mind of a Strategist," a webinar featuring James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA. Cost is only $10. Contact Holly Ellman at holly@lachapelleagency.com for details. And watch for news about the integrated marketing seminar April 9 on the TCU campus and Pro-Am Day on April 11 with a "Mystery Tour" theme. Students will tour four very different businesses, all related to PR, but the companies will remain a mystery to the students until that day.

Patrick Grady, IABC/Fort Worth

And how important is this? Strategic communications planning is relevant to every single one of us. We share a global marketplace, and we're all faced with the uncertain economy, less-than-stellar sales and an increased focus on a shrinking bottom line. Then the magnifying glass hones in on reducing costs, and marcom takes a hit. That's one of the things Brian will discuss. He'll help you build the strongest case for warding off the budget ax.

You will learn, perhaps like never before in a one-hour seminar, how to measure budget strength and shift funds among categories based on changing parameters. You'll even get a Mindshare Strategies (Brian's company) "Budget Econometer," just for showing up. Finally, one of the most significant ongoing trends in communications is managing effectiveness. Brian will give you tools to help you show -- no, prove -- your return on investment.

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

When Spaghetti Warehouse in the Stockyards closed, there went our February location. So Kay Pirtle, the Perle Mesta of Polytechnic High, simply rolled the program wagon up Exchange Avenue to the Stockyards Hotel's restaurant and wrangled a menu so enticing, the meeting will be worth your time even if you don't like us. Members still pay only $11 (we're eating the difference, as it were, to return a little value to the faithful), and we also still plan, at summer's end, to award a Worthington overnight stay to a member who hasn't missed a meeting since September. More value. Oh, and our dining room at the H3 has a fireplace, but we can't shut the door with a blaze going or the carbon monoxide, in Kay's words, might "wax a bunch of journalists." ... College participation in these monthly info-revels is gratifying. Students Alan Bentrup, Matt Slocum, Pat Gillespie, April Charlemagne, Michelle Curtis, Amy Hicks, Katie Lutz and Gray Strickland -- all from UTA except Ms. Lutz, a UNT broadcast freshman -- made the January meeting. Thanks to UTA j-profs Beverly Horvit and Steve Collins for urging students to get involved. ...

A toast to Lou Hudson and his wife, Mary Ann, who have custody of their former stepgrandkids, ages 4 and 13, and now are adopting them. "If you're keeping score at home," Lou writes, "when the boy is 18, we'll be 75 (yikes!)." Lou was among the 13 longtime Star-Telegram editorial/photo employees who accepted a retirement buyout in June 2001, but he has continued working part time. Now he's leaving for good, probably, to raise a second family. Under the subject line, "Th-th-th-that's all, folks," he e-'ed his colleagues last month: "It's been a great ride, starting in 1968 with Phil Record as city editor of the marvelous old Evening Star-Telegram and winding up with a great bunch of people on the national-foreign desk. I will miss you all, even those I've never met but feel like I know from a voice on the phone or a byline on a story. ... Somebody once said that you meet the most interesting people working for a newspaper, and nearly all of them are your co-workers. That's true. ... Don't ever change. Cheers, and may your deadlines be reasonable and your news holes large (and your sources loose-lipped)." What a guy. ...