President's Message
 Dear Colleagues,
Greetings everyone! Just a few quick things this month:
Kudos to Jackie Kelvington and Program Chairs Sabrina Heise and Mason Moore for coordinating Courtney Barnes to speak at our August luncheon. The presentation was relative and informative. Wonderful job!
Big thanks to our Ethics Chair Allen Moore and all of the judges who helped select the recipient of this year's Frank R. Stansberry/PRSA Orlando Ethics Award. Be sure to attend this month's luncheon to find out who won for 2007.
Would you like to be more involved in PRSA? If you have been thinking about it and want more information, contact our President-Elect Dawn Vaughan, APR. She is interested in talking with members who would like to serve the chapter through board service. Also, if you want to learn more about PRSA and the Sunshine District, consider attending the upcoming QuickStart Conference hosted by the Sunshine District Board.
Are you planning to attend the PRSA International Conference? If you are, send me a quick email to let me know. I will be there a couple of days before the conference to participate in the Assembly along with our chapter's Assembly Delegate Dan Ward, APR. In addition, Laura Richeson, APR, will be participating on behalf of our chapter. Thank you Laura! Now that we have more than 200 members, we are required to have three Assembly Delegates in attendance.
A warm welcome to Zoraya Suarez, Manager of Media Relations at Walt Disney World, who is the new Diversity Chair for our chapter. She will begin this month and will stay on as Diversity Chair through next year.
I hope to see you soon on the 20th. Have a wonderful September!
Lorelie Johnson, APR
The Ethical Challenge of Being Ethical in Business Today
A Keynote Presentation by Dr. Mark W. Johnston
Today, organizations face unprecedented scrutiny from media, special interest groups and the general public. Increasingly, the challenge is defining and then fighting the ethical battle in and out of the organization. Dr. Johnston's discussion will provide useful ideas on maintaining an ethical compass in a turbulent ethical world.
Dr. Johnston is a published author and has been retained as a consultant for firms in the retail, tourism, personal health care, transportation, service, and telecommunications industries. He has consulted on a wide range of issues involving strategic ethical corporate governance, measuring the results of ethical policies, ethical ROI, sales force performance, sales force technology implementation, and international market decisions. Cited by the Journal of Business Research as one of the most important researchers in marketing, he continues to do research in marketing ethics as well as sales force performance and motivation.
In addition to Dr. Johnston's presentation, our September luncheon will also feature the presentation of the 2007 PRSA Orlando/Frank R. Stansberry Ethics Award.
As part of PRSA Orlando's new initiative, "CHATTING UP A CHARITY," guests attending this month's program can help support the Children's Home Society of Florida, one of the oldest and largest statewide, non-profit child welfare agencies.
A CHS representative will be on hand to accept items from their wish list, which includes baby food/formula, diapers, socks, underwear (new), shoes (all sizes), car seats (new), toiletries, toothbrushes, bus passes, food gift cards, children's clothing (new), school supplies. Volunteers are also needed for CHS' emergency shelters, Perinatal Program, and MODEL Mentoring Program.
For more information, contact: Sarah Johnston, CHS Associate Director of Development, at (407) 895-5814.
Where: The Citrus Club, 255 S. Orange Ave., 18th Floor, Orlando
When: Thursday, September 20, 2007
Networking/registration begins at 11:30 a.m.; lunch begins at noon
Entrée: Grilled Petit Filet
Dessert: Assorted Seasonal Berries Romanoff
Cost:
$20 for members
$30 for non-members
$15 for students
Click here to RSVP.
Walk-ins are welcome, but seating is not guaranteed and admission will not be discounted.
Think Career Growth. Join PRSA Today.
Special offer!
Get a local PRSA Chapter membership FREE for one year when you join PRSA National in September and October 2007.
As the world's largest organization for public relations professionals, PRSA gives you ready access to everything you need to stay informed and enhance your career. From now through October 31, PRSA membership provides you with a great deal more.
Join PRSA during this special offer at the full member rate of $290 ($225 national dues, plus $65 initiation fee), and get local PRSA Chapter membership FREE for one year. You can choose from more than 100 local Chapters, plus enjoy a host of benefits.
Join Online Now! And don't forget to enter promotion code AUTUMN2007 to get your free one year local Chapter Membership.
For more information on PRSA Membership, contact Scott Toncray or Jessi Blakley.
Ten Minutes/Ten Questions
Name: Darrell Fry
Occupation: Sports Public Relations Director at Walt Disney World Resort
PRSA Involvement: Member for only a few years; involved in the Sports & Entertainment section
Person who has most influenced your life: My grandmother, Era M. Holmes, and my grandfather, John B. Holmes. Both taught me all of the basic life lessons about fairness, integrity, compassion, service, education and excellence. My grandmother did it by guiding me and my older brother Ron, and my grandfather did it by simply demonstrating those characteristics through the way he lived his life. I am the person that I am almost solely because of them, along with my mother Helen.
Quote to live by: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What made you choose PR as a profession? After 16 years as a sports journalist at the St. Petersburg Times and Washington Times, I craved a new challenge that would allow me to remain close to the media industry while also allowing me to expand my writing and media-related skills and talents.
Best PR advice you ever received: Always tell the truth when dealing with the media. And announce your own bad news; don't let a reporter break the news first.
