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RESOURCES
A new online resource on First Amendment issues, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, offers one-stop access to information on all five First Amendment freedoms, including analysis, commentary and case law. Within the main sections on free speech, free press, religious liberty, assembly and petition are a wealth of overview essays on hot-button issues encountered in public schools, on college campuses, in libraries and other settings.
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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Pamela Smith, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
Landing your first serious job is never easy. Whether you just graduated from college or are embarking on a new career path, determining what is expected and how to perform can make anyone break out in a sweat. For those of us who have been at it awhile, meeting our job duties can seem like second nature, but just recall how it was "back in the day."
It wasn't always easy to sell the magnitude of a story to our counterparts at SPJ. How about explaining to that co-worker or client that his story has as much interest to the media as watching ants build a mound? And remember when your boss said that you had to pitch the ant-mound event anyway and that television, radio and print all better be there? No matter how difficult those days were, you got through them. Fortunately for me, the mentors and friends I developed through PRSA made my time in the profession easier.
As a way of extending our hands to those who have entered the profession in the past five years, Greater Fort Worth PRSA is supporting two great opportunities -- Pro-Am Day in April and Nu Pros. Pro-Am Day gives PR students the opportunity to experience life in the fast lane by visiting practitioners in action. New and senior pros as well as guests are invited to the April luncheon featuring keynote speaker Chris Lippincott from the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. Details in the April eChaser, or contact Pro-Am Day coordinator Andra Bennett, APR, at abennett@fortworthchamber.com.
Nu Pros, chaired by Adrienne Gaviglio, will host its first social this spring. Through Nu Pros, newbies can pick the brains of their seasoned counterparts and have fun, too. Meeting dates will be announced in the coming weeks. All professionals are encouraged to participate. Contact Adrienne at gaviglioa@aol.com.
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Lori De La Cruz, IABC/Fort Worth
Let's talk incredible spring lineup at IABC/Fort Worth, beginning with the winner of our membership drive touring around town for the weekend in a Jaguar X-type. For every meeting you attend, you earn a point. Bring a guest and earn another point. Recruit a member or become a member -- five points. For added incentive (like that Jag isn't enough), new members receive a $40 dues discount when they join during the drive, March 2-April 30. The winner will be announced at the Bronze Quill whoop-de-do June 1. What's that kid on TV say? Zoom, zoom.
Speaking of Bronze Quill, what super projects have you completed in the past year? Let us recognize them at the Decision 2004: Bronze Quill extravaganza (OK, it's a luncheon, but extravaganza sounds so much more festive!). The call for entries will be e-mailed the first week of March and will also be at iabcfortworth.com. Early deadline is April 8 and the final deadline April 14.
And be sure to join us Tuesday, March 2, at the Petroleum Club for our own version of March Madness. The Internet is among the most strategic arenas for public relations, reputation and brand management. Online tactician and former IABC board chairman Charles Pizzo can play this market like Gabriel plays the harp; you miss his presentation at your own peril. The workshop begins at 9:30 a.m. and the luncheon two hours later. Invite your boss to join us. Maybe she'll buy.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Good job, chapter prez Larry Lutz and the SPJ team working the TCU high school workshop -- Kristin Sullivan, Mark Horvit, Gayle Reaves-King, Dino Chiecchi -- for earning a modest programming grant from SPJ national. Thirteen chapters shared $5,000. That workshop, snowed out on Valentine's Day, tries again Saturday, March 27, in the Moudy Building on the TCU campus. The call for volunteers still stands. E-mail Mark at mhhorvit@yahoo.com. ...
Frank Perkins writes: "Dear SPJsters! Thank you so much for your cards. I have read over them time after time and get a bit dewy eyed (as much as a tanker can get dewy eyed) at all the names (none of whom owe me money!). You are a wonderful group of associates for any SPJ chapter. I will always treasure my life with you." ...
Here's a mailing list you want on. Each press kit for the JPS Health Network's annual gala gloriosa tops the one before. This year's is a purse with a likeness of Audrey Hepburn on both sides. (This is the 50th anniversary of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and would have been the actress' 75th birthday year.) Contents include a mug, tea bag, muffin and, oh yeah, press material. An insert inside a small silver frame reads "Picture Yourself at 'An Evening at the Academy Awards.' " The invitations were mailed with the Hepburn stamp. These ladies need to be raising money for me. ...
I don't mind saying this again: eChaser readership continues to rise, and along with it (or perhaps because of it) the ad rail is filling up. Welcome, new advertisers Ken Luce and Jerrod Resweber and Weber Shandwick, Lori De La Cruz and Blue Marble Media, and Bob McPherrin and the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. An already classy platoon of supporters just got classier.
Closing words: "The thing that yanked my chain the hardest was seeing this ignoramus with his pointed head stuck up through the hole he had cut in the flag of the United States of America, yelling about having 'a bottle of Scotch and watching lots of crotch.' That did it for me. This is the same flag we pledge allegiance to, the same flag that is draped over the coffins of dead young uniformed warriors killed while protecting Kid Crock's bony butt. He should be tarred and feathered and ridden out of this country on a rail. Now there's you a good reality show." -- Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., on the Super Bowl halftime show ... "I think we need a rest. Maybe in an asylum." -- Gerald W. McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, on his decision to abandon Howard Dean's presidential campaign ... "No president has ever done more for human rights than I have." -- George W. Bush to New Yorker writer Ken Auletta
