MEETINGS
See You in the Papers
Fort Worth Business Press news editor Krista Simmons will tell the November meeting how to get publicity for a company or event.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: $20 members, $25 nonmembers
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Metroplex Communicators Answer the Call:
Helping the Red Cross Respond to Katrina and Rita
As an encore to last November's meeting, Anita Foster and John Hoffmann will discuss how the Chisholm Trail chapter of the American Red Cross responded to two back-to-back national disasters -- hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- with the help of local volunteers.
Foster, the Red Cross chapter's chief communication officer, will detail accounts of Metroplex communicators helping save the day -- every day for six weeks. Hoffmann, a volunteer and chapter board vice chairman, will explain why the response for Katrina and Rita was atypical and how the Red Cross organized an unprecedented communication response plan.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9; lunch at noon
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: $25 members, $30 nonmembers, $20 students
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Tales of Katrina (and the Shield Law, Too)
What the world experienced via television of Hurricane Katrina -- the bungled evacuations, the heart-wrenching misery and loss -- Adam Pitluk and Olive Talley saw firsthand. The two veteran, award-winning journalists will relate their experiences in covering the Gulf Coast tragedy at the November SPJ meeting. They both reported from the scene on Katrina's devastation to lives and property.
Also, attendees will have a chance to meet new SPJ president David Carlson and hear his update on progress toward a federal shield law. Carlson is the Cox/Palm Beach Post professor of new media journalism at the University of Florida.
Pitluk, a contributor to Time magazine, has written for several publications, including the Dallas Observer, and is a Katie Award finalist. He has written for Time for five years. He also advises the oft-lauded Renegade student magazine at UTA.
Talley, a producer for "Dateline NBC," has worked in both print and broadcast journalism and is a Katie Award winner. She is based in Dallas and has covered a range of stories for the NBC News magazine.
Time & date: mingling 5:30 p.m., eats at 6, then the program, Tuesday, Nov. 15
Place: room across from the pool at Joe T. Garcia's Mexican restaurant, 2201 N. Commerce St., Fort Worth
Cost: $15 members, $20 nonmembers, $5 students; cash bar; just to hear the program -- free
Menu: Joe T.'s legendary family-style enchilada dinner
RSVP: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com; specify whether RSVPing for the holiday party or the November meeting
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Strike up the band for brands. Author and international branding expert Tom Duncan will discuss "Branding and Interactivity" at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, in Smith Entrepreneur Hall, room 104, in TCU's Schieffer School of Journalism. The public is invited. ...
Journalists who want to pursue overlooked stories about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath can do so under a fellowship from the National Association of Black Journalists. The NABJ will provide $2,500 each to five journalists for a week of reporting. More at nabj.org. ...
Texas Radio Hall of Fame 2005 inductees -- Ann Arnold, Vesta Brandt, Al Caldwell, George Carlin, Caroline Devine, Sam Donaldson, Milo Hamilton, Vann Kennedy (deceased), Ken Knox (deceased), Hugh Lampman (deceased), Steve Lundy (deceased) and Wes Wise -- will be honored Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum by the Galleria. Also recognized will be 2005 Hall of Honor instatees Bill Bradford, Bob Bruton and Bill Enis (deceased). More at texasradiohalloffame.com.
IABC local update: Springfield Lewis, director of EDS internal and executive communications, will discuss at the Tuesday, Nov. 8, IABC/Dallas luncheon the thinking, launch and ongoing teamwork behind a program designed to reach 118,000 employees around the world. Part of the project (and on display at the presentation) are "story walls," some of them 38 feet long, that are being built in EDS locations around the world. Register here.