Greatest accomplishment: Landing a very complimentary story on the cover of BrandWeek Magazine on the CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour when I worked there
Favorite thing to do on the weekend: Play golf, watch NFL games with the guys at a sports bar, and watch movies at home with my wonderful wife, Marnita
Something nobody really knows about you: Without my contact lenses, I'm close to being legally blind.
Now Hiring: APR Preferred
Save the Date!
More and more job listings are specifying APR preferred because it denotes exactly what potential employers are looking for: professionalism, knowledge, expertise and success in the real world, giving Accredited professionals a distinct advantage over the competition.
If you are interested in pursuing your Accreditation, join us for the upcoming "Meet and Mingle" with fellow APRs. You'll have the opportunity to gain an insider's view of the meaning and best practices of the accreditation process in an informal, reception-style setting.
Monday, September 10, 2007
6-7 p.m.
Bennett & Company
230 N. Westmonte Drive, Suite 1000
Altamonte Springs
For more information and to RSVP, please contact:
Susan Howard, APR, at (407) 365-2162
Kat Hahn, APR, at (407) 822-2362
Laura E. Richeson, APR, at (407) 478-4040
To find out the value of APR personally, professionally and financially visit
praccreditation.org.
2007 Mentor/Mentee Program
New Date!
PRSA Orlando's 2007 Mentor/Mentee Program has been rescheduled to Thursday, October 18.
Please plan to join us for this energetic and informative Speed Mentoring Workshop.
Participating mentees will have the opportunity to connect with PR professionals from the Central Florida area and possibly find their career mentor. Mentors will have an opportunity to meet up-and- comers in the profession and keep their eye on those who may be right for their company's future talent.
Location and time: To be announced shortly!
Cost: $20 per person / $30 Non Member
For information, please contact Becky Niemann at (407) 303-6577.
PRSA Group Memberships
Does your agency, corporation, non-profit or other entity include 10 or more individuals who would like to participate in a group membership? If so, PRSA group membership is an ideal way for you to give your public relations professionals access to PRSA's wide variety of resources, expertise and membership network, while saving money!
The program lets your employees join as individual members within a group structure and the memberships are transferable. Group members receive all PRSA benefits.
For more information and pricing, please contact Orlando PRSA Membership Co-Chair Jessi Blakley at (407) 835-0020 Ext. 105.
Frank R. Stansberry / PRSA Orlando Scholarship
The Frank R. Stansberry / Orlando Chapter PRSA Scholarship at the University of Central Florida is a fund created to provide financial assistance to a full-time UCF student majoring in public relations.
PRSA Orlando would like to thank the following donors for helping encourage bright, eager young men and women to major in public relations and become the next generation of practitioners.
Corporate
AG-AD Agency
Bright House Networks Florida Group
CBR Public Relations
Coca-Cola Company (matching gift)
Consensus Communications
Curley and Pynn, The Strategic Firm
Darden Restaurants
Fry Hammond Barr
Gannett (matching gift)
SeaWorld Orlando
Siemens Power Generation
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney World Resort
Costa DeVault
Orlando PRSA
Wilson Technologies, Inc.
Individuals
Mrs. Marcia Brown
Mr. Bywater
Mr. Dale
Ms. Sallie Douglas
Mr. Marco Ferri
Mr. and Mrs. Finger
Mr. Heissam JeBailey
Ms. Bette Jore
Mr. Louis Lauteria
Ms. Mary Locher
Mr. Pless
Ms. Jane Spann
Mr. Frank Stansberry
Mrs. CD Stansberry
Mrs. Tracy Stansberry
Mr. Don Stansberry III
Mr. Don C. Stansberry, Jr.
Mr. Swain
You can help us grant more scholarships each year and ensure the future success of our profession in Central Florida. Donating is easy and tax deductible. Checks should be written to THE UCF FOUNDATION, INC. with a note in the memo section that reads STANSBERRY SCHOLARSHIP. It is very important that you include a note that your gift is for the PRSA Orlando/Stansberry Scholarship.
Send your gift to:
Dr. Betsy Folk, UCF, Director of Development
PO Box 161990
Orlando FL 32816-1990
For more information about the scholarship, contact Hue Lien Duxbury, APR, at huelien@cfl.rr.com.
Member News
Congratulations!
Bennett & Company, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, qualified for national certification as a Women's Business Enterprise by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
PRSA Orlando members Michelle Lynch, MAMC, M. D. Anderson, Orlando brand marketing consultant, and Christine Martinez, APR, M. D. Anderson, Orlando media relations consultant, received an Award of Distinction in the Public Relations category at the 2007 Florida Public Relations Association's (FPRA) Gold Image Awards last month for their entry, titled Super Colon: Helping Central Floridians Digest Information About Colon Cancer.
New Members
Welcome!
- Jamie Floer - Senior Account Executive, Wragg & Casas Public Relations
- Jenifer Woolley - Account Coordinator, Wragg & Casas Public Relations
- Heather Mikes - VP of Regional Operations, Wragg & Casas Public Relations
- Erin Danielle Lafever - Marketing Director, The Trailer Connection
- Tina Lokodjian - Communications Manager, Give Kids The World
Check out the Job Bank
Keep checking PRSA Orlando's up-to-date job bank for the latest openings in Central Florida.
Or, if you're looking for the best talent in the area, post your company's open positions on the site.
Click below to check it out!
Submissions
To submit stories or ideas for the PRSA newsletter, please contact Communications VP Michelle Lynch.
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