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JPS Health Network seeks a senior PR coordinator with a bachelor's degree in journalism or PR and two years experience, or a degree in a related field and three years experience; good writing and QuarkXPress skills; knowledge of design and layout, printing specifications and operations. Position is specifically responsible for the employee newsletter as well as other duties. Apply at jpshealthnet.org. ... A Las Colinas-based B2B company seeks a marketing manager. A college degree and 5-10 years experience in top-tier marketing are required, with an M.B.A. encouraged. Submit résumé and salary requirements to jobs@dgsystems.com. ... First Rate Investment Systems in Arlington seeks a full-time assistant to the marketing director. Minimum requirements: expertise in Microsoft Office applications and familiarity with Dreamweaver or MX suite, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator; a degree in marketing, PR or advertising; two years of marketing, sales or ad experience; strong written communication skills; trade show/event planning experience; understanding of finance and investment concepts; project management skills and ability to lead teams. Send résumé to marketing@firstrate.com.
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COMINGS & GOINGS
Additions ... Erin L. Wade to The Dallas Morning News; she previously was editor of Dallas/Fort Worth House & Home magazine ... at the S-T: David Sedeño, long-time Dallas Morning News and AP reporter, senior writer downtown ... Kansas State U. grad and rabid KSU fan Sarah L. Bahari, to the law enforcement coverage team ... Terry Webster, formerly with the San Gabriel (Calif.) Valley Tribune, education reporter in the Northeast newsroom ... Katherine Cromer from The Memphis Commercial Appeal, also covering education in Northeast
Exits ... at the S-T: great-with-kids (she could be your mom) Class Acts editor Amanda Rogers Kowalski
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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Pamela Smith, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
The Southwest District Conference last month was a triumph on many levels. If you missed it, here's a recap.
Participants chose from 15 breakout sessions on a variety of topics, including special events, public policy, crisis communications, integrated marketing, investor relations and Web management. The first day kicked off with a keynote luncheon featuring the director of public relations at Children's Medical Center and the principal from Richards Gravelle, the agency that assisted Children's with the research, planning, strategy and management of the opportunities and challenges surrounding the separation of the conjoined Egyptian twins.
On day two, a PR staffer at Southwest Airlines told how the company turned a fascinating culture into reality TV. I both laughed and cried during the two presentations that showed how hard PR practitioners could work while at the same time having fun. As I listened to the many practitioners in attendance, I was reminded how rewarding public relations is, even when the battle to influence public opinion can be a tough one.
Thanks to co-chairs Krista Brown and Ann Heidger for pulling off the tremendous task of organizing an invigorating conference.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
That was another forceful high school workshop March 27 crafted by SPJers Kristin Sullivan, Mark Horvit, Gayle Reaves-King, Dino Chiecchi, Kay Pirtle, Larry Lutz and Penny Cockerell, TCUers Tommy Thomason and Rix Quinn and presenters Bud Kennedy, John Gutierrez-Mier, Deanna Boyd, Lamor Williams, Scott Gordon, Mitch Mitchell, Pat Svacina and Don Fisher. Makes you proud. ...
We're not big own-horn-tooters, but you should know that Mike Cochran and I will be inducted April 2 into the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Hall of Fame. Previous inductees include Walter Cronkite, UTA journalism lioness Dorothy Estes and Bill Moyers, whom Dorothy taught when he was in the ninth grade. This year's class features author Willie Morris; legendary Texas historian J. Frank Dobie; Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson; piercing political cartoonist Ben Sargent with the Austin American-Statesman, whom I've always wanted to meet before some Republican just shoots him and I lose the chance; and Lady Bird's former press secretary, Liz Carpenter, the funniest woman in politics. These are substantive people; yeah, I'll be in their club, and with gratitude. I remain unsure who nominated me or exactly how I was chosen. Maybe the inhabitants of those South Texas cemeteries who elected Lyndon to the Senate, and who did so after they were already dead, are still pulling the lever. ...
Good fishing, good beach lounging and good wishes to chapter member Dawn Reiss, who has accepted a sports writer position at the six-times Pulitzer Prize-winning St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. She starts April 5, working in Crystal River, north of Tampa-St. Pete on the gulf. "My main beat will be covering high school sports, but because the St. Petersburg Times has a circulation of 350,000 (100,000 more than the Tampa Tribune) and limited staff writers (compared to most larger newspapers), I will have the opportunity to cover professional events and many other things." She will continue to contribute to SPJ as national Freelance Committee co-chair. She contributed to the FW chapter, as well. You hate losing the ones who actually come to the meetings. Congratulate Dawn at dreiss100@hotmail.com.
Closing words: "You can rob Peter to pay Paul for so long, but eventually Peter is going to run out of money. In this case, we are Peter." -- Tarrant County commissioner J.D. Johnson, a Republican, on Gov. Rick Perry's plan to cap local property taxes ... "Using my dead friends and my dead brother for political expediency is dead wrong." -- Chris Burke on World Trade Center imagery in GOP campaign ads; his brother died in the north tower ... "The grass may look greener on the other side, but it's just as hard to cut." -- geriatric rocker Little Richard, 70, at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin ... "Take care of the laundry." -- literal interpretation of a line spoken in Aramaic by Jim Caviezel in "The Passion of the Christ"; the subtitle reads, "Take care." ... "The Romans would never have found time to conquer the world if they had been obliged first to learn Latin." -- Heinrich Heine
